Sorry it's a little late! Anyway, new chapter:

Hide and Seek Time, period 2

The elevator stopped soundlessly and Killua felt the little pull on his stomach as it did so. The doors slid open with a metallic clunk, to reveal a featureless concrete corridor extending forward. It was lit dimly with a line of white strip lights, connected by a bundle of wires. Killua studied them quietly – he had charged before he came here, but it was nice to know there was a supply of electricity down here. Further down, he could also make out a metal door.

"Down there," Freyard said, indicating across the corridor.

Wordlessly, Killua started walking towards the door. Despite the mixture of feeling chewing him up inside, he was outwardly calm. So close to someone who had dared to hurt Alluka, he had expected his bloodlust to surge outwards, but it was surprisingly easy to control. Perhaps his unconscious had finally gotten the idea that he needed to be calm if he was going to rescue his sister.

Although the floor was hard, there were no footsteps, either from Killua or from Freyzard. It was an old habit and Killua supposed it unnerved people, although he couldn't be bothered to rectify it. Within a few seconds they were by the door and Freyzard was pulling a key out of his pocket. The door opened with a clank.

Immediately after the door were two men, armed – they didn't seem too troublesome to take down. They acknowledged Freyzard with a nod.

"Where's Alluka?" Killua said.

There was another door to the left, and Freyzard gestured. Killua took a deep breath before entering.

"Brother!"

The word was like a knife to his heart, but one of relief and joy.

Alluka, alive and well, tears shining in her eyes was sitting on the other side of a wooden desk. If Killua didn't know better, she could almost be sitting on the dining room table at home.

(Since when was it home?)

"Alluka!" Killua called back. He took a step towards Alluka, but a firm hand on his shoulder held him back. It was a jolting reminder that this wasn't over yet.

There was a man sitting on a seat facing to the side, staring at the two. If Killua hadn't seen worse, he might have been shocked at the state of the man's face; long vertical scars ran down his cheeks and Killua could see the etched lines, raw and ragged, had been scratched out by fingernails. His expression was twisted with such absolute malice Killua felt a little shiver of apprehension. He also noted the black hair, slicked back at the top and shaved at the bottom, as well as his large, muscular stature – something about the man's demeanour gave him the impression he had once been in the army.

"Take a seat," the man suddenly, indicating to the seat opposite to Alluka, to his right. His voice was low and gravely, full of obvious malice in contrast to the blank voice of Freyzard. Was he the man in charge? Freyzard had taken her post next to the door, standing deadly still. Apparently yes.

"I would prefer to stand," Killua said. You could react faster, standing.

"I insist."

Killua sat.

"What do you want?" Killua asked. His voice was devoid of all emotion, cool and professional in contrast to the outburst only seconds before.

"To kill Korosensei. I'm sure you've already worked this out," the man said with a sneer.

He had. It was pretty obvious wasn't it? There was a substantial bounty on his teacher's head and even without that motivation, people weren't happy with the whole 'destroy the world next year' thing. With Alluka's power, Korosensei could be easily finished off.

But Killua couldn't. He couldn't let Alluka be used like that. He knew if Alluka's power was known, it wouldn't stop there – people would be queuing to ask for wishes, and the power struggle over her would be off the scale. She could do anything. Whoever had that power, had the world in their hands. And when there as the risk of that power falling into an opponent's hands, Killua knew Alluka's life would be in danger. Forever.

Her power was a last resort for a reason. If Killua couldn't protect Alluka, then there was no point.

"And?" he asked.

"I know of Alluka's power. Use it."

Alluka's eyes were wide.

It was at this moment that Killua realised he still hadn't told Alluka what he was doing in Class E, who Korosensei was. The twist of guilt in his stomach was overpowering. She didn't even know what was going on because Killua had left her in the dark. But he had to do this. He had to protect her.

"OK."

If Alluka was killed now, then what was the point of keeping her power secret in the first place? The man had the upper hand and they both knew it.

"Brother?" Alluka's voice was wary. Killua grimaced at the questioning tone but quickly replaced it with a smile.

"It'll be over soon, I promise," he said. He licked his dry lips before continuing. Hopefully, he could live up to that promise.

Once the door closed and the two disappeared, Nagisa put down his binoculars and gestured to Gon hiding with him in the tree tops, a hundred metres or so away from the dilapidated building. It was time to move.

Right on que, a small chime sounded from Killua's phone and Nagisa fished it out of his pocket, feeling the edge of a small object, also kept in his pocket, as he did so. Nagisa leaned over to see Ritsu's smiling face on the flat screen.

"I've hacked the system," she said with a wink. "I'll put the cameras on loop so you can go in unnoticed."

Nagisa wondered where they'd be without the artificial intelligence that was Ritsu – she was a valuable member of the class that had helped them out of a lot of tight spots. An image sprang to Nagisa's mind of a dominating building at the top of a jagged cliff, the silent expanse of the sea at night behind them. That really had been a tight spot.

"Thanks," Nagisa said with a smile.

"No problem," Ritsu replied, with an equally bright smile.

"Let's go," Gon said, sights already set on the elevator door.

They were ready.

After jumping neatly into the building, the two walked towards the elevator. Nagisa knocked on the metal door and listened to the dull clanks as he did so.

"We can't just press the button," he told Gon, although it seemed like an obvious thing to say. "Ritsu?"

From the small screen of Killua's phone, Nagisa could see that Ritsu looked worried, her usual air of confidence lost from her face.

"I can move the elevator, but from there I'm not sure," she said. "The systems inside seem to be running on an independent system. I don't know if there are guards."

Gon's fist was clenched tightly into a ball.

"It doesn't matter," he said, his eyes radiating crackling energy.

