A/N: Over 100 reviews! Y'all have no idea how happy that makes me! A huge shout-out goes out to my regular and frequent reviewers, especially SomebodyLost, Dear4Life, Destinies Entwined, najas, IcyLady, StrongD, TheBlackWolf50, SomeNameNoneWillRecognize, NightShiftWalker, and splitice. You are all awesome - I love hearing your reactions to the story, especially when you try to guess what is going to happen next (and get it wrong...;) ).

To all my readers who haven't left a review, please drop me a note - tell me what you like, what you don't like. Tell me if you hate it, I promise I won't cry (much). Feedback is great because it tells me what is working in my writing and what isn't, which helps me improve.

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program:

After checking on Xu, Misaki returned to her post at the window. The sun shone brightly outside, and the street was busy with the neighborhood's residents enjoying the fine day. She didn't spot any signs that the apartment was being watched; evidently the MSS had no way of tracking them. That was good news. She thought she caught a glimpse of Hei once, across the street, but he disappeared behind the traffic.

Misaki was starting to feel restless; she didn't deal well with inaction. They needed to decide what to do about the MSS to ensure Xu's safety. And if she had a plan to focus on, she could stop thinking about Hei and wondering what was going through his mind

For her part, she didn't know what she had been thinking, kissing him like that. She hadn't been thinking. There was just something…magnetic about him, that drew her to him without a care for the consequences. She'd never experienced anything like it. She'd had a few short-lived relationships in the past that all eventually fizzled out because, while she'd liked the guys, that was never really enough. One call from the office would have her ditching her date whether she strictly needed to or not.

Now here she was, risking her career over Hei. She'd killed a man last night. She'd done it to protect Xu, not because of anything to do with Hei…but she wouldn't have been following Xu at all if not for her obsession with him. As much as she was attracted to him, she needed to start thinking rationally again. She just didn't want to.

Misaki spun at the sound of the door opening and drew her gun. She relaxed - a little - when she saw that it was just Hei, and re-holstered the weapon. "Everything alright outside?" she asked.

Hei nodded brusquely, expression unreadable. "A nosy neighbor, but that's it. Jiao-tu?"

"She said she was still feeling tired; she's lying down again. She looked pretty exhausted."

Hei stared at the bedroom door for a long moment, as if debating whether or not to go in and talk to Xu. Evidently he decided against it, because he walked into the kitchen and placed a pot under the tap.

Misaki followed, leaning on the half-wall between the kitchen and the main room. She hadn't been sure what Hei's mood was going to be when he returned. She watched his body language as he placed the pot of water on the stove and turned on the burner. He wasn't quite the cold, distant contractor that he used to be around her, but neither was he the open and honest man that he had been last night. He was acting as if none of it had happened; as if they hadn't just had a passionate make-out session not an hour ago.

That it was an act, she was sure. His movements were a little too tense, his mouth a little too tight. And he was definitely avoiding making eye contact with her. She sighed inwardly; she was terrible at the 'relationship talk', and somehow she was sure that bringing up the subject of their kiss and his feelings for her would only backfire. If he wanted to pretend that there was nothing between them, frustrating as that was, then she'd play along. For now.

Misaki decided to stick with a safer subject. "Now that we have a pretty good handle on the situation," she said, "I was thinking it might be time to call in my team. Xu is clearly innocent; we can keep her safe, and you won't have to worry about compromising yourself or your organization."

Hei pulled a package of ramen noodles from the cupboard. "How will you keep her safe?"

"Section four has safe houses too," she said, a little insulted at his insinuation. "Well, one. And extensive experience dealing with contractors and foreign agencies. That's sort of the whole point of our department."

"That's not what I mean." Hei kept his back to her, eyes focused on the pot of water as if that would somehow make it boil faster. Misaki wanted him to turn around so that they could talk face to face, but this view wasn't bad either.

"The MSS is after the key, not Jiao-tu specifically," he continued, seemingly oblivious to her gaze. "You put her up somewhere safe, and then what? Arrest any contractor who comes after her?"

"Yes," Misaki said slowly, not seeing his point. "If they confess to being MSS, we can use diplomatic routes with the Chinese Embassy ensure Xu's safety; she is their own citizen, after all."

Hei shook his head. "You won't be able to prove who they work for, and if you do, the MSS will disavow them. If they really want this key, they'll simply wait until Jiao-tu is out of your custody and vulnerable again."

