I wrote this chapter in between making cranberry bread and decorating the Christmas Tree. Now I'm basking in the light from the tree, so forgive any undue warm fuzzies in the story.

Please make sure you reread the first chapter, as there's an added scene.

Chapter Two

Okay. I'm awake. Where am I? It doesn't smell right here. Look around. Mental inventory. Brad should be around here; no, that's Yohji. Wait a minute. Yohji? Yohji?

"Yeah. I'm here. Feeling better?"

Okay. Okay, sit up and open your eyes. This is ridiculous. Okay, I'm sitting up. In Yohji's room. I've never been here before, just seen it in his head. "What time is it?" Because that definitely looks like early morning light coming from the window.

"It's nine am. You slept for almost twenty-four hours."

"Oh."

"You know what the look on your face reminds me of?"

"What?" This is a test. I can tell. He's trying to see if I'll lose it again. When did I lose it in the first place, and what is it anyway?

"The look you had on your face when you woke up hung over, and found yourself next to me."

Why you little . . . "You were looking just a stupid as I was. And way more hung over."

He smiles, both with his eyes and his mind. I love that. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." I rack my brain for memory of some sort. All I can get is a cacophony of voices and that I'm really pissed at Brad. I know what all the voices mean, though. No shields. Come to think of it, they are kinda shaky right now. I'm getting echoes of everyone around me . . . Yohji, Soccer boy, the Kitten . . . Where's the Frozen Bitch? And last but not least . . . The little Genius. Wait wait wait. He's next to me. And he feels wrong. A little more memory. Brad aiming a gun at Nagi. Hearing the impact above Nagi and I. Running.

And this is Yohji's room. With two more members of Weiss hanging out close by. Man, pull it together.

"You sure?" He sits on the side of the bed, reaches out to touch me. I grab his hand. I can use no shields to my advantage. Sift through the concern, past the normal thoughts. I'm looking for memories of me. There. And I watch it all from his point of view.

Smack. "Ow." I look up at him, dropping his hand. He hit me.

"You could have asked." He's mad. "I would have told you."

He's right. I shouldn't have taken it from his mind like that. Sometimes it's hard to remember who my friends are. "Sorry."

"You know what I like about you?" He sits back. I'm forgiven.

"My stellar body?" He laughs. What I wanted to hear. I'm going to kill Brad.

"Besides that. I can always tell when you're being sincere. I can see it in your eyes." He pauses a moment. "So what happened last night? All of it."

I rub my head. A nervous gesture. Shields really aren't so great. "Maybe I should tell you all at once? Otherwise the Kitten and Ken will make me repeat it all."

"Oh, fine." He rolls his eyes and lights up a cigarette. I hate smokers. And I want one so badly. The question is one of what. A cigarette or a smoker? Particularly this smoker. Distraction. Right.

I'm wearing Yohji's shirt and my own boxers. Yohji's room. Nagi asleep next to me. Deal with that in a minutes. For now, look around. "Yohji, you are a slob."

"Oh, shut up. That's my bed you were sleeping in. Don't criticize." But he is a slob. Oddly enough, a slob with some sense of, I don't know, style. But that isn't really the right word. This place has a lived in, homey feel. Though it still looks good. But not the sort of thing I would associate with "style". I'm rambling. There are clothes trailing half-heartedly out of his closet. It's really amazing that he can present such a fine groomed image to the public. There is a wall swallowing bookcase, most of the shelves crammed with books, a few filled with small wooden boxes, a few photos and other obvious keepsakes. There is a huge bay window and, somehow typical to him, he has it crammed full of plants. Like he can't get enough at the day job. I think some are trying to crawl free of their pots. And his beloved orchids.

"Yohji, are you sure those plants won't eat you in the night?"

"They might eat you. They like me. They know who waters them."

"Feed me, Seymour. Feed me!'" He's giving me a blank look. I'm not sure whether the look is due to the quote or the English. Either way, it's endearing. "It's from an American movie called Little Shop of Horrors. There's a man eating house plant named Percy and its pushover owner." More blank looks. "Oh, never mind."

I flop back and look at him. I still have a headache. "You gonna tell us what's going on?" Yohji is trying to look stern. It's hard when his cute feet are bare, there is a hole in the left knee of his pants, and the pale green sweater is about three sizes too big.

"I'll tell you what I know."

