InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dominating the Indomitable ❯ Caught in the Crosshairs ( Chapter 5 )

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Chapter Five

 

Caught in the Crosshairs

 

 

 

Across from Sesshoumaru, Kouga sat in his fatigues with his arms crossed over his chest, matching Sesshoumaru's expression; glare for glare. The austere office was cold and intimidating, or would have been if the guest had been anyone except Kouga.

 

“What could possibly be of interest to you concerning the weapons at the Moura mines?” Sesshoumaru asked again.

 

Kouga cocked an eyebrow. “I've already explained that twice. My people are behind on weapons information. I wouldn't want to get them killed for lack of training. You have what I need.”

 

“And, just how did you come to that conclusion?” Sesshoumaru pressed.

 

`Damn. He's good,' Kouga swore to himself. It was getting more and more difficult to keep Inuyasha's name out of the mix. Then he remembered his research of the files on the mine incident.

 

“After the ambush, I was reviewing our files and found the information. It was your people who discovered it. So, where else would I go?” Kouga could only hope that he was steering Sesshoumaru away from any connection he might have to Inuyasha. He steeled himself when Sesshoumaru flared his nostrils and took a deep sniff.

 

“You are speaking the truth, yet…” Kouga could see the calculation in his eyes. “…you are withholding information.”

 

Kouga sighed and pretended to be put out. “Fine, we encountered some new weapons on the last raid. I almost lost some of my people.”

 

Sesshoumaru's cold demeanor didn't change, though his features minutely relaxed. “Did you bring any of the devices with you?”

 

“How am I supposed to do that when they exploded all over the place?” Kouga snorted.

 

“Very well. Follow me,” Sesshoumaru abruptly instructed and rose from his desk.

 

The long trek to the file room was a myriad of twisted winding passages and the walk was entirely unpleasant. Kouga was beginning to believe that Sesshoumaru was taking him in a slowly tightening circle. It was obvious that the DaiYoukai had not lost much of his tension. As Kouga followed behind him, his posture was rigid and unyielding. Rather than becoming fidgety, Kouga simply became annoyed. `Maybe this is one of his stupid ways of intimidation to get people to talk. I'm not a wimp!'

 

By the time they came to the doors of the library, Kouga was ready to throw a fit of major proportions. `If it wasn't for scent trails, I could get lost in here. Maybe that's the whole point? Sesshoumaru must be a real paranoid fuck.' Once in a warehouse-sized, underground storage area, except for a security detail, Sesshoumaru had left Kouga to his own devices. The massive amount of files threw Kouga off balance and it took him awhile to glean the system used for filing. `Bastard could have at least clued me in on how to find the information.' Hours later, he had read through more files than he'd read in the last decade, leaving him with a massive headache. Oh, he'd found plenty of information on new weapons created from old technology. However, the Moura mine incident had been glossed over, again, and it was pissing him off. `Someone is hiding something and I'm going to find out what!'

 

As pissed off as he was, it didn't take long to stomp his way back to Sesshoumaru's office. He could smell Sesshoumaru through the door and didn't waste any time banging the fuck out of it. A calm, cool, and collected voice called to enter, which only pissed him off more. He burst in and threw the Moura files on Sesshoumaru's desk.

 

“What the fuck is going on!? I find that there was more than one weapon, but almost nothing on the effects they have or the treatments for survivors! What are you hiding?” Kouga shouted. He wanted to hit something, preferably Sesshoumaru.

 

“Sit,” Sesshoumaru demanded.

 

`Looks like I might get some answers.' Kouga plopped down in the chair, crossed his arms, and proceeded give Sesshoumaru his best glare. If he wasn't mad enough already, Sesshoumaru's long pause had him ready to hop across the desk and strangle him.

 

“Panic control. As a leader, you should understand that.”

 

“What's that got to do with this?” Kouga asked and leaned forward to shove the files further across the desk toward Sesshoumaru.

 

“Imagine… a weapon that can cause insanity and memory loss, coupled with a weapon that can slowly and painfully destroy the body on a cellular level. Most youkai are not as strong as you and I. The weaker are at high risk. Though the majority of soldiers would not abandon their posts, what would happen if the general populace were to obtain this knowledge?” Sesshoumaru asked with a raised eyebrow.

