Nothing Gold Can Stay

Chapter eight

*******

Aya turned to face the other people in the hospital room with
him. "I want my sister." He felt as if he was filled with fire, it
rushed through his veins, warming him completely for what seemed to
be the first time in ages. Everything else faded away, everything
but the fact that Aya-chan was missing and his chest felt as if it
was filled with shattered glass. The redhead was aware of threads
running from him to the wide world, humming and throbbing and
whispering things to him. Useless things, none of them told him
where the girl was. Anger pulse back out along the strands.

Yohji jumped when the electrical equipment in the room sparked and
crackled. The room was an inferno, at the center of it stood Aya.
Glowing and looking as if he was some kami, gracing mere mortals with
his presence. He couldn't tear his eyes off of the man, neither
could he come any closer. It was as if something radiated from his
lover, something almost tangible that pressed them all back. The
blond gritted his teeth and refused to budge any further away from
Aya. This was not good, not good at all and he wasn't leaving the
man to face what was happening all alone.

"Where is she?" There seemed to be a hint of pain in the deep voice
that time, it tore at his heart to hear it. The monitor let out an
awful squeal and started smoking, Omi spat out a curse and tried to
move to unplug the machine, but was stopped by whatever it was his
teammate was emanating. Yohji actually prayed that the room didn't
set on fire before he calmed Aya down and got them the hell out of
there.

Manx yelled at the oblivious redhead. "What the hell is going on
here? Fujimiya, what are you doing?" There was a note of hysteria
in the usually unflappable woman's voice. When Yohji swiftly glanced
over his shoulder he found Manx's eyes staring wildly about the room,
looking everywhere but at Aya. Omi appeared grimfaced, just staring
at the pale man as he kept trying to approach the smoking equipment.
Green eyes returned to look at Aya, who hadn't moved at all. He
seemed a bit brighter, or maybe it was that the room was darker, the
shadows longer.

"Aya love, calm down. We'll find her, I swear. Just calm down and
let me near." No response from his lover. Nothing. It was as if
the other man hadn't heard him at all.

"I. Want. Her. Back."

Yohji swore that he felt the heat increase, dammit what the hell was
Aya doing? He had to calm the kitten down, get him the hell out of
here before someone noticed that he was doing things that he
shouldn't be. Like impersonating a light bulb and frying the
electrical system. It was bad enough that Manx was in the room, he
sincerely hoped that Omi would be able to talk the woman into keeping
quiet about what she was seeing. The last think they needed was any
word getting back to Kritiker. Somehow the playboy doubted his lover
was just a precog, after seeing this. Nor that the organization
would just let him go back home. "We'll get her back, I promise
you. Please Aya, please stop it and let me near you."

For a precious moment it seemed that he was getting somewhere, that
Aya was hearing him. The pale face slightly shifted in his
direction. Then there was the sound of someone rushing into the
room, feet heavy and breath panting. The slight movement that Aya
had been making was arrested, the heat intensified some more. Afraid
to look away from the smaller man again, Yohji wondered who the hell
it was that had just arrived. His question was answered when he
heard Manx call out the intruder's name. "Dr Rôyama, what are you
doing here?"

"Hear- heard about the attack," the doctor panted, trying to still
his racing heartbeat. Upon seeing Fujimiya it set to racing again,
filled with anxiety. How the hell was he supposed to get close to
the man? Why would he want to? <Wait for your moment, then strike
quickly. If you fail to bring him down in time your son will be dead
within minutes. Then I'll work my way through the rest of your
family.> Rôyama shuddered in fear and hate, fondling the shot needle
in his coat pocket. The first opportunity he had he was jamming the
thing into the assassin and getting his ass out of here.

Omi still tried to press on towards the monitor, hoping to unplug the
sparking machine and incidentally enough get closer to Aya. The man
needed to be brought down immediately, before anyone else stumbled
across them. He briefly wondered what Mastermind was up to, why he
hadn't put a stop to this. Didn't the telepath realize the danger
that Aya was in? If Aster or anyone from Schatten came to
investigate, the catalyst would be gathered up and taken away before
they could do a thing. It was bad enough the doctor was here. The
teenager wish he'd had the time to grab some weapons before he had
left the house. "Yohji, try it again, we need to get him out of here
now."

Yohji cursed out of the corner of his mouth. "Dammit chibi, I'm
trying." What the hell did Omi think he was up to, what with his
hand outstretched and his eyes staring beseechingly at Aya. Who
didn't seem to be seeing anything at all. Though it was hard to
tell, what with those sunglasses on. "Aya, come over here, we'll
start searching for Aya-chan. Together. Please." It felt as if he
was thrusting his hand into a hot oven.

"Aya-chan." There was more emotion in the man's voice that time, he
wasn't imagining it. The pain and sorrow echoed through the
name. "Aya-chan. I failed her." Yohji's hand flinched back from
the wave of heat striking it. Oh shit, that definitely hadn't been
the right track to take.

"You didn't, love. You didn't fail her." Fuck, Aya didn't seem to
be hearing him anymore.

Aya wrapped his arms around his chest, trying to press back the pain
spreading through him. It hurt so bad. He'd failed his sister, had
been enjoying himself while Schreiend had taken her away. Who could
be doing anything to the girl. He'd failed her. Let her be placed
in danger yet again. It was all his fault. Pain ripped through him,
making him cry out. Through it Aya felt the sensation of chains
snapping, slowly falling aside as he felt the warmth flare inside of
him. For a moment he saw a multitude of threads, of various
thickness and color, enveloping him and leading off into the
distance. One of the thickest was gold in color and tied him to
Kudoh.

There were green threads as well, wrapped tight around him and
leading off into the city. Another was a sky blue, and faded the
further it got away from him. Somehow Aya knew that it connected to
his sister and desperately tried to follow it to the girl. But he
kept losing the thread, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't find
Aya-chan. "I want her back now." His eyes closed as he continued
searching.

The warmth chased down the threads, obeying Aya's desire to find and
protect the young woman. But failed as well. Thwarted in its
objective, it twisted and changed various other strands. A young
girl two floors down was flooded with heat; it filled her small
body. In the following three days her doctors would find her red
blood count going up as her body finally started to produce the
proper amount. Another week later she would report being able to see
some light, her eyes becoming less blind per day. The child wasn't
the only one touched by the power. Throughout the hospital other
young women found their fates shifted about; as a teenaged girl
explained to her doctor how she had burned herself yet again with an
iron her abusive father was electrocuted to death by the vending
machine he was getting coffee from. A young woman in the emergency
room, body broken from a car accident, came out of cardiac arrest.
In the ICU ward an exhausted intern caught herself just in time about
to give a patient a mistakenly lethal dose of medicine. Another
floor up a girl woke from her coma. On it spread, saving those it
could since it could not find the object of its search, reaching
through the building and starting to spread outward.

<Stop! Stop bevor du sie aufmerksam machst. Stopt sofort!> The
catalyst clutched his head at the agony spiking through it. He felt
something thick start to muffle his warmth, felt the remaining chains
strain against it, to force the precious heat back up the threads and
bury deep inside of him. Struggling against the reining in of his
power, Aya let out a low moan. He snapped open his eyes to see Yohji
standing a meter away from him, pain and fear on the man's face. A
hand was held out to him, trembling and oddly red. A hoarse voice
called out to him, echoing the frantic one inside of his head.

"-listen to me, kitten, stop it now. Stop it and let me take you
out of here, we'll go looking for Aya-chan. Won't rest until we find
her, I promise you. I won't let you down, please just stop and let
me near you-" The hurt in his lover's voice tore at Aya, broke
through the punishing guilt, self-hate and pain that filled him. For
a moment he didn't resist the chains stealing the warmth from him; he
reached out a pale hand to grasp Kudoh's. Just when their fingers
brushed against each other Aya felt the heat start to strike back at
what restrained it, felt the other's surprise and pain. The emotions
echoed through his head, he found himself dizzy as a thousand voices
filled his mind. All those thoughts tore at him, yet the warmth kept
seeking the power that had chained it, kept entwining around it. As
Aya once more clutched at his head he caught sight of someone dressed
in white leaping towards him. Something sharp drove into his thigh
and the world started to spin around, more and more violently with
each heartbeat as Yohji's arms gathered him close. Everything
started to fade away, all the threads vanishing from his grasp.
Along with his hope of finding Aya-chan. There was a snapping
sensation in his head, the guilt and hate overwhelming the pain as he
failed yet again. "A failure." That thought chased him down into
the darkness.

Letting out a curse Yohji struggled to catch the falling swordsman,
to prevent him from crashing to the ground. Rôyama quickly stepped
back, leaving the needle in Fujimiya's thigh. The redhead mumbled
something as he passed out, the heat and light fading from his
flesh. Holding his lover tight, Yohji slowly sank to the floor, Aya
cradled in his arms. "What the hell did you do to him?"

"I gave him a sedative. Had one left over from the patient I was
treating earlier, figured it would be put to good use on Fujimiya.
Or did you want him to just keep standing there, doing whatever he
was doing?" The physician trembled, a headache forming from the
command shrieked in his skull to move and render the man
unconscious. There were no more instructions, the German's voice had
gone away.

Omi shoved the older man aside, eager to check out how Aya was
faring. He pulled the needle out of his friend's leg, then reached
for a pale hand after tossing it aside. After holding onto it for
a minute he worriedly looked at the doctor. "He's growing cold."

Yohji nodded his head, his lips pressed against the unconscious man's
forehead. "He's like ice. What did you give him?"

"A sedative, I swear it. A powerful one, but it shouldn't be harming
him." Rôyama hurried over to the assassins, desperate to make sure
that Fujimiya was alright. If the man died because of what he'd
done, his family wouldn't survive the night, he just knew it. The
teenaged boy shifted out of his way but kept ahold of the redhead's
hand. "Someone, please turn on the light." After a moment the
stunned woman did just that, and he was shocked anew at how pale his
patient had become. As if there wasn't a drop of blood left in the
man's veins. Rôyama checked for a pulse, found one slow but steady.
Still, Fujimiya felt shockingly cold to the touch. Tilting up the
grey sunglasses, the doctor checked Aya's eyes.

He promptly let out a shout. "Is there something wrong, doctor?"
Manx asked from the door. The middle-aged man could only stare down
at the all black orbs, not a hint of white or any other color
showing. When he looked up he found the older blond, Kudoh, staring
down at the unusual eyes as well. A reddened hand reached out and
carefully put the glasses back on the pale face.

Alerted by his shout, a nurse and an armed security guard entered the
room. "Is everything all rig- quick, get a fire extinguisher!" The
nurse hastily left the room as the guard used a pillow to beat on the
smoldering medical equipment. When the woman arrived seconds later
with the extinguisher and two more guards, he quickly foamed the
machines and stepped back to glare at Kritiker agents. "What are you
doing in here? None of you should be here right now, we've had a
security breach. And what's wrong with him? Was he attacked as
well?" The nurse rushed over to assist the doctor.

