Ragnarok
By Katana Rey
AU, OOC, , Yaoi, SF
Pairings: hmmm... ^_^;; as soon as I figure them out, I'll let you know...
Prologue
Shinjuku
The young boy in the dark blue school uniform, with a smaller boy in tow, pushed their way through the thick crowd. An observant watcher of the ill suited pair might have noticed the identical sets of striking purple blue eyes shared by the delicate looking teenager and the little boy with the bright orange-red hair and guessed that the pair were brothers. A heavy rucksack was slung over the older boy's left shoulder, darting nervous glances behind him at frequent intervals, the strained look of tense expectancy on the boy's too pretty face would have led the same observer to conclude that the two were runaways. However, most people out walking around the Shinjuku shopping district on a Saturday morning were too busy with their own concerns to pay any attention to two more children amongst the many who roamed the streets, playing hooky from their morning classes.
Nagi hurried down the street, his hand tightly clasping the tiny hand of the small boy trotting after him, his shoulders aching from the unaccustomed weight of the heavy bag, all the whilst feeling a prickly sensation between his shoulder blades, as a tiny corner of his mind dwelt obsessively on the image of Farfello and his sharp shiny blades. He was too tired to use his talent to reduce the weight of the bag, especially after the stunt he had pulled at the railway station four hours ago, to shake the Este agents who had dogged their steps since Thursday night. He had no idea where he was heading, only that he had to try to get out of Tokyo, before Este, or Shuldig, Nagi grimaced at thought of his volatile team-mate, managed to catch up to them.
To hades with Shuldig, the arrogant, self-righteous bastard, how dare he presume to dictate what was right or best for them? Nagi swore silently to himself, his hand clammy with sweat, trying to match his long strides to the uncomplaining child who followed him in a clumsy trot. He had been so certain that he could count on the redhead, just this once... how could he have misread the telepath so badly? Nagi sneaked a glance at the innocent child, who gave him a tired smile, and felt a pang in his chest at the sight of the trusting blue eyes lifting to face him, so like his own, his heart constricting as he looked at the sweet face under thick thatch of bright hair, the same flaming red gold that framed Shuldig's face. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt this child, not Este, and definitely not a selfish, ruthless, heartless asshole like Shuldig, Nagi vowed grimly, tightening his hold on the slippery hand.
A hurrying pedestrian, a muscular heavy set man in his late forties, twice his height and thick bodied, accidentally jarred the heavy rucksack from Nagi's shoulder sending the smaller bodied teenager sprawling to the ground with a muffled gasp, as the man hastily brushed past and strode off, not even bothering to spare a glance to the boy behind him. The rucksack fell to the ground, scattering small coloured bottles containing capsules and pills, and other personal items on the busy street. Losing Nagi's supporting hand, the little boy stumbled and fell to his knees, scraping his skin of his hands as he reached out automatically to save himself from the fall. The walkers-by cursed briefly as they were forced to detour around the boys and their mess, not deeming the minor incident worthy of their further attention.
'No..' Nagi gasped out faintly in protest, his eyes widening with alarm as the little boy looked up from his crouching position and narrowed his eyes, a shimmering green light engulfing the dark blue irises.
Nagi watched helplessly, a hand reaching out futilely even as the glowing green eyes bored into the back of the thick-set man who had caused their fall. The man froze in his steps and turned towards the rushing traffic, his body jerking stiffly as he moved, the thick muscles on his neck standing out starkly. The man broke into a sudden run and deliberately threw himself in front of a large truck, causing it to veer wildly out of its lane as its driver braked desperately. The street was plunged into pandemonium, the air filling with the sounds of the screaming passers-by who stared at the unfolding scene in horror, the loud squeal of the brakes of the truck screeching hideously, the driver trying desperately to turn the metal behemoth. Nagi closed his eyes in despair, unable to suppress the shudder that ran through his body at the sound of the wet thud, made by the man's body slamming against the side of the truck, the limp body disappearing under the truck, the heavy wheel of the truck grinding his body to a grisly pulp.
The other cars in the street beeped in terror and shock, frantic to avoid the truck which continued to skid, and the driver of the blue sedan who had tried to speed past the enfolding disaster, was unable to react fast enough to adjust for the chaotic events and slammed in to the back of the red Ford, crunching the back in half, its passengers screaming for help even as the air bags in the front seat began to unfold, crushing them against their seats. A grey Pajero which had been parked on the side street illegally, was thrust into the nearby hairdresser, as the trailer of the truck became dislodged and slid across the street, sending silver sparks flying into the air, the metal scraping deep gashes in the ashfelt.
Nagi gathered his scattered belongings which had burst out of the rucksack when he fell and pulled the small boy to his feet, numbly dusting off the dirt on the blue overalls with a picture of Pooh smiling on the front panel. He hugged the little boy with a distracted air when the child thrust his scratched palms in his face, the soft pink lips pouty and trembling as he showed Nagi the black crusted torn skin, beaded with droplets of red blood.
'Ris-kun. Please don't use your powers. Remember? The bad people might find us if you do. And I told you before, its wrong to use our powers to hurt people. Look at this mess.' Nagi stopped, sighing heavily in dismay when the little boy scrunched up his face and tears laced the dark blue eyes framed with dark lashes. 'No, wait, Ris-kun. Gomen. I'm not trying to scold you. Don't cry please. Okay? Come on. I just... I want you to promise not to use powers. Okay? What do you say? Neh Ris-kun?'
The little boy stuck out his lower lip, thinking through what Nagi had said, his eyes remained a bit teary and he fidgeted uncomfortably as Nagi once again repeated his request.
'Don't want to.' He said at last, with a sulky air. 'Why should I Nagi? He was being mean to you. And my hands still hurt...' Ris let out a tremulous sob and hid his face in his stinging hands.
Nagi suppressed the urge to shake the obstinate child, thinking sourly of his missing team-mate, who had landed him in this mess, and had left him to deal with it alone, that bastard. Nagi couldn't resist the thought that Ris would have been easier to handle without the dubious benefits of genetic inheritance from the temperamental redhead. Then Ris peeked up at him through splayed fingers, the dark blue eyes glimmering with a hint of mischievous laughter, obviously wondering whether he was still in trouble, and Nagi choked back an answering laugh. He reached out a caressing hand and ruffled the pretty red gold hair affectionately, admitting privately with rueful admiration that the chibi also inherited a considerable amount of the redhead's charms as well.
He leaned down and pulled down the small hands from the dirtied face gently and spoke firmly, trying to impress the seriousness of his request on the wide eyed child.
'Ris-kun. Onegai. You know that I love you, don't you?' Nagi waited patiently until Ris nodded, pulling the thumb from Ris' mouth when the child automatically started to suck on it, an old habit of Ris that he resorted to when faced with a question that he didn't want to answer. 'You have to promise me that you won't use your powers anymore. Okay? Do you want to stay with me?' Nagi asked, a grave expression on his face as he stared at the boy, trying to will him to understand.
