Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha

Chapter Twenty-Five

In the time that it took to walk from Oak Road to the park Sango's worry went from silent shock to monumental stress. She had barely enough energy to walk any further when they reached the small bench at the park entrance. She slumped noticeably as she sat in defeat. She watched as Miroku advised Shippo to go play and then came over to sit next to her. He was silent for a long time as she stared down at her feet. She could only think of the horrors her friend was living through alone and lost somewhere surely far away. Miroku took her hand from her lap and held it tightly between both of his own. She was drawn from her dismal thoughts as he began speaking.

"Kagome's going to be okay." He told her firmly, clearly trying not only to assure her but himself as well. "She's a strong girl and she's smart." His words didn't seem to help any though.

She knew he was trying to make her feel better, but she only felt worse. Why had she allowed her friend to go back into that restaurant? She should have said no. Why hadn't anyone said no? She would have agreed if someone had only taken a moment to talk some sense into her. She would have seen the futility of it all. Sango tried hard not to blame herself, but somehow her thoughts only seemed to reflect back to herself.

"What if she's not okay?" Her words were hushed and almost silent. She wasn't sure at first if she'd even voiced her thoughts aloud.

Miroku's grip on her hand tightened considerably and he turned to face her. "Don't think like that." He glared hard at her, but at the look of despair on her face he instantly relaxed his pained expression. She wondered if it was as hard for him as it was for her. He was Kagome's friend too, though they hadn't known each other as well.

"Oh no," A stray thought had just run through Sango's head, and a stab of pain had her bent over and loudly sobbing into her one free hand. She had forgotten about Carol. What where they to tell her if Kagome never came home. How would she explain? How would she be able to look into the sad eyes of Kagome's mother and tell her what had happened? Her sobs grew louder and even with Miroku's confused lulling trying to pry answers from her sudden outburst didn't seem to be consoling her mind. She must have spoken some of her fears aloud because Miroku seemed to understand her cries now.

"I know, I know," His soft murmurs were quelling some of her harsher sobs.

Shippo had come back over to sit on her other side she now noticed. She was sitting upright again tying to wipe the tears from her eyes but it was pointless. By the time she'd dried her cheeks her eyes welled up and they were wet again with her tears.

"Sango—" The sound of Sango's phone ringing in her pocket silenced all three of them. Slowly Sango withdrew the object from her coat pocket and looked at the ominous screen that was lit up with a green light. A frown alighted on her face and she cautiously opened the phone to accept the call.

"Hello?" She asked, unsure into the speaker of the phone.

"Hello, Sango?" The voice on the other line answered and Sango instantly recognized it.

"Carol." The one word on her lips was almost silent.

"Sango are you there?" Carol asked over the line. There was a moment of silence.

"Yes, I'm here Carol." Sango did her best to hide her sadness.

"Is Kagome with you dear, she's not answering her phone." Carol started, but she didn't give Sango time to answer before going on. "I thought you were supposed to be home an hour ago. I took the liberty to make you all a nice big lunch. Anyway, I was just wondering how long you would be and whether or not your flight was delayed. Is that why you aren't here yet?"

"Carol there's something you need to know." Sango started and knew she couldn't stop till she had told all. "We didn't get on the flight, Kagome wanted to go back to that place to find that jewel, so we all went." She broke off for a sob and Miroku tightened his grip on her hand. "He got out of jail. That Naraku guy. And he went after her and now he has her. We don't know where she is and we fear the worst." It was silent over the line for a good few minutes as Carol took in her words. Sango remained on the line, but her cries were loud and seemed unstoppable.

Carol's words broke her from her remorse. "Where is InuYasha?" She asked, her voice seemed almost on the brink of panic.

"He went after her, Koga put a tracking device on her, and they went to find her." She choked the words out, and finally she heard the shushed weeping of Carol on the other line.

"He will find her, I know he will," Carol sounded determined and this reminded Sango of the way InuYasha had looked as he drove off with Koga. "He will bring her home safely."

"I hope you're right." Sango whispered and then they said their goodbyes and Sango hung up. She couldn't say she felt any better, though Carol's words seemed to put a new resolve into her mind. InuYasha would find her and save her. Then all would be okay again.

