A/N Okay, I'm posting this a bit early because I can't wait- Mary Frances has some really cool eyes! More violence in this one and a bit of fun, too. Please enjoy. Please leave a review. LOVE YA!

Chapter 17- Rescue Mission

Kanade was walking through a misty forest, searching the shapes that seemed to surround her. She would move close to one only to find it was another tree. She called out a name she couldn't recognize at first as she felt panic begin to rise inside her chest. Her hand moved to her chest as she felt as if her heart would pound clear out of her chest. She felt so alone and she wasn't used to being alone.

She scowled as she looked through the mist at her hand that was on her chest. It moved over the frilly lacy material that covered her chest and neck with ribbons and lace. Her gaze moved over the rest of herself. Her eyes moved down her body further and further, the bodice was rose petal pink with seams of lace and red ribbons. The blasted thing went all the way to the ground! All she could seem to think about what Joel being cross with her for the dirty hem. "Why should Joel care?" she wondered. "He's in France."

She cried out again, realizing she had gone too far this time. It was just another of her games, but this time it had gone terribly wrong and she was lost. "Why am I so worried?" she reasoned. "The fog will clear in a while, by noon it'll be gone and I can find my way out of here."

She found a tall, slender shape in the fog and called out in a loud voice, "Hagi!" All she heard was the eerie echo of her own voice calling his name as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Kanade saw images of the man who was her uncle, but he was wearing a high necked collar with a ribbon around it. His hair was loose around his shoulders and he wore an easy smile. This was not the Hagi she knew; it was the one from the photograph at Omoro. Memories that were not her own flashed into her mind of a young boy that grew up before her eyes.

She came to that shape in the fog only to find yet another tree. "HAGI!" her voice screamed as she fell to her knees and cried her heart out. He was her companion and he always knew where to find her. Where was he?

Kanade realized this was not her dream. It was one of Saya's memories. She could feel the feelings Saya had felt of utter despair. Without Hagi, she was completely lonely and utterly lost. She was madly in love with him, even back then, and didn't even know it.

The fog was beginning to lift and Saya could now hear Hagi calling to her. Kanade couldn't see through the veil of tears she was crying as she felt Hagi's arms encircle her. His smile was only for Saya, his embrace was only for Saya, his heart was only for Saya.

Kanade awoke with tears spilling down her face and sobs tearing at her throat. She was startled by a pair of brown eyes staring at her. She growled at her cellmate, "Don't you ever sleep?"

The girl pulled herself up the rest of the way from the hole. She was covered in dirt all the way to her waves of black hair. "Nope," she responded, "My mom says I've been an insomniac since I was a baby. I'll only sleep if I've been stressed or overworked… sometimes from sex- if it's really good."

Kanade sneered at the thought of someone wanting to have sex with the girl. She was beautiful, but so vulgar and inappropriate. "Urgh," she commented, "Too much information."

She snorted, "Oh no, please tell me you're not a 30-year-old virgin!"

"No!" Kanade retorted with a red face. "Not that it's any of your business, but I'm not."

"That's a good thing since I was going to have to tease you a lot more if you were," she smirked.

Kanade rolled her eyes as she muttered, "Please don't let my dad find out," not realizing that Mary Frances had heard her.

"You mean your dad would be upset if his 30-year-old daughter wasn't a virgin?" she asked in disbelief.

"29," she corrected. "I'm not married," she grumbled.

As Mary Frances moved the bed back over the hole, she responded, "Neither am I, but that never stopped me- never stopped any that were either."

"Can we please change this topic?" she asked as she was completely red and looking quite embarrassed.

After the bed was back to its original position, Mary Frances said, "Fine, what do you want to talk about?" She then cringed and added, "Just please don't talk about him."

Understanding the reason that Mary Frances was uncomfortable talking about him, she then asked, "Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Why were you a weepy little mess when I…" she began and then motioned below her bed to finish the sentence so the guards wouldn't hear.

"You don't want to talk about that. It has to do with him."

She nodded and then mentioned, "I can tell you about…" Her eyes cut to the floor.

Kanade nodded and looked at her expectantly. She whispered, "Will you show me how you can hear my thoughts?"

Mary Frances gave a wry smile and nodded before she whispered, "You have to concentrate on the person you want to talk to, close your eyes, and see yourself walking toward them. Once you can see their image in your mind, walk into them."

Kanade and Mary Frances opened their eyes at the same time. Kanade's were glowing a brilliant blood red color, causing Mary Frances to nearly break the connection as she fell off the bed.

Kanade was nearly as shocked at Mary Frances' eyes. They were still brown, but a circle around the iris was glowing brilliant blue on the right eye and on the left, blood red. Both regained their composure and began to communicate.

