"This seems like a good place to stop, doesn't it?"

The two Digimon, a Strikedramon and a Flarerizamon, paused in the center of the small clearing. It was large enough for the two of them and the human that was slung over Strikedramon's shoulder. Flarerizamon nodded and sat down in the center to avoid touching any of the wildlife. Getting there had been difficult enough due to the greenery catching fire whenever he touched it. The last thing he needed was for a whole tree to start burning. Strikedramon set the girl down and let himself drop to the ground.

The few seconds of peace they had were interrupted by muffled complaints. Huffing in frustration, Strikedramon rolled over to shoot a glare at the human.

"Good grief. Is this girl ever gonna shut up? I'm tired of hearing her."

"It was your idea to kidnap her in the first place," Flarerizamon pointed out.

"Well, yeah. We might be able to get on Laylamon's good side if we give her one of the DigiDestined, don't ya think?"

"Why in the world would you think that?"

"Come on. This girl is one of the ones who's been causing Laylamon problems. Not to mention that she could know info that Laylamon doesn't already know. We could be rewarded for this!"

The flaming lizard thought over his friend's reasoning. "…Huh. Hadn't thought about it like that. You've got a good point."

"See? Heck, who knows what she'll give us! We could finally have a safe place to stay at away from all the fighting."

"That does sound pretty enticing. Can you stop complaining, though? Just tighten the gag a bit. Or tie another one around her face."

"We don't want to suffocate her. Besides, I don't know how humans work! What if I break her or something?"

A withering sigh came from Flarerizamon. "Oh, you are—you're such an idiot."

"Hey—uh, does the human look at little weird or is it just me?" Strikedramon asked as he sat up and peered at the girl's face.

"Wow, you really are stupid. You weren't supposed to cover her mouth and her nose! She needs to breath."

"Fine!" The humanoid exclaimed, throwing up his arms. "Geez, you don't have to yell at me. Now I've gotta take it off just to fix it."

Muttering under his breath, Strikedramon rolled the girl over and untied the gag. The moment the piece of cloth was off her face, Mikami took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Thanks for trying to kill me."

"Yikes. I wasn't actually trying to kill you!" Folding his arms, Strikedramon frowned. "Just trying to make sure you didn't scream for help. Not that there's gonna be anyone around here to help you."

"Couple of cowards, aren't you?" Mikami mumbled under her breath, turning away.

Close enough to hear her, Strikedramon glared. "We are not!" He turned to his partner. "Can I just tie the gag like I did last time? Long enough for her to pass out?"

"As tempting as that sounds, don't," Flarerizamon said. "She'd be useless to us if she was dead, you know."

"Oh, right. Okay."

He reached down to tie the cloth around her face again. However, he paused with his arm near her face when she spoke.

"How would you feel if I bit you?"

"What?"

She bit down on his arm.

Yelping, he pulled her off and looked at her with an indignant expression. With barely any emotion showing on her face, she spat out a wad of spit. Strikedramon was unamused, but Flarerizamon began to laugh. A look from his companion made him stop.

"I can't believe you bit me! You piece of shit! You're gonna pay for that! I'm gonna—"

"You won't be doing anything."

Startled, Strikedramon glanced at Flarerizamon, who shook his head. Both were on their feet and standing with their backs facing each other. Not a sound was made in the following seconds as the two waited to see who the voice belonged to.

What happened next happened so quickly that Mikami was left stunned. A dark blur shot out of the trees and slammed Strikedramon against a tree with enough force to break the tree, and Flarerizamon was flattened against the ground. Both were deleted within seconds. Having focused her attention on the two Digimon, she failed to see her rescuer move behind her to cut the ropes off her wrists and ankles. When she realized that she was free, she scrambled to her feet and spun around. Her face ended up hitting the chest of another Digimon. Squeezing her eyes shut, she stepped back and rubbed her nose.

"That hurt," she mumbled. "Uh, thanks for that—uh…"

She had opened her eyes to get a look at him. She instantly regretted it.

"What do you want? Are you here to kill me?" She demanded, taking several steps back.

With a frown on his face, Beelzemon shook his head. "I have no desire to hurt someone who is defenseless. I saw that you were in trouble and decided to help."

"You're just toying with me, aren't you?"

"What makes you think that?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

"If you want to kill me, go ahead. You don't need to act like you have a heart."

He narrowed his eyes and began to walk towards her. The fear she felt rooted her in place, though she doubted she would get far if she was able to run. He raised a hand and swung before she could even try to move.

~0~

When she woke up, she was staring at the ceiling of a room.

Confused, she sat up. The first thing she noticed was that she was inside of a room that could only be described as gaudy. The second thing she realized was that she was currently in an extravagant bed. Her gaze travelled across the room until it came to a stop on the visitor lounging in the chair by the bed.

Sensing someone staring at him, Beelzemon shifted and turned to look at her.

"Good morning. How are you…?"

He trailed off when she leaned away from him, a mixture of uncertainty and alarm in her eyes. As a sign that he meant no harm, he stood and held up his hand so that she could see that his guns weren't with him. Apprehensive, she kept her gaze on him and flinched when he made another move. Conceding that his efforts were in vain, Beelzemon sat back down and sighed. She shifted and looked at him to see if he would react. When he didn't, she climbed out of the bed and approached the barred window near the corner of the room. She looked out and gripped the window sill tightly.

Wherever she was, she was high above the ground—too high to consider jumping out the window, barred or not.

A cough drew her attention back to Beelzemon.

"What?"