 

The answer was easy enough. “Youkai would fear humans and run for the hills,” Kouga conceded. “It would be a mass exodus into hiding again.”

 

“Exactly. We can't afford it,” Sesshoumaru stated with his jaw clenched and lips thinned. “Do you know what caused the initial environmental disasters that nearly destroyed our planet?”

 

“Not really, but I thought they'd all been destroyed,” Kouga replied with a frown.

 

“These devices that dealt in ultra low frequencies and high frequencies…supposedly for communications and research, had been developed and modified by the humans long before we stepped in. Many humans rallied and accused their governments of secretly using them to develop weapons against their own populace, as well as against other countries. They were labeled conspiracy mongers by their governments despite studies that emphatically proved the their accuracy,” Sesshoumaru snorted.

 

“So, they were developed into weapons?” Kouga asked, now thoroughly intrigued.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why would they do something so idiotic!?”

 

“What do all humans have in common?” Sesshoumaru asked with a raised brow.

 

Kouga sighed. “That one is easy, greed and arrogance.”

 

“You're getting the hang of this. Imagine having the ability to sway the minds of entire populations, or even to cause them to turn on each other. A war would be lost before a country knew it was upon them. Imagine, resources for the taking,” Sesshoumaru said with a flourish of his hand. “And, if you simply wanted to destroy the lands of another, the unsuspecting people wouldn't know what hit them until it was much too late.”

 

“But, didn't they know the dangers?” Kouga asked incredulously.

 

“Arrogance, Kouga, sheer arrogance. They ignored the warnings, the initial signs of deep wounds within the earth. Their greed was much too great to heed the warnings.” Sesshoumaru shook his head. “Fortunately for us, we felt the affects on a much larger scale or we wouldn't have had the time to take out enough equipment to stop their idiocy.”

 

“And now, they're at it again,” Kouga muttered and shook his head. “I'm starting to think we should remove the parts of their gray matter that controls higher brain function and sterilize them all.”

 

“No, it would be dishonorable and a sign of our own arrogance. We will find a way to force their evolution. Even our kind has those who still hold to the old ways. They need re-education as well.”

 

“Still, why is all this such a fucking secret!” Kouga demanded.

 

Sesshoumaru sighed at Kouga's lack of understanding. “Do you want the humans and baser youkai to know what is possible, to know what they can accomplish if they can find the buried records that we have yet to find and destroy? It's bad enough that there are still those living who have the knowledge to rebuild these weapons!”

 

“Fine, fine! I get it! That still doesn't answer my question about treatment of survivors,” Kouga insisted. He may have learned a lot, but Sesshoumaru had gotten away from his main goal and he was determined to get answers. If he didn't, he feared for Inuyasha's health.

 

“Why do you care? I ask again, have you encountered such a device,” Sesshoumaru needled.

 

“No! Damn it! Why are you withholding that information!?” Kouga dug his claws into the padded arms of the chair, nearly tearing them to shreds. He noticed Sesshoumaru glancing down at his hands. Their eyes met and Kouga knew he'd fucked up. Sesshoumaru was on him faster than his eyes could follow and he found himself pressed against the wall with Sesshoumaru's hand squeezing his throat.

 

“I find your interest…intriguing, Kouga of the wolf tribe. Your search for knowledge is obviously personal; otherwise, you wouldn't have come out of the backwaters to find it. Tell me, who needs this treatment?” Kouga found the hand squeezing tighter. “No, allow me to speculate. Inuyasha. Inuyasha is the only one you would have in mind. All others are either dead or attempting to recover with their bonded mates.”

 

Kouga found himself sailing across the room and smashing into a wall. Once the room stopped spinning, Sesshoumaru was sitting on him and had his wrists pinned to the floor.

 

“Where is my brother, you worthless sack of shit!?” Sesshoumaru nearly shouted.

 

`Whoa, I've never seen him lose it like this. Inuyasha was right. The guy has some real issues with him. Well, fuck him and the high horse he rode in on.'

 

“Answer my question first and maybe I'll tell you,” Kouga spat.

 

“You'll answer me or I will make certain you can only wish for death,” Sesshoumaru sneered.

 

“You fuck me up and I'll never tell you where he is.”

 

`Take that fucker!'

 

Sesshoumaru's lip turned up in a smirk. “That was all I needed to confirm. If he's with you, he won't be difficult to find.”

