Wit and Courage

by BlackBelt

"Kidnapping ploys, murder schemes, terrifying demons hell bent on destroying the balance of the three worlds…this is our life, monkey, welcome to it." Hiei/Oc, sequel to Will and Determination. Complete!

25. The Tears of the Family

Disclaimer: Do Not Own Yu Yu Hakusho

Wit and Courage

Genre: Romance/General/ActionAdventure/Humor/Drama

Rated: M

Pairings: Hiei/Oc, Kurama/Botan, Keiko/Yusuke, Yukina/Kuwabara, Shizuru/Koenma

(Full) Summary: Callie has now been accepted into the life of the Reikai Tantei and now has to deal with all the trials and consequences of such. Not only is she dealing with any hardships of regular life she has to face those problems the group has to deal with. And if facing this mysterious smuggling ring that she is connected with she has to come to an understanding of what exactly her feelings are for Hiei.

"Kidnapping ploys, murder schemes, terrifying demons hell bent on destroying the balance of the three worlds…this is our life, monkey, welcome to it."

Warnings: Oc romance, Keiko's last name will be spelled: Ukimura. Sexual tension, sexual humor, sex, dark/possessive moments.

And this is a sequel--you have to read Will and Determination to get where this story is starting from.

Note: This is probably better characterized and written then its prequel. I can be an incredibly sloppy writer and if a story starts off a sloppy then it will continue being sloppy. This will be better in most things.

This is semi-AU. I altered the King's Tournament--it was explained in Will and Determination in one of the author's notes. But I will try to add a detailed segment sometime here.

Chapter Twenty Five
The Tears of the Family

Brown eyes looked down upon his hand and watched as the appendage trembled--shivering as if he were in freezing weather. His stomach was bunched up into knots and he felt like he was close to being sick. Shame made it so that he couldn't lift his eyes up.

It was because of him they were too late. What other explanation could he give them?

He winced, he could feel their eyes upon him, waiting for something--an explanation, an excuse, and apology.

But what words could be said to the souls of the victims of this whole hellish mess?

"Your hand must be so interesting," One boy noted, "You've been pretty much staring at it since we've been here."

Koenma's eyes looked up for a brief moment to see which one spoke before back down at his papers--his name was Maverick.

"Dude, you really need to look us all in the eye and talk to us. We already know we are dead." He continued, seeming to take up on the voice for the group.

"Its…hard to speak to those I believe I killed…" The prince confessed.

"YOU killed?!" Maverick made a funny noise, "My man, I know I might have smacked my head once or twice but I believe everyone here knows the face of the killers…and…I can't say I saw you there. And trust me, though all those assholes were weird…we would remember one who looked like a friggen model with JR tattooed on his forehead."

Koenma sighed, "I am the Prince of the Gate. This is where souls pass and--."

"Where they are judged, where they are sent to the next level, where those upon the group of the Reikai Tantei are managed." Maverick had a knowing smile on his face--they all did--when Koenma looked up at them in shock. "We know who you are."

"H-How…I-I…I mean…" Realization dawned upon the brunette, "Callie."

Maverick nodded, "The runt provided us all with some good conversation--true for a while no one really believed it….but by the time all of us were gone we knew the whole story--had it memorized by heart she told it to us constantly."

They knew who he was, what he did, what power he had…instantly he was on his knees before them, unable to hold any of the tears back. "I'M SORRY!" He wailed into the ground. "I-I'm so….I'm so sorry! W-We couldn't find you! No one could find you! W-We tr-tried…we really tried! A-And then…oh g-god…w-we had t-to kill you all over again…."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Maverick and another soul was by his side, trying to get him to his feet. "Buddy…we know…we know you tried your best. We could see it in your face when you came down that hall to face us. We all saw it…you really did try. You were thinking and looking for Callie and trying to get to all of us."

"Sometimes you just can't make it…" Another soul whispered. She had such expressive eyes, so happy to be free of the prison. "But that's ok. We are just so happy its over with. We would've preferred to have survived…but now that we are free from that prison--now that we actually free from that pain…well…none of us have too much to complain about."

"Doesn't feel right to complain about anything now that things are so much better." A little girl stated. It made Koenma flinch a little when he saw her. This was the girl whose body had still been on the ground in the prison. Celeste, the girl they had saved, said her name had been Rebecca.

She had just been thirteen.

Koenma hissed a little through his teeth, feeling sick to his stomach as the image of the corpse returned to his mind.

"Its not right though. For all of you to have gone through what you did…a-and…and w-we couldn't save you." Koenma felt queasy.

"Buddy," Maverick placed a hand on his shoulder, "Please. Don't take all this blame on yourself. I find that pretty dumb--no offense." He gave him a pat. "You didn't kidnap us. You didn't force us to go through all of that. You have no reason to hold all of this to yourself."

"B-But--"

"Stop looking for blame, jeeze." He rolled his eyes before he forced Koenma back to his feet. "Its unneeded and you are sounding like we are such horrible people that we are going to place the blame on just anyone for our misfortunes."

"I have to admit," Another male began, "While in the middle of all of that shit--no pun intended," He said with some humor about the disgusting conditions that room had been in. "We were placing the blame on pretty much everyone and everything who breathed. Now that we are finally out and its over with and we don't have that much pain…what is the point of placing the blame on anyone other then those who caused it?"

"Which, by the way, is NOT you." Maverick grunted seeing that the prince was close to taking the blame on himself once more. "Just let it go. This is not something you should take blame for, ok? Please, its giving me a major migraine." He rubbed his head. "I'm dead now, I shouldn't be getting this."

"I've been told I have that affect on people--dead or not." Koenma shrugged a little, remembering the words of his friends--especially the ever opinionated Yusuke.

A wry grin went to some faces, "I see, that explains some things."

"Hey, did the others survive? Celeste, Terrance, Callie, and Joshua? What about them?"

Koenma sighed, "Celeste, Terrance, and Joshua are in the middle of recovery. They have a big chance of pulling through and are awake and aware--just very tired and will have to go through a lot of physical and mental therapy."

"Callie isn't doing good is she?" Maverick asked, not beating around the bush. He knew that because she wasn't mentioned that something horrible had happened in the rescuing. "I know that before I died she had been hurt very badly…"

"Yeah," Rebecca nodded, "Everyone thought she was going to die before I did…but she isn't here. What happened to her?"

"Right now she is in a coma. Its not looking too good. It seems she was hurt very badly." Koenma shook his head, "It just…its very bleak." That wasn't the half of it--he was incredibly concern about Hiei and what will happen should his own mate died.

"Oh…Well no worries! That brat is tough. I'm sure she is going to pull through." Maverick comforted a bit, though it didn't seem to reach the prince who has heard this all before. There was very little hope left in the hurt prince who has seen far too much pain and has come to realize that there was a chance that this one time this group was going to suffer a sever loss.

"How about we move on from this cry fest?" Another man, on his file it said his name was Robert, suggested. "Are we moving on to Heaven or something now?"

Koenma cleared his throat, sniffling a little, "Not quite yet. Yes you all will move on to the next level, however despite how you suffered there was some wrong doing in your life that has to be looked upon," He waved off their worried looks, "Please do not worry. You are not going to Hell or any bad place. Its more like you are going to be scolded. But…before any of that…I hope that you will meet with the group."

"For them to apologize?" Maverick guessed, not looking forward to being scolded.

"More then likely." The brunette replied honestly. "We have been looking for you guys for a long time. And the fact that we were unable to get to you in time has wounded the group. We aren't…we're not use to suffering such causalities and such loss. We see ourselves as heroes who should never lose and should always protect and save the day. This is the first time we haven't made it in time…and where we won't get a second chance. Its…hard."

"Hmm, but we honestly don't want any more apologies." Robert piped in again. "Its getting old and just making us feel worse."

"I-I…I am sorry about that. We just feel a need to apologize." He sighed before he sat back down at his desk, running a hand through his hair. "And there is a few more things that I wish to do before you move on to the next life."

"Alright, shoot. Lets get it over with. Not that you are your groveling isn't ever so enjoyable, but I think we all are ready to go to a new place and just be at peace." Maverick teased a little.

Koenma gave him a small smile, "I know this will be tough but you will have to tell me all the details you can remember about what happened. We have to document everything." He intertwined his fingers, retaking his role as a prince and a man who was there for ruling and business. "From the information we gathered from those who did this too you it was a large group that did this. However we fear that we have not yet captured everyone." His golden-brown eyes looked up at the group in all seriousness.

"More of these sick fuckers?" A girl around eighteen hissed.

"Yes, unfortunately. We need all the information we can get so we can be prepared in case we have indeed missed over anyone. We will NOT have this happen again. You already know that the group who did this followed after a very sick demon by the name of Dr. Ichigaki. Though we can't stop everyone we wish to try and prevent this as much as possible and to do that we have to have as much info as possible." Koenma rubbed his head, "We already have some solid evidence to help us, but we need a bit more."

"Might we ask what this evidence is? Cause no offense, but we wouldn't trust the people who did this to tell you the whole truth about what happened." Maverick grunted, "I think we should be the ones to tell you everything."

"We would never believe everything the likes of them would say," Koenma growled, feeling as if worms were crawling over his arms at the mention of those vile creatures. "However we have tapes."

"Tapes? Wait a minute, you mean these sickos actually video-taped everything!?"

"Yes. We have found all of them and will be used to gather information." Koenma said.

There was a pause.

"You're planning on watching these videos? As in the group?" Maverick looked very concerned and deeply troubled about this piece of information. He had thought that the man before them would get some hired help to do that, but with how he spoke it sounded like he was planning on seeing it himself. And Maverick got the feeling that if Koenma would watch it, the others in the group that tried to rescue them would too.

"Yeah. They must be watched. Not only is it procedure its something that…that we have to see." The prince inhaled through his nose, as if readying himself to watch it at that very moment.

The group took a moment to share a look--as if they had a mental connection and knew what the problem was. Maybe they did. After what they have experienced together it was certainly a possibility they got so close that they could do something like that--it wouldn't the most far-fetched thing in the world.

"Don't let Hiei see anything." Maverick warned.

Needless to say Koenma was a little taken aback, "Hiei?" He repeated like a parrot.

"Look, we know that the runt adored that man more then anyone in the group. But we also can feel that that man loves her more then anyone in the group as well. I don't think that anyone who loves someone that much should witness what is on those tapes." The tall boy shook his head. "What we went though is something we would rather forget, and we are lucky in that we will be able to move on and hopefully get the chance to do that. Where we will be going its NOT going to haunt us. But for those remaining here…"

"Needless to say it will haunt anyone who watches it for the rest of their natural lives. And if everyone is gonna live a very long-long time…it would be better for them to not see it. Especially when love like that is involved. It will tear this Hiei-fellow apart." For a thirteen year old that Rebecca spoke like she was in her late twenties or early thirties. She was far to old then she should be.

