Disclaimer: Get Backers is owned by Aoki and Ayamine, not Mayumi-san.

Notes: I don't know about you, but the title of this chapter makes me think of Hevn...

Ginji held up his hand and sent bursts of electricity to the black-clad guards blocking his way. It had been the third batch of guards that he had encountered ever since he got out of his prison cell. He stepped over the unconscious bodies and ran through the dark corridors.

It was hard to see anything, he thought as he stumbled in the dark. That was, of course, his fault. He had apparently blown up the power generator when he escaped. He hoped Ban-chan took that opportunity to get out of his cell as well. He grinned. Knowing Ban-chan, he probably did, if he hadn't escaped already. Ban-chan's fine, he told himself. If only I could find him.
Ban felt like he was inside a damp rough cement tube. His spiky hair almost touched the ceiling as he walked with his hands in his pockets. He watched the girl walking in front of him as she scanned the tunnel walls for any of the Dark Fleet markers. The tunnel had small dim light bulbs every few meters or so. Although the light bulbs barely illuminated the tunnel, it helped them to at least see where they were going.

Iarra paused as she looked at the low pile of entangled thorns scattered on the tunnel floor. "Looks like you had quite a struggle", she remarked. She looked up and examined the ceiling for a moment, then turned to Ban, grinning. "Did it hurt when they fell on your head?"

Ban gave her an expressionless look. "Would you like to try it?"

She chuckled. "Nah. I'm not really fond of thorns."

"They're quite fun, actually."

Iarra smirked. "I can imagine."

She took a few steps to the right. Ban observed her as she examined the section of the wall just above the thorns. She waved her hand in front of what seemed like a vertical slit on the wall, and quickly stepped back. A part of the ceiling opened up and more thorns fell. The vertical slit was apparently a sensor.

Ban snorted. "I didn't think there could be more of 'em."

"Oh, that's not even half of it", Iarra said as she looked up at the ceiling.

Ban raised an eyebrow at her, then looked at the pile of thorns, now waist-height, in front of them. The low pile of thorns now turned into a small hill. "So", he said. "How do Dark Fleet agents pass through here without thorns raining on them?"

"Easy", Iarra answered. "Just jump over this pile of thorns real quick." She turned to him and motioned at the thorns with her hand. "Well, wanna give it a shot?"

He looked at her for a long moment, then said, "Riiight. Why don't YOU do it first, then I'll follow?"

"You wouldn't want to go last, believe me."

"Ladies first", Ban said. "I insist."

Iarra sighed and rolled her eyes. She walked towards the center of the hill of thorns. She bent her knees and did a quick front flip over the thorns, landing gracefully on the other side.

More thorns fell from the ceiling. This is just great, Ban thought as he stared at the growing pile in front of him. The hill of thorns was now up to his shoulders.

Iarra turned to face Ban and gave him an I-told-you-so look. "Your turn."

Grumbling under his breath, Ban moved a little farther from the hill of thorns. Besides getting higher, the hill's base was also occupying more space, so he needed a lot more momentum than Iarra did to jump over it. He took a deep breath, ran towards the hill, then leaped over it, rolling as he got to the other side. As he expected, more thorns fell, making the hill almost reach the ceiling.

Ban stood up and adjusted his glasses. He glanced behind him and saw that the hill of thorns had now almost reached the ceiling.

"That's okay", Iarra said. "We're not going back, anyway."

They continued walking, with Iarra in the lead, and Ban following closely behind. After several paces, she stopped. She moved closer to the left wall of the tunnel, and traced her fingers on some markings that were etched on the wall's surface. Ban watched her, then looked around. He noticed small circular holes covering almost the entire ceiling from left to right, and extending farther into the tunnel.

I wonder what kind of surprises would come out of those, he mused.

"Sensors", Iarra suddenly said, startling him a little.

Ban cocked his head to her. "Hmm?"

Iarra pointed to the holes in the ceiling and answered, "Those are sensors."

Ban tried to peer into the holes, but saw nothing special about them. "What happens when the sensors detect us?"

Iarra shrugged. "They didn't say." She pressed her back against the wall and started walking sideways, avoiding the sensors as she kept her eyes focused on them.

Ban glared at her, irritated at the lack of information, and more irritated at her apparent nonchalance about it. He watched her walk slowly sideways, with her eyes on the ceiling and her back pressed and slightly bent to follow the contour of the tunnel walls. Ever since his encounter with Iarra back at the warehouse, Ban had been slightly amazed at the way she moved. The elegance in her movements kind of reminded him of Thread Spool. Yes, he thought she was graceful. Just not right now, he thought as he chuckled.

"You look like an idiot", he remarked.

