The Darkness Before Dawn

Target

Tenno finished setting the table, wiped a few of the crystal goblets down and filled them with each woman's favourite drink. He set down impeccably plated meals and stood back to admire his work. Perfect, he thought before the sound of the front door opening alerted him to Umiko's arrival.

As she entered the house, Tenno stood by to take her keys and bag and help her out of her shoes. "How was your day?" he asked her. "Tiring" she sighed. Tenno lead her to the dining room where the others were entering and sitting down at their places. Umiko took her seat and began eating.

"How's the virus working?" Yukiko asked her. "It's working well, the fatality rate is in the expected percentage range and the Lab rats are busy isolating it and working on a vaccine and cure. It'll take a while so we're ok" Umiko said, tiredness evident in her voice.

She looked at Shinju before continuing, "I saw that detective you like. His partner was shot but we've stabilized him. Yukiko, here's his blood. It seems he has some type of healing ability; the wounds he sustained should have killed him but he's still alive." Shinju smiled and looked at her plate as Kay teased her.

"You mentioned a target, Tenno?" Yukiko asked. He cleared his throat before saying "yes, Mother has decided the next phase. Shinju, she wants to cripple the finance sector of the City and the surrounding Nations. Here are the details" he said before passing a crimson envelope to her.

"Nothing for me?" Kay asked, pouting. Tenno smiled and shook his head, "soon, maybe." "Tch" she said as she finished her meal. "Since I have a free evening, I'm heading out!" she said as she slipped her feet into her worn shoes and grabbed a hoodie. Before Tenno could move to help her she was out the door and revving down the driveway.

"Thank you for the meal. See me later so we can go over the mission" Shinju said as she left the table. Yukiko headed to the basement lab and Tenno carried a tired Umiko to her room where he ran her a hot bath and put her to bed when she was done.

Peering through the microscope, Yukiko frowned. She watched as the burst red blood cells were surrounded by white blood cells and the cell's burst walls were repaired. What the fuck? She looked at the genome report and back to the sample. Red cells were bunching together, creating a clot, as the white cells rushed to repair the other broken cells.

She left the microscope and walked over to the computer. The DNA report was still sequencing and she had a preliminary gene report. Scanning it, her eyes landed on a gene that unique to this blood sample: HL21. She opened a drawer and pulled out her previous reports and research. Flipping through the pages, none of them mentioned this gene. She looked back at the screen, tapping her index finger on her chin as she calculated whether or not she could sequence the gene and use it to the organization's advantage.

She found her thoughts wandering to the reported, Konan, who had come to the mansion that afternoon. She remembered her purple hair, amber eyes and her figure and smiled as she recalled their conversations. It was just a waiting game until Konan took the bait.

Kay stood in line at the movie theatre. "What do you mean there's only couples seating left?! Who the hell takes a date to see Jaws?!" She was ranting at the teenaged ticket seller who was trying to placate the angered woman. "Please, Miss, I'm sorry, but it's all we have!" She slammed her hands on the counter and said through gritted teeth "it's the 50th anniversary showing with uncut scenes and I need to see this!"

She felt a hand on her back and a male voice said next to her "don't terrorize the kids, sweetie. Sorry I'm late. We'll take two" She turned to look at her 'date' and was not disappointed. "About time you showed up" she muttered, playing along. Kisame smiled at her as they entered the theatre.

"Do you want popcorn? A drink maybe?" he asked her. "You do realize that this isn't an actual date and I have no idea who you are" she said to him as she took the popcorn and drink he handed to her. "I'm Kisame. C'mon, the movie is about to start" he said as he walked into their room. They picked their way past people to get to their seats, finally reaching them.

Kay flopped onto the dual seating, sighing in happiness at the comfortable softness but was jarred when Kisame sat down, his muscular mass causing his half to sink in and Kay to lean towards him. He smiled uncomfortably as she was pressed against him, "Sorry." She sighed as she sat back down with her back leaning against his right side. He moved his arm and wrapped it around her as her head rested on his chest. "Don't get any ideas" she warned him as she settled in to watch the movie.

Tenno climbed the stairs and headed to Shinju's room. Knocking softly he heard "come in" from the room. He opened the door and entered a dimly lit room. "Mistress? You wanted to discuss the target?" he asked as he went further into the room. Shinju stood up from her bed and Tenno blushed and looked away. She approached him and used her hand to turn his head to face her.

"I wanted to discuss you" she said to him. "Me?" he asked blankly. "Mmhmm. You take care of us. Who is taking care of you?" She asked. Tenno cleared his throat and tried to speak but nothing came from his mouth. Shinju took his hands and placed them on her hips, his hands feeling the black silky material that she was wearing.

"Let me take care of you" she purred as she pulled him down by his tie to kiss him.