Chapter Nineteen

Schuldig was bored. He didn't mind the job as a bodyguard and head of security for Daishi, especially since it had so far kept Chien from giving them any missions that they didn't want. Still, that hadn't made the job any more interesting. Well, sometimes delegating work was fun.

Nagi was yawning slightly at his side as they walked through the garage, and trying to hide it. Schuldig didn't blame him; he knew that the younger boy hadn't been sleeping much since Chien's arrival. And the job really was boring.

Unfortunately, someone had decided to liven it up.

Schuldig's eyes widened as the first gunshots rang out. His gun was in his hand before he had fully processed the information and he dove, knocking Daishi to the ground. He glanced over to see that Nagi had darted behind a pillar.

"Where are they?" he asked.

"Snipers, I think," Nagi called back. "That's what we get for parking on the roof."

Schuldig scanned the nearby area for minds and managed to locate two of the shooters on the rooftop next door. Two quick shots, and the gunfire ceased.

"Not bad," Nagi said with a slight smile.

"Thank you," Schuldig said. "I practice. But there's others. I'm having trouble finding them all."

"Hm. What should we do?"

Schuldig glanced around, but he didn't see much for cover. "Get the hell off the roof. How, I don't know."

"You know, you are in charge. You could summon more security." Nagi gestured to the little walkie talkie Schuldig carried.

"Well, I thought the gunfire would draw them, but I guess not. Who hired these idiots?" Schuldig took out his radio and called for some help. "Since someone's trying to shoot your boss, you might want to get up here," he snarled into it.

"I say our best shot is to run for the door back into the building," Nagi said.

Schuldig looked around. "Yeah, probably."

"How're we going to get there without being shot?" Nagi asked. "I don't think I could stop them all."

"Car to car?" Schuldig suggested.

"That'll have to do," Nagi said, and darted forward without waiting for further instruction. Schuldig followed, dragging Daishi with him. More shots rang out, but they made it safely behind the car. "I love my work," Nagi said through clenched teeth.

"Oh, yeah, I'm having a blast." Schuldig darted forward again. This time, Daishi moved of his own steam. Nagi followed along quietly. Unfortunately for them, being behind the car was not quite good enough, as one of the snipers was on the roof behind them.

"Schu!" Nagi shouted, as another shot rang out and the redhead stumbled forward, skidding to the floor. They were close enough to the entrance that Nagi was able to hurl Daishi forward and through the door, then knelt next to Schu. Another shot rang out, and the bullet dropped to the ground next to them.

"SCHU!" he shouted, seeing the blood seeping through Schuldig's shirt.

Schuldig tried to sit up, and coughed, staining his lips with blood. "Oh, fuck," he managed, and slumped backwards, losing consciousness.

Nagi swore viciously. He yanked off his uniform tunic and tucked it underneath Schuldig to cushion the exit wound, then took off the T-shirt and held it over his chest. One of the security guards poked his heads cautiously onto the roof. Gunfire was still ringing out, but the bullets were inexplicably veering to the side. "Call an ambulance!" Nagi shouted. He managed to haul Schuldig inside the door, trying to keep him from bleeding to death.

The security officer gave a nod and grabbed his radio.

Nagi pressed his shirt more firmly against Schuldig's chest. "Oh, God, please don't die, oh God, oh God . . ."

Given the gunfire, the authorities were already on their way. An ambulance arrived only minutes later and pried Nagi away from Schuldig, putting him on the ambulance. "Where are you taking him?" Nagi asked, trying to not panic. "I'll meet you there."

The paramedics gave him the name of the hospital. Nagi noted it down and turned back to the security. With Schuldig down, Nagi was officially second in command. "Get him into a windowless room," he snapped at one of the officers. "I don't care if it's a closet. And then guard the door. Whoever lets someone in to shoot him, I will personally kill."

"Y-Yes sir!" the man managed, and scurried off.

Nagi went for the nearest phone, dialing their apartment number.

"Speak."

"Farferello, put Chien on the phone. Now."

"Oh dear," Farferello said. Apparently he could tell that Nagi was not in the mood to be fucked with, so he handed the phone off, sing-songing, "Somebody's in trouble . . ."

