A Second Chance Chapter 14: Lazarus

So here's a question. Who's been paying attention to the chapter quotes? They aren't just there for show. Pay attention to them, they might be more than meets the eye!-... And no, they're not robots in disguise.

"Oh Lazarus, how did your debts get paid?

Oh Lazarus, were you so afraid?

When the fires, when the fires have surrounded you.

With the Hounds of Hell comin' after you.

I've got blood, I've got blood on my name." - Blood on my Name, The Brothers Bright

"...And while I suspect he'll be rather passive due to his sedatives, we still ask that a nurse accompany you in, just in case since you are a source of noticeable anxiety-... Better safe than sorry, right Miss Asada?"

"Yeah... Whatever you say."

Their words echoed off of the clean, perhaps even barren, egg-white walls of the mental health center, bouncing around and echoing against Shino's ears, which were covered in a large burgundy hood that concealed all but her face, before disappearing into the cavernous maze of hallways which surrounded them, only growing more complex as they strode further into the heart of the clinic.

The place certainly didn't invest heavily into the theory that a colorful and warm environment was a crucial step in the healing process. It was all so utilitarian, hardly an inch of space used without some express purpose behind its occupation. Absent from the walls were the usual patient made canvases of normal hospitals, instead replaced by the occasional floor map or emergency communication terminal that seemed to almost blend into the clinically bland paintwork.

"...I know what you're probably thinking. You aren't the first visitor coming in here with that face..." The Doctor which accompanied her spoke up, his eyes darting to and fro as he glanced into common rooms and nursing stations, seemingly noting for anything too out of place. He was a tall man, towering over Shino by over a foot, with a shaved head and a pair of glasses that looked far too large for his face. Despite the goofyand he had the intimidating aura to accompany it perfectly, "We must seem rather cruel in your eyes-... But trust me; this is all for the best. We're being as humane as we possibly can given the circumstances..."

"I saw how you treated him in his vlog to me... I'd hardly call that humane treatment. Seems to me you view him more like a rabid dog than a person-..."

"As I said; given the circumstances. He is a criminal after all, like it or not. Truthfully he's only really like that when you're brought up, hence our insistence my staff and I chaperone your visit. He's not mentally stable, and he harms himself on a nearly daily basis." The mild disdain in the Doctor's voice was flimsily disguised by his formal vocabulary, though no words could hide the clear edge in his tone. Shino evidentially wasn't as welcome as she had first assumed. "Not to worry though. We've been given strict orders to let you two interact however you see fit. Just say the word and it'll be done; as long as it remains in the realm of realism."

"Yeah, sure..."

Those lone words were barely out of the Sniper's mouth before she impacted against the Doctor's back as he stared up at a small sign hanging above a doorway which, following an apparent theme of unimaginative internal decoration, blended in with the rest of the hallway about as well as everything else.

Shino was going to hate the color white by the end of this visit.

"Well... It's just in here." He motioned to the doorway as he gave a slight bow that Shino was sure it was little more than a formality, "After you."

Shino took the invitation without another thought, though in hindsight she would recall regretting that decision, as at least a hint of hesitation would have more adequately steeled her for the sight that greeted her upon crossing through the doorway into what she could only describe as a padded cell.

Considering it's use and origin, Shino had to admit that the cell itself was almost homely in a way, especially compared to the clinical nightmare that was the maze of hallways making up the rest of the facility. It was painted a homely earthen green that gave the room a dim, calming atmosphere that Shino was sure was just one of a hundred ways that the doctors of this godforsaken place were employing in order to calm their patients.

Of course there was one patient who was less than calm, and of course that patient just happened to have been the one sitting before her on their bed, fighting with two large CNAs nearly twice their size.

Kyouji; and he looked nearly twice as bad as he had in the video. He was clearly a shell of his former self. His eyes were sunken in and ragged, he clearly had a few broken teeth, and his arms and legs looked to be no thicker than branches in some sections, despite the fight he was putting up to the two toned CNAs. Even his hair was noticeably thinner, though whether that was due to stress or just from being forcibly pulled out Shino was unsure.

"Just hold'm!" One of the men, an American by the sound of his slurred speech, cried as he and the other CNA desperately wrangled around with the boy, who was putting up a considerable fight despite being nearly half their size.

"What do you think I'm trying to-..." The other nurse recoiled away as he threw his hand into the hand, "Ow! Bastard bit me!"

"...Spiegel!"

And all at once both the two CNAs and Kyouji froze in their place, staring dumbly at the woman who had just interrupted their impromptu wrestling session.

Shino wordlessly threw back the hood covering her head and seemingly stared into his soul, watching as his own eyes widened as they recognized the gaze which bore into him.

Not soft and meek brown eyed gaze of the girl Shino, hiding behind a pair of glasses, but the determined aqua-blue eyes of-...