The elevator gave a small ting. With a horrible clank, the doors were open and the poorly lit square beckoned them. Nagisa and Gon glanced at each other, nodding. Both expressions were grim – Killua was relying on them.

They stepped in simultaneously.

The doors closed noisily behind them and the airy sensation in Nagisa's stomach indicated the lift was heading downwards. It was a few seconds before the lift stopped smoothly.

"Are you alright?" Nagisa asked Gon. The silent fury on his face made Nagisa turn quickly away without a word. He made a mental note never to make Gon angry – even without the rage directed at him, it was enough to make him tense up, guarded.

"I'll open the elevator door's in five seconds," Ritsu called from the phone.

Nagisa steeled himself, counting in his head.

When the door opened nothing happened. The anxiety building up in Nagisa only seemed to rocket at the lack of opposition and although the corridor in front of them looked empty he was constantly expecting an attack. It was Gon who moved first, solidly walking out the elevator, hands clenched into fists. Ready. Nagisa followed after him.

They reached the door. Even though there was nothing to be seen, Nagisa felt it – presences. There were people on the other side. He glanced at Gon.

"Ritsu?" Nagisa asked. Ritsu's face was set in a frown.

"Wait a second… Yes," there was a small chime from the phone "-the system is automated. I can open it."

Nagisa took a deep breath in then exhaled quietly. Reaching into his pocket, he took out the other item – a small stun gun that Killua had given him before they left. He turned to Gon.

"Ready?"

"Yes," Gon said, dropping down to a fighting stance. There was a soft click before the door slid open, revealing another corridor.

Immediately the two guards on the other side reacted, glancing through the door with large guns in their hands, to see who was there. Seeing the two seemingly unarmed children, they stopped, but only for a brief instance.

"Intru…!" one started. To his credit, he managed to aim his gun at Gon, just before the black hair boy rushed forward and slammed a knee into his gut with superhuman speed and strength. The other reeled backwards and in that instance, the whole world stopped.

For Nagisa at least.

The vague, nagging feeling in his brain had gone completely, replaced by emptiness and the loud beat of his heart. He saw one guard reel away from Gon's kick, gasping in pain, as the other spun round to retaliate. He could see, as clear as daylight, the guards attention waver from him.

Now!

Nagisa walked forward, almost calmly, forward. He was behind the guard having avoided the other's attention.

"Hello," he said.

As the man turned to confront him, he hooked his leg at his knee and yanked it towards him. The man crumbled down into a messy sprawl and Nagisa took the opportunity to press the stun gun against him. Pressing the small button at the side, Nagisa turned it on. For a second, a flash of white light surrounded the form, before he slumped down, unconscious.

When Nagisa turned to Gon, the other guard was also on the floor.

"Which way?" Nagisa asked, his voice raised even though it didn't have to be as Gon was right next to him. They didn't know if they had been discovered and if they were, they would have to act quickly to get them all out safely.

Gon closed his eyes for a second. When they snapped open, he was focused on a door on their left hand side.

"This way!" he shouted. He sprinted the last few metres, impossibly fast for a human being, and before Nagisa could shout to stop him, he was at the door. Gon gripped the handle tightly and ripped the door open.

"Quite… subtle," Ritsu commented from Nagisa's pocket as he ran after Gon.

He expected action to be occurring on the other side of the door, but the scene was relatively still. (To his delight) there was Killua, standing in front of Alluka protectively in the back corner of the room with a stray crackle of electricity floating around his hair and (to his dismay) Freyzard and a man between Gon and their friends, on the other side of a large wooden desk.

Nagisa gasped as he recognised the man. The muscular body, the wild look in his eyes and more than anything, the defining scars on his face.

"Takaoka," he whispered.

The man who abused his power as a teacher and had been made a failure in front of the whole class. The man who had threatened to kill half the members of Class E and bury Kayano in concrete.

"You," Takaoka said. He was scratching again, picking at the shallow skin of his scars until they bled. He had always held a grudge against Nagisa, ever since he had been defeated by him when he first came to Class E. It seemed that that hatred had only grown.

Nagisa could hear each of their breathing. He could see the dark shadow over all of their faces, the tingle of nervous energy down his spine. Stronger than ever was the bloodlust that coiled inside him.

"How! How did you escape?" Nagisa said. Takaoka should be in prison, and rightly so. He was insane.

"I had help. Unlike you pesky brats I can afford to…"

"Takaoka!" The voice was Freyzards. She stared at Takaoka coldly and the larger man's lips twisted in annoyance. For a moment, Nagisa thought he would hit her, but he hissed and turned back to Nagisa.

"I'll finally get my vengeance," he said smugly. Gon took a glance at him, but immediately changed the direction of his gaze to Killua.

"Is Alluka alright?" Gon asked.

"Yeah," Killua replied, emphasising it with a nod. He gripped tighter on the smaller hand of the form behind him. Getting conformation that she is alright, Nagisa relaxed slightly. Gon visibly did the same, but his guard was as strong as always.

"The wall!" Gon shouted, without warning. Nagisa gave him a sideward glance, confused, but Killua seemed to be struck with sudden understanding. He gave a nod to Gon, smiled at Nagisa.

With a flash a crackle of electricity surrounded him, engulfing him in a halo of bright white light. Nagisa closed his eyes in reaction and, in that brief moment while the world was dark, a huge band erupted across the room. Next were the few gasps of surprise and by the time Nagisa opened his eyes there was a gaping hole in the wall closest to where the elevator was. Killua and Alluka were gone.

"After him!" Takaoka shouted, the rage evident in his voice.

Immediately, Freyzard clambered through the hole.

Gon turned to Takaoka.

"Freyzard will never catch Killua," he said, certainty in his voice. "And you're going to regret trying to threaten Alluka!"

The grin Takaoka returned was enough to make a shiver go down Nagisa's spine.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you can:)