May 18th

No one had slept in the Sakura household. Noriko wasn't sure what to think of Peter's revelation. She had grown up with things that most people would not understand, but it had never dipped into the mystical.

She had an easy time believing in evil cults. They had been on the news since the 70s. There had even been stories of families hiring people to 'rescue' (She was certain that the police considered it kidnapping) their children from evil cults. There was more than one movie of the week about it. That part was easy to accept.

She had accepted the concept of an artifact that needed destruction. Venerated items had power and you couldn't destroy that power by simply pointing out that it was just an item. The power of belief was too strong.

But now they were taking a nightmare and turning it into a vision. Even her brother, who was normally one of the most practical men she had ever known was buying into it and she just couldn't understand it. She had given up trying at about 3 am.

It was a quarter past six now and she had put rice on for breakfast. She was sipping at her 4th cup of coffee in the past hour when their doorbell rang. She went to answer it and found waiting on their front steps the oldest Chinese man she had ever seen.

"May I help you?" She asked.

The man smiled at her. "I am here to assist Peter and Kwai Chang Caine."

She raised an eyebrow. "Who may I tell them is calling?" She asked but let the man come inside. She just couldn't leave such a venerable man outside to wait.

"The Ancient." He said. "I am called this because I am … very old." There was a mischievous glint in his eyes. She was certain that if she asked him how old was very old that he'd give her a cryptic answer that would tell her absolutely nothing.

She left him in the entry and went to Kenjiro's den. "There is a gentleman here who says he is The Ancient."

Peter grinned, the first look of happiness she'd seen since he'd wakened from his nap the previous afternoon. He got up from his chair and headed out toward the entry "Lo Si." He said. "How did you … never mind it doesn't matter. I'm glad you're here." Someone else he wanted the chance to say goodbye to just in case … well… just in case.

Lo Si smiled a little sadly at Peter. He knew that the path his young friend was on would be devastating no matter the outcome. He could see in Peter's eyes that he knew it as well. "As am I." He indicated that Peter should lead him to where the others were.

Caine looked over to his old friend. "Why have you come?" He doubted that the Ancient came all this way to simply say hello.

"Are you familiar with Fulu?" He asked.

"Sure," Peter said "When I was in the orphanage the only time it was cool that I'm part Chinese was when I could translate the Wu Xia films and I could read the symbols on the Fulu." Strips of paper with prayers and incantations on them were the mainstay of the sorcerers in those movies. They seemed to always have an endless supply. "I practically had Chinese Ghost Story memorized by the time Paul took me in. But Lo Si… even if I were a mystic, which I'm not, Miranda isn't going to let me keep anything much less Taoist magic spells."

"I will not be putting the protective incantations on paper. I will be putting it on you." Lo Si said.

"Ah…" Caine said, and nodded. "Yes, that would work."

Peter looked between them. "You're going to give me a tattoo?"

Lo Si shook his head. "No. I will paint it on your back. It will remain there until it has served its purpose."

"Okay," Peter said, he hoped that they didn't decide to remove the flesh from his back to remove it, but he was willing to take that chance. He needed all the help he could get once he was Miranda's prisoner again. "What exactly is the fashionable prisoner wearing this season?"

Lo Si rolled his eyes. "Protections for mind, body, and spirit." He said.

"Then I guess we'd better be at it. I want to head back to Bayview today." Peter didn't want Kellie in Miranda's hands any longer than necessary. He knew better than anyone else what damage she could do without ever laying a hand on her chosen target.

Karen Simms was finding that she liked the 101st precinct. Sometimes she wondered why she liked it so much. The personalities she found there were larger than life. No one was just a cop there to get a paycheck and hopefully catch some bad guys. They were all driven.

The strangest part of it all was that she could feel the presence there of a man she had never met. Peter Caine. Even his supposedly larger-than-life father could be felt there. Skalany would often say 'Caine says…' Strenlich would ask his detectives when they had done something particularly reckless 'who do you think you are? Peter Caine?'

She came into the office, coffee in one hand and a fast food breakfast in a bag in the other. The night shift was leaving, morning shift was coming in. She figured she'd have time to eat her breakfast before things got too exciting. She knew she had figured it wrong when she heard swearing loudly pouring out from Kermit Griffin's office.

She unlocked her office and set her breakfast on her desk and turned around immediately to go find out what had upset the most intense personality in her precinct. She was willing to bet that it had something to do with the snake cult or the mayor. Not that he nor Paul Blaisdell could separate the two from each other, or for that matter from Peter Caine. She worried about her old friend because of that but she couldn't blame him. She'd move heaven and Earth, damn the consequences if it had been her son.

