Geo: Woo-hoo! Yeah! I'm back! I've been meaning to get this chapter up for a LONG time, but hey...the CCS movie #2 is so cool and I got to go see it and it gave me I N S P I R A T I O N !!
Brooklyn: Could you get on with the fic already?!?!
Geo: *sigh* Fine...let me say one thing. Everyone...go see The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring because it looks awesome and I might even forgive the casting director for making Elijah Woods play Frodo Baggins...I never could give him any respect after that Flipper movie...man, I hate that dolphin. Okay, I'm done.
Brooklyn: *sigh* Anyways...*takes reading glasses and a piece of paper with writing on it* Ahem...Geo does not in any way or form own Card Captor Sakura. She does not own Final Fantasy or the Lord of the Rings. She doesn't own anything...but she does own Pepsi! Ha! I lie! She does not own Pepsi...
Geo: Okie dokie...yeah! So...on to the fic. Oh wait. Some people asked me a question before and it was 'Are the agencies either all girl or all boy?' Well, the answer to that is no, they're not all this or not all that. It's just the way it is right now but no, it's not divided that way. And, also, I'd like to remind everyone that Sakura will not die...I've learned from my mistake last time with 'A Simple Letter'...heh heh heh...
chapter 7
Fireworks in the Night
Eriol sat back with a can of Pepsi in his hand. "This should go smoothly. With Syaoran..."
"And Sakura." Tomoyo said suddenly, making sure he remembered. Eriol smiled and nodded.
"Of course, and Sakura...anyways, with them on the job, nothing could go wrong." Tomoyo sighed.
"You're really confident about Syaoran." Eriol grinned, taking another sip of his soft drink.
"As you are of Sakura. They're both quick and witty and get everything they want...Sakura out of her own sweetness and Syaoran...well, Syaoran through force. But, he's a damn good leader and I'm not the first to say it." Tomoyo shrugged and sighed, turning to the black screen where, usually, there would be a reading on where the bearers of the watch were...if there were any cameras in the mansion. She sighed again. Without those cameras she felt helpless. Noticing this, Eriol smiled and reached for her hand.
Smiling and squeezing it reassuringly, he said, "Don't worry. They'll be fine."
~*~*~*~*~
"Do you see them anywhere?" Chiharu whispered to Yamazaki while smiling to an elderly old but extremely rich lady.
"Chill, babe." He said, taking a sip of his martini. "Things will go great." She scowled at him for a few brief seconds.
"How could you act so...NORMAL? I mean...you're so calm."
"When you spend the past three years in Syaoran's squad, you don't have time to worry. Just plain ol' common sense." She chuckled.
"Whatever. Do you see them?" He smiled over at her.
"Don't look for them. Look for the enemies. Syaoran and Sakura are big kids now. They don't need babysitters."
~*~*~*~*~
Sakura and Syaoran scanned the room for any potentials. Usually, the signs were uneasiness or nervousness. Many of these terrorists weren't as well trained in hiding or trying to be inconspicuous. Unlike the two young spies, who had years of training and practice in that field. It was part of their work and part of every day survival. Sakura nudged Syaoran, indicating she found someone. He smiled and lead the way towards the man.
"Do you, by any chance, know when the fireworks will be?" Sakura asked sweetly. The guy looked at them and smiled. Since there wasn't supposed to be any fireworks at this convention, it automatically meant the bombing and the guy knew it.
"Finally, you guys are here." He said, whispering and flicking his card up for a few brief seconds. "I've been on the lookout for ages. What took you so long?" Syaoran frowned.
"Didn't they tell you anything? There may be agents here." The guy smiled.
"They don't know nothin', but. Absolutely nothin'."
"Still, better safe than sorry. Where do we go?" Asked Sakura. The guy smiled.
"Basement. We took over a few hours ago. We have the 'guards' posted and we have all the 'fireworks' are stored there. Plus, a little extra treat." Syaoran smiled.
"Perfect. We'll go there."
Walking casually towards the door so that no one could recognize them, Sakura and Syaoran silently made their way down to the basement. Further and further they went, more and more guards were posted. However, realizing that they couldn't be real authorities, the two simply flicked their 'ID cards' at them and were allowed to pass.
"I wonder what the extra treat is." Sakura muttered, smiling at another 'guard.'
