Of Gangs and Groceries
Gwydion and T4

Chapter 12

"Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me." The opening hymn was finishing as Allen continued to glance around almost frantically looking for Hitmoi. She hadn't called him back last night or this morning, not that he had necessarily expected her to, but... Oh, where was she? Yukari, who had accompanied Allen and Momaru to church this morning, jabbed him in the stomach. "Stop being paranoid." He looked back at her in shock. "You'll worry the kid."

Allen let his eyes fall on Hitmoi's brother who was opening his Bible to Romans 12 as requested by the preacher. At first glance, the younger boy seemed to be acting as he normally did in church, quiet if not a little fidgety, but Allen could tell that he was a little anxious as well, whether or not it was due to his own nervousness he wasn't sure. He turned back to Yukari and gave a slight nod, assuring her he'd do his best to remain calm for Momaru's sake. As he bowed his head for the prayer, he silently added "Please let Hitomi be safe" before the preacher began.

But once the message began, Allen couldn't help but scan the room every ten seconds for any sign of Hitomi. Due to Yukari's continuous elbowing, he was sure to be bruised by the end of the service. But despite the threat, he continued to keep his eyes open for their missing friend.

"Please stand for the benediction," the preacher announced.

"Thank God," Allen thought as they stood.

As the organ pumped out the postlude, Allen, Yukari, and Momaru scurried to the parking lot, everyone thinking the same thing. "I'll go over and see if I can find Hitomi. I'll ask her to come over for lunch, okay?" Allen told the other two.

"I want to come with you!" Momaru announced.

Allen looked pleadingly at Yukari. "I think you'd better come with me." She unlocked the door for Momaru and let him jump in. After doing so, she handed her cell phone to Allen. "Call if... if something's happened," she whispered, "And don't do anything dumb."

"I'll see you soon," Allen assured as he jogged over to his red Mustang convertible.

Sitting in the rundown living room of the old apartment that the Slayers occupied, Dilandau constantly fiddled with his lighter, his head resting in his other hand. A scowl was etched across his face as he unconciously traced the scar running down his cheek. Why hadn't Dragon come for his girl yet?

"Something doesn't seem right...…" he thought to himself. Was Whitey really heartless enough to just leave her? "But he seemed really into her before. And she's pretty nice on the eyes. Does he think he can just get another one whenever he wants? Hmph, if he does, he seriously needs to take a look in the mirror! With hair like that, I'm surprised this chick didn't disappear sooner. Now, I, on the other hand -"

"Hey, Dilandau!" called Migel, interrupting his boss' mumbling.

Summoned back to reality, Dilandau barked a "What?!"

"What are we going to do with the girl?" Migel, a true warm-hearted gentleman at heart (thanks to the loving care of his mother), was worried about what the others were talking about doing with her; no, it was more like to her.

"Quit asking me stupid questions! We're going to keep holding on to her for as long as we have to! Nobody touches her but me, ya got it!? Now stop questioning me!" he yelled as the clicking of his lighter began again.

"Uh..." Migel looked skeptical, but added, "Yes, sir."

As Allen skidded to a stop near the forbidden warehouse, he checked his surroundings and was sure to put the car alarm on. He, knowing that Hitomi had pleaded with him to not come around that area anymore, bounded up the stairs to her apartment. Nearly falling against the door, he knocked loudly then put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Without waiting too long, he pounded again. When he'd finally caught his breath enough to hear over his wheezes, he listened closely.

There was no answer.

"Hitomi?" he called, starting to get worried that she hadn't just slept in late.

Nothing.

"Hitomi!" He could wait no longer. He grabbed the door knob, deciding that he'd break the door down if necessary, but luckily for him it wasn't. The door opened easily. His heart pounding, Allen thrust the door open, not knowing what to expect.

What he saw in the small apartment was, well, nothing. There was very little furniture and nothing seemed out of place. He looked around for her shoes but didn't see them.

