InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Archangel ❯ Operation Fallen Angel ( Chapter 4 )

The Archangel

By; Undecidedly Certain

Chapter 4

Operation Fallen Angel

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New York City; 42 East 64th Street

The Copal Lounge

Saturday, June 18th , 6:45 pm Easter Pacific Time

The gentle clinking of ice in her glass did little to calm her frazzled nerves as Ami, Yuka, and Eri continued to ooh and ahh over her engagement ring and randomly call out suggestions for wedding plans. Big gaudy dresses, tons of candles and fake flowers, and of course at least a dozen brides maids and groomsmen. Just what every girl wants.

Every girl but Kagome. She wanted a simple wedding, maybe on the beach at sunset. She tried to tell them that, but they just laughed. Apparently they thought she was joking.

In all honesty, Kagome would rather be on her way to her mothers right now, and that was saying a lot because she hated driving. The twelve hour drive to her mothers was hell especially since she had to go alone. She had been fortunate lately, the last two times she had visited her mother and grandfather in Michigan Sesshou had gone with her and even though he wasn't really much of a talker he was an incredible listener.

One of their favorite past times was to cuddle up in the bulky, over stuffed recliner in the living room near the balcony and spend hours with a good book. They would take turns reading aloud to each other. Kagome did most of the reading even though she preferred it when he read to her. His voice was so warm and soothing, but she always ended up falling asleep.

"Oh Nina is just going to die!" Yuka squealed, her vindictive delight obvious to everyone within a hundred mile radius. It effectively snapped Kagome out of her gentle contemplation as she tore her eyes from the small glass of wine, with ice. Inuyasha would laugh at her if he saw her with ice in her wine. She could just hear it now.

`It ain't scotch wench, what the hell you putting ice in it for?'

She giggled faintly at the thought, completely oblivious to the looks she was receiving from her eerily quiet friends.

"Oh she's got it bad." Eri teased.

"I think its sweet!" Ami cooed.

"I still can't believe she turned down Hojo." Yuka shook her head sadly as if watching someone throw a perfectly good filet minion to the dogs. Her chin was rested on her fist as she stared off into space.

Three sets of eyes snapped to Yuka so fast it was a wonder none of them got whiplash.

"What?" Yuka asked innocently sitting up straighter.

"I can't believe you brought that up." Eri scolded lightly.

"Really," Ami agreed, "this is Kagome's congratulations on your engagement party and your bringing up ex- flames. How tacky Yuka."

Hojo Perdue. Kagome's over enthusiastic suitor all through high school with slightly stalker-ish tendencies. She only actually went out on about a handful of dates with the poor boy, mostly out of pity. Even though she usually turned him down as politely as she could, he faithfully asked her out at least twice a week.

Kagome rolled her eyes as her friends continued to rake Yuka over the coals for bringing him up. She personally didn't see the big deal, he wasn't that cute. Besides Sesshou scared him away once and for all when they started dating. When he said he didn't like to share he wasn't lying. Inu's were notoriously territorial.

"Oh! I love this song!" Eri squealed jerking Kagome up out of her seat and earning herself a startled yelp.

"Uh, Eri, I'm really not in a dancing mood…" Kagome tried to pry away from the vice grip her friend had on her arm as she was dragged toward the dance floor.

"Nonsense." Ami reprimanded taking up her other arm. "We're here to celebrate, and we can't do that if you're being an old stick in the mud."

"Yeah, loosen up girl." Yuka added giving her a gentle push from behind.

Kagome's head dropped in defeat. There was no way she was going to be able to get away from them anytime soon. Maybe if she just went along with their twisted little game they would let her go soon.

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New York City; 43 East 64th Street

Onigumo Grand Hotel and Suites, Freight Elevator

Saturday, June 18th , 8:05 pm Easter Pacific Time

A cheesy orchestrated version of Elvis' `Jail House Rock' was playing over the speakers in the elevator bringing a smirk to Sesshoumaru's face. He always said that Onigumo had no taste, and this just proved it. He stood at the back of the small box nearly invisible to the eye. He would be completely imperceptible to any security cameras, a major plus. The suit gave him the ability to walk around freely and undetected. It also bought them some time.

