Yeah, more reviews!! :D Thank you so much for reading. I hope this chap is just as entertaining. If you like it don't forget to review.

hethosus – Thank you very much. That was exactly what I was going for. I'm so glad it's working out. Thanks again! :D

Goddess-Shalamar – Thank you! I really have enjoyed writing this and hopefully it will continue to keep some of it's original charm while adding new twists along the way. Thanks again!! :D

Now, on with the chap!...

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Awareness came slowly to him. At first it was the absence of noise that made his mind wonder. There had always been noise, always been business at Hyakugan Maoh's place. Then he noticed the smells, a mixture of musk and mildew. Where ever he was it wasn't very clean. Forcing his eyes to open, he gazed up at a ceiling that had a light stain of a water ring from a leak above him. Without realizing it, he commented aloud, "This doesn't look like hell."

"Don't be too hasty, you might find out you're mistaken." A voice said behind him. The originator moved into his line of vision. Cropped hair in the back, the top was wild and accented with red stripes. Bright scarlet eyes looked down at him, and with a broad smile, Gojyo greeted, "Welcome back to the living, sleeping beauty. I was starting to wonder if you were ever going to wake up."

"huh?"

"You've been out of it for the past few days. I had a nurse friend of mine stop by to take a look at you. I know you said no hospitals, but I had to make sure you were going to pull through. Anyway, he managed to sew up that gash in your stomach. Sorry man, there's going to be a scar. I didn't think you would mind so much seeing as how you were out cold for a while. You ended up sleeping through 4 whole days. So how're feeling?" The young man rattled on not leaving much room to comment until now.

Sighing, he answered truthfully, "Tired." And his benefactor laughed loudly at the comment.

"Don't that beat all. Do you think you can manage food?"

"I can try."

"Good, I'll make us something, it's lunch time and I was about to find a bite anyway." The overly friendly young man walked away but kept talking. "Sorry, all I got is junk food. I haven't had time to go out and shop seeing as I was watching over you. If you think you'll be ok, I can go out tonight. Just tell me what you like and I'll be sure to pick it up for you."

Gonou was surprised by his new environment. Considering the lavish rooms he had been trapped in, this practically plain and homely little apartment seemed so much more inviting. And there was just something about his host that told him he was in no danger. This alone took a lot off his mind. A shudder ran through him as a flash of his previous existence sprang forward. Cautiously he lifted his hands, half expecting to see them covered with blood still, and found them spotless. He was glad to be free again but was hoping to have followed his sister to the afterlife. Disappointment burned in his chest. Closing his eyes, he sighed. Apparently, his life would not end so easily for him.

It was in the sudden silence that he realized his host was waiting for some type of response. Not really in the mood to discuss favourite foods, he asked, "I'm presuming you're the one who saved me, right?"

The soft noises of preparation stopped all together. Gojyo slowly returned to his line of vision, a frown on his face. "Yeah." Cautiously, he added, "But you didn't want to be saved, did you?"

Shrugging, he winced as the movement caused his entire body to ache. Just another reminder of how close he had been to his goal, only to find he failed. "Right now, I don't know what I want. But if you really want to know, yes, I didn't want to be saved."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Please don't take it the wrong way, I am extremely grateful for your help. It's just I wasn't expecting it and so I really wasn't expecting to survive."

"That's too bad. It looked like you went through hell and back and it would be a damn shame to lose you by something as pointless as that."

Curious, Gonou glanced over at his caretaker. "How can you say that, you don't even know me."

"True, but I did go through all that work to save you. And I can already tell that you're a real nice guy. So far as I'm concerned, it would have been a damn shame if you died that night. Now you just lay there and relax and I'll finish up lunch."

"Thank you."

"No sweat."

"What are you doing here?"

Kanzeon smiled at her nephew, "I was in the area and I thought I would drop by for lunch."

Sanzo favoured her with a scowl and then went back to reviewing the report he was looking at. "I'm busy." He said it as if to end the conversation. Obviously, his aunt would not be so easily put off.

"Oh, I'm sure you can spare a half hour for me."

"Whatever."

"Come on, or do I have to talk to your captain and make it an order?"

Realizing he was not going to win, he turned the tide. "Fine, but you're paying."

"As if there was ever any doubt." Her smile broad and knowing.

Standing up, Sanzo grabbed his jacket and the pair left the precinct. "So where are we going anyway?"

"A little Chinese restaurant around the corner. They have a buffet that I hear's pretty good." Barely listening to her, he lit up and walked on. Their destination was only a few blocks away so they didn't bother with a car. The rest of their trek was done in silence.

Once they were seated and had the first plateful on their table did Sanzo re-open the conversation. "So why are you really here?"

"Does an aunt need a reason to spend time with her nephew?" She asked innocently. "How's your pet?"

"I doubt Goku's the reason you're here, but he's fine."

"Glad to see you two getting along so well. I was afraid it may have been a mistake to leave him with you." About two years ago, the benefactress had stumbled upon the youth while heading for an orphanage. He was sitting at the entrance to an alley staring off into nothing. Apparently, the kid had no idea who he was or where he came from and her nature would not permit her to leave the kid there. She brought him home and took care of him for a while. Both Koumyou and Genjo stopped by her home frequently back then and she could see the bond growing between the blonde and wayward monkey. It was only after the elder Sanzo's death that she suggested that Goku move in with him. She hoped that the her nephew's disposition might improve now that he had someone to care for again. In some ways it did help, but in general the young police officer was still tightly locked in his shell. Her musing was interrupted by harsh baritone.

"It was a mistake. Did you come here to take him back, because if you did, you can have him."

"No, I still think he's good for you." Sanzo let out a 'che' of annoyance and she smiled in response. "So has there been any new developments on the Hyakugan Maoh case?"