Jerking Aya against his chest, Yohji glared at the woman as Rôyama
prevented her from getting too close. Finally regaining her wits,
Manx shook her head and stepped in front of the guards, blocking
their view of Weiß. "They came with me. I'm Hanae Kitada." She
showed the men a badge, they quickly nodded their heads and lowered
their weapons. "These men arrived with me, the one is the abductee's
brother. He passed out from the stress of finding his sister
missing. Any word on the girl or what happened here tonight?"

"Sorry ma'am, but we're still trying to figure that out. No sign of
the girl or the terrorists, they were long gone before we showed up.
Near as we can tell, they picked an excellent night for an attack,
three of the usual guards were out with a bout of food poisoning. So
the night shift was understaffed and not able to repel the attack.
Whoever did it were professionals. I'm surprised that they only took
the girl, nothing else is missing or gone, as far as we can tell.
What was so important about her?"

Manx glared at the man. "None of your business. If that's all you
have to report, go double check that the floor is secured. I'll be
leaving shortly and filing my own report." The guards left,
exchanging unhappy looks with each other, still in the dark over what
had happened and not liking it. The redheaded woman turned around to
see Yohji wrapping Aya in one of the blankets resting on the floor,
shifting his lover about to pick him up. "Where are you taking him?"

"Home. The doctor gave us permission, I'm getting him out of here
right now." Yohji wanted Aya as far out of Kritiker's reach as
possible, but would settle for the Koneko for the time being. He
exchanged a brief look with Omi and carefully stood to his feet, his
boyfriend a limp bundle in his arms. "You have any problems with
that?" He balanced Aya and freed one hand to brush back crimson
bangs. His fingers swiftly twisted about, caught only by Omi. Whose
fingers moved in return. Another look was exchanged, the assassins'
faces impassive.

The woman glanced over at Rôyama, who was telling the nurse to go
check up on the other patients. "Is everything alright with
Fujimiya?"

"Yes, the sedative should wear off in a couple of hours. I think it
would be best if he wakes up at home, he hasn't been very comfortable
being in the hospital in the past. Besides, there is nothing I can
do for him. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure that the
other patients on this floor are fine, what with all the
excitement." The doctor stopped to exchange a look with the two
blond men. "Just a case of shock and stress, like Miss Kitada said.
Nothing unexpected, what with him finding a family member gone.
That's- that's all I have to report." Two pairs of green eyes and
one blue blinked at the flushed man as he exited the room.

Not sure why the doctor had just told them that he was going to cover
for Aya that night but not about to question his luck, Yohji nodded
his head at Omi and hurried out of the room. Word seemed to have
spread to the other guards in the hallway, and he was waved through
to an elevator. Shifting Aya about in his arms, the former detective
marveled at all the armed men standing about. What the hell did
Kritiker have on this floor that they employed a militia to protect?
Which begged more questions, like how the hell had Schreiend been
able to get through it and snatch Aya-chan away? Why didn't they
just kill the girl, why try to kidnap her yet again? Something
wasn't right here, but at the moment he was too worried about Aya to
figure things out. All he wanted to do was go home, get things ready
in case Omi informed him he had to take the redhead and flee. It
would all depend on what Manx decided.

*******

Omi walked about the room, grabbing the few personal belongings he
could find and stuffing them in an empty pillowcase. A teddy bear,
couple of cards, a beautiful carved brush and comb set, some cds.
Aya might want them, to keep them safe until Weiß got his sister
back. Which they would, there was no way they'd let Schreiend keep
the girl. Once done with his task he looked up to see Manx staring
at him oddly. Time to get this over with. "You do know what I'm
going to ask you, don't you."

"I'll tell you my decision, if you answer me this. Did you know that
Fujimiya was psychic?"

Sighing, the boy set his bundle down and sat in the chair. "Yes."

"For how long?"

"Not very long at all. The past two months or so, I'd say." Omi
looked pleadingly at the woman who was almost like a mother to
him. "Please Manx, don't say anything to Kritiker. I don't trust
the organization. If my uncle was still alive, it would be one
thing, but… I don't know who is running it now, and I don't trust
them to have Aya's best interest at heart. I'm afraid they'll take
him away and we'll never see him again."

Manx walked over to the window, staring out it to avoid the blue eyes
begging her to be silent. "I understand your concerns, Omi, I really
do. But you saw him tonight, what if he becomes a danger to Weiß?"
To you, she left unsaid.

"Aya wouldn't hurt us! He didn't do a thing to harm anyone here
tonight. And he's not normally like that, usually all he does is
predict things, which helps keep the team safe. Ken might have died
during the mission at Sôdô if it hadn't been for a warning of Aya's.
There have been a lot of times that the only reason Weiß had survived
was because of him. Please, I'm begging you, don't tell them
anything. Just do what the doctor is doing, tell them he fainted at
finding his sister gone. That the equipment was damaged when
Schreiend attacked. You do know it was them, don't you?"

"I've seen the bodies, and I know about their attempt to kidnap Aya-
chan earlier this year." Manx avoided the other question for the
moment, pondering her choices. To lie to her superiors would be very
risky, this involved more than just two agents sleeping together.
But if she knew Omi half as well as she thought she did... She
turned to gaze seriously at the teenager. "What will you do if I
don't say yes?"

Blue eyes gazed back at her grimly. "Yohji, Aya and I will
disappear. Maybe Ken as well, but I can't say for sure. Yohji's
only waiting for my word, if he doesn't hear from me soon he'll leave
regardless. We protect our own, and that means not letting anyone
get ahold of one of us. Even if it is Kritiker." The two blonds had
silently agreed on that before Yohji had left.

It was worse than she had thought, Omi was tossing his fate in with
the older men's. "They'll never let you go," she said in a husky
voice.

"They'll have no choice. If you thought Hirohata had compromised the
organization, that's nothing compared to the damage I can do. I've
been prepared for this day for some months now, Manx. Kritiker will
be too busy trying to protect their people and families to come after
us any time soon. That will be all the head start we need to be
safe."

"You'd do that to the organization that has raised and supported you?"

Gazing back at the woman, Omi appeared so much older than his
years. "It will hurt, but I'll do it. You and Persia raised me, not
Kritiker. Besides, Yohji and Aya are my family, I won't let anything
hurt them. I'm sorry Manx." He truly was, but it wouldn't stop him
from doing what was needed to be done. No one harmed his family, was
allowed to tear it apart. Not while he still drew breath.

He would do it to, Manx thought. She knew the boy she had helped
raise very well. There was only one choice left. Not that it was an
unpleasant one to make, but it placed Omi and the rest of Weiß in
great danger, risked all of them for just one. "All right, I will
report exactly what you asked me to. They won't find out what
happened from me. I'm not happy about this, but I'll do it. If only
to stop you from making a terrible mistake." The decision was worth
it when the boy launched himself into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you thank you thank you." Gracing the woman with a beautiful
smile, Omi stood on his toes and kissed Manx on the cheek. "Now I
only have one more thing to ask you." That got him a frown. "Could
you please give me some money for a cab? I need a ride home, and
don't have any on me."

Shaking her head, the woman handed over the keys to her car. "Just
take mine, park it behind the shop. I'll get it some time in the
morning."

"Thanks again! You're the greatest." Omi smiled again and headed
for the door.

Manx's voice stopped him at the doorway. "Omi, promise me to be very
careful."

He turned around and nodded his head. "I promise. Good night."
With that he hurried down the hall, eager to get home. He'd have to
stop on the way and call Yohji, let him know to stay put for the time
being. Once back at the Koneko he would have to hack into Kritiker's
system, make sure that no one besides the five of them had a clue
what had happened in Aya-chan's room tonight. Looked as if he wasn't
getting any sleep any time soon.

*******

Schuldig rested on his bed, ready to drift off to sleep. Cursing
himself he opened his eyes, it wouldn't do to be off his mark this
night. Unfortunately the man-whore had finished molesting his
tuberose for the time being, there were no more second-hand emotions
to distract himself with while waiting for Schreiend to make their
move. While it was heartening to learn of Aya's stamina, his teeth
would be worn to nubs from grinding in anger and frustration if
Balinese didn't take a cold shower soon. Where did the man get all
that energy?

Busy thinking of ways to kill off his rival, even if he couldn't
follow through with them, Schuldig was shocked back to reality when
he felt Aya leap out of bed. The man knew, already he knew what was
happening as he dressed. But he wouldn't get to the hospital in
time. The Fates had seen to that. The telepath mentally tagged
along for that ride, not tampering with his tuberose's mind or talent
in the slightest, being too afraid to disturb the man as he wrecked
havoc on Tokyo's streets. The whole entire time he felt the chains
binding Aya's talent strain to hold it contained, and let out a gasp
when they started to snap as the man stared at the empty bed his
sister should have been occupying.

<Rôyama, get upstairs. Right now. Or else.> He felt his puppet
tremble as his voice ripped angrily through the doctor's mind, and
was relieved when the man burst into action. Schuldig double checked
that the man had prepared the sedative properly, then ensured that no
one tried to prevent him from reaching the now locked down floor. It
took a bit of `convincing', but with his heart's power rushing
through him it was child's play to make people look the other way or
wave the doctor past and immediately forget about doing so. He kept
the other Kritiker agents on location that evening away as well, all
but the redheaded bitch. The kitties might need some authority to
back them, and Bombay had the bitch wrapped about his finger.

When the doctor burst into Aya-chan's room he used Rôyama's eyes to
see the catalyst in all his glory. Beautiful. Stunningly so. The
German couldn't wait to see Aya completely unchained one day. Making
sure that the man didn't balk when the time came, he left the
doctor's mind to delve Aya's psyche. Then immediately recoiled in
shock. Inside the swordsman's mind was a punishing maelstrom of
guilt, self-hate and pain, chipping away at the man's delicate
sanity. Dammit, he knew that the boy wasn't going to react well to
his sibling's abduction, but all that was keeping him sane was the
distraction his talent was providing. Why the hell hadn't Cassandra
warned him about this? If Aya completely shattered he would have a
broken catalyst on his hands, a very dangerous thing indeed. Not to
mention that lovely mind destroyed. That was unacceptable.

Schuldig set to work trying to keep Aya's psyche from breaking into
tiny pieces, using all of the shared power at his command. He
couldn't do anything at the moment about the man using his talent to
search out for his sister. Besides, it wouldn't do Aya any good, she
was out of reach, his blind spot fully exploited. Between the rush
of that power and his difficult task, Schuldig failed to initially
notice how the talent was twisting about, seeking any outlet it could
find. When he did notice what was going on it was starting to affect
threads directly outside of the hospital. < Stop! Stop before you
draw their attention. Stop right now.> There was no way the elders
and any other high level talent would miss what was going on if this
continued. He desperately tried to rein in the catalyst's power,
forcing it back in the cage that Cassandra had fashioned for it. It
took all of his strength, and for a while it seemed to be working.

Then the talent chose to strike back at him, entwining with his.
Pleasure rushed through his body at that, delicious heat washed
through him. The two melded together for a sweet instant, then he
felt his shields crumble at the unexpected stress. The minds of all
the people around him started screaming in Schuldig's head, making
him whimper in pain. What was worse was he knew that Aya was hearing
them to, it destabilized the man even further. It took him a
precious few seconds to organize his thoughts enough to send the
command. <Do it now! Or I'll skin your family alive.> The doctor
burst into motion, he felt the prick of the needle just as Aya did.
His relief was short lived, however, as the telepath found himself
being dragged into unconsciousness with the other man. Their minds
were too entangled for him to separate his in time, so he joined his
heart in darkness and insanity.