"I see…unfortunately its not my choice. I will tell Hiei what you said…but in the end its his decision. And trust me, he is one of the most pig-headed people you will ever meet." Koenma warned, feeling a bit of fear for what was on those videos. He was worried that what would be seen would tear Hiei's already very fragile state of mind completely apart.

"Let me tell you something," The girl with the expressive eyes snapped, drawing attention to her. "What you will see will probably be the most horrible thing in the world. Those experiments that they did were NOT for science--you will be able to tell that instantly. They did it all because they were sadist. I see that there was no scientific need for rape," She spat, "I see that there was no scientific need for brutal medieval torture. I see no scientific need for keeping us in a room with no bathroom and no windows. You won't be seeing things that will make any sense--those videos will just be clips of torture. Nothing more."

Koenma's face had gone a snowy white, "R-Rape?"

"Yes. They separated the girls and boys into two groups--those who would be touched and those who wouldn't." She shook her head, absolutely disgusted about what happened.

Koenma shot to his feet, "O-Oh god…"

"No, she was not in the group. You have nothing to fear. She came in too late for that so she was placed in the group that wasn't touched," Robert comforted.

A hand went to Koenma's mouth as he felt bile beginning to boil in his stomach and was gathering to his throat. What was he going to see on those tapes?

"Please…you saved us from that place. Why would we want you to go through such torture by watching all of that?" Maverick winced, "Its not something anyone should see."

"But…its something we might have too do…its…just a feeling of what is needed." He sighed, his hand shaking, he looked ready to be sick.

"You really shouldn't." Robert warned.

"I know…but I am going to." The prince stated with a shaky tone, unsure how he was going to be able to take it. He was already so terrified.

A collective sigh escaped the group, wishing that the man before him would listen to reason and would not see anything on those videos.

"I suppose its your choice. You're a big boy after all." Rebecca began to play with the ends of her long hair, "We are just giving you fair warning--but its really up to you."

"I know. I thank you for your advice," He gave them all a smile, "But this is something that we think would be for the best. I know its something that will haunt us…but…its going to haunt Callie." He felt some growing confidence as he found his reason for watching, "If she has to suffer any more, we're going to suffer with her. We will at least want to know and feel some of her pain so we will be able to help her when she struggles with it."

Maverick smiled back, "Well I suppose if you have to watch it that will be the best reason to." He cleared his throat, "But I think we should tell you our side of the story before you run off to watch everything--at least give you a warning of what you are going to witness."

"Yeah, I would appreciate that." Koenma stated with a smile. "Please, begin."

---

The dragon looked so weak, curled up asleep in its incubator. The brown scales bristled ever so slightly whenever it breathed, but besides that shallow movement there was no other sign of life to show that it was still alive.

Red eyes were gazed upon the adorable little creature without blinking. Locked on the movements of lungs to ensure that it was still breathing. This little thing was a connection to his mate's soul. He didn't want it to die--even if his mate would survive without it, he knew she would be so distraught to hear her "baby" hadn't survived this ordeal.

"I wonder what she is going to name you…" He thought out loud. She, Hiei knew it was a girl since it was Callie's soul in dragon form, was small like Callie. Probably loud and obnoxious like her too…

Sadistic Hiei couldn't wait to see how this dragon beat up on Puu.

Another thing to tease Yusuke about equals WINNER in the group's book.

Hiei looked back upon Callie, it appeared that her color was a little better then it had been an hour before. Or was that his mind trying to give him false hope? Was he seeing signs that weren't really there just as a way to give him something besides waiting and watching?

His hand grabbed on to her own, clenching the small appendage in his larger one.

To think less then a year ago the thought of holding someone's hand made him sneer in disgust. Now it was something he did most every minute. His fingers were so use to gripping a sword or clenching tightly into a fist to break the bones of an opponent…it actually took coaching to ensure he didn't grip her bony hand to hard and snap something.

'Its pathetic…to think I couldn't even do something as simple as holding hands…' With a tired sigh he placed his forehead on the edge of the bed. He was exhausted. He lacked sleep and his emotions were constantly running dry and struggling to remain mentally alive.

It was a struggle every day. But as long as Callie was alive, Hiei would remain alive as well. He would never abandon her--not again.

Biting his lip he tried not to allow the horrors of that nightmare reenter his thoughts. But it was difficult to forget it…to forget how his mate stood there before him in agony, her skin falling off of her and blood oozing form her face, blaming it all on him. How could he ever forget something like that?

How the hell could he ever forgive himself for letting her get in such a situation?

Stroking her hand Hiei pushed them away, trying to wonder how Koenma was fairing facing the group of kids that they were unable to save. Something clenched in Hiei's stomach--had there ever been a day in his life where he felt a pity for another creature? But those kids…he couldn't help but feel for those souls.

Being alone with Callie he allowed himself some leniency and took up her hand and kissed it. She was so close to being one of those souls he felt pity for. The thought made him shudder and press his lips to her hand tightly.

"If you wake up I promise to not degrade you any more…" He swore, remembering all the times he has hurt the girl before him. "So please…wake up."

The soft knock at the door made him jump.

"What the hell is it?!" He spat venomously, bitter that he had been taken off guard and his moment with his mate had been interrupted.

"Sorry Hiei…" It was Kuwabara, and to Hiei's surprise he found himself calming down at the sound of his brother-in-law's voice. "But Koenma needs to speak with us--with the group."

Hiei flinched and he knew that the taller teen did the same thing. Were they ready in meeting up with those who died?

'No choice.' He told himself, trying to get his almost suicidal courage back to him once more. "Hn," He answered, picking himself up and away from the girl, "I will be right back." He promised her. "I'm sorry I wasn't talking…" Since last night he has been forcing himself to talk with the girl--to his surprise it was incredibly hard to let go of his pride and fear and actually talk to the girl. Every time he tried he felt like a fool.

With a look of longing at her he walked out of the private hospital room, looking up at the huge human. "I suppose he wants us to collection some information from them."

The orange-haired kid shrugged, "I guess it could always be a possibility." He looked back at the room Hiei had his body shielding protectively. "How is she?"

"The same as before." He snapped to his comrade. "Unconscious."

"But breathing." Kuwabara corrected before sighing, "Hiei…look, I know you are tired of hearing all these things being said over and over again…but please stop acting like we're strangers with you. We are your family--hell you and me more so." He had a strong look upon his face--strong but gentle, perfect words to describe the golden-hearted moron. "Stop hiding your feelings with us."

"Does it look like I am hiding something?" Hiei sneered.

"Yes." Kuwabara countered. "Whenever we ask you about anything you put up a shield or something and push us away." He sighed, "You keep thinking we are going to judge you or somethin."

Hiei glared dangerously at Kuwabara, "You ignorant fool. You seem to fail to remember that only a short time ago you were judging me."

"No, we were FEARING you."

Hiei growled at this confession.

"Don't glare at me like that ya shrimp! You are a scary guy and you know it, stop acting like just cause we fear ya we think of ya like some monster." His eyes narrowed, "We understand that you are unstable and super strong…and yeah that is scary…but what we fear is how…how alone you seem to feel around us."

"Huh?" Hiei blinked--he's found himself having this dumb expression on his face more then he would like to admit.

"Tch, and you call me an idiot! Hmph! Think about it shrimp; we all have been through so much--you, me, Urameshi, and Kurama…we all are like brothers. We're best friends and family…and yet you just seem…unwelcome with us. We hate that…" He sighed and shoved his hand into his pockets, "We worry we are bad friends and that you don't feel comfortable opening up to us. I mean…we've talked about everything. Yet…you never lower your shields around us…"

Hiei's face had a surprised expression on his face that he quickly had to snap his head away to hide. He hadn't expected this.

They were all scared of him, not just because he was a frightening demon…but because he was cold to them? Was he the one who really was pushing everyone away?

"Yeah, you have been hurt a whole lot in the past before, huh?" Kuwabara looked down at his friend with a concern look at his face, "But man Hiei--I know all of those things were horrible…and we can't ask you to forget them or even let them go, that wouldn't be fair of us…but damn it….you won't even give us a chance to prove to you that there are families out there that really does love you, ya know?"

Hiei grunted, not in the mood for another passionate love-filled speech. Of course despite what his mood wanted he was still unable to turn deaf to Kuwabara's words. "I don't care…"

"Yeah you do. Stop acting like a little brat. We know you care about us…but we worry that you feel we don't care about you." Kuwabara rubbed his head before he began to lead the way to Koenma's office.

The fire demon gave him a glare, but it wasn't as powerful as he had wanted. Something was clenching in his gut; he was the cause of this rift between himself and the rest of the group? All this time he had been sneering in hurt and anger at them for their betrayal…when it was him all along who had been betraying them?

The fire-demon was unsure what to think of this. Everyone within the group has mentioned before that he had a great sense of loyalty to those who deserve it and would never break a "contract of loyalty" unless they did something to become unworthy and he broke away from them. Except in this case, where he was the one who broke it first.

His fist clenched tightly, teeth gritting together; what was wrong with him? What was so wrong with him that he kept messing things up with those he cares about? He treated his mate like shit for most of the time they have known each other and now she might never get to hear that he was sorry for that and wanted to be with her. He has pushed those he actually DID see as a family away from the get-go and has never given them a real chance, and was blaming them the whole time for it.

Perhaps he was cursed.

Hiei gave a small grunt of surprise when the large muscular hand of Kuwabara slapped on his shoulder. "Hey Hiei bud you are acting like this makes you a horrible person. You are a bastard and can act like a spoiled butthole at times…but you are as good guy. And you have been hurt terribly in the past…those things can't help but affect you, whether you want them too or not." He smiled warmly down at his friend, "We all understand that. So don't get such a constipated look!"

Hiei promptly elbowed him hard in the gut.

"OW!! Jeeze!" He held his stomach, groaning a bit. He had to take a moment to wheeze through his nose, giving a weak glare to the smaller man, "Uncalled for."

"Buffoon." Hiei grunted.

"I…I just meant," He wanted and took another few moments to compose himself. "I just meant…that you are over thinking things. Damn that is going to bruise!" His brown eyes gave another glare, "We all understand what you have been through…and I am not saying that you are the only one who is the cause of this….thingy."

Thingy wasn't exactly the most macho or mature of words that could've been used during this delicate time.

"We haven't been the most helpful…as I said we are afraid of you. This isn't exactly helpful…not too mention we are stubborn guys who doesn't always listen to the wisdom of the girls who always urges us to talk." He chuckled a little--despite the fact that he usually was the one who wanted to talk about emotional things. "I think both sides needs a lot of work…but if we don't give up I am sure we can get past this…"

"Thingy?" Hiei rolled his eyes, finishing the sentence for the childish man.

"It sounds so wrong coming from you." Kuwabara laughed some more, because really Hiei should never say "thingy". Ever. "I just think that we all need to talk about this…not now but the sooner the better. You are our brother and we do love you."

