Merry X-mas and happy new year! And here is Schu's POV on the whole family get together. Hope I didn't keep all my loyal readers waiting for too long. This chapter is my x-mas present for you!

Sky: loyal readers? Where??

HH: -.-;; omae wo korosu…

Sky: ^^v no you can't. You still need me for the rest of this fic.

HH: ;_;

Mission #7: Ihr Spiegel

"Scheisse! Scheisse! Scheisse!" Schuldich cursed as he threw his door shut. He looked into the mirror and saw not the reflection of his own, but one just as familiar. The long red hair flowing gently around the slightly tanned face. The big wondering black eyes. Schuldich grabbed the first object he saw and threw it, shattering the mirror into unfixable little pieces. Shattered and unfixable, just like his heart.

But the truth was there to bark and bite him. For the first time in years he felt whole again. He saw the only family he had. All of this, it couldn't be any more wrong in his eyes.

He wasn't supposed to feel like this. He wasn't supposed to see the face that he had cursed for the past years. He wasn't supposed to feel any happiness at all towards that person. Hatred should have been the only thing he felt. Hatred, resentment, anger. But not happiness! And yet…and yet he felt a joy, even if it was only for a second. Then he remembered the vow he made and it became easy to feel all the feelings he should feel. This cursed life he led, it was all thanks to him. If Bradly didn't pull him away from there, he would have killed him. Schuldig was very surprised to feel the sense of power emanating from his one true enemy. So he couldn't use his powers. There are more ways to kill one slowly and painfully without imploring any supernatural powers. Farfarello is an expert on that area.

Schuldig laughed bitterly at himself. He should have known. A scum like him always knew ways to survive. Why would Schuldig care whether he's alive or dead? If he was alive, then Schuldig would kill him soon. And if he was dead, then it would save Schuldig a lot of trouble. Either way it doesn't really matter. The next time they meet, one of them wouldn't leave the battle alive.

The door opened and Crawford stepped in. He was still wearing his suit, even this late at night. A weary and concerned look was on his face. "Aber Bradley! It's not Armageddon yet." Crawford sat down on the opposite of Schuldich and started to speak. His voice was low and even contained a little sense of emotion, which was highly rare. "Do you want to talk about it, Schu?"

"Why would I want to do such a thing like that?! There's nothing to talk about. I had the opportunity to actually make the person responsible suffer for all the things I've been through and was stopped by you. I'm fine. Everything is peachy fine." To emphasize his sentence, Schuldig started to flip through the newest edition of Playboy. Not really seeing any of the pictures.

Hands gently, but firmly pulled the magazine away. The same long and graceful hands held Schuldig in a tight embrace. Schuldig's body tensed, but then relaxed. The German rested his head on the warm chest of his lover and heard the expected request. "Tell me." Schuldig sighed. He has never shared the story of his life before Sanctus with anyone before. Not willingly anyway. It would be painful, but he needed to do this. He needed to do so because he needed Bradley to know the reason why he can never forgive his own flesh and blood. Why above all things, his goal from now on would be to kill him.

The story came. Words accompanied by images. A real visual experience. Not knowing that about the same time, in another part of town, the exact same story was told. Images of Schuldig's happy careless childhood came. Images of so many intimate and loving moments. Images of that dreadful day, the day that changed his whole life. However then it was the moment, when the beginnings of different stories were to be told. The story that could only be told by the one whom experienced it. It's like a path that splits in two. Only the walker could tell you the way they went.

Schuldig shared his memory for the first time in so many years. He spoke softly.

"The day Hanna died, my baby sister, was the day when my world came crumbling down. The one person I would give my life for had died in front of my eyes, while I couldn't do a damn thing. Fate's got a real bitchy sense of irony. The person I loved killed by a person I loved.

From that moment I made myself a vow. I would live and let my power grow. I would live simply for one thing, revenge. Death to the one whom killed her with his hands, even though I loved him. Death to the one whom commanded her death to be executed. I had to wait time and opportunity though. That asshole Takatori took me away from the two people I hated the most. He took me to Tibet. I was frustrated when I was brought to the training grounds of the Tibetan temple. It was much more difficult to kill someone who's on the other side of the planet. You've been there yourself. It is the place where Estet recruit raw talents. Those old hags just love putting headquarters in the middle of nowhere. But I suppose you just can't train a new pyrokinetic without burning the whole city down.

So I trained and trained. The good thing was that effectively upped my power level and got me transported to Sanctus, our lovely home in the Swiss middle of nowhere. I had also developed into my charming 13 year old self by then.

I was being a young brat and your average teenager who didn't like the word obey. So the Arshloch locked me up for weeks in the dark dungeon where he occasionally came to beat me up. The only thing that made me stay alive, the only thing that made me endure all the sufferings, was my vow.

