Author's Note: Thank you so much everyone! I'm glad there's such a positive response to this and that you guys don't think the story is too predictable or anything (I'm always afraid that my stories are predictable because I know where they're going). Also I was surprised to see so many WWII fans/aficionados. It's one of my favorite historical periods, second only to the Middle Ages (weird, huh?), but I have to admit I'm a bit of a ditz when it comes to the technical aspects of it. I'm more of a social/cultural history person (hence my descriptions of people's clothes and hair). I did do a tiny bit of research, but only to get the timing right. On the planes and things I've had to rely on my techno babble skills ;)

    Anyway, to those of you who submitted advice on the planes and stuff, thank you! That should come in very handy, and if you know of anything else that might be of use (e.g. weapons, communications, etc.) help would be much appreciated, particularly if there are any experts on the workings of the Resistance and the Underground, since most of my info comes from Hogan's Heroes. Oh, and please correct me if I get stuff wrong, and I'll do my best to rectify it. Finally I have to reply to a few reviews specifically (I won't do this every time, I promise. I know these can get a bit tedious, especially if you haven't read the reviews. Feel free to skip if you like.)

JPH: Thanks! I may take you up on that offer in the future.

Sky77: Yeah, you don't see many European settings out there do you? I was a bit wary about trying it myself, but I think it works. I'm toying with a few ideas for the European Middle Ages, but we'll see.

Code name: Anrui Yuy: Thanks. I've been trying to recall the French class I had last year, but my vocabulary is limited (and my grammar sucks) so a translator will help!

Ice-2k4: Yeah, we Americans are pretty cool once you get to know us! ;)

EH: I know what you mean about not being able to let it slip – stuff like that bugs me too. I'm a born nitpicker (my parents are lawyers; it's in my blood)! Thanks for the correction and feel free to call me on any others.

Fallen-Snow: I agree about Hojo – but don't worry, I'm not done yet…

Anubaka: Thank you so much!! Your review totally made my day! No, I'm afraid I'm not professional yet; but who knows, maybe someday…(fingers crossed) That would be awesome!

Disclaimer: Good, I remembered this time. Nope still don't own him, but the adoption papers are on their way…

Missing in Action

Chapter 3: Unexpected Encounters

There came a sharp knock at the door, causing Kouga to look up from the reports he had been combing through. Officer reports always put him in a bad mood; he had never been much for the paper-pushing aspects of the military, instead preferring strategy and intrigue. But these endless piles of papers were, he knew, necessary to the success of any battle plan -- without them, the army would be unable to function.

But that didn't mean he had to like it.

With little attempt to hide his current state of annoyance, he responded with a simple, "Come."

The door opened and in came one of Kouga's officers, walking with great purpose up to the desk, before saluting in a crisp, military fashion.

"Hile Hitler."

Kouga returned the salute with a raise of the hand as he stood. He didn't like it when his officers towered over him, because it seemed to diminish his authority somehow. It was necessary for him, as a superior officer, to be conscious of such things at all times; a loss of authority could be fatal. "You have something to report, Major?"

"Yes Sir. We have completed our search of the area surrounding the aircraft and have found nothing," the man replied.

Kouga's eyes narrowed, his ill temper causing him to become particularly frustrated at this news. He clasped his hands behind his back and began to pace slowly. "Have you any clues as to where the pilot might have gone?"

"Not exactly sir. From the amount of blood staining the cockpit, he should not have gotten far, yet there is no trace of a body. Apparently he was intelligent enough to dispose of any evidence that might lead to his identity. For all we know he might very well be here in Asile, right under our noses. There is no way to tell."

A low growl rose in the Colonels throat. He had no intention of allowing some errant American 'flyboy' elude him. Not once had his men failed to capture a downed pilot and he would be damned if this one would escape them and ruin his record just before General Naraku was due to arrive. "Find him," he said, "I don't care how long it takes, but I will not let this cur disgrace us in the eyes of the General."

The Major responded with a curt nod and a salute, before turning and walking briskly out of the office, leaving Kouga alone with his thoughts.

