Dan was in the area and the sight of Sephiroth slaying a man caught his attention. Dan was about to approach him to put a stop to the massacre not knowing that they were Charlie's spies until he saw Lucian. Dan trips Lucian and then drags him in to the bushes where he tries to hide the boy from Sephiroth and Sailor Pluto. Covering the boy's mouth with one hand Dan speaks, "Yahhhoooiieeeeee. You must be Lucian! I recognize you from the picture, once I bring you to your mother I will be a hero and when I be a hero I can have many students to teach Saikyo karate to."

What is going on?" Charlie heard the gun shots and the phone being hanged up. He really started to worry because if Lucian was shot dead then he would have to take full blame for sending the rescue team over. Trying not to be worried, Charlie tried giving a calm face on Nancy hoping she did not know what was going on. S

ephiroth could sense where the boy was hiding and pulls him out of the bushes along with Dan. His sword still dripping with blood as he looks at the two, not very happy. "Dan Hibiki, we have a mission to take Lucian to Charlie. I don't know how you made it here but you are being too persistant with forcing people in to being your student." Sephiroth looks at Lucian giving him a look to behave and not run off like that or else. "The next time you run off like that, you will be given the despair you deserve. I can't wait until you are taken to Nancy so this mission will be over. I hate kids."

*********************************

Jessie figured who would look after Sakura wasn't her problem and followed Nancy, wondering just what could have possibly brought about such a change in the woman. Deciding to ask directly as they climbed into the Land Cruiser, the cop brought the issue up.

"Where we going?" Jessie wasn't sure about her friend's state of mind, going from obsessing over her son to completely ignoring him, with one phone call.

"Hospital."

Jessie thought about the answer for a moment. Nancy looked like hell, the scars on her body still visable as well as the obvious eyepatch, but physically she seemed fine. In fact she seemed normal, calmer, maybe what she heard helped. Jessie didn't think it was a medical condition either. Whatever the reason she guessed it had to do with the phone call. "You know we'll do what we can, right?" she offered finally. Nancy shot a look at her but said nothing, Jessie figuring to let the topic drop for now.

*********************************

"The first thing you must learn is discipline." Sofia found that the prospect of training another studant, helping him, made her english easier, the thick Russian accent being less pronounced. Moving away from Yun she went over to write something on a card. "I teach on Saturdays. This is where." The details written down she handed the card over. "You have place to stay? You okay until then?"

*********************************

Lucian stared at Sephiroth for a moment, wanting to explain why he ran, how he tried to get away from the people shooting at them, before deciding it wouldn't work and nodded. Just then a jeep pulled up, inside were five men dressed in desert fatigues. One of them climbed out, revealing a sidearm in a shoulder holster and the bars on the sleeve indicating he was a sergeant. "US Marines," he said easily, knowing the men behind him would back him up with Carbine rifles if need be. "We'll take it from here."

*********************************

Sephiroth stares at the sergeant coming over to the boy. He raises his sword then lowers it as soon as he hears that the sergeant was from the US marines. "It is about time. Charlie must have sent for you. Here is Lucian that Charlie wanted, we'll just go back home to the office and wait for the next mission." With that Sephiroth pushes the boy to walk over to the sergeant without even bothering to check if these people were real or just terrorists in disguise that were working for Albert.

"YAHOOIIEEEEEJIIEEE YOU WILL NOT TAKE LUCIAN." Dan rolls over in front of the sergeant and stops Lucian from being pushed over. Dan stands up and shouts loudly to the sky with tears flowing down his eyes. "I will take Lucian back home to Nancy and be a hero so I can have my dreams come true of obtaining students for my saikyo dojo to teach karate do."

"Stop!" Sailor Pluto intervenes as she takes a hold of Lucian's risk and pulls him back. She stares at the sergeant with suspicion. "How do I really know that you are with the US marines and not disguised terrorists? Where are you IDs?"

The Marine sergeant reached under his shirt, easy, and extracted a manilla folder as his team went after Dan. "Sergeant Alexander Medcraft," he stated, handing it over. "Inside are orders to aid search and rescue issued from our commanding officer, Sergeant-Major Kryser, as well as authorization from her for us to operate in country as a military force against those risking the safety of our charges." In truth Marines were not allowed to operate in country, but that was his CO's lookout. Looking over at Dan and Lucian, Alex reached into a pocket and pulled out a phone. "If that don't satisfy you there's a free toll number in the address book, a man wearing stars will tell you we're legit." He indicated Dan. "Now call him off and let Lucian Allen go, we can manage this the rest of the way."

