A/N Thank you for all of my reviews. They are what keep me writing.

Disclaimer: I do not own them (sadly….)

Chapter 2

Many years from now, when he would be awake at night, Sesshoumaru Takahashi would look back at the scene he witnessed, and he would wonder it there was anything more in the world that would infuriate him more.

The girl that they were looking for was chained to the wall, her mouth stopped by a grimy rag. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her face was streaked with tears. She looked up at them, and moved her head desperately to the man, making noises through the gag.

The man in question was on top of another girl, thrusting away and not paying attention to the demons which had entered the room. One of his hands was occupied with pinching the girls breast, whilst the other was holding the girls wrists above her head. The girl herself was looking at them with wide eyes, her mouth opened as if to scream, but she couldn't.

As Sesshoumaru gazed into her brown eyes, a feeling swept through him, and he felt his breath come short. Then his face hardened, and he marched over, shoving his 13-round semi-automatic into his shoulder holst, and he kicked the man squarely in the ribs.

Chikushou yelled as he felt his ribs breaking and tumbled off the futon, drawing himself out of the girl. The man covered himself up with his hands and glared up and the demon. Sesshoumaru heard the girl shuffle to the corner of the room.

"Who's you?" Chikushou slurred, his eyes having trouble focusing.

"My name is Takahashi Sesshoumaru. I am arresting you for kidnapping, the intention of rape and actual rape."

"You canno arrest me." slurred Chikushou, sitting up and doing up his trousers.

"Yes I can, and I am." With that, Sesshoumaru used his demon speed to speed up behind the man. He reached out to grab his arm, but the demon, despite being drunk, moved quickly to the door.

Of course, what he had not counted on was three others members of the Dog Squad being there, waiting for him. Shippo and Kagome were busy untying Suki from the wall, and they were coaxing the other girl to come with them, and Sango was outside, calling for backup and for Kouga to ring Suki's family. That left Miroku, Naraku and Inuyasha for Chikushou to contend with.

Chikushou raced to the door, but was floundered when Miroku launched himself on top of him. There was a brief scuffle, which ended up worse for Miroku. The demon managed to twist himself around and grab Miroku's right hand, which he twisted around. The juicy sound of bones cracking was heard, and Miroku cried out in pain. Chikushou sneered and made his way to the outside.

Naraku and Inuyasha literally jumped on top of him. He landed with a loud thump and immediately stared to fight back. It was a tough fight, with the two hanyous equally matching the strength of the single inuyoukai. But when Sesshoumaru joined in, there was no contest. After a short while, Chikushou was subdued and in handcuffs, whilst Naraku was nursing a broken nose, and Inuyasha was supporting a cut upper lip and a black eye.

Typical of all of this, Sesshoumaru emerged without a scratch.

They all sat there, breathing very hard. Naraku had a hand on his nose, and Inuyasha was gingerly feeling his eye, but both of them were gazing at Sesshoumaru, who was staring out of the room, into the room where Kagome and Shippo were tending to Miroku.

"Sesshoumbaru?" questioned Naraku, his voice coming out very stuffily from his broken nose.

"Hmmm?" Sesshoumaru asked, coming out of his daydream and looking at Naraku.

"Who do you think the other girl is?" asked Inuyasha, sparing Naraku the agony of speaking through his nose.

"I do not know."

"Ask her."

"She doesn't speak." said Kagome, coming into the room and wiping her bloody hands on a towel.

"How do you know?" Inuyasha asked her, standing up and coming to her side.

"Suki told me. All Suki knows about her is that her name is Rin."

"Rin, you say?" Sesshoumaru looked up, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Yeah. What about it?" Kagome sat down on the grimy sofa and leaned into Inuyashas embrace.

"Joufu Rin was what we call a doorstop snatch." explained Sesshoumaru, standing up and pacing, "She was taken 10 years ago, from outside her house. From the reports I read during my training, her mother had only left her outside for a minute, and when she came back, the child was gone."

"And you think that this is her?" Kagome raised an eyebrow.

"Possibly. The cases are similar. Rin was snatched when she was 7, as was Suki."

"Well, we know have the girl, and a name. I suggest that we get back to the station and then find out who she is." Inuyasha said, standing up and stretching. He walked to the door with Naraku, who was still clutching his broken nose, and Kagome and Sesshoumaru went to the other room to take the girls away with them.

