Attention fanfiction.net Friends:
Greetings and welcome back to the Angst Theatre for the first time in much too long!
{stops and bows deeply since this group more than any other is responsible for the return of Posting runs for this story since it's been an uphill climb all the way around and the continued support here has been wonderful!}
My sincere apologies for being AWOL far longer than originally planned, but after I completed the birthday fic for Ryoko, helped both of my kids get through Science Fair Projects for school, etc., I was just too wiped out to get back to work on this sooner. However, that was then, this is now, and instead of listening to me whining about it, why don't we get back to the action of Book 1 of "Redirecting Destiny"?
{stops rambling, goes to get the tuxedo borrowed from Vicious out of the bags from the dry cleaners, slips it on, lights the marquee which reads "Cold November Rain" and then smiles and hands you a playbill}
Tonight's performance opens with Part 30, wherein the situation at Tokyo General Hospital begins to improve even more as Norwegian and his team continue to work to insure Siberian's proper care as well as seeing to it that the other members of Weiss plus Nagi are given what they need. The second portion of our program is Part 31 where a previously untold story from the past is told and the happy thoughts that come from it encourage feelings of hope for all those who hear it.
One key thing I ought to point out here and now is that, sadly, I wasn't able to meet my own goal of finishing the rough draft for the entire fic before returning to posting since my muses needed encouragement and kind of stopped working for me over the weekend. However, even though they aren't in peak condition right now, virtually *all* of the remaining Parts are too long to go without being broken into pieces so beware of "instant gratification" flags flying night after night around here! Just to keep you apprised of the length it's at, I'm roughly 2/3 of the way through Part 41 now and have yet to even get around to sending Nagi home to Schwarz yet! Arghhh! This *incomplete* fic is now 160% of the size of the *finished* version of "Unconditional Gifts" and all my GW fans can tell you *that* is a very scary fact to know!
{frightens self as much as fans and wonders if the madness of CNR will never end, decides it has to if for no other reason than Erato wants to go back to writing lemons soon, then wraps this up with an additional dose of gratitude}
Before I turn you loose on the new Parts may I take a moment to thank those of you who left encouraging words while the fic was on hiatus both here and directly to my email? Once upon a time it was a truly a rare day when I had to go without being on-line but somewhere along the line in February it happened for a week solid and due to limited free time, I'm *still* not caught up! So, there's people like Cat, Yanagi-sen, and e.e who I want to write back to regarding comments left here, but it was stop and spend a few evenings writing private notes *or* get the story posted again. But since they are all kind and generous friends, I hope they can forgive me for choosing to share with the many before sharing with the few.
Here's hoping that what you are about to read is worth the wait! Please keep in mind, this is a transition point in the story and while these two pieces aren't action-packed they are filled with backstory and more than a little of that lovely evil foreshadowing that several folks enjoy even if it *is* quite subtle for a change!
Enjoy the Milder Angst!
~~~Enigma~~~
(who never did get a chance to catch up on his mail and finally gave up on doing *either* that *or* begin posting again, there's just too many people eagerly and politely requesting more of this to withhold it any longer!)
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Title: Cold November Rain [part 30/?]
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: 1335-1350 hours ++
*****
Standing near a window in the intensive care unit and ignoring the lessening drizzle of rain on the glass nearby, Norwegian spoke on the phone with Korat, pleased that at least one situation was already improving if Nagi was awake again.
Javanese and Aya were together in Ken's room, the experienced nurse going over the injured man's sutures one by one, confirming the total absence of signs of impending infection or other complications with a smile. The scarlet-haired man was so focused on the woman's efforts and words of reassurance after each site had been thoroughly checked, that he unwittingly allowed a small atypical smile of exhausted relief to spread onto his face.
Standing outside the treatment room, Manx was being debriefed by a most apologetic Egami, a man who was as appalled as any one else was over the pair of serious acts of negligence committed by two of Tokyo General's staff. The surgeon had already placed a call to Yamanaka and she had agreed to come in and he felt relieved that she would give up her day off, he didn't know who else to trust at that point. Despite the presence of the two highly skilled Kritiker nurses, he knew the hospital itself needed to have a staff member on duty all the same.
