DISCLAIMER: Sunrise owns everything.
A/N: Send in the clones. Sorry, I just couldn't help myself.
Switzerland
Present Day
Shizuru walks down the halls of C.O.D.E.'s state-of-the-art medical facility completely lost in her thoughts.
'Forty-eight hours? Forty-eight hours. Forty-eight hours!'
As she enters the infirmary, a familiar voice yells out to her, bringing her out of her reverie.
"DEAR!"
Shizuru turns sharply towards the sound of the voice. For a brief nanosecond, irritation crosses her normally emotionless beautiful face.
"My…beloved," Shizuru says as she desperately attempts to mask her true feelings for the clone.
The clone quickly walks up to Shizuru and stands next to the graceful agent.
"Can we leave now?"
"Hai, I have come to pick you up."
"I can't wait to see Duran!" the clone exclaims happily in a childlike voice.
"Has my beloved forgotten we are still on assignment? We cannot return home until we recover the stolen agent database, remember?"
"Didn't we get it from The Red Spider when we captured her?" the clone pouts.
"No my beloved, we did not," Shizuru answers clearly irritated.
"Are you upset with me?"
"No my beloved, I am just anxious to get back to our assignment," Shizuru lies and worries, because Natsuki could always tell when she was lying.
"Oh, okay."
Shizuru takes the clone to C.O.D.E.'s private house and makes sure the imposter is comfortable before leaving, stating she is needed at headquarters. She does not want to waste any time looking for Natsuki.
The sound of Shizuru's heels clicking on the hard floor echoes throughout Holding. She is on a mission and one can hear it in her footsteps.
"Open it," Shizuru orders.
"Yes ma'am," the guard opens the holding cell door.
"Get up!"
"Ah, The Beguiling Stranger. What brings you to my fine accommodations?" Nao says sarcastically and slowly sits up on her cot.
"You know exactly why I am here."
"The wolf pup? Your wife?"
"Where is she?"
"Tisk, tisk, my dear. What fun would it be to just tell you?"
Unbeknownst to Shizuru, she is clenching her fists. She realizes she really wants to beat Nao to a bloody pulp and this revelation causes her to shudder.
"My dear, I do believe you're shuddering. It's been awhile since I saw you shudder like that," Nao teases.
Shizuru glares at Nao, causing a chill to run down The Red Spider's spine.
After recovering, Nao taunts, "Yes, I know you're Fujino-san. Have you already forgotten what I had in my possession?"
Nao's laughter echoes throughout Holding.
"Where is my wife?"
"Safe…for now, but she won't remain that way."
"Where is she?"
The Red Spider sighs and remains tight-lipped as she stares defiantly at Shizuru. The graceful agent realizes she isn't getting anywhere with the stubborn former agent and decides to try a different approach.
"Where is the real Red Spider?"
This completely surprises Nao, but she manages to recover faster than Shizuru can catch it.
"Ah, so that's why Dr. Sagisawa ran all those tests."
"Well?"
"Hmmm, I should let you suffer more, but I'm feeling unusually charitable today, so I'll tell you."
Nao leans back against the wall next to her cot and places her hands behind her head. She smirks at Shizuru.
"You're speaking to her."
"You are lying."
"No I'm not. I knew I was going to die as C.O.D.E. dragged me out of your office. Luckily for me, not all C.O.D.E. agents are as loyal as your wife."
"Which agents?" Shizuru demands.
The sudden loud laughter startles Shizuru, but she masks it well.
"That's for me to know and you to find out," Nao taunts.
"You are a liar. I do not know why I am still speaking to you."
"Because you want answers," Nao smirks.
"Well, since you are not giving me any, I shall take my leave," Shizuru says calmly with her perfect mask in place.
"WHAT? I GAVE YOU ANSWERS!" Nao yells, revealing Shizuru's victory.
"Ara, you gave me answers, but none to my questions."
"Blasted woman! Stop speaking in cryptic sentences!"
"I shall, when you start answering my questions."
"I AM the real Red Spider! We couldn't keep my body from dying, thanks to the wolf pup's sharp shooting. Unfortunately, the available technology wasn't perfect, so I require regular regeneration," Nao screams frustrated.
"Where is The Ice Wolf?"
"Sorry, you used up your one answer for today," Nao says and lies down on her cot.
Before Shizuru can say anything more, Nao closes her eyes and turns her back to the graceful agent. Shizuru calls the guard to let her out. She leaves, deep in thought.
The Beguiling Stranger heads directly to 'L's' office.
"Toki, I need to see 'L' immediately."
"Let me tell her you're here."
"Commander, The Beguiling Stranger is here to see you and she says it's important," Mai says in the intercom.
"Toki, please send her in."
Mai motions for Shizuru to enter.
"Have a good day Toki."
Shizuru reports her new findings to 'L' and returns to the private house.
"Haruka…," Yukino begins.
"Start the internal investigation to find the agents who helped The Red Spider," Haruka finishes.
At the private house, the clone watches television waiting for Shizuru to return. The imposter jumps up quickly when she hears Shizuru enter the private house.
"You're back!" the clone wraps her arms around a stunned Shizuru, hugging her tightly.
"Did my…beloved have a good afternoon?" Shizuru returns the hug.
"I missed you. Let's have dinner and go to bed. Or we can skip dinner," the clone says and begins kissing Shizuru's neck.
Shizuru smiles weakly, stunned by the imposter's bold behavior, but does her best to remain affectionate to the stranger with her wife's face.
"Ara, my beloved is so frisky tonight."
