DISCLAIMER: (singing and dancing) Oh no, no, no, I don't own it I'm so forlorn…
A/N: This was SUPPOSED TO be the last chapter, but alas it is not. So, dear readers, you will have to bear with me a bit longer.
Germany
Present Day
On the flight to Germany, Chie looks over at Shizuru and sees a 'Cheshire Cat' grin gracing her lips.
"Find something amusing?" Chie asks.
"Hai."
"Would you care to elaborate?" Chie presses.
"I was just imagining the look on The Red Spider's face when she sees me again," Shizuru giggles.
"As Viola or Fujino?" Chie chuckles.
"Whichever one causes her the most intense pain," Shizuru says as she remembers all the abuse Natsuki suffered at the hands of The Red Spider and her mood grows extremely dark.
Chie's eyes widen and she wisely remains silent for the duration of the flight.
The two agents get in their private car and head for C.O.D.E.'s private apartment. En route, Shizuru pulls out her special communicator and attempts to contact Natsuki, but is unsuccessful.
"That is very odd," Shizuru says out loud.
"What?"
"I cannot reach The Ice Wolf."
"Let me try," Chie slides open her special communicator. "Strange."
"Were you able to reach The Ice Wolf?" Shizuru asks, desperately trying to keep the anxiousness out of her voice.
Chie hesitates before she answers, "Um…no."
An extremely worried look cracks Shizuru's normally calm façade. Ever sharp, Chie catches this and attempts to comfort Shizuru.
"I'll bet it's nothing. She's probably in the shower and didn't hear it over her really awful singing," Chie jokes and shakes her head as she remembers Natsuki's horrible singing.
"Blue Rose, you are probably correct," Shizuru says with her calm mask back in place.
Shizuru begins to giggle as she remembers the real reason for Natsuki's awful shower singing and Chie smiles, believing she succeeded in her mission.
'My beloved, if they only knew you have the singing voice of an angel, but shatter eardrums in the shower to insure no one will ever ask you to sing karaoke. I pray to Kami you are not in any serious trouble,' Shizuru says silently to herself.
The two agents rush to the front door of C.O.D.E.'s private apartment. Chie gently stops Shizuru from bursting through the door.
"We can't lose our heads. Just in case, and I mean, JUST IN CASE, anything is wrong, we need to handle this like a dangerous situation," Chie reminds Shizuru.
Shizuru just nods her head. Chie presses her very keen ear against the door, but does not hear anything suspicious. She draws her sidearm and looks over at Shizuru. Before Chie can motion for Shizuru to arm herself, she sees the graceful agent has already drawn two throwing knives.
They quietly and cautiously enter the private apartment. After securing the living area and kitchen, they head to the hallway, towards the bedrooms. As they get closer to the hallway, they hear something that stops them cold.
'Yes…please.'
(moans)
'There…yes, there!'
(moans)
'Yes…just like that.'
It is clear to Chie's expert hearing they are listening to two women. The dashing agent can't stop the smirk commanding her lips. A sudden realization causes her to quickly look over at Shizuru, who is clenching her jaw tightly. This sends a chill down Chie's spine, because it is the only sign on the graceful agent's entire face revealing her jealousy.
"I don't think either one of them is The Ice Wolf," Chie whispers trying to reassure Shizuru.
Shizuru puts her throwing knives away and quietly opens the bedroom door. She peers inside the brightly lit room and sees two women entwined on the bed, one beneath the other. The smaller of the two women is in the dominant position. Shizuru smiles brightly when she spots the angel wings tattooed on each shoulder blade of the smaller woman.
"Who is…," Chie whispers behind Shizuru.
Shizuru puts her finger to her lips, shushing Chie as she backs the dashing agent out of the bedroom doorway, softly closing the door behind her. The graceful agent motions Chie to follow her and leads the dashing agent to the living area.
"Who…?" Chie asks.
"The Golden Angel and I assume The Merciless One," Shizuru answers quickly, cutting Chie short.
"You assume?" Chie grins.
"The Merciless One does not have a distinguishing tattoo."
"Oh yeah, she is the only agent without one," Chie remembers.
"Why does she not have one?"
"The rumor is she's deathly afraid of needles," Chie laughs.
"I AM NOT!" Miyu growls as she and Alyssa enter the living area.
"Then why don't you have a distinguishing tattoo like the rest of us?" Chie counters.