"Si-... Sinon?..."

"Spiegel-... Yes; it's me..." She gave the boy a cool smile, propping her hand on her hip as a few bangs of her light blue hair fell in front of her eye, "I'd heard from a system admin that you wanted to talk to me, but couldn't radio, so I came back to Glocken..."

"Who the hell do you think?-..." The nurse began, but before he could think to say much further, Shino stomped further into the room as whatever fragments of rationality in her mind after viewing her friend in such a manner begged her to not verbally tear into the rude man with a vengeance.

"Sinon... Sinon!... Sinon!"

"Ma'am, if you don't leave right-..." The nurse paused as the sound of a clearing throat echoed from behind Shino, "...D-Doctor?"

"Let him go."

"Sir?!..."

"I said let him go..." The Doctor repeated, his brow creased as he too observed the outlandish appearance of their guest, "This is the visitor I mentioned earlier."

"Doctor, with respect; if I let the patient loose-..."

"I don't like it any more than you do..." The Doctor clicked his tongue audibly, stealing a quick glance up over to the corner of the ceiling, narrowing his gaze in disdain, "...You heard me... Let him go..."

Those orders were followed, and in a matter of seconds Kyouji had wriggled out from under his oppressors, and into Sinon's waiting arms, wrapping his own around her waist.

"Sinon! Sinon! I've waited so long!"

"Ack!" Yeah, he was just as strong as ever; perhaps even stronger.

"Doctor!-..."

"Stop!" It was Shino who spoke up this time, though she almost immediately turned her attention back to Kyouji, letting her tone soften as she returned the embrace, albeit with a little less enthusiasm, "Spiegel?... It's been a long time. How are you?..."

"Great! I'm so-... Farming for a new gun! My MP5's been so low damage recently!-..."

"Really? Why's that?"

"I dunno... No, I don't... But!-... Now that you're here, we can farm so much quicker! We can get new primary weapons!-... Or maybe even one of your guns!" Kyouji giggled, tapping his head against Shino's shoulder, eerily resembling a glee filled child, "Yup! That's the plan! I want a gun... A gun like yours!..."

"But I don't own-..."

"You do! You had the best kind! The kind-... It's been used! The kind that's been used for justice!"

Shino felt nearly every one of the muscles in her body tense as the realization of the gun Kyouji spoke of flashed through her head for a moment but she quickly shook it off with a small sigh.

"I had one once... But he-..." Kyouji's eyelid began to twitch as he seemed to picture something less than soothing in his mind's eye, "He cut it up while my brother was Death Gun!..."

Kyouji's grip suddenly tightened, his fingers digging into Shino's sides as his arms clamped down around her, transforming their previous embrace into more of a vice grip.

"Ah! Ky-... Spiegel! That hurts!..."

"That bastard... I almost had you to myself but he had to go and ruin everything!" Kyouji yelled, while the two CNAs hurriedly began withdrawing something from their pockets. Needles; sedatives. "They said we were useless, that we were nothing but expendable mascots! Some tools!"

"Well I'd-... I'd like to see where he is now! Without his-... His expendable mascots!" Kyouji began to growl, his grip tightening all that much more with each word that poured forth from his mouth, "That bastard! I'll kill him! I'll fucking kill him!"

Soon the pain became too much to bear, and with a wince and a frantic hand wave, Shino desperately signaled the nurse to sedate Kyouji, and in only a few seconds the self retracting needle had pierced his skin, pumping his bloodstream full of drugs.

Unlike before in the video however, this dose seemed to do little; only serving to loosen Kyouji's grip on Shino.

"Hey!... H-hey Sinon... You'll hunt with us right?"

"Hunt?..."

"The dungeon! They're waiting for us Sinon; my brother and that bastard!... You're the last one Sinon! The last one who hasn't hunted with us yet!" The crazed boy explained as his breathing began to settle, "We'll hunt and hunt and hunt! Then everyone will see how strong we are!... Everyone..."

Shino sighed as she began gently stroking the boy's back, hoping to calm him further. "Yeah... I'll go hunting with you. Don't worry..."

"But he'll still be there... I wish we'd never-... Never gone hunting with that bastard!..."

Shino couldn't seem to find it in herself to respond, and so settled for continuing to stroke the boy's back.

"It should've been you... You Si-..." Kyouji's eyes suddenly grew distant and dull as his breathing began to slow further, until eventually his arms dropped to his sides, releasing Shino from his grip.

"He can-... He can screw... I'll tell y-you Sinon... You always know what to do..." Kyouji's eyes drifted shut, "In the dungeon-... In Gjöll... He's guarding La-..."

"Spiegel?... Hey, Kyouji?..."

"L-Lazarus..."

That was the last word to escape from his lips before he went limp.

