Chapter 32:

"What do you mean I can't send the footage to the media?" Athrun snarled.

Murrue Ramius narrowed her eyes, her expression hardening. "I mean what I said, Detective Zala," She said quietly, "You're not permitted to pass the video footage or any of the information on the case to the press."

Athrun slammed a fist onto the desk. It didn't have an effect on Murrue. "If we can get the media to broadcast the footage, someone may recognize the man and woman in the video. With the name that Lacus gave us and the physical description that Cagalli provided us with, we can alert the public. Someone may come forward and offer us a clue of some sort," he protested.

"Firstly, there is not a lot of information about the guy. The name 'Kira Hibiki' may not even be a real name and all that Cagalli has given us is the colour of his eyes. That's not enough. Secondly, alerting the media would be equivalent to alerting the criminals."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Athrun persisted. He struggled to control his temper and his volume, which was rapidly rising. "Doing something – anything - is better than sitting around and waiting!"

"But it is not a risk that the police department is willing to take!" Murrue snapped back.

That made Athrun pause. He knew where this conversation was going and he couldn't believe it. "You're sacrificing her to save the reputation of the police force," he accused, staring at the Assistant Commissioner in disbelief.

"I'm not sacrificing Lacus," Murrue reasoned, "but the public is already appalled by the fact that we had two police officers killed in action. And that is when they don't even have the details. I saw that video footage. The only word that can describe it is 'brutal'. Our men were gunned down in cold blood, Athrun. They didn't even get a chance to retaliate! If the media gets its hands on it, they're going to dramatize it, then what do you think the people will think about us?"

"That we put our lives at risk for them-"

"No," she interrupted, "that's being idealistic, Athrun. The people will lose confidence in us. They will realize that we're dealing with something bigger than us. Our reputation is at stake here."

"So you're going to sacrifice Lacus to keep your reputation intact?" Athrun bellowed.

"I didn't say that!" Murrue yelled back at him, "I'm supplying you with all the best resources and as much manpower as I can get my hands on, Detective."

"It's not good enough. We need more eyes, Murrue! That is when the public comes in handy!"

Murrue shook her head. "I think I've made myself clear enough, Detective Zala." She glanced down at the report on her desk and said in a tone of finality, without looking at him, "You're dismissed."

"Murrue-"

"I've made my stand, Detective."

"And I've made mine," Athrun rebutted, "My job is to rescue her."

"And mine is to protect the interests of both the citizens and our police officers," Murrue snapped, raising her head to look at him. Athrun returned her gaze with a hard glare, both of them engaged in a silent battle. Murrue broke the eye contact first and returned to her report. "I'm taking you off the team, Athrun," she said flatly.

"What?" Athrun bolted upright. The chair fell backwards and clattered noisily to the ground. Murrue paused in her reading and cast a glance at the fallen furniture, then lifted her gaze to look at Athrun squarely. She stood up so that they were level and met his livid emerald eyes with impersonal brown ones. "You're letting your emotions get to you, Detective. I'm assigning this case to someone else and I suggest you stay out of it."

"And what if I don't concur to stay out of the case?" Athrun asked, his voice low and dangerous.

Murrue merely shook her head. "Don't force me to put you on temporary leave, Athrun. I don't want to have to ask you to surrender your badge and gun." She paused, then added, "You've got an outstanding record and you'll probably be my successor. Everyone knows it. But what you're doing now-" She made a vague gesture with her hand, "-it's not helping your promotion."

Fuck the promotion. Fuck the record. Athrun bit his lip. He didn't give a damn about becoming the next Assistant Commissioner. But he needed the badge, and the gun, if he wanted to rescue Lacus. The credibility and the firepower were sure to come in handy for what he was planning to do. And he was planning to hunt down the bastards and kill them. Whether Murrue Ramius liked it or not. Whether the upper management approved it or not.

He turned on his heel and stalked towards the exit.

"Do I have your promise to stay out of this, Athrun?" Murrue called out.

He wrenched open the door. "Yes," he snarled without turning back to look at her, "You have my fucking promise, Ma'am." He slammed the door behind him, ignoring the alarmed looks that the police officers outside were giving him. He stomped down the corridor towards the lift and stabbed the lift button viciously. Then he slammed his fist into the wall. Don't count on it, Murrue, don't fucking count on it.

Her wrists were tightly bound behind her and as she pulled and twisted at her bonds, she knew there was no way to free her hands. She tugged against the rope around her ankles but it was just another futile attempt.

Blindfolded, she had no idea where she was, or how long she had been awake. It could be hours, or even weeks, but judging from the relentless pounding in her skull, it was probably the former. She had woken up in the strange darkness, lightheaded and dazed. The bruising headache, coupled with gnawing nausea, had nearly caused her to throw up but she had held herself together as best as she could. She had called out for help but there was no reply. Only her feeble voice which echoed back at her. She cried and shouted till her voice was hoarse but no one came. Her kidnappers, whoever they were, didn't appear and they left her surrounded in this weighty silence, as if she was the only person left on earth.

She was hungry and thirsty and she tried to distract herself from her discomfort by analyzing her situation. How the hell had she gotten herself into this predicament? The darkness resulting from the blindfold helped – it allowed her to focus her thoughts inwards as she tried to recall what had happened back in the theatre. Jeremy, she thought. Maybe this was all a sick joke. Jeremy's idea of a prank. She repeated that to herself a few times, trying to convince herself that this was all a trick, but she shook her head helplessly after a while. Who was she kidding?

Was this really a kidnap? Whoever it was, hadn't come for Cagalli. She remembered seeing the hand descending down on the blonde. Oh god, was Cagalli alright? How badly hurt was she? Had anyone found her yet? She hadn't been… killed, had she? She shook her head hard and the pounding in her head started up again. She welcomed it. Anything to distract her from her thoughts of Cagalli. Cagalli would be fine. She had to be. Besides, the target wasn't her. They had probably just knocked her out temporarily.

She turned her thoughts back to herself. Why would she be the victim of a kidnap? For money, she decided, she was probably being held for a ransom. She thumped her bound feet hard on the ground in frustration. She wondered how much money they were demanding. What they were doing to threaten her father.

Father… She felt a lump grow in her throat and she tried to fight back the tears. This was no time to cry. She bit her bottom lip and shook her head. No amount of tears was going to save her. She had to find a way to escape.

Somehow.

She considered her circumstances. The odds were against her: mentally, she was still dizzy from whatever drug she had inhaled; physically, she was weak from hunger and thirst; emotionally, she was exhausted and in a wreck.

She couldn't do anything about her physical needs, not unless they gave her food and water soon, and so far, she didn't see a possibility of that happening. The dizziness would hopefully fade soon. What she had control over, were her emotions and she slammed the lid down on them. There was no time to be afraid, no time to feel upset, no time to panic. She wouldn't be able to do a thing until one of her kidnappers made an appearance. Until then, she was going to keep herself composed and conserve her energy. The calm before the storm.

Lacus leaned back against the wall behind her and tried to get as comfortable as possible, stretching out her bound legs and tucking her arms to her side. She accepted the darkness of the blindfold and settled back, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Author's note: That's the next chapter. Sheesh, as I was writing it, I realized everyone in the story was going crazy. First it was Kira in the previous chapter, and now Athrun's losing his mind too. Anyway, review and tell me how you find the story so far!