The moon was high up in the sky by the time Sakura found her way back to her apartment. She breathed a long, heavy sigh as she successfully unlocked her door, her soles clicking against the wooden floor of her apartment. Sakura took off her long trenchcoat, hanging in by the hook in her foyer.

The Princess barely flinched when she finally made it to her bedroom, turning on the light to find a humped figure sitting solemnly on her bed. Sakura only paused by the door, her eyes taking in the sight of her fellow Alice.

Tsubasa sat by the edge of her bed, his head slumped against his hands, elbows digging into his thigh. Sakura gently approached her bed, her bottom slowly sinking into the bed cushions as she watched his still figure.

Gently, she spoke up, "it's past midnight, Tsubasa, you should be going home...have you even slept the past few days?"

There was a muffled scoff. "Has any Alice slept these past few weeks?" came his muffled reply.

Sakura didn't respond. She patiently waited for him to unveil the purpose of his visit. And it didn't take long. Tsubasa lifted his head from his hand, finally looking at her with sunken, sullen eyes. "Is he...the scientist, is he…" He seemed to be struggling with the last word, finally whispering, "dead?"

Sakura breathed in deeply. She exhaled slowly as she nodded heavily. She turned away to stare glassily at the carpet in front of her, just missing the flash of grief that passed through Tsubasa's dark eyes.

"He was unlike any of the others I've…" Sakura trailed off, not wanting to face the horror of her work. "He was sweet, he was nice, and he...he knew it was coming. He said he doesn't regret it, whatever he did that made Master order an assassination, he wouldn't tell me what it was, said I'd find out in due time -"

"It was me." Tsubasa cut in, shoving his face in his hands again. "I…" his voice became muffled as he continued, "I asked him about the Mark of Death-"

"The Mark of Death?" Sakura asked with furrowed eyebrows, wondering why that name sounded so familiar.

Tsubasa continued, not bothering to indulge her, "He's a damn good scientist - and I...I shouldn't have gotten him involved."

"How do you know Dr. Yukito Tsukishiro?" Sakura asked, genuinely curious of how the two became acquainted.

Tsubasa lifted his head, facing her with an unreadable expression. He stared at her for a long time, a conflict of emotions whirling behind his irises.

Before neither could break the silence however, a quiet whoosh signalled Sakura's window being lifted and Mikan's arrival.

Both Alices turned to greet her fatigued state. Mikan stumbled into the room, her all-black attire stained in some parts with dried blood, an animal mask covering her face - as only certain missions required anonymity.

Mikan plopped down heavily on the other side of Tsubasa, pulling her mask off and slumping over to match his stance. With an exhale, she finally greeted them, "It's good to see you two outside of a mission." She reached nonchalantly into her pocket, pulling out a pill bottle, shaking out two pink pills into her palm.

"It's good to see you outside of a mission." Sakura answered, she tilted her head at Mikan's hand as she popped the pills in her mouth. "What's that? Ten milligrams?"

Tsubasa, rather, snatched the pill bottle from Mikan's hand. He scanned the label quickly. "FIFTY?!" He exclaimed, causing Sakura to whip her head towards Mikan in concern. "The Clinic gave you this?"

Sakura, reading Mikan's grimace, stood up angrily, "you can't take unprescribed pills! Do you even know the side effects of this? There's a reason we have a full-time doctor at the Alices HQ!"

"I gotta do what I gotta do." Mikan spit out, snatching the pill bottle back and pocketing it. "The human body doesn't make enough of its energy to keep up with my schedule."

"Because your mission roster is inhumane, Mik!" Sakura threw up her arms, "And energy is supposed to come from food! And sleep! Not pills!"

"Not everyone gets that kind of privilege, Sakura." MIkan hissed back.

"You're not a robot." Tsubasa spoke up heavily. "Master should know that. You're human. You don't have to -"

"I do, Tsubasa, I do." MIkan whirled around to face him steadily with a desperate expression. "one wrong move, one wrong word, someone dies. Someone who doesn't deserve it."

Unexpectedly easing the tension, Sakura's apartment buzzer rang.

The two Elite Alices froze, glancing at each other. Sakura stood up slowly, also giving her fellow Alices a confused look before sauntering up to her apartment intercom. "Hello?" She spoke into it, adjusting the screen's settings so that it showed a camera view of the front door.

Syaoran stood stiffly by the door, his hands stuffed in his pockets as he glanced around. He leaned towards the buzzer to respond, "Uh, hey." There was a brief pause before he continued, "I have to tell you something."

A smile stretched fondly across Sakura's face at the sight of her boyfriend and the sound of his voice. She waited patiently for him to continue.

Syaoran swayed back on the heel of his feet, glancing at the door again, then around to the street. He leaned forward into the buzzer, "um, listen, I...I don't much like standing out in the cold, really, or talking to a machine." He cleared his throat, adding, "not at all, actually."

