"I'm annoyed that you hesitate to leave," Yamoto teased Mamoru after he got off the phone with Usagi.

Leaning one hip against the desk, Mamoru cocked a smile and said, "Gee, you're right. It's so weird of me to feel a sense of responsibility for my job."

Yamato shrugged dramatically. "That's the benefit of you being like a son to me. I have no problem letting you skip out of work, and no one else sees it as nepotism."

"Okay, Dad," he teased. "What excuse are you going to give anyone not in the know, who asks?"

"You just stepped out to go to the bathroom. It's not like anyone stays down here long, and if they do, I'll just tell them you don't eat enough fiber."

If Mamoru could get paler, he would. "Please tell me that's not really your plan."

"The truth is you'll probably never find out what I say. You won't be here to witness it, and no one is going to ask you about your bathroom habits."

Picking up his things and his suit coat, he said, "Thank you. I needed a bit of a distraction from what's coming." He sighed and looked at Yamato. "She's going to put herself in danger."

Yamato didn't insult him by mentioning she could protect herself. He knew Mamoru believed that now. But he adored her, and there was no instance when he would be okay with any threat to her, no matter the severity.

So what he said was, "You're strong enough to endure this."

"Thank you," Mamoru said, giving him a small grateful smile.

Grandpa Hino grumbled, "What are people going to think of me loitering on the street?"

"I told you not to wear your joso. It's obvious you're a Shinto priest," Saeko said, laughing at him.

"I don't have 'civilian' clothes, not that I was given any time to change." He adjusted his garment and frowned. "I look conspicuous."

She gave him a wry smile, "I guess I have to take you shopping after this. Someone could follow you back to the Shrine, and Jadeite and Rei live there. "

With a large excited smile, he said, "I knew you wanted to get my clothes off me."

That made her laugh so hard that it drew more attention than a priest standing on the sidewalk. "I like you." His quick dirty humor amused her, and she enjoyed being around him. "But if I were trying to get your close off, I wouldn't have to come up with any excuses," she teased back. "I find that all I have to do is tell a man to strip."

He gave her a friendly smile and said, "You're beautiful and a doctor. I'm sure you could get anyone you wanted."

"Speaking of pretty doctors, I have this friend. She's about ten years younger than you and a trauma surgeon —talented hands," she pointed out, laughing. "Can I introduce her to you?"

He patted her on the shoulder. "I can just see it. You're going to be my best friend."

"Thank's Grandpa," she sassed, pleased with his kind words.

"Call me Uncle."

Both their heads shot to look sideways in unison in the direction of the sound of a loud explosion that came from across the street at the new palm reading store. Apparently, the fight had begun.

"Clear the area!" Grandpa Hino yelled out, and he watched as everyone quickly scattered.

Saeko admitted, "Maybe it's a good thing you came dressed for work. People are actually paying attention to you."

Makota bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet in the alley behind the palm reading place. "What has you so excited?" Sapphire asked.

"Something you missed when we went after your brother." She then looked at Rei pleadingly. "Can you blast the door open with fire again?! I loved that part."

It was Jadeite who shook his head and said, "No, we don't want to risk setting the surrounding buildings on fire. I think this will work better." He kicked out, driving the heel of his foot into the door just below the handle.

The force of the blast from the wired door sent them all careening backward. To the vampires and the hybrid, it didn't do much. Luckily Rei, Kunzite, Zoisite, and Nephrite were tucked to the side out of precaution and shielded by the brick wall of the building.

Jadeite didn't fare as well, being the one to trigger the bomb. Rei rushed forward, uncaring of the danger. When she got to him, she collapsed on the ground next to him and cradled his head in her lap.

Horror wracked her body as she surveyed the damage. Blood was everywhere, and she could tell his heartbeat was slowing by just looking. His chest had been ripped open, and his heart was exposed.

She wanted to laugh in Mars's face and slap him. She now knew what he meant when she would suffer a loss. She wouldn't ever carry Jadeite's child. Vampires, now he would be a hybrid, couldn't have babies. Not a bit of that mattered at the moment. All that she gave a damn about was making sure he didn't die.

"Usagi," she whispered into the noise and chaos around her that she didn't even register.

But as she expected, Usagi was instantly by her side. "He needs vampire blood." Before she finished her sentence, Usagi had ripped her wrist open with her teeth and was feeding him blood.

"Mamoru had over twenty-four hours before his werewolf and Vampire sides clashed and tried to kill him. His werewolf side was dormant, though. I still think there's time." She looked over her shoulder at Mamoru and then back at Rei. "But if there isn't, Mamoru will go with you. You'll need the Golden Crystal in him to save Jadeite."

She watched Rei nod, and then she was off. The unspoken communication between her and Mamoru was to confirm that Rei had only to speak his name, and he would have them away from the blast scene and ready for any magic that needed to be done. And it was something he would have done even if he didn't owe Rei his very life.

Zoisite watched over Ami as she entered the building. The stone-cold look of furry on her face excited him. He didn't have time to wonder why when she looked murderous, he found it wildly sexy. Had he stopped to think, he would realize it had to do with her anger over what happened to his packmate. They were a family, and building a life with him excited her.

He wasn't surprised when it was Ami who made it into the main room, heading the first wave of attack. With Minako and Kunzite thinking tactically now that the mission literally exploded in their faces, they had hung back for recognizance.

Usagi and Mamoru were checking on Jadeite, who had been a hair's breadth away from death. More carefully, Shingo, Makoto, and Nephrite had breached the back room, cutting off any means of attack from behind. The screaming that came from the room they were in, and then sudden silence, told her they found people there that were no longer part of the equation.

And so it was that Sapphire and Naru were standing shoulder to shoulder with Ami and Zoisite in the main room. "Double crap," Naru whispered in frustration. The room was full of innocent, mind-controlled people in their teens and early twenties. And they blocked any path or way to attack Balm.

Thinking quickly, Ami snapped a photo and sent it to Usagi. She didn't have enough time to explain but hoped she'd understand.

Then there was a moment of complete silence, and then the mind-controlled hoard screamed out and ran at them, attacking them.

As the humans were biting, kicking, and punching, they deflected everything with their superhuman strength. Still, nothing about being attacked was fun to them. The screaming crescendoed and was almost deafening to their exceptional hearing. So when everyone fell silent and collapsed suddenly, it was shocking to them and their systems.

Ami looked across the room, and Usagi was standing there with Mamoru by her side and Balm's heart in her hand; Balm's dead body was strewn on the floor next to her.

Sapphire said, "Ami, get your mom and her nurse friend to check on those that collapsed and get them home safely. And tell Grandpa Hino that Rei needs him —desperately."

Once the no longer mind-controlled humans were conscious and shown quickly out, Mamoru closed his eyes and listened. "Two more people are here," he whispered.

They heard the snapping of two necks, and then Makoto shouted out, "All taken care of!" There were no more humans left in the building.