"Better to look like an idiot than end up dead, don't you think?", Iarra said without glancing at him.

Ban snorted then continued to watch. Aside from the amusement that he was getting from watching her, he was also a little curious about what would happen if she lost her balance.

She walked a few more steps, then finally looked at Ban. "Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna get your ass on this wall and look like an idiot with me?"

'Graceful' was definitely not the word he would use to describe the things that come out of that pretty mouth. Gritting his teeth, he pressed his back against the wall, and reluctantly imitated her.

"Uhh, Mido?", Iarra said.

"What?"

"That porcupine look may be cute, but try not to trigger the sensors with those spikes, ok?"

Ban shot her a murderous glance, then flattened his hair with one hand and continued to walk sideways, his eyes focusing on the sensors above.

Now I look more like an idiot than her, he thought grudgingly.

They walked on deeper into the tunnel in that manner. Ban estimated that they probably had walked like that for about fifty meters. To say that it was very uncomfortable was an understatement. Out of the corner of his eye, he tried to see how much farther they had to go, but the dim lights made it impossible to see beyond Iarra.

Finally, Iarra stepped away from the wall and stretched. Ban looked up to make sure there were no more sensors on the ceiling, then did the same.

Iarra exhaled loudly. "That wasn't so hard, was it?", she said as she smiled at Ban.

Ban said nothing and just gave her a piercing glare.

Iarra chuckled, then started to walk forward. Ban reluctantly followed.

"There's no point in being hostile, Mido", Iarra said as she carefully scrutinized the walls. "I'm the only company you're gonna have for the next few hours or so, whether you like it or not."

Ban stopped walking. "Hours?!?"

Iarra stopped examining the walls and looked at him. "Or so", she repeated.

He scowled.

She turned back to the walls and continued walking. "This could've been worse, you know."

Ban raised an eyebrow, then followed her. "Oh yeah? How? What could be worse than this? Tell me."

"Well, a million things. Like being captured by the Dragons." Iarra turned her head and gave him a lopsided smile. "They're not as kind as we are."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"Oh come on, Mido", she said as she turned back her head back to the front. "We tried not to hurt you."

Ban snorted. "Maybe you should try harder."

Iarra stopped. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Then she turned around to face him, a hint of weariness in her eyes. "Look", she said. "I know this probably means nothing to you, but... I'm really sorry."

Ban just looked at her and said nothing. Finally he said, "You said you're not gonna kill me. Why?"

Iarra smiled. "You already asked me that question."

"You haven't answered."

"What makes you think I'm gonna do so now?"

Ban's eyes narrowed. "I don't need your damn apology. What I need are answers."

An explosion sounded above them. The hint of weariness in Iarra's features suddenly disappeared and was replaced by determination. "We better get going", she said as she abruptly turned around.

"Oi! I'm not done talking to you!"

"You can talk and walk at the same time, can't you?", Iarra said. Although she was still examining the tunnel walls, her pace had significantly quickened.

"Fine", Ban said as he picked up his gait to catch up with her. "I'm gonna keep asking you the same question until you get so annoyed that you'd tell me the answer just to shut me up."

She chuckled. "You're just wasting your breath, Mido."

He ignored her remark and asked, "Who gave you orders not to kill me? Havoc?"

"Maybe", Iarra said.

"Come on, Dagger Babe. Tell me. Why did you take me and Ginji here?"

She just smiled as she continued to scan the walls.

As he walked with his hands in his pockets, he noticed that he was now sweeping the ceiling with his hair. Since he was certain that he didn't grow taller in the last few minutes, that meant that the ceiling had become lower. Interesting, he thought. He wondered whether it was a mistake or if it was intended.

"And why is the Mikazuki Munechika in your list of must-haves, anyway?", he asked.

"That I can answer", she said, smiling at him. "There's an increasing international demand for Japanese swords, nowadays." She chuckled. "Which is funny, because some people who want to have Japanese swords don't even have the faintest idea about them."

Then she continued, "But there are some out there who are really obssessed with katanas. Some of them are even willing to pay loads of moolah for swords such as the Mikazuki Munechika."

"You are aware that it's a National Treasure, right?", Ban said.

"Of course. The fact that it's one of the Tenka Go Ken has increased its value."

Ban snorted. "So, you don't care that you're taking away a part of Japan's culture."

"Oh, don't give me that crap, Mido", Iarra said. "You saw Karekawa's collection. You knew that most of them are stolen. Some of them are also National Treasures. But did you lift a finger to give it back to the people of Japan? No. You were paid to take only the Mikazuki Munechika. So that's what you took, and nothing else." Then she smiled. "Can't say the same for your partner, though. He seemed genuinely concerned about getting back those other items."