Sakura giggled lightly, pressing the button to open the main apartment door. She turned around to find both Tsubasa and Mikan standing behind her with raised eyebrows.

Sakura scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, "um...sorry? I couldn't say no?"

Mikan, peered over her shoulder, grinning, "he's hot."

Tsubasa rolled his eyes at the other Alice, a little less impressed with the man's appearance. "You told him your home address?"

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. "Did I?" She answered absently. She ushered them back to her bedroom, continuing, "this is his first time here, though, don't worry. I'll just hear what he has to say." Sakura gently pushed them into her walk in closet, Mikan and Tsubasa both turned around to protest, but she had slammed the closet doors on them.

Just in time, her apartment doorbell rang. Sakura whirled around quickly, patting down her hair and adjusting her clothing as she made it to the door.

Inside her walk-in closet, Tsubasa quietly muttered to Mikan, "did you hear her sprint?"

Mikan waved him away, putting a finger to her lips as she pressed her ear against the door.

They heard the scattered footsteps, Sakura's light tone, and Syaoran's deep voice getting louder as the two walked into the bedroom.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?" Sakura's light question drifted from far away.

"We caught a break today. I thought you might want to come in tomorrow and have a look." Syaoran's voice was much closer.

"Aw, you didn't come here just to see me?"

His tone was half-sheepish, half-completely serious, "I did, I just needed a reason."

Mikan didn't have to peek to know Sakura was grinning. There was a short pause before Sakura spoke up, "I've got to go and take a bath...are you alright here? Fancy a cuppa?"

"Uh," it seemed as if Syaoran was taking his time contemplating whether or not he wanted a cup of tea. "Cream, no sugar, thanks."

In answer, Sakura muttered something cutely, causing Syaoran to chuckle, before her footsteps faded into the kitchen.

There was a short moment of still silence until his footsteps were heard shuffling around.

The closet door made no noise as it opened just an inch for Mikan to peek through. "Ooh, he is more handsome in person." She breathed, and again, Tsubasa rolled his eyes. He tilted his head, peeking through the small gap above Mikan's head.

Syaoran glanced toward the bedroom door, then slowly pulled open Sakura's bedside drawer. He gently shuffled through, finding nothing but books and the usual contents. Tsubasa's eyes narrowed as he followed the movements of the MIA agent."Is he searching her room?"

At that moment, Syaoran's head jerked towards them and his eyebrows furrowed. The two Alices slipped away from the door soundlessly, hiding behind Sakura's long coats and dresses.

Not long after, Syaoran had slowly opened the closet door, his sharp golden irises scanning the dark walk-in closet. He glanced on the inside walls beside the doors, fumbling for a closet light.

Mikan's eyes widened as she spotted Tsubasa's black shoes sticking out from under Sakura's maxi dress that didn't' quite reach the floor. In the dark, it blended in, but if Syaoran turned on that light -

Sakura's footsteps were returning. Syaoran withdrew his hand without flicking the switch. He pulled the door close, leaving a small gap between the doors just like he had found it. He quickly made his way back to sitting by the foot of Sakura's bed.

"Here you go." came Sakura's light tone. "Make yourself at home."

Mikan and Tsubasa curiously made their way back to the gap of the closet door, peeking through. Sakura was walking into her bathroom, but left her door partially open.

Syaoran sat by the bed sipping his tea, letting his eyes wander around the room - anywhere, but the open bathroom door. Tsubasa made a face as he glimpsed some skin. "What is she-"

Mikan shushed him, a smirk making its way up her face, catching onto Sakura's play.

Syaoran eye's inevitably landed itself at the partially open bathroom door. His eyes lingered before he cleared his throat, shifted, and looked away. He muttered something quietly to himself, lifting the cup to sip some more tea, but glanced down disappointedly to find that he had already finished it.

The Brit stood up to place the cup of tea at the nearest table - which, unfortunately, was near the bathroom door. His eyes lingered, again, a little too long, glimpsing black lace - oh sweet mother of - and more skin.

Syaoran tried to glance away - he did - but he found himself being pulled like a magnet towards the bathroom door. He slipped in, sidling up close to Sakura's almost bare body. His voice was low as he mumbled, "mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." came Sakura's smooth reply as she turned around to face him with a delightful smile. Her naked arms raised to pull him in by the neck as her back hit the bathroom door, shutting it fully closed.

The two Alices hiding in the closet waited for a while, Tsubasa grimacing and Mikan laughing silently until they heard the shower turn on. Tsubasa breathed a sigh of relief as he pulled the closet door open, finally able to steal out with Mikan.

"She had to lure him away with shower sex." Tsubasa grumbled, "why not food? Why not 'I'm going to the kitchen'? Why not 'I'm going to a restaurant and getting a two seater, wink wink'?"

