Risenfromash: Another fluffy chapter before we delve into we delve deeper into the evil of Avian Flu. Thanks for the recent reviews…they brightened a stressful afternoon on the side of a freeway with an overheated car but no worries. I am back home now and happy to be writing again.

Chapter 52: Serving Meisters; Should a Weapon Do It All?

By the time we reach the town we are all pretty pooped. It wasn't that long a walk, but we are all hauling a ton of crap with us: boxes of documents, food and water, and other supplies we should have with us just in case of trouble. As we enter town I can almost hear the theme to High Noon. This place looks like the only doctor here would also cut hair and over leeches as a therapy. I'm amazed that Kid found someone competent here.

"Patti and I will be right back," Kid shouts to us as he veers toward a business on the main street. I glance at the business they're headed to and even thought the sign is in Spanish the graphic design conveys enough for me to know that Kid did get a little creative out of desperation.

"You took him to a veterinarian?!" I shout at my friend.

Kid nods as he follows his skipping partner to the front door of the clinic.

"Yes, and they were most helpful. I find that veterinarians and their staffs are always very compassionate. It should just be a minute." Kid disappears into the building with Patti and we all stop to have a break wary that we were told that the townsfolk are sympathetic to Avian Flu.

"Would a vet really know what to do for a person?" I ask Maka worried that Robin may come out neutered or with one of those lampshades around his neck.

Maka laughs. "I think in principle it's the same thing. Medicine is medicine."

"Yeah, but he doesn't need a dewormer!"

"Maybe, he does. Maybe we all do. We are fighting birds," Maka says with a hollow laugh. It's been a hard day on all of us, but she seems more troubled than she should. I don't know what's bugging her, but I know better than to ask right now. Maybe when…if…we ever get any alone time I can ask her what's on her mind.

Robin reemerges no longer as pale as a ghost. He smiles and waves a little.

"No worries, people. I'm just fine. Now let's blow this joint. We've already spent much longer here than I'd like, that's for sure," he says with a smile and once again I say words of thanks to Lord Death or our lucky stars or karma or whatever the hell is constantly saving our sorry butts from the close shaves we find ourselves in.

The train depot is on the other side of town, but the community is so small that we can practically see it from in front of the vet's office and it isn't long before we are descending upon it. As soon as we walk in the girls all dash off in the direction of the bathroom having been boycotting the Avian Flu compound's restrooms due to Patti's assessment that they were 'beyond disgusting'. As the girls fly from our sides, Kid invites me to step outside with him for a few. He lets Robin know that we're stepping out and we duck out a side door. As soon as we are out of sight of the rest of the group the reaper franticly starts patting himself down for wherever he stuffed his cigarettes and muttering about how badly everything has gone thus far. Were it not for his cigarette quest, I suspect he might throw himself down on the ground sobbing.

"What an awful operation," he grumbles as he puts a cigarette in his mouth and lights it. "What a nightmare. I don't know if I can do this. I can't fill my father's shoes. I mean, it's possible, but I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing. The bastard hasn't trained me at all, but here I am thrust into the role and-"

"Kid, you're doing fine. You're a natural," I tell him seriously.

"Don't placate me," he says glaring at me so intensely that it's actually scary. "I know I'm doing shitty. I'm garbage…"

"Oh, come on, dude. Give yourself a break. None of us have been prepared for this kind of enemy."

"I should be and my father definitely should have been. And look at him. He got his fucking ass captured. What a worthless leader…and I can't even begin to fill his shoes." His shoulders slump. "Oh, why was I even born? I can't handle this? I can't even write my name right. I'm scared of germs…I'm worthless…absolutely worthless, garbage-"

Smiling at him, I ask, "Isn't this insecurity why you travel with your own cheerleading squad?" In response he gives me a dirty look.

"You of all people should know that insults the role of the Demon Weapon."

"Hey, I didn't say anything about the Thompsons as weapons. They serve many functions…" I realize I'm treading into some shark infested waters here, but I go for it. "They help keep you sane, dude. Don't hide from them when you need their help. It's important for your partners to know what you're going through."

