Author's Notes: And my period of productivity begins to wane. It takes more time to get to write something, and I think I'll be back to making sporadic updates any day now. Still, not a bad run. In like two weeks I got 3 chapters to LCA!, two new stories with two chapters each, and a new chapter of DoaNA (not counting this one). For me, that's pretty good.

Anyway...

Dawn of a New Age

Chapter 8- Agent

Kagome felt a little weary the next morning. She had managed to heal the bruises on her neck with her powers, but her throat was still a little sore. Tea seemed to help at least. And of course she had to cook breakfast for not only herself and Inuyasha but now Shippo as well. Speaking of whom, Shippo was busy exploring the apartment while Inuyasha hovered around her studying the pancakes she was making. "I told you, Inuyasha, breakfast will be done soon. Just be patient."

The Moreau said nothing and just continued watching. Kagome focused in on his aura and saw that he had two goals in mind. First of all there was concern. He was being eerily protective and Kagome wasn't sure to be touched or nervous about that. The other thing going through his mind was curiosity. Maybe he wanted to learn how to cook? It was hard to say.

Another few minutes passed like that before Kagome stacked up all of the pancakes and bacon on a large plate on the table. "Okay, you two breakfast is ready."

No sooner had Kagome said that than there was a knock at the door. Everyone stiffened up at the sound. Inuyasha glanced at Kagome and merely nodded as he snatched up Shippo and ducked into the guest room, trying to stifle the boy's protests.

Kagome cleared her throat and went to the door. She looked through the peephole to see a young woman in her mid-twenties in a grey suit with a briefcase. She had dark eyes and long black hair. Very pretty, but very serious-looking too. Kagome opened the door and peered out. "Yes? Can I help you?"

The woman nodded once. "Yes. Are you Miss Kagome Higurashi?"

"That's me," Kagome answered.

With that, the woman reached into a pocket in her suit jacket and produced an FBI badge. "Sango Yoshida, FBI. We've received word that you may have been a witness to a disturbance at the Hagen Mall the other day."

Kagome stifled a gasp and tried to put on her best innocent face. "I'm not sure what you mean..." she answered tentatively.

"May I come in?" Sango asked firmly, but not forcefully.

"S-sure." Kagome mentally slapped herself for stuttering. Way to appear innocent. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"We've received reports that an individual was sighted here a couple of days ago. An unidentified young man with silver hair, yellow eyes, and dog ears." How could this woman be so damn mellow about the whole thing? Kagome felt like she was going to explode.

"Dog ears? You're kidding." Kagome decided to continue her act and headed to the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Yes, thank you," Sango answered as she sat down on the couch. "I'm afraid I missed breakfast today. Anyway, are you sure you didn't see anything unusual?"

"No more than any other day," Kagome said, finding it much easier to lie now that she wasn't making eye contact. She contemplated reading the woman's aura to try and get an idea of how successful her act was.

A small yelp of pain came from the guest room and Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin. That mutt was going to get it!

"What was that?" Sango asked.

Kagome turned bright red and brought two mugs of coffee into the living room. She laughed nervously and smiled. "That... was my boyfriend, uh... Ian." It was the closest thing she could come up. It sounded a little like Inu... kind of. "He's not a morning person."

"Do you know if he's seen anything?" Sango continued questioning before taking a sip of coffee.

"I don't think so," Kagome answered.

There was a moment of silence before a thump came from the guest room and Kagome felt like she would die on the spot. Sango said nothing, however and just sipped her coffee. "So anyway..." Kagome started, but was cut off.

"Miss Higurashi, I'm done playing games," Sango said seriously. "I'm only going to remind you once that lying to an agent like myself is a federal offense."

Kagome felt her jaw drop. This wouldn't end well. "But I..." She couldn't even form a sentence.

Sango set her briefcase on the coffee table and opened it up. She produced a picture that showed an overhead shot, slightly blurred, of her at the mall being carried away by Inuyasha. "The figure in this photograph has been positively identified as you. There are too many eyewitness accounts that much up. I suggest you tell me whatever it is you know, Miss Higurashi. Suffice to say that this is a matter of great importance."

Kagome was torn. She was caught in the act. Could she still lie and get away with it lying?

Before she even had the chance to answer, the door to the guest room opened and Inuyasha stepped out still clad only in a pair of blue jeans and a T-shirt. Kagome and Sango gasped in unison while Shippo launched himself out of the room and jumped into Kagome's lap, glaring suspiciously at the federal agent.

"How much do you know?" Inuyasha asked flatly.

