All SM characters belong to Naoko Takeuchi, but the OC's and the story belongs to me. Do not steal!

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A.N.: SO sorry for the delay! College got in the way, and then my muse going to some other stories and plots. And of course my brother just got married last saturday, so I've been busy the last month helping out and planning and decorating and getting my dress and all that. I was the one introducing them, so I was more than just a little bit touchy (still am!) and really, really excited! My sister-in-law made the famous walk down the aisle crying (and so was her father), so the second I saw her I started crying too. Mom cried, dad cried, mom's husband cried (he never cries!), everyone cried! So yeah, I ran out of tears. Of the happy kind!

Anyway! You guys get the idea; things have been crazy around here! But, here's a new chap on this story! Hope you guys like it enough to forgive the delay! Enjoy!

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46

He stood there by the car. His impeccable black leather coat hung from his broad shoulders all the way down to his ankles, as piercing blue eyes watched, alert but calmed, studying everything and everyone around.

"We wait for your command, My Lord," came a voice right next to him.

From the corner of his eye he saw the tall, somewhat thin, blue haired man anxiously licking his lips as gray eyes turned yellow with the promise of the upcoming hunt, before he let his own blue eyes go back to the manor right in front of them. It was isolated enough, right on the outsides of the city, and the woods around it provided a convenient camouflage. If any passerby got alerted and call for the authorities, by the time they'd get there, his men would be long gone.

It was the perfect plan. And he was there to see through it.

Even from the distance, and thanks to his sharp night vision, he could see a few lights were on. But his race lacked the sharp, extremely accurate sense of smell the Shapeshifters had, and precaution was their best friend right now. Any rush movement would completely blow off the entire operation.

"Proceed," he instructed, slightly nodding his head. "Stick to the shadows, and avoid making any noise," he then added, now fully turning to look at the man standing next to him in the eye. "I will not accept any mistake, is that understood?"

"Of course, My Lord," the other said, smiling wickedly and bowing his head to him, as he raised one hand up.

And with that, the men hiding in the surroundings started to slowly make their way to the house. Sticking to the shadows, using the cover the trees all around provided, they soon reached their destination with soundless movements.

A group of ten made their way up to the top, easily jumping up to the trees nearby, and then soundlessly landing on the roof of the large house. Each one stood right under a window, ready and waiting for the command that would allow them to jump inside. Another smaller group stood in the ground, nearby windows and doors, standing on squatting positions, while the remaining men were still hanging from the trees. All ready and waiting.

The passenger door of the car opened up, and a tall woman stepped out. Her black stiletto, harness boots softly clicked against the pavement as she made her way around the car. The black leather leggings seemed to be painted over her legs, and a black corset hugged her round breasts perfectly, marking her waist and reaching all the way down to her hips, where a purple leather belt completed her outfit. Her gold Beretta 92FS safely resting on its holster, attached to her belt.

She made her way to the black haired man, stopping right next to him, as his watchful blue eyes followed the men's every movement.

"All set," the blue haired man said, nodding his head. The satisfied, wicked smile never leaving his face as he let his fingers brushed against the woman's firm behind, to then squeeze it tightly.

He noted the blue haired man's smile widening when she straightened her back, but restrained herself from making any comment at all, and the man moved his hand away before she could slap it off.

Getting his full attention back at the mission, the black haired man gave a nod of his head. And as he did so, the man hiding in the shadows, trees and rooftop immediately moved. In fast, smooth jumps, they made it into the manor, breaking the windows and stepping inside. But a few remained, not moving from their hiding place on the trees.

Purple eyes rolled at the colorful demonstration of curses coming out of the blue haired man, as the other one simply reached into his coat's pocket.

"What the fuck are they waiting for?" the blue haired man cursed through his teeth; white fangs, long and sharp, clearly visible, as his eyes had now completely turned yellow.

"Noburu!" the woman said, practically growling through her teeth and eying him from the corner of her eyes.