The only person in the intensive care unit who didn't have anything to do at that point was the honey-blond secretary, Sokoke, and she felt fairly useless because of it. She sat at the desk where Norwegian had told her to stay since she wasn't qualified to be involved in the medical efforts and let her chin sink into the palm of one hand as she peered through the window of the treatment room with Aya and Javanese. Wondering why the violet-eyed assassin didn't seem as scary as she had expected him to be after transcribing the report for Persia as well as hearing Korat's words of warning regarding him, she decided it was probably because he seemed so terribly worried about his teammate.
The blond woman wasn't brilliantly intelligent neither was she stupid and the looks of concerned love for the unconscious brunette that the Weiss swordsman usually hid were somehow more evident to her than they were to others. Sighing and shaking her head as she wondered if she'd ever find anyone to care as much about her as the slender, pale man cared for his partner, she glanced over to her team-leader and saw Norwegian beckoning her to approach.
Eager to have something useful to do, Sokoke rose and walked towards him with a hopeful smile then waited until he ended his call to ask, "Yes, Norwegian? Is there something that I can do for you, sir?"
The portly doctor gave her one of his warm, benevolent smiles and nodded even as he wrote something on a sheet of paper in a small notebook that he then tore out and handed to her, saying, "I'd like to ask a favor of you, dear. Could you go to the cafeteria and get the following items for me? I think we need to see to it that our people here get a good meal before they collapse." Even though she was nodding and looking over the list thoughtfully trying to make sure she understood exactly what he wanted, the doctor paused and gazed at her for a moment, then apologized, "I'm so sorry, Sokoke. I should have asked if you minded being sent on such an errand."
The secretary looked up into friendly gray eyes and blinked uncomprehendingly before asking, "Why would I mind, Norwegian?"
He frowned slightly and shook his head in the kindly, fatherly way he did when he was trying to come to an understanding with one of his personnel and he regretted not knowing the young woman better than he did. Then he explained, "Well, I've been told that some administrative assistants don't like to be asked to get things like food or drinks this way. That they've been trained for other things and this seems beneath them. Does it bother you?"
The blond shook her head and shrugged slightly, answering with an unexpectedly practical air to her, "I don't mind, doctor. If they need something to eat, they need something to eat. It's all part of our mission, isn't it?"
"Yes, my dear, indeed it is!" Norwegian beamed at her, pleased to have gotten her on his team after all. Even as he took the note back and indicated the budget code that could be used by the cafeteria personnel to cover all of the needs of the increased Kritiker staff present, he added, "That's a marvelously pragmatic attitude you have, Sokoke. I appreciate that, it makes things so much easier."
Delighted with the praise, the young woman smiled brightly and responded, "Thank you, sir. Where would you like me to bring the food? I saw a sign in here that it wasn't allowed in the ICU, so is there another room you want it in?"
Utterly charmed by her eagerness to help, he patted her warmly on the back and praised her yet again, "Very observant of you, dear. Why not take it to Room 121? That's where at least three of the people we've come here to help should be located and by the time you get back, hopefully Abyssinian and myself will be there as well."
"All right," she smiled again and said, "I'll get everything you specified and meet them there soon, Norwegian. Bye!" She waved farewell with an endearingly youthful gesture that served to remind him she was only barely older than the scarlet-haired man who was following Javanese's every move intently, and he sighed.
Indulging himself for the briefest of moments, the physician gazed at the patient room where the dark-haired nurse continued her thorough examination of the immobile Siberian, attention focused on the exhausted figure of the man code-named "Abyssinian." It was blindingly clear to anyone who knew him that Aya was still standing due to sheer force of will, a stubbornness that was as much a hallmark of his personality as the perpetual scowl he showed when the nurse noted a small problem with a monitor patch. Even as Javanese repositioned a heart-monitor wire, Norwegian noted the rarely seen yet totally understandable look of sorrow that flitted past violet eyes and he sighed deeply.