Mikan's mind, however, was more occupied with something else. She froze on their way towards Sakura's window. She turned to face Tsubasa with furrowed eyebrows, "he searched her room. That's not part of a normal relationship."

"Like you would know about normal relationships." Tsubasa scoffed, but he agreed, turning around to glance over Sakura's bedroom. "We better remove anything that could blow her cover from her room." He flattened himself against the carpet, rolling so that his back was on the ground as he pulled himself under the bed to get something.

Mikan opened Sakura's bedside drawer, reaching under the lid to flick a hidden switch. "You think he's suspicious? Or being a good boyfriend and checking for bugs since, you know, he's a spy -"

"Which is why she should break up with him." Came Tsubasa's muffled voice from under the bed. "Honestly, why does Master let this go on? She's too young to be in a relationship." Tsubasa slid out from under the bed to give Mikan a pointed look, "You, too."

Mikan rolled her eyes at their Elites family worrywart, but her gaze softened at his next words.

"Relationships are messy and painful." Tsubasa mumbled, probably not meaning for Mikan to hear.

.

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In Plain Sight

Aspirator

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Ten Days Earlier

"I can't believe it's been two days since we invaded the Alices' headquarters." Anna exclaimed, leaning back and stretching her arms. She winced, her muscles still sore, slumping forwards to the conference table.

She garnered no response, as it turns out, the conference room had only a handful of their usual team. She glanced at Natsume, who was staring distantly out the window; Hotaru, who was busily typing on the computer, the flash drive with information Yuu had obtained from headquarters plugged in; Syaoran and Eriol, who were both looking over an upcoming MIA mission brief; and finally, Sakura, who was distractedly reading something on her watch, her eyebrows furrowed as if making calculations in her head.

Anna rolled her eyes at these workaholics. "Come on, we invaded headquarters, and a lot of us got injured. We should take a break or vacation or something!"

Again, nobody answered. Boy, it really was quiet without Koko and Kitsuneme around.

"Sakura, where are you going?" Anna's voice cut through the air, her innocent eyes searching Sakura's troubled Emerald orbs. Sakura had abruptly stood up, catching the gazes of most of the crew.

"Uh…" Sakura smiled weakly at Syaoran, the worry and anxiety in her eyes unmistakable, "sorry, I've got to go...Interpol mission and all that."

Syaoran frowned slightly, but let it go. "See you tonight?"

Sakura scratched the back of her head sheepishly, biting her lip, she shook her head slightly. "I...I don't think I'll be back tonight."

Eriol's eyebrows furrowed, glancing at his own watch. "It's 8 in the morning, Sakura. Good Lord, your mission will take more than twelve hours?"

Sakura smiled weakly again, evidence of her scattered state of mind, making no response. "Tomorrow, perhaps." She belatedly spoke to Syaoran. With one last glance and sweet wave, she sauntered out of the conference doors..

As Syaoran sat watching her back, he had a feeling it wasn't going to be the only time Sakura would disappear off for long periods of time like this.

Six Days Earlier

Syaoran was right. From that notable point on, Sakura had been showing up only briefly to the team members and barely had time to see him outside of the conference room. There was dinner that one saturday, but she was so exhausted, she fell asleep as soon as her auburn curls hit his pillow. Syaoran loved watching her sleep peacefully by his side, brushing his hand through her silky hair, and kissing her forehead...but he also wanted to spend time with her, you know, awake.

In the few hours sprinkled here and there between the past four days, Sakura had only been around the conference room long enough to welcome back team members who have been released from the hospital. On one Friday, Sakura had apparently dropped in at some odd hours in the morning, leaving a note of her presence and a box of scones as an apology for her absence.

Therefore, today had to be a good day, Syaoran decided. Sakura was actually present, for one.

"Mark of Death." Hotaru announced. They were going over what they had gathered over the past few days and catching Sakura up. "It's nonexistent outside of The Shadow's computer - that's where Yuu downloaded the information from."

"Ah." Sakura nodded. "What is it?"

"A form of virus, but it attacks the blood vessels. It's injected directly into the bloodstream." Hotaru stated monotonously, "It causes a generally torturous effect on its victim. There's not much information, only that it attaches to the blood cells. There's only symptom is the blackening of their blood vessels, but only at the latter stage of the disease. Also, the victim has unexpected attacks."

"What kind of attacks?"

"It doesn't specify." Hotaru glanced at her computer screen as if to double check. "And the last attack would kill them, inevitably."

"How long will it take for the virus to kill the person since it was first injected?" Sakura's increasing intrigue in the subject was surprising despite her exhausted state.

"Depends on the person and the treatment."

"It's treatable?"

"Yes, but not curable. The victim will eventually die."

