DISCLAIMER: I don't own Digimon, but I do own the original characters introduced in this story and my other stories (except where stated otherwise here or elsewhere by myself).

A/N: Cheers again go to Crazyeight for beta-reading.

DIMENSIONS

BOOK SEVEN

Escapes

By Blazing Chaos

CHAPTER TEN

Phase One

Hawkmon

FRIDAY, 13th MAY 2011

Outside Tamachi Apartment Building 4, Minato Ward

11:42 JST

They were there already, so many of them, all lining the wall of the lowest floor of the grey apartment block. Cars and vans, in black, grey, dark green and white, parked about in a slapdash manner, the hurry to get inside far overcoming the need to meet parking regulations and keep the road clear.

A few civilians, naturally, had their attentions drawn, but kept their distance at the sight of officials and soldiers, rushing into the building in a fairly long stream. A few dozen or so, one of them estimated.

But that one, was far more than a civilian – indeed, he wasn't even human, even if he wasn't one of the military either. Yet, he seemed to have been drawn up in their matters, in their concerns and in their battles often enough that one could be easily mistaken.

Once again, he found himself fighting a battle, and once again (cringing at the memory), he found it was against his very own Tamer: Yolei Inoue, a rather passionate girl with a habit of letting her supposedly 'solid' head be overridden by her heart on the worst of occasions, and this was no exception.

"Yolei, what are you doing?" he called, gripping onto the neck of her top and flying backwards with all he could muster.

"Hawkmon, let me go! I have to get to him; they're going to kill him!"

"But they'll kill you too!"

"I don't care, I have to save…" she continued to rant, before Hawkmon frowned and pulled back more tightly, before quickly releasing her again to gag at how tight the neck of her purple top had been around her throat. She stumbled slightly, swinging around to face him on the floor behind her with an angered look.

"Yolei, what are you thinking of?"

"What are you thinking of?! You nearly choked me!"

"Sorry Yolei, but, I can't let you run in there."

"Why not?! We've got to save him, you have to trust me."

"You're not thinking straight! You have to stop yourself!"

Hawkmon froze upon saying those words, his mind harkening back to a disturbingly familiar time when he had said it before, a time when she, just like now, hadn't been listening to him regardless of his completely reasonable advice: all those months ago when Chiyo had taken control of her and she'd not been in her own mind.

It wasn't her fault but…in both cases she wasn't thinking straight, letting her heart lead and forgetting how much pain she would cause to herself and others in the process. Hawkmon frowned deeply, not wanting to raise this particular memory even if he knew it would prove his point very aptly. But…it still hurt how none of their Tamers were able to do anything to stop themselves under Chiyo's control – even their love or relationship with others made no difference. The only reason any of them had been freed was because Chiyo's further action's 'loosened' the bond on Mari, yet

"I have to…I must…we don't know…" Yolei continued, tears now blurring in her eyes and making Hawkmon even gladder he had chosen against making her relive the memory. She avoided her Digimon's gaze, turning her head and looking up to the apartment building. "He needs me," she mumbled, seeing the black pistols and machine guns in the hands of the military.

"But Yolei, he has Wormmon and Cyberdramon with him and Ryo – if we go in there, we'll just be a target."

"You could go in? Shurimon's perfect!" she suggested, pointing upwards to the floors above them as Hawkmon followed her eye line, briefly considering her idea before the quiet clicking of guns reminded her it was an insane one.

"But it's only an armour level, and those people probably have those electric guns like Mari…they'd kill me!"

Yolei gritted her teeth, clenching a fist defiantly. "We can fight back before they do that though. You're stealthy as Shurimon."

"If we fight back, Rayleigh will just use it against us," Hawkmon said, keeping back in the alleyway in which he had landed only a few moments earlier as Halsemon, well out of sight from the civilians and military. If they saw them, they'd be caught for sure.

The girl sighed, loosening her fist, nodding and running a hand through her purple fringe. "Yeah, and I bet if we go in all guns blazing as Valkyrimon they'll…" she began, before stopping and shuddering even more than before. Hawkmon imagined the idea – it wouldn't be pretty, and certainly would either result in hostages or deaths, even if they themselves would probably be relatively safe. He looked out to her again, a slightly more defiant look on her face once again. "I'll call him then!" she decided, reaching for her pocket and pulling out a small, black cellphone. Putting the speed dial to quick use, she had the phone on her ear and ringing before Hawkmon could even think of the possibility it could be tapped. "Come on, have your phone on this time, please!"

