Investigation
~Jess notices how sleepy Vayne has become, and decides its time to enlist the Investigation Squad.
Author's Note: Another lengthy drabble I wrote because I feel like writing. Probably spotted with errors, but it's late and I don't care. ^^

Jess shot a look to Vayne as he began snoring. Following this, she glanced up to Zeppel at the front of the class to see if the other had noticed-- and indeed he had. Instantly, her mind ran through numbers of excuses for Vayne, in case Zeppel called Vayne out on it, but while he continued to watch Vayne from the corner of his eye, he said nothing. Jess spent the rest of the class fretting over if she should wake Vayne or talk to Zeppel and almost missed out on the assignment they'd been given because of it.

The bell dismissing the class woke the boy up, who looked around feverishly for a moment, then drowsily gathered his things. Jess touched his shoulder, worried. "Vayne," she said carefully. The silver-haired boy flinched, looked to her, then calmed back down.

"Oh, Jess," he breathed in relief. "Sorry. I've…been a bit edgy…"

"And sleepy," Jess added, smiling innocently. "This is the fifth time I've caught you dosing off in the last few days. What's up?"

Vayne was about to reply when Zeppel called out his name. He glanced up to the front of the room, then looked back to Jess. "Um…Go ahead without me. I'll meet you at the Workshop. Start on the homework without me." Then he was gone, Sulpher trailing after him with bouncing steps. Jess watched him go, then she sighed. If it was something that he wanted to share, he would've by now. She'd given him a few days to admit to it honestly. Now, it was time for the investigation squad's intervention.

Jess hurried back to the Workshop, burst in, and put her hands on her hips. "Vayne is hiding something," she stated, and the members of the Workshop looked to her instantly. Roxis quickly looked back to the cauldron, pretending he wasn't interested. Nikki, Pamela, and Anna, however, perked and instantly crowded around Jess.

"What? What? What's he hiding!?" Nikki demanded.

"Is it a secret~?" Pamela said, smiling evilly. "Do we get to spread it all over the school?"

"That wouldn't be very nice," Anna reprimanded. "You don't want to be like Flay, do you?"

Jess shook her head. "No, no. I have no idea. All I know he's been sleepy and tense. Do you think bad dreams?"

Roxis shook his head, joining in on the conversation without turning around. "He could be having nightmares. As we know, he has little memory of when he was younger. He may have witnessed something and now it has come back to haunt him."

"I love that word," Pamela giggled, off track. "Haunt. And I get to do it sooooo often~!"

Nikki played with her tail thoughtfully, ears perking as she thought. "Hmm…Oh--oh! Pick me!" She raised her hand enthusiastically. Jess pointed to her. "Well, um, maybe somebody is haunting him? Like…" She glanced around nervously, and the rest of them got the idea. Well most of the rest of them.

Roxis seemed to miss out."Somebody? Who? Is there another ghost in this school?"

"No, I think Nikki meant Flay," Anna stated, despite Jess and Nikki's wild protests against using the name. As though speaking his name in any form of guilty manner was a summons that reached him psychically, the loud mocking laugh that belonged to Flay filled the room as he dropped from the crew gasped and jumped, spinning toward him in sheer surprise. Roxis grasped at his chest and panted weakly--Jess had naturally pegged his nerves to be a bit touchier than the rest's after he'd been scared so badly by Pamela. Nikki stiffened with anger.

"FLAYA! Would it kill you to use a door and at least give us some WARNING before you do that!?"

"Oh ho! But then the element of surprise would be lost!" Flay laughed nobly, arms crossing over his chest. "Now, I'd like to make it clear that spying on someone while they sleep is never something a do-gooder of justice would do! How dare you all assume that it was me!"

"So you're saying it was someone?" Anna pointed out. Flay blinked, then grinned.

"Well, of course it's someone!"

"Excuse me," Jess interrupted. "Have we even decided that it's a someone bothering Vayne, not a something?" She wasn't entirely convinced. In fact, she was pretty strongly sure it was a thing, not a person that was bothering him.

"It's settled," Flay continued, ignoring Jess out right. "We must all research who it may be that is disturbing Vayne's sleep. That is our mission, and we need to find out by tomorrow morning! Pamela, I hold it to you to watch him while he sleeps!"

"Roger!" Pamela giggled.

Anna's eyes narrowed. "That's completely defeating our purpose, Flay! We're trying to find out what's bothering him, not upsetting his sleep worse!"

Roxis stepped into their ring then, adding in his quip. "Ah, er…Can we consider that maybe Vayne's not even sleeping at night? Perhaps there is nothing bothering him; he's doing other things at night?"

They all paused to consider this, and Jess instantly accepted this as being much more likely than any other theories so far posed. The conversation was bound to continue, when the doors opened and Vayne staggered in with Sulpher, pawing at his eyes sleepily and yawning.