"Ok," Shippo's voice crackled though the mic, "There should be a panel on the left side of the ceiling. Shouldn't be too hard to open and it will give you free access to the elevator shaft. The blue prints show a ladder descending, but they don't show how far exactly they go."

"We'll just play it by ear then." Sesshoumaru jumped up, pushing the emergency hatch open and pulled himself up through the opening, the muscles in his arms rippling as they tensed to support the weight.

Once on top of the car he could see the ladder descending into the darkness of the elevator shaft. Thick cords and pulleys were attached to the car itself near his feet, the thick gray steel blending in with the darkness around him.

This was where being Youkai really came in handy. With his Inu blood he could see better in the dark than any human with night vision goggles. Oh, and there was also the super human strength and speed, but that was a given.

Sesshoumaru swung himself around and started to stealthily climb down the thin metal ladder, quite nearly tempted to just grab the sides of it and slide down. If he knew that it wouldn't just end abruptly after sublevel 2 he would go for it, but even a Youkai would have a hard time walking away from a hundred foot drop onto concrete.

"Ok Sesshoumaru, you're just passing Sublevel two so watch your footing." Shippo's voice came through the mic. No sooner than the words floated to his ears that Sesshoumaru's foot met air.

So Shippo had been right, the ladder did end after the last legally recorded level of the building. No problem really, just a small setback.

Sesshoumaru pulled a small black hand grip from his belt, it almost looked like a thick set of brass knuckles, but when he pressed the small release button on the side a tiny grappling hook shot out twining itself tightly around the bottom rung of the ladder. The thin wire looked no thicker than fishing wire, but it was tested and could hold up to two tons for a reasonable amount of time.

After adjusting his grip on the handle Sesshoumaru gracefully pushed off from the ladder and began to rappel down the wall in long graceful arcs, his feet barely making a sound as they hit the wall.

"Shippo, I am approaching the doors to sublevel 3." Sesshoumaru said calmly as his feet quietly touched the sliding metal doors that opened up to the 3rd sub level.

"Ok, your best bet is going to be to enter through here. From our scans it looks like there is a stair case leading to the last sublevel where the freezer unit is. That's going to be our best bet on finding the Archangel."

Sesshoumaru gave a curt, determined nod, though it was pretty pointless since Shippo couldn't see him. Lowering himself lightly to balance on the narrow ledge before the doors, Sesshoumaru pulled out a long, thin, cylindrical piece of wiring and slid it between the doors.

"Shippo, switch visual to the optic cable." Sesshoumaru whispered lowly. He felt a small current of energy from his left eye before his vision blurred. He closed his eyes and could see the data from the optical cable through the projector in the lens.

Sesshoumaru watched from an ants point of view as two guards came around the corner in fully black stealth camo carrying what looked to be illegally modified AK47's. He sat quietly, the optical cable automatically bending to follow their retreat around the corner.

The hallway itself was pretty sterile looking. White walls, white floor, white ceiling. The only color at all was a thin chrome piping that ran along at about waist length like a metallic chair molding. There were white security cameras set up about every six feet rotating back and forth in sync, but those wouldn't be a problem considering that he was wearing the stealth suit. He would blend so seamlessly with the walls the camera's wouldn't be able to pick him up at all.

That was the easy part. It was those guards that were going to give him trouble. He had to time their rounds and ascertain exactly how many were on the floor. Perhaps Shippo would be able to tell from thermal scans a round about number of bodies he would have to account for.

"I need a body count." He turned the optic cable once more as the set of guards rounded the corner once more. Three minutes, that's not long. That brought up the possibility of more posts set up around the floor, which meant more guards in turn leading to a higher body count.

Of course in situations like these fatalities were not an issue, but sometimes it was easier not to kill, as dubious as that may seem.

