Disclaimer: See previous chapters

Chap. 33

Masters' Residence, San Franscisco

"Welcome home, sir."

"Thank you, Samuel."

Ken and family had finally returned to the estate after their trip to England. Eliza moved aside from the doorway to let the other servants take up their suitcases, moving toward Ken to take a sleeping Mel into her arms.

"Well, I better take sleepy head to his bed."

"Okay." As Eliza heading up the stairs, Ken returned his attention to his butler. "So give me the details."

Samuel nodded in understanding and began to fill him in with the details of the past couple of weeks. "Master Ryu had stopped over here for to visit you and then remained here for some time afterward."

"The police also informed me of the situation afterward." Ken spoke with a darkened tone. "What happened?"

Samuel sighed deeply as that account came to memory and then answered. "A misunderstanding from what I know. I am just fortunate Master Ryu and Miss Li were here to settle things."

Ken blinked. "Miss Li? She was here?"

"Why yes." he nodded. "She had arrived just after Master Ryu did. From what I gathered, he met her on his way here and she decided to stay for a while."

Ken's face seemed to just transform into a smile. "And when he left, did she go too?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, they left together. She had received some bad news in Hong Kong I believe."

His face a literal grin, he put an arm around the butler's shoulders. "Sammy, you're a lifesaver.

Samuel sighed. "Please, not that name, sir."

Joking aside and done with, Ken pulled his arm off the man. "Thank you, and I'm sorry for what happened to you."

Samuel tilted his head slightly, a way of him to wave it of. "As I said, it was just a misunderstanding."

"In any case, I'm glad you're safe."

"Very good sir."

Bowing, Samuel took his leave of Ken to continue other duties that he had and leaving a now-grinning-again Ken to his thoughts. Ryu stopping by with a woman, Chun Li no less. He remembered the woman since their first meeting and had suspected that there was something going on between her and Ryu that neither of them wanted to admit. He was just shamed that he didn't think it was her sooner.

"Chun Li, eh? I should have known."

ICPO headquarters, Hong Kong

Chun Li entered into the Chief's office once again after receiving a call from him to arrive. Entering the door, she found Guile already seated before him. Taking the seat nearby, Chun Li glanced over at her partner briefly, but his features remained hard and focused forward.

"One of our field agents discovered that a shipment of weapons are being brought in to South harbor." the chief began without further wait. "According to her info, it may have connections with Shadowloo.

"Is it reliable?" Guile questioned; his tone a hard edge.

"As reliable as it could be concerning Shadowloo." the chief answered. "Nevertheless, this is the only lead we have."

"Let's get on it then."

Guile was about to rise up from his seat when Chun Li held up a hand to stop him, all the while keeping her eyes on the Chief.

"Hold on. A weapons shipment coming in so soon after one of Shadowloo top men nearly gets captured? This sounds more like bait than an opening."

Guile gave her an annoyed glance. "That doesn't matter. They gave us an opening and we should take it."

The Chinese woman now turned to her 'partner'. "We can't just rush in like that and get set up for a possible trap."

Guile glance became a glare. "And we can't just stick around and let these punks get away."

Annoyed, the chief cut them off before they could escalate into an argument. "Enough. The truth is that both your comments have merit. We can't rush in, nor can we let this opportunity slip away. So until we have a clear cut plan of action, we'll resort to surveillance."

"Surveillance?" The hard gaze of the special ops officer soon turned toward the chief. "We're just going to watch these guys?

If the chief was intimidated by Guile, he didn't show it. "For the moment. It's best if we gather as much data as we can before acting. You two will head this off until further notice. "

This earned a confused look from Chun Li. "Surveillance only, sir?"

"Yes. If they really are with Shadowloo, then we can trace it back to any other connections they have."

Guile was very still at this, but managed to keep his voice controlled. "So we are to watch them just leave?"

"You are to track then to further Shadowloo connections." the chief replied. Eyeing both agents, he added firmly. "Understood?"

"...Yes, sir." was the only response, and it came from Chun Li, while Guile became deathly silent. This caused Chun Li to worry, hoping that her 'partner' wouldn't cause any unnecessary trouble. Being an immortal meant that he was capable of anything. But she had to put such thoughts aside.