*******

"Okay, chibi. Just get home soon, alright?" Yohji hung up the phone
and returned his arm back around Aya's waist, hugging the slender
form close. It felt as if he was holding a block of ice, even
through the thick sweater he had dressed the man in as soon as he'd
gotten them home. The blond was sitting on his bed, propped against
the headboard with Aya on his lap, held close to his chest. The
comforter was tucked tight around the both of them.

"You want to tell me what's going on now, Kudoh?" Ken stood at the
foot of the bed, very upset at what was happening around him. He'd
woken up to the squeal of tires and found his roommates gone and the
garage door left open. After almost an hour's wait Yohji had
returned home with an unconscious Aya, rushing up to their room and
curling up on the bed together, a cell phone in the blond's hand.
Yohji had refused to say anything while he'd waited for the call,
which was from Omi apparently. Who should have been with the two of
them. "I want some answers, dammit."

Jerking a hand through his hair, Yohji shifted Aya until he rested
more fully against him. "Aya got a call from the hospital, something
was going on there. He dashed off and I went with him. We ran into
Omi on the way out the door, so the chibi tagged along. Got to the
hospital in time to find Schreiend had been there and were long gone,
Aya-chan along with them. As you can imagine, fearless leader did
not take the news very well. Quite simply, he freaked." He thought
that summed up what the hell had happened with the man rather
well. "Fortunately a doctor came by before the kitten did too much
damage, put him to sleep. So I came home and Omi stayed to see what
was going on. Did I mention that Manx was there as well? End of
story, Omi's on his way home now, good night and go back to bed. And
fuck opening the shop tomorrow, I think I'll need you to help sit on
Aya, keep him from charging out after those bitches single-
handedly." That said, Yohji rested his head on top of Aya's, wishing
he could go to sleep at well. But he wouldn't, not until his lover
woke up. He wouldn't put it past the sneaky bastard to disappear on
him, searching for his sister. At that moment Yohji hated Aya-chan,
the claim she had on his redhead's heart and how she was now being
used to hurt him.

Ken stared at the couple for a minute, one word echoing through his
mind. Bullshit. He'd lived with Kudoh too long to not have his
internal lie detector go off during that speech. Something was off
about the story, he just wasn't quite sure what. But he knew better
than to get into it with the older man, Yohji would deny it was a lie
until he was blue in the face. "All right, I'm going downstairs to
wait for Omi. If we're not opening the shop I don't need to wake up
early. You want anything?"

"Put some coffee on, please. Then bring it up here if you wouldn't
mind."

"Huhn." Ken left the couple and made his way to the kitchen, brewing
the coffee just to give himself something to do. When it had just
stopped dripping Omi came in through the back door.

"Ken, what are you doing up?"

Now that was a nice greeting, Omi didn't appear real happy to see
him. "Waiting for you to get home. Want some coffee?" The younger
boy nodded his head. Ken passed him a cup and sat down at the
table. "What happened tonight?"

Omi paused in sipping the hot beverage. "Didn't Yohji tell you?"

A brunet head nodded. "Yeah, but humor me and tell me as well."

Buying some time as he sipped some more coffee, Omi tried to think of
what Yohji would tell the athlete. It wouldn't have anything to do
about Aya's power, Ken wouldn't react well to that. "Aya got a call
from the hospital, was told to show up there immediately. Yohji went
with him and I tagged along, wondering what was going on. We got
there to find out that Schreiend had kidnapped Aya-chan. Aya passed
out from the stress, so Yohji brought him home. I stuck around to
try and find out what happened."

"Yohji said a doctor put Aya to sleep, since he was freaking out."

Oh, hell. He hadn't thought that Yohji would say that, he usually
tried to cover for his lover's often unstable behavior. "Well, the
official version is that Aya passed out, please try to remember
that. Don't think Kritiker would like it if they found out he
flipped. It was pretty scary." The teenager could still see Aya
standing in that room, appearing so inhuman. He shivered in memory.
Upon looking up he found a pair of brown eyes narrowed on
him. "Something wrong, Kenken?"

"You wouldn't be lying to me about what happened, would you Omi?
Because that's the impression I'm getting here. What's going on that
you think you can't share it with me?" It hurt, the feeling that his
teammates were hiding something from him. Something that had to do
with Aya, he was certain of that much. Had Mastermind been involved
in this night's activities? Was that why the two blonds weren't
telling him everything?

Omi stood up and walked over to his friend. "It's not what you
think, Ken. I don't know why you are feeling like this. That's all
that happened tonight, I swear it." There was no way Ken could know
what all had really taken place. He would probably hate Aya after
finding out the man was psychic. Which was the last thing the
redhead needed right now, it was bad enough that he'd lost his
sister. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go and start trying to
find out all I can about Schreiend. See if I can't dig up a few
clues as to where they might be. We need to get Aya-chan back soon,
before they hurt her." Or Aya lost it again.

"I'll keep the coffee going, don't feel like sleeping right now.
Besides, I have to take some up to Yohji." Ken watched as his
roommate left, swallowing down the anger he felt. It wasn't what he
was thinking, his teammates weren't betraying him. Aya most likely
had done something incredibly stupid, like the equivalent of throwing
his sword at a helicopter again, and Omi and Yohji were covering for
him. That was it. No reason to let his anger build over the
matter, he kept telling himself. Sooner or later he'd believe it.

*******

Humming softly to himself, Yohji stroked a hand through Aya's hair.
He watched as the crimson strands fell back onto the perfectly white
flesh, the slashes of red appearing as open wounds on the pale face.
Lifting up one of his lover's lids he found the man's eye to still be
a solid black orb. Shit. "Aya, love, you're stressing me out. Wake
up and return back to normal, _please_." It was early morning, the
sun was out shining and Aya wasn't awake yet. It was past
the `couple' of hours the doctor had said the man was supposed to be
out. Yohji had a very bad feeling about the situation. / Hold him
close and do not let him go until back he comes./ He heard the voice
in his head, the one from his dream the other morning. Even though
he desperately needed to get up and go to the bathroom he didn't want
to leave Aya alone for even a second. "Please, kitten, just wake
up. I'll even take the odd eye thing if I have to, just open them."
Nothing, no response at all.

So he started to sing softly, something to fill the time and so Aya
could hear his voice. Anything to let the man know that he was here,
freezing along side of him, even though it was turning out to be a
typical, unbearably hot and muggy late August day in Tokyo, making up
for the past few cool ones with a passion. His redhead was still a
block of ice.

About an hour later a weary Omi poked his head in the room, taking in
the sight of an exhausted Yohji singing to an oblivious Aya. "Is he
asleep?" It didn't seem natural, that Aya would wake up from the
drugs and not try to tear the place down on his way out to find his
sister.

"No."

"What?" Omi rushed to the bed. "He can't still be out, can he? Do
we need to call the doctor?" He hissed when he got a close look at
his friend, at how pale he still was. "Aya looks the same as he did
a couple of hours ago."

Dropping a kiss on top of a crimson mop, Yohji then rested his chin
on it. "I know, kiddo. Here, take a look." He showed Aya's eye to
the boy. "I don't think this has anything to do with what Rôyama
gave him, I think it's because of what he was doing beforehand.
Whatever the hell that was. His eyes are a solid color, like that
Prodigy kid's when he uses his power." Yohji still wasn't sure what
had happened last night. He wasn't sure that he wanted to
know. "What have you found out, anything?"

Omi shook his head. "Nothing on either fronts. The doctor and Manx
reported the story they said they would, and no one else was aware of
what was really going on. At least as far as I can tell. No news
about Schreiend either, I can't find a trace of them. It's like they
vanished, and they couldn't do that unless they had some major
support backing them up. This doesn't look good, Yohji. I don't
think we are going to get Aya-chan back anytime soon."

Green eyes closed in pain. "Fuck, don't say that, chibi. It's going
to destroy Aya if he wakes up and we tell him we can't find his
sister." For a moment he remembered the anguish and guilt that had
slowly bled into his lover's emotionless voice, as he kept repeating
that he wanted Aya-chan back. No, it was going to devastate the
man. "I'm so sorry, kitten, we'll get her back, I promise." Yohji
started singing again, the first song that came into his head as his
thoughts drifted off.

What were the chances that Schreiend would be the ones to kidnap
Aya's sister? After what had happened earlier that year. He could
still remember that day so clearly, the very beginning of spring and
already the weather so warm, seeing the woman who looked so much like
Asuka. Who had tasted almost the same. But it wasn't her, he'd
known that when they had slept together, when the connection he'd
always had with the woman had failed to appear. Dammit, Neu was so
much like her though, he couldn't be a hundred percent sure. That
doubt had almost cost him his life as the woman had tried to kill him
with his own wire. Would have too, if Botan hadn't shown up in
time. Even though she'd clearly led him on only as an excuse to get
him off somewhere so she could murder him, Yohji couldn't get Neu out
of his mind. Could she be Asuka, somehow so changed he couldn't
easily recognize her? If so, where did that leave him and Aya? It
had been so much easier to not think about these things when the
woman and her team had faded away, leaving Weiß alone after their
failed attacks.

Now they were back, and he was so confused. /Think of the future./
Again with the voice. Yohji hugged Aya tighter, suddenly afraid to
let him go. What did these musings matter, he was here, with someone
who he loved so much it hurt to even think about it. Who loved him
back. Hell, Aya had let him ravish him in a _park_ of all places,
never mind that it had been raining and the place deserted because of
that. Didn't get much better proof than that of how much the smaller
man loved him.

"Uh, Yohji-kun, I think you should let go a little, Ayan needs to be
able to breathe."

Yohji looked up to see Omi staring at him worriedly, and to find his
arms constricted very tight about his lover. Who most likely was
going to be a bit bruised now. "Shit. Sorry, kitten." He stroked a
hand along a delicate cheekbone, drowning in sorrow when violet eyes
failed to open and stare back at him, when Aya didn't tilt his face
into the caress. "Please wake up."

"You okay, Yohji?"

"Not really. I'm stressed out, tired, got a sore throat and had
about five cups of coffee too many. Swear that Ken brought me up at
least two pots during the night." He had to get out of bed before he
had an accident. "Listen chibi, do me a favor, hold onto Aya for
me. I don't want him to be alone. Just hold him and talk to him,
and I'll be right back." The youth nodded his head and sat down on
the bed, gingerly wrapping his arms about the unconscious figure.
Yohji forced himself to get out of the bed and leave the room, even
if he planned on only being two minutes he still stressed over
leaving Aya. It was an amazingly quick trip to the bathroom and he
raced back, startling Omi who had just settled his teammate against
him comfortably. "He's still freezing, Yotan."

The older blond snorted as he curled back on bed, settling Aya on him
again. "Tell me something new, chibi. Thanks for the assist, why
don't you get some sleep. You look as if you could fall asleep
standing up."

