Author's note: FINALLYYYYYYYYYYYYY! So sorry for the long hiatus, guys, but I was incredibly busy over the past few weeks. Still am, but at least I managed to grab a few seconds here and there. Here's a longer than normal chapter to make up for the delayed update. Will promise to get the next chapter up in the upcoming weeks! Bear with me, guys!

Chapter 36:

There was a patch on the wooden flooring that was stained dark maroon. Athrun crouched down so that he could get a better look. "Has forensics confirmed the identity?" He said, without glancing up. He heard Shinn's approach, his footsteps sounding hollow and heavy on the wooden floorboards. Shinn said, "The report came in this morning. The blood belongs to Cagalli Yamato and it corresponds to the chauffeur's statement. He found her lying unconscious right here."

"Okay."

Athrun straightened and turned to look at the young man perched on a high stool in front of a dressing table. Lunamaria was standing alongside him, her back against the table and the clipboard balanced between her hand and her hip. "You were the last person who saw Lacus and Cagalli before the incident?" she asked the man.

Jeremy winced and shrugged, "I guess so."

"Who else was in the theatre when you left?"

"No one else," The young actor shook his head. "Lacus and Cagalli were the only ones left. They're always the last to leave."

"Okay," Luna scribbled something on her clipboard. "Did you leave by the front entrance or the back?"

"Front. I saw Lacus' car and her chauffeur was waiting on the main street. I even stopped to greet him."

"What time was that?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe 7:30?"

Athrun nodded to himself. It sounded right. It corresponded with the chauffeur's statement. He asked, "Did you see any other vehicles around?"

Jeremy thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I'm not sure. The main street is always full of cars. I didn't pay attention."

Luna began to ask another question but Athrun turned away, directing his interest elsewhere. Jeremy wasn't the man he was looking for. There was no way. His statement coincided with the chauffeur's; the actor had alibis. Jeremy had gone out the front entrance, and since the kidnappers couldn't have dragged Lacus out onto the main street, they had to have used the back door. There was no opportunity, no means, no motives. So Jeremy wasn't the guy and he wasn't much of a witness either.

Athrun swiveled around on the spot and glanced around the dressing room. Nothing looked out of place, except for the blood stain on the wooden boards. There was no upset furniture, no signs of a struggle taking place. He thought about what Cagalli had said. She had seen one of the kidnappers collapse but where? Why?Scanning the ceiling, he found no security cameras. Dead-end.

He exited the dressing room and stepped out into a narrow corridor that led out to the back. He could hear Luna and Jeremy conversing in the dressing room, their voices now reverberating through the place like echoes. The National Theatre was flanked in the back by an alley and the concrete side of a commercial building. Which meant no witnesses saw them from a window.

Athrun stepped out into the alley and glanced about him. There was a security camera mounted on the back door but it had been removed by the crime scene techs. He had little hope that the technicians would find anything useful amongst the footage. Crouching down, he ran his eyes over the asphalt concrete. The ground was cracked and worn out. No visible tyre tracks.

Shit.

He stood and checked his watch. 9:45 a.m. Time was running out. He dug into his pocket for his cell and dialed a number, keeping half an eye on his surroundings. Yzak Joule picked up on the second ring.

"Yzak, you there yet?"

"Yeah. I just got on post."

Athrun nodded, pleased. "Okay. You got the vial?"

"I'm eyeballing it right now as I'm speaking to you."

"Okay," Athrun said again, "I trust you not to let it out of your sight, Yzak."

"Okay."

"I mean it, Yzak. Don't let it out of your sight at all," He repeated, "Once they get their hands on the drug, they'll kill her. So you need to make sure it's safe."

There was a loud sigh on the other end of the phone. "I got it," Yzak snapped. His voice was full of contempt and impatience. Athrun could just picture the scowl on the silver-haired detective's face. "The injury hasn't made me lose my touch, you bastard. I've got the safehouse completely surrounded and the boys are forming a mile-wide radius. There are dozens of eyes fixed on the damn glass tube right now. I've got it under control, asshole." Then Yzak demonstrated just how annoyed he was by hanging up on him.

