A Surprise

Eleven


Her phone lights up, alerting her to the time as well as an incoming call.

"I'm late, I know," Ruki says, hurriedly getting out of her seat to reach for her jacket. "I'm coming down now, just give me-"

"What? Ruki, I'm not calling because you're ten minutes late for lunch."

"Seven minutes," She corrects Jen, slowing her pace now that she doesn't have to rush downstairs. Still, something must be up, and that something is probably going to require her leaving her office. Ruki shrugs on her jacket; even the office can't keep out the slight chill of October's winds as winter approaches. "What's going on?"

Renamon materializes just as Jen fills her in on the situation. "You need to come up to the Observatory," He tells her, referring to Reika's workplace. "Something's going on and we think it might be related to those unidentifiable Digimon."

She promises to be there in five minutes and hangs up, quickly heading for her door. Renamon keeps up with her and they walk in silence, both too distracted by what the Observatory might hold. The recent waves of invaders aren't a real threat, not in the way the D-Reaper or the Devas had been. They're easily handled and contained, especially with all of the Tamers on guard. Still, everyone's a bit unsettled by these sudden attacks after years of peace between the two species, and there's been a lot of pressure on Hypnos to come up with the answers no one can find.

Twelve floors up and steel doors part to reveal a dark cavern. Ruki tries to storm up the flight of stairs as quickly as she can, but ends up taking them one by one thanks to the added weight of her child. Renamon stays by her side, maintaining the same pace as her Tamer. Thankfully, it doesn't take too long before they reach the top, where Yamaki and Jen stand in the center of a bustling crowd comprised of technicians, scientists and field agents.

"Ruki!" Jen calls out as soon as he spots her, and the men make their way over to the new arrivals. She's glad they're not making her brave the crowds to get to them instead. Above them all, Reika remains in position, fingers flying across multiple keyboards as she tracks the surge of activity. Alarms ring incessantly and bounce off the walls to echo in the open space, adding to the chaos.

"What is going on?" Ruki asks. She's vaguely aware of Renamon leaping into the air to reach Reika's post, probably to get a better view of what's going on or to offer her assistance. Terriermon, clinging to Jen's neck like a child demanding a piggyback ride, merely shrugs while Yamaki breaks down the situation.

"Something has been building up all morning, but Reika didn't call anything in until half an hour ago, when the activity surged from average levels and spiked into something noteworthy. We've been trying to track it ever since but the signal is bouncing off multiple locations. It got even more erratic ten minutes ago, when we picked up on something within the range of critical levels."

Jen picks up from there. "It matches previous events but this is on a much bigger scale. If you do the math and calculate the differences between our two battles and this event, we're estimating something numbering within three digits, possibly upwards of seven hundred."

"Digimon?" Ruki gasps. "Seven hundred Digimon?"

"And we still have no idea where they could be." Terriermon pipes up.

Renamon joins them then, jumping down from Reika's post. "A massive amount of data is being transferred. In this day and age, that is no rare thing. But the readings match those of our previous encounters almost exactly, and that is troubling."

"Is there any way for you to track it?" Ruki turns to her partner, beating Yamaki to the question.

"I can detect four similar transfers happening right now, but they seem to be of the average kind." Renamon says. "Your world processes large quantities of data every day, especially now that the network is so much more advanced that it used to be."

Reika jumps off the last rung on the metal ladder leading up to her post and quickly makes her way over to them, just in time to catch most of Renamon's sentence. "Is there any way for you to check those four events out? It's a small number; we could easily pursue all of them as leads. And all we need is for you to get us a location while this transfer is still on-"

"Wait," Jen interrupts her, motioning for all of them to keep quiet. The sudden silence that has fallen upon the room is deafening.

"The alarms have stopped," Ruki whispers.

The previously chaotic group of Hypnos employees is now completely quiet, and Reika is the first one to break the tense silence when she calls up to Megumi, who remains in her position. The girl confirms that all activity has ceased, no data is to be found and everything is stable.

