Chapter Twenty-One

Brad was thrilled beyond belief when the guards escorted him out of his cell. Daeja was waiting outside the door. "I must admit," she said, "the loyalty your teammates show is admirable."

"That's great," Brad said, in no mood for pleasantries. "Where are my glasses, and also, my clothes?"

Daeja waved to one of the guards, who stepped forward and gave Brad a plain white T-shirt and black cotton pants. When he had dressed, the guard handed him a pair of slippers. "Slippers?" Brad asked. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass."

"Wear the slippers, Crawford," Daeja said. "They won't let you onto a plane barefoot."

Brad rolled his eyes and put the slippers on. "My glasses?"

"You'll get them when we've reached the hospital."

"I'm really not going to kill you with my glasses," Brad said. "I'd have to break them, and I need them."

Daeja snorted. "I don't really think you would. Regardless, you'll get them when we reach the hospital."

"Fine."

The rest of the travelling took place in silence. The trip lasted nearly twelve hours. Nagi and Yohji were both in Schuldig's room, talking amiably. Nagi shot to his feet as soon as Daeja and Brad walked in, and looked floored. No one had warned him of Brad's impending arrival. "You're back," he said, startled, then blurted out, "and you look terrible." Then he clapped his hand over his mouth.

"I'm well aware," Brad said dryly.

Yohji also stood. "Crawford, I assume?"

Brad gave him a measuring look, then nodded, holding his hand out to Daeja for his glasses. She smirked and handed them over. Brad put them on, then frowned, trying to adjust after a month without them. "Yohji, I presume."

"Yeah. Why are you here? Thought you were all vanished."

"Schuldig didn't tell anyone?" Brad asked, and sighed a little. "He blackmailed Esstet. Because he's an idiot, and crazy."

"He -- " Nagi gaped, then shut his mouth.

Daeja cleared her throat. "Could we perhaps wake him?" she asked, somewhat sharply. "And then I can be going."

Brad nodded and sat in the chair next to him, taking Schuldig's hand and sending to him, /Schuldig? I'm here./

/Really? Oh, you are! Hot damn!/ Schuldig's eyes snapped open and he looked around blearily. He smirked at Daeja in a half-asleep sort of way and said, "Ha ha, I win."

"Verily," Daeja said dryly, then turned and walked out of the room.

"We're gonna go," Yohji said, taking Nagi by the wrist.

Schuldig smiled up at Yohji somewhat dazedly. Yohji grinned back and towed Nagi out of the room.

Brad raised an eyebrow at Schuldig. "I assume you're proud of yourself?"

"Can you tell?" Schuldig asked. "Oh, the beard. I don't like the beard. The longish hair is nice, though."

"Both the beard and the long hair are going at the soonest opportunity," Brad said. "They didn't precisely give me a razor or scissors. I can't imagine why."

"Bastards," Schuldig agreed. "When do I get out of here?" The more he woke up, the more he realized he was in a hospital. He hated hospitals with a fiery, burning, terrified passion.

"When the doctor says so."

"Well, he'd better say so right now," Schuldig said.

"I'll get him," Brad said calmly.

"Don't go anywhere!" Schuldig protested, clamping down on Brad's hand.

Brad looked at him. "There's a call button," he said, his voice as reassuring as it ever got.

"Oh," Schuldig said, as Brad reached out and pressed it. Kagerou came in a few moments later. He didn't bother to question Brad's presence; he was too busy with Schuldig's demands to be let out. Right. Now.

"He seems okay," he said, after checking him over hastily. "As long as we use a wheelchair to get him out. He'll have to stay still, complete bedrest, for another week. Then no lifting or straining for the next two. But you can go." He removed Schuldig's IVs and hurried out of the room, apparently glad to be rid of these crazy people.

"Oh, good," Schuldig said, tugging on Brad's hand. "Let's go."

Brad gave him a look. "I want a solemn vow that you will obey what the good doctor just said, and stay in bed for the next week. Or you're not going anywhere, because I know you."

Schuldig tried to sit up, and coughed, which hurt. "How about we renegotiate after five days?"

"A week, Schuldig, or you stay in the hospital."

"Fine, just get me out of here! I can hear them!"

"Agreed." Brad helped Schuldig out of bed, at which point they realized he was only wearing a hospital gown. Brad quickly located both pants and a wheelchair. "All set?" Brad asked, half-helping, half-lifting Schuldig into the wheelchair.

"You're all . . . well-muscled," Schuldig observed.

"You trying being locked into a tiny room with absolutely nothing to do and see how it takes you to turn to pushups for a source of entertainment," Brad said dryly, wheeling him out of the room.

"It looks good," Schuldig said. "How're we going to get home?"