Unlike the situation with Omi and Nagi, there had been no surprise when the elder members of Weiss formed a romantic triumvirate and he'd assumed it was actually a good thing that the usually icy Abyssinian was warming up to his partners enough to make such a change. Yet he'd known the other two men involved had been deeply devoted to one another for some time prior to the seduction of the katana-wielding assassin and he wondered if the relationships amongst them were taking as much of a beating as their bodies were. Shaking his head free of the imponderables, he moved to join the nurse and the Weiss swordsman, hoping to get the latest information available before taking further action.
Standing in the open door of the small room, he slipped his hands in the pockets of his white coat and asked, "Well, Javanese? How does it all look?" He had already done his own examination of the injured man and had reviewed the brunette's patient chart, yet he had left the job of insuring the details were all in order to his trusted associate.
The woman glanced at the doctor with a grim smile and a nod, "Siberian is in fairly good condition, all things considered, Norwegian." Straightening the sheet back to cover Ken's unmoving body carefully, she explained, "Despite their apparent inability to follow some of their own security rules or even to cope with certain emergencies, I'd say that the post-op care he's been receiving is as good as we could have hoped for. The incisions are closed properly, all tubing and sites of penetration by various devices and catheters are in excellent condition, his vital signs are stable and have been since the incident earlier. I'd say that all that remains now is for him to regain consciousness and we can estimate his expected time until recovery from there."
Norwegian frowned, he didn't want to place unfounded expectations in the mind of the relieved looking scarlet-haired man and he added with only a slight amount of reproach, "While I'm quite pleased to hear that Siberian's doing well despite everything that has happened, keep in mind it's been less than 24 hours since he came out of surgery, Javanese. There is nothing new known yet regarding certain injuries and we must be careful not to give the impression of false hope, you know."
Glancing apologetically at Aya, the nurse said, "Oh! I'm sorry, Abyssinian, I didn't mean to make it sound as if I felt this was *all* that he needed by any means. There's much to do and some uncertainty will remain for some time."
"I understood that," the violet-eyed man defended the woman and looked at the doctor before saying with an exhausted sigh, "I'm tired, Norwegian, not overly optimistic. All I wanted to know was whether or not Siberian had been harmed when Nagi collapsed and if his surgery had been handled properly. I hadn't expected more other than that."
The woman flashed him an appreciative glance that turned into a frown as she saw a wave of fatigue practically wash over the slender man and she asked, "If you're satisfied with leaving Siberian in our care now, would you please consider getting some rest yourself, Abyssinian? I promise that he won't be left unattended now that Korat and I are here."
Aya sighed audibly and nodded, grateful all over again that the pair of highly-trained Kritiker nurses intended to take alternating twelve-hour shifts so that they could remain in the intensive care unit with Ken at all times. He glanced at Manx who was speaking earnestly with the salt-and-pepper-haired surgeon and asked, "Does Dr. Egami have any input on the situation I need to know about, or should I go check on the others now, Norwegian?" He looked slightly pained as he added, "I really ought to see how Bombay is doing. I'm relieved that Korat let us know Nagi awoke, but if I know Bombay, he's probably worried about Siberian right now."
The physician frowned slightly, shaking his head as he answered, "No, there's nothing else you need to hear from us, but don't you think that Balinese wants to know how Siberian is as well, Abyssinian? He's undoubtedly as worried as the rest of you are."
With a dejected shrug of his shoulder, Aya let his head drop down a bit and he looked at the floor as he answered, "I doubt he'll take my word for it, Norwegian." He sighed again then found the inhalation of air transformed into a yawn and he commented tiredly, "Never mind, that's my problem, not yours. If he wants to see how things are here, he can call you on your cell phone, right?"
The nurse flashed a concerned glance at the physician who seemed displeased with the entire situation of the Weiss team dynamics, yet they both wisely attributed much of the difficulty to exhaustion.
Stepping farther into the room and wrapping a fatherly arm around the man whose own life he'd saved a time or two, Norwegian offered quietly even as the nurse left the room and hearing range, "Of course, Aya. We'll be glad to take whatever steps are necessary to keep all of you informed regarding Ken's condition. If anything changes, we'll see to it that you're notified at once, all right?"