The wolf demon settled into his chair once more, kneading his forehead with his hands in an attempt to eliminate the growing ache that seemed to emanate from his temples. The stress was beginning to take its toll on him. Sighing in defeat, he shoved the stack of reports across the desk to be dealt with later. For now, he knew just the remedy to relieve his tension.

He reached for the phone, placing it to his ear and dialing the familiar number, then waiting for that lilting voice to appear on the other end.

"Ah, Kagome," he began when she answered, "How would you like to come over this evening..."

* * *

Kagome heaved a weary sigh as she hung up the phone. Tonight...again? That's the third time in the last week he's called me, and I can't very well refuse him. But I'm so tired...I have to get some sleep here somewhere...

She shook her head and proceeded upstairs to the room Inuyasha was staying in, where she'd been headed in the first place. As usual she found him lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, looking utterly bored. When she entered, his eyes flicked to hers with a disgruntled expression in them. She sighed again.

"All right, Inuyasha," she said as though speaking to a temperamental child, "lets get those bandages off and I'll let you get out of bed." He raised his eyebrows at that as he moved to sit up.

"Finally," he growled, and she sent him a small glare, but let it pass as she took a seat beside the bed.

He tried very hard not to recoil when her hands brushed once again over the flesh of his chest. In the past few days it had happened countless times when she went to change his bandages, but somehow he never really could get used to it.

Trying to distract himself, he inquired, with only token gruffness in his voice, "How'd you learn this stuff anyway?"

She looked up at him, pausing for a moment as she seemed to consider her answer, but then dropped her gaze once again to his side as she said quietly, "I studied it a bit in school."

From the tone of her voice Inuyasha got the impression that there was something she wasn't saying, but before he could pursue the matter she leaned back with a slight smile, saying, "There, all done." As she cleaned up her supplies she said, "So, how about telling me how you got those injuries in the first place, hmm?"

His brow furrowed, but he knew that since he was healed he had no more leverage to continue staying with them. If he didn't cooperate at least a little he'd find himself thrown out on his ear, and frankly becoming a beggar in a foreign country, not to mention a war zone, was not an appealing prospect. He'd have to tell her something. But if they were still looking for him...

"I was traveling and I got caught in a crossfire," he lied, trying to avoid details he would have to remember later, "I guess I didn't realize I was in a military zone. Anyway, a bomb went off nearby and I was thrown into a tree."

She nodded silently, evaluating his story. It wasn't exactly unlikely -- she had heard of similar occurrences -- but still, she was not inclined to assume that it was true. Until she had evidence to the contrary, however, she decided to accept it.

Inuyasha, who had been staring into space as she pondered, then asked, on a completely different subject, "Where are we exactly? I got pretty turned around when I...got injured and I was sort of just running blindly during the night."

Kagome smiled, realizing that he had been there for nearly a week and still didn't know where he was. "This village is called 'Asile'-"

"Yeah, I saw the sign when I got here," he interjected.

"Right. Well, we're in sort of the northwestern part of France, near the border of Brittany. Not too close to the sea, though," she added. It was difficult to explain, not knowing if he would recognize French place names. He nodded slowly, seeming to consider this carefully, as if trying to calculate something. Seeing that he was lost in thought, she got up to leave. "Well, I have a ton of things I need to do; I'll see you later," she muttered, and once again she was gone.

* * *

Sango paused before her mirror, pinning a couple of loose strands of chestnut hair back into the tidy arrangement at the base of her neck. She'd been a bit fidgety for the past couple of days, since Miroku had last visited. A feeling of guilt seemed to settle in the pit of her stomach whenever she thought of it. How could she have been so blunt?

Beginning to pace back and forth across the carpet, her thoughts returned once again to that conversation. If there was one thing she despised, it was doing something she regretted and being unable to make it right. But she didn't even know where he was; he hadn't returned since that day and they had no way of contacting him -- he was the contact.

She slumped into a nearby chair, leaning an elbow on the table beside her and chewing lightly on one of her nails. It was a nervous habit she'd picked up as a child and, though she had often tried, she'd never been able to rid herself of it. Noticing the subconscious action she scowled inwardly and stood with a small noise of frustration, smoothing out her casual black slacks and heading off to find something with which to distract herself.