"Do I want to know?" She asked as she entered Kermit's office without bothering to knock. Most people were intimidated by the man. She didn't find him intimidating at all.

"I need to go see Blaisdell. Might not be around here for a couple of days." He said as he printed off the email from Peter.

Karen looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Take as long as you need." She said. "If you and Paul need anything from the precinct or me, let me know."

"Will do." He said, grabbing the cannon he called a handgun and the printout then left the precinct practically at a run.

"Good morning, Gail," Paul said to the policewoman doing double duty as his secretary.

"There was a package waiting for you when I got in, Sir." She said handing over the thick manila envelope. "There was no indication who it's from so have a care opening it."

"Thank you, Gail." He was let into his office and soon he was settled behind his desk. He set the package aside and looked over the day's appointments and paperwork. He couldn't concentrate. There was something on the horizon and he could sense it. It wasn't anything mystical and it wasn't like when the gang violence had been escalating through the roof. This was different. It was an old mercenary's instinct.

He opened the manila envelope and after giving it the once over, pulled the contents out onto his desk. Photographs of papers, and photocopies of others. Someone was trying to play spy. Unfortunately, he couldn't use what they were giving him. It was enough to spark an investigation but it wasn't enough to use as evidence in court because he couldn't connect the documents directly to her. He couldn't even call in a handwriting expert because they would need to have the original, not merely a photograph of her signature to make an accurate judgment. He put them in his desk drawer and locked it.

Gail buzzed through the intercom. "Detective Griffin is here to see you, Sir."

"Send him in."

Kermit entered quickly and locked the door behind him. He handed the paper over to Paul. "I got that email from Peter. It was sent yesterday after I'd already gone home."

Paul took the paper and read the short message. He swore and ran his hand down his face. "There are days I wish I could settle our local problems the way we settled them abroad."

"I know. Me too. Simms told me to take as much time off as needed and that we should let her know if there is anything she or the precinct can do."

Paul nodded. He unlocked his desk drawer and took the file he'd just received out, handing it over to Kermit. "It's all but useless, but it's painting an interesting picture. The most interesting part is that clearly, someone in her inner circle wants to bring her down."

"Too bad they're too afraid of bringing down the cult to be direct about it," Kermit said looking it over.

Peter pulled his shirt back on. "Okay, we have to get to the airport soon."

"First things first," Ken said. "We need to get you into a disguise. Just in case they're watching the airports."

"How would they know that Peter knows they have his girlfriend?" Noriko asked.

"They do not." Caine said "But they know that he is with me and it is possible that I would know. It is likely what they have planned."

Peter followed Ken to one of the guest rooms in his home.

"The best disguise is one that looks natural, that you can wear as easily as wearing your own clothes." He looked through a drawer. "We'll make you a balding blond. Widen your nose a bit, elongate the earlobes and we'll put you in an expensive suit. You look to be about my size so that will be easy enough." He walked over to the closet and took out a severe, dark gray silk suit. "Have a seat."

He slicked Peter's hair back and pulled on a tight theatrical wig. It gave the look of a deeply receded hairline, with short-cut graying blond hair. He took out a prosthetic nose and spirit gummed it in place then used a bit of putty to blend the edges smoothly onto his face. He did the same with a pair of ears. He applied dark makeup around his eyes to make them look sunken, and added a liver spot to his right cheek. He then applied makeup to even the complexion. He handed Peter a pair of glasses with thick black frames.

"30 years older if a day," Peter said laughing a little.

"That's the idea," Ken said. "I'll leave you to get into the suit." He left the room to change into much more casual attire for himself. They were going to be on the same plane but they were not supposed to be traveling together. Ken needed to be able to observe just in case the disguise didn't work.

Peter joined them in the living room. "I look more like your brother than your son now." He said with a laugh.

Caine laughed as well. "It is a good disguise. I will travel with Lo Si so that we are not seen returning together. We will meet you at the boarding house."

"Okay, Pop." He said. "We'll be there in a few hours." He knew better than to continue insisting that no one assist him in the battle to come. Any other enemy and maybe he could pull it off but not with the Harbingers. He took the letter out of his journal and put it in his inner breast jacket pocket. He then handed the journal to his father. "Can you hang onto this for me?"

Caine accepted it. "Of course." He said.

"You know… I ahm… well my hanzi looks about like it did when I was a kid but it should be decipherable." He said. "It's everything I know about the cult."

Caine nodded. "Thank you." He watched as Peter and the Sakura siblings left. It was only then that his serene expression changed to one of near anguish. "I could lose my son."

