14

It was a warm morning, but there was a wind advisory. The curtains in Kagome's bedroom blew violently in the sudden gust that whipped through the window. There was a soft knock at the bedroom door. "Ms. Higurashi? Are you awake?" When there was no response, the maid quietly entered the room.

Finding it empty, she quickly cleaned it and went about her day, thinking nothing of it. It was a few hours more before another knock sounded at the door. "Kagome?" Sesshomaru's voice called. "You up?"

When he didn't get an answer, he too opened the door and went inside. His reaction was much different though. Outside the door a guard walked by, Sesshomaru's hand reached out quickly and grasped his arm. Startled, the guard looked at the Prince. "Sound the alarm and gather the guards. It might be nothing, but I think there's been a kidnapping." The guard's eyes widened and he nodded, running off to obey the command. "And Jackson." He turned back again. "Don't tell the Crown Prince."

The panic inside of Sesshomaru was building, but he refused to let it show. He had to wear the trained face of the Head of the JBI or else he would never find them. If his suspicion was right, his team had been played and Naraku Onigumo had outwitted him.

There was a commotion in the hallway outside of his room. Groggy from a fitful night of sleep, Inuyasha was annoyed by the rude awakening. He could hear coms units and loud footsteps, but he couldn't think of any reason why any guards other than Jackson would be in this wing of the Palace. After a loud bang ground his nerves to the ground, he stormed into the hallway in his bedclothes.

The scene that awaited him drained the colour from his face. Down the hall, men in JBI jackets swarmed in and out of a room he knew well. The men in black jackets were talking in hushed tones and dusting every surface for fingerprints, even though he knew it was fruitless with a staff as large as theirs.

Panic replaced his shock as soon as he caught his breath. Kagome. Ileana. Without caring about how he looked, he ran as fast as he could to the door.

Sesshomaru could hear the indistinguishable sound of his brother arriving at the scene. "Let me past!" He growled at the agents holding him back at the entrance. His eyes looked with his brother's and Sesshomaru could see the panic that had consumed Inuyasha.

"Let him through." He commanded, wielding the tone of commander. The agents looked at him for conformation and then lowered their arms. Inuyasha pushed through and glared at them.

"Sesshomaru! What's going on?" He demanded as he came into the room. His eyes darted back and forth over everything, drinking in all of the details. The bed drew most of his focus though, the empty spot where Kagome and his daughter were the night before screamed out at him. "Sesshomaru," the panic leaked into his voice, "Where are my girls?"

As hard as he tried to hide it, he couldn't mask the look of fear in his eyes. "I don't know Inuyasha." He laid a hand on his brother's shoulder. "The nurse was the last person in the room last night and we can't find her. The maid," he pointed at the crying young girl being interrogated by two agents in the corner, "ruined the crime scene this morning when she came in and cleaned. The video surveillance was placed on a loop last night, so we have no video. It just looks like they up and left, but with Kagome's condition we know that wasn't possible. Inuyasha, I need you to tell me what happened last night. Would Kagome have tried to have left if she had help?"

Inuyasha went to shake his head, but he stopped himself. "We told Ileana that I was her father last night and she didn't take it well. Ileana screamed and screamed until I left the room. Kagome looked pretty freaked out over it, but Mom and her mother calmed her down and said it was normal. Fuck Sesshomaru, you don't think she would have left over that do you? " His hands were shaking, so he shoved them in his pocket.

"I don't think so, but it's worth making note of." Kagome had never liked being stuck here, but she had seemed to be warming up to it. If Ileana didn't take meeting Inuyasha well though, it could have been the final nail in the coffin. He shook his head. No, Kagome wouldn't have run off like that and not told her mom, it's not like her.

"Then-" Inuyasha was cut off by an agent coming towards Sesshomaru.

"Sir, I think we might have something. The maid said that the window was open when she came in and that she had folded a handkerchief that was on the floor by it." The agent held up the small piece of fabric. "It smells like chloroform, Sir."

Sesshomaru took the handkerchief from him and pointed toward the window. "Send some agents outside under the window to scout for footprints, dust the surfaces, and check for any fabric residue." He sniffed the cloth. Definitely chloroform. "And bag this and send it to the lab for chemical analysis." The agent nodded and headed off to obey the orders.

The grey colour of Inuyasha's face matched that of a tombstone. "They've definitely been taken then?"

Sesshomaru nodded. "Without a doubt. You can't do anything here though, Inuyasha. Go and get something to eat, and coffee. It won't help us or you to be in here."