Athrun stared at the blank screen of his cell and shook his head. Then blinked as the screen lit up again and the cell vibrated urgently in his palm. The caller ID showed that it was from the office. Meyrin. Maybe she had a lead. He punched the button with his thumb and lifted the cell to his ear. "Update me, Meyrin."

"Boss, we have a problem," the voice on the other end of the phone hesitated, "I think you should come back to the station right away."

Lacus Clyne felt her blood run cold as she ran the words she had heard through her mind again.

I have a taste and hunger for killing.

Oh god, she was in the hands of a manic serial killer? She could feel her heartbeat quicken as panic threatened to overwhelm her. Why was he telling her these awful things? Just an intimidation technique? Perhaps there was nothing to fear. They were just empty threats.

But there was equal possibility that he was warning her of an imminent death.

No… if he was going to kill her, he wouldn't still be wearing the mask. Dead people didn't talk. Dead people didn't give the police physical descriptions of their murderers. The fact that they were still keeping their faces hidden from her meant that there was still a chance of survival. A slim chance, but still a chance nonetheless.

How could someone be so gentle, yet so cruel at the same time?

She couldn't reconcile the person standing in front of her with the soft-spoken man who had offered her food, water and warmth.

And danced with her.

Yes, she was pretty sure it was him.

Kira.

She had heard the man with pale blue hair call out his name. Was she staring at the man who had taken her into his arms as they twirled across the dance floor? Kira Hibiki? Or was she making assumptions? She remembered what Athrun had said once: "When it happens the first time, okay. The second time, okay. The third time? Not okay. There are no such things as coincidences."

How long were the odds that the man who had danced with her the night of the break-in had the same name as her kidnapper? It couldn't be a coincidence. She didn't know many men with the name 'Kira'. The only other Kira she knew had… disappeared fifteen years ago. They grew up together, and then one day, he was just plucked right out of her life. And was never seen again.

Could this Kira be the Kira that she knew? Had he finally turned up fifteen years later?

It didn't make any sense. Why was he after the drug? Why kidnap her?

No, this was surely a coincidence.

Yet, as she looked up at his brown hair and his slender figure, she could almost see Cagalli's brother self-imposed on him. The Kira she had known all her life, had frozen as an image of a seven-year old boy. The seven-year old Kira she remembered too had soft brown hair like that.

The Kira she knew had soft, gentle amethyst eyes that gazed upon her with affection. And so did the man who had held her close during the dance. Only, his had been sadder, lonelier. Perhaps darker. She wished she could see the eyes behind the mask. The tinted glass distorted the colour of her kidnapper's eyes. They could be azure, or dark grey. She couldn't tell.

There was a possibility that they were amethyst too.

Could it be?

She needed to know more about him before she could make a conclusion. Lacus wet her dry and parched lips with the tip of her tongue. He was watching her do it, his eyes following the maneuver of her tongue behind the tinted glass. So she sat up and stared him squarely in the eye. Lacus forced mock bravado into her voice. "You gave me food and water. You lent me your jacket. I'm convinced that you're not a cold-blooded murderer."

He surprised her when he burst out laughing. Lacus stared as laughter filled the otherwise silent room. It wasn't exactly cruel laughter, she could tell, but he looked genuinely amused by what she had said.

It took a while for him to settle and even then, there was an amused quirk at his lips. "I don't think the people I've killed would agree with you," He grinned.

Lacus shrugged. Keep him talking, keep him with you, she thought to herself. She forced a smile, "Why killing? Why not something else?"

Kira stared at her. He couldn't believe she was asking him such a question. The woman had guts; he would give her that. Most women he knew would be shrieking their heads off if they found themselves in a situation like that, but Lacus Clyne had been calm. A little shaken by her encounter with Auel. But still calm. And apparently, in a mood to hold a conversation with her kidnapper. He smiled inwardly. She was a smart woman. He knew she was fishing for information and trying to gauge just how much trouble she was in. You probably could learn a lot of things about dealing with emergencies when your adopted brother was a cop, and a good one at that.

