Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Abducted ❯ Heroes and Demons ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: Heroes and Demons

 

A/N: We would like to assure you in advance that no actual coffeehouses were demolished during the writing of this fic. Also, we don't own Starbucks; if we did, do you think we'd be writing this stuff?

 

~*~

 

“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws” - Douglas Adams

 

~*~

 

There was nothing to do.

 

Well, there was always the mission reports the SG teams had piled upon his desk, as well as the review for Airman Jeffery Miller that had been sitting upon his desk for well over two months now, but…

 

There was nothing to do.

 

He could always take off the rest of the day, and go fishing. After all, he was the boss now, right?

 

Jack O'Neill sighed, and moved his brass nameplate from one corner of his desk to the other.

 

Brigadier General Jack O'Neill.

 

It looked better where he first had it.

 

“Sir?”

 

Jack blinked once, twice before pushing his chair away from his desk and raising his eyes in an expression of total boredom to the pretty, blue eyed Air Force Lieutenant Colonel that burst into his office with way too much energy. She was holding a manila folder tightly to her chest.

 

“Carter?”

 

“Sir, I think we have a situation.”

 

Those were not words he wanted to hear from Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter --especially when she came barging into his office with a manila folder. In fact, the last time the words "Sir, I think we have a situation" came out of her mouth with a folder in her hands, Anubis was enroute with half his armada to attack the Earth. The result of which was that he had to fill his head with knowledge from one of those dang Ancient head-suckers -again- in order to find a way to fend off the attack.

 

Sure, they did find a massive weapon in Antartica that blew Anubis's goons out of the sky, as well as the gate address for the lost city of Atlantis in the Pegasus galaxy. But Jack had ended up spending a couple of months as a popsicle, until Thor was able to get his little gray butt over to this side of the galaxy and remove all that stuff from his head and take him out of cryofreeze.

 

The upside of it all was that he did get a nice promotion out of it all.

 

Which he didn't really want - except for maybe the parking spot. That was definitely a perk.

 

Oh, and Kinsey had been fired - yeah, that part was pretty cool.

 

“Sir?”

 

Oh. Yeah. Carter.

 

Jack cleared his throat, and with both hands, pushed his chair away from his desk. The wheels didn't work all that well, and they squeaked. Damn Hammond for taking the good chair when he left.

 

“Good morning, Carter. How's Pete?”

 

The blonde team leader of SG1 rolled her eyes at her commanding officer. “He's fine. Sir - we really do have a situation.”

Jack sighed and gave her a long suffering look and motioned with one hand for her to sit, as he used his feet to push the `guest' chair out for her. Let it be known that Jack O'Neill was perfectly capable of being a gentleman.

 

Carter wrinkled her nose in a small show of disapproval, as she tried to find a clean, open spot on Jack's desk to place the folder. After a few moments of deliberation, she finally decided to move the untouched review folder out of the way. Mentally apologizing to - she glanced at the folder she had moved - Airman Miller, she placed her folder in the now open spot.

 

Hadn't Airman Miller been up for review several months ago?

 

She minutely shook her head and cleared her throat.

”These are images that were recently picked up by one of our telemetry satellites currently in orbit over the eastern hemisphere,” she said, her voice controlled and professional.

 

Jack cracked his knuckles and looked at the folder on his desk. If he didn't open it, he could pretend it wasn't there, right?

 

“Sir?”

 

Perhaps not. His right hand approached the folder tentatively, as if it were covered in some deadly bio-agent, and quickly flipped it open.

 

Huh.

 

“Do you mind telling me what I'm looking at, Carter?” He asked with one eyebrow quirked. The picture in front of him didn't resemble anything so much as empty space.

 

“Sir… that was the image transmitted by the satellite four hours ago. Look at the next page.”

 

Jack obediently turned the next page. Ah, now that was something he recognized, but what the hell was it doing here?

 

“That was what the satellite transmitted about a half hour ago, and this one “-- Carter leaned over his desk and flipped the page once more -“was the last image transmitted ten minutes ago.

 

Jack rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he spread out all three images in front of him, moving several SG mission reports out of the way to do so. The first and the third were identical, but the second -

 

The second was an Asgard ship.

 

Huh.

 

“Sir, we have been able to contact Thor, and he did not have knowledge of any Asgard ships in our solar system.”

 

Suddenly Jack was beginning to get a headache.