Ban glared at her. At least she's talking, he thought. Maybe he could get her to say something that he could use. "You said 'international demand'. Does that mean that the people who want the Mikazuki Munechika are out of the country?"

Iarra considered whether to answer his question, then decided that there was no harm in doing so. "Yep."

"So the sword is now on its way to them."

"It's supposed to be", she said.

It's supposed to be. What does that mean?, Ban wondered. There seemed to be a 'but' in Iarra's reply. The sword was supposed to be on its way, BUT... Then he smiled inwardly. The Dragons had probably messed up Dark Fleet's schedule. So that means that the sword was still in Japan. Maybe this job isn't a failure yet.

Iarra glanced at him wryly. "Sorry for ruining your 100 percent success rate."

Ban narrowed his eyes at her. "You seem to know a lot about us."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself. If that fact is a secret, you're doing a really rotten job of keeping it."

He gave her a confused look.

"It's all over your flyers, Mido", she said, amused.

"You have our flyers?"

Iarra stopped and turned around. Grinning, she walked up to him. "YOU...", she said. "...personally handed me one."

Ban stared at her. She chuckled softly, then turned around and continued to walk forward.

It shouldn't come as a surprise, Ban thought. He had distributed thousands of flyers in the years that he and Ginji had been retrieval agents. He shook his head as he followed Iarra. Life could be so ironic sometimes.

After a few more steps, Ban noticed that his head was now bumping the ceiling. Rather than hunching, he chose to just cock his head to the side. The ceiling continued to go lower and lower, until Ban had no choice but to hunch. He scowled. Damn, his back was beginning to ache. And walking briskly only made it worse. He looked at Iarra and saw that she was still walking irritatingly upright. He turned his attention to the walls, or rather what was on the surface of the walls that his "guide" was checking out. The walls were rough, and that made it hard to tell which markings were actual symbols, and which ones were products of erosion. He wondered idly on how long it took for one to master those symbols.

Iarra suddenly stopped. The hunched Get Backer, who was busy observing the markings on the wall, bumped into her, hitting her head with his and sending her face flat on the floor, or rather the twigs and branches covering the floor.

"Owww!", they both yelled.

Iarra sat up and rubbed her head. "Dammit, Mido," she said as she groaned. "Is that head made of steel or something?"

"Well, you shouldn't have hit on the breaks, sweetheart." Ban grimaced as he rubbed the spot where he hit Iarra and sat down, finally giving his aching back a rest. "Causes accidents on freeways, you know."

Iarra scowled at him. Ban paid no attention to her as he stretched, to the delight of his back muscles. He then surveyed the branches on the floor. They extended from where Iarra was sitting to farther into the tunnel.

"What's with the branches?", he said.

"That's what I was trying to figure out when you so rudely sent me to the floor."

Ban chuckled. "Oh, is that so."

She was rolling her eyes when something on the ceiling caught her attention. She stood up and walked slowly farther into the tunnel, crushing the branches underneath her feet.

Ban, curious about what she saw, quickly stood up. In his curiosity, he forgot about the ceiling and hit his head hard on it as he stood up. He cursed. Whoever built this tunnel is a sadist freak, he thought.

Iarra turned her head to Ban. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. Thanks for your concern", Ban said sarcastically.

She frowned, then turned her back to him as she continued walking carefully. After a few steps, she stopped, and touched some markings on the ceiling.

Ban, who was unfortunately forced to hunch again, followed to see what she was looking at. As he moved closer, he heard her mutter while glaring at the markings, "What the hell do you mean?"

He raised his eyebrows. "You mean you can't read 'em?"

"I can read 'em fine", she snapped, then turned her attention back to the markings. "It's just that they're not being very clear about what we should be expecting."

Ban stared at the markings, then back at Iarra. "What exactly are they saying, anyway?"

"That the branches are here for a reason", she answered. She sighed, then muttered under her breath, "Duh." Then she held up her hand and touched one of the symbols. "This is a pointing symbol. It's pointing forward."

He thought for a moment about what she just said, then surmised, "Maybe it's pointing to the reason why the branches are here."

"Maybe", she said. She then grinned. "Let's find out, shall we?" She started to walk deeper into the tunnel.

Ban watched her as she walked, the sound of branches being crushed echoing through the tunnel. What the hell did those markings mean?, he wondered. The branches were there for a reason. Why would somebody cover the floor with branches? He watched Iarra, a growing feeling of unease settling in his gut.

"Oi, Dagger Babe", he called out.

"What?", Iarra said, but kept on walking.

"You might wanna slow down..."