There was a pause. "Chien desu."

"It's Nagi. Schuldig's been badly injured."

Another pause. "Where are you?"

"I'm still at work, I'm going to be joining him at the hospital as soon as I make sure these incompetents that I work with aren't going to let our employer get killed as soon as I leave the building."

Chien blinked, completely not used to such an attitude from Nagi. "What hospital?"

Nagi gave him the name. "I expect you to be there," he said coldly, and hung up before Chien could reply. He found Daishi and assured himself that the man would be relatively safe until he could return to the job. "I'm going to go see to Schuldig," he said.

Daishi nodded, thanked him profusely, promised both of them a raise and to pay Schuldig's hospital bills.

Nagi arrived at the hospital only minutes after Chien, to see him arguing with one of the doctors. "What's going on here?" he asked, shoving his way through the nurses.

Chien gave Nagi a cool glance. Normally, it would have made Nagi run for the hills. "I'm having Schuldig moved to a secure facility."

"No, you aren't," the doctor said. "It's not safe to move him in this condition. One of his lungs has collapsed. We need to operate now."

"Somebody's in trouble," Farferello sang again.

Nagi stepped between the doctor and Chien, glancing at the doctor's badge. "Kagerou-sensei," he said calmly, "I trust you will do whatever's necessary to save Schuldig's life. Now."

Kagerou nodded and hurried out of the room.

"You don't have the authority to overturn my orders," Chien snarled at Nagi.

"Are you going to stop him?" Farferello asked eagerly. "Oh, that'll be fun."

They both ignored him, standing toe to toe, although Nagi was a good foot shorter. "Maybe I don't," Nagi said, "but I know that you don't have the authority to overturn the orders of your superiors, either. And your superiors are very, very interested in keeping Schuldig alive, now aren't they."

"That's none of your concern," Chien said. "I make the decisions for this team."

Farferello just laughed.

"This is not your team," Nagi said coldly. "And I'm not going to let Schuldig die for your ego." He turned slightly. "I'm going to go get Yohji-san."

Chien grabbed him by the arm. "You are most certainly not."

Farferello stepped in. "Please don't touch him."

Nagi turned back slowly to face Chien. "Yohji-san is connected to Schuldig in a way that I'm not. If we want to keep Schuldig from dying, since your superiors so thoughtfully deprived of us of our real leader, then I need to go get Yohji-san, and I need to do it now."

Chien removed his hand, because Farferello was squeezing his wrist with an uncomfortable intensity. "This insubordination will not go unnoticed," he hissed.

"Make your report and tell them that your lack of use of your precognition nearly got their precious telepath killed," Nagi said coldly. "Then we'll see who gets punished." He looked at Farferello. "I'm going to go get Yohji-san. If he tries to have Schuldig moved again, kill him."

"I always did like you," Farferello said, grinning at Nagi.

Nagi turned and walked out the door.

Yohji rubbed absently at his chest, idly flipping channels on television. The flower shop had closed nearly an hour before, but for the past fifteen minutes, he'd been suffering from strange pains. "Why do you keep doing that?" Ken finally asked, flopping on the sofa next to him.

"I don't know," Yohji admitted. "It just . . . hurts."

Omi glanced over from his computer. "What hurts?"

"My chest." Yohji rubbed at the place again. "For no good reason."

"Muscle spasm?" Omi suggested doubtfully. He looked up as their doorbell rang upstairs. "Think Aya-kun will get that, or do you think he's too busy moping in his room?"

"Definitely moping," Yohji said, not showing any inclination to move.

"Lazy bum," Ken said, tossing a pillow at him before jogging up the stairs. He reappeared a few moments later with Nagi in tow.

"Nagi-kun," Omi said, surprised. "I thought you weren't supposed to be here."

Nagi was shivering and trying to not hyperventilate. "I'm not, but Chien's probably going to kill me anyway, so in the realm of thing it doesn't seem like such a big deal."

"Are you okay?" Omi asked, getting up and steering Nagi towards the sofa.

