InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Agent Under Fire ❯ Chapter 8 ( Chapter 9 )

Agent Under Fire

A/N: So my updates will probably be slowing down for the next few days, it's gonna be a busy week. I thought I should let faithful readers know in advance that I'll be going away on the 27th of June and won't be back till July 5th. But, I will be bringing a notebook with me and I plan on writing a bit during my free time. So who knows? I may come back with a few chapters to update with. Anyway, I'll try to get the story moving along as far as possible before I leave. Because, honestly, I want to know what's going to happen next as much as you do! So here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Inu & Co.

Chapter 8

They pulled up to a large house, well calling it a house would not do it justice, they pulled up to a mansion about a half an hour later. There was a gate surrounding the house and the length of it was covered with reporters and news vans. Inuyasha pulled the Jeep up across the street and walked over to the gate where security guards loomed.

"Hey Vince," Inuyasha said approaching one of the men wearing a dark suit, sunglasses, and an earpiece.

"Hey, Yasha," the man said never breaking his stern look. "I can't let you in."

"You will let me in, though, Vince. FBI," Inuyasha said pulling out his badge as Kagome did the same.

"Come on, Yasha. Instructors don't count as real FBI," the man said laughing slightly.

Kagome could see Inuyasha visibly stiffen and she took that as her cue to step up.

"Hi, um, Vince was it? I'm agent Higurashi, FBI. This man here is agent Taisho, my partner. So I suggest you let us through the gate before I have you taken into custody for disrespecting a government official," she declared, her voice strong and confident.

The guard visibly gulped, "This way ma'am. I'll take you two through the guard booth that way none of the other bozos gets through."

"Thank you, Vince," Kagome said flashing him her agent's smile. The smile said, `Turn on me again and I'll kick your ass!'

The two made their way through the guard booth and up the driveway. Kagome started for the front door when Inuyasha grabbed her hand.

"Come on, Kagome. We'll go in my way," he said smirking at her.

"I thought you said you only visited once in awhile?" she asked him raising an eyebrow.

"Well, enough that I got to know the staff and my way around," he answered, leading them around to the side of the property. Entering a side door they found a kitchen and made someone yelp at their entrance.

A small boy with reddish-brown hair and big green eyes turned around quickly when he heard the door, a cookie in his hand. He was wearing tiny brown pants and a green patterned top with a matching brown vest, and his hair was pulled back into a fluffy ponytail.

"Inuyasha!" the boy exclaimed bounding towards the man, "I thought you were Kaede back from the garden. She told me not to have any more cookies or I'd spoil my dinner!"

"This is where you visit your great-aunt?" Kagome wondered, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at her partner.

"Yeah, well. Sess has the room and all and Kaede likes being around family," Inuyasha responded focusing his attention back to the boy.

"Hey, Shippo," he said, bending down and placing him on his shoulder, "Kagome. This is Shippo. Shippo this is my friend from work, Kagome."

"Nice to meet you, Shippo," Kagome smiled up at him. "You know, you're much cuter than your Uncle Inuyasha."

Inuyasha frowned at her and Shippo laughed, "Oh! He's not my Uncle! Although I am cuter!"

"Watch it brat!" Inuyasha barked at him and Shippo bit his head playfully. Turning his frown back to Kagome he saw she was stifling a giggle and losing the battle. He placed the young boy down and gave him a swat on the bottom to get him to go play. When the child bounded off Inuyasha turned to Kagome and said quietly, "Shippo was orphaned and Kaede couldn't resist that face."

"I can see why. The poor thing," Kagome said looking down the hallway where the child had run off.

"Plus Sess thought Rin needed a play pal. So when Kaede moved in it was the perfect set up," Inuyasha said, his eyes darkening a bit at the mention of his niece. "Come on Kagome. Let's go find Senator Fluffy."

They had barely set foot in the corridor when they saw the toad-like man from the newscast hurrying their way.

"Jaken, what's the rush?" Inuyasha asked the man. The man stopped so quickly he almost skidded into the pair.

"Inuyasha! I thought you were never going to come and visit again?" the man asked scowling. "Senator Taisho does not wish to see you."

"Shove it, Jaken. I'm here to help find Rin," Inuyasha said sweeping past the short man, dragging Kagome by the hand behind him.

"Sesshoumaru will not be pleased by this unexpected visit from his half-breed brother," Jaken said behind him.

