Chapter Twelve

"Who was that?"

Shizuma turned her head to a warm sight. Nagisa was still in the process of trying to wake herself up, dressed in her oversized t-shirt, hair in disarray and rubbing her eyes hoping it would help wake her up. 'CUTE!' Shizuma smiled warmly at her, the young woman was looking and acting like a child.

"That was Matt dropping off our uniforms among other things."

She walked over to her own bed; depositing the two uniforms neatly along with the other accessories she was given. Shizuma gasped and jumped a little when she felt two arms wrap around her waist, a weight comfortably pressed and leaned onto hers. Too stunned to move or speak, not wanting to dislodge her, Shizuma turned her head back to look at Nagisa. In the brief time they come to know each other, really get to know, the etoile found out rather quick that Nagisa wasn't a morning person. This just proved it. The redhead had half closed eyes not taking in anything, jerking her head back up right when she began to droop. 'Honestly this girl. I have to admit she looks adorable when she's just waking up. Then again she's cute any time. I never would have guessed her to be like this when I first met her. Then again no one is. I hope I can get to know her better after all this is done.'

"Shi…" Nagisa tried to talk but a loud yawn worked its way out. "Did he say anything when he came?"

Shizuma giggled to herself at Nagisa's attempt to stay awake, her speech was slurred with sleep. Turning around, surprisingly Nagisa's arms loosened up enough for her to move, only to tighten again when she finished. Deciding to enjoy the moment Shizuma hugged her partner back, smiling more widely when she heard a happy sigh. They stayed that way for a while each enjoying the others embrace, or in Nagisa's case a huggable pillow. After a nice warm hug the etoile gently shook Nagisa awake, guiding her back to sit on her own bed. Checking her over, noting gladly that the swollen lip had died down and the bruise could be covered up with a little makeup. The long cut on her side was a little trouble so she tenderly washed it and put a fresh bandage around her. Shizuma noticed that Nagisa barely moved or spoke the entire time, looking a little closer at the red head who apart form a slight blush was still only groggily half awake. Risking a quick look to the clock stifling a small groan when she realised it was time to get moving.

The trouble was getting Nagisa up and awake. Shaking her a little got no response. 'How can I wake her up? Dumping her in cold water is a no-go and it takes twice as long to dry off. Hmm…I wonder if that gadget is around here somewhere.' Shizuma left her partner dozing whilst she rummaged through Nagisa's gadget pile. Finding the perfect alarm clock she primed and readied it, preparing herself for the shock as well she turned it down towards the floor. '3…2…1…Wakey wakey' Pulling the trigger a loud horn blasted around the room. Flinching at the loud blare herself Shizuma watched as Nagisa literally jumped from the bed shock plastered across her face. It was a quick burst of noise nevertheless it did its job. Having a murderous death glare sent her way Shizuma smiled a little two sweetly.

"Good morning kitten. Rise and shine"

"What do you think?" Shizuma asked Nagisa, giving her a little twirl.

Shizuma watched as Nagisa turned fully around to face her, watching her face very closely. She surely was disappointed; she mustn't look all that good in it to get no reaction from her friend. Nagisa roamed her eyes from head to toe, keeping her face neutral all the time.

"When you said all the workers would make a good cover for us…" Nagisa looked her straight in the eye "you meant me and the rest I take it Shi, because you stick out like a sore thumb." Turning her back towards her.

Shizuma tried to stop the smile on coming through. The workers outfit certainly hid most of her figure, the cap helped a little to hide her face unfortunately her long mane was a no go to hide. Creeping up behind her Shizuma put her hands gently on the hacker's shoulders; the said woman didn't even jump at the contact, as Shizuma put her lips close to her ear.

"We can play dress up later my little kitten" purring slightly

Shizuma jumped back as Nagisa twirled around looking quite flushed at the accusation. The hacker tried to give as best as she got. Shizuma smiled brightly at their interplay.

"Why Shi I didn't think you leaned that way. Besides that uniform doesn't do you justice"

"What would you like to see me in? Nurse? Maid?" Stepping in closer

"Hmm… definitely worth looking into but I thought of something that suits you just fine" surprising Shizuma as she stepped right up close, bringing her mouth close to her ear "A straight jacket and gag looks about right"

Shizuma growled low as she watched Nagisa stepped back smiling wide. Then watched as she started to chuckle. It was probably due to the fact Shizuma was blushing quite a bit, something which she rarely does.

