DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY DEAD OR ALIVE CHARACTER. THOSE CHARACTERS BELONG TO TECMO, LTD. AND TEAM NINJA. I AM IN NO WAY INTENDING ANY COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND I'M NOT MAKING A PROFIT FROM THE USE OF THESE CHARACTERS. ANY CHARACTER NOT A PART OF DEAD OR ALIVE IS MINE AND MINE ALONE.

Chapter Twelve

Saturday, December 17

6:35 P.M.

Warehouse 18

Thomas Wilson leaned up against a rusted blue cargo container and toyed with a chrome zippo he always kept in his pocket. The street lamps illuminated the harbor in a faint orange glow, making the place have an artificial warmth to it, even though the winter air was cold and crisp. He noticed an approaching truck and quickly pocketed the lighter.

"You're late," he said as Smith climbed out of his truck.

Smith shook his head. "No, you're early."

Thomas let out an impatient sigh. "Never mind. You said that you had details for me?"

"Yes. I have two jobs for you."

Smith handed him a large photo of a beautiful red headed girl walking alone in the dark woods. Thomas noted a sparkle in her lonely honey colored eyes that made him feel rather strange.

"Who's this?" Tom asked.

"This is your first target. I want you to make sure she's dead. She's currently at the Charity Medical Complex, which is located downtown, not too far from here."

It had taken Smith a while to find her, but eventually he had located her file. When he read the condition she was admitted in, he smiled darkly, glad to see that she was in severe pain.

He knew that if someone would kill Duncan to help her, it was most likely that she wasn't dead. Even though there were only three hospitals in town, it had been a pain in the butt to narrow down where she had been staying, and Smith was relieved when he finally found her.

Tom nodded slowly. "Okay. What's the second job?"

Smith handed him a tan envelope. "You'll find another picture and a short profile in this package. Don't open it until you've killed your first target. I don't want any distractions."

"Do you want me to kill this subject as well?"

"No! I want you to take the subject alive. I have some questions for--"

"No need for an explanation. Do I have a deadline?" Tom asked.

"Haste makes waste. Take as long as you need to ensure that the job is done properly."

Tom nodded as Smith climbed back into his truck and proceeded to drive away. He looked at the photo of the girl in his hand. It was a shame to waste such a beautiful thing, but he could use the money, and no one's life was worth more than ten million to him. It wouldn't be a problem for her to be killed. He knew just the man for the job. The man he was thinking of used to work for a guy named Victor Donovan a while back, but something went sour between them. The guy was an expert in the Russian martial arts and could make short work of the girl. He took out his cell phone and dialed a contact number. It would be a couple of days before he arrived, but he would be well worth the wait.

"Bayman," a rough voice answered on the other end of the line.

"It's Wilson. I have a target for you. Can you make it to Japan within the next couple of days?" Tom had agreed to never use first names on international lines. You could never be too careful.

"That depends on how much you're paying me and what you want me to do." Bayman said.

Wilson sighed. "One Million. Take it or leave it. As for what I want you to do, I'll tell you when you get here."

"I'll be there by around Thursday." Bayman hung up the phone.

Thursday. That should be good enough for Smith. In the meantime I'll have to send one of my men over to the hospital to make sure the girl doesn't try anything funny.


Saturday, December 17

7:47 P.M.

Mugen Tenshin Village

Hayate gazed at the night sky, wondering what had happened to his sister and if she was still alive. He then thought about Hayabusa, wondering, not for the first time, how he was doing. Hayate hoped that he was doing well, because he needed answers, and he need them yesterday.

The village had become restless since news of possible exposure had spread. It had started as a rumor but quickly got out of hand. He eventually had to call a meeting to address the issue and straighten everything out. He had told them that he had sent a competent warrior to deal with the issue and that there was nothing to worry about. It helped a lot, but there was still a heavy sense of tension in the air. As soon as he adjourned the meeting, Ayane had bombarded him with questions. She knew he had sent Hayabusa to take a closer look at Kasumi's mysterious abduction, but other than that Hayate had been very vague. The truth was that Hayate didn't know much more than Ayane at this point. Then he spotted his old friend walking up the village's main path form the suspension bridge.