To think otherwise would be...a problem...

Hettipola, Sri Lanka

The horns of the ship in the docks echoed through the area, turning into a heavy drone as it passed through the area. As ships hummed in the distance, Dan took a drink of his coffee and casually gazed out the window for the coffee shop. Or at least, it seemed like he did. In actuality though, he was on the job, with his assignment just passing by the coffee house and heading toward the docks.

Ryu...

The Japanese immortal walked past, oblivious to Dan's presence, as Dan continued looking on, watching Ryu move toward one of the ship and walking on after showing his ticket. Dan took another drink of his coffee as the ship hummed again preparing to leave. The Watcher sighed again. 'Doesn't he ever stop?' This was the usual set of difficulties for him, as tracking Ryu was the hardest thing to deal with. It was hard enough tracking him through Vietnam and over the Indian Ocean to here. It became easier when he learned his history and his contacts, but Ryu still made it a challenge.

'Chun Li... You were supposed to make it easier...'

He also knew what transpired between the two in Hong Kong and their separation. All the more reason for his sighing. He had hoped that their encounter would have been more pleasant and for the first couple of days, they were. But then one thing lead to another and then the opposite happens. But he wasn't too worried about this. Chun Li could be quite headstrong at times and Ryu was passive, at least in such situations. He was sure that she had long forgiven him and they would meet again, but now it would take longer this time.

He just hoped it wouldn't be beyond his lifespan...

Returning to his subject, Ryu had boarded a ship that was routed to Somalia. Since that was his destination, Dan knew exactly where he was going. Picking up his phone, he made a quick dial and spoke.

"Hello...Transit Airlines...Yes...I'd like a one way ticket to Somalia...Yes...The sooner the better...Dan Hibiki...Thank you."

Finishing his coffee, he left his payment on the table and left immediately.

"Africa, here I come."

'Well, that went well...' Chun Li thought sarcastically as she walked through the hallway. After their meeting, Guile had left off, still in silence until he disappeared all together. She couldn't really blame him though. The idea of surveillance didn't sit too well with her either. Weapons shipments were one of the most dangerous of criminal activity. Those who would either buy or sell weapon are usually well armed themselves, ranging from terrorists to mercenaries. Even if it wasn't Shadowloo, she couldn't let such weapons transaction take place for others to be harmed and/or killed. Not if see could help it.

But the captain's point was well taken, even if it wasn't popular. Jumping into something that dangerous was foolish. As much as she hated it, they would simply have to wait until the right time. The woman shook her head. She would have figured that after 000 years, she would have no problem being patient.

A lesson to be learned over and over, it seemed. No matter how old you are...

With this in mind, she strode down the hall in search of Guile. Judging by his expression, he obviously didn't like sitting back and waiting either. But he had to know it was the best thing. She wished she had checked over more of his file, but she had been occupied. Besides, that would have only have records of his life as a special ops soldier and his current military record. They would speak nothing of his previous lives or what he had done beforehand, for obvious reasons. If she only knew him a little better.

...If only she knew where the heck he was.

Reaching near to the elevator, she stopped one of the other agents who was walking past the machine.

"Have you seen Colonel Guile anywhere?"

The man stopped at her question and turned to face her. "The American? I believe he left already."

Chun Li blinked, hard. "Left? What do you mean?"

"He left the building, about fifteen minutes ago."

'No way. He wouldn't...' She didn't want to just to conclusions, but she had a bad feeling about this. A really bad feeling about this. Would he really go in alone... without her? He couldn't have. Surely he wasn't that foolish...right...?

"Did he say where?"

The agent shook his head. "No. But I think I heard him muttering something about an assignment."

Two seconds later, she was rushing down the stairway beside the elevator and bursting out into the parking lot toward her car. If what she feared was true, then she didn't have a second to waste. Revving up the ignition, she gunned the engine and took off; her only thoughts were anger toward her so called partner, a reminder of the sword she kept in the trunk and a single thought to connect them both.

'I am going to kill him...'