Shippo's voice crackled through the microphone sending a faint metallic twinge through Sesshoumaru's molar. It was an odd tingling sensation and Sesshoumaru had to squeeze his eyes shut to focus himself and resist the urge to bite down and destroy the little piece of machinery.

"From what I can tell from the security cameras and thermo scans there are only about a dozen guards on that level. I can't really decipher body heat on the lower level because of the sub-zero storage unit and if there are any security camera's down there I haven't been able to patch into them."

`Only a dozen' Sesshoumaru thought wryly. Normally a dozen guards would be nothing, but digression was the key in this situation. He had to get in, destroy the Archangel, then he could blow the place to hell if he wanted. Of course there were still all the civilians in the upper building to account for, most of whom were innocents.

Once the guards made their next pass Sesshoumaru sprung into action. Using the flat edge of the slim, black stealth dagger he kept tucked in his boot he pried the doors open and silently slipped into the hall.

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New York City; 42 East 64th Street

Copal Lounge Dance Hall

Saturday, June 18, 7:55pm

The music pounded around her in a syncopated beat, the base reverberating out of the huge speakers making her whole body thrum with the rhythm. It was really quite deafening and Kagome was starting to feel a little claustrophobic, not to mention the tubby guy with the bad hair piece that kept trying to catch her eye.

Yuka and Eri had paired up with the first couple of single guys that came their way while Ami was contented to perform her version of what looked like a neurotic pee-pee dance in the middle of the floor. Everyone seemed to be keeping their distance for fear of getting whapped by one of her wildly flailing arms.

Now that she really thought about it, she kind of looked like that giant flailing balloon thing outside of the Sprint Wireless store.

Kagome was left to mingle amongst the crowd, trying desperately to blend in enough to not be noticed while still staying detached from the crowd. She was more than ready to go, but couldn't seem to pull any of her friends out of the crowd long enough to tell them she was leaving. She didn't want to just disappear on them, Ami would panic and call the police, Eri would call Inuyasha (just because her sudden disappearance would be a good excuse), and Inuyasha would call Sesshou who would not at all be pleased about her still being in the city.

Still, this really sucked. A couple of drunk girls knocked into her from behind, their abhorrent giggling as they noticed Kagome's drenched top from where her drink had spilled on impact was almost enough to send her over the edge. She was hot and tired, her head was pounding, and now her shirt was drenched in luke warm beer.

Just as she was about to storm out and call a cab two sets of hands grabbed her and pulled her out onto the dance floor. She nearly shrieked in fright until she noticed it was just Eri and Yuka.

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New York City; 43 East 64th Street

Onigumo Grand Hotel and Suites, Stairwell between Sublevel 2 and 3

Saturday, June 18th, 8:20 pm Eastern Pacific Time

Getting through the first of the two uncharted sublevels had proved to be anticlimactic at best. It was almost disappointing, he had hoped for his last mission to at least be somewhat challenging. He simply knocked the two guards on tour out with a simple hit to the pressure point at the back of their necks. All the other guards on the floor were conveniently huddled around a card table at the back playing poker.

He simply tossed in one of the cufflinks he'd pocketed into the room and watched them all slump against the table before any of them could even recognize the threat.

The only real problem he ran into was the retinal scan that had to be passed in order to gain access to the stairwell. He'd had to hold one of the sleeping guards up to it and pry his eye open manually. Loathsome business really, the eagle Youkai had the strong smell of Tequila on him, it was quite nauseating.

"I am approaching the last sublevel door." Sesshoumaru whispered in the empty hall, his voice echoing slightly against the concrete walls and floor.

"I'm with ya." Shippo replied, his voice a bit staticky due to layers of concrete and steel between him and ground level, but the nervous tension was still easily recognizable in his clipped tones.

The door itself was not much to look at. A plain steel door, almost hatch like in appearance, with the an ominous black spider emblazoned on the slate gray.

Sesshoumaru slipped the optical cable under the door and Shippo switched his lens camera on. Sesshoumaru grunted in displeasure at the room beyond the door.

