A/N: Please enjoy this chapter. Again, I am so sorry for having taken so long to update.


Disclaimer:If I owned it I wouldn't need to make it better, LOL


Chapter 11

The sky was a solid gray that dismal morning. It was well into the morning, yet with the cloud cover the sun had yet to appear. Weather reports were warning of a tropical storm coming through and the birds of the island seemed to be taking the warnings to heart; they were flying away as quickly as they could in the headwinds.

Two seventeen year old girls sat side by side on a loveseat facing out over a normally azure bay. Today it was as gray as the sky, and just as choppy. From behind they looked like normal girls, if their hair colors weren't so drastically different from one anothers. Knowing the girls were best of friends would surprise no one; they had several things in common after all.

LIghtning leapt from the trees to the clouds, causing a momentary freeze frame in the windows that protected the two girls from the coming storm. Now they didn't look so normal. Both were heavily pregnant, although only one of them seemed to be thriving.

"Melissa is still so angry," Teletha said after the last of the thunder rolled away. Kaname sighed and shook her head.

"Stay out of it, Tessa," the dark haired girl said to the blond, who frowned prettily before beginning to pout. "No, they have to work it out themselves," The darker skinned girl took the paler girls hand in her own and tugged her so she looked at her friend.

"You knew, somewhere inside, that Sousuke and I were together before all this happened," Kaname spoke gently, but firmly. Pregnancy hadn't been good to Teletha, her body hadn't adjusted as well as it should have. The doctors on the island felt it had to do with the Whispered abilities; Kaname thought it was because her best friend blamed her for the whole mess to begin with.

"Yes," Teletha finally admitted aloud. She had known, and although it had pained her at first she realized that she had pushed them together in the hopes that Sagara would find happiness. She gave Kaname one of her now rare genuine smiles.

"So you owe your happiness to me!" she teased, pulling a laugh from Kaname.

"Well, I'll admit you played your part," Kaname loftily quipped with her nose in the air, getting Teletha to laugh as well. It was too rare anyone heard her tinkling laugh anymore.

Kurz Weber and Sousuke Sagara were both working hard to match Clouseau's pace. The older man kept the younger one's in shape and on their toes. He had been pleasantly surprised when he'd learned that Sagara worked with the Arbalest as well as he did. Of course, when he saw the stoic military boy with the Whispered girl he understood why. She wasn't just his reason to use it well, she was his inspiration. He had a feeling she was the only person he had ever trusted completely.

He brought them to cool down speeds and stretches as they entered the cleared space around the building. That had been done by Sagara and Weber themselves. They had taken the initiative to make sure there was no less than three hundred yards of open space between the jungle and the house. Yes, it made it obvious where the house was, but there was no way anyone was sneaking up to the house from any direction.

The two had already been friends; if one could call it that, before the attack on Tokyo. Now they had actually bonded. Weber had shown he was far more serious than anyone had given him credit for; but he had also managed to get the famously uptight military boy to relax some, to actually enjoy not having an agenda.

Ben was happy to see these two working much more effectively as a team. They were now a pair he'd truly hate to face on the field; and that was good since he was going to have to give them their orders that night.

"Ben!" Melissa shouted from the house and mentally he shivered. That was part of the order he was going to have a hard time giving. She wasn't going to understand and since he didn't either he didn't know how to explain it.

"Keep your shirt on, Mao!" he shouted back at her with a hearty laugh as he made his way up the stairs.

"Mardukas wants you," she said. He heard the despair in her voice and wished he could help. He nodded his thanks and went to the communications room. He was in there for an hour, so missed the commotion that ensued.

"Melissa, I've had enough of this," Kaname said to the older woman as she took her beer away from her. Junior was busily emptying the room of every beer can and bottle in the room. The two of them had already cleared out the rest of the house. Kaname had even taken all of her cigarettes out to a specific room that had plenty of ventilation. Melissa may not be pregnant, but she was working hard at killing herself none the less.

"Chidori, I will hit you," the marine slurred.

