Disclaimer: Jayde is mine, Weiss and Schwarz are not. I WANT THEM TO BEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

The Fifth Wheel

A/N: Just a fic that came to mind. It differs from my previous "girl joins Schwarz, girl falls for a certain member" by the fact that she doesn't fall for anyone straight away...... Okay, mindless babble. I can't explain it, so just read.
And the POV switches from Brad to Jayde throughout the story.


Brad's POV

My life is going down the drain at a million miles an hour.

During a meeting with the Elders, I was told that we were getting another member. I didn't even get to make the final decision! She's female, 5 foot 6, with long blue-black hair. She's a telepath and a pyrokinetic, and she's 18 years old. Her name is Jayde. I pity her greatly.

Schuldig insisted on coming with me to pick her up from Headquarters.

So here we are, waiting for the fifth wheel to arrive.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Jayde's POV

"Why do I have to join an all-male assassin group?" I whinged to my grandfather, one of the three Este Elders.
The other two are my grandmother and my great-uncle.

Este is part of Kritiker, an association that employs people to become assassins. But Este handles the psychic contingent, most of who either attempt suicide, or become power-hungry maniacs. Most of them, anyway.

"Are you sure this Bradley Crawford is the sanest assassin you have?"

"Jayde, you will only be with Schwarz for a year. Mr Crawford is not only the sanest assassin we have, but the best."

"But Gramps, I wanted to go solo!"

"No buts, JayJay." My grandmother's tone was firm.

"Fine, I'll go. Where am I meeting them again?"

"Just outside this room."

That conversation took place five minutes ago. I'm now standing at the double doors. I straighten myself up and put my sunglasses on. I'm wearing contacts, but my eyes are bloodshot. I can't let them see me like that. I open the doors and come face to face with a man in a cream-coloured Armani suit. I stare up at him. He's about nine inches taller than me!

"You must be Jayde," he says in a smooth voice, "I am Brad Crawford, leader of Schwarz. This is Schuldig, our telepath."

"Tag," the one named Schuldig says to me.

"Tag," I reply.

I've been studying German since I was seven, so I have a fairly good understanding of the language. Correction: I speak it fluently, but I'm just a bit rusty, that's all.

Schuldig circles me once, and grins at me.

// I don't need your approval, \\ I snap at him telepathically.

// Come now, that's no way to talk, \\ he replies, still grinning.

// Would you rather I use physical force to wipe that silly grin off your face? \\

// You can use physical force on me anytime……… \\

I glare at him and break the connection. I've only been with them for 10 minutes, and I already hate it.

But this isn't the whole team. Grandma told me there were 4 of them.

"Schuldig, take Jayde's bags and carry them to the car." Brad motioned to my bags on the floor.

"I can carry my own bags. I don't need him to do it," I reply, wrestling my bag from my new enemy's grip.

He gave me a look, and shrugged it off, wandering lazily in front of myself and Brad. This was going to be a long year.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

BRAD

The fifth wheel has arrived. And she's already become enemies with Schuldig. I don't know what was said, but knowing Schuldig, he would have made some lewd comment. He would be shot if the Elders found out; Jayde is related to all three, granddaughter of two, great-niece of one. I don't need it on Schwarz's record that Schuldig-

I'm not even going to finish that sentence.

And we haven't even arrived home yet. Jayde still has to meet Nagi and Farfarello.

………Maybe having a fifth member won't be so bad. We have the advantage over Weiss, after all.

I'll have to explain to her about Weiss, too. I really don't want to, but I don't trust Schuldig enough to do it, and Farfarello is in no way sane enough to do it. Nagi may be able to, but since he started schooling by correspondence, he seems to have a ton of work.

I'd better get these two home before they kill each other.

As I pull into the driveway, Schuldig jumps out of the car before it's completely stationary.

"Don't do that, Schuldig!" I scold, but it falls on deaf ears.

Jayde steps out of the car fairly gracefully, and grabbing her bags, she makes her way inside. I follow closely behind. Nagi and Farfarello are sitting on the couch, watching TV.

I switch the TV off, and introduce them to Jayde.

"This is our new member Jayde. She's a pyro and a telepath, and she's only with us for a year. Don't do anything to make her feel unwelcome, or you'll have me to deal with."

I watch them as they give Jayde a once-over, and she waves shyly.

"Brad, can you show me where my room is?" she asks me.

"I will," volunteers Nagi, and Jayde follows him down the hall.

I sigh and collapse into my chair.

"Jayde gettin' to ya, Braddie?"

"No, Schuldig. You are. Whatever you said to Jayde made her hate you. If you don't want to be dismissed, I'd stop treating her the way you do. She's related to the Elders."

Schuldig's jaw drops. "She's what?!"

"She's the granddaughter of two of them and great-niece of one."

"Ach, macht nichts[1]. No doubt she's their little baby, and other crap. I won't touch her."

"Good." Why do I find no comfort in his words?

TBC

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Was it any good? Read and review, onegai?

^______________^

~Blue Silhouette~

PS. Don't get mad at me if I don't update straight away. I have about three already that need to be updated, so be patient.