Notes: I had to break this chapter up because it was getting far too long. For people from the future, it's week six or so of COVID-19 imposed social distancing – so I'll be updating this weekly for the next month or so, until we finish. We're almost there! Thank you for reading and staying with me through this, even though it's just become incredibly self-indulgent, because I fell in love with characters I wasn't supposed to … (2 May 2020). Enjoy!

Syndicate

By Tanya Lilac

Chapter Twenty-Eight – Silence

Tink. Tink. Tink.

Her nightmares had returned.

She didn't know what day it was, where she was … or who she was supposed to be. She took a deep breath in with her nose without opening her eyes. Alcohol, like medicinal swabs, and antiseptic. She was in a hospital. She opened her eyes, her eyes slow to adjust to the fluorescent lights. She'd been unconscious for some time. She was strapped to the bed, thick bands pinning her arms to her sides. A drip connected to … a saline bag. A dull ache in her arm – there was a bandage there. Had she needed an operation?

But still, something whispered to her that she was in danger.

"You're up earlier than expected, Tenten." Her room had a mirror – someone was watching her from the other side.

She didn't say anything, and just turned to face the ceiling. They would come soon enough. But secretly, she was relieved. She was supposed to be herself. Tenten. Somehow, she knew this to be true.

"Are you hungry? Are you still angry at me?"

Tenten lay there, still staring blankly at the ceiling. There were no curtains drawn – this was her own room, with her own dripping sink, water still falling into a sink, just slightly off the ticking of a clock. Sometimes faster, sometimes slower, but never constant.

A sigh. "Okay, I'm coming in."

The door opened and she was unable to catch a glimpse of anything beyond the man who walked in. Daichi. The hair, the eyes. He had a black eye, two days old.

"How are you feeling today?"

She didn't want to speak.

He pulled up a chair, and the sound of it scraping across the floor grated on her nerves. "Oh, was that too loud? I'm sorry." Daichi leaned over her and smiled, stroking her hair back from her forehead as he leaned down to kiss her. "My very own Snow White." He took her hand in his, and stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. "Don't you have anything you want to say to me?"

There was something missing, people, and words. She could remember a thousand words in different languages but the thing that was vital … was gone. Of course, there was nothing but red flags about this entire situation. Instead, she gave him a weak smile. "Why am I tied up, Dai?" Her voice trembled as tears welled in her eyes. "What happened?"

"This is to keep you safe for now," he said gently. "Do you remember why you're here?"

She shook her head.

"There was … an accident," he said. "The doctors told me not to say too much, it may be too much of a shock."

"What kind of accident?" Tenten asked. "… I need air. Can't we go outside?" Okay, maybe that was laying it on a bit thick.

"Tomorrow, Ten-chan. Tomorrow. It's night time now."

He was ignoring the most vital question, and it was not making her headache any easier.

"Can't you untie me? I can't breathe," she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I want you to be here with me – that's allowed, isn't it? If you're here with me, I'll be safe, won't I?"

Daichi wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead again, and met her eyes, leaning down on her pillow. He was thinking, trying to think if he should let her go or not. He kissed her gently on the lips, and she sighed as he threaded his fingers through her hair as the other hand clutched at her breast, her shoulders tensing up as she tried to reach for him. Beneath everything, she was trying not to retch as her skin crawled. Focus, Tenten, a voice whispered to her. You can do this.

"Okay," he said as he finally broke away, his eyes dancing with light. "I'll go find a nurse." He straightened, and turned back to look at her. "What is it?"

Tenten bit her lip. "The mirror …"

"There's no one there."

"It makes me feel like … there's someone watching me," she whispered. "It scares me."

He grimaced and covered the mirror with a curtain, so they could pretend it was something as innocent as a window. "Okay, don't worry, Ten-chan, I'll be right back."

Silence fell as he left the room, and her mind was always moving, in and out of strategies. She had to escape. It didn't matter why she was here, what mattered was that she had to escape, and fast, because someone's life depended on it. She frowned. There was something important that she had overlooked here. But she couldn't quite remember what. Or who.

"You know, I kind of feel sorry for you."

Neji looked out of his less swollen eye at his captor.