"The same reason The Beguiling Stranger doesn't have one," Miyu answers cryptically.
"What?" Chie asks surprised.
"Ara, enough chit-chat about agent's tattoos. Where is The Ice Wolf?" Shizuru asks impatiently.
"She requested to stay at the private house this time," Alyssa answers.
"This is an unusual request. She always stays in the private apartments during assignments," Shizuru says to no one in particular.
"True," Chie agrees.
"Did she state a reason for this change?" Shizuru asks Alyssa.
"Something about wanting privacy with her wife," Alyssa lightly teases.
The silence is deafening as the three agents watch Shizuru, for the first time ever, blush deeply.
"Well, we should get you to your 'ball and chain'," Chie teases, finally breaking the silence.
It is an extremely quiet ride out to C.O.D.E.'s private house for all four agents. When they arrive, Chie slides open her special communicator and attempts to contact Natsuki. Once again, the dashing agent is unable to reach The Ice Wolf. Worry is evident on Shizuru's normally calm face now.
Chie instructs the agents and they enter the private house in the same manner they enter any unknown situation.
Inside the master bedroom, two women are on the bed, one straddling the other.
"I missed you, my wolf puppy. Did you miss me? Don't answer that. Oh, I forgot, you can't answer that," Nao laughs as she lightly drags her knife blade down a gagged Natuki's cheek.
Natsuki struggles to free her bound arms and legs, each one tied to a bedpost. Nao smirks at the captive agent's futile attempts.
"I heard my wolf puppy got married. Funny, I never received MY wedding invitation. My wolf puppy didn't forget to send it, did she?" Nao taunts Natsuki.
Natsuki glares at Nao, which only succeeds in making the psychotic former agent laugh louder.
"The infamous 'Kruger Death Glare?' Sorry, I'm immune. Don't you remember? No? I'm hurt," Nao spits out sarcastically.
The raven-haired agent continues to strain against her bonds.
"You're SO feisty," Nao laughs, bends down close to Natsuki's neck and roughly licks it.
Natsuki growls through her gag and tries to work it loose.
"So? What bitch finally won your heart?" Nao asks, her tone dripping with venom.
Nao is pulled off Natsuki with such force; she is sent flying off the bed.
"THIS bitch!" Shizuru answers with a terrifyingly sharp edge in her voice.
The Red Spider shakes her head to clear it and quickly stands up to face her attacker. Nao's eyes widen with shock as she finds herself facing someone she thought was dead. The graceful agent smoothly backhands Nao across the face and sends her sailing backwards into a wall. Chie frees Natsuki while Shizuru apprehends Nao.
"B-b-but…you're dead! Wolf pup shot through you in order to shoot me," Nao screams as Shizuru secures the younger woman's wrists.
"You are seeing ghosts," Shizuru hisses in Nao's ear before handing the captive former agent off to Chie.
Chie roughly pulls Nao out of the bedroom as Shizuru rushes to Natsuki's side on the bed. The Beguiling Stranger waits until she and her wife are completely alone before speaking.
"My Natsuki, are you hurt?" Shizuru asks as she wraps her arms around her visibly shaken wife.
"No. You guys got here before Nao could do anything serious."
Shizuru tilts her head and stares at her wife. Something was off, but Shizuru could not figure out what and decides to ignore it…for now.
"Shall we get out of here my Natsuki?"
"Yes. I can't wait to get home and see Duran."
Now Shizuru is completely sure something is wrong with her wife, since Natsuki lost Duran to old age several years before they got together.
"Ara, I am certain Duran will be excited to see you as well, but we cannot return home just yet," Shizuru says, trying to keep her tone light.
Later that night, after putting Natsuki to bed at an unusually early hour by insisting she needs rest, Shizuru gathers the other three agents together in a local restaurant.
"What's up Beguiling Stranger?" Chie asks as she looks over the menu.
"Something is not right with The Ice Wolf."
"You mean besides the obvious?" Chie jokes.
"I am serious. She has been referencing things and events incorrectly," Shizuru says sternly.
"Maybe she's just suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome?" Miyu offers.
"I watched her suffer through PTSS after the siege. This is definitely not PTSS," Shizuru says.
"Then what do you think it is?" Alyssa asks.
"I do not know," Shizuru says softly.
"Maybe her post-assignment examination will tell us something?" Miyu suggests.
"Perhaps," Shizuru says.
