Natsu did everything he could to try to sneak into the headquarters quietly. If it were up to him, he would have blasted in and burnt the whole place to rubble. But that wasn't what he was here to do. He was here to find Gon and get out.

The only problem was, Natsu was losing his scent. It had been strong before but now it seemed to be all over the place and Natsu couldn't pinpoint a location. He would just have to sneak around and hope to get lucky.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps in the nearby corridor. Quickly, Natsu pushed himself against the wall and tried to remain as quiet as possible. The footsteps slowly inched away.

Yet, at that very moment, a huge blast nearly made Natsu jump out of his body. He quickly dodged to the left to avoid the rubble. Once the smoke cleared up, to his shock, he saw Gon in front of the wall that had just broke. The minute he saw Natsu, he smiled. "Natsu, you're here!"

Natsu was lost for words for a second. "H- How did you-?"

Suddenly, he heard more footsteps. That explosion most definitely caused some attention. He quickly grabbed Gon's hand. "We're getting out of here!"

The base was difficult to navigate and Natsu had completely forgotten how he had entered. Soon, both of them were huffing and puffing in an unknown corridor, but at least it seemed like they had lost their enemies.

"So... how did you escape?" Natsu asked.

"I just went through the wall using my Jajanken." Gon said.

Natsu was surprised. "That sounds like something I'd do! Didn't you know SIA would hear you?"

Gon nodded. "I wasn't going to do it. But... I caught your scent so I knew you were in the building. So I went through the walls until I found the hallway you were in. I figured we'd have strength in numbers if we were caught, or you knew the way out."

Natsu grinned. "So I guess you have a strong nose too. That's how I figured out you were here."

Before Gon could respond, an icy voice spoke out behind them.

"Did you really think you'd escape that easily?"

Gon turned around with horror. It was that white haired lady that he had first seen when he had woken up here. She looked even scarier now without her cloak and with a dangerous smirk.

"I know this base inside and out. Nobody can escape." She looked at Natsu with disappointment. "It looks like you didn't attract as many visitors as I'd hoped for. But no worries."

"I'm bored, so I think I'll make do with what I have right now."

"Gon." Gon looked at Natsu, who had suddenly gone serious. His fists were clenched.

"I have something to admit." Natsu said. "I never really intended to leave here without a fight."

His fists caught on fire and he held them out menacingly towards the woman. "If these SIA members want to play dirty by hurting one of my friends, then they have what's coming for them."

He looked at Gon again. "So I'm sorry, but we're going to have to fight. Are you okay with that?"

Natsu could see that Gon's hands were shivering. But... it wasn't from fear.

It was from excitement. Gon was smiling.

"There's no need to apologize. I'm ready!"

Carla was next to her. Her tail and cat ears were covered so now, she and Wendy just looked like normal girls having a walk through town.

The plan that Killua had told her echoed through her mind.

Flashback:

"We'll enter the town from different spots." Killua said. "We may be kids but even three of us who have never been seen before will bring up suspicion."

Wendy nodded, hiding her nervousness. Killua continued.

"I'm a trained assassin, so I have ways to get into the town and nobody will bat an eye. You and Carla on the other hand..."

Wendy held her breath, wondering what scheme Killua was planning.

"Will have to gain as much attention as possible."

"Huh!?" both she and Carla said at the same time.

"It makes sense." Killua said. "Nobody will suspect two friends out to get food or buy souvenirs or something. In the worst case, you will be alerted to the main head quarters and SIA members will see whether or not you enter their base. But we're not going in anyways. We simply just need to get close enough for the Archive to pick up information. Being in the town itself might be enough. Even I will just walk into stores and act casual."

"And communication?" Wendy asked.

"The town is small. If you get into trouble, I will know. Also, see that spot over there in the town?"

Wendy squinted to see a small spot shaded by two trees, just a bit away from the town square.

"That's our meeting spot." Killua said. "We will all get there and pretend to walk by each other. If the Archive has manged to pick up information, we simply walk past each other and we will both meet back here. If you guys still don't have information, drop your backpack on the ground and come back here. Then, I'll take the lacrima and keep on trying until we get information."

Wendy shook her head. "That's really risky."

Killua shrugged. "It's the best we got for now. Don't worry, I won't do anything too risky."

"Huh, are you sure about that?" Carla asked.

"Do you trust me Wendy?" Killua asked.

Wendy sighed. There really wasn't much to it. "Of course."

"Then it'll be fine." Killua said. "Okay, I'll go now. See you at the end of the town."

So now Wendy had no choice but to trust that the plan would work. "Are you ready Carla?" she asked. Carla sighed. "Ready when you are child."

So trying to hide her nervousness, Wendy walked with Carla into town. They both had their Zetsu activated and nobody batted an eye at first.

Suddenly, in her focus, Wendy's foot got stuck in a crack in the sidewalk. To her shock, she fell face down on the pavement. "Ah!"

Oh no, what had she done!?

"Little girl, are you okay!?" A regular townsman ran over to help her up.

"Ow..." Wendy groaned. So much for fitting in.

"She's fine." Carla sighed. "She's always been the clumsy one of us two."

The man chuckled as he helped Wendy up. "Well, be careful next time. And enjoy your time here!"

"We will." Carla responded. "Actually, will you please tell us if we can find a souvenir shop in this town?"

Wendy was confused at first, but then it hit her. Her accidental fall had actually helped their story about them being simple young visitors! They were definitely getting attention and Carla was taking advantage of that!

"Of course. It's right over there." The man said.

"Thank you very much." Carla said and then silently nudged Wendy.

"Oh- yes, thank you very much!" Wendy said, clumsily bowing. Then they were on their way.

"You have to do better than that child." Carla said. Wendy nodded. "I know, sorry Carla."

Everything else went pretty smoothly. The girls brought souvenirs and got something to eat. They had a reason to suspect almost everyone they saw, but they got used to just acting normal, like just two friends.

"Would the Archive have picked up the base yet?" Wendy whispered to Carla.

"There's a bathroom over there. Go check." Carla said.

Locked inside a stall, Wendy quickly checked the Archive. She sighed in relief to see that there was some new information on it. She, of course, couldn't really check it, but it had to be of the base.

Telling Carla the good news, they both made their way to the town meeting spot. They both pretended to sit and talk near the fountain until they both saw Killua also slowly making his way to the spot .

Both Wendy and Carla got up and headed over there. With barely a glance, Carla and Wendy walked past Killua. But that signal meant everything.

Wendy couldn't stop her heart from beating as she walked back into the woods. Once they were at the meeting spot, her knees gave out. "Ahhh, it's finally over!"

"Good job child." Carla nodded approvingly.

A few minutes later, Killua emerged with a smile on his face. "We did it!"

"Did anybody suspect you?" Wendy asked.

Killua shook his head. "Everyone more or less ignored me."

"I guess it's now up to me." Carla said.

Wendy nodded and gave Carla her backpack. "We're counting on you!"

"Will you two be okay here for the night?" Carla asked, worried.

Both Killua and Wendy looked at each other, and gave a nod. "Of course."

So, transforming into her cat form, Carla flew away with the backpack containing the lacrima, as fast as she could.

Killau sighed and rested his head against the tree. "And now... we wait."

"You don't have to. How about a fight?"

Both Killua and Wendy whipped their heads to the direction of the voice.

It was their worse fear. Standing in front of them was a man they couldn't recognize. But he had a strange energy emanating from him. It had to be SIA.

"No..." Wendy said in a small voice.

The man smirked.

"Brace yourselves. This will be over quickly."