"Like, seeing Daichi just … making out with your girl like that, even getting to touch those amazing tits of hers – she doesn't even feel anything when she's asleep, you know. Hitomi's a bit on the slim side, that's fine. But if she had a rack like your girl there … I probably wouldn't be able to stop banging her. Mesmerising, just watching them bounce … though I guess you'd already know that."

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was talking to a twelve-year-old who only just learned what jerking off is. Did you ever last more than a minute with my cousin, or … is that why she left you for Okuchi?" Neji cracked a smirk, and the scab on the side of his mouth split. It was worth it. Or maybe, not worth it, he winced, as Kengo hit him again. He wasn't sure which was worse – dealing with the unflinchingly corny Isaka Kengo, or the unforgiving, violent and crude Isaka Kengo. At least the one who was hitting him had a slight sense of humour, unsophisticated as it was.

He sighed. "I shouldn't be so out of sorts. It's just … Hitomi's not quite herself."

"She didn't take so well to being kidnapped?" Neji sighed, wondering how many weapons they had stashed back in her penthouse. All of them. Useless.

"It's not kidnapping, we're running away together. She's just taking a bit longer to come around to the idea. So, Inoue's other phone was about as useful as I thought it would be," Kengo said, hopping on the bench in front of the two-way mirror. He stared at Neji, sitting in a reclining dentist's chair (appropriately restrained, of course), and crossed his arms, deep in thought. "Okay, here is our trump card."

Daichi entered the room, looking incredibly pleased with himself. "Did it hurt to see her kissing someone else?"

"Not really, she's my partner. We don't get jealous over small things like that," Neji said easily. Daichi was the one to look out for.

"Have you explained the implant?"

"No, but I was about to," Kengo said idly.

"Great, I'll explain it then," Daichi grinned, pulling up a chair and sitting on it backwards, leaning on the backrest. "So, Ten-chan has an implant in her arm now – and what it does is automatically inject Lucia in her, every … twenty four hours for the next seven days. And this in addition to the stuff we've been giving her. It's not enough for her to overdose on, not that toxic, but it's enough to make her a bit … confused. In a week's time, she won't even remember who you are anymore. So, you're out of time, and you're out of the picture. Unless … you tell me who you're working for."

Shit. Shit. This was the clusterfuck Konoha had been searching for – a link that drew everything together. Lucia was an imperfect drug. And now these assholes were using it as a weapon. Neji sighed. "I already told you. I work for my family's company."

"Last I checked the Hyuuga family were not interested in drugs!"

"Oh, is that what that was?" Neji asked mildly. "I thought they were just memory enhancing pills. You know just as much as I do how valuable these could be – but you're also sitting on a time bomb, releasing an unfinished product on the market – or a product with severe, unintended side effects."

Kengo and Daichi glanced at each other.

"To borrow my cousin's catch phrase," Neji continued. "Let me guess – this form of Lucia is defective. On one hand, it allows you to extract specific memories from your mark with targeted questioning. And on the other, it has detrimental effects on short term memory – hence memory loss over the past couple of days. Like your sister – who mistakenly got into some pills you left lying around. If you've really found a buyer in an overseas intelligence agency, this won't end up like Thalidomide - the Isaka family will just disappear," he said quietly. "And that's not even mentioning the little side business you two set up to – I'm assuming – make a bit of money off the trial cast offs. Get high and nostalgic – it's a winning combination, isn't it?" Bullseye.

"If you pay for my silence I'll happily keep my mouth shut and we all get to walk away from this – for a while, anyway," Neji continued. "You can't kill me – I'm too high profile a target. My relatives are probably looking for me as we speak. And if they find you, I can't guarantee how much longer you can live your current lifestyle. Let me walk and we all pretend nothing happened. I go back to my own life, you two get back to yours."

"I hate how cocky you are," Daichi sighed. "But you're wrong about Fumiko. She poured them out of the bottle, counted them in pairs, and took them in one go."

"He's probably right," Kengo said, raking a hand through his hair, ignoring the comment about his sister. "We need to leave. I'll take Hitomi with me, you take Inoue. And I don't need to worry about this fucking shitstorm that's on its way."

"And this guy?"

