Chapter Two

Aya felt like heaven in his arms. It had been a while since the smaller man had let Youji hold him like this. The blonde smiled down at his lover, but the smile he got in return was fake. An emotionless curve of the lips and nothing more. In a way it reminded him of looking at a doll; beautiful on the outside, but empty on the inside. He had been trying to pull the redhead out of his shell since they'd met and every time he saw a glimpse of who Aya could be it was gone in the next moment. It was frustrating in more ways than one. Emotionally because it was taking a lot of effort on his part to be understanding and sexually because they hadn't done more than kiss a few times since the night they'd had sex a month ago.

As the song they were dancing to ended they pulled apart and bowed, then Youji took Aya's hand and they left the dance floor. The swordsman's smile was still in place as they moved through the crowd of people and Youji wondered how he could do it. So far Aya was better at staying in character than he was. It made the blonde wonder about his past. The younger man seemed to be more comfortable in disguise than he was in his own skin. What had happened to Aya to make him like this? Most of the time he seemed to be devoid of all emotion. It was only on rare occasions that Youji saw any spark of life in the swordsman. He knew about what had happened to Aya on his old team, but before that he hadn't a clue and Aya never spoke of the past. There were days when he wouldn't speak at all and Youji knew it wasn't because of what Shido had done. There was more to it than that.

"Koyama-san!" Youji turned to find the hosts of the Gala waving at him. Lavinia was smiling brightly, it was she who had called to him. He led Aya over to where they stood with a few other beautiful people. "Isn't this little one divine!" She exclaimed taking Aya's other hand. "You must tell me his name." Lady Forsythe gushed as the others nodded in agreement, their eyes devouring every inch of the swordsman's petite frame.

"Hissori." Youji replied.

"I've never heard that name before." Lavinia frowned prettily. "Does it have a special meaning?"

"It means quiet or silent in my language." Youji stroked the side of Aya's face silently willing the younger man to remain calm. He could sense the tension coming off of him in waves, although his smile remained in place. "When he came to live with me he had no name, and was unable to speak. The man he lived with before was rather brutal."

"Oh, the poor dear!" Lavinia gasped. "Does he understand what we are saying?" Youji drew a blank. Was Aya's character supposed to know English? He glanced down at the redhead, who shook his head very slightly.

"No, unfortunately, and I'm afraid he still doesn't speak often." Suddenly Aya flinched and pulled his hand from Lavinia's.

"Oh! I'm sorry. My wedding band must have got turned around again and hurt his hand. Do tell him I apologize." Lavinia gasped. Youji looked down at Aya.

"Daijyoubu?" He asked quietly. The swordsman's eyes met his and Youji was shocked to see fear in them. Aya mouthed a word at him.

"Is he alright?" Lavinia asked. Something in her voice made the blonde look up. Her facial expression was one of concern, but there was a look in her eyes that was almost predatory. Aya's hand tightened on his arm. Youji looked back down at him and swore silently as the smaller man collapsed against him. His eyes were glazed and Youji could hear that he was having a hard time breathing.

"I think the crowd is too much for him." Youji frowned, so much for the mission. It would have to be scrubbed for now if Aya wasn't feeling well. He put an arm around the redhead's waist to support him. "Do you have a quiet room where I could take him?"

"Of course!" The British woman exclaimed. "Follow me." Youji half carried Aya, ignoring the tugs on his sleeve, as he walked after her. He followed her into a room just off the main party area. Youji forced a struggling Aya to sit on one of the couches in the room and put a hand to the smaller man's forehead. His skin was like ice. What the hell had happened? It finally occurred to him that the bitch could have done something. "I will have one of the servers bring a blanket and some refreshments for you, Koyama-san." Lavinia smiled then placed a hand on Aya's bare shoulder. "Take as much time as you need Hissori-kun." Youji had to clench his jaw to keep from yelling at her to fuck off. As soon as she left the room Aya grabbed Youji's collar and dragged him down.

"Trap." The swordsman hissed. "Get...us...out." Youji gasped, finally understanding that his weak struggles had been Aya had been trying to stop him from leaving the main floor. He swore loudly when Aya went limp in his arms. Why the hell had he ignored Aya's protests? How could he have been so stupid? It was becoming clear to him that he lost his head a bit where the other assassin was concerned, which could be something that could be more of a hindrance than a help.

He laid Aya down on the couch and ran to the door...locked. He swore again and raced to the window. Just as he reached it smoke began pouring through the vents. Youji grabbed a nearby chair and threw it through the window. When he looked back at the couch Aya was gone. The blonde stared in shock at the empty floor where the couch had been then began to cough as he inhaled the smoke that was beginning to surround him. The only thing he could do was leave through the broken window. He climbed out onto the ledge outside the window then used his wire to get to the ground. Guests were racing from the building in a panic. Youji coughed into his sleeve as he followed them. Without Ken and Omi there was no way in hell he'd be able to save Aya on his own. Tears burned at his eyes. How could he have been so stupid? Once he'd gotten a block away he pulled out his secure phone and made one of the hardest phone calls of his life.

