The drive down the road was quiet enough, as she thought it would be. Kimi was sat in the passenger seat next to Mike, who focused on the road ahead and eventually pulled up at a rest area for the night.

Curious as to wther or not he was, in fact, asleep, she slowly waved a hand infront of his face. It was a mistake, and she instantly regretted it. Mike's eyes snapped open, and his quick reflexes snatched up her arm, ready to break it before she could even react to his movement. It didn't take long for him to realize it was her, and he released her arm. It would probably still bruise, since Mike was inhumanly strong. He took a long breath, releasing it slowly, and cast her a terribly imitading glance. "Don't ever do that again."

Kimi rubbed her wrist, frowning up at him. It was almost hard to take him seriously. But she knew better, so why'd she done it? Maybe she'd been curious about how shallow he slept or how fast he was.

"Or what? You'll break my arm?" Kimi teased.

Mike's glance focused forward again. "Yes." His answer and tone made a knot appear in her stomach and dry up her throat. He was serious.

"You need to take it easy."

"Taking things easy gets you killed."

In that instant, Kimi could almost swear Mike smirked at her.

'Asshole,' she thought. But she gave him a playful glare regardless.

The rest of the night was spent in silence. Kimi fell asleep and eventually slumped against the warmth of the tall man beside her. Mike simply gave her a gentle shove that moved her against the window instead, and he went back to resting until morning.

Meanwhile back home, the rest of the group was concerned about Mike's success in finding and bringing Kimi home in one piece. They were all starting to get anxious, worrying the possible outcomes, be it Mike being caught and killed in action, to Kimi being shipped overseas to sex-trafficking. In the Finster's household, Kira couldn't sleep as long as her only daughter was still out there. She, joined by Chaz and Chuckie, turned on the news to check for any updates on Kimi's whereabouts.

"We are now two days into the search for Kimi Finster, a young girl who went missing at around 11 PM that night. She was seen by her boyfriend, Phillip DeVille, who was dropping her at a friend's house..." It then turned into a piece of interview with the Sheriff Clarke of the county police.

"We still have not found Kimi... but we're doing everything we can to ensure she is found, alive. We have also initiated a pack of citizens volunteering to assist in the search, but so far, nothing..." Clark said when asked about the update so far, then the camera turned to the reporter.

"Citizens at home are also urged to notify the authorites should there be any clues on Kimi they might have, as their information will be tremendously appreciated. Back to the studio."

After watching the 11PM news, Kira eventually broke down sobbing, with Chaz trying to comfort his tear-stained wife.

"Kimi'll be okay, Mom. We just gotta put our faith in her and Mike," Chuckie said in an attemt to calm her down.

"But... what... if he fails and... dies?... What if... Kimi's dead or even worse... shipped out?" she asked behind sobs, sniffing every so often.

"He's a professional, Mom. He always gets the job done..."

Kira knew her son was right. Mike was a professional at what he does, be it assassination, to rescue, to assault. She finally calmed down, praying Kimi and Mike make it home in one piece.

Later as Clarke returned to his desk at the station, he ordered complete privacy in his office as he was about to establish a secure line.

"Hello?"

"It's Clarke. Don't worry... everything is going to plan."

"You do know that one of my girls has escaped captive?"

"Which one?"

"This Asian girl called Kimi Finster. Someone managed to rescue her, and he'll come after us. Right now he has killed a dozen of my boys and if he's not stopped, he can fuck our business. And don't forget I'm giving you your share too."

"I know this guy. When my boys find the girl, she'll be transported to Colorado for your pickup. And... triple my fee."

"Just make sure her friend is dead, and if need be, her too."

"You have my word." And the line went dead afterwards.

Mike had already been awake for some time when Kimi roused from her slumber. She sat up to see him concentrating on the road in front, and Mike didn't even turn to see her.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked.

"Not long. You can continue to rest if you want."

Obviously Kimi couldn't help but look at that blank expression on his face and those hazelnut-brown eyes. Every time she did so, she immediately averted her gaze. A minute later, she came across several magazines in the car and began to read them, be it boring articles, to celebrity news. She eventually came across an article she found interesting.

"You know, it says here that when a male penguin meets a female penguin, he knows within ten seconds if he gonna love her or not," she told him. She tried to see if he heard what she said. "Are you listening?"

