Chapter 6

It was the middle of the night and Kagome couldn't sleep. Her brain just wouldn't let her relax enough. Sango was breathing softly next to her and Inuyasha and Souta were snoring on the floor. Having her friends and her brother nearby should have comforted her and, to an extent, it did, but it wasn't enough for her to fall asleep. She silently climbed out of bed, grabbed her wallet from the floor, and snuck out of the apartment, somehow managing not to awaken Miroku or Sesshoumaru on her way out.

It was strange, Kagome thought, the things that you remember when everything is about to change. like the time she broke her leg as a child and her father sang to her until they got to the emergency room, or when she had her wisdom teeth taken out and he wouldn't let her brother prank her while she was high as a kite on the pain medication. How protective he was of her growing up. How could it all have been a lie? That was what she couldn't wrap her brain around; what was keeping her up late this night. Her father had been her champion, her protector. She'd looked up to him like he put the sun in the sky every morning and the moon up every night. How could he hate her?

She came to an Albertson's store shortly after leaving that had one of those dollar movie rental boxes outside and decided to rent a movie. She chose a Captain America movie, swiped her debit card, took her movie and left, not realizing the can of hell she'd just opened.

Back in California, Ariana's phone rang. "Do you realize what time it is?"

"They're alive," the voice said over the phone.

"What?!" Ariana snarled. "What do you mean they're alive? Can't you idiots do anything right?!"

"Well…" the voice wavered fearfully. "Either they're alive, or someone stole her purse and went to El Paso, Texas."

"Nobody goes to El Paso, Texas Jeremy! It's the armpit of America!"

"What's going on Ariana?" Angelo rolled over half asleep.

"Nothing. I'll handle it." She got out of the bed and went downstairs, not knowing that her husband followed her on silent feet. "Fix this," Ariana hissed into the phone. "Send every available absque and low level sorcerer we have available to El Paso and find them. They can't get away this time."

Angelo had heard enough. He snuck back into his room, got dressed, armed himself for war, climbed out of the window and down into the driveway, where he started his car and drove away. He had to get to his children and handle the problem himself, his way.

It was three in the morning when Sesshoumaru found Kagome in the bedroom, wide awake, watching Captain America. He leaned against the doorframe and studied her for a moment. She looked tired, with bloodshot eyes and bags under her eyes, but he still thought she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Kagome was curled around a pillow, laying her head on it and watching the movie, blinking slowly, as though she was fighting sleep.

"Can't sleep?" Sesshoumaru whispered to her, she jumped slightly, startled by his presence before she turned toward him and gave a small smile. She shook her head, "I'm afraid to sleep. Come sit with me?" Sesshoumaru hesitated a moment before stepping over the boys and walking around to Kagome's side of the bed, which of course was by the wall. He sat on the edge and leaned against the wall, with his knee on the bed and the other foot on the floor.

"Why are you afraid to sleep petit?"

"What does that mean?" She asked instead of answering. Sesshoumaru blushed and gave an embarrassed smile. The nickname kept slipping out without his permission and he cursed himself for giving her one. Once you nickname something, it becomes important to you. That's what he had learned.

"It means little one. It just keeps slipping out, I think you're stuck with it."

Kagome scowled. "I'm not that small."

Sesshoumaru gave her a look that told her exactly how he felt about her statement. "I could lift you with one hand. That isn't a bad thing. People will under estimate you because you're small. You could use that to your advantage."

"You talk like I'll be fighting," Kagome teased, smiling. Sesshoumaru smiled back, but it didn't meet his eyes.

"You might be." He turned towards the tv, finally taking notice of the movie, just as he heard footsteps outside.

"Were'd you get this movie?" he suddenly demanded, on his feet so quickly she hadn't even seen him move.

"At the rental box by the grocery store…" she was nervous around him now, in a different way than she had been before.

"You used a card, yours?" He asked quietly, suddenly very still, as if he knew her answer, and dreaded it. She nodded and he cursed foully in French. "Everybody up, now! We need to move!" he shouted, and Inuyasha was on his feet in an instant, still half asleep, rubbing his eyes, Souta close behind him. Miroku ran into the room, instantly on high alert.

"What's going on?"

"We don't have time to wait for Elizabeth to give permission, open the portal and let one of us go first, they'll know we're shifters on scent."

"What's going on?" Miroku repeated.

"The flaming genius over there used her debit card to rent a movie. We'll be found any min-" He didn't get to finish before the door was kicked once and the lock broke. Sango woke up screaming and Miroku had to leap toward her and cover her mouth. When he removed his hand, she looked up at him in fear.

"Who is that?" She whimpered.

"We need to go," He said instead of answering, and went to the wall with his hands raised and his head bowed. All of a sudden the glass of the window shattered and two men dove through it, headed straight for Kagome, who, in her fear, burst into flames. One of the men landed on top of her and instantly began screaming in pain, the flames burning through his clothes and searing fabric to flesh. The smell of burnt skin permeated the room, making everybody gag. Kagome took a deep breath and stopped burning and as soon as the flames were gone, Sesshoumaru grabbed her hand and hauled her toward him, pulling a long t-shirt over her head.

The door was kicked again, and this time, the chain lock broke and a huge group of men was seen through the door, some with their hands up like Miroku's, others ready to fight. Sesshoumaru looked at Miroku in a panic, as the portal took shape. "Roku," he screamed, "Picture where you're going!" Miroku nodded and Sesshoumaru grabbed Sango and physically threw her screaming through the portal,

"Sango!" Kagome screamed in panic, trying to push passed Sesshoumaru to get to her friend. In his panic, Sesshoumaru didn't think to temper her strength as he pushed Kagome off of him and she was flung out of the first story window onto the hard packed earth, the wind knocked out of her.

"My sis-" Sesshoumaru kicked Souta in the chest, propelling him through the portal as inuyasha climbed out of the window to check on Kagome. Sesshoumaru turned around to grab her when he realized his mistake and blanched. "Go!" He yelled to Miroku, who looked over at Sesshoumaru and shook his head. "Miroku, go, now! I'll take the others and we'll make it there on our own, or I'll call you and you can meet us, just go!" Miroku went to shake his head one more time, and Sesshoumaru rushed forward and rammed Miroku with his shoulder until he fell through the portal. The next thing Sesshoumaru knew, he was surrounded.

Inuyasha peeked through the window, Kagome at his side. "What do we do?" She whispered frantically. "We can't just leave him."

And like a whirlwind, Sesshoumaru started kicking ass. He started with the man in front of him, working his way through the group like a whirlwind of fists, knees, elbows and feet, until all of the men were down and he was facing Kagome and Inuyasha, both of whom wore awed expressions on their faces. "Let's go!" he exclaimed, leaping out of the window like a track star jumping a hurdle. "Miroku parked the car in the grocery store parking lot, let's get there and figure out where we're going next."

Both Inuyasha and Kagome nodded, turning to follow Sesshoumaru into the night.

Author's note:

I've made a few changes, with reviews and feedback, so I really appreciate receiving it. This story is actually an original one that I'm turning into a fanfiction, so that's why some of the names don't match up, and I don't always catch it because it sounds natural to me both ways. I also don't have a beta, so that makes things a bit harder on me because if I reread my writing too much I end up hating it.

Thank you for your feedback and keep giving it please.