Kryptonite

By Danyealle

(fanfiction/MF/HC/Abuse)

Chapter 2

Once he got to the fortress he settled her into the room next to his then sent for the healer.  Though he knew he should get going and figure out how he was going to get the kit he wanted to at least know how badly she was injured.  So he impressed upon the healer to hurry the exam so he knew what he wanted to before he left.  While she was being seen to he quickly made arrangements to have the room next to Rin’s cleaned and ready for Shippo.  Once he was done with that he arranged to have the head of his guards meet him when he returned.

By the time he finished with those small errands the healer had finished her preliminary look over of Kagome.  While her maid was helping to give the little miko a bath, Sesshomaru got a rundown of her injuries and didn’t like what he heard in the least.  From the healer’s perspective, she estimated the abuse had been going on for months because Kagome had healing fractures on her rib area where the worst and most overlapping bruising was.  Not only that she had healed scars from claws and teeth. She assured him, that from her experience, these were no scars from battle because of placement and how they were overlapped by the same types of wounds of various ages.  From what he was told all the areas that were covered with her clothes were bruised but her torso and inner thighs had the biggest concentration of them.

By the time she was done talking he was absolutely furious.  All he could think about was doing to the boy what he had done to her.  He also gave himself a mental slap upside the head for not noticing there was a problem.  From what he had been told he had been around her since it had started and had notice exactly nothing out of the ordinary.  Better than most, he knew that Inuyasha had next to no self control about many things, from eating all the way to his temper.  He should have figured this one out as well.

Shaking that off, he forced himself back to the current situation.  He had to go grab the kit before the whelp realized she was gone.  Gelling the healer to do what she needed to he also had her relay the message that he had gone to retrieve the kit to her and would return shortly.  Then he was off.  No, he still wasn’t really sure how he was going to do this but he hoped a situation would present its self that would give him a way. 

As much as he wanted to confront the boy he was sure, at this point, that if that were to happen the whelp wouldn’t survive the encounter.  That that wouldn’t bother him in the least he knew it would Kagome.  She already had enough to deal with that he didn’t want her to blame herself for any more. 

Sighing, he decided he would just scope out the situation when he got there then decide what to do.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Away from camp, Shipp was just tucking things into his hakama after ‘watering a bush’, as Kagome put it, when he was grabbed from behind.  He was about to scream for Inuyasha when another hand clamped over his mouth.

When he heard the word, “Silence,” he was thankful that he had already taken care of his business because he was scared enough that he would have wet himself.  He instantly knew who had a hold of him, Lord Sesshomaru, and he was terrified.  Though he didn’t know why the taiyoukai had grabbed him, the kitsune was sure he was dead.  All he hoped for was it would be as quick and painless as possible.  Bug-eyed, all he could really do was shake violently.

The demon lord knew he had just scared the child, he could sense the pure fear rolling off of him, but the opportunity to snag the kit without a possible confrontation with the half-breed was too good to pass up.  Holding onto the child, he moved further away from the camp so there was no chance that Inuyasha would hear or sense him.

Finding a place a ways away, he sat the kit down on a large boulder but kept a hold of him and his hand clamped over his mouth.  Crouching down a bit, so they were close to being eye level, he employed the calm voice he used with Rin when she was upset.  “It is not my intent to harm you, do you understand?”

Emerald eyes wide, Shippo nodded but was still scared out of his mind.

“If I remove my hand can you assure me you won’t scream?  I just need to talk to you, nothing more.”  He assured the frightened child.

Once more, Shippo nodded.

Removing his hand from the kits mouth, he waited to make sure he wasn’t going to panic and start yelling.

Licking his lips, Shippo looked at the taiyoukai then stammered out, “What do you want from me?”

“Kagome asked me to come retrieve you.”  He said as gently as he could.