"Could she have gone somewhere?" Allen wondered aloud, "But why wouldn't she lock her door? And why wouldn't she call? If she got lost or something she should have called me."

As his eyes scanned the small apartment, he soon found the reason why she had not tried calling. His cell phone lay on the counter. Why would she leave without it? It was then he noticed a crinkled scrap of paper lying next to it. He walked over to have a closer look. It looked like some sort of flyer for a new homemade diet supplement ("Take this pill and lose up to 20 lbs. in 7 days! It really works! My dog never looked so good!"). He cautiously picked it up, trying to touch the least amount of surface area possible when he noticed something written on the back. Turning it over, he saw a note scrawled in blotchy, blue ink. He read it in a hurry: "WD - We got your girl. Just try to come get her back. - Dilandau" Was this some sort of joke? Would someone actually kidnap her? Well, he supposed it had happened before.

After rereading and close examination of the room, Allen decided that the note had to be a bona fide threat. But, who was Dilandau? And who was this WD person? After a few moments of thought, it hit him: White Dragon. Of course. Who else? Oh, he was starting to get it now. Dragon had made up this Dilandau character to scare him. Dragon probably had Hitomi all along. He had to go get her.

But that would mean going to the warehouse. He had promised Hitomi to never step foot in there again. He had to, though. What if she were hurt? What if that Dragon character were... Oh, he didn't want to think of what a shifty thug like him would do to his Hitomi. He shook his head and nearly flew down the stairs and out the door, note in hand. Considering his options, he decided he would simply walk in through the front this time (after finding a piece of rusted pipe to bring with him). Sneaking had obviously done him no good before anyway. Determined to save Hitomi, Allen took a deep breath and pulled the front door open.

Dark shadows lay all around him, the dingy windows letting in little light. He heard muttering coming from the back corner of the large room. Just thinking of the smirking gang leader's face at his apparently successful kidnapping spurred the rescuer on. As he passed random crates labeled things like "FRAGILE" and "DANGER!!", he saw exactly who he was looking for. Sitting on one of the crates was Dragon himself, other random gang members standing around him. And all eyes were on him.

"Even after being warned by your little girlfriend, you just couldn't stay away, huh, lawyer-boy?" the gang leader taunted, "Decided to just barge in this time? Was the window just too high for you?"

Fuming at his play at innocence, Allen nearly threw the flyer at Dragon, but instead, he held it up in the punk's face. "Is this your idea of a joke? Cuz really, what kind of dumb pseudonym is Dilandau anyway?"

"Dilly?" His eyes narrowed at the mention of the other gang leader. How did this rich boy know about him? And wasn't he supposed to be out of the picture anyway? His gang had been beaten to a pulp during their last fight. Grabbing the flyer out of Allen's hands, he looked it over carefully.

"How 'bout we take care of this creep, boss?" growled one of the surrounding gang members, "We don't like your arrogance, rich boy." He and several others cracked their knuckles in anticipation.

Dragon held up his hand, signaling for his gang to cool it for a bit. He glanced up from the note to see Allen glaring at him, his patience apparently wearing very thin. Looking at his present gang members, he nodded his head toward the back door, their cue to leave. "I'll deal with him personally," he explained.

After the gang was out of hearing distance, Allen demanded, "Well, where is she?" He glanced around the warehouse (well, what he could see of it) as he waited anxiously to get the answer.

"You expect me to know? Go ask Dilandau, that is, if you don't mind more than just the finish on your car being scarred," he replied calmly. "Why come here where there's a gang just waiting to have some fun?"

"What?" Allen realized that he hadn't really thought too much about his own safety. He could have called the cops or something else, perhaps a little less drastic. "Who cares about your gang? Hitomi is in trouble. If you're afraid to go help her, then tell me where to go, and I'll do it myself." His words were excited with worry.