Nagisa was rummaging through her bag; all of it was different gadgets for different purposes. The real choice was what was best to take with them, if they can be concealed or not and also if things didn't go well what would help them best. Shizuma was by her side as she took in for the first time, the extent of Nagisa's collection. Stealing a quick glance of her partner, she saw her deep in concentration as she picked up different ones judging their worth and qualities. It was so not her forte, she had hers already on her person not great ones but they did their job and had saved her life on more than one occasion. Checking her watch she realised they didn't have much time left, until they had to be at the meeting point for their pick up.

"Kitten we have to get moving soon." Shizuma told her softly not wanting to break her focus "Are these all yours or did Chikaru dump these on you?"

Nagisa giggled at that "Of course she didn't dump them on me Shi. These ones are my main ones I take with me on every mission" pointing at one very small pile, her laptop, scrambler and phone "I guess I'm wondering what to take with me, I have quite a few as you can tell."

"I guess… how about surveillance and downloadable gadgets like your pocket mirror. That one helped with the mini sub plans. If we can get hold of a guards tag we can get access to other areas."

Nagisa nodded her head decisively as she heard Shizuma's ideas, quickly sifting through her gadgets putting them aside to take with them. One was a weird design, as the etoile wondered how Nagisa was going to hide it. It was a long thin metal thing, the length of a ruler and as thin as a needle, the smallest size you could get. Picking it up Shizuma handled it gently as she examined it. Her confusion must have shown on her face as Nagisa came to aid. Taking it from her grasp Nagisa showed her slowly what it did, a double ended wire was clipped on one end of the pipe and the other she clipped to the computer. Then when nothing happened, Shizuma looked even more confused as Nagisa looked somewhat amused.

"Alright what did I miss?" she asked her sharply not like being the dummy in the room.

"Don't be like that Shizuma; you didn't miss anything, as there wasn't anything to see anyway. All this does is carry the current or data without a pause, so the main people in security don't notice a glitch. We can then fiddle with what we want with ease. Then again if you look closely enough, you can detect that someone is messing around with it."

"Handy thing. Question, how do we know that they are unaware of our fiddling as you put it" Shizuma looked at Nagisa.

The agent kept her eyes firmly away from hers as she packed her gear onto her body hiding it among her clothes. There was no answer which was an answer in itself. Heaving a heavy sigh it made Nagisa blurt out her distress.

"I'm sorry Shi nothing is ever exact you know. When I help design some programmes for Chikaru for the gadgets, there's always some back door you can get in by."

Shizuma put her hands on the other agent's shoulders to try and calm her partner down. She didn't mean to insult or insinuate her skills in any way. But time was fast becoming a problem; they needed to meet up with the rest of the workers very soon. The two agents hustled their butts, getting all set and out of the hotel without anyone seeing them. Down the street the two agents waited on a corner. The sunrise became brighter as the early morning rays gave into the full rising of the sun.

A large black van in the distance was their ride as they watched and waited for it to stop right in front of them. A man hopped out the front coming around to greet them. He was olive skinned, black short cut hair and stubble along his chin; his clothes were a white cotton shirt and cotton trousers which in this weather was just the ticket. Giving them a grin he looked to his clipboard and nodded his head at whatever he saw.

"So you're the new stands in for the other guys. I hope you don't mind breaking a sweat. My names Antonis I'll be keeping an eye on you so if you got any questions and Matts not around come to me. Now hop in." Antonis greeted them

The women nodded their heads once and did they were told. As soon as the doors opened and they settled in spare seats they took a quick glance around at the others. Shizuma knew these men were used to hard work but there was something about them that seemed off. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but the haunted eyes she had seen before. Nagisa pressed herself a little closer to her side as if she sensed the uneasiness; Shizuma nudged her shoulder slightly making the redhead turn to face her rewarding her with a small smile of reassurance. The van ride lasted for a while and soon came to complete stop with the doors flung wide open by the familiar presence of the security men from the party. They left the van a row at a time, when everyone was off they led them to a small boat. Hopping on they sped away to one of the small islands off the mainland. Security was tight here as they seemed to swarm everywhere keeping a sharp eye on the arriving workers. Shizuma was already surveying the land as she walked her way across, Nagisa kept her eyes on the work load ahead all of it seemed to have arrived before hand.

