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Hide and Seek Time, Period 1

There was a butler missing from the scene. Killua was playing by the sand pit, as always, still wondering when Illumi would let him see Alluka. His youngest sibling had been in her bedroom for days, without indication of ever coming out. Perhaps it was to do with all those deaths. No one had been very happy about that.

"Where's Freyzard?" Killua asked, staring at his eldest brother with curious blue eyes. His brother stared back, the same emotionless look.

"Dead," Illumi replied.

"Oh, why?" Killua asked. The news was a mild surprise to him but not too much so. Butlers often disappeared, either from their own mysterious circumstances or being incompetent.

"We were experimenting with Alluka's power. She died as a result," Illumi said.

"Oh," Killua said. "Can I see Alluka?"

Illumi shook his head.

"He's dangerous. It's for the whole family's safety that he be kept away," Illumi said. The whole family? Killua assumed that meant Alluka too. If it was for Alluka's safety…

"But…"

"Don't answer back, Killu," Illumi said.

Killua hesitated, for a long while looking as though he was about to retort. However, he suddenly looked away from Illumi's face and nodded before going back to playing with action figures in the sand.

Just as Alluka opened her eyes a flare of panic rushed through her brain like fire. It was dark, too dark, and the blackness was oppressing against her eyes. In her disorientation, it took a moment for Alluka to realise that the pressure against her eyes was a blind fold, that the coarse fabric digging into her wrists was rope. Her breathing came out in little puffs, ragged against her throat. How long had she been out? Her head swam.

There were voices in the room. Too loud. They left a fierce ringing in Alluka's presently sensitive ears and involuntarily she found tears pricking at her eyes. She wanted to sleep. She was so tiered, her body ached and a tight pressure encased her skull.

(Where was Brother!)

She mustn't panic. If she remained as calm and composed as possible, then Killua would come in no time to rescue her. Alluka trusted Killua, more than anything in the world, and she had no intention of losing faith now.

Where was she? The last thing Alluka remembered was bumping into a woman on the way back from the store, a sharp pain as something entered her arm. She had looked up, she remembered, and seen the woman's face and the brief flash of confusion that crossed it. Then the drowsiness, the tunnelling of her vision, the panic as she realised she had been drugged. She had screamed. Had Killua answered? He may have.

Then… nothing. She woke up.

Alluka listened more closely at the voices a little ahead of her.

"You said the drug would work instantly! Because of this, our mission was compromised!" It was a man speaking, the words rough, harsh and full of ill contained aggression.

The replying voice was quiet and Alluka had to strain to hear it. There was a distorted hum to it, not human at all. Perhaps the conversation was over an intercom.

"It went well in the end – the note has been passed on, he will come."

"You're supposed to be the best in the world! It was you who didn't know about the family's unique immunity to poison. I lost men!"

He? Killua?

"And who provided you with those men?" a different voice replied this time, feminine and calm. It was agonisingly familiar too but without seeing a face, Alluka couldn't pinpoint it.

Why would they want to kidnap the two of them in the first place? A thought flashed across her mind. In the same instant, Nanika seemed to think the same thing and shrunk further towards the black recess of her mind.

(We promised we wouldn't listen to any more wishes.)

"If you fail me again, I'll make you regret it!"

"Of course," the intercom again.

After this there was silence. The conversation was probably over.

Alluka struggled to keep her breathing level as the silence continued, conscious of the other people in the room. Finally, there was a click and a swoosh, indicating the others had left. Alluka exhaled shakily but didn't dare move. There could be surveillance, for all she knew. She would have to sit and wait. Killua would come.

When Killua pressed two fingers to the back of his head, sharp pain flooded through his skull. There was a noticeable bump, and with the tips of his fingers, he could feel that the hair there was matted with dried liquid. He pulled his fingers away and studied the spots of brownish blood, noting with relief it was congealing quickly.

"Is it OK?" Gon asked.

"Yeah," Killua answered. A normal person would almost definitely be in hospital, perhaps even dead. Luckily Killua wasn't normal.

The door suddenly opened and Nagisa came in to the living room, holding a small bag in his hand. He walked towards the sofa and set it down.

