As the phrase goes, you can't keep a good man down. While Akabane Kuroudo may not have qualified as a good man, he certainly was not easy to keep down. Within the passage of an hour he was already up and dressing himself, having decided that he was qualified to discharge himself from the hospital. By which, he meant that he was going to put his clothes back on and walk right out whether they wanted him to or not. After all, the others had made it blatantly obvious that his presence there was not desired.

As he reached into his pocket to remove his gloves, his hand hit something hard. Curious, he withdrew it. He recognized the pink CD case that Ban's precious security camera footage had been inside. How had that gotten in here? Well, no bother to him. He'd just leave it on her nightstand and be on her way.

He peeked his head into her room. Drat, she was sitting up. That meant he might actually have to talk to her, rather than just leaving it and vanishing. If she made an attempt at apology, he'd just leave. He didn't want to hear it.

As he walked further into the room, however, it became more apparent with every footstep that he was the furthest thing from her mind. She was cradling a mirror in her lap, touching the bandages on her face and neck. Her hands kept wandering back to what remained of her hair. What had been burned, the medics had brutally sliced off because it kept falling against her wounds and sticking.

Akabane found himself in an awkward spot. From the look in her eyes, he could just leave the CD and go and she'd probably never notice. On the other hand, that despairing look made him want to stop and at least attempt to offer her some small comforting words before he went. Decisions, decisions…

He started putting the disk on the desk when she finally spoke directly to him, hiding her face with her hands. "I can understand if you don't want to guard things for me anymore, now that I'm hideously scarred."

He sighed. He hated self-pitying attitudes. "I am putting it back because Ban did not seem to want me to have it."

"Ban can go stick his head in a bucket. Ban's not the man I-"

There was a pause, during which Akabane raised an eyebrow. "Yeeeeeeees?" he asked, voice like velvet.

"Nevermind," she said. Where he could see her cheeks under the bandages, they were redder than they had been before, and the tips of her ears were red. "It doesn't matter now, anyway. Ban and Ginji won't want to work for me if I'm not pretty anymore."

"Do not say that, Miss Mediator," he said sternly. "They may not get much credit, but if there is one thing I must give them credit for, it is the fact that Ginji-kun would never throw someone away that callously. Especially not a friend. Ban, on the other hand… is a rather loathsome man, for all he says about me."

Hevn let out a small snort, almost as though she might have laughed were she not depressed. "Akabane, look at these bandages. Look at how much of my skin was burned."

"You were only on fire for a few seconds at best. There may be a lot of wounds but they are not deep." He hesitated, wishing he could ease his way towards the door. "You'll heal."

"And if I don't? The only reason anyone took me seriously as a mediator was that I was beautiful."

"Miss Hevn, I hate self-pity, and I have no kind words to give for someone who wallows in it like a pig in mud. I will, however, say that I have never judged you based on your appearance. Out of the various Get Backers I have had to work with, I respect you as much as I do Lady Poison, and not because of your appearance. I respected you because you were able to bottle up your personal feelings about me in order to get the job done. You never sneered at me or called me a monster; even though I am sure you thought those things just like the others. It was that professionalism that made me admire you enough to get involved with this insanity in the first place, not a cheap pair of Ginji-kun's underpants. Which, I should add, you never gave me. Now if you will excuse me, I have other jobs to take."

Finished with his tirade, he turned on his heel. Before he could walk towards the door, a bandaged hand gripped his wrist and held tight. He looked over his shoulder and found himself staring into big, shining yellow eyes. "I never thought of you as a monster."

"I dislike liars about as much as I dislike self-pity."

"It's true! You were always very kind and gentlemanly… with me, at least. Perhaps it's because I've never actually had to fight you that makes things different from for me. If you're going to admire me for my professionalism, then don't cheapen it by stomping off like a petulant child."

The two just stared at one another, both angrier than they should have been but both unwilling to break the usual uncaring masks they showed to the world. Each one was waiting to see when the other one would break. A slipped sigh, a squeak of shoes against the tile, the trembling of Hevn's hand and the match would be over. Neither of them wanted to be the one who would end the war of wills in defeat.

Of course, even the most stubborn child can only hold its breath for so long before it turns blue and passes out. Thus, Akabane and Hevn were doomed to have to end their stand off. Fortunately for the sense of both their delicate egos, they ended it with a mutual sigh.

