A/N: I fear this chapter. I mean, I loved writing this chapter, but I fear it. Or perhaps I fear for you all reading this chapter. At any rate, the three characters that should have been introduced a long time ago have been introduced this chapter. You should enjoy two of them and promptly stab the other with a spork. You also learn exactly what happened to Fye/Yuui's family.

Read, review, enjoy.


A motorcycle screeched to a halt and a lanky figure swung its leg over to stand on the simmering asphalt. The figure wore a pair of dark blue jeans, a pair of boots, a black jacket that settled nicely around their hips, and a helmet that made it impossible to see their face clearly. The surrounding area was practically a desert. It was at least one-hundred degrees outside and there wasn't another building for miles in each direction. The last place that had been seen on the way here was a gas station about five miles back.

The person let out a long, heavy sigh and reached up, unstrapping and then pulling off the helmet. Blond hair fluttered down from it and clear blue eyes gazed to the place he now stood before. "It's been a while." He whispered. "I wish I could say I missed this place, but that would be the biggest lie anyone has ever told." A dark chuckle left Fye's lips as he set the helmet down and walked toward the building.

Sweat rolled down the side of his face as he walked forward, causing some of his hair to stick to his face. His clothes were very warm for this area, but it didn't matter, heat wouldn't affect him as much as the sunburn that he would get if he didn't wear these. He also knew it would be cooler inside the building.

It was just like he remembered it. It was huge, bland, and forbidding, yet he could clearly remember it being the only place he could go at the end of the day.

He stopped in front of the front door and started at the door handle. He knew funding for the project had been cut off, yet he knew that people were still here. He knew it. For one thing, there were still cars out front, and not only that, but some of the workers here had been so obsessed with the project that he wouldn't have been at all surprised if some of them had kept working here for little or no pay.

For what seemed like a long time he stared at that handle, but at last he pulled his sleeve down over his hand and reached out, gripped on to the burning hot metal, and opened the door.

A blast of cool air overwhelmed him as he came into the building. Sure enough, the place was buzzing with workers, all of which stopped as they saw the blond enter. "Is that who I think it is?"

"No way, it's 685!"

"What's he doing here?"

There was no secretary...of course not, no one was supposed to know that they would still be in operation. "All right!" The people in the room all flinched as his voice filled the air, "I know Fei didn't leave! Where is he!?"

"I'm right here, my little pawn." Fye felt a calloused hand at his cheek and he brought his own hand up, sharply slapping at it, and forcing it off his face. "I always knew you would come back. There's too much mystery and intrigue."

Fye growled, "I'm here for my memories. Not to rejoin."

"Oh, I was hoping you were here to apologize for your behavior lately. Killing one of them with a gun, and refusing to kill another. I thought we were customers."

"Highest bidder wins, you lost. It's that simple. No hard feelings." Fye turned around to face the man he was talking to. He was older, but not quite elderly with some gray hair. Over one eye was a monocle that gave him that positively evil air.

"Of course 685. Or...I've heard you call yourself Fye these days. No hard feelings. I understand perfectly. So, you say you're here for your memories?"

"That is what I said. You heard me one-hundred percent correctly."

"So I assume that means you've learned who you really were before we got our hands on you. Right Yuui Valeria?"

In an instant Fye had drawn his pistol and had pointed it at Fei's head. "Call me that again and I will shoot your damn head clear off your neck." The other people in the office either backed away or pulled out guns of their own pointing them at Fye. The blond didn't even seem to notice, his eyes only focusing on the bastard in front of him.

Just like Fye, Fei didn't seem at all concerned about the gun that was pointed at him. "Right, I'm sorry... 'Fye'." Slowly the pistol Fye held lowered itself down to his side. As he did this other guns that had been pulled were put away as well. "Shall we go to my office? We'll discuss what it is that you want there."

It seemed that Fei understood that Fye agreed to this because without so much as another sound from Fye, the two men disappeared behind a door and came to an office. "You remember this place, don't you Fye?"