 

“Well, this,” he said, indicating with his fingers the second picture, “is definitely an Asgard vessel.”

”Yes, Sir, I agree. What's more, based on my interactions with the Asgard, I am led to believe that it is a scientific vessel.”

 

Jack groaned.

”You see, the thing is, I think there must have been a momentary malfunction with the ship's cloaking system, or we would have never picked it up at all. And now that its systems are back online, we have no way of finding it.”

 

Jack banged his head on his desk several times. There was only one Asgard he could think of who would be in Earth's orbit without Thor's knowledge - in an Asgard scientific vessel.

 

And that was a bad thing.

 

“Carter, get Thor back on the communicator thingy he gave us and tell him to get his a—“

 

He didn't even finish his sentence before he was enveloped in a bright light.

 

“Greetings, O'Neill. I'm afraid that we have a situation.”

 

Jack looked at the Asgard High Commander Thor whose ship he was now on, and swore under his breath.

 

“I knew I should have gone fishing.”

 

~*~

Keiko waited until she felt composed enough to face Kurama again before exiting the bathroom. He was there, of course, leaning against the door facing, waiting on her with a great deal of concern in his eyes. Keiko immediately felt bad for making him worry, but she simply hadn't been able to handle being as close to him as she had been earlier, not to mention the way he'd spoken and looked at her. The sultry voice and deep, penetrating gaze, both directed at her had thrown her for a loop.

 

It had all been very surreal.

 

And now he stood there, acting as if nothing had happened at all and she was once again feeling confused and unsure. Had Yusuke been mistaken in thinking that Kurama was interested in her? Had she been a fool to come here with the intent of confessing her own feelings? Had all that had transpired earlier in the kitchen been some sort of vivid daydream on her part?

 

“Keiko?” Kurama's voice stirred Keiko from her inner debate and she turned to look at him warily. “You stayed in the bathroom a considerable amount of time. Are you certain that you are not ill?”

 

Keiko shook her head instantly. “I'm fine, Kurama. I already told you.” Silence followed her assurance and Keiko, not being able to stand it, headed back into the kitchen area and retook her seat at the table. Her cup of tea still sat there, forgotten, and had now grown cold. Kurama took his time as he came in behind her. Should he apologize for his earlier behavior? He did not know, but the way she shifted uncomfortably in her chair as if she did not even want to be in the same room with him now, was causing an ache in his chest.

 

Kurama laid a tentative hand on her shoulder, and she turned her large, startled brown eyes in his direction. His green eyes softened into a look of concern, and he was on the verge of asking her once more what was wrong when there was a knock on his front door. Sighing in exasperation, the red head excused himself from the kitchen, an act that was met by only an awkward nod from Keiko, and retreated to the door to see who his visitor was. He blinked in surprise when he saw Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei all standing on his doorstep.

 

Yusuke pushed himself past Kurama as was normal, while Kuwabara and Hiei patiently waited for him to acknowledge them.

 

“Come on in, Hiei, Kuwabara… Yusuke,” Kurama said, somewhat tiredly. “What brings you here?”

 

The dark haired Reikai Tentai leader smirked at the red head, as he caught sight of a familiar light blue jacket hung on Kurama's coat rack.

 

“Got company, Kurama?” He asked with a smirk. Sure, they had a demon to find and kill, but he couldn't help put in a bit of teasing with his friend and teammate. After all, Kurama owed him one.

 

Kurama cleared his throat, "Actually, yes, Keiko stopped by for a visit. She is in the kitchen as we speak."

 

`Damn,' Yusuke thought to himself with a sigh when Kurama didn't take the bait. He was no fun. Not once in the past four years had he been able to unnerve him. `Well, business it is…'

 

“Well, I hate to interrupt you two and all, but we really have… er… a `situation'.”

 

"Yes, of course." Kurama replied, "But first, Keiko-"

 

“Was just leaving.” Keiko's voice drew everyone's attention to her as she stood in the doorway leading to the kitchen. She walked over to where Kurama stood by the coat rack and reached for her jacket, doing her best to ignore the knowing look Yusuke was sending her way. “I'd better go. You have an assignment and I have finals to study for so... I guess I'll see you later.” Without looking anyone in the eye, Keiko made a quick get away, not giving Kurama a chance to say goodbye.