*********************************

Dan shouted as loudly as he could at the sergeant speaking in saikyo lingo. He began rolling on the ground all around Lucian to demonstrate his saikyo karate moves and how he hopes one day people will want to learn.

Sephiroth was convinced that it would be safe to let Lucian go with the Sergeant. He tripped Dan to stop the idiotic saikyo display. Then grabs Lucian's wrist from Sailor Pluto and hands him over to the waiting Sergeant to take Lucian up on the car and drive the boy home. "I am letting the US Marines take Lucian back to Nancy, they seem to be trustworthy. All Charlie really wanted was to have the boy rescued and taken home. Mission over. Go home. Collect paycheck. Can't get any simplier."

*********************************

On their way to the hospital Jessie's courage grew enough that she felt that she could talk to Nancy. "That girl in the wheelchair, Sakura isn't it?"

"Yeah, Sakura," the ex Marine confirmed. "What about her?"

"What's her deal? She come here to train with you as I did?" Nancy didn't answer, thinking for a moment.

"You want to fight me? Fight me!" She remembered roaring at the schoolgirl when Sakura wanted to fight her, at the training she put her through to fulfil her promise to make her stronger.

"It was her or Sofia's neice," Nancy told her finally, underlining how she made the mistake of taking in Jessie as well as Dave and Philip and choosing instead to concentrate on one on one training. "Sofia didn't want me to have Petya learn to become a spy however." She thought her training resembled Ra's Al Ghul, Nancy figured either Sakura had never seen Batman or simply didn't pass comment on the brutal training. "

So who're you seeing at the hospital?" Jessie chanced asking.

Nancy gritted her teeth before replying, "Amy Williams." Jessie remembered Nancy had a photo of her and figured it had something to do with her son. Nancy's next words disproved that theory however. "She's a rape victim." Jessie was thunderstruck at the comment, but figured it was just like Nancy to chase something up like this. "We're here."

*********************************

"Good," Sofia said, "excellent." She sat silently with Yun for a moment before deciding to allow him some privacy. "I give you some peace, yes?" she asked. "I have phone call to make."

*********************************

"Saved your boy's life," Reiko said at the passing police officers for the fourth time. She was currently on her knees and handcuffed, the SWAT teams storming the place after she shot the two thugs left little room for debate.

"And we're very appreciative of the fact you did so." Reiko looked up at the face of a sneering police sergeant.

"So let me go already." She began to get to her feet.

"Not so fast." The sergeant pushed Reiko back, causing her to fall over.

"Hey fuck off right."

"Sergeant Mendez." He crouched over her. "We checked you out, seems you have quite a history."

"Was an orphan," Reiko began to recite as though she was bored, "never found out who they were, had no family..."

"That bit ain't quite the truth though is it?" The arrogant tone in Mendez's voice pissed her off. "You're telling the story nigger. I just stumbled across all this."

"And we both know that ain't true either," Mendez continued. "You found someone though as a kid. The name Los Diablos mean anything to you?" "

Latin gang," Reiko told him, playing dumb. "Mexicans, South Americans, Spanish speakers."

"They took you in, you used to run with them I understand." Reiko sneered at the comment. "Yeah, I was boosting cars when I was still in my diapers. Come on, just 'cause my foster father was a banger didn't mean I was."

"Tell you what, I'd be willing to believe that if you told us where he is." Reiko rolled onto her side and while she didn't spit at Mendez it was clear from the look on her face that she was thinking about it.

*********************************

"Exactly right," Alex said to Sephiroth. He saw Lucian running towards him and crouched down for the boy.

"You're taking me home?" he asked hopefully. He seemed to trust the Marines more. Alex paused for a moment before nodding.

"We're taking you back." With that he led Lucian to the others.

"Who the hell were they?" one of them was asking.

"See that loon who took the boy?"

"Should have smoked him like a cheap fag."

"He probably was."

Alex silenced them. "Hey hey enough of that around the boy." He got on the radio. "Major, we have the boy. I repeat, we have the boy."

A female voice replied. "Roger that, return to base."

"What about these people who came after him?" he asked. Alex was hesitent to make a move until whoever they were had been convinced of their intentions.