Author's note: Phew… sorry for the delay. Writer's block sucks :P

Quick notes:

Kyo = Tried to visit your website but all I get is ads. You're more than welcome to post my stuff, just make sure to credit me!

JML = Your reviews always make me laugh

The rest = Suspense and a date, served up warm and toasty for everyone… and yeah, ummm… I know cliffhangers are so nasty but…

* * *

"I thought that you were lying when you said we had to do this…"

"Well, what else did you have planned to do tonight, beyond tailing Kaoru the entire night."

"…"

"Right, so this should keep your mind off things. Now stop sending me messages, I need to concentrate."

Aoshi frowned, watching Misao's last message come across the tiny screen attached to his wrist. She had said they were going to break into a US army facility but he just assumed it was her way of making him agree to not go with Kaoru to that magic show. He didn't think she actually meant it.

But here he was, sitting on the roof of a US army facility, desperately trying not to get picked out by the well-trained guards that were patrolling the area. He had to wonder if she hadn't begged HQ to give them this mission or just made it up but… well, there was no stopping Misao when she had her mind set on something.

His screen hummed slightly against his arm. Looking down he saw Misao's message. "Coming over." He crouched down and looked around the side of the building, making sure the patrol was out of sight. He sent her a quick message to let her know it was all clear.

Two seconds later, he heard the soft feet running up next to him and Misao knelt down next to him. She tapped two fingers on her sleeve five times. He nodded slowly. There were five patrols of two. That shouldn't be too hard to beat.

Aoshi pointed to the ground where there was a makeshift map drawn on the gravel. Misao made a few X's to show where to patrol was before drawing a path from where they were to the building they needed to get into. Aoshi nodded and they started low on the roof, pausing at the edge of the ceiling and scouting for the patrolmen.

As soon as it was clear, the two hooked their lines to the gutters that surrounded the building. Slowly, they fell over the side, holding themselves horizontal to the ground before taking off and walking the side of the building.

A patrol came by, walking slowly underneath them and the two stopped, listening to the idle chatter of the soldiers, hoping that they wouldn't think to look up and see two Japanese spies hanging above them. But lucky for Misao and Aoshi, they seemed more concerned with American football than examining the sky.

They disappeared around the corner and Aoshi and Misao continued on their way, rounding the building and slowly lowering themselves to the ground. Releasing the wires, they bolted across the empty gravel road to opposite building, crouching in the shadows.

Misao frowned looking around the corner of her hiding spot. There should be another patrol coming around any second but…

She looked up at Aoshi who was standing behind her. He caught her eye and frowned. Yeah, he realized it too.

If the situation had been anywhere else, Misao may have been able to stop and enjoy the way Aoshi looked in the half moonlight of the evening. The way his eyes seemed to blend into the shadows. The way his face was etched in stone. He was like a statue of Adonis in a moonlit garden. Of course, this was the middle of an assignment… Misao would never let herself be swayed by an image like this under such dangerous conditions, right?

Well, of course she did. So when he suddenly tapped her arm to ask if she was all right, she had to look away to hide the blush. Someday, she'd have to get him out in moonlight and enjoy that look when she wasn't worried about getting shot to death.

Aoshi's frowned deepened. The patrol was very late. Misao tilted her head back from side to side as she thought and then motioned for him to stay. She was going to check it out.

Snaking along in the shadows, Misao put all her training to work. There was no way anyone would see her. She was silent as a lion stalking its prey. She was quick as a cheetah across the savanna. She was…

The alarms sounded and light flooded the base. Armed soldiers began running through the gravel tracks, clenching their rifles tightly.

She was completely screwed.

* * *

Kaoru's hands worked around the compact as she stared into the mirror. This was so stupid, she thought to herself. What are you getting worked up over anyway? This was Kenshin… Kenshin who has been living with you for almost half a year now. This is a big deal.

Kaoru snickered, casting a look at the destroyed bed. Most of Megumi and Misao's belongings had been dumped there as well. Kaoru's head hit the dresser with a sigh. Feh… who was she kidding.

