Harsh Realities

by kerianne

The third story in the Fire and Ice arc. Here's where it gets weird, kiddies. ^^;;;

3. Three

Author: Kerianne
Email: mpike@froggernet.com
Title: Harsh Realities (2/?)
Spoilers: None
Warnings: Language, a wee bit of violence, and an utterly crackhead plotline. ^^;;;
Author's Notes: Finally a bit of explanation in this part. There will probably only be one more part after this. Sorry about leaving everyone on a cliffhanger... hehe I'll try to get the next part out as soon as I get over my damn writer's block.

Chapter 3:

"Why did we agree to drive with him?" Yohji muttered to Ran, both of them looking slightly green as Schuldig's car swerved into another sharp turn.

"Because he's the only one who knows where we're going," Ran replied under his breath. After leaving Ken and Omi in charge of the shop, the two Weiss assassins had agreed to follow their former enemy, but only after Ran had quite vocally informed him of the various states of pain he would end up being in at the end of a certain katana if he turned out to be leading them into a trap.

"You boys have a problem with my driving?" The redhead smirked at them in the rearview mirror. "I could slow down, I suppose... You know, I wonder what they're doing to her right now.... They've probably got her tied up somewhere, or maybe they're--"

"Just drive," Ran growled, complaints forgotten as another wave of worry for his imouto washed over him.

"Good." Schuldig stepped on the gas again, letting the car shoot forward way over the speed limit. He wasn't exactly worried about getting a ticket, considering all he needed to do was tweak a few things in the policemen's minds and they'd never remember seeing him. Being a telepath did have its advantages.

About ten minutes later, Schuldig abruptly stopped the car in front of a large, industrial-looking building. "This is the place," he said brusquely, unlocking the doors, and all three passengers clambered out.

The place looked like a factory, or some sort of plant. Tall smokestacks rose against the darkening sky, puffing opaque black clouds into the air. As they neared the entrance, they caught sight of a large sign that read _____ LABORATORIES.

"Oh, lovely," Yohji muttered. "What're they planning to do, use her for a lab rat?" He shut up quickly after catching sight of Ran's patented deathglare.

They made it all the way up to the door before a guard stopped them. "Excuse me, sir, may I see some--" He stopped short, giving a soft, strangled cry before collapsing to the ground like a rag doll. Schuldig gave a serene smile, lifted the man's limp body, and carried him over to the door, where a fingerprint-scanning device was the only thing standing between them and entrance. The telepath lifted the unconscious guard's arm and pressed his thumb to the keypad.

"Access granted," said a soft, female computerized voice, and the doors slid open.

Ran raised an eyebrow, following Schuldig and Yohji into the building. "Not bad."

Maneuvering around the building turned out to be a bit of a challenge. The places was set up like a maze, full of seemingly endless corridors and hallways that all looked exactly the same. Early in their exploration, Schuldig had managed to knock out three scientists and steal their lab coats without anyone noticing, so at least they blended in.

"This is hopeless," Yohji said finally, after they had wandered around for about twenty minutes. "The place is huge. It could take days to find her. Schuldig, can you pick up any thoughts about her whereabouts?"

The telepath shook his head. "Too many people, I can't find one to focus on. We're going to have to find someone to interrogate. Find someone who looks important and get their attention, I'll do the rest."

That someone turned out to be the first fairly important-looking person they came across, a scientist whose name tag read "Dr. Hayami". Yohji hurried up to the man, mind racing as to what he ought to say. "Sir, we have a hull breach on Level 2," he blurted, hoping he sounded fairly official.

Dr. Hayami peered at the assassin severely behind horn-rimmed glasses. "What on earth are you talking about, young man, there is no Level 2 here!" His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I don't think I've ever seen you here before..."

Yohji punched him in the face.

"Smooth move, Kudou," Schuldig hissed, melting out from behind a doorway and dragging the semiconscious scientist into the room he had just exited.

"You've got your man, don't you?" Yohji muttered, following the other assassin into the room.

