Relentless

//"Where is he?"//

//"Won't stop 'til she notices me"//

//"They will respect me."//

Remorseless

//"You're worthless."//

//"I hate him."//

//"Die, bitch!"//

Senseless

//"Can't find my brush."//

//"Gonna be late again."//

//Gah, K and Hiro would make such a cute pair."//

Madness

Chaos. It felt as if he were drowning, millions of words, crowding thoughts, nearing insanity. They were dragging him under and he couldn't breathe, couldn't find the strength to fight them, to struggle to the surface. Then suddenly he was rising, crushing darkness giving way to lighter colours and bright light, burning spot of white rushing nearer.

"Shu, wake up," a voice in the distance. "Please, Shu, wake up!"

Schuldig awoke with a gasp, quickly cut off by a series of painful hacking coughs. Everything hurt. Breathing hurt and everything was wet. There was something dripping, the drops landing on his face.

Schuldig opened his eyes with difficulty. They burned, even the barely perceptible light of the moon hurt and nothing would come into focus at first, the voice felt disjointed until his eyes locked onto wide, tear-filled blue orbs.

"Nagi," Schuldig rasped, his voice barely a whisper above the crash of nearby waves.

"Schu!" Nagi cried and launched himself at the German, gripping clothes as soaking wet as his own, his tears falling faster.

Schuldig struggled to sit up with the boy clinging to him and it was painful and exhausting, but he managed, taking in his surroundings while his arms wrapped around Nagi's shaking form. They were on a beach and it took Schuldig a moment to remember what had happened, but the memory of the tower beginning to crumble and crash into the ocean soon returned and he followed it until he was met with blank in his mind. That must have been when he was rendered unconscious.

"Where are the others," Schuldig asked, moving slightly so he could tilt Nagi's chin up to look at him. Nagi sniffed, obviously trying hard to keep the tears at bay.

"Don't know," the boy whispered, his lips trembling. "Please, Shu, you have to find them." Nagi's voice was urgent and frightened and he looked every bit as young as he really was. Schuldig nodded, closing his eyes while trying to pick up on any remainder of the telepathic connections he'd had with Brad and Farfarello. Nothing came to him as he tried. The German tried harder, slowly following lines that should lead him to calm logic or raging chaos. They ended in static and Schuldig's head threatened to split with pain as he lingered in this void.

A pained gasp escaped the telepath. Nagi's fearful eyes once again locked with his.

"Can't find them," Schuldig admitted, sounding slightly apologetic and trying his best to suppress any panic that might show through his voice. It was highly worrying that he couldn't pick up on either Crawford's or Farfarello's minds, but Nagi didn't have to know just how worrying it was… yet. But the boy was neither stupid nor naïve.

"What does that mean," Nagi asked, frowning deeply. Schuldig sighed and winced. He was convinced that he had at least a few broken ribs.

"I don't really know," the German replied and he knew it was a lie. He had a pretty damn good idea of what it meant, but he was not prepared to accept the truth. Not yet. Other things had to be thought of first.

Schuldig's gaze swept the surrounding area for a moment. Both to make sure that there really was no one else around and in hopes of maybe seeing the remaining members of Schwarz somewhere. No such luck. He sighed silently. They would have to move, Schuldig knew, reminding himself that they had just betrayed SZ. If any members of the organisation had survived the collapse of the tower they would be out of blood. And neither Nagi nor Schuldig were in any condition to fight them.

"We have to go," Schuldig told Nagi, his voice a lot calmer than he felt.

"But…" Nagi tried to say something, to object, but really, the boy wasn't sure what he wanted to say. He nodded then, standing up and immediately falling to the damp sand again with a small cry of pain. A look of worry immediately crossed Schuldig's face. "What is it," he asked. Nagi rolled up his right trouser leg to reveal a long bleeding gash.

"Verdammt," Schuldig swore. "Can you walk?"

Nagi shook his head, tears once again gathering in his deep blue eyes. Schuldig got up from the ground with difficulty, not sure of his own injuries. Several parts of his body screamed at him not to move, but he ignored the pain. Kneeling down before Nagi, Schuldig motioned for the boy to climb onto his back. Nagi complied, but immediately let go again, staring at his right hand.

