Partners-In-Crime by Guardian of Secrets

Prologue

Disclaimer: If you don't know, I suggest you get help. If you'd like, I know a really good support group! (Grins dementedly)

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Partners-In-Crime

By: Guardian of Secrets

Prologue

(6 months earlier...)

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Police sirens cut through the night air, as Kagome and Inuyasha huddled behind a large black-and-white police cruiser --the only thing sheltering them from the ongoing bullets fired by the three suspects inside the large downtown bank.

Half-blinded from the brightness of the spotlights illuminating the closed-off area, Kagome held her service revolver closely, ready to fire back if needed.

The crackling voice from the radio inside the cruiser was heavily marred by static, but Kagome could faintly make out the woman dispatcher's voice telling all units to cease fire until a negotiator was sent to the scene.

Apparently the suspects had taken several hostages...

Kagome sighed, shifting to a more comfortable position on the hard pavement before carefully peeking around the cruiser to see if the negotiator had arrived yet.

Gray-blue eyes widened in shock as someone pulled her back sharply from behind, just as a stray bullet punched a hole through the car right where her head had been only a few seconds before...

Breathing heavily while trying to calm her wildly racing heart, she turned around to look sheepishly at her partner, only to meet furious amber eyes.

"What the hell were you thinking, Higurashi?! Didn't you hear the fucking instructions? All of the suspects have machine guns, and they're shooting like mad!!" Inuyasha shouted, clearly furious at his partner, although his golden eyes shone with concern.

"I- I'm sorry...I promise I won't do it again..." she stuttered nervously, immediately chastened by his angry tone.

"Goddamn it, rookie! You said you promised not to do it again? Well there won't be a next time, if you stick your head out there again, cuz you'll get your damn head blown off!" he snapped back irritably, crouching down lower towards the pavement as a new round of bullets whizzed by overhead.

Kagome bit her bottom lip and looked away, unable to hold Inuyasha's piercing gaze any longer.

Glancing around, she saw Inutaisho crouched behind another cruiser not too far from them, and she felt her heart sink as he gave her a rather disapproving look.

Damn...was she ever in for it when they'd get back to headquarters....

She sighed deeply, and tried to wait patiently for the negotiator to arrive.

Here she was...fresh off the training course, and already in deep shit.

Her parents were going to be pretty disappointed, she thought bitterly, thinking about how they'd complain that Kikyo –her perfect older sister-- would never have done anything so rash or idiotic...

She was brought out of her rather dismal thoughts when a single loud shot was fired into the night air.

Turning her head around sharply, she noticed that all the random shooting had completely stopped.

'About fucking time...' she heard Inuyasha mutter from beside her, before turning back in time to notice the dim outline of a man approach the entrance to the bank.

The negotiator seemed to have finally arrived...

Crouching down into a more comfortable position, Kagome carefully listened to the conversation taking place, as she watched from the space underneath the cruiser.

The negotiator bravely walked up to the front of the bank, holding up his hands to show the bank robbers that he was unarmed.

One of the taller suspects, the one who appeared to be the leader, nodded to the other masked men, and they lowered their machine guns.

The negotiator cleared his throat.

"Gentlemen, why not release the hostages? They aren't helping the current situation," the man said calmly, arms still raised above his head.

"Fuck that!" one of the robbers spat, alarmingly pointing his gun at the negotiator before the tall leader silenced him with a wave of his hand.

"Why should we follow your instructions? We need to get out of here, in case you haven't noticed, asshole..." the man said with a rather sadistic tone to his voice that Kagome didn't like at all...

She silently marveled at how well the hostage negotiator was taking it, even with a machine gun pointed to his chest.

"Please...keeping the hostages will not change any of the circumstances right now," the negotiator said breezily, while trying his best to ignore the situation...which was having a possible madman trying to blow you to pieces...

Kagome held her breath as she watched the masked leader shifted slightly, as if thinking over what the man had said.

A flash of movement far off to her right made her look up quickly.

She squinted ...what seemed to be around six men were scuttling around on top of a nearby building.

Ahh... so the sharp shooting team had arrived...

She focused her attention back to the little scenario going on at the bank.

Finally, the tall leader nodded much to the relief of the police and the hostages.

Suddenly, a voice shattered the temporary silence.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!? But boss...don't you see?! Damn son-of-a-bitch's just trying to block our only escape route! Don't listen to his fucking instructions!" one of the other men blurted out, only to receive a swift blow from the masked leader.

"Shut the hell up! I'll tell you what to do!" the head guy spat back, but Kagome could hear the fear and desperation in his voice even from her distance.

She suddenly felt a rush of pity for the man.

Vivid blue eyes of an impossible shade widened as the meaning of her thought slowly sank in.

No! She worked hard to get on the force, and she sure as hell wasn't going to get kicked off! It was time to start acting like the professional she was.

Out of her peripheral vision, she saw the sharp shooting team on the building stealthily set up their snipers.

Good...it would be over as soon as they released the hostages. Then she would be free to go to the nearest restaurant and gorge herself.