Schuldig propped Hayami up in a chair, then closed his eyes in concentration. He opened them a moment later and swore softly in irritation. "He's got some sort of mental block up. I don't know what it is-- it's not like anything I've ever seen before. I can get into his mind, but only partway."

Leaning forward, he slapped the man briskly across the face. Hayami's eyes came suddenly into focus, and he gave a little gasping cry. "Fujimiya Aya. Where is she?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hayami's gaze was steely, and he glared at Schuldig with utter contempt. This earned him another sharp crack across the face.

"I said, where is she?"

Yohji watched his former enemy interrogate the scientist, frowning slightly. He would have imagined that Schuldig would enjoy this sort of thing, glean some sort of sadistic pleasure from torturing this man. But instead, he looked grave, serious, singleminded. Kind of like the look Yohji saw in Ran's eyes sometimes, especially when it came to his sister.

An odd thought occurred to Yohji then, but before he had a chance to fully consider it, he was distracted by a loud cry of pain from Hayami. Apparently the scientist's mental block wasn't strong enough to prevent Schuldig from twisting and squeezing his mind to cause pain.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time," Schuldig snapped in an intense, dangerous tone. "Where... is.... she?"

The scientist choked. "Let... let me go and I'll take you to her..." A moment later he slumped bonelessly in the chair, breathing hard. It was clear that the telepath had, for the moment, relinquished his hold.

True to his word, Hayami (once he managed to catch his breath and get to his feet) meekly led the three assassins through the twisting corridors of the labs. Their journey ended in front of an unmarked door in a small side hallway.

Schuldig turned back to Hayami. "We're going in. Keep watch."

Apparently, the momentary lack of a painful mental presence had given the scientist a certain amount of courage. "I don't know who the hell you and your friends think you are, but I'm not going to risk my job any longer to aid you in whatever criminal scheme you're trying to pull--" He broke off, uttering a faint cry as he fell to his knees.

"Okay, so we'll do without a watchdog," Schuldig muttered, shrugging as he stepped over Hayami's unconscious form and opened the door.

Exchanging glances, Yohji and Aya followed their former enemy inside.

The room was small and just as unmarked as the door that led into it, bare white walls interrupted only by a small window with a lovely view of the parking lot and storage tanks for chemicals. It was occupied by a single bed, which was surrounded by machines that looked almost like the life-support equipment at the hospital. Ran's stomach flipped over at the thought, and he rushed over to take a look at the occupant of the bed. Yohji and Schuldig were close behind.

"Imouto..." Ran murmured, reaching out to brush a stray lock of hair off his sister's forehead. I didn't think I'd ever have to see you like this again. She looked exactly as she had while in the coma, peaceful and silent, almost as if she was sleeping.

"Maybe she really is sleeping this time," Schuldig said softly, and Ran whirled around, anger at having his privacy invaded burning in his eyes. The anger soon turned to confusion when he noticed the thoughtful, faraway expression on the telepath's face.

"These don't seem to be life-support machines," the former Schwarz member continued, ignoring Ran's scrutiny. "She seems to be breathing normally... It looks more like these are monitoring her brain waves, for some reason. See, she's got those sensors on her forehead...." He stared down at the slight, unmoving form on the bed for a few moments. "My best guess would be that they have her in some kind of permanent sleep... sort of a forced coma." Without looking up, he sensed Ran's sudden tension, and continued, "We should be able to get her out of it. The only question is, how."

"Disconnect the machines?" Yohji suggested.

Schuldig shook his head. "If her mind is connected to them, we'll be shutting her off as well. It might kill her. We can't risk it."

Yohji frowned, half genuinely confused and half irritated with the telepath's know-it-all attitude. "Since when do you care about risks?"

"Since now." The clipped, brusque answer was clearly all Yohji was going to get out of Schuldig, who immediately returned his gaze to Aya's still figure. "Maybe..." he murmured, mostly to himself. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully, then snapped back up to Yohji and Ran. "You two, go out and grill Hayami for information. He should be waking up soon. I don't think he'll give you any trouble, but if he does, let him go and I'll fix things later."