"I have no idea." Syaoran said back until they got to the most heavily guard door there was.
"Hold it right there. Who the heck are you?" Asked one of the guards. Syaoran and Sakura simply showed their ID's and were permitted to continue. Walking through the door, they saw crates of explosives.
"So this is why they've been quiet all of this time." Syaoran muttered, glancing around. "They have enough explosives to blow up the entire city."
"No, unfortunately, not that many." Said a voice behind them. They turned and saw a smiling young woman. She walked to the many television screens, that showed the people talking, dancing, laughing. "We don't want to blow up the entire city. What good would that do? Oh, no, only enough to make sure there's a crater where this place is standing. And it will go off in about twenty minutes." Sakura smiled and chuckled.
"Um...we heard something about a special treat?" The woman turned back.
"Hm? Oh, of course. The poison."
~*~*~*~*~
"What do you think is happening. We've only gotten a few reports from Chiharu and Yamazaki, but not from Syaoran and Sakura. Do you think we should contact them?" Tomoyo asked, a bit worried. Eriol shook his head.
"No. We can't. We won't. What if they're working some things out with the enemy? It wouldn't work to have someone find out that their wristwatches were mics. No, we have to trust them." Tomoyo sighed and nodded.
"Of course I trust them. It's just...it's just...weird." Eriol smiled.
"I know how you feel."
~*~*~*~*~
"Poison?" Asked Syaoran, trying to hide his shock. The woman smiled.
"Oh yeah. What else would we do? We thought it would be a nice parting gift." She laughed. "Of course, the stuff's not enough to actually kill someone. What would be the fun in blowing up a place with no one alive inside of it?"
'This woman is insane. They're all insane.' Sakura desperately thought inside. On the exterior, she was smiling and just as calm as Syaoran.
"So, is there anything you want us to do?" She asked. The woman smiled.
"Well, you can always deliver this little disk to this man over here." She said, pointing to someone on the screen. Syaoran pretended to look and study the face, but was really thanking the gods that they would have some time not under any surveillance.
"Alright, got him." He said, smiling. Sakura received the disk then smiled.
"Should we come back here when we're done?" The woman smiled.
"Of course."
Smiling, the two walked out and through the halls.
"What are we going to do?" Sakura whispered.
"We're going to have to evacuate, that's the only key. We can't undo all the bombs now, especially by ourselves. We have to simply evacuate." Waiting until there was no one around, Sakura stood guard and Syaoran activated the mic in his
"Hiragizawa. Can you hear me?"
~*~*~*~*~
"Hiragizawa. Can you hear me?" Came Syaoran's voice over the speaker. Eriol whirled around, and activating the two way speakers, with Tomoyo walking over to him.
"Yo, Li, I'm here. What's the scoop."
"Let's just say that if it was the Fourth of July, these people have enough explosives to light up all 50 states and that's an understatement." Eriol let out a low whistle.
"That bad?"
"That isn't half of it. They have a treat for the guests. And it's poison." Tomoyo gasped.
"What the hell...?" She muttered.
"Listen, we don't have enough time to unwire all of this stuff. There's about 15 minutes left. Not even the entire bomb squad could do it. That's why we need an evacuation. Now." Eriol nodded, even though he knew that Syaoran couldn't see him.
"You can count on us." Eriol said as Tomoyo grabbed the mic.
"Listen to me. Come back alive. If you can't save the building, DON'T." She said fiercely.
"I promise I'll bring Sakura back."
"I meant both of you, Mr. Li." Tomoyo said, smiling a bit.
"I'll try." And then there was nothing but static. Eriol sighed and glanced at Tomoyo.
"We'd better get at it. Full scale evacuation."
Tomoyo activated the two way mic to Chiharu. "Chiharu. Come in. We're going to put in a full scale evac. You copy?"
"Copy loud and clear. We have it under control." There was pause. "What about Sakura and Syaoran?"
"Everything's fine. We just need to keep things calm."
"Got it."
~*~*~*~*~
Syaoran stood up and fixed up his tuxedo.
"Are we really going to deliver the disk?" Syaoran frowned in thought as Sakura continued. "They have cameras all over the place. You saw."
"You're right. But we only have about 15 minutes left. We can't risk it. We have to get as many bombs as we can disarmed and get out of here." Sakura smiled.
