A/N: I know it's been a long time since the last update. But I've been so preoccupied with everything else like RPG and school and well, other things. But now the summer is approaching and I hope to keep the chapters flying. Although this was a long time ago, thanks to Envy333333 for reviewing and any who added this story to their favorites/alerts list. It makes me feel that some people still think of this story. :) Sorry that this chapter is a bit long but thing of it as a make up for all the updates that I missed.

CHAPTER 6 - Bounded:

-FLASHBACK-

The doorbell rang. Vi and Naminé stopped playing their board game and broke out into grins. Even four-year-old Kaili was grinning as well. After their stomachs had growled for what seemed like forever, the pizza was finally here to full them up. It was strange that the delivery guy was here in thirty minutes. The pizza place said that the pizza would arrive in an hour's time. However, the three girls thought nothing of it and assumed that the delivery guy had really been on the move.

"I'll get it!" Naminé said. She got up and ran to the door. Quickly, she opened it and stared at the man outside. She sighed. It was not the delivery man. She knew it had been too early.

The man removed his hat and gave a kind smile. "Is Colonel James Thomson here? I'm a reporter. I want to interview him if he doesn't mind. Surely you know about his previous case."

Naminé turned around. "Dad! There's someone here who wants an interview with you!" His last case. What had it been? She smiled. How could she forget. It was the one where he had stopped a mass murderer from taking another life. The serial killer had died during the struggle but even so, she had been so proud of her father. He was truly amazing at what he did for the military. They were lucky to have him.

Her father came downstairs. He was only thirty-nine, barely touching forty. His brown hair was in a mess but that was his usual look. That and his newly shaved face. A surprised look came over his kind features. "Really? You want to interview me?" He asked, clearly surprised. He came over and shook the unknown man's hand.

The stranger nodded. "I'm Nick Seether," he introduced himself as. "It's a pleasure to meet the great Colonel Thomson."

"How about we do the interview in the kitchen?" James suggested. "I don't want to be in the girls' way."

"Come on dad," Naminé said. "I want to hear it."

"Yeah, Mr. Thomson," Vi said from inside the living room. "I want to hear it too."

"Me, three!" Kaili chirped.

Mr. Seether looked at the girls. "No. Your father's right. We should have the interview in the kitchen in private. It makes my job a bit easier." There were a few groans but the reporter smiled all the same. Naminé wondered if he knew how strained that one smile looked.

"I'll show you the way to the kitchen," Colonel Thomson said, leading the way. Mr. Seether placed his hat back on his head, nodded at the girls, and followed.

-END FLASHBACK-

"Hey, Naminé."

The woman opened her eyes and saw Kimblee looking down at her. Immediately she sat up on the couch. She was so disorientated that she failed to notice that he had addressed her by her real name. "Where's Romberg?"

Basque Gran had appointed Kimblee and Romberg as bodyguards. Naminé was fine with that part but she was not fine with the two men living with her until Nikolai Daniels was apprehended. Supposedly, the twenty-four-seven thing was part of the bodyguard's job. Naminé knew that the precautions were reasonable but still found them annoying. She could protect herself. She was certain of it. However, the men of the military didn't think so and now she had to share her apartment with the two.

"Shower," Kimblee replied, seeing the exasperated look on the woman's face. She really didn't seem happy with all this. Oh well. "Are you cooking tonight?"

"Why?" Naminé asked. She had seen this coming. "If you're hungry, you can look for something. You're a man, not a baby."

Kimblee sat down next to her. "I thought the woman of the house is supposed to cook."

Naminé narrowed her blue eyes. "That's a bit sexist, isn't it, Kimblee?"

He smirked. "Only if you see that way, babe."

The bathroom door opened and Romberg came out, a towel wrapped around him. This was embarrassing. His clothes were still in the living room and it was just his luck that Naminé was sitting outside there. Come on Thad, he told himself and swallowed his pride. He came out and ignored her shocked stare. "I forgot my stuff," he said, picking up his bag and looking at the woman. Surprisingly, she was looking the other way now, a blush across her features. He grinned. "Naminé. You only have to stare at my chest you know, nothing too important."