"Well, then, get dressed, you lazy bum." He throws clothes at me. Yes, I was just smacked in the face with . . . a t-shirt. One of his t-shirts. His jeans too. Where are . . . yep, blood spattered. The image is right there on top of his thoughts. Almost hard to pull back. Shields still shaky. Clothes on. Right.

"Besides, we should get Nagi some breakfast." He's watching me dress. The disappointment is obvious.

"Let him sleep." Sleepers are always white noise. There but unobtrusive. Definitely still picking up Nagi static. God, my hair. Borrow hair brush. Must borrow . . .

"He's awake."

. . . hair brush. "He's what?!" I check again. Unordered sleep pattern. I step over to look at him. "Nagi?"

He really is awake. God, this is such a mess. Touch his mind. Glass gone. Smoothed out to sand. The sleepy thoughts focus a little. My name and face sift up through the sand. "Schu?"

"Yeah. It's me." Jesus. And all I can manage is to smooth back his hair. "How you feeling?"

More sifting. Self inventory. Very slow. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No."

Sketchy recall. Man, he's missing chunks of time. "You sure?" Even his voice is slow.

How to make him believe? Yohji tactfully left. And left a pile of clothes for Nagi. How to convince him? "Nagi, look at me. You didn't do anything wrong." He blinks. I can nearly see the words working their way in. "Want a hug?" He nods. He always likes physical affection. Never allowed himself to get it that often, though. I give him a hug and smooth his hair back again.

"Want breakfast?"

Another slow self inventory. "Yes."

"Then let's get you dressed." I pull the clothes over after letting go of him. Omi's cargo pants, I think. And a belt, thank God. Yeah, these are all the Kitten's clothes. I wonder how much Yohji had to beg to get them.

^^^^

Omi is a saint in disguise. The evidence of this just keeps mounting in favor of this. Out of all of us, I think he will be most likely to ascend to Heaven. And you can bet your last yen that I'll be clinging to his ankle, hoping to be towed along.

Why is he a saint? Well, he didn't kill anyone last night. Aya wouldn't have hesitated to decapitate our strange visitors, but no, Omi just grit his teeth and let it go. Now I head to the kitchen, dreading having to put my meager cooking skills to the test. But no, he's here ahead of me, rice in the steamer, stirring the miso and telling Ken to get on the stick and make coffee. I step into the kitchen to hear him snapping out another order. "Put some water on to boil."

"Why? We all drink coffee." Ken is dressed in sweat pants and a t-shirt. I don't know how he can go bare foot in the kitchen. Cold linoleum, makes me shudder just to think about it.

"We don't know if Nagi or Schuldig drink coffee." I sort of stop to watch. You learn a lot about what people think just by watching. Sometimes it's better than asking questions.

"What do you care?" Trust Ken to be blunt and to the point. I suppose that's one of the things I love about him. You always know where you stand and he doesn't hold undue grudges. That's better than I can say about myself.

"I refuse to be a bad host. Besides, they came here for help. Weiss is supposed to help people. Whether we like them or not. Right, Yohji-kun?" The little twit doesn't even turn around.

I should have known he knew I was standing here listening. At least he doesn't seem so pissed at me any more. "Thanks for making breakfast."

"I didn't want you poisoning all of us."

"Most charitable of you." Ah . . . here's Schu. Well, at least he doesn't want me dead any more.

I turn to look. He's leading Nagi by the hand. He's swimming in Omi's clothes. That's another reason Omi is a saint. I find a pile of his clothes outside my door this morning. Ken and Omi turn to watch them as they make their way into the room. Schu gives them that smirk of his, then pulls out a chair and settles Nagi down into it. We still have four chairs here, even though there are only three of us now.

The boy looks around at all of us, blinking. "Schu?"

"Yeah?" I notice that he is standing close to the boy.

"Are we supposed to be here?" Nagi's speech pattern is really slow. I mean, I will admit I've never really heard him speak, but I certainly got the impression from talking to Schu that he was pretty quick.

He usually is. But this is why I need you to take care of him. He can't think fast enough to tie his own shoes, let alone defend himself.

Omi starts setting out bowls of miso and rice. Ken starts pouring coffee. I stand like an idiot, but then I do that a lot. "Can Nagi have tea, please?" Schu asks.

"Told you so." Omi grins triumphantly at Ken, who grumbles.

"Schu . . ." It's a low plaintive tone.

"Right." I watch as Schu settles down on his heels in front of Nagi. "It's okay that we're here. They're friends now." He brushes hair out of the kid's face.