"I think I've found a storage place where they keep weapons," Mary Frances informed. The tunnel came out in this small room where there's a bunch of guns, bullets, and all kinds of explosives."

"Oh no," Kanade responded as she threw her hands up, "I'm not going to kill anyone. Don't even think I'm going to leave that way."

"I didn't ask you to use any of the weapons, your highness. I'm just saying that we'll have to go through there to get out," she reasoned.

Kanade's lips thinned as she thought about it. They had been working at that tunnel for nearly a week and she knew that they had to get out soon. The doctor was becoming impatient to draw some blood from her and she knew what that would mean to the world. She nodded quickly as she felt a presence coming down the hall toward the cell.

Their eyes became a normal brown color as they footsteps neared. They both looked up in time to see breakfast. Relieved, Kanade and Mary Frances took the plates. The queen noticed that nearly all the food was set in front of her while Mary Frances looked out the cell bars, munching on a small smoked fish. Between bites she asked the girl, "Aren't you eating?"

"I don't eat much," she answered. "I never have."

~0~

Nathan came up to the group of commanding officers and David as they went over he plans once more with Hagi and Lulu. Today they would storm the facility, get Mary Frances and Kanade, and blow the place to kingdom come.

Hagi, Lulu, Nathan, and Hibiki were to take on the chiropterans and make a path for the Red Shield and the US Marines to break into the facility and take out everything they could while rescuing the targets.

Hagi didn't wait for a signal, he was off in a flash followed by Lulu. Nathan smirked and called out, "Showtime!" before he transformed and leapt after them. Hibiki gave one long, last look to Raoul who gave her a dazzling smile before she disappeared.

They had become very close over the past week. She was not one to easily fall for someone, but it seemed she had known him forever. His beautiful green eyes burned into her memory as she remembered running her hands through the short waves of dark brown hair.

She could hardly wait for this war to end. She wanted him to come with her, back to Okinawa to stay with them, even if it was only for a while. Kai would absolutely hate it, but that was nothing new, Kai overreacted a lot of the time.

Just like that, they were in the heat of the battle. Chiropterans were everywhere. Hagi and Nathan took on the brunt of them. Lulu put the finishing touches on the ones that fell and the ones that were missed, but it wasn't long before Hibiki had to fight a few that were missed or managed to escape Hagi and Nathan.

The team battled as they were followed by the front assault team led by David. They were to directly approach the facility and break in the main door. Other operatives accompanied the Marines in breaking in by bombing the side of the mountain and entering the third floor. That was where the main offices for Argiano and Smith were.

As Hagi reached the entrance, he looked over to see Nathan standing against the wall of the facility, dead chiropterans all around. He was still in his true form and asked in a deep chiropteran voice, "What kept you, Hagi?"

Three daggers sailed past the chevalier. He turned to see a chiropteran howl in pain that, a moment ago, was going to attack him. Hagi said nothing as he was about to fight off another that came toward them.

"Thanks," Nathan muttered. "You're getting faster, Hagi."

Suddenly, there was the sound of a mob of people screaming their victory as they entered the facility. The operatives began to tear through the place looking for the targets.

~0~

Kanade crawled after her companion in the narrow tunnel. It was dark and creepy, but they were getting out. Mary Frances had collapsed the tunnel behind them, just in case they were followed. They had been crawling for nearly an hour and Kanade was getting tired of dirt and darkness.

It seemed as if Mary Frances had disappeared momentarily, but soon Kanade felt a hand grip hers and pull her from the tunnel. The place smelled strongly of gun powder, dust, and wood. It was pitch black and Kanade couldn't see her hand in front of her face. Her voice seemed to echo in the small place, "Where are we?"

"The ammunition shed," she answered as she turned and Kanade was nearly frightened to death at the weird red and blue glowing rings that were her irises.

"Well?" Kanade asked. "How do we get out?"

Mary Frances pressed against a door she found and tried the handle, it was locked, of course. "Damn… locked," she muttered as she began to rummage around.

Kanade nearly cried out, "Locked? You mean to tell me that we tunneled our way out to just get stuck in an ammunition shed!"

"Pipe down, queeny," she grumbled as she ran her hands along the wall. She had felt a tool chest earlier near this wall. "Ow!" she cried as she felt her foot hit the edge of the tool chest. She gave out an exasperated sigh and commanded, "Get over here Kanande." She then elaborated, "I need your eyes."

"What?" Kanade retorted, "I thought you had great vision."

"Yeah, when I have light," she responded, rolling her eyes. "Just concentrate on making a mental connection- I don't care with who."