"Being married to the most beautiful, sexy woman in the world helps," the clone says as she pulls Shizuru into a passionate kiss.
Shizuru does her best to return the kiss, trying to be convincing.
"Come on dear, let's skip dinner," the clone says and leads Shizuru to the bedroom.
Shizuru allows the clone to make love to her, but the graceful agent is unable to reciprocate. She gives the imposter a flimsy excuse about being tired and promises to reciprocate in the morning. The clone presses her back into Shizuru and the graceful agent wraps her arms around the imposter. As she holds the clone, Shizuru begins to think about Natsuki and tears well in her eyes.
"Shizuru?"
"My beloved?" Shizuru says as she tries to hide her tears.
"Please help me."
"Ano?" Shizuru asks stunned.
"Shizuru, help me."
Shizuru turns the clone around. The imposter's eyes are closed. Shizuru wonders if clones can dream and remembers what 'L' told her.
"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."
"Shizuru, please help me," the clone begs and grows agitated.
"Natsuki?" Shizuru asks softly, afraid of waking the clone.
"Get me out of here."
"Where are you?"
"Germany."
"Where?"
"Warehouse. Waterfront. 666."
"Natsuki?"
"Hurry. Bring antidote."
"ANTIDOTE?" Shizuru exclaims, thus waking the clone.
"Dear? What's wrong?" the clone asks as she looks directly in Shizuru's shocked eyes.
"A nightmare…I had a nightmare," Shizuru covers.
"It's okay. I'm here. Go back to sleep," the clone says soothingly and pulls Shizuru into her arms.
"Beloved, I need some tea. I shall be back shortly," Shizuru says as she rises from the bed, pulling on her robe.
"I'll come with you," the clone says and starts to rise from the bed.
"No, go back to sleep. You need your rest," Shizuru says as she gently eases the clone back down on the bed.
Shizuru quickly heads for the kitchen. She puts on the water and slides open her special communicator.
After she makes all the arrangements to return to Germany with her recovery team, she finishes her tea and returns to the bedroom and slips in bed.
The clone does not stir as Shizuru wraps her arms around the sleeping imposter. The graceful agent leans down, kisses the clone on the cheek, and sees the clone is wet with sweat.
"My beloved?" Shizuru asks and shakes the clone.
The clone does not move.
"NATSUKI!"
The clone still does not move.
Shizuru slides open her special communicator and calls for C.O.D.E.'s emergency medical team.
At C.O.D.E.'s state-of-the-art medical facility, Yohko immediately rushes the clone to Intensive Care.
A few hours later, Yohko calls Shizuru in her office.
"Doctor?"
"I'm afraid The Ice Wolf's clone is suffering from the same strange break down of vital organs The Red Spider's clone is experiencing."
"What does this mean?"
"I'm not sure, since there isn't any hard evidence to back up my theory, but in light of this new development, I believe this breakdown is an inherent design flaw."
"How long?"
"Less than 48 hours."
Shizuru returns to the private house in a state of shock. She sits on the couch, pulls out her special communicator and slides it open.
On the flight to Switzerland, Chie is lost deep in her own thoughts as she stares out the private plane's window.
'The Ice Wolf isn't The Ice Wolf? What the hell did The Beguiling Stranger mean by that? Sometimes she just frustrates the living hell out of me with her cryptic messages. I wonder how The Ice Wolf puts up with it,' Chie chuckles to herself.
"Excuse me, I was just instructed to let you know our flight has been redirected to Germany," the flight attendant says.
"Thank you."
The private plane lands in Germany during the wee hours of the morning. As soon as Chie steps off the private plane, she is rushed to C.O.D.E.'s private apartment for a meeting of the recovery team.
Chie steps in the private apartment and immediately scans the room for her friend.
"Where's The Ice Wolf?"
"She is in Intensive Care back in Switzerland," Shizuru answers trying to maintain a calm tone.
"WHAT? WHY? I need to be there with her, NOT here!"
"Blue Rose, please sit," Shizuru motions to an empty chair.
"BUT…"
"Please."
Chie reluctantly sits down and stares at Shizuru. After a few minutes, The Beguiling Stranger addresses her team.
"Our target is no longer the stolen agent database," Shizuru begins.
The collective gasp from her team causes Shizuru to pause, but she continues through the murmurs.
"The Red Spider handed over the stolen agent database after she was apprehended. Our new target is The Ice Wolf," Shizuru braces herself against the table.
"WHAT?" the recovery team yells in unison.
"Please…," Shizuru asks softly, trying to regain her composure.
The recovery team quiets down.
"Our only lead to where The Ice Wolf is being held captive are these few cryptic words," Shizuru points to the white board hanging on the wall.
Germany. Warehouse. Waterfront. 666.
"You told me The Ice Wolf is back in Switzerland in Intensive Care," Chie says.
"Ka…I apologize for not making myself clear Blue Rose. According to Dr. Sagisawa, The Ice Wolf back in Switzerland is an extremely sophisticated synthetic clone, as is The Red Spider we took into custody."
"WHAT?" the recovery team yells in unison.
Shizuru sits down and puts her head in her hands. Chie is the first to notice Shizuru. She sits down next to the graceful agent and puts her hand comfortingly on Shizuru's back.
"Hey," Chie says, trying to keep her tone light.
"Blue Rose," Shizuru smiles weakly.
"Shouldn't we get started?"
"Hai."
Chie stands and addresses the recovery team.
"Alright, let's get this party started!" Chie says, flashing her most dazzling smile.