Naminé rolled her eyes. "I don't want to be looking in case that towel falls."

Kimblee laughed. "Figures. You probably never had a boyfriend nonetheless got kissed by one."

"I had a boyfriend before," Naminé protested. "And he did kiss me."

Kimblee raised an eyebrow. "Really? Did you cook for him?"

Naminé narrowed her eyes. It was like he never gave up. "Just drop the subject, okay? If you're so hungry, cook for yourself."

"Why don't we just go out for dinner?" Romberg suggested, trying to dissolve the tension. He was clutching his towel around his waste, not willing for it to drop. If it did, Naminé probably wouldn't talk to him ever again. He shrugged when the two alchemists looked at him. "You know, so we won't have to worry about who cooks."

"Sounds good to me," Kimblee said. The man stood up, figuring he should get ready. He was about to walk away but then turned around and faced the woman. He grinned. "You're paying?"

"Gee," Naminé said, her voice full of sarcasm. "What do you think?"

He watched.

He stared at her apartment complex from across the street, waiting in silence. He had wanted to follow her inside but she had been with two other men. Military men to be specific. They hadn't looked tough but he didn't want his target to escape during the inevitable scuffle. He didn't escape from prison just to allow her to slip through his clutches. After a few hours, he finally saw the two men emerged out of the building. Instead of their military uniforms, they were casually dressed. One had a silver pocket watch on him. An alchemist no doubt. The man waited. After a minute, she came outside, her own pocket watch hanging from her skirt's belt loops. As they headed down the street, he followed on the opposite sidewalk.

She, Naminé Thomson, was laughing at one of the men's antics on the street. He was riskily walking backward, his eyes on her, his arms moving in such an exaggerated fashion. The other one, the alchemist, was lost in his own thoughts. Soon, Thomson elbowed him, a grin on her face. The alchemist looked at her, simply smirked, and looked away again. She giggled at his response. Why was she so happy, the man wondered as he followed. Didn't she know that he was looking for her, that he wanted to take her life away? She didn't deserve such happiness. She deserved torture, misery, and death.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to imagine the different ways he would kill her, hurt her as she laughed with merriment.

"We're here," Naminé happily announced. She walked in and her two bodyguards, after a brief exchange of glances, followed her inside. The diner was very old-fashion. The floor tiles were red and the creamy wallpaper was starting to peel off. Still the place had a homey quality to it with the cinnamon smell and the people that just seemed to be like part of the place. The three military personnel found an empty round table and sat down. Then they looked at their menus. A couple of minutes later, the waitress arrived.

"Can I take your order?" She asked, glancing at the three.

Romberg looked at the menu again. Nothing seemed that appetizing and he wasn't sure what to choose. He tilted his head in Naminé's direction. "Whatever she decides on."

"Same here," Kimblee said.

"Um, okay," Naminé said, trying to find something that all three of them would like. "Sloppy Joe then with a . . . an ice tea."

"You're really not concerned about your figure, are you?" Kimblee smirked. He heard the bell chimed but didn't bother looking; Naminé had just kicked him under the table. He grimaced and gave the woman a dirty look.

The waiter noticed Naminé's pocket watch. "Oh. A woman with a military pocket watch . . . You must be the Lightning Alchemist. Word is that some serial killer is after you."

Naminé sharply looked up. So rumors were already starting to fly. It made sense that this part of town was on high alert. Nikolai Daniels had to be somewhere in the surrounding area because she didn't live far from here. For all she knew, he could be watching her right now. Along with the other customers in the place. "He's not a serial killer," she stated. "He only killed one person."

The waitress gave a tiny, sympathetic smile. "I also heard he wants to make you his second. You shouldn't be walking around so late at night."

"We're her bodyguards," Romberg told the waiter. "Nothing can nor will get pass us. Not on my watch"

"Really?" The waitress smiled. "You must be pretty strong men to be assigned such a job."

"We are," Kimblee said in a nonchalant tone. "The best of the best."

The Lightning Alchemist rolled her eyes. "I think that's enough compliments," Naminé said. "They don't need their heads to swell any bigger." She wanted the waitress to leave now. She didn't want to think about the past too much and bringing up Nikolai Daniels wasn't helping. Every thing of that night was flashing before her eyes, every single one of her mistakes.