The floor was black and slick as ice, most likely pressure sensitive when activated. Hopefully Shippo would be able to bypass that easy enough. The real problem lie with the chris-crossing lasers covering the floor. Were they just simple alarm tripping beams it wouldn't have been a problem, but these were glowing a soft blue and crackled slightly with energy.

Purity beams. So Onigumo has a Miko at his disposal does he. Very interesting. That would work to fend against most Youkai invaders, but not this Sesshoumaru. He was a tai, not to mention he was wearing the chameleon suit which, among its other attributes, could repel almost anything, miko purity included up to a certain extent. So long as he didn't come into contact with more than one beam at once he would be fine.

As soon as Shippo by passed the security code and deactivated the pressure sensitive floor Sesshoumaru entered the room.

"Ok, we've got exactly five minutes starting now until the pressure sensitivity in that floor reactivates so lets make this quick and thorough." Shippo's voice crackled.

"Don't I always." Sesshoumaru stated with cool indifference.

Sesshoumaru looked around with a mix of awe and disgust. This was certainly the most extensive bio lab he had ever seen owned by a private sector. Of course that didn't necessarily mean that Onigumo was in collaboration with Naraku, but it didn't bode well for him either.

After all, how many upstanding businessmen and rising politicians have secret biological testing labs in their basements.

There was a long stainless steel countertop unit running down the middle of the room, heavily laden with microscopes, beakers, Bunsen burners, and slides. A large refrigeration unit lined one wall that Sesshoumaru set his sights on and carefully made his way over to.

What he found was enough to make his stomach curl.

"Shit. Shippo, are you getting this?"

"Y-Yeah." came the shaky reply.

In the long refrigeration unit were hundreds of neatly labeled cultures and vials. Polio, Small pox, E-coli, Diphtheria, and West Nile to name a few, and those were only the homo-genus diseases. There was a whole section full of viruses potent enough to bring even the heartiest of Youkai to their knees, or more appropriately their caskets.

"I'm going to have to blow the whole lab." Sesshoumaru stated, not necessarily talking to Shippo.

"Take care of the Archangel first, then we'll blow the lab." Shippo's voice had taken a bit of a blank tone, Sesshoumaru could just picture the color draining out of the lively young red head. The kid was really too young for this line of work, but he was a technical genius.

Sesshoumaru turned, making his way to the sub-zero unit that lined the opposite wall. A large orange Bio-Hazard sign was painted on the heavy steel door. He plugged in the cord from his 'phone' so Shippo could by pass the code, but there was also a retina scanner.

"Shippo, can you rig this lens to match Onigumo's retina?"

"Yeah, but do you think that Onigumo would be the one with the clearance and not one of his scientists? We could always just blow the door."

"Just do it."

After a few seconds Sesshoumaru felt a strange tingling sensation in his eye. "Ok, you're a go."

Sesshoumaru placed his eye down to the scanner and waited patiently as the red scanner light passed the lensed eye. Not even two seconds later the door gave an audible click and swung forward. A blast of cold air rushed out to greet him with a hiss and he stepped through the cold vapor into the storage unit.

Shelves upon shelves of bottles of greenish purple liquid lined the walls none of which were frozen. In fact they still seemed to be bubbling as if boiling despite the frigid temperatures.

"There's enough there to take out half the planet." Shippo whimpered slightly.

"How do I destroy it?"

"Just break the bottles. The virus has to have a live host for 48 hours before it become volatile, so if you expose it to open air it should die in a matter of minutes, just be sure not to get any on you. I don't think it can absorb through the skin, but better safe than dead."

Sesshoumaru smirked at the kids choice of words. Shippo loosened the dimmer on his Youki to make it easier for him to destroy the store. Two clawed fingers began to glow with an eerie green light as Sesshoumaru lashed out with his whip, destroying all the vials in one felled swoop.

"One minute thirty seconds left." Shippo reminded.

"I'm through." Sesshoumaru turned and surveyed the rest of the lab. It would have to be destroyed as well, but how to do it with out bringing the whole building down with it? "Shippo, I need you to turn off my regulator."

