Author's note: Okay, next chapter hot from the oven! To Seiba Artoria, very glad you like the story. There should be more romance on the way, I think… *wink* To moi, I haven't done much research actually. I got most of my material from reading thrillers (Let me recommend an author to everyone: Lee Child. He's the most awesome thriller / crime writer. I am so addicted to his books and one of them has been adapted into a film, with Tom Cruise cast as the main character. It'll be in cinemas in December. That is just icing on the cake!) and lastly to Shad999, it's a pain to have cliffhangers, I agree, but… hope you'll put up with my cliffhangers and see what'll happen next. I'll make it up to you by trying to get the subsequent chapters out faster! That's a promise!

Anyway, this chapter is a bit of a break from all the action. Oh god, I need the break, and I think all the characters and readers do too!

Chapter 16:

She had been small and slim. Her waist had fit perfectly in the arch of his arm and he had felt the cool silk flowing over her body as they moved in perfect beat.

Kira lifted his hand. He could just make out the shape of his fingers in the glow from his bedside lamp. He turned his hand, rotating his wrist and clenched his fist, his fingers curled in. He saw his knuckle bones roll under his pale skin and the blue-green veins standing out in stark relief.

A murderer's hand. He could have crushed that woman's waist with his arm. It was what he was made for.

But he had been so gentle with her.

"I'm Lacus Clyne. What's your name?"

"I'm Kira. Kira Hibiki."

He rolled over onto his side, shut his eyes and wrapped the pillow around his head. What the hell was wrong with him? He had gone right ahead and told her his name. He had given his name to the daughter of the man his boss hated to the core, and probably wanted to kill. Shit! He was a downright stupid idiot!

But he had never made such a mistake before. He had always been careful, even paranoid, around people. What the hell happened? Kira opened his eyes and gazed into the semi-darkness. An image of Lacus Clyne floated into his mind.

Because she had approached him first? No, that didn't make sense. Why would he go ahead and reveal his name just because a woman had come up to him? He met lots of women – both his neighbours were women, women noticed and approached him when he ate at Flay's, women tried to pick him up at the bar where Stellar worked. But he had never given them his freaking name!

Besides, Lacus Clyne was a different sort of woman. He recalled those blue-grey eyes looking at him, as if she could see right through. That strange, unexplainable sense of familiarity. Like they had met before. But Kira had a good memory – he could remember the faces of all the people he met, and he was very sure he had never met her before. So why?

A tortured groan escaped his lips before he could reign it back in and he covered his face with his pillow. There was something seriously wrong with him.

Athrun heard Yzak's voice before he saw the silver-haired man. He rounded the bend and found himself crushed against the wall as Yzak Joule barreled straight into him. "What the hell is wrong with you? Are you blind?" Yzak Joule shoved him hard and screamed into his face, then rounded on the flurry of doctors, nurses and a distraught Dearka who were following him, "get out of my way or I swear I'll kill you!"

"Whoa there," Athrun said calmly, slightly winded from the collision, "calm down, Yzak."

The silver-haired man whirled around and paused in his tirade, as if he had only just realized that Athrun was there. A bandage covered the right side of his face but the blood that had seeped through the white dressing showed the cut that he had received. It had narrowly missed his right eye.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" He yelled.

"You need to calm down," Athrun raised his hands in a placating gesture. "You haven't been discharged. Where are you going?"

"It's none of your business," Yzak was bristling with anger, his fists clenched at his side. "You're the boss at work, but you're not the boss of my life, Athrun Zala." He spat out Athrun's name as if it was something digusting.

"I know and I'm not trying to run your life, Yzak. But you're not fit to be anywhere in your condition. I've talked to AC Ramius and she's agreed to give you as much leave as you need, so-"

Yzak Joule blew up. He shoved Athrun into the wall, his fists full of Athrun's collar. "Don't you dare!" He yelled, "don't you dare remove me from the team! This injury isn't going to cripple me!" The doctors and nurses tried to separate them. Dearka had his arms wrapped around Yzak's chest and he was tugging hard at the infuriated young man.

"I am NOT pulling you off the team!" Athrun yelled back, trying to fend off the onslaught. "when you're discharged, you're welcome back to the team!"