Inuyasha spun around so quickly he startled Jaken into yelping. Pinning the short man against the corridor wall Inuyasha growled, "You will not speak to me this way again. I could care less what Sesshoumaru thinks of me. I'm here because of Rin, only Rin, and if you forget your place again I'll have you locked away for decades with our top 10 most wanted." He let go of Jaken just to see him crumple to the ground. Kagome squeezed the hand she had never let go of and got Inuyasha's attention.

Walking down the corridor she asked, "Who was that?"

"Jaken, Sesshoumaru's `yes' man," Inuyasha ground out through gritted teeth.

"Taisho, you have to calm down. If you go storming in there he'll be of no help to you," Kagome told him.

The corridor opened up to the most beautiful house Kagome had ever seen. Ceilings so high one could get a cramp looking up at them, crystal chandeliers hanging in every room, paintings by prestigious artists hung on every wall, and furniture that was so pristine Kagome doubted that anyone ever sat on them.

A woman in a charcoal gray suit was descending the stairs. Her black hair was pulled into a bun with a hairclip featuring a small feather, and her magenta eyes had a saddened look to them. Looking up she saw the two agents standing in the foyer.

"Oh, Inuyasha. I don't think the senator was expecting a visit from you," the woman said.

"No. I doubt he was. We're here to get information about Rin. We're going to work on the case to find her. Kagura this is agent Higurashi, my partner," he said pushing Kagome slightly forward for the introduction. Kagome extended her hand and the woman shook it smiling.

"My name's Kagura. I'm the senator's personal assistant. Pleased to meet you," she said letting go of Kagome's hand.

"Pleased to meet you as well, Kagura. Please call me Kagome. We came to speak with the senator and anyone who may have any helpful information regarding his daughter's disappearance. We're trying to work as quickly as possible," Kagome said.

"We'll help out as best we can, but I can't promise that the senator will speak to anyone. He's been a recluse since this whole episode began," Kagura explained. "But I can show you to the girl's bedroom if you like. That's where she was abducted. Perhaps there will be something there?"

"Thank you, Kagura. That would be most helpful," Kagome said, following the woman back up the stairs. Kagome glanced back to Inuyasha and his eyes were betraying his face, which was set into a mask. He was hurting and going into his niece's room would probably not help.

"Inuyasha, I'd like to you stay outside her room. I'll go in and check for anything that may help us in our search," Kagome said lightly touching his arm. He nodded silently and followed behind the two women to the girl's bedroom.

Kagome went quietly into the room and closed the door so Inuyasha wouldn't have to suffer any memories of the lost girl. The room was most definitely the room of a senator's daughter. A pink canopy bed was set in front of an enormous bay window and stuffed animals lined many shelves that were up on pink walls. The room had been left exactly as it was from the moment she was last in it, Kagome guessed, for clothes, toys, and books were thrown around the room. Kagome pulled out a pair of rubber gloves from her trench coat and set about looking for clues. She moved over to the bed, guessing that the girl had been abducted while asleep, and found the sheets in a heap by the foot of the bed. The girl had struggled. Good for you, Rin, Kagome thought.

She found she couldn't get to the bay window without climbing over the bed and she tried to get there without disturbing anything. She pulled back the pink sheer curtains and stopped suddenly. There was a muddy leaf near the windowsill. Kagome pulled out an evidence bag from her pocket and was about to place the leaf inside when, "What do you think you are doing?" bellowed a man from behind her.

Kagome jumped from the sound and turned around to find the tall man with long silver hair and golden eyes from the newscast earlier glowering at her. Inuyasha had heard the yell from the hallway and opened the door to find the same scene.

"I told you, no reporters! And here I find you sneaking around my daughter's room?" he nearly screamed. He reached for her, probably to throw her out of the room, when Inuyasha's brain kicked in.

"Don't even touch her, Sesshoumaru!" he yelled from the doorway. Sesshoumaru stopped and turned at the familiar voice.

"Inuyasha? You brought this wench in here?" he questioned. "I thought you cared for Rin, and now I see you only want to help out the enemy. Is she paying you?"

"Shut up, Sesshoumaru!" Inuyasha said through gritted teeth. "And fucking step away from her." His eyes grew dark with rage like they had the previous night. "Don't even fucking look at her."

Kagome had found her voice after watching the scene. Gods, Kagome, could you act anymore helpless? You're a big girl!