The agents finish their meals in relative silence, each one lost in her own thoughts and concerns for Natsuki.
Early the next morning, the agents fly back to C.O.D.E. headquarters. As soon as they step off the private plane, C.O.D.E.'s medical team takes Natsuki into custody. She fights with them, but thanks to Shizuru, they are well prepared and immediately shoot Natsuki with a sedative.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" Natsuki yells as she weakly struggles with the medical team.
At C.O.D.E.'s state-of-the-art medical facility, Shizuru waits for the results of Natsuki's post-assignment examination.
"Agent?" Dr. Sagisawa asks and motions Shizuru to follow her.
Once in the doctor's office, Yohko offers Shizuru a seat at the small table in the corner of the office. Shizuru sits down and prepares herself.
"We have completed the post-assignment examination on your wife and other than a few minor inconsistencies in her brain scan, she's fine," Yohko reports.
"Would these "minor inconsistencies" be what is causing her to reference things and events incorrectly?"
"Perhaps."
"Perhaps?"
"Since the inconsistencies are so minor, they should not cause those types of problems."
"Does her DNA match?"
"Yes. Physically, she's the same."
"Did you check her distinguishing tattoo?"
"Well, no. We normally don't check those."
"May I see her file?"
Dr. Sagisawa hands Shizuru Natsuki's medical file. Shizuru picks out and scrutinizes the two photographs of Natsuki's distinguishing tattoo.
"Dr. Sagisawa, the woman you examined is not my wife."
"NANI?"
"The tattoos do not match. I do not know if you know anything about tattoos doctor, but each one is unique to the artist who inked it. Even the artist is unable to duplicate the same tattoo completely," Shizuru hands the two photographs to Yohko.
"They look the same to me."
"Hai, to the untrained eye they look the same. I know this particular tattoo extremely well."
Shizuru smiles as she remembers the last time she lay with her wife, running her fingertips over Natsuki's elaborate tattoo of a wolf and snake chasing each other around the younger agent's hips.
"See here? My wife's wolf and snake both have a unique mark that resembles an upside down question mark. I was told this is the tattoo artist's signature mark."
"Yes, I see. What should we do with the imposter?"
"Can you keep her for awhile longer? I need to report this to 'L."
"I can, but not for very long."
"Hopefully I will not need a lot of time."
Shizuru leaves Dr. Sagisawa's office and heads directly to 'L's' office.
Mai sits at her post outside 'L's' office busily typing on her computer keyboard. Shizuru smiles mischievously as she tries to sneak up on the unsuspecting secretary. Just before the graceful agent has a chance to startle the busy secretary, Mai speaks without looking up from her computer.
"Go right in. 'L' is expecting you."
For a moment, a disappointed look flashes across Shizuru's face.
"Thank you Toki."
Shizuru is suspicious when Haruka greets her almost immediately after entering 'L's' office.
"Agent Viola…"
"Ruka?" Shizuru looks into extremely worried eyes.
"I was expecting you, but not this soon," Yukino says from behind her desk and motions for Shizuru to have a seat.
"Did Dr. Sagisawa call you?" Shizuru asks confused, as she takes a seat in front of Yukino's desk.
"No, she has not."
"Then why were you expecting me?" Shizuru asks even more confused.
"This," Yukino says and hands Shizuru a handwritten note.
Shizuru takes the handwritten note and reads:
Find her. If you can.
"What is the meaning of this?" Shizuru asks still confused and now frustrated as well.
"Excuse me agent Viola, I don't mean to be so cryptic. The note is from The Red Spider. She sent it from her holding cell. Apparently, revenge is her actual goal, because she just handed the stolen C.O.D.E. agent database back to us when we took her into custody. Making you and agent Kruger suffer is what she planned all along. She informed us she has the real agent Kruger locked up somewhere and we have 48 hours to find her," Yukino informs Shizuru.
"Forty-eight hours?"
"Hai, we were told if we don't find agent Kruger in forty-eight hours, we would recover her corpse," Yukino says sadly.
Shizuru's shoulders slump and she feels winded. She closes her eyes and contemplates the situation. Yukino and Haruka look upon what they perceive as a defeated agent, with sympathetic eyes. Shizuru opens her eyes quickly, startling Yukino and Haruka.
"I request permission to head the search team."
"Of course, but only if you feel up to it."
"I do," Shizuru says and gives Yukino a steely look.
