AN: Okay! Chapter 3... a little longer than I had anticipated in posting this, but what the heck, it's up, isn't it? Anyway, I'm happy to announce that both chapter 5 and 6 are completed, and I've started on 7. 6 is kinda long, though, so 7 might be a little on the short side. I'm not sure yet. So far, they've all averaged at about 10-12 pages on Word, and 6 I believe is 16 or 17. Oh well, more for you, right?

Anyway, sorry for taking so long with this. I'm on a role with the inspiration, it's all about finding the time to write, now. I try to write as much as I can on Friday before I go to work, because that's pretty much the only time I can spare from school work. But, at least the chapters are pumping out, let's just cross our fingers and hope it lasts!

Enjoy!

hEyKyRa13

Protect Me

Chapter 3

Her Guardian Angel?

Sir!

"What is it, Rin?"

Sir, it's Sango and... and Miroku. They're requesting to see you.

The older man rolled his eyes and pressed the intercom button again. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

The woman hesitated, and the Head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation distinctly heard a masculine chuckle followed by a loud slap and a groan of pain.

But, Mr.... uh, Sesshoumaru, sir... Miroku, stop whining, it's what you deserved... um, they don't have an appointment... unless, that is, you scheduled one without notifying-

Sesshoumaru interrupted her nervous ramblings. "Dammit, Rin, just send them up already!"

Y-yes, sir!

The intercom buzzed momentarily before Rin finally disconnected and Sesshoumaru allowed himself to sigh heavily, leaning back in his chair to rub his closed eyelids. He really didn't know where he possessed the patience to deal with that girl. For the last few months since she started working as his secretary, he's probably spent more money on aspirin than his cell phone bills. Why did he hire her, again?

"Because she's the only person in this entire place who can keep my office and files organized," he told himself with a small smile, cracking an eye open to survey the aforementioned office, impressive despite the relatively low income he made as chief, without a scrap of paper lying around to Rin's disfavor.

Knock Knock Knock

Sesshoumaru removed his hand and replaced them both on his desk, lacing his fingers together expectantly. "Come in, you two," he said calmly.

The door opened and in walked Sango and Miroku, the latter, Sesshoumaru noticed with a concealed grin, still rubbing the back of his head gingerly, throwing occasional death glares at his partner, who merely ignored him. Sesshoumaru suppressed a chuckle. Though he'd die before he'd ever admit it, he'd always admired Sango, more for her ability to keep Miroku in check than her ability to track down non-law abiding citizens. He covered his amusement by clearing his throat, and stretched a hand out over the chairs, inviting them to sit. He waited until they were situated before speaking.

"Well?"

Sango eyed him warily, trying to predict her boss's reaction. "Well what? We didn't get Naraku, if that's what you're hinting at," she said bluntly.

Sesshoumaru's eyebrow twitched in mild irritation. Sango was one of the very few he permitted to speak to him so boldly. She was one of the best, after all, but still...

He smirked. "Well, aren't we quite the confident one? What made you think I expected you to do otherwise?" he replied, unperturbed.

Sango caught the sarcasm in his voice and narrowed her eyes haughtily.

If he felt any tension from her testy manner, he certainly didn't show it. And he knew she'd hate him for it. "Well," he continued, leaning back in his chair, fingers still laced over his chest, eying them knowingly, "if you didn't bring me back Naraku's head on a golden platter, what did you bring me? I'm curious to know," he added honestly, "considering you wouldn't have made the effort to barge into my office without something other than a failed mission to appeal to me."

"It wasn't barging, technically," Miroku pointed out, "because you gave us permission to enter."

"So I did," Sesshoumaru answered. "And so, tell me, why exactly did I do that?"

"Because while we didn't bring you Naraku's head on a plate," Sango replied, her anger already melting away with an excited, almost childish grin, "we did bring you a menu."

"A menu?"

Miroku nodded, obviously pleased with himself. "Yup, in the form of Kagome Higurashi."

Sesshoumaru stared at him, silent, for a few moments before he quirked an eyebrow impatiently. "Miroku, as much as it would work against you, I don't think someone like Naraku will confess if we sent him a prostitute as bait."

Miroku's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth to protest in his defense before he paused and actually considered what his boss just said. Sango sent him a look that promised him he would be receiving several more hits to the head before the day was over before she turned to Sesshoumaru and smacked her hand on his desk.

"Kagome Higurashi is a witness," Sango exclaimed impatiently. "She was standing less than ten feet away when she saw Naraku himself take down some girl in the downtown fourth district and her boyfriend. It's a miracle we managed to get her out of there before she became victim number three."

"A direct witness? Alive?" Sesshoumaru repeated, his golden eyes showing more interest than he had intended. Nonetheless, this was a cause for a little excitement.