"This can't be good." Yamaki mutters, reaching into his pocket for a lighter he no longer carries. Reika slips her hand into his instead, maintaining a tight grip on his fingers to keep them from twitching nervously. They're not as secretive about their relationship as Jen and Ruki were (and still are, considering the fact that half of the office is still taking bets on the identity of Ruki's 'baby daddy') but it's a rare show of affection in their workplace.

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Reika points out, trying to calm them all down. "Megumi and I will see if we picked up anything of use. Renamon, did you happen to catch the coordinates of those four events?"

The fox shakes her head. "I only tracked down three, and something tells me the fourth one is what we're looking for."

"It can't hurt to at least check those places out." Ruki suggests, and Reika hands a tab over to Renamon, who keys in the relevant numbers.

"Alright then," Reika smiles, letting go of Yamaki's hand. "I guess this is it for now. I'll get to work; the rest of you should go get some lunch."

Terriermon cheers at that and starts suggesting restaurants. Yamaki promises to have food brought up to Reika and Megumi, since they'll be skipping their lunch break.

When they step into the lift, Jen hits the buttons for Yamaki's floor and his own. "I need to get some stuff from my desk first," He tells Ruki when she shoots him a questioning look.

Yamaki makes use of their short time together – his office is only a few floors away – to switch things up. "I'm placing both of you on active duty for as long as this case is open."

Ruki is the first to react. "Are you sure? We haven't been on a Strike Team since-"

"I know it's been a while," Yamaki cuts in. "But if someone's building an army – you said seven hundred, right?" He double-checks with Jen, who merely nods. "Look, if someone's smart enough to build an army of seven hundred Digimon and somehow keep it from us until now, then I'm going to need the both of you focused on this case."

"I'll put together a team, and you'll work with Reika. Whatever research you were working on, whatever partnerships you were trying to establish – all of it is on hold until we get this genius." His last word is only half-sarcastic, and they're all aware of it. To pull something like this off, and to somehow stay under Hypnos' radar the entire time… well, it's impressive, to say the least.

"Okay." Ruki shrugs.

"Okay?" Jen questions his wife.

"You heard the boss – it's an army of hundreds, Jen. That definitely takes priority." She turns to Yamaki. "We'll find this guy."

"Good." Their boss nods as they stop on his floor. "I'll see you later. Enjoy your lunch."

"Don't forget, you need to eat too!" Terriermon reminds him as the doors slide together, and they all catch the twitch of his lips that turns into a genuine smile right before the doors block him from sight.

"Okay?" Jen quotes her as soon as the lift starts moving again. "Ruki, you can't be on active duty; you could go into labor any day now!"

She successfully fights against the instinct to snap at him for telling her what she can't do. Jen's right and they both know it. Even Renamon and Terriermon seem to be in agreement. "Look," Ruki sighs. "It's not like we're being called into the field right now. And with the way things are going, I'll probably end up giving birth to this baby before we get any further leads."

"Then why accept the switch?" Renamon questions as they exit the lift.

"Reika could definitely use more help on this. Besides, it'll just be us checking out a lot of potential leads, maybe running some background checks on possible suspects." She turns to Jen and takes his hand, drawing his eyes to her own.

"Look, if we actually find something and Yamaki needs a team to go shoot at some building until we scare this guy into giving up, I'll sit it out, okay? I'll stay here."

Jen takes a moment to consider her words. "Alright," He nods, figuring this is, as usual, the best deal he'll get. Letting go of Ruki's hand, he turns into the main workspace of the floor. "I'm just going to get my phone and jacket."

Terriermon chases after his Tamer while Ruki and Renamon stay where they are. "We'll just wait here," Ruki says. As soon as Jen is out of sight, she stalks into the break room. Renamon trails behind with a sigh. Her Tamer is up to something.

"Kent!" She smiles brightly at the former intern, who nearly chokes on his coffee. "How are you doing?"

"Um," The boy stammers, putting down his drink. "I, ah," He reaches for a napkin to wipe droplets of coffee off his hand. "I'm alright, thank you. What can I do for you, ma'am?"