"Disliking the way I write my name is one thing. Feeling like a failure because I can't manage to get a painting to hang straight on the wall, those are things they have helped me learn how to deal with." I quirk an eyebrow at this statement. "More or less," he admits. "But running an operation where one of our team members gets stabbed by a supposed comrade is quite another. And, dammit, what the hell are we going to do about Black*Star? How can they wipe a person's memory like that? I've never even heard of such a thing being possible. It's like we've walked into a clichéd sci-fi movie. It's absolutely terrifying."

"Kid, I think you need to calm down. Things didn't go that badly. We cleared the entire compound."

He shrugs as though this is no big achievement, "I used Death Cannon."

"Holy shit. Really?"

"It was total overkill, but it was fun, except, of course, that the girls are whining saying they're exhausted," and for some reason the reaper chuckles at this. "In actuality clearing the compound felt too easy. It wasn't a trap, but it didn't feel like we met enough resistance either. It worries me."

"Things are always easy with the Death Cannon aren't they?"

He smirks. "It does tend to make negotiates end quicker that's for sure."

"See there ya go. You and the girls did great. You just don't know how to applaud your own achievements. You're like Maka in that way. You're always so focused on improving you don't acknowledge how well you've actually done."

"If you tell me the mission was a success because we all made it out alive I will hit you."

"Why, did someone already beat me to it?"

"Yes, the little princess has already told me not to be too troubled because there were no fatalities on our side and I maintain that is an achievement bar set far too low. Do you realize that Robin could have died had he continued to bleed out and even the best stocked vet clinic does not have units of human blood lying around."

"You would have given your own."

"Hmpf. I am not a universal donor," he says grimly taking an especially long drag on his tobacco stick.

"Kid, have you eaten at all today?"

His eyebrows crumple. "Have you suddenly become a girl, Soul? Or is this part of being a weapon to fuss over meisters like you're their mother?"

Laughing I say, "I am most definitely not a chick, but I have learned it's important to take care of yourself if you want to keep going. We're all running on empty man you more than any of us."

Kid shakes his head as he turns it to direct his exhalation away from me. "I can't eat, but don't worry the girls will try to get something into me. They'll pester me till I succumb." He shrugs. "It's what they do."

"About that-"

"With all that's going on, you're really gonna ask me if I slept with them yesterday, aren't you?"

"I know you slept with them yesterday," I grin from ear to ear. "I wanna know if you did more than that."

"You really are a pervert aren't you? You do understand that it's none of your business what I do with my partners or anyone else for that matter, don't you?"

"Hey, man. I'm just trying to figure out if I hear the girls screaming your name if Maka and I are supposed to bust down the door cause you're under attack or stuff our fingers in our ears and pretend we don't hear anything."

Kid laughs. "Well, under that pretense I suppose your prying makes sense."

"So, did you?" I admit it. I'm nosey, but he's my friend and he often seems lonely and kind of miserable and I think the girls are good for him. So, as one of his closest friends I need to know how much of a push I need to give them to help make something happen other than this insane sexual tension that feels like it could burst like a balloon at any moment.

He shakes his head. "No. Of course not."

"Still in denial?"

He lets out an especially long exhale of smoke. "No, not as much. I'm coming to terms with some very complicated feelings. And, of course, I'm scared shit less." I start to interrupt, but he puts his hand up to indicate he isn't done talking. "Not because they're women, but because they're my partners. You know how it is. I don't want to screw things up. The three of us have a very precise and delicate symmetry… except of course for their height and their boobs and the length of their hair. I've never been able to convince them that they need the same hair style and breast augmentation surgery is out of the question, having a partner out of commission for the length of time for recovery would be unthinkable…"

"I get being scared Kid, but don't miss out on something good for yourself."

He nods. "Maybe once all this crap is over- Oh, shit!" He has seen Erika pop out from around the corner of the building. "I've got to go to the men's room. Could you please do something with this for me?"

He hands me his half smoked cigarette and dodges back into the building before Erika makes it to me.

"Wasn't Kid just out here?" she asks confused.

"Yeah, but I think he had to go to the bathroom."