She stood up and looked in the mirror. Cute little flower sundress, check. Hair up with cute bow, check. Okay, she was ready. This was not a big deal, this was going to be just…

There was a soft knock on her door and Kaoru jumped. "Kaoru-dono? Is everything okay?"

"Fine!" she called out.

"It just sounded like there were lots of things being thrown around and…"

Kaoru opened the door and quickly stepped outside. No need to let him see the mess inside and making him think that she was actually worried about this or anything.

"Gomen," she said with a slight smile as she stared at the ground. "I guess I knocked into the dresser one to many ti…"

Ah… poor Kaoru. She made the mistake of looking up. And suddenly her courage and her sanity linked hands together and skipped off to play in a field of violets while the rest of her just stopped and stared. The expression 'cleans up nice' suddenly took on new meaning. Long black coat to past his knees, nice pair of black slacks with soft black shoes and a dark purple shirt that seemed to bring out his eyes.

"Eh…" Kaoru finally managed, quiet unable to make a coherent statement or at least recognize a similar look on his face. "Show," she finally managed. "Need to leave…"

"Right," he said with a nod.

And two minutes later, when they had collected their wits, they finally left.

* * *

Sano made it back to the hotel about ten minutes after everyone had left. He collapsed on the sofa with a sigh. At least the place was quiet. It would give him a chance to sort out his thoughts.

The meeting with Magdaria plagued him. He had gone to see her for a resolution and only come with more questions. And he must have sounded like such an idiot! What the hell was he supposed to say? Ah… sorry you're dying?

He walked over to the minibar and thought about opening it, hearing Megumi's yells in the back about how overpriced it was. Feh, fox lady could shove it. He needed a drink.

Three mini bottles later, Sano realized this really wasn't helping. Worse, he was going to border on alcoholic if he started drinking by himself. Where the hell was everyone anyway?

The phone rang and he reached over to grab it.

"Hai, moshi… eh, hello," he said quickly remembering he needed to use English here.

"Gomenasai," came the distinctly Japanese voice in return. "But is Dr. Takani there?"

"No," Sano replied quickly, "haven't seen her."

There was a pause. "This is her associate, Dr. Mitsui. She was supposed to meet me for a lecture but she hasn't shown up."

"Maybe she's just late," Sano said.

"Well the lecture was over an hour ago… so I got worried and called the restaurant she was supposed to have dinner at and they said neither her nor her companion had shown up."

Sano paused and put a hand to his head. Well that meant Megumi was probably missing for about three to five hours. It didn't seem like much, normal for most people… but not for someone as schedule conscious as Megumi.

"All right," Sano said, standing up. "I'll go look for her." He took down Mitsui's number and promised to call the moment he found anything.

With a curse and sigh, Sano grabbed his jacket, leaving the hotel suite behind him. Even when she wasn't near by, she was still a royal pain in his ass. More importantly, where the hell was he supposed to look?

There was no point in walking around the casinos, Megumi wouldn't be gambling. The bars were out too, she wouldn't go by herself. He checked at the front desk for any messages but there were none.

He frowned and headed for the door. This wasn't his backyard. If it was Tokyo, he'd be able to pull a few strings but like this…

He started to walk back to the cathedral, knowing that Magdaria had that cop friend. Maybe she could convince him to help Sano look for Megumi. Right now, that was the only thing he could think of.

* * *

Kenshin looked over at Kaoru with a smile. He didn't remember her ever looking quite as pretty as she did right now. It wasn't just the dress, the hair and the make-up, it was the absolute look of joy on her face as she watched the masked magician perform feats on the stage.

Kenshin watched it with half interest. The show was good but nothing that he hadn't seen before. The masked magician made whole cars disappear from the stage with a flourish. He turned his assistant into a tiger and then back again.

"Ne, Kenshin?"

Kenshin blinked and looked over at Kaoru with a questioning look.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked.

"No," he said quickly with a smile.

"You just look like you're not having fun," she said with a slight frown.

His mind scrambled for a good answer. "Gomen Kaoru-dono, I guess I am thinking too hard about how he does all those tricks."