Iarra shrieked as the branches that she stepped on gave way.

Ban's eyes widened. He rushed towards her and reached out for her, but he had only managed to grab air as she disappeared through the hole on the floor. He stared into the hole, and saw nothing but darkness.

"Iarra!", he yelled into the hole. But silence was all he heard. He scanned the walls, then the ceiling, then the branches on the floor, trying to decide quickly what to do. He stared back at the hole, then glared at it.

"Dammit!", he cursed, gritting his teeth as he jumped in.

Ginji dropped down on the floor and shielded his head with his arms when an explosion erupted a few feet away from him. The sound of running footsteps urged him to start moving. He gathered his bearings and quickly got up. Spotting a door to his right, he got inside just as the sound of people shouting and guns firing echoed through the corridors.

The other side of the door turned out to be a small closet. While inside, he heard the sound of a distant explosion, then more guns firing just outside the closet door. He gasped as a stray bullet hit the wall that he was leaning against inches from his head. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. He heard a guy scream, then was silenced by more guns firing. He winced.

What is going on out there?, he thought. It almost sounds like a war.

The gunshots stopped. Then he heard a man's voice yelling in another language. It sounded like Chinese, and it sounded like he was giving orders. The next sound he heard were people running, and then silence. He waited a few more minutes. Once he was sure it was safe, he opened the door and peered outside.

What he saw made his heart stop. Five Dark Fleet guards were strewn on the floor. He stepped outside and bowed his head. Yes, they were his enemies, but they didn't have to die. As he stared at them, he was briefly reminded of a painful memory in Mugenjou, during the days when gangs from the Beltline preyed on whoever they wish. He shook his head and made his way away from the bodies. Now was not the time to think about such things. He had to find Ban-chan. He just had to.
Iarra jammed her heels against the walls of the hole that she fell into, trying to slow her down, but to no avail. She was falling too damn fast. If only she had her daggers, she would've plunged them into the side walls of the rocky slide that she found herself into. That would stop her fall. She was sure of it, since she had done it before. Unfortunately, she didn't have her daggers. That damn Mido had them, so now she had no choice but to let herself slide. It would've been fun if not for the jagged edges that pierced her arms, her butt, and her back as she slid faster. And it would've been more fun if water was flowing down the slide and if this ended with a swimming pool below, she thought, chuckling to herself.

Suddenly, she found herself in midair. The rocky slide had apparently ended. She looked down. Nope, no swimming pool, she thought wryly.

She landed on the ground with a thud, the dust kicking up into her face. She winced, then groaned. That had HURT, she thought as she rubbed the part where she had hit the ground, her butt. She checked herself for damage, and noticed several scrapes on her arms. The hole that Mido had made on her suit near her right elbow had now widened, and the sides of her pants have tear marks. She felt something trickle down from her forehead. She wiped it with the back of her hand and saw that it was blood. Shoot.

Just then, a small rock hit her squarely at the top of her head. Ouch! She looked up to see where the rock came from. Dust and small pebbles started falling from the hole where she popped down from. What the...? She squinted. She heard sounds of someone grunting.

The next thing she saw were shoe soles coming straight at her. She gasped and rolled to the side, then a cursing Mido Ban in chibi form emerged from the hole and landed on the spot where she previously was.

"Aaaaahhh! This place is driving me crazyyyy!!!", Ban screamed, then continued to mutter obscenties under his breath.

Iarra stared at him for a long moment, then smiled.

Ban turned his head to her and growled, "What are you smiling at, you cutlery-obssessed freak?!"

Still smiling, she shook her head. "Nothing."

A vein popped on Ban's head. He lunged at her and wrapped both of his hands around Iarra's neck. In a low voice, he said, "I am THIS close to snapping your neck."

Iarra met his gaze calmly. "But you wouldn't."

"How can you be so sure?", he growled.

A hint of a smile crossed Iarra's lips. "You followed me", she said.

His eyes narrowed. "Yeah, I did, and I think I'm beginning to regret that decision."

"No time for regrets now, Mido."

Ban stared at her for a long moment, then took a deep breath. Finally, he release his grip on her. "Damn you", he muttered.

Iarra's eyebrows shot up. "Damn you, too", she retorted.

She ignored the glare that Ban was shooting at her as she looked around. They were in what seemed to be a small square chamber. One of the corners of the chamber had a light bulb, which didn't help much in showing them how high the ceiling of the chamber was. All they could see as they looked up was darkness. The ground, as they have painfully discovered earlier, was of solid rock and covered with dust. The walls were made of smooth cement painted in black.

"How do you suppose could we get out of here, o great Reader-Of-The-Markers?", Ban asked.