Omi yawned and stood to his feet, taking a moment to tuck the
comforter tighter around the couple. "I could say the same thing to
you. Get some rest, if I find something we'll need your help." He
left the room, intent on getting some food and more caffeine to fuel
his tired body.

Sighing out loud, Yohji reached for his cigarettes and lit one,
taking a deep drag off of it. "Now where were we? Think I was
singing and you were doing your best ice statue impersonation. You
getting tired of this yet? I know that I am, you really need to wake
up and make up for all this stress you're putting me through, love.
Or even give me one of those glares of yours and tell me to shut up,
then go tearing through Tokyo looking for your sister. Ever think
that this is not helping the girl? How the hell you gonna rescue her
when you're out cold?"

"Come on, Aya, time for you to be your usual stubborn idiot self.
Wake up. Please. Look, you got me begging and it isn't even for
sex. Which I'm very disappointed over the fact that I've been in bed
with you for the past several hours and you haven't succumbed to my
raw sexuality yet. I know I went a little overboard yesterday, but
if you're pulling this shit just to give your ass a break, you are so
dead. Now snap out of it and try to kill me. Come on, sweetie.
Please." He alternated between cajoling and pleading with the
unconscious man, anything to keep talking and to make the time go by
all the quicker. The longer Aya remained out of it the more worried
Yohji became. It was as if Aya had truly chosen to take his sister's
place in the world. Well if so he was going to disabuse the idiot of
that notion right away. Yohji wanted his lover back.

*******

It was dark, absolute blackness. Aya floated in it as various voices
screamed at him.

/A son's duty is to his family; to honor his parents, to uphold his
family name, to protect his siblings./

His father's voice, one of an endless stream of lectures. Which he
had failed to heed. Which he had failed to obey. All three of the
tenements, broken. He held no honor for his father, stained the
family name with blood night after night, and had now failed to keep
Aya-chan safe. He was a failure. What use was he?

/I'm not changing the will, Himiko. I'm sorry, but my decision
stands. Aya's children will inherit the company, if her husband
agrees to take the family name. I know several suitable young men
who would gladly agree to such a condition. Ran will be provided
for, but he will not resume the responsibility as head of the
family. I can't let that happen. The name Fujimiya will not be
associated with such a freak./

His father had never seemed to care about how often he had been in
earshot during these conversations, usually just a room away as he
studied. What did it matter, anyways? He was a disgrace; that was
proven time and time again.

/You hold on to your emotions too tightly, ignoring what I teach
you. As long as you do so I am afraid that you will fail in
achieving the proper mindset with which to direct your sword, Ran./

Shion's voice, cutting through him. The disappointment and sorrow
that had been so evident during his training sessions, as he had
mastered the movements but failed to detach himself from his hate.
Again and again. All that had mattered was gaining revenge for Aya-
chan, and then he had let her be taken. He'd let his emotions get in
the way yet again, craving the affection and pleasure Yohji gave him
when the man made love to him.

/I don't know what we'll do with you at this point, Ran. You are a
liability to any team we place you with right now. It's clear that
you have failed to learn what Shion tried to teach you, that you need
to train your abilities better./

A liability. A failure. It always came down to that.

/So I hear there is no change in your sister's condition. Amazing,
isn't it, how you could survive such an event almost completely
unscathed, and your poor sister ends up trapped in a hospital bed.
Isn't that odd? Maybe if she had been better favored, better
protected, she would be awake and well this day. How does that make
you feel, Fujimiya? That you were such the lucky one? Not that it
was your fault, I'm sure. You would have done anything to protect
the girl, am I right? She was your younger sibling, if I'm reading
my notes correctly. A boy is supposed to protect his little sister,
I remember always keeping an eye out on mine. Such a pain she was,
when I look back on that now. Didn't you ever think that? How nice
it would be to not have to be the responsible one always? After all,
you couldn't keep her safe from everything, could you. You couldn't
keep her safe that day./

He always betrayed Aya-chan's trust in him. Always let the girl
down. Failing, failing, failing.

/What the hell were you thinking, you almost blew the damn mission!
If Omi hadn't salvaged it Hikage would have gotten away. He covered
for your fuck-up. And you don't even seem to care, prick. Probably
wouldn't even if we ended up dead, nothing matters to the great Aya
Fujimiya./

Ken's voice, shouting at him. For messing up the mission. For
letting his teammates down. For failing yet again. He hadn't asked
for Weiß to look to him for guidance during missions, he couldn't be
trusted with the responsibility. Why had they never realized that?
Why had they accused him when things went wrong? He had never asked
for any of it.

/Does it please you to bring shame to this family? Your behavior
today was irreprehensible. You should have known better than to play
some silly game with your sister on the temple grounds. It was
unseemly, and reflected badly upon your mother and I. Will you never
be a proper son?/

/You do not grasp the essence of the lesson, Ran. Try again. You
clearly need to practice more./

/You'll always be there for me, won't you Ran? I'll always have my
big brother looking out for me, scaring away all the monsters with
your frown. Hana said you could even scare a gaki away with your
glare, you look so mean./

/This is a fucking team. Team, as in a group of people working
together. Are you grasping that concept yet, Abyssinian? You keep
going off on your own and one day you'll get the rest of us killed.
You're such an asshole. We can't depend on you./

/How's your sister today, Fujimiya? You still visit her almost every
day? Such a devoted brother you are. It's such a shame that you
couldn't have kept her safe that day. Isn't it funny what Fate
throws our way? How does that make you feel?/

Like a failure. It always came back to that. He was nothing more
than a freak, a disappointment to those that knew him. Why did he
even bother? He always failed in the end.

/ I knew you were a cold bastard, Aya, but I never guessed just how
much. You're not human, are you?/

/I think you have issues of guilt at failing to protect your sister
that day. Of failing your parents. Which is silly. There was
nothing you could have done to prevent it, was there? It wasn't as
if you knew ahead of time, that you had some sort of warning. Did
you?/

/He's unnatural. I can't have him as my heir; do you hear what
people say about him? Miyamoto even asked me the other day if he was
adopted. I can't have something like him representing the Fujimiya
name. I can't./

/You've been given another chance, Fujimiya. A new team. Don't mess
it up this time./

/Hahaha, you should have seen Yoshi's face! I told him if he picked
on me any more that my big brother was going to beat his face in.
That you wouldn't let anyone ever hurt me. He ran away so scared!/

/Keep your eyes lowered, Ran. It's bad enough that we can't do
anything for your awful hair, but it unnerves people when you stare
at them. They're such an awful color. Really, I don't care what
those doctors say, there has to be something wrong with you./

The voices kept speaking to him; his parents, his teammates, Manx,
Shion, the psychiatrists, Yohji. His sister, which was the worse.
To hear the love and pride she had held for him, to know that he had
betrayed her and that precious trust. He'd failed her.

He let the voices wash through him as he curled up into a ball, not
arguing with them or their claims. It was all true. He was
nothing. So he would stay here in the darkness, listen to their
verdicts of him, never do anything else since it would only end in
failure. It was best this way, before he hurt anyone else that he
loved and cared for. He should have learned that lesson after Aya-
chan was injured. Should have learned that when he lost Shion and
the others. Well the lesson had sunk in now, he would stay here
forever. Just him and the voices.

<Oh no you're not. I'm not going to let you wallow here in your
misery while a bunch of jackasses spout on about something that they
know absolutely nothing about. Snap out of it already.>

He didn't like that voice, didn't want to hear it. It cut through
the others, brought a hint of light and feeling with it. That was
unacceptable. He just wanted to remain here, why couldn't he ever
find any peace?

<This isn't peace, little tuberose. It's madness. You stay here
much longer and you'll be even more cracked than the old witch.
Which means I won't be that far behind you. I won't let that happen,
Brad will make me share the same room with Farfie. So come on, stop
giving in and show me that backbone of yours. Show me your fire.>

Forgetting that he was surrounded by nothingness, Aya unfurled and
glared in the direction that he thought the voice was coming
from. "Go to hell, and leave me alone. I just want-" before he
could finish that thought he felt a tug, closed his eyes with a hiss
as light blared through the blackness.

A pair of arms wrapped around him, held him tight. When Aya opened
his eyes he found himself standing on a cliff. It looked just like
the one where he had gone to think after Botan's death. Instead of
the ocean, though, there was the darkness that he had taken refuge in
waiting out past the land. Cherry blossoms bloomed behind him, their
petals emitting a faint light. The wind blew through his hair,
bringing their scent with it.

"Much better, though you're still too close to it. Could we please
walk away from the edge? Literally and figuratively?"

The swordsman twisted around to stare at the man who was holding him
from behind. When his suspicions were confirmed he twisted in
Schuldig's grasp, trying to break free. But it wasn't just a pair of
arms holding him tight, there were jade green threads binding them
together as well. "Relax, precious. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm
trying to prevent you from doing that to yourself and to me. Come
away from the edge, please."

All his struggles got him was turned around and facing the telepath.
Aya gazed up in wonder at the taller man, taking in the worried
expression on Schuldig's face. In his experience the foreigner was
never anything other than condescending, smug, lustful or angry.
Never worried. It stilled his struggles, but when Schuldig tried to
pull him closer to the cherry grove he dug in his heels. "No, I'm
not budging. Let me go."

"Not a chance, Aya. I'm not letting you drag the two of us back into
the madness. Do you have any idea how much effort it took to pull
you out of there? Any longer and I would never have been able to."
Schuldig held his heart close, trying to radiate reassurance and
calm. But he was still too shaken up by finding himself stuck in the
catalyst's mind like this.

It never should have happened, but when Aya's talent had entwined so
desperately with his he hadn't been able to prevent it. So now he
was literally stuck here until the younger man decided to leave.
Which he didn't show any signs of doing. Schuldig could still feel
the attraction the madness held for Aya, and knew that it would take
quite some effort to get his precious to walk away from it. He had
surrendered to the self-hate and guilt completely, if it wasn't for
his presence the man would have been lost to it forever.

When he had bound them together he had never stopped to think how
fully that would truly be. He hadn't thought beyond having to block
the other assassin's emotions and pain. Now he found him linked to
the madness as well, standing on an edge that many of his recent
actions had pushed Aya closer and closer to the past couple of
weeks. Talk about hoisting oneself on their own petard. "Come back
from the edge, we're too close to it as it is. It's safer by the
trees."

"I'm not moving, Schu. Why should I believe anything you have to
say?"

"Because I have never lied to you." At Aya's disbelieving snort the
German rolled his eyes. "Okay, maybe I've stretched the truth a time
or two, but when I've given you my word it has always been honest.
Well, I'm telling you now, it is a very bad idea to stay here like
this. You need to leave, now."

Feeling the guilt and hate still filling his chest, Aya buried his
head in the other man's neck. "I can't, I'm a failure. All that
will happen if I go back is that someone else will be let down,
someone will be hurt. I'm staying. Let me go."

"No chance in hell. Listen to me, I am completely serious. You stay
here, and you'll be stuck with me for all of time. You really want
that? Either the two of us stay or we leave together, there are no
other options. We'll be nuts together, isn't that romantic?"

