So...: I was totally expecting this to come out as one of the kinkiest of this series, and then my Cross!Muse flipped a shit and decided that "Hell no, she was not getting filthy from blood, please to be dieing in a fire." He/She/It is so helpful sometimes, really. They don't even kiss what is this crap?
(So yeah, rated for my potty mouth. :P)
Warning: Spoilers? Kinda? I mean, if you're still way back there, then you just shouldn't even deserve a warning. I have to wonder how you'd even know who Winters is if you were way back there before the Invasion arc...
It was a rare time when there was a situation so bad that Cross and Winters had to fight together. It had only happened a handful of times over the course of their careers as exorcists, Komui generally not being desperate enough to send the two of them, as they caused more collateral damage to their surroundings than to Akuma most of the time. And it was rare for there to ever be an instance where there were enough Level Twos or Threes in an area that a couple normal Exorcists couldn't take them out. But those few times had seen a record-breaking low in the Black Order's bank account, from having to pay for repairs on all the buildings that took damage, and to pay for all food the two of them could eat, on top of the obnoxiously high class hotel room Cross always demanded. And then there was all the fines the two of them could accumulate! Public indecency, being intoxicated in public, disturbing the peace, it just never ended, as if the two of them were attempting to break every conceivable law in whatever country they were visiting!
Of course, Komui really didn't get a say in the matter when Headquarters came under attack, there being nothing for him to do but demand they keep the destruction to just one area please for the love of God. They'd laughed at him, but had done their "best" to keep things from spreading out into the rest of the Order, and from what they'd heard later, they'd apparently succeeded. They'd had their fun massacring mass amounts of Akuma and the occasional Skull in just the one Lab, taking a shot at the Noah when it was convenient to them. Cross hadn't really been trying to hurt the woman, not wanting to get bitched at by both Lust and Adam. The Level Threes really weren't much of a challenge, but with enough of them it served to entertain them for at least a little while. Even Klaud seemed to be enjoying watching Lau Shiman take out the metal constructs, Tiedoll content to shield the injured scientists and let his Innocence have all the fun in attacking the massive Akuma.
It wasn't until it started raining blood that any of them even had a problem, and at that point the only ones caring were Cross and Winters. Cross fleeing to an overhang to escape the downpour of vital fluid and Winters content to bathe in the "rain." It didn't matter how much he tried to coax her out, either, as she was content and determined to stay under the broken ceiling shielding her from the liquid. She could take out Akuma with Judgment from where she was and that was all that mattered in the situation. Especially since they didn't seem to even notice she was there, so she didn't have to dodge.
Of course, that didn't mean both Winters and Lulubell didn't know where she was. The General snarking at her about her OCD and the Noah sidling up behind her to take shelter from the Akuma blood as well. Not that Cross particularly cared about the identity of her unexpected company, just letting Lust take a seat on the ground beside her and attempt to clean herself of the blood before it could stain her clothes and dry in her hair. Winters, of course, couldn't let that go without a loud comment on Cross "cheating on him" with "such a weak little pussy cat." Lulubell was content to glare at him for a moment and make a comment about his questionable parentage before going back to cleaning herself off, but Cross shot at his feet in response, yelling back that at least she had better taste than the blood of half-assed attempts at Necromancy. Lulubell had swatted at her leg for the comment, but it was just the usual banter between the two lovers, Winters just laughing it off as he continued to send Madness out to slaughter Akuma.
As soon as the battle seemed to be over, the Mexican General was chasing Cross around what remained of the lab, jeering at her about sex on the battlefield while she did her best to escape his bloody hands grabbing at her. The fourth time she tripped over debris, she turned around and shot him in the upper thigh, the only part of him that wasn't soaked with poisonous blood. It didn't do much to slow him down, but it gave her a chance to flee to higher ground where there wasn't as much broken concrete on the floor to trip her.
Klaud's comment about their strange way of flirting was cut off by the awakening of the Level Four, and Cross never did get to hear the end of that sentence, having more important things to worry about.