Kaoru's frown disappeared and was replaced with a smile. She hit him playfully on the arm. "Stop thinking! It's magic, remember?"

He looked at her with a slight smile. "Hai… magic."

She blinked and turned back to the stage just as the magician was gearing up for the finale. The magician came to the center of the stage and did a few bows, motioning for the crowd to calm down.

"For my final trick," he said, "I will need a victim from the audience." There were assorted chuckled. "Now if my magical spotlight will pick out the right person…"

There was an excited hush as a light rushed through the crowd, flying over most of the people before finally settling on…

Kaoru let out an excited cry and jumped up, waving to the people. Talk about luck!

"Say good-bye to your companion because I'm about to make you disappear into the void…"

The ominous music started and the magician's assistant walked down off the stage to get Kaoru. She shot Kenshin an excited look as the assistant took her arm. With a small wink at him, she let herself be taken away.

Kenshin sat back in the seat, wishing he had a camera. Not that he wouldn't remember this moment forever. It was funny, but in the six months that they had lived together, they had gotten used to just being friends and housemates, settled into a rut. But tonight was different. He was almost glad poor Megumi was bogged down with work and couldn't make it.

Kaoru waved one more time before they stuck her in the glass tube and it slowly raised up off the ground. Kenshin raised an eyebrow. Well this was different. He'd have to ask her what happened when she was done.

The glass cylinder was now suspended above the ground with its top still completely visible to the audience. The magician brought around a velvet curtain, completely encircling the cylinder. In a second, Kaoru was gone from sight. The music began to climb to its climax, the lights flashed and the magician pointed at the tube, making motions with his hand while his assistant stood nearby.

Suddenly velvet curtain fell to the ground and the glass cylinder stood suspended in the air, filled with water but no Kaoru. The audience went wild of course and even Kenshin had to clap. That was a pretty neat trick.

The magician bowed and the show ended. People began to file out and Kenshin sat still, deciding they'd probably bring Kaoru back her as soon as everyone was gone. But after five minutes of sitting in the empty theater, Kenshin got up and walked outside.

He asked a few of the usher but they all shook their heads. They were just traffic control, they had no idea how the show operated.

With a frown, Kenshin headed backstage, not getting far before he had to deal with security. He explained the situation and the security guard made a few calls but came up with nothing.

This was not the time to get worried, he realized. Kaoru was fine, she was just waiting somewhere for him. He just needed to…

His feet came to a stop as he recognized the familiar face at the end of a line of slot machines. Kenshin read the look of Saitou's face and realized that the other man knew exactly where Kaoru was.

And it wasn't someplace good.

* * *

Misao crouched down, hiding herself as best she could. But the way things were going she knew it was fruitless. How had they been caught? They had been so careful the entire time. There was no indication that…

It suddenly occurred to Misao that no one was stopping to arrest her. In fact, they weren't stopping anywhere near her. They were tearing up the road and trying to get to the other end of the compound.

Misao paused, waiting for them to all pass her before she headed back to Aoshi. But before she could even look over her shoulder, Aoshi had grabbed her hand and was starting to drag her away from where ever everyone else was going.

"Hang on a second!" she called out.

"No," Aoshi said firmly. "I had bad feeling about this before we came here. And if there is something that could make this camp that excited, I don't think we should stay around to find out what it is."

"Killjoy," Misao muttered but didn't protest. He was probably right. I mean, those soldiers had looked really determined as…

The camp behind them suddenly exploded. The building that was covering their retreat was gone and whether they wanted to see the source of the problem or not was no longer an option.

A huge tank rolled towards the burning rubble, not effected at all by the rapid machine gun fire of the army troops. The tank came to a stop and the top began to turn towards the soldiers.

"Run… run…" Misao was saying as she watched the soldiers still firing uselessly. And thankfully, someone called the retreat and the soldiers started to back away. But the tank obviously had rockets that could level a building. There was no way those army guys were going to survive an attack.

Misao wrenched her arm free of Aoshi hand and turned quickly on her heel, running straight towards the tank, pulling out a few things from her pocket. Aoshi's face fell as he watched her take off and not even answer his yells.