"Ryu! What have you learned?" he asked.

"There's a lot more to this situation than I imagined."

Hayate nodded. "Go on."

"We expected to find out about a group who was seeking the Shinobi which is true. But Kasumi has a very close friend in town who is very persistent. His name is Jack Wallace and he's digging up information on the Shinobi to find Kasumi. I have reason to believe that he may have killed one of her aggressors last night, but I don't know if he has found her."

"Well this presents a problem. We can't have some outsider snooping around. Does he know anything for certain?"

Hayabusa shook his head. "No. As far as I know he has no solid evidence. I've managed to keep him away from anything that has to do with the Shinobi, so he isn't a threat." Hayabusa paused. "Yet."

Hayate thought a moment. He didn't want to kill this Jack Wallace character, mainly because of his usefulness in this operation. But if he continued to get in the way he would have no other options but to eliminate him. "I want you to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't come too close. Do you have any more information?"

Hayabusa slowly nodded once and held up his brown satchel. "I'm planning on staying up here for a little while. We need to discuss what's in this bag, and how to best take care of it."

Hayate allowed his curiosity to creep over his facial expression. "What's in the bag?"

Hayabusa grabbed another small spider-cam and smashed the small device, so it couldn't see or hear anything they were saying. Then he handed it to Hayate. "These cameras have been meticulously spread throughout the forest. Most of them are near town, but they become more sparse about ten miles into the woods. I'm surprised they haven't found the village already Hayate."

Hayate was fascinated by the small device. It looked just like a real black spider. He was not surprised none of his ninjas had spotted it earlier. "How exactly did you find these?"

"I was in the woods with Jack looking for clues when one of them glinted in a nearby tree," Hayabusa replied.

"But they're flat black. How did they reflect any light?"

"The recent rainstorm had drenched everything. I'm guessing that the water made the spider glossy and reflected my flashlight's beam. I have about twenty in this bag. I think we need to research them further, but the technology here is insufficient for that task," Hayabusa said.

"I think you're right, Ryu. But I want to take a closer look at them before you return to town. The elders aren't going to like this."

Hayate walked off with the satchel and Hayabusa decided to pay Ayane a visit. As he crossed the bridge and entered the small Hajinmon village, he thought about the cameras and how much longer the small society of ninjas could stay hidden from the world.


Saturday, December 17

8:21 P.M.

Charity Medical Complex

The hours passed slowly for Jack as he sat next to a fragile and damaged Kasumi, and the whole time he was thankful that she was still alive. The doctors had frequently told him that they hadn't seen anyone recover so well from that kind of extreme trauma and that she was truly a miracle. It seemed to be true what the doc had said about this special medication.

She stirred a few times, but not often and Jack wondered if she would wake up soon, or if it would be a couple days. There was one time when she muttered something in her sleep and Jack thought she had finally awoke, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

He had brought his own red thermos full of his super strong coffee, and he took a drink. The hospital's brew just wasn't doing the job. Even though he had slept until eleven o'clock, he hadn't fallen asleep until about five thirty the previous morning, so he was still a little tired.

Some color was finally returning to Kasumi's face, and the electric blanket was no longer needed to keep her warm, although the doctors made sure that she had a few thick blankets stacked over her. The dark bruise on her right cheek was still there, but it looked better. But not by much.

Jack couldn't see her body, because of the blankets that were draped over her, so he couldn't tell how the gashes were healing, but he knew it would be a while before they were completely gone, with or without the special medicine.

He noticed that the hospital staff had gotten very attached to Kasumi, knowing how special a case she was. Every so often, one of the nurses would come in and stand next to her, asking Jack a few questions about who she was and what might have happened. He would try to be hospitable, but the truth was he didn't know what happened to her or why she was hurt. A few doctors even came in to sit with her, when they weren't swamped with work. It was around eight thirty when one familiar doctor stepped into the room.

"How's your shoulder?"

