Authors Note: I've been able to get a few more chapters done, but I will soon be assistant directing the musical Legally Blonde. Sorry… not on Broadway… I'm not that cool, but at my military community theater. Hoping to win an award for best musical. Some of you may not know, but I received an award last year for best actress in all of Europe military theater. I am also getting ready to move back stateside. So please keep those reviews coming, and bare with me!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Double Life

They had landed in Beijing three days ago, and still had nothing on Tiger. Sage had said he had an idea, but his contact was out of country, so they needed to wait until Friday to call again. Syaoran was going steadily crazier as the days passed. Sakura and Kari had been kidnapped for two whole weeks. They hadn't heard from the girls since Kari's random phone call, and that alone was making Syaoran nervous. They were staying in one of Jamie's mansions and the Dragons were all on high alert. They had all been as surprised and confused about Tiger being here as he originally had been.

"Come on Xiao Lang. We have a fight scheduled." Sage spoke from the doorframe of Syaoran's borrowed room. Syaoran sighed. He looked forward to his fights with Sage more and more lately, and so did the people in the house. Sage had stopped holding back, and Syaoran still almost laughed at the Twin's faces when Sage had challenged them both at the same time. They were sure the kid had gone off his rock.

"Yea I'm coming." He answered, grabbing his sword. "Maybe you should give the Twins a rematch." Sage chuckled. Syaoran almost froze. It was extremely rare now a days that Sage made any sound close to laughing.

"I'm trying to be nice. I'm sure their egos can't handle another ass kicking." Sage responded as they walked into the sparring room. Most of the house was in the room. This seemed to be the only way to give everyone a break from worrying.

Sakura

They had been placed in another set of cells in the basement of a private estate close to where Sakura had grown up. She and Kari weren't the only ones in the basement either. Four other girls around their age were down there with them. They were pretty and looked as athletic, but they were fearful, and had given up hope a long time ago. Kari was sporting a bandage from her gun wound, and a tired look. Sakura couldn't blame her. She was starting to lose hope. It had been 14 days 8 hours and 37 minutes since she had last seen Syaoran. If it hadn't been for Kari's attempt phone call, she probably would have completely lost hope in being found. As it were, Kari had said her brother had picked up the phone and he must have heard her message.

"How's the arm?" Sakura asked. She needed something to break up the quiet. The other girls didn't talk, or wouldn't talk. Kari's lost eyes looked at her, and she attempted a smile. She had a feeling Kari was just pretending to be strong for her.

"Sore. If we were home Wei would have doped me up." Kari said attempting a laugh. She then sighed deeply. Sakura felt so bad. She wouldn't know what to do if she had lost Syaoran as Kari had lost Sage. "We're going to get home Sakura. I promise."

"And I promise that we are going to get justice for what Tiger has taken from us." Sakura shot back. She needed to give Kari a reason to not give in to the pain. She needed Kari on her guard. "Think any of them know what's going to happen to us?" Sakura asked, nodding toward the isolate girls in the other cages.

"Hey Blondie!" Sakura watched Kari call to the only blonde in the room. The girl looked American. The girl looked scared out of her mind.

"Elizabeth… my name is Elizabeth Haynes. I'm from New York. I've been here for three months. Whoever you think is coming for you won't find you. My dad is CIA: Covert Ops, and he hasn't found me." She answered in a tired voice. Sakura gave her a sad look. At least she didn't actually have to ask this one any questions. She turned to the girl in the cell next to hers. The girl looked Hispanic.

"How about you?" Sakura asked in a gentile tone. The girls brown eyes bore into Sakura. Maybe these girls weren't as lost as she originally thought.

"My name is Adalia Dominguez. I'm from Puebla, Mexico." The girl spoke in a very think Spanish accent. Her English wasn't perfect, but it was good. "I'm the daughter of a powerful drug lord. I've been here two months and 18 days. My father does not negotiate with kidnappers. I am dead to him." Kari flinched at the "dead" part. The next girl was hard to figure. She had lovely red hair, and green eyes.

"My name iz Jacqueline Lafountain." So the girl was French. "I'm from Paris, France. My fazer iz a general in zee French Army. I have been here for a month." That was all she would share… for now. She seemed a bit snooty, but hey… who wouldn't be. The last girl had to be a mix of African and Asian. She had very long, black hair that was braided down her back, and dark brown eyes that almost looked black as well.

"My name is Rashida Asare. I was born in African, but grew up in London. My mum's a teacher and my dad's a surf instructor… so I really don't know how I ended up here. I've been here the longest… five months. And I know exactly what they are going to do to us." She spoke with a calm tone, her British accent coming through. Sakura figured the girl had come to accept her fate. She was going to face it head on. Sakura, Kari and the three other girls waited for the answer to their unanswered questions. "We are going to be sold to private dealers at the end of the month. Every six months they hold the private auction. I have heard some of the guards talking about it when they thought I was sleeping. They had not done well with the last group of girls. If private buyers don't buy you for their bed, you are turned around and sold for pit fights." Sakura flinched… she didn't want to be stuck pit fighting again.