Red eyes looked up at the much taller man. Brother…yes, they were family. They were his brothers and he was theirs…they go through so much together and they were always there for each other, right?

"You're getting that constipated look again." The orange-haired teen quickly flinched back with a squeak when that elbow made another jab at him. "Stop over thinkin things. This is family we are talkin about…its not somethin you have to torture yourself over. We shouldn't have to constantly worry what it takes to please the other to make them stay. We stay out of feelings not out of perks." Kuwabara crossed his arms over his chest, "You seem to think that the only way a person would stay near you is if they could get somethin from ya."

"I…suppose…"

Kuwabara grinned, he was reaching him. "Let's just say that in the future we all are going to need to talk about this…but for now we have more important things to worry about. But," he gave Hiei's shoulder another friendly pat. "Don't keep thinking you are not important to us, ok?"

"Hmph," Hiei snorted as he snapped his head away--masking his embarrassment. He didn't want anyone to see that he was actually touched by these words. It was just another sign that he has changed into a softer individual who truly cares for others….it was something he was still not use too. He was still unsure if he liked this change or not.

Though now he suppose it was time to just accept it, whether he liked it or not.

Kuwabara then squeezed Hiei's shoulder, leading them to stopping in front of Koenma's office. Kurama and Yusuke were there waiting for them. They looked pale--their expressions mirroring Kuwabara's and Hiei's. This confrontation was not something either of them were looking forward too.

"I don't want to do this…" Kuwabara sighed and looked down, "I don't know if I will be able to handle seeing them."

"Its something we have to do." Kurama retorted, "We have to talk with them…" He ran a hand through his thick red hair. "We should just get it over with…"

"I want to see them." Hiei whispered, mostly to himself then the others. These were the ones who saw his mate alive and awake--they talked to her for over a month in that tiny room. He wanted to see them and speak with them, to see if he could learn anything else form his mate that the survivors haven't yet told him. There was something they were hiding in their eyes…but Hiei found himself too scared to peer into their memories.

His heart quivered as if a powerful chill swept over him as he entered into the room and came face to face with the people whose bodies he had burned.

"Ah, the rest of them!" One older boy expressed with a grin. "Bout time you showed up. Come on, lets get this party started!"

---

Keiko heaved a sigh as she leaned against the chair of the balcony from the room her and Yusuke were sharing. The clean air felt wonderful on her face and though her long hair would be in tangles she found herself uncaring.

At the moment Yusuke had been called back to Koenma's office. After the first time he had returned today he had looked close to tears. He had fallen into her arms and released his soul into her shoulder. Those responsible had died a gruesome death, and the kids who had died were now free and were in a meeting with Koenma.

It had taken a lot out of the boy and he found himself needing a good cry and a hug from the woman he loved more then anything before he was ready to go back and meet up with the kids whom he had been too late to save.

The young woman looked up at the sky--a very unusual colored one, but beautiful none the less. She knew Yusuke wasn't taking this loss easily. He, the hero, had been to late to save twenty-one kids. It was a very hard blow to him who had found himself the savior of the world. For him to be too late was something she knew he would never be able to get over.

'Don't worry Yusuke,' She promised, 'I'm always going to be there for you.'

And she was, which was why she had said yes to the operation without taking a pause to think. Keiko now knew that Yusuke was always going to need her. Without her he had no one he would confined in, no one who would be there to support him in the way she would.

Without her Yusuke would be unhappy.

There was no way she was ever going to let this man who has done so much, who fights for others so often, who truly suffers so much, to ever be left alone and unhappy if she could prevent it.

So she ignored the fear of such a change, the sadness of leaving her parents, and the future separation of her former life and gave herself freely to Yusuke. She would be with him for the rest of their lives--be it another fifty years, or another thousand. She would be with him and never once look back in regret.

But that didn't mean those fears and sadness were not in her thoughts. She could ignore them, but not escape them.

Keiko was sick to her stomach at the thought of maybe one day having to separate fully from her parents. If they didn't accept her change what would she do with that rejection? It would be so painful and she would hate if she had to lean against Yusuke with such emotional ache when he had so much on his plate already.

Another thing that bothered her was one she found selfish, but something she worried about regardless.

All her life she has worked so hard, so very hard, to go to college and become a great and powerful woman who could make a living for herself. But now it looked like a possibility that her future business dreams were out of her reach. Instead she was going to be a queen.

Unlike most little girls growing up, Keiko wanted to be something like a lawyer or a politician, maybe a doctor or a teacher--never once a princess or a queen. That spoiled life-style, never having to do anything for herself was not something she wanted.

She never once thought that she would actually be getting to be a queen. The odds of that happening were just impossible! And yet here she was, engaged to a man who was a king of demons.

"He had better well let me be a friggen lawyer or something," She grumbled a little as she crossed her arms with a little pout. Keiko knew Yusuke very well, she knew that he was going to try and make her a spoiled rotten princess. He had better not if he knows what's good for him. She appreciated being spoiled, pretty much every girl does, but not to that level.

Sighing, she allowed her head to fall back, once again she was playing the waiting game. Waiting for Yusuke to come back to her safe and well--though this time he was facing an emotional battle. But it still caused him pain and her worry. "And to think I am walking into a life where I will be doing nothing but waiting for him to come home safe and sound after terrible battles…"

It sounded like she was going to be a woman filled to the brim with stress. Already her hands were trembling at the anxiety she would be facing being married to Yusuke due to his job. A groan escaped her lips as she rubbed the back of her neck--she was in for one rough life with him.

But she would be happy. It would be tough, probably miserable on some occasions, but throughout it all--both good and bad--she was going to be so happy that she was with him and that she chose to be with him. But Yusuke was a headache waiting to happen. Marrying a headache…joy.

Taking another deep breath, her brown eyes looked back up at the sky. "Mama…" Her lips fell as tears began to gather, but she quickly wiped them away. "No, now is not the time to act like this." She continued to wipe at her eyes to keep the tears back. "They will accept Yusuke and myself…and I already knew they were going to die one day before me…things haven't changed too much. So I have nothing to worry about."

Still it hurt. Keiko had known one day she would be without her parents, she just hadn't expected that she would be without them for so long. It was going to hurt. Especially if her and Yusuke waited on having a baby. They wouldn't see their grandchild.

"M-Maybe I can convince Koenma to let my parents get the operation too…" Her heart pounded. It would be great if that could happen. Her parents would probably say yes to it--it would be a wonderful adventure for them. They could sell fantastic ramen in the demon world and throughout the human world. And they could still be apart of their lives…it wasn't wrong to ask right?

Biting her lip she felt a bit guilty for wanting so much, but these were her parents--she wanted to be with them so much, it wasn't wrong to want that. It couldn't be wrong.

"Now is not the time to think about this…its fine…I just need to remain calm and think of helping Yusuke and the rest. This is not the time to think of myself, I have to think of the rest." She looked thoughtful, unsure what she could do to help others during their time of need.

She was completely at a loss with it.

And Keiko loathed being at a loss with something. After Kurama she was the smartest one in the group--well at least with things from school. This was just an insult to her intellect. She should know what to do and how to help everyone she cares about--and yet it seems impossible for her to know.

It was painful.

Tapping her fingers in some aggravation, apprehension filling her body. "Maybe I should go and see Yusuke and see if he needs help or something…" She picked herself, unable to keep sitting when she needed to be around Yusuke.

"I hate waiting," She muttered bitterly as she walked towards the door, twitching a little with suppressed nerves. She needed to get by Yusuke--even if he didn't need her in that moment in time, she knew she needed him.

---

"Wow…" Maverick, the one who had exclaimed something about a party when the group entered, drawled out. He had been bowed too so many times his head was getting dizzy going up and down with the bodies. "So Koenma isn't the only one in an apologetic mood." He sighed, "Come ON guys! We know you tried your best! We know that! You don't have to look like beaten puppies!"

Yusuke winced a little, "I know, it must be getting a little annoying but this is just…new to us."

Maverick shook his head, "I understand, I really do. And I know that this is very hard on you guys--especially when you find out that we were the ones who were attacking you. But we appreciate it." He smiled at them, "We wanted you to go and save those who could be saved. And we didn't want to be the ones responsible to keep you away from them, whether we were in control or not."

Chuu, him and the rest had entered just moments after the others, gulped, "Dat's just…w-we…well…"

"You know…I find it funny that there is a demon with an Australian accent and one with an Irish one." Robert pointed out.

"Yeah, no kidding kid. You have Australian nations?"

"Continents."

"I thought they were countries!"

"Ugh…" Rebecca, the mature one, grunted and shook her head before looking back up at the group. She noticed that they were avoiding looking at her and she scowled, "You don't have to avoid me like I have the plague you know. I'm dead, big deal. Right now I think we have more important things to concern ourselves with such as getting out as much information as possible, give you guys plans in case this happens again, discuss those videos, and have all of us move on to the next step. And needless to say we all wish to get on with that so lets move past all of this now please."

Koenma leaned over to the group, "Told you she was scarily mature."

"Damn, she's like a mini-Keiko! Only with braids! And a very evil look…never mind, Keiko has that as well." Yusuke muttered, hoping that Keiko's "Yusuke has been dumb and/or insulted me" senses hadn't began ringing.

Those were scarily accurate and he always felt the pain of being caught.

"But Rebecca," Maverick whined, "We wanna know!!"

"Shut it!" She ordered in a commanding voice, "We have more important issues to discuss here!…And Australia is a continent you morons!"

"Whoo-hoo! I win!"

"Can it!!" She snarled again before turning back to the group.

"Yep. That's a mini-Keiko alright." Yusuke gulped under his breath.

"First things first," Rebecca began as she held up a finger, "The video-tapes. We have already warned Koenma to NOT watch them but it seems that he is passionate about seeing it. I highly recommended that you all don't. What are on those things are not to be seen by those who care for anyone on them. You will be haunted. Especially you," She used the finger she had been holding up to point to Hiei.

Hiei still looked exhausted and haunted. The group knew he shouldn't have to see any more to weigh on his already tortured soul.

"You should not see it Hiei." Rebecca whispered, her voice almost a plea.

"I will see them." He whispered back. "I won't let my mate be alone with those images."

"You are just trying to punish yourself." Rebecca snapped. "You cannot see what we went through. It will only make everything worse for you. Even if she does survive what happened you will not be able to escape what you see. It will affect your relationship with her…"

"I will see them." He repeated, not wavering.

Her eye was beginning to twitch, "Would you LISTEN!? These things will haunt you! It will bring you pain! You will be with her…but you will constantly see those images! By looking at you I can tell you are the possessive sort," She eyed him once over, as if confirming her prediction. "A bastard like you would chain her up and never let her out of a room…and that should be taken literally." Rebecca warned to his friends, hoping they would understand what she was getting at. "It has more consequences then good for you to watch these tapes!"

Hiei simply turned his head, "I will watch them."