"Of course. Where my assignments were received. You're going to give me what I want, aren't you?"

"So impatient..." Fei sighed, walking over to the desk in the center of the room, opening it, taking out a key-ring and closing it again.

Fye growled, coming up the desk as well and slamming his hands down upon it, causing the desk to visibly vibrate. "Wrong, I've been perfectly patient for years, but there's a limit."

"Of course, there's a limit to everything. Don't worry, you'll be getting your answers in about..." Fei took one of the keys off the key-chain and then suddenly slammed the edge of the key into Fye's hand, causing the assassin to give a poorly restrained scream, "Thirty seconds..." Fei smirked in the most evil of evil ways as he slowly drew the key out of Fye's flesh, more sounds of pain being forced from Fye's lips.

Blood dripped from the wounded hand as Fye lifted his hands, and gripped them to Fei's collar, his entire body starting to shake. "I felt something come off of that, you and your damned inventions...you will give me the antidote to whatever you poisoned me with just now!"

"But Fye!" Fei feigned a completely innocent tone, "I did just give you an antidote! Mind you, we would have to overdose you ten times over to give you all your memories back, but that dose will give you just enough to answer the question of what happened to your family."

Fye attempted to growl, but the solution was starting to grab a hold of him now and his hands were forced to let go of Fei. His muscles relaxed as he slid to the floor. As he slipped into unconsciousness he watched his hand ooze blood from its center...

His eyes opened. His eyes closed. He could remember. At the time he had been nineteen, but his youth and ignorance had not been a reason for why everything had happened.

His new memories went all the way back to a day before the holiday break in college when he had been nineteen years old. He had picked up the phone and called Kurogane to complain about a gigantic spider falling down on his sketchbook and causing him to smudge his charcoal drawing beyond repair. He remembered the picture had been a project for one of his classes, the assignment to draw a person from his childhood. He had been drawing Fye.

He remembered that his entire building had been shut down because everyone was finding hordes of spiders and cockroaches in their rooms. The poor things were probably just trying to escape the cold. He had again called Kurogane, plus a hotel to stay in for the night before he went back to where his parents lived.

He remembered that he had gone out with Kurogane for most of that night, but those memories had been smudged by the fact that his boyfriend had lifted his head above the clouds by telling him that he loved him. It had been a wonderful feeling.

He remembered flying on an airplane, overlooking the clouds and smiling to himself as he knew that both Fye and Kurogane would be sitting in a seat as far away from the window as they could and twitching to themselves until they landed on safe ground.

He had remembered getting off the plane and being tackle-hugged by his twin the moment they saw each other.

He remembered the wonderful days that passed after this. The days that seemed so normal, building snowmen, talking, drinking cocoa, reminiscing about things he still couldn't remember.

They had visited Ashura. He could clearly hear himself yelling, "We'll see you soon, Uncle!"

He remembered sitting in the car as they drove home from visiting Ashura. He had been fixing clips on his video camera, and Fye had been overlooking one of his astrophysics books. He remembered that he had asked Fye to try and explain something, but he hadn't understood it at all. He remembered that this had hurt Fye, so he had asked him to explain it again, and although he hadn't understood it anymore than the first time, he had pretended to understand. Fye had smiled.

For the rest of that trip home he had taken the astrophysics book and tried to make heads or tails of the very first page. It was obvious that when it came to interests and abilities he and Fye were opposites.

Then there was a gap in his memory. This was probably a time in which he had not been conscious.

When he started to remember again he was in a great glass room, alone with Fye. This part came in flashes mostly, he couldn't make out most words that were said, only getting the big picture from the entire ordeal. What was the big picture? His and Fye's parents being shot in plain view by two golden eyed men. At the time he, as Yuui could not recognize them, but as Fye Valeria he knew exactly who they were.

Subaru and the man Subaru had identified as Seishiro had killed his parents.

It hurt to keep remembering. It really hurt. He had to bite his lip and take in a deep breath before he could continue thinking about what his mind had apparently learned during his time in the land of sleep.