Still, he knew that, seeing the redness in her eyes, the tears on her cheeks and the fear on her expression, it would be far better to let her go ahead with the call than risk her running out there again where she would certainly meet a bloody end.

"Ken, you're safe! Listen, you're in danger, you have to…hello? Hello? KEN!" she cried, Hawkmon staring up at her in horror in the hope that she hadn't been heard in her shouting. "Ken!" she said, more quietly this time but with no less alarm and fear.

Wordlessly, she turned, taking one step towards the apartment block as Hawkmon felt it was hopeless. He couldn't stop her now, not without being seen or without hurting her more than he could bear and inevitably drawing too much attention to themselves either way.

He thanked Goddramon when, from behind them in the alleyway, a call stopped them in their tracks. "Yolei!" it cried, evidently male and very familiar.

Both girl and bird swung round, eyes widening when she saw the large form of Raidramon taking up a pretty large amount of the alleyway as he rounded its corner. An ever-goggled Davis clung to his back with one hand whilst his other held his D-Arc out, holographic screen lit up and ablaze with movement. Behind him, using two hands for extra safety, his brunette sister, Jun, looking rather dishevelled and disorientated, and his girlfriend's mother, Yuuko Kamiya, brown hair loose rather than tied in its usual bun. No time, perhaps? They all looked to be in a hurry in any case.

"Davis, what are you doing here?" Yolei asked, her voice sounding saddened still and her face still red, something which didn't go ignored even with the usually fairly oblivious boy as he leapt off the back of his partner, before Raidramon could even reach a proper stop. "Hey, are you okay?"

Yolei looked into his eyes, Hawkmon seeing clearly that she was on the edge of tears. "He's dead…they've got him…" she cried, tears running loose again as Davis stepped forward and gripped her in a comforting hug, something that Hawkmon was glad of as he knew that giving a similar comforting gesture was very difficult for him given his rather diminutive size. Behind, Jun and Yuuko stumbled off Raidramon, a glow then filling the alleyway as he returned to his rookie form, Veemon.

"Yolei, please don't cry," Davis said, still looking uncomfortable with such a situation as Yolei's head rested on his shoulder. As much as he'd progressed beyond simply standing there and looking shocked when a girl burst into tears, he evidently still hadn't mastered the art.

He showed this fact to an even greater extent when he paused, putting his hands on her shoulders and moving his head back with his eyes widened. "Wait, did you say he's dead?!"

"He…"

"He's not dead Yolei," Hawkmon interjected, not wanting his Tamer to go into an inevitable flurry of emotions again. He turned, gesturing for Davis towards the building behind and, in particular, the cars at its base. "They were here when we arrived – and we think that Ken's still in there."

"Have you called him?" Davis asked, eyes determined and in 'battle mode'.

Yolei nodded wordlessly, frowning deeply before answering. "I heard a thump, and…the line cut out," she said sadly. Davis looked defiant still, taking a few steps towards the road between them and the apartment block.

"Then let's go and save him before those military guys tear them to…"

"Davis, are you stupid?! They'll kill you!" Jun interrupted, proving like all siblings to be an effective foil to Davis' misjudged burst of courage.

The messy-haired brunette turned back, looking unfazed as Veemon reached his side, looking unsure what to do and awaiting some clear direction. His Tamer clenched a fist, giving an empowered smile. "No they won't, Magnamon could break in there no problem; I don't even have to be involved!"

Finally, Mrs Kamiya spoke up, having stayed rather quiet and looking rather saddened so far whilst their conversation had transpired. "Those people have guns…and they have your friends – you don't want to provoke them," she said, her voices carrying a strong tone even if fearful, the woman evidently applying the same fear she must've had for her own children to these ones too.

Davis went to object, but hesitated, looking down to Veemon and gritting his teeth. "We have to do something…"

"There's nothing we can do," Yolei sobbed, looking once again up at the building. "If we run in, they'll kill us, if we attack, they'll kill them…"

"They might be able to fight back though!" Veemon suggested, clenching one of his fists. "Ryo never stands by and lets it happen any other way, and I know that Wormmon wouldn't either!"