Misao watched the tank, seeing the top slowly come to a stop and turn back towards her. That's right, she thought to herself. I am a hell of a lot more dangerous than those retreating soldiers are. But you're too slow, and you'll never catch me.

The top suddenly flipped open and someone poked their head out. Misao skidded to stop, her feet feeling every grain of gravel as she slid across the road. She went to dodge to left, but didn't have the momentum to turn fast enough. The machine gun the tank rider was holding was going to catch her.

There was a push from her side and Misao's feet left the ground for a moment as she and Aoshi went crashing into a window and into the safety of a building.

"Are you crazy?" he yelled and Misao blinked. Raising his voice at her was very uncharacteristic for him.

"I just thought that…"

"Thought? There was no thinking involved in what you just did! No one thinks that they can take on a fully armored TANK!"

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

He paused and let out a sigh. Great, just great. He hated losing his temper. But for whatever reason, when it came to Misao, it was like Kaoru all over again. Why the hell did all the women in his life seem intent on making him insane with worry?


"Just forget it," he said.

Misao started to say more but the broken glass around them started to move. Looking up out of the shattered window, they saw the side of the tank, painted with the letters F.U.J.I. come into view. The nozzle of the gun pointed into the room and they both froze.

Misao went for weapons, knowing it was a lost cause but determined to go out with a fight. But before she could do anything, she was pinned to the ground, completely covered by Aoshi's body just as the rocket was fired into the room.

* * *

"How did you know?" was Kenshin's first question when he got into the limo.

Tokio smiled slightly. "Does it really matter?"

Kenshin frowned deeply, his eyes taking on a rather dangerous glare.

Tokio's smile dropped a bit. "We knew that someone, not the conference organizers, sent the ticket to Megumi and that the magician was under Juppongatana payroll. We figured she would be the target but they already got her."

Kenshin's tunnel vision wavered for a second. "What about Megumi-dono?"

"Kidnapped. Too fast for us to move though. We were hoping that the magician would still make a move so we could catch him. And he did."

"Do you know where Kaoru-dono is?"

"Of course, we slipped a tracking device in her drink."

Kenshin's look got a bit more dangerous and even Tokio was beginning to wonder if maybe this was a really bad idea. But she maintained her sense of calm, shooting a look over at her husband to relay the same message to him.

"How long," he asked.

"It'll take two minutes to get there," she said calmly. Looking over to his left, she forced Kenshin to follow her eyes. There, resting on the seat next to him, was his sword. He picked it up and didn't bother to check to see if she had slipped him a real sword again. At this moment, he could care less.

* * *

"I told you before," Megumi said, crossing her hands over her chest. "I will not participate in this."

"You are very stubborn," Von Strasbourg said. "Do you have any idea of who you are refusing?"

"Yes. My friends are the ones who made him like that. And when they get here, they're going to probably do the same to you."

His eyes narrowed but the older man didn't push the matter. With a nod, he got the two goons to drag Megumi through the sterile hallways until they reached a large room. There, emerged in a gel like liquid was the man Megumi wished she had never met. Makoto Shishio. Worse than that, if the machines by his head were any indication, he was still alive.

"I have managed to maintain him," Von Strasbourg was saying, "but the internal damage from the fall was severe, we needed machine to keep him alive. He hasn't been strong enough for surgery until now."

"You're crazy," Megumi said firmly.

"And you're the only one who can repair this type of damage. You've done it before in the hospital. Massive trauma from car crashes or high falls, even gunshot wounds to vital organs. You fix it and there's only a short recovery time."

"I won't do it," she said. "I won't help that monster get back on the streets again."

"Well then," Yumi said, suddenly walking in the room, "I guess we'll have to give you some… motivation."

She pulled out a remote and the screen to Megumi's left lit up. It took her a moment but Megumi suddenly understood what she was being shown.

In a glass cylinder, Kaoru lay curled up, unconscious and unaware of what was happening to her. There was a man walking around next to her, his long face painted white.

