A/N:

Ok- Got this fic done- just have to work a little on the last chapter- but here's one more for you before that...back to back updates! Productive ne?

You guys deserve it- plus I promised to get it done before Japan, so I try to be an otaku of my word.

This is the action packed- so near the end you can almost taste it chapter!

Included are the following: gunfights, hostage situations, taiora fluff, jumping off balconies, bar fights, more taiora fluff, death, desire, suspense, did I mention Taiora fluff? Well let's just say it once more to be safe, TAIORA FLUFF!

Yes, I know it's been long coming- but it's finally here. Chapter 10! Numero diez, about freakin' time, call it what you will it's here!

Yosh!

Sora entered the room expecting to see a half naked man waiting on the bed. Instead she found a familiar head of brown hair looking sheepishly down at his feet.

"Taichi?" She said in shock. Quickly entering the room and pulling the door shut tight behind her, she looked over at him trying to figure out why he was sitting there on the bed.

"I had wanted to tell you earlier... I got into the gang." He smiled trying to stop the rush of crimson from appearing on his cheeks. As innocent as his intentions were at the moment, Sora's state of undress would make any breathing man's heart race. The lace corset covered the bare minimum of her fair skin, and a sheer black silk robe draped over her shoulders only added to the scantily clad ensemble.

"I heard they sent someone new in... Joe had a friend stop by a little while ago... he also said it was more than likely a trap." She could not help but smile at the funny expression that crossed his face. It looked like her was trying to concentrate on her words, however there were other things that had his attention. Sauntering over to the bed, Sora surprised Tai by resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm so tired of all this..." She said in a meek voice. It was so unlike the usually strong and independent Sora Tai had grown accustom to seeing. "I'm at my wits end tonight... things have just gotten so... so complicated."

"Sora, it'll be alright." He assured her while placing an arm around her shoulders. Tai made sure to keep his hands in appropriate places, however it was a tough battle. "I wanted to tell you earlier, but I have an idea. If it works out we could both be free of all this by tomorrow."

"How?" Sora asked not taking her head off him. Finding a gentle warmth being this close to him again, Sora wanted more than anything to forget and stay like this forever.

"Like you said this is a trap set to get you- alive or dead. But we could turn their trap on them. Now I know this is dangerous and a little bit risky... I know we can do this. Your skills and mine, we can achieve our goals."

"So what do you propose?" She sighed.

"We use my new in on the group and their anger at you against them. The guys hiding in the rooms across the street and downstairs, well they want to bring you back to their base alive, if possible... well I..."

"Set it up to look like you got me." She finished for him. Placing her hand on his, Sora looked into his deep eyes. "I trust you."

Her eyes spoke volumes more to Taichi. He could see much more in her crimson orbs. She was tired, afraid, weak, strong, and yet determined. Beyond all those, there was something more there- something he had felt from the very beginning with this girl.

Leaning closer to her, Tai finally lived his dreams of the past few nights. His lips pressed against hers ever so lightly at first. Pulling back to gauge her response, he found her eyes closed and a look of peace sweep across her face.

His heart took over control of his body. Licking his he returned to her soft lips; drinking her in deeply, his arms protectively wrapped around her frame. If they had not been sitting on the bed, he knew his knees would have given out at that point. Especially after she returned the affection with small, somewhat timid caresses to his back and arms.

Sora had never felt this feeling as strongly as she did now. Her heart was racing faster than when she had experienced her first kiss. Nothing in Matt's lips or the other's were this warm, this wet, this… right. She was like a drunk to his lips and hands.

"Taichi…" She gasped as he left her lips and trailed down her neck with hot nips. Feeling herself fall down on the bed with his body following, images of letting others get too close and then hurt her flashed in her mind. 'Would he end up like her family? Taken away by murders… Or worse- would he use her and leave?' A sickening feeling began to creep into the current warmth and contentment was broken.

"What about our mission?" She asked, looking up into his eyes. The fire in his eyes seemed to be at war with another force- he was trying to hold back… Sora was confused.