Hawkmon gave his fellow Digimon a bewildered look that went rather unnoticed until he spoke up. "How exactly do you know that?" he asked, Veemon looking across to him with a similar look of confusion.

"Uh…know what?"

"That Ryo 'never' stands by – we've barely ever fought beside him and correct me if I'm wrong but he hardly talks about his past."

"Well, I dunno…none of us would ever let bad things just happen without standing up and fighting," Veemon insisted, still looking very unsure about the question and his answer. Hawkmon was left pondering, but still wasn't sure entirely what to do about his thoughts on the matter.

"Yeah, there's still a hope. We just have to trust those guys."

"Hmm..." Yolei answered weakly, looking upwards to the building as Davis seemed off-put by the lack of a rousing response to his sentiment. Yuuko stayed silent and contemplative, probably about her children, Jun meanwhile looking anxiously at the military vehicles across the road. As Hawkmon watched, she shook her head from it, breaking the silence that had fallen since Davis' words and reaching out to Yolei.

"Hey, Yolei, did you call your folks yet?"

"Uh…no…" the purple haired girl answered, her head dipping slightly in guilt. Hawkmon looked sadly up to her, knowing that she had become swept up in the business with saving Ken. "I was sort of hoping that he'd go after them afterwards."

"Where are they?"

"Well, my parents are at work right now…my dad's away on business, and my sisters and brother are in university or away with friends…but…my mom's store is only a few blocks away from home…I have to call her," she decided, reaching for her cell phone. She paused, her gaze lingering on it periodically as she held it out, a contemplative look to her eyes but a blank one to her mouth, perhaps even a frown. "But…what if that's what'd get them caught? Maybe they are tapping us…maybe I shouldn't have really called Ken earlier?"

"I guess…they could be," Davis answered, the possibility evidently not having occurred to him. "I hope Kari's okay, she called me earlier to tell me to go and help out her mom."

"Yeah, I was there. Takeru's gone to find his dad, and Cody and Kari have gone to find his mom and also Cody's mom…but…that means they're probably all in danger. What should I do?"

Davis looked rather unsure under the 'spotlight' of Yolei, not wanting such a huge decision on his back as he looked to his sister for guidance. She shrugged, his eyes moving to Hawkmon who began to ponder the issue in his mind.

"If we just draw the police to her mother…then…she could be in big trouble, but…at the same time, they're all going for…"

"Call her," Mrs Kamiya interrupted, only the slightest of smiles of reassurance and confidence in her suggestion on her otherwise deeply saddened face. "She'll want to know that you're safe,."

"You know, I am getting the impression that she's not really talking about Yolei and her mother here," the red and white bird mused, seeing his Tamer nod in agreement. To Hawkmon, she simply looked relieved with someone finally making a decision for her, her fingers activating the speed dial and moving the device to her ear.

"Please answer," she mumbled, her eyebrows coursing in worry and frustration as she glanced about at her now-silent observers.

A look of relief swept across her face as a barely-audible sound came from the device.

"Mom, are you okay? Yeah, I'm okay…I'm with Davis right now…huh…where are we?" she said, looking about as if she had actually forgotten where she was amongst her worry and fear. "We're heading to meet up with everyone else," she said, a white lie. Hawkmon knew why: her mother wouldn't want to know how she was risking her life right now by…

It was at that moment that a sharp feeling shot up Hawkmon's back, eyes tensing as he felt something…wrong. Unfamiliar, yet unjustifiably wrong, alien perhaps. He felt his eyes ache, Yolei giving him a bewildered look as she glanced at him and pulled the device away from her ear for a second.

"Are you alright Hawkmon?" she asked. Was it that noticeable? And what was it?

Hawkmon didn't answer right away, instead looking about periodically to see if there was any clue of what he had felt. Yet…there wasn't…there was nothing at all. Nothing had changed, nothing had arrived, just…nothing.

But he didn't seem to be the only one, and he didn't seem to be the worst one affected either.

"Davish…I can feel something…" Veemon said, eyes dilated and his small reptilian hands clutched into fists. Davis looked down from where he stood with his back against the alleyway wall and his arms crossed, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Huh? Like what? Something…uh…evil?"