"And if you weren't slurring your words, I'd worry about it," Kaname retorted. "You are having black-outs, actually getting sick from all the drinking. You are going to stop," Kaname told her as she moved out of the way of a wild swing from the woman. She let her hit the floor without attempting to catch her. "You're always making Tessa cry, Melissa," Kaname said under her breath. She knew the drunk woman wouldn't care right now.

"Well she makes me cry all the time, too!" Melissa said belligerently. Unfortunately Teletha was entering the room to see what the commotion was and heard her say it.

"No, you don't get to do this when you're drunk, Melissa," Kaname said venomously. She snapped her fingers and Sousuke and came into the room and picked her up. "Thank you, Sousuke," Kaname said as he took her to the infirmary.

"You really should consider a career in counseling, Ms Chidori," Killroy's deep voice said from the hall. She raised her chin to face him as she stepped into the hall.

"Well your so-called counselors didn't bother to actually force her to deal with her feelings, and went so far as to tell her Ben wasn't under the influence of the gas!" she spat in his face.

There were several other people in the hall; none of whom had known the counselors had revealed that to Mao. They had been under strict orders to keep that secret since Clouseau hadn't wanted her to know and it had been felt by the medical staff on board the submarine (who knew her quite well) that she didn't need to know.

Killroy's sardonic smirk disappeared as if it had never been there when he heard those words. He had seen the psychological work up of the people he had wanted to keep, and even he had known she was far too honorable a woman to handle that kind of information well.

"Point taken, Ms. Chidori. I'll see to it that her counselors are reprimanded; and I apologize for my comment," he said with a bow. She harrumphed but accepted the apology, bowing in return.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?" Teletha asked politely, showing her aristocratic upbringing.

"I came to check on you, Captain. I wanted to see for myself if the reports I was getting were accurate," his eyes went in the direction of the med bay. "Clearly they weren't," he finished; and no one doubted his anger at the situation.

"Ladies, if I may excuse myself; I'll see you at lunch?" he asked. Both women nodded and looked at each other with worry after he walked away from them.

"Just let me see her," Weber said from between his teeth as he tried to get past the nurse at the med bay entrance.

"Major Weber, I will not let you through." He said firmly, tired of trying to placate the blond mercenary.

"Why not?" Weber asked angrily.

"Because she needs to sober up," was the answer. It came from the head doctor on the island. "Not your fault, Major," he said when Weber's face began to cloud with guilt.

"How isn't it my fault?" he demanded in anger and despair.

"She chose to drink, she chose to drink as much as she did," the doctor said dispassionately. He was used to dealing with relatives who took far too much responsibility for their loved one's actions. While it was true that Weber was only a subordinate and friend to the Sergeant Major, it was clear he felt responsible for the woman's safety when they weren't on a mission. The doctor and his staff knew that with this team they needed to be far more militant than they would usually be to keep order.

"If I hadn't-" Weber started to speak, only to have another doctor interrupt him

"Stop," he said, startling the man into silence.

"You are not responsible for her choices. You need to come to terms with that fact, and soon," she said. His furrowed brows said all the staff needed to know. The female doctor grabbed his arm and turned him from the door then led him to another room. There she she spent several hours discussing his own feelings in regards to what had happened. She left him exhausted and drained; but seeing things a little more clearly than he had in the eight months since the attack.

"I am taking care of the counselors right now," Killroy told the doctor when she stormed into quarters that afternoon.

"Good," she said angrily. "These people suffered and they are only just now starting to deal with it, and that's not healthy for any of them," he nodded his agreement; although she didn't see it as she had already left the room.

Lunch had been a stilted affair, and Killroy had a feeling it hadn't totally been because he was there. Kaname and Teletha spoke easily with one another, both girls teasing Sousuke every so often. He watched as the black haired boy gently teased his Captain back. The young girl didn't smile as easily as she had before the attack.

Kaname and Sousuke seemed to be the only one's who were adjusting well. Killroy suspected it was because they had already formed a sexual relationship before the attack so knew where they stood when it came to the pregnancy. The others didn't have that luxury.