Their attention was turned away when Koko walked in holding a black, wired box like some sort of prize. "Found another one!" He announced, plopping down and sliding the box across the table at Hotaru, who immediately set to work inspecting it.

Sakura recognized it at a glance. "A car bomb?"

"Yeah, I've developed a habit of inspecting my car before I leave," Anna frowned, not sure if she should be proud of her habit or upset that she had to develop the habit.

"They've tried to bug our flats, too." Syaoran frowned at the memory of searching his flat top to bottom.

"There was a booby trap outside my door this morning." Kitsuneme added to the conversation, flicking a rubber band around his finger. "I think they're having too much fun with this."

Eriol watched Sakura's reaction sharply, finally speaking up at her lack of a reaction. "You've got the Alices treatment too?"

Sakura turned to Eriol blankly, "the Alices treatment?" then she caught herself, "Oh, that, uh, not really." She shrugged, "I don't have a car - thanks, Syaoran - so I take the underground and someone usually picks me up for missions so that's harder to infiltrate, I reckon. I haven't the time to inspect my flat, though." Sakura frowned as she glanced absently to her right.

Eriol nodded. There was something in his eyes that made Sakura feel as if she should be more careful with her act. "You didn't sound surprised." Eriol stated, his tone light despite the accusation.

Sakura blinked. Quickly, she made up an excuse, "It sounds like something the Alices would do."

"You know the Alices well."

Sakura steadied his sharp stare with her own honest gaze, "A little, of course, that's why I was assigned to help your team."

Before Eriol could grill Sakura any further, the conference door room was wrenched open. A dark tuft of hair and stiff shoulder followed the glass doors. "Ms. Sakura." The agent dressed in a pressed black suit stiffly called.

Sakura reacted immediately, her mouth forming an 'o' and her eyes widening. "Oh no, I didn't -" She glanced at her watch, scrolling and reading the screen rapidly as she hurriedly stood up, "Oh, I'm going to be late." Sakura quickly pecked Syaoran's lips as she stuffed her arms in her trench coat. "Thank you, Goshima!" Sakura called out as she rushed to the door. The aforementioned man nodded stiffly, letting go of the door and walking away.

The remaining team just looked at each other in the aftermath of the Interpol agent's quick departure.

Eriol was the first to speak up. His tone was thoughtful, however, and he didn't seem to be addressing anybody in particular. "Wonder why Interpol keeps calling her away on missions if, well, this is her mission?"

Nobody could answer him.

Three Days Earlier

"Where's Sakura?" Eriol fell into step beside Syaoran as they walked down the MIA corridors.

Syaoran shrugged, a frown - that's been there more often recently - marring his features.

Eriol nodded, his azure eyes calculating as they both stepped into the lift. As soon as the elevator doors closed, Syaoran spoke up again, his tone had an edge to it, "What's on your mind?" Eriol took his time thinking of an answer, and Syaoran knew it. Syaoran continued, his voice starting to sound irritated, "You ask me where Sakura is every bloody day like I'm her keeper. When she is here, you watch her like a hawk. Every once in a while you have that look and you glance at me like I'm supposed to read your mind."

His partner sighed. All those years of working together did Syaoran good after all. "There's something strange about Sakura, is all."

"Something strange?" Syaoran answered distantly, his eyes watched the numbers in the elevator light up one by one.

"You remember when we attacked the Alices headquarters?" Eriol started.

"It was only a week and a half ago." Syaoran responded, his tone indicating that he didn't know where his partner was going with this.

"Natsume walked in the front doors and the machine said 'Alice Unidentified', correct?" Eriol didn't wait for Syaoran's nod, however, moving on. "Sakura walked past those doors and the machine - it really didn't sound like it was about to say 'unidentified'."

"What do you think it was about to say?" Syaoran glanced at his partner warily.

"...I don't know." Eriol answered truthfully, but hurriedly continued, "Listen, listen, mate. She reacted fast, didn't she? She aimed straight for the machine above the door. Now how did she know it was going to be there? My first instinct would be to attack the screen-"

Syaoran was growing impatient with Eriol's line of investigation, "What are you trying to say?"

"Just listen, alright?" Eriol patiently pleaded with his partner, just as the elevator ding-ed and they walked onto the carpeted floor. "And then we had to go look for her because her earpiece stopped working, right? When I found her she was fighting a woman - I think the door identified her as the Marquess. The Marquess was trying to get out to the garage, which was around twenty meters away - very close actually - and Sakura missed her."

"Just barely," Syaoran grumbled, but he didn't deny his partner's truth. They marched into the conference room without acknowledging the Americans, they were so immersed in their own conversation.