Tai nearly jumped off the girl he had pinned down on the bed. Once his mind retook control, he felt embarrassed and somewhat relieved he had stopped before things progressed too far. He wanted a relationship with this girl, but not like this- it wasn't the right time to be dealing with further complications. 'Mission first, then future with Sora.' He told himself.

"You're right, I apologize." He quickly uttered before anything else. To his surprise Sora sat up and hugged him.

"Don't apologize… it's me. I just…"

"We'll have all the time in the world to talk about this tomorrow, when everything is over." He assured her placing his hands over hers.

"Let's finish this." She added before getting up. Sora walked over to the dresser in the corner and pulled out a dress. "Don't want to go into that dirty place dressed like this do I? I'm only half dressed."

Tai only smiled as she also took out a small box. He knew it had to be some sort of weapon. "Here." She said as she handed him a small gun. "Put it somewhere safe. They'll both search us for guns- but these are easy to hide." Taking out several small knives, she began to conceal them in her clothes. One in her boot, another tucked into the corset, and still a third she wrapped and used as an ornament in her thick hair bun.

"Are you sure?" Tai asked as she finished dressing and took out some rope.

"Here, tie me up." She motioned him to take the rope from her and begin to wrap her up. Tai began to do as she asked, until she stopped him.

"Wait…you don't think this looks too fake?" Sora asked thinking over the situation in her mind. "Quick, make a mess, rip your clothes… and hit me." She commanded looking at stunned Tai.

"I'm not going to hit you."

"They'll never believe you caught me this easy. So make it look believable… rip your shirt or something, and then HIT ME!"

"But…"

"Fine, if you won't hit me, I'll hit you." She said and with out warning Tai got a hit that with time would create a nice bruise. "Now me." She said looking at him.

"I…"

"That gentlemanly stuff won't get you anywhere around here… take what you want or else it will be taken by someone else." With that, she took out a knife and gave herself several superficial wounds. Just enough to get some blood going and make it look like she was roughed up.

"Look good?" She asked smearing the blood a bit and quickly applying some makeup to look like she took a couple hits in the face.

"You always do." Was his first reply. This honest remark caused both to blush a bit. With a smile, Sora allowed him to finish binding her arms and legs.

Being careful to make the knots look real and tight, Tai quickly finished his work. In reality, Sora would be able to break free if anything happened- his knots looked real, but were loose enough to escape easily.

"I guess I give them the signal now." Tai said as he laid Sora down on the bed. With her hands bound behind her back, and her legs tied at the ankles, Sora tired to relax. Her heart was racing-this was risky. Closing her eyes after Tai gave the signal, she steadied her breathing and pretended she was unconscious.

"You ok? You're still bleeding…" Tai motioned to her wounds.

"Good- it makes things look believable." She smiled. "I'll be fine. Just try and get as close as you can and no matter what, remember that killing him and his whole group is more important than anything else…"

Before she could get much more out, Tai silenced her with his lips covering hers in a last passionate kiss. Not caring if he scared her, or if she felt the same way, he needed this..

"I love you…" He whispered as he broke the kiss with the noise coming from outside the door.

Things after that went in a blur for Taichi. The men stormed the room and found him with the bound saloon girl. Sora did a convincing job of playing unconscious. Tai also kept a watchful eye and made sure the men did not rough her up too much or take advantage of her position.

The group of armed men congratulated Tai with slaps to the back and calls for drinking. However, a well-dressed man entered the room and quickly quieted the rowdy men. Tai had never seen a man with such an evil presence or short temper. He barked orders and quickly they had Sora taken out the window, as to not draw any more attention to the group's actions that night.

Tai followed as closely as possible, fearing for Sora now more than ever. 'What was I thinking?' He questioned himself as he could do nothing but watch her being placed into a sack and thrown into a carriage.

Moving closer to the carriage, Tai was stopped abruptly by the dominating figure of the same man from earlier.

"You're the new guy…how was it that she put up so good of fights to kill off thirty or so men, and you captured her so easily?" The suited man asked looking Tai over.