"Excuse me, Senator Taisho," causing the older man to turn around, "My name's Kagome Higurashi. I'm an agent sent from the FBI. Inuyasha and I are partners. We only came to see if we could help find your daughter. I came in to examine the room and found this on the windowsill. I think it may be from the abductor." She spoke calmly though her heart felt like it was jumping out of her chest. This man scared her, and she didn't know why.

The Senator's eyes widened when she said they were with the FBI and if possible, widened even more when she mentioned she had found something.

"I'm sorry, agent, Higurashi was it? The press has been vicious and my daughter was the only thing I had in this world," Sesshoumaru said his face returning to the cold mask he had worn on the TV earlier that day.

"I can understand how upset you've been, senator, but we're only here to help. If you would be of help to us we'd like to start our search for your daughter as soon as possible," Kagome continued.

Sesshoumaru looked to Inuyasha who had crossed his arms across his chest and was scowling at his brother.

"And you, Inuyasha, are okay with this search?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Of course I am," he snapped out whispering something close to "idgit" under his breath, "I love Rin. We need to get this bastard before he hurts her!"

"Well then it's agreed!" Kagome cheered from the window. "You both want to find her and obviously care about her equally. So you, Senator, will help us with information and we, Inuyasha and myself, will search for her in exchange."

"Agreed," Sesshoumaru said sweeping by Inuyasha to exit the girl's bedroom, "Is she always this peppy Inuyasha?"

"She's just trying to light the spitfire," he grumbled at his half-brother. When Kagome caught his eye, he winked at her.

After bagging the evidence Kagome and Inuyasha met with Sesshoumaru in his office. "Senator Taisho, we know this has been difficult for you but we'd like you to tell us what happened this morning. Who found out about the abduction? Would you have any enemies? Anything of the sort?" Kagome asked pulling out a small notepad to take notes on.

Sesshoumaru took a deep breath before answering, "I was the one that found her room empty this morning. I wake her up every morning so we can have breakfast together. It's usually the only time I can spend with her," he said looking down to his lap. "I haven't touched her room. Can't bring myself to move anything around. As for enemies, agent Higurashi, senators tend to have many enemies. Anyone who doesn't like what I've voted for in the senate or someone who liked the other guy in the election, it happens all the time."

"Was there a note, Sess?" Inuyasha asked his brother, moving forward in his chair.

"Now that you mention it, there was something on her pillow this morning. Not a note, per say, but maybe it's something," Sesshoumaru said getting up from his desk. "I'll go get it for you. Excuse me a moment."

When he had left the office Kagome turned towards Inuyasha. He had a scowl on her face and she asked, "Do you have any ideas, Inuyasha?"

"I just have an awful feeling that it's the same son of a bitch we've been tracking," he said turning to stare out the window.

Sesshoumaru returned quickly and Kagura followed him into the office carrying a tray of tea for everyone. "I thought you'd all like some tea. The Senator usually takes a cup at this time anyway," Kagura stated placing the tray on the desk. "Would you like some, Kagome?"

"Thank you. That would be nice," she answered. "Um, Kagura? Could you think of any possibilities? Anyone that would want to harm the Senator or his daughter?"

The woman shook her head, "I've been trying so hard to think of someone. Rin was such a happy girl. No one would ever want to harm her. But I'd be lying if I said there hadn't been those in the past that threatened Senator Taisho."

"Have any ever sent messages? Written threats? Emails?" Kagome pressed.

"Oh, no, nothing like that, only those that would yell during rallies," she said, handing her a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Kagura, especially for the tea," Kagome said smiling.

"That will be all, Kagura. I want you to set up a press conference. Perhaps if he knows we have the FBI on our side and searching, he'll be quick to return Rin safely," Sesshoumaru instructed his assistant. "Here's what I found in Rin's room this morning."

He handed Inuyasha a piece of white paper no bigger than a post-it. He looked at it briefly before handing it over to Kagome to put into another evidence bag. There was one word typed on it in neat block letters: FEAR.

Kagome's mind begin turning. Fear? That was it? Why Rin? What's the connection between her, Daughter Congressman, and Kikyou? What's he playing at? Is it a game for him?

"I bet if we send that to Forensics they'll find his tag," Inuyasha commented, lifting Kagome from her thoughts.

Sesshoumaru bristled, "What do you mean his tag? Has he done this before?"