"Alright guys you know what to do. Get to it!" A familiar voice shouted out ahead

The rest of the workers rushed to their tasks as Matt walked towards the two agents, Shizuma keeping herself a little in front of Nagisa, for her own peace of mind and the oncoming man.

"You'll be working at the sheltered section, sorting the packages onto the boat." Pointing to the crude made dock "don't worry it's very easy to pick up"

Looking at one another they knew this was going to be one hot day under the sun. And it proved to be just that. They quickly got into the rhythm of the work and soon the sweat was pouring off them. Just like Matt said the security kept eagle eyes on them with their fire arms on full display. Their first day on the job yielded little except for the basic layouts, guard changeovers and how things operated. Shizuma hoped that the next day they could find something concrete.

Next Day

A loud shrill alarm filled the air; every worker stopped what they were doing looking rather uneasy, making Shizuma have a bad feeling about what was to come. The overseers unslung their weapons from their shoulders, as they began to usher the workers to the dockside away from the transport ship. Hustled here and there Shizuma was pulled up short with Nagisa being pushed forward. In no time at all, the helpers were stationed in front of a makeshift platform, Shizuma who was at the back could see with ease, Nagisa on the other hand was at the front, slap bang in the middle. The etoile saw a group of men walk towards them, they were heavily armed and their formation was one of protection. Proved true two figures emerged from the middle, one dressed solely in black and the other in a smart tailored business suit. The Archive and The Shadow had come to pay a visit. Shizuma tried to look inconspicuous, a hard task for her since she stood out a lot with the long silvery mane and eye-catching looks. Being at the back certainly helped since she hid most of herself behind those in front, her fears worsened when her mind told her who was at the front.

The computer whiz pulled her hat down lower over her face when she recognised them. It was all she could do. Her red eyes were drawn to the commotion in the distance. Taking a look around she saw that everyone looked uncomfortable, knowing now this had happened before and it wasn't going to be pleasant. Matt stomped onto the stage calling for quiet, totally unnecessary since everyone was silent already, if a pin dropped you would hear it. Matt breathed in deep and announced the guests. The Archive took his time to get into position, making sure he had everyone's attention. He stopped dead centre with room to spare.

"I'll get right to the point as I have an important deadline to achieve. All of you work for me; you abide by my rules and my punishments. I cannot tolerate failures or traitors."

The agents had a really bad feeling where this was headed. Their suspicions were confirmed when a hooded restrained person, held tightly by two guards on either side dragging them onto the stage.

"This traitor you see here was found nosing around my database and later to be found working for some foreign agency." The Archive explained "His punishment serves his crime"

The escorting guards forced the prisoner to their knees, facing the crowd and in front of the mastermind. The figure was squirming held securely in a tight grip. Obviously he knew what was to come. Nagisa was close enough to hear his whimpers, her heartbeat raced and her breathing came in shorter spurts. She did not want to be here, her mind revisiting the past, her eyes couldn't tear themselves away. The Shadow now joined in, coming forward reaching into their jacket, pulling out a serrated blade, stopping just behind the kneeling captive.

"A traitor deserves no face or name. Nor do they warrant a quick death."

Shizuma restrained herself somehow, the idea of blowing her cover and rescuing the poor soul pounded at her. 'I can't risk the mission to save him…' The Shadow moved too quickly for any such ideas. With one hand The Shadow pulled back the cloaked man's head, baring the neck to the crowd, whilst in the other hand a serrated blade glinted menacingly. In a lightning move the blade struck. Nagisa felt something hit her face, moving in a dreamlike state, she raised her hand to touch it. Removing her hand she saw red liquid coating her fingertips, shaking a little her shocked mind told her it was blood. Shizuma flinched at the brutality of the kill. The neck was carved open for all to see, spraying the nearest with a fountain of blood. The man was unceremoniously dumped to the floor, as the assassin wiped clean their blade on the dying man's clothes before sheathing it. They were made to watch until the bitter didn't take very long, the blood gushed pretty quickly from the wound pooling around the head and the shakes of the man grew frantic and slower as time went on.