From Shippo’s point of view it sounded strange but, unlike with most beings who would say something like that, he believed the demon lord.  Though he didn’t know him well, he knew him enough that he could trust his word.  That if he said he wouldn’t hurt him and that Kagome sent him then that was the truth.  He just didn’t understand why he was here and why Kagome would have sent him.  “Where’s she at?  Why isn’t she with you?”  I thought that is where she was going.”

“She’s safe at my fortress.  She asked that I came retrieve you and take you there.”  He explained.

“Why is she there?”  Shippo asked, confused.

This was something he wasn’t sure how he was going to explain to the child nor did he know just what to tell him about the situation.  He wasn’t going to lie to him but he wasn’t sure how much he should tell him either.  Finally, he decided on the briefest of explanations then he would go from there.  “She’s been hurt.”  He stated quietly.

Normally, the first thing that would have come to the child’s mind was she had been attacked but not this time.  No one would dare attack her with Sesshomaru around. And if that had been the case he was sure Sesshomaru would have just shown up at the camp, not grabbed him while he was alone.

 Unlike the rest of the beings in the pack, Shippo was aware what Inuyasha had done to her.  No, he hadn’t seen him hurt the woman he saw as a mother but he had heard a few things here and there from the hanyou.  Couple that with some of her injuries, he had put two and two together then could take a good guess about what was going on.  No, he hadn’t said anything to anyone but he was pretty sure what was going on.  Lately he had been trying to decide what to do about it himself.  Also, he was well aware of youkai society’s views on such things, even as a child he knew about it, and how it was dealt with.  Looking at Sesshomaru, he asked, in a quiet voice, “Inuyasha hurt her, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”  The demon lord replied simply.  Looking the kit in the eyes, he asked, “Did you know he was hurting her?”  Though his tone remained the same there seemed to be a bite to it this time.

Sighing, Shippo shook his head.  “No, but I kinda’ thought that’s what might be going on.”

Nodding, Sesshomaru said nothing about that response and changed the subject.  “Do you have anything at camp that belongs to you?”

“Yeah, a few things.”  The kit answered.

“Alright.  Can you gather Kagome’s and your things up without being noticed?”  The way he figured it, slipping the kit away without anyone seeing him was going to be the easiest and best way to go about this.  He was sure that the half-breed would know it was him that took her and Shippo very quickly then head towards the fortress but it would give him enough time to get back and ensure things were set up to ensure that he kept her away from the whelp.

“Yeah, I think I can do that.  But what about Sango and Miroku?  They haven’t hurt her at all and will be worried to death.”  Shippo asked, wringing his hands a bit.

“I don’t plan to keep them away from her but for now this is the best way to keep her safe.”  The taiyoukai explained.

“I understand I think.”  Shippo nodded.  “When I get back to camp I’ll stuff our things then go get water.  I can meet you on the path to the river.  Is that OK with you?”

Nodding, Sesshomaru replied, “That should work well.  But time is of the essence.  We have to move quickly before the half-breed decided she’s been gone too long and goes to get her.  It’s my intent to already be at the fortress when that happens.”

“When I get back to camp, I’ll move as quickly as I can.”  Shippo assured him.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Shippo slipped back into camp without anyone noticing.  Inuyasha was talking about going to get Kagome because he felt she had been gone too long.  Both the monk and slayer were trying to get him to ‘chill out’ and just wait a bit, telling him everything was fine and that it wasn’t odd for her to be gone this long when she went to see the taiyoukai.

While they were distracted, Shippo quietly gathered his and things then stuffed him in the bushes near the path to the river, somewhere he could easily grab them.  When he was done with that, he joined the others by the fire.  Though he was nervous and uptight about what he was going to do, he was able to keep it under control enough that no one seemed to notice.

When she noticed the kit’s return, Sango asked him to go fetch some water so she could start cooking.  Taking the containers, Shippo headed the direction of the river.  Once he ducked out of camp, the kit grabbed the things he had stashed then took off towards the river as fast as he could.

About halfway between the camp and river, Sesshomaru was waiting for him.  Quickly, the kit related the conversation he had heard.