"So, you're like one of his closest friends, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Can you tell me is he dating anyone?"

Oh, so that's what this is about. I'd picked up on some tension between the Thompson sisters and this chick earlier and had wondered what was going on, but now it makes perfect sense. Erika must be one of Kid's adoring fan girls. There are a quite a few of them at the DWMA. They stalk the son of Lord Death hoping to gain the prestige of dating him. According to what Maka has told me, the girls are especially competitive with one another because in the entire time he has been a student at the academy no one has been successful in getting him to agree to a date so the first one who actually gets a, "Sure, I'll go to dinner and a movie with you" will assume something like goddess status or something. Chicks are fucking weird. That's all I've gotta say.

I wish I could tell the whole lot of them to knock it the hell off, because while some guys would enjoy the attention Kid is most certainly not one of them and he's so damn nice that he is constantly worried about hurting their feelings when he turns them down.

This chick's got him running to the men's room mid-cigarette so I know she's got to be especially clueless about how off base her tactic is, but she probably thinks she's so special that she will attract him with some sort of magnetic charm.

"Kid's a real private guy. He doesn't talk much about that sort of thing."

She ponders for a moment, before appearing to draw a conclusion that is to her liking. "Well, that just means he hasn't met the right girl yet. I'm sure that when he meets the one he'll be more than happy to show her off."

Kid can be kind of flamboyant about things, but he doesn't strike me as the type who would really 'show off' a girl. I think he's more like me and would like to sneak away to some quiet nook and just be left alone with said girl or, if my suspicions are correct girls (plural), but I remain quiet and shrug.

"So what's his type anyways?"

I shrug again.

"Ugh," she groans. "You're no help. You are friends aren't you? How can you know so little? Is this the kind of help you give your meister?"

"No, but my meister is usually requiring assistance on more pressing matters."

"Hey, don't judge me, Soul. You can't tell me that you and Maka aren't doing the horizontal tango every chance you get on these long missions. The whole school knows you two are crazy about each other. I just want to make sure that Kid is equally well taken care of."

How fucking presumptuous is this chick? "I think his partners do a fine job of taking care of him." As soon as I say it I regret it. Kid will kill me if I inadvertently fuel a rumor that the Thompsons serve any non-demon hunting needs of his.

Hissing like a snake, Erika replies, "Kid needs to open his eyes and realize that there are more than just those two fish in the sea. There are plenty more to choose from and you can let him know I said that."

"I don't think I will. I really don't like to see other people trying to tear apart existing partnerships. It's one thing if the existing team isn't working well, but Kid and the Thompsons are a powerhouse and you shouldn't mess with them."

She glares at me. "In your humble opinion."

"In my opinion, and I don't need to be humble. I'm well on my way to becoming a Death Scythe and I work with one of the most esteemed meisters at the academy. I am many things, but humble is not one of them."

She stomps off in a huff and I laugh. Some people make it way too easy to fuck with them.

I smash the cigarette under my foot, stoop to pick it up, and toss it in a nearby garbage can. Then I head back inside to find my meister. She is sitting on a bench in the station her nose buried in one of her books. At least she's making use of them since we've lugged them over the border.

I sit down next to her and lean back and watch the commotion around me. Tsubaki is attempting to teach one of the little kids some kind of song and finger rhyme thing. Patti is giving another one a piggy back ride. Liz is standing against a wall looking pissed off at the world…and Black*Star and Sandra are making out. Gross! Oh, her damn bow is whacking him in the face. It pisses me off so much I feel my blood boil just looking at them, which pisses me off even more because I'm a dude; I shouldn't care who Black*Star is swapping spit with, but I do.

As I quickly look away I discover Kid has reappeared from wherever he has been hiding and tells us that our ride is coming.

"Soul, Maka, you're in the same car as me and the Thompsons. Come on."

He leads us outside and I squint and look far off in the distance. There is something black coming from a long way away with a cloud of smoke above it.

"Is that a steam engine?!" I ask.

Kid shrugs. "There aren't any bullet trains around here. We're just lucky I could convince them to get this one out of mothballs for us."

"Is that thing gonna be safe? It's not gonna blow up on us is it?"

