"Andy, get up and get packed. You're coming with us." Rei knocked on the door.

Andy opened the door, "Where are we going?"

"Hospital. We found him." Rei gave her a small smile. "He's alive."

She stared at him for a moment, slightly afraid to get her hopes up, "You're serious? He's really alive?"

"Serious as a heart attack. The hospital finally called Boss after finding his number." Rei put a hand on her shoulder. "I am going to tell you he's hurt bad. That's all they would say."

She frowned before taking a deep breath, "Alright. Let's go."

He nodded, showing her a scribbled address as Kiba ran up. "Sorry I'm late. Boss wanted to brief me."

Andy nodded, "Let's go get him." She teleported them to the address.

Rei quickly headed for the nurse's desk.

Kiba took several deep breaths, running a hand through his hair shakily.

"I can't believe we finally get him back," Andy said quietly.

"I almost don't want to get my hopes up.." Kiba's voice was strained.

Andy squeezed his hand gently, "We'll get through this no matter what happens. Somehow we've managed to survive this long without him, now we have a chance."

He nodded slowly as Rei waved them toward the hall. He led them to a room, pausing to look at them gravely. "Got his condition. Serious but stable. Andy, they found him severely beaten and shot in the head. He just got out of ICU. He's in a coma, has been since he arrived. No ID, that's why they didn't contact us sooner."

Andy closed her eyes and took in the information. "I'll see what I can do to help him."

"I know." He slid the door open for her.

She looked at Kiba for a moment before finally going into the room and moving to the side of the bed.

Tet's head was wrapped in gauze,covered in cuts and dark bruises. An oxygen mask covered his nose and mouth. He was bare chested, swaddled in more gauze over his ribs and abdomen. She could see numerous stitches, including one set from where a chest tube had been removed.

The monitors beeped reassuringly.

Tears filled her eyes as she stared at him. She'd spent the last few months crying and worrying about him after he went missing, but she never expected to find him in this bad of shape.

After a minute, she wiped at her eyes before starting to recite spells. Different colored lights surrounded him as they focused on different injuries. A few hours went by as she worked. Finally, she moved to the chair and just stared at him.

A few minutes later, his eyes were watching her.

"Tet?" She said softly.

His forehead creased as he gave her a confused look. He pulled the mask off, his voice rough. "Who is Tet?"

Andy's eyes widened and she looked over at Kiba in panic.

He slowly approached the bed. "Bad joke you oversized rug."

Tet raised an eyebrow. "Oversized rug? What does that mean?"

Andy composed herself, her doctor side kicking in, "You were badly injured and it seems you have some memory loss. Your name is Tetsuya, your friends call you Tet."

He frowned, then nodded. "Are you my doctor?"

She took a deep breath, "I am a doctor, yes. But I'm one of your friends too."

Kiba grabbed him. "Knock it off, Tet! Stop scaring her."

"Kiba, he took heavy damage to his head, it's not out of the question to have memory loss.. If you can't stay calm, go in the hall."

He slowly released his hold, his face dropping. He slid the door open and disappeared.

"I'm guessing he's a friend too?" Tet was quiet.

"Yeah. He and I are closest to you, and it's been hard on us because you've been gone for a while. I know this is all a lot to take in right now, but I'm here to help you fill in any blanks." She paused and looked at Rei, "Call Akasa and see if the books have any spells to help with this kind of thing."

He nodded. "I'll see if Kei can help as well." He left the room as he dialed.

"I'm going to take a wild leap and say I'm well liked in my life?" Tet slowly sat up and folded his hands.

"Definitely. We're part of a team who has become like a family and all of them have been worried about you."

"Team.." He frowned. "Am I a police officer or something?"

"You're a soldier in a special military squad."

His eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"I'd never lie to you," she gave him a small smile.

"I don't know why, but I believe that completely. You feel familiar."

"I'm glad." She looked thoughtful, "My name is Andy, by the way."

His eyes softened. "I have the sudden urge to call you darlin.."