 

“Fine, answer my fucking question! How do I have him treated?” Kouga asked and bucked beneath Sesshoumaru's weight. It was unnecessary because Sesshoumaru stood and casually strolled back to his desk.

 

“It is impossible,” he stated flatly as he reseated himself.

 

“No, that's not right,” Kouga quietly insisted, shaking his head as he rose to his feet.

 

“Inuyasha spent a year in lock down due to the affect on his mind. That was only the first wave of the attack. Very little of his memory of that time remained. He attributes much to the loss to drinking, refusing to accept his condition. The second frequency began the slow decay of his body. His rate of healing is gradually slowing. Eventually, it will cease completely,” Sesshoumaru said with a sigh as he leaned back in his chair.

 

“But, he's so strong!” Kouga countered.

 

“And he is tainted with human blood,” Sesshoumaru pointed out through clenched teeth.

 

“He can't die, Sesshoumaru, he can't,” Kouga whispered and stared at the floor. Even as his stomach twisted into knots and a lump rose in his throat, Kouga denied the truth. When he looked up, he found Sesshoumaru intently studying him.

 

“How far would you go to save him?” Sesshoumaru asked, tipping his nose in the air and staring at the wolf as though daring him to abandon Inuyasha.

 

“What do you mean?” Kouga asked, a small spark of hope hesitantly rising in his chest.

 

 

 

~*~

 

The bucket of ammonia laced water that Inuyasha was lugging down the hall should have covered his scent well enough. After all, the floor had only just been cleaned. Some time ago, the smell would have sent him spiraling onto his ass. However, Moura took care of that problem. Quietly setting the bucket down near the door to Kamylla's office, Inuyasha took a notepad out of his pants pocket. He would never admit it to anyone, but he couldn't completely trust his memory when it came to names and dates. The voices inside were low, almost a whisper and Inuyasha had to strain to hear.

 

“Ling is our last defense.” That voice was obviously Kamylla. Barring his memory, Inuyasha hadn't crossed even one person named `Ling'.

 

“That shouldn't even be a problem. I've already altered the maps that we confiscated. They'll never find it.” There was a tap and a chuckle. Obviously, the bastard had stolen some of the documents from Kouga's study.

 

“We don't know when Kouga will return, Yoshimoto,” Kamylla hissed.

 

Inuyasha quickly wrote down the name, intending to search the records later. For now, he finally had the evidence he needed. Though it wasn't enough to make a case, it was enough to continue his investigation. He had to get out of there before Yoshimoto walked through the door and before the ammonia knocked him down. He was already experiencing some light dizziness.

 

`Maybe, if I get to Kouga's study, I could catch them red-handed. Yeah, that'd put a stop to all this shit right now.'

 

Staring down at the odorous bucket of cleaning water, he came up with a brilliant idea. Well, maybe it wasn't brilliant, but amusing at the very least. `This'll scare the fuck out of them. They'll know that someone could have heard and will do something stupid. It'll trip them up…literally and figuratively.' Before padding silently down the hall, he set the bucket up against the door. The first one out, would be in for one hell of a surprise. It took everything he had to hold in a snicker.

 

Just as he reached the corner, he heard the sound of the door opening, splashing, and swearing. It was Kamylla. `Take that, bitch!' He didn't see the narrowed eyes of his nemesis, nor did he take into account the length of his unique, stark white hair when he rounded the corner.

 

`They'll come here first,' Inuyasha deducted as he entered Kouga's study and tossed his notepad on the desk. Fortunately, Kouga had left him a key so that he could do some research and catch up on the history of the pack's exploits. He locked the door and placed himself behind it then took deep breaths to try to rid himself of the effects of the ammonia.

 

He didn't have to wait long. The sound of the lock being picked had his adrenaline surging. When the doorknob turned, he bent his knees slightly in preparation for the oncoming confrontation. As soon as Yoshimoto entered the room, Inuyasha tackled him to the ground. A moment later, he felt a sting in his neck and a telltale burn rushing through his veins. He only had time to turn his head and see Kamylla smirking down at him.

 

“Say `goodnight', half-breed.”

 

Then his world went black.

 

 

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Thank you to everyone who hasread, rated, and/or reviewed previous chapters. It is a great encouragement.

 

 

 

Inumimi

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