"If we destroy the file, delete it from her phone -"

"They'll believe you're lying about it, that you have another copy or a backup somewhere. Then you and your team will be targets too."

Ah." She hadn't considered the long-term problems of her plan. "Okay. Do you have a solution?"

"Give it to them."

It took her a minute to understand what he meant. "Give it to them? Just…hand over the key to the MSS?"

Hei looked her way, finally, his eyebrows raised slightly as if surprised by her confusion. "Yes. If they have what they want, they have no reason to come after Jiao-tu. She'll be safe, for good. And your involvement won't get any deeper."

Misaki crossed her arms, thinking. Just handing off the file hadn't occurred to her at all. "That does sound like the best option for Xu. But is that a good idea? Giving this information to one single country? If Xu's guess was right, that Iwakara's research could lead to the development of an anti-contractor weapon…that's a lot of power to place in a single pair of hands, so to speak."

"I don't care about any of that."

She smiled a little at his words. That was a perfectly normal response for any contractor, but there was nothing contractor-like about anything that Hei had done since meeting his cousin. "Well, I guess ultimately it doesn't matter. The key is useless for the MSS, since the flash drive with the research files that the key deciphers is with your organization." She wished she knew what organization that was. If giving China such a powerful tool might not be a good idea, what would it mean for Hei's employers to possess it? Who were they?

"You have no objections then?" Hei asked.

Misaki blinked. Her opinion held weight in his decision? "No," she said. "I think you're right, it's what's best for Xu, and I don't see anyone getting hurt this way. But how will you get the key to them?"

"I'll go through Jiao-tu's roommate and set up a meeting with her handler or whoever he wants to send. A hand-off should be no problem; I've done plenty of that sort of thing."

It was so ridiculously simple, Misaki could hardly believe that it would work. Then a realization hit her. "Wait, what about your organization?"

"What about them?"

"They want the key too. Whether you go to the hand-off as Li or the Black Reaper, the MSS will know that you, either of you, were in possession of it. Is there a chance that your employers could find out that you had it, and that you not only kept it from them, but turned it over to a rival group?"

Hei frowned, considering. "If I go as Li, I won't stand out in any way. I'll just be some guy Jiao-tu knows, who's trying to help her out."

"Is your alias on file with the embassy?"

"Yes," he said with a sigh. "It makes my cover more secure. Well, I can stipulate a situation that lets me hide my face, or set up a dead drop."

"That's still pretty risky," Misaki said, thinking. "A casual acquaintance of Xu's wouldn't know to do anything like that. And if something goes wrong and you're forced to defend yourself, you'll give yourself away. It would be better if I do it. It's doubtful they know who I am. Section Four hasn't had any dealings with the MSS since I've been with the department, and it was my subordinate who contacted the embassy earlier this week. And the man from last night, who ran off, couldn't have gotten a good look at me."

The alarm was clear on Hei's face. "You can't -"

"Of course I can!" Misaki snapped. "You need help on this. You can't ask your team, but you have me." Her own words startled her, and she paused for breath before continuing. "I became a police officer because I wanted to protect people who can't protect themselves. Xu definitely falls into that category. If I have to work a little outside the law to do that, I will. Besides," she added, remembering his earlier words, "I've done this sort of thing before."

Hei gave her a long, appraising look, almost as if he was seeing her clearly for the first time. When he didn't say anything, Misaki continued, "And you'll be watching from nearby. If it goes bad, you swoop in as if you're trying to steal the key for yourself, incidentally allowing me to escape. Either the MSS will get the key like we intend, or they'll know you have it instead of Xu. And if that's the case, you can give it to your organization, and have Xu's memory erased like you were already planning."

He regarded her for another long moment; Misaki wished she knew what he was thinking.

"Alright," he said. He turned his attention back to the stove. "The noodles are done."

"I'll wake Xu," Misaki said, relieved and nervous at the same time. If things did go wrong, it could cost her more than her career. But she trusted her own capabilities, and she trusted Hei to have her back. And it gave her an excuse to stay with him just a little longer.

She knocked on the bedroom door. "Xu? Are you awake? Lunch is ready, you need to come out and eat."

There was no answer from the bedroom. Misaki frowned. Had Xu taken another sleeping pill? She slid the door open. Aside from a chest of drawers and the futon folded neatly in the corner, the room was completely empty. "Shit."