Hesitantly, Inuyasha nodded. "Call me if there's any updates." He left the room looking like a broken man, but Sesshomaru knew he would find his determination soon and would be back bothering him in an hour or two.

A young woman carrying coffee almost ran into him as he left. "Sesshomaru!" She held out on of the coffees in her hand and looked grimly at him. "I just got the news. Onigumo Mob?"

"Rin, glad you're here." He thanked her and took the coffee. "It's looking like it is, but there's no proof."

Her eyes steeled. "We've been played, haven't we? That black book was a fake." She couldn't believe what she was saying, but all signs pointed toward a master plot by the Don to lure them into a false sense of accomplishment.

"Looks like it." He repeated. Rin could see the weight of the morning taking its toll on him. She gently touched his arm.

"We'll get them back. Worse comes to worse, you know your brother will start a war with him over those girls." She sounded encouraging, but Sesshomaru's eyes hardened.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

The walls of his room had never looked so small before.

Inuyasha paced up and down the length of his large bedroom, every step getting angrier than the last. His earlier fear and worry were still there, but they were now fueling an unparalleled anger.

Without thinking, he grabbed a vase and threw it. Then a clock. And even the fireplace poker. It planted itself in the wall with an awful crack.

He was losing his mind and nothing was calming him down. He had to get out of here; it wasn't doing anyone any good for him to be stuck in here. Especially not when he could hear the agents outside of his door. Talking, making jokes. He wanted to strangle them all for not doing their jobs. None of them knew they were looking for the Crown Prince's Daughter. They just thought it was some guest and her daughter. That didn't excuse it though.

Ileana. Step. Kagome. Step. Mine. Step. MINE.

The air in the room sizzled with tension and fury. The brokenness from earlier was completely gone now. He was the God of War now and no one was going to stand in his way.

The room went eerily quiet as he stopped walking. He smoothed his hair and put on a suit made of silk. Silent as the night, he slipped out of his door behind unsuspecting agents.

When a knock sounded at his door later from his brother, he was already gone.

The fluorescent lights above her flickered through the blurriness of her adjusting eyes. Her head was fuzzy and her mouth was dry. She closed her eyes again, though, and rolled onto her side.

"Looks like she's woken up." A soft voice whispered. "I'll make sure she stays comfortable. Mhmm. Yes, Sir."

It was all too hazy for her to figure out what has going on. A dream. Must be a dream. This bed is comfortable though; the palace really outdid themselves in terms of beds.

She reached her hand out to stroke silver white hair next to her and froze. Nothing was there.

She opened her eyes and sat up. The world spun and she just wanted to lie back down, but someone was missing. The soft voice from earlier was walking toward her. "You need to lay back down, hun. You're still a big groggy." The voice's hands pushed firmly against her shoulder.

"Where's…Ileana?" She croaked at an inaudible volume.

When she didn't receive an answer, but only more pushing for her to lie down, she blinked her eyes fiercely until the world cleared. Kagura was standing over her, insistently trying to get her to lie back down.

She looked around and finally realized she wasn't in her room. She wasn't even in the Palace. The walls were stark white and she was sitting on a single bed with white linen.

"Where's Ileana?" She said with more force and shrugged off Kagura's hand. The dizziness was starting to evaporate the longer she sat upright; she just had to keep it together.

Kagura looked nervously at the other young nurse across the room. Not caring, Kagome pushed her back from her. "Where is my daughter!" She screamed, trying to stand.

There was a firm tugging at her side that normally would have hurt, but she didn't have time to wonder why it didn't. "Ileana!" She screeched, in a near hysterical tone.

"Kanna, sedatives! Now!" The young nurse across the room dashed to the metal cabinet next to her and pulled out a syringe. Kagome had just realized she had an IV in and started to tug at it. The needle in her hand came out smoothly, but left a gushing wound in it's wake.

She bolted from the bed and grabbed the IV stand, using it as a shield between her and the nurses. She slowly moved toward the door at the end of the room. With every step it seemed to get further away.

The nurses held their hands up, giving her the impression she was winning. As she went to pull the door open, she realized it was locked.

She didn't have time to process her next thought as a needle stuck in to her neck. The world spun as she fell to the floor.

Kagura was back on the phone as soon as Kagome was laid back in her bed. "She did just as you suspected boss, but she's back in bed now. She should be out for a few more hours, but I imagine she'll have the same response again if you don't have the girl in here."

There was a harsh scolding on the other end of the phone.