 

Kurama's eyes followed her movements somewhat longingly; a look that did not go unnoticed by either the smug Yusuke or Hiei. Not for one moment did his eyes leave the retreating back of Keiko as she walked away down the sidewalk. Only once she had rounded the corner and was out of sight, did he turn his full attention back on the other three.

 

“Alright, Yusuke. Tell me, what is this `situation' you speak of?” he asked.

 

“Whaddya doin' looking at Urameshi's girl like that, Kurama?” Kuwabara questioned with accusing eyes, cutting off Yusuke's response to Kurama's question.

 

Yusuke groaned.

 

"Shaddup, Kuwabara, Keiko ain't my girl anymore, so Kurama can look at her however he wants." The dark haired toushin shot a long suffering look at his friend. He and Keiko had been broken up now for what - four months? Leave it to his best friend to forget something like that.

 

Yusuke shook his head and continued.

 

“There are a couple of B class demons that have managed to break through the barrier and are now wrecking havoc over at the new Starbucks. Being that it is in such a populated area, we need to kick their asses as soon as possible. Plan is that you and I take out the demons, Kuwabara rescues the hostages, and Hiei alters their memories and discourages anyone in the vicinity from entering. Ya up for it? Cuz we kinda gotta go…”

 

Kurama responded with a wordless nod and reached to grab his own jacket from the rack. His bright green eyes showed determination, now that he was focusing on their objective.

 

“Let's go.”

 

~*~

 

The ship's computer automatically woke Loki from his regenerative stasis once there was an indication of another Asgard vessel in orbit over the Tau'ri planet. This was not good news. The other vessel should not have been able to detect him with his cloaking system engaged - still, he did not wish to take any chances, considering he was not on good terms with the Asgard High Council at the moment.

 

His newest acquisition was a great discovery for the Asgard on two fronts. Not only did the hybrid provide concrete proof of the continued existence of the Furlings, Loki was convinced that if the hybrid was capable of handling both the consciousness of a Tau'ri as well as a Furling, a clone of such a creature should be able to handle the massive consciousness of an Asgard. Therefore, Loki was not ready to be discovered by the Asgard or SG1 for that matter, nor was he ready to return his subject to the Tau'ri homeworld.

 

His only option would be to take the ship out of orbit for the time being, and put it into hyperdrive. He processed that command to the ship's computer, and put himself back into the regenerative stasis with additional instructions to wake him should anything happen.

 

~*~

 

Kurama could sense Youko's smugness as he gloated over his ingenious plan to take out the ship's cloaking device. Personally, the human half thought he was overdoing it a bit. All he had done after all was spill his drink on what Kurama assumed was the control panel -- a lit up board with opal like rocks positioned on it. Youko scoffed when his human half relayed his opinion.

 

~Really, Shuichi, I doubt you would have thought of such a thing. You have been too preoccupied with that carbon copy of Keiko to think straight.~ Youko stated, a bit miffed that his brilliant idea had been downgraded a bit.

 

The Keiko clone by his side was studying him intently. As of yet he had not offered her any information that could be of any use to Loki. But he was pleasant so far, and not hostile, although he had been a tad bit clumsy in the control room. For a minute there she feared that he may have upset the cloaking system by spilling water all over the control panel. Thankfully, everything was now okay - she made sure of it before they left the control room. Now they were on an observation deck, staring out at the Tau'ri's homeworld.

 

“So, what can you tell me about --” She started to ask when there was a sudden lurch of the ship, causing her to stumble and cut off her question mid sentence. The next thing that she knew, the outside view of the Tau'ri homeworld was replaced with streaks of light that represented the stars and planets as they passed them. The ship had entered hyperspace.

 

She noticed with some concern that Kurama looked a little green.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“I'm… fine.” Kurama managed to say as he struggled to maintain his composure. He was feeling quite ill actually, by both the sudden motion of the ship and the sight of Earth abruptly disappearing from sight. “Would you mind telling me what's going on?” He asked warily. “Why is the ship moving?”

 

“The hyperspace drive has been activated,” she answered calmly, as if she was mentioning the weather or the time of day. “As to why? I'm not really sure, to tell you the truth. I suppose I could see if there is any information in the ship's logs, I guess, it is a bit confusing. I was under the impression that we were going to stay in orbit around the Tau'ri planet until he was done with you.”

 

The Keiko clone put her hand on her chin as if considering something, and then abruptly turned to him once again with wide eyes.

 

“Oh! I bet there was an enemy ship in the vicinity!”