"Wait a minute--" Ran protested, his brotherly instincts rejecting the idea of leaving his former enemy alone with Aya, especially considering their past together. But Yohji shot him a warning look, his own instincts telling a much different story, and dragged his friend out the door before he could make any more noise.

Schuldig, now the only conscious person left in the room, pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed. For a moment or two, he just looked at her, at her pale, composed face, the loose raven hair that clouded around her head. Jaded eyes took it all in, and bemusedly he asked himself one question: What the hell am I doing?

Then he sat back in the chair, closed his eyes, and proceeded to risk his mind, his sanity, and perhaps even his life, by merging his mind with Aya Fujimiya's.

* * * * *

Maybe I really *could* get used to this...

Her former apprehension all but gone, Aya smiled and settled into the warm embrace that invited her. It was nighttime, the kids were in bed, and now it was just the two of them. Exactly as she'd always imagined it, going back to that very first day she had met him. She had thought of a normal life for them as something ridiculous, a pipe dream, as implausible and unreachable a goal as wishing to win the lottery.

And now.... here it was.

Admittedly, it wasn't precisely what she'd expected. She hadn't planned on losing her memory, or being transported to an alternate universe, or whatever had happened to her. But maybe that really didn't matter, in the end. Maybe this was the only way she could possibly be with him... perhaps fate had intervened on her side, and delivered her her own little miracle.

"You're lost in thought." He spoke softly, directly into her ear.

"Why don't you just read my mind?" she teased.

"Very funny, liebe. You know I'm not a mind-reader."

Aya flinched a little at the words, another small reminder of the discrepancies between this life and her memories. "I was just... ahh... thinking about... you know, us."

"Good topic..." He sounded somewhat distracted, lips tracing a path down the side of her face. She allowed her eyes to drift shut, worries forgotten for the moment.

Then the doorbell rang.

Muttering something that sounded like German, Schu gently shifted her onto the couch and got up to answer the door. Aya followed; although she was no longer really worried about getting back "home", she still hoped the new visitor could provide some insight into her new surroundings.

She looked at the tall, red-haired, blue-eyed man standing on the doorstep.... then back at the tall, red-haired, blue-eyed man standing beside her, inside the house. After a few glances back and forth, she tossed up her hands and turned around to sit back down on the couch. "You know what, I'm not even going to ask anymore. This is just way too surreal. Somebody let me know when the twins have decided to go back to being one person, the way they're supposed to be."

The second Schuldig pushed his way past the first, who was looking rather perturbed, and came to stand in front of Aya. "I'm just as confused as you are, actually. If this is your dream, it's pretty fucked up."

"Well, at least you're acting like yourself," Aya muttered.

"In any case, I'm here to try and get you out of this."

"What is this, anyway? And how did you get here-- assuming you really are you, and not just another reasonable facsimile..." Aya flopped down into a reclining position, throwing one arm over her eyes. "I give up. I'm just gonna stay here until the world starts making some semblance of sense again."

"Well, if you'd like to hear my theory..." Without opening her eyes, Aya could tell he was smirking away as usual. For some reason, that was strangely comforting, rather than irritating as it usually was. He was the only thing in this crazy place she'd seen so far that was acting normal. "You might not remember at the moment, but you were kidnapped. Apparently you were taken to a laboratory. I'm not sure what they planned to do to you, but most likely it was some kind of grandiose take-over-the-world scheme, these things usually are." He paused a moment. "I'm guessing that they put you into a kind of forced coma, hooking you up to machines that would keep you in some nice, pleasant dream, so you'd never want to or try to awaken." He looked around, back to the first Schuldig, who was bitterly glaring at him, and laughed aloud. "This is the best fantasy you could come up with?"

Aya sat up, eyes narrowing. "If you came here to make fun of me--"

"Calm down, I didn't." He sat down beside her on the couch. "I came here to try to take you back. In order to... well, enter your dream, I guess you could say... I had to merge my mind with yours."

"Permanently?"

