A/N: Thanks to all those who have been patient through my long bout of writer's block. I'm hoping to get "Innocence" and "What You Leave Behind" updated in the next few weeks.

This chapter is dedicated to those who took the time to remind me to get my butt in gear and update.

A brief warning and semi-apology: While I don't like to swear, Jet and Spike do. I've kept it to words that start with a 'd'.

Virtual brownies for all those who recognize the random anime reference in this chapter. I'm not going to do a three-way-crossover. It's just me being silly.

Emotion: A Waltz without Dancing

Chapter 2- Free Radicals

The thug's back made a resounding 'thwack' as it hit the alleyway wall.

Spike smiled. "You're going to tell me all you know."

"Look…Spike, I swear!" The man groaned, wiping blood from his lower lip. "I didn't tell him anything about you…"

Spike's face still held a ferocious grin as he looked skeptically at the man he held pinned against the wall. "And just who and what did you tell?" He asked coolly.

The thug paused, stared back at Spike, and winced before relenting with a sigh. "Vicious. He's not after you anyway. His men were asking about Battousai."

Spike frowned but managed to mask his surprise. So his old buddy was in town…this could be bad…

"I ask again, what you did you tell him?"

Now it was Spike's turn to groan as the thug began babbling fearfully about a man with red hair and a cross-shaped scar and eyes that warned of quick death—who had beaten up almost their entire yakuza last year. A minor group, the Shuei, to be sure… But still…a sword, against twenty men armed with pistols and clubs? A tingling sensation of something almost like fear ran through his bones… He stepped back and released the other man, who took off running around a corner.

"Dammit." Spike thought, reaching for a cigarette, "Looks like this one's not a dream…"

A soft laugh escaped his lips after a moment. "Huh, I guess I'm still alive after all…"

"Faye Faye! Faye Faye, wait up! Wait for Ed!"

Faye rolled her eyes and continued walking. Going to any public place with Ed was a trying experience. Much like her canine companion, Ed liked to run ahead whenever she saw anything of interest, then lag behind until Faye had to scream at her to catch up.

"Faye Faye!" Ed bellowed as she came to a halt in front of her, panting for breath. The hacker's tongue hung out one side of her mouth—an exact mirror image to the dog she held under one arm.

Faye sighed and looked at them disgustedly with her hands on her hips. "I can't believe I'm stuck babysitting just because Jet can't stand a little crayon on his precious piece of junk!"

Absorbed in her grumbling, it took a moment for Faye to register when Ein yipped, then took a flying leap out Ed's arms. The small dog began running towards the other end of the marketplace. Ed immediately gave chase.

Faye looked on in vain as the crowd closed around the pair, soon hiding them from view. "Just great! Now I'll never find them!"

Faye sighed and headed for a nearby tavern. "Damn it anyway… Ed lived on Earth; she can take care of herself. Hmm…I wonder what they like to drink around here?"

Meanwhile, Ed was still giving chase. "Ein!" she yelled, "Where are you going?"

"Oro!" A cabbage and some daikon radishes sailed in a parabolic arc through the air.

Diving like a baseball outfielder, Ed managed to catch the cabbage before it hit the ground. She looked for the victim of the canine-caused tornado.

Amidst the scattered groceries sat a somewhat petite man in a loose, faded red shirt (some would even call it pink), loose white pants, maroon tabi, and sandals. His long red hair was tied back in a low messy ponytail and an antique Japanese sword hung from his belt. In his lap perched Ein, growling and barking threateningly.

The stranger smiled, looking at Edward with kindly lavender eyes. "Thank you Little Miss. Is this your dog?"

Ed laughed. "Sorry Mr. Tomato-man." Trading the cabbage in her hands for the dog, she scolded, "Ein, what did you knock over the nice Tomato-headed-man for? Bad Ein, Bad!"

Ein barked and panted happily in response.

The stranger rose and dusted himself off. Smiling foolishly he asked, "Oro? Tomato-man? This one has been called many things, that this one has, but…Oroo!"

Ed giggled and gave the man's ponytail another yank. "Hair even redder than Edward's! Tomato hair!"

"Ah" the stranger replied, grinning awkwardly as he rubbed his sore scalp. "And where might this Edward person be, Little Miss?"

"Ed is here!" She announced, pointing to herself. "What is tomato-person called?"