"I've a favor to ask you." Ruki says bluntly. The boy sighs in relief and mutters something that sounds suspiciously like okay, that explains it. She lets it slide. "Hypnos has taken you on as a full-time researcher, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right." Kent grins. "Took me about six months but I got the job!" As intimidated as he apparently is by Ruki, the idea of finally being a full-fledged Hypnos employee is so exciting that he can't even hide his enthusiasm.

"Congratulations," Ruki acknowledges. "Now, I'm sure you've realized that sometimes the researchers take on independent projects, mostly as favors to other departments in the building."

Kent nods, his grin fading into an expression that is equal parts curious and suspicious.

"I need you to look into something related to the Digital World. Specifically," Ruki inhales, aware of Renamon standing to her right, just a step behind her. "I need you to figure out how an unborn child would be affected if its mother were to make a trip to the Digital World."

Her words hang in the air for a long moment, made all the more uncomfortable by the way Renamon's shoulder stiffen and her eyes widen. "Ruki," She hisses, trying to warn her Tamer against such a thing.

"Oh." Kent finally says. "Ah, well, recorded data suggests that the Digital World is able to process any visitor almost flawlessly, and rarely ever ends up corrupting data." Catching sight of Ruki's blank look, he translates, "The baby, born or not, should be just fine… especially if the mother's body is used to making such trips." He adds, subtly fishing for more information.

"Well, I'm sure you'll understand if should be just fine isn't enough." Ruki says with a smile that's barely there, just to be polite. She doesn't confirm if she's the mother planning to visit the Digital World; all three of them know what's going on here. "Can you look into this and tell me, conclusively, what the outcome would be?"

"I should be able to," Kent says slowly, hesitantly. "You do know that I can't be a hundred percent sure, though."

"How sure can you be?" She demands.

"Uh, ninety percent? Maybe up to ninety-seven." He estimates, fingers nervously tapping on the lid of his drink.

"That should be good enough," Ruki sighs. She decides to wrap up their conversation; Jen should be back soon. Knowing him, he probably had to sit down and properly shut down his computer, buying her a few extra minutes.

"Uh, ma'am-"

"Ruki," She corrects.

"Right." Kent nods, but he still doesn't use her name. "Um, I just – I was wondering: why did you pick me?"

She smiles. "Well, I've seen the way Terriermon's bonded with you. That's usually a sure sign that I can trust someone." Or it's a sign that the rabbit has a person completely wrapped around his finger and can manipulate them into buying him food, but Ruki keeps that to herself. "And I can tell that you're more scared of me than Jen, so you probably won't inform him about this."

"Ah," Kent smiles sheepishly. "It's just, you have to understand – I'm only a few years younger than you guys, but that means I spent most of my formative years looking up to you Tamers. I was already into Digimon as a kid, and then the whole D-Reaper thing happened. You were like real-life superheroes to me. And you're the Digimon Queen!" His excitement gets the best of him and Ruki watches in amusement as he rambles on.

"I mean, you were the first girl to ever place in a tournament, and you placed first. And everyone knows you've got the most skill of all the Tamers. Plus, your partner is Renamon!" He motions wildly at the fox by her side. Ruki catches an amused chuckle from her partner, but it's quiet enough that she's the only one to hear it.

"Wow," She says to Kent, just the slightest bit stunned. "I didn't know you were such a fan."

He laughs nervously. "Yeah, well, I had to learn to hide it after my first few days here."

"Your fanboying made Jen uncomfortable, didn't it?" Ruki asks with a knowing smile.

A hand comes to rest on her back. "Oh, you don't even know the half of it." Jen says, catching her by surprise. She's glad Kent somehow managed to change the subject before he arrived. "Terriermon was quite flattered, though."

Said Digimon ambles in. "Huh? Oh, yeah, Kent buys the best doughnuts."

"What?" Jen turns to his Digimon, shooting the rabbit a puzzled look. "Do you even know what's going on right now?"

"Not at all," Terriermon says seriously. "The hunger's gotten to my head."

"Sandwich?" Kent offers, holding out his plate.

"It's alright, Kent," Jen tells the boy with a smile. "We were just about to leave for lunch. Come on, drama queen," He picks Terriermon up and lets the rabbit cling to his arm.

