A/N: A couple days late, but not too bad. Thanks everyone for your feedback! Feel free to continue with all criticism and commentary. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: The characters of 'Inuyasha' do not belong to me. All grammar mistakes and plot holes do.

Chapter 18: The Logical Next Step

"Dammit, Miroku. Let go!" Kouga wrenched his arm out of his subordinate's arm once they were outside the hotel. "What do you think you're doing? She was totally into me!"

"Sorry, sir. But Sango and I had a thought that we wanted to run by you. I didn't want to talk about it in such a public place."

"Oh." Kouga still looked slightly annoyed, but he followed Miroku to their parked car. As they climbed in, he shot his underling a challenging look. "So, what was it that you had to say that was so important it couldn't wait?"

Miroku could feel himself beginning to sweat. Okay, so he hadn't quite thought this through. Now he needed an excuse, and fast.

"Umm. Well, first we were wondering…if forensics has come up with anything back in at Smollet?" Weak, he chided himself. Very weak.

Apparently Kouga agreed. "You dragged me out here for that?" He peered at the other man suspiciously. "You know I would've told you two if they had."

"Right," said Miroku. "It's just, well, we were thinking maybe you should check the…" His voice trailed off. He didn't actually want Kouga checking anything more thoroughly than he already had.

Kouga frowned at him. "We already looked over the tapes for the night. There was nothing unusual—except, of course, for the power outage. There weren't even any unauthorized entries that day. We checked the record."

Shit. Miroku felt himself grow cold. They had been stupid, so stupid. And he hadn't even realized it until that moment. How could both he and Sango have overlooked the door? It was such an obvious point. Somehow, they had both forgotten that every time the door was opened the key card signature that authorized the opening was recorded.

It was only a matter of time before someone went over the authorization records for the weeks leading up to the escape. And once they did, someone was sure to notice that there were a few…anomalous entries. Oh god. He tried to remember every time that they had opened the door. Kagome had gotten in there originally by using Kikyo's card, and he had gone in after her using the janitorial access one. After that, they had all gone in using the janitorial one. Pretty much anyone who knew anything about the building could've been able to use the janitorial access card. It was kept locked up, but it wouldn't be too hard to get a key to it. It wasn't directly linked to them then, but they weren't in the best position, either.

Of course, none of that would make the slightest difference once the team contrasted the dates of unauthorized entry with the videotapes, which they were sure to do immediately. As soon as that was done, it would be obvious that someone had been tampering with them. It's not like Inuyasha would've been having invisible visitors. And, as Sango had so sweetly pointed out, on at least one of the videotapes Inuyasha's sheets changed color halfway through the night. And who was it that had access to the tapes? The agents assigned to watch the dogboy, of course. They were about to become the most obvious suspects in the whole damn case. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

As Miroku was frantically trying to think up something to say to his supervisor that wouldn't give any of his panicking thoughts away, Sango came up to the car. Thank god, he thought, hopefully she can distract him.

Sango opened the door and slid into the backseat. "Got it," she said cheerfully, "turns out it was in my purse after all." She smiled at her coworkers. Miroku was looking a bit pale, she noticed. Also he was waggling his eyebrows at her and bugging his eyes. He obviously had something to say to her. She wondered what he could have learned in five minutes with Kouga that was so important.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"Later, Myouga," Inuyasha said as he walked towards the revolving doors.

"Hold on a second, Inuyasha," Kagome said.

"Hm? What's up?" He turned around and stared down at her.

"I just…wanted to ask you a question." Kagome tried to ignore the knowing look that Myouga was shooting her, as she led Inuyasha a few steps away from the desk. Lowering her voice, she continued.

"Bad news, Inuyasha."

He looked at her, alerted by the urgency in her usually smooth voice.

"Miroku and Sango are staying here."

"So? They'll be easier to…oh."

Kagome nodded at the dawning comprehension on his face.

"They aren't alone, are they?"

"No," she agreed.

Inuyasha sniffed the air. "I guess that would explain why their scent is here." He shook his head. "I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier."

"You weren't expecting them," Kagome said, "Plus this area must get a lot of traffic. Probably enough to cover it up given a few minutes."

"I guess," he looked down. "Fuck, though, this isn't good." Kagome stayed silent. After all, there was nothing she could say. He was right.