"I'm . . . here," Nagi managed. He looked squarely at Yohji, and his eyes narrowed as he saw the way Yohji kept rubbing at his chest. "Schuldig's been hurt."

Yohji's eyes widened. "How badly?" he demanded.

Nagi looked away. "Pretty bad," he admitted. "He got shot at work. Here." He touched Yohji's hand, where it was over his chest.

"Uh . . ." Yohji couldn't think of anything to say. "That's bad," he finally mentioned. "That . . . that's really bad. Is he . . ."

"We're not sure," Nagi said. "Not yet."

"Fuck," Yohji said, standing. "Well, let's go."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Omi asked, somewhat alarmed.

"It's okay," Nagi said. "I have Chien's . . . permission. Sort of. Okay, I kind of threatened him. That's not the point. It's okay for Yohji-san to come see Schuldig. I think he'd have to, if Schuldig's going to live."

"Okay then," Omi said. "Let's go."

"Wait, I didn't get permission for you," Nagi said, then slumped. "Oh, what the hell's it matter."

"Let's take my car," Yohji said.

"Give me a call when you know what's up," Ken said. "I'll stay here in case Aya goes ballistic. Or Manx drops by."

"Just remember you can always tranquilize Aya-kun," Omi said, and then the three of them were up the stairs.

"Oh," Nagi said suddenly to Omi. "Can you grab your laptop? I'll explain later."

Omi nodded and went up to his apartment to get it. He met them in the car a minute later. Yohji was tense and quiet as he drove, and Nagi was nearly hyperventilating. "You're supposed to breathe, you know," Omi said.

"I'm trying," Nagi said. "I did really well about not panicking, so I think I'm entitled."

"But it's not good for you," Omi said. "Take a deep breath."

Nagi did so, and with effort, managed to even out his breathing. It didn't help that Yohji was driving like an idiot.

"So what actually happened?" Omi asked, hoping to keep Nagi calm, if only by making him recite the events.

"Snipers. Normally Schuldig and I can take care of that sort of thing, but we're used to relying on Crawford's precognition. In theory, Chien having replaced Crawford, he's supposed to do the same, but he didn't warn us about this. Anyway, Schuldig's telepathy has been a bit wonky, so he didn't account for all of them. And he got very shot."

"Chien didn't do his job, or isn't as good?"

"I don't know."

"Why do you think Chien's going to kill you?" Omi said, mentally vowing that if Nagi gave an answer alarming enough, Omi was going to ship him out of the country.

"Because he wanted to ship Schuldig to a secure Esstet facility," Nagi said. "He was arguing with the doctor when I got there. The doctor said they couldn't move Schu, that they would need to operate immediately if he was going to live, but Chien was insisting. I . . . kind of . . . ordered him down, which I'm not supposed to do. And then I made him back down enough for me to go get Yohji-san, and told Farferello that if he tried to have Schuldig moved after I was gone, to kill him. And that's really against the rules."

"Farferello-san would actually kill someone that's a member of his own team?" Omi asked.

Nagi snorted. "Chien's not a member of our team."

"Oh," Omi said.

"Anyway, as soon as we get to the hospital, I'm going to have to use your laptop and e-mail in a report. If I'm lucky, I can get mine there before Chien's. If I'm really lucky, they'll be so mad at him for not doing his job that I won't get in any trouble."

Omi pondered this, wondering how quickly he'd be able to get Nagi out of the country. "When will you know if you're in real trouble?"

"As soon as Chien hears. He's lousy at hiding it when things have gone his way."

"If I can have a couple of hours, I think I could get you safely out of the country," Omi said.

"No. I can't leave Farferello and Schuldig."

"Oh."

"The only reason he could have wanted to move Schuldig would be because of the whole . . . more going on than I know about." Nagi pushed both his hands through his hair, looking distracted. "They need Schu for something. I just don't know what yet. So if I just leave . . . Schuldig will be up for grabs. Especially since he's hurt." He looked away. "He's always protected me, so . . . I have to protect him too, if I can."

"All right," Omi said, not wanting to upset him any further.

