************* Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Rumiko Takahashi characters named here, nor do I own the rights to Charlie's Angels. I may have failed to remind you I also do not own Kurama, Xellous or Botan. Have I missed anyone? (That's the problem with Xover, she mutters to herself)

*************

Inu-Yasha didn't remember how he managed to walk over to the operations center unassisted. Everything around him seemed surreal somehow, and he kept stopping to touch things and make sure he wasn't dreaming. Had he really seen what he thought he saw? That couldn't be his brother, his brother wouldn't - he wasn't - hell.

Kagome looked up at him with a wary eye as he entered. Inu-Yasha couldn't blame her; he'd spent the last couple of days going out of his way to annoy her. He couldn't explain why he enjoyed pushing her buttons so much. Perhaps it was the excitement of seeing her plot to get even. She had fire and spirit, and when he was around her he felt himself come alive like he hadn't since Kikyo's death.

Kikyo. He hadn't thought of her in ages. They had told him this would happen, that eventually time would soften the searing pain in his heart. They had told him that the time would come when he would go through an entire day without thinking of her. Inu-Yasha hadn't believed them back then, but he realized now all those well-meaning people were right. Two years later, Kikyo was still lodged someplace in his heart but it no longer hurt to think of her.

He heard a cough, and noticed Miss Fire and Spirit herself was staring at him. Had Kagome been speaking to him? He slumped into a chair and tried to focus.

"Inu-Yasha, did you hear a single word I said? What's wrong with you?" Kagome asked him. She narrowed her eyes. "Have you been drinking?"

Inu-Yasha stared at the floor. "Nothing's wrong," he admitted. "Except I just saw the brother I haven't seen in years wearing a dress and there was this other guy with him and they were -" he broke off, horrified at what he had just told her.

He felt the gentle touch of Kagome's hand on his. He didn't want to meet her eyes. What if they held disgust, or even worse, pity? "Inu-Yasha, look at me," she ordered. When he didn't raise his head she reached out and lifted his chin, forcing him to face her.

Kagome's eyes held nothing but concern, to his relief. "Inu-Yasha, I don't know what to say," she told him. "This is obviously a huge shock to you. You didn't know your brother would be here?"

"Not only did I not know Sesshomaru would be here, I certainly didn't expect him to be here in drag with his hands all over his boyfriend!"

"You haven't seen your brother in a while, I take it?"

"Not since I was sixteen," Inu-Yasha replied. "He was my guardian after our parents died, but we never got along. I couldn't stand it any longer so I ran away from home and eventually made my way here." Why was he telling her any of this?

"So when you were growing up, he wasn't - " Kagome's voice trailed off. She had released his chin but was now clasping his hand. Inu-Yasha found it strangely comforting and allowed his hand to remain within hers.

Aw, what the hell. He sat up and shook his head to clear it. "Hey, I'll be all right. It's his life, not mine. It was just the sudden shock of it all, I guess."

Kagome squeezed his hand. "You should go and talk to him," she advised. "You were just a kid when you left home. He's your only family, right? Don't you think you should end this estrangement?"

Inu-Yasha studied her face for a moment. "Is that what you would do in my situation?" he finally asked her. "Throw away all the problems from the past and act like everything was just normal?"

Kagome snickered. "Look," she told him, "I have a younger brother who's in high school right now. Sota's walking around with bleached-blond spiky hair and multiple body piercings. He constantly skips class to hang out with his skateboarding buddies and smoke pot. Needless to say," she went on, "I'm disappointed with his choices. I don't approve of his friends or his lifestyle. But he's still my brother, and I refuse to disown him. Now," she continued, "I'm not telling you to act like nothing ever happened between you and Sesshomaru. I just think you should talk to him and let him know the door is open if he wants a family member back in his life."

Picturing himself at Sota's age made Inu-Yasha smile. He'd given his older brother a lot of trouble, and yet Sesshomaru had been surprisingly patient. At the time, Inu-Yasha had just assumed Sesshomaru didn't give a shit what happened to him. Was it possible that Sesshomaru had just been doing the best he could in an impossible situation? Inu-Yasha wondered if he would have done any better a job if their roles had been reversed.

"Thanks, Kagome." He reluctantly released her hand and stood up. "I guess I'll try to look him up and talk to later."

Kagome smiled and turned back to her work. "Hey, Inu-Yasha?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Hmmm?" he was already half-absorbed in the debugging operation he was performing.