"Afraid? Right, I'm afraid of Dilly. I could take care of that idiot before he could even beg for mercy." He looked Allen over for a second. "Now for a scrawny guy like you, he might be a bit of a challenge. You gonna go through all that trouble just for your wench?"

"She's no wench, punk. She's more of a lady than you'll ever have the honor to meet again. Now, stop playing with me. Tell me where you've hid her." Allen took a defensive stance which realized his actual size. Despite the preppy white button down shirt and the khaki pants, he was no wimp.

"I don't think you understand," Dragon replied darkly, slowly standing. "I don't have her. What good would it do me to kidnap her, huh?" He was now standing directly in front of Allen. "Money? She's got no family except that younger brother of hers, and neither of them has cash. You gonna pay a ransom? Doubtful, you'd sooner call the cops. So why don't you look for your little 'lady' elsewhere and get out of my sight before I let my gang have their way."

"You know where she is, though. Tell me. Tell me, and I'll be gone."

"I wiped out Dilandau's gang a while ago. Unless they've gone back to their old hangout, I don't know where he is." He smirked. "Of course, you could always find one of his old gang mambers and ask them."

"Well, if you did such an amazing job as you imply 'wiping them out,' as you say, then why is he writing notes to you and kidnapping people? Wait. Why IS this written to you? Huh? You aren't...?" The look of worry turned to a different kind of worry... if you know what I mean.

The gang leader turned back to where he was previously sitting. "If you're implying that she was my wench, I think she'd beat the crap out of you instead of me. However," Dragon sat down, "Dilly did think that she was my girl before. It's possible he never got it through his thick skull that she hated my guts."

A certain relief came over Allen, although he still was worried about Hitomi. How long had she been gone? Was she still... okay? "Fine, just tell me where I can find her, and I'll go get her because obviously you don't care about anybody but yourself." And he added, "Which is undoubtedly why she doesn't like you," under his breath.

He smirked and tugged at the ring under his shirt. "Undoubtedly. But like I said, unless they went back to their old hangout, I don't know where his gang is hiding. And considering she's been missing for a while now, he could have given up on the ransom idea by now."

The idea tore at his inside. What would they have done to her since she's been gone so long? Wait. So long? "Wait. How do you know that she's been gone a long time?"

There was a pause before the gang leader looked away, answering, "I didn't see her walking to work yesterday."

"You watch for her?" This guy was creepy.

"Of course not! Look, it's none of your business, rich boy, so I suggest you drop it."

Allen's eyes grew wide as he stepped back at the disgusting realization. "You like her. You like Hitomi!" It had suddenly hit him. Why else would the gang leader act like this?

Dragon's head shot up. "You're crazy! She's caused me nothing but trouble! She's always in my way!"

Allen listened, mumbling under his breath, "Well, it's obvious you love trouble..."

Before he could go on, the gang leader had him by the collar of his shirt. "Just shut up, will ya!? Do you want me to help you find her or not!?"

Now, it was Allen's turn to smirk. "Thanks for the offer. I'll drive." He shoved the hand away, pulled his keys out, and started for the door.

Not quite sure what was going on, Dragon watched him leave, confused. "What?? Hey!" He quickly ran after Allen, wondering how he'd gotten himself in this situation.

Dilandau looked at his watch. It said 4 pm. It had already been almost two days since they had kidnapped Hitomi. He was getting anxious. Where was Dragon? Why hadn't he come to save his girl yet? If he was forced to wait any longer, he wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it. Waiting was not his strong suit. "Dilandau!" cried Chesta as he barged into the room. "The gang's getting antsy out there. Some are saying that Dragon isn't coming. We gotta do something and soon!" The leader glared at the intruder. "Tell Migel to come here." The gang member nodded and quickly left to find his cohort. He found him standing next to Gatti who was peacefully sleeping in a corner. "Aw, come on, Gatti! It's 4 o'clock in the afternoon! Now's not the time to be - " "Migel!" interrupted Chesta. "Dilandau wants to see you."