"That is Udo Jin-e. He's not part of our group but for the right price, he'll work for anyone. And he has such… unique ways of killing people."

Yumi picked up the cell phone by her side and dialed a number. On the screen, Jin-e picked up his own phone. Yumi uttered a few words and the figure on the screen nodded. He walked over and turned a spigot. A fresh cascade of water suddenly came down, striking Kaoru and startling her into consciousness.

"What…what are you doing?" Megumi asked, her heart starting to freeze.

"Drowning your friend, of course," Yumi said with a smile. "I'd say she has about five minutes before that cylinder fills up. That should be long enough for you to make up your mind."

"You… you can't be serious!"

"Very serious," Yumi said with a smile. Turning to Megumi, she locked eyes with the petrified woman. "Four minutes, forty seconds and counting."

* * *

Kaoru woke up and found herself shaking. What the hell happened? She remembered the stage, the cylinder, and the smoke filling the air… had that been part of the trick? She paused, looking down at her dress and finding it surprisingly wet. She looked up and suddenly realized there was water falling on her from above.

She stood up and looked outside the cylinder. The magician was there, his back turned to her. She tapped on the glass to get his attention and fell back the moment he turned around. The mask was gone and what was underneath was completely terrifying.

It suddenly occurred to Kaoru that this was not part of the trick. She was in real danger. Looking down, she realized the water was already reaching her ankles. There was no time to wonder how she had gotten in this situation. She just needed to figure away out.

Trapped in the cylinder underneath a torrent of water, Kaoru never heard the commotion happening outside. But she saw her captor moving around and collecting something. By the time he was done, the water was already up to her calves.

The guards at the front door never stood a chance. By the time the limo rolled around, the sunroof was down and Tokio was standing through it, picking them off like fish in a barrel. The car hadn't even stopped when the door flew open and Kenshin walked up, letting the sword fall by his side.

Tokio pulled herself out by the sunroof and slid down the roof of the car into the waiting arms of Saitou. She frowned at him.

"He's… different, isn't he?" she said. And Saitou could only nod.

Inside, a few of Jin-e's guards were attempting to slow Kenshin down but fell with the first strike of his sword. From their vantage point in the doorway the Saitous could only watch.

"I'm kind of glad I gave him the reverse blade this time," Tokio said softly.

Jin-e looked up as the door opened. Strange… he should have had more time. A brief look through the rapidly closing door showed Jin-e all needed to know. The man had gotten through his lackeys like they were straw dummies.

There was a pounding on the glass and Kenshin stole a glance at the cylinder, instantly seeing Kaoru there and watching the water slowly inching upwards.

"Ah the great Battousai," Jin-e said, drawing a sword. "How I dreamed of fighting a yakuza assassin like you with weaponry like…"

"Turn off the water," Kenshin said evenly.

Jin-e blinked. He hadn't really expected that response. "Ah, worried about the young lady. Well she still has about three minutes of left to live."

Kenshin rested his hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword and locked eyes with the other man. "That's more than enough."

Jin-e's first mistake was to under-estimate his opponent. His second was to taunt him with the length of time Kaoru had to live. His third was to blink because in the time it took his eyes to close and then open again, his opponent was already half way there.

The sword clashed and Jin-e was pushed back to the wall. But the magician turned assassin was not a novice at this. He used the momentum and pushed himself off the solid background, hurtling himself towards Kenshin.

There was no clash of steel this time. Jin-e had land a blow, a small trail of red was appearing through the torn fabric on Kenshin's arm. Jin-e smiled. In the silence that followed, he thought he had managed to unnerve his foe. And here I thought he would be a challenge, Jin-e thought. But I struck the first blow, and he didn't even hit me.

Suddenly Kenshin brought the sword up and resheathed it, pausing for a moment before he clicked it back into place. At the sound, Jin-e's sword shattered into a hundred pieces. Jin-e watch in amazement, realizing that all of Kenshin's attack had been concentrated on his blade. Kenshin had let himself be cut so he could get close enough.

And now, with only a hilt, Jin-e was faced with a rather angry opponent. He scowled. Taking the hilt, Jin-e turned, slamming it in between the spokes of the spigot. With a devilish grin he turned back to Kenshin.