Inuyasha looked up as a thought occurred to him. "They must've just been through here. You ran into them?"

Kagome nodded. "And their boss."

For a moment they were both silent, and Kagome went back to contemplating the implications of their accidental meeting. Inuyasha had been so close to being found out. If he'd been a moment earlier, if they'd been a moment later. Oh god, and Kagome had wanted him to come out. Had wanted him to chase away Kouga.

"Fuck," Inuyasha said again, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up to see him sniffing the air. "What's the boss like? I can't get a good scent of anyone here."

"His name is Kouga, he's got dark hair and blue eyes, medium build," Kagome said. "Anyhow, Sango said we should wait at least ten minutes before leaving. It's been, probably, five. And they'll be stopping by Kaede's later on."

Inuyasha nodded. His ears were itchy. At least he had been able to trade his bellhop hat for a baseball cap before all this started.

OOOOOOOOOOOOO

That evening, Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting in their room, the atmosphere somewhat subdued, when the doorbell rang. Kagome watched Inuyasha. She couldn't hear a thing, but from the twitching of his ears, he obviously could. He looked over at her.

"Kaede's letting them in," he said, correctly interpreting the look on her face. "She's sending them up here, I think. I hear footsteps on the stairs."

A few seconds later, there was a knock on the door.

"Hi," Kagome said, opening it to reveal Sango.

"Miroku's coming," she said, stepping into the room. "He just wanted to discuss a few things with Kaede."

She turned around. "Now, where can I put this?" she asked, holding up a small paper bag.

"What's in it?" asked Kagome.

Sango grinned, and reached into it. "Well, we figured that Kagome probably hadn't gotten you to cut your hair…"

A voice from the door interrupted them. "I don't see why you won't, though. I mean, girls like shorter hair. It's more masculine."

Inuyasha scowled. "Since when are ponytails masculine?"

"Miroku," said Kagome, jumping. The agent smiled at her and stepped out of the doorway.

"Keh," said Inuyasha.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Anyways, since you won't, for whatever reason, cut your hair, we thought we'd bring you this."

She held up a small cardboard box.

"We figure," Miroku continued, "cut a couple eyeholes in it, and you've got the perfect disguise."

"Funny," said Inuyasha, reaching for the box.

"Yeah, but then we realized that with all those brains of yours, the box was too small."

Inuyasha ignored the agent.

"I mean, seriously, Inuyasha, you haven't even done anything to disguise yourself!"

"He does always wear a hat," Kagome jumped in.

Miroku turned to her. "Come on, Kagome, you and I both know that a hat is not going to fool anyone."

Inuyasha snorted. "And you think a box of hair dye will?"

"Now, now," Sango interjected. "It's just a suggestion. But Inuyasha, I really do think you should use it."

"You're probably right," said Kagome. "What color did you guys get?"

"Black," said Sango. "Although Miroku had to be forcibly restrained from the red."

The girls shared a look, and Kagome giggled.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Kouga sighed into the phone. Somehow his team was never there when he wanted them. Now where had they gone? Oh right, Miroku had said something about visiting his foster mother. He flopped onto his double bed, stared at the picture of tiger lilies hanging on the wall above the television, and tried to figure out what to do with his evening in.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I really don't want to get another job," Inuyasha was saying. "This one is good, plus they aren't too demanding." He frowned.

"He still doesn't have any job experience other than this," added Kagome. "It's not going to look good if he quits this one immediately."

The four were seated on the floor, Inuyasha and Kagome leaning back against the sofa, Miroku and Sango sitting cross-legged across from them.

"I know," said Sango, "but we can't leave the hotel either."

"Yeah, Kouga's already being a pain in the ass. I think this is the most authority Naraku has ever given him."

The two agents exchanged a glance. "Wouldn't surprise me," agreed Sango.

"But it's not a good idea to have all of you in the same hotel. That's just asking for trouble." Kagome sighed.

"Maybe I could just beat up this Kouga guy," Inuyasha suggested.

Kagome gave him a look.

"No," she said. "Besides, Inuyasha, you don't know what Kouga looks like or smells like. Which is going to make him even more difficult to avoid."

"Or beat up."

"You're not beating him up. Don't be ridiculous."

"Do you have a schedule with you, Inuyasha?" interrupted Miroku.