Allen eased down the street until Dragon told him to park so they could walk the rest of the way without being detected.

"Alright, now listen up, lawyer-boy, I didn't want you coming along to begin with. If you screw this up, I swear you won't live to regret it, got it? You will do exactly as I say from now on," the gang leader threatened before Allen even had a chance to unbuckle his seat belt. He was not going to allow this wimp to get him caught. Now if Allen happened to get left behind, well, he was the one who insisted he come.

Allen's head was spinning with Dragon's words and his own worries, but he threw his seatbelt off and ran to the curb for his companion's next commands.

Seeing as how Allen wasn't putting up a fight, Dragon was tempted to just tell him to stay in the car so they could make a quick getaway, not to mention it would get him out of the way, but he highly doubted he would listen, and that would cause Allen to start yelling which would alert Dilandau to their whereabouts which in turn would likely get them caught which would lead to a rather abrupt, unhappy ending. Instead he simply told him not to say a word and to follow him as he made his way through the shadows to the other gang's hideout. Or, what he hoped was still their hideout, at least.

Once they were right next to the run down apartment building, the gang leader signaled for Allen to stop as he looked for the best way in. Luckily, the windows high on the basement walls showed the room to be empty, making an entrance easy enough. He told Allen to keep watch while he got the window open. Soon enough, the window was open and Dragon had jumped down into the dark, cement room. Allen took a last glance around and sorta slid down the wall into the basement, gripping the windowsill with white knuckles. Unsure how much farther he had to go, he closed his eyes and let go, only to fall at most six inches. Dragon watched the pansy, shaking his head. Why had he let lawyer-boy come along?

Turning back, the gang leader carefully looked around the darkened room. It seemed as if the basement was used for storage; boxes lay all over the floor, most covered in dust. He cautiously made his way to the doorway and peered out into the hallway. Stairs leading to the upper floors were at the end. Motioning for Allen to stay, Dragon crept toward the bottom of the stairs and listened for any noises from above. Upon hearing nothing, he turned back to signal that it was safe for Allen to follow, only to find that he was standing right behind him.

"I thought I told you to wait!" hissed the gang leader.

Allen shrugged and put his finger over his lips, motioning for Dragon to be quiet, as he ascended the first step. Dragon, annoyed, pushed past him and hurried on ahead, not caring what happened to the dumb rich kid. At the top of the stairs, Dragon took a quick look around and headed down the hallway. Most of the doors were shut, but just after the gang leader passed another door, Allen noticed that it was cracked open. Curiously, he cautiously opened the door. Suddenly, he heard a loud noise, and he stopped in his tracks. Dragon, who was by now a good fifteen feet down the hall, turned to get Allen. Seeing him frozen in his tracks down the hall, he retraced his steps and grabbed him harshly.

"Snap out of it," he whispered harshly, "Don't just stand around doing nothing! Let's just hurry and -"

He was stopped short as he too heard the sound. His hand going immediately to his switchblade, the gang leader put his other hand on the door and quietly pushed it open, cringing as it creaked loudly.

"Screw it," he mumbled as he roughly pushed the door open and pulled out his knife. To his surprise, the room was empty save for one lone Slayer sitting in a chair. Asleep. Snoring very loudly.

Allen looked carefully. "Who knew..." he mumbled as Dragon stepped into the room. Allen followed, shutting the door quickly behind him - the faster swing of the door, the less noise.

Annoyed, Dragon walked behind the sleeping Gatti and, covering the gang member's mouth with one hand and holding his knife in the other, shook him awake. As he woke with a start, Dragon made sure that he could see his blade and whispered, "I suggest you just keep still and answer some questions for us. Wouldn't want to have to get my knife all bloody, now would we?"

Racing across the room, Allen bent over and demanded, "Where is she?"

Gatti looked concerned. "Who? What?" he gargled through the hand over his mouth. He couldn't help wonder how they got in to the fortified apartment building.