"You really think I'll be okay?" Hevn asked.

"Of course. The burns will heal, and if they don't… Ginji won't hold it against you."

"Will you?"

He flopped down on the end of the bed. His chest felt unnaturally tight, but he wanted to make it look like he was just casually choosing to sit. "I'd be a hypocrite if I did. You've seen my scars."

"By accident," she said, blushing. "I swear, my sister told me no one was in the bathroom. I'm not a pervert."

"Mmm. Admit it, Hevn. You just wanted to see me naked."

"Oh, and I suppose you untied my bikini top at the water park just so you could see my breasts!" she answered back in mock anger, attempting to ream him with a pillow. "Move closer so I can hit you," she angrily informed him, waving the pillow in mid-air.

"Are you ticklish, Hevn? I'm sitting right here by your feet…"

"Don't you dare! I'll kick you in the face!"

"A response like that is an affirmative," he answered, threateningly pulling at her hospital blankets.

Outside the door, a couple of staff peeked in, grins on their faces. "Ah, young love," one of them sighed happily.

"What an unlikely couple," the other one commented.

"It is rather cute, isn't it?" a voice sneered behind them. "Too bad I'm going to have to break it up."

The two hospital employees turned around to find a man with a mask over his face and a gun in his hand.

Across town, Ban and Ginji had finally located the source of Clifford's phone. "Hurry, this is the hotel," Ban informed Ginji, leaping out of the Lady Bug. "According to the company that rents cellular phones to foreign tourists, this is the hotel address he listed."

Ginji jumped out of the bug, only after making sure it was in a perfectly legit parking spot. The last thing they needed in a crisis moment was a parking or towing ticket. "Let's go kick some butt," he said, sparking with excitement.

The two rushed the little hotel like gangbusters. "Ginji, you get Hevn's family and I'll take out the sister and her pet murderer," Ban informed, rushing the door. They'd called earlier pretending to be friends and had sweet-talked the desk girl into giving them the room Clifford had registered. He hadn't put it under the name he and Hevn's sister had been using, but she'd recognized Marci's distinctive look.

"Right, Ban-chan," Ginji answered, rushing after his partner. Their shoes thudded loudly on the wooden floor of the boardwalk surrounding the hotel.

Ban kicked in the door with one mighty blow, as it was a rather cheap lock. "No one move!" he shouted dramatically. Leaping into the room with his arms outstretched so that it looked as if he were pointing finger guns.

Unfortunately, there was no one there to listen to his command one way or another. Ginji's went a bit limp behind him, disappointed. "Is this the wrong room?"

The two looked about. Other than a broken glass on the floor, the room looked perfectly normal. No signs of a struggle, but then, why would there be one? Marci and Clifford were in on this together, as far as Ban and Ginji were concerned. Rapidly scanning the room, Ban's eye caught sight of the laptop computer. He hurried over, pulling it open. "Good luck, the bastard left it running!" he called to Ginji. Before his eyes was the security camera feed he'd been watching only earlier that morning. He tried pulling the feed back to the incriminating evidence, only to find the file had been corrupted. "He already got to the file."

"It's a good thing we left the copy with Hevn-san!"

Ban bit his lip, concern in his eyes. "I suppose he wouldn't have any reason to suspect she had a copy. Still, we should warn her. He-" Ban was cut off by the little rental starting to ring. He snatched it up, answering. "Hello?"

"CTA? You sound terrible, man."

"Nevermind my health… there's been a complication. Where is the… cargo?"

"Don't worry, man. They're loading 'em up in the plane now."

"Plane?" Ban asked, shushing the nervously dancing Ginji beside him. "Oh, plane. The line is cutting out like you wouldn't believe over here. I need to check something. Where is the plane right now?"

Fortunately for Ban, Clifford's assistant was none too bright and gave Ban the address without a single question as to why he would have to ask about a location he supposedly already knew. Hanging up the phone, he looked over at Ginji. "Hevn will have to take care of herself; we don't have much time to reach her family."

Ginji ran beside Ban back out to the car. "She's with Akabane-san. What could happen to her?"

As if to answer their question, right at that moment, Akabane was standing between Hevn and Clifford, a single scalpel between his fingers, and a deflected bullet lodged into the wall. She was clinging to his back, her face buried protectively in the folds of his coat.