He received a rather potent glare for that comment. "Let go of me
Schu, and get the hell out of my mind." Aya made to shove away, to
jump back into the darkness, but the green strands coiled about him
even tighter, pressing him close to Schuldig. "Why won't they let me
go?"

"Because like it or not, we're stuck with each other forever now. It
won't let us separate. If they would I'd be back in my own head
right now, insanity holds no attraction to me. I never thought that
it would for you." When Aya continued to glare at him he lifted a
hand to cup a pale cheek. The man was just so beautiful, it hurt to
know that he had to wait a while longer to totally claim him. "You
are not a failure. There was no way you could have stopped any of
that stuff from happening, either the explosion or your sister's
kidnapping. Accept that. Ignore those voices. They are just
talking shit."

"I seem to remember you telling me something similar once. That I
had failed my sister. Why the sudden change? I think you'll just
say anything to keep from going back into it again." The voices were
getting louder, Aya found his attention drifting back to them.
Suddenly he felt a pair of warm lips on his, found himself responding
to the kiss, pressing himself hard against the telepath. It was
instinctual, no thought involved. After a moment Schuldig broke it
off.

"I'm sorry, precious." It was painful, having to eat crow. Nor was
it the time to explain how he'd said those things to break down the
other man's mental and emotional shields, to help burrow his way in.
Seemed he never should have forgotten that the kitty had one hell of
a memory, and was tenacious as a bulldog. Aya gazed back at him with
a closed expression, clearly not believing a word he said. What a
time to have the past come and bite him on the ass. "Cassandra, come
here. I know you have to be watching this. Cassandra, come, you old
witch. Cassandra."

Aya broke off from staring at the telepath as he felt a hand brush
back his bangs. Beside him stood the woman from his dreams, who must
be the Cassandra Schu had called. The woman appeared sad, and stood
between him and the darkness.

"Warned you I did, about pushing him too far. Now you reap what you
sow, and seek to enlist my help for your blunders and foul temper.
Fool you are, a childish devil. Now hush, you do your cause no good
with your mouth." The smaller redhead looked on in wonder as the
woman chided his personal tormentor, and Schuldig merely put up with
it, a bitter expression on his face.

Cassandra returned her attention back to the star child. "He speaks
the truth now, truly. Cast yourself into the darkness and you damn
the two of you, and others as well. Your sister will truly be left
without protection, and the Knight will soon follow you. Three lives
weigh on your decision, three and an infinite more. Choose wisely
you must. Always it comes down to choosing."

"Aya-chan would be much better off if I wasn't around, all I have
done is hurt her." Aya jerked his head away from the woman's
soothing touch, stared past her shoulder at the darkness.

"You are just as foolish as he. Your love keeps her safe, it matters
not where her body rests. Give in to the madness and your love and
power go with you, leaving the shade unguarded. Then she truly will
be dust and ashes. Walk away now and I promise you that you will
find her one day. Not without time and pain and the cruel Fates
taking their toll, but you will find her. This I swear." Violet
eyes drifted back to her, met hers. The beautiful orbs were filled
with doubt. "Never have I lied to you. Never."

"But chide you I will, for forgetting about your Knight. Look closer
at the threads." Schuldig growled, looking as if he wanted to say
something but snapped his mouth shut. Aya did as he was bid, looking
down at the threads binding him to the German. What he had failed to
see before was the golden ones wrapped around the green and trailing
back in the direction of the trees. He recognized them as the ones
connecting him to Yohji earlier.

"Kudoh, they're Kudoh's. What do they mean?"

Cassandra touched one of the strands briefly, a look of pain crossed
her face as she did so. "Tied to each other you are, because of the
love you bear. Almost as much as you are with this evil one."
Schuldig glared at the nickname. "He is wrapped in your glow as
well, you strive to keep him safe. That has bound you together. If
you fall into the darkness eventually it will consume him as well."

Aya felt a pain in his chest at that thought. "You're lying."

"No, I can not. Listen, focus on the thread and listen."

Once more he listened to her, why Aya wasn't quite sure. He stroked
a golden strand.

Worry and fear consumed him. [I swear, you have any idea of the
amount of stress you cause me? You are by far and way the most high
maintenance lover I have ever come across. If you weren't so damn
sexy and likely to take that fucking sword of yours to me I'd spank
some sense into you. This is ridiculous, wake up you sneaky
bastard. Please, love, just wake up. I can't yell at you properly
when you're all floppy and cold. Not to mention you look so fucking
beautiful, like a porcelain doll. You look like Ran. But I want
Aya, so come back to me. Now. I swear you'll be in for it if you
don't. I'm warning you. You want me to start singing again?
Already sound like a damn frog from trying to reach your stubborn
ass, might as well. This is beginning to turn out just like any
other conversation between us, me yelling and you not saying a damn
word. Sometimes I think you should have had your tongue pierced, you
sure as hell don't use it for much. Well, besides torturing me with
popsicles and that little thing you-] He jerked his hand back, a
trace of a blush on his cheeks.

"What `little thing' was he referring to, Aya?" Schuldig asked with
a leer. He glared at the man for eavesdropping, a slight smile
curving his lips when Cassandra smacked the reddish-orange head.

"Now is not the time! Almost as randy as the Knight you are! Behave
for once." Grey eyes returned to look at Aya. "Hear him you did?
You have him worried and worn, he will not rest until you come back.
Go into the darkness and that will be never. Trust me on this. Many
a year I have stood on the edge, listening to the voices, forgetting
about the world. So hard it is for me to leave it, even now I hear
it murmuring to me still. If I had ventured any further in never
would I be able to leave it, it eats at you so swiftly. Put away
your doubts and guilt, it wasn't your fault. The Fates have
conspired against you, never a chance you stood on this matter. But
if you step off the cliff it will be of your free will, it will be
your fault that the shade and the Knight suffer. And the Magician as
well. Evil he is, but he shouldn't be doomed by his love for you.
No one should."

"Oh, thanks a lot you grey hag," the telepath muttered before
returning his attention to the man in his arms. His tuberose was
torn, wanting to believe Cassandra, desperate for reassurances yet
afraid to hurt his loved ones any more. So tired of failing, or
believing he would fail again. Schuldig stroked Aya's cheek, knowing
he would have to swallow his pride and lay unpleasant truths on the
line. "She's right though, I do love you. If that means following
you into the darkness then at least you'll be all mine there. I'm
not letting go of you. Never. Balinese, cocklicker that he is,
cares for you too. Can you turn your back on the both of us?" For a
moment Aya leaned into the caress, his talent and dreams whispering
of his need for the older man. Schuldig smiled at that action. All
to soon it ended as Aya shook his head. When he opened his mouth to
argue, glancing back at the darkness, the telepath grabbed his hand
and touched it back to a golden thread.

[Sail away with me honey/ I put my heart in your hands/ Sail away
with me honey now, now, now/ Sail away with me/ What will be will be/
I wanna hold you now/ Crazy skies all wild above me now/ Winter
howling at my face-]

The idiot was living up to his threat after all, the pale man
thought. Before he could suffer through any more of Kudoh's singing,
Schu moved his hand to a green thread. The emotions coursing through
it startled him. A burning, possessive love, need, desire,
protectiveness and fear, all of it at such a bruising intensity that
it almost hurt to feel them, even if only for a short moment. Aya
snatched his hand away, blinking confusedly at the other man. When
the hell had Schu fallen in love with him? Why the hell had he?
What was even worse was that deep below the shock and confusion a
small part of him purred at feeling the telepath's emotions. This
couldn't be true, he had to be mad already.

<No you're not. What's the matter, kitty, at a loss for words? I
told you that you were mine, now you know why. I'll always be inside
of you, will be watching out for you. I will even go over the edge
with you. Accept it. That will never change.>

Body shaking, violet eyes searched out grey ones. "Will Yohji truly
follow me if I give in to the voices?" Aya felt a flash of hurt and
anger from Schuldig, but ignored it. He wasn't going to think about
the recent revelation any time soon. Never, if he could help it.
Right now he wanted to make sure that Kudoh wouldn't pay for his
mistakes anymore. That he did something right for once.

Cassandra nodded her head. "He will suffer the same fate as you.
What is tied so tightly can never be parted. The three of you will
never feel the light again, and the shade will perish. I see no
other outcome."

Feeling Schu kissing his temple, Aya ducked his head, trying to find
the strength to move. He felt it flow into him from the telepath,
after a moment he lifted his face so those lips brushed against his.
Then he purposely stepped away from the cliff's edge, feeling the
voices call out to him stronger with each centimeter he moved away
from it. <They hold no sway over you, leave the past be.> Each step
took the two men further into the brightness. The scent of cherry
blossoms surrounded Aya, for a few heartbeats his mind flashed back
to a vision he'd had weeks ago, of Schu and him making love in a room
filled with the flower's scent. Resolutely he pushed it aside and
kept moving forward. <Remember, I'll always be with you. You're
mine now.> That was the last thing he heard before the light became
unbearable.

The next thing Aya knew was he was being held tight against Yohji's
chest, the man's voice raspy and finishing up the song he'd heard in
the dream. He shifted about, trying to move closer to his lover,
seeking out the man's warmth. Aya found himself clutched even
tighter and his head tilted up. "You awake, kitten?"

Yohji's breath caught as the smaller man's eyes drifted open, no
longer a solid black. They focused blearily on him for a moment as
Aya's lips curved into a frown. "You can't sing." With that the
redhead fell asleep, snuggling closer as he sighed.

Torn between wanting to strangle his boyfriend for worrying him to no
end and then saying something like that, and joyous that Aya had
woken up, even if just briefly, Yohji felt a smile spread across his
face. "Oh you are so dead when you wake up again." He squirmed
about until the two of them were lying down and finally gave into the
urge to sleep himself.

*******

"All in all, a very interesting report," Frown commented on, tapping
the pile of papers in front of him. "But what exactly did we learn
here?"

"That Orchidee is most definitely a precog. That has again been
confirmed, this time beyond any shadow of a doubt. Aster reports
that he left his house a full two minutes before any alarms went
off." Smoke stopped talking to light a cigarette, needing the
nicotine to calm her down before she strangled the thickheaded man.

Who unwisely glared at her, feeling in a mood to stir up trouble. "I
noticed that, his report was so miniscule that an idiot could have
memorized it word from word." When he failed to get a response from
the woman he directed the look towards the foreigner in the room with
them.

Gaijin merely shrugged his shoulders. "He set out in pursuit of
Orchidee, but was prevented by a car accident. The man left several
behind in his wake, though we are not exactly sure how many because
oddly enough none of the victims remember seeing a white Porsche.
Except for Aster."

Frown hmphed and glanced down at his papers.

"So we have confirmation that we indeed do possess an assassin with a
formidable talent. One whose ability is clearly not as latent as we
previously thought. One that we have an even greater hold on than
before, as he will need Kritiker's resources in finding his sister."
Old Man carefully tore a page of the report into a perfect square and
started to fold it into a lily. "We have conformation as well that
Schreiend was not merely funded by Takatori alone, that they have
stronger ties with Esset than we previously thought. Those are all
very good things to know."

