A/N: I don't own KHR or any of its characters.


A gust of wind billows through the vents. I must be close to an exit!

"Oh fuck!"

I scoot backward as the vent in front of me collapses.

I knew it wouldn't be so easy to escape. Getting trapped in an underground complex in the future? I mean so many technological developments can happen in 10 years and there are bound to be detection systems I can't identify. Even so, I don't really have much of a choice in my escape. It's either the vents or trying to break through each door til I find the exit…

I hop out of the vents from the now gaping hole.

In front of me: a man flying on a purple carpet and a stag beetle, covered in red flames. Weird, but seems like the beetle must have crushed the vents.

"Sooooo I'm a little lost if you don't mind pointing me in the right direction, I'd be happy to just be on my merry way." Eh, worth a shot.

He smiles. "Seems I found a little mouse in our base. BITE." THe beetle flies at me at command.

I precisely throw one of my blades at its mouth, which is quickly deflected by the flames. Okay, so that confirms it. I dodge as it approaches, watching as it breaks through the wall as it charges me. Yikes. It's obvious whoever this guy is, he's nowhere near the level of power of Tsuna's crew - well if he existed in our time period at least. I still can't do anything but dodge without a similar style of weapon.

"Keep running little mouse while you still can." He inserts his ring into one of the boxes floating around his neck. It glows red and then emerges three scorpions - large ones, at that. The vongola guardians all have rings so it makes sense that they hold some sort of power. And it seems in this time, they're quiet a bit more common. Where did the boxes come from? I've never heard of anything like that even in any deeper conspiracies I've had to track down. At least it seems simple enough - ring into box, box opens, got it. So I just need to make it my goal to either destroy his ring or take it for myself.

"Tsk." I hate making excuses for myself, if I'm so much stronger than this loser then I'll find a way to get out of this. If he were in my time, I'd kick his ass in seconds! It's not even a fun fight when I can't respect my opponent!

I crouch near the ground waiting for the scorpions to get as close as possible. I dodge as their tails pierce through the cement floor, the ground crumbling onto the floor below. Perfect. I jump through the 25 foot hole and they scurry after me.

"No matter how far you go, they'll be able to track you. My scorpions are unmatched in their tra -"

The ground beneath him crumbles as the pincers burst through the ground from the floor below. He tumbles off the carpet in the impact.

"I know. Scorpions attack with such single-mindedness they won't even notice when their comrades are in the line of fire." I jump back through the hole.

"Stop! Stop it!" He calls them off.

He moves his ring finger up to another box, but I'm already beside him. Knife cleanly slicing through four fingers on his hand.

His eyes widen, terror ablaze. "GAHHHHHH AGHHHH" He screams wildly as blood gushes out."WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

I grab his ring finger from the ground. "This is mine."

He scurries back toward the wall as I approach him. "STAY BACK!"

"Give me those boxes." He hesitates. "Or I can cut-off ALL your fingers. Up to you."

He charges me instead. Baka.

His hand-to-hand combat is barely better than the average street hooligan. The drawback to having great power in the boxes and rings is that other base skills no longer need to be refined to be a "mediocre" sort of fighter.

I easily gut punch him then drop kick him to the concrete, shattering plenty of teeth and knocking him out in the process. Another drawback is that you easily underestimate opponents who don't have the same advantage. He could've over powered me with this weaponry if he had used his strongest attack first, assuming he has much more up his sleeve than just this. But he's cocky and complacent. Two personality traits that make it easy for people like me to get the upper hand.

I take the boxes for myself.

"Time to get the hell out of here." Before anymore reinforcements come that are smarter than this guy.

"Baishana-sama!" A group of men in similar white-coats run into the room. What a long day this is turning out to be.

I stretch out my arms and legs, preparing for another fight. They stare in horror at Baishana's unconscious body on the ground. "Get her!" I do a quick scan of the group - no rings and no boxes. I guess they're saved for only higher ranking members. Well if these are the grunts this should be easy.

They charge me at once. I jump into the air, quickly kicking the first in the chest as I hop to the second. I land on his face, using it as a platform to roundhouse kick three of his comrades before hopping to the ground and swiping his legs out from under him.