Eriol lowered his voice as not to interrupt the Americans' serious conversation, speaking in hushed tones as he sat down next to Syaoran, "But you saw Sakura stand there and bloody shoot out moving tires at, what, 45 meters per second?" (100 miles per hour) Neither Brit noticed a few of the nearby Americans start to take interest in their conversation. "And gas tanks! That's a minuscule target and it was moving at around 45 meters per second. Syaoran, listen, she could do that but she couldn't shoot at a woman standing still only twenty meters from her?"

Syaoran, obviously, did not like where the conversation was going. He shot Eriol a dark glare, and gritted out, "What are you trying to say?"

Eriol didn't answer, of course, his attention turning towards Hotaru. At the moment the two Brits strolled in, Hotaru was stating monotonously some interesting facts regarding their lead on the Mark of Death. They weren't quite sure the connection with the Alices yet, but it seemed an interesting enough topic to investigate.

"A researcher took up the study after the creator of the Mark of Death," Hotaru's eyes passed over the newcomers briefly in acknowledgement of their presence. "Her name is Dr. Kaho Mizuki, a researcher specializing in blood-borne diseases. There's no apparent link between Dr. Kaho Mizuki and Dr. Clow Reed, as Dr. Reed died in 1992 while Dr. Mizuki hadn't taken up the research into the Mark of Death until 2004. Her research, too, was highly secretive."

"A secret partner?" Eriol spoke up, engaging himself into the conversation.

"Possible, but no evidence." Hotaru shortly answered.

"Where is she now?"

"She mysteriously disappeared in 2009," Yuu spoke up for Hotaru, "she was presumed dead due to her research lab exploding on the same day. But there were no traces of human remains in the aftermath."

"Wait, hold on," Koko spread his arms to stop the conversation, turning fully to face the Brits. "What were you two talking about when you came in?"

Syaoran glanced sideways at Eriol, scowling darkly, but kept his lips shut.

Eriol gave Koko a hesitant look. But Koko wouldn't let the topic go, adding, "was it about Sakura?"

Syaoran, again, sent Eriol a sideways glance. "The paranoia's getting to Eriol's head." He responded in a clipped tone - which, to Koko, sounded like a yes, and to Eriol, sounded like the 'go ahead' to explain himself.

"I was just stating some details I noticed." Eriol then proceeded to relate all that he had told Syaoran to the rest of the team in the conference room.

There were skeptical looks, confused nods, and furrowed eyebrows all around.

Hotaru, not surprisingly, pitched in her side of the story the day they invaded headquarters, "After she picked me up from the airplane, she got around to where she needed to be without me telling her where to go."

"Maybe she has a good sense of direction." Yuu, ever the optimist.

"She knows Mikan." Natsume stated shortly.

"Sakura is an Interpol agent with British roots assigned to our team in our mission to take down the Alices," Syaoran burst out in annoyance, his right palm slapping the glass conference table for good measure. He startled several members, who jumped in their seats. "We blew her cover the first day! What more do you want?"

"It wouldn't make sense for someone to have two covers." Nonoko meekly offered. "It just doesn't seem practical."

"It'd be hard to keep a cover for so long, too," Anna added, to Syaoran's benefit, "while having a relationship."

Yuu saw the mouths open, the looks hardening, and the arguments coming on. He spoke up, raising his voice, cutting off the impending riot, "I think we're just being a little more paranoid with the events of the past few days. Finding car bombs, booby traps, the works, in our lives, it makes us suspicious of everything and everyone. The Alices may be smart, but we're smarter. If Sakura is not who she says she is, she'll be revealed to us in due time. But for now, we're going to proceed with the assumption of innocence until proven guilty."

"Well said, Mr. Diplomat!" Koko clapped cheerfully, despite the tension between the two opposing sides on Sakura's identity.

Syaoran, of course, had to put in the last word. "I trust Sakura." His gaze was pointed, amber eyes burning into Eriol's azure ones.

Eriol returned his partner's stare with a questioning look, "but do you know her?"

There was a minuscule waver in Syaoran's gaze that only Eriol caught.

The Day Before

2:18 AM

"Take off the mask."

The strangest thing was the fact that this situation did not feel at all strange to Natsume. It was two in the morning, and always the alert sleeper, Natsume woke up to barely imperceptible noises. So he sat up, gun in his hand, to a familiar all-black figure in a black mask. If it weren't for his almost cat-like eyesight, he wouldn't have been able to perceive her figure apart from the darkness.

"No." Standing with crossed arms in the middle of the bedroom, Mikan stomped her foot childishly. She demanded instead, "I want my necklace back."

The man kept up a steady stare, returning easily, "it looks better on me."

Natsume could just imagine Mikan rolling her eyes as she said, "It's a girl necklace."

"No wonder it didn't look good on you. Take off the mask."

"Are you saying you're the girl in this relationship?" The masked head tilted slightly. "No. I need it."