Disgusted, Dragon lowered his hand, confident that the gang member wouldn't try anything considering his current situation. He glared at Allen and said, "Let me handle this, rich boy." Turning the switchblade over in his hand, his eyes narrowed as his other arm tightened around the captive's throat.

"Now," he began, "Dilly was keeping a girl here, light hair, green eyes. Where is he keeping her?"

A cloud of confusion and worry covered his eyes, but suddenly, he asked, "Oh! You mean the hot chick? Yeah, she was here." He almost smirked, then realized he'd better not. "Yeah, Dilandau took her alright. He kept her all to himself... unfortunately," he added in a whisper.

Allen nearly punched the thug in the face, but kept his cool as he let out a deep breath and began to pace the room. Dragon began choking the gang member. "You never answered my question: Where is she? Where is anyone, for that matter?"

The captured Gatti looked confused. "I don't know. Last I heard, she was being held in a room upstairs..." His concern was growing.

"Upstairs you said?" Allen asked as he went back over to the sitting man.

"Yeah, but like I said, none of us were allowed to... well, you know."

Allen rushed to the door, and just as his hand was on the knob, he heard Dragon call after him. "Stop, moron!" Turning abruptly, Allen glared at Dragon then waited by the door. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, the gang leader turned his attention back to getting the needed information so he could get himself out of there. "You said they were upstairs, right? How far up and how do we get there without being noticed? And no lies or else you'll be taking a much longer nap, got it?"

"Uh... Well, I dunno... I've no idea."

"Think harder," Dragon hissed, tightening his grip and letting his knife touch the man's throat.

"Uh... well, Dilandau hangs out on the fourth floor most. I guess that he'd keep the girl nearby."

"A lot of help you are," muttered Dragon. He looked up at Allen. "Look, both of us can't go up there and leave this idiot here by himself. I am going to go up to the fourth floor and you are going to stay here, got it?" Before Allen could protest, he quickly added, "I told you that you were going to follow my orders, remember? You didn't go off on me back then, so don't start whining now!"

"How do I know you'll be good to her and that you'll come back for me?" He wanted to go to make sure he kept his eye on Dragon. He still didn't trust the gang leader and doubted he'd start now or anytime soon.

The gang leader smirked. "You don't," he said simply. Removing his arm from his captive's throat, he began feeling around the other man's waistline until a satisfied smirk reached his lips. Closing his switchblade, he tossed it to Allen who caught it, surprised. But when he looked up, he noticed that Dragon was holding up a small handgun.

"This will do nicely," said the gang leader as he got up from his position behind the chair. "Be sure to keep an eye on him, and don't hesitate to use that if he causes any trouble. He's unarmed now, so unless you're even slower than I thought, it shouldn't be a problem," he said to Allen as he made his way to the door.

He nodded his affirmation and glared at the sitting man. Sure, he was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, but he couldn't let this chump know. He leaned against the wall near the door, keeping his eyes on the sitting duck while flipping the switchblade open and closed to get the hang of it, just in case.

Groaning softly and wondering if this were really such a good idea, Dragon quietly left the room and made his way to the stairs. When he was sure that he didn't hear anything suspicious, he carefully made his way to the next floor. Why was no one here? It didn't make sense... unless perhaps the Slayers were expecting him and had planned to leave the sleeping gang member behind to make sure he made it all the way to the fourth floor where they were waiting to ambush him...

"That doesn't make any sense," he muttered as he kept walking, "Not only is Dilandau not smart enough to come up with something like that, but why leave the gun on him?" He shook his head and readied the gun as he reached the fourth floor. Cautiously peering down the narrow hall, he noticed that all of the doors were closed. Stepping into the hall, gun pointed straight ahead, he approached the nearest door and put his ear against it. Hearing nothing, he quickly opened it, hoping it wouldn't creak.

