Title: Cold November Rain [part 10/?]
Book 1 of "Redirecting Destiny" and prequel to "Romantic Resolutions"
Author: Enigma
Series: Weiss Kreuz
Written: January, 2002
Rating: R
Pairings: (Yohji + Ken + Aya) (Omi + Nagi) (Brad + Schu)
Category: Dark! Yaoi Angst Action/Adventure Violence Blood Squick Language Romance. AU-OOC.
Archive: fanfiction.net [author: "E-sama the Llama"], Scripta Manent: http://digilander.iol.it/sakaba/Home.html
Spoilers: None, safe for new viewers as well as old.
Warnings: dark! yaoi, heavy angst, action/adventure, graphic violence, large quantities of blood, squick: medical and other, coarse language, agonized and overwrought romance, rare touches of sap, cigarettes, destiny, cruel cliffhangers, original characters. AU-OOC.
Disclaimer: "Weiss Kreuz" is the property of Koyasu Takehito and Project Weiss. This unauthorized work of fanfiction is intended for entertainment only; kindly do not sue me.
Notes: When Ken falls in battle, how can the other members of Weiss cope with the guilt and blame that they all seem to share and will he survive in spite of the odds against him?
++ date and time reference within the storyline beginning with the day of the battle ++
{{telepathic speech}}
*****
++ day: 1. time: 1105-1150 hours ++
*****
While Omi and Nagi were on their way back to the hospital to join the others in their vigil as Ken's surgery continued, an annoyed female Kritiker agent stalked into the waiting room muttering something about some people needing to keep their opinions to themselves.
After tossing a small package at Yohji which the lanky man caught without looking up, Manx complained bitterly, "Don't *ever* ask me to do that for you again, Balinese!"
Less than innocent jade green eyes peered at her over the rim of sunglasses and Yohji asked, "What's the matter, Manx? Did they card you or something?"
Aya watched disinterestedly and in the back of his mind he wondered if that joke might've made a certain brunette smile or even chuckle in that endearing way Ken had when he wasn't paying attention. Deciding the former soccer player probably would have and then further pondering whether or not he'd get the chance to hear it again anytime soon, the scarlet-haired swordsman only succeeded in making himself feel more depressed and he wiped his thoughts blank, since feeling nothing was better than feeling pain.
"No," the angry redhead snarled, then gazed at her perfectly manicured nails as if they were far more interesting than the rakishly handsome former playboy in front of her and snapped, "I got a lecture from some damned hospital volunteer about how those things are going to kill me. When I explained they weren't for me but for some idiotic man, the dumb bitch at least cut me some slack and I got the hell out of there, but still! She's right, those disgusting things are going to give you cancer, Kudou."
Her glare meant less than nothing as Yohji laughed mirthlessly and shook his head as he tore the plastic wrapper off the pack and began prying open the lid. "Fuck that, Manx," he remarked peevishly, "I'm a goddamned *assassin*! Did you think I was *planning* on living much past twenty-five? Hell, it's a miracle I made it to twenty-two!"
"You never know," the woman conceded, then glanced at Aya before adding, "I thought at least *one* of you wasn't suicidal. Guess I was wrong."
The blond man rose fluidly intending to take advantage of the arrival of a new supply of nicotine to relax a bit, but his thoughts were dark and sadly hopeful as he contemplated the fact that if his two lovers ever asked him to quit smoking, he might consider it. However, as long as they never said anything and his life remained a seemingly unending angst-fest, he'd remain a tobacco user, it settled his thoughts. Besides, in Yohji's own considered opinion, he looked sexy with a smoldering cigarette dangling from his hand while at a club or even poised on his lips while lounging against a wall during a stakeout.
"She's got a point, you know," Aya muttered quietly, glancing up from the arms crossed over his chest to gaze at the older of his two lovers with an unreadable expression on his face.
Yohji stopped in his tracks, shocked that the violet-eyed man had spoken up at all much less that he'd done so on the side of reason for a change. But before he could discover what exactly Aya was trying to get at, an exhausted, blood-spattered man walked into the waiting room and sat down heavily in one of the chairs, a woebegone look on his face.
"Dr. Egami?" Manx inquired with sudden concern, standing and approaching the man as if being closer might make the news he bore easier to cope with. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Yohji rushed towards the man and demanded, "Is it about Ken?! Is he all right?!"
Aya, too, had risen to his feet, preferring to face whatever new crisis had arisen able to move quickly if he needed to yet not asking what was obviously on all of their minds.
The physician ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and shook his head tiredly before answering, "He's not dead, if that's what you're afraid of…"
"That's good!" Manx interrupted.
