Title: Cold November Rain [part 27/?]

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: 1155-1245 hours ++

*****

While Aya returned to the intensive care unit and informed the staff there in no uncertain terms that he intended to stay where he could guard Ken whether they liked it or not, Yohji was feeling frustrated yet again.

With an annoyed snarl, he slammed the receiver of a pay phone down and complained bitterly to himself, "Of all the fucking times for Manx to be on the damned phone!"

Yohji shook his head angrily and stalked away, intending to give himself a short break en route back to Omi and Nagi to smoke a much needed cigarette and to drink the coffee he'd mentioned earlier. Despite his anger and frustration, the lanky blond knew he wouldn't be able to give the miserable teen the support he needed if he was strung out with exhaustion and nicotine cravings clouding his mind.

Soon, coffee cup in one hand and his second cigarette in less than three minutes in the other, the wire-wielding assassin finally began to feel human again, his thoughts calming and his mood reflective despite the overwhelming fatigue he was experiencing.

An image came to mind of Ken's tanned hand wrapped around Aya's pale one and tired jade eyes smiled slightly.

If there had been no good news at all that day, Yohji might not have found the strength to take one last long pull on the cigarette in his mouth before pulling the butt from his lips and flicking it away before stepping back inside the hospital. The smoking porch near the intensive care unit wasn't pleasant with the ongoing drizzle of chill rain splashing over it and he was glad to leave it. He didn't feel any particular desire to stay there alone even if he didn't feel he was needed back in the room where he assumed Omi was still holding Nagi's hand and worrying himself sick with guilt and misery.

Walking down the hallway with far less energy than he normally would have had, Yohji approached the room he'd left behind roughly fifteen minutes previously. Through sheer force of will, his thoughts remained focused on the new hope he had felt when he'd believed his younger lover had responded to his older one. He intended to rejoin Omi with as much positive emotion as he could gather and therefore kept any contemplation of the current problems with Aya from his mind.

After stepping through the door of Room 121 planning to greet his youngest teammate with the confident expression he'd painted on simply for effect, Yohji came to a complete halt and the false display was replaced by an honest, gentle smile. Before him was a scene of such heart-wrenching tenderness, the elder blond almost felt as if he was intruding and ought to leave but he didn't, choosing instead to merely remain where he was and absorb some of the mood of the moment, gaining unexpected strength from it.

The youngest member of Weiss was still sitting in the chair that Aya had moved for him, but he had leaned over to pillow his head on folded arms laid close to Nagi's unconscious form probably for only a brief rest. The exhaustion from the emotional ordeal Omi had suffered had apparently caused him to fall into a light slumber. His expression was peaceful, previously sorrowful cerulean eyes closed beneath a gentle sweep of blond bangs even as soft, rhythmic puffs of air moved in and out of his slightly parted lips.

Even as Yohji watched with silent relief that the tortured youth had escaped his unhappiness even if only briefly, the other teen's breathing deepened as well as Nagi transitioned from unconsciousness to actual sleep, too. Then something that struck the former detective as almost miraculous occurred.

Without ever awakening, the diminutive telekinetic moved on the bed much like a flower turns towards sunshine and curled towards the boy he loved, their deep emotional bond somehow alerting him to Omi's presence. Both youths continued to sleep without being aware they were being observed, yet Yohji felt deeply grateful that he had been there to witness the change, his earlier hope being renewed and strengthened by their unwitting interaction.

Shaking himself from his reverie, the taller blond moved to carefully lift the shorter one from the chair and deposited him into Nagi's bed and into the waiting curve of the other teen's body. Gladness touched his heart once more as the pair automatically adjusted to one another's presence, arms encircling warmly before they became fairly still once more.

Shaking his head in delighted wonder, Yohji stepped away from the young couple and respectfully took up a position in a second chair near the deliberately empty bed across the room which it hadn't even occurred to him to place his teammate into in the first place. He had no intention of failing to guard the two slumbering boys and he began to perform a series of complex math equations in his head to insure he'd stay awake himself.

After a few minutes, though, he felt sleep reaching towards him and he rose from the chair and moved to where he stood leaning against a wall exhaustedly. His energy reserves had been seriously depleted yet much like his violet-eyed lover was doing at the exact same time, he continued to protect those he cared about simply by keeping watch.