"The mask? Why?" Natsume almost sounded concerned at this point, but then again, Mikan couldn't concentrate with him getting off the bed and sauntering towards her -

"STAY AWAY." Mikan nearly shouted, backing up considerably. She turned sharply as she stepped back so that her back faced the open window. Natsume froze at the prospect of her escape. "No, the necklace. I need it back."

"For what?"

Muffled behind the mask came a frustrated growl, just like the ones Natsume was used to. Natsume smirked, to Mikan's further annoyance. "Just give-" Mikan's voice cut off abruptly when Natsume stepped forward cautiously. Mikan took another step back, stumbling into the window sill and sitting down almost as if she had planned on it all along. Regaining her voice, she lifted her chin as she spoke evenly, "I need to look at what's inside."

Natsume fixed his dark scarlet eyes on the mask in the general direction of her eyes. Though his face was calm, it was obvious to Mikan a million different thoughts were running through his head. She waited impatiently, pulling herself up on the window ledge. She checked her watch, knowing that she'll have to rely on it for mission information since she's without an Alices Communicator.

Something flickered across Natsume's mind for a second, as if that action looked so familiar on somebody else. He pushed it to the back of his mind for more pressing issues. "You're the one who gave it to me." He started at first, "why do you need to see it?"

Mikan didn't answer, pulling herself back further, and holding onto the window frames.

"It wasn't yours?" Natsume's voice was starting to rise as he forgot himself, his interrogating police persona stepping forward.

After a pause of hesitance, Mikan's small voice bled out, "I plead the fifth."

"We're in Britain, there is no fifth. Who gave it to you?" Natsume wasn't letting his questions go, deciding that her avoidance of his questions meant reluctant admittance.

Mikan checked her watch again. She gripped the frame of the window on both sides with both her hands. "He's not happy about what you're investigating right now, Natsume. They're watching you." She bounced on the heels of her feet, her muscles taut.

Natsume knew what she was about to do. "Don't you want the necklace?" He asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice. He lurched forward quickly as if to catch her or hold on to her - he felt silk-smooth auburn hair -

She was gone.

Natsume cussed under his breath, frowning. He shook his head, glancing at his bed briefly before pacing to the kitchen.

8:32 AM

"Have you seen Sakura?"

Syaoran whirled around, his eyes flashing dark umber in annoyance, "NO! Bugger off, Eriol." He growled angrily before stomping off under a dark, furious cloud.

Eriol lifted his hands, and glanced at fellow MIA agents in the break room, as if to say, 'what'd I say to set him off like that?' But he knew, of course. It was a testament to his closeness with the Brit that Eriol continued to pester him. "It's been almost a week, mate!"

Syaoran's pace quickened. Unfortunately for him, Eriol had just as long legs.

"Then why don't you go to her? Why are you waiting around for her to show up?"

Syaoran placed his cup of tea heavily down on the conference table with a loud clink!. No one else flinched, however, used to Syaoran's occasional slams and shoves with everyday objects. It's a wonder how he ever got on before Sakura.

"Do you even know where she lives? Have you ever been to her flat?"

The Brit gave his partner a glare.

"What? No bloody way! That's a tad strange, innit?"

The rest of the team glanced up at this. Well, all but Natsume, who was too busy pacing the conference room with a troubled expression.

"No hacks? No surveillance?" Natsume was questioning an annoyed Hotaru for the umpteenth time. "She said, 'they're watching you'." Natsume shook his head, throwing his arms down in annoyance, "They must've planted something."

"Or someone." Eriol offered, randomly butting into their conversation now that his partner was unresponsive.

Syaoran still did not like where this conversation was going. With a frustrated grunt, he stood up abruptly and stomped out of the conference room, rudely bumping into another stiff shoulder in the hallway.

Part of the team watched after him with a roll of their eyes or a sympathetic frown. Natsume, on the other hand, was more focused on the man Syaoran had bumped into.

"Hijiri Goshima." He muttered, freezing in place, an enlightened look on his face. Before anyone could ask for his thoughts, he marched into the hallway purposefully, calling out after the stiff back. "Hey!"

The Spy kept on walking, his slow paced steps looking almost robotic but the tension in his shoulders was not missed by Natsume.

"Hey, you! Goshima!"

If it were possible, Goshima's entire body stiffened. He slowed down, then whirled around reluctantly. A small, polite smile was already plastered on his face, however. "Yes?"

12:30 PM

"When's the wedding?" Syaoran was sitting in Tomoyo's lab, finding her company much better than her fiance's as of the moment.

"When Sakura has a less busy schedule." Tomoyo answered vaguely with her back turned to him.

There was a quiet pause as Syaoran mulled over Tomoyo's answer. Abruptly, he exclaimed, "You're putting it off!" The Brit, direct as always. "You promised him -"

"I did." Tomoyo whirled around, a nervous expression plastered on her face. "I will. I just...I want everyone to be there."