"…not yet, anyway," the surgeon finished not even bothering to cast an annoyed look at the agitated woman. He took a deep breath, then sat forward to rest his elbows on his knees and he explained, "That boy must have the heart of a lion to have survived as long as he has, but I'm not sure how much longer we can keep him alive. The operation has hit snag after snag, we're low on blood, my team is tiring, and there's just not much left we can do for him."
"What do you mean?" Aya asked in a dangerous voice, fists tightly clenched at his sides and back ramrod straight. If the doctors were considering stopping what they were doing in their efforts to save the life of someone that Abyssinian loved, they had best give it more thought if they didn't want a very angry assassin in their midst.
Egami shrugged and looked up at the glowering man and answered, "I *mean*," he said the words slowly hoping to defuse the scarlet-haired man's anger, "we're doing all that we can for him and will keeping doing so, but it's difficult. We're having a hard time keeping him from slipping away from us and if nothing changes, he won't survive the surgery. Even if he *does* make it through, however, I wouldn't want to predict whether or not he'd last 24 hours in the intensive care unit afterwards."
To the physician's amazement, Yohji suddenly leaned down and grabbed his blood-streaked scrubs and yanked him to his feet, growling, "He *will* survive the surgery, damn it all! Ken's strong, you said so yourself! If *you* give up, then there's no chance he'll make it, so stop talking like this!"
Stunned black eyes peered at the man who dared to manhandle him and grew wider still as a pale hand dropped onto Yohji's shoulder and Aya urged quietly, "Let him go, Yohji. He's only trying to warn us about what could happen."
Agonized emerald eyes turned to gaze at amethyst ones as if searching for a deeper sense of confidence in the situation and not receiving it. After releasing the doctor's clothes with an angry snort, Yohji growled, "Either way, I don't care for his attitude. They say patients in surgery pick up on stuff like this and if Ken thinks the people in that room expect him to die he might do just that."
"No, he won't," Aya insisted quietly, feeling more than a little out of his depth trying to offer comfort and reassurance under the circumstances as he added, "You know the only people he ever listens to are you, me, and Omi. As long as he doesn't hear it from one of us, Ken should be okay."
"Since when are you so optimistic?" Yohji asked incredulously, the astonishment of hearing Aya's words helping to erase a little of his anger with the surgeon who simply stood and waited to see what the outcome of their discussion would be.
The man had actually come into the room to discuss whether or not Ken was a registered organ donor since the operation was going so poorly, but as he reflected on the interchange between the two men, he decided it was a matter that could wait.
Sighing and shaking his head slowly, Aya answered, "I'm *not* an optimist, Yohji, you know that. This is more a matter of being a realist. Ken's not going to let anyone other than one of us tell him to quit and we'll see to it that he gets every lucky break he can get, all right?"
"All right," Yohji agreed then frowned as he asked the physician, "Can you give us an estimate for how much longer this is going to take? You mentioned your team was getting tired, I'd hate to see him not make it because your people needed a break."
Egami looked at him for a moment, wondering why he'd ask that when he'd already told them what a nightmare the whole thing had become, then answered honestly, "We could be finished in a couple of hours or it could be well into the afternoon, there's no way to tell. Either way, I have a second surgical team on standby and if it gets to be too much later, they'll prep and take over from us. If that happens, I'll see to it that you get a chance to talk to the head of the group before they start. I intend to stay involved as well, so I hope you will remain patient as we try our best to return him to full health one way or the other."
Manx cleared her throat authoritatively before answering for them all, saying, "Of course, doctor. I'm sure my associates didn't mean to be disrespectful and we appreciate your efforts. We won't keep you any longer."
"Very well," the man said then turned to look at Yohji once more, an expression of sadness and fear having replaced the anger in jade eyes. The surgeon added reassuringly, "We really will do our best for him, son. You went to some pretty extreme lengths to get him to us for treatment and we won't do any less trying to see to it that he gets everything he needs."
"Thanks," Yohji accepted the man's words yet his thoughts were echoing with what had been said earlier and he felt as if he was hearing the encouraging words from the bottom of an empty well.
The room lapsed back into silence as Manx followed the physician from the room intending to see if there was anything her connections through Kritiker and beyond could do to help with the blood supply problems the man had mentioned.
Aya was uncertain what to do next, his attempts to bolster his lover's confidence having left him with an odd sensation in his chest that he couldn't quantify.
Yohji was fumbling with the pack of cigarettes again as the need for nicotine cried out within him. He'd succeeded at pulling one free and stuffing it between his lips when a welcome voice destroyed his plan to go back to the smoking area he was becoming a bit too familiar with.
"Aya-kun? Yohji-kun? We're back," Omi's usually chipper voice was an octave lower than normal, sadness and remorse having a profound effect on everything about him as he stepped into the room wearing the same surgical scrubs as before yet looking damp and miserable.