The waitress started to walk away but then stopped. She turned around and looked back at the Lightning Alchemist. "If I were you, I wouldn't ask for bodyguards. I would handle it on my own. I wouldn't want the people around me getting involved. He might try to find another way to get to me. My friends, my family, even the innocent if he's desperate enough."

A serious expression donned the woman's features. "I'll keep that in mind," Naminé said.

"What was that?" Kaili asked. Vi and Naminé exchanged worried looks but neither replied to the little girl's question. The noise had come from the kitchen. It had been a rather sickening sound and none of them had liked it. Mentally drawing the longer straw, Vi stood up and started to walk to the hallway. However, Mr. Seether came to the living room before she could leave. Vi had started to back up when a child's petrified scream filled the room.

So much blood on his clothes, Naminé thought. She was awake but had yet to open up her eyes. She could still visualize the way he had looked that day. Back then, an eternity must have passed before she realized whose blood it was. The bedroom door opened and her blue eyes snapped open, staring at the ceiling. Heart thumping, she sat up and saw who it was. Immediately, her heart rate slowed down substantiously as she sighed out of relief. I'm such an idiot. Why would Daniels be here?

"Hurry up," Kimblee said. "Me and Romberg are ready to go to work. We would ditch but I don't think Gran would appreciate us showing up without you."

"Of course," she said, looking out the window. "I'll get ready."

Ten minutes passed. Naminé was on the sidewalk, walking between Romberg and Kimblee. The atmosphere was different today. They were walking in silence while the men shifted their glances in the woman's direction. She didn't notice; she was too focused on her own problems.

Romberg sighed. "What's wrong, Naminé? You're acting . . . Weird."

She frowned. "In what way?"

"You seem down about something," he finally said after some time.

She looked away. "I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. That's all."

"Oh." It was a stupid response but what else could be said if the woman didn't want to talk about it? Romberg was tempted to tell her that with him nothing would happen but he held his tongue. For some reason, he believed saying such a thing would upset her.

"Nightmares?"

Romberg looked at Kimblee in surprise. The Crimson Alchemist had been acting so indifferent so he found it odd that he was asking a question. He saw that Naminé made a face and knew that Kimblee had asked the wrong question.

"It wasn't that," she replied curtly.

"Really?" Kimblee said with a smirk, his voice full of disbelief. "Then why were you talking about your dead father last night?"

Naminé stopped walking. "You were in my room?"

"I was checking to see if you were there."

"And why wouldn't I be there, Kimblee? Give me one. Good. Reason."

Kimblee gave Naminé a hard stare before sucking his teeth and looking away. Did he actually want to say that he had believed that she would chase after Daniels in the middle of the night? Not really because that would be showing his concern for her. Besides, it was too early to argue with the woman and she seemed like she was in a foul mood.

Southern HQ loomed in front of them. The three military dogs started to walk up the stairs but halted. At the very top was Basque Gran. Naminé looked at her pocket watch. They couldn't be late - there was still ten minutes to spare. "Sir?" she questioned.

"I need Crimson for a mission today," Gran stated.

"Me?" Kimblee reiterated, glancing at Naminé. "I thought I had guard duty."

"Lightning will be fine without you," Gran said. "Romberg will be with her."

"That's reassuring," Kimblee muttered. Romberg gave him a dirty look. However, the Crimson Alchemist didn't notice. He was too busy studying the woman next to him. Did she honestly believe that he didn't notice that smirk on her lips? The woman was happy that he would be gone. Either she hated him that much or was happy to be spending some 'quality time' with Romberg.

"I'll miss you," Naminé said to Kimblee.

"Yeah, I'll miss you, too, babe."

He has no idea, she thought. With Kimblee out of the way, her plan would move smoothly. Romberg was easier to fool than Kimblee. He trusted her a whole lot more.

Kimblee looked away from Naminé. What are you up to?

