Disclaimer- I don't own Dead or Alive.
A.N.- Remember, Christie completed her mission in less than 12 hours. Flew to Yugoslavia, went to the target's house, pulled the trigger. Also, thanks to those who reviews got deleted again. Sorry this took so long, all my data was erased, and I had to re-do the chapter. Luckily, Brant, chapter 4 wasn't in my fanficiton folder. So you don't need to email it to me again.
Forevermore- Yes, she does like him. But the feelings she had for him had faded a little since the main story but come back even more everytime she sees him. Kind of like cigarrettes. The more you smoke, the more additcted you become. And what are you talking about? Tons of people read your fic. I swear, it's the best DOA fan fic I've read in my opinion. I based Natsu after one of my cousins. Kasumi doesn't see Natsu as her daughter, maybe as a daughter in the adopted kind of way... I dunno... Remember, there's no such thing as a dumb question. And don't worry, as long as you put some work into it like you did CitD, it'll be execellent. But if you need some help, there's always an AU setting that you could do. Anyways, continue your fic. I'm thinking of doing a whole new fic about Shoma. It could turn out pretty good. Anyways, I'm glad you liked the last chapter.
Brant Cinerate- Well... you'll have to wait and see if it's fixed.
Zeshin Hayabusa- Thanks, bud. And where's the DOA fic that you've promised us all at the forums?
Our Past, Our Future
Epilogue: Part 3
By: Joey/Mai fan15
"Calm down?! How the hell can I calm down? I wanted my money now! If you don't give me it, you know what I have to do."
With a little fear in his voice, he replied, "Christie, please listen. As soon as we get our test subject and pay those who obtained her, I'll pay you personally, with intrest."
"I've completed the mission in less than," she glanced down at the digital clock on the radio, "twelve hours!"
"We'll get the money to you with interest," the doctor reiterated.
"Fine, just make it quick!"
"We'll finish as soon as possible," with that, her employer hung up.
Hitomi looked up at the dashboard of her parents' car. 11:16 pm. Her daughter was asleep a seat away, with her head against the window. It would only be a few more minutes until they reached her home.
She glanced over at her daughter who had only grown further apart from her that day. She was already attatched to her grandparents, but not her own mother. Her father pulled the car into the driveway and walked over to carry Natsu inside.
Hitomi's mother went ahead to get the door open. Hitomi followed her father inside, stopping momentarily as Hayate recieved Natsu. Then the two said good night to her parents and she headed up to her own room while Hayate put Natsu in her own.
Hayate went back into his room and laid down next to Hitonmi, "So how'd it go today?"
"It just got worse."
"How?"
"I... I don't want to talk about it right now."
"Are you going to try again tomorrow morning?"
"I guess... but it's not going to change anything," at the finish of her sentence, the sound of glass breaking came from the lower floor of the house. It was too loud to be something to have fallen and the two got up in alarm.
"Hitomi, stay here."
"I can take care of a thief you know."
"But if they have a gun, you can't teleport out of a bullet's path. Just go stay with Natsu," Hayate led her to Natsu's room to make sure she made it safely.
Their daughter was up in bed, scared out of her mind, "Daddy, what's happening."
"Nothing, just stay quiet and if your mother tells you something, you listen," with that, he headed out the door.
Natsu latched onto her mother's arm and stared at the bedroom door. Sure, she was used to more danger. But now, since she couldn't see her father and make sure he was alright, she was scared for him, "What's going to happen to daddy?"
"He'll be fine," suddenly gunshots broke out from downstairs and Natsu tightened her grip. Hitomi pulled her daughter closer and pulled the blanket over her.
Natsu cringed and covered her ears at the sound of the screams of those who were downstairs. Suddenly the glass window broke a few feet to the left and three sodiers rappled into the room. One of them aimed his gun at Hitomi's neck, "Don't move."
Natsu screamed. Hayate heard and in an instant was at the bedside and had knocked the man out. He quickly disposed of the other two, a gunshot rang out but he didn't move to dodge it fearing that it might hit Hitomi or Natsu. Again, his daughter screamed as he dropped to the floor.