There is a long pause, then, "Why?"

"Because there is no reason for us not to be. You need to stay here with them for a while." Nagi blinks a few times and then nods.

"Hey! Don't . . ." Ken's sentence stops so suddenly that I know Schu must be talking to him silently. Confirmed by Ken's bug eyed expression. In his defense, it does feel pretty odd until you get used to it. But then, everything feels odd until you get used to it. Otherwise, we would never have to get used to anything.

Ken passes out coffee cups and settles a cup of tea in front of Nagi. "Careful, it's hot." And then thuds down into his own chair. Omi comes back into the room with a folding chair. I hadn't even noticed he had left. He opens it next to Nagi and then sets Schu's gun on the table.

Now they are playing some sort of trust game with each other. I sit and dish Nagi some rice and miso, watching them. Omi is the one that runs this operation, even if he is the youngest among us. It isn't my place to interfere here. I dish myself food as I watch Schu. Ken is understandably nervous. Omi did just arm the enemy, as far as he's concerned.

You'd think I was some sort of bomb waiting to go off.

Schu, it's not like you are the most stable person on the planet.

True. I start eating as he inspects his gun and then drops the clip of ammo out. The gun slips into the waist band of his jeans in the back and the bullets into a pocket. Omi nods approvingly. And settles into his seat.

Schu settles into his seat and gets a bowl of rice. He handles chopsticks like a native, but the involuntary nose wrinkle at the miso kills whatever illusion the skill might have given. Then again, his red hair should have prevented that in the first place. But still I have no room to criticize. The entire lot of us here have somewhat less than pure ancestry. I mean, really, who ever heard of a blonde Japanese? But Schuldig, he's pure European all the way.

"Damned straight."

"Schu?"

"Yes, Yohji-kun?"

He's a mocking little prick. "What the hell is the story here?"

"Right." He watches Nagi nibble at his food for a few minutes. Then he snaps his attention back to us. "Actually, I have no idea what's going on." He smiles brightly at us. It's enough to make you want to bang your head against a wall until you lose consciousness. That's overreacting just a bit there, babe. Might ruin your pretty face.

Schu, sometimes I hate you.

But this isn't one of those times. "Okay, what I do know. Bradley is playing some sort of game and I don't understand it yet, and until I do, Nagi needs a safe place to stay. You people are the only ones I can think of who could even think about keeping someone safe from Brad."

"Is Brad mad at me?"

"I don't know. But you didn't do anything wrong. Understand?" Schu looks so . . . brotherly. He reaches out to take hold of one of Nagi's shaking hands.

"What happened?"

"It's okay that you don't remember. Just let it go."

"But it was important!" Nagi is starting to come out of his lethargy a little. I'm not sure that's a good thing. Schu lets go of his hand and opens his arm to offer a hug. I feel like some sort of voyeur watching this.

You had best be watching. He'll need this from you, too. He pulls Nagi into a hug and sits the kid on his lap. I never actually realized how small Nagi really is. "Don't worry about it."

"But . . ." Man, he is really getting upset. The dishes on the table are starting to rattle.

"Nagi, look at me." The boy does and Schu catches hold of his chin. It's a gentle action, but one that forces Nagi to give him complete attention. "Do you trust me?" The boy nods a little without pulling away. "Then don't worry about it. It will all come back when it's ready. Okay?" The boy just looks at him. "Okay?" This time he gets another nod.

Schu told me once in a bizarre exchange of pillow talk that Esset gave him the code name of Mastermind. He then said that he thought our names were way better. There is no doubt in my mind that he deserves the title, but sometimes I think it all has very little to do with the fact that he is a telepath, and a lot more to do with the fact that he can just read people and their actions like an open book.

You do it too, you know.

I wouldn't have been able to calm Nagi down like that. And what you said will stick with him for days.

That's only because I know him. Look at Omi. Look how quickly he forgave you. I would have gotten myself killed by now.

Sure, Schu. That's just 'cause Omi doesn't want to have to break in someone new. Though I can't help but smile a little. This proves my point. He can play people the way Ken plays soccer.

Omi is nudging dishes back to a more secure location at the centre of the table. Nagi nearly rattled half of them right off.

"Besides, you guys owe him something, or do you think it was good luck that kept Esset's stupid building from crushing you. Or luck that you didn't drown." He lets us all think about that for a few minutes.

"I'll tell you more as soon as I know it." Omi gives him a funny look. "Okay, I'll tell you more as soon as I know it and it won't endanger the rest of Schwarz."

