Author's Notes: Well, I'm a week late, but that's better than it's been lately so I consider it a victory (--grin--). I've been insanely busy (I know, I know – so what else is new?). But you've heard all my reasons before, so I won't bore you. Besides, weariness quite o'er crows my spirit (damn, I'm quoting Hamlet again…that's just weird…), so I've got to keep these notes short and sweet before I fall asleep.
Myriadragon: (--slaps forehead--) Duh. You're absolutely right – that was my mistake. Heh heh…oops… Thanks for pointing it out – I'll have to change it when I get a chance. Oh, and thanks for reviewing my friend's story!
Kgirl333: lol – thanks! And thanks for reviewing Small Repairs!
duckyquack1025: Happy Birthday! (a week ago…better late than never!)
Bluespark: Happy Birthday to you too! Geeze, what's with all the birthdays lately…so many people I know have been having birthdays…
dolphingirl0113: Yeah, I named him Tieresias for a reason…I don't know how good my reason is, but nonetheless…(--grin--) And as for Inu's sudden appearance, yes, it will be explained, fear not. Thanks!
Fallen-Snow: (--grin--) Two weeks! Yay! Better than two months, eh? Well I know this isn't FHHH, but I hope you'll forgive me anyway…pretty please? FHHH will come sometime soon, I swear…
abracadabra8831: Y'know, you may be right. I know WWI was referred to as "the war to end all wars", but now that I think of it they may not have used that term for WWII. Oops…I should look that one up… Thanks!
Missing in ActionChapter 16: A Hole in the Universe
The long lead-colored barrel of a shotgun glowed dully with reflected starlight in the moonless night, and Inuyasha's breath caught in his throat as he stared directly into it. Behind him Kagome stumbled against him, and he instinctively reached back a hand to keep her behind him, shielded from the weapons aimed at the pair of them. He wanted to run, to snatch her up and take to the trees, but his human form was incapable of such a feat, and once again he cursed his weakness. With the soldiers from the train fast approaching from behind, and the wall of Gestapo officers blockading them from the front, he knew the jig was up. This was it -- no escape.
"You are both under arrest," the bearded, deceptively kindly-looking old man said with a coldness that seemed utterly out of place on his once pleasant face. "Come quietly and you may be treated with lenience." He was barely recognizable as the amiable hermit they had encountered in the woods, and although Inuyasha had heard of his deception from Sango and Miroku, he still had difficulty registering the change.
Kagome on the other hand was utterly astonished by the revelation. "Oh my god, is that -- it can't be..." she whispered.
A grave nod from Inuyasha confirmed her conclusion and she swallowed thickly, gripping his shoulder a bit more tightly. She felt him take a breath, preparing to respond, but before he had the chance he was interrupted by a number of soldiers from the train as they came tramping into the area like a herd of elephants, weapons brandished.
"Halt! Don't make a move!" one of them shouted. Then, seeming to notice the line of black-clad officers standing opposite, the man continued, "What do you think you're doing -- these are our prisoners!"
"Not anymore. We will be taking responsibility for their confinement from now on."
"You cannot do that!" the grey-clad man said in outrage.
"The Gestapo has been investigating these two for some time now; they are under our jurisdiction," Tieresias responded coolly, apparently attempting to placate the other officer. Inuyasha glanced to Kagome for translation, his German too rusty to follow the conversation word for word.
"They're arguing over who gets us," she clarified in a whisper.
"These two have assassinated several of our officers. We're under orders from Colonel Kouga himself to recapture them at any cost," the soldier stated firmly.
"I'm afraid my orders take precedence," Tieresias countered. "I have instructions directly from the High Command to take these two into my custody. Unless you wish to defy the orders of Reichsfurer Himmler himself, I would suggest that you defer to my authority."
Kagome could all but see the veins standing out at the officer's temples as he fixed Tieresias with a glare worthy of Inuyasha. With sharp, forced professionalism, the man ground out, "Of course not, Sir. Please forgive my indiscretion. I was not aware of the nature of your orders."
"Wise decision," said the Gestapo officer. Then, presumably for Inuyasha's benefit, he switched back to English. "As I said before, I suggest that you come quietly." With a sharp motion of the hand directed at his men, two of the black-uniformed officers moved forward to secure Kagome's and Inuyasha's hands with cuffs of glinting steel. The next moment they found themselves being led firmly into the woods at a brisk pace, night shadows falling in the ever-widening distance between them and the train.