Yohji pulled into the parking lot and pulled into the first space he saw. When they reached the emergency room, Chien was pacing and looking displeased. Farferello was perched on one of the chairs, his head moving back and forth as he watched Chien.

"Any news?" Nagi asked, directing this question at Farferello.

"No news is good news," Farferello replied.

"So, no."

"That's what I said. He hasn't done anything stupid. So sad. Made a phone call. Got a phone call. Got cranky."

Nagi closed his eyes briefly in relief. "Good."

Farferello grinned. "Somebody's in trouble."

"And it's not me, which makes me happy."

Yohji put up with all this, then pushed forward. "I want to see Schuldig," he said, in a strained voice.

"You can't," Nagi said. "He's in surgery. As soon as he's out, we'll know. Until then, try to stay calm. If only for Schuldig's sake, because he'll know if you do."

They all jumped as a phone rang shrilly. Chien took out a cell and turned away from them, speaking into it. A few moments later, he turned to Nagi and offered him the phone with a dour expression. "Our superiors would like to talk to you."

Nagi turned very pale. "O-Oh," he managed, and accepted the phone. "Hai, Naoe Nagi desu."

"This is Daeja," a cool female voice said.

Nagi swallowed hard. Daeja was one of the higher-ranking officials at the Institute; he had only met her once, just after he arrived. "H-Hai," he managed.

"I've spoken to Chien," she said. "Rest assured that he will watch over your team's future more carefully from now on."

Nagi wasn't sure whether or not he really liked the sound of that idea, since the words could definitely be taken more than one way. "Thank you, Daeja-sama," he said.

"Your actions are commendable," she said. "You were cool-headed and quick to act, and with that you have saved your teammate's life. You are a valuable asset to our organization, Naoe Nagi. In particular, the idea of bringing Schuldig's lover to keep him stable was both original and logical."

"Thank you," he managed to repeat. "Does this mean that I'm not going to get killed for that?"

Daeja let out a slight laugh. "No, Nagi, you are not going to get killed for that. I will be speaking to my superiors about this incident."

There was a click as she hung up.

Nagi offered the phone back to Chien with shaking hands. He snatched it away and stormed off.

"They're not going to kill me," Nagi said to Omi.

Omi hugged him. "That's good."

Kagerou came into the waiting room nearly an hour later, still in his surgical scrubs. "We've got Schuldig-san stabilized," he said to Nagi. "He's not out of danger by any means, but the surgery went well."

"Oh good." Nagi felt like dropping into unconsciousness.

"I want to see him," Yohji said abruptly.

Kagerou blinked at him. "Uh -- "

"It's okay," Nagi said. "Kudou-san is his . . . closest friend."

Kagerou frowned, then decided he'd had enough of all these crazy people, and agreed. One of the nurses was dispatched with Yohji to show him the way. "You people bring in the strangest cases," he said.

Nagi smiled slightly. "That's what you get for working for our organization," he said. "Thank you for saving his life. I have some business to attend to, so if you'll be so kind -- I don't want anyone to get to see him except Kudou-san and myself."

"Particularly not Chien-san?"

"Indeed."

"All right. Although if he tries to force his way in, I don't promise that we can stop him."

Nagi hesitated, then glanced at Farferello. "Would you mind staying here tonight?"

Farferello thought about it. "I don't mind," he finally said. "I even promise not to play."

Nagi nodded. "If Chien does try something, don't kill him. Just immobilize him. Escaping trouble once was sheer luck. If we kill Chien, they really will have us all shot."

"No fun," Farferello sulked.

Nagi turned to Omi. "I'm sorry to have dragged you here," he said, his tone almost formal. The crisis having passed, he seemed distinctly uncertain of how to react around Omi, given that the last time they'd been in the same room, they had wound up kissing.

Omi smiled, hoping to put him at ease. "I don't mind."

"I have to go see to my employer. I've left him in a broom closet for the last . . ." Nagi checked his watch. "Three and a half hours."

"A broom closet?" Omi looked startled. "Well, I suppose it is defensible. Do you think you could come over later?"

"I guess. Maybe in the morning. Why?"

"I'd appreciate it," Omi said, smiling. "I like to have contingency plans."