Understanding that he didn’t have much time, Sesshomaru grabbed the few things the kit had brought then scooped up the child.  Normally he didn’t hold onto anyone, including Rin, like this but the kitsune was so small that there was no real way to hold onto him like he normally would.  When his blue light formed around them he once more headed towards the fortress as fast as he could.

~~~~~@~~~~~~

When he landed his first thought was to check on Kagome but quickly after that he knew he had to meet with his guards to formulate how to deal with Inuyasha when he arrived.  He knew it would take some time for the hanyou and the rest of his pack to get there so he felt he had time to check on the miko before he did anything else.

He about to pass the kit to one of the maids so he could get settled in when the child’s voice stopped him.

“Can I please see Kagome first?”  The kit asked quietly.

To him, that seemed like a reasonable request.  Not only would it allow the kit to know she was alright but it would also let Kagome know that her kit was safe and she would be able to relax a bit so the taiyoukai nodded.  Passing off the items he was carrying to one of the staff, he carried the child to her room.

Once there, he put the kit on a bench that sat in the hallway then knocked to get the healer’s attention.  When she poked her head out he asked if he and the kit could see her for a couple minutes.

Because he hadn’t been gone all that long the only thing they had done was get her cleaned up and give her a draught for pain and a couple other things.  They were waiting for the pain killer to kick in before they saw to anything else so it would be fine for them to see her.

Beckoning the kit to follow him, he stepped into the room.  Seeing her droopy-eyed look he guessed the pain medicine was kicking in so they wouldn’t be able to stay for too long.  Crouching down by the bed she was resting on, he said her name to get her attention.  When she looked at him, he told her, “Your kit is here.  He wants to see you.”

With a small smile, she nodded, “OK.”

Motioning the child over, he stepped out of the way.  While the kit talked to her, he sent one of the maids off to fetch Rin’s nanny then to have the cooks prepare the child something to eat.

As he expected, within a couple minutes she was starting to doze off.  Stepping in, Sesshomaru gently told the child that he needed to let her rest and to go with the nanny so he could get settled into his new room.

Understanding, Shippo gave Kagome a gentle hug then headed off with the nanny who was standing in the hallway waiting for him.

The taiyoukai was about to leave himself so the healer could do what she needed to when Kagome said his name.  Stopping, he turned and looked at her.

“Thanks Sesshomaru.  For everything.”  She said in a quiet, slightly slurred voice.

“You’re welcome,” he replied with a nod.  “Now, rest and let them take care of you.”

Nodding, she shut her eyes and let out a soft sigh.

~~~~~~@~~~~~

When he made it to his study he was pleased to see that those who he wanted to talk to were already there, waiting on him.  Sitting down behind his desk, he jumped right in.  After a brief explanation of the situation they went over how to handle things when the hanyou made his appearance.  He made it clear that he had no quarrel with the monk and slayer and were welcome to stay and visit with Kagome if they wished.  Inuyasha, however, was not.  Though he planned to deal with the boy on his own, he made back-up plans in case the whelp did something foolish.

Because all that were there had been at the fortress since the time of the great dog general himself they had all had dealings with Inuyasha at one time or another.  All of them held the same opinion of the boy that Sesshomaru did; a deep loathing that bordered on hatred.  It had nothing to do with the circumstances of his birth or the fact that he was a hanyou but because of past dealings with him.  The circumstances bringing the Shikon Miko to the fortress and what the boy had done to her only shored up what they felt or and thought about the half-breed.