"Ah, so that is your name." He offered his hand. "Nice to meet you. This lowly one is called Kenshin."

Ed responded by clinging to the whole of Kenshin's outstretched arm. "Huggies!"

"My, you are an unusual child…." Kenshin commented, gently shaking his arm. Finding no success dislodging the girl, he began picking up groceries with his free hand. Ed responded by climbing onto his back.

Kenshin looked around. "Where are your parents Edward-chan? This one will escort you to them."

Ed's face grew slack. "Umm…I don't think I know…" Suddenly her stomach gave a loud rumble. "Ooh Ed's stomach is talking."

Kenshin chuckled again, turning his head so that he was nose-to-nose with the girl on his shoulders. "That it is." He thought for a moment, looking over Ed's unkempt appearance. "If it is alright, this one will take you to a place where you can stay and have a hot meal. Then we can ask the police about finding your family."

"Really?" Ed asked hopefully. "Food and a place for Ed?"

Kenshin nodded. "This one is certain Kaoru-dono will not mind."

Ed wrapped her arms and legs around Kenshin in joy.

"Oro…let's be along then." Kenshin said, trotting down the road with the child on his back. "Kaoru-dono will worry if this one is late."

Ein barked and ran along behind.

Bracing himself, Jet walked into the local police office. "I always hate dealing with these guys…" he grumbled to himself. "Bunch of desk jockeys if you ask me."

The ex-cop raised an eyebrow at the young pregnant woman manning the front desk. "That's funny; we sure didn't get a secretary when I was in the force."

The woman let out a small giggle, causing her mid-length black hair to sway. "Well I used to be a waitress, but now..." She gestured to her belly. "An acquaintance of mine got me this job after he helped the police. There's so much paperwork it's a surprise anyone was out preventing crimes before I got here."

Jet shrugged, smiling good-naturedly at the girl. "Yeah…when I was on the force we used to joke that if the mob didn't get you, the paperwork would. I guess it makes sense."

She nodded knowingly and smiled back. "Is that why you left?"

Jet's smile remained firmly in place, but his eyes were sad. "No, I left after I got this." He gestured broadly to his cybernetic arm and eyepiece. "Now I'm a bounty hunter. I'm here to catch Hitokiri Battousai if you'll believe it."

A look of surprise and worry came over her face. "Really? I should have you talk to the police chief."

She rose slowly, and Jet noticed her hands were shaking as they grasped her belly. He kicked himself mentally for bragging. "Poor girl." he thought as she walked hurriedly to a back office. "I should remember that this is her town… I hope she has someone to walk her home tonight..."

After some time the pregnant secretary returned. Her expression was carefully blank, betraying none of her earlier emotion. "The police chief will be with you in a moment sir."

Jet raised an eyebrow. "It's not really necessary to go to all this trouble. I just came here to see my friend Jim Kudo. He's the ISSP liaison around here."

"Oh, I'm sorry to tell you he was transferred last week. Anyway, the chief prefers to consult personally on this matter."

Jet straightened up in surprise. "Transferred? Where?"

The woman shook her head. "I didn't handle the transfer orders but I think it was Mars." She paused and gestured to the computer screen. "I'm sorry, but if you could just wait a few more moments…?"

Jet nodded slowly, shifting his weight from one foot to another. The only chairs were by private desks in other portions of the room. He crossed his real arm over his cybernetic one and leaned back against the wall. The secretary resumed typing.

Two minutes later a man emerged from the office and greeted Jet with a Japanese formal bow. He was what Jet characterized as a 'by the book' academy guy, the kind that usually rose to administrative positions—erect bearing, clothes tailored and pressed, a small mustache immaculately trimmed, and eyes that squinted behind perfectly polished glasses.

"Good morning, I am Police Chief Muraki." He said in a stilted, officious-sounding voice. "How can I be of assistance?"

Jet resisted the sudden impulse to stand at attention. "I'm Jet Black, leader of a bounty hunting group." He handed the man a sheet of information. "James Kudo asked me down here on a certain rumor."

The police chief's face grew troubled. "It was no rumor..." He cut himself off and waved a hand to Jet. "But come, its better we discuss this in my office."

Jet nodded and followed. The chief shut the door and the two seated themselves on faux leather chairs over an old oak desk.