Kenshin's eyes narrowed. Jin-e had just jammed the water on. The white faced man smiled, watching the man kneel down for the next attack. There was only hatred in his opponent eyes and Jin-e knew he was about to be killed. But what a way to go.

There was pounding behind him and Kenshin blinked, turning quickly to find that the water had now reached Kaoru's neck. She was yelling his name, trying to get his attention and shaking her head vehemently at what he was about to do. He blinked again and suddenly came back to normal, running up to the glass case and trying to push it over with his shoulder.

"I can't turn it off," Tokio yelled as she pushed against the spigot. "He jammed it completely!"

Jin-e laughed but didn't move as the long sword of Saitou was pointed at his throat. He looked at Saitou with a smile but the Wolf didn't move. No matter how much he wanted to wipe that smile off his face, Saitou knew they needed him alive.

Kenshin's attempt to push over the case were not working and he suddenly realized that there was no air inside anymore. Kaoru looked out, her blue eyes trying not to look afraid as she felt the weight on her chest increase.

"Stand aside!" Tokio called. "I can shot the glass out!" She aimed at the glass as soon as he was clear and fired. Kaoru curled up into a ball in the water to protect herself but another ever came through the glass. The bullets had barely chipped the surface.

"I'll get the car, we'll run it through," she said starting to leave but knowing there was no time. Kaoru hadn't moved since the shots had finished firing.

Tokio took two steps when she felt it. It pushed her against the wall. Even Saitou faltered, falling backwards, his blade falling back with him. The misfortunate Jin-e fell forward as well, careening towards to Saitou and consequently impaling himself on the blade, dying there with a somewhat satisfied grin.

The force they had felt was only from the small fraction of power that had been produced when Kenshin drew his sword. If it had sent them flying into the wall, there was no question about what was about to happen to the glass case.

The full force of Dou Ryu Sen devastated the glass tube, shattering it into so many piece that when it came apart, it was impossible to tell what were water droplets and what were glass shard.

Cushioned from the blast by the water, Kaoru was largely unhurt as she fell forward. Somehow through the haze of water and glass, Kenshin managed to catch her with his free arm, quickly dropping his sword to secure her next to him. They fell back, pushed by the water backwards until he hit the ground, cushioning her from the blow.

It took him a moment to regain his composure from the fall but he sat up quickly, looking down at her to see if she was okay.

Her hands clenched at his shirt as she started to cough, a pathetic sound between choking and crying, but it was enough to show that she was breathing. He wrapped two arms around her protectively and just stayed like that for a minute.

And then slowly he looked over at the Saitous, his face saying everything that had wanted to hear. There was no question about whether he would help them bring down the Juppongatana again. Not now that they had made this personal.

Megumi would have been happy to see the scene end this way. But she never saw the conclusion. It took only ten seconds more before she had agreed to do whatever Yumi wanted.

* * *

Sano frowned as he walked up to Cathedral. Something was right here… he thought. The door was wide open but no lights were coming from inside. With a cautious look around, he quickly stole across the grass lawn, stopping at the door before moving inside.

The only lights were the few remaining candles that wavered as he passed them and made his way to the back. He should have gotten out and called the police right away. But images of that drug dealer and the weakened Magdaria were in his mind. Between her and Megumi, he doubted he'd have any peace at all that night.

And it turned out he was right. Just as he rounded the corner to the small room in the back that Magdaria occupied, he felt the cold kiss of steel at his forehead.

"Damn," he cursed, looking over and catching the face in the dark. "Oh… crap," he cursed again, recognizing the face.

It was no drug dealer, no petty thief but the rather recognizable face of that cross-dressing Juppongatana member, Kamatari. He frowned and looked over, seeing that Magdaria had already been caught by Cho. So this is where these two disappeared to after they escape prison in Japan.

"Don't worry," he said to Magdaria, "everything will be f…"

Kamatari's blow caught him in the temple and he went down before he could finish his sentence. That's what happens when you try to lie in church.