"UGH! Koenma was right, you are pig-headed!" She growled, and placed her hands on her hips, looking ready to stomp in a tantrum.

Koenma gulped when Hiei gave him a look, "I-I was saying it in the nicest manor…like, you know… "Oh he is so wonderfully pig-headed and handsome!" it's a compliment and a sign of the utmost respect!"

"Smoooooth cover up." Yusuke and Maverick mocked, before looking at each other and smiling a bit--finding themselves a bit a like. They grinned when the prince sulked a little at being teased and glared at. It was fun to gang up on the spoiled man.

"Back on topic!" Rebecca growled before turned and went back towards the group.

"Meanie." Robert snorted as he gave a pat to her head. "But I suppose it would be best if we go on and get all of this over with as soon as possible. We do want to move on after all."

"Well," Kurama picked up a file on Koenma's desk, reading over the contents. "It seems already most information has been taken…where you are from, how exactly you were kidnapped, and some accounts of what has occurred. There weren't too many mysteries." Because of Hiei's torture tactics they had those doctors singing out their plots easily. "Shouldn't we send them off?"

The prince pondered something for a moment. "I do have a question for you before I do send you all to the next step…" Koenma looked at the group with kindness. "Would you want to…wait to move on and see what happens with Callie?"

"If its allowed…yes, I want too." Maverick nodded, instantly seeing what Koenma was getting at and instantly wanted it. "I either want to be there when she wakes up and let her know we are all ok…or…" Looks at Hiei and the group sadly for a minute. "Or be with her when she moves on."

"THAT WON'T HAPPEN!" Hiei snarled dangerously. "Don't EVER insinuate that she won't make it!"

"I'm sorry man…" Maverick whispered, "I didn't mean to say I have a doubt or anything…but yes…I do want to be here. The others can move on if they want but I want to be here."

Rebecca sighed, "I want to move on now…but a few more days won't be terrible. I know that crybaby would get her feelings hurt if we aren't here for her."

"Agreed…she would begin bawling." Robert snorted over some laughter, remembering the girl who would get all weepy over the dumbest of things. Like the time he talked about how his dog died. She began wailing for him and the puppy--it took Terrance and Maverick thirty minutes to get her to calm down.

Such a stupid loveable girl.

"I take it the rest of them agree?" Kurama stated with a grateful smile, especially when they nodded. "Thank you…that…that will mean so much to her."

"Shouldn't we begin to talk about other serious issues? We have passed the apology stage and the talk about the tapes," Rebecca glared at Hiei who seemed to be ignoring her. "What now?"

"What else is there besides watching the tapes?" Genkai grunted, giving a knowing look to the prince who indeed seemed to have something else on his mind.

"I have a bit more about the scientist who caused all of this…" Koenma cleared his throat, wanting their attention on him. "We have gotten rid of most all of them, however the group, it seemed, must've been at least fifty members large."

"An army of science geeks. Fun." Yusuke grunted, not impressed. "They're all going to be executed now, right?"

"Wrong."

"Excuse me?" Hiei hissed. "Of course they will be executed…all of them will DIE."

"Yes Koenma, they all should be killed shouldn't they?" Touya asked with a cocked brow, making sure to steer clear of Hiei. He was incredibly and dangerously unstable. Touya would have to make sure the others in the group, the morons, understood to be careful.

Koenma gave them all a look, "You actually thought I would let you kill them all? We need some with information to remain alive for a while longer. There is technology there that could probably cause a lot of damage--we have to know what is what when we destroy them. You killed those who were very close in what happened to Callie. But there are many followers. Not too mention we have to look into what they used to create those mini portals that stole the kids." He intertwined his fingers again. "We have discovered that they indeed used technology…a new product that was able to let them open doors at any place."

Kuwabara snapped his head towards the prince, "Whoa…now that doesn't sound good…."

"No, its not good at all. The good thing is that it is so advanced that only those who have been trained could use it. It takes so many different things…I can't even begin to explain what it all is. So we can assume not the average demon-Joe will be able to figure out how to work it…and more then likely it is weak. It could not open up in the warded and protected shrine or the other places Callie had been. It would have to either be a regular door." He explained, telling all that he knew about this new technology.

"But Callie was taken outside." Yusuke pointed out.

"They were probably able to enhance the power of the portal a bit so that it could open up inside. It was probably one reason why it took them so long to actually make a move to kidnap her. They were working on that to be able to do such a thing." He sighed, rubbing his head. "As you can see…the fact that they were able to do something like that shows us that we have to have someone who knows more about it. We have confiscated the machine so hopefully we will be able to prevent anything else like this from being made."

"Or if they are made we will be able to fight it back with our own." Shishi noted, crossing his arms over his chest. "But we need someone to teach us how to work it, correct?"

Koenma nodded, "And I know that while none of you want to hear this…I think we should try and recruit a few of the scientist."

"What was that then?" Jin snapped. "Recruit one of those bastards?"

"I don't want anything to do with them. Kill the lot of them." Shishi hissed dangerously. "Souls such as them should not be left alive." He touched his sword, wanting to slice and dice. He would not accept such bastards being close to the group. They were his friends--they were all part of one large pack. And he would gladly fight to keep all of them protected.

"I have to agree with them," Maverick used this thumb to point to the homicidal group of demons. "The thought of you keeping any of these fuckers alive and near Callie, Celeste, Terrance, and Joshua does not settle well in my stomach."

"I don't like the idea any more then you all do, trust me on that. But we need insiders information. We cannot risk that something was to come up and we would be in need of the knowledge that they have." Koenma shook his head, "Not only do we have many enemies there is still a chance that there are more of them out there and we have to be prepared for that. I'm not saying its something we have to do--its not set in stone. But its something I want to give a try."

"None of us agree. We shouldn't try it. They just might try something." Kaito inputted, never one to stick out of a debate for long. "It is as you said, Koenma-sama, that these fools are genius and have some great technologies that could help the group in the future. But they could turn on us with great ease and the damage would be far too great…you are risking the lives of the person you just saved."

Koenma shook his head, "You all are acting like that I have already asked one of them to do this." He sighed and shook his head again. "We can discuss this later. For now I do want to keep some alive for at least information, even if we don't keep them to help us further." By his tone they knew he was not going to change his mind about that. "Now, I have already gathered information from them," The prince used his hand to show he was now talking about the group of souls. "I believe that our final thing to discuss is what we were talking about before."

"The tapes?" Suzaku guessed.

"The tapes." Koenma confirmed. "I want to know who is going to watch it and who is not. I believe we should just play it here and now one and then I will send it to specialist who can actually study everything and provide us with any more information."

"Not like there will be information. Its just a disgusting sadistic tape for sadistic voyeurism." Rebecca snarled under her breath.

"A thirteen year old should not know that term." Maverick whistled mockingly only to be smacked by the teenage-girl. "Nor should she hurt her elders! Hmph!"

"Stop trying to sugar-coat the situation and make everyone feel lighter. It will just be worse for them when the tape starts." She stormed to the door, "I refuse to watch and relive any of this. I will be in the waiting room we were at before this." And with that she left.

Maverick smiled a bit at where the girl had just been, "Smart girl. You all go on back with her. None of you should see this--and unlike us staying here this isn't about loyalty to anyone."

"And you?" Robert asked as he moved the others out the door, following Maverick's want.

"Staying here of course. Someone has to be the narrator." He grinned at Robert's worried look. "Don't fret. I can handle this…its over with and I am already dead. I want to do this…you know I have the personality to handle it."

"I suppose you do." Robert sighed, heaving his shoulders, use to the man's behavior. "Alright we will see you in a couple of hours then." He closed the door after him, leaving Maverick still in his relaxed position on the chair.

"Alright then, since none of you left I am taking it all of you are staying to watch?" He shrugged, already knowing the answer. "We should get it started then, best take a seat…you are gonna find that it will be hard to remain standing for long…." He gave a look to Rinku, "This kid up for it as well?"

"Don't underestimate me by the way I look." Rinku huffed as he took his seat on the couch, looking stubborn. "I stay with the group."

"Suit yourself." Maverick looked back up to Koenma, "Your majesty, if you would be so kind as to start?"

The prince pressed a button on his desk and a large screen TV came from the ceiling.

"Daaaaaaaaamn! I gotta get me one of those! Aw sweet…I could see such awesome football games with that." Maverick grinned at Koenma, "How much for the set?"

Koenma couldn't help but smile a bit, Maverick was too goofy and kind-hearted to not like. "We can discuss a trade at a later time…for now…are we all ready?"

"Yes…." By their expressions it was obvious the true answer was "no".

"Alright…" He inhaled and then with a shaky hand pressed play.

---

"Hello Celeste, Terrance, Joshua." Shiori greeted pleasantly as she entered their large hospital room. "How are you all feeling today?"

"S-Shiori!" Joshua grinned, greeting the woman who came in every day to pay them a visit. He never had a mother--at least not one who cared about him. Callie was so lucky to have such a woman--one who wouldn't try to sell her for crack money on numerous occasions. "Better. Doctor says we are making progress."

"Wonderful!" She beamed as she took a seat like she always did, her swollen ankles demanding the break. "You all have been eating properly?"

It was the same questions every day, she always asked how they were feeling and if they were eating well. It comforted them to know someone was concerned about their health. They had never had that before…and the one time they thought they had it with their therapist it came around to bite them in the butt.

But this time it feels real and it made them so happy.

"Hmph! Its all the same nutritious crap! When can I have my cheeseburger?" Terrance whined a little, earning a reprimanding look from Celeste, to which he blew her a kiss. He cackled when she shuddered in revulsion.

"Now, now children." Shiori giggled in amusement at the two of them. "Terrance, I am sure the moment that the doctors find you healthy enough they will allow you to have a cheeseburger. Right now your stomach has been so use to not eating that eating one might make you sick."

"Yeah, yeah I know…" He muttered with a sulk.

Joshua grinned before looked back at the woman, "Shiori…uhm…will the group that rescued us…will they be coming to visit any time soon?"

The soon-to-be mother nodded, "They have asked about you often. However at the moment such a large group might overwhelm you. Along with so many coming in one at a time. They are waiting a bit longer so they can all visit you all together. And trust me…it takes a lot of energy dealing with them." She giggled merrily at the memory of them.

"Ah…uhm….d-do you know who gave us their blood?" The youngest in the room asked a little shyly.

"Oh yes, I do. Celeste received her blood from Touya--a demon who can control ice." She smiled when she saw the girl's eyes shimmer with interest at the news. "Terrance got his blood from Chuu. He is a master of drunken fists…"

"Whoot! BEER!"

"You shouldn't be drinking young man." The woman sniffed before continued then looked at the young boy, "You were given the blood of Kurama…my son."

"Kurama?" Joshua gaped, "T-The red-head Kurama? I-I mean…isn't h-he really strong?"