The masked assailant lowered his gun about two centimeters. "You live up to your reputation, don't you? I almost didn't believe them when they said you were faster than bullets."

"Clifford," Hevn hissed, clinging to Akabane's coat and peeking out at him, eyes practically alight with disgust.

"Stay behind me," Akabane ordered.

"There's no need for her to do that," Clifford grunted from behind his mask. "Now that I know you can dodge bullets why would I waste my time trying to shoot you? Especially when I can just shoot these poor, slow-moving interns instead." As if to prove his point, he fired a warning shot that ripped through and destroyed a machine above the candy striper's heads. The two cried out and winced as broken computer parts fell onto their backs. The hospital heads were not going to be happy; he'd shot the very expensive machine that went ping.

"What do you want?" Hevn snarled. "What have you and Marci done to my parents?"

"Why do you care? I could tell neither of you girls loved them in the first place. You just loved their money."

"That's why I care. What I did was wrong. I have to… I have to set things right with them before it's too late," she said, her voice losing volume with each word until it was barely a whisper.

Akabane moved over, continuing to keep himself between Clifford and Hevn. "I will not let you kill her. If you think I would bargain her life for theirs-"

"I wouldn't. I've done my research on you; even though you don't seem to have done yours on me. You're not the type to spare anyone's life, in any situation. So obviously I can't trade their lives for hers. What I will offer, however, is this deal. Give me the recording from the alley, and I'll let these two go."

"I will not give it to you!"

"Akabane, no. Give him the recording."

"Hevn-san, it's the only proof that will send this man to jail…"

"It's not worth letting two people die over," she said, picking the disk up off the table. Akabane knew that he disagreed, but for some reason he couldn't voice his objection. Hevn had made her decision, and he was not going to interfere. She threw the disk across the floor, where it hit the ground and skidded to a stop at Clifford's feet. He knelt and grabbed it, still holding the gun at the frightened employees.

"Don't think that this means I won't come back for you, dear miss. It just means that now you don't have a leg to prosecute me on other than your words, and I doubt a man such as your infamous friend would want to risk a court appearance." Akabane tensed up, irritated by Clifford's smug words. "Good-bye, my dears," he said, blowing them a fake kiss. "Oh, and if you come after me, I'll start randomly shooting patients."

With that, he vanished down the hallway. "I hate losing to an inferior enemy," Akabane spat.

Hevn rubbed his arm, trying to show her appreciation for what he'd done. "Then… thank you for doing what I asked you to do instead of what you thought you should do."

"Unfortunately, he is telling the truth about the evidence being gone. Unless Ban had the foresight to make a copy, which it sounds as though he did not, there will not be a way to prove to your parents that your sister was nearly responsible for their deaths."

"My parents… Gods, please let Ban and Ginji get to them in time!"

Right at that moment, Ban and Ginji tore down the dock to the water plane's take-off pier. "Hurry, Ginji, there's the plane!"

"It's pulling out!" Ginji cried, hair blowing wildly in the wind. "We'll never catch it in time!"

"Oh, yes we will!" Ban shouted, grabbing the tie-off tope that was hanging from the back of the plane and wrapping it quickly around dock pole. "Ha!" The pole let out a loud, angry sound before the top snapped clean off and began dragging down the dock. Ban made a loud, obscene cry of disgust as he ran after the pole, himself and Ginji barely managing to cling onto it as the plane lifted into the air.

The two wriggled and clamored like monkeys up the rope, Ban using his strength to force open the pilot's door. "Hey!" he shouted, reaching for his gun.

"I don't think so!" Ginji shouted, smashing open the glass of the passenger side window and heaving himself into the cockpit of the tiny private plane. He grabbed up the gun before the pilot could, kicking the man square in the face. Unfortunately, this knocked him straight into Ban and nearly threw Ban off the plane.

"Nice going, Ginji! You knocked the pilot out! Now who is going to fly the plane?!"

Ginji looked down at the controls. "Umm… oops?"

Back at the hospital, Akabane looked down at Hevn. "I am going after him."

"No, Akabane. I told you, the inheritance doesn't matter anymore."

"This is not about the inheritance. This is about your parents refusing to see your sister for what she is."

"A greedy, selfish brat who would off her parents for a few millions? Don't waste your energy. I'm just the same. I mean, look at how I treated you and Ban and Ginji. I made you pretend to be my fiancé!" She sighed in resignation. "I'm just as fake as my sister."