Iarra frowned at him, then sighed. "I don't know."

Ban turned his head to her. "You don't know???!"

"Yet", Iarra replied as she looked around. "But I'll find out. Be patient and sit down there for a minute, okay?" She spotted some markings on the wall behind her.

"Be patient? BE PATIENT??? Let me tell you something, Iarra. Just in case you haven't noticed it yet, patience is NOT one of my strengths!"

"Just one minute", she said, turning to look at him. Then she smirked. "Give yourself a nice dream in the meantime or something." She then turned to the wall and studied the markings.

Ban scowled. He should've concocted the worst possible nightmare ever when he used his Jagan on her. Oh yeah. That would've been sweet. He sighed, then looked around. There's something not right about this place, he thought. I wonder what's behind those walls. He stood up.

Iarra turned her head to him and asked, "Hey, what are you doing?"

Ban ignored her and started walking towards the far side of the room.

Iarra's eyes widened. She stood up and reached out to Ban and yelled, "No, no, no. Don't -- Aaahh!"

Suddenly, a net hidden underneath the ground snapped up. The net, made from stainless steel wire, caught Ban and Iarra in a tangle of arms and legs and lifted them high above the ground.

Iarra found herself looking up at the dark ceiling, her legs held up against the net. She tried to calm herself down and took a deep breath.

"Owww", a muffled voice puled beneath her.

She looked down and realized that she was lying on Mido's back. Mido's abdomen was pressing against the bottom of the net with his legs sticking out underneath. His head was turned to the side, his cheeks squeezed between the net on one side and Iarra's elbow on the other.

She gasped. "I'm so sorry", she said as she writhed to get herself off of him. Which was not easy in the cramped space they were in.

Ban wriggled to get himself upright when he accidentally on purpose dug his elbow against Iarra's ribs. He smiled smugly when she groaned. They struggled to get themselves into more comfortable positions, swaying the net with every movement that they made.

After a series of grunts, growls, curses, and glares, they finally settled down. They were now sitting side by side, with their knees up to their chins, the net still swinging like a pendulum.

"What a nice mess you got us into", Ban remarked dryly.

"Me??!", Iarra said as she turned her head to glare at him. "You're the one who triggered this damn net!"

"Well, if you worked on reading those damn markers just a little bit faster, then I wouldn't have taken it upon myself to look for our way out!"

"I asked you to SIT DOWN. It's not my fault you're a dimwit who has trouble following simple instructions!"

"DIMWIT??!! Who's the dimwit who fell into that freaking hole in the first place?!"

"We were FINE after we fell through that hole. And we would've been FINE if you had just listened and stayed there like I told you to!"

"Fine?? Let me tell you what I consider 'fine'. Me and Ginji, two million yen richer, gobbling down on some sushi and steak right now. We would've been FINE if you hadn't shown up, stabbed us on the leg, stolen the sword from us, and brought us into this damn place for reasons only God knows what. If you had just minded your own business, I wouldn't be here in this stupid net, having this stupid argument with an underage smuggler who didn't pay attention during smuggling training enough to read those stupid markers!!!"

Iarra just stared at him as he fumed. Finally, she said, "Did you hear that?"

Ban frowned at her, then asked exasperatedly, "Hear what?"

They stared at each other, listening. After a long moment, they heard the faint rumble of gears meshing.

"Oh, no", Iarra whispered.

Ban scowled. "What do you mean by 'oh, no'?"

Suddenly, they heard the shiiinggg! sound of metal sliding against metal. Slowly, they turned their heads to the sound, and saw long metal spikes protruding from the wall in front of them. Ban and Iarra stared at the spikes, mouths hanging open. Their eyes widened as they watched that section of the wall slowly move towards them.

"'Oh, no' indeed", Ban muttered.

Notes: When I first thought about the plot for this story, I thought it would be just four chapters long. Guess I'm mistaken...

rabid lola: Well, she's got the upper hand on this one. Ban has no choice but to follow her ;-) About Iarra's nationality.. Well, she's Asian, and can pass for Japanese. But just like most of the characters in GB, her background is a mystery. Actually, that's a fancy way of saying, I haven't really thought about it yet ;-)

Atropos' Knife: Hey, thanks! I had fun researching about stuff like these. Mayumi-san is a nerd :-) Don't worry too much about Ban. He's a tough guy. He's gonna get out of this in one piece hehe :-)

limelie: Well, let's just say that there's more to Iarra than what she seems ;-)

animeprincess1452: Thanks! Glad you're enjoying this so far :-)

blackangel123: Get Backers is also one of my favorite shows. Heck, it actually inspired me to write. Who would've guessed that? :-)