What she found, when she appeared in the dining room of the cafe, was Kagome. There were only a few customers at the moment, since it was around four o'clock in the afternoon, so Kagome had been handling them on her own. Promptly, Sango grabbed an apron and headed into the kitchen to begin filling orders.

A moment later, Kagome appeared in the doorway, starting slightly when she saw her friend at the stove, having been distracted when Sango had passed through the room.

"Oh -- hi Sango. I thought you were upstairs," she began inquiringly, "You handled the last shift."

The woman didn't look up, but her voice betrayed her agitation, "I-I was just bored I guess. Needed something to do with my hands."

Kagome frowned, "Is something wrong?"

"No," she replied, a little too quickly, and the raven-haired young woman understood.

"Yes it is. You've been just a little off color for a few days now," she observed, "ever since...Miroku left. Is that it?"

"What makes you say that?" Sango's voice wavered a bit, even as she contrived to sound casual and offhand. Kagome, not fooled for a second, set aside the tray she'd been carrying and crossed over to her friend. Reluctantly, Sango returned Kagome's gaze.

"Really Sango, I know you better than that," she said, causing the woman in question to straighten a bit defensively before resigning herself.

She sighed, "I...I just...I shouldn't have said what I did. I guess I was just getting so frustrated with the way he's always hitting on me and I...I went too far." Moving to sit at the small wooden table in the middle of the room, she placed her head in her hands. Kagome followed, but remained silent, listening as her friend unburdened herself.

"It's just so...so frustrating the way he acts all the time. Though, honestly, I really didn't think it would hurt him as much as it did. Then again, I guess...part of me wanted to hurt him -- like he hurts me."

Kagome's brow furrowed slightly, "How?"

"Oh please, Kagome, he hits on everyone," she muttered sardonically, "He'll take a shot at any female that crosses his path. It's just so...I mean I..."

Then, all at once, Kagome began to comprehend the full extent of the issue. Trying to be as delicate as possible, she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, "You have feelings for him, don't you."

Pain flooded into Sango's eyes, resisting her efforts to hide it. Finally, she nodded, whispering, "Yeah, I do," before tears welled up and began to overflow. She hastened to wipe them away, not one given to crying in moments of weakness, but Kagome put a comforting arm around her and told her to let it out. Unable to hold back any longer, she succumbed.

* * *

1:06 a.m., the clock read. Standing close to the door to his room, Inuyasha listened carefully to see that the others were asleep. He could hear Sango snoring lightly from down the hall, but apparently Kagome had not returned home for the evening. This puzzled him a bit -- what did she do in the evenings all the time? -- but he shrugged it off in favor of the task at hand.

Careful to keep as quiet as possible, so not to wake Sango, he eased the door open and tiptoed out of the room and down the stairs to the cafe. He paused for a moment, thinking, as he tried to remember where he'd hidden it. Then it came to him, and he bent down behind the counter and began feeling around the lowest shelf for his things.

The shelf was quite dusty and virtually empty, since it was so inconveniently situated. That was why he'd chosen it. It was unlikely that anyone would stumble across his belongings. Finally, his hand brushed against cool metal, and he smiled in relief as he pulled out the gun and the few essential possessions he always carried with him on his flights. Thankfully, he'd thought to stash them there the night he arrived in case he was caught; he'd have had one hell of a time explaining the gun, much less convincing Kagome to allow him to stay, if he'd kept it with him. Most people wouldn't want an armed soldier, who was being hunted by Nazis, staying in their guest room. Now that Kagome was satisfied with his state of health and allowed him to move about freely, it was safe for him to reclaim them.

He secured the gun behind him, in the waist of his pants, beneath the white, cotton, button-down shirt that Kagome had given him to replace his bloodstained one, and slipped the other effects into his pocket. Just as he was standing up, he heard the lock click and whirled around to see Kagome stepping in the door.

