OXOXOXO

"…turn back the years if you could…" Rin sang softly to herself as she filed the manila folders Sesshomaru's secretary handed her.

"Everything Changes by Staind, right?" the bubbly, perky, way-too-young-with-too-much-cleavage asked. "I love that song! Staind is so awesome."

"Oh yeah," Rin responded half way between apathetically sarcastic and honestly agreeing. Shirly seemed to be trying to gain Rin's favor. Why, she had no idea since the woman was obviously taken with her boss. She literally swooned when he spoke to her. Sesshomaru had warned her that his hired help was a bit annoying. As Rin sat on the desk edge, listening to the off-key version of Everything Changes, she felt that might have been an understatement. "So how long have you worked for Mr. Tashio?"

"Oh, about 6 weeks."

"That's not very long."

"No, but his other secretary got pregnant and suddenly quit. I got promoted to fill her place."

"That must have been nice."

"Oh, you have no idea. It's a real big pay raise. But it does take up a lot more time than my other job. I had to break up with my boyfriend because of it. He accused me of cheating with my boss." She turned her back to Rin and began singing again. Rin noticed that the sharky woman hadn't mentioned whether or not it was true. Rin had no doubt that it wasn't, but the fact that Shirly was trying to mislead her grated on her nerves.

"I haven't heard any rumors about him," Rin said defensively.

"Oh, of course not. He's way too respected for that kind of thing. That really surprised me, too. I thought for sure the rumor mills would get going after his last secretary filed that paternity suit." She shook her head as if stumped and went back to paperwork and answering phones. Rin decided she should probably leave before she broke the younger woman's nose. It took very little wandering to find a break room, complete with coffee machine. Perfect, she thought and made a bee line.

"Oh, hey." Miroku poked his head in the room. Rin smiled and grabbed a couple sugar packets.

"Hey yourself. What's going on?" She sat at the plastic table to stir her coffee. He walked in and laid his armful of dead trees on the table to grab his own cup.

"Everything's about the same, I guess. Oh, except Sango's a little upset with me at the moment for overloading the washer and getting bubbles and suds all over the pantry floor." Rin laughed and settled back in her chair. "So what's going on with you?" he asked and sat. "You look much happier today than I've ever seen you before." She immediately straightened her face and gathered some flippant response, but it was useless. "Don't bother," he said holding up a hand, "I've already spoken to Inuyasha today."

"Would you two old biddies just mind your own business?" She groused and took a sip, glaring over her cup at his pleasant smile.

"Well, congratulations, anyway," he told her and stood, gathering his papers and files. Her heart softened involuntarily. He was almost out the door before she could force the words out.

"Thank you, Miroku." He stopped and smiled.

"You are most welcome, Lady Rin." Miroku waved and vanished.

She fumed and threw away her empty cup, "Stupid, nosey, well-meaning friends."

Oxoxoxo

"Miroku called me at lunch," Sango informed Kagome and Ayame over the phone. "Guess what tid-bit he had to share? Something to do with a past couple we all know and love…" she hinted.

"Oh my God!" Kagome gushed. "You mean Rin and Sesshomaru?"

"Yep!"

"'Bout time," Ayame added. "You happen to know if it's a better-or-worse or a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing?"

"Hard to tell. You know those two, never show a thing. We probably wouldn't even know this much if Inuyasha hadn't caught Sesshomaru leaving Rin's room this morning, wearing yesterday's clothes."

"Probably," Kagome agreed.

"In any case," Ayame interjected, "if he breaks her heart again, I'm gonna break something of his."

"I second the motion," Kagome agreed.

"And I vote in favor; motion carries." Sango banged her fist on the counter.

"It's official," Ayame said authoritively. "His punishment, should it come to it, will be the removal of his family jewels."

Oxoxoxo

Two days later Rin was sitting on the edge of Sesshomaru's desk when a little graying man shuffled in.

"Sir? They have the Inside's headquarters located. Police and FBI have been notified."

Rin froze, uncertain what that meant for her. Of course she wanted them stopped, but she wanted to stay near Sesshomaru still. The past few days had been perfect for her; Work with Sesshomaru all day, spend her downtime with him, then spend the night with him. She couldn't imagine losing him all over again. She focused on the present once more when Sesshomaru stood.