Yzak paused in the midst of his attack, then let go, shoving Athrun back into the wall again before backing away. Athrun smoothed down the front of his jacket. "Listen, I'm not getting rid of you," he snapped at the seething man glaring at him, "I wouldn't even dare to entertain such a thought. The more trouble you make, the less likely the doctors are going to discharge you. So simmer down!"

Yzak Joule glowered at his chief, then abruptly turned on his heel. "Get out of my way!" He elbowed Dearka aside and stalked back towards his ward. Dearka gave Athrun a reassuring nod that he would handle it, then hastened quickly after his silver-haired mate.

Athrun watched them disappear into the ward before he slammed his fist into the wall. He ignored the alarmed glances cast in his direction as nurses, doctors and patients paused in their activities to look at him.

That was the last straw. Yzak Joule was family. Damn! Everyone in his department, in the police force was family. And now, he had one family member dead and one injured. He was going to get the bastards that did it.

It was the same little girl. With shoulder-length blonde hair.

She ran towards him and wrapped both arms around his legs, gazing up at him with sweet hazel eyes. He crouched down so that he was level to the girl and put his hands on her shoulders. "Who are you?" He whispered. The little girl stared at him. She smiled, a beautiful smile with dimples in her cheeks.

"Who are you?" He repeated, shaking her slightly. She opened her mouth and her lips formed a word, but there was no sound.

"What?" He said. "I can't hear you."

She said the same word, her lips forming the same shape. But he couldn't pick it out, couldn't hear anything. "I can't hear you," he whispered back, his voice breaking with sorrow and longing.

Then her hazel eyes widened with fear. She pointed over his shoulder, opened her mouth and screamed a soundless scream. Before he could turn around, a hand wrapped itself around his face, covering his mouth. An arm was thrown around his throat and held him in a stranglehold. He struggled but couldn't break free of the strong hands and he could do nothing but let those arms drag him into darkness. The last thing he saw was the little girl running towards him, her hands outstretched.

Kira opened his eyes and found himself in his own bed, staring up at the ceiling of his room. He laid still for a second, then slowly sat up, and realized that his face was drenched with tears.

The crime scene lab was located on the twentieth floor of the Central Police Headquarters. Athrun rode the lift up to the twentieth storey and the doors opened onto a dimly lit corridor. It was still early, not yet 6 a.m. and work hadn't yet begun. The corridor was lined on both sides by labs and most of them were dark and empty. He headed for the last one which had its light on and found Miriallia Haw camped in front of a monitor.

"What have you got for me?"

"Well, a very good morning to you too, Athrun," Miriallia replied dryly.

Athrun threw himself down on an empty chair and looked at her expectantly.

"Let me tell you first that I've been working up all night. First, you have your people pull me from my bed at midnight to the crime scene. Then you demand that I give you a report within twenty-four hours. And I've been holed up in this lab running tests on that blood sample for the past five hours. You owe me big time, Athrun Zala."

"Yes, and I'll remember it. Would you prefer coffee or tea?"

"Coffee. And one cup of coffee's not enough to pay back, Detective Zala."

"Okay. Eggs and sausages or salad?"

"Salad."

"Right, I'll get Meyrin to bring it in. Now what have you got for me?"

"Lucky you. I've got no personal assistant to get me my daily breakfast." Miriallia gave an exaggerated sigh.

"I can make Meyrin available to you if you need her. Now, will you please tell me what you've got?"

Miriallia laughed and turned from the monitor to look at a distraught Athrun.

"Alright, let me put you out of your misery." She tossed a manila file into Athrun's lap. Athrun opened the file and browsed through its contents.

"I've got the DNA of the guy, so all you need to do is run it through the system and see if you get a match," Miriallia said. Then she frowned and her expression became more serious. "But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the third page."

Athrun did as Miriallia asked and gazed down at a page full of chemical symbols and jargon. He raised an eyebrow at her.

The crime scene investigator smiled grimly, "I need a bit more time to analyse this, but you should know that there's trace of an unknown chemical in the guy's blood."

Author's note: Yep, that's all for this chapter. Don't forget to review, review, review!