"But, your cover will be blown, if you're spotted…"

"Then I wont be spotted."

"Ok, if you're sure."

Sesshoumaru felt the tell tale pulse as his Youki was released and the glamour was dispelled. He felt his blood rushing at the freedom he felt. With his full power at his disposal he would be able to create a barrier over the lab to prevent serious damage to the infrastructure while still completely destroying the lab.

With the grace and speed only Youkai of strong bloodlines and training posses he placed the plastic explosives around the lab strategically and headed out the door. Once out he drew in a deep breath, opening his soul and pulling fourth his power to erect a barrier around the lab.

His Youki shimmered and glowed, crackling with its immense power and strength. It had been a while since he'd been fully open like this and he was already feeling the strain. Even as powerful as he was, a heavy barrier such as this was not easy to maintain.

Moments later a muffled boom rocked the building, sending shudders straight through to the upper levels. He needed to hurry or he would have company very soon.

As he was drawing back in what he could of his energy he felt a sharp sting at the back of his neck.

"Shippo, what was that?"

"Damn, your regulator chips just shorted, I can probably dim the presence of your Youki, but I wont' be able to reenact the glamour."

Challenging, just the way he liked it. Pulling the face mask back in place over his head Sesshoumaru made his way back up the stairs.

"Mission Successful." He heard Shippo calling out over all of their mic's. "Time to pull out."

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New York City; 42 East 64th Street

Copal Lounge Dance Hall

Saturday, June 18th, 8:45 pm Eastern Pacific Time

A nagging pain was wedging itself between her brain and the front of her skull. If she didn't get out of this stupid club soon, she really was going to lose it. Eri and Yuka yet again had disappeared into the crowd and Ami, amazingly enough, had met her match when it came to bad dancing and was currently tearing up the dance floor. Literally.

The couple made a dangerous pair.

Not to mention the squatty bald man with the bad hair piece who had had his eyes glued to her all evening had taken to not so inconspicuously following her around the club. It was starting to unnerve her. When he was joined by a tall, muscular man with long black hair pulled over his shoulder in a neat plait Kagome started getting nervous. When the squatty man pointed her out and the tall man got a rather feral grin on his face she decided it was time to go.

With out bothering to find her friends to say good bye she made her way out the door.

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New York City; 43 East 64th Street

Onigumo Grand Hotel and Suites; Hallway behind the kitchens

Saturday, June 18th, 8:40 pm Eastern Pacific Time

Sango shifted nervously in her hiding place behind the crate. She was his second, but this was more of a seek and destroy mission so she was playing look out.

She had been ecstatic when Shippo announced that the mission was a success, but that had been nearly ten minutes ago and it wasn't like Sesshoumaru to take so long after the order to pull out was issued.

Just as she was about to contact him the grate in the air vent over head was moved and down dropped Sesshoumaru as gracefully and soundlessly as a cat.

"What took you so long?" She whispered nervously as he pulled his Armani suit on. "And what happened to your glamour?"

"I got stuck in traffic and my regulator chip shorted." he answered straightening his tie and offering her his arm as they strolled out from behind the crate and made their way toward the front exit.

"Traffic?" she questioned, but he didn't bother to answer.

Actually he got stuck on the top of the elevator as it ascended to the third floor and had to crawl through the vents to get back to ground level. Luckily he managed to avoid the rush of guards seeking the source of the explosion.

So far the mission had gone smoothly, and he was starting to regret sending Kagome away. All they had left was to meet back up at the check point. Maybe he'd just drive out in the morning and join her, it had been a while since he'd sampled her mothers cooking and it would be nice to just get away from the city for a while.

They made it out the door easily enough, though Sesshoumaru's distinctive hair color did grasp a few looks and murmurs on their way out.

They were almost in the clear when Miroku's voice broke through over the mics. "You've got incoming, they look like they're just patrolling, but they followed you out the door. Better make it look convincing."