"We can just kill him or fry his brain with some cocktail– it doesn't really matter, and dump his body somewhere. The others won't say much. They'll investigate the penthouse and maybe find something interesting but … the three of them will all disappear and no one will bat an eyelash. They were all outsiders to begin with."

Neji started laughing and they both turned to look at him.

"What?"

"I'd check on her if I were you," he said. Daichi and Kengo looked at each other for a moment before both leaving the room. The curtain was still drawn on the other room, but he knew that they had both moved to check on their 'prizes'. Pathetic. This whole scheme had been cooked up because of women who had slighted them? Kengo was leaving with Hitomi, having lost interest in him – the threat of pursuit was scaring him off … but Daichi … Daichi would probably stay to gloat. And that would give them time. Amateurs, both of them.

The curtain was wrenched open from the other side and Neji glanced over. Daichi had turned on the light in the room and they all simply stared at one another.

Tenten had Daichi in a chokehold, a pair of scissors to his neck. Daichi's lips were moving, but Neji couldn't hear anything.

"Ahh, that's my girl. Don't fall for the bluff," he said, but Tenten couldn't understand what he was saying. He had a sudden chill as he realised that she couldn't recall who he was. She hadn't asked for him like she had previous times. He groaned and winced as Tenten dropped the scissors and backed away. Neji blinked as he realised her neck had a small cut on it, a line of blood tricking down her shoulder. Had her necklace been torn off in the fight?

A nurse entered the room and restrained her with handcuffs and led her from the room. The hospital charade was over. Neji sighed and waited for Daichi to come back – but there was no movement outside his door. He closed his eyes and exhaled, drifting back to a light doze. He had been here for the past three and a half days, by rough approximation. He couldn't remember what had happened at the warehouse other than falling over in the darkness – someone had shot him with a tranquiliser in the dark, and he had woken up tied to a chair, with Daichi armed with a jet injector and Kengo idly flicking through something on his phone.

Torture threats had turned into general abuse and frustration. It hadn't been until the day after that their moods had taken a turn for the less sullen – and Neji correctly assumed that Hitomi and Tenten had both been captured. He hadn't seen Hitomi, and Daichi had been visiting Tenten often, crooning sweet things in her ear to no avail at first – until what had just transpired. If he was telling the truth and Tenten did have a Lucia implant in her, then time was running out before her memories would start to overlap and blur and eventually disappear, along with her sense of self.

Time passed slowly, as it had for many days. There wasn't much movement outside the door, and the hospital room remained ominously empty. Where had she gone? Had they just left him there?

She woke up, feeling disoriented. She was confined in a room without a light, tied to a chair. She was no longer wearing the hospital gown, but plain clothes that fit, but weren't hers. What day was it? What had she been doing yesterday? Perhaps she'd been having lunch with Ino, or had she been Inoue Miyako, working in a café in Sendai? Her shoulders and neck were sore. She was sick of being so confused – these were tell-tale signs that she'd been drugged with Lucia.

There was a groan in the darkness and Tenten realised she was not alone.

"Who's there?" she demanded.

Another groan. "Miya-chan? What the hell? Is that you?" He was sitting directly in front of her, a few meters away.

"… Takeshi?" The name felt right on her lips. "What are you doing here?" The spy in her knew what this was immediately. If this person recognised her, there was only one reason why he was here.

Their conversation was cut short as the lights were turned on. Tenten closed her eyes, blinded, and listened for footsteps. Only one person. They were approaching from behind to keep an eye on her hands, restrained in cable ties.

"I see you're enjoying your reunion."

It was Daichi. Memories flooded back into her mind like the dizzying rush of oxygen after being trapped in a box. She took a deep, gasping breath as she remembered what had happened over the past few days – months, even. But one thing was bothering her – there was still someone missing from her memories, a vital figure. Her partner. But who was it? She opened her eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the light before she spoke.

"Let him go, Daichi. He has nothing to do with this."

"I will, eventually," he said, coming up beside her. "Do you know this man?"

Their eyes met and from the way Takeshi's eyes widened, she could tell he knew what was coming. She exhaled slowly.

"Yes."

"Great." Silence fell, and when all she did was look up at him expectantly, he arched an eyebrow. "That's it? No act, no teary eyes?"

"If you keep your hands to yourself, so will I," Tenten said simply.