"Everyone...?" Syaoran raised both his eyebrows.

"My mother...and maybe when this whole Alice thing blows over." Tomoyo sighed, "you're all preoccupied right now and some of you are even in the hospital."

Syaoran sure couldn't argue against that.

"Anyway, I'm sure Sakura's told you where she lives." Tomoyo reassured the MIA agent on the earlier subject they had been talking about, shrugging lightly as she turned around to fix another gadget in her lab. "You've just never had the occasion to go."

Syaoran frowned, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "Eriol's being a-"

"-concerned best friend-"

"-prick."

Tomoyo sent him a look over her shoulder.

"He didn't question you when you two-"

"He did a background check on me, Syaoran." Tomoyo cut in quietly.

"What?" Syaoran sat down on Tomoyo's stool, as if needing to swallow the information. He leaned forward, "but we already did that for Sakura. What more does he want?"

Tomoyo sighed, dropping her tools and turning around. She leaned on hand on the island counter between herself and Syaoran. "Eriol gets these hunches," she gently stated, "and he must go find out about them, confirm it, you know that." Tomoyo hesitated as she said the next words, "He's...usually right." She looked up shyly at Syaoran's expression. "Let's hope he's wrong this time, alright?"

"He's wrong." Syaoran shook his head resolutely, "he's…" a thought seemed to have occurred to Syaoran, "...wrong…?" He sounded much less confident this time.

5:45 PM

"What's with this Clow business recently?"

Three heads whipped to the nonchalant teenager Alice.

"Youichi, you need to pay less attention." Mikan uttered in a completely serious expression. Sakura and Tsubasa nodded along just as solemnly.

His eyebrows shot up. "That's a first."

"I've seen that name before the A Team told me." Sakura lowered her voice, "In Master's office, I saw his name - and a box - I don't know what's in it, though."

"I think I've heard that name before this whole…" Mikan waved her hand about to indicate the entire situation. "Before all of this. A long time ago. Back to our graduation?" She looked to Sakura, who shrugged, indication her lack of remembrance. "Hmm. I think Yuka mentioned something about that, before she left." She went on to grumble to herself, "maybe it had something to do with her last mission. Or maybe it was Mr. Yukihira."

Sakura sent her friend a sympathetic look at the mention of her parents.

Tsubasa, on the other hand, was shaking his head disapprovingly. In attempt to divert Mikan's attention, he raised his eyebrows at the teenager. "What about you? What've you heard?"

"Nothing."

Three glares were sent in one direction.

"It's old news." Youichi shrugged, fixing the watch on his wrist self-consciously. "You can't find anything on it anyway. Unless, I don't know, you go to The Library."

Sakura and Mikan exchanged glances, to Tsubasa's chagrin.

"Oh boy." Tsubasa muttered, "Youichi, what've you done?"

Mikan checked her watch, standing up and gathering her things.

Seeing that, Youichi groaned. "I only see you for barely five minutes a week!"

"Aww, wittle Youichi misses me?" Mikan cooed, causing him to wrinkle his nose and grumble something under his breath. She turned around to address the older Alices, "I've got three back to back, will you-?"

Sakura was already nodding. "I'll stop by and get you some food." Quietly muttering to herself, "and burn that secret stash of pills I know you still have."

Mikan turned around, slightly patting her pocket to make sure her current pill bottle was still there. They weren't. "Hey! Did you-"

Tsubasa took three wide strides back, sending her a warning look. "These pills will kill you someday."

"My missions will kill me first if I'm not on my top performance." Mikan responded easily, giving herself a few jumping strides before tackling Tsubasa. After an entertaining tousle (for Sakura and Youichi mostly), Mikan snatched the pill bottle back, pocketing it and marching away with a 'hmph'. Tsubasa shook his head and sighed.

9:45 PM

Part of the team watched behind the glass of an interrogation room. Koko and Kitsuneme sat, tending to their wounds, as they watched attentively. In the room, Natsume and Hotaru were pacing around a stony Hijiri Goshima, peppering him with question after question. Occasionally, Hotaru would lean in, slamming the metallic table with her palms and causing a slight startle from their interrogatee.

"They'll crack him." Koko stated confidently.

"I don't know, Koko." Anna bit her lip, "he's not responding at all."

"They'll crack him."

Present Day

12:40 AM

"2A 345 Baker street." Syaoran muttered to himself as he looked at the slip of paper where he scribbled down her address messily. He looked up at the condo building. Hesitantly, he walked up the steps and stared at the door for a long moment. "Eriol's wrong." He muttered to himself. "He's wrong...isn't he?"

After about a minute, he slowly pressed the apartment buzzer for her flat number.

He tapped his foot as he waited impatiently for a sort of noise.