"You bastard!" in blind fury, Hitomi went after the one who shot Hayate resulting in being knocked unconsious from the rifle's butt.
"Mommy, help!" those were Natsu's last words before being carried away from her parents. Unfortuantely, her parents never heard.
Hitomi woke up to find herself on her bed. She sat up and looked out the window, hoping that it was all a dream. That hope was broken by the police cars that surrounded the house. She ran dowstairs to see Hayate talking to a police officer. He had gause wrapped around his upper arm, a red bloodstain was leaking through. She ran to him, "I thought you were dead."
"No, they just shot my arm, then hit the back of my head. I was just knocked out."
"Are you okay?"
He nodded as the officer cleared his throat, "Well, keep going. You still havent explained why there are three dead bodies in your daughter's room."
"They came to kidnap my daughter. I was trying to protect her."
"You could have done as you did to all of them," the officer gestured to the DOATEC operatives that were luckily alive and being escorted in handcuffs.
"I was angry. They were pointing a gun at my wife," Hayate looked down at her as he said this.
"You two own a karate dojo, right?"
They nodded in reply. The officer looked at those who where being taken away, "And you did all this."
"I'm trained in some other forms of martial arts too," explained Hayate, knowing the question the officer was going to ask.
"Oh. You'd think that someone who could do all this would have to be very fast. I'd say had a gun too, but the forensic says that everything was done by hand."
Hayate laughed nervously, "...Yeah... Could you hurry it up a little? My wife and I... we're really upset about this... and we need some time alone."
"Sure," he turned around, "Okay everyone, hurry it up!"
The two of them walked back upstairs. Once they reached their room, they got into their bed, "I'm going to get her back. I promise."
"How?"
"I was captured for the same thing. I was a failure though. Hopefully, Natsu will be one too. I'm going to try to get her out of the DOATEC Headquarters. If they've kept the expirimentation process the same, she should be there."
"What is it like?"
"It's worse than death. They put you in a tank, run tests, then stick you with needles hoping that the augmentation won't kill you. The whole time, you're confused, not knowing anything but pain. Even if we do get her back, she might not remember anything about us."
"God, I hope that won't happen."
"Me too."
"Hayate, don't do it. Please. You said that you were going to get back to a normal life."
He remembered back a few years ago when the two had an arguement about that. He didn't want that to happen again, "So what, we're just going to leave our daughter there?"
"No, get the Shinobi to do it instead."
"But I'm her father."
"I will not lose both of you, Hayate. When I saw you get shot... that was the worst moment of my life. I was scared at the thought of losing you," she sobbed into his chest.
"It's alright. I'll get a few Shinobi to do it. I won't leave you. You're the most important person in my life, I'll never hurt you," it pained Hayate to think that he couldn't help his own daughter directly, but it pained him more to see his wife like this.
Ayane walked into her room and laid down on the bed, exhausted from the long plane ride. She pulled the silken sheets over herself and closed her eyes. The room was silent for a few minutes until Ryu and a few others came in and dropped the luggage. After the ninjas finally left, he silently crept over to her, "Ayane?"
Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced up at him. He continued, "We have to go take care of this buisness with the Shikoyo."
"You do it. I'm tired," she lazily replied before pulling the sheets back over herself, covering her face.
Ryu pulled the covers off her face, causing her to whimper, then kissed her forehead, "Okay, just be in the ceremonial hall for breakfast, okay?"
She didn't reply, just pulled the covers upagain. Ryu smiled and walked out, silently closing the oak door behind him.
As soon as he reached the exit to the large mansion, his cell phone rang. He reached into his pocket and picked the small peice of technology up, "Hello?"
"Ryu, it's me, Hayate," his voice sounded urgent.
"What's wrong?"
"Last night, DOATEC soldiers broke in here. They took Natsu. Hitomi says that I should just stay here. I need help, Ryu."
"I can't spare anyone. We're tied up with the Shikoyo. Why don't you ask Kasumi for some of the Shinobi?"