Killroy left the island shortly before dark, taking the counselors with him. He had gone through and triple checked the security and the personnel before he left. He wasn't taking any chances with the Whispered girls. He briefly considered pulling Clouseau, Weber and Sagara from the mission he had planned then decided to leave it as was. The three of them had plenty of reason to work towards ending AMALGAM now than they had before.

Belfangan Clouseau stood on the east wing porch looking out over the jungle forest as the sun set with a deep frown on his dark chocolate face. Hearing that Melissa had been taken to the med bay and was being denied visitors had worried him; finding out that someone had told her about his not being gassed angered him. He was trying to figure out how to deal with that anger when he heard a step behind him.

Kurz Weber was standing at attention in the doorway to the porch when he turned.

"LT," Weber said as he saluted the older man. Clouseau's frown deepened as he returned the salute.

"I formally request to be removed from service to Mithril," Weber went on. Clouseau widened his eyes in shock. He hadn't expected that from the man whose whole life had been spent in one military unit or another.

"Denied," Clouseau said without thinking about it. He wasn't going to be responsible for this man's self destruction, no matter if said man thought he deserved punishment.

"Please, Sir, reconsider. I am a detriment to the team," Weber said. Clouseau let out a bitter laugh before moving to one of the wicker chairs on the landing.

"Sit down, boy," he said with a shake of his head.

"I'm quite serious, LT," Weber said as he sat across from the black man.

"I'm sure you are, quite serious and sincere; but tell me Major-how will it benefit the team for you to leave now?" Weber opened his mouth to answer but stopped when he realized he really didn't know. He knew where he fit in the team's dynamic-even with Clouseau leading the team instead of Mao.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, and the defeated sound of his voice touched Clouseau. He was also confused as to where he should go next.

"How much do you love her?" he asked the German, and Weber didn't have to think about it before he answered.

"I'll give her anything, be anything, do anything if it will make her smile again," he closed his blue eyes and leaned back into the chair. "I used to think that's how I felt about Mao," he admitted. Clouseau nodded his understanding. It was amazing what a few months could change.

"Is it because of how abusive she's been verbally?" Kurz laughed and shook his head.

"No Sir, that is nothing new," he sighed and opened his eyes to look at his commanding officer. "When I first found out that Melissa had spent those three days with you, Sir, I wanted to rip your head off-but at the same time I kept worrying about Teletha," he closed his eyes again as he thought back to the first month on the island.

"I had already wanted to find the AMALGAM bastards who had released that gas; the harm they had done is immeasurable," once again he opened his blue eyes to look at the older French man and those eyes were as hard as glacier.

"But when I found out that Teletha and Kaname were both pregnant I wanted to do worse to them," Clouseau once again nodded. He felt the same.

"Yet Mao?"

"I wanted to strangle her," Kurz admitted with humor. "I can take whatever she throws at me, I got why she was angry with me-" he shook his head and sighed in exasperation. "She has no right treating Teletha the way she has been. Teletha is no more responsible for what happened than she is," here Weber paused, as if something had just occurred to him.

"And for that matter, neither am I," he sighed and his whole body seemed to relax. The silence between the two men stretched as they both thought about that statement. Ben came to his own conclusion after a few minutes.

"Still want out, Major?" Clouseau asked the younger man, who shook his head and stood. He held out his hand to the older Frenchman.

"Thank you, LT," he said as they shook hands.

"Any time, Major," Clouseau answered. He waited for the young man to leave before he headed back inside and to the medical bay.

"I don't understand," Teletha was telling Kaname as they waited for the island's staff to bring dinner out to them. It was just them and Sousuke that night, and Teletha was more hurt by Weber's absence than she would admit.

"I don't either," Kaname said to her. Kaname often felt as if she were Teletha's older sister, and sometimes it was wearying.

"Tessa," Sousuke said, and there was a gentleness to his voice that was a testament to his relationship with Kaname. "It isn't your fault," he went on.

"But-" Sousuke shook his head once and said, still gently but firmly.

"No but's, Tessa. It isn't your fault." Kaname frowned, unsure what he was talking about.