"Yes," Shiori nodded, looking at her hands a moment before looked back up, beaming with pride. "Kurama is incredibly strong. He is a fox-demon."

"So my bud here will sprout ear and a tail? Sweet." Terrance laughed. "You're gonna be like InuYasha!"

"Like who?" The young boy meeped, a little overwhelmed to know that he had the blood of such a powerful and scary demon now within him. What exactly did that mean for him?

"You fail as a Japanese citizen."

"He's not a Japanese citizen." Celeste groaned, rubbing her head.

"Still!" Shiori got in on it as well. "He must know the grandness of InuYasha and Kagome and their love of agony and woe!" The romantic-manga obsessed Shiori was out to play yet again. "Don't you worry dear, I have the whole collection of mangas. We will educate you."

"Manga? Psh! The anime is where its at!" Terrance challenged.

"You are dead to me." The mother retorted in a monotone.

"WHAT?! But you promised I would get some waffles when I was better!" The teen whined, earning a glare from the two women.

"Do you ever shut that mouth of yours?" Celeste snapped only to shake her head, "What am I asking? Of course you don't. You were almost as talkative as Maverick and Callie!"

Shiori smiled sadly at the memory of her daughter, "Yusuke and Kuwabara are a lot like that as well. I've also noticed the men named Chuu and Jin are too."

"Great, more loud-mouths." The young woman muttered in distaste.

"Stop being such a Miss Priss, you're highness." Terrance grunted. "And you are insulting her family there."

"Oh stop it you two. There was no insult." Shiori gave a comforting smile to Celeste who looked ready to apologize. "They are like that. It gets on everyone's nerves." She laughed, memories flooding through her of all that had happened over the course of the past eight months.

"It sounds more fun then terrible…" Celeste said awkwardly, rubbing her arm that had an IV in it. She had to quickly turn her head away remembering the last IV that had been injected into her arm and what it did to her…

"You make it sound like we don't have any problems, besides the occasional demon." She rubbed her swollen belly again, "We all have our problems…we are a family after all. There will be disputes and misunderstandings and fists-fights…but over-all we all really love each other." The woman smiled, remembering seeing Kuwabara and Yukina hugging each other. It seemed they had made up and were much happier now. She was happy that the girl listened to her. 'Really, though she may hide it--she is as stubborn as her brother.'

"Does sound like a family…or what I picture one to be." Joshua confessed with a longing sigh.

'That poor boy…he has been hurt so much in the past.' Shiori shook her head--disgusted with parents who don't take care of their children; their most precious gifts. "We take care of each other and won't let the other be alone. And now you are apart of this family as well."

"Really?" Terrance looked surprised.

"Of course really! But if you don't believe me…or you are to afraid to hope," She noticed how they looked down at her words. "Really…don't feel bad. You all have gone through so much. And I don't just mean with what happened this past month…no one would feel any negativity towards you if you have trust issues. Its expected. Hiei is a lot like that as well due to his past."

"W-What happened to him?" Joshua asked.

Shiori shook her head, "Honestly, I am not too sure. He doesn't confined about his past with just anyone. Only a select few know in detail what has happened. And even if I did know, I couldn't tell you. It wouldn't be my place to say."

"Ah…r-right. Sorry…"

"Don't be. You were curious. Nothing wrong with that." She smiled, "But as I was saying…if you aren't willing to believe me yet, you can just wait to hear it said from the mouth of the others when they visit you. I know they will be willing to talk about it." Looking joyfully at them, "But we will all be happy to have you."

The group of three looked a bit choked up, being accepted into a family like that sounded too good to be true to them. And she was right, they were far to suspicious to grasp on to hope so easily. But just the thought of it made them pray desperately that there was no falseness to her words and that they would be welcomed into a family.

Shiori grinned, "My family just keeps getting bigger and bigger." 'And hopefully…it won't be getting any smaller.'

---

The scream was horrible.

It froze the insides of those watching.

"Oh…bloody 'ell…" Chuu gasped, his blue eyes wide at the sight of the screen. The little sheela of Yusuke's pack was experiencing some things no one should ever go through. It was something demons of his level would be able to handle…but to see such a weak and defenseless human girl…it made his stomach churn in an unpleasant fashion.

Her eyes were wide in terror, as she was strapped down to the metal slab, demons all around her, studying her as if she were nothing more then a rat, observing her reactions to all that they do.

"D-Don't…" Callie's voice cracked, her body twitching from the chemicals that burned through her system. It felt like worms with needle teeth and legs were crawling through her veins, consuming all flesh and muscles in their path, gnawing holes out of her skin so she would slowly bleed to death. It was agonizing.

"Hmm….her pain has been delayed." One noted, scribbling something down on his clipboard. "Her Reikai must've been awakened during her stay with that group."

"No," Savan shook her head, "I had noticed before that she had a slightly more attune awareness then most other humans. She was one of those who could at least sense the presence of ghosts."

"Ah, not very rare…three more were like this as well." Another one, also with a clipboard, began to write some notes down as well.

"But it does seem that her senses have been heightened due to being surrounded by such powerful demons." Savan continued. "It is fascinating how a body's will simply begin to mimic those around it." She licked her lips as she hovered over the twitching girl. "I think she will provide us a lot of information."

Yusuke clenched his teeth hard, growling dangerously as he watched--the tattoos of his demon heritage slowly beginning to make itself known once again. "Fucking bitch…" He spat, wishing that Savan was still alive so he could kill her all over again. She should have remained alive for a few more years experiencing such agony and pain.

"They pumped countless amount and different types of chemicals. They would watch us from when we entered the room, to when we were filled with that shit, and our reactions…and it would go on for hours." Maverick sighed, rubbing his arm where his own IV had been inserted for him to be studied. "Each one felt like we were dying in some horrible fashion…that one, if I remember correctly by the color," Of course he remembered--he would never be able to forget which one brought on which pain, "felt like you had thousands or millions of worms eating at you from the inside out."

Rinku shuddered, looking pale. That sounded horrible--to be eaten inside out.

Callie collapsed back, vomiting on herself from the agony--sobbing when they seemed to chuckle.

She was left with no dignity or pride.

"Hmm…her reaction was vomiting…but was it due to a side-affect of the drug or from pain?" Savan used her pen to tap her chin. "More experiments need to be done. This could be something we need to look at. Vomiting expels poisons--it would be no good to use this drug on other humans if their bodies naturally get rid of it."

"But so far none of the others have done this…perhaps a few urinations but so far no vomiting." A male calculated in his head, "But she is the first of the four who have a higher Reikai sense. Perhaps its only the humans whose body are more aware of spiritual energy will do this."

"Hmmm…perfect hypothesis. We will need to test it a few more times and see if she and the others get the same reaction." Savan made a note to set up such and experiment. "Now we need to see how her body reacts when she is given the next dosage."

The trapped brunette tried to struggle, whimpering when they held her down--keeping the thick IV embedded in her arm, neck, stomach, and calf secured. Callie gave off a strangled noise when another liquid was shot into her system--this one an apple green color.

"This one…" Maverick winced, "Made a person experience hallucinations….and their body feel all the pain from it…" Though he was now dead and he couldn't feel pain like he use to, it didn't make watching this and reliving everything he and his friends had gone through much easier.

Koenma snapped his head away from the TV to the male, "I have known of demons having psychic abilities to do such a heinous torture, but this is my first time hearing of a drug."

"Well humans have created drugs before that cause hallucinations--but I guess you are more surprised about the extent…" Maverick sighed, his shoulders slumping as he heard the brunette on the screen begin to screech once again.

Her scream bounced around the small sterile room, her mouth and glazed eyes wide. Blood exploded from under her fingernails, and she arched her back off the table, despite the straps to wail loudly.

"Fingernails have been ripped off within her mind." One said allowed, counting off each torture she was experiencing. "Ah, toenails were next…." He noted the blood erupting from her bare feet. "Always so interesting how the torture starts from different places for each person."

"STOP IT!! STOP ITTT!!" Callie screamed, her body jerking around, trying to escape the bindings' and the people who were doing this to her.

"Indeed. It must be something mentally." Another nameless one tapped the clipboard. "We will need to examine a brain of one of them…perhaps when they are alive and while they are experiencing such drugs."

"Agreed. However I think we should do that with the next set. Remember these humans are our first shot. We will be comparing their results to others." Savan, the leader, placed a clawed hand on her hip. She smirked when Callie began to wail. "Another one is starting…"

Her head began to jerk wildly, there were popping noises from within it and slowly blood and puss began to pour from her nose and ears.

Callie could only to continue to scream as it felt like parts of her brain were popping within her skull--little boils filled with acid were building and erupting, dripping down over her organ and burning it.

"I love this drug…" One male, one of the ones Hiei had tortured, purred. "It does such fascinating things. If a person believes they are being boiled alive, their skin melts…yet once they wake up their skin heals itself. I hope I can get a group of humans, raging in all ages, to study this drug more carefully."

"Yes, very fascinating. I do want to know what it does to children who would normally never experience such agony…"

"We can discuss a new project at a later time. Keep your thoughts on what is in front of you. We cannot risk missing anything. Remember, this is for Dr. Ichigaki." Savan snapped, looking back at the girl.

"Ah, her skin is being peeled off like it were the skin of an apple." One quickly moved in closer, his keen eyes studying the bloodied skin being lifted off her body as if someone was taking a peeler to it.

"AAAAWAAAAAAHH!!" Callie screeched, sobbing as she frantically tried to get away.

"Sweet god…" Kido threw his hand to his mouth, "What….a-are they doing to her?"

Maverick looked at the screen coolly, holding back his own sadness and fear. It was such a horrible memory of what these monsters would do to them all. "All for experiments….everything they did were for knowledge, to gain more brain power for some crack pot Ichigaki that had been dead for a while."

"I can't believe it…I still can't believe these monsters are connected to that doctor…" Yusuke snarled, his fist clenching, holding on to Kuwabara's shoulder for support.

"What…is Callie going to be like when she wakes up?" The orange-haired man whimpered. "Will…we have her back? Our Callie back?"

It was silent.

There was no one who could answer such a question.

The screen changed to a new torture.

"H-How is that for scientific knowledge?!" Rinku roared at the screen, pointing to it with a snarl. "They are drowning her in a bucket of water! What is this about!? It makes no sense!"

"That's what the group was telling you before…there was no sense to what they were doing. This was not about some shitty excuse for science. This was sadistic torture. They only did this for the sense of hurting us."

Savan cackled at the girl, "This time she lost control of her bladder…perhaps from fear…"

Callie bowed her head, sobbing, her body ached and she felt so embarrassed--though she knew she couldn't help it. Her body was so weak right now, the functions were beginning to break down. But that didn't stop her from looking embarrassed that they were all watching her and laughing from what she did.

"That….that monster…she is trying to break her spirit…" Touya turned his head away, sickened at the sight.