"Here is your team," Yukino hands Shizuru the list of agents.
Shizuru looks over the list and smiles at Yukino's choices.
"There is one more agent I would like to add."
"The Blue Rose?"
"Hai," Shizuru nods.
"She is currently on another assignment. I will call her back and have her here sometime tomorrow."
"What shall we do with the imposter?"
"We can throw her in a holding cell or we can resume business as usual while you covertly question her," Yukino suggests.
"Ara, ara, decisions, decisions," Shizuru brings her finger to her lips and pretends to give the problem thought.
Haruka rolls her eyes and receives an elbow in her side from Yukino.
"Agent Viola!" Haruka yells frustrated.
"Kannin na," Shizuru says with a smirk as she privately enjoys the fact she managed to frustrate Haruka…again.
Mai's voice comes through the intercom on 'L's' desk.
"Commander, Dr. Sagisawa is on the line for you."
Yukino presses the button and says, "Thank you Toki."
She motions at both Haruka and Shizuru to wait while she speaks to Yohko.
"Fascinating," Yukino says softly as she hangs up the telephone.
"What did Dr. Sagisawa have to report?" Shizuru asks very concerned.
"Apparently, our agent Kruger is an extremely sophisticated synthetic clone imprinted with her DNA and consciousness. Our standard post-assignment tests would never have revealed this, but thanks to your keen senses agent Viola, Dr. Sagisawa ran the extensive tests necessary to uncover this deception. I instructed her to test The Red Spider we have in custody."
"Did Dr. Sagisawa explain the blatant errors in The Ice Wolf's memories?"
"No, but I have a feeling the real agent Kruger had something to do with those errors. I think she somehow managed to slip in those blatant errors during her imprinting process, as a way to send you a message. There could be more messages locked in that clone."
"I shall try and retrieve those messages, but I do not wish to take her back to our home."
"Of course, use C.O.D.E.'s private house here in Switzerland. If the clone asks questions, tell her you're both still on assignment to recover the stolen agent database."
"Okini 'L." I will report in daily as a safety precaution."
"Very good."
Before heading to C.O.D.E.'s private house, Shizuru returns to Medical to pick up the clone and speak to Dr. Sagisawa.
"Agent," Yohko says as Shizuru enters the doctor's office.
"I am here to pick up The Ice Wolf."
"Don't you mean her clone?"
"Hai."
"Is there anything I should know?"
"Other than what I told 'L,' no, but please proceed with caution. I don't know what this clone is capable of physically."
"I shall. Do you have The Red Spider's test results?"
"Hai, but I haven't given them to 'L' yet."
"May I see them?"
Unsure and afraid of violating protocol, Yohko hesitates.
"Doctor…please."
With a deep sigh, Yohko relents and hands Shizuru the test results. The agent reads the test results and is stunned by them.
"The Red Spider is also a clone?"
"Hai, but she's an older version than The Ice Wolf. I'm guessing she is the first version. There are some serious flaws in her design and it's causing a breakdown in several vital organs."
"Doctor, I do not care if it is dying or dies for that matter. I just need to know how long it will survive."
"Forty-eight hours at the most."
BEHIND THE SCENES
Author: (stares at computer screen and ponders with a cup of coffee)
Shizuru Viola: (takes author's cup and sips from it) Yeck! (spits out coffee) (looks for Shizuru Fujino)
Shizuru Viola: (hands author's cup to Shizuru Fujino) Here.
Shizuru Fujino: (sips from author's cup) Ikezu! (spits out coffee) (chases after Shizuru Viola)
Author: I warned you two about drinking from my cup.
Natsuki Kruger: (sniffs author's cup) No tea?
Author: No, I need a clear head for this chapter.
Natsuki Kuga: (peers over author's shoulder) Why? Are you finally going to put me in this one?
Author: (pushes Natsuki Kuga away) Do you have any idea what the readers would do to me if I do that? They are already confused enough with two of them (points to the two Shizurus wrestling on the author's couch).
Author, Natsuki Kruger, and Natsuki Kuga freeze and watch the two Shizurus wrestle on the author's couch.
Author: (grabs tissue and hands tissues to both Natsukis). So much for a clear head (sighs deeply).
Nao: (looks at all the bloody tissues) Acting out another one of my scenes?
Author: (points to the two Shizurus wrestling)
Nao: (rolls eyes) Gross.
Author: The pot calling the kettle black.