"And Tiger picked you three because of your high status," Kari spoke, pointing to Elizabeth, Adalia and Jacqueline. "He probably picked you for your looks." She finished to Rashida. "Did he kidnap you from your homes or what?"

"You first. We told you who we are. So who are you?" Elizabeth asked looking right at Kari, then turning her gaze on Sakura. Sakura figured she would stat first.

"My name is Sakura Kinomoto. I'm from here… Beijing. I'm a leader of the deadliest gang in Asia. Tiger's had his eyes on me apparently since I was five or six years old. He more or less captured us during a shoot out in Tokyo about two weeks ago." Sakura spoke watching the other girls look almost scared.

"I'm Kari Torrent. I'm from Hong Kong. I infiltrated and spied on Tiger as an undercover operative for Sakura's gang. I'm also in a gang, but not the same as hers. I'm the reason Sakura's here at all. She should have left when she was told." Kari spoke glaring.

"How did you get zee wound? He doesn't normally like damaged goods." Jaqueline spoke. Sakura watched Kari frown slightly.

"I got it when I ran from Tiger with his cell phone and called my brother. He knows we're in Beijing, and you can bet your French ass that he and the rest of our gangs are on their way to get us." Kari spoke with passion. The other girls actually had the nerve to laugh.

"What ever helps you get through the days." Elizabeth said. The other girls really had given up hope. The Hispanic girl just turned looking sad and withdrawn. Her father had already deemed her dead… Sakura prayed that they could get all of them out of here…

Tiger

"I have six young, beautiful girls ready for the auction. I want at least ten private dealers." Tiger spoke into his cell phone.

"I can't promise anything at the moment. A few of our bookies are out until the end of the week. I personally can get you four… maybe five bidders. I'll have more information for you on Monday." The voice on the other end answered. Tiger held back a growl wanting a better response, but knowing not to push it. After last time, he couldn't afford to talk big… especially with Kari sporting a bullet wound. She wouldn't sell high.

"As soon as you can if you please." Tiger spoke being as polite as possible.

"What kind of girls do you have this time? You know the clients like a variety." The voice spoke again.

"American, African-Britt, French, Hispanic, Chinese and Japanese. Plenty of variety for your clients." Tiger growled. His contact on the black market knew how to push his buttons. The man was lucky they never met in person. Tiger had the urge to shoot the fucker in the head.

"I've put the auction in for the end of the month. I'll call you Monday with a final number of bidders." And with that the phone went dead. He turned seeing Tara watching from the doorframe. She wasn't nearly as pretty as the Cherry Blossom, but she would do. Plus, with the Little Wolf trying to hunt him down, the Cherry Blossom was an unwanted commodity. It would hurt Li more if he sold Sakura, then to keep wasting resources in moving her every other month. Sold on the black market to the highest bidder and lost in the world to Li and his Black Wolves was the best idea. As for Kari… she was just a bonus.

"You don't think their leaders will find them before the auction? You think you can last out here three more weeks?" Tara asked with surprise. She obviously didn't think he was hidden enough in Beijing. He laughed at her.

"My dear. They have no idea where we are, and even if they knew we were in Beijing… it's a large city. They have no idea where to even start looking." Tiger spoke as he pulled out a cigar. "In three weeks all those girls will be sold, and lost to the world…"

Sage (Friday)

He paced the living room as he waited for someone to pick up his call. He had gone out and bought a prepaid phone so he could dispose of it, figuring the person he was contacting wouldn't appreciate being traced. Syaoran, Jamie and a few of Jamie's members were sitting around the room waiting as well.

"Who's this and how did you get this number?" A voice boomed from the other line. Sage smiled giving a thumbs up. He was sure what he was about to say would shock the people in the room that knew him… probably shock the others too.

"It's Yue." Sake spoke making the others look confused.

"Oh! Sorry sir! What can I do you for?" The man asked sounding concerned. Sage shot Syaoran a wolfish grin.

"I feel like spending some money, Nicolai." Sage spoke in a regal manner. "What auctions are being hosted this month?" Syaoran mouthed the word "auction" back at him, but he only held up a hand.

"Nothing until the 31st. Mr. Tiger has six new ones he's selling. Shall I put a seat in for you?" Nicolai asked and Sage's grin grew into a smile. Success!

"Yes I would like to see what he has this round since I missed the last one. Who else is selling on the 31st?" Sage spoke as he continued to pace, all the time making a plan in his head.

"Mr. Reecoo has three to sell, and Mr. Divel has eight." Shit… it was going to be a long auction. Tiger would most likely insist on going last which meant more money he was going to have to spend. At least it was for a good cause.

