"How, Mr. Sagara," Tessa questioned, annoyance laced in her voice, "How is it that you have managed to lose her…again?"

He looked at the ground, "I used bad judgment and poor training skills."

She nodded, "I see. And why is it that she is always getting into so much trouble when you are the one around her? Maybe assigning you this case was the worst thing I could have done. You, of all people, have let more personal feelings get in the way of your work then any other member of this team." "I know that," he hissed, "But right now isn't the time to lecture me about my work ethics ma'am. Every minute wasted is a minute less that she has to survive."

Tessa let out a sigh, "Fine, but I am far from finished with you Mr. Sagara. Liam, I'll need you to go on this mission with them. This is a code red people, proceed with the utmost of care."

They nodded and left. Mao shook her head at Sousuke. His lack of care was starting to piss her off. Kurz was almost as pissed as his beloved Mao. Sousuke didn't look stressed or panicked. He'd handled things like a professional, not like a man who may lose the woman he loved. Which meant one of two things: he was acting this way to try and protect her or he had never really loved her to begin with. If the second option was true then Kurz was seriously going to kick his ass. Sousuke suited up in silence, or at least tried to until Kurz started talking to him.

"What are you doing man," Kurz practically hissed.

Sousuke fastened his collar, "My job."

Kurz pursed his lips, "Your job. The woman you love may die or is already dead and you are considering this a fucking job?"

"Yes," Sousuke's voice remained emotionless.

Kurz temper boiled over, "Listen here you little shit," he said while jacking Sousuke against the locker, "she's important to all of us. This is not just a job, this is personal. If you ever loved her you would give a fuck about what happens to her. How can you act like this is nothing? Stop being a professional for one second and see that the girl that loves you, that accepts everything about you, is in danger. She's in serious danger and you…"

"I left her," he whispered, "I'm not with her anymore. So what should it matter to me what happens to her?"

Kurz punched him in the face, "If that's how you truly feel then you never had any right to be with her in the first place."

Sousuke sank to the floor, "I killed her," he shook his head, "The look on her face, I killed her. Why should I have any feeling after the girl I love is already dead? We're going to collect a girl that hates me or the body of a girl that hates me. Either way I have nothing left. So why should I act like this is personal?"

Kurz closed his eyes, "Why did you leave her?"

"Because I wanted her to be safer," he pulled himself back up, slamming his fist into the locker, "and it was the stupidest thing I have ever done."

Kurz slapped him on the shoulder, "Then lets go get her back so you can beg for forgiveness."

Sousuke couldn't help by smile. That had been the first thing he planned to do if she was still alive. He placed the emotionless expression back on his face. Kurz looked at him, then something clicked. AL, Sousuke was saving all his emotions for when he would use the Lambda Driver. Kurz smirked to himself, so he hit the kid for nothing. Outside Mao was ready to tear Sousuke a new one. Kurz quickly stopped her, explaining everything as Sousuke walked ahead of them. He'd never felt so many emotions boiling inside of him. Leonard was going to pay for taking Chidori and pay even more if anything had happened to her. Sousuke pushed back all the thoughts of what might have been or were happening to her.

"Why so sad my sweet girl," Leonard asked while entering Chidori's room, "Are you worried that your big strong man isn't coming to save you?"

"He's not," she said hopelessly, "He's not going to come. He doesn't love me, he doesn't care. He left."

Leonard stopped dead in his tracks, "He…left?"

Chidori shook her head. Leonard watched as she curled into a ball. She began shaking violently. He'd never seen her cry before. She was usually so strong, so in charge and bossy. Now she looked so weak and vulnerable. This was not the Chidori he loved. He'd had her beaten already and she just took it without a fight. Her face was like an emotionless slate. He hated it. He wanted the fire, not some girl that was going to cry and put up no fight. Sousuke had broken her and by doing so allowed her mind to become weak. But he didn't want weak, he wanted a challenge . He wanted the most powerful Whispered in the world, not some sad High School girl.

"Why are you being so miserable," Leonard pouted, "I want to fun, sassy Chidori. Do I have to have my men beat you again?"

She stopped shaking, her voice was emotionless, "I don't care. Beat me, kill me. I don't care."

He pulled her off the bed by her hair, "Why don't I just have my way with you?"

Her eyes were blank, "Go ahead. I'm all yours."