"Why do you care about them so much, when they just tried to . . ." Ken makes it clear that he means 'tried to kill Nagi' by pointing at the boy with his chin.

"Because you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family." Interesting. Where is Schu's family? I don't want to talk about it. Schwarz and you are all I have. Even more interesting. This would be a prime time to remind myself that curiosity killed the cat and I have a propensity for getting shot. "And speaking of family." My attention snaps back to Schu. "Where's the Frozen Bitch, anyway?"

There is a moment of silence, then, "Went to America for a while with his sister." Omi and I just look at him. "What?!" Ken can sound so indignant.

"Don't look at him that way. You were thinking it too," Schu says playfully. His arms are wrapped around Nagi, still in his lap, and he's peering around the boy, that obnoxious grin back on his face and bandage still covering the cut on his neck. "I gotta get going though."

Obviously Nagi doesn't like this much. The silverware starts to rattle again and he turns to get a handful of Schu's shirt. My shirt, actually.

"Nagi. Nagi, look at me." Schu pauses while the boy looks up to meet his eyes. "I'm coming back later. I promise. Okay?"

"Why can't you stay?"

"Because I need to get some of my headache medicine and then punch Brad in the head. In that order. I'll come back around dinner and bring some of your clothes and your laptop. Okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

And here I am thinking that have a panicky telekinetic floating around the place isn't a good thing. Schu. Damn, I hate having to wait for him to notice me, but I don't want to upset Nagi either. SCHU. Sometimes I would kill to be a telepath or something.

What? Don't shout. My head really does still hurt, you know.

Is Nagi likely to bring the place down around our ears if he hears a loud noise or something?

Good point. Let's find out. "Nagi. Can you get that spoon for me?" He points to the spoon on the counter that Omi was using to stir the miso. The four of us watch as Nagi slowly reaches a hand out and the spoon jitters, but doesn't come. He starts to look upset and everything else starts to jitter, but still no flying spoon. "It's okay." Schu pushes Nagi's hand back down so it's resting in his lap again. A minute or two later, everything settles down.

I'd say it's likely that he would bring it all down around your ears. He's not thinking quickly or clearly enough to have any sort of conscious control over his powers at all. He was like this when Brad first picked him up.

Um . . .

I can fix it. "Give me a few minutes of quiet, okay?" He lays a hand along Nagi's face and they both close their eyes. It reminds me of the Vulcan Mind Meld. Hell, for all I know, it might be just that, but we all sit there quietly. About ten minutes later Schu opens his eyes, looking kinda ill. "Man, that did not help my headache."

Nagi blinks his eyes open a moment later, puts a hand up to rub at them, like a little kid just waking up. "Try and get that spoon for me again, okay?" Nagi nods and reaches his hand out again. This time not even a ripple. It was about as effective for him as it would be for me.

"It's gone." He blinks at Schu. It's sort of cute. I mean he has those huge owl eyes.

"I'll bring it back later, when we've got you back together again." He closes his eyes in a wince. "But now I really have to go and get something for this headache. Migraine level here." I would really love to know how he did that.

"You want some Advil?" Omi offers helpfully.

There's that smirk again. "Nah, I have some nice prescription stuff at home. I'll pop a few pills, pop Brad in the head, take a very long nap and be back tonight." He scootches Nagi back on to his feet. And then stands himself, and wobbles a little.

"I'll call you a cab."

"Thanks. Oh, and where's my coat?"

"I'll get that to. And I'll see if I can save your shirt." It was expensive. Shows you how well he usually does his job. He can afford to wear name brand dress shirts to kill in, resting assured that they won't be ruined.

"Just throw it out. I can afford a new one."

Oh . . . sometimes I hate him. He's three years younger than me and makes twice as much. The little fink. I call the cab and get his coat. When I come back he's reloading his pistol and telling Nagi that he's sure we have books or something for him to read.

He then swings the coat on, which manages to look good even over jeans and a t-shirt, and saunters jauntily out the back door to wait for the cab.

^^^^

I stole Yohji's spare pack of cigarettes. He always keeps a spare. Cautious guy. The cab ride was hell; too many people and that last little stunt with Nagi turned the minor headache I had into a migraine nightmare. I can feel my fucking heart beat in my temples.