"Good…good… and who, besides myself, will be attending thus far?" Sage asked sounding every bit as business man as he could. The 31st was about three weeks away. It might have well been three years.

"Mr. Yoshi, Mr. Kenshin, Mr. Franklin, Mr. Garcia, Mr. Smith, Mr. and Mrs. Long, Mr. Young and Mr. Listatt. Mr. Tiger asked for at least ten bidders, so you will make nine. I'm sure that will please him." Nicolai spoke, sounding almost happy. Sage could hear him clicking away at the computer. "Will you be bringing your normal guards sir?"

"Alex and Mika will be joining me as usual. As I am looking to buy a few girls, I will be bringing at least three more guards to handle the extras. My two brothers will be joining me as well." Sage answered. At Alex and Mika's names and brothers?... Syaoran looked even more confused. Sage had to suppress a laugh. "If there is any changes in the auction call me immediately."

"Of course sir! The auction is at the normal place and will start at the normal time sir! Anything else I can set you up for? The fighting pits perhaps?" Sage shuddered at the thought of the pits.

"If I don't find something I'm interested in, then I may take a look. Put me as a possible bidder." Sage answered with an almost growl.

"Very good sir. I will inform the sellers at once. Have a good night sir!" Nicolai finished before Sage cut off the conversation. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing heart. He just knew in his gut that Tiger was going to sell the girls… now all he had to do was get a hold of the couple bidders he knew as allies, and get everyone on the same page. He knew he could pull this off.

Syaoran

Who was Sage calling? Why did he use the name Yue? What did Alex and Mika have to do with this? And what was this about an auction!? Syaoran was about ready to throw something at the kids head! He bit his tongue though, figuring that Sage needed quiet. Now that Sage was off the phone however, he was going to get his damn answers! He growled as Sage took out his actual cell phone and dialed another number, making him wait AGAIN.

"Alex? You and Mika need to get to Beijing in the next two weeks. We have an auction to go to." Sage said quickly, then closed the phone. "Do I have you confused?" Sage turned his question to Syaoran.

"What the fuck is going on!? You have a lot of explaining to do!" Syaoran let go of his rage. Sage actually had the nerve to laugh at him.

"Uncle Wolf and I had heard about black marked auctions, where people come in to sell women for money. The women are sold to the bidders as sex slaves or pit fighters. Private bidding is usually for the business men looking for a bed mate or two. Tiger tries every six months or so to sell some women. A couple years ago Uncle had me go in to buy the women their freedom. My bidder name is Yoko Yue. Alex and Mika have accompanied me a few times as guards along with some of Jamie's men. As soon as I heard Beijing I had a feeling this was what was going down. If we can't find Tiger before the 31st we at least have this." Sage spoke fast. Syaoran looked at the other stunned men in the room.

"How is this going to work? Won't the other men there bid on the girls? How can we assure we will win them?" Syaoran asked as he now began to pace.

"I'm going to call a few of the other bidders that Nicolai game me. They're friends of mine. If I call dibs on our girls they'll respect it and won't bid. They will make it convincing though. There's a couple new names I don't know, but I'm sure we can outbid them if need be. I've never paid more than $300,000 American dollars for a woman." Sage spoke nonchalantly.

"I hope you're not thinking about keeping us out of this auction." Tobias spoke from the chair.

"No. Each bidder is given a private booth that is behind two way glass. We are never seen. It seats three comfortably. We are also given a holding room for the girls we purchase. Two guards stand outside. When a girl is purchased a red light goes off signaling the need for a pick-up. The guards take turns retrieving the girls. Alex and Mika usually do that for me. They're known faces. I'll have them stand guard again, and then have a few more people inside the room." Sage shrugged.

"Do you think the girls can hold out until the end of the month if we can't find Tiger's lair?" Jamie asked looking concerned. He was glad for once that Mei Lin was not here in the room with them. She would surely want to go.

"They'll be fine. They're our girls after all." Syaoran spoke with pride. "We'll need to figure out who will be in which room. "I'll want to be in your viewing room."

"You and one of the Twins can be with me as I bid. The other Twin and maybe Tobias and Jamie can be in the holding room. As soon as we win either Sakura or Kari you can leave the booth to go get them out of the building and here." Sage spoke looking unhappy. Syaoran's stomach was doing somersaults personally.

"This is going to be a very long three weeks…" Syaoran groaned as he finally took a seat.

The Girls

Tiger was feeding them as little as possible, and it was starting to piss Kari off. That, and her arm still hurt like hell…

"He doesn't feed us a lot because he wants us skinny for the auction." Ah ha! So the Spanish chick was finally going to talk.

"Sweety, you get any skinnier and you'll disappear." The American, Elizabeth? Spoke in a joke. Kari probably would have laughed if she wasn't so heartbroken. She couldn't really find anything funny.

