Title: Cold November Rain [part 33/?]
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: 3. time: 0005-0025 hours ++
*****
When Yohji awoke once more, the window in Room 119 held the light-polluted view of a surprisingly rain-free night in the bustling city of Tokyo. However, the wire-wielding Weiss assassin was in no condition to appreciate the change in the weather.
Yawning and stretching as his exhausted mind tried to bring into focus the sterile white walls that surrounded him and the unfamiliar feeling of cool sheets around him that were unwarmed by the presence of either of his two lovers, the lanky blond tried to understand what had happened. But before he could get very far, his mind all-too-helpfully provided him with graphic and gruesome details of the recent past and he sat up too fast, exclaiming loudly, "KEN!!!"
"What the…?" Aya mumbled, being torn from slumber by a familiar voice calling a much loved name and he rubbed sleep-encrusted violet eyes with the back of a hand as he, too, sat up in a cold, unfamiliar hospital bed and called out, "Yohji?! What's going on?" In his moment of sleepy confusion, the Weiss swordsman allowed an atypical weakness to enter his voice as he added softly in confusion of his own, "Where's Ken?"
Shaking the sleep from his eyes further, the lanky blond unfolded himself enough to turn to face the younger assassin and admit with a sad sigh, "He's hurt, remember, Aya?"
Passing a shaking hand through sleep-mussed scarlet waves, his partner tried to pull it together and admitted, "Oh, right." He looked horrified and chagrinned as well as he added inquiringly, "That was yesterday wasn't it?"
Glancing at the watch that concealed his deadly weapon, the blond man shook his head and answered, "No, technically it was the day before yesterday, Aya. It's five after twelve already."
"12:05am?!" The violet-eyed man suddenly growled angrily and glared at his jade-eyed lover before very nearly accusing, "Who the hell let us *sleep* for almost nine hours straight?!" He immediately began to emerge from the multiple blankets he had been covered with despite recalling placing only one over himself prior to taking a moment to gaze at his lover before sleep took him while it was still raining.
Making an equal effort to get out of the bed that was far more comfortable than it looked, Yohji, too, noticed the extra covers as well as a note propped beneath a softly-lit table lamp near his bed. He reached for the paper and said, "Someone left us a message, Aya. Let me see what it says before we get all pissed off about it, okay?"
The scarlet-haired man merely growled a soft agreement and stood with arms crossed over his chest angrily, uncertain whom to blame for this foolishness, yet giving the elder of his two lovers sufficient respect to stay put and listen.
After clearing his voice of that annoying "morning thickness" that afflicted him as well as many other men, Yohji intoned:
"'Abyssinian and Balinese;
"'You have been left to rest for as long as you needed to do so by orders of Norwegian. The same applies to Bombay and Nagi who are still resting comfortably as of this writing.'"
The blond man paused and glanced at the heading of the paper which indicated it had been written around 11:30pm and he mentioned that, then continued:
"'You are both more than welcome to visit Siberian in the ICU after you awaken as are Bombay and his companion. Now that Kritiker has established a base of operations here, you will not be denied access to your teammate regardless of time either day or night as long as his condition or your own does not counter-indicate it as being wise. He will recover more quickly knowing that those who care about him are present and I hope that you will accept this invitation shortly after awakening.
"'If I myself am not there to greet you, Javanese will be, and I sincerely hope that the rest has done you both well.'"
Yohji stopped and wracked his brain briefly over the unusual kanji that comprised the signature, then pronounced:
"'Korat'"
Looking up at the elder of his two lovers, the jade-eyed man shrugged and offered, "It would appear we are being told to go check on Ken as soon as we wake up, Aya. Want to?" Yohji correctly assumed he knew the answer to the question, of course, but continued to worry over the deterioration in his relationship with the violet-eyed man so he wanted to try to leave it in his hands.
"Absolutely!" Abyssinian's mission-voice answered, and the undisputed team-leader of Weiss led the way as the pair swung into the hallway, silently treading towards the intensive care unit and away from two sleeping, blue-eyed teens.