"Alright, then," Kent shrugs, taking a bite out of his lunch. "I'll see you guys later."

Jen turns around and is the first to leave, with Renamon right behind him.

"Thank you," Ruki says quietly, before she leaves to catch up with the others.

"So," Jen says as they wait for the lift. "I'm guessing you want something local?"

Ruki shrugs. "We can have Chinese, if you want." After months of intense cravings, she's glad her appetite has finally calmed down to a point where she's actually fine with eating anywhere.

"Guys!" Terriermon butts in. "There's this new restaurant Guilmon was telling me about. I think it's nearby."

"What's it called?" Jen asks.

"Um…" Terriermon's ears slump downwards in defeat. "I have no idea."

Even as Ruki makes herself laugh along with Jen, and eventually Terriermon, who joins in to poke fun at himself, she can feel Renamon observing her, probably wondering what she's up to.

When they reach the garage, she slows down while Jen and Terriermon go ahead. As expected, Renamon stays by her side.

"Don't worry," She assures the fox. "I'm not planning anything; I just want to know in case something happens with this whole Digimon army situation."

Renamon shoots her a long, evaluating look. Finally, she gives Ruki a simple nod before her eyes return to the front, watching their path as they walk towards the car.

"I suppose it is better to know these things in advance." Renamon concedes as they get into the car.

They end up driving up and down two blocks before Terriermon finds the new restaurant. It's a modern place, the kind that boasts a fusion menu and serves a bit of everything. Apparently, the food is good. Ruki knows this because that is what everyone else says. She's too distracted to pay attention to her own food and pass judgment on it.

No matter what tests Kent comes up with, he won't be able to give her a definitive answer. Ninety-seven percent, he'd said. If things get bad enough to necessitate a visit to the Digital World, Ruki knows she won't be able to let Jen go on his own, and there's no way she'd let Renamon battle without a partner.

How big of a risk can three percent be?

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Around two o'clock, there's a knock on her door.

Renamon is already upstairs, helping Reika, but Ruki's decided to spend the rest of the day in her department, sorting things out for her absence during her reassignment as well as her maternity leave.

When the door opens, the first thing Ruki notices is the absolute silence that's fallen across her department. As soon as her visitor steps in though, it all makes sense.

"Yamaki." She tries to stand up to greet him, but he quickly waves her back down and chides her for being so formal. Ruki catches sight of many wide-eyed looks as her boss shuts the door behind him. It's very rare to see him on this floor, and she can't blame her staff for their curiosity.

"So," Yamaki tugs on one of the two chairs pushed against her desk and sits down. "Something has come to my attention."

"Oh?" Ruki asks, abandoning her work.

"Apparently, that kid of yours is pretty much ready to pop out anytime now." He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms, and somehow makes Ruki feel like it's his office they're sitting in.

"Let me guess: you had no idea until Reika told you."

"Well," Yamaki draws out the word. "I will admit that the last few months have gone by pretty fast, and I was not keeping track of your pregnancy. Besides," He throws an accusing look her way, "I was counting on you to let me know when it's time for your maternity leave."

"Well, it's not time yet." Ruki states defensively.

"Ruki, you're eight months pregnant."

"Eight and a half," She mumbles.

"See?" Yamaki sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. "My point exactly."

"So you're going to kick me out now?" Ruki challenges, though she's already given in. At least she's only got two weeks of free time to kill. If Yamaki had tried to put her on leave with a month left in her pregnancy, she'd probably have gone crazy within the first week.

"Reika just called me a slave driver," He tells her. "And I don't want you to give birth in this building. So yes, I'm taking you off the Strike Team, I'm relieving you of your duties to this department for the next two months and I'm asking you to go home, right now."

"Can I at least have five minutes to get my things?" She asks flatly.

"I- I didn't mean right this second," Yamaki rolls his eyes, getting to his feet. "Look, as long as you're not going to fight this-"

"What's the point?" Ruki butts in. "You'll just pull your I'm the big boss card and I'll have wasted half an hour on an argument I can't win."

"Exactly," He nods with a smirk. "Impending motherhood has made you wise."