"You said his name was Sesshomaru, right?"

"Yeah," he replied, wondering where she was going with this.

"When you see your brother, could you ask him who does his hair?"

*******

"Miss Kagura, look at the birds! Why are they trying to land on the water? Can they swim? Daddy already taught me how to swim. Miss Kagura, do you swim? If you don't, Daddy can teach you."

Kagura slumped over the railing on the boat and ignored Rin's chatter. She was going to die out here on the ocean. She would never see land again. Never - oh no, she was going to throw up again.

"Miss Kagura, does your tummy hurt? When my tummy hurts Daddy gives me medicine. Do you want medicine?"

"Rin," Kagura croaked, "I just want to get back to shore so I can die in peace. Could you go and ask Miss Botan how long before we hit dry land?"

"Okay!" Rin bounced happily toward the helm. Kagura silently uttered a prayer of thanks that Rin had taken a liking to Miss Botan, the boating tour guide. It was really embarrassing to be hurling in front of the kid. Kagura pulled herself up to a standing position and clenched the railing. The dry heaves seemed to have abated for a moment. Naraku owed her one hell of a bonus when this case was over.

"Get back here, Pop! (Hiyaa!) I know you're up to something, so it's no good running away! (crash) Tell me what's going on! I said (ooof) get back here!"

Kagura turned to see who was causing the commotion and found herself knocked over the railing and into the ocean by a redheaded girl and - a panda?

*********

Sesshomaru surveyed the pale, sand-plastered woman standing in the kitchen dripping water on the tile. "Do I want to hear this story?" he asked Kagura, arching a delicate eyebrow.

"Daddy, Miss Kagura fell into the ocean!" Rin said excitedly. "Did you know she can swim really, really good? I thought the shark was going to eat her, but the pretty red-haired lady hit it between the eyes and it went away. Then the lady told Miss Kagura she was really sorry and helped her out of the water, and then Miss Kagura's boyfriend Kuno kissed her and said he would make it all better!"

"Kuno is NOT my boyfriend," Kagura howled at Rin. "He's just some guy I know!"

"How come he was kissing the lady with the red hair, Miss Kagura? Does he like her? And how come she started hitting him? Didn't she want to be kissed? That other girl was hitting him too. Is she his girlfriend? Daddy, did you know Miss Kagura got sick on the boat? Miss Botan said Miss Kagura was seasick. Do you get seasick?"

"Rin," Sesshomaru took pity on the wan-looking Kagura, "why don't you go ask Uncle Koga to help you find a video to watch. Miss Kagura, come here please." He led her into the large master bathroom. "You're soaked through," he observed. "Get out of those clothes before you catch cold." He started running the bath and then noticed she was still standing there shivering. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

Were those tears running down her face? Shocked, he reached over and brushed them from her cheek. He'd never seen Kagura lose her composure, not even when Rin had thrown up on her after spinning too long on the playground equipment.

Kagura began to cry even harder. Sesshomaru hesitantly put his arms around her, pulling her damp body close. "Shhh," he said as she buried her face in his neck and sobbed. "It'll be okay." He gently patted her back, trying to comfort her. After a minute or two, Kagura's crying slowed to a few hiccuping sobs and some sniffles. "Come on, get in the bath and warm up," Sesshomaru said as he removed his arms from around her. She continued to sniffle, but sat down on the edge of the tub and removed her sodden leather shoes. A small clump of seaweed dropped from her hair onto the floor.

Sesshomaru watched her struggle with the buttons on her blouse. Her hands were shaking so badly she could hardly lift them. "Here," he said, pulling them away. "You're going to have to let me help you." He helped her remove her blouse and shorts, then turned her around in order to unfasten her bra.

By the time he'd helped her into the bath, Sesshomaru's own hands were shaking. His offer to help her undress was pure; he had only intended to help. So much for pure intentions. He left the bathroom in a hurry, hoping she hadn't noticed the unbridled lust coursing through him. Kagura was beautiful, damn beautiful. Her skin had been so soft and her curves were so sweet, and he wanted nothing more than to climb in the bath with her and - and -

Aaaauuugh! Sesshomaru hit his fist against the wall repeatedly. If this assignment didn't end quickly he was going to go over the edge, lipstick and all.

******** A/N: I'm going to have to take up a collection to get therapy for poor Sesshy.

Thanks for the kind reviews! I'm glad y'all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it!