"G'afternoon," he greeted drowsily. Everyone quickly made it look as though they were doing something else, and Vayne moved over by Roxis to receive his hand in making some potions for moved over with the girls to the loft and they continued their discussion there in private voices. They all agreed that Pamela would stalk Vayne for the night, no matter how wrong it was, and that the others would be ready to act should she come to wake them with news of the worst kind. Jess hoped that they weren't blowing up this situation larger than it had to be, and that invading Vayne's privacy wasn't completely unnecessary. On the other hand, she also hoped it was, because if there was something causing Vayne problems…That'd be awful, and she knew the entire Workshop would go out of their way to correct anything that had gone wrong.

Though they were all very different, they were all very important to each other. Jess knew that she would fight to the death to protect everyone in their group, and she knew that their group would--hell, they already had--do everything possible to keep her safe too. Jess believed that the person that tied them all together so loyally was Vayne. Flay may have been responsible for bringing them all into contact, but Vayne was the person who went out of his way to spend time with everyone. If Vayne was in trouble, they would drop what they were doing without thinking to help him.

For the next few hours, they lounged about the Workshop, studying, synthesizing, or just talking. Roxis and Vayne finished working at the cauldron and went up to the loft, and Jess curiously tagged along as well. Vayne and Roxis may have been rivals, but for rivals, they got along awfully well. Vayne was more like a puppy who followed Roxis more than anything else. Jess assumed he just really didn't like feeling hated. Since Roxis had gotten his Mana, though, their interactions together had become much less awkward.

"You seem simply exhausted," Roxis said nonchalantly, sitting on the couch and pulling out a book. Vayne sat on the floor with his back resting against the ledge of the couch, head leaning back so it was resting on the cushions and he was staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah…Just a bit," he replied quietly. "I've been sleeping in class, though."

Jess chose to sit on the floor across from them, wondering if she was quiet, Vayne wouldn't notice. He seemed to be confident that only Roxis was up in the loft with him. Roxis knew differently, Jess noted from how he glanced to her over his glasses, but chose not to point her out.

"If you slack in your studies, I will take advantage of that weakness, Vayne," Roxis said dully. "You may wish to sleep when you are supposed to. At night."

Vayne said nothing, fussing with his hair. Jess creeped a bit closer, distractedly wondering how badly he could spook the silver-haired boy. He seemed completely unaware of her presence…How much fun would it be to make him scream like a girl? She grinned, getting giddy from the idea. It'd be so funny, and Nikki would never let him live it down…

"I think I'm getting sick," Vayne said randomly, continuing to stare up. Jess paused and shifted back a bit. Roxis didn't respond, but Vayne continued. "Sulpher says it's because I'm working too hard, but I didn't think anyone could overwork…"

"Of course you can overwork, fool," Roxis stated flatly, giving him a look. "How could you not know that?"Vayne blushed a bit.

"Ah, well…I used to do a lot work to keep Sulpher and me alive. And…I never felt 'overworked'…"

"That's right; you two were by yourselves…" Jess said, and Vayne started, snapping his head down and scrambling back and up onto the couch, jarring Roxis. Vayne stared at Jess wildly for a minute, then laughed weakly and rubbed at his head.

"O-Oh…Jessica, you…You scared me," he said weakly. "How long had you been there?"Jess cocked her head, getting a bright idea. "

You said you were sick, Vayne? I know!" She clapped her hands together happily, standing. "I'll make you some medicine! It'll be the best--my Mana will help!" She began to hum, confident that if she made some really good medicine, Vayne would feel better and sleep more. Maybe it wasn't something bothering him while he slept; it could've just been a precursor to an overworked-related fever! Vayne, however, shook his head and looked away guiltily.

"Ah, Jess…um…I've…got some medicine already, I don't need anymore. Yeah…um…" he lied, looking away guilty. "I…er…I don't need any medicine. From you."

'From you'? What was that supposed to mean? Jess huffed a bit, annoyed by how much everyone hated her concoctions, but decided to let it slide. "Well, if you're sure," Jess sighed. "Get some sleep tonight, okay? I don't want you to get sick." Then she clambered down the ladder, and decided to head back to her Dorm to call it a day.

---------------

It was completely dark out when Jess awakened to a giant, pink teddy bear. "If you don't hurry," she heard. "You won't see what's going on with Vayne."

Jess sat upright, looking to Pamela briefly, and tried to slow her heart rate. "Jeez!" she whispered harshly, looking about her Dorm. "Scare me half to death why don't you?" Pamela didn't seem too amused.

"You've got to hurry. You too, Nikki. I need to go wake up Anna. The boys are already on their way. Go to the Campus Grounds," she ordered, disappearing through the floor. Nikki was clambering about a few beds down, struggling to get properly dressed. Jess checked her clock; it was about midnight. What was going on with Vayne at midnight, at the Campus Grounds? She didn't think too hard for the moment; she focused on dressing and leaving with Nikki. They caught up with Anna and Pamela in the lobby of the Dorms, and they left quickly to the Campus Grounds.