She smiled softly, "That's what you call me."

He looked thoughtful. "We're more than friends aren't we?"

"Yeah. We're also more than friends with Kiba, the one that yelled."

He absorbed the information in silence.

The door slid open, Rei cursing under his breath.

"What's wrong?"

"Other than Kiba disappearing? How does a trio of Branch doctors asking questions at the front desk?"

Andy growled, "They are not coming anywhere near him."

"Branch?" Tet's eyes became panicked. "Why do I feel so terrified?"

"They've done a lot of bad things to us and our teammates," Andy answered quickly. "But don't worry, I'm not going to let them anywhere near you." She looked at Rei, "Do you think it'd be bad to take him to the base?"

"It might jog his memory. And I think it would be safer." Rei scowled as Kiba reappeared. "Where the hell did you go?"

"Had to get control of myself." His voice was tight. "Please say I didn't see who I thought I saw heading this way.."

Andy cursed before looking at Tet, "Please, don't panic, but I'm going to take you somewhere safer. We're going to teleport so it'll be like we just disappear here and reappear there."

He gave her a slow smile. "Actually sounds fun."

Rei chuckled. "That was your reaction the first time too."

Andy grabbed onto Tet's arm before making sure the others were there too before teleporting them all back to the infirmary. He was now in one of the infirmary beds, "Welcome to our base infirmary."

Tet glanced around, then gave her a small smile. "I hate to say this, but this is really familiar.."

Kiba started to laugh.

Andy chuckled, "You do spend quite a bit of time in here."

Tet blushed. "Don't know if I should apologize or not now."

Andy smiled, "It's alright, I think we all spend a lot of time here."

Rei excused himself.

The infirmary shook as a small explosion was heard nearby, followed by a triumphant yell.

Tet raised an eyebrow as Kiba rolled his eyes. "Was that who I think it was?"

"Probably Kei making potions again," Andy chuckled.

As if on cue, the witch entered with a wide smile. He held two capped vials in one hand as he dusted off his hat with the other.

"What potion are you making now?"

"I finished one actually. With no need to heal me this time." He eyed Tet quietly. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Tet just nodded quietly.

Kei presented her with both vials. "Green for him, blue for you. Don't touch yours. For severe cases only."

She raised an eyebrow but nodded, "Will the green one help his memories?"

"Hopefully. At the least, it might jog some loose." He plunked the hat down on his head, adjusting it. "You like?"

She smiled and nodded before turning to Tet and handing him the green vial. "Take this."

Tet gave her a skeptical glance, then downed it. Seconds later, he grabbed his head with a cry.

"Tet, what's wrong?" She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Have to protect the team…. Can't let them get hurt anymore…." He squeezed his eyes shut.

She wrapped her arms around him and ran a hand through his hair, "The team is safe. You're safe."

"No, we're not..that's why Branch came to the hospital… they wanted to keep me from talking.." He turned panicked eyes to her.

"What's going on, Tet?"

"Branch is trying to wipe us… make us their puppets. I found out while on the other mission.. I tried to get away.."

"It's alright, we'll take care of everything." She looked at Kiba, "Go tell Tsukasa."

"Roger." He took off at a run as Tet attempted to get out of bed.

"You need to rest," Andy pushed him back.

"I need you guys safe. Branch is more determined than ever.. I saw them kill a shifter and then try to bring him back with their new necro… he couldn't do it. They were really happy…"

Andy froze, "They have a necromancer?"

"It's a kid too.. Well a teen to tell the truth.." Tet scowled. "I overheard them. They said either we would be under their control or finally dead where you couldn't help us.."

Andy sighed, "We'll figure this out and take care of it."

Tsukasa strode in, his face grim. "Dammit Tet, can you not bring disaster every time you're found?"

"What's your plan?" Andy asked him quietly.

"To be perfectly fucking honest.. I don't have one. This machine scares the shit out of me.." The dragon looked lost for the first time since she'd known him.