Another swings a long spear toward me, I quickly shift to the left, grabbing the pole and pulling him forward. As he loses balance I knee him in the crotch, then use the spear to knock out the last two underlings. Weak.

I kneel down, grabbing the guy I just kneed in the crotch. I pull him by his collar closer to me. "You're going to kindly show me to the exit, aren't you?" I smile sweetly at him.

He's still shaking, groaning in pain. "J-j-just through the l-last door on the right."

I drag him across the floor, taking him with me. "Uh-huh, uh-huh. Well why don't you escort me then like a real gentleman huh~"

"P-please, I swear that's it!" I swear they all think I'm some kind of dumbass. Because as we approach the furthest door there's an obvious keypad with a hand scanner to unlock it.

I smile at him. I don't even need to say anything for him to know what to do.

"I-I-I'm o-on it!" His shaky hands approach the pad in slow motion.

"Maybe it would be faster to CUT that hand off, huh? You could match with Baishana! Wouldn't that be SO adorable?"

"NO I'M FINEEEE!" He yelps, basically diving for the keypad.

It opens up, leading to a nondescript alleyway. It looks different from the building now. More civilian, out-dated. I can hear the slight noise of a crowd through the walls.

"Where does this go?"

"I-it's an entrance to the underground mall." And THIS time I believe him. Even the slight shake of the floor I can tell we're near an area of high foot traffic.

"Should I let you live?"

His mouth drops, and all he can do is nod his head fervently.

"Then I'll need you to radio in - " I point to the transmitter on his chest "and tell them you've apprehended the intruder and to call off any pursuit!"

He gulps, but proceeds to just as I ask. "T-the intruder has been apprehended. I REPEAT, the intruder has been apprehended."

"Copy that, disarming the alarms." The voice on the other end responds. "Was it the Vongola?" My eyes widen. I shake my head, indicating his response.

"N-no." He hangs up.

"You're too kind." I wink at him, running down the alleyway.

There's no time to waste as I exit, into just as he said, an extremely busy underground shopping mall. Teens crowding, kids crying, and parents frantically chasing after their children. Judging by the chaotic running of shoppers, it's probably near closing time. So around 8pm. That's better for me, I can more easily evade any cameras.

As I walk past the crowded stores I subtly swipe a few camouflage options - a blazer, nondescript wig with short straight hair and bangs (can't go too crazy with wig options or else THAT would draw attention), a leather purse, heels, and a basic oversized shirt-dress and sneakers as my second outfit. A classic working woman's attire and completely different from what I'm wearing now. It's in the details with disguises - the random pieces of jewelry or props that really sell the look, but aren't needed. In my experience, that's what makes or breaks whether you get noticed or not. Also, swap outfits multiple times. One disguise is good, but two and your chances of survival go up exponentially.

I change in a stall in only 15 seconds, throwing the rest of my clothes in a trash bin two halls down. Never leave any clues together, that'll slow the tracking down.

I step onto the escalator heading up to the ground level. It's so packed I stand flush shoulder-to-shoulder with the mass of people. Kyo would HATE this, but this is the ideal escape for me. Too many people moving every direction - it would be impossible to pinpoint anyone in this sort of traffic.

As I step into the brisk night air I fight the urge to sprint quickly through the rooftops to safety. But where is safe? The Vongola are at the heart of this - that much is obvious now. Tsuna's house would be out of the question. But what about all the other guardians? Yamamoto's family restaurant? Namimori Middle? …Kyo's house?

"Damn it." I'm beyond tired, more wounded than I have been in the last year, and really really hungry. But I keep walking as a semblance of a plan works itself out in my mind.

Kyo's house won't be safe. I'm sure he's the strongest of the guardians and thus he wouldn't be able to avoid attention. But he also has enough pride not to completely abandon his home. The home he grew up in and the home that Chieko-sama cherished.

I don't really know any of the guardians well at this point. Maybe Yamamoto a bit more than the rest, but still it was an early friendship. If they were brought into the future where would they go? I really couldn't say.