Roxis and Flay were waiting impatiently by where the street vendor usually was, fully dressed and armed. "Pamela," Roxis said as soon as the girls showed up. "What exactly are we--"

"Quiet," Pamela scolded. "Come on, then. Hurry."

They moved as a pack. Jess was nervous, but she was mentally preparing herself for anything. What was going on? She hoped it wasn't anything serious. If Vayne was in genuine trouble, she'd destroy any enemy in the way.

They ran quickly toward where the incinerator was, but they paused halfway on the strip leading back as they heard conversation.

There was a familiar thick-sounding voice, a feminine voice, and a voice that could only belong to Vayne. The group listened quietly for a moment to them.

"If you want it back, you better keep fightin', cuz there's no way we're gonna give you back this collar otherwise," the familiar voice mocked. "Keep 'em comin', you."

"Tch, don't tell me what to do. Oh, hey, sorry, kiddo--it's not like I like doing this. I'd much rather be sleeping," the girl's voice said.

There were a series of grunts, before Vayne panted out. "Give it back! I'm obeying your conditions--give it back!"

"Nuh-uh, not yet. Few more monsters."

Flay clenched his fists and squared himself. "Those dastardly villains! Those vile foes! Such evil can not be allowed to exist any longer! MAY JUSTICE PREVAIL!" The group rushed around the corner, armed and ready. There, before them, were Renee, Tony, and a severely exhausted Vayne. The blood of monsters soaked the grass and items dropped from the destroyed creatures lay here and there. Renee straightened up when they were caught, and examined her nails.

"Uh, oh. Oopsie. Looks like we were caught. Well, this isn't really my doing."

Tony shot her a sharp look, and then held up an old collar. It was the collar Sulpher had worn originally, and Jess instantly recognized why it would be an item worth fighting for. It represented Vayne's time before he came here, when he was alone with Sulpher, acting as a hermit.

"Vayne! What the hell were they making you do!?" Nikki demanded, tail erect and teeth bared. "Oh, I am GOING to KILL them! This is why you've been so freaking sleepy!? Why didn't you say anything!?"

Vayne didn't straighten up, just remained tense and battle-ready. "They were going to burn it if I told anyone," he said tightly. "They said if I passed their test…" He fell on a knee and quickly used his sword to keep himself semi-upright, head bowed. "If…ah, oh…If I passed their test, I'd get it back…"

"You idiot, they were just wearing you down," Anna stated sharply, hand on her katana. "They probably had no intention of ever giving it back to you!"

"You could've made a copy of it," Roxis said struggled back to his feet and ignored Roxis. Jess glanced to the blonde angrily. "That's not the point--the original holds meaning!"

Tony laughed. "Well, the deal's off now anyway. We've been found out--but I guess we got what we wanted. Now, it'll be easy to take you away, Vayne Aurelius!"

Flay lunged forward with his thick blade, laughing harshly. "Justice will not allow you to prevail! Stay away from the boy or the fury of all that is good in the world will destroy your evil existence!" The rest of the group moved forward, and Jess instantly threw a bomb. Renee and Tony drew their weapons, but Renee threw a bomb of her own, which distracted the main fighters. Jess was lost in the fog the ice bomb had created for a moment, but she managed look through the fog just in time to see Tony lunging toward the weakened and tired Vayne.

"Tornado! Get rid of the fog!" Jess called, summoning her Mana and sweeping away the mist. Roxis and Flay quickly moved forward, summoning up their own Mana and sending a strong set of attacks after Tony. Tony yelped and barely managed to avoid Flay's drills, but wasn't so lucky when it came to Roxis' beams of powerful light. Renee took the moment to flee, and Tony cursed loudly when he realized he'd been beat. He scrambled off, and the group focused more on ensuring Vayne was alright.

Jess let Pamela and Anna check him over; she went instead to where the two evil-doers had been and found the old collar. They must have dropped it. She smiled, and brought it to Vayne, who was being supported by Roxis and Nikki.

"Here," she said. "Now…you can sleep again, right?"

Vayne looked at the collar through half-lidded eyes, and smiled. "Yeah." He looked up to his friends, one at a time, and then he looked up to Jess kindly. "You…wouldn't happen to have a medicine that could help me get some sleep, would you? I don't mind sleeping through my free day tomorrow--it'll leave a margin for some error."

"Oh, Vayne," Jess joked, glad he seemed to be alright despite his past few nights of torture. "You know me; I never make any mistakes." They all laughed, and as they started back toward the Dorms, Jess smiled warmly to herself. Vayne did a lot for them. Jessica was glad they could finally do something for him.