"There's blood, Shu," Nagi exclaimed. Schuldig knew. He'd felt the pain the moment Nagi had touched his shoulder.

"I know. Ignore it," Schuldig commanded. Nagi looked unsure, but he had no choice but to climb onto the German's back once again, this time being mindful of the other's injury.

There were very few places the two Schwarz members could go that were not too far away, but Schuldig knew of one that would accommodate them at least for the rest of the night and the next day, maybe eve longer if they were lucky.

There was an old warehouse that was due to be demolished soon and as far as Schuldig knew it had belonged to a factory that produced all kinds of household fabrics. Maybe they had left something behind. Both Schuldig's and Nagi's clothes were dry by the time they arrived at the old run-down building and slipped inside gratefully, but they were both still in danger of catching a cold and at this point it could be fatal to fall ill.

Schuldig collapsed against the wall inside the building as soon as he had let Nagi down from his back. The strain of carrying the teenager in combination with his injuries had left the telepath drained and exhausted. Pain washed over his body and a dull headache had firmly settled behind Schuldig's eyes, making it hard to see.

Nagi slowly crawled towards Schuldig.

"Are you ok, Shu," he asked, his voice hesitant. Schuldig cracked the most cocky grin he could muster given his current condition. "Sure, chibi," he teased Nagi, causing a tiny smile to appear on the young telekinetic's lips. Schuldig was the only person who was allowed to call him chibi.

Schuldig looked around the deserted warehouse. There were a few scraps of fabric left here and there. Schuldig struggled to get up once more which was becoming more difficult with every movement. He went and got two pieces of something that could have made it as a marquee had they been used. One piece of fabric was large, but dirty and the other was the cleanest bit he could find.

The telepath motioned for Nagi to push up his trouser leg and he tore off a strip of the relativel clean red and white striped fabric to use as a makeshift bandage. Nagi flinched slightly, but otherwise remained quiet while Schuldig tended to his injury.

"There, all done," Schuldig announced, once he'd tied a knot to make sure the bandage stayed in place. He grabbed the larger piece of fabric next. "No, how about we get some sleep," he asked, fully ready to collapse 'til the next morning.

"No." Nagi immediately protested. "You're hurt, Shu. Let me see."

Schuldig sighed. He just wanted to sleep, but he knew that Nagi wouldn't let him be until he'd made sure that the telepath wouldn't die on him during the night.

Reluctantly Schuldig removed his coat and his t-shirt, desperately trying to keep all sounds of pain to a minimum, but that was an unnecessary attempt in any case, as his injuries already looked painful enough. Nagi gasped. A deep bleeding gash ran from the telepath's shoulder to his chest and his torso was riddled with bruises. Nagi was sure that several of Schuldig's ribs would be broken. He carefully let his hands trail over the German's chest, sides and back. Schuldig winced at every touch, making it hard for him to breathe. Nagi had been right, many of his friend's ribs felt out of place.

"Oh, Shu," he sighed, pained. "Why did you carry me? It must have hurt so much."

"Because we had to get out of there, chibi," Schuldig explained with a tired smile. His headache was getting worse and they both needed to sleep desperately. Nagi heaved a sigh and began dressing Schuldig's wound as best as he could, hoping that they could stay in the warehouse for some time. Schuldig would need a lot of rest for his ribs to heal.

Once most of the smaller piece of fabric had been used to patch up Schuldig the two were finally ready to sleep. The warehouse was large and draughty so they were glad to have something they could cover themselves with.

Schuldig lay down with an exhausted groan and Nagi curled up close to him, carefully not to disturb any of the other's wounds. The larger piece of marquee was quickly used as a cover. They lay in silence for some time, but both knew that the other was not sleeping yet.

"They're probably dead, aren't they," Nagi spoke, a disembodied voice in the darkness. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. Schuldig stiffened for a moment and then sighed wearily. He would not let the sadness come. Not yet.

"Yes," he replied softly. Nagi shifted and turned to face Schuldig, curling up even closer if possible and burying his face in Schuldig's side, sniffling quietly. And Schuldig wrapped his arms around Nagi's softly shaking form, no matter how much it hurt him to move.

TBC…