Aya woke to darkness and knew he had been caught. The material of the blindfold was rough against his face. His wrists were handcuffed above his head and he was kneeling on the floor. He almost gasped in surprise as the blindfold was ripped from his face. Adelbert Forsythe crouched in front of him, a grin on his face. "It is such a pleasure to see you again...Ran Fujimiya." Aya felt his blood run cold. He lifted his eyes slowly to meet the other man's gaze. How did...his eyes widened in terror as he saw the man standing behind Adelbert.

"No!" He whispered and began to struggle against his bonds. Reiji Takatori laughed.

"Yes, Ran." The old man smirked. "I'm alive."

"No!" Aya screamed, trying to lash out with his feet as Takatori grabbed him by the chin. Chains clinked as his legs refused to cooperate. He settled for spitting in the bastard's face. His reward was a hard slap across the face that busted his lip and made his vision dim.

"It seems you have forgotten your manners, Fujimiya-kun." Takatori sighed. "Koyama-san must not discipline you at all." Aya gritted his teeth and stared at the floor. To look up now or speak would only earn him another blow. He tried to control the panic rising in his chest. Where was Youji? What had happened to let these people capture him? Was Kudou dead? If he wasn't then at least his cover was still intact.

A rough hand gripped his hair and forced him to look up. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose, trying to calm his racing heart then opened them again. It was only the thought of Youji that allowed him to remain calm. If the blonde wasn't dead; then nothing would stop him returning.

Aya raised a brow as Takatori sneered down at him. The man had gotten older. A fact that probably irritated him and one that he could use against the other man. Reiji was proud of his virility. "You remember to take your blue pill this morning?" Maybe if he kept the man mad enough he could stall the inevitble long enough for Youji to get here. He almost smiled when Reiji's face went purple with rage. Takatori wound up and hit him again. This time it was fueled by actual anger. Aya sank into merciful blackness.

Omi stared at his computer screen and tried desperately not to cry. There was no way to get into the Forsythe's secure compound now that the Gala was over, not without getting caught. He could hear Ken and Youji arguing and yelled at them to be quiet. "I can't concentrate with you shouting like that." Ken immediately shut up, but Youji was another story.

"I only left him for a minute, How was I to-"

"You shouldn't have left him at all!" Omi snapped. "Now shut up so I can figure out how to save him. He's been alone in there for almost an hour and you know what kind of people he's with." The teen turned back to his computer as silence reigned in the surveillance van. Lord only knew what their fellow assassin was going through and thinking right about now. Aya was most likely feeling a bit betrayed right now. It was only natural. Well he was determined to make the redhead feel less of that sick betrayed feeling and put a little more trust in his team.

His fingers flew over the keys as he tried to find a way into the compound's security system. Just when he was about to give up hope he found a weakness. If he overloaded the power in the transformer near the back wall of the property it would short out the electricity in a twelve block radius. The only problem with this plan was that they would lose the element of surprise. They would be ready for them if they cut the power. Omi sighed and filed the idea under Plan D, then got back to work.

When Aya woke the second time he was alone in a dark room. Panic flared in his chest as he realized what was coming next. Jets of freezing water hit him from behind and he had to bite his lip to keep from crying out. This had been Takatori's favorite game and one Aya hated. He would hang the smaller man from a chain on the ceiling of a room made entirely from stone and that had no lighting. He would then close the door and shoot water at him from random directions at random intervals. The pressure of the water left deep bruises and had dislocated both his shoulders the last time Takatori had done it.

Aya felt his body beginning to tremble as the water stopped. He ground his teeth and braced himself as best he could, but the next jet hit him in the chest and knocked the breath from his lungs. He heard a loud rip as the dress he wore was torn from his body. He closed his eyes and blocked out the pain and humiliation, focusing on a way to escape. He'd had no weapons from the start, but Manx had said something about a girl's best friend...what was it? His eyes flew open and he gasped...the pins in his hair! The swordsman struggled to get his legs under him.

Luckily for him, the rules of Takatori's game ensured that only his wrists were chained; not his feet. That way his body would move more and ruin his arms, which enacted a bunch of his escapes. He grimaced in pain as he pulled himself into a standing position. His fingers were numb so it was difficult to feel for the pins. Just as he was about to pull one out a jet of water hit him in the side and he felt a rib crack. He clenched his jaw against the pain and ripped the pin from his hair. It took almost five minutes to get the first lock open and another ten for the second. His body shook violently as he finally collapsed against the floor and began crawling towards the wall.

It felt like hours had passed before he finally found the door. The lock was a simple thing to pick. He took a deep breath and opened the door as soon as the current jet stopped spraying. Just outside the room was a man standing so that he was facing away. He started to turn when the door opened so Aya quickly grabbed the knife he saw sticking out of the man's boot and used it to slit the guy's throat. The killing of guards was always rationalized in his mind as the hazards of working for criminals. No sleep lost for them. They were just in the way.

Looking down at his naked frame he decided that he needed clothes and weapons. He then removed the ones from the dead man before shoving him into the room he'd just vacated. It wouldn't be good to be discovered too early and he couldn't just wait for Youji. He had relied on himself and knew his capabilities well. Being a damsel in distress was just not his style.