Andy sighed, "Well, we have to go destroy Branch, again. And make sure the bodies are burnt to dust so they can't be brought back. So maybe send a team to do that while the others defend the base?"

Tsukasa took a deep breath. "Who should we send?"

"I'll go. Send whoever volunteers. I feel this will be a worse battle than usual."

He nodded, leaving silently.

"I'm coming.." Tet pushed himself up.

"Didn't I just tell you that you need to rest?"

Kei muttered a spell and Tet went limp. "Idiot. I'm coming." He pulled the blanket up, then turned to Andy. "He'll sleep for awhile. Let us take care of business."

Andy nodded as she looked at Tet, "We just got him back, I don't want to lose him again."

Kei gave a small smile as Ryon entered, double checking a large pistol. "I'm ready. The others are almost."

A minute later, Jade, Leo, and Kenji came in. "Boss told us Branch has a machine to fuck with us now?"

She nodded, "I'm betting this won't be easy so make sure you're 100% ready for this."

"We were born ready." Jade said, his eyes serious.

She took another deep breath, "Alright. Let's go then." She prepared to teleport.

Ryon grabbed the others and vanished.

She teleported as well, surveying the area they arrived in.

It appeared to be a combat hospital, surgical tables on one side, recovery beds on the other. There was a machine in the corner that looked like a cross between an xray and a laser microscope.

"Think that's it?" Leo nudged her as the men huddled beside.

"Maybe. Work on destroying it anyway."

"Yes ma'am." He and the other two began cutting wires and attaching charges as Kei and Ryon scanned the area.

"I figured we'd have run into people by now.."

"Yeah.. it's too quiet." Kei stood slowly. A second later, he yelled and flew back. There was an audible snap as his head hit the wall and he slid down limp.

"KEI!" Ryon screamed, shifting into his wolf form and lunging at the man who had entered.

The man shook his head. "We want you." He dropped the glowing glove and shot the shifter with several darts.

Ryon gave a yelp, then crashed to the ground unconscious.

Andy growled, pouncing at the man and knocking him to the ground, biting into him quickly. When she was done with him she looked up for more enemies.

Five more men with gloves were coming in another door, aiming and firing at the three soldiers at the machine.

Jade screamed, dropping to the floor as the black light hit him. Kenji and Leo grabbed him, trying to shield as the men surrounded them. The men raised the gloves, preparing to fire.

Andy growled again before muttering a killing spell. Three of the men went down and she jumped toward the other two to take them out.

One turned toward her as the other fired, the black light enveloping the other men.

She shot at him, taking him down before firing at the other one. She quickly grabbed her teammates and teleported them back to the infirmary. She checked Ryon first, finding him okay just unconscious, then the others.

All of them were dead, drained of all energy. Kei had a fractured skull, but the others were just empty.

Andy healed the fracture before focusing on all of them, trying to bring them back to life. The gold light surrounded them and she watched with hope.

Nothing happened except the light flared and fizzled out.

Andy froze, trying once more with the same results. Tears filled her eyes as she realized the gloves were the devices that kill people so necromancers can't bring them back. She headed out of the infirmary to try to get herself together.

The base was a wreck. There were bodies huddled together in piles, a few sprawled separately. No one was moving.

Andy moved them all into beds in the infirmary, finally moving to cots when the beds were all full. She checked them over before focusing, praying they weren't shot with the gloves.

Kai and Shouma began breathing.

She stared at the rest of them, trying not to cry.

She looked over at Tet, fear racing through her as she went to check on him. After finding no pulse, she tried to revive him with no result. Tears started streaking her face, stepping back from him slowly.

She realized some of the others were still missing so she left the infirmary to check the base. She was trying not to get lost in sobs as she walked.

Suddenly Kiba came into view, slumped over another body.

She raced toward him, moving him off to reveal Ryusei. She sobbed at the thought of them not reviving, but she finally carried them to the infirmary. She tried to revive them but again, nothing happened.