Nonplussed, Balinese followed his commander and they made good time en route to the intensive care unit. The pair had no real idea what to expect upon their arrival, but the scene they came upon wouldn't have been one that they might have envisioned.
Standing by the desk where the intensive care unit's staff monitored their patients as well as communicated with the rest of the sprawling medical complex, a very tired looking ebony-skinned man was quietly debriefing a more rested looking ivory-skinned woman. The image seemed to be a study in contrasts, yet it held far more information than merely that as a sloe-eyed Asian woman joined them with a small smile.
Even as the tired-yet-willing Yamanaka began to update her new colleagues, Abyssinian strode towards the three nurses and demanded curtly, "What is Siberian's status?"
The two Kritiker nurses looked up and practically saluted the man, it was so clear where the lines that separated them from the general public ran in a situation like this. It was the petite oriental woman, however, who took control. With a smile as warm as the sun despite her growing tiredness after an unexpected shift, Yamanaka offered, "He's doing well, Fujimiya-san." Turning her soft smile so that it could include Yohji, she added, "I'm sure he's going to return to consciousness soon, Kudou-san. Would you both like to come with me and see Ken-san?"
It was all Yohji could do to keep from shouting, "Hell yes!!" as he allowed Aya to remain in command of the situation as the scarlet-haired man growled a quiet, "Affirmative!"
"Then follow me, please!" The nurse urged unnecessarily, thinking in the back of her mind that virtually no one could've stopped these two intense young men from seeing the one that they so obviously loved and feeling glad that no one would try.
Even though Aya immediately stalked after the nurse, Yohji took his time and noted Korat and Javanese quietly talking together, undoubtedly making observations on the two of them to feed back to Norwegian at some point. The lanky blond felt deeply grateful that the other Kritiker agents had been sent to Tokyo General to help them all and he spared them a small smile of thanks before trailing after his partner.
Not giving a damn about anyone other than the person who could grant him access to his fallen lover's side, Aya followed Yamanaka wordlessly. He was unaware of the eyes upon both he and Yohji, all he cared about in that moment was Ken. With a relieved expression, Aya saw that Ken's color had improved, the nineteen year old's earlier pallor had been replaced by slightly warmer skin-tones and he asked, "Has he received another blood transfusion?"
"No, he hasn't." The Tokyo General staff nurse smiled reassuringly before adding, "The improvement you see is all thanks to his own body's ability to cope with the stress of both being shot *and* the surgery that followed! I must say, Ken-san is a *most* amazing man to have begun to recover so well all at once like this!"
Her radiant smile then faltered as she added, "But he hasn't awoken for us yet. Not even once! So, *please* speak to him? Urge him to return! We can help him so much more once he regains consciousness, all right?"
With a serious expression on his face and a curt nod of his head, Aya accepted the challenge. As he and Yohji moved past the woman to approach the injured man, the violet-eyed swordsman took up a position beside Ken where he could stroke his hand even as his more talkative lover moved to speak to their silent partner.
Noticing the change in Ken's complexion as well, Yohji smiled fondly and brushed loose coffee-colored hair across the unconscious man's forehead before leaning down to greet his lover with as much positive energy as he could find, saying, "Hey there, Kenken! Aya and me are back, baby. Sorry to be gone a little longer than we'd been lately, but Norwegian showed up and ordered us to get some sleep and you know how old Nor-sama can get. If he says 'sleep' you really don't get many options, ya know?"
The soft smile that crossed the slender assassin's face was more a reflection of the fond regard they all had for the Kritiker physician than anything else, but he then continued, updating his silent lover as he usually did. "Omi and Nagi are asleep, but I think they're okay after whatever happened in here earlier." Yohji mentally winced with this statement, he didn't really believe that the two teens were truly all right, but it seemed better to say this than to tell the unconscious man that he had no idea what had gone wrong for the midnight-eyed youth that Ken was so fond of.
