A crewman appeared right on Inaho's heels and grabbed him from behind as he entered the room. Slaine picked up the gun that Inaho had left with him and took careful aim, prepared to eliminate the enemy. But they were moving too much for him to be sure not to hit the wrong person.

"Put down the gun," demanded the assailant as he pressed a knife under Inaho's chin.

Slaine glanced at Inaho. He had stopped struggling, his arms falling to his sides, and there was an expectant look in his eye. Slaine's hesitation vanished. He adjusted his aim in an instant and pulled the trigger before the man could move a muscle. There was a thud as he fell to the floor, and Inaho stumbled forward onto his hands and knees, panting.

"Why… why did you…" Slaine couldn't figure out exactly how to ask it. Why did Inaho look so composed when he had just brushed so closely with death? It was a far cry from how he had dealt with the situation earlier.

Inaho pointed to his missing eye. "I trust your aim," he answered Slaine's unfinished question.

A smile tugged at the corner of Slaine's mouth. Was that a joke?

"Yeah, but I haven't fired anything in two years…"

He moved aside as Inaho came to sit by Yuki. By now she had become listless and increasingly unresponsive.

He held her hand and took a deep breath. "As far as I can tell, there are a handful of others aboard, but that guy was the only one who saw me."

Slaine cast a glance at the second body that now graced the cell floor. There had been no way around that one. It was kill or be killed.

He felt a twinge of anxiety as he thought about the count. Should he have done something else and spared his life? He didn't particularly care about the man himself, but he still couldn't figure out the look Inaho had given him then. Today his inner demons had been dragged out once more for all to see. He wondered if the Kaizukas would still accept him after such an explicit reminder of what he was capable of. Inaho had witnessed that side of him to an extent, but Yuki... it was a savage kill. She probably wouldn't forget it.

He thought of what Inaho had once said to him. "There isn't anyone who is completely beyond saving"… did he still believe that? Strange, that those words would come back to him now… he didn't even know he had remembered them. And now he was clinging to them.

"Let's move Yuki-nee to a bed," Inaho's voice startled him. "Then we'll think about what to do next. I don't believe these people are particularly skilled. According to Seylum-san, they've been primarily targeting unarmed Terrans. All in all they're not a formidable force – just nearly impossible to catch. My guess is they're using primitive weapons because they can't obtain enough firearms. As long as we stick together and don't waste bullets, we should be okay."

He seemed much more lucid now than earlier. Leaving the scene for a while must have cleared his head.

"I'll carry Yuki-nee, you keep guard," said Inaho, standing up. Slaine watched as he tottered and fell over.

Sighing, he handed Inaho the gun. "I'll carry her, you focus on walking."

"… right."

The wounded boy picked up the crewman's knife and staggered to his feet while Slaine lifted Yuki.

As they walked he glanced down at the gun in Inaho's hand. "Hey, be careful with that, okay? Don't take this the wrong way, but you're dizzy and your sight isn't exactly one hundred percent…"

"Whose fault is that, I wonder?" muttered Inaho as he clung to the wall for stability.

Once they found the count's bedroom, Slaine gently set Yuki down on the mattress while Inaho bolted the door. He hated the idea of putting her in that man's bed, but it was the best one available, and this was probably the most secure room aside from the detention cell. By now she was slipping in and out of consciousness. Her skin was far too cold and her breathing shallow. Slaine grabbed the nearest fabric article and bandaged the wound as best he could.

"We need to elevate it above her heart," said Inaho as he took pillows and gently stacked them under her knee.

They pulled the covers up over her to keep her warm.

"You should rest, too," Slaine said to Inaho. He gave him a light shove towards the bed. "And warm up."

Inaho shook his head. "I can't… we need to get this figured out first. We're not safe yet."

"At least sit down for a minute," he insisted.

A brief staring contest ensued, followed by Inaho's reluctant compliance.

Slaine put a blanket around him.

"I wonder if this would work," Inaho mused aloud as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He had retrieved it from the count before they left the cell. Slaine leaned to look at the screen. Of course, the battery was nearly exhausted. But there was just enough to allow Inaho to reactivate the tracking anklet.

"I can't believe I get service here… we must have dropped pretty low during the blackout. There's a good possibility they'll be able to track that as long as we don't ascend any further. Chances are they've been looking for you already. It's been hours since your signal went offline."

Slaine felt a shiver down his spine. Part of him didn't want to be found. There was no telling how his actions today would be viewed by the UFE and Vers. Still, as long as the Kaizukas were alright, he had no regrets.

"Maybe we should just wait here. I'm not sure you could handle all of them out there alone, and avoiding violence is probably the best thing right now."

Slaine looked down at his hands. Yeah. Probably.

For a little while neither said anything. It wasn't home, and they needed medical aid, but it was a nice breather from the previous hours.

"I almost fired that shot…" said Inaho suddenly, almost to himself.

Slaine turned his head. "Why didn't you?"

No, that was obvious. Inaho had all the control and decency that he had always lacked. That constant, total calmness was something he knew nothing of. It was a mystery to him how someone could be so impassive all the time.