Weary violet eyes lifted and took comfort in warm gray ones as the assassin asked, "Do you promise to wake us up and let us know if Ken comes to, Norwegian? I really don't think I can sleep if I think he might be awake for awhile and not have one of us with him as soon as possible after that happens."
The doctor found this an impossibility, yet didn't gainsay it, instead he chose to promise firmly, "Absolutely, son. The minute we think Ken's regaining consciousness, someone will let you know." He patted the exhausted man's shoulder with fatherly affection and added, "But why don't you and I *both* go down and check on the others? Sokoke is getting some food for all of you and I wanted a chance to meet Omi's friend."
Nodding tiredly, Aya almost regretted the loss of warmth as the man's hand fell from his shoulder and they walked past Manx and Egami who were pouring over some records together. The redheaded woman mentioned catching up with them later, trusting Norwegian to take better care of matters than she could right at the moment since her heart was filled with rage that both Ken and Nagi had been endangered by Takeshi's foolishness. Yohji had been quite right, she was indeed "pissed" about the error and if she'd been able to get her hands on the nurse, it would've been a good bet that there would've been a fairly spectacular confrontation.
The two men began to walk away from the intensive care unit down a suddenly long-seeming hallway and the doctor asked as casually as possible, "So, tell me, Abyssinian, how do you think Balinese is holding up under this pressure? A few of the things you've said have me worried."
Aya shook his head and ran a hand through limp scarlet hair in a failed attempt to conceal a sudden look of pain and sorrow before his exhaustion overcame his ability to hide his feelings and he admitted, "Hell if I know, Norwegian. Something's bothering him above and beyond what's happened to Ken and Nagi, but he's shut me out entirely."
The unfamiliar tone of defeat in Aya's voice was almost more terrifying than his words as he added, "If it was me in that room back there," he gestured over one shoulder at the intensive care unit, "instead of Ken, I'm sure Yohji would have talked to him about whatever it is that's bothering him. Damn it all, but I just feel so fucking *useless* at times!"
The physician was shocked by not only the violet-eyed man's words but his attitude as well and he corrected, "You are far from 'useless,' Aya. You should realize that neither of you is functioning well right now and that's probably what's coming between you more than anything else. After you both get some food and rest things should improve."
Shaking his head again and stifling a yawn, the swordsman insisted, "I doubt that will make a difference, doctor. He needs *Ken* right now, not me."
Norwegian stopped stock-still in the hallway and drew the scarlet-haired man to a halt as well and said compassionately, "He needs you *both*, Aya, you have to understand that. This is indeed the worse injury any member of Weiss has ever suffered in the line of duty and he may feel as much guilt about it as you do, but he undoubtedly needs the support of all those around him." His voice dropped a bit as he added pointedly, "Friends and lovers *both* are what Yohji needs right now."
Guilt-ridden amethyst eyes gazed at the floor and Aya nodded tiredly, trying to take to heart what the man had said before replying, "I'll try, Norwegian. I've never been good at expressing or even understanding my own emotions at times, trying to deal with someone else's is even more confusing."
"I realize that," the doctor assured, and patted him on the arm before indicating that they should continue down the hallway towards their rendezvous with Korat and his other patients, then added, "Just give it time, Aya. After some food and sleep, hopefully you'll both be more capable of coping with the situation."
Aya merely nodded and followed obediently, not feeling particularly more hopeful than before but certainly not less.
Norwegian noted the exhausted man's return to silence with unhappiness. He never claimed to be a psychiatrist, but he certainly had enough experience to recognize certain signs of depression when he saw them and if the situation that was brewing amongst the Weiss threesome didn't improve radically when Ken awoke, there might be a serious problem later. As it was, though, he was sufficiently confident in his associates' abilities to care for the injured man and with a modicum of luck a certain shipment would arrive soon that ought to improve matters considerably.
After all, what was needed most by virtually every one of those currently involved was the return to awareness of the central figure in this drama and following that, what was needed further was to eliminate certain worries regarding his recovery, something Norwegian alone thought he could very nearly guarantee.
*****
To be continued.
Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.
Please be advised: Parts 30 & 31 will be posted together.