'I want to stay with you Nagi.' Ris said at once, and Nagi relaxed, a grin lifting the corner of his lips and patted the untidy thick hair, smoothing down the disarrayed locks. 'And with Schuldig.' Nagi froze, the colour draining from his lips when Ris leaned his head against his shoulder, the dirty thumb straying again into the soft mouth as the child leaned trustingly against the one of two people he loved in the world. Ris smiled blissfully, his eyes closing sleepily as he thought of the tall man with fiery hair, and purred in contentment. 'I want to stay with you. And I want Schu. When is he coming back? He said he'd be back for us soon. Can't we go and see him Nagi? Can we? Please?'
Nagi looked down at the large appealing eyes with a frozen expression and tried to remember everything that Schuldig had ever taught him about mental shields as he moistened his dry mouth and prepared to lie to a child who was capable of ripping his mind to shreds.
'Maybe...' Nagi said shakily and slowly got back on his feet, lifting the rucksack on to the right shoulder with a faint grunt, gingerly taking hold of the Ris' wrist. Nagi was worried about the scratches but for now, the first priority was to get to a safe place, somewhere where they could rest and eat, promising himself to take care of Ris' injuries as soon as possible. Nagi went down on his knees and folded back the long yellow sleeve to allow him a better grip and tried to smile reassuringly, embracing the boy tightly. He whispered softly into the trusting child's ears, wishing that he could believe in the false words.
'I'm sure if you are good and keep your promise, we'll see Schuldig... soon.'
Looking down at the smiling child's face, Nagi swore silently to himself that if he did see the faithless redhead, this time it'd be him and not Ris, who was going to be throwing around a truck, and to hell with providing a good example to the child.
Part 1.
Ueno Park
A jogger, thirty-three, single and eminently aware of his eligibility as one of the city's hottest investment broker, dressed in the latest adidas sports gear, slowed his steps. His brown eyes shone with eager anticipation at the sight of the slender figure in front of him, openly appraising the long red gold hair falling down in a ponytail, the smooth creamy skin rising out of the slightly loose creamy white jumper, his eyes devouring the way tight dark blue jeans clung to the firm curves of the long legs and slim hips. He smiled hopefully at the lovely creature as he panted past, his blood pressure rising slightly with excitement, turning around to face the beautiful object of his admiration, he raised his hand in greeting... only to stumble over his own feet and land ungracefully on his butt. The redheaded beauty laughed merrily at his stunned expression and winked at him as he passed. What the... the jogger lay in the dirt track trying to recover his composure, his cheeks aflame with embarrassment as he realised that he had just tried to pick up a guy... 'What kind of guy looks like that!' The man muttered under his breath, picking himself up and breaking in to a run, trying not to think of the way the slim hips had swayed...
The tall, slender redhead laughed again, genuinely amused by the small encounter with his would be suitor, and walked over to the wooden seat offering a view of the wide open grass field where a group of small boys were playing soccer. The boys were running and shouting with enthusiasm, a dark haired teenager wearing a light blue shirt running in their midst, occasionally calling out encouragement and directions to the bevy of children surrounding him. He leaned back casually on the empty seat, his arm resting on the top of the wooden bar, and grinned with amusement, noticing that the dark haired youth had stopped to stare at him, enjoying the look of stunned surprise on the handsome face. Schuldig grinned broadly, waving happily to the young boys pointing excitedly in his direction, with wide eyed interest. He waited calmly, basking happily in the warmth of afternoon sun and lifted his arm lazily in casual greeting as Ken walked over to his chair and sat down next to him.
'What the hell are you doing here?' Ken asked in a low voice, lifting a hand to achknowledge the young boys who giggled and waved back happily, before returning to their game. The phony smile slipping off his face when he turned back to face the amused man next to him.
Schuldig pulled off his sunnies, feigning a hurt look in the wide open green eyes as he got up and dusted off his jeans.
'Is that all you have to say when I came all this way, just to see you Ken-doll?'
Ken's dark chocolate brown eyes narrowed coldly and his hands flexed involuntarily, checking his urge to slice into the smirking Este agent. He followed after Schuldig wordlessly as the redhead began to move away, stifling a muttered curse under his breath when the telepath stopped at an ice cream vendor and picked up two cones. Ken forced a polite smile, reaching out to accept the strawberry cone when Schuldig held it out to him with a challenging smirk, warily watching the telepath licking at his chocolate chip mint cone with relish. The two continued to walk down the pathway of the park, keeping silent company while Ken debated with himself on the merits of eliminating the irritating psi agent now, versus waiting till he heard what Schuldig had to say first. From the mocking smile flickering on Shuldig's face whenever Ken snuck a peek at him, the irritated Weiss agent was damned sure that the telepath knew exactly how annoying he was being and loving it. At last the two men reached a relatively isolated area of the park and Ken joined Schuldig on the ground with a scowl as the redhead dropped to the ground, stretching out his arms and long legs with a happy sigh.
'It's a nice day isn't it Weiss?' Schuldig was almost purring, leaning back on his elbows, staring up at the perfect blue sky, squinting slightly against the bright sunlight, deciding not to bother with the sunglasses sitting on top of his head. He found the poorly concealed restless impatience of the Weiss agent highly amusing and thought that he had been right to select Ken as his primary contact.
'I don't suppose you want to get point any time soon Schwartz?' Ken muttered in resignation, slumping back against the ground, his head propped on folded arms and closing his eyes lazily. He still had another two hours before his shift started at Koneko and he decided that he didn't want to spoil his rare day of rest by getting into unnecessary confrontations. Given the conspicuous lack of support or armament by the usually cautious German, who rarely took any risks that might damage his pretty hide, Ken doubted that Schuldig had come to see him just to pick a fight.
Schuldig stared at the empty sky in fascination, admiring the purity of the deep blue colour above and felt the tension of the past forty eight hours drain out of him, leaving him feeling relaxed and just a bit sleepy. Turning to his side, Schuldig leaned lazily on one elbow, resting his head on a raised hand and stared at the half asleep man next to him, absently nibbling at a strand of red gold hair that had dropped into his mouth when he moved.
'You shouldn't do that. Split ends.' Ken murmured sleepily, without opening his eyes.
Schuldig laughed lightly, reminded once again that he wasn't the only one hiding behind a false face, and raised himself to a sitting position, brushing the bits of grass off his jumper.
'Not bad Weiss. I suppose if I was to try to kill you...'
Ken moved from his prone position up in to a crouch in one smooth motion, his hand darting inside his jacket and back, a glint of metal half hidden in his hand as he faced the smiling telepath, who held up empty hands and laughed. Ken glared at Schuldig, trying to figure out what kind of twisted game the German was playing... this time.
'You know, I swear, Kritiker agents have no sense of humour.' Schuldig grinned insouciantly, but kept his hands up, respecting the cold glint in the large dark eyes facing him.
'Not to mention no patience and a hair trigger temper, Schuldig.' Ken said at last, as he lowered his hand to the ground, the small dagger still in his hand. 'What do you want... and why are you here? Are you on an assignment?'
'I'm here... to ask for your help.' Schuldig said simply, dropping his hands and plucking at the helpless grass. 'And did I mention?' Schuldig asked with a wicked laugh as he pulled the sunnies back over his eyes, tossing the long ponytail off his shoulder as he held out a hand to Ken. 'I'm defecting.'