"Leave that to me." Stepping over to where one of the fake guards stood, she smiled sweetly.
"Is this where the 'fireworks' are kept, sir?" The guard laughed.
"Only a couple. They have them all over the building." Sakura continued to smiled while her mind screamed in panic.
'All over the building?!? We can NEVER get those all disarmed.'
"Me and my partner are actually supposed to check on the inventory and make sure everything's up to date. Do you mind if we go in?" The guard looked at her suspiciously.
"You need a reference, and you should've been given a card to go in, anyways. Are you sure you're supposed to be checking the inventory?"
"Oh, yes. Now, give me the card so I can go in." Sakura said through clenched teeth. Swiftly, Syaoran came up beside her and threw a punch straight in the guy's gut. The guard fell over and passed out. Quickly checking the pockets, Sakura took out the entrance guard and swiped it through the alarm system. She gasped at the sight of the room. Explosives lined the wall every wall, except for the one with the sole computer in sight.
"This must be how it must everywhere in the building." Sakura whispered. Syaoran sighed.
"It must be. Well, let's get started."
~*~*~*~*~
"Detective Andrews speaking." Came a voice from the other end of the line.
"Hey, Jake. It's me, Hiragizawa."
"Hey, Eriol. You have any 'anonymous' tips for me?" Asked the good-natured police officer. The agencies always liked to have someone in the police force so if anything happened that would need the police's attention, they would get it without any unnecessary questions.
"You can say it's a tip. More like an order from Syaoran." Jake let out a low whistle.
"I see. What's up?" Eriol had to smile. Syaoran was basically the highest officer there could be, other than the boss himself. If he has even a request, anyone would answer.
"He wants a full scale evacuation at the Twin Stars Charity Ball. There are scheduled fireworks in about 15 minutes, tops."
"Oh boy. Does he want a bomb squad?"
"No time, Jake. He doesn't want anyone getting hurt, including the bomb squad. Clear?"
"You got it. I'm sending a team right now."
"Thanks, Jake." With that, Eriol hung up and turned to Tomoyo, who was busy telling all the details to Chiharu. He had to smile. Everything was going exactly according to plan.
~*~*~*~*~
"I got it!" Sakura whispered and turned around to Syaoran. He smiled at her happy yet surprised look on her face. He glanced at his watch. There was approximately nine minutes left.
"All right, Sakura. I knew you could do it. We should get out of here and make sure the evacuation is going smoothly."
"Not so fast, traitors." Came a voice. Turning abruptly, Syaoran noticed it was another one of those fake guards, holding up a gun.
"What do you want?" Syaoran asked exasperatedly. He was not in the mood to argue with yet another guard.
"You are not really of this corporation. We should have known from the start. You're Syaoran Li and Sakura Kinomoto, aren't you?" The guard asked, smiling for his sudden knowledge.
"Ooh, you are good." Sakura said, sarcastically, all the while reaching for her gun, which was conveniently hidden under her skirt. (A/n: Think of Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality. Thanks to cherry-cherry-girl for the suggestion!) Following the first guard, ten more entered the room. Syaoran rolled his eyes as he faced the eleven sets of guns.
"Listen, I don't have time for this and you probably don't either. The bombs supposed to blow up in about eight minutes. So might as well just let us go and everything will be fine."
"The people may have been evacuated but we're not letting you get out of here alive." One of the men said.
"Oh really?" Sakura asked. So quickly that no one could sense her movements, she brought out her concealed gun and shot two men, dead, right away.
"Sakura, we have to get out of here!" Syaoran cried, grabbing his own gun out of its holster. Sakura nodded and knew what he was talking about. Even though the bombs were all shut down now, there was the slight possibility for a mishap and the whole room, including them, would blow up.
Taking her hand and shooting with his free hand, Syaoran blew a straight path for them as Sakura covered them and shot as many guards as they possibly could. Running down the hall, they heard the distinct thumping sound of footsteps behind them.
"Oh shit, reinforcements." Syaoran muttered, discarding his empty gun and taking out another one. (A/n: where he keeps all those guns in a tux is beyond me. He just does.)
"Stop right there! You're not getting out here alive!" Shouted one of the guards.
"Not if I have anything to do with it." Syaoran muttered through clenched teeth, leading Sakura and him to a doorway that would act as their cover.