"Experience and countless losses in our arguments have made me wise." She counters sharply before giving in to a smile. "Go on, then. Get back to your very important big boss duties. Or would you rather personally escort me out of the building?"

Yamaki laughs. "What a scene that would make."

"Imagine the gossip," Ruki agrees.

"Slave driver and all-around terrible boss fires pregnant executive." He intones solemnly, as if dictating a newspaper headline.

"Alright, that's enough," Ruki grins, making her way to the door. She holds it open for Yamaki. "I'll see you when I see you, boss."

"You're kicking me out, aren't you?" Yamaki grumbles, stopping by the entrance. "I'll leave. But you better do the same, Ruki. I'll have someone check on you in an hour."

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not actually going to go into labor any minute now, you do know that."

"That's what they all say and the next thing you know, a baby in my building." He jokes, finally crossing the threshold. Once again, the entire floor falls silent.

"Call when the kid comes out, I guess." Yamaki says quietly, aware of their eavesdropping audience. "Reika would want to visit you in the hospital."

"I'll call," Ruki promises. He nods and they exchange goodbyes before she shuts the door, hiding herself from her staff. While cleaning out her office, she calls on Renamon.

"Yamaki just put me on maternity leave," Ruki explains, double-checking the office to make sure she hasn't left anything personal behind. There's a possibility someone else might use her office while she's on leave. She hasn't actually elected a replacement, choosing instead to delegate her work to a group of her staff. It's the first time Ruki's ever taken more than a week off and she can't help but worry about all the potential chaos her absence might create.

Renamon helps her by pulling out drawers to make sure they're filled only with work-related items. She finds a change of clothes in the last drawer on the left and hands it to Ruki. "Do you wish for me to stay with you while you are on leave?"

"If you want some time off, I wouldn't mind the company." Ruki shrugs, unearthing a folded recycle bag from some promotional event. At least she has something to throw all of her stuff into. "But don't feel like you have to stay with me. You'd be better off here, helping Reika."

The fox nods. "If you are alright on your own, then I intend to continue my work here."

"I'll be fine," Ruki says dismissively, pushing her chair against the table. "I think that's about it," She sighs, taking one last look at her office. It's become as familiar to her as the living room in their apartment, and after spending most of her time here for the past three years, it's odd to think that she won't be coming back for the next two months.

"You can go back to work now," She tells Renamon, heading for the door. "I'll go hang out with Jen until it's time to go home."

"Would you not prefer that I transport you home first?" Renamon asks.

Ruki opens her door. "I'm fine," She assures the fox. "Now go, help Reika figure things out before we have to deal with seven hundred Digimon."

Her partner nods, and is gone within seconds. Ruki stops by her assistant's desk on her way out.

"Hana," She calls to draw the girl's attention.

"Oh, Miss Makino. I have the reports you wanted and the-"

"I'm not here for that," Ruki waves away the paperwork, prompting her assistant to drop it all back into a drawer. "I'm officially on maternity leave now." It's the first time she's actually acknowledged her pregnancy out loud to her staff. She hands the stunned girl a file.

"In here, you'll find instructions on what to do while I'm gone. A group of you will be running things in my place, and I want all of you to work together. Don't hesitate to call me if anything comes up or you need help."

"O… okay." Hana stutters, taking the file.

"Hana," Ruki says, waiting for the girl to look at her before she continues. "I mean it. Call me if anything comes up. I'd rather come in a day or two while I'm on leave than come back two months later to a huge mess."

"Yes, ma'am." Hana says quickly.

"Good." Ruki nods. "That said, I'm sure all of you will do just fine." She thinks of ending the conversation then, but a mischievous grin lights up her face. "Now, tell me: who did you bet on?"

"Excuse me?" Her assistant tries to play innocent, but Ruki catches the way her eyes widen in fear.

"I know about the betting pool, Hana. Honestly, you'd think the people working for a covert agency would be better at hiding this kind of stuff. Now, who did you bet on?"