Lo Si rested his hand on his friend's arm. "We will do everything in our power to prevent that from happening. No matter what Peter fears they will not kill him. Not if he is the chosen host for their captive avatar. As long as he lives he can come back to us."

Caine nodded. "Peter is so determined that he is going to die, that he may take actions that will lead to his death."

"In that, he will fail. I am certain of this. He has a greater destiny still to come."

"The last of the line of Kwai Chang," Caine said. Peter had made his point plain the day previous. One could not use a prophesy to prove invulnerability.

"Yes. Or perhaps to father the last of the line." The ancient shrugged. "I had thought that you would be the last of the line before Peter was born. Perhaps another will be the last of your bloodline. Either way, Peter is required."

Caine laughed quietly. "Grandchildren would be nice."

"Children make you old. Grandchildren make you forget that you are old." Lo Si said. He reached into his pack and removed the book of Shamballa. "It is time for us to leave." He opened the book and the room was filled with bright white light. When it faded both men were gone.

It was a two-hour flight from Los Angeles to Bayview. Peter chose to spend that time writing letters. He wasn't at all certain that he would be coming out the other side of this and he wasn't going to leave his current life without saying things that need to be said to those he cared about. He'd already written the letter to his father. Now he was writing to his mother and sisters, to Paul, and finally to Kellie. He finished writing as the plane was making its approach to the landing strip. He tucked all of the letters into his suit coat pocket and fastened his seat belt.

Once they landed Noriko was the first off the plane, followed by Peter several passengers behind and Ken brought up the rear, keeping an eye on Peter the entire time, until they met up in the parking lot of the car rental agency.

Three hours from the moment they had boarded the plane they entered the boarding house in Chinatown.

Peter laughed as he was greeted by Caine and Lo Si. "How did you get here before me? And if you say Ancient Chinese Secret I'm disowning you."

"We made a side trip to get tea to enrich your Qi," Lo Si said.

Peter at first looked confused then it dawned on him where that side trip was. "Right, got it. Okay, well, I will leave you two to introduce our friends around. I'm going to go get out of this get-up. My nose is itching and I can't scratch it through this prosthetic." He said then headed up the stairs to his room.

He had come full circle. He had wakened in this room weeks ago after being rescued and tomorrow morning he was going to wake and walk back into the lion's den. He got out of the suit and hung it up then dressed in a tee shirt and comfortable jeans. He had been wearing the same three sets of clothes since they'd left. It felt good to wear something different. He removed the prosthetics and wiped them off with a dry cloth. He didn't know how to take care of them so he didn't do anything more.

He headed back downstairs and Lo Si shoved a cup of tea in his hands before he could say a word. He set it down and reached for the phone, and his father picked it up, handed it to him, and took the phone away, hanging it up.

"Pop-"

"Don't call me Pop. Drink your tea, then you can make your call."

Peter smelled the tea, and wrinkled his nose. "Don't they have plants over there that taste good?" He asked and downed the tea in a single go.

"Yes." Lo Si said "But they would not help you." He took the empty cup and refilled it.

Peter made a face and picked up the receiver once more. He motioned for people to be silent as he dialed the number for the mayor's office.

"Miss Gray's office. This is Tamorah Shaw, how may I help you?"

"I need to speak with Miranda." He said.

"She's busy at the moment, I'm afraid you'll have to try at another time. I would be happy to pencil in a time for your call."

"Tell her Peter Caine is on the phone. She'll talk to me."

It was less than 30 seconds before Miranda picked up the phone. "Peter, I was expecting your call."

"I'm sure you were." He said.

"Why don't you head over to the penthouse, we can discuss things there."

"No." He said "Tomorrow morning we're going to make an exchange. Me, for Kellie, and don't bother telling me you don't know who I'm talking about. If you want me, that's how it's going to be."

"Alright." She said. "Shall we say 9 am, the Hartford parking garage?"

"No," Peter said.

"You are under the illusion that you have control of this situation."

"I do. Until I turn myself over to you anyway. I'll call you tomorrow at 6 am, I don't have the penthouse number you'll have to give that to me. I'll tell you then where the exchange is going to take place. I won't bring any cops, and you don't bring any goons other than whoever your current bodyguard is. Kellie leaves with my father and I leave with you."

She drew in a deep breath and sighed. "That will be acceptable." She said and gave him her phone number.

"Got it." He said and hung up. Well, that was very nearly that.

Caine rested his hand on his son's shoulder with one hand and handed him another cup of tea with the other.