"What?" he asked, obviously exasperated now, as he turned to look her. And as he did so, his yellow eyes went wide opened.

In one fast, smooth, clean motion, she pulled out her Beretta. The barrel of the golden gun pointing dangerously and accurately right at the point in between yellow eyes.

"Shut the fuck up," she said as she pulled the trigger before the man could even blink.

Drops of blood splashed on her face and she frowned, whipping the crimson liquid off her cheek with one finger to then guide it to her mouth, licking it. Her purple eyes turning yellow as she did so, and a disgusted frown coming to her beautiful features.

"Exactly what I thought," she commented, as they both saw the men that had remained in the trees making their way back to them, fast. "Just as disgusting as he was."

He chuckled at the remark. "You never really liked him, did you?" he asked, frowning lightly and only half interested in the answer -he never really liked him much, either-, as he looked at the black, small device he had in his hand. His thumb slowly caressing the red, round button, as his blue eyes went to the manor.

Without any further delay, he pressed the button, and an explosion of red and smoke went up, illuminating the night. The foundations of the manor shook, turning the building and everything in it into nothing but fire and ashes within seconds.

She shook her shoulder, putting her gun back on its holster. "I don't really appreciate having my ass grabbed without an invitation."

.-.

Mamoru's blue eyes studied the map Nephrite brought closely.

It had been rather easy for the brunette to find it, considering it was an old construction in a residential area, just outside of the city. Its original owner had donated the maps of the English country house to the local library, proud of having the resources to actually have an English architect to design it.

It was currently owned by some eccentric, reserved entrepreneur no one knew much about. An entrepreneur that, after some research, turned out didn't even exist; nothing but a well planned out cover up. Sapphire himself had then proved their theories right, and so Nephrite had paid a little visit to the library, borrowing the map that now laid on the coffee table.

He looked up from the map and to the people around him in general, and to the black haired Blood in particular. They didn't have a map for the tunnel passages, but he was just about to fix that one small problem.

"I need you to lead the way through the tunnels," he said to her. "Kunzite, you'll be right behind her, covering her back."

One perfectly black eyebrow twitched, almost imperceptibly. "How do I know he won't stab me on the back?" she asked, eying Kunzite up and down.

He raised one single white eyebrow at her. "Right back at you," he grunted, crossing his arms over his broad chest.

"He won't," Mamoru assured her, eying the white haired man. But when, again, a black eyebrow twitched, this time more visibly, he let out a sigh, massaging his temples with one hand. "Look, I understand your point. But you're gonna have to trust us," he said to her. "That is, if you really want to do this."

"I do," she said, as firmly as before. Or even more so.

"Then trust us," he said to her. "We work as a team, and tonight, you're part of it. I can't promise you won't get hurt, but I can assure you, we'll be there to watch your back," he said, in that tone that was both reassuring to the black haired Blood, and a clear order to everyone else.

He knew Kunzite wasn't the only one having reservations about teaming up with Bloods. And the white haired man was surely not happy with having to watch the woman's back. But he meant every word; Seiya was going to be the one leading the way through the tunnels, and they needed to trust each other.

Of course, he understood her reservations as well. Kunzite was not exactly the friendly type, specially not to Bloods. And he did have his reputation. So of course the black haired young Blood felt uneasy with the plan, having to work with him. But Mamoru was confident; he knew Kunzite wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize the mission, no matter how particularly unhappy he was with his designated teammate.

He turned back to Seiya. "But if you're not sure and you want out, I'll understand," he said, in all honesty. "And this is the time to do so," he added, looking straight into her midnight blues.

"I'm not stepping out of this," she said, firmly, shaking her head. "I said I want to help, and I'm doing it."

"Good," he said, in a low tone, as his blue eyes went to the faces around him. "The same goes to all of you," he then said. "Taking Emerald down was a piece of cake compared to this," he explained. "Rubues was a child's play, compared to this," he said, marking every word.

