Ch. 4-
There's a burning heat running down his throat, clawed fingers pawing at the sensation, ripping flesh before he notices it, and then it's a vain attempt to stop the ocean, like a finger in a dam.
"Sa..n..zo..." his mouth's open and he's panting heavily, like it hurts to breathe and then he's glaring up through sweat matted mousy hair with slitted golden cat's eyes and Sanzo's sucking in his breath, steeling himself for the worst, completely knocked off his feet when those eyes only blink at him trying to focus and his name comes out in a raspy whisper, torn from dry lips like a prayer to the gods.
"Seiten Taisei Son Goku."
"San...zo..."
"Why are you awake?"
"The fever. It's the beginning." A ragged breath follows the cryptic remark and he's closing the distance between them, creeping steadily closer until those clawed hands are clasping his and the eyes are burning orbs in the darkness of the night.
"The...Night Goblin...Tengu no Yoru...he's coming, soon, soon we will have to fight him. This body...must grow-up, the diadem...must be taken away, I must be allowed to mix with him, or we will all die. San~zo~, please, you must...trust us...you must...or we will both die...everything...will end in darkness..." Goku's slight body is shaking, hemorrhaging as his eyes slip backwards into his skull and the limp body rolls his head, unable to support its own weight.
Sanzo reached out and grasped the young man to his chest, calling out Goku's name, rocking him back and forth as the darkness descended on them both. Anger and frustration boiling over as he fingered the golden diadem still tangled in his hair. The Three Aspects were right then, at least to some extent. Shit.
"So what do we do now, Saru? What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
***
Sanzo had dark smudges under his eyes and the foulest temper Hakkai had ever been witness to when he arrived late the following afternoon.
"Well, it is a three day journey that I managed in less than two, Sanzo." His voice was reproving as he followed the sullen monk back to his room to check on Goku.
Kneeling by the edge of the bed he carefully wiped the damp hair back with his hand and frowned.
"Sanzo, has anything odd happened during this sickness?"
"Only if you count his other side showing up last night." He tapped a cigarette out roughly, agitation souring the words as they dispersed like venom into the small room.
"I thought so. What did he do?"
"He came to talk."
"What?"
"Like I said..." Sanzo pushed off from the doorframe and wandered to the edge of the bed, looking down at Goku's pinched face, a fevered flush high up on his cheeks, "...fucker came to talk."
"About what exactly?" Hakkai repetitively dipped the small cloth into the small bowl of water, rung it, flipped it open, and finally applied the cloth to Goku's stomach. Sanzo's eyes following the fluid movements as if it were a ballet set out for him alone.
"End of the world shit as usual. What the hell did I do to deserve all this?" running his gloved hand through the glimmering blonde hair he turned away from the disturbingly erotic scene and stared out the window. He would not let his body or mind start to think that way.
"Well, if it were anyone other than Goku, with a fever this high, I wouldn't have much faith that he'd come back." Sanzo swung around, grabbing Hakkai's shirt collar and wrenching the man forward with deadly intent.
Hands up, Hakkai slipped into his pacifist look, "As I said if this were anyone other than Goku. Luckily, his body can take a lot, but if you'll look here..." he waited patiently for Sanzo to release him, a flick of his wrist and a small *tsk* followed by soft footfalls telling him the ornery monk was doing exactly what he wanted.
Leaning over he gently brushed Goku's bangs away from the edge of the diadem, "You see the cracks? I think the fever is the flow of demon power leaking out and over his skin. He's trying to incorporate it into his body, but it's hard."
He glanced over his shoulder and sighed, "Think about it like he's going through puberty. All this power is raging within him and he's mentally trying to take a cold shower, to help bring everything back into balance."
Sanzo nodded and met his eyes, "So what do we do about it?"
Stretching, the healer shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't think there is anything we can do for him. his powers are too strong for me to interfere with, and taking the diadem off entirely might break him. He's not in any danger at the moment, but I think it'll only get worse. Have you talked to the Sanbutsushin yet?"
A short bitter bark of laughter ripped through him, "Hypocritical pricks told me to kill him."
Hakkai looked shocked, "What?! Are they serious?"
"Of course they're serious; their answer to anything that even smells off is to kill it."
"But this is Goku we're talking about!"
Hakkai drew back like he'd been bitten, Sanzo had several versions of his 'annoyed' face, but he'd never seen such a dark look about the man before. Dipping his head slightly he glanced back at the sleeping Goku and shuddered. The powerful aura he'd felt when he came in wasn't just the young man laying there helplessly, but the man standing over him, whose hands were clenched so tight as to draw blood from his palms.
"I'll stay the night then, just to keep an eye on him."
"No."
"Sanzo?"
"No. I don't want you mixed up in this Hakkai. Go home, back to your family. I'll take care of mine."
The green-eyed healer opened and shut his mouth, brain working on overdrive, "Very well. Replace the compresses whenever they get too dry and try to keep him warm. I leave it to you then."
With that Hakkai slipped out of the room like dissipating smoke, leaving Sanzo to fall heavily to his knees, eyes glued to the pale face. "Puberty, huh? What a load of shit." His voice was strained and hoarse, yes bloodshot and stinging; all he wanted was to sleep.
Sleep. The words were mumbled in his mind, a slight twitch that could be a squeeze if he shut his eyes and gave in to the part of him that was desperate for this to be over with.
Sleep. A deeper voice this time and he recognized it as the other Goku, the one that made something inside of him quiver in response.
He snapped back at the voices, You first. One voice in his head was enough, thank you very much, he didn't need another one.
A gentle rumbling in stereo followed him into the darkness.
***