She gasped at the shadowy figure just barely visible across the dark cafe, behind the counter, and flipped on the light. "Oh," she exhaled, calming herself a bit, "It's just you." Then her brow lowered slightly at the look on his face. He wore the expression of a kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "What are you doing down here in the middle of the night?" she inquired in mild suspicion.

He panicked slightly, trying to think of something better than 'I just came to get my gun,' before saying, "Uh, nothing." Then he had an inspiration, turning her own question against her, "What are you doing coming home so late? Where have you been?"

It had the desired effect, causing her to stutter a moment and then reply simply, if cryptically, "None of your business." But she did not resume questioning him. Instead she turned and headed for the stairs, muttering, "Goodnight Inuyasha."

"Goodnight," he returned distractedly. He was glad she had dropped the matter of what he'd been doing, but oddly her answer to his question left him feeling...uneasy. He hadn't expected her to tell him, but the way she replied turned his mild curiosity into an acute concern. Some unidentifiable...something seemed to knot in the pit of his stomach. He had to find out where she was going...somehow.

* * *

Kagome entered her room and shut the door behind her, leaning back against it as her thoughts drifted downstairs to her encounter with Inuyasha. What had he been doing, skulking in the shadows at this hour? And why had he looked so guilty and panicked when she'd arrived and caught him at it? She sighed and shrugged out of her coat, draping it and her purse over the back of a chair and starting to undress.

She gave a small, derisive snicker when she noticed that her shirt had been mis-buttoned. Well, she had been pretty tired when she'd left Kouga's place. She never stayed there overnight, supposedly to hide the nature of their relationship from the other villagers and keep things 'just between them.' The truth was quite simply that she wished to spend as little time with the man as necessary, so she used pretense as an excuse to go home afterward. Kagome knew that nearly everyone in town was aware of her relationship with Kouga. Everyone, that is, except the man currently staying under her own roof.

Having finished changing into her nightclothes she climbed wearily into bed, desperate for a nice long sleep. Unfortunately, her mind seemed to have other ideas. It kept drifting back to the aforementioned houseguest. Why hadn't she told him where she'd been? Obviously she couldn't tell him the real reason she was dating Kouga, but everyone knew where she went at night. Why should this man be any different? Why did she feel so...guilty? It was ridiculous.

She rolled over restlessly, burying her cheek in the pillow and closing her eyes, determined to chase all thoughts of that irritating man from her mind and get some sleep. But, stubborn as ever, Inuyasha did not seem to want to go.

* * *

The next morning Inuyasha awoke at around ten. He'd never been one to get up at the crack of dawn, which had been a bit of a problem for him in the military, but he'd gotten used to it. Now that he was not exactly bound by their rules he took great pleasure in sleeping as late as he liked.

Today, however, he had no intention of lying about. He had work to do if he was to find a way to get out of this place before the Germans caught on to him and he found himself in a cell somewhere. So, with unusual promptness, he dragged himself out of bed and, briefly checking that his effects were still safely tucked away in the drawer in which he'd first found the diary, headed off to take a shower.

* * *

Kagome yawned sleepily, wrapping her bathrobe around her as she trudged down the hall in the direction of the bathroom. She could hear the shower running, but figured it was only Sango, since Inuyasha was never up before noon, and therefore didn't hesitate to go in to brush her teeth.

"Sorry Sango I- Ahhh!" she screamed when she caught sight of a buck-naked Inuyasha just stepping out of the shower. He gave a shout of surprise and quickly grabbed at the shower curtain in an attempt to cover himself.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" he barked, a slight blush accompanying his irritable glare.

"I, uh," she tried to pull herself together but the words 'God, he looks good,' kept running through her head, "S-sorry, I thought it was Sango and I needed to get...Why didn't you lock the door?!" she demanded, covering her embarrassment with anger.

"The lock's broken!"

"Well you should've...put up a sign or-or something!" she finished lamely, exiting and slamming the door behind her. Inuyasha stared after her. He wasn't quite sure why, but he felt a self-satisfied smirk slide across his face when he recalled the blush she'd had on hers at the sight of him.

