Ticking Timebomb

Chapter 65: Shades of Gray

A/N: This chapter is in Hiei's POV.

. . .

The last thing I remembered was getting caught in the eye of a storm. No more soldiers, the battle falling away, and a sense of such profound trepidation that my energy froze in my chest and didn't break apart until much later.

We fell out of a hole in the sky. Kurama, Yusuke, and I. But no Kasumi and no Kuwabara.

Their energies were gone. And we were somewhere far from them.

My first instinct was to become angry and then leave to go look for them. Yusuke was not far behind me, but it was Kurama's rational that stopped us, if only for a short time.

Takahiro was the one who brought us here and only he could take us back. We weren't going anywhere if he didn't want us to and I didn't have the first clue where we were or how to get back to Yomi's city.

"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded, turning to stare at the four metal walls of our current entrapment. No door, no escape.

Takahiro was leaning in one of the corners, his arms crossed over his chest, his body almost too big for this small space. He pulled a pipe out of his pocket, tapped the ash out on the heel of his boot, and then packed it with fresh tobacco. He lit it with a match, the smoke sweet and suffocating.

"You all need to lay low for a bit and I can't have you running off."

"So you pack us in some fucking panic room like lab rats?" Yusuke said and then flipped Takahiro his middle finger when the half-god just shrugged.

"You need to trust me," he said.

I stared at him in disbelief. "Trust you? Why should we do that, you old fool?"

"If you don't want Umi and your little orange haired friend to die, that's why."

"Where are they, Takahiro?" and Kurama's voice was cold, not even the barest traces of respect for the powerful man before us.

He continued to smoke his pipe, as if Kurama hadn't even spoken, and it shot my last nerve all to hell. I pulled my sword and rushed him.

What I hit made the blade clang against it and Takahiro didn't even so much as look up from his feet, let alone react to me trying to slice him in half. He'd erected a barrier of pure power, so solid and refined that I couldn't even see it. But I sure as hell could feel it.

The blade quivered and I drew back, afraid it would snap in two.

"Have you finished with your tantrum?"

I snarled at him, blade still held in a clenched fist, and told him to go fuck himself.

A hand at my shoulder didn't calm me in the slightest. "Perhaps if you explained the necessity of trapping us here, we would be less likely to react with violence," Kurama said.

"That army was teleported there by Ryuunosuke. He's the only person I know who can create that many portals in such a short amount of time. Which means he's finally decided to make his move."

"We still have like—" Yusuke counted each off on his fingers, "-–five months, why now?" Yusuke asked, flopping to the floor and running his hands down his face.

"Because Kasumi and Hitomi have made their moves as well. The timeline has gone to hell," Takahiro sighed, clacking his pipe between his teeth. "You need to be prepared for the worst."

"What the hell does that mean?" I snapped.

The gaze he pierced me with sent a chill down my spine I couldn't suppress. The hand holding my sword dropped until it hung at my side and a cold sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

"Kasumi is going to defect. She'll side with Ryuunosuke."

In the next instant I'd shattered his barrier and I reveled in the shocked look on his face as I dug the tip of my blade into his throat. He bled just as red as the rest of us, it seemed. "You know nothing, you pathetic excuse for a god."

His surprise at my ability to tear down his shield was short lived. He snapped forward, grabbing my blade in a gloved hand. "No, you know nothing! You've spent a year with her and yet you still see exactly what you want to. Love isn't enough to prevent the evils of the world; it isn't enough to sway her!"

"Kasumi has a rather strong sense of justice, even I can't see her doing something like this," Kurama said.

"Yeah, Kas wouldn't go over to the dark side. That's just stupid," Yusuke added. "You're a dumbass."

"If it prevented the worlds from ending, wouldn't you do the same?"

"How would it prevent that, surely he would still wish to open the gate?" Kurama said.

Takahiro pulled my sword away from his neck, his grip strong and unrelenting, and tossed the blade aside. It struck the floor with a clang, flying from my hands.

"Believe me, I wish I was wrong too, but his ultimate goal will never change. He doesn't want to destroy the worlds. He wants to rule them."

"What? But doesn't opening the gate end the world? What the hell would be the point of ruling over that?" Yusuke pointed out, looking at Takahiro like he'd gone mad.

"Opening the gate is only one of the paths he could have taken. Ultimately, he wants the power of the gods."

Kurama gasped and stiffened, as if struck. "He won't open the gate."

"Not if Kasumi sides with him. And soon enough she'll have the power of two...and when her body can't handle it..."

"It will explode outward into the world, searching for a vessel that can."

"Correct. And Takahiro has more than enough strength to handle such immense power. He's already crazier than the fucking mad hatter, so there would be no loss there."

"But...wasn't it supposed to end with Kas? Wouldn't Chronos die if she did?"