Jack moved his left arm around gingerly. "It's doing okay, I guess. I'm right handed anyway, so it won't bother me too much."

Doctor Nikata leaned against the white wall and nodded. "Glad to hear that." He pointed towards Kasumi. "And what about her? Has she woken up yet?"

Jack shook his head. "Not yet. How fast does that medicine of yours work, anyway?"

The doctor took a seat in a spare chair one of the nurses dragged in earlier. "It depends on the patient. With her I'd guess it will work at a pretty fast rate, but she still won't be able to leave for almost a week. You know, she's all anyone will talk about in this place. She's quite popular.

Jack smiled, something he hadn't done in ages. "Well, that'll be new for her. But she'll like it, I guarantee you that." Jack paused a moment. "She didn't deserve this. If you knew what she was like, you'd know that she would never hurt anyone."

Nikata nodded solemnly. "No one deserves to be treated this way, Jack."

"You want some coffee?"

Nikata shrugged. "Sure. I'm going to need the energy later."

As he drank the hot brown beverage, Nikata glanced at Kasumi's face. "I think it will be safe for us the take her out of the ICU tomorrow morning, seeing as how she's making such a speedy recovery."

They sat and talked a few minutes, and then Nikata left the room, leaving Jack alone with Kasumi once again. He switched on the TV and watched a few movies on satellite TV, all the while talking to Kasumi, hoping that she would hear his voice and wake up, but to his disappointment, she stayed asleep.


Saturday, December 17

9:45 P.M.

Hajinmon Village

Hayabusa had gone to Ayane's house earlier that evening, but she wasn't at home when he had arrived. He figured that she was out in the woods somewhere practicing her skills or pouting in a tree. Ever since he had known Ayane, Hayabusa knew that she very rarely stayed at home. It seemed odd to him that she was always avoiding things, but he never bothered to ask her about it. It was only after this ordeal with Kasumi, that he wondered if Ayane had ever properly dealt with the betrayal of her sister.

But he wasn't the type of guy that wanted to listen to her problems concerning Kasumi. That was more Jack's style than his. Even though he didn't really care about Ayane and her sister, Hayabusa found himself slightly intrigued by what went wrong between them, and wondered if that was why she was the way she was. But it could also have something do with how Murai had turned against her a few years ago.

When she finally returned from the forest, Hayabusa was waiting on her front deck. She was surprised to see him there, but she didn't let it show.

"You? What do you want now?"

Hayabusa shrugged. "Nothing."

To be honest, Hayabusa wanted to discuss something with her, but he just didn't feel that this particular time would be good, so he would ask about it later. For now he decided to just ask about Jack and Kasumi and see if there was something she had left out earlier.

Ayane brushed past him and entered her small dwelling. "If you just came here to stand on my front porch, you can leave. Otherwise, you should just spit out whatever you were going to say."

"How close were Jack and Kasumi when you last saw them together?"

Ayane thought back to the island and shrugged. "I don't know, I just ignored them most of the time. Why?"

"It's not important why. Can you remember anything else about their friendship?"

Ayane shook her head. "No. I already told you everything I know about him." She turned to face Ryu. "So, what did you find in town?"

Hayabusa debated whether to share the information about the cameras with her, and finally decided against it. If she found out about it, she might try to follow him back to town, and that was the last thing he wanted. "Nothing that would concern you. I think I had better get going."

Ayane watched as Hayabusa left, wondering what he had really came here to tell her. He had never really paid much attention to her before, so why start now? And she could tell that he had found something on his search in town, but he had hidden it from her for some reason. She would ask Hayate in the morning, but right now it was time to sleep.­­


Sunday, December 18

4:52 A.M.

Charity Medical Complex

Kasumi ran through the dimly lit corridors of an unfamiliar building, scared and alone. Everything was whitewashed and it all looked the same to her. Her leg still hurt but it didn't seem so bad anymore and she was able to run without tripping or falling. She passed many numbered doors but all of them were locked and her hope was dwindling away with every door she passed.