"There's bandages," he said, rummaging around the bag and pulling out a roll of white fabric. "What else is there…"

"Just a wipe," Killua asked him. Nagisa glanced at him with a subtle look of curiosity.

"Are you sure? It looked bad…" Killua supposed it would look bad for a normal teenager like Nagisa – lying on the floor with bleeding. However Killua had survived worse and he wasn't going to let a small bruise (ok, it was slightly worse than that) stop him getting Alluka back.

"Thanks Nagisa," Gon said with a small smile.

"It's fine," Nagisa shrugged. He put the bandages back in the bag and fished out a packet of wipes. Taking the packet from Nagisa, Killua got one out and preceded to gently tease the blood out of his hair. Nagisa put the bag to the side and sat down.

There was a drawn out moment of silence.

"What are we going to do?" Nagisa asked. Killua looked down, pressing the back of his palm against his lips and tried to break down the problem posed to him. He wanted to charge in right now and rescue Alluka but was that really the best option? Surely the opposition wouldn't want to hurt Alluka, but that wasn't a guarantee. Worst case scenario, Alluka would be injured… perhaps even…

(No, don't think like that.)

"Wait until the time comes. That's probably the best option," Killua said. They would have to play along until they could get to Alluka.

"Couldn't we just… go in and rescue her?" Nagisa suggested.

Well that was an idea. Killua ducked his head down, deeply contemplating the situation. Then he looked at Gon; could the two of them combined be enough to bring their enemy down. But he knew who they were dealing with and Killua didn't like the odds.

"Gon, how's your Ren?"

"Killua…" Gon said. There was a hint of something apologetic in his tone. "I can't use nen."

Killua's eyes widened, as Nagisa tilted his head inquisitively. Gon couldn't use nen? This hadn't come up in any of their conversations or their mails. Not being able to use nen… that was like fighting with both hand's tied behind you and a sack over your head.

"What? Why?" Killua asked.

"I don't know, but after Alluka made me better, I just couldn't use it," Gon explained. With gyo, Killua focused on his best friend. There was nothing wrong with him; his aura trailed upwards and dissipated into the room as any normal person…

(But he wasn't normal.)

"Have you tried reawakening it?" Killua asked. There was a hum of panic underlying his voice. Even though it was Gon who had lost his nen, Killua felt like there was a horrendous gap where something was missing.

"Yeah, it didn't work," Gon said with a little, uncaring shrug. "I thought maybe… this was the price for defeating Pitou. I kind of accepted it I guess."

"Damn," Killua muttered. So much was happening at once, he wasn't quite sure he could get his head around everything. There was a minute of silence, as all of them tried to grasp the situation and understand it.

Nagisa opened his mouth.

"I know who that woman is," Killua said, suddenly breaking the silence. The groups focused was entirely on him, curious about what he had to say.

"You do?" Gon asked. Killua nodded.

"She's called Freyzard, who was a butler who served at the Zoldyck estate about ten years ago. I thought she was dead but apparently not. She's strong," he explained. Well, in his distant memory of her, she was. It had been a while since Killua had seen her and back then, Killua hadn't been strong.

(She would know about Alluka's power…)

"You have an estate?" Nagisa asked.

"Yes," Killua said, without alliterating further.

"What are we going to do?" Gon started. Killua was out of ideas. They needed to get Alluka back but couldn't do so without agreeing to the terms. It put them at a disadvantage and one Killua didn't like.

"Wait," Nagisa suddenly said. "I think I have an idea."

"What is it?" Gon asked, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Killua, do you have your phone?" Nagisa asked.

"Yeah, but he could patch into phone calls," Killua said. He knew this from experience. It's not like they were several thousand metres in the sky after all.

"I'm not making a phone call," Nagisa said with a grin. Killua got his phone out from his pocket and handed it to Nagisa. It was still the beetle shaped one he had gotten years ago, having never had the urge to throw it away.

(Gon had the same one.)

Nagisa stared at it and looked as though he was about to comment. However, he didn't say anything about the slightly odd shape.

"Do you bring it to class?" Nagisa said. Killua frowned in confusion but answered.

"Yeah." Killua had his phone with him at almost all times.