"I don't know but…something's telling me to get away from it now!"

"What is it?" Jun asked apprehensively, Yuuko's shoulders tensing in fear at the new development and her glance moving about the narrow passage they found themselves in.

"You sense that too Hawkmon?" Yolei asked, drawing the bird's attention back to his Tamer. He nodded unsurely…what was that? Veemon seemed to be far more affected by it than he did…but…how did he know to get away from it? Hawkmon felt more curiosity than fear about the source of whatever sent this feeling straight to the Digicore of both Digimon – just what was it?

"Yeah, and…" Hawkmon began, but was suddenly hit by an even stranger feeling.

Relief.

Veemon glanced about in confusion and anxiety, whilst Hawkmon simply had a strong case of the former. "It's gone," the blue Digimon said, the same sense of apprehension remaining in his voice from before.

Yolei, taken by surprise by a sudden shouting from her mobile, put it back to her ear. "Calm down, calm down, I'm here…listen…I'm going to try and get there but I need to stay low for a while…I'm sorry…"

Hawkmon felt an odd twinge of guilt despite his bewilderment as Yolei looked tearful again – it was all because he was with her. Sure, she would never have had those same adventures without him, without finding out about Digimon and having her own partner just like those originally chosen…but…was it worth the risk of her losing her life? If not her actual life then at least her lifestyle: neither being 'on the run' nor in jail sounded like fun from what Hawkmon knew about those prospects, but both seemed fairly likely now.

Sure, they had had the risk of such before. A thousand and one Digimon had sworn their death, along with some humans to boot, and he was certain that far more would do the same in the future. Yet, despite them also running the risk of destroying their homes, their city, their planet, so many times before, it seemed incomparable to that very same planet, that very same city, their very own home, declaring such a decree. So much for home being safe – right now he couldn't think of anywhere safe in the whole of Japan, and, save for running to (and, for that matter, locating) someone like Willis or Michael in America, or any of the others they had met on their Davis-dubbed 'World Tour'. And, even then, what was to stop this state search from becoming an international one? Extradition, execution, or maybe even simply excommunication from society, to be locked away in somewhere as bad as Guantanamo if not worse. All those thriller movies which they had been to see as a group, usually on the urge of Davis or Takeru and the revulsion of Cody, all portrayed the 'other world', away from civilian eyes, as a horrible place of death, pain, brutality and innocents being killed simply because they knew someone who wasn't.

And then, there was the other 'other world', always an option and seemingly, given the destination they had been given by Izzy, their current choice. But, the Digital World simply wasn't made for humans, well, at least not the bit they had been to before when in the Southern Quadrant (at least, before it all became one and the same). The 'Southern Region', as it was now unofficially dubbed by a combination of Izzy, Ryder, Henry and Hypnos (so, in all honesty, the full 'certification' required for a name to become official), was the harshest of all four regions. Life and death was a fact of life, anything on its lowest plane was at constant risk of abduction, and even the more complex and safer higher levels were still rather risky and unpredictable. The City of Domain and Tibo Village, on the Plains and Mountain levels respectively were the greatest signs of development that they knew of in that region, and knowing the nature of the Digital World, Hawkmon suspected that even they could already have been lost or reformatted.

To be fair, the Southern Region was the worst. They hadn't explored most of the areas yet, but if what some had said was right, the Eastern Region was their old home, although whether its peace had been maintained with its noisy neighbour was unknown. Perhaps the other two regions would be hospitable too, but, even then, Hawkmon knew that in doing so he would be taking his human Tamer to a world where she simply didn't belong. "I suppose it's not like I belong here either, but with her here it seems like home."

Still, anything would be better than death for her and perhaps even himself too. But, could they really survive there for how long they needed? Not that food would be an issue, but what about sanity? And what about people like Jun and Yuuko who seemed to be along for the ride? This could easily end very badly.

Hawkmon frowned, looking out at the vehicles again as Yolei finished her call sadly and tearfully. His eyes analysed their forms, all so threatening now but before only a sign of government involvement in their battles. Yet, as he looked closer, he noticed something far more curious.