Suddenly a black figure stepped out from behind a corner and pushed her down. She hit the tile floor hard, but quickly rolled to her feet and prepared to fight. No matter how hard she focused on the man's face, Kasumi couldn't recognize him.

"Who are you?" she asked cautiously.

He never said a word. Instead he pulled out a large black gun and pointed it directly at her chest. She could almost feel his dark satisfaction at her fear.

Kasumi quickly turned and ran back down the hall looking for a place to hide, but there was nothing there. She turned back around to face the man who was following her, hiding her fear. He walked slowly up to her and jammed the gun into her chest.

BOOM!

Kasumi snapped awake in a cold sweat as the terrifying nightmare ended, causing her to be filled with a deep panic. The first thing she felt was total fear, and then she slowly calmed down as her eyes wandered around the room. Everything was dark and a sleeping figure sat next to her, presumably Shark. She tried to remain calm and stop herself from crying, but she couldn't hold her emotions in check any longer. As she lost the last of her control, Kasumi felt the warm tears stream down her bruised face. He would start again soon, and she couldn't take any more.

The man in the chair sluggishly woke up as the sounds of her loud sobs drifted through the air. "Kasumi?"

"Please, don't hurt me anymore! I'm begging you to stop. I'll do anything, just don't start again! I can't....take...." Kasumi's wavering voice faded away as she sobbed. "Just stop....please...."

To her surprise, he gently held her bandaged hand and then she realized that she was no longer cold and instead of lying in a pool of blood on the cold table, she was snugly bedded down beneath two or three thick wool blankets. As her beautiful copper eyes looked away from the man sitting beside her, she noticed and that instead of seeing a darkened building through the window, she saw stars.

Jack got up to turn on the lights. Kasumi was indeed awake and she looked scared beyond anything he had ever seen before. Her cheeks were wet with tears and her eyes were closed. Something had been shattered deep inside her delicate heart and Jack was worried.

"Kasumi, it's me. Don't you remember?"

But then she recognized him and let out another volley of sobs, this with time tears of relief and joy. It all rushed back to her. She remembered the agonizing journey to town and how Duncan had nearly killed her in the forest earlier. Kasumi tried to speak, but she couldn't stop crying long enough to say anything.

"It's okay. You're safe now," Jack said warmly, walking back to her side.

Kasumi sat up and wrapped her arms around Jack, feeling an intense pain shoot through her entire body. But she didn't care about the pain, all she wanted to do was hold onto Jack and never let go.

Jack returned Kasumi's weak embrace and held her in his strong arms. "Go on, let it all out. I'm here for you."

She said nothing, but just continued to cry on his shoulder, feeling warm and safe in Jack's arms. She was overwhelmed with so many emotions, and it was hard for her to identify what she was feeling. All she could do was sob into his dark blue shirt, saying nothing for quite a while. He winced as she leaned on his gunshot wound, but he didn't move.

"It was so horrible," she wailed. "I could feel myself dying."

Jack gently stroked her long red hair. "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't find you in time."

She continued to cry for almost half an hour, never letting Jack out of her grasp, afraid that if she did, she would lose everything. Finally she calmed down enough to talk.

"What did they do to you?" Jack asked.

Kasumi wiped her eyes. "It was so brutal, Jack. He didn't even let me rest. They beat me and cut me," Kasumi said, barely able to hold back her tears. "He made me want to curl up and die."

Jack was filled with grief at Kasumi's words. "He didn't rape you, did he? Because if he--"

Kasumi shook her head. "No."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Jack asked, releasing her from his arms. He looked into her deep amber eyes with his dark brown ones, seeing so much pain and misery behind them. "It could help."

"No, I don't want to remember right now." Kasumi's voice was still shaky. "I thought I was dead."

"I did too," he said. "When I saw him shoot you..." Jack let the sentence trail off as he considered what might have happened if he had found her sooner. No, I'm not going to blame myself for this. It's not my fault. But he felt guilty anyway.

As Kasumi lay back down on the white pillow, her body was filled with excruciating pain and she let out a sharp gasp followed by even more hot tears.