*****

As the eldest members of Weiss remained vigilant through sheer force of will alone, the proverbial cavalry was arriving.

Shaking her umbrella free of the cold drizzle that clung to it after walking in from the hospital parking lot, Manx turned to the four people with her and asked, "Do you have any other questions before you see my team, Norwegian?" [1]

The doctor, a fairly pudgy, middle-aged man with a warm smile and gentle features shook his head, "No, no, my dear, I believe you've done more than enough to let us know what we are facing here."

He pushed his glasses farther up his nose and chuckled softly as one of the young women beside him asked curiously, "Are these really the agents that killed all those awful people yesterday? I transcribed the police chief's report for Persia about that, they sound scary!"

Manx shook her head and reprimanded, "Don't talk like that, Sokoke! They did what was necessary and I expect you to treat my men with respect and not question them, understand?"

The honey-blond secretary looked chagrinned and nodded quickly, "Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, Manx, it won't happen again."

The pretty bluish-black-haired woman beside Sokoke placed a warm hand on her sleeve and reassured her, "Relax, honey, you've got it easy. You're only here to deal with Balinese and I can tell you *that* man is far from 'scary' as long as you aren't caught flirting with Siberian!"

"Javanese!" Manx burst out and almost laughed at her old friend who winked at her despite the warning she, too, received. "Now *that* is hardly the level of professionalism I was counting on from you, nurse! But you're right, as long as you don't overstep your bounds, I'd say all of them are fairly easy to get along with."

The handsome black man who walked slightly behind the group remarked with a knowing smile, "Perhaps not Abyssinian, Manx. As I recall, he gave me quite a bit of trouble the last time I needed to suture a knife wound for him." The nurse shrugged as he added, "All he cared about was what it had done to his trench coat since, as he put it at the time, it wouldn't 'heal' on its own."

The redhead nodded and answered, "True, Korat, but I think that was more his way of trying not to worry about what Norwegian was going through at the time with Bombay." She glanced at the doctor and saw him frowning slightly, trying to remember the incident in question so she added helpfully, "As I recall, Bombay had been exposed to some poisonous gas fumes and no one was sure how best to handle detoxifying his system."

"Ah, right!" The portly physician nodded with sudden recollection, then clucked his tongue quietly before remarking, "That boy got off lucky that day, you know. If his teammates hadn't gotten him to me when they did, we would've lost him for certain."

"But you didn't lose any of them then and you won't lose any of them now," Manx stated flatly, seeing the signs directing them towards their destination which indicated they had almost arrived. In a serious tone that told her Kritiker coworkers that the time for gentle teasing and attempts to mentally prepare for what they all expected to be a fairly challenging assignment was over, she added, "Now, were there any last minute questions about our additional party? I know you were debriefed about him and are expected to treat him with the same respect you show to Weiss, but I realize that being asked to work with a member of Schwarz may seem strange."

The quartet looked at one another and there were various expressions from barely hidden dislike on the secretary's face all the way across the gamut to open curiosity on the face of the physician.

Norwegian remarked, "As you said, my dear, we were all debriefed on the situation fully this morning after you requested our help. If Bombay's relationship with this 'Prodigy' has been sanctioned by Persia, we are duty-bound to treat him properly. For myself, however, I rather look forward to meeting the boy. Considering the use of operatives with paranormal powers is an area Kritiker ought to be looking towards for the future."

Manx nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face before she responded, "That's a good attitude, doctor, but I'm not sure how much attention Nagi will actually need from you right at the moment. Oh, that reminds me, call him by name and not Schwarz code-name, please. He's here as Bombay's friend, not as an enemy of Kritiker."

"Not a problem, Manx," Javanese spoke up and added reassuringly, "Remember that you asked for us for a reason. I can't speak for Sokoke, of course, but Norwegian, Korat, and I have dealt with Weiss almost since the day they were activated. If Omi's found someone he cares deeply for, you can bet we'll take good care of him." She looked around at the empty waiting room they had just stepped into and asked, "But how are we supposed to do them any good at all if they aren't here?"