She was tossed down limply on the cold floor, her body twitching and jerking in pain, "M-Mommy…" Callie whimpered, shaking in terror as she cried. "I-I want….m-mommy…p-please…" Her body ached so much she couldn't even move it so she could hug herself--and she desperately needed the comfort of a hold.

Kurama whimpered loudly, looking down and buried his face into his hands--he didn't even feel Kido placing a hand on his back, trying to soothe him down. He could still hear his little sister crying in pain, calling for her mommy like a little child. He choked at the sound, wanting to cover his ears to block it.

"H-Hiei…" She sobbed, "H-Help…"

The fire-demon just remained as he was, staring straight at the video unblinking. He absorbed everything, taking it all in without a flinch. Hiei listened to her soft pleas for help, trying to find him in that cold dark room--wanting him to come and save her.

'Look at what they did to you…look at how much they hurt you, mate…' He thought, gazing at the TV.

"Ah, I remember this conversation…damn, hadn't realized they were taping us when we were in the room. Better be happy none of us got down with our bad selves. We would have to cover the brats eyes and the adults would get a porno." Maverick grunted in a serious tone.

Koenma choked a bit.

Jin and Chuu smiled a little, they were really like this sorry bloke. He has had a lot of bad happened to him but man did he ever have a hilarious mouth on him. He could keep up with the best of them and keep them all guessing what was going to be said next.

Maverick coughed a little, holding his chest which was beginning to hurt a lot from the chemicals that had been injected into him. "Ugh…" He then held his stomach with a wince. "God….when was the last time we ate?" He rubbed the stomach, "So hungry…"

"We're all hungry!! Stop complaining!" Rebecca snapped, only to look paler then before for wasting so much energy yelling.

"Easy there kiddo." He laughed, always in good cheer. "Hmmm…I would love some tacos…big ones. And not the ones from Taco Bell, though they are good. Full of seasoned beef, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, and onions--ooh with guacamole and salsa. Screw the sour cream!!" He licked his lips. "Maybe some rice and beans on the side…with a nice ice-cold beer…"

"Shit dude," Robert whimpered. "Stop that… am so hungry already…and this is not helping."

"Aw come on dude. Let us know! What would you want for a meal? What are you craving the most?" Maverick grinned. "Let me guess….a pizza!"

"Wrong, douchebag." Robert grunted as he held his own stomach. "Its sushi."

"Sushi!? You pansy! That's not a man's meal! I'm talking about something that will fill your belly--make your much to tight--that tastes good with beer! Psh, sushi he says!" The happy boy shook his head mockingly.

"I happen to like it loser." He countered, "And sake is pretty damn strong. I would love a whole big plate of sushi--all the different kind. Hmmm, maybe with some tempura shrimp and teriyaki chicken."

"Yuck. Fish and chicken--pa-tooie!" Maverick snorted. "Give me a real man's food!"

"Oh shut up!" Celeste snapped. "No one wants to hear any of this."

"I do actually--this sounds kinda fun. 'Sides beats just moping in the dark." Terrance said with a smirk. "I want a cheeseburger….hmmm…I can drool just thinking about it."

"Hmph, disgusting." The snobby Celeste, flipping some of her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder. "And cliché. In most all movies or books we here people saying how much they want a burger. Can't you think of anything more original?"

The black kid grunted, "Oh yeah? And what do YOU want princess?"

"I will get a chicken cordon bleu and a chocolate cheesecake." Celeste said in a refined manor.

"Ha! And you said MINE was cliché." Terrance grunted, rolling his eyes. "I bet you haven't even had that."

"At least its cliché that tastes good! A cheeseburger is nasty!"

"You have no taste! And its no ordinary cheeseburger! It has extra bacon, three layers of cheese, onions, mustard, ketchup, and pickles! You hear that….BACON!! Bacon beats chicken EVERY time!"

In the background Maverick gave off a hoot of, "Here, here!"

"Revolting. Hmph, only gives you fat."

"What about you short-stop?" Terrance asked the little brunette, giving a hand to Celeste to show that he was ignoring her. He smirked when he heard her screech in disdain at his actions--oh yeah, she wanted him. "What food do you miss the most? What are you wanting to eat once you get back?"

"As if we will get out of here." The ever negative Celeste hissed to herself.

"No one is asking you chicken-legs." Terrance muttered.

"What was that!?"

"M-Me?" Callie blinked, before smiled warmly, "I want ice-cream…" She smiled tenderly now, getting lost in some memories, "I really hope I can have ice-cream with Hiei again…that was some of my most favorite times…and with him the ice-cream always tasted better."

"She really loved you man…" Maverick whispered to the silent fire-demon. "She talked about all of you…except for you," pointed to the large group.

"She has yet to meet us." Shishi said with a sad smile. "We arrived after she was kidnapped to save her."

"Ah…well…thanks." He grinned at them, "Thank you so much for saving her."

Shishi felt ashamed for not making it in time to rescue such a rare human.

"Anyway, as I was saying…she talked about you guys all the time…but Hiei," He looked back at the black-haired man. "She talked about you more then anything else. Callie adores you."

"I know…" Hiei said quietly. "Continue with the tape."

Maverick blinked at the response, but figured right now his emotions were going hay-wire and wanted to finish the tape as soon as possible--that whole rip the band-aid off instantly instead of peeling it off slowly thing. 'Damn, I forgot that catchy phrase that goes along with it…'

"Hmm, the electro shock is simple yet effective." Savan noted as she walked around Callie who was limp on the table gasping, her eyes dull with pain and her mouth and chin wet with saliva from screaming so much. "How long has she been through this?"

"About two hours." Someone from the operating room answered. "She held on good. She is done for this exercise."

"Good, good…alright. We need to strip her down and take her measurements."

Callie sobbed as she was yanked off the cold table and forced out of her clothes, flinching in terror when hands got to close to her flesh. She tried to hide herself but they forced her to stand and be monitored. She could only bow her head and cry silently in shame and embarrassment.

"Still ugly as ever." Savan smirked, loving to put the girl down mentally. "it's a good thing you weren't placed on the other team--all of the men here find you revolting." Shook her head, "That Hiei fellow must've been high off some plant or filled with pity and desperation if he mated with you."

The brunette flinched again, looked down upon herself, seeming to believe the words. "H-Hiei…is…w-wonderful…b-but…h-he w-would n-never s-sleep w-with a-a person o-out o-of pity…h-he w-was han-handsome e-enough t-to g-get a-any g-girl…a-and d-don't look down u-upon him…l-like h-he w-would do d-drugs…"

Savan slapped her, "Shut your whore mouth. Experiments do not talk."

It was one insult after another.

"Hmph…she has lost a few more pounds it seems." She jabbed Callie's head with her pen, "But take into consideration that there is a lot of weight on her head due to the insects."

The girl continued to cry, wanting to go home.

Koenma shut off the tape, "I-I…I can't watch anymore…that's enough…" He bowed his head, "T-That's enough."

"Y-Yeah," Jin ran a shaky hand through his hair. "I-I….d-don't think I-I c-can…" Shook his flaming hair, trying to get rid of the images.

Kurama had his head buried in his face, shocked freezing his system. He couldn't watch any more either….it was too much. To much to know all of that was real and that it was his sister that had gone through it. He had thought he was strong, now he could see how weak he truly was.

"I want the tape." Hiei spoke in a dead voice. "Find me a place where I can finish watching it. I want to see it all the way through…."

The prince looked up at him in shock, his eyes moist, "Hiei! This is more then enough--y-you can't torture yourself like this. You can't watch anymore…"

"Yes I can. And yes, I will." He was staring at the blank screen. "I have to….I don't want her to be alone during one moment…she…should know her mate watched her throughout all of this."

"Hiei…" Yusuke tried to begin.

"Let him go Urameshi." Kuwabara gave a pat to his best friend and gave an understanding smile to Hiei. "Its something that means a lot to him. There is no way we can talk him out of this. He knows that its right for him…and that in a way it will be like he was there with her. He will be able to support her once she wakes up because he will know what she has gone through." He gave another pat to their leader. "We need to support him…even if we can't watch it with him. We need to let him do this."

Yusuke looked back down, knowing it was true. He would do the same thing if it had been Keiko.

"I will go with him." Maverick stood up. "Even if he wants it to be a private moment, he might want some questions answered." He turned to Koenma, "Is there a library or something here with a small TV that he could watch all of this on? Something that is large and private--that way I can be away from him and give him space and he can still ask me about something?"

"Yes…George will take you there and get you both set up. What is on here has been edited so that it is all Callie. But it is still a month's worth--you both will be in there a while." With shaky hands he reached into his drawer and tossed a communicator towards Maverick. "Give me or anyone else a call if you want to rest or get something to eat."

"I'm dead…do I really need that?"

Koenma smiled, "In here you do, in a way, have a body. You can feel hungry and weariness. Maybe not as fast as when you were alive, but eventually you might want some coffee,"

"Ah," Maverick grinned as a blue ogre stumbled in, bowing frantically to everyone in a greeting. "Thanks bud! And seriously; you, me--Super Bowl on that thing." Used his thumb to jab to the monitor. "Imagine seeing the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on that screen!"

The prince chuckled and waved them off, collapsing in his seat when the two left.

"I…have never seen anything so ugly in my life." Suzaku whimpered. "Nothing….so ugly."

"I know…" Genkai blew out a breath, looking over to Kurama who was being comforted by the majority of the group. How would Hiei be able to stand watching the whole video?

"Yusuke…?" Keiko asked softly as she entered the office of Koenma, earning the eyes off all within there. She looked around with a frown at the solemn and pale expressions. "Yusuke…what happened? Did the meeting not go well?"

"Huh?" A rather dazed Yusuke looked around before his eyes landed on her. "Oh! Keiko! No…the meeting went fine. The group departed a while ago…" He walked over to her, "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in our room resting?"

She gave him a look, "I won't allow myself to be left behind so often. Especially when you are going through such a horrible time." The young girl then frowned and gently cupped his face, "What's the matter Yusuke? You seem…very sad." She looked back at the door. "I just passed Hiei and some guy I don't know…is everything ok?"

He bit it lip before he hugged on to the girl tightly, shaking. He couldn't imagine having Keiko be put through such pain. Hugging her closer her shuddered, to horrified to cry.

"Yusuke!" She gasped, hugging him back in surprise. Her fiancée was not really one for expressing such tenderness in front of a crowd. He would hold her by the waist or shoulders, maybe a kiss here or there…but a hug like this with so much held back emotion…it was a first.

Something really had scared him.

"I love you…please…please don't leave me, ok? Don't ever leave me…"

Keiko willed herself to not cry. He needed her now. "Of course Yusuke. I would never leave you…I love you too."

He let out a shaky breath, remembering Hiei and felt a typhoon of pity for the man, "T-Thank you."

---

"Well…uhm…we're here." Maverick greeted as he entered into the grand office of Koenma, giving a nod to the group that had gathered there, expecting his and Hiei's return.