"I was simply wondering how you're feeling."

"How I'm feeling?" It was hard for her to believe that he was really asking her that question. "I've been kidnapped twice in one day, woke up in a room with barred windows, and I'm talking to you. I'm not sure what to think."

"I apologize. I wasn't sure where to take you, so I brought you here."

"And where exactly are we?"

"Laylamon's castle."

"What?" With a groan, she slid down to the floor and ran a hand through her hair. Slowly, she moved her hand down to slid her palm across her face. "This can't be happening. Please let this be a stupid dream and that I'll wake up in Block City."

As he watched the human lower her head into her hands, Beelzemon became concerned. It was clear that she was dismayed that he had brought her to the castle. He stood and cautiously approached the human, holding his hand out towards her. "Are…are you feeling well?"

"No," she moaned, her voice muffled by her hands.

Unsure of how to handle the situation, Beelzemon stepped back and sat down on the side of the bed. He hadn't thought that the human would react this way, yet there she was, sitting in the corner of the room. Maybe he should have taken her to Block City? No, he would have been attacked the moment he was within the sights of the Resistance members there, which would have led to the girl being hurt. He had made the correct choice. It wasn't as if the castle was an unsafe place—in fact, it was a well-fortified building with guards patrolling around the clock. No one would harm her. She had no reason to be worried.

Right?

A knock at the door made him stand. When he opened it, he was face-to-face with Laylamon. He stepped aside to let her enter and tried not to show how nervous he felt.

"Hello, human," Laylamon greeted.

The brunette looked to see who spoke.

"I have a name."

"Yes, I know," Laylamon said as she strode forward. "Mikami, isn't it?"

"How do you know that?"

"Have you forgotten who I am?"

A scowl appeared on Mikami's face as she glared, earning a laugh. The sudden change of her demeanor surprised Beelzemon, but he said nothing. Laylamon was enjoying herself and doing anything to change that was a bad idea.

"You and Angela certainly are alike. Tell me, how is she?"

Mikami shrugged. "Wouldn't know. I haven't seen her in a while."

Humming, Laylamon leaned against the wall and smiled. "A shame. It would have been nice to know how my former…employee is doing." Another glare followed. "I am glad to see that you are in better spirits. Is there anything that you wish to know?"

"What are you planning to do with me?"

"For now? Nothing. After all, it would be uncouth of me to treat my guest rudely."

A shiver ran down Mikami's spine when Laylamon referred to her as a guest. Both of them knew that she was a prisoner, nothing more. With a wry smirk on her face, Laylamon turned away and walked to the door. She stopped in the doorway to look at the gunman standing off to the side.

"Do be sure to see her to needs, Beelzemon, seeing as how you brought her here."

"Yes, ma'am."

The door closed, leaving him alone in the room with Mikami. Regaining his composure, he approached her once again. Whatever courage she had melted away. Her shoulders slumped and she rested her head against the wall, keeping her gaze away from Beelzemon. However, when he held his hand out to her, she glanced up at him. She pushed his hand away and stood on her own.

He kept his face neutral. "It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Mikami."

"Sure," she muttered. She moved past him and sat on the bed.

"Is there anything you need?"

"No."

He shifted his feet. "What are your friends like?"

"If you're trying to get information out of me, you'll be disappointed," she said.

"Certainly not. Interrogation is not my forte."

She stared at him in disbelief. "You're…being sincere, aren't you?"

"Yes. Do you find that hard to believe?"

"You destroyed an entire city, so yeah." When he said nothing in return and chose to stand motionless, she raised an eyebrow. "Why are you just standing there?"

"I'm…not sure. Is it making you uncomfortable?"

"Yes." Sighing, Mikami slid a hand down her face and then massaged her temples. "Of all the things to happen to me, why did this have to happen? I'm stuck with the world's most awkward killer."

The word 'killer' must have bothered Beelzemon because she noticed him tense up. Resting her cheek against her fist, she watched him walk up to the window and stare. When he spoke, he was almost too quiet to hear.

"I am not a killer."

"Considering what I saw you do earlier, I'm gonna have to disagree with you. You didn't have to destroy those two Digimon."

When he turned to look at her, she expected him to be angry. Anger would have been an understandable reaction. However, when his eyes met hers, she could see a hint of remorse in his gaze. Something about the way he looked at her caused a pang of regret in her chest. He opened his mouth and then closed it, choosing not to respond. Instead, he walked around the bed and grabbed the chair. Holding it with one hand, he walked over to the door and opened it.

"What are you doing?"

"If you need anything, I will be in the hallway."

"You're just gonna sit outside my door in a chair?"

"Yes."

In any other situation, she would have laughed. Right then, she wasn't sure how to feel. One on hand, he had shown her that he really didn't want to hurt her. On the other hand, he was a very dangerous Digimon.

"I don't want anything from you, so you might as well just leave."

Exasperated, he sighed and looked over his shoulder at her. "I am only trying to help you."

"Why? What's your reason for being nice to me? I'm one of the DigiDestined."

It was obvious that he was frustrated as he began to talk; his voice was low and gruff. "I have a code of honor that I follow. Just because you are aligned with my enemies does not mean I will put aside my morals when interacting with you. I have more respect for myself than that. You are a human, and you have no way of defending yourself. As such, the right thing to do is to assist you."

Mikami was dumbfounded.

"Do you wish to continue questioning me?"

"…No."

"Then I will be outside if you need me."

When he closed the door behind him, Mikami let out a breath of air and laid down. There was anything she could do but go to sleep.