"Come on; let's go find a place to stay." They were about to make there way back to the car they had rented, but Sango looked down at Shippo, who seemed ready to walk the other way without them. "All of us." He smiled up at her and they made their way to the car to go to the closest hotel. They would wait there for the call InuYasha promised to make the moment he had Kagome safely with him. Sango didn't know what she'd do if that phone call never came.

The three hour flight from Los Angeles to Richmond, Virginia in the Cessna Citation X, which Koga had been claiming was the fastest private jet you would ever find, had InuYasha's nerves on end the entire time. Koga had kept assuring him that everything was going to be alright, but his own intuition kept telling him it was too late. He'd lost. He couldn't keep the ominous feelings at bay and every time Kagome's face came to mind he had to repress his anger, which was being taken out on the leather seat he was sitting in. After a good long hour of debating every worst case scenario, InuYasha finally came unglued. What was he going to tell Carol if he failed to bring Kagome back alive?

That thought gave him the most trouble. Kagome had a family at home, a mother and brother who loved her. Why had Naraku taken her so selfishly? Why had he let Naraku get away with her? Why had he let her go into that room alone? He had been stupid, reckless and now he'd lost her. Aggravated with himself, InuYasha tried to change his train of thoughts. He was never much of an optimist, but he could try for his sanity's sake. He thought about how strong Kagome was, how determined she could be. And how very stubborn she was at all times. He willed himself to believe that she'd survive. She'd be safe when he finally found her. With any luck, the tracker Koga had slipped into her pocket was still there. They'd be able to get to her in time and he'd save the day. Then they could all go home and live happily ever after.

He thought about where he was for a moment, how Koga had told him he was with the CIA. He didn't want to believe it at first, but he undoubtedly knew the man was telling the truth. How else did someone pull a private jet out of nowhere? "How long have you been watching Naraku?" The question broke the silence and for a moment InuYasha wondered at his boldness.

Koga appraised him for a moment then, before deciding that the classified information was top secret, he decided that this was being given out on a need-to-know basis, and InuYasha needed to know. "I've been tracking him and keeping close tabs on him for a little more than two years now. He's been on the HSO's list for about ten years though."

InuYasha debated asking Koga to speak English, he was sure that HSO was a government facility, but he wasn't familiar with the basics of it. Instead he asked his way around the information. "What got him on the list?"

"He was caught breaking and entering into a museum of history in Japan ten years back. He had in his possession a replica of an artifact called the Jewel of Four Souls" Koga stopped to let the information sink in, by now he could tell InuYasha understood that what he'd been looking for back then he'd found today and also taken. "He was arrested, but wasn't sentenced to anything more than grand larceny, since the thing was merely a replica. He was fined and sentenced to community service."

"Bastard got off too easy." InuYasha muttered under his breath. "Is that it then?" InuYasha didn't beat around the bush, he wanted answers.

"No," Koga had already decided telling the truth was his best bet. Besides, he had a feeling InuYasha would be able to tell if he were to lie. "A few years after his probation was up, he was caught dealing in the black market. He was still after this jewel; at that point they started looking into the old legend. He was in such desperate need for this jewel that the HSO believed that it may have existed." He paused a moment debating how much of the truth he intended to tell. All of it, he was sure.

"Go on," InuYasha prompted, slightly interested in where this would lead.

"Well, instead of busting him right then and there, they waited, so sure of themselves that this thing didn't actually exist. They let him go about his search all the while watching him as closely as possible. Things were quiet for a while. A good three years and that made them suspicious, almost like he knew they were watching. That's when I was initially assigned with the case. I took the first few months to do research. I had a partner back then, but she wasn't into the game. She couldn't stand watching this guy day after day, and yet never finding anything."

He stopped a moment, he hadn't meant to mention Ayame. He decided to ignore the fact and move on. InuYasha seemed interested enough to let him talk without interruption. "After another year of nothing, I began to try new leads. I watched everyone around him. Business partners, women who would come over in the night, especially one. She came more often than the others, almost every other night. She was the only face I saw quite frequently around him. He didn't bother much with his partners, though he did do quite a bit of interviews with people whom he never again spoke to.