Hiei was next to him, as still as a grave.

"H-Hey buddy…its been a while…" Kuwabara gulped, not liking that dead expression.

"Hn…" Hiei hissed under his breath, not seeming very aware of everything--he seemed almost entrapped in his own mind.

"Come on I think we need a bit more of a greeting that that…" The leader coaxed, hoping to get a bigger response. Or at the very least a different sounding "hn" from the fire-demon. "Its been forever it seems!"

"Has it really been a long time?" Maverick asked as he rubbed his stiff shoulder.

"Well you were in the library for a few days!" Yusuke cried out, looking very worried. Hiei seemed out of it--there was no feeling in his eyes or facial expressions. "You did watch a whole month's worth of stuff! I am surprise you are out after four!"

What on earth did he see that haunted him so much?

'I don't want to know…' The leader caught himself. 'I really…really don't want to know. I can't know. I have been having so many nightmares from the few clips we saw before. I can't take knowing what else is on that tape.'

"Damn…four days…?" The brunette-human snorted, the time seemed to have dragged but he hadn't expected so many days to have passed by.

"Yah! A few of dos humans had to get back to thar world for a while…until…uhm…" Chuu looked away, not wanting to mention the fact that the time limit for that comatose girl was drawing to a close.

"I see…" Maverick looked around, everyone looked horrible. No surprise there.

"Hn…" Hiei muttered before he made his way out the room in a fashion of a ghost; silent and heavy.

"W-What's wrong with him? He just saw his mate go through so much agony…w-why…why is he like that?" Touya asked, stunned to see a lack of reaction from Hiei.

Yusuke looked after the door where Hiei just left from, "He's holding it all in…"

Rinku gulped, feeling like there was a monster in the room.

"He was silent the whole time we were watching the tapes." Maverick explained as he sat down, feeling tired. Reliving all of that had taken its toll on him and his un-dead state. 'Whoa, it just clicked…I'm a zombie! Sweet.' He took a moment to inhale and rub his eyes, truly wanting a cup of coffee. "He just…stared at the screen and absorbed it all it in. I'm not even sure he blinked."

Kurama, who looked exhausted as well, piped in, "It almost makes me think he was recording it…but that would be torture…"

"Mind explaining what you mean by record?" Maverick asked, raising a brow.

"Hiei has a third eye on his forehead. I myself am not aware of all the capabilities of it…but I do believe he has mentioned to me before that he can record fights. He goes back and memorize their moves or make him his "invisible" opponent when he trains." The red-head cupped his chin as he thought, "Its possible that he was recording those images…"

"But why do that?! As you said that is nothing but torture! Why would he want to always have those videos locked in his brain?" ShiShi cried out, not understanding the mind of the fire-demon.

"Because he feels like he has too…" Kuwabara looked down, understanding Hiei a bit. "He feels responsible for her being taken. Like he should've been able to prevent it. Because he couldn't…he wants to always know what happened to her and be able to be there for her…as well as punish himself for failing as…well…" He looked back to Kurama.

"As a proper and deserving mate. To a male he has to be the one to protect and tend to the female…Callie was kidnapped right in front of him. He feels he has failed himself as a mate. He deserves to be punished." The fox-demon replied, sighing. He also understood Hiei…and knew that he would torture himself in training to reach a peck of strength. He should not be surprised his three-eyed friend would go to such lengths for his mate.

"Any idea where he is?" Suzaku asked, "In his present state he might become rather…dangerous."

Koenma tapped a few buttons on his remote and then sighed at the image of Hiei walking back into Callie's hospital room, "Well we can be assured that Hiei wouldn't do anything in there. He would not risk her getting hurt. I think it will be best to let him be alone with her for the time being."

"It does seem like he needs it…" Kido whispered.

"But there is a time restraint." Kurama groaned, his head pounding. "We can only leave him there for a while."

Yusuke looked down, "He doesn't have much time in being alone…the plug has to be pulled in a few days."

---

He looked at his wrist where his watch was, frowning at the time. "Is…it really time now…?"

Myouga sighed, "Yes Kurama…I am afraid it is. The deadline has been met…and I even allowed another day to pass… we can't push it any longer. Today is the day we have to turn off all the machines and see if either Callie breathes on her own…or if she dies."

Kurama physically flinched, placing his hand back down to his side, shaking a little. "How…will we know…I-if s-she is b-breathing o-or not…?"

"Well the heart monitor will be a good sign. We will keep tabs on her…and we," He nodded to the nurses following the large group, "will be able to see other signs to tell if she is alive or not. But your best bet would be to watch the heart-monitor."

"I see…" He sighed.

Keiko was leaning on Yusuke's shoulder, sniffling. "I-I don't want to lose her."

"We won't…no worries…she is strong…and have we ever lost anyone before?" Yusuke tried to comfort her. "We have nothing to worry about…our…our good luck isn't going to run out now. We will still have her."

For once their track record of good luck was not providing any comfort.

"How has Hiei been? I know that after we watched those tapes he locked himself up in her room. I haven't seen him since." Touya began in worry--he could remember his horrified face after what he witnessed on those tapes.

"Not sure…whenever someone enters in there he doesn't really acknowledge us. Just sorta stares at Callie, like he is lost in deep thought." Botan bit her lip. "Its…rather creepy. The air he gives off…it reminds me a lot of what happened when he snapped." A shudder went down her spine remembering that time and the monstrous Hiei appeared through the woods of the shrine.

"Everyone needs to tread with caution." Kurama warned, "Hiei is down to his last thread of sanity. At any moment he could very well snap…and it won't end very pretty."

"Yeah…him having an episode like that here will just end in disaster…" Kuwabara shuddered as he held on to Yukina. "We will have to work together to make sure that he is er…..uuuh….calm?"

Suzaku and Shishi rolled his eyes at Kuwabara's lack of vocabulary.

Chuu heaved a sigh, wishing he could find his stashed liquor--either he has been so sloshed that he forgot he had drunk all of them or there was another guy who should join him at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. "Right then, I take it we should leave all tha talkin to you."

Kurama stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I think I will mess this up as well…this is just…" He sighed, "A complicated and dangerous situation." Licking his lips he paused when eh finally came up to the entrance. Staring the door down, all he wanted to do was turn around and pretend that none of this was happening. Maybe he could go to bed and wake up and find that it had all been some sick and twisted nightmare.

"Kurama…" His father urged. "You know we cannot run from this. We need to go in…please."

The red head closed his eyes, trying not to feel the agony wash over him before he quickly opened the door.

Hiei was in his normal spot by Callie. His chair up close to her bedside, his hand attached to hers, eyes staring down at the unconscious figure. But there was something sinister hidden within the room, concealed by the misery of the man…but there none the less. And it was ready to snap and kill.

'He is so close to losing it again…so very close.' Kurama winced, knowing what he was feeling. Taking a deep breath he lead the way inside, giving a signal to the group to stay behind him and to leave the door open as a way to escape. He would go in closer alone.

Kurama looked down pitifully at Hiei as he walked in closer, Chuu's missing canteen of hard liquor in his hands.

"So dat's where it was…" Chuu whispered to himself, but made no possessive move for the booze. By Hiei's expression it seemed he needed it far more then he did. Though it seems that it had little affect on Hiei who was probably a rock when it concerned getting drunk--the accented blue-haired demon had heard rumors that the temperature in a fire-demon's body could burn off a good bit of the alcohol in their system as a natural defense to the poison. 'Poor bloke…his own body is making it impossible for him ta get drunk…'

And Chuu knew that being drunk could help you escape pain…

"Hiei…its time…"

"Fuck off Kurama," Hiei growled as he took another swig of the alcohol. It burned on the way down, but has yet to make him numb--he wanted to just forget everything for a while and just be numb to the world. No more of this pain or agony. He was tired from all the nightmares. He wanted to just finally escape from all of this…and be with Callie.

He pressed his hand to his face, his fingers digging into his forehead as another wave of screams and sobs from the tapes came back to haunt him. Why did his mate have to be put through so much? When would all of this end? He didn't want his mate to go through anything like that ever again…

'When you wake up…' He swore in denial, 'I won't ever let you out of my sight…never…you will never be able to leave me…' His eyes took on an psychotic glaze as he stared down at the girl before him. He couldn't stand being apart from her any longer…it would kill him.

"You need to back away from her and let Myouga do what he has to do." Kurama pleaded, hoping to be the one to reason with him.

Hiei shot to his feet, the alcohol falling to the ground. "I won't accept this happening. She needs more time."

Myouga stepped forward, "Hiei…its been three weeks. That is more then enough time for--" He was cut off when he caught a glimpse of Hiei's now black eyes and took a step backwards.

"I was not speaking with the likes of you." The enraged Hiei hissed dangerously.

Kurama looked at him in concern. "But it is as he said Hiei…its been three weeks." He hated the words as they spewed from his mouth. He wanted to take them back and then join Hiei in protecting Callie from what was going to happen. But hew knew he couldn't. He had to be reasonable and let the doctor do what he thought was for the best.

"I," The fire demon turned back to face Kurama and the large group, ready at the defense for the girl on the bed, "Won't let you."

"Hiei…please…I understand what you are going through--," Kurama tried to coax the man to calm down, but couldn't get any further when the infuriated eyes turned and glared at him.

"You understand?" Hiei hissed, his tone coated with malice and fury. "You fucking understand, Kurama? You know what its like to see your mate in a coma after being tortured--BRUTALLY TORTURED--for a month? Botan has been beaten till near death, experienced nightmarish pains, seen her friends die one by one in front of her?"

Kurama winced, Hiei's tone was beginning to strain, signaling an explosion, "N-No…"

"Can you even picture her going through such things with you being unable to find her…and then once you do…it might be too late?" Hiei snarled.

The fox-demon paused and turned his head away in shame of the words he used before. The silence was the answer Hiei needed to make him snap.

"THEN YOU KNOW NOTHING!! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU ACT LIKE THIS?! ACCUSE ME OF OVERREACTING WHEN THE ONE PERSON I ADORE....w-when...m-my mate...when my mate is being taken away from me?!" He was panting, but he no longer looked angry--he looked pained. "She's dying...sh-she's...sh-she's l-leaving me..."

"H-Hiei…please….w-what w-will ha-happen….it might…it might t-turn out good." Kurama couldn't even say what it was that was about to take place. The pulling of the plug…the test where Callie will either die or survive. He walked over and kicked the bottle of strong liquor away from Hiei.

"SHUT UP!! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" The fire demon glared, his eyes burning. Everything in him was building and burning--it felt like he was going to explode. By experience he knew this was never a good sign. "I'LL KILL ANYONE WHO TRIES TO TAKE HER AWAY FROM ME!"

Yusuke stepped forward, "No one is trying to take her away…" His eyes were moist with sadness as he looked at his friend who was suffering like never before. "Maybe we can convince Myouga to give her some more time…we can't….j-just…its…" He was out of words, his tongue was unable to form any words of comfort. Because it was all pointless. No words were going to mean anything to Hiei.