The honey-blond woman wanted to comment that she planned to be as helpful as possible, too, just to make sure Manx knew, but the fact that the four young men they were there to see were absent distracted her enough that she asked, "Could they have gone to get lunch?"

"Not likely," the redhead frowned and glanced at the forgotten Yahtzee game which sat ignored on the floor where Omi and Nagi had left it earlier, and she added darkly, "Something's wrong."

The tone in Manx's voice eradicated what little good cheer was still circulating amongst the group and Norwegian took control. A surprising air of command emanated from the usually easygoing man as he ordered, "Javanese, check with the nurses' desk we passed on the last hallway."

The woman nodded curtly, double-checked her pocket for the cell phone each had been issued before being brought there by Manx then left without further discussion.

The physician then turned to the ebony-skinned man and said, "Korat, I want you to ask the ICU staff about Abyssinian's team. If Siberian is there it's highly doubtful that Weiss would've gone far without alerting them."

"Yes, sir," turning quickly, the slender nurse left focused on finding the missing assassins.

With a small degree of his earlier warmth, Norwegian addressed the young secretary, "Sokoke? I want you to go ahead and check the cafeteria, your question earlier certainly wasn't without merit. Do you feel confident you'll recognize the team members if you encounter them?"

The honey-blond head nodded firmly, pleased that she hadn't made the kindly doctor angry with her inexperience, "I'm sure I can, sir. I'll get right on it!" She left quickly, her skirt swirling around her as she rushed off in search of people she had never met yet feared as well as respected.

Manx had watched the physician dispersing his forces and then asked, "And me, doctor? What can *I* do to help?"

The man turned perceptive gray eyes on her and he surprised her by changing the subject entirely, "Now that we are alone, my dear Manx, I would appreciate knowing a bit more about this young man who has stolen our little Omi's heart." He crossed his arms over his chest and added, "I've been the boy's physician for far too long for it to be any surprise that he has chosen a male for a lover. But *honestly*! Who made the decision to allow it to get this far without someone sending him to me for a chat, hmm? There *are* certain things I would have liked to be sure that he knew before he became sexually active regardless of the gender of his partner!"

The woman's face flushed a bright red and even as she spluttered and tried to find an answer that didn't leave her looking like a complete fool, the doctor's cell phone emitted the peaceful tune of Beethoven's "Pastorale." He reached for it where it rested tucked in a pocket of his white coat hopeful that his team's efforts had already met with success.

"Norwegian here," he stated then smiled somewhat before adding, "Excellent work, Korat! Let the rest of the group know and tell Abyssinian that Manx and I are on our way in." Even as he finished speaking, he gestured for the woman to accompany him and they began to walk towards the intensive care unit.

Manx's face lost most of the blush as she followed the doctor and they approached an openly relieved yet utterly exhausted Aya who stood beside the slender black nurse who was explaining to the other new arrivals from Kritiker that they were to return.

The scarlet-haired man walked toward them both, one hand extended in greeting toward the doctor and he exclaimed with far more emotion than normal, "Finally! Someone we can rely on to take proper care of things! I'm *very* glad to see you, Norwegian!" He shook the man's hand and allowed an atypical smile to show on his lips.

The portly doctor noted the fatigue that radiated from the man who was clearly stressed past the point of tolerance yet had continued to function and brought to bear one of his charming, fatherly smiles that always worked wonders with his patients. Keeping his hand on Aya's long enough to surreptitiously check his pulse, he answered, "I'm pleased to have gotten Manx's call, Abyssinian. Please understand that Siberian would have been transferred to my care at the Kritiker Medical Center if his condition had been better, but we'll do what we can for him right here at Tokyo General, all right?"

The Weiss swordsman nodded his understanding and asked, "That sounds great, doctor, but has anyone told you that Nagi's hurt? I think you might need to see him soon, too."

Looking shocked and more than a little frightened since anything that could bring the powerful telekinetic down would most likely pose a substantial threat to any non-psychic that faced it, Manx exclaimed, "What on Earth?! What happened to him, Abyssinian? Was anyone else injured?"

Realizing the error in his choice of words, Aya shook his head and sent scarlet earlocks dancing across his chest as he hurried to say, "No, that's not what I meant, Manx."

