Chapter Eleven

Let's play a game, shall we? Anyone, who guess the item at the end of the chapter can pick the date night scenario. XD LOL (I'll give several chances.)

Steve sat on the stairs watching as the warlords guided the guests back to their feet. They seemed woozy and drunk. Kayura slumped down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder as she said, "Sekh perfected this anesthesia like poison that knocks people out like death and makes them hallucinate while making them forget their last few days. Between Kale and Dais, they'll make it home safe without having to pay for a cab and won't remember a damn thing but their names."

He smiled at her, "hell of a party."

She kissed his cheek, "it's the only way we know how to do things around here."

Hoshi was arguing with Kento and Tony as Raleigh walked past and headed toward them, "well, other than the obvious drama. Things are well. I think Junko has an admirer though."

Kayura saw the young man who Steve had been talking to a little bit ago, he was trying to guide Felicia out of the house, who had all the grace of a drunk. She asked about the young man, "why isn't he out?"

"He's immune, doubt he'll say anything though...he was very freaked out to say the least...and he seems very near sighted," Raleigh laughed. She looked at Steve, "good job, grabbing Miss Hardy. It would be a terrible issue to have a government liaison's daughter go splat during a birthday dinner party that no one mysteriously remembers."

Kayura saw Leah slide down the railing to them and complained, "you could have helped, you know?"

"And miss that stunning meteor shower, I don't think so," she laughed as she jumped off near them. "Seems like you handled that Akuma well enough on your own."

Steve looked at Kayura who grew rather quiet with the word as he said, "like the thing you were fighting when you came back."

Leah crossed her arms, "you fought an Akuma and you didn't think to make a big deal about it?"

"I've fought them plenty of times in Nether Realm," she said with a smile. Steve had a hard time judging her expressions or even knowing what the significance of the word was.

Raleigh raised an eyebrow, "what, a demon? You fought those before..."

"No," Sage said as he sat down at the bottom of the stairs. "That was not a demon."

"Akuma," Sekh hissed as he dangled the bracelet in front of Kayura's face from behind. "You naughty girl, you had a party in the Nether Realm while we stuck here! Thanks for bringing us some snacks!"

Steve took the bracelet as Kayura seemed to shut off more with the intrusion of the snake like man, "how did she get this? I thought Rowen had the last of the vibranium."

Leah leaned over the railing, "that may be vibranium Captain but it acts like the Yata No Kagami."

Kayura turned her eyes towards her, "the mirror of Ameterasu? I thought Talpa destroyed that when he …."

"Slaughtered us Holy Warriors by droves," Leah grinned at her, and Steve saw Kay grow uneasy. In all honestly, he wasn't fond of the woman at all, she had all the personality flaws of Loki. "He very well did, but the weapon was made not by Tsurara but by her mother."

Raleigh shrugged, "like I know what my predecessors made..."

"It wasn't born of the armors," Leah said flipping over. "It was man made, I don't know why. Maybe Seiza does...but the sword was made by Destruction, the Jewel was made for Life, and the Mirror was made for Akuma by the Seers. If there was one thing everyone agreed on was that Akuma were not on anyone's side."

"So an ancient weapon," Steve assessed as he turned it over in his fingers. Seemed harmless enough, but he knew better than to judge anything by how it looked.

"If you like, yes," Sekh laughed.

"So what happened to it," asked Steve as he handed it to Sage.

"It was shattered by Talpa and his merry men," Leah grinned a Kayura and Sekh. Kayura seemed to grow even more distant as the woman kept speaking and Sekh rattled with delight as she said, "the pieces fell across the Earth so that none could use its abilities."

Cye sat down having over heard the conversation, "to seal him away permanently. We could have used that years ago..."

"You're catching on," Leah said plucked the chain away from Steve nimbly. "Miss Hardy is a skilled thief...she stole this small piece from a set of ancient Shinto Prayer beads in the National Museum. and I happened to be around."

Sage rolled his eyes, "you were going to steal it yourself, weren't you?

"Me? I was going to catalog it," she said astutely. "You see the second it was removed from the prayer beads, the seal on one of the many Akuma within it was broken. Voila...instant Akuma...just add water."

Ryo stopped at the bottom of the stairs, "and there's how many pieces?"