Suki could not stop crying, clutching Shippo's jacket and sobbing into the fabric. Shippo had picked her up and was waiting for them, his usual grinning visage replaced with a sombre one. Sesshoumaru drew near and Shippo whispered in his ear, "She's Ok. He was waiting until she was older. I'm not sure about the other one though."

They both cast a worried glance at the figure swathed in a blanket, who was leaning against the wall and looking at them with wide brown eyes. Again, Sesshoumaru felt a pull in his chest, and he went over and kneeled in front of the girl.

He looked into her eyes, and was shocked to find no emotion in them.

They were blank.

He reached out and touched the girl on her shoulder, but she flinched and moved away. He clenched his fist, and then spoke to her.

"My name is Takahashi Sesshoumaru. I have come to help you. However, I cannot help you if you won't let me."

The girl looked pale and frightened. She also looked thin and ill. But her face was wary. 'She's been through too much.' thought Sesshoumaru as he gazed at her. Then suddenly, she held out her hand.

Sesshoumaru looked at the hand, and then at her. Then, reaching out his own hand, he grasped her and pulled her towards him. He slid one arm around her back and one arm around her knees and hoisted her up into his arms. She fisted her hands into his jacket and sighed against him. As he lifted her up, he caught a whiff of her scent. She smelled like the man, but she smelled of something else.

Like flowers.

Sesshoumaru shook his head and started for the door, the small figure of the girl held in his arms.

INUYASHA

There was already a rather large crowd when they all arrived back at the station. TV cameras were pointing in their direction as they all touched down. Once the cameras had seen them, then the crowd surged fore ward, and reports frantically started to yell questions.

"Sesshoumaru, where did you find her?"

"Will the man be prosecuted and receive the penalty?"

"Will this impair youkai and human relations?"

"Who is the other girl?"

"SILENCE!" roared Sesshoumaru, holding the girl closer to his body. She was whimpering and clutching closer to his jacket.

"All questions will be answered at a later date. For now, will you please all get out of here."

With that he strode to the doors and pushed them open. They swung shut beside him and effectively shut out the noise. He entered the main office and found Suki being comforted by a black haired woman that could only be her mother. Both of them were crying with joy and the mother was thanking the others for their help.

"…thank you so much! I don't know how we can repay you! You have done so much for us!"

"There is no problem. All we did was our duty." Inuyasha replied, whilst Kagome handed the father a black coffee. The others were on the phone, to Kouga and Kaede. Naraku was sitting at his desk, his white haired ward, Kanna, perched at his side. Both were staring avidly at the computer screen as Naraku typed up the report. Chikushou was trussed up like a turkey in the corner, glaring at them all whilst they waited for the van to get here.

Sesshoumaru glanced at all of this and then made his way to the couch against the far wall. The girl in his arms had fallen asleep. He gently laid her upon the couch and paused to stroke her face and run his hands through her long black hair. The girl whimpered and clutched at his jacket tighter. He gently touched her fingers and untangled them. Then he took off his jacket and tucked it around the sleeping girl.

"Oi, Sesshoumaru, come over here would ya?" called Shippo, hanging up to whoever he was talking to and beckoning to the drinks machine.

"What do you want?" Sesshoumaru asked, extracting some yen from his pocket and slotting it into the machine to but a coffee. The machine hissed and started to spit.

"That girl. Did you smell her?"

"Yes."

"Did she smell like anything to you?"

"Yes. She smelled like flowers." Sesshoumaru picked up his coffee cup and began to sip it.

"Yeah, but did she smell like anything else?" prompted Shippo.

"No. Where is this leading to, Kitsune?"

"Maybe it's just my overwrought nerves and imagination, but I thought she smelled pregnant."

Sesshoumaru chocked on his coffee.

"You…what?" he chocked out, thumping himself in the chest.

"I seriously hope that you are joking with that one."

"Sesshoumaru, does this look like my joking face? I'm not joking, I think that the girl is pregnant with Chikushou's baby."

"Fan-bloody-tastic." Sesshoumaru growled, throwing his coffee into the bin and stalking over to Inuyasha. He grabbed the hanyou's arm and pulled him over to the inert figure of the girl.

"What the hell do you want, Sesshoumaru?"

"Smell her."

"What?!"

"Smell her. I need you to tell me if she is pregnant."

Inuyasha eyed Sesshoumaru and then leaned down to the girls level, sniffing gently. A worried look crossed his face and he stood back up. He nodded once to Sesshoumaru and stalked away.

