Title: Cold November Rain [part 23/?]
Book 1 of "Redirecting Destiny" and prequel to "Romantic Resolutions"
Author: Enigma
Series: Weiss Kreuz
Written: January-February, 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: 2. time: 0845-0900 hours ++
*****
Standing outside the hospital in the now familiar smoking area near the intensive care unit, Manx had her arms crossed self-defensively and waited for the storm she knew was coming.
Yohji glowered at the dark clouds that continued to plague Tokyo and then turned towards the woman and demanded angrily, "What was that asshole doing here last night? Calico said that Persia sent him, is that true?"
The redhead nodded but didn't smile, she wasn't happy with the situation either. "Yes, he did, Yohji, but I had nothing to do with it or I would have requested a different operative. And the reason he was here was to insure that Siberian was receiving proper medical oversight, Persia didn't want to risk losing him because someone here was slacking off."
The lanky blond man snorted angrily and snarled, "Fuck that! The people here worked their butts off to keep him alive yesterday, you know that as well as I do! They wouldn't have left Ken alone to die no matter what happened!" Anger boiled within him as he questioned, "What was the *real* reason that bastard was here last night? He claimed it was to protect Weiss' security but the key people here already knew we're Kritiker operatives, what kind of security risk was he talking about?"
"I have no idea," Manx answered honestly then pleaded with him, "Look, Yohji, I've spoken to Persia about this and he seems to think that we needed to do more to protect Ken than we would be by leaving him here without someone from the office keeping an eye on things. As to what Calico told you, I have no idea *what* he's talking about, his only assignment was to monitor the ICU staff and Siberian's condition."
Snorting angrily, Yohji turned away from her and growled, "That lying little brat! I should've known he was just saying that to get under my skin!"
The woman gazed at his back apologetically and then asked, "What's the deal between you two anyway, Balinese?" A suspicious expression crossed her face and she added, "You didn't seem to have any problems with him until that training session you and he had in Hokkaido alone a few weeks ago. Did something happen there you want to tell me about that wasn't in your report?"
"It was nothing," Yohji answered in a strangely lost and hesitant voice that contrasted starkly with his earlier anger.
He was quite certain that something terrible had indeed occurred during the weekend he had spent in Sapporo with the man he was so adamantly opposed to. Yet memory of that period of time was oddly fuzzy and the former detective couldn't honestly say what it was. The fact that he couldn't remember such recent events should have been his first indication that there was something horribly amiss, but something Yohji was unaware of was blocking him from coming to that realization.
Then the heat returned to the wire-wielding assassin's words and he added darkly, "Nothing *specific* that is. Calico's bad news, Manx. Persia ought to get rid of him while he can."
Startled by the shift however brief it may have been, she shook her head and said, "But Yohji, I can't make a recommendation like that without something to back it up. Do you have some evidence against him? Something solid? Otherwise, this just sounds like a personality conflict to me."
"He's too slick to leave evidence, Manx," the jade-eyed man answered with a snarl and insisted, "but I'm absolutely sure he's hiding something. He's got some kind of plan for Grün that isn't what Kritiker has in mind. But if you won't trust my judgement on this, why even ask?"
Manx sighed and felt defeated. She wanted to take Yohji's word for it and move against the Scotsman, but Persia had been adamant about having the orange-haired man lead the new international team for reasons she had never understood. Without evidence against him, there was little anyone could do to convince the leader of Kritiker to think differently, a fact that pleased Calico himself immensely since he'd worked long and hard to achieve his current position with motives he had yet to reveal.
With another sigh, she answered, "I *do* trust your judgement, Yohji, it's just that this is so much more complicated than you realize and there's really nothing I can do without something solid to base it on."
Long blond hair shook in annoyance and Yohji reached for a cigarette and his lighter, remarking acidly, "Fine then. It's your funeral!" He gestured towards her with the unlit white cylinder and added vehemently, "Just keep him the hell away from me and my team! I don't want to see him anywhere *near* Ken, Aya, Omi, or me any time soon, understand? We've got enough to deal with right now without him in our faces, lying about what he is or isn't supposed to be accomplishing for Persia."