"So, I have some questions for you," Daichi said pleasantly. This was the Daichi she had seen over the past … how long was it? A few months, at least. "Who are you, and what are you doing here? Your partner wasn't too worried about you, which is reassuring. But he hasn't told me who you work for."

Tenten laughed, a harsh sound. "Come on, you think asking nicely is going to be enough?"

"I thought you'd say that. So, I'm going to give you an option. Tell me, or he dies."

"What's in it for you? Weren't you supposed to be erasing my memories for some sick fantasy of yours or something?" She flexed her wrists, testing the bonds. No give.

"I just need to know who I'm looking out for. And the syndicate will cover the rest."

"You don't think this'll jeopardise our … relationship?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Oh, sweetheart," he said, leaning over her to caress her face. She struggled away from him, but his grip on her chin was firm. "You're not going to remember your own name in a few days."

Tenten struggled to keep her breaths even. He wasn't getting to her. He wasn't.

"Remember, he's an innocent so … if he dies, it's all on you."

Tenten glared at him as he drew a handgun and pulled back the slide. "How did you become this person?"

"Five seconds."

Takeshi paled as Daichi raised the gun leisurely, with two hands.

"Wait," Tenten said. She closed her eyes and sighed. Daichi was watching her intently, ignoring Takeshi's quiet pleas. "I work for an intelligence agency in Tokyo," she said quietly. "We have ties everywhere – anyone you can think of, we know them or we have dirt on them. And they're looking for me."

Daichi sighed, levelled the sight with Takeshi's forehead. "Looks like you may need some motivation after all," he said darkly, his finger settling easily on the trigger.

The gunshot that tore through the warehouse was deafening. Tenten threw herself to the side, pushing Daichi over, but it was too late.

Her hands cut free by an unseen assistant, she stretched out of the chair as best as she could, her shoulders and fingers cramping with pins and needles as blood rushed back into them, scrambling for the pistol as Daichi groaned in pain. Her hand closed around the pistol grip, slightly unfamiliar but from the weight she could tell the magazine was almost full. She rolled to her feet to the sound of shells falling – the echoes of fired bullets. She found herself scanning the skylight, and within moments, a stealth helicopter flew over, the scope of a sniper's rifle winking at her as it passed.

"My guardian angel," she breathed, grinning. She glanced down to find a tiny robot spinning around in circles, and nodded once before moving between Daichi, still on the ground, and Takeshi, her sights trained on him. "It's over, Dai," she said softly. "Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head."

The warehouse door was flung open and someone came running in, her hair a trail of flames against pale skin and the shadows of the warehouse. There was a soft thud as someone landed on the ground behind her and she turned to find Sasuke, armed with a rifle, and glaring at Daichi as he came up beside her.

"Dragon has been secured," he said quietly into an earpiece. "Target is subdued. Civilian …" he looked over at Suzune, who nodded. "Unharmed." He kept the rifle trained on Daichi. Tenten tossed Suzune the pistol and came forward to cuff his hands behind his back. Daichi's right arm was bleeding profusely from where Sasuke had shot him, since the bullet had exited cleanly. He was beginning to go into shock from the pain.

Takeshi on the other hand, was beginning to ask a lot of questions, but she didn't have the heart to answer them yet, leaving Suzune to cut him free and lead him out of the warehouse to an ambulance. Hanabi arrived, flanked by two other Hyuugas to escort Daichi away, but didn't say much, and one of them handed Sasuke a blanket.

"I guess your sniping skills exceed mine now," Tenten said, turning to Sasuke. "It was a great idea to send the micro-bot first. Maybe we can ask Shadow to equip them with a – what is it?"

She realised everyone was avoiding her gaze. No one had said anything to her in the past six minutes.

"I won't ask again," Tenten said, her mouth setting in a thin line as she glared up at him. He tried to drape the blanket over her shoulders but she shrugged him off, sending another twinge of pain down her arm. What was that from? "Sasuke."

"I think you should sit down."

"Don't patronise me, what is it?"

"It's … the Hyuuga."

Tenten frowned, and then something within her snapped. She was light-headed as memories came rushing back, and suddenly the lights around her were blurring into lines that arced into the darkness. Sasuke reached forward to steady her as she closed her eyes. She swore viciously under her breath, and Sasuke's grip on her tightened.

