If by the end of this y'all want to strangle me, I won't stop you. See you on the other side.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt, and right now, I wish I didn't own this plot

Chapter 12: Despair

Naru ran his fingers over the smooth metal of the cage. Even that seemed to recoil at the simplest of his touches. "I am not sure how this is going to go," he muttered to himself, stepping back from the door, "This will be interesting, I think."

Mai watched him from the middle of the cage, clutching at the front of her white dress. "Be careful," she said, wishing she could reach through and hug them to her chest.

None of them, not even little Tamaki, had noticed Gene's sudden disappearance. "Ready?" Naru asked, looking down at his child by proxy. Tamaki nodded, looking more determined than Naur thought a six-year-old should. "Focus your energy on your hands, alright. You might not be able to do what Kamin and I can do, but if you press your hand to the cage, your energy will flow into it. When I start to glow, and I say move away, you should push your energy out with all your might, and step back. I don't know what will happen when my energy strikes the metal, and I don't want you getting hurt if something does happen."

"Okay, Daddy," Tamaki said, nodding as he stepped forward and pressed his hand to the cage's side. Immediately, his fingertips began to glow as if a light was being shone beneath them. The light originated from beneath his skin and slowly spread up his arm.

Nodding as well, Naru inhaled deeply. As he released the breath, his drew up his arms, aiming them at the lock and door before them.

Mai clasped her fingers around Desi's, slowly crushing them. Even for with his super human strength, it still hurt considerably. Leaning towards her, eyes focused on the pair outside of their cage, he whispered, "You've got a good one there, you know that right?"

Glancing over and meeting his eyes, she replied, "Yes, I do." Her smile was infectious, and on the other side of it, Desi was grinning back just as widely.

"You love him, don't you?"

"More than I love my every one of my friends," she told him truthfully, glancing back and finding the air around Naru beginning to crackle with his energy.

"Good. You should. Treat him well, don't lose him. I think I'd have to beat you senseless, or Nat would," Desi said, his eyes widening as they returned to stare at Naru, "Good lord, how much power does he have?"

"More than you can even image," she said, worrying at her bottom lip with her upper teeth, "I hope nothing happens to his physical body because of this." Glancing away once more, she finally noticed his twin's absence. Frowning, she glanced over her shoulder at the other side of the cage. He wasn't there either. "Oh god, what happened now?" she whispered only for her own ears.

"What do you mean?" Desi asked, looking to her, "What's the matter? What happened?"

"Gene is gone." She rubbed the material of her dress between her fingers, staring around furtively. Where had he gone? This was important! And she wanted to hug him when she got out!

Desi glanced around as well, frowning. "You mean the guy who came here before? Your lover's twin? That's not good. That is really not good. What do you think happened?"

"I don't know," Mai said, worry slipping into her words. 'Gene, where are you?'

Outside the cage, Naru had begun to glow. "Now, Tamaki!"

Physically, Tamaki pushed on the door, the metal shuddering as his power shot through it. As he was jumping back, running to tuck himself behind Naru, Naru release his built up energy. It smashed into the lock, rattling the entire cage. The swings began to sway back and forth.

"No!" Mai cried desperately. The cage appeared to be untouched, not even a scratch marred the metal. There was only a slight dent over the lock.

"Dammit," Naru whispered, his knees already wobbling from the use of his power. He could barely remain standing.

Despair settled over the two groups, encompassing every one of them, when suddenly the cage groaned. Eyes wide, they watched as the door shattered into a million pieces, skittering across the darkness and disappearing into the black, and pushed against their bare feet. They were silent for a long moment, and then cheers suddenly erupted.

Mai was out of the cage in a matter of seconds, throwing herself into Naru's arms. He found new strength with her touch, spinning her around. "God, I've missed you so much," she sobbed, pressing her face into his shoulder.

"We've all missed you," he told her, hugging her to him tightly, "So much. I missed you more than I missed my brother."

Mai laughed, hiccupping slightly. "Gene was there with you. You didn't have to miss him anymore."

"Okay, more than I missed him when he was still dead."

"There you go," she said, grinning as she slid down his body. As her feet made contact with the 'floor', she scooped Tamaki up in her arms. "I've missed you!" she cried, spinning him around as Naru had done for her.

Giggling, Tamaki wrapped his arms around her neck. "I've missed you, Mommy!" he shouted, kissing her on the cheek.

Grinning widely, Mai said, "Let's get back now. The others are waiting for us, and I need to find out what happened to Gene." Turning, she looked over the spirits who were cautiously venturing out of the broken cage. Desi was beside her, watching them as well. They looked lost. "How long have they been stuck in there?" she asked him.

"It's hard to say. Some have been here for years and years, never having given in to Ash. Some have only been here for a year. And then some have only been here for months," Desi said, sadness washing over his face.

"Then, I think it's time that they go back." Stepping away from the trio, Mai called, "Everyone, follow us! We'll show you the way back to the waking world! You can reclaim your bodies!"

Some nodded, some cheered, and still others began to cry, but Mai knew they'd all follow her. Turning with the widest smile she'd had in months, she pulled Naru's arm across her shoulders, grabbed Tamaki's hand, and started marching into the void.

