A/N: This goes in the same timeline as Family Secrets and These Bonds We Share. This takes place somewhere between the two stories, so if you want to know what's happening beyond this, Family Secrets is the original story. One of my wonderful reviewers mentioned writing a side story about this, so this is to you! Oh, and to all who have read the original two stories, the same thing applies!
"Speaking"
'Thinking'
Telepathy
"So, all we have to do is go in, kill the scientist, and get out? No documents or any other things you need?" Omi asked after Weiss had received their latest mission. Manx gave his a slight smile and nodded.
"That means that only two or three of you will be needed. One to kill the target, and the other or others to watch his back. Who wants to take it, and before you ask, no Ran, you are not allowed to go."
"Why not?" Ran's voice was not whiny in the least, but he definitely sounded curious, and a little put-out.
"Because you're still healing." Ran blushed and hung his head a little. He was feeling better, but apparently Kritiker thought it was too early for him to start taking missions again. He couldn't see why; he was almost completely healed.
Don't worry, Little Brother, I'll stay home with you. I'm sure your boyfriend will, too. Schuldich grinned when Ran blushed again. He and Ken had been dating for almost a month, but Ran still flushed every time Ken was referred to as his boyfriend. Schuldich found it kinda cute that his younger brother would get shy about something like that when nothing else seemed to bother him. Sure enough, Ken declined on the mission, saying that he would rather have the night off. In the end it was decided that Brad, Farfarello, and Yohji would go on the mission together. Omi and Nagi would work out the details and stay in contact with them at all times, but the two chibis were being given the night off as well.
"So, how hard to you think it's going to be to kill of a scientist and a couple of his minion bodyguards?" Yohji asked. Farfarello raised his eyebrow slightly at the older man's question, more specifically, at his word choice.
"His minions?" Farf asked, chuckling slightly. Yohji smirked and shrugged.
"Yeah. All evil scientists have at least one minion!"
"Where did you get that information?"
"From that one movie… You know, the one with that mad scientist and Igor?"
"Wasn't that Frankenstein?"
"Probably. Wouldn't it be funny if there's a little hunchback guy in there? 'Follow meee!'" Yohji mimicked, hunching his back over and walking with a limp. Farfarello couldn't help but laugh out loud at Yohji's impersonation of Igor. Brad simply rolled his eyes and his a smirk of his own.
Just before they entered the building, Brad stopped, seized by a sudden vision. The younger two members of Weiss looked at him curiously for a moment before getting looking at each other and settling in to wait for the vision to pass. "Stay away from the yellow goo," Brad warned them when his vision had ended. They nodded and followed when he began walking into the building again.
"Oracle! Watch out!" Farfarello yelled, cringing as the enormous tub of yellow goo tipped slightly. Brad managed to jump out of the way, and narrowly avoided colliding with the body of the scientist. The three Weiss members were heading out when a group of guards rushed into the room.
After a few minutes of fighting, Yohji and Farf had taken care of all the guards that had chosen them, and Brad was standing on a ledge fighting his last guard. He managed to kill the guard, but at the last moment, he tripped and fell into the tub of yellow goo, which was what the ledge was over. Farfarello jumped into the tub and pulled his former leader out of the goo. Brad immediately started coughing.
"Are you okay, Brad?"
"Are all the guards taken care of?"
"Why else would I call you Brad instead of a code name?"
"It's not polite to answer a question with a question."
"When have I ever been accused of being polite? Besides, you answered my question with a question."
"True. I'm fine. I think I've got a cramp in my abdomen, but other than that, I'm fine."
"Why would you have a cramp?"
"From the fighting and then falling into that stuff, probably."
"I guess you've got a point."
Omi and Nagi looked up when they heard strange sounds coming from one of the bathrooms. It sounded like it was coming from the bathroom shared by Ran and Brad. They headed upstairs stealthily, not recognizing the sound at first. When they reached the middle of the staircase, they went up quicker, finally recognizing the sound as that of someone being sick. They couldn't imagine either of the leaders to get sick, so they were even more worried. When they got to the bathroom, they saw Crawford kneeling next to the toilet, with Schuldich rubbing circles on his back. The telepath was obviously worried about the older man, and kept asking if he was alright.
"Schu? What's going on?"
"I don't know! He just came home and then came here and started… this!" It was obvious that Schuldich was panicking, but the two youngest members had no idea how to make him feel better. At that moment Ran walked into the room with a washcloth, a thermometer, and a bottle of Tums. The younger redhead knelt next to Brad and helped the older man to his feet. He and Schuldich cleaned Brad up, and got Brad to rinse his mouth out. Brad allowed to thermometer to be placed in his mouth, and even cooperated while waiting for the reading to come up. Schuldich got the rag damp and bathed Brad's face with it, doing everything he and Ran knew how to make Brad feel better.
