So, I wanted to post this several days ago, but I haven't been able to get around to it because Physics, work, and swim are all bitches when placed together. I hope this chappy isn't too horrible. It was kind of rushed and the like. Hope you like it though!

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt in any way, shape, or form

Chapter 11: Reunion

"Monk, Ayako, make wards and paste them around the room. If you have enough left, make wards for the children's room as well," Naru ordered even as he slipped his way to the ground beside Gene where Monk had placed him.

The pair nodded, rushing into their rooms and returning with the supplies they'd need. They set to work, quickly scribbling on rectangular sheets of crispy white paper.

Gene breathed harshly, eyes closed, leaning heavily into Yasu's shoulder. "I told you that we were screwed," he whispered, glaring psychically at his twin. He reached out a hand, twining their fingers together. "What are we going to do, Naru? We can't exactly help Mai if we're being attacked."

Naru sighed, squeezing Gene's hand in reply. "I don't know. The sun will be rising soon. I don't know if that will do anything, but we can always hope." He dropped his head back against the wall with a quiet thud, grunting against the pain. Exhaustion owned his body, making it hard to think. "If we get any sleep, we'll try to help her then."

Gene nodded, cracking his eyes open. He watched Rex deposit Kamin and Tamaki on the floor. She corralled them in a corner before winding herself around them. Huffing, they curled up with her, resting the heads on her side.

"Tamaki had a dream," Naru ventured, remembering what had transpired less than fifteen minutes before.

Gene glanced over at him, ears open and eyes suddenly focused. He was still feeling the effects of his PK demonstration, then of passing out and not breathing, and he figured he'd be feeling them for a while. The nausea had made a reappearance, twisting his stomach into a tightly knotted mass. Silently, he hoped that he wouldn't have to puke while they were still being attacked. The bathroom was an obvious no go for the time being. "What was it about?"

"He dreamed of Mai and that cage you told me about," Naru started, clutching the front of his shirt and coughing.

As Naru told him everything Tamaki had told him, Gene curled in on himself, the pain slowly increasing. "Well," he said stiffly, "We'll just have to see what we can do when we finally have time to sleep. Tamaki will have to come with us, and Masako if she can manage it." Hating the idea of having to drag any of others, especially one of his twins, into the lion's den, he scrunched up his nose.

"Naru, they're coming down the hallway. They just passed the sleeping quarters," Lin called to them, eyes focused on the monitors.

Ayako and Monk burst through the Base door, slamming the door shut. "Those People are scary as fuck!" Monk shouted, turning back to the door where Ayako was already slapping charms.

"Monk!" Ayako snapped irritably, "Language! I'm going to get the window." She hurried to the window, and was just laying down her fifth charm, two across the glass panes and three across the bottom, when something flew against the glass. "What the hell was that?" she shouted, stumbling back from the glass.

"Well, I don't know, you were the one standing in front of the window," Monk said with a slow roll of his eyes.

"I wasn't paying attention to what was going on outside! There shouldn't be anyone out there!" she shouted, backed against the one table in the room.

Yasu stood slowly, pulling Gene to his feet. Gene grimaced before dragging Naru to his feet. Naru's already frowning mouth deepened. "Masako, do you sense any new spirits?"

"There are about twenty spirits that have surfaced, none of them are Mai. They're attaching themselves to the bodies," Masako frowned, brow furrowing. "Ash's soul is… connected to all of them. But… how?"

"Can you see what they are doing?"

"They've just… stopped. They're standing outside the door, but they're not making the bodies do anything. I don't know how they managed it, but there are several outside as well, as still as the ones in the wall. I don't like this." Her eyes snapped open, quickly backing away from the door.

"We can't do anything about them right now," Lin said before either Naru or Gene had time to say a word. All eyes turned to him. "Naru, Gene, you two get some sleep. I suspect you'll be needing it later. For now, I'll watch the monitors. If the bodies start attacking again, we'll wake you."

"But-" Gene began.

Lin cut him off. "No buts. Go to sleep. Now." He glared them down, his hands paused over his keyboard.

Scowling, Naru and Gene, still holding onto Yasu, moved against the wall opposite the monitors. Sinking back down, Gene dropped his head against Yasu's shoulder, letting out a long, involved sigh. He curled his knees into his body once more, pressing against his abdomen with his thighs. He unfastened his fingers from Yasu's, instead wrapping his arms around his knees.

Naru let his head fall against his chest, breathing deeply. Before slipping off to sleep, he muttered, "Yasu, do an in-depth search on the house's history. I want to know when Ash became the owner, and who had passed through its doors. Dig up everything you can, from deaths to marriages. Go back as far as you think is necessary, but twenty years should be enough."

"Will do," Yasu murmured, glancing over, but the twins were already plummeting into the dark reaches of the spirit world.

…..

Groaning, Gene and Naru sat up. "God, I hate when I just get slammed into the floor like that," Gene grumbled, stretching his back.