"Kikyo was her name. I tracked her down easily, and quickly learned everything I needed to know about her. No family other than an Aunt and two cousins, Kagome and Souta. It only took a few days to know everything there was possible to know about Kikyo. I wasn't hard considering she was in the press all the time too." He stopped for a moment trying to catch the emotions running through InuYasha's eyes, trying to see what he was thinking.

That was one thing he did best, reading people. He seemed frustrated, annoyed, but mostly remorseful, like he already thought he'd lost Kagome. Like he just assumed he wasn't good enough to save her. It made Koga frown; he hadn't looked into Kagome deeply until the stunt Kikyo had pulled when she set her up with Naraku. That had really confused him. He found nothing in the boyfriend department for Kagome, but she had a few good friends and one harsh boss. InuYasha being said boss. He knew there was more behind that story than what met the eye, but he didn't push into the personal aspect of the relationship. It hadn't been important at the time.

"That night at the bar, why did you give your real name?" InuYasha seemed to think about his question for a moment, "Weren't you given an alias or something?"

Koga was shocked by InuYasha's memory. "I was never given an alias, because I was never supposed to make myself known."

InuYasha seemed to notice the problem in that moment. "What made you do it? Why did you interrupt just at that moment? Why not before then?"

Koga watched as InuYasha's careful composure seemed to crack up and fall apart in front of him. "I kept getting a bad feeling. I knew Kagome by looks, and I had no idea why she was even at the bar with Naraku. I was worried something bad might have happened, so I came to get a closer look." Koga paused, "I guess I almost wished something would have happened. Anything so that I could have put Naraku away."

InuYasha remembered the jealousy he'd felt when Koga had introduced himself to Kagome. He had wanted to rip off his head. Now he was almost thankful that he'd been there, except for the fact that Koga hadn't succeeded. Naraku was gone and he had taken Kagome with him.

"We'll get her back." Koga's assurance seemed determined, and InuYasha thought for a moment that his mind was being read. He decided to keep quiet for the rest of the trip. He only wanted to find Kagome and take her home to her family where she belonged.

The more Kagome thought about her predicament the harder it was for her to see any means of escape. Though it was a fate she'd come to accept, the others around her were not in the same state of mind. She thought back to the one rash plan they'd boldly thought up after the arrival of Natilee, a six year old who's elaborate French tongue made it harder still for Kagome to understand. They'd tried their hardest to forge a way past the doors as Naraku came with one last visitor—as he so wickedly put it. Doubtless he had foreseen this coming and thwarted their poorly devised plan. It was what felt like hours later that he finally came again. This time he came with the intentions of a darker more frightening plan. Using his jewel, that she had procured for him, he'd captured them all with invisible bindings that Kagome saw the others fight vigilantly against. She just hoped it would be quick.

Though she had not lost her need for self-preservation, she had given up hope for ever escaping this place.

She'd thought about the aspect of InuYasha saving her. The idea appealed to her, but she knew the probabilities were low. Even if InuYasha was able to find her—which was impossible because even she didn't know where she was—how would he ever be able to save her? Then after debating all of the "what-if" scenarios she decided that it was better if he didn't come. She wouldn't put him in danger on her behalf. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if he got hurt—or worse. As she watched the four strangers around her struggle with their bindings, she took in the scene around her in lethargy.

First all she could take in were the shapes. She took in the round pit in the center of the room. Then the five of them tied like the five points of a start around the pit. She noticed the large strange circles drawn around each set of legs. They were white, like it had been drawn in chalk, and looked harmless on the cement floor. She also took note of the shapes drawn inside these circles, pentacles inside of squares surrounded by other symbols that seemed randomly taken from a witchcraft book found at a local library.

Next she took in the faces. The Spanish woman, Maria, was standing across from her, her expression frightened and pale. She was speaking in her native tongue and Kagome didn't comprehend a word of it, but it seemed like it was a prayer in the way her head was bowed and her eyes were closed. The Italian general, Sloan, was to her left, determinedly trying to break free of his ropes—Naraku apparently didn't trust his binding spell enough and therefore had put another form of binding on all of them.

To the right of Maria was the newest member of their group, a German who had not tried at all to converse with them. He looked decidedly disgusted almost as if he thought this were some cruel joke. The face that gave her the most trouble; however, was the one to her right. The six year old Natilee was scared out of her wits and seemed close to hyperventilating. She was in tears and speaking rapidly begging her mother to come help her. The innocent child was what made Kagome realize she had to do something. She would strike a deal with Naraku. She found she would do anything to protect the poor child.