"What's up with the wig?" Vi asked Mel. "You want to be a brunette for a day? Or are you trying to avoid a guy you cheated on?" Mel had invited the young woman over to her place because she needed some help. Vi had not been sure what sort of help was required and when she had finally arrived, she found it very odd that Mel was styling and cutting a wig on a plastic head. Vi had sat in the small apartment bedroom with Mel, watching the brown curls hit the floor. What was even more odd, the wig was starting to resemble Naminé's hairstyle.

Mel rolled her eyes. "Of course not," she said. "Naminé told me they need my assistance for a special mission. I have to be her look-alike and lure out this Daniels guy."

"Okay," Vi said, doubt in her voice. "But do you really think that Naminé would put you in harm's way?"

"She didn't want to but one of her bodyguards told her to do it," Mel explained. "Apparently he wants to meet me and take me out for dinner." She retrieved a bag in the corner of the room and pulled out red wig.

"And Naminé will be disguised as a redhead," Vi said slowly, trying to imagine Naminé with the wig on.

"Yep. I have to meet her in two hours and do the switch. It's going to be so cool. A mission with a gorgeous hunk."

Vi narrowed her eyes. This whole plan sounded very wrong and risky. Not only that, something sounded fishy about it. However, she couldn't place what that was now. Mel had just turned around with the Naminé wig on, asking how she looked. "Less makeup," Vi suggested. "She hardly wears any."

Back at Southern HQ . . .

Romberg looked at his watch, counting the last few seconds away. When the minute hand went over the twelve, he stood out of his seat, abandoning the load of paperwork on his desk. It was finally break. He sauntered over to where Naminé was working furiously. "Hey, Naminé?" The young woman looked up at him, curiosity written all over her face. He looked away, blushing a bit. "Do you want to go get lunch? The two of us?"

Naminé smiled. The opportunity that she had been waiting for had finally arrived. "Okay. Let's go."

"Really?" Romberg said, a bit surprised at the new revelation. "You really want to?"

Naminé nodded enthusiastically. "I really want to. Especially since Kimblee isn't here to interrupt us."

He watched her leave her job. This time, only one man was by her side. "She got rid of the alchemist," he muttered under his breath. She allowed the man to wrap an arm around her waist and pull her close to him. He waited for them to get a good distance away. Then he followed. He wasn't sure when but eventually that man would leave her side and then he would move in for the kill.

Naminé and Romberg arrived at the café. She then told him that she needed to go to the restroom and dashed in. Mel was waiting inside. When Naminé came in, she raised the shopping bag in her hand. "Your wig's in here," she chirped.

The Lightning Alchemist examined Mel's outfit and frowned. Her friend was wearing a miniskirt, a tube top, and high heel shoes. "You expect me to switch into that?" She asked, slightly horrified.

"It covers everything that needs to be covered," Mel said, reaching into the bag and pulling out her Naminé wig. She put it on, adjusting it only slightly and then looked into the mirror. "Just take off your clothes so we can make the switch."

Naminé walked into a stall and started to undo her jacket's buttons. "Do me a favor, Mel?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"When you're me, really pretend that you're me," Naminé said. "You see, this whole operation is between Kimblee and me. Romberg is out of the loop so he can be realistic. He's a crappy actor and therefore you can't tell him about all this." Lies upon lies. She hated this more than anything. She wished that Kimblee was here just so he can see through her plan and put a stop to all this. However, he wasn't and she was so close to the end.

"Okay," Mel grinned as she entered the next stall. "This is so exciting. My first real mission with the military and it's with a cute guy."

"I know what you mean," Naminé said, wishing she had a bar of soap to wash her mouth out. She was blatantly lying through her teeth and wondered about how much longer this charade would last. Romberg might notice the swap. He couldn't be that dense. As the skirt came over the top of the stall and Naminé traded for it with her pants, she hoped that everything would go accordingly to plan. She wanted to close this chapter of life by herself without any help.

He saw two women walk out of the restroom simultaneously. He frowned. Something was off with her. She didn't seem to look right. Then he realized what it was. The eye - it was green instead of blue. As if he had pointed out the mistake to them, the imposter took out a pair of sunglasses and put it on. The other woman lifted up her hair. His eyes widened as he licked his lips with anticipation. The one who was dressed in revealing clothing had a tattoo of an alchemic array. It was her in a disguise and most likely she was considering on ditching her bodyguard. The imposter went back to the eating area; she left the café all together. The man got out of his hiding place and started to follow.

