I can't really think of anything to say that would merit me forgivness for those of you who have been waiting so long for this update. (For those who WERN'T, then you're all good to go, right?) Anyway, I've been anywhere but home all summer long and even though I promised myself I'd finish this story before school stars, its not looking like thats going to happen.

The GOOD news! School gives me some stability that summer lacks. I actually have deadlines and stuff, so therefore, it's easier for me to publish during the school year than during summer. (Kind of odd...most authors are opposite)

Anyway, no special songs for this one. But, trouble is in the air for our Fai and Kuro-sama...

Read and you'll see!

"Damn" Kurogane cursed, as he disabled yet another hidden camera. This Reed guy was a paranoid headcase! There were hidden cameras in every corner, heat and motion detectors around every bend, and just about every other kind of sensor known to man stuffed inside his mansion.

The only thing missing was a guard dog, which would have admittedly been a lot harder to avoid than the many video cameras.

If Kurogane didn't have such a keen sixth sense for detecting devises that were meant to detect him, he was sure he wouldn't have made it two feet in Reed's mansion.

Kurogane sighed as he straightened up and looked around. He was in a big, grandeur hallway, adjourned with bright, gaudy chandeliers. It was an exceptionally large hall, big enough to fit a line of elephants in, and it unfortunately served as the backbone of the mansion. Doors and smaller hallways leading off into different directions of the house lined the large corridor. It would take hours to search the whole house. What he needed was directions, though stopping and asking a passing guard wouldn't really help him.

He didn't particularly like spending his time in the grand hallway though. It was too open and well-lit, he would be easily sighted if anyone was to mosey around. Deciding on a random hallway, Kurogane took it and continued on his way.

The commotion of the party had faded into soft lulls as Kurogane journeyed deeper into Reed's mansion. He wondered vaguely what Fai was up to.

Was he still dancing around and acting like an idiot?

Kurogane shook his head with a slight growl to himself to keep his head straight and focused on the task at hand.

While Kurogane was scouring the mansion for Reed's study, Fai was busy mingling with party guests, gulping down drink after drink and having quite literally the time of his life. His brain was starting to get a bit fuzzy, but people kept bringing him drinks and who was he to refuse? He supposed he should be a bit more serious, as this was a serious mission, but really, what could go wrong? Everyone here seemed to love him and he was currently in a riveting conversation with a couple of random guests that obviously wanted his company since his wonderful performance (although honestly, he was tuning out the conversation since he these rich people were oddly boring.)

Fai's mind drifted to Kurogane and he wondered how he was doing. No sudden alarm of any sort had gone off, so that was a good sign.

A thick, warm hand suddenly grabbed Fai's thin arm, jerking him out of his thoughts. Fai looked to the perpetrator and to his complete surprise saw Fei Wong Reed, in the flesh, was holding onto him, smiling an odd and twisted smile.

Fai figured it was meant to somehow enchant him.

"Hello there." Fei drawled out in a deep, thick voice. "I just wanted to compliment you on that wonderful performance."

Fai was glad he was at least very good at acting, if anything else, because he managed to hide his surprise very well, though his insides nearly jolted with electricity at Fei's appearance. Sure this was his party and all, but he wasn't expecting the elusive terrorist to walk straight up to him and give him a compliment.

Fei was a lot fatter in person than in the photo. Fai was not normally one to judge, but it looked as if this guy had gotten beaten with the ugly stick as a child. He had an abnormally large butt-chin that looked like a deep fissure splitting down his face.

"Thank you!" Fai replied with a dazzling smile, not missing a beat.

"Would you mind taking a walk with me? I'd like to talk more…privately. Perhaps the garden?" Fei said with lustful look in his eye.

Fai's insides were squirming and telling him to bolt, but really, what could he say? No?

Yeah, that would end well. Fei would probably have him shot on the spot for denying him. Besides, it would be a lovely opportunity to get some information…

"Sure!" agreed Fai looking ecstatic, though he felt as if he had just signed his death warrant.

Kurogane had the luck of happening upon a poor, unsuspecting guard, and with a swift, stealthy blow, the guard was knocked out cold, stripped of his uniform, and stuffed into a closet.

Kurogane buttoned up his new attire, and set off again, his mind eased slightly by the new cover he had.

He could now navigate more easily and quickly.

He seemed to have a stroke of good luck when he found Fei's study not to long afterwards. Pick-locking his way in, he couldn't help but be suspicious of how easy it was to get in. Then again, Fei probably doubted anyone could get this far into his house without being caught.

Fei's study was like every other room in this mansion: overly large.