It only took about an hour for them to set up all they needed to so he sent them off to do what was needed.  Sesshomaru spent a while going through what was on his desk waiting for him.  He sorted through everything and put what needed his attention right away and what could wait into separate piles.  When he finished he sent for his diner then headed off to check on Rin and Shippo then Kagome.

~~~~~@~~~~~~

It took about a half an hour after Shippo left with Sesshomaru for the rest of the pack to realize how long the kit had been gone.  They had been busy talking about Kagome and how long she had been gone that when Inuyasha announced that he was going to retrieve the miko they realized that the kit had been gone for far longer than he should have been.

With a disgusted snort, Inuyasha said he would go find him.  As he headed towards the river, he vowed to give the little brat a good thumping for pulling this shit.  When he got halfway down the path that thought left him completely and his mind changed tracks.  He found the still empty containers in the middle of the pathway and Shippo’s smell had vanished.  But his hackles rose when he caught the faintest smell of his half-brother as well.

Gut tightening; he got a very foreboding feeling.  He was sure that the kit vanished and his half-brothers smell were no mere coincidence and could mean nothing good.  Quickly, he turned around and headed back to camp at top speed.  When he tore into camp, he ordered the other two to go look for Shippo.  After he told them what he had found he then took off to where his bastard brother was supposed to be camped at. 

Moving as fast as his legs would carry him, his brain was spinning out of control.  No, he didn’t know what to expect but he was pretty damn sure what he was going to find was something he wasn’t going to like.

When he burst through the trees that surrounded the campsite, he found out he had been right.  Yes, this was the right place; he could smell the bastard, that toad and that brat that traveled with them all over the place.  The light, flowery smell of his miko was there as well.  Problem was that none of the beings attached to those smells were there.  The fire had been doused but the coals were still warm, telling him that camp hadn’t been broken long before.  Sniffing around, he could tell that the brat and toads smells were the fresher ones but not by much.  His miko and Lord Asshole’s were still fresh enough to tell him that they hadn’t been gone for long.  Because of the abrupt end to them he knew they weren’t traveling on foot which led him to believe they were intending to go a long distance in a short period of time.  The first thing that came to mind was the bastard’s fortress.  Oh yeah, he was now officially pissed!

But on the heels of that came something else, dread.  Knowing the Lice Lord and his sense of honor he was sure that this had to do with what he had done to her.  He was well aware that it would be expected of Sesshomaru to remove her from him if he had found out what he had done.  Honestly, he really did love Kagome with all his hart and soul, really he did!  He also felt horrified about the things he had done to her but he was going to change and make things up to her.  But if that fucker had taken her doing that would be all but impossible!  The way youkai saw you hurting your mate and what needed to be done about it made that next to impossible.  It would take moving half of heaven and hell to even be left alone with her again let alone get her away from the bastard.  Then he was sure the fucker would fill her head with all kinds of shit and poison her against him.  Digging his fingers into his hair, he tried to think.

Trying to force himself to calm down, he tried to logically sort this out.  First thing was first; he had to remember that he wasn’t sure why Sesshomaru had taken her in the first place.  For all he knew it could be a very simple, innocent reason.  Until he found out why, or even if, he had her then he had to keep his guilt from taking over and think clearly and logically.  Finding her was the first and only priority right now. 

He turned tail and tore off back to camp as fast as he could. 

When he got there he found both humans in a state of near panic.

“Nothing!  We couldn’t find anything or any sign of Shippo!”  Miroku said, eyes overly large.

Sighing, Inuyasha shook his head.  “I didn’t think you would but I hoped I was wrong.”  Stopping he took a deep breath then went on.  “Kagome’s gone too.”

“What?!?” Sango yelled.  “Did Sesshomaru say where she went?  Or didn’t he know?”

“I wouldn’t know.  He’s gone too.  So are Jaken and Rin.  I think he has both Kagome and Shippo.  I smelled him where the runt’s scent ended.”

“Why would he take them?  What could he possibly want from them? “Miroku asked, truly puzzled.

Shrugging, Inuyasha sighed.  “You got me.  With the way that bastard is, it’s hard telling what he grabbled them for.”  Straightening up he fixed the two humans with a glare.  “But I’m pretty sure I know where he took them.  Break camp and we’ll head to the fuckers fortress.  If we travel all night I’m sure we can get there by tomorrow afternoon!”

That was all Sango and Miroku needed.  Immediately they set to work packing up.