I'd like to thank Christina for this particular plot bunny.

"Boss, we've got him and we're bringing him in." Hoji clicked the SP License shut and manhandled the resisting alienizer into the back of the Machine Bull with only a little help from Ban. "Will you two be all right with him?" He looked from Umeko to Sen.

"No problem!" Umeko replied cheerfully, raising her voice over the alienizer's threatening growl.

"I'll escort them back," Tetsu assured him.

"Don't worry, partner!" Ban clapped Hoji on the shoulder, removing his hand hastily as the other swung around and glared.

"Don't call me that."

"Eh, heh, heh." Ban rubbed the back of his neck. One of these days, he was going to make Hoji acknowledge him as his partner. It was just going to take longer than he'd thought.

"I'm more worried about you guys." Sen spoke up, interrupting Ban's thoughts. "His accomplice is still out there."

"That's why we're not going back yet." Hoji threw an oblique glance at Sen. Ban, who knew his partner better than anyone else, could tell that Hoji was both irritated and a little worried. While Sen wasn't an ESPer, his instinct was without peer. Sen's reservations were enough to give Hoji cause to doubt their strategy.

"Jasmine?" At Hoji's question, Jasmine shook her head.

"I don't sense anything, but that means nothing." Jasmine's abilities were nothing short of incredible, but she was no precog, and Hoji knew it.

"No," Hoji said finally, after Ban had almost begun bouncing on the balls of his feet out of sheer anticipation. "Meet up with us after bringing him back to the base."

"Roger!"

As the Machine Bull tore away, sirens blaring, Jasmine removed one glove and closed her bare hand around the alienizer's confiscated comm device. Her eyes slid shut and she frowned. Ban moved closer – close enough to catch her in case she fell, but far enough away not to interfere. If anyone could locate the alienizer's partner, she could.

After a few oddly silent moments, Jasmine opened her eyes. "I'm not sensing an alienizer," she said finally, confusion threading her voice. "Only normal humans."

"Did you get a location?" Hoji asked.

"A white dome." Jasmine shook her head and put her hand against a lamppost to steady herself. "That's all."

Ban looked uneasily at the glistening dome of the observatory behind them, white in its reflection of the cloudy sky. "Partner…"

Hoji followed his gaze. "Here? It couldn't be…"

A shot rang out, striking the post a few millimeters from Jasmine's gloved hand.

"Get down!" Ban shoved Jasmine to what he hoped was a protected place behind the Machine Doberman. "Partner!"

Hoji already had his blaster out and was aiming from behind the back of the car. Further shots splintered the ground; Hoji's return fire was having no effect. Ban looked Jasmine over. "Are you all right?" She nodded, pulling her own blaster out of its holster.

"Where is he, partner?"

Hoji made a sound of disgust, which Ban interpreted to mean 'If I knew where he was, I would have taken him out already.' He nodded once and ducked just as a shot shattered both front windows of the Doberman.

"Shit," Hoji swore. "He's a sniper!" He nodded very slightly, and suddenly Ban could see their opponent. He's shooting from all the way over there? Ban felt the beginnings of a plan form. If one of them could make it ten meters to the entrance of the subway, they would be able to cross the street and surface right underneath the sniper's nose. It would be a simple matter to get into the building from there and take him by surprise.

"I'll draw his fire." Ban grinned. That should get the sniper's attention, and then Hoji or Jasmine could take it out.

"Ban, you –" Jasmine started, laying a restraining hand on his arm. Both of his teammates had clearly reached the same conclusions he had.

"Wish me luck," he whispered and darted into the middle of the square, trying for the observatory. Stone chips filled the air around him as he dodged and weaved, trying to return fire as best he could. Precise shots from behind the Doberman let him know that his partner had stayed behind.

The short time it took him to reach cover seemed like an eternity, and more than once he was certain he wouldn't make it. Finally, he flung himself behind the stone column. Peering out, he saw no sign of Jasmine. She made it.

Ban was nowhere near as good a shot as Hoji, but he was good enough to give the sniper something to worry about. No sooner had he gotten himself situated than he heard Hoji's voice through his SP License. "Ban. Cover me."

"Augh!" Ban dropped the License and cooperated as Hoji darted from the Doberman towards him. Less than a meter from safety, Hoji stumbled, red spattering the ground. Without hesitation, Ban rushed out and grabbed him. "Partner!" Why he didn't get hit, hauling Hoji the short distance back, he never knew.

Hoji shoved him away when Ban tried to lower him to the ground. "I'm fine." He touched the outside of his right arm gingerly, fingers coming away red. "It's nothing!" he insisted when Ban continued to hover.

"If you say so," Ban said dubiously. He didn't think Hoji had any idea what his own limits were, and if he left on his own, Ban figured that Hoji would push himself way too far.

"Jasmine?" Hoji said pointedly, peering out from behind the pillar.

"Right!" Ban said hastily. He sighted towards the sniper's window. "She made it!" He could see yellow in the window behind the sniper. Grinning, he stood up, stepped out from behind the pillar, and waved cheekily.

"Idiot!"

"Huh?" Ban half-turned at Hoji's shout, just before his partner slammed into him and knocked him aside. Red blossomed from the center of Hoji's chest and he stood shock-frozen for a bare second before falling. Ban surged forward and caught him, gently lowering him to the ground. "Partner?"

"Have… to act… like a pro." Blood trickled from the corner of Hoji's mouth and he smiled faintly. "…partner…" His eyes slid shut and he stilled.

"No, no, no…" Ban shook Hoji frantically. "Wake up! Partner! Open your eyes!" Hoji didn't respond. For me… He… for my sake… Throwing his head back, Ban screamed his agony to the leaden skies…

…and bolted upright, suddenly wide-awake, staring at the familiar walls of his quarters in the Dekabase. A dream? Ban ran a shaking hand through his sweat-dampened hair. His SP License was on the table next to the bed. Hesitantly, he clicked it on. "Partner?"

"Don't call me that," came Hoji's sleep-roughened voice an interminable few seconds later. He paused. "Ban? What's going on?"

"Ah, nothing, sorry." Of course Hoji was all right. He'd had no reason to worry.

"Then don't call at two in the morning!" Hoji snapped, sounding both thoroughly irritated and much more awake.

"Right. My bad." Ban closed the License and replaced it, feeling much better. "Good night, partner."