"Why does it still hurt?" she cried.

Jack wiped away a tear of his own, unable to see her pain. "The doctor said that you would still feel some pain for a while because of some internal damage to your organs and muscles. It should be gone in a few days. He told me to make sure you didn't make any sudden movements, such as leaping into my arms."

Kasumi smiled weakly. "Too late."

Jack sat down on the bedside next to her and held her impaled hand between his. "Are you sure you don't want to talk? It's not a good idea to keep this inside."

Kasumi suppressed her pain and slowly shook her head, deciding to quickly change the subject.

"How long have I been here?" she said as she blinked away her tears.

"Almost twenty-four hours. The medical staff is in love with you. You've had tons of visitors all day long. Everyone has been asking me who you are and what happened to you."

Kasumi smiled. "Really? What did you tell them?"

"I told them that you were the kindest most caring person I knew and that if they could only see how much compassion and courage was hiding behind that soft delicate smile of yours, they would feel changed somehow. I told them that I'm humbled everyday by the way you remain so optimistic, even when things seem to be falling to pieces around you. The remarkable things you do and the way you handle everything impresses me more than I can describe, and I told them that your physical beauty is only surpassed by your inner beauty."

Kasumi was speechless. "You really think all those things about me?"

Jack nodded. "Of course I do."

He picked up the plastic bag at the side of his chair and placed it on Kasumi's lap. Then he picked up the flowers and gave them to her as well. "I got these for you. I hope you like everything."

Kasumi stared in surprise at the bag that lay before her. The last real gift she could remember was an old doll her brother had made her when she was little. She remembered the girls on Zack Island would occasionally exchange gifts, but she never really got anything from them except a couple of hair clips or something small. She wiped the tears from her face and peaked inside the bag.

Jack watched her face light up with delight as she pulled an elaborate milky pink long sleeved blouse from the bag followed by a new pair of white pants.

"Oh, wow! They're gorgeous!"

"I figured that since your other clothes were ruined you might need some new ones. I know it's not much," Jack said.

Kasumi beamed. "I love them, Jack."

Jack grinned. "There's something else in the bag."

"Really?" she asked eagerly as she looked back inside the bag.

Kasumi quickly found the box at the bottom of the bag and opened it. Inside the box was a shiny brass and silver picture frame. It looked very expensive. Within the frame was the old picture of Kasumi and Ayane that Jack had found earlier.

Kasumi was at a complete loss for words. This picture brought back so many memories. She remembered the happy years before Ayane had turned against her so bitterly. Then she thought about the time right after she had decided to run away to avenge Hayate and kill his attacker.

It was a sudden move and she didn't even think about the consequences that she was bringing upon herself, but at the time she just wanted to bring Raidou to justice for causing so much grief to her family.

When she had finally succeeded in her mission, Kasumi thought she would feel a sense of closure, but all that greeted her was loneliness and misery. Things only got worse when she was experimented on by DOATEC. Donovan had used her for a ginuea pig and pitted her up against her genetically enhanced clones day after day, each time only winning by the narrowest of margins.

Then she escaped and tried to find a way to survive the assassins that the Shinobi were sending after her. She remembered how hard it had been those first few weeks and how alone she had felt. But she had gotten what she wanted. Hayate had been avenged, but at what cost? She never wondered whether it was worth it, because it was, but she often longed to return home so things could be normal again.

Jack felt uncomfortable with Kasumi's continued silence. "Maybe the picture wasn't such a great idea after all. I'm sorry--"

Kasumi interrupted him. "No," she whispered, gently touching the glass with her fingers, "It's absolutely perfect."

Jack took her new clothes and put them back in the plastic bag. "You should probably get some rest."

Kasumi nodded and put the shiny new frame on the table next to her bed. "Thanks Jack."

"It wasn't really that big a deal. I figured since I accidentally broke the other frame that--"

"No, not that. Thanks for caring enough to look for me," Kasumi said as she wiped another tear from her face. "It's more than anyone else would have done for me."

Jack nodded solemnly. "Anytime, Kasumi."