Sesshoumaru glared at the hanyous retreating back and then he too leaned down to the girls level and sniffed. He smelled again the scent of flowers and the scent of the man, but underneath all of that, there was the heavier scent of an unborn being.

"Shit." he swore softly.

INUYASHA

Two separate vans turned up in the end. Inuyasha, Shippo and Naraku accompanied the van that was taking Chikushou to the police station, whilst Sesshoumaru, Kagome, Sango and Kanna were taking the two girls and Miroku to the hospital. The journey was uncomfortable, owing to the cramped conditions of the van. It ended up with Kanna sitting on Kagome's lap, with Suki sitting on Sango's'. The girl lay on the trolley, still asleep and Miroku sat on the edge, his hand swathed in bandages. Sesshoumaru sat opposite him, holding the girls hand.

He couldn't understand what compelled him to comfort the girl. She was nothing to him. She was only a girl that he rescued. She had no hold over him.

And yet…

Why did he feel as if he let her go, she would fall away from him?

Why did this affect him so much?

Involuntarily, his hand tightened on hers, causing her to wince slightly. Her eyes popped open and landed on his. He recoiled slightly at the plain fear in her eyes. That last time he had seen anyone that scared, he was looking into the face of Kanna as he picked her up from the street.

"Nearly there." said the man who was driving the ambulance, looking through the little slot in the back of the van. Sesshoumaru nodded and went back to staring out of the door, the girls hand still clutched tightly around his.

Just before they reached the hospital, the van slowed down to get to a stop outside the hospital. Suddenly the girl started to gasp. Her small chest heaved and she fought for air. At the same time, tears started to leak out of her eyes and she was making small noises in her throat. Sesshoumaru recognized, with a sinking heart, the symptoms of a delayed shock.

The doors were flung open and the men reached in and took out the trolley. The girl released his iron grip and was pushed into the hospital, still crying and panting. Someone took Suki from Sango and put her in a wheelchair, whilst another man led Miroku away to get his hand X-rayed and set. This left Kagome, Kanna and Sesshoumaru standing on the tarmac, with no clue about what they should do. Sesshoumaru looked at Kagome and raised an eyebrow. Kagome nodded and took Kanna by the hand.

"C'mon Kanna, lets go with the men and see Miroku." Kanna nodded and followed Kagome into the hospital, leaving Sesshoumaru to follow at his leisure. He strolled into the hospital, his silver head down. His frown had deepened and he kept thinking about the girl.

Who was she?

He realized that he had arrived at the reception desk when he heard a voice say "May I help you sir?" He looked up and found a woman staring transfixed at his hair. He frowned and drew her attention back to his face.

"Yes. I am looking for a girl that was brought in a few minutes ago. She was the second victim of the Chikushou case."

The girl checked on her computer, then looked up and gave his a blinding smile. "Yes, she's in room 14, floor 3. My name is Yura by the way."

"I don't care." he said and made his way over to the lift. He pressed the button for the third floor and waited, wishing that he could rip out that machine that was playing the god-dammed awful music. The lift dinged, and he stepped out and into the ward. He checked to door for number 14 and slowly pushed it open.

The girl was lying in bed, a drip attached to her arm and a doctor leaning over her. The doctor looked up and smiled at the demon who was standing in the doorway. He walked over and whispered "Hello, my name is Dr. Bankostu." Sesshoumaru nodded and moved his eyes to the girl.

"Ah yes. Well as you can probably guess, she went into shock and had now had a sedative put into her. She will need to be calmed down and kept under surveillance for the next few days, but I believe that she will make a full recovery. As for the child, it is growing well.

"How far is she along?" Sesshoumaru asked in a low voice, keeping his eyes on the girl.

"She is two months pregnant, which means that she should be ready to give birth in about four months, as inuyoukai pregnancies last for six months." the doctor finished, after consulting his notes.

Sesshoumaru nodded again and went to sit down beside the girl. He heard the door close and he allowed himself to take that hand of the girl.

What was she going to do? As for as he knew, she was alone. He had had Naraku research the girls files before they had left, and he had told Sesshoumaru that when the girl whom they believed to be Rin Joufu had been snatched, she woman who had claimed to be her mother was actually her aunt, and she had left the country two months after Rin had gone missing. Sesshoumaru felt rage swell deep in his stomach, and he suppressed it. He did not want to think what would happen to her.

He checked the board at the end of the girls bed and saw that a DNA test had indeed confirmed the girl to be Joufu Rin. He sat back down again and sighed.

It had been a long day, and it seemed that the day was never going to end.