"You seem very certain about the Esset connection, sir," Gaijin
remarked respectfully.

"Yes, it is the only logical solution. We should have found them by
now, that we haven't means that they have resources at their disposal
that rival ours. Esset is the only organization in this region that
can compare to us."

Waving away cigarette smoke, Frown rested his chin on a hand. "Well,
it's always good to know what those bastards have up their sleeves,
so something at least came out of this mess. But I thought that we
had pretty much already accepted that Orchidee was a precog."

"There was a slight chance that he'd just been very fortunate on the
last mission, but this is too many coincidences in a row for us to
dispute the evidence any more," Smoke growled out. "Now we have no
more doubts left, and whatever wall he has up around his talent is
clearly starting to crumble. All we need to do now is break him, and
that talent will be ours."

"Dr. Arai will be ready to start the psychiatric evaluation on him
shortly. I vote that we give him only a few days to recover from the
shock and then press forward, we can use the loss of his sister to
force Orchidee to return back to the weekly sessions." Gaijin
consulted his PDA, tapping open several files. "I think in five days
time would be best, the doctor is making great headway in going
through his past sessions, she should be ready by then."

Old Man placed the lily down on the table. "Here's hoping that she
will break him before the curse costs us another psychiatrist.
There's this feeling that I have, that we will have a great need for
Orchidee and his power at some point in the future. Esset is clearly
gearing up for another confrontation with us, we will need every
advantage that we have then."

"Then it would be best that we bring as much pressure to bear on the
man as possible, isn't it," Frown commented.

*******

Groaning as he awoke, Schuldig cursed for a moment in his native
tongue. That had been much closer than he would have ever imagined,
with him being lost forever in another's mind, but had been worth it
in the end. He could still taste Aya on his lips. In the end there
had been no hate, just confusion and need.

It was slowly dawning on the telepath that he wasn't alone in his
room. Since he wasn't picking up any thoughts that left only one
person who it could possibly be. "Guten Morgen, mein Führer."

"I think you should be saying Guten Abend instead. It's almost eight
o' clock in the evening, Mastermind."

"Was?" Schuldig sat straight up in bed, feeling his body protest at
the sudden movement.
He felt exhausted as well, having expended too much energy to try and
control his heart's power, and then to pull him back from the madness
on top of that. "Somebody shoot me, please."

Crawford's wry voice answered his plea. "Be very careful who you say
that to, many people would be more that willing to take you up on the
offer." Green eyes glared at the man for a moment, then drifted
close. His little tuberose was still unconscious, but this time due
to simple exhaustion, and would wake in another hour or two. He'd
have to be careful when that time came to make sure that the
punishing emotions didn't return to drive Aya back to that
edge. "Has anyone ever told you that you should have been a
comedian, Bradley?"

"No."

"That's because there's a very good reason why not. You have
absolutely no sense of humor, at all."

The precog straightened out his shirt cuffs, not offended in the
least over the insult. "No, but I think I earn points for sitting
here patiently, waiting for you to explain to me how exactly you've
come to be rendered unconscious for most of the day."

Taking the hint, Schuldig settled back onto his bed. "Why do you
think I was out of it for so long?"

"If I had three guesses, all of them would be Abyssinian. What have
you been up to with that man's mind? I told you I need him
reasonably sane, at least for the next several months."

"Then considered your wish my command, Brad. `Cause that's exactly
what I've been doing, keeping him sane. Well, mostly. One hell of
an unstable Kätzchen to begin with. I take it you've `seen' what the
shrieking bitches were up to last night?"

Crawford nodded his head. "They kidnapped Abyssinian's sister."
He'd been waiting for that event to happen for some time now, things
were starting to speed up to the convergence. In another month or so
Schwarz would receive the order to take the girl away from Schreiend
and to kill the women. "I take it that the man didn't handle what
happened very well?" The fools had sealed their own fate, snatching
a loved one from an ill wight. Schwarz would merely be the
instrument that resulted in their deaths.

The German laughed. "One hell of an understatement there, Crawford.
No, he didn't. It almost shattered his mind." As soon as he said
the words Schuldig wanted to smack himself. He was tired and achy,
and had just let out a slip that was not very wise.

"Then how did you manage to prevent that from happening?" The room
became silent after the question. "How did you, Mastermind? Just
how deep were you in the man's mind? From your silence I take it
very much so. That's why you were out of it for so long, wasn't
it?" An insane idea came to him at the time. If it was anyone other
than the telepath he was talking to, he would discount it right off
hand. But… "You've linked your two talents together, haven't
you?." That would explain how Schuldig was so certain that he could
control the ill wight.

"Yes, I have." Schuldig glared challengingly at his leader, waiting
for the explosion. Rosenkrantz has expressly forbidden any such
linking of talents during their training, it was dangerous and
unpredictable, much as he had found out last night. Often both
participants went mad, if they did not complement each other
totally. If their talents did not entwine together properly.

The explosion never came. Blue eyes regarded him carefully. "I
think I'm beginning to see now." How it was that Schwarz would
survive the convergence when Schreiend and Esset fell. How it was
that Mastermind was so sure that Abyssinian would be his. In a way,
they already had an ill wight working for them. It was an advantage
that he would have to put to good use, include it in his future
plans. "You do realize that the both of you could have been driven
mad, don't you?"

The reddish-orange maned head nodded. "Such a link usually contains
some disadvantages, be sure that you take them into consideration
from now on. I refuse to let you be a liability to Schwarz. I
expect you as well to be able to handle Nakamoto and his men
tomorrow, we need that drug ring under our control by the middle of
the week or it will invite some unwelcome attention to us. Take
Berserker with you."

Watching as his leader stood up and walked over to the door, Schuldig
decided to push his luck. He still couldn't believe how calmly
Crawford was taking everything. "One moment, Bradley-kins. I've
gotten Abyssinian stabilized for the moment, but his employers are
planning on trying to break him down, it should be there in the files
Nagi downloaded."

"I read them, what is your point, Schuldig?"

"I need to take care of that matter. Can I borrow Farfie to do so?
Oh, don't get your boxers in a twist, I'm not going to have him carve
the woman into beef cubes just yet, I promise. That would attract
too much attention."

The American thought over the request for a moment. Then received a
vision for his trouble. Rubbing his sore forehead, Crawford
agreed. "Make sure you keep to that `subtle' plan of yours and there
should be no problem." With that he left the room.

Smiling as he lay back down in bed, Schuldig let his mind drift back
to Aya's. He was looking forward to the psych sessions very much.
It would provide him with the perfect opening.

*******

He was cold again. For a moment Aya wondered if he was fated to live
between the two extremes forever, blazing heat and bone-chilling
cold, before he gave up on sleeping. When he opened his eyes he
found Yohji sitting beside him on the bed, combing a hand through his
hair. "'Bout time you woke up again. You've been out the whole day."

Memories washed through him, of finding Aya-chan gone and then… heat,
threads, pain and then blackness. Something that his mind refused to
think about. A dream where Schuldig and the grey woman, Cassandra
were talking to him. Some of the conversation faded away, but he
remembered bits of it. That Aya-chan was unharmed, that he would
find her eventually. That he couldn't have changed a thing. "My
sister?"

"I'm sorry love, but Omi has worn himself to a frazzle, trying to
find her and Schreiend and not coming up with anything. Manx stopped
by a couple of hours ago to report that Kritiker hadn't a clue to her
whereabouts either, but was giving the matter top priority. I think
the organization is smarting over a bunch of psychotic women getting
the best of it. But I promise you, Weiß won't stop searching for her
until we find her. Don't get mad, but I even called Masato, had him
unleash the hounds for any leads he could find." Yohji gazed
worriedly at his lover, trying to gauge the man's reaction.
Wondering if things were going to start sparking again.

All Aya did was sigh and close his eyes in pain. When he opened them
again he stared back at the blond. "I don't care who knows, I just
want to find her. Want to see how Omi's search is going, there has
to be some sort of lead, even if it is miniscule. I have to save
her, Yohji." He tried to get out of bed but found his body refusing
to obey him. Kudoh put a hand on his shoulder until he stopped
struggling.

"I know, love. I know. But you need to get back on your feet first,
and running around after a bunch of false leads will just wear you
down even more. Let us help you, please."

He wanted nothing more than to tell Yohji that he was perfectly fine,
and would go out on his own as soon as he could stand. Then he
remembered what Cassandra had said, about them being tied together.
There was a flash of golden strands, a tugging on his heart. It took
the fight out of him. "All right."

For an instant Yohji wasn't sure that he'd heard the redhead right.
He'd expected to go through one hell of a fight to get Aya to agree
to his help. "Uhm, okay." After a few strokes through the crimson
hair he pulled on an eartail. "You do know that you just agreed to
our help, right?" He got a glare and a nod. "Just checking." Any
other smart comment left him as he hauled Aya upright and kissed
him. At first the man was stiff, but shortly melted into the
embrace. When they broke off the kiss Yohji shifted Aya closer,
wrapped an arm about his waist. "I'm so sorry, love. I wish we
could have gotten there in time."

"Hn." Aya waited for the guilt to wash over him, but instead of the
overwhelming flood he'd expected the emotion was surprisingly
bearable. It hurt, but it didn't drag him down into it. Into the
darkness. For a moment he felt threads embrace him and hold him
firm. They glowed green and gold. Shaking his head at his fancy,
Aya tucked his head under Yohji's chin. In a moment he'd get out of
bed and get ready, go find out what Omi had come up with and what
Manx had to report, but for the time being he just enjoyed the
peace. Kudoh held him tight, both hands rubbing his back soothingly,
and a phantom touch caressed his cheek.

*******

Omi looked down on the naked brunet lying on his bed, the muscular
body covered with strategically placed mounds of ice cream. "Hmm,
where should I start?" Ken smiled back at him and reached for a
cherry on top of the dessert piled on his crotch, held it up
invitingly for the blond. Who bent down his head to take it between
his teeth.

"I don't think the real Hidaka would appreciate a bunch of frozen goo
all over his cock, it might deprive you of some pleasure later."

Choking on the cherry, Omi turned around to find Mastermind sitting
on his desk, leering at him. The room dissolved to be replaced with
the mission room, the telepath perched on the back of the couch
now. "You- oh, you bastard."

The indignant insult earned him a smirk. "Well, I don't know for
sure, it is possible that my parents were married. To each other at
least. Not everyone can say the same, chibi."

The youth tried to dive at the man, knock him to the ground and then
his head into it repeatedly, but found himself unable to move. "What
the hell do you want now? And where were you the other night? Do
you have any clue what the hell even happened? Aya went supernova,
right in the middle of Kritiker's own hospital. Anyone could have
seen him. In fact someone did, though he's remained quiet so far.
I've been debating killing this one doctor, but haven't had a chance
yet. Unless you make sure he won't talk about what he saw that
night."

"Why do you think he was there in the first place, kleiner Jung? You
should know by now that I leave nothing to chance, not where my sweet
tuberose is concerned. Rôyama is completely under my control, how do
you think he gets the medication Abyssinian needs?" Shuldig smiled
at the waves of frustration and hate radiating off of the teenager.