Finally a muffled but distinctly familiar "Hello?" filled the air.

Syaoran couldn't stop himself from grinning a little. He glanced around the street, feeling very awkward as he leaned towards the buzzer to respond, "Uh, hey." There was a brief pause before he continued, "I have to tell you something."

There was a patient pause.

Syaoran wondered if Sakura was going to respond or should he go on? Syaoran swayed back on the heel of his feet, glancing at the door again, then around to the street. He leaned forward into the buzzer, "um, listen, I...I don't much like standing out in the cold, really, or talking to a machine." He cleared his throat, adding, "not at all, actually."

Not a minute later, the buzzer sounded and the main door swung open.

1:11 AM

Sakura, fully dressed, handed Syaoran a towel to dry his hair. He took it with a frown as he looked at his phone.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, trying to peer over his shoulder.

"Anna called. She says it's urgent."

1:23 AM

"Oh, thank the heavens you actually answer your phone, Syaoran!" Anna welcomed the British pair melodramatically back to the MIA building. "Sakura, how is it none of us have your phone number?" Before Sakura could answer, however, she turned around quickly, "nevermind, come on, we found our Alices mole."

At that, Sakura let out a small "Oh." She numbly followed the team into the interrogation room, where Hijiri Goshima sat dismally with a ghoulish expression.

"He was pretending to be the middleman for MIA and Interpol, but his act was flimsy." Koko rolled his eyes, attempting to demonstrate but held back by his casts and bandages. "He's an Alice."

Sakura let out another faint, "Oh." Seeing multiple expectant pairs of eyes land on her, she realized she needed a more reactive response. "I...that's…" Sakura wasn't really sure what to say, "I'm...shocked. I-I need to report this." She whirled around, breathing deeply. Pacing herself out of the earshot of the team - but she knew Koko, or Natsume, or someone would try to eavesdrop anyway - she dialed the only number on her phone.

As soon as the other line picked up, Sakura breathed out quickly, "We have a situation." In which Tsubasa heard, help!

2:00 AM

Thud.

The team rushed into the interrogation room to find those stiff shoulders finally relaxed as it laid across the pristine floor.

Yuu, surprisingly the placid one, laid a finger on the man's neck. After a moment, he nodded resignedly, "we lost Hijiri Goshima."

"SHIT!" Natsume punched the wall opposite him.

Kitsuneme paced with a devastated expression, holding his head in his hands. He let out a frustrated grunt, then exclaimed aloud, "how did they get in here?"

"Every bloody time!" Eriol looked ready to flip the table in the interrogation room. He paced the floor instead. "He can't be the only mole in MIA."

2:43 AM

The Shadow barely flinched when he sauntered into Sakura's bedroom, turning on the light to find a humped figure sitting solemnly on her bed.

Sakura sat by the edge of her bed, her head slumped against her hands, elbows digging into her thigh. Tsubasa gently approached the fellow Alice, his bottom slowly sinking into the bed cushions beside her.

Gently, he spoke up. "Hijiri's a loyal Alice. He pressed the emergency button as soon as they cracked him. Master knew."

"We could've done something." came Sakura's muffled voice.

"NO, you couldn't have." Tsubasa sighed.

Sakura lifted her head from her hands just to give him a tortured look. "Why did it have to be me?" She whispered.

"Sakura, you know why." Tsubasa slumped too, looking distantly at the wall across him. "You had access."

"I could've been caught."

"You're fastest."

"Not fast enough if someone had checked in on him a little sooner."

Tsubasa didn't say anything for a moment, then quietly, he said. "It had to be you, Sakura. It was you or him."

Sakura straightened, turning to look at Tsubasa.

He elaborated somewhat reluctantly. "Sometimes, it's...it sounds selfish, but you have to save yourself. If you didn't kill him, it would've your third strike against Master, and the worst - by defying his orders. And you're going to risk being revealed. If Natsume and Hotaru could get him to reveal himself as an Alice, they can get him to unmask you. It was you or him, Sakura, and always," Tsubasa leaned in with a warning look, almost protective, "always pick yourself."

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"One wrong move, one wrong word, someone dies. Someone who doesn't deserve it."

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A/N: bit rough since most of this was done in one night. I apologize for plot holes (let me know though?). Two chapters in one day, yay!

Announcement One: Be patient readers, I know I've dropped some seemingly random new characters/information in the past two chapters, but it'll all come together. I promise.

Announcement Two: So I did update two long chapters in one day, but that is all you'll have for the next two (three?) months. My schedule is jam packed the next three months (insert grimace), and I won't have any time to myself until mid-August.

Announcement Three: Though updates will be very spotty and infrequent, I do plan on finishing this story. Thank you Broken Reveries for checking up on me, you're the motivation I needed to push forward writing this chapter and post it tonight.

Sorry, no postlude today.