Without a word The Archive and his minion left with their honour guard, the workers still in the grip of the murder they were made to watch. Shizuma was itching to find her partner, knowing that Nagisa was at the front. Matt released his workers who all raced to get away; Shizuma was fighting against the crowd as she drove forward nearer the stage, all the time pushing and shoving to get on through. The etoile quickly found her. Her partner was standing very still, as Shizuma walked swiftly to her side. Shizuma gasped when saw Nagisa's face, it was splattered with blood yet it wasn't what concerned her most. Nagisa's eyes once filled with life now looked dull and lifeless. Reaching out to lay a hand on her shoulder, Shizuma didn't see a flicker of recognition at her being there. Slowly and gently she turned Nagisa away from the stage, getting her to walk slowly towards the shore.

It took a while; Nagisa was unresponsive to Shizuma making the latter more worried. 'How do I get her to snap out of it? I think it's best if I clean her up a little first and get rid of that blood. Then try and coax her to talk or at least do something. I honestly don't mind if she throws a tantrum at this point. Seeing that brings back memories for her, bad ones at that. I only hope that I can reach her.' Shizuma got to the water's edge, gently getting Nagisa to sit down on the rocky ground, when she was settled she took a look around. Several workers had the same idea of coming to the shore; a few were scrubbing madly at their face and clothes. A youngish chap, who Shizuma recalled from before, Antonis, jogged up to her taking a quick glance of Nagisa. He handed over a small plastic dish, with a nod he was off looking over the other workers in the distance.

Shizuma went to the sea scooping up some water and sat down in front of her friend, pulling out a handkerchief from her pocket to soak up some of the salty water. Tenderly she cleaned off the blood on Nagisa's face, not saying a word the entire time. When she finished, she wrung out the once white handkerchief placing it beside her, and threw the water out behind her. Nagisa didn't budge an inch. Shizuma carefully took Nagisa's hands into her own, rubbing them soothingly trying to coax her out of her shock. Feeling slight tremors in the young woman's hands brought small relief to Shizuma; her partner was stirring at last.

"Nagisa, come on kitten" Shizuma whispered to her softly

Receiving no reply made her sigh in desperation, her eyes shut tightly for a minute as she calmed herself down thinking of ways she could rouse her partner. This was starting to scare her, with it came a fear she had never really felt before. 'What is this feeling? She's scaring me. I have to get her to snap out of it, any way possible. Shit! I really had to fall hard.' Shizuma opened her eyes her face set in determination as she realised what she had to do. A hard slap landed across Nagisa's cheek, marking it red and flinging her head to the side. After a while red wide hurtful eyes found their way to Shizuma, who inwardly cringed at her expression, hardened her resolved nonetheless. The hacker had finally awoken.

"What…what was that for?" Nagisa stumbled out looking confused as she held her cheek tenderly.

Shizuma roughly held Nagisa's arms tight, looking her straight into her eyes. She was angry and fear showed briefly in her yellow eyes, which Nagisa caught a glimpse of.

"Damn it Nagisa! Why do you continue to scare me like this? Why do you keep holding onto the past, all it does is shut you away" Shizuma ranted at her.

Shizuma felt tears forming in her eyes, not knowing that a few had already escaped down her face, as she looked to her partner. Nagisa was openly crying as she hung her head down low her body shook with silent sobs.

"You have to let it go Nagisa. Like you have to let go what happened today. We couldn't have saved him even if we knew, that's one of the hardest lessons we have to learn." Shizuma told her softly "It will eat you up if you let it. I don't want to see that happening to you. Please Nagisa it hurts me to see you like this"

Something inside her clicked when she said that. The emotions she had felt for the last few days all came together. The joy, pain and bliss made sense. Releasing her grip off her shoulders, she slowly cradled Nagisa's cheeks, lifting her head so she could see her face. Her stubborn partner tried to escape, not wanting her red flushed tear stained face to be seen. Shizuma wasn't having any of it. Firmly she made her raise her head, looking into the face of the woman who was fast becoming very dear to her. Tenderly and lovingly she began to wipe at her tears, in vain as it started another torrent of tears to cascade down her face.

"How? How do you just let it go afterwards?" Nagisa wept "No matter what I try it never works. I never should have come back; I seem to fail at everything."

"Stop it!" Shizuma harshly told her as she grabbed onto the distressed woman's shoulders "That's not true and you know it!"