She finally lost the battle against her sobs, falling onto a chair as she cried. She lost track of time, feeling hopeless for once. She knew at least Tsukasa was missing, so there was still a bit of hope for him, but she doubted her ability to get him out alive.

She slipped her hands in her pockets as she was going to leave the infirmary, unable to keep looking at her friends. Her hand bumped into a vial and she remembered the potion Kei had given her. She had no idea what it was for but the thought to use it on them crossed her mind. She went to Kei first, dripping a few drops into his mouth and waiting.

He sucked in a large breath, his eyes fluttering open. "Andy? What happened?"

"Oh my god.." she stared at him in disbelief.

He glanced at the vial, then at her. "That bad huh?"

He could see her eyes were puffy from crying, "Almost everyone died and aren't reviving, so I tried this.." She moved away from him and started administering it to the others who were dead.

He sat up with a wince. "Glad I made it then."

"Me too. Thank you," she said as she watched the others.

The witch sat watching for a minute, then scowled. "Where's Tsukasa?"

"I haven't found him yet. I'm going to go get him though."

"Need a hand?"

"Finding him should be easy as long as they don't have something to block porting. It's getting out safe that I'm worried about." She sighed. "I'll try to find him, and if I'm not back in an hour then you guys can come after us." She handed him the vial, "Keep this safe, just in case."

He nodded reluctantly, holding the vial. "Be careful."

"I'll try," she focused before teleporting to Tsukasa's location. She quickly looked around to analyze the situation.

There was a trio of scientists huddled together in a small lab. They gave no sign of noticing her.

Tsukasa lay on a table, barely breathing. An IV was hooked to him, a purple liquid flowing freely.

A twin to the machine she'd seen was positioned above his head.

Andy growled, jumping at the scientists and biting into one of them.

He screamed, the other two backing away in panic.

After draining him of his blood, she turned on them, shifting and ripping into them with her claws. She then reverted and unhooked the IV, starting to check him over.

His heartbeat was slow and erratic, his eyes barely reacting.

She used a few spells to try to stabilize him before teleporting him back to the infirmary. She laid him on a cot and continued to monitor him for a few minutes.

"I was about to come after you." Kei gave a relieved smile before looking at the dragon. "He looks like shit."

She nodded, "I'm not sure what they were giving him." She paced as she tried to come up with a plan.

Kei checked Tsukasa over with a frown. "What color was it?"

"Purple."

Kei's eyes went wide and he ran for the lab.

She raised an eyebrow but continued to watch Tsukasa as she paced.

The witch returned, quickly injecting the dragon with a yellow liquid. After another minute, he sat down in relief. "That was close.."

"What was the purple liquid?"

"It's used to cause near death experiences. It has a nasty side effect of damaging the person's personality if too much is given."

Andy nodded slowly. Finally she said, "I'll be back I hope. If not, don't put yourselves in danger looking for me."

Kei rolled his eyes. "You know that makes no difference right?"

"I don't want you guys getting hurt."

Kei chuckled. "Goes double for you. You shouldn't go alone."

She shrugged. "Well, I'm going to go try to take them down whether any of you follow me or not."

She focused and teleported to the Branch location and started reciting the spell to rain down fireballs onto the building.

Kei appeared with a grin. "Two witches are better than one." He began reciting as well.

Andy watched for people to leave the building, starting to say killing spells when she spotted them. Multiple fell, but as more progressed toward them, she shifted into a panther and ran at them.

Kei began his own spells, flashes of lights vaporizing the scientists until a security guard fired at him. He went down on his back momentarily, then sat up and vaporized the man.

Andy ripped through multiple scientists with her claws and teeth, going at anyone she noticed. A large group exited the building and she ran at them, starting to take them out. She didn't see someone pointing to fire at her until it was too late. The gloved man shot at her, pain spiking making her scream before everything went black.