"Omiitchi!" Yohji greeted happily, sticking the cigarette over one ear and moving to wrap the teen in a warm and protective hug totally ignoring the sodden nature of the smaller blond's clothes. After giving him a good hard squeeze that silently spoke of the abiding brotherly love he felt for the boy, he added quietly, "Damn, I'm glad to see you, bishounen! When you took off earlier, I thought I was going to go nuts! Are you okay?"
Omi sighed tiredly and knew he wasn't going to pretend that everything was fine when it wasn't, but said simply, "I'll survive, Yohji-kun." He closed his eyes briefly and leaned into the embrace, glad for a moment's respite before inquiring about their teammate's progress.
Even as the eldest and youngest Weiss assassins greeted one another, Aya stepped past them both to approach the Schwarz psychic hand outstretched in welcome and gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Nagi, for bringing Omi back to us."
Midnight blue eyes widened in surprise. The scarlet-haired man had always gone out of his way to avoid touching him previously as if to make contact was the same as accepting him fully into his trust. Yet here he was offering and Nagi gladly lifted his own hand in return as he said, "You're quite welcome, Aya-kun. Granted, I feel that it should be *me* thanking you and Yohji-kun both for contacting me earlier this morning. I was quite worried about Omi and Ken, so getting that IM saved me a lot of pain."
"That's what you mentioned on the computer earlier," Aya remarked as their hands separated and he crossed his arms thoughtfully before asking, "Why were you worried other than the fact that you hadn't heard from him? Or was that enough?"
Omi left the warmth of Yohji's arms to move to stand closer to his diminutive lover and he, too, peered at the boy seeking information as did the green-eyed man who continued to smile pleased that at least one of their crises had been dealt with.
Nagi shook his head and found that selecting the right words for what he wanted to say was harder than he'd suspected it might be. With a small shrug of his shoulders he admitted, "Actually, the fact that I hadn't heard anything might not have been so bad if Omi hadn't been on assignment last night, but you can well imagine how I felt not knowing how everything had gone for you. Then this morning at breakfast, Crawford had a vision of one of you being in serious trouble but he wasn't sure which one."
"Oh? That American bastard was seeing *us* again, was he?" Yohji growled angrily, unable to forgive the man for some of the more injurious encounters the two rival assassin groups had had on the urban battlefield in the past. With a snarl, he added, "I wish he'd leave us out of his voyeuristic precog crap!"
"He can't control it," Nagi explained, disliking the hateful tones being addressed towards someone he had mixed emotions about in the first place yet not disagreeing with the slender man who had every right to feel the way that he did all things considered. Narrow shoulders trembled slightly as he added, "Besides, I saw the bodies you left behind on the news this morning. If I hadn't heard about it from Crawford, I would've known it then."
"You what?!?" Yohji exclaimed, shocked to hear that evidence of their brutality had already become public knowledge and fearing the consequences as much as Omi had previously.
None of the men heard the soft tread of a woman's shoes approaching them as Nagi answered with a look of horror on his pale features, "It was on TV this morning, Yohji-kun. I'm sorry, I assumed you knew about it already. It was pretty graphic, I'm surprised the network let them show it in the first place." He didn't get a chance to add that he'd seen Omi's gloves there and worried about evidence for possible legal prosecution of the Weiss assassins when a feminine voice interrupted.
"That's a mistake that has already been addressed," Manx stated flatly, remembered anger with a glory-hungry precinct captain in the back of her mind being set aside as she welcomed the two new arrivals. "Omi, I'm glad you're safe. Would you care to introduce me to your friend?" The Kritiker agent knew who "Prodigy" was as far as her agency was concerned, but after talking with the two elder members of Weiss while the boy had searched for Omi, she wanted to give Nagi the benefit of the doubt and she hoped to start their new association well.
Omi turned from glum and frightened to almost happy as he saw the woman who had always supported and encouraged him and he agreed eagerly yet stumbled slightly over the formal introduction. "Yes, I would, please. Um, Manx? May I introduce Naoe Nagi?" He smiled as he saw his boyfriend struggle briefly with whether or not to offer to shake the redhead's hand and then he added, "Nagi, this is Manx. I hope the two of you can be friends."
"I'm sure we can," the woman said relieving the telekinetic of the decision by placing her hand into his and shaking it warmly as she added, "I've looked forward to meeting you for some time now, Nagi. I'm sorry it had to be under such difficult circumstances."
Relaxing more than he'd ever have thought he could in the presence of the high ranking Kritiker agent, the sable-haired boy nodded, "I understand, but sometimes there's forces at work no one can control, ne? But may I ask what you meant about the news bulletin? Won't this make things awfully hard for Aya-kun and Yohji-kun if the police try to find whoever killed those people?"