Their arrival at the CIA headquarters had been expected. So the usual 25 minutes it took to get inside the building and past security only took five minutes. They entered into the bull pin section of the building where there were row upon row of cubicles. It looked like an ordinary office space and if Koga hadn't known any better he would have thought all these people were working on pointless paperwork. They were ushered through the bull pin and into the head of the CIA's office. Commander Strathmore, a tall burly man, who could smite you with one single glare, stood behind his desk his hands folded behind his back. Koga saluted him and then set his reports down on the desk that stood between him and his boss. The papers were pushed aside to be dealt with at a later time.

"We must find this girl." Strathmore commanded without hesitation, there was no need to stall when lives were at stake. Koga produced his GPS unit from his pocket and handed it over to his commander.

"She's no longer in this country, sir." Koga grimace and noticed InuYasha tense up next to him. He hadn't shared all of his information with him and now Koga felt a bit bad for deceiving him.

"Let me get the other tracking unit up then, we will find her." He loaded a quick program on his computer after fixing it with the disc that held Kagome's GPS locator on it. The screen on the wall behind him came to life and on it Koga saw a hybrid photograph of the geographical world. It was a satellite projection he knew. He waited as the computer hummed to life and began slowly retrieving the data that would lead them in the right direction. A loading bar popped up on the screen and an estimate of five minutes was given till the information was to be loaded.

The numbers moved by much too slowly InuYasha noticed as he repressed another urge to growl. He wanted to know where Kagome was, he wanted to know where Naraku was, and he didn't want to have to wait any longer. But he realized they were doing their best. It hadn't taken that long at all for them to arrive here in this large office and to be down to business looking for Kagome. He should be grateful for this gift. He had never thought government processes to be a speedy thing. Maybe it was the impression given off in the movies that had created this prejudice.

Finally the numbers increased at a fast paced incline that decreased the time to less than a minute and as if by the will of God not another minute had passed and the loading bar disappeared. A small red blip showed up on the screen over the center of Italy. InuYasha frowned deeply as he thought of what could possibly be in Italy.

The commander was faster, he moved the mouse and they were zooming in on the dot. It was located only 20 miles south of Rome. It would be easy to get to once they were in the country. The commander had zoomed in as far as possible and InuYasha could see that it was a mausoleum that the red blip was indicating.

It didn't make any sense, but then InuYasha had no experience in the hid outs of bad guys other than that of the movies. The map was saved onto the small disc and the commander handed it over to Koga. They were ready to go and it had only taken twenty minutes tops. Soon he would know for sure if Kagome was still alive and safe. They were led back to the roof of the building and boarded the jet. The flight was supposed to be 6 hours and with the time change it would only have been 4 hours. So InuYasha grit his teeth together and bore the stressful 6 hour flight.

Kagome's sorry attempts to break free were only making her muscles throb. She was working her hands slowly from the ropes tied about them still trying to break free. She had been working at them for such a long time that it'd seemed like ages ago that they'd stopped hurting and merely left behind was a dull throb.

Naraku entered the room and noticed right away her determined face. He caught her eye for a slim moment before she looked away disgusted by his mocking smirk.

"You need not bother with that, no one is going to save you. You may as well just give up." He turned and allowed his smug gaze to fall on each of the others in the room. He came to stand in front of her, but turned to face the others. He seemed almost giddy in the manner in which he stood, as if he couldn't wait to get started.

She glared at the back of his head for a long moment before seeing this as a sign.

With his eyes busy watching the others she could break free and somehow distract him. Then the others would be safe. If only she could free her hands she'd be able to possibly get them all out of this mess. She yanked her hands behind her back relentlessly trying the get the eye of the hole over her knuckles. She could tell she was close to free when her thumb slipped free on her right hand. Her hands were aching and raw, she felt exhausted and dead on her feet. She could just easily give up and die a quick painless death and be free of all her pain and fatigue, but it only took one look at Natilee for Kagome to regain her previous bravado.