Nagi hesitated, then nodded. "All right."

Nagi made sure that Daishi got home safely, and set up the security well enough that Daishi agreed he was most likely safe from any further attacks. By the point that Nagi was sure there would be no more attacks, it was nearly dawn.

He stopped by the hospital, where Farferello informed him (in his own unique way) that Schuldig was still stable, although in critical condition, and that Chien had not been back since he had left. He also gave Nagi a running account of how many cigarettes Yohji had been through.

Nagi took the subway to the Koneko. He was visibly swaying on his feet, having now been up for twenty-four very trying hours. He managed to steady himself before Omi answered the door. "Here I am," he said. "Still breathing."

"You don't look very good," Omi said.

"I'm a little tired," Nagi admitted.

"Have you eaten anything?" Omi asked.

Nagi thought about it. "Not since lunch. Except I didn't really eat lunch."

Omi towed him into the kitchen. "You're going to have something to eat, and then you're going to sleep," he informed Nagi.

"What about your contingency plan?" Nagi asked, with a slight smile.

"I'll tell you about it while you're eating."

"I really can't sleep," Nagi said, although he accepted the plate of leftover Chinese that Omi heated and placed in front of him. He picked up his chopsticks and started to eat methodically, not really tasting it. "I don't have time. I have things to do."

Omi gave him a look. "You're going to fall over."

"Probably not. At the Institute, we got sleep-deprivation training."

"What do you have to do?" Omi asked.

Nagi frowned. "I have to go make sure Schuldig's okay and take over for Farferello. I mean, he hasn't slept either, so he won't be able to stay awake too much longer. And then I have to submit my report, 'cause I still haven't done that. And then I need to go to work. And then . . . go back to the hospital. See? No time to sleep."

"I think Farferello will do all right for a while yet," Omi said. "Yohji-kun is still with Schuldig, and he'll call us if anything happens. You can call work, issue your orders over the phone, submit your report, and take a nap."

Nagi sighed. "Tell me about your contingency plan."

Omi left the room. He came back a few minutes later with an identification card, a passport, and some papers. "These are for you," he said.

Nagi accepted the papers, putting down his chopsticks. The IDs had his picture, but a different name. The papers included a bank account statement, a birth certificate, and a brief personal history. "You've created me a new identity," Nagi stated, sipping his tea.

"Yup. Just in case."

"Where'd you get the picture?" Nagi asked curiously, now ignoring his lunch in favor of drinking the tea and perusing the documents.

"Remember the day I got the digital camera and we were fooling around with it?" Omi asked. "I just doctored the image a little."

"Oh." Nagi pocketed the documents and sipped the tea. "I'm not leaving without Schuldig and Farferello. And even then I'm not leaving, because they still have Crawford and they'll still kill him if we mess up."

"The sentiment is very nice," Omi said, "but you can't help any of them if you're dead."

Nagi rested his head against his hand. "I don't know what to do," he admitted. "We're all in so far over our heads and without Crawford here I don't even know which way to turn."

"What I would do is try to cover as many bases as we can," Omi said. "I can't do anything about your Esstet records, but those will work all the way through Japan and even leaving the country. They're official."

"I just hate not knowing what's going on." Nagi put down the tea and rubbed his temples. "There's something . . . something really big here that we're all missing, and I just can't see it . . ."

"Oh, believe me, I know the feeling," Omi said, thinking of Aya-chan.

Nagi picked up on what he was thinking. "Aya's disappearance can't be coincidence," he said quietly. "But I haven't a clue how she could be connected to all of this."

"I have no idea," Omi said. "You stopped eating."

"Oh, so I did." Nagi picked up the chopsticks and went back to his lunch. "God, I just wish Crawford was back. I can't lead this team."

"Yohji-kun will take care of Schuldig if he can," Omi assured him.

"I know, but . . . eh." Nagi leaned against his hand, his eyes drooping shut.

"Finish your lunch, call work, submit your report," Omi ordered gently.

"All right," Nagi said. "But promise to wake me if we hear anything about Schu."

Omi nodded. "I promise."