* * * * *
Koneko
Schuldig swung his legs under the table restively as he listened to the continuing bickering, stifling a bored yawn as the recriminations and accusations raged on around him, while Ken tried to explain to his understandably furious team-mates, just why he decided to bring the Schwartz telepath into their hideout and headquarters. He was starting to feel bored and began to question the wisdom of his decision in turning to Weiss for assistance.
'I don't believe him.'
Ken sighed in exasperation as Yohji repeated his statement for the fifth time since he had brought the redhead to the flower shop. He was beginning to regret asking Schuldig to accompany him to Koneko, so that they could enlist the rest of Weiss in the German's crazy scheme. Maybe he should have just listened to Schuldig and... Ken snuck a glance at the bored looking redhead, who was examining the ends of his nails intently and felt his irritation rise... maybe, Ken amended as he looked back at his belligerent team-mate, he should have just told Omi first instead...
'Yohji, please, you aren't helping.' Omi frowned anxiously as he looked at his team mates, noticing the tension between the pair rising as Yohji continued in his stubborn refusal to listen to Ken and Schuldig. 'Why don't we just hear them out first?' Omi mouthed a silent apology to Ken, both the dark haired Weiss and the redhead wincing in unison at being referred as 'them'.
'I'm not asking you to believe him.' Ken said heatedly, then looked slightly confused as he thought his words over. 'Well, okay,' he admitted grudgingly shooting a glare at the redhead who sniggered, 'I guess I kind of am, at that. But, I thought that you'd at least have more faith in my judgement,' Ken shot a cold glare at his leader, who had been mute with silent condemnation ever since he had brought the telepath down to the mission room. 'I think we should at least listen to what he has to say. After that, if you still don't want to have anything to do with this...' Ken heaved a heavy sigh. 'I guess we'll be on our own.'
'What?' Yohji exploded, his eyes sparking with fury, grabbing his team mate's collar roughly, 'are you out of your mind? What do you mean, on 'our own'? Are you seriously considering teaming up with this... this mind fucker?'
At Yohji's words, Schuldig stiffened but before he could move, Ken slammed a hard fist into the taller man's jaw, sending him sprawling on the ground.
'You are such a son of a bitch, Kudo.' Ken hissed coldly. 'And do give me a little credit, please. Or have you forgotten again, just why we four were chosen to be Weiss? Schuldig can't read or influence me.'
Ran unfolded his arm and moved over to the fallen man, leaning down and offering his hand to Yohji, who glared up at him with furious eyes and pushed himself off the ground, his mouth bleeding slightly from the corner, where his underlip had torn. Ran put up his hand and slammed it against Yohji's chest, when the taller man moved forward again with clenched fists, warning him against any further movement, keeping his body between his enraged team-mate and Ken.
'Yohji, calm down and listen. That's an order.' Ran said icily, 'and as for you two...' He turned and glared at Ken, who scowled at him but kept silent, and at Schuldig, his eyes narrowing to splinters of violet ice as the redhead smiled arrogantly back. 'You better start talking. And you better hope,' Ran spoke to Schuldig, facing the redhead directly for the first time since the German's controversial admittance into their hideout below the shop. 'That your story is as convincing to us, as it obviously was,' Ran indicated Ken with a sharp jerk of his head, still furious that he had chosen to act so unilaterally, 'to him.'
'I want you to kill a five year old boy.' Schuldig said bluntly, his green eyes glittering ominously as he took in the stunned reaction of the other three Weiss, his mouth curving slightly as he saw Ken's disgusted look. 'My son to be exact. Mine and Nagi's. Do I have your attention now?' Schuldig asked with a wicked smile.
Yohji pulled the wire from his wrist impatiently and twisted the cord with his fingers, testing its flexibility and strength and looked at Ran with a wry grin, murmuring in a silken sweet voice, 'are you sure you don't want me to kill him now?'
Ran tightened his mouth harshly and ignored Yohji's whisper, he glared at Ken who simply sat tensely with hard eyes, refusing to meet his eyes and then turned his attention back to Schuldig who was grinning at him, waiting for his response.
'Where is the boy now?' Ran barked harshly, 'and why do you want him dead? And what kind of security are we going to be dealing with? And if he's your son and.. Nagi's,' Ran's eyes narrowed as he began to think through the possibilities inherent in that particular combination, 'what kind of psi is he? And one more thing.' Ran added, his expression darkening even further as he began to suspect just why Schuldig had come to him. 'What about Schwartz? Why aren't they helping you?'
Schuldig lifted his hands and started to clap slowly, his smile widening as he spoke. 'Not bad, Abyssinian. There was one other minor factor to take into consideration but... not bad at all.'
Ran looked at the cold, condescending grin on Schuldig's pretty face and at the glimmer of fear lurking in the emerald eyes and closed his mouth into a tight line, refusing to play along with the German any further.
Schuldig dropped his smile as he realised that Ran was still waiting for him to respond to his questions, he looked at Ken, noting the faint quiver of muscle in Ken's jaw and knew that the brunette had no intention of answering for him. Schuldig hesitated a moment longer, trying to compose himself, he'd be damned before he let the sanctimonious smug leader see just how badly he was effected by what he had to say.
'Codename Fenris. The boy was born five years ago, without my, or for that matter Nagi's,' Schuldig's mouth twisted bitterly as he said his teammate's name, 'knowledge or consent. Este has been playing god for the last three decades, trying to create the superhuman, to accelerate the development of genetic evolution through science.' Schuldig bared his teeth in a humourless smile, staring at the blank faced Weiss with hard green eyes, 'and thanks to their efforts, that's how wonderful me came into this depraved, soulless world. And Nagi... and Farfello of course.'
Ran shrugged carelessly, unmoved by the disturbing glimpse of turbulent emotions in the manipulative telepath. 'Spare us the melodrama Schuldig,' he said in an icy voice, 'we know of Este's interest in genetic engineering and it's not surprising that they would have been tempted to combine your genes with Nagi's, especially if they thought that they could harvest a viable psi who could harness both your powers. You still haven't explained why you want us to kill Fenris. I assume that your son has already manifested his psi ability, this five year old that you want killed?'
Schuldig felt a sudden surge of hatred toward the cold heartless bastard, and forced himself to smile again, taking refuge behind the familiar mask of mocking superiority. He flirted briefly with the idea of teasing the stiff leader further, then the image of cherubic innocence with large dark blue eyes and orange red hair rose in his mind and his carefully manufactured poise shattered.
'He...' Schuldig swallowed the hard lump in his throat, shocked by the way his voice had wavered and tried again. 'Ris... that's what we call him, Nagi and me. He became an active telepath when he was three years old...' Schuldig stopped again to take a breath, shocked by his own failure to maintain the familiar facade of heartless arrogance, his voice starting to shake from the powerful emotions surging through him. 'I met him when he was three... Este called me in to help them manage,' Schuldig couldn't hide the depth of bitterness and rage that overcame him as he spat out the word, '... ostensibly to help Ris learn to deal with his telepathy. He...' Schuldig laughed hollowly, closing his eyes in pain and resignation as he felt the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and realised that he wasn't going to be able to say this without losing control again. 'Damn...' Schuldig stopped and held his shaking hands over his mouth.
Ken got up and grabbed a glass of cold water, wordlessly passing to Schuldig, who took it without lifting his head, his face hidden behind the long draping ponytail.