Faltering in his attempts to remain upbeat, Yohji glanced at Aya to see if there had been any reaction to their presence like there had been the morning prior, but all he got was a sad shake of the head in response. Sighing and feeling defeated, the jade-eyed man turned his attention back to the one whose chocolate-colored eyes had remained closed far too long for his tastes and spoke from the heart, saying, "Baby, I love you and need to have you wake up soon. It's so hard just waiting for you to open your eyes again. To hear your voice would be better than anything I can imagine and to see you smile would be…" Yohji's voice trailed off as he felt himself choking up. Shaking his head and refusing to give in to the grief that wanted to drag him down, he exclaimed, "Damn it all, Ken! I *love* you and Aya and me need you back!"
A sharp intake of breath from the other man in the room caught Yohji's attention and he saw a miracle repeat itself as Ken's suntanned hand wrapped itself tightly around Aya's pale one and squeezed as well as the injured man could.
"Ken?!" The scarlet-haired man exclaimed and an unquestioning smile lit up the usually stoic man's face as Aya returned the motion, gently but firmly letting the teen know he had felt the touch. "I think he's awake, Yohji!"
Amazed jade eyes were wide with hope as Yohji turned and asked, "Ken-love? Are you really awake, baby? Can you open your eyes for me?"
As both concerned lovers watched, a small frown crossed Ken's features, the first facial expression they'd seen on him since before he'd been gunned down in battle in a nameless drug factory that was best forgotten. Struggling against the pull of medicines and the profound exhaustion that always follows major surgery, brunette lashes slowly fluttered open, revealing deep brown eyes that gazed at the world around them unseeing yet not unseen.
"KEN!!!" Yohji shouted in pure delight and had difficulty keeping from wrapping his arms around the barely aware teen, an act which the multitude of wires and tubes connected to his recovering body reminded him could be disastrous.
The blond man's happiness seemed endless as Aya moved quickly to be where Ken could see him as well and he urged, "Ken? Can you hear us, love?"
The endearment that the brunette had never heard before from his scarlet-haired partner went unappreciated by his hazy mind, yet it didn't fail to register with Yohji who flashed them both looks of triumph and limitless adoration even as Ken very tiredly tried to speak beneath the respirator mask.
Yamanaka had been hovering close by throughout the visit by the two elder members of Weiss and she realized what was interfering with the clear breakthrough event that was occurring. Moving with a grace and speed that belied her own personal exhaustion, the nurse slipped around the adoring pair to a spot above the head of Ken's bed and she quickly and efficiently removed the mask, urging hopefully, "Did you want to say something, Ken-san?"
In a rough, gravelly voice barely above a whisper, the claw-wielding assassin gasped his lovers' names, "yoh-ji? ay-a?" [1]
Ignoring the tears of sheer joy that had formed in the corners of his eyes, Yohji smiled brighter than the sun as he responded with gladness, "Yeah, baby, we're both here for you! Oh, god, Ken-love!! It is *so* good to see you awake again!"
Not much better at containing his runaway emotions than his blond partner was, Aya promised, "We'll always be there for you when you need us from now on, Ken. How do you feel?"
Confusion crossed chocolate eyes that had already begun to sink shut again, the few brief moments of conversation having drained the recovering man's energy, yet Ken forced himself to stay awake to ask in a voice quieter than an infant's sigh, "wha' happened? where am i?"
Yohji shook his head, relieved smile still in place as he reassured his lover whom he knew needed to rest more before the nursing staff could have its own discussion with him at some point later in the night, "You were hurt, baby." Seeing that more explanation than that was needed, he added reassuringly, "You're in the hospital, Ken-love, but we're all here for you. Korat and Javanese are going to be taking care of you, okay?"
The small frown that crinkled the former athlete's tanned forehead indicated that even as confused and exhausted as he was, Ken was still aware of the meaning of having Kritiker's best nurses assigned to him. Granted, he didn't know he wasn't *at* Kritiker Medical Center in the first place, or he might've been even more alarmed. With an exhausted sigh, he turned his eyes towards clearly relieved and joyous amethyst ones and asked, "aya? 'r you 'kay, love? why so…?"