"In normal circumstances, yes. But they're not two separate entities anymore, Kasumi is slowly absorbing the god into her own body, into her energy. This wasn't supposed to happen for a long, long time, and it wasn't supposed to be Kasumi's burden."

But I was stuck on something else, my mind unable to let go of a few simple words. The power of two? What did he mean by that? "Two gods?" I said. "Where did you get such a ludicrous idea?"

"Are you really so stupid that you haven't been able to connect the dots yet?" he snapped at me, clearly displeased that I'd yet to accept his asinine explanations.

My hands clenched into fists, my body shaking with my anger. How dare he accuse me of such a thing. Of course I understood. Of course I did. I just didn't want to see it. I didn't want to hear any of this. Because it was impossible, I would never let it come to pass.

"The key," Kurama said, "isn't really a key at all."

"Just like the Guardian, the key is not an object, but a titan. Chronos' long lost lover, to be exact. The other god of time—Kairos."

Kurama rubbed a hand across his face, frustrated. "And Hitomi's body is breaking down."

"Breaking down?" Yusuke asked.

"She is essentially a golem built by Spirit World. A clay vessel to hold the other god. Soon that vessel will fall apart and what is left will move onto the last available vessel in Kasumi's bloodline."

"But...there's only Kas."

"Exactly. And Umi sure as hell ain't ready for that much power so soon."

"Let me out of here," I growled, and everyone turned to stare at me. Surely they could feel the heat radiating off my skin. Soon enough I would cook them all alive in here if they did not do as I said.

"Hiei..."

"Let me out of here," I said again from between clenched teeth. There wasn't much time left, if what Takahiro was spouting was truth. I needed to get to her. I needed to stop this.

The half god smashed the side of his fist into the wall, putting a large dent into the metal and shaking the small enclosure with the force. I could not remember a time I'd seen his face morph into something so hideous. His anger rivaled my own, to the point that I knew backing down would be the best course of action, but I only drew my power around me, prepared for a fight.

Takahiro pointed a finger straight at me, his lips curled into a snarl. "You are the reason for this. You are the reason Hitomi wasted what little life she had left to go back and forth between the timelines. Because you have always done whatever you wanted. You never took Kasumi into account!"

"Don't fucking blame him for this shit!" Yusuke was on his feet in an instant, but I wrenched him out of the way, throwing him behind me. This was my fight.

"Because I wished to save her life instead of condemning her like all of you worthless wastes of air? Because I dared to want her to live instead of lay down and die like the loyal dog you all wanted her to be?!"

I reached up to twist a fist into Takahiro's coat, dragging him down to my eye level. "I will not lose her, not again. And you will not stop me from saving her."

But his eyes changed at my words, once filled with unbridled rage, they cooled to something else. Something that worried me far more than his anger. "Again?" he asked. "What do you mean by again?"

My hand released him, pulling away slowly, my mind racing. Why did I say that? I had never truly lost her, we'd been separated several times...but we were always reunited. So why...?

Takahiro cocked his head, taking a step forward even as I took two back to get away from him.

"Why do you say again, Hiei?"

My eyes flicked around the room, feeling trapped by the stares of Kurama and Yusuke and the godling in front of me. There was no escape. And I did not have an answer that would satisfy anyone.

"Think! Why did you say that?"

I swallowed, the saliva thick and my throat dry. I did not have an answer to give.

"Shit," Takahiro swore, shaking his head and turning away from me. "You're seeing memories that don't belong to you and confusing them for your own."

"That isn't possible—!"

"It's happening right under your nose, you little fool!" he snapped. "One of the Hiei's in another timeline...he must have died. Shit!"

"Wait, wait, what the hell is going on?"

"Are you saying he's recalling memories from alternate timelines?" Kurama asked. "Is that even possible?"

"I don't know what is and isn't possible anymore. They've fucked up everything." Takahiro buried his hands in his hair in frustration, but my eyes saw none of his turmoil or the unrest of the others.

I was recalling memories that were not mine...? The Jagan shouldn't allow for something like that.

I sunk to the floor, wracking my brain. How couldn't I have noticed? Without question I have always been a master over my own mind. New memories should not have been able to sneak their way in undetected.

But they weren't exactly new, were they? And they also belonged to me. Albeit, an alternate version, but me nonetheless.

I delved within my own head, drowning out the idiots surrounding me, and concentrating solely on finding the specific pieces that invaded my head unbeknownst to me. The first one I recalled was easier than the rest, because it was within the forefront. Losing Kasumi, I'd seen it before.

And now I watched it in full technicolor, as if I'd seen it through my own eyes. But I did not recognize the land around us; the dystopian nature of the world was not the same as ours. This was after, I realized—after the gate opened, after all hell broke loose.