"I didn't mean to insult you, Sir. Yes, Sir. You know what's best."

The dial tone buzzed in her ear. With a heavy sigh she placed it in the receiver and looked over at the young woman that lay sedated on the only bed in the room.

'What have I gotten myself into?' Her conscious screamed. But she squashed the voice in side of her and went back to work.

The small bundle on the couch shifted slightly. Her silver white hair encompassed almost the whole of her tiny body, shielding her from the gaze of the dark man across the room.

Even though it was a penthouse office, it was still dark with the lights off. The glow of the city did nothing to dent the penetrating black.

There was a whimper from the little girl as she sat up, her blanket falling to the floor. "Mummy?" She called, wiping her eyes. She slid off of the large couch and moved to walk toward the door, completely oblivious to the man.

A light came on suddenly from the desk, illuminating the man. Ileana turned suddenly, partially blinded. "Good morning, Little Dove." He said softly.

"Who are you, Mister?" She asked confused, her tiny frame trembling slightly on her tottering feet.

"I'm a friend of your Mom's." He smiled at her, but it was still punctuated by an edge of darkness.

"I've never seen you before." She replied with the honesty of a child.

"That's because I knew her from work." She had no response to that, but she still didn't look convinced.

"Where's my Mummy?" She asked, feeling scared. She just wanted to be with her Mum.

"She'll be here soon, Little Dove." He could see the tears coming into her eyes. But he didn't care. "Come here, let me show you something."

She hesitated and looked at him, shaking her head. It was too dark, too frightening. Realizing what must be scaring her, he hit a button on his desk that turned the overhead lights on.

The room light up like the Fourth of July. Her uneasiness melted away more in the light but she was still weary of the man who held his hand out to her. Ignoring the feelings, she slowly walked toward him.

Gently, he picked her up and set her in his lap. Turning around his chair, he pointed out of the floor to ceiling windows. "Do you know what that big building in the center of the city is?" He asked as warmly as he could.

"Castle." She said softly. "Home."

A twisted smile that was hidden from the child crossed his lips. "That's nice." He softly stroked her hair and looked out of the windows with her.

A tall man with straight white hair walked into the JBI with an air of confidence and a pair of sunglasses on. "Captain Sesshomaru!" The agents exclaimed when he walked into the office of the taskforce for the Onigumo mob.

"I need you to pull up the footage and address for where we've been tracking Don Onigumo to." The man commanded an air of authority over the men around him as they set to work without asking questions.

"Here it is, Sir." One of the agents said, pulling up the footage of the Don going into a skyscraper. "We are starting to think that he must live in this building as it seems to be his home base for the whole operation. While he has houses and warehouses he hardly goes to them, and when he does it always seems to be for business."

"Great." The man said, turning on his heel. "I'll be back later."

The agents nodded and set back to work, and the man walked out of the office as easily as he came in.

Once he was in his black BMW, he pulled off his sunglasses and tousled his hair. With a twisted smirk on his lips, he put his foot to the floor and drove toward the heart of the city.

Sesshomaru burst through the doors of the JBI in a huff. The agents all stood in his presence, conscious of their Captain's frustration. "Was my brother here?" The agents looked between themselves. "Was he?" His calm demeanor was cracking.

"A man that we thought was you came in earlier." One of the agents in the back said.

"What did he want?" Sesshomaru strode to the large computer screens on the wall. "Show me."

The men wasted no time in pulling up the footage of the Onigumo mob headquarters for their commander. Sesshomaru's face blanched when he saw the skyscraper come into view. "Fuck." He swore. His men had never seen him this upset before and they were growing concerned.

"Captain?" One of the men started to ask.

"Pull up footage from the rear and front of the building from last night around 0100 and 0300. Did anyone go into the building or out during those times?"

The agents started typing furiously at their computers. Sesshomaru knew it would probably take a while for them to render all of the information. He collapsed into a chair and waited. Today was taking a toll on him, and he was sure his men cold see it.

"Got something!" One of the agents called, pulling up a piece of footage. Sesshomaru sat forward in the chair and looked up at the screen.

There were two men coming in the back door of the building, they appeared to be wearing the uniforms of workers from the laundry company. They were pushing two large carts heaped with clothes and linen.

"Keep a copy of this on hand." He rose from his chair and strode to the door.

"But sir!" One of the men called, but it was too late. Sesshomaru was already gone.

A/N: Hope you guys like this chapter! Please review, as I love hearing your feedback! It helps me figure out where to take the next chapter sometimes.