"I don't think coal blows up, Soul. You're probably in more danger on a modern train."

"Probably?"

The reaper laughs. "Death comes to all of us."

"Is that your family motto?" I tease him and he shakes his head as he turns around and starts calling for Liz and Patti like a parent trying to round up their rugrats.

As we get ready to board Kid tells us that we have the sleeper room next to him and the girls and that we should take a rest for an hour and then meet them in their compartment and we'll get to work. As we board the train we see that it is not only staffed with the engineers necessary to drive it, but also a number of stewards who are assisting other students to get on board and load the items we have lugged with us from the compound.

We wish Kid's team a nice rest and walk down the hall to the next door and open it so we can enter our sleeper compartment. I was expecting something crammed, but the space actually has a cozy charm I like. I flop down on the bed and pull off my shoes and socks. My meister pulls off her shoes and tosses our bags on the floor and climbs into the bed next to me.

"Ooohh," she groans. "I am so tired."

"Me, too."

"What a miserable morning."

"You sound like Kid."

"He's taking it hard isn't he?"

"Yeah, he's kind of a wreck. He hid it well at the compound, but he's starting to lose it now."

"The girls will make him feel better, I'm sure," she says. She snuggles close to me and I wrap an arm around her shoulder.

"Honestly," I say. "I don't think things went that badly."

"You didn't have some chick trying to rip your hair out," Maka says.

"Yes, I did," I snicker and she hits me.

"I told you I was sorry!" and we both laugh for a moment before our little room is plunged into silence. I don't know what to say. It's nice to be alone with Maka again, but I feel too overwhelmed by everything. I don't even know where to begin to share all the thoughts bouncing around in my head. Finally, Maka speaks. "I feel so sorry for Tsubaki. I can't imagine how awful that must be."

"Yeah."

"I think one of the first things we should do is find out as much about Sandra as we can."

I nod. "But let's do what we were told to do. Let's just rest for a while."

My meister grumbles a little. I know she wants to start combing through those files for clues.

"Maka, rest."

She growls a little.

"You could read a book."

"I don't want to read a book."

I gasp. "Who are you and what have you done with my meister? Your brain hasn't been wiped too has it?"

"That's not funny," she says with a definite sharp tone to her voice. "I just think we should be working now."

"Kid wants us to rest and I agree with him."

She rolls her eyes. "There's work to be done."

"There will still be work to be done in an hour. Come on, meister. Avian Flu's demise does not hinge on whether we start digging through those files now or in an hour or even two hours from now. It'll be ok. Now go to sleep." I close my eyes. Oh, blessed sleep, come to me! She makes a whiny little nasally noise and my eyelids pop back open. "Are you intending to do this for the entire rest period? Cause if that's the case you can find yourself another bunkmate because your better half wants to go out like a light."

"Soul… I love you."

"Love you, too," I mumble not opening my eyes and hoping, praying that that is one of those 'I love you's that immediately proceeds sleep. I smile. Sleep…

"How could that man say such horrible things about you? How could they want you dead?" Oh, Lord Death, it isn't a before sleep 'I love you'. Instead, it's some kind of pre-emotional outburst 'I love you'. Why will this woman not let me sleep?

"Maka, don't worry about it. I'm not worried about it."

"I'm not worried about it. I just don't think it's fair."

"Life isn't fair and what Avian Flu thinks of me isn't any skin off my nose. I'd rather have them hate me than like me."

"Why would they think I belong with Justin Law?"

"Cause they have a twisted sense of humor? How the hell should I know? Go to sleep."

She gives me a chaste kiss on the lips and I hug her. "Don't let it get to you, ok? Nothing is going to happen to me and they can make up all kinds of asinine theories about my conception. Frankly, I don't give a damn. What is important is that you and I are together and safe and we will do everything in our power to keep it that way. Ok?"

She nods and I feel something wet on my face. I open my eyes. She's crying.

"Maka, what has you so upset?"

"If they get me I'll be like Black*Star. Even if they don't kill you they'll delete you from my memory."

