KRYPTONITE

You called me strong, you called me weak, but still your secrets I will keep.

You took for granted all the times I never let you down.

You stumbled in and bumped your head.

If not for me then you'd be dead.

I picked you up and put you back on solid ground.

~3 Doors Down~

He was in deep shit. He knew he was. The moment he'd sunk his teeth into her skin he knew that he was going to be in deep, deep shit. Locked away forever, kind of shit, God, I'm a dumb fuck. He thought bitterly. There was no getting out of this one.

His demon responding to the sight of her panicking on a gurney as doctors wheeled her into the hospital, yelling about stats and medical mumbo jumbo, yeah that made for a fun time. His brainless ass rushing to her side, tossing people out of his way to get to her, she'd been terrified and he couldn't stand it. Her relief when she looked at him had been like a knife in his very soul, but security had quickly grabbed him once more and forced him down the hall away from her. His demon had raged, but didn't fully surface as if he too knew that such violence would not do them any good.

Now he was stuck in a hospital bed cuffed to the bed with demon binding spells as they tried to figure out what had happened. He knew they were going to find him guilty. He did the unforgivable. He'd bitten without consent. He hated himself for it, hated that even now he could feel her pain, her emotions, which were driving him slowly insane. How could he have gotten into such a mess? If he'd just gotten there sooner, acted faster, maybe he could have avoided all of this.

Inuyasha winced as he shifted his weight on the damn bed the next morning. Re-growing bones was always such a bitch; his shattered arm was hurting enough to the point he wanted to just cut the damn thing off. The wolf had been strong, that thought was sobering, to think, that girl had even lasted as long as she did against a raging demon.

He leaned back trying to get as comfortable as he could, exhaustion pulling him down from his lack of being able to sleep last night, knowing that the wolf was probably somewhere in the same hospital, only to sit up straighter when two cops came in the room, both looking pissed. Yep, he was definitely in the deepest of shit.

"Mr. Takashi, I'm Officer Lee and this is Officer A-Un. We have a few questions….." The young human started trying to look every bit as formidable as his demonic partner.

"David, can you get us some coffee?" The reptilian demon rumbled, ignoring the agitated look that crossed the younger man's face, but he nodded before stepping out of the room. Officer A-Un waited a moment; Inuyasha's unease settling like sour milk on his stomach.

"Now, son, this is what is going to happen. When my partner returns to take your statement you will tell him that you had her consent." Inuyasha's startled as the officer gave him a knowing look.

"I know you didn't, but Kagome and the other witnesses have all said that you have." She was covering for him? "Now I don't know what kind of man you are, but Kagome? Well, she means a great deal to some of us on the force, and knowing that you helped protect her, even if you broke the law doing so, means something. She didn't ask me to help you, but I know what her father would have done." He stepped forward, Inuyasha would have shrunk back had he been a lesser demon, instead he simply watch the reptilian reach out his hand, looking to shake his. He gave him his good hand, in a firm hand shake.

"Thank you for saving Lil'Higurashi," His voice suddenly sounded watery, as he stepped away from Inuyasha, clearing his throat. "You get her in another situation where she gets hurt and I will have you punished in the old tradition. " He rumbled harshly before falling into silent observation until Officer Lee returned and they continued with his statement. It felt more like an interrogation at times but eventually Officer Lee reviewed his notes, and seemed satisfied and with a warning not to skip town and a silent grateful nod they were both gone.

Inuyasha collapsed back against the pillows, he felt drained and confused.

Why would she have covered for him? It didn't make much sense. She didn't owe him anything. He could feel her, their connection still strong, he was concerned with the fact that he could sense her, but the demon that had been so vocal yesterday was once again dormant, or keeping its mouth shut.

Sensing she was in a lot of pain even sedated irritated him, he wanted them to do more for her, but knew if he were to react to her presence again that he would make matters so much worse for them both.

Besides, he shouldn't care. He didn't know her enough to reasonably care about her, but then again his demon had never piped up with Kikyo either. He never felt the need to be there for her, sure he liked her and all, but on a primal level he protected his girlfriend out of sense of chivalry, not out of love. Not that he loved some stranger, no she had simply been some primitive trigger for him. Seeing her about to be entrapped by the wolf, who wouldn't have responded to that?

Inuyasha closed his eyes. He couldn't wait to put some much needed distance between him and this mess. He was allowed out a few days later, still too tender to be back at manhandling rowdy drunks at the bar he was forced to set up camp on the couch everyday listening to Miroku and all of his enthralling stories about work and his relationship with Sango which appeared to have taken a back seat to Kagome's recovery. Miroku mentioned her every now and then but Inuyasha tried like hell not to twitch at her name. Instead he attempted to see his girlfriend more but she was apparently out of town for another photo shoot. She hadn't even seemed concerned that he had gotten injured, Inuyasha ground his teeth.

Author's Note:

I apologize for the absence. I have really struggled with this chapter. Blame it on losing half of it on a computer that decided to crash, or the Writer's Block I seem to have with it. Either way this particular chapter has fought with me and fought with me. I'm still not satisfied with it, but I have decided to move on. The upcoming chapters should be more forthcoming as they are already mostly written in some form or fashion.

I feel like this chapter will be one of those that we all just agree not to talk about.