"I can't seem to contact her. I think that this war has indeed moved on to the Shinobi as predicted. They might have the city under seige. Please Ryu... my daughter."
"I'll see what I can do. But now that we have to free the Shinobi, that decreases the chances of you getting help."
Hayate sighed in frustration on the other line, "Fine. Just hurry it up. I do not want my daughter to end up like Genra. Or go through the confusion and pain that I did. Talk to Ayane. She'll say that you should."
"I'll see what I can do," he reiterated, then hung up and headed toward the meeting hall. Once inside, he met with the officials.
As soon as he sat down, one of the youngest of them spoke up, "Ryu, give us the go-ahead to get the Shinobi free."
"I know about that, and I need to leave again. I will give you permission, as long as you can give Ayane an adequate excuse for my absence."
"Yes, we'll do that. Now on to more important issues..." the group talked for what seemed like hours until the sun rose. Then Ryu headed back to the mansion to get Ayane.
Once in their room, he went to the window to let light in to wake up Ayane, "C'mon, it's time to get up."
Ayane groaned in reply and faced away from the open window. Ryu got into the bed next to her and again tried to wake her up, "C'mon, we have to start up again today. The clan can't run itself."
"I promise, I'll get up at ten."
Ryu got up again and went to the window, "Ayane-"
"Please, we just got back I'm still tired," she put the blankets over again.
He gave in and went out the door. Too much was going on, too many people needed help. He couldn't do all of this. There were still no new allies to help out, and their only potential one was taken over.
Sure, if there were any Shinobi left there would be a small resistance, but they could be wiped out before any of the Hayabusa or Hajin-Mon got there. They would have to act quickly and still rescue Natsu. Afterall, she was his neice.
Too much was going on, too much was happening. He decided with much guilt and difficulty, he was not going to get anyone to help Natsu. He himself would not go either, and Ayane would never find out from him.
Guilt panged in his chest as he advanced towards the Ceremonial Hall. He had to tell them that he wouldn't be leaving anymore. They were going to help out the Shinobi instead.
The bluish glow of Christie's laptop lit up the study of her large, luxurious mansion which was bought with the blood of dozens of victims. It was silent except for the sounds of fingers rapidly running across a keyboard, "Now hacking into DOATEC accounting division."
Christie sighed as the progress bar gradually moved to the right. She was checking to see if they really did have the money, like they said and if they were really paying those who obtained the test subject.
"Only about fourty-five thousand euros left... damnit, I knew that son of a bitch was lying," she whispered as she scrolled down to the account expences. Their account previously had more than a million euros. Now it was windeled down to a small total by paying fifty-five thousand to the search and capture team and nine-hundred thousand on the experiment itself.
She clicked on the link to the experiment details to find out why they had spent all her money. A screen came up an the test subject's last name stuck in her head, Shinobi, "That's Hayate's last name. Is she related to him?"
She remembered talking to Hayate about his uncle and him being taken away to be tested, maybe they wanted someone related to him again. She clicked on the link to the test subject's biography:
Full name: Natsu Maki Shinobi
Nationality: Japanese
Ethnic Background: 75% Japanese/25% German
Gender: Female
Birthday: January 13, age: 5
Blood Type: O
Height/weight: 2'6''/30 lbs
Added information: Father was test subject for Project Epsilon.
"Hayate's kid..." she stared off into nothing as she shut down her computer. She worked for someone who took Hayate's kid. She could have prevented it from happening. Sesso could have shut down DOATEC, "But I just had to have the money."
She knew where Hayate lived now. She had been keeping track of him since the fourth DOA tournament. She had to see him, it might lighten up the mood a little to see an old friend, even if he did think she tried to kill his sister, "It's been five years alredy, he probably forgot all about it anyways."
Hitomi's father stood behind the caution tape, examining his daughter's living room which had been a crime scene for a week. Bullet holes were embedded in the walls and outlined with white chalk. The same chalk that formed the sillhouettes of bodies that once laid in that very spot. Their granddaughter's room was in the same condition.