Naraku had started the ritual—or whatever one may call such an event—and suddenly his unintelligible words had her working harder at the rope. She no longer felt the pain and no longer wished to sleep. Finally she felt her fingers slip free and she was able to pull her hands around to her front and undo her other hand. She rubbed at the long desensitized red skin of her wrists and hands, but didn't hesitate.

Almost silently she dropped the ropes to the ground. The cuts were bleeding a bit more now that they were free to do so, and she wondered if the scars that bled would ever go away. Maybe she thought vaguely that she'd forever be reminded of this day just by glancing down at her wrists. That thought made her shiver a bit. As she got over her initial shock of being free, the first thing she noticed as she looked up was Sloan. He was giving her an anxious look that she didn't quite understand. She wanted to motion to him, but Naraku's words cut through her conscience and she was back in the room that was currently her hell.

Her eyes trained on the back of Naraku's head as she debated her next action. She had no plan as of that moment, but she found the thought of improvising promising. Assuming she was only still standing thanks to the adrenaline boost from the endorphins being released through her blood, she knew she only had one chance.

Barely stopping the fully meditate her actions or think about their consequences she instantly moved into action. A fraction of a second later the look that she'd seen on Sloan's face registered. She knew that with all the adrenaline coursing through her body she could have run out of the room and out of the building fast enough to keep Naraku off her tail. That was the plan Sloan had been trying to send her way. He had wanted her to escape. He had wanted her to go get help; not try and take out a full grown man on her own.

In that moment of realization her weight shifted and instead of pushing Naraku into the pit like she'd partially planned to do in the first place, she merely stumbled into him pushing them both off balance and had them both crashing to the cement floor. It seemed as if in those few seconds of free-fall the ground seemed to rush up and meet her halfway making her forehead smack loudly against the concrete. Despite the deafening resounding bang her head only hurt a small bit compared with the agonizing pain in her shoulder, which had taken the brunt of her fall. Her vision wavered a bit and stars seemed to float about her head in a comic like fashion. She noticed, as she was—not to gently—hauled off the ground and into a standing position, that the fall had not caused Naraku any disorientation.

"You little wench." He'd dragged her up apparently for the sole purpose of pushing her back down again. Instead of falling straight to the ground and to her previous position on the cement, she stumbled over her feet getting them tangled up beneath her and landing hard on her knee. There was another deafening crack as she felt the bones in her leg shatter. She heard someone shout, but her head was spinning in pain and it took all of her concentration not to just give up and die right there on the floor. Tears sprang to her eyes and she held back a pained cry. Or at least she thought she had. She heard a strangled cry that hadn't seemed to come from her own mouth. She learned seconds later that it was Natilee, who within seconds had burst into tears apparently feeling her pain for her. She wanted nothing more than for the pain to go away. She tried standing despite knowing that her leg was definitely broken. She wanted out of this place and she was willing to fight for her freedom.

When they had finally reached Italy, it had only taken twenty minutes for them to reach the mausoleum. InuYasha was mentally calculating all of the lost time in which Kagome had been with Naraku. She couldn't have possibly still been alive after well over twelve hours after she'd been kidnapped. He hoped against statistics that she was still alive and unharmed; though he felt he might as well be wishing for the winning power ball numbers. Glancing over Koga's shoulder at the breakdown of the building on the small screen, he saw that the small red dot was close to the center of the building. There was no way of knowing if they still had time. They entered the building through the wide double doors at the front, and at the sudden darkness Koga produced two flashlights. Using the small beam of the flashlight InuYasha searched around him for any sign of life. Koga led them to the left and through a door that was one hundred feet from the front door.

Despite the small light in his hand, InuYasha was having issues seeing more than a few feet in front of his face. It was making him nervous. He had no idea what kind of structure a mausoleum had or where he should duck in the case of a low hanging object or wall. He was cautious and it seemed to him to take eternity to make it close to the center of the building. Koga seemed to be just as disoriented as he and so by the time they reached the center of the building, it had seemed like hours had passed. Koga stopped abruptly causing InuYasha to bump into him.

"That's funny." He grimaced and InuYasha checked over his shoulder looking for himself at the small screen. They were standing directly on top of the small red dot. Koga 'hmm'd a moment before taking a step forward. "Look around for a set of stairs." He advised shining his flashlight along the walls. InuYasha did the same hoping they'd find something productive soon. He found a door and opened it hoping a stair well lay beyond it. There was nothing, just another room. The only change was the strong gust of air that rushed past him.