But Kira wasn't in a mood to engage in a conversation. He was pretty sure that there had to be a rule against talking too much to your victim. He knew he should have walked right out the door as soon as he had made sure Lacus Clyne was alright. Every second he spent in the room with her increased the risk of exposing his identity. But Kira couldn't get himself to move. He couldn't stay in there, but he couldn't walk out and deal with a crazed Auel, or a skeptical Sting, or a concerned Stellar either. At least not at this point in time. He had nowhere else to go.

So he found himself backed into a corner, as far away from Lacus Clyne as he could get, his arms crossed in front of his chest in a defensive stance.

"Why killing?" She asked again.

Kira shrugged. "Why broadway?" he rebutted, "Why singing and dancing and performing?"

He didn't expect her to answer his question but she did. "I didn't have much of a choice," She smiled, "it came naturally to me." She was amused by his question. Her smile looked completely at odds with her dirt-streaked face and her disheveled pink locks. Kira tried to picture her on stage, an elegant black dress flaunting her perfect figure, its train trailing behind her. Just like the three-storey length publicity poster hanging outside the National Theatre. Her luscious pink hair clean and beautiful, cascading over her bare shoulders, a stray curl brushing against her rosy cheek. Her blue-grey eyes sparkling. Those full lips curling into that same smile. She would look heavenly.

There was something seriously wrong with him.

"So," she said, interrupting his thoughts, "I've answered your question, right? It's only fair that you answer mine. Why killing?"

"I didn't have much of a choice. It came naturally to me," Kira echoed after her. The smile on Lacus' face faded a little. She looked taken aback by his reply. There was a hint of surprise. Maybe disappointment.

Or maybe repulsion.

He looked away from those inquiring, accusatory blue-grey eyes and glanced quickly at his watch. Then he turned on his heel and headed for the door.

"Are you leaving?" Lacus asked surprised, and a little anxious. She could feel him slipping back into his steel armor - cold and distant, losing interest, mind set on something more important. "What if he comes back?" She ventured.

He opened the door and stepped out into the long, dark passageway. It was 9:30 a.m. Thirty-three and a half more hours to go. Time to get back to work. "You'll be fine here," Kira tossed over his shoulder without turning back, then he shut the door and forced himself to walk away.

The voice and laughter had carried down the hallway. The moment the lift doors opened, Athrun had heard it. And recognized it.

And he didn't like it one bit.

Heart sinking, Athrun strode down the corridor briskly, Shinn and Luna struggling to catch up behind him.

"Oh, there you are!"

He stopped dead in his tracks just as he stepped into the department and was caught by surprise when a hand thumped him hard on his back. He whirled around and came face-to-face with Yuna Roma Seiran.

Shit.

"I was wondering why you took so long," Seiran shook his head. There was an obnoxious smirk on his face.

"Traffic," Athrun hissed through his teeth. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly and asked, "What do you want, Seiran?"

The purple-haired man looped around him, slid into an empty cubicle and sank into the leather chair behind the desk. He swung both legs up onto the table and leaned back, wiggling about to get comfortable. Athrun narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. "I don't know," Seiran shrugged and grinned, flashing white teeth at Athrun, "AC Ramius told me to meet her here, but she hasn't turned up yet. Bosses!" He heaved a loud, exaggerated sigh. "They're always making you wait, right?" He grinned at Athrun again.

Athrun didn't reciprocate. With a hand, he swept Seiran's feet off the desk. "Well, make yourself comfortable elsewhere, Seiran," He said mildly, "I'm sorry I can't be a better host, but we've got work to do." He stepped away and turned to Meyrin, who was standing behind her desk with a look of helplessness.

"Don't tell me the crisis you were referring to on the phone was Seiran," he muttered. "You got me out of the theatre just for this?"

Meyrin didn't get a chance to reply because Seiran sat up in the chair suddenly. The springs creaked and protested against the sudden movement. Athrun turned. "The theatre?" Seiran exclaimed eagerly. "Are you talking about the Lacus Clyne case? Man, I heard from the boys downstairs that she got herself kidnapped and when I got up to my office, I saw the file sitting on my desk. Then my secretary told me that AC Ramius wanted to see me up here. Gosh!" He peered at Athrun through small, suspicious eyes. "You screwed it up, didn't you, Zala? That's why AC Ramius wants me to take over the case."

Athrun stared at him in disbelief. No way. There was no way Murrue would be stupid enough to ask an asshole like Seiran to take over the case.

