Disclaimer: I don't own the characters (except Casey and Jake). Someone must own them. But I really don't care who.

Notes (For those of you who were kind enough to review): Well, aren't we just a bunch of nitpickers? So, I made a mistake. Or two. First of all, why did I put Izzy in Canada rather than the United States? Could it be that I'm Canadian?! Sorry, I didn't mean to be snide. It just sort of typed out. The mix up with Tai's name was an honest mistake. Thanks for pointing it out! But the spelling for Tai's little sister's name was no mistake. Kori is the Canadian spelling. No, not really, but it's my spelling and when I started adding Kari to my fics that's how I spelt her name. Anyways, I don't spell her name like that anymore, even if Kari is a very common way of spelling Carrie where I live and Carrie always makes me think of pigs blood and misunderstood teenagers with freaky powers. (I'm a Stephen King fan, can you tell?)

On another note, thanks for all the support. It was your encouragment and threats thats helped me decide to continue on with this story.

As always, please enjoy and reveiw. (Boy, that was original)

Digi-Destinty Will Always Be There

Part 1 - Return Section 3 - Paramedic

Tai came to hospital with the intention of finding a doctor to check over Sora's leg and get out. He didn't want to deal with ER. So, why was he stumbling around there with Sora hopping beside him? And this wasn't even the waiting room ER. Oh no, this was the badly burned, deeply cut, not breathing, no pulse, ambulance brought, could die ER. In the past minute Tai had rammed into a stretcher with a burn victim, been tripped by a person on crutches and had his teeth pratically knocked out when a rushing nurse 'bumped' into him. And it wasn't even rush hour yet.

Tai and Sora sided up against the wall as a young girl with a cracked skull was rolled past. The paramedics traded her off to the nurses and doctors. It was only because the two paramedics were standing only a few feet away that Sora and Tai heard what they did next.

"We've got a few minutes before our next run. How about some coffee, Joey?"

"I'll see what I can do. And don't call me Joey."

Tai and Sora stopped cold. They had no idea who the first paramedic was but the second had sounded familair. Very familar.

"Joey?" Tai mouthed. Sora looked just as suprised.

"Don't be so serios!" Called out the first paramedic but 'Joey' had already turned away. Tai pushed through the masses to get to him. Sora leaned against the wall, the only support she had left. Tai caught up with 'Joey' at the coffee machine. He tapped on the other man's shoulder, asking "Joe?"

The man turned and straightened, giving Tai a good look. Other than a few alternations, he'd grown taller and was wearing contacts in place of his glasses, it was the same old Joe. Apparently he recongized Tai as well.

"Tai! What brings you here?"

"Sora got hurt but-"

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine but that's not what I wanted to talk about-"

"Then what?"

Tai grumbled in his throat. "It's got to do with DW."

Dw was something the DD (digi destined) had devised for when they spoke in very public places. If they said Digi World people would want to know what it was all about. But if you said a fancy inital, like DW, people would think they should know what you were talking about and wouldn't ask. (Once an adult had asked Tai, when he was younger. He'd quickly replied Dead Worms and ran off.)

Like everyone else who had got the news so far, Joe paled but not as much as Tai had expected.

"We have to go back." Tai rushed on before he could be inturrupted again. "Genni contacted Izzy."

From across the room, Joe's partner yelled "Hurry up Joey. We've less than a minute."

It was Joe's turn to grumble, as he weaved his way through people and machines and stretchs. Tai followed close behind, still talking. "I don't know why. I don't even know how, through Izzy is working on it and swears it can be done. Joe? Joe, are you listening?" Tai grabbed the paramedic and spun him around. Coffee sloshed over the rims of they cups. "Do you hear me?!"

"I hear you damn well!" Joe snapped back, "But right now I have a job to do."

"Joey!"

"Coming!"

Tai did some quick thinking and whipped out his sketch book. He scrawled down a seris of numbers with a ballpoint pen and ripped out the paper. "This," Tai told Joe, as he folded up the paper and stuck it in Joe's front pocket "Is my cell phone number. Call me as soon as you get off work." Joe gave a nod and went off with his coffee. Tai went back to Sora.

"Was that Joe?"

Tai nodded

" I can't believe it. While other people are out flipping burgers and pouring soft drinks, Joe's out there saving lives. Who'd have thought. So, how'd it go?"

"I gave him my cell number. Let's hope he calls."

"Joe's very reliable. I'm sure he won't forget, especially with something so important."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I mean, would you want to go back to the Digi World if you had a choice." Sora didn't answer but then she didn't have to.

Section 4 - In the Night

Izzy came into the control room, lugging with him box, its contents unknown to Casey. "Did you get through to ...um... what's his name? Tai!"

"Around eleven." Izzy openned up the box and pulled out a bedroll, clothes, food and other camping gear.

"Eleven!? That was..." A brief glance down at her watch, "Four hours ago. Where have you been? And what the H-E-Double hockey sticks is all that?!"

"Everything I'll need where I'm going. I'm not leaving this room again until I figure out Genni's message."

"Oh,"

Izzy sat down at his computer. Casey walked up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She could feel the tension pulsing through his muscles "You haven't told me exactly where you're going."

"Probally because you'd never believe me." Izzy gave a harsh laugh and shrugged off Casey's embrace.

"Try me." But this time Izzy didn't even answer. Casey sighed and sat down at her moniter, still trying to decode part Genni's, whoever he was, instructions. She knew, though experience, not to mess with Izzy when he was in one of his zoned out moods. He wouldn't be speaking until he was done his work, and only then when he was good and ready. But Izzy, like he usually did, ended up suprising her. After two minutes of key tapping, he went into a brief run down, Izzy style, of what he knew as the Digi World.