I sigh. I have to tell her something I'd rather not admit out loud. "Maka, don't tell Black*Star I said this, but he's not exactly the brightest bulb on the candelabra. He's more of a meister by default than a meister with mental acuity like you and Kid. I think you would have a much better chance of standing up to their manipulation. Besides, Black*Star and Tsubaki like each other, but they aren't us. I don't believe there is any force in the universe that could make you and I forget one another."

The tears are coming harder now. "Oh, that's so romantic, Soul."

"It won't be some day when you dump me. Then you'll be begging to forget me."

"Oh, I'm never going to do that," she says softly, her lips mere millimeters from mine. We kiss and all I can think is that I hope she's right. I hope she never does leave me and I hope we never forget how nice it felt to be here like this together lying face to face in one another's arms kissing.

"Soul…" it's only my name, but it's a question. I know it is.

"I'm too tired."

"It doesn't feel like you're too tired."

"That just happens whenever we kiss. Don't worry about it."

"Every time we kiss?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

She is silent for a moment. "I'm too tired, too," she says sounding very disappointed.

I pat her on the back. "Don't worry I'll give ya a raincheck, I promise."

Our lips caress one another one last time before our eyelids droop and we both fall asleep.

There is a knocking at the door and I realize that Maka and I forgot to set an alarm to wake us up to meet with Kid. I shout that I'll be there in just a minute and to come in and Tsubaki enters.

"Hey, Kid said I should come wake you guys up. Did you have a nice nap?"

I nod. "I could use another ten or twelve hours, though."

She laughs. "At least your room is quiet. I'm in with the kids and they are chatterboxes."

Maka looks sad. "I'm sorry, Tsubaki. You could take the upper bunk in here."

Tsubaki shakes her head. "No, it's ok. I need to supervise the kids and other students and, no offensive, but I'd rather not be around too many couples right now."

Maka and I nod and follow Tsubaki out and next door to Kid's compartment. His room is a little larger than ours, probably a deluxe suite or something with a table that can fold down from the walls. There are piles of documents everywhere and Kid looks like hell. The bed is currently positioned like a couch and he is hanging off the seat upside down.

"Thank you all for coming," he says. Then he rotates his head to take in the room. "Patti, where is Liz?"

"She's probably talking to Rodrigo."

"Rodrigo?"

"The steward who helped the two of us bring all the papers in here."

"Oh, him," Kid says quickly. "Wait, he doesn't speak a word of English."

"It doesn't matter. Some things can be expressed in any language."

Kid sits upright and wobbles a little as the blood that has pooled in his head rushes back down his body. "What are you saying?"

"He caught her checking out his ass when he was setting down the boxes."

"And…?"

"And…you know sis. She has needs."

"What?!" Kid looks repulsed.

Patti shrugs. "I'm sure she'll be here in a minute or two. She would never miss out on an assignment just to have sex."

Kid begins to twitch all over as though he is experiencing some kind of spasm.

"Are you telling me that Liz is probably having sex with one of the stewards right now?"

Patti looks at her timepiece. "Either that or wrapping it up. Hard to know. Depends on how much foreplay this guy-"

Kid's eyes have grown to be the size of saucers and the twitching has increased. "She just met him! He's a complete stranger! He doesn't even speak the same language as her."

"Oh, Kid, you're so naive sometimes. It's just sex," Patti says. "Do you want me to go find her? Would that make you feel better?"

"No," he says crossing his arms. "It would not. Because I don't feel bad in any way. Why would I?"

"Because you'd rather it was you."

"Now see here! I would not! I just think it is inadvisable to sleep with a strange man you just met."

Patti shrugs again. "She's not like you, Kid. She actually does something about her needs. At home she might just take matters into her own hands so to speak, but she can't very well do that with you around so-"

"So, Liz skipping out on an important strategy meeting with other DWMA students is my fault because I don't somehow ensure she has enough orgasms?"

Patti walks over to Kid and sits on his lap and pats his knees. "I'm so glad you understand. I was worried you might not get it since you're doing such a good job of waiting for the right person," she says while she smiles adoringly at her meister's face.

"Get off of me," Kid orders gruffly.

"Why?"