The clothes ended up being much too big for him and they reeked of tobacco, but they were warm and made him feel less vulnerable and exposed. That was all that mattered to him really. The swordsman grabbed up the weapons he'd liberated and took stock. Two pistols, one silencer, a boot knife, three extra magazines for each handgun and for some strange reason a grenade. Aya set the smaller pistol aside. Since the silencer wouldn't attach to it and it held less ammo he decided that it was useless to him at the moment. After screwing the silencer on to the other gun and pocketing the other weapons and ammo; he set off down the hall, his stocking feet virtually silent on the marble floor. The dead guard's boots had been too big, which would most likely just cause problems.

Two guards came around the corner ahead of him at a run. Aya shot them both in the head before relieving them of their extra ammunition. He then snatched up one of their radios and, after putting in the ear piece, took off at a run. Voices crackled in his ear. Luckily no one had noticed that three of the guards were down. He figured there was more on the second floor since the sleeping quarters were there. A British voice came over the line saying that the geese were in the nest, which meant his targets were in bed. Maybe he could salvage this mission after all.

Ken watched the compound carefully. A moment ago he could have sworn he'd seen gunfire, but now there was nothing. The lights on the second floor were all off, and they'd heard on the radio that all the important people had gone to sleep. The brunette glanced at his watch, 3:23 am. In another seven minutes Omi was going to overload the transformer and they would begin their assault. Aya couldn't wait any longer.

Fourteen down, unknown amount to go. They weren't horrible odds and so far an alarm hadn't been raised. Aya raced down the hall of the second floor and took out the three guards outside his targets' bedroom then kicked the doors open. Lavinia screamed as her husband's head exploded and his corpse collapsed on top of her. The swordsman walked up to the side of the bed and put the barrel of his gun in her mouth. "Takatori." He rasped. "Where?" She shook her head trying to speak around the gun. Aya pulled it out.

"Gone!" She gasped. "He left an hour ago saying he'd be back for you in the morning. Oh God please don't k-" Aya pulled the trigger and felt blood spatter his face as the woman's features disappeared. He barely he managed to keep it together. Takatori was gone, which meant his revenge was unfinished. Anger burned white-hot in his chest as he spun on his heel and exited the room. The danger wasn't quite over for him. There was no time to brood and he already knew that he would hunt that man to the ends of the earth. There was no escaping his wrath. Of which Aya had plenty. It wasn't what he needed to think about right now. He had to make sure Youji was safe before he could let himself be distracted.

When he ran into the next group of guards he killed all but one. After a painful interrogation the man told him that the man named Koyama had escaped the smoke trap and disappeared. Aya sighed in relief. Youji was okay. He was probably outside with Ken and Omi right now trying to sneak into the secure compound.

The last thing he remembered before waking up in the basement was passing out in Youji's arms. He didn't know what happened next. A small bit of doubt niggled at him, but he brushed it away. He didn't have all the facts. Plus the blonde was a bit out matched when it came to a whole bunch of men with guns. They all were, even him. So obviously after escaping the trap he'd had to go for help.

Ken stood next to Omi as the teen got ready to overload the transformer. A scratching sound at the wall and shouting voices made him turn. He looked up to see a small figure with red hair swinging a leg over the top of the stone wall. Aya. He grabbed Omi's shoulder. Omi turned and gasped. Gunfire erupted on the other side of the wall. Ken swore as Aya fell from the wall to land in a heap at the base. "Get the van." Ken shouted to Omi as he raced towards their friend. When the brunette got to him, Aya was struggling to get up. He was dressed in black clothes that hung loosely on his small frame and was breathing heavily. "Aya!" Ken pulled the smaller man into his arms and turned him over. The swordsman's face and neck were covered in blood and his hair was drenched, but from blood or water Ken couldn't tell. He got to his feet and ran to the van as it pulled up to the curb near him.

"Aya!" Youji cried as he threw open the door. Ken handed the swordsman to him before climbing in and yelling for Omi to go. As he got into his seat Aya suddenly shoved at Youji and fell to the floor at the brunette's feet. Ken carefully lifted the injured man onto his lap. Youji began to cry. Ken rolled his eyes and began checking Aya's injuries. He was sure there was a bullet wound or two, but as he ran his hands over the jacket the swordsman wore he found no holes.

"They...missed." Aya whispered.

"Then what's all the blood from?" Ken asked, wiping some from the smaller man's cheek.

"Them." Aya rasped, laying his head against Ken's shoulder.

"Oh." The brunette frowned. "Anything broken?" The redhead nodded. "Shit, where?"

"Few ribs...left arm."

"We're almost to the hospital." Omi called from the driver's seat. "Hang on Aya!" The swordsman grunted noncommittally. Ken carefully moved Aya's broken arm onto his chest then kept his hands away from the smaller man's rib area. A thought occurred to him as they sped up to the emergency room doors, even though Aya didn't seem to be bleeding from any external wounds that didn't mean there weren't any internal ones.. As he carried Aya into the hospital and laid him on the stretcher he asked the nurses to check for internal bleeding. They just nodded and wheeled the redhead away. Ken walked with Youji and Omi into a waiting room then called Manx.