Naminé entered the lobby of her apartment complex. She then pulled off the red wig and smoothed out her own hair. She looked over her shoulder. Did her plan fail? The woman had given so many dead giveaways like swinging her pocket watch or revealing her alchemic tattoo. She had hoped Nikolai Daniels would be hot on her trial for she wanted to get this confrontation over with. This time, she would not hesitate to kill him like she had four years ago.

She walked up the stairs all the way to her floor and then headed for her apartment door. As she pushed the key into the doorknob, she looked around. No one was in the hallway with her. Then she heard footsteps echoing from the stairwell. Did she actually want to go through with this? That was the question she asked herself as her blue eyes gazed down the hallway. Unfortunately, she had no time to come up with an answer; the man appeared out in the open. Naminé looked at him, removing her hand from the doorknob. She could no longer run.

"Nikolai Daniels?" She questioned.

The man grinned. "Naminé Thomson, the Lightning Alchemist." He ran toward her and the woman outstretched her arm in front, preparing to snap her fingers. But she was too slow.

Kimblee had just come back from the grueling task that Gran forced him to partake in and now he was tired. He saw the empty office and the amount of unfinished paperwork. The man groaned. There was no way in hell he would bother helping Naminé and Romberg. He wasn't in the mood. The phone rang and he glanced at it, slightly pissed off. Although he didn't want to, he picked it up. He didn't want to chance ignoring one of the upper-ups. "Hello?"

"Is Naminé there?"

The Crimson Alchemist sighed. It was one of Naminé's friends. Again. "No she's not. Who's this?"

"Vi. You're Kimblee, right?"

He raised an eyebrow before smirking. "I am."

"Explain to me what this mission is about."

The man made a funny face. "Mission?"

"Yeah. The one where you needed Mel to pretend to be Naminé."

"No clue what you're talking about," he said in a nonchalant manner.

"But Naminé said you knew."

Kimblee snorted. "I guess that means she lied to you."

There was a momentary silence before Vi groaned over the phone. "I'm such an idiot. I knew this was bad."

"I don't have all day on the phone, so whatever it is you want to say, spit it out already."

"I think Naminé went looking for Daniels."

Kimblee laughed. "Do you know how stupid she would have to be?"

"Are you telling me you never once got that feeling from her? That she was on the verge of being stupid?" When Kimblee didn't say a word, Vi went off into a rant. "I knew leaving her in your care was the dumbest mistake of my life! You don't understand her in the slightest! You're too busy being blinded by testosterone! You and that other guy are morons! Pure, foolish morons! If I was there, I would -!"

Kimblee hanged up the phone, missing the end of that statement. The phone rang again but the man didn't bother answering it. He would only end up wasting precious time. He had to go find where Romberg was. That man was the only moron around here.

Naminé's eyes opened up and she looked at her surroundings. She recognized the inside of her apartment instantly but didn't understand how she ended up in the living room. Pulling her arms, the woman realized that they were bounded by ropes that held them against the back of the chair. She struggled to set herself free but to no avail. Damn it.

"You're up." Daniels appeared out into the open, staring at the woman. He licked his lips as he pictured the way he was going to make her pay. But first he would take his time, make sure the fear appeared in her eyes. She was going to die as a broken woman. He took a chair off the wall and placed in front of the woman. Then he sat and stared at her. "I've waited for so long for this moment," he stated, taking out a knife out of his pocket. "Four long years I've wanted to kill the bitch that put me in jail. And here you are, beautiful and tied up. So vulnerable. This is so satisfying that it hurts."

"Bastard." The simple word earned a slap.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Daniels said, lifting the knife in front of his face. His eyes examined the piece of metal as mental images of pressing it against Naminé's red cheek filled his mind. The man could easily picture the knife slicing through her skin. He sighed. "Do you remember that night? When I killed your father?"

The Lightning Alchemist narrowed her eyes. "I remember well."