"I drugged her, and then took advantage of her moment of weakness." Tai quickly lied. He prayed that the story would be good enough.

"Drugged? What kind of drug did you use? She's never been that stupid before…" Thankfully, the man was cut off from further questioning as another man's yell echoed in the streets. Some of the group was celebrating a little too much. From the sounds coming from the saloon, a fight had broken out.

"Get in," the man told Tai in a manner that did not allow for arguments. After watching Tai follow his orders, the man walked up to the driver and whispered something in his ear. Tai could only watch and wonder if their flimsy covers were already blown.

Seconds later, the carriage containing Tai, two other men and Sora took off out of town. Several riders followed behind on horseback as the group made its way to the hideout.

Arriving at their destination, Tai was once again separated from Sora. While the two men took her down a dark hallway, Tai was led into a lavish room. The room was well light for the time of night with candles and lanterns. Red velvet chairs furnished the room along with expensive looking furniture and paintings.

"The boss will be in to congratulate you personally." A man told him before leaving the room and closing the door. From the outside, no one would suspect the run down looking missionary post to be lavish looking lair. These guys were definitely doing well in their business of murder and thievery.

The bad feeling from earlier resurfaced at full strength as he waited for the 'boss' to show. He needed to figure out what to do next. I f he just straight out killed the man, as he wanted to do, then both his and Sora's fates were sealed. They would not survive the night. At least Sora would not- she was taking the worst risk of all. Even with the rope loose to escape, he still had no idea of where they took her or what was happening to her.

Looking around the room, Tai found very little personal effects to the lavishly furnished room. Books lined shelves, however none allowed Tai a better feel of his adversary. The little he knew about this man was from the bits in his memories and what Sora had told him during their conversation in the stables.

The scarred man seemed to prove a worthy opponent. No matter his methods of merciless bloodshed, Tai knew this man was probably a genius at least at strategy. However, he had made two fatal mistakes… killing his and Sora's family. A mistake that took several years to get revenge. Tonight was the night. He would walk out of here a free man- his conscious clear and revenge attained, or he would leave in a casket, ready to meet his family in the next world.

'Heaven be with us.' He silently prayed as he continued to think and scan the room. His eyes caught on a metal frame over on a side table. He didn't know why the object caught his eye, yet he walked over as if his body was drawn to it. Picking it up, he recognized the photo… it was the same one Sora had in her chest in the stable. The photo was of her family, all smiles and happy. Little did they know the man they embraced would slaughter them all, and force Sora into such a hard life.

It was then he decided that when they survived, he would take her away from this frontier life. Gold rush and saloon profits be damned, she deserved better. As he studied the picture more, he could see that she had indeed lost a part of that carefree and beautiful smile. The sparkle in her eyes now was nothing compared to that spark in the photo.

The door opened suddenly and Tai set the photo back in its place. Several men entered the room, followed by a man in dark clothes and matching black hat.

Tai's eyes went straight for the scar that appeared on the man's face. He was finally there- before him was the man who killed his wife, his unborn child and who haunted both Sora's and his lives.

The two looked at each other for a moment as silence filled the room.

"So this is the boy who brought my Sora in finally." The scarred man asked. The deep green eyes of the man before his sent a chill up Tai's spine as an aura of evil and death seeped into the room. Something evil oozed out of this man, Tai felt it the moment they had first met in the past, and things had not changed a bit.

"I know- I can't believe how he did it." One of the men to the right of the scarred man retorted. "He's still a pup."

"It doesn't matter- all that's important now is getting revenge for all my buddies she killed. So when are we going to roast her?" Came another hostile voice that was echoed several times by others in the room.

"Now, now. Sora does have a valid dispute with me, going way back… so we're not going to rush into anything." Their leader quieted the men's complaints.

"So, does our brightest new sharp shooter have a name?" He continued looking back over to Tai.

"Taichi, sir. Moreover, I'd like to say it was a pleasure helping you all out. I'd like to even extend my services if you're in need of another loyal hand." Tai said trying to keep the tempered rage in check. He had to win over this man… this monster in order to escape here alive with Sora.