-- -- --
They continued for what seemed like hours, hardly a word being uttered all the while, except for the occasional clipped instruction from Tieresias. Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha as they walked, once more confused by his midnight-colored hair and altered features, but all at once distracted by the tenseness of his face muscles, betraying the anxiety he felt.
"It's alright Inuyasha -- this isn't your fault. There was nothing you could do about it," she murmured, wanting nothing more than to soothe away his worry.
"Feh," he grunted in response. But Kagome could still see the tautness in his eyes, his profile. Sighing, she gave up, and they lapsed into silence once more.
At long last, in a particularly dense area of the forest, they came upon an earthen, wall-like structure in the ground, it's surface made of heavy limestone and soil that had been weathered away and eroded over time into a small sort of cliff above them. Here they stopped -- all except for Tieresias, who advanced to the rough rock face. The lack of moon and the shelter of the trees made it difficult for Kagome to make anything out, but eventually she heard a sort of grinding noise, followed by Tieresias's command that they follow him. Much to the surprise of both Inuyasha and Kagome, they were then led directly into the rock face, into a narrow earthen passageway that had somehow appeared in its surface.
When they reached the end of the passageway the sound of clanging metal and creaking hinges, soon accompanied by a flood of light indicated a door being opened before them, and soon the lot of them were standing in a dank, concrete walled room that seemed to be some sort of underground bunker. It bore a certain resemblance to the maze of passageways that were buried beneath Kouga's villa, but this structure seemed significantly newer, if not much more hospitable. There were bare metal pipes running along the ceiling and metal tubes concealing the wires that connected the rather rustic and makeshift lighting to the switches and power sources that controlled it. The room had a yellowish tinge to it, due in part to the quality of the lighting, and also to the color of the whitewashed concrete that made up the walls and floor.
Kagome glanced around, trying to get a sense for what exactly these men intended to do with them. She met Inuyasha's eyes, but saw in them only her own question reflected back at her. It was strange: usually by now they would have been led away, or at least secured somewhere, but ever since the door had been closed behind them the soldiers had begun to relax, almost, taking off gloves and hats and ruffling their hair as though just coming home from a long day at work.
"What the hell is going--" Inuyasha broke off at the sound of another door opening, and the pair of them gaped in surprise as Miroku strolled in with a smile, Sango two steps behind him.
Kagome's mouth dropped open in surprise, her eyebrows arching beneath her bangs. "Sango?"
"Kagome -- thank god you're alright," the young woman said as she rushed forward to wrap her arms around her friend and give her a hug so tight it made it difficult for the ebony-haired woman to breathe. "Sango, what are you doing here? What's going on? I don't understand."
"Yeah, what the hell is this -- some kind of joke or something?" Inuyasha demanded, temper creeping into his voice and a scowl contorting his features.
"We're sorry we had to deceive you two like this, but it was the only way to ensure that your reactions would be convincing enough to pull it off," Miroku explained. "One small mistake, and not only would the two of you have been recaptured and most likely killed -- for real this time -- but Tieresias's position would have been compromised as well. And that was a risk we couldn't afford to take."
"You mean he's the one you send to rendezvous with us?!" Inuyasha growled, jerking his shoulder in the direction of the man in question, for his hands were still bound. "And you didn't tell me?! I'm gonna rip your fucking head off you bastard! Do you have any idea--"
"Like I said, it was the only way," Miroku interrupted placating.
"I don't give a shit!" Inuyasha snapped, moving as if to attack the brown-haired man despite the handcuffs, but Kagome, having been released from her bindings, as she did not seem to pose as much of a threat as the hanyou, put a hand on his shoulder to prevent him. He shot her a glare, but complied nonetheless.
"What do you mean, 'compromise his position'?" Kagome inquired, trying desperately to sort through the myriad new questions that kept springing to mind. "I don't understand -- who is he exactly? And how--"
"Look," Sango spoke up, "I'm sure you have a lot of questions for us and I know we have a lot of questions for you, but a lot's happened since we last saw each other. Let's get you two settled in, and then we'll meet in the board room for a debriefing, alright?"