"Not yet. We're still in the midst of going through everything. We have a team going over accounts, and another through some of their books. They've got layer upon layer we're trying to weed through to get to the core of what we're looking for. It'll probably be another few weeks before we can get a clearer picture on all the rackets they were in."

Curious about another aspect of the case, she asked, "Have you figured out who did it yet?"

"No, we're leaving all our options open still."

A moment's pause allowed her to sort through some memories. "You mentioned that you might have a good lead, what was his name again?"

"I believe you are referring to Cho Gonou." Sanzo was annoyed. He just wanted to finish eating and get back to work. And all her tedious questions were starting to grate his nerves. Besides, this particular case still didn't settle well with him. There was something he was missing. He was sure of it and he didn't want to be bothered with idle speculaition, which is what she was trying to pull out of him.

"That's it. Did you find him yet?"

"We can't even be certain that he was at Hyakugan's yet. Or if he's still alive at this point."

Taking a fork full of food, she questioned inquisitively, "And you haven't plastered his face all over the news yet?"

Yet again his gut told him he was doing the right thing, but he never knew how to explain it. And for some reason he presumed others would think him weird or worse, weak. Sighing, he answered, "I requested that it not be broadcast all over the place. He may be our prime suspect but if our theories are correct he's just as much a victim."

She stopped in mid-motion, her full fork suspended just in front of her. Her head tilted slightly to the side as a small grin spread across her face. "Compassion? You have changed, Genjo." Maybe the monkey's presence has helped after all, she thought.

"What are you talking about?" He scowled. "I'm the same as I ever was."

"Sure you are." They finished their meal and walked back to the precinct. "Well, it's been fun. We'll have to do this again sometime. Chow." Kanzeon continued on to her car. Sanzo took a few more drags off his third cigarette on the walk back from the restaurant before returning to his duty, burying himself once again in piles of information.

"I'm back. You never did tell me what you liked, so I tried to get a bit of everything." Gojyo announced when he came through the door bags in hand. Without pausing he headed to the tiny kitchenette. "You up for dinner now? I'm not the best cook, which is why I got a lot of prepped foods, but I can whip us some grub pretty quick. Or if you prefer, we can get something delivered." Putting away the provisions, he contented himself with the one sided conversation. But now that he was done, he headed back in the main room to see how his guest was doing. "Hey man, you asleep again or something?"

As Gojyo got closer, he started to get a bad feeling about his companion's silence. Unfortunately, those feelings were right more often than not, and it proved itself again. The young man in the bed faced the wall and had the blanket pulled up tight over him. Desperately pulling it closer to him, the tremors that went through Gonou could easily be seen.

Suddenly concerned, Gojyo asked, "You ok?" Gently he placed a hand on a trembling shoulder and rocked the figure back so he could see his face. Immediately, he dropped to one knee beside the bed the instant he saw the pale sweaty features. "What's wrong? What's happening?"

Pleading jades peered up at him. Through clenched teeth and tight lips he could barely hear the shaky tenor, "th-th-they would g-g-give me som-m-thing t-to keep-p me doc-cile."

"You were drugged man? Damn." Gojyo was at a loss, he never had to deal with anything like this before. "This is so beyond me. I got to get you help."

A hand shot out and grabbed his wrist by the time he stood up. Glancing down, his eyes questioned. "no, p-please." There was a desperation in the voice that touched Gojyo's heart. He put his free hand on a shoulder to reassure the young man.

"Alright, man. I remember, no hospitals. But please, let me call my friend. He's a Registered Nurse, he can at least tell us what to do. Don't worry, he's cool."

The slow release of his wrist was his answer. Quickly he went to the phone. "Hey Tonpu, yeah it's me Gojyo. That's the reason I'm calling. No it's not that. Look, wherever he came from, they were giving him drugs. I think he's going through withdrawal or something and I have no clue how to deal with it. Got any advice?" A series of 'yeahs' and 'uh-huhs' followed. After a brief conversation, he said, "Alright, man, thanks. I owe ya. Yeah, more than before. Later."

Hanging up the phone, Gojyo just stood there for a moment trying to figure out what to do. A pained moan pulled him from his thoughts. He quickly went back to his patient's side and tried to help, but he felt infinitely useless. "Shhh, it'll be ok, I promise. It's just going to take some time for you to get better. My buddy Tonpu says it could take a week or two for your body to adjust to the lack of drugs. And since we don't know what it is they gave you, there's no way for us to wean you off it. I really am sorry man. I had no idea that this was something you were going to have to suffer through. Are you in pain right now? He said I can give you some over the counter drugs that could help with any symptoms you have."

Gonou had heard of withdrawal before, but his rather sheltered youth kept him from bearing witness to it. Not that he wished for a horrible childhood, it was bad enough as it was, but he wished he knew what to expect and how to cope. But all those thoughts were fleeting as the weakened muscles in his stomach cramped. The pain was excruciating. Squeezing his eyes shut, he tried to bite back another cry.

"I've got some ibuprofen, I'll go get it. Hang on, man." Gojyo rushed to collect the medicine and a glass of water. Tenderly, he helped Gonou sit up enough to drink and swallow the pills. Once that was taken care of, he stayed by the wounded man's side whispering assurances and support. Eventually, Gonou drifted off into a troubled sleep. Gojyo heated up a frozen dinner, but unfortunately didn't get the chance to eat it until much later. Gonou had woken up from the smell and coughed up the few bites he had that afternoon. Hours would pass before the sick youth could find solace once more.

And that would be how Gojyo and Gonou would live for the next week and a half.

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Well, I hope you enjoyed! As always, thanks for reading!! Please leave a review! I'm dying to know what you think. Domo!

Ari-kun :D