You were shocked when we first met. But you gotta admit, your timing really sucked. I just got released that day. A dirty, beaten and hungry kid, who miraculously increased his powers, while his body was in agony. The concern I saw in your eyes almost made me weep. It melted my heart and that moment I fell in love with you. Remember how our love grew? You taught me to obey and even flatter Takatori, so it would save me injuries. For months I lived in a blissful dream and knew nothing but love. Until the night when I found you beaten. You told me you accidentally fell, but I knew who was the cause of your injury. I woke up from my illusion and knew the world was still just as cruel. I also discovered that love and revenge CAN coexist.

For the past years I knew it would be a matter of time to take my revenge, just a question of when I will see my enemies again. So it would be better just to wait. You knew he was coming, ne Liebling? That's why you've been so caring these past few days. It's ok. I do not blame you. Sure, I'm still pissed. But I know you only did it, because you wanted to save me from pain. Everything will work out, Bradley. I am a cat with nine lives. I'll kill him and take my revenge. Ich bin Schwarz, weißt du noch?" Schuldich kissed his lover, lips just touching for the briefest of moments.

"Go to bed now, Liebling. It's late now and you need your rest. Gute Nacht, süsse Träume."

Before Crawford had any chance of speaking, he found himself escorted outside and standing in front of a closed door. Crawford was worried. Even if his lover acted like there was no big deal about it, he could see the doubts and sadness in his eyes. He knew the wounds of the heart were opened again. It was at times of doubt the enemy strikes and defeats you. Crawford knew that the only thing he could do was making sure Schuldig won't die. He opened the door to his apartment and got the vision again. The same one he had before. However, it seemed to be a bit more detailed then before. Danger. Red/Orange hair. Blood. A falling body. This vision puzzled and distressed him. It definitely involved Schuldig.

Schuldich walked to the window. He hadn't been able to sleep at all. Now the light of the moon attracted him, like a magnet. He felt himself drawn towards it. He noticed it was a full moon. Some long buried memory came back to him. His legs carried him to the little sport bag that had been put away almost carelessly under the bed. His hands pulled the bag into the little amount of light from the window and went on to search for something within. He soon found what he was searching for. It was a small velvet bag. His right hand went to conjure up the content. When his fist opened, light reflected on a ring. It looked like two rings that were melted together, thus causing the two parts to be reflections of each other. The surface of aluminum shone brightly under the pale moonlight, while the two stones eagerly absorbed the colors.

**************************************************************************

An impressively sized manila folder was lying on the desk in front of Yamoto Kanryuu. 'Sanctus secret archive' was written on the cover.

"Was this everything you could get?"

"Yes, according to our source it was everything known to the organization." Judging by the frown on Yamoto's face, Mina could say with almost certainty that her boss was plotting something.

She had almost exhausted all her sources, but had been quite satisfied with the result. Only a selected few had ever entered the hidden archive and library of Sanctus and even less managed to get out.

"Thank you, that was all for now." That was her cue to leave. She bowed respectfully and left. It didn't really matter her who ruled Japan, she got paid well enough. Her worries were more along the lines of whether her new pair of pumps had arrived from France and if that cute guy Yohji had called her back. Speaking of which. She had accidentally seen the picture of Schuldig's father and it reminded her of the idiotic waiter she encountered at the party. Her beautiful Italian gown had been totally ruined, but the evening had not ended too badly with Yohji in her bed. She still needed to write the complaint letter to the management.

The expensive leather chair made small noises when he leaned back. The file had confirmed his suspicion. Sakuya and Schuldig were closely related. They were twins, but their feelings towards each other couldn't be any more different. Apparently, Schuldig or rather Rekka's psychiatric report shows that he is driven by his hatred of his twin. Sakuya on the other hand would be driven by guilt.

One telepath would be handy, but two telepaths would be a force to be reckoned with. Telepaths were known to be able to combine powers when related. Meaning, together they can do the job of more than ten telepaths individually. It will be very useful when the time comes to eliminate the only thing he found standing in him and his way to become dictator in Japan, Kritiker.

But their powers must be finely tuned to work properly. While the guilt will mean very little resistance on Sakuya's side, the hatred may overpower the lesser telepath and render him powerless or worse. It will be a gamble. One that Kanryuu was eager and more than willing to take. But in order to do so he must get his little Sakuya back first. Timing would be essential and now wasn't the time. His little 'Rubin' needed to gain more trust in his new team before his sudden departure would unbalance the team and thus Kritiker. Getting his little telepath back would be no problem. None at all. The corners of his mouth tilted upwards in a twisted smile.

TBC

"A priest and a chemistry teacher both report before the portal of heaven. The gatekeeper warmly welcomes the chemistry teacher into heaven and makes the priest wait. The priest asks: Why does he get to go inside before me? I have dedicated my whole life for God and he was just a teacher. The gatekeeper answered: Because, dear priest, he made more people pray than you did by making really difficult tests."

Title translation: Your mirror