"Good. Get my car and tell everyone we'll be taking them down in two hours." He pulled on his coat as the man left.

"You're going?" she asked quietly and slid off the desk.

"Yes." He wouldn't look at her.

"What if you get hurt?"

"What if I don't go and someone else is hurt because I'm hiding?" She couldn't answer him.

"How dangerous will it be?"

"Very. But if we plan it right and get lucky, no one will have to die." Simply mentioning something that she had refused entry into her mind made ice water replace her blood.

"Sesshomaru?"

"You'll have to wait in the Safety Suite, of course. Things around here are about to get very hectic."

"Sesshomaru?" She walked the few steps to stand behind him.

"I'll leave you my cell phone number and I'll call you when things are over."

"Sesshoamru." He could think of no other excuse to avoid it, so he turned around. "I love you, so come back in one piece, okay?" She stepped forward and grabbed him, holding on like he was her last hope. He resisted at first, but then embraced her as well. He kissed her just once before leaving, but it was a deep, burning, possessive kiss that had her touching her lips in awe long after he'd gone.

Oxoxoxo

"Alright men, move in!" Almost one hundred men dressed in black and bullet-proof vests advanced on the formerly deserted warehouse. Sesshomaru sat with Inuyasha and Miroku.

"I told you not to come," he hissed to Miroku.

"Then you shouldn't be here, either."

"Don't be ridiculous, I'm not married."

"No, but you do have someone that loves you waiting for you to come back alive." He glared at the younger man but was in no position or mood to argue just then.

"I'll fire you later," he said peeking over the hood of the squad car. They'd been in there almost thirty minutes. The police chief gave a thumbs-up signal. "Okay, our turn." They each checked their vests before grabbing their guns and heading in themselves. The term "desk jockey" had never really appealed to Sesshomaru, and with the reassuring weight of the gun in his hand, he felt all but. It was their job to decipher the technical barriers such as codes, passwords, and various security measures. It really wasn't all that dangerous since the bogies would be neutralized by the time they went in, but the police chief had insisted they go in armed and protected.

"Had another man under my command do this job," he'd said. "Stubborn fella refused to wear protection. Stray bogie came along and ended that guy's career. Two bullets took off his left arm." Sesshomaru agreed that it would probably be for t the better for them to wear the vests and carry weapons.

They crept along behind the deputy, sticking close to the metal wall at their backs. The wooden crates stacked along walls and forming isles made for a very spooky setting, like they'd all walked into a cop movie. Who knew such a cliché bad-guy hangout existed? Not that the three paid any attention to it. There was a job to be done.

"Are you sure you can crack that?" The lines of numbers looked indecipherable to the deputy.

"This is nothing," Sesshomaru said blandly from in front of his laptop.

"Maybe it's just me," he said looking out the doorway, gun at the ready. "My seven-year-old knows more about computers than I do." Sesshomaru couldn't keep the math out of his head. His child would have been older than that by now.

"I've got it." The files unfolded before his eyes. He scanned the files before moving on. He was looking for something in particular. Around the twentieth folder, he found it.

Hitai, Rin

GirlfriendSep 98-June 99, April 08-present

PregnantMay 99-July 99

PoisonedJuly 6

MiscarriedJuly 7

Recently re-established relationship

Mercenary to be deployed April 22, 08 – Ronis Bortan, $10,000

"The bastard in charge of this is going to hang." Sesshomaru saved the pertinent files to his personal computer and gave the FBI the rest to go through. "Come on, Inuyasha. We have an inquisition to attend."

Oxoxoxo

"Look, we are willing to let a small-fry like you off if you'd just give us the name of the person in charge." Sesshomaru and Inuyasha sat behind the one-way mirror watching the FBI agent question the small, quaking man. The little questionee bore a hole in the table.

"That's it," Sesshomaru said and headed to the door. "Two hours and still nothing. I'm going to assist."

"They take a dim view on that," Inuyasha said without looking at his brother.

"They will get over it." The next minute Inuyasha saw his unusually emotional brother charge into the interrogation room. "I am Sesshomaru Tashio and you are going to tell me everything I want to know." It took twenty minutes for Sesshomaru to get the information he wanted.

OXOXOXO