Within the place they were kept, despite their mourning for their parents they came up with a plan to escape, so that the same would not happen to them. It had mostly been Fye's idea, he had no skill at all with math and decent maneuvers, but no matter who's idea it was, it had gotten them out of the glass box and into a labyrinth of hallways that all seemed to lead to nowhere.

Somewhere along the line he had heard people following them, and pressed he and twin forward more, he was worried about getting out of this place, yes, but when he heard the men all he could think about at that time was the two men who had killed their parents in a single shot. He didn't want that to happen to Fye. Screw him, he could die for all he cared, but not Fye. They had already taken his parents, he didn't want to lose his brother too.

He remembered that they ran as fast and as hard as they could until they finally found a door that led outside. He had turned around to press against and open the door, and it did open, but he and Fye could not get out at the same time. They tried and tried going back and forth trying to get both of them through, but nothing worked.

After what seemed to be an eternity came the moment he had seen Fei for the very first time. Every word he said clung in his mind, every action was crystal clear. "Only one of you can get out that door."

"Why?"

"Because that is the way it was made. One of you can escape, live freely. What will it be? Which one will be selfish and leave the other here, and which one will be selfless and sacrifice their freedom?"

He had stood very still for a long time, and while for a time Fei had been very patient he grew to the inevitable stage of not wanting to wait any longer. "Well?"

He had brought his twin closer to him, hugging him tightly, "Fye, I'm sorry." Fye had relaxed against him in relief at the words.

"Ah, so Yuui's going to be selfish?"

"You think you know me? Fuck. You."

He turned toward the open door and shoved his twin through it.

"Forgive me, Fye, I can't let you die here."

"No! Yuui!"

The door had slammed shut separating them into two different worlds.

"You're not going to take him back, are you?"

"Of course not. It was your choice."

"I don't care what happens to me, as long as he lives."

He had taken in a breath and had leaned against the door. He had closed his eyes and listened to what was being told to him by this man. He told him many things. What had been done to them while they slept. Tainting of the mind that gave them powers, and computers that could control them. An activated computer meant that they could be controlled. They had killed their parents as a test, for any malfunctions caused by stress. They had both passed the test, but they only needed one of them, so Fye had been let free. His computer was not activated. He would be okay.

Or so he had thought.

"But Fye won't survive very long, you know."

"What?"

"He'll die within a few days. A non-activated computer system will cause a slow shut-down of the vital systems. What do you care? You may have killed him, but he's free."

One of the men who had often been with him early on in the early stages of his emotional development told him that he had been suicidal before his computers had been activated. He knew this was the reason why. His entire family, dead. Two in front of his eyes, the most important one to him killed by his own hands. It was his fault. Surely he had wanted to join them...

He wanted to join them now. He wanted to take his pistol and fire it straight into his heart that hurt so much.

"Hey! You're awake!" The door to whatever room he had been lying in opened and two people entered. They were children, no older than ten or eleven. "Are you okay? You've been moaning in your sleep."

Fye sat up to get a better look at these children. One was a girl. She was small and utterly cute with reddish-brown hair and jade green eyes. The other was a boy, his eyes were a cold amber brown, but the hair was a warmer brown. "I'm sorry to worry you. How long was I asleep?"

"At least two days! We were getting worried, weren't we?" The girl looked back at the boy, who only nodded very slightly. "Fei said to watch for when you woke up, but you woke up while we were gone...I apologize, are you really okay? He said you might try to die."

"He cares?" Fye moved over to the edge of the bed as the girl scrunched up her face trying to think of an answer. At last she shook her head no. "I didn't think so."

"But I care! I've cared for a whole three months!"

"I haven't been here for three months."

"But I've had emotions that long!"

At this Fye frowned, his hand reaching out and caressing the girls face. It was warm. "Who are you two?"

"I'm number 687, and he's number 688!"

"Numbers? But I thought that they stopped production after number 686."