 

Kurama groaned inwardly at this news. ~Was this a part of your `brilliant plan' Youko?'~ He asked the kitsune spirit who suddenly began to seethe.

 

~Shut up, Shuichi!~

 

Honestly, if the situation hadn't been so dour, Kurama would have felt like smirking. But as it was, there was really cause for distress as with every passing second the ship he was currently on was carrying him further and further away from his home. He turned back to the clone.

 

“Perhaps, but why don't you go and check the computer just to make sure, hmm?” He urged.

 

She nodded and led him to the nearest access console. A holoview displayed some information in a language that Kurama could not read, but he definitely understood the significance of the hologram of the large space ship the holoview also displayed.

 

“Well, the good news is that it was not an enemy ship. So you don't have to worry about the Tau'ri planet being attacked again, or anything. But the bad news is that it seems we were detected somehow, and now the Asgard High Commander is looking for us - probably along with SG1. Oh, this is very, very bad. Can't you just tell me what happened to all the Furlings? That way, maybe I can convince Loki to take us back and drop you off. “

 

The mention of Earth being attacked again caught Kurama off guard. When had the planet been attacked in the first place? And what was an SG1 and why would they be after Loki's ship? Questions were beginning to pile up, but everything that Youko had told him earlier about the legends the kitsune had heard in the Makai about these “Furlings” made him reluctant to give forth the information Keiko sought. In the end, Kurama only shook his head. “I am sorry, but I cannot tell you.” He said.

 

The Keiko clone folded her arms and regarded him somewhat sadly.

 

“Well, that is unfortunate, Kurama-san. I really don't see you getting out of here until you do.”

 

Kurama closed his eyes, dismayed at her response, but he really hadn't expected anything else. With a sigh, he reopened his eyes, his gaze returning to the view port and the emptiness of space beyond.

 

~*~

 

Keiko walked passed the houses and small shops that made up Kurama's street, without really knowing where she was headed. She was so… confused for lack of a better word. Did he or did he not like her? Or was his seductive behavior only about - she gulped - sex?

 

Suddenly she felt pretty pissed off.

 

`I bet that was all he wanted, too. He doesn't care for me the same way I care for him. He had a bad day - which he wouldn't even talk to me about -- and I just happened to be there. All he wanted was a little something from me to take the edge off. That bastard!'

 

The thoughts rolling around in her head were definitely not pleasant as she continued to silently question Kurama's motives, and she needed something -anything -- to calm her down.

 

As she rounded the corner, she noticed the brand new foreign coffeehouse. 'When did that go in there? It must have popped up almost overnight!' She mentally observed, as she quirked one eyebrow in surprise.

 

Keiko studied the brand new Starbucks with an air of detached bemusement.

 

`Maybe I should go in and get a latte,' she thought. Certainly a delicious, frothy, caramel latte would definitely hit the spot, and as long as she was thinking about the heavenly beverage warming her belly, than she wasn't thinking about Kurama.

 

No. She was not thinking about Kurama.

 

That bastard.

 

No, definitely not thinking about Kurama. Thinking about a grande caramel latte.

 

With her head held high and with a purpose, Keiko walked over to the Starbucks and entered through the front door -

 

--and was immediately grabbed by a blue demon with three horns.

 

The upside of the situation - if there was an upside - was that she was no longer thinking about Kurama.

 

Now she was thinking about Yusuke, whom she was sure was the reason behind why she was suddenly being held hostage.

 

By a demon.

 

Again.

 

'That bastard.'

 

~*~

 

Kurama followed behind the other three, hands tucked away into his pants pockets as his mind returned to the little scene that had played out in his kitchen just a few short moments ago. Keiko had seemed so flustered and confused, and had almost run over him in her haste to get away, when Yusuke and the others showed up.

 

The red head was so lost in his musings that he failed to notice the hidden looks that Hiei was shooting in his direction. The fire demon knew that the kitsune was distracted, a very dangerous thing for him to be at this point. They were heading into a situation that would inevitably lead to a fight and he did not want the fox hurt.

 

~Hn. Watch yourself, fox. The rest of us are almost there - Kami knows where you are.~ The fire demon prodded mentally. Under the joking sarcasm was a very real hint of concern.

 

`I am here with you, Hiei. You need not worry on my account.' The red head attempted to make his assurance in a joking manner.