"Could be thousands, I suppose," Leah said. "I dare say the mirror was as large as the Captain's might shield...but that's not the problem I'm having."

Steve saw Kayura scowl at the woman as she said, "who paid Miss Hardy to get the fragment? You don't steal something like that without a profit."

"Ding, Ding, Ding," Leah grinned even brighter. She then looked at Kayura from between the slats of the railing, "Who paid you lot of money? When you did that sort of thing?"

Kayura stood up, and quietly left. Steve had a feeling that she was upset and decided to go after her. He could hear Leah making a smart remark about Kayura being sensitive but Ryo kicked her firmly and she shut up. He heard Kayura push over dresser as he walked in the spare room, "woah...don't let her light a fire under you like that, firecracker..."

She cursed in Japanese under her breath, "she's right... when I left the warlords to do my own thing, before I came back to work for the Queen, I took on a lot of paid...jobs."

"Like?"

"Mostly theft," she said quietly. "I never stole weapons, or secrets, or chemicals. Strictly artifacts of ancient origin and the occasional painting or two...it was my client though who was...scary. Even for a human, I found him...terrifying."

"Who?"

She shook her head, "no...I don't want you to go look him up...let's just say he's in jail now."

Steve saw her lean over onto the couch, she seemed angry about something she had done in the past. He wondered what troubled her most at times like this, the demons that were millenniums old or the humans that she may have encountered with her brief time as a mercenary. He didn't care and he wrapped her up in a hug as they took a seat, "you had to do things to survive, Kay. There's nothing wrong with that."

Kayura placed her hands on his strong arm, "but you see, he sent her to steal and sent her here. Maybe we aren't as invisible as we thought we were, Steve..."

He kissed her brow softly and saw her distant gaze. He said, "I can stay out of this if you really want me to, but I can't guarantee Tony can."

She looked at him, "Tony is only a problem if he threatens our security. I understand he's your friend...but I have to protect my own first."

"I agree, I saw what happened when he had his hands on the scepter that Loki carried," he paused looking into her eyes and interlocking his fingers with hers. He could see the ring on her finger glittering in the low light, "and I kind of think the armors might be more dangerous and then there's Hoshi?"

Kayura laid her head against his chest, "I will do my best for her."

He couldn't help but ask next, even though he was certain that it was a touchy subject, "what happened in the Nether Realm?"

There was a long silence from her and she parted her hand from his to trace her fingers along his skin. Her nails were bright scarlet like the dress she wore earlier and her skin was cool. Steve wasn't going to push her, she had a lot more baggage than he did and he was certain that she was a lot better at holding anything that scarred or hurt her in tight. She let out a deep breath, letting her eyes rest on their hands, which she laced her fingers up again, "the Akuma are nasty creatures who have made an alliance with someone named Raijin who believes the dynasty is his rightful throne."

He wrapped his other arm around her, she was warm, "so someone is summoning Akuma, and there's a problem with Akuma in the Nether Realm. More coincidences?"

"Precisely," she said looking up at him.

He leaned his forehead against hers, "I liked that red dress."

"Wanda helped me pick it," she said touching his tie. "Did you choose red for me?"

"Nat seemed to know your favorite color."

"Nat's intuition is impeccable."

He leaned in close but his lips didn't touch hers, "I guess I was impressing someone here tonight."

"No need, Prince Charming."

He ran thumb under her red lips, "skin as pale as snow, hair as dark as night, and lips as red as apples."

Kayura felt a soft kiss at first and his hand slid into her short hair at the nape of her neck as he pulled the kiss tight. She unlaced her hand and laid it on his shoulder as their kiss deepened. He leaned over her and they fell back on the on the couch softly. She laid her hands on his shoulders and they looked into each others eyes for a long moment but then Steve sat up, "I should get going, tonight was a long night and I'm leaving in the AM with Sam to look for someone..."

She nodded, her face was as red as a cherry as he kissed her hand. She couldn't manage to get any words out and he laughed as he straightened his shirt. She saw him start for the door and she quickly got to say, "be careful, Steve. Please..."

He gave her a small salute as he went through door and Kayura looked at the dresser she was going to pick up and put back together. She saw something in it and her face went even more red at the thoughts it inspired, and she cursed mentally trying to regain her composure.