Manx suppressed a desire to smile at the endearing way the young psychic mimicked his boyfriend knowing that such an observation wouldn't be welcomed right now and instead focused on what had apparently been bothering the boy, "That won't be a problem, Nagi. Let's just say that certain strings have been pulled to see to it that the investigation will show that they killed each other and then the case will quietly be closed forever. Virtually every one of the dead that are identifiable had a sufficiently horrible criminal record that no one will miss them which indirectly indicts the ones that are left."
"Why did you say that, Manx?" Yohji asked not recalling the details of the slaughter they'd left behind that morning to understand fully that some of the bodies were broken apart worse than a challenging jigsaw puzzle and would be nigh impossible to reassemble.
With a shake of her head, the blue-green-eyed woman remarked, "I'd rather not go into it right now, Yohji. I think that Omi needs to sit down and rest a bit as well as be told about Ken's progress, don't you?"
Yohji looked appropriately sorry for keeping the wan young archer on his feet longer than necessary and agreed wholeheartedly, "Absolutely. C'mon, Omiitchi, grab a chair and get comfy." He guided Omi towards a small couch, pleased that Nagi followed along without being asked and he added with concern, "I'll see if one of the nurses can let Dr. Yanagisawa know you're back then get you both some hot coffee or tea to drink. How'd you two get so wet anyway, Nagi?"
The smaller teen shrugged as he sat down on the settee beside his boyfriend and offered, "It's the 'long story' Omi mentioned to Aya-kun on the phone. After you see about getting Omi taken care of, we can discuss it and Ken-kun's status and everything, all right?"
"Sure thing," jade green eyes sparkled with curiosity and then Yohji turned to his own lover and asked, "Aya? Want to give me a hand?"
Aya joined him unquestioningly since he realized that Yohji intended for this to be a chance for Manx to get to know Nagi a little better before things got too stressful. Without much inflection, he asked, "Manx? Can we get you anything?"
"Coffee, black, thanks," the redheaded woman answered then reached into her purse and handed the taller of the two men a few bills with a smirk, saying, "You seem to forget you don't have your wallet on you, Kudou."
Yohji flashed her a grateful smile and then winked as he remarked before sauntering from the room, "Ah, you underestimate me, my dear Manx! I planned to simply charm the lovely ladies in the cafeteria into providing me with whatever I needed."
"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Yohji," Manx chuckled softly before sitting down near the two teens and taking a deep breath. Her day had started early that morning with Omi's panicked phone call that Ken was badly injured and possibly dying. Now it was almost noon and she found herself sitting face-to-face with one of the most physically dangerous members of Schwarz intending to try to become friends with the telekinetic boy. She hoped there weren't any other bizarre twists left to face that day, but there was no way to know for certain and she's just do her best to cope with whatever was yet to come.
*****
To be continued.
Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.
Please be advised: Parts 9 & 10 will be posted together.
This evening's posting run is dedicated to the people who sent me email after the last four Parts were posted and includes but isn't limited to the following since AOHell is evil and eats my mail regularly: Dragonic Ice, RJ McG, Yanagi-sen, Ami-chan, Rubious, Ryoko, Seiya-chan and her sister, Sakura-chan.
It is also dedicated to all the fabulous folks who are leaving me comments at fanfiction.net! I especially thank those who are leaving me multiple pieces of commentary like Priscilla, e. e., Lemon Princess, DragonSoul, siberian, and Silver Angel! Readers like them are the folks who give me energy to keep struggling forward on this fic and whether they know it or not, they are subtly altering some of what this fic includes.
For example, I hadn't given a lot of thought to bringing in the other three Schwarz psychics again for awhile, but a certain special person {winks at said person knowing she will recognize a reference to her} asked to see them in the story again and so it will be done very soon. Also, there're some folks who have taken the time to let me know that they are enjoying the way I'm writing Manx so instead of sending her back to Persia I think she'll stay around for awhile.
Sound good? I hope so! Want to try to get me to add something else? Just write me a note at fanfiction.net or send it to me directly and I'll ask my muses, okay? No promises on getting everyone's wishes granted, unfortunately, but I'll at least consider it. Um, except for one thing in particular.
{sweatdrops and looks only a little apologetic since he's not really sorry at all}
The one thing I'm not likely to change any time soon are the cliffhanger endings. I *like* those in other people's stuff and adore them in my own, so they're staying and I hope you'll keep telling me you "hate" me for them, too!
Time to go get some sleep so I can write/edit/post more soon. Today's ending wasn't much of a cliffhanger so I gotta try hard to make up for it with a better one tomorrow night, ne?
Be Well!
~~~E-sama the Llama~~~
(who replaced the "intermission" post at fanfiction.net with Part 9 and is absolutely delighted to have Zania's and DragonSoul's comments about it in there to make those who read all of this in the future go, "Rant? What rant? Intermission? What intermission?!? Enigma! You make me crazy!" arigatou!!!)
Posted 29 January 2002