Jet spoke. "Now, you say it's not a rumor…"

Muraki passed a manila folder across the desk to Jet. "Yes and no. There was a serial murderer claiming that name, but we have since arrested him."

Jet opened the file and looked at the mug shot. "This doesn't look anything like the Battousai I've seen in the case files."

"The description is not widely known to the public." The police chief answered. "Many were quite ready to believe that a person of his height and size was the infamous killer."

"That's pretty pathetic if you ask me, using some other guy's reputation." Jet handed back the file. "So you were able to catch him?"

Muraki's eye twitched. "A local citizen assisted us after he witnessed the accused attacking a young woman."

Jet laughed, "You seem to get a lot of help around here from the populace."

Now it was the police chief's turn to smile. "Yes we do Mr. Black. They may not trust the ISSP, but we're just local police. They care about their city, and so do we."

"I can understand that." Jet got to his feet and saluted the man. "Well, I've taken up too much your time already. It's a shame there's no bounty… Drop us a line if the real thing pops up okay?"

The Police Chief nodded, walking over to the door and opening it for Jet. "I will be sure to contact you the next time we have an assassin problem."

"Hmm…he's not as uptight as he looks..." Jet thought as he bowed and left the office. He waved at the young secretary, who looked extremely nervous.

"Don't worry." He said to her. "Didn't you hear they already caught the guy?"

The girl's eyes grew wide. "Oh…that's…that's wonderful news." She stammered. Then, as if remembering something, she relaxed. "He was an imposter though."

"Yeah," Jet replied, "but I don't see any reason to think the real one would hang out here."

The girl smiled. "That's great!" She waved back. "You have a good day now!"

The ex-cop gave her a fatherly smile as he went out the door. "You too."

Jet's smile faded to a frown ten feet from the door. Something in his mind had fallen into place while talking to the young secretary. The girl had seemed almost relieved when he told her the real Battousai was still out there… Then there was Police Chief Muraki, who had gone out of his way to reassure him the case was solved… And why would Jim, a competent and usually well-informed officer, send him that case file if he knew that the suspect looked nothing like him? Jet growled. "If they think they can con the 'Black Dog,' they're wrong…but what could be their motive?"

Meanwhile, back at Kamiya dojo…
"I can't believe it…" Sanosuke murmured in astonishment, "I've seen Kenshin do some pretty impossible things, but this beats all."

"I know," Yahiko agreed, "is she human?"

Even Kenshin, usually so serene amidst his friends' antics, looked wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the spectacle. "Perhaps it would be wise to stop her," He said worriedly, "this one wouldn't want her to come to any harm."

"More please Auntie Kao Kao!" Edward chirruped happily, handing the empty plate from her third helping to Kaoru.

"Certainly Edward-chan," Kaoru replied warmly as she dished up more food, "It's my pleasure." She paused to cast a frozen glare at her audience. "Humph, finally there is somebody who appreciates my cooking!"

The three looked at each other uneasily, wondering how to escape the oncoming storm that was Kaoru's temper.

"Now, now," Kenshin began, "it is not that we don't appreciate your efforts Kaoru-dono. You are certainly improving, that you are, but…" He stopped, too afraid of the bokken that had somehow appeared in Kaoru's hand.

Yahiko smirked. "Yeah, an ugly like you can't help it if she cooks bad."

The result was predictable: down went Yahiko as he was introduced once again to Kaoru's bokken.

"Lump-head!" Edward yelled, laughing. "Lump-head, lump-head, lump-head!"

"You could say that again Ed." Yahiko groaned.

"Oro…" Kenshin sighed. "This one will go do the dishes now…" A loud argument broke out between his housemates, and Kenshin, using all the stealth of a shadow assassin, quietly slipped out the room, unnoticed.

Ein whined from under the table before following him to the kitchen. Going to his side the Welsh corgi tugged on Kenshin's pant leg and gave him a commiserating yelp, then panted encouragingly.

Kenshin bent down to pat Ein's head. "They take some getting used to, that they do, but they have been very kind to this unworthy one."

The dog gave him a look that seemed to reply, "Yeah, right…"

Kenshin only smiled and shook his head at the foolishness of explaining all this to a dog, then began washing the dishes filling the sink.

Ein sighed and settled down for a nap by his feet.