The fog in Ken's mind prevented him from finding a way to ask why the swordsman was showing so much emotion but the person being questioned understood and answered firmly, "I'm happy because you woke up, Ken. We've all been very worried about you, but it'll all be okay now." Not willing to fail to fulfill a personal mission that he had assigned himself, Aya moved closer so that he was certain the younger of his two lovers could see as well as hear him and he added earnestly, "I love you, Ken. I needed to tell you that." The affirmation ended with a tender kiss to the injured man's temple and the look of surprise that entered sleepy chocolate eyes was priceless despite the injured teen's lack of energy to answer immediately.
Yohji's unrestrained tears of joy continued to course down his cheeks but now they held even more happiness within each salty drop than before. It had taken a near-death experience for their younger partner for Aya to find the strength to say those special words to either one of them and he was as happy to hear them directed at Ken as he would've been if they had been for him instead. With a heart filled with rejoicing, the jade-eyed man placed a warm hand onto the violet-eyed one's shoulder and gave him a weak approximation of the embrace he wished they could share.
Glancing up to reveal wetness glimmering in amaryllis eyes, Aya attempted to make his mouth repeat the avowal of love so that he might include Yohji in the truth of the depth of his joy more fully yet found that he couldn't. Something held him back and he didn't understand it, so he simply smiled that rare open smile he so infrequently allowed himself to have before turning back in time to hear Ken yawn tiredly.
Shaking himself free of his thoughts of the elder of his two lovers to pay attention to the younger one once more, Yohji said tenderly, "Ken-love? Do you need to get some more sleep now, baby? You probably do and maybe next time you wake up, Omi and Nagi will be here to see you, okay?" He was well aware that the injured man hadn't been sleeping per se previously, but it was always best to speak to someone in Ken's condition in the least upsetting of terms, so Yohji wisely chose "sleeping" over "unconsciousness."
Nodding minutely and feeling more exhausted than he thought possible, Ken agreeed but finally answered Aya's proclamation in a voice barely louder than the machinery that surrounded him, "yeah, i wanna sleep for 'while. 'n i love you, too, aya." The small smile that lifted the corners of his lips wasn't lost on his audience as he added breathlessly, "'n you too, yohji. i dunno wha's got you both s' upset, but everything'll be 'kay, you'll see." Even as he spoke uninformed yet confident words, Ken was slipping into a deep and restful slumber and warm chocolate eyes then slid shut once more.
With a smile of her own that spoke of both her professional and personal delight at seeing her patient not only regain consciousness yet also speak coherently with those whom he loved, Yamanaka stated quietly, "I need to replace his oxygen mask now." She glanced at them one at a time as if to ask if they needed to give the one they loved a kiss good-night as it were, then turned her coal-dark eyes away to allow them the semblance of privacy to do so.
After dashing away some of the last of his heartfelt tears of joy, Yohji leaned over and placed the softest of kisses to Ken's lips at the same time that he reached to brush a hand across a katana-nicked cheek before urging the sleeper, "Pleasant dreams, Ken-love. Someone will be here for you when you wake up again, sweetheart." Grateful to the nurse for giving him a chance to express his feelings one more time that night, he pulled away and made room for his other lover to offer his own farewell.
Trailing the tip of a finger over Ken's generous lips with an expression of soft wonderment on his face, Aya quietly said, "Thank you for waking up for us, Ken. Rest well, love." Amaryllis eyes gazed at the slumbering man for a moment more then he leaned down and placed a gentle kiss of his own onto his lover's lips.
After straightening up, the scarlet-haired man reached to self-consciously brush one earlock back into place before saying more loudly, "I think we're done here for the moment, nurse." The woman turned back to look at the two men with a kind smile in place and he added on behalf of himself as well as the man standing beside him, "Thank you for being understanding."
Yamanaka blinked with surprise. She didn't claim to know these men well at all, but she knew such a seemingly simple statement of gratitude didn't come easily to the proud young man in front of her and she merely bowed her head in acceptance. Then she said, "If you'll give me a moment, I'd like to return to the desk with you so we can tell Javanese and Korat about Ken-san's awakening, all right?"
Answering for them both, Yohji agreed off-handedly as his thoughts remained filled with only the image of Aya verbally professing his love for Ken for the first time, "Yeah, sure thing."