"You never killed anyone for money. Even if Ban-chan likes to complain that all your jobs nearly leave him dead. That is the difference."

As he tried to leave yet again, she desperately dug her fingers into the palm of his hand. "Will you stay if I tell you that I made you pretend to be my fiancé… and it made me fall in love for real?"

"Mayday, mayday!" Ginji shouted into the plane's radio back at the pier. "Someone, help! Our pilot's unconscious!"

"Calm down! Calm down!" a voice answered back, shouting as loudly as Ginji. "You have to stop panicking or we can't help you! Now, just do what we say!"

"Give me that," Ban snapped, taking the radio away from Ginji as he held the controls. "Get in back and put floatation devices on the hostages."

"Right," Ginji said, trotting in back. "Hello, MrMr. and MrsMrs. Hevn-san's parents!" He looked at the three, thenand then blinked in confusion. "Marci-chan? Why are you tied up?"

Marci refused to look at him. Both parents had angry, hard looks in their eyes. "Well, when we didn't think there was any chance we'd be rescued, Marci came clean with why she's tied up, didn't you dear?" her mother said, voice as frigid as an icebox. "Yes, it was a very interesting story she told us," the father said, sounding even more angry than his wife. Marci winced. Why had she felt the need to unburden her soul? If only she'd chosen to go to her death a conniving weasel, this wouldn't be happening. Just goes to show you that telling the truth doesn't pay, Marci reasoned.

Ginji undid the parents bindings first. "Ban-chan is trying to land the plane. You'd better put on some safety devices; he's never landed one before."

"Oh… my…" Hevn's mother said.

"Maybe we're all going to be dead after all," the father mused.

Switching back to the hospital, Akabane just looked confused. "You can't have fallen in love with me," he stammered. She seemed to have really fried his brain; he couldn't decide if he wanted to talk formally or informally. "I have only been pretending to be your fiancé for four days, if you include today."

"I didn't want to! But… you're so cute when you're wearing your glasses!"

It was Akabane's turn for his ears to turn red in embarrassment. He was about to say something in response when the sound of footfalls down the hallway caught his attention. "I have to go. Police are coming, and they are people I would rather not talk to," he informed her, rushing to her open hospital window and disappearing out of it.

"But… darn it, no matter what anyone says, he's a typical male to the bone! One mention of the l-word and he's invisible."

At the pier, the day was punctuated by the sound of loud crashing. The plane sat half out of the water, half buried in a massive concrete palm tree. Ban, groaning and holding his head, stumbled from the pilot's seat and collapsed dizzily on the grass. "There, I did what the man on the radio said and parked it in the concrete palm tree."

"He said to park it next to the tree, Ban-chan," Ginji informed Ban as he rushed to assist his friend. He'd been relatively cushioned from the impact by being in the pack of the plane with Hevn's family. "Are you guys okay?" Ginji called back.

Hevn's father and mother waved, standing beside a still bound Marci. "We're just fine, dear," her mother smiled. Of course, no plane crash could go without attracting the attention of the police and the media. The poor media, they didn't know if they should send reporters to the shooting lunatic at the hospital or the private plane crashing into a palm tree on the beach. Had Ban been coherent enough to do so, he would have tried to hog the media's attention and promote his and Ginji's services at the same time. Unfortunately, he was still seeing palm trees flying around his head. Ginji dragged him off to a quiet spot while Hevn's parents hogged the attention.

Back at the hospital, Akabane sat quietly on top of a television antenna, coat billowing around his legs in the wind. He was still confused as to why he hadn't gone after Clifford when he'd had the chance. It wasn't as if he was frightened of the bullets. Of course, he could justify it, if he felt so inclined, by saying that his heart and lungs hadn't recovered enough for a spirited foot chase. He refused to believe that he had chosen not to pursue Clifford because Hevn had asked him to. She didn't have any control over him at all. Nope, no control, he mentally muttered to himself reassuringly. There was no way in heaven or heck, pardon the pun, that someone like himself could fall into a weak emotion like love. Distracted, Akabane left the roof of the hospital to seek condolences elsewhere. At least he took comfort in the fact that Clifford hadn't entirely gotten away; perhaps he would have a chance to battle the infamous accident yet.

-To Be Continued-

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