…..

Gene was slammed back into Mai's body with more ferocity than when Ash had shoved him out of the spirit world. Just as when he was there, his mouth was filled with blood that dripped down his chin, splattering against his shirt. He shot forward away from Yasu, coughing and spraying blood across the floor. Pain twisted through his entire torso like fire licking at his insides. The coughing increased until he was barely breathing at all. A mixture of blood, spit, and bile dripped from his mouth, making a puddle on the floor around his fingers.

"Dear god, Gene!" Yasu cried, shoving his laptop off of his thighs. It cracked against the floor, snapping shut. He pressed a hand against Gene's back, grabbing his shoulder. "Jesus, what's the matter?"

Gene's breath wheezed between his teeth, his fingers curling into claws against the hardwood. Tears ran down his nose, dripping of the tip. With the hand not covered in the vile mixture, he clawed at his abdomen, digging his fingers into his flesh. "Hurts," he hissed, his elbow bending under the weight of his upper body until his forehead was pressed to the wood above his mess.

"Where? Where does it hurt?" Yasu asked, terror filling his voice.

Ayako was by their side in less than a second, crouching out of reach of the concoction spreading its fingers further and further as blood continued to drip from the edge of Gene's parted lips. "Gene, where does it hurt? You have to tell me or I won't be able to help you."

"You can't help me," Gene almost sobbed, struggling to push his himself back up, but his arm wasn't cooperating.

From the corner where Tamaki still slumbered, Rex whined almost silently. Kamin stood with her back pressed to the corner, her eyes wide with horror as she stared at the scene. "Dad is sick," she whispered, fingers clutching at the front of her shirt, "Dad is bleeding!" Her last words were nearly a shout, only several notches above her normal voice.

Monk dropped down in front of her, blocking her view. His eyes were troubled, but he tried not to show it. "Yes, he is, but Ayako is going to help him. Don't worry."

Tears gathering in her eyes, Kamin shook he head hard. "No! You don't understand!" she cried, making Monk recoil slightly in confusion. When had she learned that phrase? "He's bleeding more! There's more blood!"

Lin, still at the monitors was, for once, at a loss for what to do. His one visible eye flicked between the horror scene unfolded before him, to the monitors, to the hysterics rising to his right. After a second of consideration, he rose to his feet and hurried to Gene's side.

Monk was rescued by Masako and John, dropping onto their knees at his sides. "Shh," John soothed, holding his bible to his chest, "Kamin, everything is going to be alright."

"No! It's not!" she shouted, tears streaming down her face as she pressed as far back into the corner as she could manage. "He's dying! Dad is dying! He's bleeding a lot!" she cried, rubbing at her face with clenched fists.

"He's going to be fine," Masako attempted, reaching out gentle hands to press to Kamin's face, but the little girl jerked away.

Kamin sank to the floor, pulling her knees against her chest. "He's not going to be alright! Mommy isn't going to be alright! They're bleeding so much!"

The three adults looked between each other. None of them had any idea of what to do.

Glancing over her shoulder, Masako scanned over Gene, searching for what Kamin was talking about. After a short minute, she finally found what was so distressing. "Oh god, the blood," she whispered, eyes going wide, staring at the crimson trail.

"Yes, Masako, blood. Lots of blood," Ayako snapped, teeth grinding together. Her mind was working frantically, feverishly to diagnose Gene. If she could do that, she could help him, but there was nothing. No disease worked this fast. She had been sure that the decomposition of Mai's body wouldn't be this bad so quickly. "If you can't deal with it, figure out something to do with those people standing outside. Otherwise, shut your mouth and turn around."

"No, Ayako-" Masako started to explain, but Gene's cry of agony brought her up short. It brought everyone to a grinding halt except for Kamin, who echoed her father's cry.

"No. No no no no no. Please, god, no!" Gene cried, the tears moving faster as he managed to push himself back up, hand still pressed against the wood. His fingers scrabbled helplessly across his abdomen, eyes wide with panic. "No, please, no. This can't be happening. Please, I can't do this to them. I've already ruined so much for them. Please, not this too."

"Gene, what? What is it?" Yasu asked hurriedly, staring over Mai's body in a desperate attempt to find the new problem. He sucked in a sharp breath, eyes focusing on what was happening.

Gene screwed his eyes shut, twisting his shirt in his fist. "No, god, please, no," he sobbed, his arm bending once more, forehead pressing against the floor, "Please, don't do this to them. Please. Please. Please." His words were cut off by another cry of agony. Anything else he might have said dissolved into wordless sobs.

The others' eyes followed Masako's and Yasu's, finally finding what Kamin had been talking about. They stared at the blood flowing down the inside of Gene's thighs, creating a small puddle on the floor. "Oh no," Ayako whispered, stomach plummeting. She couldn't fix this. She couldn't do anything now.

Gene's and Kamin's sobs were the only sounds in the broken room.

I am so sorry. I've been planning this from the beginning, but I didn't think it would hurt so much. I didn't think this was going to make me cry, but now I'm sobbing. If you made it through this in one piece, I commend you, because I didn't. If you don't understand what just went down… I'll explain it to you if you ask and really want to know.