"The Digi, that's short for digital, World is an alternate reality that is parallel along side our own. It runs along our lines of communtcation and power, where living beings, even humans, exist in digital form. Years ago, I, along with six other kids, were transported to the Digi World from our summer camp though a vortex. When we arrived we were befriended by good digimon, digital monsters, and learned that we were the digi destined, for told in a proficy, that we would banish evil from the Digi World."

"And did you?" Casey asked, expecting an affirmative. *After all,* she reasoned, *He would never have returned if he hadn't completed what he was brought there to do.* (It never crossed her mind that Izzy's story may have been false.) But once again her beloved suprised her. He turned away from his computer screen and looked at Casey with raw eyes. No holding back. No masks. Casey saw it all. Happiness, sorrow, loneliness, anger, hate, grief and fear, mostly fear, all mixed together in a explosion of emotions and colors and something else Casey never quite was able to put her finger on.

"I don't know." He said and then the shields were up once again. Izzy turned back to his work, leaving Casey to ponder the story she'd just heard.

The silence was broken only a few minutes later by the ring of the phone. Casey, the closest, grabbed it out of habit, forgetting it was probally one of Izzy's friends, and was greeted by a garble of sounds that she couldn't comprehend into actual words, though one might have been Izzy's real name. One thing was for sure, it wasn't any language, English, French or Cree, that she knew.

Casey handed over the phone to Izzy with a simple, "It's for you."

Section 5 - The Shop

They, Tai and Sora, never did find a doctor. Not even a nurse. After about an hour of wandering around, they said screw this and left. They had places to go, people to find, monsters to battle.

"I'll let you pick up a few things at your place before we hit the road."

"I'll get my address book. It'll have Mimi's and Matt's addresses. Joe's, too, if he doesn't call."

"Good."

"What about your stuff? And Kari?"

Tai jarred his thumb towards the bed of the truck. "All my stuff is in back. And Kari's at summer camp. She'll have all her stuff there, I hope. I told my roommate I was going on a camping trip and no one will miss Kari for a week or so."

"Unless we're all killed." Sora couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice. Tai pulled up to Sora's building. It took her exactly fourteen minutes and fourty-three point twenty-two seconds to go in, throw her clothes and address book into a duffle bag and run out again. When she got back outside, Tai was just putting away his cell phone.

"It looks like Joe had a change of heart. He gave me his number and told me to call him as soon as we were ready to go. What's the plan?"

Sora got into the truck. "Mimi and Matt are living in the same district, on opposite sides but in the same general direction. What camp did you say Kari was at?" Tai told her.

Sora was taken back. "Why would she want to go to the camp where this whole mess started?"

"You're forgetting," Tai said, as he pulled out into the street, "For Kari, it didn't begin at summer camp. For Kari, it began right at home."

Sora digested that and had to admit that made sense. "Anyways," she went on, "I was thinking we'd drive up to Matt's, TK's been living with him since their parents died, and drop me off. I'll take the bus and find Mimi. You go pick up Kari. Whatcha you think?" Tai just gave a winning smile.

They didn't get into town until late and by then it was to dark out to go search for Matt. They pulled off to a cheap motel, but only had enough money for one room. Sora took the right side of the bed. Tai took the left. And both vowed to stay on their own sides. The vow lasted about five minutes. By morning Sora was on the left, Tai was on the right and the blankets were a mess. They got a silent wink from the manager as they left the room.

"This can't be it." Tai said in disbelief. He was looking at a shabby auto repair shop, across the street, with an even shabbier apartment over top.

"Has to be," Sora said pulling her duffel bag from out of the truck's bed and slipping the strap over her shoulder. "This is the return address on my birthday cards."

"Matt sends you birthday cards?"

*Is that a twing of jealousy I hear?* She wanted to say but what came out of her mouth was this, "Actually, no. But TK does."

They walked into the shop, deserted omit a single teenage boy plunking away at a guitar resting on his knee, mumbling out lyrics, which only he could hear. He was tall and lanky. His hair, golden blond, was falling into his eyes.

"Matt?" Sora asked, before relizing that this boy was far too young.

"Under here." came a replie that startled both Sora and Tai. Matt rolled out from under the vehical. He'd grown a lot and built up some muscle but he still had the hair, longer now and tied back in a pony tail.

"Tai! Sora! Hey TK, look who's here." The boy looked up briefly and with not much enthusiasm, before turning away.

*TK! No wonder he looks so farmilar, so much like Matt. That hair. Those eyes. The clothes.* Another sour plunk came from the guitar. Sora winced. *Even his musical talent.*

"Sorry about that." Matt excepted Tai's out stretched arm, then lowered his voice a couple of degrees. "He just got dumped by his girlfriend."

"Ouch," from Tai, who'd gotten dumped before, too many times to count in fact. Matt nodded in agreement.

Sora glanced down at her watch. "Shoot, Tai. You've still got to pick up Kari. And I have to find Mimi. Izzy'll be calling any time now..."

A frown crossed Matt's face. Just because he worked in a run down shop and lived in the above one room apartment with his little brother didn't mean he was dumb. If his parents were still alive, he'd have been finishing college right about now. When he heard three of eight digi destined meantion in the same sentence, not to meantion another four right there in the shop, well you didn't need to go to college to figure out trouble wasn't far behind.

"What's wrong in the Digi World?" The last two words finally got TK's attention and he gazed back with his first look of intrest. The painful plunking stopped.

"Tai, go pick up Kari. I'll explain."

Tai kissed Sora and rushed out before he could see her reaction. Outside, she was scowling but inside her heart had melted to sap. To Be Continued...

There, that should suffice for another week or so. Next time, we figure out where Kari and Mimi have ended up.