He entered the room and looked around it. Still searching for a stair well. The gust of wind hadn't disappeared and soon InuYasha found the source of the air. It was ventilation system. He took the grate off and debated whether he could fit into it and use it to go down a level. That's when he first heard it. It was the sound of a little girl crying. He called to Koga and the other man came running in.

"Can you hear that?" InuYasha placed his ear over the opening and Koga was silent listening. Sure enough the cries sounded loud and clear and suddenly both men were frantically leaning over the vent. "She's down there." InuYasha growled.

"That's not her crying." Koga confirmed the same suspicion in his own mind. "There are other hostages. This isn't good. I need to call for backup." Koga got up and began putting words to action. InuYasha kept his ear to the vent waiting to hear Kagome's voice; he needed at least to know that she was still alive. He glanced back to where Koga had disappeared and then with a slight shrug started down into the vent. It seemed, at that time, to be his only option. He just hoped he wouldn't get stuck. That would be comical.

Kagome screamed out in pain as Naraku placed his foot on her upper leg and pressed down with most of his weight on her broken femur. She heard Sloan call to her, but she was unsure what it was he was asking her. The stars that had burst behind her eyes hadn't cleared over before she felt herself being lifted from the ground again. She felt cold hands lift her by her throat and sheer panic shot through her. She tried to scream, but her air supply was cut short. She was roughly thrown against a wall and she felt a few bruises form on the spot where her back had hit concrete. That's when she realized someone close by was talking to her. Who was it? She blinked several times clearing away the tears that had built up behind her eyelids. The room was brighter somehow.

"Kagome talk to me!" A harsh voice was demanding from across a vast amount of space. "Wake up Kagome!" It was Sloan again; did he think she was dead? She felt like she should be. She used all her strength to move her head and looked in his direction. His pained expression changed when he saw she was still alive and he turned a hard glare on Naraku. She shifted her gaze up to him to find him turned away from her. She could only see parts of the room through her half lidded eyes. Natilee was still wailing not ten feet away from her foot.

"I'm sorry." It was hard to tell whether the words had escaped her mouth or not because her throat was dry and her lungs weren't filling up with enough air for her to shout. "InuYasha I'm sorry." This time she heard the whisper on her lips and at his name she felt her body spark back to life. She wasn't going to lose him again. That wasn't the way it happened. You didn't find out you still loved someone just for them to be ripped so brutally from your life. With a will she didn't know she had she slowly rose to her feet. This was her chance. Standing only by sheer adrenaline she rushed forward and barreled into Naraku for a second time, only this time she knew for sure this was what she was going to do. She didn't take the time to second think her actions.

Her body weight had been just enough to do what she'd planned and Naraku fell into the bottomless pit that stood before them. She listened as his scream faded down the long dark pit and then finally disappeared all together. She had just enough consciousness to giggle before falling backwards none too gracefully.

InuYasha had been there just in time to catch her as she fell. He cradled her closely to his body hoping he wasn't imagining the girl he held in his arms. He listened carefully for a moment and found that she was still breathing. A sigh of relief was all he could manage before a sob escaped his throat. "Don't you ever do that to me again." He whispered harshly into her ear as she lay silently in his arms. Koga had caught up to him and was now standing in the doorway where InuYasha had witnessed Kagome pushing Naraku over the edge. It was in that moment that he had feared for her life the most, but she had succeeded. Naraku was gone, for good. Koga took in the room and then came to InuYasha's side.

"Is she alive?" He asked placing a hand on her head. He wanted to check her vitals but he could see that InuYasha wasn't going to let her go.

"Yes, help the others." He nodded at the circle of tied hostages. Koga nodded before going to the little girl and cutting her bonds. She raced the few feet across the room to Kagome's side. InuYasha listened bewildered as the girl spoke rapidly in French to Kagome's still form. She'd taken one of Kagome's hands in her own and was hugging it fiercely. The older woman was now next to him brushing Kagome's hair lightly and speaking Spanish, or that was what it sounded like. She seemed to be praying because her head was bowed over Kagome's and her words seemed sacred. The German man came closer, but didn't seem to want to be close to the edge and so he watched distantly. Finally the other gentleman joined them, Koga following and he spoke.

