Hiei came awake slowly to a strange sensation pulling him from his sleep. Slowly, he remembered where he was. He had fallen asleep beside Jen, stubbornly refusing to run away.

Only now, instead of lying on his back, he was on his side, with Jen craddled protectively in his arms. When the hell did this happen? Her arms were wrapped around his torso tightly, giving him a warm feeling in the center of his chest that he didn't want to think about. His mind elaborated anyway. An unspoken-of part of him had always wanted this kind of feeling; To feel wanted, needed even.

Disgusted with himself, Hiei started to move but stopped as her breath landed against his neck, sending chills over his body. His previous thoughts lost to him along with his resolve to leave, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

Jen stirred slightly, causing him to freeze. Her body shifted against his in a way that felt entirely too good to think about.

Hiei kept his eyes closed as she lifted her head, the realization of where she was and who she was with hit her. He fully expected her to pull away but to his surprise, she laid her head back down. "Thank you, Hiei," she said, barely audible.

"Hn."

His soft response caused her to jump, startling her slightly. He opened his eyes to find her staring up at him. "I wasn't aware you were awake."

He arched a brow in curiousity. "Then why did you say 'thank you?''

Jen shrugged, still staring up at him. Her golden eyes were locked on his, seeming to search for something. He watched silently as her eyes followed the lines of his face, the invisible touch of her gaze moving over his face, feather-light. When her gaze fell to his lips, he felt a slight shiver run up his back, his eyes dropping to her own lips.

Before he thought better of it, he dipped his head and pressed his lips to hers. Stunned, Jen didn't move for a heartbeat, but soon relaxed, kissing back. His mind went entirely blank after that, all thought or reason completely gone as her hand slid up his chest to rest along his jaw.

Jen didn't even know what she was doing, but she couldn't stop herself. Surrounded by his strength and scent, Jen parted her lips as his probing tongue brushed against her lower lip. With a light growl from Hiei, the kiss deepend and before she knew what was happening, she was pinned between him and the bed, his arms braced on the bed on either side of her head.

Despite being trapped, Jen didn't feel panic as the realization that she was at Hiei's mercy dawned on her. Strangely, it didn't bother her in the slightest as he continued to kiss her. She ran her hands up his arms and shoulders, resting one hand on his left shoulder while sliding the other into his surprisingly soft hair. His body weight pushed against her causing her to moan. Finally, he pulled away but remained above her. "Avidan is coming," he said quietly and without another word, he disappeared.

Jen saw no signs of him in the room as she looked around, thinking that she might have once again imagined him. That would be one hell of an imagination, she thought to herself. Just like Hiei had said, Avidan, threw open the door, his eyes a careful mask in front of the fury she felt from him. "Jen, come quick. It is Makya and Terrance."

Jen jumped up, still in her tank top and pants as she ran out of the room with her brother, the sight she came up on made her sick.

Terrance and Makya had been brutally beaten beyond recognition. Yukina came in and ran to them, dropping to her knees to heal them, but Vaislen caught her around her waist, pushing her away with a snarl. "Stay away from them," he snarled, baring his teeth as Kuwabara, Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei put themselves between V and Yukina, intent on attacking him. Insults flew between them, the situation escalating fast.

"Enough," Jen shouted, causing everyone to fall quiet. "Yukina only wanted to help, V. Let her."

V snarled at her. "This is their fault. None of this would have happened if they hadn't come and you hadn't agreed to leave-"

Jen cut him off, "They have nothing to do with this. If you want to be pissed off at anyone, be pissed at me. I'm the one who agreed to leave the kingdom. I'm the one who sent them to retrieve Carlotta. They are just trying to help us recover from the attack."

Vaislen responded with a snarl as he launched himself at Jen, both tumbling to the ground and rolling several feet. Jen pushed herself up from V and flipped back to land in a crouch, snapping and snarling as Vaislen righted himself and tore after her again.

Jen caught him this time, pushing against his shoulders with her energy that started to snap and crackle around them. She threw him against the wall and growled at him as he slumped to the floor. With Jen glaring at him, Vaislen pulled himself up but kept his head lowered, his glare aimed at the floor.

With a huff, Jen turned back to the group, reigning her instincts in as Makya and Terrance regained consciousness from Yukina's healing. "What happened?"

Makya stretched as he got up and helped Terrance up. "They knew we were coming for her already. It was like someone warned them," Makya said, with a glare.

Jen frowned. Only the people who were here had known she sent them after Carlotta, and she had no reason to doubt them, she didn't think. Her eyes widened as a thought dawned on her and she cut a glare to Hiei. "You," she snarled.

Hiei remained calm as his silence confirmed exactly what she was thinking. He had told Mukuro of Makya and Terrance coming. Unable to control her anger, she launched for Hiei who dodged out of the way. Following his movement, Jen caught his arm and threw him to the ground, intent on tearing her claws into him but he pushed himself out of the way as her claws hit stone instead of flesh.