"There is no floor here," Naru shot back, glaring around at the pure black of their surroundings. He rubbed at the back of his neck harshly as if trying to release a knot of tension.

"Daddy, Dad, are you alright?" Tamaki asked, sitting between the pair. He looked back and forth between them, assessing their faces for any pain or damage. When he didn't find any, he got to his feet. "Mommy is that way," he said certainly, pointing in front of them. "We're going to get her out, right? She's coming home with us to help us with the scary people."

Naru nodded. "We're going to try to get her out," he promised, standing and jerking Gene to his feet unkindly. "Show me the cage you two have been talking about."

They were silent for a long moment, simply trudging along, hoping Ash wouldn't come back to his prison any time soon. "Will you two have enough power to free them?" Gene asked, glancing over towards his twin, "I know you have a lot of power, but so does Ash."

"I don't know," Naru said truthfully, glancing over his shoulder cautiously. He'd only been in the spirit world a few times over his twenty some odd years of life, but he always felt like he was being watched, like he was an intruder in another's land. "But we have to try. I don't think we have any more time to let her stay in that cage. It's now or we're all screwed."

Gene nodded, but he couldn't help wondering what would happen to both him and Mai once they rescued her. He sure as hell wouldn't be able to continue residing in her body. He'd either have to find a new body that's soul had been destroyed, or be destroyed trying to save the others from Ash. He'd rather not be destroyed, but if it meant saving the others and letting a soul stay with its body, he was completely fine with it. Mai, on the other hand, her body was under so much stress. He didn't know if it would be functioning correctly when she returned to it. The internal corrosion would need time to heal. And the child… He didn't want to think about it. "There it is," he said as the cage came into view.

The cage shone brighter than before, the thorns sharpened nearly to the point of a needle. The vines had thickened, closing off the gaps between the bars until only a sliver of the inside was visible.

"Dear god," Naru whispered, staring at the cage with horror. "He's a monster. He built this… just to keep them locked up?" He cautiously took several steps forwards, unconsciously moving towards the door. Through the vines, he glimpsed a mop of chocolaty brown hair. "Mai!" he shouted, dodging through the thorns until he clamped down on the bars, the vines shrinking away from his touch, "Mai!"

The brown haired girl spun around, eyes wide. "Naru?" she whispered, stumbling away from the small Hispanic boy standing beside her. "Oh my god, Naru!" Mai's hands shadowed his, warms against his. "How? How are you here? I've missed you so much." She grasped his face, pulling him in for a kiss.

"I've missed you too," he whispered with near silence, pressing back in for a longer, deeper, hungrier kiss.

"Hey, you two, this is a very touching reunion, but my guess is that we don't have much time. We have to move quickly," Gene said, gently laying a hand on Naru's shoulder, breaking the pair apart.

Mai's eyes were watering as she glanced up at Gene and finally back at Tamaki. "I knew you'd come for me," she whispered, reaching through the bars, careful not to touch the bars or edge if the metal siding. Her eyes were brimming with tears ready to overflow. "He took her," she whispered.

Confused by the sudden shift in both emotion and topic, Naru asked, "Who took who?"

"That made so much sense, Noll," Gene muttered, crouching out of reach of the vines. There was really no need for him to worry with the amount of energy both Naru and Tamaki were exuding, but that didn't mean the emotion wasn't still there.

Shooting him a scathing look, Naru turned his eyes back to his fiancée/girlfriend/whatever title she wanted to give herself. "Who are you talking about, Mai?" he asked, soothingly taking her hand.

"Nat! He took Nat! He took her hours and hours ago, at least I think it was hours ago. Time is screwy here," Mai said quickly, clutching at Naru's fingers, "He's using her, but she's almost spent. She's so faded! I don't know if she'll be able last using her power very much longer!"

The Hispanic boy came up behind her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Mai. Nat is really strong. I'm sure she'll be able to make it. She's probably fighting with every ounce of energy she'd got in her body so that Ash can't do anything."

Naru stared at it, but he didn't feel as if the boy was encroaching on Mai, so he looked up into the boy's face.

Gene leaned in, whispering quietly into Naru's ear, "Do you think that's why the bodies stopped? Because this girl is fighting Ash's will over her?"

"Possibly," Naru muttered back.

Taking a deep breath, Mai nodded. "Thanks, Desi. You're right. I should have more faith in her." Taking another breath, she looked at the trio outside the bars. "Is there any way I can help get us out?"

Gene shook his head. "This is a job for Naru and Tamaki." His eyes found his twin's, and Naru nodded.

Standing, Naru's eyes travelled back to the door. "Let's get started."

Gene nodded, stepping away from the cage. A cough broke through his teeth, quiet, but noticeable. Just when Naru and Tamaki were winding up for their performance was when the blood filled his mouth. He flickered, and was gone.

Well, then, hope y'all like cliff hangers. I'll post sometime next week. I started a Twitter account under the name Sapphira Williams, and I'll be posting updates as well as day to day rants and comments and such if you want to check it out. See you next week!