"We know that, Mamoru," was Rei's comment. "We're in this together."

"I know," he said, nodding his head. "But I have never lied to any of you, and I'm not about to start now. Some of us may not make it out of there alive," he said, studying everyone's faces, searching their eyes and trying to see if anyone was unsure, uncomfortable or unwilling to proceed. "And if any of you is having second thoughts about this, I'll understand," he said, taking his time to look around before meeting green emeralds. "This is not about revenge," he said, knowing full well what was surely going on through that blonde head.

And as much as he understood the feeling -he had lost both his parents at an early age as well-, he needed her to understand; it wasn't about revenge. Even thinking about it while facing a battle could be deadly dangerous, clouding their judgment and making them take rush decisions, when they all needed a clear mind to face this if they wanted to have a chance at actually win.

But she didn't say anything. She barely even moved; she just kept his gaze, head held high. But he knew her well enough to know that, right now, he had her undivided attention.

"This is about protecting the ones that are still here," he said, again looking at everyone gathered there. "It's about our entire race, and our right to live without being scared of getting hunt down and slaughtered. It's not about the past and what we've lost. It's about the future, and what we can gain. For our race," he insisted. "If I go down tonight, I'll go knowing I'm giving my daughter a chance to a normal life. No more hiding. But I can't have any of you going half way. So, are you in, or are you out?" he asked, in a tone of voice that clearly stated he was not joking, but also kind enough to let them know he was truly giving them a way out, if they truly wanted one. "Are you with me?"

"Hell, yeah!" Jadeite exclaimed.

"Like Rei said," Minako started to say, "we're in this together," she pointed out as everyone else nodded their heads in agreement.

He nodded his head at that; a small, satisfied smile coming to his lips for a moment, before he looked down on the map again.

"Zoicite," he called out, without looking up from the map, "I want you, Ami and Nephrite on the ground. Look for any possible entry way we may be missing, and make sure no one escapes. Kunzite, Usagi and Minako," he then called out, looking at each of them, "you go with Seiya through the tunnels. Take down as many of Diamond's lackeys as you can. The rest is with me. We'll sneak in through the back door and the roofs, and we clean up as we go. Any doubts?"

"Yes," Makoto said, raising up one long index finger as a curious, rather funny frown came to her features, "is the count starting from scratch, or are we keeping marks?"

"Scratch?" Jadeite said, more in a questioning tone than anything. "So we can all start…"

"No way," Haruka interrupted, as that smug, satisfied, sided grin of hers came to her lips. "We're keeping marks."

"Yeah," Kunzite agreed. "I'm just about to reach her," he added, pointing at the tall blonde woman with his head.

She snorted, and Mamoru rolled his eyes. What was it with them and their stupid scores?

"So you're totally leaving Michiru out of it," Makoto pointed out, arching a mocking eyebrow Haruka's way.

The blonde just shook a shoulder. "I'm sure she'd have no problem reaching your mark."

"Bite me, dumb blonde."

"Hey, no biting my mate," Nephrite warned, eyeing the tall blonde woman up and down before pointing at the aquamarine girl with his thumb. "You have your own. Go and bite her."

"What are you guys talking about?" Michiru asked, deciding to ignore Nephrite's teasing, and just lost over the current course of the conversation.

"Points," Makoto said. "Take one blood down with any kind of weapon, one point. Single handed, two points. Teamed up, half a point," she explained. "I'm three hundred and seventy four points," she then announced, proudly.

"And over a hundred points behind me," Haruka added for her.

"Seriously?" Seiya asked, frowning. "Is this your way of making me feel comfortable? 'Cause it's totally not working."

"Guys," Mamoru called out, massaging his temples. Really, what was it with them and this ego fight that has been going on for the better part of the last decade?

