For warnings and disclaimers, please see first chapter.

Okay, I apologize for this chapter. It's wasn't really my favorite to write, and I think it shows... The thing is, even though not a lot happens in the chapter, I still needed it to make the next one make sense... Chapter six should be much better, because I'm actually looking forward to writing it.

Installment Five

In Which Goku Reflects

OR

Now We're Sailing Into Uncertain Waters

"Anyone home?" Hakkai called, setting down his briefcase and brushing his hair from his eyes. "Gojyo? Sanzo?"

Sanzo emerged from his room a moment later, eyes half closed and sucking on a cigarette.

"Yeah, I'm here," he muttered. Hakkai looked at him and laughed a little bit.

"Hard day?" he asked, flipping through the mail.

"Not really," Sanzo answered after a moment. "I found the kid." At Hakkai's blank stare, he elaborated, "Oh, that was my assignment. To bring in some kid."

"Where is he?" Hakkai asked, wondering what on Earth would possess a corporation like Rosemont to bring in a small child.

"He's, uh… sitting on the couch, Hakkai. Y'know, right in front of you?" Hakkai looked up, staring at the couch. He squinted for a fraction of a second, before he finally made out the image.

"Whoa!" he yelped, jumping back a half a foot. "That's so weird. I've stared straight at him twice since I've come home and haven't seen him." Hakkai shook his head in disbelief. "Maybe I need to get my eyes checked." Hakkai surveyed the boy more closely.

"Those are your clothes," he said suddenly.

"Yeah, his are in the wash," Sanzo murmured, leaning against the doorway.

"What's his name," Hakkai asked suddenly. It was eerily easy to speak about the boy as if he were in a different room.

"I guess it's Goku," Sanzo murmured finally. "But the only reference I have is a couple pages torn out of a diary, and the handwriting is frckn' hard to make out."

"Have you tried asking him?" Hakkai asked.

"Doesn't respond. It's bizarre, though…"

"What's bizarre?"

"He doesn't talk. Ever. And he's not deaf either; he's actually got excellent hearing… And he understands stuff. He'll react to commands and questions, as long as he doesn't have to talk…" Hakkai nodded, and turned to go. He stopped two steps into the hallway and turned around.

"Sanzo, where'd you pick him up?"

Sanzo grunted. "Subway station."

Hakkai smiled a bit. "Just making sure," he said, turned, and continued down the corridor.

Goku sat like that the entire night. He didn't move once; he never even twitched. He was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice the conversation between Hakkai and Sanzo, too absorbed to notice much the same thing happening when Gojyo got off work at three AM (A/N: Gojyo bartends. I'm not sure whether I actually ever said what he does, but that's it. That's the reason why he seems to have such bizarre hours.).

He was thinking, racking his brain, for a memory of something that he wasn't sure had even happened. Ever since he had jumped into the subway station, been suddenly resubmerged in the world of ethics and memories, away from the instincts that had ruled his life for so long, he had felt something wrong. There was something out of place. He was trying to remember what it was. He hadn't called upon memories for such a long time he was having a hard time deciding what was real and what imagination, but being surrounded by people seemed to be helping. He had tried once before, in a brief period of lucidity, to remember what was so much different about him then the rest of his race, but the exercise had failed. Or, Goku thought suddenly, he had touched upon something so terrible it had sent his lucid mind reeling, spinning once again out of control.

Finally, just as the sun was beginning to peer over the edges of the treetops, just as Goku was beginning to drift off into something like sleep, he had a flash of what could have been a memory.

A man laughing. A hand reaching into his line of vision. A woman screaming. As the brief memory came to an end, Goku's head fell back on the sofa pillow, and he knew no more.

"So, who's the kid?" Gojyo asked casually over breakfast, jerking his head towards the boy who still sat in much the same position, although now fast asleep.

It was Hakkai who answered. "A boy Sanzo needs for work. I think he said his name was Goku." Sanzo made no reaction, either affirmative or negative, so Hakkai assumed he had gotten the name right. "I think that it was mentioned earlier that you were here for recruitment? They might want Goku for an interview."

This roused Sanzo just long enough to make some small noncommittal response, which Hakkai, once again, took as an affirmative answer. Sanzo closed his eyes, hiding a wince very well. He knew what the most likely fate of the boy would be.

There was no such thing as 'recruitment'. People joined. That was it. There was no advertising involved. Rosemont relied on its notoriety for new members, and that was the end of the story. The truth was, no one really knew where people who were brought in to Rosemont went. It happened very rarely, and when it did happen, the prisoners were almost always sent to the government right away. The ones who didn't go to the government… well, there were all sorts of rumors of underground concentration camps and prisons. Every once in a while you'd hear about someone being transferred to one, and usually after the rumor was started, ran its course, and died down, the person in question would melt quietly into the background. There were so many 'mysterious' disappearances in Rosemont, that no one found it strange if their co-worker suddenly stopped showing up for work, especially if the supervisor didn't seem too concerned.

"Gojyo, can I talk to you?" Sanzo asked suddenly, standing and stepping into the other room. Hakkai and Gojyo exchanged bewildered glances, but he followed Sanzo all the same.

"You bartend, right?" Sanzo asked, lazily holding out a cigarette for Gojyo to light. Gojyo barely had time to nod before Sanzo continued "Is the bar called 'Rick's'?"