"We'll see. I'd like to know how you got her without shooting her a few times."

"Um… well, it was rather easily done… I mean you just had to play all the cards right." Tai tried to buy himself some time to think of a believable answer. Then it hit him- "You know women, I gave her what they all want, pretty words, promises of a better life… when she wasn't looking and after her defenses were down, I slipped her a little something. She struggled a bit as I tied her up, but after few minutes she was out cold."

"Interesting…" The man replied. "I think we will keep you around. Boys, see to it our newest friend is well taken care of…we will need him a little later, bring him to the room in a hours time." The tone of voice worried Taichi a little more than he would have liked. There was just something behind the man's words that hinted at darker intentions… Making the choice to leave and not extract his revenge just yet, Tai hoped he had made the right choice.

Sora slowly opened her eyes feeling the overwhelming cold surround her. She panicked a little not knowing where she was; looking around the room, it looked like a bedroom. Finding herself placed on a large bed, Sora shivered at the cold that enveloped the sparsely decorated room. Flowers wilted on the table in the center of the room, the rest was a darkened mix of black and a blood red. She did not like those color combinations, that and the fact she was still bound, and alone in someone's bedroom.

As she tried to move, Sora winced at the throbbing pain in her head. 'The bastards just had to make sure I was unconscious, didn't they.' She thought to herself. Taking in more of her surroundings, she decided it would be best to make a hasty exit, that or at least get these ropes off her arms. Not knowing what was going on made Sora all the more nervous… had Tai gotten inside enough to find a way to not only stop these murders but a way out for the both of them.

Thinking over the situation a little more, she felt somewhat relieved that Tai had shown up that day in the alley when a thug had attempted to kill her. The new man did not do much help in that situation, but he seemed reliable and trustworthy. Something that was rare here in the West. The man with spiky hair was definitely something different. He made her feel things she thought were long dead… and he didn't hate her or look down on her because of the decisions she made in life… he actually cared for her… he had told her he loved her. Those words, from him, did more to her heart than the thousands of times Matt would tell her them.

Things were different with Taichi. A good different that made her feel she could do anything and survive anything if she could just be with him. Looking back, she had never felt that way about any of her male companions. Joe and Izzy were helpful- not only with her current operations, and with finding information- they were her emotional support over the long years she had lived in Sacramento. Matt, well Matt was Matt. A good friend, well more than a friend, and not just a 'client.' Sora shuttered, her chosen profession was not one of wanting, it was necessary. She had come a long way to get here and now… now she just wanted it all to end.

'I love you.' His lips were close to her ears when he whispered those words. He was serious, right. She wondered as she continued to reach for the concealed knives. Finding the one still in her boot, she twisted her body as much as she could to try to get the knife out. It did not surprise her to fid the ropes tightened, but it made things more difficult.

As she continued to struggle, she heard footsteps nearing the other side of the door. Trying not to panic, Sora hid the knife as best she could underneath her body. Closing her eyes and uttering a silent prayer, Sora awaited whatever fate come from behind the doors. Her heart nearly burst as the footsteps stopped. The slowly the door opened and a lone figure entered.

As the door slammed closed behind him, Sora knew exactly who had entered. Keeping her eyes closed, she didn't want to see the horrible man now looking down at her. He came closer to the bed; his breathing was shallow, as he looked her over. His eyes traversing her body made Sora want to vomit.

"Sora… my little Sora…" He called to her, but she kept still. Moments passed with just him looking at her there on the bed. "I know you're awake… I know you all too well, don't I?"

His voice had a mocking tone as he moved even closer to her. Running his hand down the bare skin of her arm and then up her body caused her to flinch.

"See, you're awake… why don't you want to look at your old friend? We were like family, weren't we?" His patience was growing thin, after she still did not make any signs of moving, the man with the scarred face gripped her neck tightly with his hands. The lack of air caused Sora's eyes to open wide in shock as she gasped.

Sora struggled as best she could with her arms and legs still bound, but there was little she could do until the man let her go. Watching Sora cough violently after he released her neck the man laughed at her. Picking her up by her hair, he slapped her hard and let her fall back on the sheets.