"Have you tried squeezing through the bars?" Sakura's voice sounded. That girl was the most caring person Kari had ever met, and the most stupid. She still couldn't believe Sakura volunteered to be kidnapped just because she thought it would help Kari. Kari had nothing left to live for, Sakura did.

"Yes, they are too narrow. Not even a baby could fit through them." Adalia answered with sadness again. "You? Umm… Kari was it? Why do you look even sadder than me? You have people coming for you. You should be in a better mood." Kari tensed, and saw Sakura do the same.

"You're sad because your father refuses to come for you." Kari answered, a little harsher than she probably should have, but hey… the situation sucked. "The man I'm in love with was shot and killed in front of me by Tiger. So do you really think I should be happier than you right now?" Kari glared. Adalia looked away to avert her eyes. Kari looked back down to her folded hands, holding back her tears.

"I lost the man I love also. He is not dead, but I will never see him again." Adalia obviously had no problem crying, as Kari watched the tears spill down the girls face. "His name was Alejandro. And I loved him very much, but he is not coming for me anymore than my father is."

"You don't know that for sure. If he loves you as much as you love him, I bet he is looking for you." Sakura's kind words spoke again. Kari tried not to get angry at Sakura's relentless optimism. Sakura was only trying to help.

"And what was your loves name, Kari?" Adalia asked?

"I'm not talking about him." Kari seethed. "I liked you better when you were not talking." Okay so that was kind of mean…

"Kari!" Sakura scolded her. "Adalia is just trying to help."

"I don't need her help, and I don't need your help. Like I said… you shouldn't have come!" Kari roared. Sakura only smiled to Kari. That pissed her off even more.

"I shouldn't have, but like I said… I couldn't leave you to be taken alone. And eventually you are going to have to talk about him." Sakura said softly. Kari really wished she had something to throw. Of course after that little outburst, Adalia wouldn't meet her eyes.

About twenty minutes of silence later, Kari blew out a frustrated breath, and rolled her eyes. These girls we not her enemy, and she shouldn't be going around trying to make them upset.

"Sage…" She spoke loud enough for the girls to hear. The four girls looked at her confused… Sakura looked at her with pity and sadness. She cleared her throat loudly. "His name was Sage. The man I loved." She looked away from Adalia's sad smile.

"The man I loves name is Syaoran." Sakura added. Kari gave a small smile. "He's one of the people that will rescue us."

"My man's name is Christopher." Elizabeth spoke next opening a little locket. Kari looked away again. She had no picture of Sage to remember him by. She let out a sigh again. She would be strong for Sakura and these girls that needed them.

"Edward. He was going to ask me to marry him." Rashida said with pride, playing with her fingers.

"Louis… my Louis was my world." Jacqueline said with stars in her eyes. Seemed these girls had more in common than originally thought. Kari almost laughed at the thought, but then stopped realizing that these girls could see their men again if they could escape. Kari didn't have that luxury. She figured, however, if she was going to make sure Sakura got back to Syaoran… she would also make sure these women made it home too…

Syaoran

26 days 4 hours and 15 minutes without Sakura was literally driving him crazy! They still had absolutely nothing on Tiger or his whereabouts. Tiger may be stupid and disgusting, but he knew how to hide. They weren't giving up the search, but Sage's plan seemed to be the only one they could go with. That meant another 9 days to go before this auction took place. He frowned, thinking of Sakura being put in an auction to be sold to some scumbag. He was glad that it was going to be him. Sage had assured him that no other bidder would buy the girls, no matter what.

"Wolf never told you anything about Sage's double life?" Jamie asked for what had to be the third time this week. Sage's secret life of buying girls and setting them free to go back to their homes. It was a great thing he was doing, and without it they would have never found Tiger or the girls. He prayed that this would work.

"I had no clue. Wolf doesn't tell me everything that goes down. Even now, all I know is that he's gone to the Caribbean for Kami knows how long to work out something going on there. He's a secretive person. And Sage hasn't been with us up until 6 months ago." Syaoran explained. He had managed to occupy the girls for a while, but had a feeling they were going to have to be told about the situation soon. They were all going crazy without Sakura. Just then Sage came into the room.

"So I contacted my undercover artists to come in and work on us the day of the auction. We won't be recognized at all. Think Mrs. Doubtfire." He said with a gleam in his eye. Syaoran was gracious that Sage was feeling better. He figured the new plan to save Kari was helping him from breaking down.

"And when do Alex and Mika get here?" Tobias asked from next to Syaoran.

"Tomorrow. They're bringing Rika and Naoko with them. I'm hoping they can keep the other girls busy for us." Sage answered. Syaoran blew out a frustrated breath as he ran a hand through his hair… The woman he loved, life was in Sage's hands… they would not fail!

Authors Note: Hope you liked it! R+R!