A/N: I was planning on delaying the update in order to make the chapter longer, but then I was on the Samurai Fanservice message board and saw a post about my story, so I fel horribly guilty for waiting this long to update (I mean seriously, I get irritated when other authors do this) and decide that a small update is better than no update. Don't you all agree? Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review when you are done.

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Hostage

By: Ada C. Eliana

Chapter Seven

Quick recap:

Our baddies (named by Rowen):

Gunman

Samurai

Greasy

Beanstalk

Violence

Doughnut

Last time:

"See that alcove? There's a door there, leads to the alley next to the building, that's also where the power box is. I need you to get everyone out of here, and turn off the lights," Rowen hissed in Kyoko's ear, certain that no one was paying him any attention.

"What about you?" Kyoko asked, Rowen could barely hear her because of his injured ear, but he could tell that she was less than pleased with this plan.

"I'll be keeping our 'friends' busy. Don't worry, I can handle myself. When I say "go," okay?"

It was now or never.

"Go!"

1:15 pm

"Go!" Rowen hissed to Kyoko, leaping from his spot on the floor, the rope still tangled on his right hand.

Gunman had barely seen a blur arching towards him in the air before Rowen had landed on top of him, knocking him to the ground. He got off one shot that went wide and missed Rowen's head before the Ronin wrenched the gun from his grasp. The other criminals charged at Rowen and their ringleader, giving Kyoko the cover she needed to usher everyone towards the back exit.

Rowen rolled off of Gunman just in time to find several of his buddies holding their knives on him. Flipping onto his feet he evaded the first slice, kicking the man in the gut.

"Where do you think you're going!" Violence's voice rang throughout the marbled room, his attention aimed on the fleeing hostages. Kyoko, who was ushering people out from the back of the group turned her gaze to him, and then ran forward behind the alcove. Rowen pushed past the distracted men and attacked Violence. The man whipped around, stabbing his blade into the muscle of Rowen's shoulder as Rowen's first struck his face, hard. Rowen clutched at his bleeding shoulder, staggering back slightly. Jeeze Rowen, two minutes in and you're already injured. What would Talpa say? He looked over his shoulder to see the others had formed a circle around him, and there was Gunman, up and training the once-discarded weapon on him.

Kento and Sage walked out of Rowen's apartment building in agitation. They had discovered it empty, with no signs of a struggle. It appeared Rowen had just left. So then where did he go?

"Well, let's walk towards the subway station and see if we can maybe figure something out," Sage suggested. Kento nodded, his eyes scanning the sidewalks and streets for signs of Rowen. He had originally thought Sage paranoid, but something told him that Rowen was in trouble.

As it was, Kento and Sage turned the corner just before a small crowd of people slipped out the side entrance of the Mizuho Bank anxiously, the police immediately upon them.

A cacophony of lights and sound met them as they took in the police cordoned block around the bank. Police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances lined the road. Yellow tape had been strung up and people pressed against it, craning their necks and shouting questions to find out what was happening.

"You don't think…?" Kento began, raising an eyebrow as he looked up at Sage's face. Jaw clenched Sage scanned the scene before him once more, trying to suppress the sinking feeling that he and Kento had found exactly what they were looking for. Of course if the bank were to be taken hostage it would just have to be while Rowen was there. It was just his kind of luck.

Kento and Sage joined the crowd of gawking passerby, sidling up beside a woman who seemed very intent on the situation. "What's going on here?" Sage asked; staring at the bank's covered windows.

"The bank's been taken hostage," the woman responded, pushing a lock of dark hair out of her eyes. I heard that they've been in there since maybe 11:30 this morning, and there's at least one gun."

"Really?" Sage asked. The game had started at 11:30; Rowen might have stopped at the bank on his way to the station. "How many people do they have hostage in there?"

"I don't know. They sent two out earlier – both of them were dead," she answered, tight-lipped, the spinning lights of the police car beside her casting her face in odd colors. Sage's stomach dropped and he paled slightly.

Sage focused his attention on the building across the street, using his well honed senses that went beyond sight, sound, and touch, to seek out any sign of Rowen.

"Do you know who died?" Kento asked, picking up the conversation when it seemed Sage could not.

"A young girl and an older man, that's all I know," she said, turning to look at Kento. She looked about 35 years-old, and her eyes were framed with crinkles, her forehead set into worry lines. "Why are you here? Morbid interest?" she snapped.

Kento, taken aback, quickly sought to reassure her. "No ma'am. My friend never showed up to meet us today, we think he might be in there."

"Oh. Sorry," she said quietly, regretting her harsh tone. "My sister is in there. We live in adjacent apartments, and my niece came over to tell me that her mom hadn't been back from the bank in an hour. I turned on the news, and saw this. I just can't believe it."

"Yeah, this sort of thing doesn't happen everyday, thankfully," Kento muttered uncomfortably, his eyes latching onto Sage's for an instant before the taller warrior turned back to the building.

"And it's just so like my sister. Trouble always follows her around. My father always said if she didn't tone down her rebellious personality there would be trouble, but I don't think this is what he meant," she chuckled briefly, a sort of pained reaction. "I just wish we knew something, that something would happen."

"Well sometimes no news is good news, right?" Kento asked. His question fell on deaf ears as the woman had turned her attention back to the bank, watching as police escorted a line of people away from the building.

"Sage!" Kento said, smacking him lightly to get his attention. At the same moment Sage felt a twinge of pain that did not belong to him and knew his fears had been founded. "Look they're coming out!" Kento craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the line of people. "But… I… I don't see Rowen out here," he said, confused. They had been so sure he was here.

"That's because he's not," Sage said stiffly. "Rowen's still inside!"

A/N: A little less Rowen, a little more Kento and Sage. I'd say that's a fair trade off, wouldn't you? Next chapter is where the action really starts, so don't think it's over yet.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review. Because I do read them, and they do give me the kick in the pants I need to get working on another chapter.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought,

A.C.E.