Kei screamed, vaporizing the man in seconds. He scrambled to Andy's side, reaching for a pulse with a shaking hand. He struggled to pull out the vial as he found none. Finally, he got it open, dribbling a small amount in her mouth. He held his breath, a silent prayer in his head.

She sucked in air, coming to consciousness slowly. She blinked her eyes open, looking at Kei in confusion for a moment before it clicked.

"Don't do that again." He stood and turned, beginning to recite a spell. Large boulders began to smash into the building. When it was nothing but rubble, he turned back to her. He was breathing heavily, the blood pulsing from the wound in his side. He gave her a small smile, then crumpled.

She pushed herself up and went to him, saying healing spells to close the wound. She turned and watched the fire continue and then started to throw the bodies she ripped apart into it so they would turn to ash. When she was done, she teleported Kei back to the infirmary and placed him back in bed.

"What happened to him?" Ryusei blinked slowly as he looked at her.

"He was shot. He'll be alright though."

Yamae came over, staring down. He frowned, looking closer at Kei's neck. Then he paled, turning frightened eyes to her. "What was he doing before he collapsed?"

"Tearing down a building.. Why?"

"He's an idiot.." The porter grimaced. "If you can't tell, he's an earth witch. Powerful as hell when he gets going, but there's a drawback to his power. It's symbiotic and when he takes a lot of it, the earth returns the favor and takes life force. This mark," He showed her a twisting vine, "shows up when he's close to dying."

Andy frowned, "Well, let's keep an eye on him." She said a few more spells to try to help him before sitting down beside him.

Tsukasa groaned, holding his head as he sat up. He looked around and froze. "How? You were all dead…"

"They're alive thanks to a potion Kei made."

Tsukasa's eyes widened. "Why do I get the feeling he's almost as powerful as you are?"

"Well, without him the whole team would be dead, so he's definitely powerful."

"Andy! Tell me she's alright!" Tet was yelling at Akasa, who was trying to keep him in bed. "They wanted to take her…"

"I'm fine," Andy spoke up as she moved to his side. She pulled him in and kissed him hard.

He returned the kiss hungrily, his hands entwined in her hair. He relaxed as their lips touched.

When she pulled away, she whispered, "I'm so glad you're alive. I thought I'd lost you again."

He nodded, tears threatening to fall. "They told me what they were going to do to you. I went nuts until they shot me with some kind of beam. I was so afraid..

She hugged him tightly, "The whole team pretty much died and I could only revive a couple. I thought I'd lost everyone.. Thankfully Kei made a potion that helped. I don't know what I would have done without you all."

Tet took a deep breath, then kissed her again. "Where's furball? Tell me he's okay.."

"He's over there," she pointed to a cot. "He should be fine."

"I really need to thank Kei then huh?" Tet wiped his eyes with a shaky grin.

"Yeah, he really saved us this time."

There was the sound of breaking glass from the lab, then sobbing.

Andy entered the lab slowly.

Glass littered the floor from broken tubes. Yamae sat in the middle of it, sobbing as he slammed his hands into the floor. "It's not here…" He ignored the shards digging through his pants, as well as the little cuts on his fingers.

"What are you looking for?"

"This happened once before. There's a potion that will help. He swore to us he'd always have some on hand in case. But it's NOT HERE!" The porter picked up some shards, squeezing his palm around it as he raged.

"Let me look through his book and I'll see if I can find the recipe."

Yamae waved his hand at the table. "Page 600." He frowned as he looked down at his slashed hand.

She turned the pages to 600, reading the recipe over. "It doesn't look too hard to make."

"Tell that to him. Took ten tries before he got it right. Barely in time to save himself." The porter huffed, wincing as he started to stand.

Andy said a healing spell to help his hands, then started gathering ingredients.

Yamae gave her a sheepish grin, then went to sit beside Kei.

Andy worked on the potion, praying she was making it correctly. When it was finally done, she went out and gave some to Kei.

His color returned, the vine slowly fading.

Yamae gave a sigh of relief and looked at her gratefully.