Nothing. Sighing, he continued down the hall in the same manner. When he was finally at the last door at the end of the hall, he was beginning to lose his temper. So far there had been no one. But the gang member downstairs was proof that this was still their hideout. So they had to be here, right? Not wasting time, Dragon kicked the last door open and held the gun out in front. Again seeing no one, the gang leader cursed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Looking around the room, all he noticed were a few brown paper bags and some empty coke cans.

"What a waste of time," he muttered as he made his way back to the stairs. As a last thought, he peeked into the other rooms again until he found some rope laying in the corner. Grabbing it, he descended the stairs.

As he headed back down, he tried to think of what Dilandau was up to. It was obvious by the mess that he had been here. But where was he now? Everything was as the left behind member had said, or so it seemed, anyway. If she was being kept on the fourth floor and no one could see her but Dilly himself, that end room would have been perfect, not to mention it'd explain the mess. But she was gone now. Where would he take her?

As a sudden thought hit him, he quickly ran down the rest of the way to the floor Allen was waiting on. It was a long shot, but possible. Dragon considered just leaving without Allen, but he needed his car, not to mention he wanted his switchblade back. As he reached the door, he shoved it open. Allen, who was primed for anything, senses perked, eyes alert, knees bent, ready to spring at anything that moved while still trying to look cool and intimidating, tripped the entering Dragon and pinned him to the floor in haste. As soon as they both realized who the other was, they slowly lowered their respective weapons and turned on the captive. However, as Dragon moved toward the sitting man, Allen glanced at him and then in the hallway. "Wait. Where is she?"

"Make sure he doesn't try anything," Dragon said to Allen, ignoring his question. He hurriedly began tying Gatti to the chair. "She wasn't up there. No one was. And before you start complaining, I have an idea where they might be. Of course, I could always be wrong, but it's the only place I can think of." He got up, convinced that the rope was now tight enough to hold their captive.

"Well? Where is she??" asked Allen frantically, wanting to hurry up and leave.

Dragon reached over and grabbed his knife from Allen as he shoved the gun in the back of his waistband and hurried out the door. "Give me your keys," he commanded, not slowing his pace.

"No way." Allen ran ahead and out the door, pulling his keys from his pocket. "Just tell me where," he called out to the gang leader who quickly caught up to him and wheeled him around.

"I don't think you heard me right. Give me your keys now. We are heading back to my warehouse, ok? By the looks of things here, they didn't move to a new hideout. So the only thing I can figure is that they decided to attack, and, let's face it, he hates my guts. And if my gang is fighting, I have to be right there with them, and there's no way I am going to put up with your driving again," he said as he grabbed the keys out of Allen's hand and pushed him out of the way.

Climbing into the driver's seat, he slammed the door and without turning to look at Allen, who stood there fuming, added, "Better get in or you're being left behind, rich boy."

Angered, Allen jumped in the backseat. "I hope you have insurance," he mumbled while he buckled his seatbelt, hoping that Dragon was a good driver.

He stuffed the key in the ignition and turned the car on. However, only five feet down the street, the car stalled. Dragon cursed at the stick shift car.

"Yeah, like you're going to get us there faster," Allen muttered sarcastically while folding his arms.

Choosing to ignore his passenger's comment, he quickly restarted the car and took off down the street, tires screeching as he turned the corner at the end of the road.

to be continued...

A/N: Ahhh, I like that chapter. It was fun to write. ^_^ Anyway, sorry it took so long to come out... But I hope the wait was worth it! Poor ff.net people..... I feel bad for them.... I don't update ff.net enough. ;_; But I will!! I swear!! Ff.net will not be left behind for long! And if nothing else, they won't have to wait as long for chapter 13 after 12 is put up. 13 is not done yet and may take a awhile... Sorry about that, but we are working on it! So fear not! And as I have said before, we will never abandon this fic! It will be finished, I can promise you that. I'm guessing... 15 chapters total? So not too much left (I think, anyway...). Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter! ^_^