Nagisa shook her head as she dismissed what the etoile told her. In her depressive state she sifted the gravel ground through her fingers, Shizuma watched her getting more vexed as time went on. 'How do I convince her that she isn't a failure? I never would have met her if she hadn't come back to work. I'm not good with the emotional talk, especially when it comes to speaking from my heart. The first time I wish Tamao was here, she understands her better than I do. Kind of makes me jealous in a way. I may have to remedy that when we finish this mission. I'll have to do my best.' She roughly stood to her feet, startling Nagisa as she did so. She reached down grabbing Nagisa pulling her roughly to her feet. Nagisa barely had time to stutter her surprise when Shizuma started to drag her away to the shore. The etoile held on tight, her plan non-existent as she stopped just before the tide, pulling Nagisa to her side and released her.

"You think you're a failure, well here's a new flash Nagisa show me someone who isn't. Hell even I have failed at some things, what makes you so damn different from the rest of us." Shizuma bluntly told her "What matters is how we go on, how we learn from it. All so we don't let it happen again. The past is the past Nagisa; no one can change what has happened all we can do is to go forward."

It remained silent between the two for a while, Shizuma keeping her eyes firmly fixated on Nagisa, whilst the latter was gazing at the deep blue sea. Coming to the shoreline seemed to calm the young woman down some, her tears had finally stopped and her face seemed more peaceful. Shizuma waited until she was sure her friend had calmed down completely, when she saw the serene expression she sighed in relief. Letting her eyes drift onto the sea, soaking in as much calm before they were ordered back to work. The other workers were also taking a break on the little beach, Matt and Antonis were huddled together father back looking quite disturbed, nothing making Shizuma want to move from her position. Her eyes once again found themselves on the sparkling sea, the gentle waves lapping against the shore, from the corner of her eyes still keeping a gentle watch on her friend.

"Thank you"

So gently and softly spoken Shizuma nearly missed it, but the weight of emotions that hid within the words gave her no doubt. Whatever her hacker wanted to thank her for, she hadn't a clue on a specific thing and then again she didn't need one. Moving to Nagisa's side she pulled her into her arms, firmly holding onto her with arms coming to grasp onto her. Shizuma knew it would take a while for the memories to become duller and today was surely to leave a mark, but it will fade in time. 'At least she's responding now, finally getting past her own demons. I'll help her with that as I need it with mine. I wonder what she feels towards me, it hasn't been that long we've known each other I know, but I want to do this right. I need to thank Miyuki and Tamao too. I found my true partner now.'

A loud deafening horn blew, making the two agents look up and around. Matt and Antonis were herding their workers back to work, with a few pats on the back looking real serious about it. Giving Nagisa a last look down removed herself from her grasp, though just as quickly took a hold of her hand, bringing a smile to their faces as they walked over to the two men. Shizuma was reluctant to let go of the hand but it needed to be done as Matt stopped them, with a nod to Antonis who sped away. The etoile saw how uncomfortable Matt really was, he scuffing his boots, wringing his hands and his darted nervously around him finally landing on them.

"If you need anything just ask me. I'll help you." Matt told them before jerking his head for them to keep moving.

Shizuma gave him a curt nod of her own as she herded Nagisa back towards the loading area, none of them said anything until they were sure people couldn't overhear them. That was to wait; their job demanded their attention not to mention a slight increase of guards that watched them.

"Shizuma" Nagisa whispered

Shizuma turned her head slightly towards Nagisa her eyes making a quick survey surrounding them. Happily noting that no one was close enough to overhear them and their lull in work left them to speak without being interrupted.

"Finally a rest stop" rolling her head around to work out the kinks

"Don't complain Shi, it doesn't suit you" Nagisa shook her head "What did you make of that earlier?"

"I think it's genuine, no one wants to be in that position. Looks out for his own." Trying to say it without drawing attention to it "you?"

"Same. We need to have a way inside and he knows it, plus he can get us the key for sure"

Shizuma gave her a confused glance, she had heard her right but wondering what kind of key they needed. Finally realising her own stupidity at her own question. Uniforms and the key card the security detail all used to get in, not to mention onto the boats that lead to the offshore harbour where the sub was. It was very risky especially for Matt, but he seemed determined earlier not to mention desperate. Shizuma nodded her head to Nagisa who in turn gave her a lopsided smile; the etoile knew that the hacker followed along the lines her own mind led her to. Involving Matt could work to their advantage and if things turned sour could get him killed a heartbeat.

"It's his choice Nagisa" Shizuma whispered to her

"I know Shi. I can't use my skills in getting them this time. I will let him know later when we get back home"

AN: Just want to say a quick thanks to all you readers out there. Plus your reviews of course!