"Take it easy," he said quietly. "We don't know the extent of the damage just yet."

"What happened?"

"I … don't have authority to make a full report. They only let me on the team, on the grounds that I didn't deviate from protocol."

Tenten closed her eyes. "I didn't imagine that, then."

"We can debrief you at the hospital," he said quietly, guiding her towards the door. "The chopper's returning to base so we're going to a medical centre about an hour out of Sendai. You haven't sustained any serious injuries we can't treat along the way, based on the micro-bot scan."

"Sasuke, all I want to know is – is he dead?"

"No, we have him." He shook his head, and she sighed. "Then don't look at me like someone died," she grumbled. They passed Takeshi and Suzune sitting in the back of the ambulance on the way out – and Tenten paused, feeling like she owed them an explanation. Or perhaps she was owed one. But as Suzune looked up and met her eyes, finally, Tenten gave her a grim smile. There would be time for all of this later. Sasuke cleared his throat.

"What?"

"I know what you're thinking."

Tenten looked up at him. "Enlighten me."

"That there'll be time for whatever you want to say, later. You've gone soft, Tenten. You almost died ten minutes ago. I'll be waiting by the van." With that, he left her, though his warmth lingered for a moment too long. Tenten turned and walked stiffly over to the pair, swallowing her dread. Suzune said nothing as she approached, but like Sasuke, murmured something quietly to Takeshi and walked off, leaving them alone.

"So … you're both … in the same line of work," Takeshi said, leaning back on the ambulance door. "I should have known."

Tenten sat down next to him. "You're not supposed to – and that was kind of the point." Silence fell. "Listen, Takeshi … I want to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought you into this."

"Is that why you fought with Suzu?"

"She was trying to protect you, because she cares about you," Tenten said, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Cherish her."

"She was right about you all along then," Takeshi sighed. "She said people like you … and those Hyuugas – only know how to destroy things."

"And Suzune was once the best of us all," Tenten grinned ruefully, dropping her hand. "Take care of yourself, Takeshi. You won't see me again."

"Is he the one?" Takeshi asked, nodding in Sasuke's direction. "The one you really want to be with? Or is that a lie as well?"

It was there again – that feeling of a throbbing pressure in her mind, like something trying to force its way out. Her memories. Had it been Christmas when she had kissed Takeshi for the last time? She couldn't keep her thoughts on track – she could feel the aftereffects of Lucia settling in, but knowing what was happening to her did not make it any easier.

"I don't know," Tenten said truthfully. "But I'm going to find out."

She left without looking back, rejoining the last of the Konoha squad as they pulled out. Sasuke helped her up into the van and she reclined in the chair, sighing as a one of the medical team came over to do a quick check up to make sure she hadn't received a concussion. Tenten did not miss the significant look that she gave Sasuke, and closed her eyes as they drew some of her blood, and did not open them again until the door slid shut. They were the only ones in the back of this van – the rest of the elite retrieval team was heading back to Tokyo, but she was heading up to a medical facility close by. Why?

Once the van started moving, Tenten opened looked over to find Sasuke staring at her intently.

"What?"

"What happened back there?"

"Can it wait?"

Sasuke's grip tightened on the arm rest. "No, I don't think it can."

"I don't really know … there are significant gaps and my memories are out of order and I don't know if I can trust myself right now." She stopped. "Sasuke, how bad is it? How much did they give me and how much time do I have?"

"We don't really know at this stage," he said, finally taking off his gloves and raking his hands through his hair. "There could be any number of drugs in your system. What we do know is that it's been six days since we last had a record of you two at the warehouse."

Tenten took a moment to absorb this. "So Neji and I … went on the mission, and then I was released. They took me back to Hitomi's place. Where is –" Tenten placed the back of her palm against her eyes. "I woke up alone. I went out with Hitomi, and then we were caught. And … I woke up in a hospital room – several times. They kept replaying the scenario, and putting me back under. But I don't remember everything. I can't remember where this came from," she said, and lifted her arm. "And then today happened." There was a pause. "Please tell me you found Isaka Kengo and Hitomi somewhere."

The silence was telling.