"You don't want to reminisce about the past do you?" He smiled as her eyes shot daggers in his direction. "You always were lovely… I've enjoyed watching you these past few years here in Sacramento. I was so happy you missed me that much to come and find me. However, you did go about getting to me the wrong way- all those men. I was playing with you, you realize that?"

With that piece of information, Sora was enraged. She nearly broke through her bindings with the surge of rage… all the killing, all the horrible things she had lived through and he was just playing with her again…

"Does it make you feel any better when I tell you I missed you? You know, I always dreamt of you… if you survived, where you were, what I did to you… none of my victims since have been more fun to play with than my precious Sora." He said running a finger down her cheek.

Tears began to stream down her face as the man's voice brought back horrible memories. Fire, screams, the sound of flesh being cut, pain, tearing of clothes and the animalistic enjoyment that she saw in his eyes… he had taken so much.

"Oh, I'm upsetting you? I would never want to do that…" Again he smiled down at her with his evil face. Sora couldn't take it much longer… being in the same room with this man, breathing the same air as he did, just thinking of him made her feel sick.

Knowing she couldn't accomplish much in her current state, she had to do something. Finding where she placed her knife, she ripped a hand free from the coarse ropes and took a swing at the man.

She managed to slice his arm with the small knife before another action was futile. He gripper her arm and nearly broke it off by twisting it behind her back. Bottling up the pain, Sora would not let him hear her cry out ever again… he took too much pleasure in her pain the last time they met… this time she would silently accept whatever fate gave her.

"Oh, someone is being overly feisty today. I like that in women you know." He smiled as he pressed her down against the bed and began frisking her for other weapons. "You know, if you would just behave, I could keep you with me… you'd have everything your little heart desired…say you'll be mine again and all these hardships could disappear." He said eyeing her chest with lustful eyes.

"Never…" She spat out with clenched teeth. The pain of him twisting her arm and digging in her skirts for weapons increased. He was enjoying this…

"I hear you've made quite the saloon girl in town… you must have improved since…" Somehow, she had summoned the power and shut him up with a quick knee into the groin. He would regret kneeling over her legs…

He recovered all too quickly. Sora had expected some time to run, but was only able to roll onto her stomach before he grabbed her again.

"That was NOT nice." He screamed at her as he violently grabbed her hair with one hand and took her arms in the other. Sitting down on her thighs, he made sure her legs were not able to do much. The squirming girl beneath him tried everything to break out from his grip… but she was stuck.

"Now it's time I taught you a lesson about your place…" Ripping open the back of her dress after letting go of her hair, he smiled at the scar. "This means you are mine." He said in a threatening voice. He was daring her to contradict him. Taking her knife, he used it to cut her again in a similar but more shallow design as the last wound he left her.

For the first time since she regained some order in her life, Sora felt helpless. The more she squirmed, the more she knew he enjoyed it… if she laid there, maybe he would let her live a second time… she doubted that would happen. All she had left was hope for Taichi to somehow save her. She would swallow her pride this time and allow someone to help…

'Taichi… I need you right now…please….'

Several men had led Tai around the maze like structure of the compound. Some were friendly- they looked like they had been caught up in this mess accidentally; others were the worst kind of criminals imaginable… the law man in him felt like letting his guns go wild in this place, but he knew it still wasn't just. They needed to take all these men to jail… the law would decide who hung or not.

After what seemed like hours of walking, Tai was very confused. It was difficult to remember which way the men had shown him- thus making it hard to remember where the exits were… the location and directions of exits could mean life or death in a situation like this one. Things were not looking good.

Added on top of that, the rumors of the boss wanting time alone with Sora caused extra troubles on Tai's mind. Would she be all right dealing with him… would she just up and kill the man, if she did, how would he know and what would he do?

They stopped suddenly in front of a door. One of the men knocked, a mumbled voice came from inside and the door opened. Tai and two others entered the room before the door locked from the outside.