"Uh, yeah…" Gojyo answered, frowning. Sanzo smiled a little to himself.

"Good. I heard some guys at work talking about it. If you see anyone who looks like they could be from Rosemont –"

"You want me to spy on them?"

Sanzo gave a short, barking, laugh. "If you want to call it that. I just want you to tell me whether they say the words 'Seiten Taisei' or not." Gojyo gave Sanzo a piercing look. Then he sighed.

"Sure I'll do it, but only because I can see that you have your gun in your pocket," he said finally, and walked back to the kitchen, whistling.

"What was that all about?" Hakkai asked, looking up as Gojyo reentered the room.

"Nothing," Gojyo said, flopping down. "You better hurry," he said, glancing at the clock. "We don't want a repeat of a few days ago."

Hakkai nodded and stood, but not before giving Gojyo a funny look. "Nothing," he murmured to himself as he snatched his briefcase from near the door, his brow furrowed in thought. "Nothing…" 1

"Hey, kid, wanna hand me the remote?" Gojyo asked, flopping onto the couch, opening a can of beer. "Yo, kid?" Gojyo sighed and made to stand up, but Goku tossed the remote to him first.

"Heh." Gojyo said, turning to face the boy. "Guess droopy-eyes was right when he said you understand us."

Goku sat up a little straighter on the sofa and turned to look at Gojyo. A chill went down Gojyo's spine as soon as their eyes met. Not only was the glassiness and lack of emotion startling, but also the recognition that shone in the boy's eyes, as if he knew Gojyo of old. Gojyo quickly got up and stalked to the kitchen, but the boy's eyes followed him. Turning back, Gojyo swore, and then made his way back to his room.

Back on the sofa, the tips of Goku's mouth turned up ever so slightly, and he let out a little gasp of breath that just might have been a laugh.

"Hey, kid," Sanzo called. It was a few hours later, and Gojyo still hadn't come out from his room. After checking the time and realizing it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon, Sanzo assumed that he had drunk himself into a stupor in his room. "Come with me," he said, walking into the living room.

Goku glanced up at him, eyebrows raised. Sanzo sighed.

"Ah… some guys at work want to interview you," he replied to the unspoken question. For a moment, nothing happened. Sanzo turned around at the door to look expectantly at the boy, who was still on the couch, unmoving.

Sanzo blinked, and the boy wasn't there. It wasn't that he had moved, he just simply wasn't there. He shook his head and turned toward the door, and took a step back. The boy was lounging against the door, arms crossed, head down. Sanzo stared. The boy's nails looked like talons. They were nearly as long as his hand, and still growing.

Quietly, calmly, Sanzo reached into his pocket and pulled out his gun. He aimed it carefully at Goku's head.

"I've had just about enough of this," he hissed. "What the fck are you?" Goku lifted his head so Sanzo could see his face. He grinned, showing extra long canines, and then fell to the floor in a dead faint.

Sanzo still hadn't decided what to do with the kid when Hakkai came home, almost bashing the door against Goku, who still lay where he had fallen.

"Sanzo?" Hakkai asked, stepping carefully over Goku. Sanzo sighed.

"Don't look at me," he muttered, "I told him I was going to take him with me to work, and then he flipped out. Then he fainted. And, well…" Sanzo trailed, off, gesturing blandly in Goku's general direction.

"So, what are you going to do with him?" Hakkai asked finally.

"I have no idea. I'd probably say put him in either the basement or the garage."

"The garage? Sanzo, what the hll happened?"

Sanzo shrugged almost imperceptibly, and Hakkai sighed.

"I take it that you don't know, then?" he asked. As there was no reply, Hakkai assumed he was right. "Was Gojyo here when this happened?" he asked.

"He was here, but he was either drunk, high, or asleep," Sanzo said dismissively.

"Or any combination of the three," Hakkai muttered under his breath. "Now, really, how are you going to clean this up?"

"I guess I could call Rosemont…" Sanzo said doubtfully.

"You don't want to do that?" Hakkai asked, surprised. Sanzo shook his head.

"Not yet anyway." Hakkai looked a question, so he explained "I think I'd like to know why this kid needs to be brought in so bad before I actually do."

"You don't trust them?" Hakkai asked. It wasn't a question, not a real one, anyway, so Sanzo's only reply was to turn and walk away.

Please review! The next chapter should be up no later then Wednesday.

1 That was the part I had the most trouble with. I'm having a hard time deciding what parts (if any) of a subplot I'm going to use, and if I decide to use it, that will be important... but if I decide not to, it won't. Sorry about all this.

Special thanks to...

Vivid Mirage:Sanzo rode the subway because it would be harder to trace him, and it would probably be more convenient than attempting to drive in the middle of a big, congested city. And yes, I did just make up those reasons off the top of my head. You are being quite picky about details, but please continue to point these things out to me. It will make me pay more attention to them if I know that other people are too. And thanks for reviewing!

Timberwolf220: Yay! People actually care if I update! That makes me happy. And don't worry about not checking this story very often, now that I actually have to write these before I post them it's going to take me considerably longer...

Koto Juri: Aw, thanks so much! I'm happy that you think it's cute.

endragh: I promise to update as often as possible .