Outside, Kagome hurried back down the hall and into her bedroom, closing the door firmly as if to lock out the incident. She was now wide-awake and unable to erase the image of him from her mind's eye. She groaned and pressed her forehead against the smooth wood of the door. What the hell is wrong with me? she thought plaintively. He could be anyone, anyone at all. He could be a spy, for god's sake! I can't let things get any more complicated than they already are, and that man has complication written all over him.

* * *

The sky was grey and overcast, telling of the rain that was likely to be on its way. Inuyasha strolled down the cobble-stoned street, protected from the slight chill that lingered in the air by his brown leather coat. He had his hair tucked inside it, partly for warmth, but mostly because it was a bit too noticeable. With his ears, he could do little but keep them laid back, partially hidden in his silvery locks.

He wasn't too worried about being spotted, to tell the truth, since he didn't really look much like your average American soldier. Being a lieutenant in the air force, not to mention one of the best pilots in his unit, he'd been given a little slack from his commander with respect to the dress code. He supposed it also helped that his half brother was a general, although Sesshomaru and he despised each other. But his commander wasn't aware of that little detail, and Inuyasha had strategically neglected to mention it.

As a result, he'd been able to dodge the GI haircut (which, by the way, Sesshomaru had declined as well), and he dressed as he pleased, as long as his clothes at least resembled the standard uniform. Hence his coat was more of a suede than the usual heavy leather lined with fleece, like most flight jackets. He refused to be without his, considering it almost like a sort of armor, since it had never been damaged while he wore it. It was one of those silly superstitious things that he would never admit to anyone but himself.

He kept an eye out for soldiers nonetheless, in case he'd made a mistake somewhere and left some way for them to identify him. But what he was really looking for was a way home. If he could get a better idea of where he was, he might be able to remember the location of an allied base nearby or something. Maybe he could get hold of a radio and contact them, but without code frequencies that could be very dangerous. The best thing would be if he could contact the Resistance, but he hadn't the foggiest idea how to go about that.

Turning a corner onto one of the larger streets, he stopped short and ducked back behind the edge of the building. Trying, still, to look casual he leaned against the wall close to the edge to observe what he had just seen. Across the square was a large villa, built of stone, easily the most prestigious establishment in the town and most likely the former home of the mayor or something. Now, however, outside the entryway were ranks of Nazi officers and soldiers, standing at attention. They appeared to be waiting to welcome whoever was in the large black sedan that had just pulled up in front.

Inuyasha's curiosity rooted him to the spot. Must be someone pretty important, he thought, adding jokingly with an inward smirk, Hitler himself perhaps?

Out stepped a tall, gaunt, and thoroughly intimidating figure, clad in the crisp, gray uniform of a Nazi general. One thing was for sure: this was not Hitler. His boots and gloves were black as ebony, matching his long, wavy hair. As the man glanced around, his expression cold as stone, Inuyasha noticed that his eyes, which seemed to draw into them all that they fixed with their icy gaze, had irises the color of blood.

Distracted by the demeanor of the general, he almost didn't notice the woman climbing out of the car behind him. When he did, it made his blood run cold.

"Ki-Kikyo..." he breathed.

A/N: Don't you just love cliffhangers?

    Hey, does anyone know how to spell 'hile' as in 'hile Hitler'? I took a guess, but I think it's technically a German word so I can't find it in the dictionary.

    When Kouga was grumping about Inuyasha ruining his perfect record I had the crazy urge to give him a monocle and a riding crop and have him yell "Hogaaan!" laughing If you've seen Hogan's Heroes, you probably know what I'm talking about. I you haven't, you should; it's hilarious!

    Btw, I'll probably put this on my profile soon but if any of you have stories that you need proofread, feel free to email them to me. I love editing! Ranma and Inuyasha stories are my specialty, of course, because I know the characters, but I'm happy to read others for grammar, spelling, word choice, and sentence construction purposes. I know from experience that grammar and spell checkers can be misleading because they don't take the context into account. Anyway, if you do send me something, make sure you put 'fanfic' or something in the subject so I don't delete it by accident.

    TTFN! (ta ta for now!)