"Seems like Naraku's getting a little on the cocky side," Miroku replied smugly, folding his arms behind his head. "Letting someone like that slip by? It's not like our man to mess up."

"Nor is it like him to forgive and forget, either," Sesshoumaru added seriously, eyeing the two of them purposely. "Don't get too comfy just yet. The hard part has just begun."

"But we've got our witness!" Miroku reminded him happily. "We can finally file for a trial! Do you realize how long we've waited for this?"

"Do you realize how long we'll have to wait again if we lose her?" Sesshoumaru snapped back. "You getting this Higurashi girl is nothing but pure luck, and I doubt Naraku will make another mistake like it anytime soon should we lose her, which we all know he's gonna make sure we do. We've gotta keep her alive and away from him, because this is probably gonna be the only chance we've got."

Sango nodded in agreement, holding up a thick manila file. "I've got her transferal records right here. Kagome Higurashi's funeral is being held the day after tomorrow while the real Kagome will be thousands of miles away."

Sesshoumaru shook his head. "That's not gonna be enough. We can't just dump her in Hicksville, Oklahoma and expect Naraku to sit around, waiting for the trial to begin."

"You really think he could find her after she's placed?" Miroku asked.

"Crooks with far less power than Naraku have done it before," Sesshoumaru told them.

"Miroku and I'll be with her," Sango began, but was instantly cut off.

"No you won't," Sesshoumaru said firmly. "Seeing you two lurking around will be like a neon sign pointing to her whereabouts."

"So what do you suggest?" Miroku asked curiously.

Sesshoumaru furrowed his brows together, already forming a plan in the back of his mind despite all efforts to push it away. But the more he thought about it, the less alternatives he realized he had. With a final sigh, he closed his eyes and said quietly, "What she needs is a bodyguard."

Sango noticed his reluctance and replied suspiciously, "You sound like you have someone in mind.'

"Trust me," Sesshoumaru said wearily, "I wish I didn't."

The mess hall of the LA County State Penitentiary was loud and unruly- more like a high school cafeteria than a dining area for "hardened criminals". Men in dark garbs and sunglasses lined the walls and blocked the entrance, not bothering to participate in the ritual lunchtime brawl in favor of watching a bunch of thugs beat each other up. There was an underground gambling ring run among some of the new recruits, and bets were already stacking on who would emerge from the room victorious.

With this in mind, several pairs of eyes glanced into the far corner, hoping for a little action to fill their pockets. Their gaze fell on a single young man sitting alone and away from the shouting buffoons, poking his fork into a suspicious substance he was told was supposed to be mashed peas, but still failed to discover any discerning features that suggested at any time the stuff was edible. A loud grumble from his stomach, however, told him to give the slimy 'Salisbury steak' a second inspection for mold, so with a sigh, he moved his fork from the peas to the lumpy brown mass on his plate.

"Hey, Inuyasha!"

The young man poked a hole in the supposed steak and grimaced when he noticed more greasy brown goo ooze from the center.

"Aw, come on, Dog boy! Ain't ya gonna join in the fun?"

He furrowed his brow and chewed his lip thoughtfully, a tiny white fang poking out over his lower lip. Do I take a risk and eat it? Or should I wait until tomorrow when they serve the sandwiches?

"Hah, I don't think he's listening to you, Tony!"

"Oh, shut up!"

Amber orbs eyed the meat carefully, almost as if expecting it to jump up and attack him at any moment. I wish I could remember if it was the steak or the lasagna that one guy went to the hospital for, he thought wistfully.

Suddenly, he felt a rough finger poking him in the shoulder, and with a sigh, he decided to give up on the meal.

"What's the matter, Mutt? Us meager humans not good enough for you to have a little fun with?"

The one called Inuyasha did little more than swivel one of his fuzzy white ears toward the intrusion, refusing to give the guy his full attention. Punks like him are like little squirrels, he thought, irritated. Give 'em a nut, and they'll never leave you alone until you give 'em more.

"Quite the opposite, actually," he replied apathetically. "In fact, I get the honor of spending my time in this dump with you lovely gentlemen day after day because I apparently had 'a little fun' with a human. But by the time my little fun is over, there's no one to play with anymore."

The guy behind him sneered, pulling him around abruptly and shoving his face inches from his nose. "Well, what about me? I think I can offer you something worth your time."

Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow, appearing almost bored, not intimidated in the least. "Sorry, I'm not gay."

"What'd you say!?" the guy yelled, face livid. Without another word, he pulled his fist back and swung as hard as he could.

CLANG

The plate went flying, sending all of its sloppy contents splattering onto the floor and several inmates who glared daggers at him. The guy looked around wildly for the dog-eared boy who dodged him when he felt a light tap on the shoulder. Spinning around, his eyes widened.

"See, this is why playing with humans is no fun."