I just want some of my headache medicine. And a cigarette. I had one on the car ride over. It helped. Made me feel all light. Still coughed a lot, though. That hurt. Unlock door. Stumble in. I am so unsteady right about now. I hate these headaches. I used to get them a lot more often. I mean, I always got them when I was little. Some people just did. I think I inherited it from my mom. She used to get them. She always knew exactly what to do for me when I got them.

God, Brad has music playing. It's like a red strobe light behind my eyes. Find it. Turn it off. Silence. The headaches got worse when Esset started training me to use my gift. No mother to comfort me anymore.

Kitchen. Bottle of pills. Swallow it dry. Getting a drink takes too much time. It was Brad that first took me to a doctor for them.

Brad. Right. Oh, look, here he is.

"Took you long enough to get here."

Punch Brad. Satisfying thunk from his face. The bastard didn't even look surprised. Asshole saw it coming. And yet didn't try to block me. He must know he deserves it.

Step over him and head to my room. He's resettling his glasses. I should close the curtains. Never mind, I can put a pillow over my head. That's way better; the meds kick in quick. Well, they at least start to work quick.

Oh, someone is closing my curtains for me. I am so not loosening my shields enough to see who it is. Only two choices anyway. Farf, but he was less than lucid last night, so I'm not holding out much hope for today. Or Brad. But I just decked him.

You know, I'll figure it all out tonight. When my brain isn't trying to leave my head. Ooohh . . . same someone is taking off my shoes and putting a blanket over me. Must be Fearless Leader. Farf is the sort of guy that might think of the blanket, but not the shoes. According to him you need warmth, but comfort, nah, that's for the birds.

I wish I could stop thinking. A byproduct of too many thoughts. Too many people. I wish I could figure Brad out. Or at least figure out how he sees us. I understand Nagi. Have that kid pegged. Farf nearly so. Yohji, well, he's Yohji. And to them I'm the big brother, loud mouth, lover. I can look into their eyes and see myself. Looking into Brad's is like looking into one of those windows. The kind they have at doctors' offices. When they want to watch you and not let you know it.

I remember because Mama took me to the doctor once and he did that. Watched me through the window/mirror. But I watched him and myself through his eyes. Mama said she was mad at me later when I told her. But inside she sort of thought it was funny.

I miss her. I wonder if she's still alive?

Sleep. Good meds Brad got me.

^^^^

Right. Awake. Beat alarm till it bleeds. Wait. Alarm? I didn't set the alarm. Ooooh, Brad, you're pissing me off. I can feel my eyes bugging out in fury. Where is he? Still can't really use my powers. Manpower. Come on, feet.

Not in his room, not the living room. Still no music. That's good. My head still hurts, but at least it isn't blinding pain. A plus, really. Ah yes, the kitchen. Brad is such a caffeine addict. Dinner coffee, I call this.

"So how much of this did you have planned?" I lean in the doorway, precisely the way I did two days ago. Christ, that seems like eons ago even if that is a cliché.

"Quite a bit. I worked it all out so that the least amount of damage would be caused to the team."

"So Nagi was an acceptable sacrifice?" Seething. I'm seething. Seeing red. There I go with the clichés again. Though there is a nice bruise on his jaw. Yay. See me cheer.

"He's alive, isn't he? And out of my reach, so he will remain alive. I have neither the time or resources to remove him from the protectors you've chosen." He sips his coffee, the smug fuck. "So all in all, everything worked out."

"He's nearly crazy!"

"Have I ever done anything to hurt the team before?" Brad is the master of flat affect.

"Takatori. Nine iron, my ribs?" Ring any bells, you smug fuck?

"Unavoidable. And you brought that down on yourself."

"Brad, darling, that was eighty percent Farfie, and as much as he is growing on me like some sort of fungus, he is crazy and I can't always control that. And now that I think about it, I'm really lucky that Omi didn't slit my throat when he had the chance last night!" Seething. This is making my head pound.

"Schuldig, let me assure you, I am not trying to hurt anyone." Grrrrr. That's all I can think of to say. So I say nothing, because Grrrrr sounds stupid. He's standing up and scooping up his suit coat from where it was draped over the back of his chair. "Now if you will excuse me, I have somewhere to be." He brushes past me. A brief moment of static. "Oh, and don't forget Turtle."

Right. Packing Nagi's stuff. Step one: list. Oh, the front door, Brad is leaving. "Bradley, I hate you!" Okay I'll admit it was childish. Pen, paper . . . list. Laptop, Turtle, clothes, pj's, hairbrush . . . Step two. Actually pack his stuff.

^^^^