'Nagi met Ris last year when the child became an active telekinetic. Este almost lost an entire wing of the Institute finding out that they might have gotten exactly what they were looking for in Ris, and also that they weren't equipped to deal with the tantrums of a lonely child who has unimaginable powers at his disposal. The head of Fenris project agreed to let Nagi and Schuldig meet with Ris on regular basis, to assist the child in developing and controlling his psi, and also to provide him with greater emotional stability, since it seems Ris immediately established strong emotional bonds with both his genetic parents. Unfortunately,' Ken sighed heavily as he looked at Schuldig who was sipping the cold water slowly, his hands still shaking slightly from the weight of his emotions. 'That's the problem. Ris is a child and as a five year old, he's thinking only in terms of what he wants and what he thinks his parents want.'
At Ken's words, Schuldig flinched and ducked his head down further.
'Simply put, he's too powerful and sooner or later, his powers are going to go out of control, just like his name sake in the myth. Schuldig wants us to kill Ris because he believes that the boy's powers are too powerful for his mind and,' Ken added reluctantly, wondering if he was right in sharing this last information with his suspicious team-mates. '... he thinks that Fenris is going insane from the power overload... heaven help us all when he does.'
Omi stared at his team-mate with a disapproving glare, trying to understand all that Ken was telling him. 'Wait Ken. Are you telling me that you agreed to kill a five year old child on the basis of what Schuldig might think he may become?' His voice sharpened with rage as he spoke, 'are you out of your mind? And you think that Este is playing at god!' Omi screamed at Schuldig, who merely stared back at him with dulled eyes, the proud telepath's shoulders sagging with uncustomed defeat and despair.
'Omi listen.' Ken grabbed his younger teammate and forced him to face him. 'You don't understand. Schuldig... he...' Ken flushed suddenly, remembering the way he had held the shuddering telepath in the park, the delicate scent of the thick hair tickling his nose, the warmth of the body in his arms as the redhead wept into his shoulder. 'He loves him, Omi.' Ken spoke gently and released Omi, standing protectively in front of the redhead, staring at his team-mates with a silent plea in the dark brown eyes. 'I... I believe him. Schuldig genuinely cares for Ris, otherwise he would never have risked helping Nagi in breaking Ris out of the Este Institute. Ris is only five years old, Omi and that's just too young for anyone to be able to control the kind of powers at his disposal. Schuldig came to us... he came to me for help because...' Ken smiled wryly, suddenly understanding why the German had approached him, of all people. 'That's why Weiss exists. To save the world from monsters, even when they are only an innocent victim, like Ris. Because no one else can.'
Ken looked at Ran, holding his leader in his steady gaze as he added softly. 'And I agreed to help him. I agreed because Schuldig told me what he saw in Ris' mind when he killed the doctor during their escape. That wasn't the first time he killed. But that was the first time Ris enjoyed killing. To someone like Fenris, people without any powers aren't even people. They are nothing. And so he kills without any remorse or hesitation. If we don't take him out now, while his powers are still at a developing stage...' Ken sighed and ran his hands through his hair in distraction. 'I don't even know if we can do it now. If Schuldig is right about what Ris may become eventually... we won't get another chance.'
'It's... it's still wrong...' Omi spoke quietly, his eyes burning with angry tears, resenting the grim faced youth in front of him. 'There has to be another way... why don't you try helping him?' Omi pushed past Ken and gripped the front of Schuldig's jumper, tugging at the unresisting man, trying the damning truth of Ken's words. 'He's your child, isn't he? Doesn't that make him your responsibility? Why don't you teach him to control his powers, instead of coming here and making us decide whether or not to kill him for you? Answer me, damn you. Ken said that you love him. That you helped Nagi to take Ris out of the institute. Why didn't you stay with them and take care of them? Why...' Omi bit back an angry sob as Schuldig refused to answer him, jade-green eyes looking away from his eyes. He reached back and slapped the pale cheek with all his strength, feeling no satisfaction as the German's head rocked back from the blow, stepping back awkwardly with guilt on seeing the reddening mark on the white skin.
'I.. I'm sorry...' Omi whispered with a pale face, tears rolling down his cheeks, feeling Ken's hand dropping on to his right shoulder and gently squeeze, reassuring him that he wasn't alone.
Schuldig rubbed his stinging cheek with a grimace and shook his head with rueful dismay.
'Figures you'd think exactly like Nagi... must be the innocence of youth and all that... me, I stopped believing in fairytale endings long ago...' Schuldig trailed off, swallowing his bitter ire as he met Ken's glance over Omi's shoulder, feeling disoriented by the sincere sympathy in the dark brown eyes. 'I wish I could think like that too Omi. But I can't. And you can't afford to hide behind pleasant illusions either, Weiss.' Schuldig spoke grimly, staring challengingly at Ran who had walked over to stand next to his team-mates, ignoring Yohji who remained sitting on his couch, the suspicious green eyes watching him warily over the shades resting half way down his nose.
'When Nagi and I broke into the Institute, Ris was waiting for us. He knew... he knew that we were coming. And when the doctor with him tried to sound the alarm... I could have stopped him, or Nagi. We might even have killed him but...' Schuldig snarled, baring his teeth angrily, 'we wouldn't have enjoyed it. Not the way Ris did. He ripped the doctor's mind inside out... not because he hated him, but because he found it amusing. Do you understand that Weiss? My child... that sweet innocent child that you are so worried about...' Schuldig glared at Omi who shrank back from the angry green eyes, 'that child took a man and shattered his mind, just because he thought it was amusing. I could feel him laughing in my head... it...' Schuldig took a deep breath and lifted his legs to the top of the table, wrapping his arms around the knees for comfort as he finished. 'It took Ris ten minutes to kill the doctor. He only stopped because Nagi smeared the doctor's brain across the wall. I told Nagi to take Ris and get out while I delayed the guards. I promised to meet them later... but Nagi knew... he knows that I'm going to try to kill Ris. He saw my face when the doctor was dying... and,' Schuldig released his legs with a sigh. 'You better know Weiss that Nagi has no intention of letting anyone kill Ris. The stupid boy's fixated on our child.'
Ran frowned at Schuldig's words, bleakly calculating the odds of their ability to take out, not one, but two telekinetics.
'I assume that Este will send the remaining Schwartz after Nagi and Ris,' Ran thought out loud, then looked at the redhead as another thought hit him, 'and you. Not to mention a small army of Este agents as backup, if this Ris is as dangerous as you say he is.' Schuldig nodded wordlessly, confirming Ran's estimate.
'Shit. Is there anyone in the world who isn't going to be out for our blood if we go ahead with this insane plan to assassinate your fucking brat?' Yohji hissed angrily at the German, cursing Ken and his soft heart for allowing the devious telepath to drive them into a no win situation. 'And what if this is all just a plan… your idea of some kind of a sick perverted joke, to get us to trust you so that you could lead us into an ambush. You aren't seriously going to accept this just on his say-so, are you Abyssinian?'
Ran hesitated, staring hard at Ken who had walked over to stand next to Schuldig, offering the telepath his silent support and thought through Yohji's words, wishing that he didn't believe the German, but something told him that this time, Schuldig was telling them the truth. He nodded decisively.
'It's a mission Weiss.'
* * * * *
tbc...