She was fighting. Always fighting, I thought. But now she struggled to hold onto the last vestiges of her life and the feeling of panic engulfed me because I could not reach her in time. I knew no matter how hard I tried, it would be too late. So I watched, trapped behind some massive wall of pure energy that snapped and burned and crackled. A barrier of her own making, one she would not let me through. The me of that time grew desperate. I called the dragon, watched it coil around the shield, and still it would not come down.

And then I was screaming her name, my voice broken and cracking and hoarse. I screamed until I felt blood fill my throat and lungs, pounding my fists against the barrier even as it burnt the flesh from my hands.

The monster she fought was made of pure nightmares, of every hellish thing a child lost in darkness could ever think to dream up. It oozed corruption and death and decay. Yet she fought on because the lives of the...children? Yes, children. Our children—were at stake.

The children. Yes. They were important. But we could make more, we could always make more.

The first misstep and the creature's jaws came down to snap at her leg. She lost it to its maw. When it came down for the second bite she shot it in the eye with an energy arrow and even though it lost its head, it did not matter. Its body still moved and the monster's claws reached out and dragged across her chest, tearing her open.

The barrier shattered like billions of shards of glass. Beautiful in its terribleness.

And my rage knew no bounds. The creature, near death already, was rent asunder by the strength of pure fury.

Unable to watch further, as the me from this particular timeline lifted the decimated body of his wife into his arms, I pulled back, sealing the memory away so it never saw the light of day again.

When I returned to the real world it was to find Kurama shaking me and my breaths coming in rushed, stuttering breaths, because I felt everything. I tore at my chest, at the tightening pain there, and felt sickness roil in my gut. I swallowed back bile and wished to gouge out my eyes when I felt something wet well there. Goddamn it. Goddamn it!

"What you saw wasn't real," Kurama said, trying to ground me, but it was a poor attempt.

It was real. All of it. Just not for the me of this time.

But a me somewhere, in some alternate timeline, felt this—this crushing, aching pain. Had seen and lived through it.

And it utterly destroyed him.

. . .

Takahiro allowed us to leave after several long days where we sat and debated what our next move would be. The demi-god gave us no clues or input, but merely sat in silence while we toiled over plans and strategies.

We discovered he'd locked us away in a panic room set up in his compound. I should have realized, considering the metal walls, but I was not thinking as clear as I should be. Everything blurred together into this single, stinging pain that left me with feelings of breathlessness. I was no fool, I knew Kasumi was with that bastard Ryuunosuke and I knew Takahiro planned to do nothing about it. I would need to build my case and present it to Mukuro, the only person who I knew had the resources and the power to help me fight against him.

The first step, however, was finding Kasumi and Kuwabara's location. Easier said than done.

We were transported back to Genkai's and it was with smug satisfaction that I watched the old woman berate Takahiro with the utmost brutality. His failings were put on full display and none of us felt an ounce of sympathy for him.

"Do you have any idea where she is?" Genkai demanded of him, but Takahiro only sighed and shook his head.

"If I did I would have told all of you."

Genkai rolled her eyes and then waved for us to follow her. "Good thing I do, then."

"Grandma, always coming through when we're in a pinch!" Yusuke slapped her on the shoulder and the old woman put him on his ass.

She pointed a finger straight into his grinning face and wiped the look off with a few simple words. "You should have learned by now that your strength lies in your friendship, but you allowed one of your closest allies to be captured and injured because of your own stupidity."

"Oh come on, I can't watch him like a hawk every second out of the day!" He shouted in return, leaning up on his elbows even as she leaned down to get in his face.

Nearly nose to nose, Genkai continued to rebuke him, never failing to point out Yusuke's knack for utter stupidity.

"No, and he is responsible for his own failings, but you need to open your eyes, Yusuke! Kuwabara is an asset in many ways, to lose that would be pure ignorance."

She stalked off, Yusuke scrambling up to follow and the rest of us watching on with little interest. This was nothing new. But when Genkai threw open a door to one of her many unused rooms, the wards placed on the outer edges lit up like fireworks, flaming and bright. I paused, watching as they deactivated, and with it I could sense the energy of the person within.

"Kuwabara!" Yusuke yelped, blowing past Genkai so he could get a better look, as if feeling his energy alone wasn't enough to verify who he was.

"Why did you ward the room, Master Genkai?" Kurama asked, a hand at his chin. He was leaning in to inspect the faded runes, allowing Yusuke to have his moment with Kuwabara.

A moment that mostly consisted of the detective repeatedly punching the other man and reprimanding him for "going and getting lost again, like some kind of moron."

"To keep that bastard Ryuunosuke off our backs, but it seems it was an unnecessary precaution," she said, her nose curling up into a sneer. "I don't think he'll be coming here now."

I don't have time for this, I thought. I do not have time to watch Yusuke and Kuwabara squabble, or listen to Kurama's inane questions, or Genkai's griping. I had half a mind to turn and walk out. Except I knew Kuwabara was harboring some valuable information.