The tiredness was effecting him so badly that the violet-eyed man no longer spoke the way he normally did as he explained angrily, "What I should've said was that he passed out earlier when some goddamned stupid bitch nurse didn't do her job right and left him and Bombay alone with Ken in the ICU. When Nagi fell, he got tangled in some of the wires and equipment that's connected to Ken, but Siberian wasn't hurt by it. Omi's a wreck again because of it and Yohji's taking care of them in a room down the hall." With a slightly hurt look on his face at the thought that his blond lover had failed not only himself but their friends as well, he asked, "Didn't Balinese call you about this?"

Norwegian was puzzled. The way that the usually unflappable Abyssinian was bouncing from given names to code-names and back again was somewhat unsettling, but he didn't miss the undercurrent of strong, confused emotion in the assassin's voice as well as the excessive use of profanity. After making a mental note to try to get to the bottom of at least one of the problems Weiss was experiencing as quickly as possible by commanding the exhausted field-leader to get some rest, he listened as the woman explained the situation from her point of view.

"No, Aya, he didn't." Manx, too, had come to the conclusion that the violet-eyed man was too far gone to be trying to handle so much at once and she added more gently, "But I'm not surprised if Yohji couldn't reach me. I've been on the phone almost constantly trying to get things set up so that Norwegian, Korat, and Javanese can stay here throughout the duration of this crisis. I think we'd all feel better knowing that Ken was getting the very best of care, don't you?"

Aya simply nodded, suddenly aware that if she was calling him by name directly, he had obviously been somewhat out of character and he seemed to sag slightly as he asked, "Then who will you check on first, Norwegian? Siberian or Nagi?"

The doctor smiled reassuringly and answered, "I believe I'll ask Korat here to go and check on the condition of Bombay's friend while I take a look at Siberian, Abyssinian. I think that as soon as we can get things settled to your satisfaction, though, I'm going to have to insist that you get some sleep." Seeing the younger man preparing to refuse, he patted Aya on the shoulder and added quickly, "And the same can probably be said for Balinese and Bombay as well if they are as tired as you are, son. Really, you know you can trust us, let us carry the burden for a time, won't you?"

"I'll think about it," Aya sighed deeply, and let the fatigue make itself known as he turned to the slender black man who was awaiting a location and said, "Korat? Nagi was put into Room 121 by the hospital staff. Bombay and Balinese should both be there. Do you know how to get there?"

Korat nodded and accepted the assignment easily, "Certainly, Abyssinian, I'll go check on them immediately." He turned to his team leader and added, "Doctor? Will you be joining me shortly?"

Norwegian regarded the nurse fondly as he did all of his closest staff members and smiled, "I'll be there in ten or fifteen minutes, Korat. I'd like to think the people here aren't completely incompetent and would leave an unconscious boy alone. But call me if it's urgent, all right?"

"Of course," the ebony-skinned nurse smiled grimly and then turned to go in search of two members of Weiss and one from Schwarz, an odd grouping in his mind but one that he would do his best to assist nonetheless. He would pass both Sokoke and Javanese in the hallway en route and would explain the situation as best he could before sending both women to Norwegian for further instructions.

In the intensive care unit, Manx watched as the Kritiker physician took a moment to review Ken's medical records while Aya allowed relief to flow through his veins and there were at least a few moments of peace before further developments could emerge.

*****

To be continued.

Author's Notes:

[1] The members of the team Manx assembled here were given feline inspired code-names and even though I hadn't intended them to be more than a quick fix to save our angst-ridden young heroes, Melpomene plans to bring some of them back in the future. As always, each name was chosen carefully but instead of boring you with my reasoning, feel free to pick up a book on cat breeds and you might see what the Llama saw while naming these characters. After all, he's not a cat person and had to go to the public library and check out a guide himself!

[extra] By the way, I apologize for creating even more original characters here. If the series creators had bothered to include more of a support structure for Weiss in the first place, I'd have gladly used their characters instead. Those of us who also write GW are luckier over there, there's an entire secondary cast to draw from. Right now I feel like tearing my hair out and screaming! Where's Sally Po when you need her?

Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.

Please be advised: Parts 27 - 29 will be posted together.