"Yeah, hold on a second." The teenager got up and went over to his duffle bag. "I know I have one here somewhere." As he rifled through his clothes, the other three continued to talk.

"It all comes down to whether Inuyasha is willing to risk continuing to work at the hotel," said Sango.

"Ah ha!" said the boy in question. "I knew I had a schedule around here somewhere." He walked back to the group, dropping a folded piece of paper into Miroku's lap. "It's only for the rest of the week, though. And I am willing to risk it, at least for a little longer." He frowned, "I know that it's asking for trouble, but I really don't think I can find another job as easily as I found this one."

"That's fine," said Miroku. "Do you have a piece of paper and pencil so I can copy this?"

"Sure," said Kagome, standing up to get it for him.

"Alright. If you're willing to risk it, Inuyasha, we'll try our best to keep Kouga out of your way," said Sango. "But I still don't like it."

"That's not the only problem, though," said Miroku. Briefly he told the rest of them about the conclusions he had drawn earlier when he was in the car with Kouga. "We're all in danger, see," he said. He paused. "Except, maybe you, Kagome. I don't know if there is anything that can connect you to this at this point. If you want to get out of this, now would be the time."

Out of the corner of her eye, Kagome saw Inuyasha stiffen slightly, but he remained silent. "Don't worry," said the girl, "I'm not going anywhere until I have to."

"As long as you're sure."

"I am."

Inuyasha relaxed again, leaning back against the sofa.

"Okay," said Sango. "The thing is that I think we may have to push this to a resolution. I don't think just disappearing is going to work in this case, like we first thought. There are too many complicating factors—not least of which is the involvement of Miroku and myself."

Miroku nodded, "I think she's right. We need to somehow get the agency into a position in which they agree that keeping you alive is more valuable than killing you."

Inuyasha scowled at this. "Running away isn't going to work, is that what you're saying?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, that's as may be," said Kagome. "I think the real problem, though, is that we need more information. The question is how are we going to maneuver Inuyasha into a position from which he can make demands?" She paused, drawing her legs up to her chest and resting her chin on her knees. "Is there any way that we could get in touch with other modified humans?"

"What?" said Inuyasha. "We can do that?"

"Think about it," she told him. "There have to be more of them out there. What are they doing? How are they integrated into society? Is there any way that you can get in contact with that group? And if so, can they help you? They've got to have some sort of agreement with the agency. Someone like Shippo couldn't have just escaped on his own."

Miroku frowned at her thoughtfully. "Sounds sensible," he said. "Problem is that we don't have any of that information."

"Does Kouga?" asked Kagome.

"I doubt it," said Sango. "Naraku keeps him on a pretty short leash."

"Who's this 'Naraku'?" Inuyasha interjected.

"He's the head of the department," explained Miroku. "He oversees everything."

"So if anyone would know anything, it'd be him." Inuyasha's eyes had a strange gleam in them.

"Wait a minute, Inuyasha," said Kagome. "What exactly are you thinking of doing?"

He looked at her and smirked. "You're already helping a felon, right Kagome?"

"Yes," she said, uncertain.

"If you get caught, you're going to be in pretty big trouble, right?"

"Yeah…" She wasn't sure she wanted to know where this conversation was going.

"So, it's probably not going to make that big a difference if you commit one or two small crimes in the meantime?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. What exactly are you getting at?" She was starting to feel a little nervous, and she definitely did not trust that twinkle in Inuyasha's golden eyes. She looked to Miroku and Sango, but their faces were just as blank as her own. It was obvious that neither of them knew what Inuyasha was thinking anymore than she did.

"Well then," the smile on Inuyasha's face was strangely feral, "who's up for a little breaking and entering?"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The phone rang. Kouga picked it up with a frown. His team better not be getting into trouble.

"Hey boss."

He recognized the voice of one of the girls on his forensics team. A something. He couldn't quite remember her name.

"It's Ayame." Ah. Ayame. Yes, that sounded right.

"Yes, Ayame?"

"I know it's a little late, but I've found something that I thought you should know about."

The frown on Kouga's face grew more and more thoughtful as he listened to his subordinate.

"Thank you, Ayame," he said finally. Now he just needed to find Miroku and Sango. They should be back soon, and there were a few things that it looked like the three of them needed to discuss.

TBC