"Ah yes, the man who caught my little Sora." Came his voice. Tai's eyes went wide as he saw Sora's body bleeding on the bed. Her arms twisted back and were bound tighter than before as the man sat on her thighs with a cruel look across his face. Tai could hardly control his anger as he saw her face. She was in pain, but she wasn't going to let them know it. Sora bit her lip to keep from crying out and tears leaked out of her closed eyes.

"We decided, since you caught her, and she won't let me keep her, isn't that right Sora… you can kill her... after some fun of course."

Tai's attention was ripped from Sora's face, to the man who was talking. Getting a push towards the bed, Tai didn't know what to do.

"Come now- you said you caught her fancy with your kind words of love… show her now."

His mind tried to catch up with everything that was going on... the plan to get inside, getting inside, being shown around, coming tot he room, seeing Sora bleeding, the man mocking and hurting her, now they were all looking at him...

Looking at the man to his side, Tai saw his chance to do something. A shiny revolver sat in the man's holster- unlocked and ready to go. Tai knew this was their only chance to get away...

Moving fast, he pushed the man with the gun against the wall. Grabbing the revolver he shot both men who had entered the room with him. Turning to get a lock on the man tormenting Sora, Tai felt his stomach twist. He wasn't fast enough taking care of the others; Sora was now being held as a shield for any bullets, a knife to her neck.

"So you think you both thought you were smart enough to catch me? Sorry sonny, I've been on the run for years and no law man so much as laid a finger on me. I'm not about to die at the hands of some kid and his saloon girl."

"Tai- shoot him." Sora said realizing the situation- behind those doors sat hundreds of men. Hundreds of men, who after hearing gun shots and shouting were about to come trampling into that door and kill them both.

"What?"

"DO it!" She demanded looking at him.

"She's right you know- my men will be ramming down that door in a matter of seconds." He snickered behind Sora.

"Shut up." Tai snarled not wanting to hear that man's voice one more time. It sickened him, angered him, and most of all drove him to want to kill him even more than before.

"Looks like your new toy isn't much fun... he's too worried about this little piece of flesh to think with hi brain." He snickered grabbing on to Sora's butt.

Knowing her actions could very well be the end for her- Sora decided to take things into her own hands once again. Taichi was certainly thinking of being the nice guy and not wanting to hurt her- but things happened and she was ready to take a bullet or two to get this man...

Snapping her head back as hard as she could, Sora's head collided into her captor's face. A horrible crunching sound and then a mad wail came from the mad behind her.

This distraction gave Tai his opportunity. Sora dropped to the ground as she saw Tai take aim. The bullet was skillfully aimed right for the man's chest. Being the sharp shooter he was- Tai hit his mark and the other man went flying back against the wall.

Blood gushed out of the wound as Sora maneuvered over to watch the man who had hurt her so much take his final breath. Still bound in the ropes, and not having been the one to officially pull the trigger, she felt satisfied in many ways as the man sputtered and died.

Tai was over and untying her before she noticed anything. Looking down upon the man's face- she felt lost...

Forgetting about the man he just killed Tai went to work getting Sora's back to stop bleeding from the new marks drawn into her skin.

"Let's get out of here." He called to her as he picked up another gun form the floor and tossed it to her. "Come on, we need to get out of here now."

"But..."

"Not now- first we need to leave." He said just as a voice spoke up on the other side of the door. "Crap... they'll be breaking down the door any minute... quick the window." Moving quickly to bar the door with objects inside the room, he saw their get away.

Waking up from her momentary stupor as several men began pounding on the door, Sora took stock of the situation... they needed to get out. As Tai continued barring the door, Sora got up and looked out the window. It was a long drop, even with the ropes that had been used on her... but there was no other choice.

"Let's go!" Tai said in a panic as a small hole was broken into the door. "They want in, and we need out." Rushing over to her and the now opened window, Tai grabbed Sora to him and took hold of the rope. "Shall we?"

"I'll love you for the rest of my life if we get out of this..." Came her reply as she held on tightly to his strong frame.

"Not a problem." He assured her as they both went out the window...