"Fair enough," Manx agreed with a firm nod, certain that a request of that sort could be granted as far as her office was concerned even though the hospital was a public building. If the hazel-eyed Grün leader chose to return on his own, she couldn't really stop him without causing a great deal of unwanted trouble.
After sucking in his first lungful of nicotine-laden smoke and thinking it over for a minute, Yohji added more calmly, "So, does Persia really intend to keep a 24-hour guard on Ken while he's here or was that just for the first night?"
The woman was shaken from her brief reverie by his words and she shook her head, "I'm not sure. I think it'll depend on his condition and whether or not you start getting some sleep. At the rate you and Abyssinian are going, Balinese, you'll both hit burn-out before too awfully long like Omi did yesterday and will need a guard yourself." In a gentler voice she added, "Or am I wrong? Did you get some sleep that you didn't tell the bags under your eyes about, Yohji?"
The man glanced at her and smirked slightly, a faint hint of his usual wry humor returning as he responded, "Of course not, but that's part of what my shades are for, Manx." He adjusted the sunglasses to ride a little higher on the bridge of his nose, effectively masking the tired-looking skin beneath exhausted jade eyes as he added, "See? Out of sight, out of mind, ne?" [1]
"Very funny, Kudou," the woman sighed and half-smiled sadly. "I can't say that I blame you for not being able to sleep, but you need to try to get some rest today if you can. I can probably arrange for a room somewhere in the hospital that you and Aya can try to get some sleep in between visits to Ken if it helps?"
Yohji glanced at her with a soft look of appreciation in his eyes and nodded as he sucked on his cigarette, the nicotine helping to calm him as he had hoped it might. Blowing out a puff of smoke from the corner of his mouth, he accepted her offer, "Yeah, that'd probably be a good idea. It wouldn't hurt the kids to get some more rest, too, though. They both still looked pretty dead this morning and Nagi still seems to be dragging after yesterday."
"Say what? 'The kids'?" Ocean-colored eyes wide with surprise at the use of the term, she asked, "Since when are a couple of trained assassins like Prodigy and Bombay 'the kids', Balinese?"
Finishing his smoke and flicking the butt away, he snorted softly and answered, "Since they both need someone to take care of them as much as any of us do right now, Manx." He didn't feel like giving the woman a chance to comment on the needs of himself and his violet-eyed lover and added quickly, "Why? Didn't you think Omi and Nagi looked a little out of it when we got here?"
Stopping to think about it, she nodded, "Yes, now that you mention it, Omi certainly did. As for Nagi, well, I just met him yesterday, I'd have to take your word for it about him."
Yohji chuckled a little and agreed, "That's right, I kinda forgot that you hadn't seen him in person before that. I guess yesterday was such a damned long day it was more like a couple of weeks went by instead of 24 hours. Oh well, why don't we head back inside and see if it's about time to go check on Ken again? Last time I saw him, he still had a ton of white coats around him." He moved to open the door and held it open gallantly for the woman to precede him.
She accepted the offer and stepped back inside, temporarily surprised by how bright the lights seemed after too many minutes outside under the heavily clouded morning sky. The rain fell intermittently continuing its harassment of the citizens of Tokyo and making the false sunshine of the fluorescent lights above Manx seem more welcome than usual. Too bad they didn't bring the hope that actual sunbeams might have granted those who needed it so badly.
*****
To be continued.
Author's Notes:
[1] Ah ha!! I finally found a place to add one of my favorite theories for why Yohji wears those shades of his practically 24/7! If he was as involved in the club scene as many of us like to write him, then he'd have quite a few hangovers to cover up not to mention tired eyes from sleepless nights due to Weiss missions, too. Hence, after noticing the sunglasses almost always cover the part of his face which might give this fact away, I propose that this is partially why he wears them. Does this sound reasonable to you?
Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.
Please be advised: Parts 23 & 24 will be posted together.