The alarms started sounding. Leonard smirked, so the military boy decided to come back for his prize. Chidori looked up, all traces of hope still gone from her eyes. It wasn't him. It was Mithril but it wasn't him. He didn't care. She'd put up a fight before getting kidnapped, hoping he'd come bursting in the room to save her but he didn't. So she'd given up. He threw her into the hallway before closing the door. She crashed into the wall with a large thud. He pulled her by her hair to the main loading dock. They both looked up to see AL standing at the entrance. Leonard pulled out a knife and smiled. He showed the knife to Sousuke before pulling Chidori in front of him. Sousuke looked at Chidori's bruised face. There was no emotion of any kind. Not even in her eyes.

"I believe you've broken her," Leonard called, "she's no fun this way. Why don't you come out of that tin suit and fight me like a real man? Unless," he placed the blade to Chidori's neck, "you want her to die that is."

Sousuke made AL kneel before climbing out, "Okay, you have me. Now let her go."

"Not so fast," Leonard looked around, "I want this between you and I. I tell my men to stay back, you tell your teammates to do the same."

"Fine," Sousuke gave a signal to his team as Leonard did the same.

Sousuke watched as Leonard pushed Chidori aside, sending her sliding across the floor. He would have gone after her but Leonard was charging at him already. Sousuke pulled out a gun, preparing to fire. Leonard somehow managed to dodge each bullet. Sousuke jumped back, away from the blade in Leonard's hand. All he could think about was how he needed to get Chidori out of there. He kicked the knife out of Leonard's hand before getting punched in the face.

"You broke her," Leonard smirked, "She doesn't love you anymore. All she wants to do is die."

"Shut up," Sousuke snarled while punching his face.

"It's true," Leonard laughed, "She even said I could have my way with her. And I was going to until you showed up."

Sousuke drove his elbow into Leonard's gut, "I SAID SHUT UP," he began punching his face repeatedly, "YOU WILL NEVER LAY A HAND ON THE WOMAN I LOVE!"

Chidori looked over at Sousuke. He did love her, he still loved her. Was he…of course. His actions were his way of trying to keep her safe. She looked to see one of Leonard's men raising his gun. No. She had to protect him like he was trying to protect her. She stood up, the feeling of pain finally registering in her body. She could finally feel again, not that it was a good thing. They man gripped the trigger. She ran into the fight. She pushed Sousuke off of Leonard as the gun shot ran. She felt the bullet pierce her back and exit through her chest before killing Leonard. She fell on top of him as Sousuke's teammates began to fire. Sousuke fell backwards on the ground. He scrambled to his feet.

"Chidori what the…" he saw the blood seeping through her shirt.

He rushed over to her as men fell around them. He pushed her on to her back, ripping her shirt to see the damage. The bullet had went straight through. He used her shirt to put pressure on both sides of the wound. He pulled her into his arms, using his chest to keep pressure on her front while his hands kept pressure on her back. He tried to keep his breathing even as he called out for Kurz and Mao. He could hear her take ragged breaths. She tried to tell him something but the words wouldn't come out.

"It's okay," he tried to sooth her, "You'll be okay. You're strong, you're a fighter. I'm not giving up on you so you can't either okay."

"I love you," she whispered.

"Don't," his voice cracked, "Don't you dare say your good-byes. You are not dying on me, do you understand me? Damn it, Mao, Kurz. SOMEONE FUCKING HELP ME," he listened to her take her last breath, "No, no damn it, no. Chidori! TALK TO ME, ANSWER ME," he felt tears spill over, "Please, please don't you give up on me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, please. Just stay with me. That all you have to do. Just please talk to me. Stay with me."

6 months later:

He sat on her bed, looking out the window. It had been six months since the accident. He couldn't get it out of his mind. She'd been in his arms, she'd been there and now…

"Why are you looking all mopey," she asked, climbing in bed behind him.

He turned around, kissing her lips softly, "Just thinking about some stuff, like how much I want to make love to you right now."

She giggled as he grabbed her by the waist, pulling her down with him. He kissed her neck and face. She tried to squirm away from him but it was no use. He pinned her to the bed, running his hands along her sides. In a few weeks they would be headed to their first college classes. He was so happy that he'd moved in with her, giving his apartment to Mao and Kurz and their almost born child. He smiled down at her as his angelic hazel eyes met her brown ones. Her blue hair fanned out over the bed. He smiled as he touched the side of her face.

"So tell me Sergeant Stupid," she asked in a playful voice, "Is there ever a time when there's a heart worth breaking?"

He looked at her, his voice serious, "There is no such thing as a heart worth breaking."

She touched his face and smiled, "Well what do you know, there's hope for the boy yet."

He leaned down and kissed her, "I love you, Chidori."

She looked him in the eyes, "I love you too, Sousuke."

He kissed her again, passionately. She could feel him smile as she kissed him back. She replayed the words in her mind over and over again. She mentally smiled to herself. There is no such thing as a heart worth breaking.