The two agents were not only some of the best in their line of work just because they knew how to act. They were dead shots, and the guards were shot down, one by one, before long. Sakura checked her watch.
"Five minutes left, Syaoran. Let's just get out of here." She muttered. Syaoran nodded.
Running down the empty halls, the two thought they were home free.
How wrong they were...
~*~*~*~*~
"Where are they?" Chiharu asked frantically and looked up to Yamazaki, hoping that he had some sort of funny joke to cheer her up and get her nerves to calm down. However, his usual grin was replaced by a frown as he peered at the abandoned house from a safe distance. The rest of the guests were being taken to their homes or hotels for precaution. However, the four remaining agents had stayed, watching for any signs of the fleeing Syaoran or Sakura.
"I have no idea, babe. He's cutting it close. He never does that. He's always yelling at me to stop cutting it so close." He turned to Eriol and Tomoyo, who had joined them at the site.
"Have you had any calls from them?" Tomoyo shook her head.
"Absolutely none."
"I have a bad feeling about this." Eriol muttered, glancing back at the somewhat abandoned mansion.
~*~*~*~*~
"Well, Mr. Li, Ms. Kinomoto. What a pleasure to see you. Too bad you didn't tell me your real identities when you first came, or I would've given you an appropriate greeting." The woman who they had spoken to earlier said. In her hand was a PP7. She was planning to get rid of the two agents, right then and there.
"As you can probably tell, I have no time for you. So, who would like to go first?" She asked. Syaoran placed himself in front of Sakura.
"Alright, Mr. Li, you're our lucky winner." The woman joked.
"You wish." Syaoran said, and with that threw a punch at the woman. She quickly dodged it and kicked him instead. He sank to his knees as she skipped back a bit to get out of his range.
"Syaoran, I'm surprised. You're losing your touch." She said, shaking her head. She quickly glanced at her watch.
"Tsk, tsk. I really must be going. So if you don't mind..." She said and clicked off the safety. Syaoran glanced up from the floor where he had fallen in pain. He slowly stood up as if he was accepting his death to protect Sakura.
Sakura's eyes widened in absolute fear. She couldn't let him die on him now. There was only a few minutes left. They could make it.
The next part happened almost in slow motion in Syaoran eyes. Sakura's desperate cry. The clicking of the gun and the metal hitting flesh. But it wasn't his flesh being pierced by the bullet. Looking down, he saw Sakura drop to her knees, clutching her side.
"One minute until self destruct." Came the usual overhead voice that came during the last few minutes until an explosion. The woman, still smiling, looked down at her gun.
"Oh darn, empty." She said cheerfully. "Oh well. Good luck, Mr. Li, Ms. Kinomoto." She smiled again, then turned and closed the doors. Syaoran heard the distinct sound of a lock.
"Damn it." Syaoran said. Yet another problem to overcome. He was supposed to find a way out for both of them in one minutes. Glancing back down at Sakura, he kneeled beside her.
"Please, Sakura, hang on." He whispered. She smiled up at him and lifted her hand from her side. It was deep red with blood. Her eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious.
"No, Sakura, hang on. You have to. We're getting out of here alive." He whispered and picked her up gently. Turning, he quickly ran down the hall to an emergency exit. This was, after all, a public place and there were always public exits. Luckily, all the guards had fled because of the bombs, therefore Syaoran wasn't bothered.
"30 seconds left." The voice said.
Syaoran tried to pick up speed. He had to get both of them out of the building. He had promised Tomoyo that he would get Sakura safely out of the building.
He climbed the stairs to get up into the main building. Turning, he could see the emergency exit door just ahead of him.
"10 seconds...9...8...7..."
Syaoran clutched the precious bundle. Sakura had taken the bullet for him. He had to get her out and to the hospital. He had to keep her alive.
"6...5...4..."
Syaoran knew that it was going to be close. They were hardly at the door and he had three seconds left. But he had to try. He couldn't give up.
"3..."
Don't worry, Sakura. I'll keep us alive...
"2..."
With his hands full with Sakura, he had to turn to his side and ram the door open. Just when he got the door open he heard the last count...
"1..."