By Katana Rey
AU, OOC, , Yaoi, SF
Pairings: hmmm... ^_^;; as soon as I figure them out, I'll let you know...
Prologue
Shinjuku
The young boy in the dark blue school uniform, with a smaller boy in tow, pushed their way through the thick crowd. An observant watcher of the ill suited pair might have noticed the identical sets of striking purple blue eyes shared by the delicate looking teenager and the little boy with the bright orange-red hair and guessed that the pair were brothers. A heavy rucksack was slung over the older boy's left shoulder, darting nervous glances behind him at frequent intervals, the strained look of tense expectancy on the boy's too pretty face would have led the same observer to conclude that the two were runaways. However, most people out walking around the Shinjuku shopping district on a Saturday morning were too busy with their own concerns to pay any attention to two more children amongst the many who roamed the streets, playing hooky from their morning classes.
Nagi hurried down the street, his hand tightly clasping the tiny hand of the small boy trotting after him, his shoulders aching from the unaccustomed weight of the heavy bag, all the whilst feeling a prickly sensation between his shoulder blades, as a tiny corner of his mind dwelt obsessively on the image of Farfello and his sharp shiny blades. He was too tired to use his talent to reduce the weight of the bag, especially after the stunt he had pulled at the railway station four hours ago, to shake the Este agents who had dogged their steps since Thursday night. He had no idea where he was heading, only that he had to try to get out of Tokyo, before Este, or Shuldig, Nagi grimaced at thought of his volatile team-mate, managed to catch up to them.
To hades with Shuldig, the arrogant, self-righteous bastard, how dare he presume to dictate what was right or best for them? Nagi swore silently to himself, his hand clammy with sweat, trying to match his long strides to the uncomplaining child who followed him in a clumsy trot. He had been so certain that he could count on the redhead, just this once... how could he have misread the telepath so badly? Nagi sneaked a glance at the innocent child, who gave him a tired smile, and felt a pang in his chest at the sight of the trusting blue eyes lifting to face him, so like his own, his heart constricting as he looked at the sweet face under thick thatch of bright hair, the same flaming red gold that framed Shuldig's face. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt this child, not Este, and definitely not a selfish, ruthless, heartless asshole like Shuldig, Nagi vowed grimly, tightening his hold on the slippery hand.
A hurrying pedestrian, a muscular heavy set man in his late forties, twice his height and thick bodied, accidentally jarred the heavy rucksack from Nagi's shoulder sending the smaller bodied teenager sprawling to the ground with a muffled gasp, as the man hastily brushed past and strode off, not even bothering to spare a glance to the boy behind him. The rucksack fell to the ground, scattering small coloured bottles containing capsules and pills, and other personal items on the busy street. Losing Nagi's supporting hand, the little boy stumbled and fell to his knees, scraping his skin of his hands as he reached out automatically to save himself from the fall. The walkers-by cursed briefly as they were forced to detour around the boys and their mess, not deeming the minor incident worthy of their further attention.
'No..' Nagi gasped out faintly in protest, his eyes widening with alarm as the little boy looked up from his crouching position and narrowed his eyes, a shimmering green light engulfing the dark blue irises.
Nagi watched helplessly, a hand reaching out futilely even as the glowing green eyes bored into the back of the thick-set man who had caused their fall. The man froze in his steps and turned towards the rushing traffic, his body jerking stiffly as he moved, the thick muscles on his neck standing out starkly. The man broke into a sudden run and deliberately threw himself in front of a large truck, causing it to veer wildly out of its lane as its driver braked desperately. The street was plunged into pandemonium, the air filling with the sounds of the screaming passers-by who stared at the unfolding scene in horror, the loud squeal of the brakes of the truck screeching hideously, the driver trying desperately to turn the metal behemoth. Nagi closed his eyes in despair, unable to suppress the shudder that ran through his body at the sound of the wet thud, made by the man's body slamming against the side of the truck, the limp body disappearing under the truck, the heavy wheel of the truck grinding his body to a grisly pulp.
The other cars in the street beeped in terror and shock, frantic to avoid the truck which continued to skid, and the driver of the blue sedan who had tried to speed past the enfolding disaster, was unable to react fast enough to adjust for the chaotic events and slammed in to the back of the red Ford, crunching the back in half, its passengers screaming for help even as the air bags in the front seat began to unfold, crushing them against their seats. A grey Pajero which had been parked on the side street illegally, was thrust into the nearby hairdresser, as the trailer of the truck became dislodged and slid across the street, sending silver sparks flying into the air, the metal scraping deep gashes in the ashfelt.
Nagi gathered his scattered belongings which had burst out of the rucksack when he fell and pulled the small boy to his feet, numbly dusting off the dirt on the blue overalls with a picture of Pooh smiling on the front panel. He hugged the little boy with a distracted air when the child thrust his scratched palms in his face, the soft pink lips pouty and trembling as he showed Nagi the black crusted torn skin, beaded with droplets of red blood.
'Ris-kun. Please don't use your powers. Remember? The bad people might find us if you do. And I told you before, its wrong to use our powers to hurt people. Look at this mess.' Nagi stopped, sighing heavily in dismay when the little boy scrunched up his face and tears laced the dark blue eyes framed with dark lashes. 'No, wait, Ris-kun. Gomen. I'm not trying to scold you. Don't cry please. Okay? Come on. I just... I want you to promise not to use powers. Okay? What do you say? Neh Ris-kun?'
The little boy stuck out his lower lip, thinking through what Nagi had said, his eyes remained a bit teary and he fidgeted uncomfortably as Nagi once again repeated his request.
'Don't want to.' He said at last, with a sulky air. 'Why should I Nagi? He was being mean to you. And my hands still hurt...' Ris let out a tremulous sob and hid his face in his stinging hands.
Nagi suppressed the urge to shake the obstinate child, thinking sourly of his missing team-mate, who had landed him in this mess, and had left him to deal with it alone, that bastard. Nagi couldn't resist the thought that Ris would have been easier to handle without the dubious benefits of genetic inheritance from the temperamental redhead. Then Ris peeked up at him through splayed fingers, the dark blue eyes glimmering with a hint of mischievous laughter, obviously wondering whether he was still in trouble, and Nagi choked back an answering laugh. He reached out a caressing hand and ruffled the pretty red gold hair affectionately, admitting privately with rueful admiration that the chibi also inherited a considerable amount of the redhead's charms as well.
He leaned down and pulled down the small hands from the dirtied face gently and spoke firmly, trying to impress the seriousness of his request on the wide eyed child.
'Ris-kun. Onegai. You know that I love you, don't you?' Nagi waited patiently until Ris nodded, pulling the thumb from Ris' mouth when the child automatically started to suck on it, an old habit of Ris that he resorted to when faced with a question that he didn't want to answer. 'You have to promise me that you won't use your powers anymore. Okay? Do you want to stay with me?' Nagi asked, a grave expression on his face as he stared at the boy, trying to will him to understand.