Kanade nodded and began to think of someone who she wanted to contact and wondered if she could even connect with her from this distance. Her eyes glowed red, illuminating the shed in a dull red glow. It was indeed very make-shift and they realized it was not day, but night. Mary Frances busied herself with the tool chest as Kanade communicated with her connection.

"Do you hear me?" she asked in her mind.

Hibiki signaled to Lulu to cover her and looked rather surprised as she stood perfectly still. The moon was just beyond the mountain as she responded, "I hear you sister. How are you doing that? Where are you?"

"I am… I don't really know," she answered. "Mary Frances and I have escaped to some kind of ammunition storage in the facility."

Hibiki's brow furrowed as she racked her brain over the map that had been made. There was no ammunition storage shed in the facility. Why would they need one when they were manufacturing chiropterans to do the fighting? "Kanade, there is no storage shed in the facility."

"There's not?" she asked as she watched her companion begin to remove the pins in the hinges of the door with a flat-head screwdriver and a hammer. "Well, we're here in it so it must exist. The door is locked from the outside so we're removing the hinges."

Hibiki's eyes were glowing blue as Lulu came to her side and asked, "What's wrong, Hibiki?"

Nathan had arrived and taken a place next to Lulu, watching with a keen interest. He couldn't connect into this one, it was a connection done between sister queens and he knew not to interfere.

Hibiki repeated what her sister said in a monotone voice, "She and Mary Frances have escaped to an ammunition storage shed. They are removing the hinges to get out."

Nathan looked around thoughtfully at the information as Lulu questioned, "How is there a storage shed in the facility?" She then turned and went after a chiropteran that was about to attack Hagi.

Knowing that Nathan could sense the presences, she asked, "So where are they?" Nathan's chiropteran form was something she had become accustomed to over the years of sparring with him in secret. She got her answer when the chevalier took off in a mighty leap, leaving behind a blue streak of light. Hibiki glanced back to make certain Lulu knew where they were heading before she took off after him.

~0~

"So," Mary Frances began as she pulled out another pin, "who'd you contact?"

"My sister," she responded as she tried to push the door. It wouldn't budge. "I think she's here- somewhere nearby."

Mary Frances rammed her shoulder into the door and noticed the same thing Kanade had, it wouldn't budge. "Shit!" Mary Frances exclaimed before she ran a hand through her hair in frustration. She sighed before she informed Kanade, "This shed doesn't belong to Fimm Örvar or the Red Shield, it's too old. The door has been rotted shut."

Kanade looked at the wall, her eyes still glowing. "So what do we do?"

Mary Frances looked back and asked, "You don't happen to have a match or a lighter on you?"

Kanade decided to use her own sarcasm against the princess. She patted her sides over the thin, shapeless hospital gown and answered, "Nah, I seem to have left them in my other suit."

She gave a wry smile and responded, "I thought sarcasm was the lowest form of wit, your highness."

"In my current situation, I don't think I can get much lower," she retorted as she gave a smirk. "Do you think we could kick the door out?"

"I thought you didn't believe in violence?"

"Shut-up and get by this door," Kanade spat as she rolled her eyes. "I just want to get out of here."

Still holding the screwdriver in her hand, Mary Frances began to count as the two prepared to kick the door as hard as they could. "One… TWO… THR…"

Just as they were about to kick, they were thrown down by the force of the door shattering before them. Kanade was covered in small boards and debris, but Mary Frances ignored whatever was covering her, she saw something that made her blood run cold.

The creature had an elongated head on top of the body of a giant, silver-colored preying mantis that glowed in the moonlight. Its red eyes glowed as it towered over the two girls and it looked as if it would attack.

Mary Frances gasped and then shouted, "Oh shit! It's one of those monsters!"

Kanade screamed from behind her, causing Mary Frances' eyes to glance back to her companion. She was getting up as Mary Frances looked back at the chiropteran. "It's a grey one," she realized. The only color that came from my blood are brown ones." Her eyes moved down to the screwdriver she was holding defensively in front of her self as she blocked the red queen.

An idea popped into her mind and she was off in a flash. She turned and jabbed the screwdriver into Kanade's arm, causing her to cry out. "Sorry, your highness," she joked as she pulled the screwdriver from the queen and turned to the beast. Her spinning kick surprised the grey monster, he had no idea she knew how to fight. As it began to rise again, she plunged the screwdriver straight into the chiropteran's heart. She growled triumphantly as she stood to her full height, "You got served, asshole!"

"Nathan!" a voice called out. In a flash, Mary Frances was on her back with a pair of brilliant blue eyes blazing into hers. "What do you think you're doing?" she screamed at Mary Frances.

She scoffed at the angry blue queen, "I'm trying to save us from that monster."