"Absolutely," Kagome agreed gratefully, and she let Sango lead her from the room, leaving Miroku to deal with Inuyasha. She followed the woman down a concrete hallway to a small, yet functional room that contained a cot with a clean pair of black slacks and a long-sleeved, olive-green shirt folded neatly upon it.
"I'll come show you to the board room when it's time," Sango said as Kagome entered her chamber and sank wearily onto the bed, her muscles twingeing painfully in the aftermath of her hard won escape.
"Perfect," she replied with a nod. "And Sango?"
The other woman paused in closing the door. "Hm?"
"Thanks for everything."
Sango smiled ruefully back at her, the echoes of all-to-recent pain visible in her brown eyes. "What are friends for?"
-- -- --
Two hours later, Kagome, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Tieresias, and a good-looking man with dirty-blond hair whom Kagome did not recognize were sitting around an old wooden conference table in the so-called 'board room'. Despite the fancy title, the room was no more elegant than all the other spaces in the underground bunker they were currently occupying, though the lighting was somewhat better and the walls were all but covered with various maps and diagrams, a set of shelves in the corner practically overflowing with them. It was definitely a more livable, functional space than the first room they had entered.
Once they had all settled themselves into their seats, the blond man got to his feet, the aura of authority he seemed to take with him as he rose presenting a sharp contrast to his appearance. He was of average height and build and looked to be in his mid-thirties, though the beginnings of creases in the corners of his eyes and between his eyebrows testified to the pondering of countless difficult decisions and tight situations. His dress was informal -- dark cargo pants, well worn in places and looking as though they had seen a few close scrapes, a simple white t-shirt, and a charcoal-grey jacket that was rumpled and threadbare at the edges. Yet somehow, despite his relaxed nature, it was clear that this man was a leader, and someone to whom they owed their respect.
He ran a hand absently through his slightly mussed hair and began: "First of all, I want to introduce myself to Miss Higurashi,"
Kagome nodded, "Kagome, please."
"Right, Kagome. My name is Henri Picard -- I'm in charge of coordinating Resistance operations in this area. In other words, I've been your boss for the past year or so. You've probably gathered by now that this whole place is our little headquarters for the time being -- such as it is."
"I figured something like that. Where are we exactly, if I might ask -- or is that information classified?"
"Well," Henri replied, "It's classified, but under the circumstances we've decided to raise your clearance. You four have stumbled across something pretty big here, albeit from a very unlikely source. We never expected a man like Kouga to be involved in something quite so high profile -- but I'll get into that later.
"First, to answer your question, this place is an underground bunker that our military was in the process of building just before the outbreak of the war. It was originally intended to be a subsection of the Maginot Line, but there was a change of plans as it was in the midst of being constructed and it ended up being abandoned. Luckily for us it doesn't appear on any of the later drafts of plans for the Line and the earlier ones were all destroyed when one of the government buildings caught fire in thirty-seven, so it's been basically forgotten. It's our very own little hole in the universe, virtually impossible to find."
Kagome watched the man in fascination, wondering at the idea of there being such a place as this -- an island in a sea of destruction and oppression. And here was the man who had been behind every one of the operations they had ever performed, standing before her eyes. Part of her wanted to strangle him for what he had indirectly put her through, but the larger part was in awe, finally putting a face to the powers that had guided her life since the day she had joined the fight.
"Feh," Inuyasha scoffed irritably. Apparently the past two hours had done little to improve his mood -- though Kagome also noticed a somewhat strange look in his eye as he glanced from her to Picard. She frowned slightly, unable to put her finger on what it was.
"Enough of this bullshit," the hanyou continued. "I want to know what the hell happened here -- and what's the deal with this guy?" he said brusquely, indicating Tieresias.
"We'll get to that eventually, Inuyasha," Sango said pointedly. "First let's bring Kagome up to speed."
"Yeah -- how did you all manage to pull this thing off anyway?" Kagome questioned.
"Why don't you start, Miroku," Henri suggested as he resumed his seat, settling in for a nice long chat.
The brown-haired man gave an affirmative nod before turning to Kagome. "Here's what happened: After Inuyasha managed to escape Naraku he met us back at the cafe, and he passed on the news that you had been killed -- apparently Naraku had designed a plot to fake your execution."
