He knew he needed to calm down. Being this frustrated when speaking with Mikami would end terribly. Even though he knew that, he couldn't stop himself from silently fuming. Simply thinking about the orders Laylamon gave him made him feel more and more angry. She had decided to remind him of the talk they had yesterday, giving him a subtle hint that if he did anything to go against her, he would regret it. And he would. There wasn't any doubt in his mind that she would keep her word. That was the thing that infuriated him the most. She was willing to hurt someone who wouldn't be able to fight against her just to control him.

He had yet to quell his fury when he reached the room. With too much force, he opened the door.

The moment it slammed against the wall, Mikami whirled around to stare at Beelzemon. He could tell she knew something was wrong from the look in her eyes. He stomped into the room, taking in a deep but quiet breath. She tried to say something, but cut herself off when he grabbed her by the wrist. Scowling, she pulled herself free and stepped away from him. The way she looked at him with a hint of suspicion made him freeze for a moment, guilt gnawing at him.

"What the hell is your problem?" She demanded.

"You and I are leaving."

"No we're—wait…what?"

"We are leaving," he repeated in a clipped tone. "Follow me."

He spun on his heel and marched out of the room. She hurried after him.

"Wait, what's going on? Did something happen?"

It was a struggle to keep himself from telling her the truth. He wanted nothing more than to tell her about everything—his orders, the plan to find the Resistance, the eventual attack—but he knew what would happen as a result. Laylamon would take pleasure in ending the girl's life. Most likely she would do it in the most gruesome way she could think of. There was no way he could ever let that happen to anyone, especially Mikami. No, he would protect her somehow, someway.

"Nothing has happened. I am taking you back to your friends."

There was a soft gasp from behind him. "You are? Really? What about Laylamon?"

"She does not know."

"Where are we going?"

"I will explain later. Right now, we must hurry."

He heard her stomp her foot and turned around to see that she had stopped. Doubt crept into her voice. "You think I'm going anywhere with you without a freaking explanation after you slammed open my door and grabbed me by the wrist?"

"Do you wish to stay here, then?"

Conflicted, she stared up at him with raised eyebrows. "Well, no, but—"

"Then you will come with me."

"I just want to know what's going on."

It pained him to lie to her, but there was at least one piece of truth he could tell her. "It is not safe for you here anymore."

"Oh. Sorry for snapping at you," she said.

He didn't deserve an apology.

"It is fine."

They began to walk again, matching each other's pace.

"Are you okay?"

No, he wasn't. He was far from "okay" at that moment. He was stuck in a position he had never wanted to be in, forced to follow orders that went against his wishes, and had to lie to the only person who didn't treat him like some sort of emotionless drone.

"Yes."

It seemed that she knew better. "Look, if there's something bothering you—"

"There is nothing bothering me," he said. His hands slammed into the entrance doors with enough force to send them flying open. "I am perfectly fine."

"The way you're talking and acting says otherwise," she mumbled. "Well, whatever. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Oh, how he wished he could.

"It will take a while to get to our destination. If you want to rest while we are flying there, you are free to."

"I'm wide awake, but thanks. I can sleep when we get there. So, who's taking us?"

With his hand, Beelzemon motioned to their right. "Him."

Standing there waiting was a large metal bird. MailBirdramon? He's still working for Laylamon? She waited to see if he recognized her, but shook her head when she realized that he didn't. It probably wasn't the same one who had helped Angela and Devimon, but it was still strange. Beelzemon ushered her towards the bird and helped her up before climbing on himself.

"Where are we heading?" She finally asked.

"The Desert Zone."

~0~

Mikami was definitely tired. She never would have expected that they would end up trekking over sand dunes for hours and hours. Not to mention that it was dark even with the light of the moon. She had to stick close to Beelzemon to keep him in her sights. The only explanation Beelzemon had given was that it was to keep her safe. How? She had no idea. It seemed pretty dangerous to her to be walking around the desert in the middle of the night. She tried a few times to get him to explain, but gave up after realizing that he either wasn't paying attention to her or ignoring her.

It was a good awhile before he decided to talk.

"The sun will be coming up in about half an hour. We should find a place to rest," Beelzemon said.

She seized the opportunity. "How come we're traversing through the desert during the middle of the night anyway?"

"I would rather avoid the possibility of you becoming overheated due to the desert heat. And as I told you earlier, this is the safest way. Had we flown over any of the villages we would have been attacked. My presence would have made this needless complicated and put you in harm's way."

"Yeah, that makes sense." She squinted and gazed around until something caught her attention. "How about over there? Looks like a good-sized cave."

"Seems to be our best bet."

They slid down the dune with relative ease, though Beelzemon nearly toppled over halfway down. At the bottom Mikami brushed as much sand off herself as she could. Beelzemon, huffing, tugged off his boots and shook out the sand that had gotten inside them. Once both of them were done, they hiked over to the cave. Beelzemon went in first to check it and then gave the okay to Mikami. They chose to sit at the back of the cave to stay in the shadows, though Mikami was uncomfortable.

"I can't see a thing."

"Give me a moment."

She could hear him leave the cave and frowned. Then his footsteps returned. After a minute of scuffling, a pile of burning brush lit up the cave.

"Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

She leaned her back against a large rock and stared at him. The way he was sitting was worrying her. He was leaning forward with his head lowered and his shoulders hunched, his eyes on the fire as he poked it with a stick. There was something wrong, but she knew he wouldn't tell her.

"Can I ask you a question?"

A small smile tugged at his mouth. "You just did."

She scowled. "Oh, you know what I mean."

"Yes."

"Why are you helping me?"

His entire body tensed for only a moment. It was long enough for Mikami to notice.

"Because I see you as a friend."

That certainly hadn't been the answer she expecting. "A friend?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"I guess not. Well, aside from us technically being enemies," she said, massaging her neck. "Just wondering, but why?"

"It's because I respect you. During all the times you spoke with Laylamon, you never once showed fear." He closed his eyes and let out a breath. "The way I feel around you is something I've never experienced before. There's a sense of familiarity to the way you act. Almost as if I've always known you."

Unsure of how to respond, Mikami watched the flames flicker. What she thought was going to be a simple conversation had taken a strange turn. "You have to be the weirdest Digimon I have ever met, and that's saying a lot. I mean…you're baring your heart to someone you've known for about a week."

"I understand why you see it as strange."

"I guess I'm pretty weird too," she said with a forced laugh. "You made this week a little less crazy. If things were different, we could be friends. But…"

His voice lowered. "I know."

Regretting her choice of words, she decided to change the subject. "Well, I'm gonna take a nap. Maybe you should too."

"I will be fine. Sleep."

Several minutes of silence passed until a small snore echoed through the cave. Beelzemon stood, shrugging his jacket off in the process. He laid it onto Mikami, careful not to wake her. With nothing else to do, he decided to serve as watch. He sat down near the entrance of the cave and watched the first rays of sunlight appear in the sky.