'I want to stay with you Nagi.' Ris said at once, and Nagi relaxed, a grin lifting the corner of his lips and patted the untidy thick hair, smoothing down the disarrayed locks. 'And with Schuldig.' Nagi froze, the colour draining from his lips when Ris leaned his head against his shoulder, the dirty thumb straying again into the soft mouth as the child leaned trustingly against the one of two people he loved in the world. Ris smiled blissfully, his eyes closing sleepily as he thought of the tall man with fiery hair, and purred in contentment. 'I want to stay with you. And I want Schu. When is he coming back? He said he'd be back for us soon. Can't we go and see him Nagi? Can we? Please?'
Nagi looked down at the large appealing eyes with a frozen expression and tried to remember everything that Schuldig had ever taught him about mental shields as he moistened his dry mouth and prepared to lie to a child who was capable of ripping his mind to shreds.
'Maybe...' Nagi said shakily and slowly got back on his feet, lifting the rucksack on to the right shoulder with a faint grunt, gingerly taking hold of the Ris' wrist. Nagi was worried about the scratches but for now, the first priority was to get to a safe place, somewhere where they could rest and eat, promising himself to take care of Ris' injuries as soon as possible. Nagi went down on his knees and folded back the long yellow sleeve to allow him a better grip and tried to smile reassuringly, embracing the boy tightly. He whispered softly into the trusting child's ears, wishing that he could believe in the false words.
'I'm sure if you are good and keep your promise, we'll see Schuldig... soon.'
Looking down at the smiling child's face, Nagi swore silently to himself that if he did see the faithless redhead, this time it'd be him and not Ris, who was going to be throwing around a truck, and to hell with providing a good example to the child.
Part 1.
Ueno Park
A jogger, thirty-three, single and eminently aware of his eligibility as one of the city's hottest investment broker, dressed in the latest adidas sports gear, slowed his steps. His brown eyes shone with eager anticipation at the sight of the slender figure in front of him, openly appraising the long red gold hair falling down in a ponytail, the smooth creamy skin rising out of the slightly loose creamy white jumper, his eyes devouring the way tight dark blue jeans clung to the firm curves of the long legs and slim hips. He smiled hopefully at the lovely creature as he panted past, his blood pressure rising slightly with excitement, turning around to face the beautiful object of his admiration, he raised his hand in greeting... only to stumble over his own feet and land ungracefully on his butt. The redheaded beauty laughed merrily at his stunned expression and winked at him as he passed. What the... the jogger lay in the dirt track trying to recover his composure, his cheeks aflame with embarrassment as he realised that he had just tried to pick up a guy... 'What kind of guy looks like that!' The man muttered under his breath, picking himself up and breaking in to a run, trying not to think of the way the slim hips had swayed...
The tall, slender redhead laughed again, genuinely amused by the small encounter with his would be suitor, and walked over to the wooden seat offering a view of the wide open grass field where a group of small boys were playing soccer. The boys were running and shouting with enthusiasm, a dark haired teenager wearing a light blue shirt running in their midst, occasionally calling out encouragement and directions to the bevy of children surrounding him. He leaned back casually on the empty seat, his arm resting on the top of the wooden bar, and grinned with amusement, noticing that the dark haired youth had stopped to stare at him, enjoying the look of stunned surprise on the handsome face. Schuldig grinned broadly, waving happily to the young boys pointing excitedly in his direction, with wide eyed interest. He waited calmly, basking happily in the warmth of afternoon sun and lifted his arm lazily in casual greeting as Ken walked over to his chair and sat down next to him.
'What the hell are you doing here?' Ken asked in a low voice, lifting a hand to achknowledge the young boys who giggled and waved back happily, before returning to their game. The phony smile slipping off his face when he turned back to face the amused man next to him.
Schuldig pulled off his sunnies, feigning a hurt look in the wide open green eyes as he got up and dusted off his jeans.
'Is that all you have to say when I came all this way, just to see you Ken-doll?'
Ken's dark chocolate brown eyes narrowed coldly and his hands flexed involuntarily, checking his urge to slice into the smirking Este agent. He followed after Schuldig wordlessly as the redhead began to move away, stifling a muttered curse under his breath when the telepath stopped at an ice cream vendor and picked up two cones. Ken forced a polite smile, reaching out to accept the strawberry cone when Schuldig held it out to him with a challenging smirk, warily watching the telepath licking at his chocolate chip mint cone with relish. The two continued to walk down the pathway of the park, keeping silent company while Ken debated with himself on the merits of eliminating the irritating psi agent now, versus waiting till he heard what Schuldig had to say first. From the mocking smile flickering on Shuldig's face whenever Ken snuck a peek at him, the irritated Weiss agent was damned sure that the telepath knew exactly how annoying he was being and loving it. At last the two men reached a relatively isolated area of the park and Ken joined Schuldig on the ground with a scowl as the redhead dropped to the ground, stretching out his arms and long legs with a happy sigh.
'It's a nice day isn't it Weiss?' Schuldig was almost purring, leaning back on his elbows, staring up at the perfect blue sky, squinting slightly against the bright sunlight, deciding not to bother with the sunglasses sitting on top of his head. He found the poorly concealed restless impatience of the Weiss agent highly amusing and thought that he had been right to select Ken as his primary contact.
'I don't suppose you want to get point any time soon Schwartz?' Ken muttered in resignation, slumping back against the ground, his head propped on folded arms and closing his eyes lazily. He still had another two hours before his shift started at Koneko and he decided that he didn't want to spoil his rare day of rest by getting into unnecessary confrontations. Given the conspicuous lack of support or armament by the usually cautious German, who rarely took any risks that might damage his pretty hide, Ken doubted that Schuldig had come to see him just to pick a fight.
Schuldig stared at the empty sky in fascination, admiring the purity of the deep blue colour above and felt the tension of the past forty eight hours drain out of him, leaving him feeling relaxed and just a bit sleepy. Turning to his side, Schuldig leaned lazily on one elbow, resting his head on a raised hand and stared at the half asleep man next to him, absently nibbling at a strand of red gold hair that had dropped into his mouth when he moved.
'You shouldn't do that. Split ends.' Ken murmured sleepily, without opening his eyes.
Schuldig laughed lightly, reminded once again that he wasn't the only one hiding behind a false face, and raised himself to a sitting position, brushing the bits of grass off his jumper.
'Not bad Weiss. I suppose if I was to try to kill you...'
Ken moved from his prone position up in to a crouch in one smooth motion, his hand darting inside his jacket and back, a glint of metal half hidden in his hand as he faced the smiling telepath, who held up empty hands and laughed. Ken glared at Schuldig, trying to figure out what kind of twisted game the German was playing... this time.
'You know, I swear, Kritiker agents have no sense of humour.' Schuldig grinned insouciantly, but kept his hands up, respecting the cold glint in the large dark eyes facing him.
'Not to mention no patience and a hair trigger temper, Schuldig.' Ken said at last, as he lowered his hand to the ground, the small dagger still in his hand. 'What do you want... and why are you here? Are you on an assignment?'
'I'm here... to ask for your help.' Schuldig said simply, dropping his hands and plucking at the helpless grass. 'And did I mention?' Schuldig asked with a wicked laugh as he pulled the sunnies back over his eyes, tossing the long ponytail off his shoulder as he held out a hand to Ken. 'I'm defecting.'