"We're new. Only a year old. Prototypes." The girl stared at Fye's legs, making the blond shift uncomfortably. "Can I sit on your lap? Please? I've seen children sit in adults laps when we we're on outside jobs, but no one here will let me. Besides, their touch is always so cold and mean. You...look really warm and nice, your touch is also really soft!"

"I suppose..."

"He hasn't eaten in two days. He's hungry." The boy spoke for the very first time. His face looked emotionless, but his voice was full of emotion. Fye wondered how long he had trained to keep his face that way.

"But we don't have any food...we have to wait until tomorrow."

"We could sneak some."

"No," Fye shook his head as he reached down and lifted the girl into his lap as she held her arms up to him. "I don't really feel hungry. I can last until tomorrow."

"Oh, I was right. You are warm." The girl giggled and hugged Fye around his waist. "I could sleep here. You should try it too."

The boy looked at the ground, shifted his feet a little bit and looked up at Fye with a sad face, "Can I? We've never had parents. I'm jealous of all the kids we see on missions..."

"Are you jealous because they have parents who hold their hands, or are you jealous because they are free and don't have worries?"

"A little of both."

The pain in Fye's heart lessened a little and he held his hand out to the small boy. "Come here. I don't think my lap is big enough for both of you though."

The boy smiled and took the hand that was offered to him. He quickly climbed onto the bed and just sat by Fye's side, resting his head gently against Fye's chest. "Wow," He said after a minute or so of listening to Fye's heartbeat. "She was right, you are really, really warm. I like it."

The girl sighed happily, "I'm really glad Fei was wrong. I'm really glad you didn't kill yourself."

"Why?"

"Because then no one would be able to experience your warmth!" The girl smiled up at his face, "I don't see why people don't line up in front of you and ask for hugs. I'm sure you could make a lot of money if you set up a stand."

Fye bit his lip, an unidentifiable emotion rising up within him. A laugh escaped his lips, yet at the same time tears spilled from his eyes. "Mister?"

Fye shook his head and placed his hand on the girl's head. "No, I'm fine. T-thank you. I think, I think I feel a little better than I did when I woke up."

"Hey."

"Hm?" Fye forced out more laughs as he reached up and wiped away his tears. The more he laughed the better he felt. The feeling that he had killed his twin still filled his mind, but he didn't feel like killing himself anymore. These children reminded him that at home, Kurogane was waiting for him to walk in the door, in a large house near a large city his uncle waited for him to call, and even if he would never admit it, Kamui was also waiting to know what had happened to him. These children reminded him that he still had people to live for. "What is it?"

"What's your name? You're not a number, right?"

"I...used to have a number."

"What happened to it?"

"I replaced it with a name that has letters."

"You can do that?!"

Fye chuckled as both the girl and boy yelled that at the same time. "Yeah. I renamed myself. I am Fye Valeria. No number will ever take that away from me ever again. I am not a worthless number, and neither are you."

"But we don't have names."

"But you can."

"How?" The two children moved away from him, sitting next to each other and staring up at him with wide innocent eyes.

"You can name yourself, or you can have someone else name you. You can have a name at any time you want. Don't let them fool you. Understand?" The two children nodded. Fye smiled, "Good. Now you two must have been working very hard today. You should sleep."

The girl and boy looked at each other, then back at Fye. "Can we sleep by you?"

"You're warm."

"And not just in temperature. We've never met anyone like you. We really like you."

Fye smiled and nodded, "I guess it's okay. Tomorrow I'll figure out how to get home."

The two children smiled brightly and threw themselves at the blond man. They laughed, squealed, and tickled anything they could get their fingers on for a minute until they settled down on either side of Fye, "The light?" The boy mumbled something under his breath and a moment later the light turned off, surrounding them in complete darkness.

After a while the girl and boy fell asleep. Even so Fye lay awake, either hand running through the strands of hair on their heads. He knew he was in this dreaded place. He knew that he had hated this place for all it was worth, but now as he lay here on a bed that was filled with children who only wanted a normal life with parents and warmth he couldn't bring himself to think that it was entirely evil.

Despite his new-found memories, he couldn't remember ever being so happy to be here.