Hayate stood a few feet away from him leaning against the wall, exhausted from the long day. He looked at his father-in-law, examining the perplexed look on his face. He turned to Hayate, "Is Hitomi alright?"
"She says she is. Although I don't know. Really, since she's disconnected from Natsu, I have no clue what is going through her mind right now."
"Why did you send her to a boarding school for this long time? Normal children don't even start school until they're four or five."
Hayate didn't know what to say, all he knew was he couldn't tell the truth, "Well... Hitomi and I, we didn't know what to do. She was still a teenager. We didn't know how you'd react..."
"I'd be a little upset, but I was ready for that when I 'gave her away' at the wedding," he interrupted. Then gestured for him to continue.
"While we were in Japan, I stopped by to see my sister. We told her our problem over dinner one time and she offered to keep her in the boarding school. She started learing when she was old enough to process and memorize information. Basically, we just didn't know what to do."
The old man nodded in understaning and followed Hayate downstairs to the kitchen. He sat down and Hayate went to get two cups of coffe. They were joined by Hitomi, who came into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes which were red and tear-stained. She sat down next to Hayate and he offered her his own drink.
She gladly took it and leaned into Hayate once the mug was empty. In five or ten minutes, the silence was broken and Hitomi was fully awake, "So where's mom?"
"She decided to stay with her sister for a while. She hasn't gotten the news yet though. I found out last night when I got home. After the news finished I was going to call you, but it was late.
"So when is mom going to be back?"
"In a week."
The doorbell rang and Hitomi got up to answer it, expecting it to be another investegator or concerned neighbor. She opened the door to see a familiar face although she didn't know where from.
"May I come in?" she noticed the look of uncertainty on Hitomi's face, "I'm here to see Hayate."
"Oh," she ushered the woman to the couch, "Who should I say came to visit?"
"Christie."
"Oh, now I remeber you! You were in the Dead or Alive tournaments, weren't you?"
The albino beauty smiled and nodded as Hitomi went to get her husband. A few seconds later, she re-emerged with Hayate and her father. Christie looked at the three and decided that they probably all couldn't hear the oncoming conversation, "Could I talk to Hayate alone?"
Hitomi hesitantly left the room with her father. After making sure that Hitomi or her father would hear them, she started to speak, "So how's it been?"
"Alright."
She winced at the cold tone of his voice, "You haven't forgotten, ahve you."
He replied abruptly, "No."
"I never tried to kill your sister, you know I wouldn't do that. I'm your friend," she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
He took her hand off himself, "You're also an assassin."
She looked out the window, knowing that there was no way of winning the conversation without revealing her feelings to a married man. A taboo in all it's glory, "I heard what happened with your daughter while hacking into the DOATEC database."
Hayate remained silent, he wanted to hear what she had to say, "Since I'm an assassin who does this kind of stuff -and a friend- I want to go get her out of there."
"Why should I trust you?"
She bit her lower lip and lowered her eyes to her fidgeting fingers, "You just do."
"My step-sister is an assassin. Was an assassin, I know that they have to lie a lot. For all I know, my daughter could be another one of your targets."
"Hayate, I wouldn't do that to you."
"If you weren't a bad aim, you probably would have killed my sister."
"I admit it, Kasumi was my original target. But I changed my mind about killing her, then went after my previous client," Christie silently plead that he'd beleive her.
"Even if you are telling the truth, people in your line of work lie, you might still be lying right now. Why should I trust you?"
"Because I'm the only person who could help," she smiled, beleiving that she had won.
"No, you aren't I could always do it myself since Ryu can't. He won't tell Ayane because she'll try to convince him to since she personally knew the result of Project Omega. And the Shinobi are all being held captive. So I could do it. I can't trust you."
"Yes you can," she strived to not reveal what she knew she would eventually had to.
"Why?" the same question had been asked for what seemed the billionth time.
She decided to delay the inevitable no longer and sighed, knowing that there would always be an uncomfortable akwardness between Hayate and her, "Because, Hayate, through the long time we've been friends, I've grown closer to you. To the point of lust and infatuation. I just wouldn't admit it... I knew it was wrong. You can trust me. Even a killers cold heart can melt for someone."