Seiran was an exemplary model of everything a cop shouldn't be. The guy was an absolute idiot – a moron spelled with a capital letter 'M'. He wouldn't have made it so far in the agency if he wasn't the nephew of the Commissioner. And if he didn't have a pack of mules to fix the shit he caused each time.

Athrun clamped his jaw tight together and hissed through his teeth, "Get out of my department and wait elsewhere."

"No can do," Seiran grinned again as he swung his feet back up onto the desk. "AC Ramius' orders. You know I can't disobey them."

"Just get out-"

"Good. You're here too, Detective Zala."

Interrupted, Athrun turned towards the entrance. Murrue Ramius was approaching them with a purposeful stride. "I've got another meeting in ten, so I'm gonna make this real quick." She glanced at Seiran who had bolted from his seat at the first sight of her. "Detective Seiran will be taking over Lacus Clyne's case starting from now. Have you seen the file? I left it on your desk."

"Yes, Ma'am," Seiran gave a mock salute. Athrun stared at him with absolute disdain and her with absolute disbelief. His heart sank and his mind went into overdrive. Yuna Roma Seiran was pure trouble. Putting him in charge of the case meant that Lacus was in danger.

In a lot of danger.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll just get on with briefing my team then," Seiran grinned and took a step towards the entrance but Murrue stopped him with a raised hand. "No need," she said, "this case is top priority right now. There's no time for these niceties. Athrun's team will be backing you up."

Athrun barely registered what she had said, until Shinn exclaimed a loud and blunt, "WHAT?"

"You heard me, Shinn," Murrue turned to him with a no-nonsense look on her face, "Detective Seiran will be your temporary chief for now. Like I said, this case has attracted the attention of the Commissioner and is now top priority. I expect you to do your utmost best to solve the case. I want these perpetrators locked up for good and Lacus safe and sound. Got that?"

"And what am I supposed to do while Seiran takes control over my team?" Athrun demanded.

Murrue turned to him. "Seiran's team is at your disposal, if you require their assistance," she said, "you could make use of the time to catch up on the paperwork and do up your reports."

"That's great," Athrun smiled bitterly, "So I've basically been demoted to a clerk."

"Don't put words in my mouth, Detective Zala," Murrue snapped, glowering at him, "You need to take a time-out, detective." She stared at him long and hard, then turned on her heels and headed for the lift lobby. Athrun chased her out into the corridor. "Ma'am!" He demanded, "I don't understand. You could have assigned any other detective to the case. Why Seiran?"

"Direct orders from the Commisioner, Detective Zala," Murrue glanced over her shoulder at him, an annoyed expression on her face. "Nothing I said could change his mind. He's being pressured to let Detective Seiran have his go at the case." She made a move to press the lift button but Athrun got in her way.

"So give him another case! Why this case in particular?"

"Because there's fame and recognition involved. Lacus is an eminent actress whose father is a billionaire. It's the perfect chance for him to prove himself." Murrue sidestepped him and jammed her thumb into the lift button.

"You're kidding, right?" Athrun asked exasperated. "You can't send a moron like that into the battlefield."

Murrue stood back and stared at him. Her eyebrows were deeply furrowed and there was a hint of impatience and frustration in her eyes. She crossed her wrists and shoved them under Athrun's nose. "Look," she snapped, "my hands are tied too. I can't disobey the Commissioner's orders. When I got the news, I immediately requested that the rest of your team back him up. At least they understand the case. At least they've been following up. Would you rather Seiran brought in his own team of clowns? I don't think so! So I've already done the best damage control I can!"

Athrun opened his mouth to rebuke but he was interrupted by the opening of the lift doors. Murrue shoved past him into the lift and made a stab at the buttons before he could follow her. The doors closed and Athrun was left standing alone in the hallway. The doors didn't open even when he slammed both fists into them.

Author's note: There! What do you think? Hope I haven't lost my touch after this delayed update. Anyway, like I always say, don't forget to review, review, review and let me know what you think? Oh, and a little clarification, Kira is supposed to be around twenty-one or two years old here. I realised that there was some little miscalculation in some of my previous chapters, but hope you'll ignore those errors!