There was enough room to stick a community pool in there. Yet, the only object in the room was an expensive oak desk resided in the back, a laptop sitting on top.

What a waste of space, Kurogane thought angrily, thinking about his small, compacted room back at home base.

All resentment aside, Kurogane set off to work. He spent quite a bit of time hacking into the computer, and once that was done, he began searching for files on B.A.T.

Fingers ghosted over the key pad as quick as lighting. He could thank all those months of computer-servitude for the good they were doing him now. Kurogane quickly found what he was looking for: information on the terrorist group.

His eyes scanned over the contents of a random file he pulled out of the computer involving the B.A.T.

…Kyle and Jeramiah rendezvous at Paris, France with luggage. Target: Eiffle Tower. Detonation at 08:00 hours on Tuesday, October 10th.

He didn't bother to reading much about it. It wasn't his job to investigate; Yuuko sent him and Fai here to retrieve the information and bring it back. He pulled out a memory drive and began downloading the data.

"It's a nice night, isn't it?"

Fai hummed lightly in agreement, focusing his attention on Fei's wonderful courtyard and not on the fact that they were out here all alone. Despite him being a terrorist, Fai couldn't deny he had a decent garden.

"I never asked you your name."

Fai made sure to keep calm and cover all telling signs of a liar, as he was sure questions were going to be fired in his direction soon. Not everybody was a convincing liar, and a lot of agents get so wound up trying to lie, they are easily detected. It took years of practice, but if lying became natural to you, you could focus on more important things in the field, such as the way Reed was eyeballing him as if he were a tray of dessert.

The look definitely set Fai on edge.

"Yuui. Yuui Valeria."

Fai secretly hoped this wouldn't drag his brother into an unnecessary trouble, but he doubted it would. Yuui was all the way in Paris, living a happy, non-threatening life. Though they hadn't spoken in quite a long time, Fai was sure his brother wouldn't mind him using his name as an alias.

"Yuui, huh?" something flashed behind Fei's eyes and Fai had a moment of panic. Did he know? Now way!

Fai kept a straight face as he nodded nonchalantly. He had to keep his cool. He threw Reed another smile. Throughout his years, Fai found that those who smile are easily dismissed. Good technique.

"So, where did you learn such…astounding moves, Yuui?" Fai didn't like the tone he put on Yuui. It sounded smug, as if he knew something. Every passing minuet with this guy was starting to unnerve Fai. Something was wrong here.

Damn alcohol, making his brain dysfunctional.

Fai continued to "examine" the flowers, when really, he was avoiding looking at Reed. He could feel Reed's gaze roam all over his body.

"My mother and father sent me to a private school that had this amazing dance class. I really enjoyed it!" Fai explained, finally turning around and beaming. He didn't really feel like doing so, but he knew if he avoided Reed's attention too long, Reed would begin to suspect something.

"And that class taught you to dance like that?" Fei motioned back to the ballroom, and back to when Fai was dancing to Ricky Martin.

Fai slyly smiled, a true smile this time, as if remembering an inside joke.

"Not particularly. I learned that myself."

"Well, it was very moving. Though…I must say I don't quite believe you."

Fai blinked confused for a split second, but quickly put up his façade again. He couldn't loose his character, no matter what Reed said. That was how most agents slip up when acting undercover. They are looking for an excuse to drop their cover; any hint or whisper that they may be caught or found out, when really, they aren't.

Not yet, at least.

The proper way to go was to act stupid until you get the truth.

"Oh?" asked Fai. A tense moment hung in the air as Fai waited for an answer. Was Fei Wong Reed onto him, or was this just casual conversation?

Reed smiled. "I don't care how good you are, there is no way you learned to dance like that by yourself. Surely you had help."

Fai laughed mirthfully, his jovial voice carrying over the courtyard as they walked on. "Okay, so I may have had some help. A few trips to underground raves."

"So tell me Yuui," Fai inwardly shivered at his tone again. This man had to know something, for the glint in his eyes, every time he said the name Yuui, was no coincidence. "Tell me more about yourself. Where do you come from? What's your family like? Do you have any siblings?"

"No, no siblings. It's just me, and if you ask my parents, they'd tell you I was too much of a handful to bother with another one." Fai explained with a teasing tone in his voice. This was, of course, all lies. But really, what did Fei Wong Reed need to know about him? The more lies, the better.

"Oh surely you weren't that much of a menace to your parents. You seem positively angelic to me."

Fai smiled yet again, finding it harder and harder to do so the longer he stayed out here with Reed.