~*~*~*~*~
"3, 2, 1..." Eriol muttered and then covered his eyes as the entire building blew up. Taking Tomoyo in his arms to help protect her, his heart sunk. Syaoran didn't make it. Neither had Sakura. They were both in there, trapped and most likely...dead...
Tomoyo was trembling with desperate sobs, not believing that Sakura or Syaoran could be dead. Yamazaki was holding onto Chiharu's hand, his face dazed and looking at the wreck as tears flowed openly down Chiharu's face. Shaking his head, Eriol knew he had to take control.
"Come on, guys. They can't be...they couldn't have failed." He said, trying to get their attention.
"I know they're alive. They have to be. Once the immediate danger is over, we're going to go search for them." He continued, looking down and smiled gently at Tomoyo, who wiped her eyes and nodded.
"You're right. We'll go in a few minutes." The firefighters were already soaking off the building to reduce the flames.
'They have to be alive,' Tomoyo thought as she hung onto Eriol's warm embrace. 'Syaoran promised me. They have to be.'
Somewhere in the nearby field, under some debris, a figure groaned and stood up. He had a few burns, cuts and bruises but none that were too bad. In his arms was a beautiful young woman, protected from the explosion by the young man. Taking a few unsure steps, the man shook his head and then, more confidently, walked toward the group of young agents.
~*~*~*~*~
"Hey! Hey, what's that?" Yamazaki asked as the group prepared to leave to search the site. The rest of the group dashed to where he was standing.
"I don't believe it..." Eriol muttered. For there was a weary and messed up Syaoran carrying Sakura through the lot to the group. Tomoyo, Eriol, Chiharu and Yamazaki ran over to them, smiling and shouting.
"You two did it! Ha ha, you did it!" Yamazaki yelled and waved. As the group joined up with him, they could see some tears in his eyes as he shook his head.
"No, I didn't do it. Sakura took a bullet in the side for me." Tomoyo gasped as she understood why Syaoran's jacket was over her and being held tightly by Syaoran.
"Is she...?" Chiharu asked, new tears coming to her eyes. He shook his head.
"She's not dead, just unconscious. However, she's lost a lot of blood. We have to get her to a doctor." He turned to Eriol.
"Phone up Meilin. We're going to need her help."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Geo: And that's the end of chapter 7. Yeah!
Brooklyn: Woo-hoo! Finally! Done! Over!
Geo: No, Brooklyn, wrong. Only chapter 7 is done. The whole story is not done just yet. It's very near to done, though! Yipee!
Brooklyn: Thank goodness!
Geo: *glares* Oh well...It's kind of weird that I'm making Yamazaki almost like Zell from Final Fantasy VIII...or almost like a Duo...oh well *shrug* Yes, Meilin will be coming in the next chapter so yeah...here's to all you Meilin fans. Sorry E+T and Y+C fans, I'm not too good at making other romances other than S+S...heh heh...sorry, I'll try to make it better in the chapters to come...whoa, there aren't that many left...and then this story will be...DONE! Whoa...scary thought. Anyways, ha ha phoenixangel...yes, you caught on, those quotes were little things from The Matrix. I couldn't help it!
Okay, I have a few thank you's:
1.) To my reviewers! Thanks so much to all of you who always review! You guys always make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!
2.) To Cherry. Her stories are awesome and so much more superior than mine, but she always takes the time to give me tips and what-not for my stories. She also holds a gun to my head if the chapters don't come up soon enough and since she knows where I live, I have to make sure that I update regularly.
3.) To my dad. I know, kinda weird, but here's why. I get a lot of my info from my father, like which wines are good (except for the Shizar, which was my picking. It was good! No, I don't get drunk...that was just on Christmas and I had a sip!). He also helped me on a lot of the secret agent stuff, like cyanide and the name for that. (Yeah! Go James Bond movies!) He just gives me a lot of information, when I ask for them. So, thanks dad even though he's N E V E R going to read this.
4.) To my brother. He helped me with the whole skateboarding tricks back in, oh... chapter three? That was the chapter, right? Well, yeah. He told me all the tricks. (Yeah! Go Playstation and Tony Hawk Pro Skater!) So, thanks to him even though he's N E V E R going to read this either.
And thanks to all of you who actually read my gibberish. Thanks a bunch! Hope you liked the chapter and the next one will be up SOON! I've already written it, I just have to type it out...heh heh...
~Geo