* * * * *
Koneko
Schuldig swung his legs under the table restively as he listened to the continuing bickering, stifling a bored yawn as the recriminations and accusations raged on around him, while Ken tried to explain to his understandably furious team-mates, just why he decided to bring the Schwartz telepath into their hideout and headquarters. He was starting to feel bored and began to question the wisdom of his decision in turning to Weiss for assistance.
'I don't believe him.'
Ken sighed in exasperation as Yohji repeated his statement for the fifth time since he had brought the redhead to the flower shop. He was beginning to regret asking Schuldig to accompany him to Koneko, so that they could enlist the rest of Weiss in the German's crazy scheme. Maybe he should have just listened to Schuldig and... Ken snuck a glance at the bored looking redhead, who was examining the ends of his nails intently and felt his irritation rise... maybe, Ken amended as he looked back at his belligerent team-mate, he should have just told Omi first instead...
'Yohji, please, you aren't helping.' Omi frowned anxiously as he looked at his team mates, noticing the tension between the pair rising as Yohji continued in his stubborn refusal to listen to Ken and Schuldig. 'Why don't we just hear them out first?' Omi mouthed a silent apology to Ken, both the dark haired Weiss and the redhead wincing in unison at being referred as 'them'.
'I'm not asking you to believe him.' Ken said heatedly, then looked slightly confused as he thought his words over. 'Well, okay,' he admitted grudgingly shooting a glare at the redhead who sniggered, 'I guess I kind of am, at that. But, I thought that you'd at least have more faith in my judgement,' Ken shot a cold glare at his leader, who had been mute with silent condemnation ever since he had brought the telepath down to the mission room. 'I think we should at least listen to what he has to say. After that, if you still don't want to have anything to do with this...' Ken heaved a heavy sigh. 'I guess we'll be on our own.'
'What?' Yohji exploded, his eyes sparking with fury, grabbing his team mate's collar roughly, 'are you out of your mind? What do you mean, on 'our own'? Are you seriously considering teaming up with this... this mind fucker?'
At Yohji's words, Schuldig stiffened but before he could move, Ken slammed a hard fist into the taller man's jaw, sending him sprawling on the ground.
'You are such a son of a bitch, Kudo.' Ken hissed coldly. 'And do give me a little credit, please. Or have you forgotten again, just why we four were chosen to be Weiss? Schuldig can't read or influence me.'
Ran unfolded his arm and moved over to the fallen man, leaning down and offering his hand to Yohji, who glared up at him with furious eyes and pushed himself off the ground, his mouth bleeding slightly from the corner, where his underlip had torn. Ran put up his hand and slammed it against Yohji's chest, when the taller man moved forward again with clenched fists, warning him against any further movement, keeping his body between his enraged team-mate and Ken.
'Yohji, calm down and listen. That's an order.' Ran said icily, 'and as for you two...' He turned and glared at Ken, who scowled at him but kept silent, and at Schuldig, his eyes narrowing to splinters of violet ice as the redhead smiled arrogantly back. 'You better start talking. And you better hope,' Ran spoke to Schuldig, facing the redhead directly for the first time since the German's controversial admittance into their hideout below the shop. 'That your story is as convincing to us, as it obviously was,' Ran indicated Ken with a sharp jerk of his head, still furious that he had chosen to act so unilaterally, 'to him.'
'I want you to kill a five year old boy.' Schuldig said bluntly, his green eyes glittering ominously as he took in the stunned reaction of the other three Weiss, his mouth curving slightly as he saw Ken's disgusted look. 'My son to be exact. Mine and Nagi's. Do I have your attention now?' Schuldig asked with a wicked smile.
Yohji pulled the wire from his wrist impatiently and twisted the cord with his fingers, testing its flexibility and strength and looked at Ran with a wry grin, murmuring in a silken sweet voice, 'are you sure you don't want me to kill him now?'
Ran tightened his mouth harshly and ignored Yohji's whisper, he glared at Ken who simply sat tensely with hard eyes, refusing to meet his eyes and then turned his attention back to Schuldig who was grinning at him, waiting for his response.
'Where is the boy now?' Ran barked harshly, 'and why do you want him dead? And what kind of security are we going to be dealing with? And if he's your son and.. Nagi's,' Ran's eyes narrowed as he began to think through the possibilities inherent in that particular combination, 'what kind of psi is he? And one more thing.' Ran added, his expression darkening even further as he began to suspect just why Schuldig had come to him. 'What about Schwartz? Why aren't they helping you?'
Schuldig lifted his hands and started to clap slowly, his smile widening as he spoke. 'Not bad, Abyssinian. There was one other minor factor to take into consideration but... not bad at all.'
Ran looked at the cold, condescending grin on Schuldig's pretty face and at the glimmer of fear lurking in the emerald eyes and closed his mouth into a tight line, refusing to play along with the German any further.
Schuldig dropped his smile as he realised that Ran was still waiting for him to respond to his questions, he looked at Ken, noting the faint quiver of muscle in Ken's jaw and knew that the brunette had no intention of answering for him. Schuldig hesitated a moment longer, trying to compose himself, he'd be damned before he let the sanctimonious smug leader see just how badly he was effected by what he had to say.
'Codename Fenris. The boy was born five years ago, without my, or for that matter Nagi's,' Schuldig's mouth twisted bitterly as he said his teammate's name, 'knowledge or consent. Este has been playing god for the last three decades, trying to create the superhuman, to accelerate the development of genetic evolution through science.' Schuldig bared his teeth in a humourless smile, staring at the blank faced Weiss with hard green eyes, 'and thanks to their efforts, that's how wonderful me came into this depraved, soulless world. And Nagi... and Farfello of course.'
Ran shrugged carelessly, unmoved by the disturbing glimpse of turbulent emotions in the manipulative telepath. 'Spare us the melodrama Schuldig,' he said in an icy voice, 'we know of Este's interest in genetic engineering and it's not surprising that they would have been tempted to combine your genes with Nagi's, especially if they thought that they could harvest a viable psi who could harness both your powers. You still haven't explained why you want us to kill Fenris. I assume that your son has already manifested his psi ability, this five year old that you want killed?'
Schuldig felt a sudden surge of hatred toward the cold heartless bastard, and forced himself to smile again, taking refuge behind the familiar mask of mocking superiority. He flirted briefly with the idea of teasing the stiff leader further, then the image of cherubic innocence with large dark blue eyes and orange red hair rose in his mind and his carefully manufactured poise shattered.
'He...' Schuldig swallowed the hard lump in his throat, shocked by the way his voice had wavered and tried again. 'Ris... that's what we call him, Nagi and me. He became an active telepath when he was three years old...' Schuldig stopped again to take a breath, shocked by his own failure to maintain the familiar facade of heartless arrogance, his voice starting to shake from the powerful emotions surging through him. 'I met him when he was three... Este called me in to help them manage,' Schuldig couldn't hide the depth of bitterness and rage that overcame him as he spat out the word, '... ostensibly to help Ris learn to deal with his telepathy. He...' Schuldig laughed hollowly, closing his eyes in pain and resignation as he felt the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and realised that he wasn't going to be able to say this without losing control again. 'Damn...' Schuldig stopped and held his shaking hands over his mouth.
Ken got up and grabbed a glass of cold water, wordlessly passing to Schuldig, who took it without lifting his head, his face hidden behind the long draping ponytail.