"He's unconscious. He'll be asleep for at least the next few hours." The Doctor offered a small smile when Shino's eyes met his own bespectacled ones. It felt fake. Insincere. Plastic. "As you can see, his imagination is as active as ever... I'm sorry that got so out of hand. Normally we wouldn't have even permitted this visit but-..."

"It's fine; I know... Can someone take him though? He's kinda-... Oof... Heavy."

"Oh, uh!... Here, I'll get him!..." One of the CNAs called out as he rushed over, taking the limp form of Kyouji from Shino's grasp.

"Thanks."

"Well!" The Doctor clapped his hands loudly, "Now that that's done, why don't we go back to the lobby. I'm sure your friend outside is anxious to know if your visit's gone well."

Shino nodded and followed the Doctor out without another word, taking only a moment to spare a piteous glance back at the boy that had once been her closest friend.

"Well... You gambled boss-man. You gambled on a hunch, and you just walked away wit' the freakin' jackpot..." A short blonde haired woman murmured with an impish grin as she leaned against the desk from which she and a rather well dressed male were observing the events unfold through use of a small laptop screen, which served as the only real light source of the room they occupied.

"It seems so, and all thanks to our little friend seeing his precious blue haired sniper..." The man, Seijirou, mumbled as he pressed the lid of the laptop shut, before leaning back in his chair and flicking a small switch; illuminating a lamp on the wall nearby, "Lazarus... It exists after all... Truthfully I'm at a loss for words..."

"Well once y'get yer voice back I know who you could say a few words to..." Nezumi's words seemed meek, but Seijirou could hear the ever present snark hiding behind her tone, "Y'know I'm all for secrecy an' all, but y'really should tell them what they're involved in. It's only fair."

"No. We've only just confirmed our suspicions. Our adversaries already have their pieces out on the board, and they've been moving them about for some time, inching them into position. Make a move now, and we'll only show our hand before we've even had a chance to draw from the deck." Seijirou explained, "And besides, with this we at least know they aren't a primary target, for now anyway."

"For now. You'n I both know they'll eventually catch onto who that Yuuki girl is and how she came back. Once they do-..."

"You worry too much Nezumi."

"You don't worry enough, and besides it's not about bein' worried, it's about lettin'em know what they're tangled up in so they can be prepared. They've already made a move on 'em usin' the Ordinal system, and not even we know everythin'... I mean, what the hell's 'Gjöll'? Nickname for some sort'a security system? A system we didn't even know existed?"

Seijirou seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, leaving he and Nezumi in silence until he finally spoke up, "...Very well. You're clear to approach and inform. Just... keep it to one or two, for now at least."

"Got it. Any preference?"

"Kazuto Kirigaya most likely. He's proven fruitful to work with in the past, as long as he's got the proper incentive backing up the work." Seijirou finally spared a glance up to his employee, "That doable?"

"Oh, I'm an expert in gettin' people to do what I want. It shouldn't be a problem." Nezumi replied as she pushed herself off of the desk before giving a sarcastic grin, "And I won't even have to pay him, uhn... This much!"

Argo held three fingers up and snickered, watching as Seijirou's cheeks turned a distinct shade of pink, noticeable even in the dim light of the room.

"Your job in that cafe was to keep an eye out for possible eavesdroppers, not to be one yourself!"

"Hey now, t'be fair Boss-man, ya weren't subtle." Nezumi laughed, "And the other one, Miss Blue-Hair?"

"Who?-... Oh. No, hold off on telling her. She's served her purpose. No need to tangle her up in anything if Kazuto will be more than sufficient."

"Ki-... Kazuto only. Understood."

"Good... Well, we should wrap things up here. We have what we came for and the clocks won't stop ticking just for us." Seijirou sighed as he reached into his pocket, withdrawing a small silver and black flask that he had begun to carry around recently, "Must be ready for when our foes finally tip their hand to us, mustn't we?"

"Can y'not tempt fate like that boss-man? It has a way of bitin' people like us in the ass."

"Yes..." Seijirou sighed, taking a sip from his vial, "It certainly does, doesn't it?..."

"I'll head out and try to set up a meetin'..."

"Very well. I'll head back to the office, see if I can piece together what else their 'glorious' plan will entail. Oh, and I must see to finalizing the reestablishment of Miss Konno's identification. As I feared, it's brought up quite a few questions." He shook his head, "But... Nothing that she and I can't handle through a few days of sitting down and sorting out the details. Quite the pain, but what can you do?"

"Hey, that's what you get for owin' favors!..."

Nezumi was scampering out of the room before Seijirou could even think to shoot back with a smart comment of his own, and so the man settled for a calm smile, taking another drink from his flask.

"You're still quite the rat, aren't you Nezumi..."

Thought you all would enjoy that little nod to the Phantom Bullet arc cafe scene. Just a little thing to show Nezumi's been watching over Kii-bou and friends with Seijirou this entire time!