"Shame they only brought one such as yourself into this world. Can you imagine two..?"

Even with the alcohol swishing in his brain, Fai realized this is a good time to get out, before it's too late. There was something too odd with Fei Wong Reed, and Fai really didn't want to find out. He had a feeling it would cost him dearly if he did.

"I've often wondered that too. Being an only child gets kind of lonely." Fai kept the conversation flowing. However, he was already working on his way to get out. He shivered slightly. "You know, its pretty cold out here. I think I'm going to go back inside and warm up." Fai said lightly. He forced one more hopefully convincing smile before he turned.

"Leaving so soon?"

There was a click of a gun. Fai stopped dead.

He whipped around, hand automatically pulling out his own gun.

Reed's gun was aimed at Fai's chest and Fai, in turn, had his gun pointed to Reed's head. But he could hear other clicks of hidden guards in bushes. A few stepped out, their guns aimed at Fai as well.

He had no chance. He knew he should have gotten out of there sooner…

Reed was smiling so sadistically, Fai wondered how the hell he hadn't seen it before.

Damn alcohol.

"Really, I was just getting to know you, Fai."

For the first time in years, Fai's pretence dropped to the floor and shattered.

Kurogane was impatiently rapped his knuckles on the desk, waiting for the information to upload to his chip. Once they had the information, he and Fai could ditch this party. For some reason, Kurogane was starting to feel it was damn near time they left. Maybe it was because he was sitting here like a freaking duck, waiting to be found.

80% Downloaded.

Damn. Almost there. It was an antagonizing long process.

Kurogane's leg began to bob up and down with agitation. "C'mon." He muttered. He had already spent a long time away from the party…

90% Downloaded.

Kurogane, to pass the idle time away, reviewed what he had skimmed earlier. There was a guy named Kyle in the B.A.T. and he was meeting another person in Paris. They were going to do something to the Eiffle tower…

95% Downloaded.

Nearly there.

He suddenly heard, or rather, sensed something.

Kurogane stopped his movements and strained his ears, but he didn't hear anything else... The only thing he could hear was the soft hum of the computer.

Kurogane narrowed his eyes and silently reached for his gun lying on the desk.

When the ping from the computer announced the download was complete, he slowly slipped the flash drive into his pocket. To help avoid detection, Kurogane had been operating in Reed's study with the lights off. The only source of light was the blue cast from the laptop. Observing the dark room, his eyes adjusting painfully slow, Kurogane was beginning to regret not turning on the lights.

He had been detected, but he couldn't see his foe.

Damn. It must be some kind of ninja.

Kurogane kept impossibly still, focusing on the air and energy around him. Someone had slipped into the room unnoticed, and anyone who could do that posed nothing but a threat to Kurogane. Whoever it was, they were good. Not a single breath of heartbeat was audible. Kurogane concentrated harder.

Suddenly, barely even noticeable, there was a shift in the air.

Kurogane whipped his gun where he sensed his enemy. He pulled the trigger. A foot collided with his hand, redirecting the deadly shot. The bullet silently embedded itself in the wall.

Kurogane, not missing a single beat, grabbed the foot and twisted.

His attacker, light on his feet, jumped and used his other foot to deliver a roundhouse kick to Kurogane. They both crashed to the ground.

Damn, this guy really WAS a ninja!

They both recovered quickly and hustled to their feet. Kurogane, his senses buzzing, adrenaline pumping, no longer needed the light to see. He could sense his opponent just fine.

The assailant attacked again and Kurogane blocked him, arms combating the in swift movements and techniques. Kurogane had taken a few hits, but also delivered a few to his opponent. They seemed to be equally matched in hand-to-hand combat, which was rare for Kurogane. Most missions he had been on rarely called upon that skill this intensely.

Whoever this guy was, he was damn good at fighting.

Kurogane grunted in pain as he was hit in the jaw. He quickly recovered and grabbed the offending fist. Spinning around and tucking his body, he used his momentum to fling the assailant over his shoulders and into the ground.

The attacker jumped up as if Kurogane had merely tossed some water on him. Kurogane was growing irritated.

He prepared to engage in the fight again, but there was suddenly a sharp sting in his shoulder.

Kurogane gingerly pulled out a thin dart.

That bastard cheated.

Almost immediately Kurogane could feel his senses go hazy. His knees suddenly felt like jell-o and they collapsed beneath him. The last thing he saw before he passed out completely was the approaching figure of the ninja-like attacker.

You're mine…next time, was Kurogane's last thought.

I'm already working on chapter five! Yes! RIGHT now, as we speak! :D

.Tameny.