 

The fire demon just quirked an eyebrow at this, but did not respond. He didn't have time to. For as soon as they turned the corner at the end of Kurama's street, they were in front of the coffeehouse.

 

“When did that go in?” Kurama mused aloud, earning himself a strange look from Yusuke.

”Dude - you're the one that lives here,” the detective responded, as he started to crack his knuckles in anticipation of the fight.

 

Hiei jumped immediately in front of the building, and took off his bandana. The result was almost instantaneous. Other than their own group, no one on the street was even looking in the direction of the coffeehouse anymore. In fact, several people even turned away, as if they suddenly remembered they had something more important to do.

 

Kuwabara and Yusuke flanked Kurama, as the three of them prepared to enter.

 

“Now, you guys know what ya gotta do, right? Kuwabara, you get the customers out of there. Kurama, your with me. Ready?”

 

Kurama nodded, following Yusuke into the coffeehouse, his hand instinctively going up to his hair and with a sweeping motion withdrew the rose hidden there. He held the small flora before him in preparation to transform it when it came time to do battle.

 

Inside the coffeehouse, the scene was utter chaos. One employee - apparently the manager -- was dead behind the counter, having been viciously eviscerated. The remaining employees and customers had all been herded against one wall like cattle, and were shivering in utter terror.

 

The blue haired demons were both about seven feet tall, and each one had a large horn protruding from the center of their forehead in between two smaller ones.  Their arms were almost obscenely large and muscular in proportion to the rest of their bodies, and terminated in large hands tipped with deadly sharp claws.  They turned to snarl at the newcomers, baring large pointed fangs in the process.

 

Both demons were heavily armed. The demon on the right was wielding two kodachis, and had a weapon that looked like a mace strapped to his side. The other demon was wielding a katana with one hand, while his other hand -

 

Kurama felt his blood begin to burn.

 

His other hand was wrapped around a whimpering Keiko.

 

“Oh, shit!”

 

Yusuke's muttered curse was heard only vaguely as Kurama felt the beginnings of a murderous rage building up inside of him. He knew it was unwise to go charging in, however, the simple sight of Keiko in that hideous creature's clutches pissed him off royally.

 

With a loud cry and more emotion than he had ever shown before in a fight, he rushed forward to attack the demon who had a strangle hold on his would-be girlfriend.

 

“Rose Whip!” he shouted out, as he held the rose tightly in his hand. He was so hell bent on utterly decimating the lower class demon who would dare to lay a hand on what was his, that he did not even bother to glance at his hand to make sure that the transformation of the rose into his signature weapon was successful.

 

“OH SHIT!” Came Yusuke's cry from the side. Yusuke, who had been successfully dodging the attacks of the other demon while landing several heavy blows of his own, had briefly glanced in Kurama's direction and was thunderstruck by what he saw.

 

Kurama was launching himself headfirst towards a demon holding not only Keiko, but a very sharp katana, with his… rose?

It briefly registered that for some reason, Kurama's whip didn't work, and that his red haired friend was going to be very dead very quickly if he didn't do something.

 

“Shit. SHIT! KURAMA YOU BAKA - GET OUTTA MY WAY!” He shouted, as he indicated to Kuwabara -- who had been leading some of the customers towards the door - to take over the fight with the demon he had been beating into a bloody pulp.

 

The blue demon was looming closer, and in some small part of Kurama's mind, the fact that he did not appear to be concerned at all started to register. What's more, the demon looked almost… amused as he came rushing towards him with his…

 

Oh.

 

Oh Shit.

 

He vaguely heard Yusuke's shout, as he feinted at the last moment to the right. A step further would have had him impaled upon the demon's blade. As he fell to the ground and faltered, he could barely even look at Keiko, who was watching him with a mixture of horror and concern. He had failed, he had utterly and completely failed and now the one he… loved was going to die and it was all his fault and -

 

“SPIRIT GUN”

 

Yusuke had nodded towards Keiko before even launching the shot and his ex-girlfriend knew him well enough to know what was coming. As soon as he raised his hands, she managed to distract the demon by stomping on one of its large, hairy feet, and then she twisted out of its grasp -- leaving Yusuke a clear target for his Spirit Gun.

 

The resulting shot had thrown the demon back about ten feet and had totally decimated the espresso maker behind the counter.

 

When the very real smoke cleared, and both demons were out for the count, Yusuke walked over to the demoralized Kurama.

 

“Kurama - what the fuck just happened?!?”