The leader turned and gave a pleading look to the doctor to give her more time.

Myouga closed his eyes and shook his head, "If we keep putting this off no good will come from it. It has to be now, other wise I know you all will keep asking for just a little more time…just a few more days and she will be well." He shook his head again, "If its not now it will never happen."

Now was not the time to sugar-coat the outcome. If he gave them too much hope it would just turn out worse in the end. The group had to understand that this was not something they could keep putting off. And Myouga has seen their looks before; having hope that masks the fear of truth. If they asked for a few more days it might give Callie a chance…but it would really be pushing the time to let her go back.

If he allowed them to do this, he would just be allowing them to escape from reality.

A ferocious growl escaped their friend as he brought out his power to use as a shield between the group and the girl on the bed, "No. I won't let you take her away from me…I WON'T LET YOU KILL HER!"

"Hiei…" Myouga took a step forward only to be slapped back into Chuu's arms from the forceful power that came from Hiei.

"STAY THE FUCK BACK!" He held himself as a shield, not about to waver and let the enemies get close to the woman who meant everything to him.

"Hiei…"

That soft voice made him freeze and he snapped his head up at the woman who almost glided through the crowd despite her bulging stomach. Shiori looked so fragile and so weak, her face a as white as a sheet and laced with sweat. She was trembling and tears were in her eyes as she walked towards him.

She looked so fragile…but she felt so strong.

"Please Hiei…step aside…" She stopped in front of him, a plead in her voice. "I want her to either wake up….or be allowed to go to Heaven…its not fair to keep her in this state. Its not fair to her Hiei. You are keeping her trapped."

He shook his head in denial, "NO! I…I just don't want her to leave me!"

"I know you don't, baby." She smiled at him, tears pouring down her face now. "I don't want her to leave me either. But I don't want to keep her in such a sad state. We are being so selfish with her if we force her to stay asleep like this. If its time for her to go…we have to let her go."

Hiei shook his head again, taking a step back towards Callie, away from Shiori's words

"Please…" The mother whispered. "Don't run from this…"

"NO! I CAN'T LOSE HER! I-I c-can't lost a-another person….I-I…." He was trembling, the force of his emotions beginning to be to much to control.

"M-Mother! Step back!" Kurama begged, knowing he was close to releasing his negative emotions in the only way he knew how. It was going to be very bad--everyone within the gate was in danger. Callie was the only one who could stop him when he exploded…but she could not do anything from where she was now.

"Son," Shiori whispered gently to Hiei and touched his face, "You can let it out."

Kurama's eyes widened feeling the room tighten and expand from the force of Hiei's power, terrified for his mother who would say such a dangerous phrase.

A soft tink bounced around the walls of the room--and the power disappeared instantly, they all could breathe easily again. Then there was another soft sound, followed by another. Eyes looked to the floor, filled with confusion at the sight of the small black stones that had come from out of no where.

"Oh….oh my god…" Yukina gasped, recognizing the shape, shine, and texture of such little marbles before her head snapped up to her brother, looking stunned. "Onii-san…." The rest followed her looked and any form of words left their throats.

Hiei was clenching his teeth hard, his eyes squeezed shut as tears poured down his face. The moment they left his skin and fell to the floor they formed into black gems--forming quite possibly the rarest stone in the three worlds.

"Its ok…" Shiori whispered tenderly as she hugged him tightly, stroking his back and giving him soft soothing words. "Its ok to let out your feelings this way…."

Her words were plenty to get him to do exactly what she wanted. In a move no one thought Hiei was capable of doing, he clung to the woman and began to sob.

It was not a silent cry one could perhaps start to picture a man like Hiei might do…it was a complete break down. His shoulders were shaking and his whimpers and cries were loud as he hugged Shiori for support--sounding like a little lost child.

The group could only stare in stunned silence at the sight of their once emotionless friend cry.

"DON'T LEAVE ME!!" Hiei screamed into Shiori's shoulder, though it was a plea for Callie. "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME!!"

Yusuke tried to inhale through his nose, but it came off as a choked snort as the tears he too had been suppressing began to overflow. He couldn't stop himself from beginning to blubber. The whole group could no longer keep it together anymore as they could only silently cry for their friends.

The doctor looked away for a moment, wishing to give the group some peace in this emotional and intimate moment. It was hard to keep the sobs and whimpers from penetrating his ears--it was heart-wrenching. As a doctor he knew the odds were stacked against Callie. She was strong and she was making such progress, however she was still so weak and frail…it would take so much will and determination from her part to pull through this.

"Sir…" The head nurse whispered to him. "I…I know that this is hard for them…but you and I both know that the sooner we get this done the better it will be. The emotions are running high here…there is a lot of strain. I don't want to risk anything happening to someone, especially one of our staff members, if we don't time this right."

Inhaling through his nose he nodded. He had to be the doctor here, he had to come off heartless to do the right thing. Even if it meant trampling over their heart and possibly taking away someone who meant so much to them.

Another sob from Hiei made him flinch--to see a once proud and strong boy, one who nearly destroyed a wall to threaten him and could whisper promises of death easily, in such a broken state left him suckered punched in the gut.

As a demon himself, Myouga knew Hiei would not be able to survive the loss of his mate. Whether by heartbreak alone, by the hands of his friends, or even his own sword…Hiei was going to die along with her.

Two lives…

'No,' He corrected himself. 'Not just two lives hang in the balance here…so many are in great danger of dying if she does not pull through. It is certain Hiei will soon parish after her…however he would probably take make with him…' Myouga took off his glasses and wiped them off, giving a look to the sorrowful prince who could only stare at his friends. 'I would be the main target…and Koenma--Hiei would probably see him as a cause for her death in his maddening rage.'

With a sigh he put the glasses back on his face and straighten up his coat and stepped up, a sign to the nurses that they should get into action. "I'm sorry…but its time." Myouga whispered sorrowfully as he moved his way towards the bed, the nurses following him.

"W-Wait…." Hiei croaked, pulling away from Shiori. "D-Don't…" He's never cried before, he was not use to his face being wet and tight like it was nor how emotionally and physically spent he felt. "P-Please…d-don't….just w-wait…"

"I'm sorry Hiei…we shouldn't wait anymore. It's as Shiori says, we can't keep Callie in this state any longer." He came up to the advanced monitor and began to type some keys in, looking sadly at the girl. "We will begin with the procedure."

"Yes sir." The head nurse said as she went to her station.

"NO!! YOU CAN'T DO IT!" Hiei roared as he made a move for the group.

"HIEI!" Kurama screamed as he grabbed his friend from behind to hold him back, "HIEI! WE HAVE TO LET THEM DO THIS!"

"NO!! I WON'T ACCEPT IT!" He was making a wild motion to get out of Kurama's hold to save his mate--wanting more time with her, unable to accept that this could very well take her life. Seeing the others coming forward to hold him back--he was strong, but even in his best state he would be unable to do much with all of them on him.

Growling he made a desperate attempt to get out of Kurama's hold, able to maneuver his body to break out and get to Myouga and shove him aside, he collapsed in a heap against many of the wires, getting him entangled. "DO IT!" He ordered to his head nurse who knew all the steps to continue on with the procedure.

Hiei gave off a snarl to the woman, daring her to move--the threat didn't have the affect he wanted. She was tough and knew her duty and would not stop until it has been completed. This time Hiei was unable to get to her before he was locked in a hold once more--this time in Chuu's massive arms.

"Sorry lad…I really am…" He was slurring his accent, but not out of being drunk but out of heavy emotions.

Kuwabara came around from the front and hugged on to Hiei, leading him pressed and trapped between two of the biggest men within the group.

Howling at being stopped he continued to struggle, he was on a mission to stop this from happening.

Holding to the front of him, Kuwabara kept his hold strong despite the tears. His hair had some of the black jewels in it, many falling to the ground around him as Hiei continued to cry. This had to be the hardest thing he has ever had to do…hold back one of his best friends as he was sobbing his heart out. "I'm sorry Hiei…" He choked as he continued to hold on, knowing that despite how painful this was, it's the correct path. "I'm so sorry…"

Being the correct path didn't make it any easier.

The nurse paused a moment and looked up at the group with sympathetic eyes. "I'm….I'm sorry…"

"Do it before he escapes!!" Myouga screamed shooting to his feet, knowing Hiei couldn't be held back forever. He stumbled forward, wanting to urge the woman to hurry up before it was too late.

The button was pressed before Myouga even began to move.

A hiss of the oxygen ceasing was the only sound that was heard before a low haunting beep was finally heard after the commotion of settling Hiei down.

The group was frozen to their feet, unable to blink. They could only stare forward with a look of shock, their mind's unable to process what they were hearing.

Myouga closed his eyes and let his head fall, "I'm…I'm so sorry."

The heart-monitor had flat-lined.

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Author

Ugh, I really try to update sooner, but I guess its time for me to face the facts, due to my schedule I am unable to update like I want. With work, four classes, and going to a university ( I GOT IN!!)--its just gonna be hard. (it was especially hard working on Saturdays. Updating would've been easier if I hadn't worked then lol XD)

Thank you all for sticking with me and giving me encouragement to update! I hope you enjoyed this chapter--no worries though, one more chapter to go! And it's the last one!

Hope you all will still keep reading despite how this one ended .__.U Just wait and see what happens!

I really see Kuwabara as the emotional support of the team. He is the one who is most open with his emotions, wants to be there for others. In fact if he didn't just scream out vet I could very well see him as psychiatrist XD

Well…Hiei cried. I know he has the ability too, he has emotions and he can suffer loss and sadness. I just hope that this seemed believable and that you could actually see him break down like this after holding everything in for so long. Because he hasn't shed a tear once his whole life…this isn't all just about Callie. Its really a release of all the pent up emotions he has held back because he saw them as weak and useless. Keeping it in for so long, its bound to happen one day.

I have to confess, I am loving my character Maverick XD he is so fun to write about! I can't wait to write some more about him. He's enjoyable and easy. A bit like Callie.

And let me say; torture can be rather hard to write about. I wondered if this was dark enough for everyone and gave you all a small glimpse at what happened to Callie during her capture.

Hope to see you all in the next and final chapter of Wit and Courage!! Till then (and hopefully it won't be another few months, hehe)

Also, for a while now I have been trying to update--this site wouldn't let me upload the document. T.T If you notice anything different about the format or if it looks different from the other chapters, it might be because I had to export chapter twenty four just so I could have a document to upload. It simply would not let me do anything besides this. Hopefully it won't affect this chapter or the other one.

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Next Chapter: Its time to move things forward, to go and make a life. The question is, will everyone take the path that will finally lead to their happiness?

"Mother?" Kurama intertwined his hands together, the nails itching as skin nervously. He was scared to learn the answer. "Are you going to…to get the operation?"