"We were all under the influence of the gas, none of us had any control of our actions-had we been able to control ourselves it wouldn't have fallen out the way it did," he said with his typical honesty. This time, Kaname smiled instead of getting upset. He was saying what needed to be said to the girl who felt so lost without her best friend beside her. "Sgt Major Mao is dealing with it badly, she doesn't want to accept that no one is to blame," he continued. Both girls were watching him so intently they didn't see Kurz come into the room.

"If it's not my fault, how do I make her cry?" Teletha finally asked the question aloud. Kurz was the one who answered as he took the seat beside her.

"You don't," he told her, before taking her plate from her and putting food from the serving tray on it. He knew she didn't eat enough and he was going to make sure she started.

"But-" once again she was stopped from speaking with a gentle but firm shake of a head.

"Teletha," Kurz said with finality. "She is angry because of what happened, and until she accepts that it wasn't her fault, that it wasn't your fault, or my fault; she won't stop hurting you," Teletha's purple eyes widened with her dismay at hearing that.

"We want her to get better, we want our old Melissa back," he said to her, nodding with her once she started nodding.

"Then we stop allowing her to hurt us," Kaname said with understanding. "She wouldn't normally want to hurt us, Tessa - you especially. So we stop letting her," she said. Teletha swallowed hard as she thought about it, and sighed as she realized they were right. She was the woman's commanding officer-despite how she felt right now she had to remember that.

"Very well," she said with a shaky sigh. "Major-"

"Kurz," he interrupted her and she looked at him strangely. "While we are on this island, Teletha, please call me Kurz," he said simply. She nodded in confusion.

"You haven't been eating enough, Teletha," he told her. There was a full plate, although it wasn't overloaded. "Eat up," he said before taking a bite of his own food.

Kaname and Sousuke shared a smile before they both began to eat as well. They had both seen that he cared more for Tessa than Mao shortly after arriving on the island. They both figured Mao had seen it too, and that was the main reason she had become so verbally abusive. Tessa wouldn't be so hurt if she hadn't gotten so very personal lately.

The woman so many were concerned with stood shakily in the shower in the room she had been given in the med bay wing. Her whole body ached, her head was pounding as if there were a bass drum band inside it, her mouth tasted of stale smoke and vomit, and she thought she was going to puke again at any moment.

The nurse standing outside the shower told her she wasn't getting anymore to drink. She didn't know why she was in the medbay, or why they were saying she couldn't have anything more to drink; but she was going to find out and fix it soon.

Not drinking wasn't an option. She wouldn't be able to look at her two best friends if she wasn't drinking.

The nurse quickly grabbed her around the waist and held her away from the wall as she began to vomit violently again. So caught up in the pain she didn't hear the nurse call and notify someone of the blood she was throwing up.

The nurse ended up cleaning her up quickly and pulling her out of the shower when she collapsed against her. The woman sighed softly and grabbed a warm towel to dry her off with. She knew how rough this was going to get and her heart went out to the woman; but she would be certain this marine didn't kill herself with drink.

Belfangan Clouseau listened to what the head doctor had to say and nodded his understanding. From there he went to the dining room where he joined the conversation underway. When everyone was finishing their dessert, he told Weber and Sagara of their orders.

"KRD is certain this is the main headquarters, and Andrey Kalinin is there, along with Gates and Gauron," he told the group.

"What about my brother?" Teletha asked.

"Our informants aren't sure if he is any longer a threat, Captain," he told her. "It appears that Kalinin has done, something with him and we aren't sure what," he finished. She nodded and frowned.

"Be careful," she said to the three of them. "It is possible Andrey underestimated my brother's psychosis," she sighed and raised her head, looking like the assured military woman she was. "He may have been taken by surprise; but without the proper restraints and handling my brother could use whatever situation he is in against AMALGAM," she informed them. Not one of them doubted her - she had grown up with the sick bastard after all.

"Understood," the three of them answered in unison; making the two women smile with humor. When they all stood up to leave the table Clouseau watched as they split up into couples. He realized that the four of them had been doing just that since they had all arrived at the island. Yet not once had he attempted to stay with Melissa, to help her through her obvious grief.

No he wasn't responsible for her choices, but he was responsible for his own.