I pushed past all of them, dragging Yusuke off of Kuwabara by the back of his collar. I tossed him behind me, not caring when he stumbled and nearly fell on his ass. Kuwabara was all I cared about in this moment—all I needed to know was sitting right here, hunched over on the edge of an unused bed, and looking as haggard as I'd ever seen him.

The words I spoke were simple but the face he made at hearing them was grave. "Where is she?"

He pressed his face into his hands, his shoulders slumped and body weary. But he did not delay, knowing my patience would not last.

"That guy...Mikail, he sent some guys to kidnap Kas. I overheard them talking and went to find her, but I was cornered by a bunch of 'em. I tried to fight, tried to get to her. But they knocked me out, tied me up. When I came to I was being dragged around like some fucking animal they'd killed for sport.

But I found her, at any rate, and she wasn't...she was hurt—bad. We were thrown in some underground dungeon. Kas was there before she said. She knew it. And was afraid of it. We must'a spent ages down in that god forsaken hole."

"And?" I prompted when he stopped, irritated that he hadn't just spit out what I wanted to know yet.

He shook his head, anger rising into his eyes, his mouth turning down into a snarl. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists, as if he wished he could hit something...or someone.

"He took her, man. He fucking took her and I was—I was fucking useless. She went with him to protect me...it should have been the other way around. I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry."

And then he was curling in on himself, shaking as if he would cry, but tears never came. No, he shook out of anger and desperation—out of loss and frustration. And for once I understood exactly what he was feeling, but it did not quell my fury, not in the slightest. His utter ineptitude was the reason she was gone, so far out of my reach once again.

"Tell me where he took her! Do not make me ask you twice," I said from between my teeth, hands clenched in too tight fists, rage eating away at my rationality.

Kuwabara shook his head, unable to look at me, gaze trained on the floor beneath his feet. "I can't answer that. I have no idea. I just know he ripped open a portal..and then they were gone."

"You tellin' me this guy has the same powers as you?" Yusuke asked, incredulous.

Kuwabara shrugged. "Maybe. It was...different though. Darker. Like a black hole."

I pressed a hand over my eyes. He didn't know. He didn't have a clue where she was.

Is this what being with her meant? Losing her over and over? Was it worth it? Worth the suffering and irritation and constant battles, the constant worry and desperation?

I'll find you again. Her words from all those months ago. She would find me, she said.

Well, why can I not do the same for her?

I would find her no matter where she went—even if the doorway opened and Purgatory swallowed us whole—I would find her.

"Hiei? What do you want to do?"

Kurama's question was a loaded gun. I knew what I needed to do, but that isn't what he was asking.

Not once had anyone asked me what I wanted in this situation. Not once was I given that choice.

Until now.

And I needed to place a little more trust in Kasumi—my betrothed, my soulmate, and my partner.

"We deal with Mikail," I said. "He has information we need and Yomi wants him gone. The lord of Gandara does not need to know it was not taken care of with Kasumi's own hands."

"But...what about Kas?" Kuwabara was staring at me with wide eyes, as if afraid of my answer.

"We let her take care of things—her way."

"You can't be serious, Hiei? Takahiro is certain she plans to work against us!" Kurama said, his tone holding nothing but admonishment and outright shock.

I closed my eyes, a cold smile curling my lips. They didn't know her like I did. They would never understand. And I didn't care to explain it.

"Trust me or don't, fox. I don't care. But I can assure you she will not defect as Takahiro says."

"I think you're putting your faith in the wrong place, boy," Genkai said.

And Takahiro seemed to agree, if his sarcastic snort told me anything. I knew if I was to turn around I would find him leaned against the wall, hands folded across his chest, and his face turned down in a frown.

Well...

I did enjoy proving people wrong.

Kasumi would not betray me. She would not hurt the people she cared about.

But that was not my only reason for my certainty.

Kasumi was a detective by nature, she hated being left in the dark. Her fear of the unknown would empower her to learn more and more about Ryuunosuke until she had garnered every last one of his secrets straight from his own tongue. It was the trump card in this whole situation. And it was what solidified my rational.

It was the perfect plan. And it had just fallen straight into our laps.

Kasumi would act as a spy.

She would return with knowledge worth more than all our weights combined in gold. She would return with what it took to save the god forsaken worlds or she would die trying.

And if she did...

I would find her again.

In this life or the next or the one after—I would always find her.

Because Kasumi was mine.

And my life before her...it was all just shades of gray. So many shades.

But gray nonetheless.

. . .

A/N: Hiei's pulling up his big boy pants and finally putting a little more faith in his girl. Also, Hiei gaining the memories of the Hieis from other timelines? Shitty xD

I had some trouble with the start of this chapter, but hope it smoothed out by the end. Thanks for reading guys!