SLAM

The guy crashed to the ground, face first, right into what used to be Inuyasha's steak. The said young man sighed, looking as thrilled as if he was just made to do the dishes. "They're like one of those wimpy little baby dolls. They talk way too much for things that really don't say anything worth my time and the batteries don't last long enough." Kicking a heap of carrots onto his still form, Inuyasha dug his hands into the pockets of his orange jumper and solemnly walked away, ignoring the green bills flashing in the corner of his vision as groans were heard and bets were collected.

As soon as he made it into his cell, he promptly curled up onto his bunk and tried to get at least a little sleep in before the stampede. Fat chance.

He was in his cell for less than five minutes before the rest of them were marched in by the guards like a mindless herd of pack animals. Most filed past his cell, some sending him either compliments or death threats for his earlier performance, none of which he paid any attention to. Only two stopped in front of the cell, waiting until a uniformed officer opened the door to be let in.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the mighty hanyou king of the cell, himself," remarked one, laughing crudely.

"Oh, Lord Inuyasha," cooed the other, bowing low while his buddy chortled helplessly, "whatever might I do to serve you?"

Inuyasha sighed. So much for sleep. "I'd ask for you to leave the toilet seat down every once and a while, but I wouldn't want to do something as cruel as leave you to die of thirst, now, would I?"

The first speaker laughed even harder while the second scowled and both Inuyasha and his friend, punching the latter in the side. He fell over, but the action did nothing but make him laugh even more. His partner rolled his eyes exasperatingly and promptly plopped on his bottom bunk, looking for all the world like he had meant to do that in the first place. It took a while before the third cell member calmed down enough to crawl back into bed. Less than twenty minutes later, the lights went out. Bedtime for the residents of LA County State Penitentiary.

Inuyasha rolled onto his side and reached into his pillowcase, quietly tearing a small slit in the pillow with his claw and removing two wads of fluffy cotton. Without a word, he stuck them into the little white triangles on top of his head and lay back down onto the pillow. The earplugs weren't the most effective tools to use against his cellmates' nightly snoring, but at least it spared him the worst of a chain of headaches he had to look forward to in the morning. One of the downsides of having really good hearing- you have really really good hearing, whether you like it or not. That means something that merely sounds loud and irritating to a regular human will enter Inuyasha's sensitive ears and pound inside his head for hours, ringing incessantly.

Inuyasha sighed before finally closing his eyes wearily. So ends another day of my life, he thought feebly, waiting for unconsciousness to give him refuge from his miserable reality.

Just as he was teetering over into a peaceful slumber, footsteps permeated the cotton wads to vibrate below his temples. With a growl, he abruptly pulled his pillow up and shoved his head underneath, clamping it tightly over his ears. The footsteps continued, walking with a slow and deliberate steadiness that radiated the effect of someone important. Inuyasha pretended to not care, but nonetheless readjusted the pillow so that one ear poked out enough to hear anything that might happen. Closer and closer they approached until they finally stopped- right in front of his cell.

Despite his overwhelming curiosity, Inuyasha willed himself to steady his breathing and remain still, not giving away his still being awake while a guard fished through his ring of keys and opened the door. His cellmates were still dead asleep, immune to the fact that someone was walking into the cell.

Inuyasha frowned, and faintly sniffed the air. Whoever it was wasn't a guard, but was wearing some expensive smelling cologne and an executive suite. The faint scent of alcohol lingered in the air around the stranger and something else vaguely familiar. Inuyasha, not for the first time, cursed the prison and its inhabitants for screwing up his sense of smell with its toxic food and lack of sanitation. It wasn't until the stranger paused in front of his bed and spoke that Inuyasha's eyes snapped open in recognition.

"Don't pretend you're asleep, little brother."

"Sesshoumaru!?" Inuyasha yelled, sitting up and spinning around all at once, for that one moment forgetting how close the ceiling was to his bed. The top of his head collided with rough cement, and the next few moments were spent cradling his injured ears and muttering curses under his breath before he finally glared at the unaffected newcomer.

"How charming," Sesshoumaru said sardonically, watching his little brother carefully. Maybe he was making a mistake. He could almost feel Sango and Miroku exchanging doubtful glances behind him, outside the cell. At this point, he couldn't blame them.

"Forget that," Inuyasha spat, releasing one hand to point accusingly at him. "What the hell are you doing here? Don't tell me they've finally decided they've had enough of you up there and are putting you where you deserve to be."

Sesshoumaru smirked. "Don't get your hopes up, Inuyasha. I'm not going anywhere, but perhaps you might be."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What makes you think I want to leave?"

As if on cue, the man on the bunk below him made an awfully loud noise that, unfortunately for the two demons still awake, was not from his mouth. Sesshoumaru cast a thoughtful glance down before returning his gaze to the hanyou, quirking an eyebrow.