Soldiers were rushing…away, into the vehicles. Did they already have Ken and Ryo? What had happened? The soldiers' fairly slow and cautious pace on the way in, perhaps trying to secure their prey with as little attention as possible, had been replaced by a flow out of two dozen or more soldiers, all getting into the vehicles.

"Are they done?" Davis asked, staring over at them with a curious look in his eyes, just like everyone there began to do. Was this it?

Hawkmon looked up to Yolei, the girl now off her cell phone and instead looking quite worriedly at the sight, as the first of the cars and vans began to drive away. "Have they…got him?"

"Maybe…gee, they sure packed up pretty quick, huh?" Veemon mused.

Yolei looked down to the diminutive blue creature, a look of wondering on her face, one which brought worry to Hawkmon's as he pondered what she wondered. "Wait…then…maybe they haven't got them," she exclaimed, taking a step forward as more vehicles drove away, a deeply emotional tone still hanging in her voice and pushing her every move, even irrationally. "Maybe they're in hiding and need our help! We have to save them!"

"But if they are, they'll…" Jun began.

"Yolei, stop!" Hawkmon called, but the girl was already at full pace, ignoring the brunette and her partner's words and darting towards what could be a fatal error out of the alleyway. As the final few vans pulled away, Hawkmon's eyes widened, before clenching shut in contemplating. "If they see her…even when they're pulling away…they'll…they'll…"

There was no choice about it. He had to follow. And so, with a flap of the wings, he swooped after her, following across the concrete as tyres rumbled against it, each flutter filled with more and more force as he rushed after her. Footprints followed behind more slowly but still running, as Hawkmon's eyes turned to look at the cars driving away from them.

Would the drivers be oblivious enough?

Would Ken and Ryo be alive?

And, even if they were lucky now, would they be lucky later?

As he cast his eyes back to the purple haired girl, his Tamer and best friend, he pondered whether any of them would retain any sanity after the end of this – if there was an end that allowed them to retain anything at all, that was.

The shadow set in over him as he welcomed the cooling embrace of the porch over the doorway, such a familiar setting yet one so alien right now. He followed Yolei down the corridor to the lift, where she stood impatiently, staring up at the numbers.

"Yolei, what were you thinking?" he asked, hearing annoyance in his own voice which he regretted.

"If we don't see if they're here quickly, we'll never have a chance to catch up with those cars."

"But Yolei, they could've seen us!"

The girl gritted her teeth, shaking her head. "I'm sorry…I know, I acted irrationally but…we're alive."

Jun, Yuuko, Davis and Veemon reached the lift, all looking with concern at Yolei as the doors shunted open with a clunk. Without a word, she stepped in, her companions quickly following along behind lest they be trapped on the lowest floor. A passing resident gave a curious look, but it was evidently not enough to make him realise before the doors closed again.

Hawkmon felt odd, trapped in a box moving upwards when he was so used to moving by flying, even if this wasn't his first experience in one of the metal contraptions. Yolei tapped the floor impatiently with her foot, as the others seemed to be trying to psyche up the courage to talk. It did not surprise the Digimon who was first to manage the feat.

"Yolei, seriously, what the hell were you thinking?" Davis asked, looking rather annoyed with the behaviour of his fellow Tamer. "I know you want to save Ken, but that was just…"

Yolei ignored him, chirping "our floor" with a slightly guilty tone as the lift doors reopened and she stormed out into the corridor. She barely took a look back, Hawkmon following after through the air as they went along the all-too-familiar hallway. Those cream walls, that brownish carpet, the not-cheap but not-expensive door numbers, a typical household for a middle-class family here in Tokyo. Of course, the household they were about to visit wasn't exactly home to a typical middle class family.

Reaching the door, Yolei swallowed hard, rapping her knuckles against it and calling to the inside. "Ken," she said, her voice half-shouting, half-whispering as she daren't draw the attention of the neighbours. "Are you t…?"

She stopped talking, as the door opened, creaking so slowly on its hinges as the gap drew wider and wider, revealing a figure, one which sent a burst of widened eyes went up amongst the group.

"How?!"

TO BE CONTINUED…

A/N: Yet more English to English translations for those for whom certain terms aren't local: a 'fringe' is what you may know as 'bangs', or the hair right over or on the forehead. And, again, a 'lift' is an 'elevator'.

Until next time…

B.C.