"You knew about it the whole time, didn't you?" Omi growled through
gritted teeth. "Why didn't you put a stop to it then? Do you have
any idea of the danger that you put Aya through?"

It was Schuldig's turn to growl in anger. He caused pain to lance
through Omi's brain. <Don't ever imply that I do these things on a
whim, Bombay. I have my reasons.> He waited for the pain to fade
away before he continued. "Primarily being that now Kritiker is
assured that the dear boy is a precog, and will look no further into
his talent. Sometimes it is very useful to confirm an enemy's
suspicions, if they have no real bearing on the truth. I allowed
last night to happen as a way to better protect the boy." The
telepath leaped off the couch to walk over to the immobile assassin.
He patted Omi's tear-streaked cheek. "Never forget, I know
_everything_ that goes on in Abyssinian's life. What may seem like
simple caprice to you is nothing of the sort. Your job is not to
question, it is to make sure that he remains safe. If you can not
manage that duty I will have to take him off of your hands."

"I wish you would die, you bastard."

"Ah, now don't get nasty, Bombay. I might have to be that way in
return. Trust me in this, you most certainly don't want either of
those things to happen. Especially the first. It will cost you more
than you can ever imagine. Now be a good little boy, remain vigilant
and on your guard. Not to mention make sure that Abyssinian doesn't
neglect himself while trying to find his sister. He never will, not
until Schreiend wants him too. I'm doing my best to ensure that the
precious fool doesn't blame himself too much, never met such a
stubborn person before."

Schuldig made his way up the spiral staircase, growing fainter with
each step. "By the by, your dear Ken-kun just adores the color red.
Why don't you try to wear it one day, he won't be able to tear his
eyes off of you. Just something useful I picked up while in the
boy's head, you can thank me later for the suggestion."

When the man completely vanished Omi found himself waking up.
Rubbing his eyes, he realized that he had gotten a couple of hours of
sleep at least. He got out of bed and went to the older Weiß's
bedroom. Cautiously opening the door he found Yohji and Aya curled
around each other on the bed. Pair of golden arms were wrapped
tightly around the pale man, plainly not willing to let him go. Just
as Aya clung to Yohji in return. When the couple had come into his
room earlier that night to find out everything he'd uncovered about
Schreiend, which had been almost nothing, the swordsman had never let
his boyfriend stray from him more than a meter or so. It had to be
so hard on him, losing one of the two people he loved.

Reassured that the couple was okay Omi next stopped by Ken's room.
The athlete had been distant all day long, Omi knew he suspected that
Yohji and him had lied after coming back from the hospital. That
fact tore at his heart, he knew how much Ken feared being betrayed by
those he trusted. But it just wouldn't do to tell him the truth;
Mastermind had raised an irrational hatred of all paranormals in the
brunet. Justifiably so, but Aya had never done anything to hurt Ken,
and didn't deserve the hate. Omi resolved to make sure that his
teammate's doubts and suspicions were put to rest as quickly as he
could manage. He wouldn't let his family fall apart, no matter how
many people seemed to have it in for them.

*******

Arai walked down the street to her apartment, bags of groceries in
her arms. The sidewalk was crowded, as usual, and two skate boarding
youths bumped into her, making her drop one of the sacks. She sent a
quick spike of pain after the brats as she cursed and bent down to
retrieve the various cans littering the concrete. One of the jars
had cracked, there went her favorite brand of pickles.

"Let me, you'll cut yourself." The empath jerked back, surprised to
find a foreigner kneeling beside her. Why hadn't she sensed him?
When she caught sight of the man's face she let out her breath. At
first she had assumed that he was old, because of the cropped white
hair, then saw he was anything but. He was very handsome, even with
the scars and missing eye. She briefly wondered what type of
accident he had been in.

While Arai watched the gaijin gathered up her groceries and put them
back in her bag, then picked up the broken glass, discarding it a
nearby trashcan. "There, easily cleaned. Too bad the same can't be
said for one's soul, yes? Are your thumbs pricking yet? They should
be."

The comment puzzled her, she wasn't sure that she heard the man
properly. "Excuse me, what did you say?" She reached out a hand to
stop him when he stepped away from her.

The stranger caught her hand in a moment too quick to see. "Careful
of what you touch, some things leave an indelible mark. `What, will
these hands neer be clean? You mar all with this starting.' Heed my
warning. `All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand', not if you touch the fallen one. The stench of brimstone will
cling to you, never to be shed, and he will find you by that. It
will mark you as mine. Heed my warning, but I see that you will
not. Oh, it will be so much fun. I can't wait to play." He reached
out to stroke her cheek. "You will be begging for it." He lifted
his hand to his mouth, licking up blood that must have resulted from
him cutting himself on the glass.

One moment he stood there, but when Arai blinked her eyes he was
gone. No trace of him at all. Confused, the doctor started back to
her apartment, shook up and anxious. What the hell had that been?
Why hadn't she felt anything from the man? Shaking her head at those
thoughts, she refused to dwell on the man and his odd behavior any
longer. The resolve lasted until she was unpacking her groceries,
coming across a jar of pickles that by all means of logic should be
resting in a trashcan down the block. Yet it was in her hand,
unbroken. Feeling uneasy she put it in her cupboard. It was then
that she noticed a spot of blood on her hand.

Arai headed into her bathroom, seeking to wash and treat the wound.
But when she ran it under the water the blood would not come off.
Upon closer inspection she found the skin unbroken, yet the blood
remained. Cursing again she glared into the mirror. Then saw
another mark on her cheek, where the stranger had touched her.
Which, just like the spot on her hand, no matter how hard she
scrubbed it would not come off. After working herself into a frenzy
she screamed and tossed the washcloth away, storming out of her room
to collapse on the bed. Refusing to admit that she was thoroughly
shaken, the woman remained lying down. It was some time before she
realized that she was wishing she had something to take to calm her
down. Something nice and strong.

*******

"You don't have to go up there, you know. Tell them you're not ready
yet, you need more time and we'll just go home. Or fuck `em and
we'll just leave anyways." Yohji gazed at his lover anxiously,
growling softly at how upset the man was and desperate to hide that
fact.

"I can't, Kudoh. If I fail to show up they'll suspend me from active
duty, and any excuse I give them will be used as justification on how
I need the session more than ever. Just want to get it over with at
this point." Aya huddled in his chair, a cup of hot tea clutched
between his hands. Damn Yohji for trying to talk him out of this,
all he wanted was to give in and let the man take him home. He was
so tired, and full of dread over what awaited him in the
psychiatrist's office.

For his part Yohji scooted his chair closer to his lover's, mentally
cursing out Kritiker. What were the chances that the organization
had innocently scheduled the psych exams so soon after Aya-chan had
been kidnapped? Absolutely zero. The bastards had to know that Aya
was still shaken up over the matter, it was probably what they were
counting on. The last week had been so trying, making sure that the
redhead didn't do anything crazy or suicidal, that he didn't go
running off on his own, walking into some trap that Schreiend had set
up for him.

Actually the last part hadn't been too difficult, Aya refused to let
Yohji out of his sight. He had to know where he was at all times,
becoming angry when the blond disappeared. Yohji knew that his love
was desperate to make sure that he was all right and wouldn't be
snatched away like his sister had been. He found himself responding
with more patience than he could ever have imagined. Though it got
tiring at times, not that Aya wanted him near but that the stubborn
fool refused to acknowledge that he was concerned, got all defensive
when Yohji tried to appease his fears. So he kept his mouth shut and
stayed close. He'd be the first to admit that he didn't want Aya out
of his sight either, afraid that the man would be gone, just like his
namesake.

This would be the first time that they had been apart since Sunday
night. Tuesday and Wednesday had been spent combing Tokyo for any
clue of Schreiend, following the meager leads that Omi had
discovered. They found absolutely nothing. Aya had been forced to
admit that he wouldn't find his sister until the women wanted him
to. For some reason he was sure that the girl was alive and
unharmed, and none of Weiß wanted to dispute that claim. Especially
him and Omi, not after that night in the hospital.

Which Aya had completely blocked. Yohji had been stunned when Aya
had asked him how his hand had become blistered and red. When trying
to decide if the smaller man was joking or not, Yohji realized that
he wasn't kidding. Aya didn't remember about glowing and radiating
the heat that had burned his hand, apparently hadn't remembered
anything past the point when he found the empty bed. Omi said that
was for the best, and was immediately proved correct when Ken had
interrogated the quiet man, trying to piece together what had really
happened that night. The soccer fanatic had finally walked away with
the impression that Aya had lost it, temper-wise, and was too
embarrassed to admit it, and finally stopped glaring at his teammates.

Then there was the matter over the redhead becoming extremely
withdrawn after Sunday night. Yohji was the only one guaranteed to
receive any acknowledgement at all of his presence from Aya. Most of
the time any questions or comments Omi or Ken posed to the man was
ignored, and only about half of his were answered. Usually by a look
or grunt. Aya had retreated back into himself, drifting away from
the world. It was all Yohji could do to keep him anchored at times,
when it got truly bad he would walk away from his boyfriend. Which
would cause the man to chase after him, angry and hurt. At least it
was some sort of reaction. Yohji hoped to slowly coax Aya back out
of his shell, had seemed to be succeeding ever so briefly, he had
gotten a hint of a smile last night as he had teased Aya after making
love to him. But the phone call this morning had forced the man back
in it even further. The playboy had wanted to scream his frustration
and anger at the top of his lungs for at least an hour afterwards,
but had instead done his best to distract the pale man. He could
feel Aya's anxiety all through that bout of sex, the way the man
clung to him and urged him deeper, had needed his touch so
desperately. His heart had ached the whole drive over to the
hospital.

"I have to get going." Green eyes watched as Aya reluctantly got to
his feet. Yohji scrambled to his, nowhere near as graceful as the
smaller man. "Listen, kitten. I'm going to be here the whole time.
I know, you're not sure how long the shrink will keep you, but I'm
not budging. So suffer through it, knowing that I'm waiting for you,
and that we'll go out afterwards, get a bite to eat. I'll be here, I
promise." He reached out to brush back the long bangs, exposing a
pair of shadowed violet eyes, stroked a pale cheek. Aya turned his
face into the caress, pressed the hand against his face for a
moment. Then nodded his head and quietly walked off. The swordsman
paused to look back when at the door, then went out and crossed the
street. Yohji watched him until he vanished inside the hospital.
Then sat down, intent on keeping his word.

*******

Aya sat in the office the nurse had shown him to, back stiff in the
leather chair and not touching the material. He wanted to get this
over with as soon as possible. Look at the inkblots, answer some
questions, prove that he wasn't completely certifiable, at least not
yet, and rush back to Kudoh's side. He had to make sure that nothing
else was taken from him. That he could keep at least one person he
loved safe. Which he couldn't very well do if he was sitting in this
damn office, waiting for some doctor to pick his brain.

Behind him was the sound of the door opening and closing. A soft
tread on the thick carpet. He refused to turn around and looked,
instead settled his sunglasses more firmly on his face. Aya hoped
they hid some of his shock when he saw who was conducting the
session.