Sango gave him a very careful look for a moment. "I have been assigned to investigate rumors of Project: Moreau," she said at last. "And terminate them."

"I got news for you, lady," Inuyasha drawled in a low voice. "I want to get rid of those sick fucks as much as you do."

Sango looked genuinely surprised by the answer. "I think you all owe me an explanation," she said levelly. "From the top."

"I better call Miroku, too," Kagome said. "He knows a lot about this, too."

-x-

Sango couldn't believe it when he stepped in the door. The Miroku Yamashita. "Mr. Yamashita? I'm Sango Yoshida. I've read a lot of your work. It's a pleasure to meet you." She extended her hand in a very professional manner to greet him.

Miroku gave her a suave smile and instead of shaking her hand, kissed it in a very gentlemanly way. "The pleasure is all mine, Miss Yoshida," he said in a smooth voice.

Sango felt a light blush creep into her face and mentally scolded herself for getting flustered over this. As Miroku passed her, she felt a small pinch on her rear and the embarrassment turned to rage. Momentarily losing her temper, she shifted her stance and planted a powerful elbow strike in the small of Miroku's back, causing him to fall forward onto the carpeted floor with a loud grunt of pain. Sango scowled and turned to glare at him as he picked himself up off the floor.

Miroku stared at her a moment as he brushed himself off then grinned in a rather lecherous way. "I was thinking that you're not my type of woman, but now you are, actually," he declared bluntly.

Sango felt her jaw drop and stormed past him onto the couch beside Kagome, fuming quietly.

"You know," Inuyasha remarked as he came out of the kitchen with another plate of pancakes and bacon, "if you keep that up, she may not let you live long enough to see this whole clusterfuck to the end."

"I have a thing for dangerous women," Miroku admitted unashamedly as he sat in the recliner. "But if Miss Yoshida is uninterested, what about you Kagome?"

"If you touch her," Inuyasha snarled, "I'll rip out your intestines and strangle you with them."

"Ah, so that's your relationship?" Miroku sighed resignedly. "How awkward."

Inuyasha and Kagome both went beet red and the older Moreau snarled again. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear your arms off and beat you to death with them?"

"Who else are you going to use all of those creative threats on?" Miroku joked.

"Are we actually going to do anything?" Shippo humphed impatiently. He had been sitting quietly in Kagome's lap the whole time.

"Alright, alright," Inuyasha grumbled. "Asshole," he addressed Miroku, "you start."

Miroku arched a brow but didn't respond to the bait. Instead he began his explanation of how he came to discover Project: Moreau. That was followed by Inuyasha's story of how he came to be here, and Kagome's story of how she found Inuyasha and all the events leading up to now. At the story of the battle at the ranch, Shippo buried his face in her collar and sobbed softly.

Sango couldn't help but feel her heart soften. She had been told the original orders were to exterminate the Moreaus, but many agents in on this investigation were lobbying to have the Moreaus instead put on trial as any other human being. They were trained mercenaries and genetic experiments, but they were still living things. Seeing Inuyasha and Shippo, though... she was beginning to believe that they did deserve better than an execution. Inuyasha was kept alive by the Project for the sole purpose of suffering. And Shippo had been born outside of the Project. He hadn't done anything wrong.

When the stories were finished, there was an awkward silence. "I'll hold off on reporting to my superiors for a little while," Sango declared at last. "I don't think they'll be as sympathetic to Inuyasha and Shippo as I am."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked with concern.

"My orders were to terminate the Moreaus, but I can't go through with that," Sango answered bluntly. "I'm going to need all of your help. You see, this isn't the only case federal agents have been sent to investigate."

"What are you saying exactly?" Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as if dreading the answer.

"The two Moreaus you fought... They're not alone." Sango opened her briefcase again and took out several manila folders, handing them around. "The Project seems to be getting back into full swing. Sightings have gone through the roof. We've counted at least seven in the last year. What bothers us the most is this." Sango pulled out a black and white photograph and set it down on the coffee table. It was a shot taken at a distance of a man with long, wavy dark hair and pale skin flanked by two armed guards.

Inuyasha walked up and peered over the couch at the photo. A low growl immediately slipped out of his throat, and the empty plate in his hand started to visibly shake as his body quivered with obvious rage.

"You recognize him," Sango deadpanned. "Doctor Naraku Tanaka, founder of Project: Moreau." Everyone leaned in for a closer look. "The part that worries us is the date that picture was taken on. May 17... 2031."

