I tried not to kill our emotions in this chapter, but I'm not sure how I did because it still kind of hurt. Is it just me or has my writing steadily been getting darker since last year?

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt

Chapter 13: Second Break

It was sudden and unexpected when Gene's cries were silent. He was curled into the fetal position on his side, back to the rest of the group, head resting on Yasu's thigh. Kamin had already managed to cry herself into a fretful sleep, balled into Tamaki's side. The others were still cleaning up the blood mixture, their hands shoved into plastic bags and a few gloves, whatever they could find to keep their hands clean. It had only been a few minutes since they'd realized the heartbreaking disaster. It was all they could do to tune Gene's sorrow out and not begin sobbing themselves.

They were so focused on their tasks, the cleanup and Yasu searching for information, that they didn't even notice when the sobbing was cut off. Only when the silence became oppressive and suffocating did they start to notice.

Monk's hands came to a pause, his brows furrowing. "Hey, is it too quiet to any of you?" he asked, glancing around, "Wasn't it a lot louder before?"

"What are you talking about?" Ayako asked through her flood of tears, voice rough and throat thick.

"Gene and Kamin were both crying, and now it's really quiet," Monk explained, glancing over his shoulder to Kamin. "She's asleep." His eyes skating over Naru's body, slumped against the monitors' tables, landed on Gene. "What about him?"

Slowly coming back to reality, Yasu blinked at Monk. "What?" he asked, blinking again. His eyelids were heavy as lead and fought him every single step of the way.

"Check Gene. He stopped crying," Monk said, jerking his chin in their direction.

Frowning, Yasu glanced to his friend lying on his leg. With careful fingers, he brushed the hair from Gene's face. In only a moment, his breathing stilled. "Oh shit," he whispered, pushing his laptop onto the floor again, gently pulling his leg out from under Gene's head. Unhappily, his laptop slapped the floor for a second time, snapping shut. "He has a heartbeat, but… he's not breathing," he said, turning Gene over onto his back. Not even taking a second for thought, he pressed his mouth over Gene's, inflating his lungs and beginning another round of CPR.

"What?" the others asked, abandoning their cleanup and scrambling over towards them.

"Move out of the way," Lin ordered, taking Yasu's place at Gene's side. The younger male was too tried from the last time he'd performed CPR and wasn't compressing with enough strength. "I'll take over here. Perform mouth-to-mouth every time I stop."

Yasu nodded. Silence hung over them once more, filled with desperation and the fear of death.

Tamaki gasped awake with a start, jerking into a sitting position. He stared around blurry-eyed, squinting at the group surrounding his father in his mother's body. "What are you doing?" he mumbled, crawling over Rex's side before shaking Kamin awake and cleaning her face.

John, Masako, Monk and Ayako spun around, staring at the twins with wide eyes. "Oh, thank the good Lord," John whispered, pressing his bible into his chest, "You're alright. Where… where are Mai and Naru?"

"Mommy is helping the other people get back into their bodies. You know, the people out there," Tamaki mumbled, pointing at the door, "And Daddy… Daddy should be here." He looked up at Naru's limp body, bottom lip puckering out in a pout. "He said he'd follow right behind me."

"Don't worry," Masako said through her sheen of tears, carefully picking her way over to the pair, "I'm sure he'll be here any minute now." She pulled the twins into a tight hug. "Thank goodness you're alright."

"Is Dad alright?" Tamaki asked, staring over her shoulder at the weirdly misshapen puddle of red and farther to where the rest of the group was still crowded around Mai's body. "Why are Uncle Lin and Uncle Yasu doing that thing to Dad again?"

"Well, you see," Masako began, searching for any explanation that would placate a curious mind, but she was cut off as Naru's body suddenly went rigid.

Naru sucked in a sharp breath, coughing hard as he struggled to push his upper body up. Cutting his eyes to his team, he scowled. "Yasu, why is it that I always find you kissing my brother and fiancée?" he hissed irritably, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Gene stopped breathing again," Ayako explained, waving Yasu to continue with the CPR.

"And why is that always the reason?" Naru asked, turning the chair towards them with difficulty.

"Because it is true and valid," Ayako snapped back, wiping at the faint mascara trails leading down her cheeks.

Ignoring her, Naru stared around the room. He smiled weakly at Tamaki and Kamin, and frowned deeply at the mess covering the floor in front of him. "What happened?" he asked as sternly as he could manage with his body ready to give out on him.

Ayako opened her mouth before thinking better of it. She turned her eyes sadly back to her adoptive daughter. "We're getting her back just in time," she finally said as way of reply, hoping she wouldn't have to elaborate.

She didn't. Naru's eyes moved to focus on Mai's body, silently chanting, calling for her to return, praying that Gene also found a way to stay.

A spasm ran through Mai's body, arching her back off the floor. Coughing dryly, without blood, she sucked in a number of breaths before groaning. She clutched at her chest, features contorting with the pain.

"Gene!" Yasu whispered excitedly, breathless, even as the others called, "Mai!"

