Summary : Chrome and Yamamoto got isolated during a mission. Things go south when their opponents begin to use firearms instead of flames.

AN :Dear reader,
Hello and welcome back !
As you can see, this chapter will be Yamamoto & Chrome (well mainly).

I hope you'll like it.

N.

Chrome was getting more and more tired, even he could see that. She was panting, leaning against the wall next to her to stay up right. To be honest, he was getting tired too.

A gunshot echoed in the large warehouse and he saw her slumping against the wall from the corner of his eye. Shit.

As fast as he could he made his way to her, slashing two of their opponents on his way. She was still standing, her hand pressed against her shoulder to try and stop the bleeding. No need to say it didn't work that well. Her trident was resting against the wall, by her side. In his ear piece he heard Gokudera asking if everyone was alright.

"Chrome's been shot." He sounded angry, even to his own ears.

"I'm good, don't worry." The Mist Guardian added quickly with a small smile sent his way.

He wanted to tell her she was not but decided to just glare at her. He poured some of his Rain Flame on his wound to try to slow the bleeding and lessen the pain. Then he turned back, shielding her, ready to fight.

She pushed him aside, clearly annoyed at his over protective behaviour.

"I can fight, Takeshi." Her voice was determined and he said nothing.

From the corner of his eyes he saw a man reloading his gun. He was pretty sure he was the one responsible for Chrome's wound. The next second he was on the him, his blade pressed against his throat, and it was over. Or so he thought.

Another gunshot and a bullet grazed his cheek, barely scratching him. He groaned, annoyed. Where was the sniper this time ? Another gunshot gave his position away but he was distracted by a yelp behind him.

Chrome would have to wait, he would be of no help with another man shooting at them from up there. Kojirou lifted him easily from the ground and he landed behind the man without a sound.

Still, he tried to shoot him twice, missing both times. Yamamoto smirked. He looked almost evil with this look on his face. This look he only gave his enemies, the people who hurt his Family, his friends.

With a flick of his wrist the man fell, dead, at his feet. Just to be sure he kicked the gun away and heard it hitting the far wall. Without another look at his victim he jumped down to the ground floor again.

He ran back to Chrome only to see her fight some man with an axe. The man was huge, nearly 2 meters if Yamamoto had to guess. Chrome and her 1,55m looked tiny. Out of all the Guardian she was the only one who never hit her growth spurt after they left school. They always teased her for that but no matter what she always made up for her short stature with her incredible strength and will to win any fight.

Today was no exception as she stood her ground defiantly, attacking her opponent before he could even blink. But today she had been shot. Twice he realised. He remembered the yelp behind him after the third gunshot and grinded his teeth. With a quick glance he saw the blood dripping from her shoulder, and now from her right thigh too. She faltered slightly, paler than she usually already was. He realised how heavily she was leaning on her trident.

Someone stopped him in his run with a long metal stick against his throat. Shit. Now was not the time. He was already pissed off and his opponent must have felt his murderous aura as he lost his smile.

A crash echoed behind him. From the corner of his eyes he saw Chrome's opponent laying fifteen meters away, his axe knocked out of his hand. His smile reappeared, even more feral.

The man before him threw the first blow and he sidestepped with ease. To his surprise this man wasn't a total failure as he successfully blocked Yamamoto's two first attacks. The third one, however, hit him hard and he fell lifelessly on the ground. Another crash behind him and he saw Chrome pressed against the wall, the man's axe centimeters away from her neck. She had blocked it with her trident and was pushing as hard as she could. Blood started to ooze more and more from her shoulder as she willed her muscles to push.

He was already running again. He hadn't realised how far he had gotten during his own fight. The man was towering over Chrome and he could barely see her from where he was. He knew he had to be fast. He could see his friend's legs from between the man's and they were trembling, blood pooling at her feet. He wondered how she was still standing.

The next second he was there. Chrome didn't even see him coming. One second the man was almost drooling from above her face and the next he gasp and his head rolled to the side, detached from the rest of his body. With a final push the axe fell with a clang somewhere on her right.

She stumbled and strong arms caught her before she could fall. She raised her head, a grateful smile on her lips. Yamamoto rarely looked that worried. She knew she must have been looking terrible, bleeding and bruised.

"Thanks, Takeshi." She sighed, her vision darkening.

Yamamoto didn't hesitate a second before slicing the man's head off of his shoulders. When the impressive body fell on the side he saw Chrome and how tired she looked. He caught her in his arms swiftly, righting her again against the wall.

When she smiled at him and thanked him he pushed a strand of hair that had escaped her tight bun behind her ear. As he did so her head lolled forwards and her knees gave out.

"Chrome ? Hey Chrome ?" Panic was evident in his voice.

"Oï Yamamoto ! What's wrong ? Are you two done yet ?" Gokudera's voice asked in his ear.

"She's unconscious. Two gun wounds." His voice was tight. "The warehouse is clean. We're leaving."

"I'm already at the van, Sasagawa is on his way back too. Be fast." He could hear Gokudera's worry in his voice too. The all hated it when one of them got hurt during a mission and they knew that gun wounds were the worst. They hated it when she was hurt. She didn't like their overprotectiveness, but they couldn't help it. She was the only girl in their dangerous world and they wanted her to be safe.

Yamamoto didn't answer. He put his katana back into its sheath. He slipped an arm behind Chrome's knees and lifted her in his arms, carefully. She weighted next to nothing really. He rested her head against his shoulder and watch how her trident disappeared into thin air.

He wanted to run outside, to reach everyone as soon as he could so they could take care of her but was too worried it would hurt her even more. He walked as fast as he could, making sure not to move her too much.

It took him less than thirty seconds to reach the outside. The sun was already setting and he made his way towards a plain white van. Gokudera ran to him, bandages in hands. He didn't say a word when he reached them. They were so used to working together that Yamamoto didn't need to stop for his friend to begin and wiped Chrome's face free from the blood.

Ryohei appeared too, his sun flame slowing the bleeding almost to a stop. They laid her on the floor of the van to make it easier for them to bandage her shoulder and leg. They opened her jacket, then her purple shirt. None of them blushed at the sight of her bra, not anymore, not after all those years spent together, living together and patching each other up.

Tsuna and Hibari came back at the same time when they were wrapping her shoulder as tight as they could. The Vongola Boss gasped and his strangled voice asked Yamamoto what had happened while the Cloud Guardian dropped to his knees to help the Storm Guardian in silence.

When they deemed it safe enough to move her again they all took place in the van. Ryohei was behind the wheel, Tsuna next to him. The three other men were on the back seats, Chrome, still unconscious, sitting on Yamamoto's laps and her legs stretched on the other two. Even Hibari hadn't objected.

After what had happened Yamamoto refused to leave her side and his friends had to physically restrain him to prevent him from going into the operation room of the Private Vongola Hospital.

He felt responsible for what happened. He had been there and she had been shot anyway. Twice. When she woke up it took Chrome two entire weeks to convince him he had nothing to be sorry about and that if he really wanted to help her get better he would just treat her the way he always had and maybe take her to the next baseball game he was going to watch..

The one long-lasting effect this mission had was that Yamamoto always insisted on going on missions with her every time he could and it annoyed Mukuro to no end, which amused Hibari greatly.