Gods, she was hungry...and so tired of crouching on the hard, cold pavement, which was not a good combination for her at all.

She suddenly remembered that she would probably be in trouble for breaking direct orders when they'd get back to the police department.

'Guess it's goodbye to the All-You-Can-Eat down the street, then...'

Abrupt noises coming from the bank entrance made her look up quickly.

Frightened-looking hostages were being forced out of the large double doors, to be instantly snatched away by the nearest policemen and loaded onto several ambulances parked off the perimeter.

Inuyasha who was crouched down beside her, seemed to think that all danger had passed, and was now quietly holstering his revolver.

He turned around to look at her, a grim smile tilting his lips.

"It's all over...sharpshooters already surrounded the entire perimeter. Just as the last hostage gets out...well...look away if you're squeamish..." he added dryly before looking down to twiddle his thumbs...an annoying habit that he had when he was bored.

"Jerk..." Kagome mumbled, cursing her luck. What did she ever do to deserve the chief's son as her partner?

"I heard that, you know..." Inuyasha commented, not looking up from his one-man thumb wrestle.

Kagome sighed before looking back at the bank. There. The last hostage was out. But then...what was the masked leader holding?

Dread suddenly coursed through her veins as she saw whom she presumed to be the leader holding a struggling child in his arms.

"Mom!" the kid screamed, kicking the man with his sneaker-clad feet. He quickly stopped when the masked robber pointed his rather deadly looking machine gun to his head.

"Shippo!" a frantic, auburn haired woman cried out as she tried to run into the closed-off perimeter, but she was immediately dragged away by three policemen.

The negotiator quickly tried to work his charm again.

"Why not put the kid down? He didn't do any harm did he?" the negotiator asked reasonably, his hands still raised above his head.

The man wearing the ski-mask only laughed.

"You'd think, wouldn't you? This brat here caused more trouble than he's worth. He bit me when we grabbed him. Feisty little thing..."

The boy called Shippo squirmed in the guy's hold, and tried to kick him again.

"We also do need to get out of this little scenario alive..." the man cooed.

All of Kagome's earlier pity for him instantly vanished.

Hands clenching into tight fists, she couldn't believe that the coward was using a kid as a shield.

She looked up quickly at the sharp-shooting team at the top of the nearby building, silently hoping that they'd take out the guy as fast as possible.

Only there was a little problem...

Kagome gasped loudly, causing Inuyasha to immediately turn around.

"What's wrong?" he asked sternly, taking in Kagome's shocked expression.

Wordlessly, she pointed towards the supposed sharp-shooting team on the roof of the building.

Frowning, Inuyasha followed her gaze, utterly confused. Hadn't the girl already known there was a sharp-shooting team located there? And if she pointed like that again, she might tip of the suspects, the stupid girl...

"What the..."

He squinted, letting reality of it to slowly sink in...

Suddenly he sprang up, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "THE BUILDING--ALL A DISTRACTION! FIRE NOW!" he hollered, feeling his vocal cords become raw.

But he had done it. The supposed sharpshooters on the nearby building had on civilian clothing instead of the standard police uniforms, and were aiming down at the hostages and policemen instead of the bank robbers.

The man who was holding Shippo was so surprised at having his 'brilliant' little distraction being foiled, that he momentarily loosened his grip on his hostage.

Shippo took that opportune moment to clamp down on the guy's arm, and wrench himself free from his grasp.

What happened next was complete and total chaos...all the police on the scene, sheltered behind their cruisers, leapt up and shot at the sharp shooters on the building, while others aimed for the bank robbers.

But through all the confusion and whizzing bullets, Kagome seemed to be the only one who saw the kid bite down on his captive's arm and make a run for it...she seemed to be the only one who saw the furious masked man grab his machine gun, and aim for the kid who was quickly scampering away towards his mother with his back turned...

Without thinking, she leapt out from behind the cruiser, leaving her only weapon behind.

She faintly heard Inuyasha shout after her, and flinging out an arm in attempt to stop her, but she was already out in the open weaving through the exchanged bullets, running towards the boy named Shippo...

Panting, she leapt towards him, landing hard on her elbows before shielding his small frame with her body just as the masked bank robber fired his shot...

Her breath caught in her throat as a sudden excruciating pain erupted throughout her body.

Vision swimming wildly before her, she felt a wetness slowly trickling down her front.

The boy named Shippo seemed to be gone...

Trembling fingers reached up to touch the devastating wound dangerously near one of her main arteries.

Pulling her hand away, she watched entranced as the crimson liquid trickled down her arm almost hypnotically.

Collapsing onto the ground, consciousness becoming hazier by the second, breathing became shallow as she lay in an ever-growing pool of her own blood, while silently cursing Inuyasha for telling her that since she wasn't about to do any of the stakeout work, that she didn't need to wear a bullet-proof vest. Damn him.

Turning onto her back, she shivered. It was as if a sudden chill coursed through her veins...

The blurred brightness of the surrounding spotlights and the faint voices shouting something like 'officer down!' was the last thing she saw through a haze of searing-white pain before her vision went black.

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~Guardian of Secrets