When the thermometer beeped, Ran took it out of Brad's mouth and looked at it. He grunted at what it showed and started shaking it to clear the temperature that it showed. Then he opened the Tums bottle and shook out two tablets. He handed them to Brad, who swallowed them and looked at his redheaded caretakers, specifically the younger one. "Well?" he asked when Ran still said nothing about the temperature.
"You don't have a fever, and aside from being slightly paler than usual, you look fine. I don't know what it is, but keep us informed of how you feel. If you feel any changes, tell one of us immediately. I don't care who you tell, so long as it's one of the seven of us in this house. Got it?" It was proof of how bad Brad felt when he nodded without argument even when he was being told what to do.
"So you think there's something wrong with Oracle?"
"Come on, Hanae! I believe you know us well enough by now to use out first names!" Yohji blurted out.
"To answer your question, yes, I think there is something definitely wrong with Brad," Ran answered, shooting Yohji a look for bringing up something so unimportant at that time.
"What are his symptoms?"
"He's got cramps, he gets sick at random times for no apparent reason, he's really moody, he's had a few headaches, he's getting bloated, and he's been complaining of having a sensitive chest."
"Sensitive chest?"
"Yeah. Whenever he leans against something, his says his chest hurts, like he's got a bruise or something."
"Does he have a bruise?"
"Not that we can tell."
"I'll check in with the Kritiker doctors and let you know. Though, if he was a woman, I'd swear he was pregnant." With that last comment, Hanae walked out the door, leaving the seven present members of Weiss dumbfounded. Brad was in his room, sleeping.
"Pregnant?"
"She's kidding… right?"
"Actually, it sounds about right," Schuldich murmured. Seven heads turned to face him. "What? I still vaguely remember when Lanen was pregnant with Ran. Now that Hanae said that, Brad dos seem to be acting the same way."
"This isn't good."
"Nope. Not at all."
"I. Am. NOT. Pregnant!" Brad screamed. The mood swings had gotten worse over the past few days, but they were unable to hide the theory from him any longer. Unfortunately, they chose the wrong time to let him overhear their discussions. Schuldich was in a bad mood. Apparently, he and Brad were so close that Brad's headaches and temperament were getting through both psychics' shields and were effecting Schuldich as well.
"Is that your visions talking? Or just your stubborn inability to believe anything beyond what you see?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that you don't seem to be able to believe anything unless you see it with your own two eyes or get a vision of it!"
"Then it's my stubbornness. I'm telling you I'm not pregnant!"
"How do you know?"
"It's logically impossible!"
"Um… actually… "
"What Ken?"
"I was just going to say something, but it's probably better if I don't."
"Why?" Schuldich asked, beginning to smile.
"I really don't want to get involved in this argument."
"Why don't you tell us anyway?" Brad asked, a little annoyed that Ken was unwilling to share information with them.
"I was jus going to say that it's happened before. Kritiker agents have fallen into weirder stuff than yellow goo. One of the guys fell into some weird chemical and got pregnant. His daughter is so cute! She has these bright blue eyes, and her hair is really dark black. I think she's about three now… "
"I don't need to hear this!"
After another three agonizing weeks of not knowing what was happening to Brad, Hanae brought back information on the liquid Brad fell in. "Apparently, the goo has to be ingested for it to work, which is why Farfarello was unaffected. The goo is supposed to make people pregnant, but before you panic- "
Manx had to stop to give the eight young men time to get the yelling and arguing out of their systems. "However, for it to work, it must be fertilized."
"What's that mean?" Nagi asked. "He's a guy. He'd be able to fertilize it himself, right?"
"Supposedly, but this chemical makes that impossible. The fertilization must come from another source. It must come from someone who does not have the chemical inside his or her body."
"You mean just his, right?" Ken asked.
"No. The goo was designed to create whatever the other person did not donate. If the 'donor' is female, then the goo makes up the male part. If the 'donor' is male, then the goo makes up the female part." [1]
"So this stuff basically makes it possible for gay couples to have kids?"
"It makes it possible for anyone to have children. Which brings me back to my point. Brad, have you slept with anyone since you fell into that goo?"
"No."
"Then you aren't pregnant."
"Then why did I have the symptoms?"
"The chemical was preparing you for what was to come."
"So I'm not…?"
"Nope! Crawford? Crawford? Brad? BRAD!" Brad had fainted in relief when he heard the news. Schuldich and Yohji exchanged looks and smirked, knowing good blackmail possibilities when they saw it.
A/N: What did you think? Oh, and I tried to bring a little Farf/Yohji stuff into it to make up for my lack of attention to those two in my other stories in this timeline. Please review and let me know what you think!
[1] – I think I got that from another fanfic, but I can't really remember if that's what the person used or not. If so, I'm really sorry for stealing your idea. Here, I'll make up for it! The story I possibly got that idea from is about Ken and Ran getting together and Ran gets doused in the stuff. He gets pregnant and {Spoiler Alert!!!!!!} has an adorable little girl. Only in that one, I don't think anyone else has to contribute anything to it.