"On?"

Killua nodded. Just in case Alluka needed something.

"Ritsu has a transmitter. She made this wireless thing so that you can get her onto your phone," Nagisa explained. "If you've been into the classroom with this phone, she probably knows it already."

Killua blinked; he hadn't thought of Ritsu but now realised how much of an asset she could be. It was kind of scary, actually, the amount of resources these kids had.

There was a soft chime from Killua's phone. The screen suddenly changed, and on it, twirling her hair between her fingers, was Ritsu.

"Hello," she said cheerfully. "I was waiting for you. The incident today was on the news."

Half an hour later, Killua was taking a glance at his watch, checking the time. 07:56 the numbers flashed up. He was four minutes early.

He was well aware of the surveillance cameras dotted around the apparently abandoned multi-story parking area, their blank glass eyes staring at him unblinkingly. They were everywhere, although not noticeably so, perched on the concrete beams, in the gaps between the crumbling ceiling. Although he couldn't be certain, Killua got the feeling this entire building was being used by whoever was behind this. It was boarded off for the public, metal fencing all around it – according to Ritsu, it was going to be demolished in two weeks' time.

Killua looked at the time again. 07:58. The numbers were going too slowly. He needed to see Alluka, to see that he was alright. The last hour had been hell for him, with the nervous bite gnawing at his stomach and thoughts like knives in his head. Even Gon's words of reassurance meant nothing now.

The white haired boy recalled the same feeling from a long time ago. He had promised he would never do anything like that again.

(Blood. He watched as it splattered out in front of him, registered the missing arm, the tears in the other's eyes. "I'm fine," he says. "It doesn't hurt.")

Two minutes was agonisingly long. Killua concentrated on the small things, like keeping his breathing low and level to hide his presence so that he could sense any movement around him easily.

Finally, his ears picked up on a subtle whirr to his side. Although his eyes could see nothing, he could feel the presence of a moving object as clear as daylight. He turned and fixed his attention on an elevator door, it's previously silver surface rusting. It opened with a small squeak.

Freyzard in a black suit stepped out. She was on her own.

"You came," she said.

Well, thank you for stating the obvious, Killua thought. The voice in his head was a little sarcastic.

"You're on your own," Killua said. He could say this with almost absolute certainly, having had plenty of time to familiarise himself with the surroundings and sense the presence of everyone around him. Someone would have to be incredibly competent to hide themselves from him now.

"So are you," Freyzard replied. Killua supposed the same could be said for the other woman.

"I could kill you now," Killua told her. The woman gave a small smile.

"But where would Alluka be, if you did that."

Killua gritted his teeth subtly. Unfortunately, Freyzard was right. Although there was no one in the vicinity, he already knew that the CCTV cameras were active and that he was being watched. Killua didn't know how many other people were with Freyzard – acting irrationally now would endanger Alluka's life and that was something he wasn't willing to do.

"Shall we start with introductions? My name is Freyzard."

"I know. Where's Alluka?" he asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Freyzard asked back.

"What do you want?"

"The same thing as you," Freyzard said. "When I say, you won't be hurt if you cooperate, I mean it. Shall we discuss it inside?" Freyzard gestured towards the open elevator door.

The same thing as you.

Although he hadn't told anyone else, Killua was almost certain he knew what the final demand would be. Why else would Alluka be targeted?

Nanika was no longer required to grant wishes. The sole person who had control over that power was Killua. Even Freyzard shouldn't know this – this was new knowledge, unrevealed to anyone but Killua until a year ago. Why would Freyzard know this?

Her power to grant wishes was meant to be a complete secret. The whole family agreed on this, and such thing was a very rare occurrence. If someone were to find out what she was capable of, there was nothing stopping them from taking advantage.

Freyzard had walked into the elevator and was staring at Killua.

Every nerve in his body was screaming that this was a trap, that he should run, but Killua pushed down those thoughts with a forceful mental shove. Killua didn't have much choice at the moment. Right now, Alluka was priority. If he couldn't get Alluka out, completely unharmed, there was no point.

Killua followed Freyzard into the elevator.

Thank you for reading! Any advice is appreciated!