Inuyasha looked away irritably, his silence answering his own question.

Sesshoumaru cleared his throat impatiently. "As I was saying, Inuyasha, I can arrange for you to get out of here."

Inuyasha snorted. "Yeah right, straight into some prison in Malaysia, most likely."

"No, try straight onto the streets," Sesshoumaru corrected. "No probation, no restraints, no anything."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, turning away indifferently, but Sesshoumaru didn't miss the way his ears flicked in his direction, belaying his interest.

"I'm serious," he continued, knowing he was winning him over. "We'll provide lodging, transportation, even a job if you want. You'll have access to a checking account with over one hundred thousand dollars in it, plus three different credit cards in your name."

Inuyasha stubbornly refused to face Sesshoumaru, but couldn't even deny to himself that the offer didn't sound tempting, especially in comparison to eight more years in this dump. But Inuyasha wasn't one to be fooled that easily.

"What's the catch?" he asked, his tone a little more eager than he would have liked.

Sesshoumaru shrugged. "Nothing much. You just have to make sure this one girl stays alive for the next few months."

"You want me to be a babysitter?" Inuyasha scoffed, looking back at his brother to make sure he was joking. He was only slightly taken back by the demon's serious demeanor.

"Inuyasha, I wouldn't ask you to do this if I had any other choice," Sesshoumaru retorted. "Trust me, I've thought of everything else, but against this enemy, there's no one else I can rely on to keep her safe."

Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow, curious. "And who, exactly, is worthy enough of requiring my attention, may I ask?"

"She's a witness. A very important witness, might I add. One who can get a big time criminal in your shoes for a very long time. A criminal who deserves it."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at what he assumed was an exaggeration. "Oooh, there's somebody out there to make big brother Sesshoumaru shiver in his boots! Please, give me a name so I can be his new best friend."

"It's Naraku," Sesshoumaru replied curtly.

Inuyasha spun around, this time without crashing into anything, and stared wide-eyed at Sesshoumaru, searching for something to hint that this whole thing was a joke. But the demon held his stony expression, knowing that that name would spark Inuyasha's interest. In fact, it was one of the reasons Sesshoumaru had thought of Inuyasha in the first place. True, Sango and Miroku didn't think it a good idea to rely on someone still serving time in the local county jail. But Sesshoumaru knew better.

"Are you sure," Inuyasha said after a pregnant pause, "that this chick will be enough to put him away for good?"

Sesshoumaru nodded. "She's the first witness we've managed to get a hold of, and her testimony is what we've been waiting for for years. We, or rather you, keep her alive until the trial, I can guarantee Naraku a permanent residency here."

Inuyasha frowned, chewing his lip unconsciously. Sesshoumaru allowed him time to think, not wanting to rush him. It wouldn't do to screw it all up now, especially when he was so close to helping him out. With a sigh, he slowly turned and made his way out of the cell, not looking at Sango or Miroku.

"I'll give you some time to think about it," he said quietly. "I don't want you to-"

"I'll do it."

Sesshoumaru slowly turned around to study his brother carefully. Inuyasha was staring intently at a spot on the wall several feet away, his fists clenched tightly, his expression set. Sesshoumaru did not smile, but merely nodded understandingly.

"Very well, then."

AN: Okay, so, here's Inuyasha's grand entrance... as a convict? It'll make sense as it goes along, I promise... fits in quite nicely with the actual Inuyasha plot, actually... anyway, I want to try to finish chapter 7 before I upload chapter 4, but if it ends up taking too long, I'll post it anyway. Thanks to all who have read and replied, so far, and don't forget to put the little blue box to work!

Larnom: Yeah! Bonnie-san reviewed! I be happy... well, I guess now you know who the guy in the gun is... and now Inuyasha's in the picture!... So, review again, okie dokie?.... Tink-a-link...

Inuyasha'smistress: Updated, as requested. I'm glad you seem to be enjoying this. I'm enjoying writing!

spazzchickennli: Let me guess, not a big Hojo fan?... Well, honestly, me neither. Like Mrs. Higurashi said, the dude's too perfect. All love interests must come with dog ears, an attitude and a subduing spell... so, sorry Hojo,.... you just don't qualify...

kyoko-the-lonely-demon626: Yes, I realize it begins dark, but you can't have a complete Inuyasha fic without a little comedy... so I plan to spread liberal goops of humor throughout this... key word- "plan"

Inuyasha'smistress: Yup. Undercover agents. ... at least, I hope they are... not saying that they're not, it just that the way I wrote it, I hope it doesn't make them look too... Blockbuster-ish movie cop, you know?

Next chapter: Protected meets Protector

Involves: Kagome meets Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha, Inuyasha gets verbally "sat" by Kagome, Sesshoumaru actually says "I love you", and Miroku gets pitched a stapler to the head.... pick your favorite