Hana is silent for a long while. "Lee Jenrya, ma'am." She mumbles, avoiding Ruki's eyes. The girl panics when Ruki laughs. "I'm sorry, ma'am! I know it's none of our business and it's highly inappro-"

"It's alright, Hana," Ruki smiles. "I've just realized you're not as clueless as I thought."

"Oh." Hana says, breathing hard to regain the air she'd lost during her panicked rambling. "Oh." Her eyes widen. "You mean-"

Ruki nods. "I hope you placed a big bet."

"It was… quite an amount. Only a little, at first, but then I noticed that the both of you took a week off at the same time and you'd been wearing a ring around, so I bet more money."

"Not as clueless as I thought," Ruki says again. "Alright, then. You can tell everyone the bet is over and go collect your winnings; consider it an early Christmas bonus." She smiles, ready to leave. "Try to keep everyone in line while I'm gone, please."

The whispers have started by the time she hits the button for a lift, and right before Ruki steps in, she hears a girl squeal in excitement.

"Holy crap, I won! I'm rich!"

She laughs to herself in the lift, glad she's alone. The mirth hasn't quite left her eyes by the time she reaches Jen's floor, and Janyu picks up on her amusement when she runs into him.

"What's got you so entertained?" Her father-in-law asks, taking the recycle bag from her although she insists it's not that heavy.

"My department ran a betting pool on the baby's father," Ruki shares, laughing again at the thought of it. "I didn't know this but apparently it was quite big, because I told my assistant that Jen's the father and right before I left, a girl announced she's now rich because she won the bet."

Janyu bursts out into laughter. "You know, I could have joined in on that if you'd told me."

"I don't think they'd have let you," Ruki says as they turn into Jen's corner. "You have the unfair advantage of being an insider."

"True, I suppose," Janyu shrugs.

"Hello, son." He says to Jen. "I've brought you a visitor."

"Is everything alright?" Jen asks as soon as he sees Ruki, getting up to his feet.

"I'm fine," She tells him, pulling a chair up to his desk. "Yamaki banished me from my office so I'm just going to hang out with you until the day is over."

"Banished?" Janyu echoes with a note of concern.

"Not in a bad way," Ruki says quickly, realizing her words might have been cause for concern. "He just realized I might give birth in this building if I keep working so he put me on maternity leave, effective immediately."

"Well, that's a relief." Janyu smiles. "Not to offend you, Ruki, but you do look like it's time for you to stay home and wait things out."

"And don't I know it," Ruki mutters, resting a hand on her stomach. "But I think she's pretty set on staying in there as long as she can."

"Smart girl," Janyu quips. "The world is not a place you should be eager to see, little one." He says to Ruki's stomach. "Alright then," With a clap to Jen's shoulder, he turns to leave. "I'll leave you two alone. I'll see you around, Ruki."

"Are you sure you don't want to go home first, get some rest?" Jen asks as she pulls her chair next to his.

"Not tired. Besides, I'm going to spend enough time there as it is," Ruki says, getting comfortable in her chair. She picks up the recycle bag Janyu had left on the floor and finds a book to read. "Let me just stay here a while longer."

"Okay," Jen shrugs, turning back to his computer. After a while, Ruki leans in to rest her head on his shoulder and he pauses to kiss her temple.

"Where's Terriermon?" She asks, setting the book down in her lap.

"Break room, as usual." They share a quiet laugh.

Ruki doesn't say much else after that, leaving him to his work. Slowly, the constant clicking of the keyboard lulls her to sleep. Jen smiles when he notices she's fallen asleep, and stops his typing to drape Ruki's jacket over her shoulders.

"Stubborn woman," He mutters fondly, getting back to work.


Well, two chapters and an epilogue to go!

Even after fifteen chapters (including both the prologue and the epilogue), I won't be quite ready to let go of this little AU just yet. I'm planning to do a series of outtakes and I'm taking prompts! Let me know what you'd like to see – stuff that happened before the start of this series, events that may have taken place during this story or even things that might happen after the end. Leave as many requests as you want and I'll try to write as many as I can. Ready, set, prompt!

Happy Thanksgiving and if you're braving the Black Friday crowds, stay safe!

E Salvatore,

November 2014.