The person below them groaned again. "What did you let Gene do to my body?" Mai groaned, her voice back to the higher pitch than it had been before Gene had possessed her. Blinking, she stared up at them with the chocolate brown eyes that they'd all missed so much. "Hey, what's wrong with all of your faces?" she teased, glancing between each of them, "Did you all miss me so much that you've been crying this entire time?"

For only a moment, Yasu's smile fell. Quickly, it was tugged back up and stapled into place. "No, we were crying because we knew we'd have to start saving your sassy ass again," he replied easily.

Ayako turned away, her hand pressed firmly over her mouth, burying her face into Monk's shoulder. "She's back. She's back," she whispered hoarsely, clutching tightly to his shoulder, "She's finally back."

"It's so great to see you again," Monk said with his widest grin, wrapping a protective arm around Ayako's waist. "Give me a hug if you can get up."

Rolling her eyes, Mai struggled into a sitting position, narrowing her eyes as pain tore through her body. "It feels weird to have a body again, heavier," she said, but managed to get to her knees and reach out to Monk. Before she could reach him, her eyes focused on the blood splattering her shirt and still trickling down the inside of her thighs. "Wha-?" she started, but her eyes grew wide. Her arms crossed her middle, her head bending forward. She released a scream that was just above a whisper, eyes squeezing shut.

"Mai!" Naru called, stumbling his way to her side. He collapsed between Yasu and Monk, wrapping hands around her shoulders. "What's the matter?"

"It hurts," she whispered, prying her eyes open enough to stare at the blood between her legs. "Naru. No, Naru." She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "I feel hollow."

Naru stared at her, horror slowly beginning to twist his face. "What are…"

Mai, her fingers quivering, slid them along her thigh before holding them up. "The baby… they're gone." Her lips shivered, the tears spilling over. "I-I'm not-" She hiccupped, dropping her chin. "Not pregnant anymore." Her shoulders hitched, a quiet sob escaping her lips. "They're gone." She pressed her face into her hands, her sobs quiet and excruciatingly heartbreaking. "I can't even imagine what Gene must be going through. He's been carrying them for me for nearly four months. What about him? Who's there for him?"

Pulling her against his chest, Naru buried his face in her hair. "Always thinking about others," he whispered, pulling her into his lap despite the blood that had destroyed her skirt, "Think about yourself for a little while, and let us take care of you. I promise you, Gene will be fine."

Letting out an unrestrained cry, Mai wrapped her arms around Naru's torso and cried like she'd never be happy again. If Naru hadn't been Naru, he would have been right there with her. Instead, he silently grieved for his unborn children or child, whichever it would have been, and tightened his hold on his Mai.

Glancing away, Yasu grabbed his computer, found a new corner, and tried to figure out where Gene was and what he was doing. The others returned to their cleaning. Tamaki and Kamin stayed by the tables, allowing their parents the time and space they needed. They may have been young, but like their biological father, they were much more perceptive than they were given credit for.

…..

Gene was ripped from Mai's body, flung back into the spirit world. The emptiness and pain left him, but the pain squeezing his heart of every ounce of blood that pumped through it remained. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he whispered even though no other spirits lingered around him.

For several long, silent moments, he remained curled in on himself, arms clutched around his knees. He didn't know how long he was like that, but finally, he was able to pull himself together. He scrubbed at his eyes with his sleeve, slowly standing.

Looking around, he took in the still blackness of the spirit world. "I need to get back," he said aloud. Taking in a deep breath, he started walking. Within moments, he was back in the waking world, floating above the mass of bodies standing still in the hallway. Almost immediately, he got the feeling that there should be more bodies to this crowd. It was the same amount that had been in the attic, but there didn't seem to be enough.

As Masako had said, there was one soul attached all of the other souls and their bodies. Unlike Masako though, he was almost absolutely sure that this soul wasn't Ash's. It was shrouded almost to overpowering by the man's aura. That had been what she was sensing. Attached to that soul, was another, smaller, feminine soul that seemed too familiar to be comfortable. Like the first soul, it too was shrouded in Ash's aura, but more readily, almost as if it's aura was being smothered or suppressed.

"What is he doing?" Gene growled, anger making a valiant attempt to overpower the pain in his chest. He allowed it to warm his soul, filling him with much needed power.

As he watched, the second soul struggled against Ash's aura, fighting him. The first soul slowly, agonizingly, relinquished its control over one of the bodies. The body was that of a young woman, her hair blacker than a raven's plumage and her eyes a crimson that put even the most beautiful of blood to shame.

Once more, Gene was struck with unsettling familiarity. Narrowing his eyes, he stared between the second soul and the body. He couldn't decide what it was, but he was absolutely certain that they belonged to one another.

"I'm going to be borrowing your body for a little while," he told the soul, bowing deeply to her. "When I have finished what I need to do, I will return it to you. For now, forgive me for not asking permission."

Without waiting another second, he dove for the body, feet first. He slipped into the shell as if it were a second skin, fitting perfectly. When his eyes popped open, he glanced around at the others, and stepped into Base.

Well, there you go. I hope you guys don't hate me too much. Yes, Gene pulled himself back together rather quickly, but just remember, he's letting anger lead him for now. That doesn't mean the pain is gone yet. I'll see y'all soon with the next chapter.