Hayate looked away from her hoping it was again a lie and got up, opening the front door, "I'm leaving my daughter's life in your hands. Maybe if you succeed, I can learn to accept you as my friend again. But I will only have you as a friend, never more. Now if you will," he gestured out the door.
She headed towards the door, stopping to search Hayate's eyes for some forgiveness or softness. Maybe even love. She found none and headed out to her car, glancing back again to say goodbye, but the door was closed and the blinds were shut.
Ryu Hayabusa looked at the city that laid in front of him, it looked deserted. Everyone was held up in buildings. The population had beened decreased since the year before and Kasumi was nowhere to be found. He thought that she was probably running around Japan again, except without anyone helping her.
Since the city wasn't burned to the ground and they haven't killed everyone, it was obvious that they were just hostages. He had to give them what they wanted if they were ever going to free the Shinobi. It was going to be dangerous, but it had to be done eventually.
An army was gathering back home, ready to attack at a moment's notice. They would go directly to free the Shinobi to increase their forces and overwhelm the Shikoyo. Unfortunately, they were all seperated and he didn't know what building held more captives than the others. It would all come down to luck.
Ayane was sitting against a nearby tree. She had refused to stay behind while he went out to make an attack plan. Now it was a lot more risky because both of the clan leaders were in one place, "So are we ready yet?"
"Just a minute, I'm trying to figure out which building holds Shikoyo himself."
Ayane came over and sat down next to him, "You'll never find out. He knows someone's watching, he won't come out."
"Yeah, but we might as well try to find out."
"Ryu, he won't make a big difference. He's just one person."
"He's also now the leader of them after his father was killed."
Ayane tugged on his pant leg to make him sit down, he did, "Listen, there's not much we can do. Just free the Shinobi and attack. That's it. If we kill Mr. Shikoyo in the process, then yay, it's all over. If not, we will get him later."
"Fine, lets go back now. They're probably killing more of them as we speak," they got up and started walking back to their city.
"Ayane, why did you want to come back? We could still be on our honeymoon, enjoying our time off."
A.N.- Ehh, cut off again. R/R. Thanks to whoever's reviews got removed or were never posted. Oh, sorry for the long wait. R/R.
A.N.- Remember, Christie completed her mission in less than 12 hours. Flew to Yugoslavia, went to the target's house, pulled the trigger. Also, thanks to those who reviews got deleted again. Sorry this took so long, all my data was erased, and I had to re-do the chapter. Luckily, Brant, chapter 4 wasn't in my fanficiton folder. So you don't need to email it to me again.
Forevermore- Yes, she does like him. But the feelings she had for him had faded a little since the main story but come back even more everytime she sees him. Kind of like cigarrettes. The more you smoke, the more additcted you become. And what are you talking about? Tons of people read your fic. I swear, it's the best DOA fan fic I've read in my opinion. I based Natsu after one of my cousins. Kasumi doesn't see Natsu as her daughter, maybe as a daughter in the adopted kind of way... I dunno... Remember, there's no such thing as a dumb question. And don't worry, as long as you put some work into it like you did CitD, it'll be execellent. But if you need some help, there's always an AU setting that you could do. Anyways, continue your fic. I'm thinking of doing a whole new fic about Shoma. It could turn out pretty good. Anyways, I'm glad you liked the last chapter.
Brant Cinerate- Well... you'll have to wait and see if it's fixed.
Zeshin Hayabusa- Thanks, bud. And where's the DOA fic that you've promised us all at the forums?
Full name: Natsu Maki Shinobi
Nationality: Japanese
Ethnic Background: 75% Japanese/25% German
Gender: Female
Birthday: January 13, age: 5
Blood Type: O
Height/weight: 2'6''/30 lbs
Added information: Father was test subject for Project Epsilon.
A.N.- Ehh, cut off again. R/R. Thanks to whoever's reviews got removed or were never posted. Oh, sorry for the long wait. R/R.