Noticably more irritated, Hiei drew his sword, angling it towards her as she charged him. With a last second dodge, Jen moved to the side in a crouch. As she came up to tear into his side, he blocked her, his sword sinking into her shoulder. With a growl, Jen wrapped her hand around the sword. With Hiei slightly taken back as his sword sliced into her hand, Jen took the opportunity to push her energy through the sword and send it flying across the room, gasps from the group accenting the sound of metal skittering across stone.

With a growl, Hiei's forearm made contact across Jen's chest as he forced her back. With ease, he jumped to her left, slamming his shoulder into her side as he came up and hit her hard on the back. Jen crashed into the floor, face first. Rolling over, Jen started to get up, but Hiei's knee made solid contact in the center of her chest, his sword angled at her throat as he snarled at her. "I'm not one of your mutts that you can order around and throw into a wall to get them to listen. You knew I had an oath to Mukuro. The fact that you sent them anyway is your fault. Not mine."

The anger in his voice had startled her slightly, as did the fact that she was now pinned by him and unable to break free. The words he spoke were true and her shoulder and hand began to throb slightly. Now that had to be one of your more stupid ideas, she thought to herself. Jen huffed and looked away from Hiei. She was still upset, but she knew attacking him was rather useless.

Hiei carefully let Jen up, sheathing his sword before leaving the room. Avidan started after Hiei but Jen stopped him. "He is right," she said, "and we have more pressing matters anyway. Has anyone heard from my brother?"

The group looked down in silence. Jen nodded slightly, sadness touching her eyes before she refocused. "Right. Our priority should be continuing to gather the bodies to give them proper burial and ensuring the Delphyrs don't return to finish us off. Avidan, organize and coordinate with Yusuke and Kuwabara for a place to bring the bodies to and figure out who may still be alive and in hiding. Vaislen and Makya, coordinate with our outside contacts and create a defense plan. Yukina, Kurama, and Genkai, organize a center for any wounded and a means of food. Though Kurama, I need to speak with you a moment."

After giving her directions, the rest of the group dispersed leaving Kurama and Jen alone. "I don't understand," she said quietly, "I never sensed Hiei leave."

Kurama's eyes widened slightly. "You- You know Hiei is a telepath, right? He doesn't need to leave the grounds. All he needs is to open a path of communication to Mukuro and tell her that way."

It was Jen's turn to be wide-eyed. "I had no idea," she said, her voice trailing off.

So that must have been why I felt him in my thoughts and his energy around me, she thought to herself. "I'm going to beat that little asshole next time I see him. To think I was intent on finding him and apologizing to him," she said and Kurama raised an eyebrow.

"Not to offend you, but I don't think beating him up necessarily worked last time," he said, a hint of humor in his voice.

Jen tilted her head thinking for a moment. "I suppose so."

Jen continued to think, knowing she would have to get back at him on an entirely different level. With a smirk, she knew what she would do. She barely heard Kurama. "I noticed Hiei was in your room all night last night. Is there something going on between you two?"

Jen tried to hide her blush as she thought about the kiss this morning. "I- Uhm. I'm not sure," she answered her old friend honestly. "He's the first male who I've ever come in contact with that was stronger and wasn't like a brother to me. For all I know it could just be the attraction of my instincts."

Kurama nodded, thinking for a moment. "Perhaps, but instincts would cause you to pull away from him, being that he is a hybrid, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know. I just always thought instincts weren't biased with bloodlines. Besides, it could be his instincts as well."

Kurama thought for a moment before speaking. "Hiei has changed a lot since I first met him. He has learned how to trust, though very few, and be trusted. He has learned grief and learned how to call something his home. Despite being released from his restriction to the human world, Hiei still chooses to spend most of his free time in the human world. But through all that time, I have never known him to act solely on instinct, especially with a female. His logic has always prevailed. Mukuro even laid her kingdom at his feet, promising him everything if he mated with her, but he refused."

Jen nodded slightly, contemplating everything as Kurama excused himself to go help Genkai and Yukina. It didn't really matter to her what was going on between them. She still had a legacy to create, and that required not mating. Besides, she could not allow herself to become involved with a direct informant of the one who was protecting her mother. She would get her legacy, and she would get her vengence; Regardless of instincts or anything else. With that thought in place and her idea to get back at Hiei carefully tucked away in the back of her mind, Jen set out to find Hiei.

A/N~ Okay, so this one is a little shorter than the last few but that's because the next part is going to be big. So instead of one 5k+ word chapter, I decided to split it to 2k and 3k+. Anyway, I can't wait for the next chapter :) This one was just kind of a builder, to set up for the next chapter. Next chapter will include Hiei's thoughts on the kiss as well so don't worry. Both Hiei and Jen are struggling with some very foreign feelings, but there's no telling just What it is :P

Much love~ Jessa