"Well... sort of. We already had some kind of connection, because I was able to hear your thoughts at the moment you were kidnapped without even seeking them out. This will probably just strengthen that."

Aya stared at him. "... Why?" she asked, after a moment of silence.

The redhead scowled. "Is that all you people ever ask? Why, why, why. Do I have to have a reason for everything I do?"

"I suppose not," Aya answered, a faint smile crossing her face.

Schuldig didn't answer. The momentary silence was soon broken by the first Schu. "I don't know who you are, or why you look like me, but I'd appreciate it if you'd get out of my house. Aya is not feeling well as it is, and she doesn't need this kind of overstimulation."

Schuldig number two snickered and turned back to Aya. "Just as I thought-- I can't read his mind. There's nothing there. My little clone over there is nothing but an electronic impulse in your mind."

"Maybe you're not real either," she challenged.

He smiled. "Oh, no. I'm real." The words stirred up memories within her that made her blush, having exactly the effect on her that he had expected. "I'll prove it to you. All you have to do is wake up."

Aya blinked, and suddenly she knew she could, if she wanted to, all she had to do was open her eyes, and this whole surreal situation would be gone. She could go back to her brother, her friends...

... back to Schuldig being his usual sarcastic, cynical, cruel self. Leaving behind the one who loved her, the one who she had married, had children with, the one with whom she could finally have that normal, peaceful, calm life she'd wished for.

"Children?" The horrified expression on his face would have been amusing, had she not been grappling with such a difficult choice. His tone soon shifted to a more serious one. "Aya, you can't consider staying here-- staying like this. If nothing else, think of your physical form, back in the real world. Who knows what those doctors plan to do to you?"

"You're not going anywhere, Aya." The first Schuldig stepped up to stand beside the second one, making her a little dizzy, as though she was seeing double. "Especially not with him. He doesn't appreciate you the way I do."

"He's not even real."

"He'll never treat you with the respect you deserve."

"Aya, you have to come with me... think of your brother!"

"This man is lying to you. Your brother is here, so am I, and if you go with him, you'll lose everything."

"If you stay here, you'll lose any opportunity to ever live a normal life again!"

"I love you. Please stay with me."

She was desperately trying to keep up, gaze bouncing between the two Schuldigs as if she were watching a tennis match. But the last statement made her stop, her eyes settling on the one who had said it, hoping for a split second that it had been the real Schuldig.

The one she wasn't looking at snickered a little. "Right. As if I'd ever be that sappy."

Aya's spirits sank, but she tried not to let it show. He was watching her carefully, and picked up on it, sighing faintly. "Listen, Aya. I know you're confused and everything, but you've got to make your decision. And if you have any brains in that pretty little head of yours, you'll choose to go back to real life."

She closed her eyes. "I... I don't know."

She heard him give a soft sound of irritation. "What is there to debate about?"

Gathering her courage, Aya opened her eyes and locked her gaze with his. "I suppose the only question here," she began softly, "is whether I want to live with an inferior simulation of you... or without the real thing."

The question seemed to catch him off-guard, and he took a while to answer, but his eyes never wavered from hers. "What if you could have the best of both worlds?"

Her eyes widened a fraction, and she bit her lip, not sure how to respond. "I... well, I... I guess I would..."

"Then come with me." He was speaking more seriously than she'd ever heard him speak before.

Taking a deep breath, she broke eye contact with him and looked around, at the beautiful little cottage. Imagining the way the rolling green hills looked during the daytime, the bright eyes of her "children", the blue of the sky and the warmth of the sun. She thought of the busy, familiar streets of Tokyo, the loyal affection her brother held for her beneath his stony facade, the friendly faces of Yohji, Ken and Omi. And finally her eyes returned to the two figures standing before her-- one a dull and flawless figment of her imagination, one real and perfectly flawed. One representing comfort, security, a constant and sure thing; one representing risks, uncertainty, with the possibility of a lot of excitement and, if she was lucky, maybe even a few dreams coming true.

She took another deep breath, stood up, and made her choice.

end chapter 3