Sesshoumaru nodded and swung Sango around and pushed her up against the side of the building, lowering his head to her neck to give the illusion of an amorous young couple. He could smell her nervousness, but she giggled coyly and murmured his mission name.

The guards seemed to buy it, because they spared them no more than a passing glance on their way around the corner. Unfortunately they weren't the only ones to spot them.

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New York City; 42 East 64th Street

Copal Lounge Front Entrance

Saturday, June 18th, 8:53 pm Eastern Pacific Time

Kagome pushed through the glass rotating doors and away from the drinks and noise of the raucous nightlife, sending a nervous glance over her shoulder. When she found herself alone she relaxed a little and raised her hand to hail a cab.

The best thing about New York is that there is always a cab around. Just as she was about to climb into the back Kagome caught sight of a familiar shock of white hair across the seat.

"Could you wait for just a second?" She asked the cabbie sweetly. At his nod she set aside her common sense and attempted to cross 64th street, dodging traffic and ignoring the rude gestures of the passing drivers.

She was right it was Sesshou, but…he was with a woman. A very beautiful, elegant sort of woman. The green hand of jealousy clenched at her heart, but she stilled it convincing herself that it was just a coworker.

That is until he swung the woman around and began kissing her neck. The woman's giggles fell upon enraged ears as Kagome stalked forward, all the hell she had been through tonight coming to a cataclysmic crescendo. She roughly pushed by two passing security guards and stood behind her fiancé and his ….what ever.

"Sesshou?" She asked tentatively, hoping among hope that it was someone else who just happened to have an affinity for bleached hair. When she saw the man stiffen all her hopes crashed in around making it hard to breath.

A look of panic crossed the face of the young woman holding him before it smoothed into an apologetic smile. Sesshoumaru turned slowly, wincing at the pure anger and hurt he found in her eyes.

"Don't let her blow your cover. Those guards are watching!" Shippo wailed into the mic, causing Sesshoumaru to grimace, tempted to just swallow the damn thing to get rid of the voice.

"I'm sorry dear," Sango began regretfully, "But I think you are confused, my husbands name is Michael."

Kagome looked into Sesshoumaru's eyes, a lone tear streaking down her anger flushed cheek. He ground his nails into his palms, resisting the temptation to wipe the wipe her pain away and tell her the complete truth, but he couldn't. He could only stand here and deny her to her face, letting her believe him to be a married man.

Ten minutes. Ten more minutes and the mission would have been over and he would have been free of the lies forever, but no…fate was a corrupt dealer in the game of life.

"You're right," she said softly, the light in her eyes sparking with the fire of her fury and hurt, "I was confused, but I see very clearly now. Thank-you."

She never once took her eyes away from Sesshoumaru's, not when she spoke, not as more tears cascaded down her face, and not when her engagement ring slid from her finger and bounced across the sidewalk landing before his feet.

Without another word she turned and started back across the road toward her awaiting taxi, too distracted to notice that she had unwelcome company in the car. She never even looked back as she climbed in and the cab drove away.

Sesshoumaru could feel his control wavering. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, and everyone else connected to the mic's was too smart to offer consolation.

With out a word Sesshoumaru stooped low, snatching up the ring and stalked toward the check point. Sango hurried behind him, both pitying and worried about her fellow agent.

Slapdash spots of red littered the trail back to the check point, blood. Blood from Sesshoumaru's hands, though Sango seriously doubted the man even noticed he was injured.

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AN: Ok kiddies, what have we learned today? Lying about working for the CIA and getting caught by your fiance with your `wife' only ends in heart ache, even if you did just save the world. ….um….yeah. Anyways, now you have a little hint at how Kagome gets dragged into this mess. Can you guess who chubby and muscle head were? Well anyways, next chapter will be about Kagome's really bad day and Naraku's next move. I hope you enjoyed and thank you so much, I have gotten some of the most flattering reviews, it makes me blush, but I love it! Don't forget to review if you've enjoyed reading, it lets other people know that this story is worth their time! Next chapter soon!

U.C.