"Ah, Fujimiya, how nice to see you again. I heard about your sister,
how awful. My condolences."

Arai smiled as the sense of shock and recognition was replaced by a
fleeting agony at the suggestion that his sister was dead. She had
deliberately worded the sympathy that way. Dear little Aya was the
way to get to her brother, of that she was certain. The flash of
emotion only proved it.

Once the hurt faded away she couldn't sense much at all from the man,
other than anger and impatience. Arai got the impression that he
always radiated them. Trying to delve deeper into Orchidee's
emotions she found herself blocked once again. Damn, his shield was
too good. She would have to keep lobbing volleys and catch the
flashes as they came. Wearying but doable. "I'm sure that the last
thing that you want to do at this moment is sit here for this
session, so I will be sure to keep today's brief. Besides, I usually
prefer an informal first meeting with my new patients, some
introductions and so on. The real work can start next week. Are
Fridays good for you or would another week day be better?" There was
a flash of confusion and panic, swiftly swallowed.

"I think there is some misunderstanding, I'm only here for my bi-
yearly evaluation."

"Oh no, didn't they tell you? I received orders that you are to
report to me weekly, due to the tragic situation with your sister.
Our supervisors want to make sure that you are handling the loss
appropriately." The empath handed over a sheet of paper, having to
hold it out for several seconds before the redhead took it. Arai
sensed the moment the realization sunk in, the fear spiked again,
this time with a sense of despair. Good, Orchidee had every reason
to be afraid of the sessions, yet another thing she could use against
him. "I'm so sorry you had to learn from me-" there was a knock on
the door, "I assumed that they had told you already, and-" Another
knock. Glaring at the door in impatience Arai stood up from her
desk. "Excuse me, I usually tell my secretary not to bother me when
I'm with a patient, something must be up. One moment." This had
better damn well be good, she was losing momentum here.

As soon as the woman was behind him Aya clutched an arm around his
waist, still staring at the paper in his hands. Which spelled very
clearly that he was to report for an hour session every week for the
foreseeable future, or he would be removed from Weiß. Which meant
that he'd have to leave Yohji and his best chance of finding Aya-
chan. Why were they doing this to him? This couldn't be happening,
he couldn't be forced to suffer through this nightmare yet again, he
didn't think he could take it. Yet how could he refuse? He crumbled
the paper up and tossed it away, hands massaging his temples at the
headache that had formed almost as soon as he had seen Dr. Arai.

<The headache is because of her probing your mind. Kritiker has
outdone itself this time, they've sicced an empath on you.>

Aya cautiously bit back on his yelp of surprise. `Schuldig? What
the hell are you doing?' Great, first the psychiatrist and now Schu
was taking to tormenting him during the daylight. No question about
it, he would soon be insane. Aya waited for the flood of anger and
hate to fill him as it normally did when the telepath invaded his
mind, but all he felt was irritation and oddly a sense of relief.
Schu was a known adversary, unlike this Dr. Arai. `Wait a second,
did you say she was an empath?'

Phantom fingers stroked his cheek, making his tense muscles relax.
<Yes, she is. That's why your head is hurting; she's scanning you,
getting your reactions to her comments. Why do you think she keeps
insinuating that your sister is dead? She's drinking in your pain,
trying to use it against you. Sick bitch. She'll use that power to
tell when you are lying, that's why Kritiker sent you to her. They
suspect that you're not telling them the truth about various things,
so arranged for these sessions.>

His body trembling, Aya wanted nothing more than to have his sword in
hand, to strike out at something. Not for a moment did he doubt the
telepath, somehow he knew that the man was not lying for once. The
woman had raised his suspicion and distaste the moment he had met
her. What he didn't know was how to counter her, keep her from
learning about Yohji and Schu.

Those imaginary fingers combed through his hair, the touch soothing.
<Relax, little tuberose. That's why I am here. Why I arranged for
the bitch to be distracted. I won't let her hurt you, you're mine.
I can keep her from sensing anything from you, make sure that she
doesn't find out about me and the Schwanzlutscher.>

`What do you want this time, Schu? Nothing you offer me comes
without a price. What is it now?'

<Shh, that's not true. Not completely. No strings this time, other
than the fact that you have to let me in your mind. I can shield
your emotions that way, keep her from sneaking past your barriers.
Which are strong, they've held her off so far, but they won't if she
keeps picking away at them. And if it's one thing the Schlampe is
good at, it is picking at things until they crumble.>

Aya shook his head. `I don't trust you, Schu.' That was a lie, deep
down part of him did. He took the man at his word, didn't he? But
he was still suspicious. `Why do you need me to agree to this,
you're already in my head.'

<Because you are trying to fight me, even now. I can't mask your
emotions if I'm struggling to remain in your head. She'll pick up on
that right away; then you'll really be in trouble. You have to let
me in, stop resisting. I promise you, I won't do any harm, won't
muck about with anything while I'm in here. Won't even give in to
the impulse to have you deck Balinese when you walk out of here. But
you have to make the decision now, she's coming back.> Sensing
Aya's reticence he quickly added, <it comes down to which devil do
you trust? The one you know or the one you don't? Which one pulled
you back from the darkness? She seeks to drag you back down into it,
dooming you and me and the man-whore as well. Quick, she's almost
here.>

Hearing the doorknob turn, Aya made his decision. It would be the
devil he knew. The one that he remembered that had saved him and in
extent Yohji from the madness. `Only for these sessions, leave me the
hell alone the rest of the time.' He couldn't let the woman get her
claws into him, tear him away from his lover. Schuldig heard his
assent and flowed into his mind, both of the redheads marveling at
how complete they felt at that moment. Aya sensed Schu's surprise
and happiness, could feel each part of his mind that the
man `touched'. It was like a warm cloud settling on his thoughts.
Immediately his panic and dread calmed down, he could now face the
frowning woman without any qualms. As she sat down behind her desk
he felt a pressure against his mind, a filthy taint that sickened
him. But it couldn't get past the shield that Schuldig put up around
his, and caused the frown on Arai's face to deepen as she rubbed the
bridge of her nose.

"I'm sorry about that, someone had a question about the dosage for
another patient of mine. Now where were we? Ah, yes, I had been
explaining what I had wanted to touch upon for this first session,
before the confusion over your visit came up. Talk to my secretary
on your way out, let her know what day and time would be best for
you. That taken care of, I need to ask you a few questions. Mainly
about your family, touch base on your childhood and background. I
doubt it will even take the whole hour." Brown eyes narrowed in
frustration as that remark failed to provoke any spike of emotion at
all from the man. She tried probing Orchidee's mind for a second
time since returning to her office and once again failed to penetrate
the mental shield. Which she swore had increased in strength in the
past few minutes. Damn Ani for disturbing her to deal with Peony's
meds. Who cared if the schizophrenic died of a drug overdose, the
woman was useless to Kritiker now anyways.

Snarling under her breath, Arai kept going down the list of
questions. One of them had to get a damn response from Orchidee,
just had to. She wasn't going to fail, the man was going to be
broken by the end of the year if she had to batter down his shield
week after week with the worse things she could come up with until he
snapped. Absentmindedly she rubbed at the spot of blood on her hand
as she hurled out each question, her talent honed on the quiet
redhead sitting across from her.

*******

Schuldig stretched as he stood up from the living room couch, a huge
smile on his face. He walked into the kitchen where he found Nagi
chopping some vegetables and Farfie sitting at the table. "What time
will dinner be ready, I'm starving."

"Not for another hour or so, the stew has to set for a while." Nagi
telekinetically floated some carrots over to the German as he scooped
up the celery and dropped it into the kettle. Farfie had asked him
to make the dish, telling him he wanted a taste of home. "You look
happy, who are you tormenting now?" It better not be Abyssinian, but
the smile seemed to belay that hope. How could Schuldig hope to make
the man happy if he kept harassing him?

"Have some faith in me, Nagi. This time I was a veritable knight in
shining armor to the kitty. Helped to prevent someone else from
tormenting him." He'd kept the catalyst calm, had soothed him as the
probing questions had cut into him. The Schlampe was dead now, she'd
tried to her best to hurt his heart and had every intention of
continuing to do so. Schuldig felt for his link with Aya, found the
man hugging the man-whore tight in the middle of the coffee house
across from the hospital, trembling with relief and distress. An odd
combination that had him running a soothing touch through the man's
hair, wanting to offer him some comfort. One day soon it would be
him that Aya came to for comfort, and the more that Arai tried to
break him the more it would make Aya trust him and look forward to
his presence. The dreams had worked to make his tuberose stop hating
him and even deep down begin to love him, now to work on the issue of
trust. With the girl's abduction it wouldn't be too much longer
until he was forced to snatch her from Schreiend, he had to have
things just so before then. The hate couldn't be allowed to flare
back up again.

Farfie's voice distracted him from his thoughts. "So the witch
didn't heed the warning, did she? Touched the fallen angel after
all."

Nagi looked on in concern when the Irishman referred to Abyssinian as
an angel. <Lower your hackles, Nags. Farfie doesn't mean what you
think. He sees the boy as the angel of death fallen to the ground,
turning his back on God. He won't hurt him.> "Yes she did. Which
means you get to play with her some more. Hope you don't mind."
Farfarello grinned wickedly, it was clear that he wouldn't mind in
the slightest. Munching on his carrots, Schuldig leaned back in his
chair, reflecting on the past couple of days. Brad wasn't fighting
him over Aya anymore, and had his suspicions settled. Aya had
survived his sister's abduction with his mind and cloak more or less
intact, and was slowly learning to trust him. Farfie had a new toy
to play with, and Nagi wasn't slamming him into walls anymore. Life
was definitely looking up.

*******

Cassandra glanced away from her window as the door opened. She had
been waiting for the guard to show up for her, to take her arm and
lead her down the hall. That was the reason why she wasn't sitting
in her garden at the moment. She had come back to reality to get
this over with. It was starting now.

As she walked down the hall the psychic felt exhaustion weigh heavy
on her. She still hadn't recovered from cloaking the star child's
use of power a few nights ago. It had taken every last bit of her
strength to do so. Cassandra had almost failed, but the hope of her
death had lent her the energy to persevere. Now she would walk down
this hallway and face the dark masters that had cruelly broken her
and caged her body. She would finish the task that she had started
twenty-one years ago, one that had begun with a similar cloaking.
Then she would pray for the death that approached closer with each
coming day.

In the meantime she slid closer to the cliff in her mind, back the
distance that she had clawed her way from the past couple of months.
It was bittersweet to give up that hard-gained ground, so much effort
sacrificed for the sound of her parents' voices. It would not do to
appear almost sane in front of the dark ones. They could not begin
to suspect the web of treachery that she had woven, all in the hopes
of taking them down. Of making them pay for what they had done to
her and her family. She had remembered so much the further she had
gotten from the cliff, recalled so many things that she had set into
motion over the years.

Her eyes blinked and watered from the sunlight as she was dragged out
onto a brightly lit terrace. In front of her sat two old men and an
old woman. "Good morning, my dear. We have a few questions for
you. Do you think that your gift is up to it?"

*******

Song is `Sail Away' by David Grey

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