Mike kept his blank, emotionless gaze down the road. "I heard you. I read that."

"Why do you have these many magazines if you know they're full of crap?" Kimi inquired.

"For the advertizements," he simply answered.

"The luggage cases and such? What for?"

"To perfectly hold my sniper rifle along with my sidearms and other gear I require for a sactioned assassination."

Kimi gazed down on an image of a vineyard in the magzine. "My biological father used to have a vineyard back in Japan. And Mom told me one day I'd travel to Japan and take over his vineyard." She remebered the time Kira told her about her father in Japan and their lives there prior to her days in Paris.

Mike took a brief gaze on her, almost smiling. "It looks nice."

"I'm starting to get hungry," Kimi told him. Mike could see it through her as, in a coincidence, he needed to refuel on gas. So he drove to a diner, which had a gas station with it. From there he fuled up his car before entering the diner, which in minutes had a server for them.

"Are we ready to order?" the server asked the pair.

"I'll go with a 2x2 (bacon and sunny side up eggs) and for a beverage a glass of orange juice," Kimi ordered.

"Excellent choice, Miss. And you, sir?"

"Double stack of waffles topped with berries and whipped cream... and black coffee please," Mike ordered.

The waiter took the menus and promised their food will arrive shortly.

"Honestly, I don't know how you tend to stay consistently healthy," Kimi inquired Mike.

"Effecient metabolism." He went to the men's restroom to wash his face as he wasn't gonna have a meal while dirty and sweaty. Kimi also did the same.

Genetically enhanced whilst being in the military or not, Mike needed a better diet, though he was on a decent one, in her opinion. Most restaurants and such wern't devoid of healthy choices, after all, whenever Mike did dine out (which he rarely does, as he tends for home-cooked meals), he did actually keep an eye on what he took in as far as vitamins and minerals are concerned. But he amazing ly went through 2000-2100 calories a day, working or not. She could only dream of a metabolism as his. Then again, Mike worked out tree times as much as she did in his off-time. Maybe she could use a bit more of physical training. She wasn't going to be scaling pipes or ledging cliffs anytime soon, but surely she could get in better shape. Probably a good idea. But the thought of even trying to keep up with Mike's pace made her a bit faint... not even Angelica could keep up with him, despite being a fast runner. He would have more endurance than normal probably.

'A better human indeed,' Kimi mused to herself. Even his mind was sharper than average. She bet his IQ would easily equal a lead scientist. Ask him to caculate pi and he'd flawlessly speak the first 150 numbers. Ask him to disarm a armed opponent while being unarmed and he'd go through each step flawlessly. After about 10 minutes, their food was ready. Eating, as usual, was done in silence as he was much the type of person to talk after a meal, but seldomly he does during eating.

After their hunger was satisfied with a good breakfast and Mike paid the bill, telling the server to keep the change, three men arrived. Having a conversation about finding Kimi while killing Mike in the process, he eavesdropped at their conversation (as they were two table apart from each other). These men seemed to be buyers for Kimi in the sex trafficking deal. These guys meant business, but they have also chosen death.

"There's this girl called Kimi Finster, and she's worth a lot of money," one man said

"She's worth $15,000. And her beauty might be worth our time," another one said.

Mike knew he couldn't let them live after he heard their conversation. "Wait here," he told Kimi, as he followed the trio out back where they're having a smoke. From there he garrotted each one silently and disposed their bodies in a dumpster after. But what Mike didn't know however, was when he garrotted the three lackies in the back, four additional men arrived to snatch Kimi while they had the chance, knocking her out with chloroform. He realized that it was a distraction and he tried to reach to Kimi, who's already dragged into the car with two gunmen spraying bullets to slow him down. By the time Mike swiftly killed one and severly wounded the other, Kimi's kidnappers already took off. Seconds later his mobile rang, which was the same number from the other night.

"Yes?"

"You seriously thought I was bluffing when I said I have people everywhere?"

"Three of your buyers are gone."

"I always get what my clients desire. Those three may be dad, but she's still worth for our other clients... So for that I'm shipping your little bitch overseas."

Mike didn't respond at that point. He just disconnected the call and interrogated the wounded gunman. He noticed his box of matches in the man's pocket and the lisence plate. "Boulder, Colorado. You're a long way from home."

He executed the wounded gunman and drove his car off to Colorado at high speed, hoping he could find Kimi before it's too late...