If I head to Kyo's there are only three ways it could go. It's under enemy control and at least I have that answered. Kyo is there and I've found someone who can help me. Or Kyo isn't there, but at least he might be monitoring it. From what I've seen it's probably a toss up between the first and third options. Since I literally arrived in the enemy base, I don't know how much control they really wield over the outside world. It seems like a lot but… I'll have to see as I go…

"5 more minutes." I mutter under my breath, hoping that this stop proves to be the last for the night.

It's now the time of night and the type of neighborhood that warrants only two other passersby on the street. No one spares me another glance, though I inspect everyone I come across. Anyone in this time could be an enemy that I don't know.

"1 more block…"

I hop into the rooftops now, ditching the heels and swapping for the sneakers and casual outfit I stuffed into the purse. As I move down the street to the fourth house, I leave the wardrobe in the trash bin in their backyard.

The shoes are a lot more comfortable, but I can feel the strain on my limbs with each jump. "Just a bit more." I back up, then run forward across the shingles, flying through the air as I land in Kyo's backyard.

I wobble slightly on landing.

It's completely silent. No lights on, no movement, and judging by the grass I've landed in, no one has been here for at least two years. The grass goes to my thigh and is unkempt and patchy. "Kyo would never let anyone see his estate like this." I groan.

So I guess option 3 - it's abandoned and HOPEFULLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY Kyo is monitoring it somehow, somewhere.

I freeze. There's no way that Kyo is DEAD in this timeline?

Terror engulfs me in an instant.

"Urghh." I clutch at my chest.

"...Kyo…"

He's strong. He's really really really strong.

He can't be - right?

He's someone who survives where others succumb.

I collapse, breathing heavily, then pull my knees to my chest. My forehead leans to rest across my knees.

"Kyo…"

I'd be having this realization with a lot more stability - I swear - if I wasn't already in terrible physical and mental shape.

Focus on what you need to do next. It isn't safe to stay here, abandoned or not, it's still linked to one of the guardians directly. I need to find refuge for the night in a more neutral area.

Only one place comes to mind.

I take deep breaths and push myself up once more.


I've never used these doors before.

But of course, he'd allow it in a time like this. He'd do more than allow it, in fact he'd ordered me to use it.

I take another step toward the giant steel doors connecting our base to his.

I hear the bolts unlock, the gears churn, and the thick metal starts to open.

I bolt through the entrance with all my speed. There's no time to waste.

I run through the corridors, to the last door.

It opens for me as well.

And into the thick fog and treeline I run.

I have to find her - before anyone else can.

After all these years, I know only one place she could be.

Without any doubts, I know she'll be there. HE knows it as well.

I expertly navigate through the trees, until I see the familiar, worn wood. The towering red gates. And the night skyline of Namimori.

I throw open the doors to Namimori Shrine and a dagger whizzes straight at me. I shift right, but it cuts through part of my suit jacket. I knew she'd do that.

"Eh? ...Yamamoto?"

She's in the corner, fists raised, ready to fight, despite obvious injuries.

"Yo!"

She bites her lip, lowering her guard.

"You got like, really old."

"Hahahahahahah, you mean sophisticated and good-looking right?"

"Hai, hai Coach!"

I kneel down, ushering her to climb on my back. "Come on, I'll take you to the base. A lot has happened."

"You're telling me - just TODAY I time-traveled 10 years, woke up as someone's science experiment in an underground lab, and had to deal with babysitting Lambo! And YES to what you're thinking, Lambo was obviously the worst part!"

I chuckle again. We'd been close for a long time. Longer than she'd been gone at least. And I knew the real her - the sarcastic, tough, crazy version of her. Beneath all the persona's she put on in her various missions, it was the one I cherished.

I know we don't have long now, but, "You should sleep. I'll tell you everything when you've rested."

She climbs up onto my back and wraps her arms around my neck. Her eyes instantly start to droop. "We're going somewhere safe?"

"Of course!"

"Kyoko and Haru -"

"They're already at the base. Sleeping soundly."

"What a relief." she starts to mumble, quickly losing consciousness.

If he'd been in Japan he would have never let me retrieve her. I smile at old memories. His possessiveness, her quick admonishment of his behavior.

I hope things can go back to how they were…


A/N: I felt like her and Kyo meeting again in this episode wasn't right, but soon :).