"Because I'm going to get your sister," he says with a determination I have only seen from him when taking down a demon. "She should not be out there with some random stranger doing Shinigami only knows what."

"Because she should be here doing it with you," Patti says smiling.

Distracted, the reaper shouts back, "Precisely!" but then catches his slip-up a moment too late. Throwing up his hands, he backpedals, "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that she should be here with us in our meeting, and-" He opens the door and, still looking back at Patti, collides with Erika.

"Oh, hi, Kid. You're just the man I was looking for. I just wanted to come and make sure you didn't need anything. I'd be happy to help…with anything…anything…at all." She says it in a voice that conveys that anything encompasses all manner of bawdy activities. Kid says nothing but steps to his left trying to pass her, but she steps that way too.

"Oh, Kid, I didn't know you liked to dance so much," she laughs as he grumbles.

"Erika, could you please excuse me, I'm trying to-"

We hear Liz's voice coming from the hall. "Excuse me, Erika. My meister and I have an important meeting. Don't you and Lydia have some activities you should be doing with the little ones?" She shoves her way past the pushy underclassman which is a trick since LIz has a duffle bag on her back. KId steps backward to let her into the room as Erika continues to stand in the doorway looking confused.

Turning back to the other weapon Liz says, "Erika, get lost, ok? How many times does Kid have to tell you he's not interested? Don't make him have to tell you again," Liz says and she slides the door shut in front of Erika and pulls the privacy shade down. Liz turns around and observes Kid looking even more frazzled than he did when we first arrived for the meeting.

"Kid, are you ok? She didn't grope you did she?"

He mumbles, "Garbage, failure, excuse of a man…piece of garbage…"

She raises her eyebrows, "That's what I was afraid of. Here." She opens her bag and tosses Kid a skateboarding magazine. "I got this for you at the depot. Sorry I didn't give it to you to look at during rest hour, but somehow Freddy's bag and mine got swapped so I had to go hunt down Rodrigo to help me figure out where my duffle was-"

"Enough!" Kid says with great agitation. "I don't need to hear it."

"Sooorrreee, Kid. I didn't realize it would be such a big deal to be a couple minutes late."

"You didn't tell me where you were going," he says.

"You were meditating. I didn't want to disturb you."

Patti interrupts, "Um, guys. I think we should talk about all of this later. Like sometime when Maka and Soul and Tsubaki aren't all here, ok?"

Liz and Kid suddenly seem to become aware that they've been doing all of this in front of an audience and they each grab the nearest file folder and open it in front of their faces.

"Right, now to learn…stuff," Kid says clearly having lost his mojo due to his lady issues. "Uh…" he stumbles and then says, "Right, uh, we need to study all these files to learn what they know about us and what they are trying to accomplish by indoctrinating students, etc. We cannot make more mistakes like the ones made today."

Liz lowers the file folder shielding her face, "Kid, things didn't go exactly hiccup free, but things could have gone a lot worse."

"What happened to Robin is my fault. We should have been more cautious in approaching those being held, we should have initiated quarantine immediately. That's what my father would have done."

Liz sits down beside him and strokes his leg. "You're being too hard on yourself. Robin got hurt, but he's going to be fine. We killed every enemy in the compound and we got a ton of information on their philosophies and plans. It was a victory."

He grunts. "I have two weapon/meister teams that can't function together."

"Black*Star makes Tsubaki cry even without the help of Avian Flu," Patti offers. "You've got to understand that sometimes that's part of the journey." She sits down crisscross apple sauce beside him and kisses the side of his face. "You make me cry, too, you know."

Kid appears startled and turns to look at her, obviously having his mind pulled from whatever self-loathing he was in the midst of. "I make you cry? You?"

She shrugs. "It just happens sometimes."

Kid turns his head and studies her face. "Well, will you please tell me next time I do something that hurts you, because I don't remember us ever fighting."

"All you guys do is fight," I comment.

"That's different," Liz says watching Kid and Patti as they stare at one another.

"Well, let's get to work," Tsubaki says picking up a file and tossing one to each of the rest of us and we set to work hoping that we can piece together what those crazy Avian Flu people are up to.