"You know I can't tell you that, Sess. But what I can tell you is that we'll find Rin. Alive," he ground out the last word as if he were swearing his life on it.

"We'll do our best, Senator Taisho. I can't thank you enough for meeting with us today," Kagome said standing up and extending her hand. Sesshoumaru gripped it firmly and gave her a smirk that could almost be mistaken for a smile.

"I can see why Inuyasha was so quick to make the jump to agent, Ms. Higurashi," he said quietly.

"That's agent Higurashi, Senator. But thank you," she said releasing his hand. The two brothers merely nodded at each other.

Walking to the door Sesshoumaru's voice stopped them, "Inuyasha?"

"Yeah, Sess?" he asked turning.

"I'm sure Kaede would like to see you at dinner Friday night. Agent Higurashi the invitation stands for you as well," he said still holding that cold stare.

Inuyasha started to shake his head and answer in the negative when Kagome interrupted him, "That would be lovely, Senator Taisho. Thank you so much for the invitation. We both will be there."

Before Inuyasha could open his mouth to protest, Kagome was dragging him down the hall and down the stairs. They passed quickly through the corridor and the kitchen that they came in through and were out the door before Inuyasha's brain had even processed what she had just done.

"Wench! How could you have possibly accepted his invitation?" Inuyasha shouted at her.

"You know my name, Taisho, and `wench' is not it!" Kagome shouted back at him. "Besides, it seemed to me that he wants to patch things up with you. Rin's kidnapping has obviously hit him hard, not just you, and you should be there for your brother!"

"Whatever, Higurashi," he said moping back down the driveway to the guard booth.

"Inuyasha? Is that ye?" called an older woman's voice from behind them.

Inuyasha and Kagome both turned around to see an aged woman with a basket of herbs in her hands, standing in the middle of a beautiful garden next to the house.

"Kaede-baba," Inuyasha called to the old woman. He jogged over to where the old woman stand and reached down and hugged her quickly. "Kaede, this is Kagome Higurashi, my partner."

Kagome walked up to the two in the garden, "It's so nice to meet you, Kaede-sama."

"Oh, please. Drop the `sama' I may be an old woman but ye can have the privilege of calling me Kaede-baba as well. After all you're Inuyasha's partner," Kaede said, emphasizing the word `partner'.

The two agents blushed and Inuyasha coughed and said, "We're work partners, you old hag!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome exclaimed giving him a disapproving look.

"Do not worry, child. It's an old sentiment from the demon ye know as Inuyasha," Kaede said smiling. Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the old woman. "Inuyasha? Will you come and have dinner with me this Friday?"

"Oh, we've already accepted the invitation from Senator Taisho!" Kagome answered cheerfully.

"Ye have?" Kaede asked incredulously looking at Inuyasha. He had crossed his arms and was looking to the distance as was becoming his usual habit.

"We have," answered Inuyasha, muttering `hag' under his breath, "Now if you don't mind Kaede, we'll head back to work now."

"Don't let an old woman keep ye from such important things as this. Ye will help Inuyasha. Won't ye?" she asked looking up at him.

"Of course, Kaede-baba. This will all be over soon," he said leaning down to hug her again. "Oh and Kaede? Shippo's been sneaking cookies again ya better keep an eye on the little brat!"

"I'll do my best child!" she called as they walked down the driveway.

A few minutes later when they had worked their way passed the guard booth and turned down a dozen reporters with `no comment' Kagome turned to Inuyasha in the car, "You're really sweet with her, you know that?"

"Who?" Inuyasha asked, although he already knew whom she was referring to.

"Kaede. It's amazing how you can be sweet and an ass all in the same sentence to her," Kagome said smirking at him.

"I try," he said. "Hey, it's almost lunch time. Want to grab something on the way back?"

"Something quick. I've been out of the office way too much this week already and its only Wednesday! I don't even want to imagine how much paperwork is awaiting my arrival back to the office," she groaned.

"How `bout burgers and fries?" Inuyasha suggested at which Kagome's stomach gave a small growl.

"Okay. But in all seriousness we got to stop going out for lunch. Pretty soon I won't be able to make it through the field course! I'll be demoted to desk jockey, `Diagnosis Takeout!'" she exclaimed. Inuyasha just shook his head, rolled his eyes, and drove off.

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Hey y'all! There's Chapter 8! Hope you all like. I introduced some familiar faces to the story. Let me know what you think! R&R! B.I.G.