Inaho lay back on the bed. "You were right behind him," he answered, "If I had pulled the trigger… at that range, I would have shot you, too."

Slaine tried to remember their positions at the time. Inaho was right – his heart had been directly behind the count's head. If he had fired that shot, he would most likely have killed both of them.

"If you hadn't been there," he continued, putting an arm across his face, "I would have killed him. I wanted to kill him."

Slaine stared at him. Back in that moment, it wasn't mercy that had kept him from pulling the trigger, it was trust. He had valued Slaine's well-being over his own anger and decided to depend on him to handle the situation.

Calm – what a naïve thought. There was no way this person was calm. His outward serenity was a natural mask that hid a passion within. All along, his actions always spoke what his words and expressions could not.

Their conversation was interrupted by a jolt that sent Slaine stumbling forward onto the bed. Soon after, they heard a commotion out in the corridor, scuffling feet, a single gunshot, and then all was silent.

Someone knocked loudly on the door.

"UFE – open up!"

So they had been searching for them. They must have been nearby when the signal returned. Ironic that the device meant to contain him was now the thing that rescued him. That is, if they were really there to help.

Slaine took the gun and stood up, but Inaho caught his wrist.

"Be careful… if they really are UFE and you kill them, you'll never see the light of day again."

Touching concern, but it mattered little to him compared to keeping those two safe. He didn't care who they were, if they proved a threat he would eliminate them.

He pulled his wrist free and walked to the door.

"Are you here to help us?" he asked, his fingers resting on the lock but not turning it.

"Our mission is to find and aid Kaizuka Yuki and Inaho. Open the door now and we will consider your case with lenience, Slaine Troyard."

No aid for him? Figures. He wondered what 'case' they were talking about. Did they already know about the count? It didn't matter, they were there to help the Kaizukas, and that was enough.

He turned the lock and opened the door.

Standing there to greet him were three soldiers with guns pointed straight at him. His natural reflex was to shoot, but he remembered Inaho's warning just in time and slowly laid the gun on the floor instead. He put his hands up and stepped back.

Slaine spent the next two days in a place he had never wanted to see again. White walls and blue bedding, bland food served on a plastic tray, the tedious routine of prison life. But his return there was the last thing that worried him. He had not heard a single word regarding Yuki and Inaho's conditions. Were they alright? Had Yuki received treatment in time? He paced his cell floor with growing impatience.

After agonizing hours of waiting, someone finally opened his cell door. He was called to an interrogation room, where he was asked to recount exactly what had happened. They asked him many detailed questions, and then sent him back to his cell. There was barely opportunity to ask about the Kaizukas, but he did manage to find out that they were okay by asking one of the interrogators.

Days continued to pass, and soon his pacing turned to sitting, and eventually to sleeping. Perhaps he would never leave this place again, and those two months had simply been a cruelly beautiful dream. Someone like him was never meant to be with people like that in the first place. They were pure and good, and he… he would only ever drive away the ones he loved with the very force of his devotion. Was it wrong to love so ruthlessly? It was the only way he knew. Perhaps he was unfit for this life, after all. Slaine pressed his face into the cotton pillow and pulled the blanket over his head as a familiar depression settled over him. For the first time in weeks, that insidious thought of dying returned.

If this was the leniency they spoke of, he did not want it. A life alone was no life at all. It was worse. It was cruel. He had thought that knowing they were safe would be enough for him, but that was only a lie he had told himself. Knowing was not enough. He wanted to be where they were, just as he had always longed to be by Asseylum's side.

Asseylum.

She always seemed to be at the back of his mind, lingering in his subconscious like an angel haunting him. Had she returned to Vers by now? Surely news had reached her of the incident. It didn't matter. He wouldn't be able to face her now that he had proven that he hadn't changed at all. Her invitation to Vers was no doubt retracted, and there was no other reason for her to see him.

He was tired, so tired of fighting his own mind, his own emotions, his own life. What was the point of gaining something if he was only ever going to lose it again?

A light tap on the door called him from the fog of his thoughts. He heard the door swing open.

"Hey," said a quiet, familiar voice, "sorry to keep you waiting."

Slaine's eyes opened, hope and doubt quickening his heart. Was he dreaming? He peeked out from under the blanket.

Standing at his beside looking down at him was Inaho. A rose-colored eye met his own.

"Come on, let's go."

a/n: OK SO my internet died mid-editing and I honestly don't know what saved because I don't edit in order. (haha my chaotic writing habits get me in so much trouble sometimes ;;)

anyways, once again thank you all for making this whole publishing writing thing a good experience, since letting other people see my writing has always been nerve-wracking for me. I've wanted to give up on this fic a lot tbh, but your reviews and favs and follows have kept me writing. I get really (really really) anxious every time I post a new chapter, but then I see reviews that are so kind and helpful and encouraging and it calms me down and makes me want to write again. I'm not saying this to get more reviews (I already have more than enough), I honestly just wanted to let you all know how much it means to me. Truly, thanks. ^^

on a less serious note (lol I don't think I'm supposed to use authors notes this liberally), do you ever wonder about how the counts acquired the activation factor... did the emperor go around kissing them... did he spit in their drinks... I just...? ? ? ?