"She will be alright?" His questioning eyes were trained on InuYasha and InuYasha nodded before looking back down at Kagome. He hoped she would be alright. "Be careful with her leg, I think he broke it." InuYasha growled and then quickly did an inspection of the skin on her body that he could see. He could see a red hand print forming around her neck. The sight made him sick. To know that someone had tried to hurt the innocent happy girl in his arms made his anger rise.

"We need to get out of here." Koga murmured close by. He stood up from his crouch next to the little girl. "Can you carry her?" He asked InuYasha.

"Yeah, just give me a moment." He adjusted her in his arms before slowly rising to his feet. The small girl clung to his side as they made their way out of the building.

"Oh and I found the stairs," Koga commented lightly, as they headed out of the room with the pit and into an ante chamber. That would make it easier to get Kagome out in her unconscious state InuYasha thought thankfully. By the time they had arrived at the double doors of the entrance, the place was swarming with police. Not only CIA personnel, InuYasha could see at a first glance. The Italian police were also present. InuYasha was ushered into an ambulance and a team of EMT's took Kagome from him and began speaking rapidly. There was no time for InuYasha to comprehend what was going on before the siren was turned on and they were moving.

When Kagome woke up, she was surrounded by friends and family. When she opened her eyes it only took a quick sweeping glance of the room to see that it was filled with all of her favorite people. InuYasha was on her right side holding tightly to her hand. Her mother and brother were to her left side, Sango was standing off behind InuYasha, and Miroku was close behind her. She squeezed her hand around InuYasha's and he looked down at her.

"Kagome, you're okay." He used his free hand to smooth her hair back from her forehead. "We're at the hospital, everything is okay." She moved her head to look around and found herself immobile. Her leg was being elevated, a large blue cast holding the upper portion of her leg in a straight position. She felt an ache in her back and assumed that it was at the least severely bruised. Her upper right arm was tense from strain and her head was pounding. Other than those few ailments she was doing remarkably well; after all she was still alive.

"What happened?" She thought back to her confinement in that huge building but couldn't place all the pieces together. Her memory might be an ailment to add to her list.

"I got there just as you passed out, Naraku was pushed over the side of the pit, and the jewel was recovered and destroyed. Everything is going to be okay." He repeated his last line because of the way her face went pallid as he continued.

"Are the others here?" He didn't have to ask who she was talking about; he only shook his head once.

"They were taken to their homes, just as you were brought back here." She seemed a bit shell shocked, so InuYasha called the nurse in to give her more pain killers.

"How bad do I look?" It was a funny question that had most of them smiling.

"You broke your femur, there's a bruise the size of Texas on your back, and you have a cut on your forehead," he smiled down at her as she grimaced and reached up to the spot over her left eye that looked sensitive. "You suffered a minor concussion, and you could have those marks on your neck for a few weeks to come." She frowned deeper and moved her hands to her neck. She felt the ridges there that Naraku had left with his hands and fear that his hands were still there overcame her. She tried not to show her temporary fear and InuYasha gripped the side of the bed tighter. He probably noticed the expression before she'd been able to remove it from her face. "Other than that I'd say you lucked out."

Finally InuYasha stepped back from her and Sango rushed up to her side and carefully pulled her into an awkward but comfortable hug. Miroku greeted her next with a pat on her hand and a reassuring smile, and her mother and Souta started chatting with her about how worried they both had been. She smiled at them all; happiness had made her feel better, or maybe that was the drugs. She didn't know either way and despite the comfort she felt in the normalcy of the current conversation she wondered if her life would ever go back to the way it had been.

Would she ever be able to forget the fearful hours she'd spent in captivity and move on to live her life as she had. She wondered if things would ever go back to normal.

Well guys, this is the last chapter. Excluding the epilogue. I hope it was worth the wait and I'm really sorry about it being so long. I could give you all a long list of excuses for why it wasn't up sooner, but I know you guys don't want to hear them. So I hoped you enjoyed it and don't hesitate to review.

And like always. A very special thanks goes out to Robin!!! THANKS ROBIN!!!! For without you this chapter never would have been written.

~Dreamer6164~