It had first started as a showoff, ego competition between Kunzite and Haruka when taking down a nest of new Bloods. Soon, Jadeite, Makoto, Nephrite and Rei took part as well, and then it really turned into a serious competition; rules and points were established, and now everyone was in it, with Haruka and Kunzite taking over the first places to themselves, and Makoto and Jadeite following closely.

"Oh, don't worry," Makoto said to the frowning Blood, "we won't kill you," she assured her as she waved her hand around. "Just all the others."

"Come on, let's get serious here," Zoicite said, trying to get back on track.

"It's a totally valid question," Jadeite argued. "We've made clean outs and started all over again from scratch before. So why not now?"

"Because now there is no doubt that I'm totally kicking your ass," Haruka answered.

"See, I'm not so sure about that," the short blonde man kept on arguing.

"What, you little…"

"Alright!" he exclaimed, raising his voice just enough to quiet down the blondes and their stupid argument. And when everyone looked at him, a few eyes blinking, others just grinning sheepishly, he let out a sigh. "Haruka is winning, fair and square," he stated. "Can we move on to more important matters now?"

With that said, they all started getting ready. Standing up from their places around the coffee table, they all got up, taking fire guns, fastening the holsters around them, hiding knifes and shurikens, carefully hiding them in their clothes.

As he fastened the holster around his torso, he let his eyes travelled all around, satisfied with the way their stupid argument was over now and everyone was back on business.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Ami taking something from one of the bags, to the stand up and walk up to the tall blonde woman as she helped Michiru with her weaponry. They had all agreed on not giving her a fire gun; though the aquamarine girl had proved to have a very accurate aim when it came to handling knives, she didn't feel comfortable with guns. She was more comfortable with knives and shurikens, and her telekinesis had proven to be a rather handy trick.

"Here," Ami said to Haruka, handing her a wooden frame.

The blonde took it without even looking at the picture, and Mamoru didn't need to guess to know what it was. "Thank you," she said, softly. "It's the only one…"

"I know," Ami said, nodding her head.

With that, the bluenette turned around to go and get ready herself, when her blue eyes landed on his. He smiled to her then, slightly nodding his head in approval; he had given the order to take only the necessary and the irreplaceable from the manor. And he knew, that portrait surely was.

He turned around then, going to Jadeite as he helped the black haired young Blood getting ready as well.

"Do you know how to use this baby?" he asked, handing an HK Black Glock to the Blood.

"Yes," she answered, easily fastening a double holster around her waist, and then looking up just in time to see the blonde man raising an eyebrow at her. "What?" she asked, frowning now. "I was with Diamond for over a year, remember?" she pointed out. "The guy has a fetish."

"Right…" Jadeite mumbled, shaking his head as he handed her a set of munitions.

The sound of his cellphone ringing made all eyes turn to him again. He ignored them for a moment as he took the device out of his jeans' back pocket, flipping it open and answering the call. The conversation was short, with barely a few words from the other side of the line, before he simply closed his cellphone again, putting it back on his pocket and looking up into several sets of curious, waiting eyes.

"It's done," he simply said. "Let's go."

"What about me?" came a soft female voice all of a sudden, making everyone in the room turn to look at the silvery haired girl. "I want to help too."

"No," Seiya was fast to say, firmly. "You stay here until I…"

"But I wanna help too!" the girl argued, just as firmly and as decided as her sister.

Minako's humming voice got everyone's attention then. *Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking?*

*I don't even want to know what you're thinking,* was Ami's reply.

*No. Hell, no!* was Kunzite's reply, as he turned to look straight into Mamoru's blue eyes. "She's too young."

"I'm not!" the girl defended herself. "I can help!"

Before Kunzite or anyone else could say another word, Minako placed a strong hand on her mate's shoulder, successfully shutting any upcoming comment up. With one of her brilliant, yet gentle smiles, she looked the girl up and down before curious baby blue eyes gazed into lime green ones.

"Are you any good at acting?"