"But why would he go to the trouble of doing that?" she interrupted.
"We think his purpose was to convince Inuyasha and Miroku and I that you were dead in order to discourage us from coming after you," Sango supplied. "Of course we didn't realize that at the time, so we packed up and left Asile as quickly as possible, since our cover had been blown."
Miroku took over once more. "Fortunately I had some--" his eyes flicked over to Sango so briefly that Kagome wasn't even sure she had seen it, "--business to attend to before I could leave, so I sent the other two ahead while I went to tie up the lose ends. Just as I was headed out of the city, however, I saw you being ushered into a car outside Kouga's villa while another woman, who looked distinctly like you, watched from an upstairs window. That was just a little bit too much of a coincidence, so I quickly got in contact with one of the agents still in the village, and we looked into it a bit further, eventually deducing that you had been put on the train -- though why we still don't know. We were hoping you'd be able to tell us that."
"Unfortunately I can't, except for the fact that I was supposedly acting as Kikyo's -- the woman in the window -- double. All they had me do was get escorted around and deliver a password at a couple of government buildings. I never got far enough in to see or hear anything of value though."
"What was the password?" Henri questioned.
"'Gestalt'," she answered. "But I doubt that will do us any good. They've surely changed it by now."
The blond man shrugged in response, "Every little bit helps."
"What about the rescue itself though?" Kagome asked, "And Inuyasha, what on earth has happened to your hair and eyes and everything?"
The hanyou gave a wry laugh. "One of the joys of my heritage. One night every month my youkai blood recedes and I turn human -- hair, eyes, and all."
"Oh..." she murmured in understanding. "But you've been at the cafe for more than a month -- how come I've never seen you like this before?"
He quirked an eyebrow at her, and the muscle in his jaw twitched in slight agitation as he said pointedly, "Well you weren't around much in the evenings."
The implication of his words came through loud and clear -- he was referring to the nights she had spent with Kouga. Struck oddly mute by his strange behavior, she merely nodded to show she understood, then turned back to Henri as he continued.
"We got ahold of an old uniform and forged some I.D. papers for him so he could slip on board at your last stop -- after dark, of course," the blond man explained. "After that, you know the rest."
"I see..."
"Great--" Inuyasha said impatiently. "Now will somebody tell me what the hell this guy's story is?"
"Gladly," answered Tieresias calmly, who, until now, had remained silent. "By now you must have gathered that I am indeed a double agent. It's my job to monitor the activities of the Gestapo and to divert their correspondence to the Resistance. The Gestapo on the other hand believe that I am their spy, positioned strategically in a low profile location, ideal for observing the movements of such men as Colonel Kouga and his troops. I use the mutual mistrust and competition among the organizations -- primarily Gestapo and Army -- to my advantage, playing them against each other in order to manipulate their activities.
"That was how I managed to retrieve the two of you, as well as how I managed to keep Sango and Miroku from the eyes of the Nazis while they were staying with me -- until they discovered my Gestapo connections, that is. In reality, I had been using my position with the Gestapo to keep others from coming after them, claiming that I would extract their information from them myself. Unfortunately I miscalculated: I did not realize that Kouga was on the lookout for Inuyasha. Otherwise I would have found reason for the two of you to remain with me as well. Now, does that satisfy your curiosity, Inuyasha?"
"Feh," the hanyou grunted in place of an affirmative.
Tieresias smiled amusedly to himself. "Good."
"So...what now?" Kagome asked, addressing the group at large, "Where do we go from here?"
Henri took the initiative on that answer. "Look, it's late -- it's been a long day, and bound to get longer if we keep going like this. For now let's disband and turn in -- we'll discuss proceedings in the morning, alright? I need to go over a few of the details with Luc and Arnaud anyway, and you all look as though you're about to fall asleep in your chairs."
"Hear hear," Miroku put in. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I, for one, am exhausted."
"Very well then -- dismissed."
-- -- --
A/N: I apologize if this chapter is a bit dull, but I had to get through this explanation stuff at some point – hope it wasn't too redundant. Let me know if it is, for sure.
Anyway, the next chapter should be a bit more interesting (I hope…if it turns out the way I want it to, that is). TTFN!