All eyes went from the photograph, to Sango, to the photograph again. "That's impossible," Miroku whispered incredulously. "He's over a hundred years old, but in that picture he can't be any older than his mid- to late-thirties."

"I know," Sango sighed. "But he has been positively identified. We still haven't figured out a rational explanation-" Sango couldn't finish her sentence as she was cut off by Inuyasha.

"My ass you haven't!" he snapped. "The whole time I was there, he never aged a day. I guess he figured out how to keep from dying."

"Inuyasha, this is not a science fiction novel," Sango chided in a scolding tone. "We need reasonable explanations."

Inuyasha gave her an incredulous look and pointed at himself. "Hello! Lady, I have dog DNA in me. I can bench press 650 pounds and have a vertical leap of 50 feet. I can still smell what you had for dinner last night. And just yesterday, I figured out that I can make psionic energy come out of my claws. Is it that much of a stretch that Tanaka could do some weird experiment on himself? At the very least, he could have put himself in stasis for a few decades like he did to me."

Well, when he put it like that... Sango opted to simply say nothing.

"The man makes a good point," Miroku said thoughtfully. "Considering everything we've seen in the last few days, it's too early to discount anything as a possibility."

"Thought so," Inuyasha grunted. He retreated into the kitchen a moment and came back without the plate.

"So what are we going to do?" he asked to no one in particular.

"I'll come up with a story to tell my superiors," Sango said in a business-like tone as she began packing up her suitcase. "For the time being, I'd like to keep them away from all of you. At least until they can be convinced that Inuyasha and Shippo don't mean harm to anyone."

"Other than Tanaka, right?" Inuyasha growled.

"I think that goes without saying," Sango replied. "I'd like to meet with you all tomorrow evening. Does anyone have a good meeting place? I'd prefer we not keep meeting here for the sake of security."

There was a moment of silence. "I suppose we could go over to my family's home," Kagome suggested.

Sango just shook her head. "I'm going to have to say no, Kagome. I have to keep civilians out of this."

"My house, then," Miroku chimed in. He pulled out a card from his pocket and handed it to Sango. "My address and contact information are all there. Kagome already knows how to find me."

Sango gave Miroku a critical look and took the card. "Very well. I expect to see all of you at Mister Yamashita's-" Sango began, but was cut off.

"Please, call me Miroku."

Sango didn't even spare him a glance. "At Mister Yamashita's house at 7 PM tomorrow. Try to lay low."

With that, Sango stood up and strode out of the apartment. This was going to put her training to the test. She'd be lying and disobeying direct orders from her superiors and had to work with a lecher and a surly Moreau. At least they were easy on the eyes.

Sango paused as if paralyzed when she caught herself thinking that as she got into her car. She shook her head to clear it. The last thing she needed right now was to be thinking like that damnable lecher in such a critical situation. With a sigh, Sango started the car up and began thinking of what she was going to say in her report.

-x-

Naraku carefully examined the reports on the notepad Perkins had delivered that afternoon. So the FBI wanted to get involved again, did they? Someone was going to have to suffer. Sango Yoshida. Sent to investigate reports of a canine Moreau sighted with a woman positively identified as Kagome Higurashi, a known psion. Very interesting. He would dispatch Sesshoumaru to investigate this one. Perhaps Koga as well when he returned from Egypt.

Naraku suspected Inuyasha to be the canine Moreau mentioned in the report, but he wanted to be sure. Also, no sense in bringing him back just yet. It would be an excellent research opportunity to observe his behavior in the modern world and to see just what he could do now that his powers were being given a chance to develop.

This certainly made him feel better about Hiten and Manten's disappearances. Oh well. They were expendable anyway. The only concern was whether or not they showed up again and who saw them if they did.

-x-

Author's Notes: I thought this would make a nice segue into the second act as the action begins to heat up. By the way, am I the only one who was having a lot of technical problems with the site yesterday?

Killer Goldfish: Chapter 3 for Singin' Hound is next. I'm hammering out some kinks right now.

Mimiko: From watching the show, I always figured Inuyasha as the type who makes the leap of logic, "If you can do something, then do it," a lot. Anyway, I hope you like how I've portrayed Sango here. She's not an easy character to work with.

shaid: I think it's probably best not to go on a fight scene for more than a few minutes until the big climactic bit. Otherwise, it kinda drags.

Divine-Red-Crayon: At least you have something to do with your time. I'm spending the January term at home to try and earn some money, but I can't find a job.

Lost-Remembrance: Kagome's rock thingy will be explained in the next chapter.