'Nagi met Ris last year when the child became an active telekinetic. Este almost lost an entire wing of the Institute finding out that they might have gotten exactly what they were looking for in Ris, and also that they weren't equipped to deal with the tantrums of a lonely child who has unimaginable powers at his disposal. The head of Fenris project agreed to let Nagi and Schuldig meet with Ris on regular basis, to assist the child in developing and controlling his psi, and also to provide him with greater emotional stability, since it seems Ris immediately established strong emotional bonds with both his genetic parents. Unfortunately,' Ken sighed heavily as he looked at Schuldig who was sipping the cold water slowly, his hands still shaking slightly from the weight of his emotions. 'That's the problem. Ris is a child and as a five year old, he's thinking only in terms of what he wants and what he thinks his parents want.'
At Ken's words, Schuldig flinched and ducked his head down further.
'Simply put, he's too powerful and sooner or later, his powers are going to go out of control, just like his name sake in the myth. Schuldig wants us to kill Ris because he believes that the boy's powers are too powerful for his mind and,' Ken added reluctantly, wondering if he was right in sharing this last information with his suspicious team-mates. '... he thinks that Fenris is going insane from the power overload... heaven help us all when he does.'
Omi stared at his team-mate with a disapproving glare, trying to understand all that Ken was telling him. 'Wait Ken. Are you telling me that you agreed to kill a five year old child on the basis of what Schuldig might think he may become?' His voice sharpened with rage as he spoke, 'are you out of your mind? And you think that Este is playing at god!' Omi screamed at Schuldig, who merely stared back at him with dulled eyes, the proud telepath's shoulders sagging with uncustomed defeat and despair.
'Omi listen.' Ken grabbed his younger teammate and forced him to face him. 'You don't understand. Schuldig... he...' Ken flushed suddenly, remembering the way he had held the shuddering telepath in the park, the delicate scent of the thick hair tickling his nose, the warmth of the body in his arms as the redhead wept into his shoulder. 'He loves him, Omi.' Ken spoke gently and released Omi, standing protectively in front of the redhead, staring at his team-mates with a silent plea in the dark brown eyes. 'I... I believe him. Schuldig genuinely cares for Ris, otherwise he would never have risked helping Nagi in breaking Ris out of the Este Institute. Ris is only five years old, Omi and that's just too young for anyone to be able to control the kind of powers at his disposal. Schuldig came to us... he came to me for help because...' Ken smiled wryly, suddenly understanding why the German had approached him, of all people. 'That's why Weiss exists. To save the world from monsters, even when they are only an innocent victim, like Ris. Because no one else can.'
Ken looked at Ran, holding his leader in his steady gaze as he added softly. 'And I agreed to help him. I agreed because Schuldig told me what he saw in Ris' mind when he killed the doctor during their escape. That wasn't the first time he killed. But that was the first time Ris enjoyed killing. To someone like Fenris, people without any powers aren't even people. They are nothing. And so he kills without any remorse or hesitation. If we don't take him out now, while his powers are still at a developing stage...' Ken sighed and ran his hands through his hair in distraction. 'I don't even know if we can do it now. If Schuldig is right about what Ris may become eventually... we won't get another chance.'
'It's... it's still wrong...' Omi spoke quietly, his eyes burning with angry tears, resenting the grim faced youth in front of him. 'There has to be another way... why don't you try helping him?' Omi pushed past Ken and gripped the front of Schuldig's jumper, tugging at the unresisting man, trying the damning truth of Ken's words. 'He's your child, isn't he? Doesn't that make him your responsibility? Why don't you teach him to control his powers, instead of coming here and making us decide whether or not to kill him for you? Answer me, damn you. Ken said that you love him. That you helped Nagi to take Ris out of the institute. Why didn't you stay with them and take care of them? Why...' Omi bit back an angry sob as Schuldig refused to answer him, jade-green eyes looking away from his eyes. He reached back and slapped the pale cheek with all his strength, feeling no satisfaction as the German's head rocked back from the blow, stepping back awkwardly with guilt on seeing the reddening mark on the white skin.
'I.. I'm sorry...' Omi whispered with a pale face, tears rolling down his cheeks, feeling Ken's hand dropping on to his right shoulder and gently squeeze, reassuring him that he wasn't alone.
Schuldig rubbed his stinging cheek with a grimace and shook his head with rueful dismay.
'Figures you'd think exactly like Nagi... must be the innocence of youth and all that... me, I stopped believing in fairytale endings long ago...' Schuldig trailed off, swallowing his bitter ire as he met Ken's glance over Omi's shoulder, feeling disoriented by the sincere sympathy in the dark brown eyes. 'I wish I could think like that too Omi. But I can't. And you can't afford to hide behind pleasant illusions either, Weiss.' Schuldig spoke grimly, staring challengingly at Ran who had walked over to stand next to his team-mates, ignoring Yohji who remained sitting on his couch, the suspicious green eyes watching him warily over the shades resting half way down his nose.
'When Nagi and I broke into the Institute, Ris was waiting for us. He knew... he knew that we were coming. And when the doctor with him tried to sound the alarm... I could have stopped him, or Nagi. We might even have killed him but...' Schuldig snarled, baring his teeth angrily, 'we wouldn't have enjoyed it. Not the way Ris did. He ripped the doctor's mind inside out... not because he hated him, but because he found it amusing. Do you understand that Weiss? My child... that sweet innocent child that you are so worried about...' Schuldig glared at Omi who shrank back from the angry green eyes, 'that child took a man and shattered his mind, just because he thought it was amusing. I could feel him laughing in my head... it...' Schuldig took a deep breath and lifted his legs to the top of the table, wrapping his arms around the knees for comfort as he finished. 'It took Ris ten minutes to kill the doctor. He only stopped because Nagi smeared the doctor's brain across the wall. I told Nagi to take Ris and get out while I delayed the guards. I promised to meet them later... but Nagi knew... he knows that I'm going to try to kill Ris. He saw my face when the doctor was dying... and,' Schuldig released his legs with a sigh. 'You better know Weiss that Nagi has no intention of letting anyone kill Ris. The stupid boy's fixated on our child.'
Ran frowned at Schuldig's words, bleakly calculating the odds of their ability to take out, not one, but two telekinetics.
'I assume that Este will send the remaining Schwartz after Nagi and Ris,' Ran thought out loud, then looked at the redhead as another thought hit him, 'and you. Not to mention a small army of Este agents as backup, if this Ris is as dangerous as you say he is.' Schuldig nodded wordlessly, confirming Ran's estimate.
'Shit. Is there anyone in the world who isn't going to be out for our blood if we go ahead with this insane plan to assassinate your fucking brat?' Yohji hissed angrily at the German, cursing Ken and his soft heart for allowing the devious telepath to drive them into a no win situation. 'And what if this is all just a plan… your idea of some kind of a sick perverted joke, to get us to trust you so that you could lead us into an ambush. You aren't seriously going to accept this just on his say-so, are you Abyssinian?'
Ran hesitated, staring hard at Ken who had walked over to stand next to Schuldig, offering the telepath his silent support and thought through Yohji's words, wishing that he didn't believe the German, but something told him that this time, Schuldig was telling them the truth. He nodded decisively.
'It's a mission Weiss.'
* * * * *
tbc...