The creature healed instantly and then sat up. In a deep, unearthly voice he soothed, "It's alright, Hibiki. Only a red queen from my queen's generation can kill me."

"Nathan?" Mary Frances asked as she came to her feet, Kanade not far behind. "The same Nathan that visited us in the facility?"

"One and the same," he sang out in that unearthly voice as he extended his preying mantis arms dramatically.

Mary Frances rolled her eyes as she noticed Kanade gasp in horror before she fainted. "I don't believe this," Mary Frances muttered. She headed toward the incapacitated red queen.

Nathan stilled her as he stooped to pick up the red queen. "You really shouldn't bend down in that outfit. Everyone will see everything."

Mary Frances gave a smirk and responded, "That's okay, most everyone already has."

Nathan sputtered a creepy laugh as he thought, "I think she and I just might get along really well."

Hibiki sent a message on her cell phone to David that they had Kanade and Mary Frances and were heading back to base. David responded that they would now blow up the facility.

They walked together with Hibiki toward the mountain where their base camp was as Nathan asked, "How did you end up in that shed?"

"We tunneled out," Mary Frances answered him. "I wonder how that place ended up being just where we needed it."

Nathan answered, "It was just a shed before, but the Red Shield decided to use it to store extra weapons. I heard the general discussing it as a back up plan- in case soldiers ran out of ammo."

"Lucky," she murmured, "that's a word I would have never used to describe myself until today."

As thy came closer to the battle, the heard a giant boom before a cloud of ash and fire rose into the night sky, outlining a tall, dark figure with wings flying toward them and a flash of lavender hair on the ground.

"Here comes your dad," Hibiki informed, causing Mary Frances to groan.

It wasn't long before the party of four was joined by Lulu and Hagi. Mary Frances immediately recognized the girl and came to her. "You are the Schiff that was in the facility… Lala?"

"No, Lulu," the lavender hair girl corrected with a smile. "I'm so glad you and Kanade got out."

"Thanks," she responded. Her eyes cut to the tall man dressed in a black suit splattered in blood. He had already retracted his wings. She then turned her gaze to where they were going.

~0~

Kanade was receiving a transfusion in the tent she, Hibiki, Lulu, and Mary Frances were to share. Mary Frances had just returned from a shower and dressed in the army pants and t-shirt one of the Marines was nice enough to loan her. Kanade would wear some of Hibiki's clothes as soon as she showered. Her hair was now cropped short again and spiking from her head. Her skin gleamed bluish white in the moonlight.

Hibiki opened the tent flap and called gently, "Is she awake yet?"

Mary Frances looked over at the girl that was resting peacefully and responded, "No. But I'm sure she'd like it if you sat with her." Noticing the blue streaks in the dark haired girl's style and added, "I like your streaks."

"Thanks," she responded, "my dad hates them."

They both turned their eyes to the bed where Kanade was resting. She rubbed her eyes as she began to rise from the bed. Hibiki stilled her and mentioned, "There's an IV in your arm, Kanade."

Knowing the IV was nearly finished, she pulled the needle from her arm. Her stomach rumbled in protest, causing her cheeks to redden. "Do you think I could get something to eat? I'm starved."

Mary Frances looked at the sisters and gave them a small, cheerless smile. "Family," she grumbled. "Anyway, I'm gonna go check things out around camp. Enjoy your breakfast." Before either could reply, the princess was gone.

The sister queens moved to the entrance of the tent, hoping to catch a glimpse of her very tall form walking through the camp, but she was long gone. "She's an odd one," Hibiki observed.

Kanade continued to look on the edge of the camp at the beautiful sunrise. Her brow furrowed slightly as she explained, "She's really sad. I know she grew up around a bunch of people, but she still seems so lonely."

Hibiki nodded. "She seems to be angry at Uncle Hagi." Her eyes fell on the same sunrise as her sister.

Kanande looked down, "She hates him." When Hibiki looked at her sister, she explained, "She knows that he was aware that having an affair with a human woman would bring forth a child and he never once came to check on his ex-lover, her mother."

Kanade continued sadly, "She's the one that taught me how to make the mental connection. She admitted she tried to do the same with Uncle Hagi and she found that not only did he not have any feelings for her or her mother, he never even thought of them."

Hibiki looked down now. She couldn't begin to imagine Mary Frances' pain. "I wonder if she's decided to go back to the states and pretend this never happened. That's what I would do."

Kanade shook her head. "I told her that she should at least stick around to meet with Dr. Julia and get some answers."

Hibiki nodded and then said, "We should get some food in ourselves. By the way, I met someone."

Kanade looked at her before she gave a laugh, "Trust you, sister, to find someone you like in the middle of a war."