Glancing at the lanky blond and seeing the faraway look in his eyes, Aya wished briefly that they could avoid speaking with the nursing staff in favor of celebrating the change in Ken's condition. He was torn between thoughts of just he and Yohji finding a private place to rejoice in their own fashion together or awakening the sleeping teens who would be extremely relieved to hear the news, but it didn't really matter. Knowing that duty took precedence over personal wishes, the swordsman said nothing and merely stood at Yohji's side, waiting either for the nurse to give them instructions to follow her or for his elder lover to refocus on the present.
Unaware of his own distracted nature or the quietly excited state of his partner standing nearby, Yohji remained lost in thought as long fingers unwittingly played with a lock of long blond hair in a rough approximation of one of the things Ken enjoyed doing in cozy post-coital moments.
For once, the brief pause in their lives wasn't filled with angst and sorrow, though. There was an air of hope swirling around the eldest members of Weiss and soon it would break free and dance across not only Tokyo General Hospital but beyond its walls as well.
*****
To be continued.
Author's Notes:
[1] Dialogue that is devoid of capitalization is intended to be read as being extremely soft. The speaker here, of course, has just awakened after a nearly fatal injury and surgery which caused him to be not only tired but also to have a sore throat from the breathing tube used previously, so Ken's voice would be extremely quiet and yet somewhat rough. Also, in this type of dialogue there's a fair amount of shortening of the words to indicate the person speaking is too tired to say an entire sentence correctly. If an "abbreviation" of a word baffles you, trying speaking the line aloud, it's usually easier to understand that way, or at least that was the excuse Mark Twain used for writing some of his own stuff this way.
Full Author's Notes to Run at Conclusion.
Please be advised: Parts 32 & 33 will be posted together.
This evening's posting run is dedicated to a number of special people in recognition of their wonderful friendship and their unfailing support through my recent bouts with flamers for not only this story but also for my Cowboy Bebop fic, "A Reunion of Comrades." It may seem odd to recognize their wonderful support here when it was mostly needed for a fic written in another fandom, but since almost all of these kind folks are following this story as well, I wanted to do it here.
First and foremost among those who gave me support in February during these seemingly minor crises that actually tend to rip my muses from me and send me into unhappy withdrawal was Ryoko for whom the Bebop fic was written in the first place. She's always been a staunch ally in situations like this, but to see me unhappy because of something I had done for her simply wasn't tolerable. My kitten can be quite the ferocious feline when given cause to be and I was lucky enough to have that power in my corner.
The numerous others who supported me via not only public review comments at fanfiction.net but also through direct email included but certainly wasn't limited to: Yanagi-sen (see? didn't I tell you she was an amazing friend?), Portia (another wonderful soul to whom I am eternally grateful), e.e (who was quite kind to review this for me so generously), focsyr (who has an interesting taste in knives, I must say!), Persephone (who is a kind goddess just like her namesake), bearilou and toxic (who together made me feel infinitely better), Michele, Krystal, Nightfall, and several other folks whose nice letters to me were apparently eaten by my over-stuffed email box unless I hallucinated reading them a couple of weeks ago.
Last but not least since family is never "least", my little brother was supportive, too, in his unique and stealthy ways. Suffice it to say, he, too, has an alter ego and given an excuse it can get loose and hound the opposition to death! He also didn't hesitate to tell me that he thought the story was good and basically kept me more enthusiastic than I had thought I'd be afterwards. So, thanks, dude, for the nice support! Or was that a "nice cover"?
{snickers at Trigun in-joke his bro will understand even if no one else gets it and then yawns and shivers a little before ending this here hoping everyone who has read this far enjoyed the major change of events in Part 33}
Well, team, that's it for tonight! If I don't freeze to death during the night, I'll do my level best to get more edited up and be back for you tomorrow. Then again, it's a damn good thing my computer is on the second floor of my house, ne?
Hasta Luego!
~~~E-sama the Llama~~~
(who would dearly love to know if Lauren's requested Kleenex warning was justified or not, after all, the chibi loves to hear she was right about stuff like that when her dad wasn't sure it was needed {smirks then adds as if realizing he was being dense} gee, don't *all* kids like to be right when their parents are wrong?)
Posted 05 March 2002, ~4:00am.