"Doesn't your Yohji have a car?" Brad asked with a slight smile. "I'm assuming they're only in the waiting room."

Brad was correct; both Nagi and Yohji were in the waiting room.

"I'm glad you're back," Nagi greeted him.

Brad actually smiled. "I'm glad I'm back, too. You two did very well, all things considered. Much better than I would have predicted."

Schuldig made an indignant noise. "Jerk." He pointed at Nagi. "And you -- now that I can say this to your face -- are incredible."

Nagi turned bright red. "No, I'm not," he said automatically.

"Yes, you are," Schuldig said firmly. "I'm so proud of you."

"Oh," Nagi said. "Okay. Can we go home?"

"Please," Schuldig said. Brad rolled his eyes and started forward again.

"I'm assuming I'm the only one with any sort of a vehicle here," Yohji said, wondering how he was going to fit a wheelchair into his car, and whether or not they would need to.

"Yes," Brad said.

"Of course. We're leaving the wheelchair here."

"Damn straight. Oh, by the way, Crawford, you're sharing my room now."

Brad arched an eyebrow at him.

"Well, Chien, that fucker, took yours." Schuldig started coughing again.

"Down, Schu," Yohji said, patting his shoulder.

As soon as they were back, Yohji and Brad helped Schuldig inside and into bed. Schuldig looked like he wanted to complain, but couldn't go back on the deal he had made with Brad. Yohji gave him a quick kiss on the forehead and a flirty wink before leaving.

Nagi almost immediately collapsed into his own bed, feeling safe to sleep for the first time since Brad had left. Chien was nowhere to be seen, so Brad immediately ducked into the bathroom. He desperately wanted a hot shower, and almost as desperately to shave.

He came out of the bathroom about a half hour later, wearing just the cotton pants, and wandered into Schuldig's room while toweling his hair dry. "I feel so much better," he said dryly.

Schuldig looked him up and down and tried not to ogle. It was extremely strange; he had never really thought about Brad sexually, but it was damned hard not to when he wandered around damp and shirtless. He was sure it was against some unwritten rule somewhere . . . "I should think so."

Brad sat down on the end of the bed and gave his hair a quick rumple, then tossed the towel towards Schuldig's hamper. "I really need a haircut, though," he mentioned, running his fingers through his hair. It was now long enough to cover his ears and very much get in his eyes, trailing down the back of his neck. He gave his chin a quick rub as if to confirm that the horrible beard was really gone.

"Actually I think it looks good," Schuldig said, smiling. It seemed that Brad was allowing himself to act a little more human in Schuldig's direction, now that Schuldig had saved his bacon. "I mean, I won't argue about the shaving, but the longer hair is kinda nice."

He tried to sit up slightly, hoping that it would help his still somewhat labored breathing, but a sharp pain shot through his chest and he sagged backwards. "Don't try to move, idiot," Brad said sharply. "If you want something, just tell me."

Schuldig suppressed a wince, and even managed a joking tone. "You might live to regret those words." There was a brief pause in which Brad gave him an amused look. "But it would be easier to breathe if I could sit up some."

"Abuse the power, and I won't get you anything," Brad warned. He got an arm around Schuldig's shoulders and carefully propped him up against some pillows.

Schuldig clenched his teeth to avoid making noise; moving hurt like a bitch. "I'll remember that."

"Do you want some painkillers?" Brad asked, in a tone of voice that was borderline sympathetic.

Schuldig opened his mouth to say yes, then changed his mind. The pills would probably knock him out, and he wanted a little more time to talk to Brad first. "Not yet. Give me a minute, I'll be okay." He closed his eyes and tried to get his breath back, convincing himself that he could take it, at least for a little while.

Brad stood up and pulled a chair over, sitting down. "You did very well, you know."

"Really?" Schuldig asked, a tad bewildered.

Brad raised an eyebrow at him. "The entire team is still alive. I'm not in a small room in Germany. Both those things are largely because of you."

Schuldig actually blushed, which amused Brad to no end and reminded him terribly of Nagi whenever he was praised. "Well, I think you can thank Nagi-chen for all of us being alive." He paused, then admitted sheepishly, "I was afraid you were mad about my little deal."

Brad looked down at him evenly. "You were rash and idiotic, took risks that you couldn't afford to take, and did something entirely insane. But you were willing to trade your life for my freedom, so I'm finding it difficult to be angry."

"Well, it seemed entirely reasonable to me," Schuldig said, although he didn't sound defensive; he was simply stating a fact. "I mean, as much as I love Yohji and Nagi-chen, though in a different way, it all feels rather pointless without you around."

"I'm oddly flattered," Brad said dryly, which was his way of getting Schuldig to shut up before he actually blushed himself.

Schuldig smiled. He was unsure of how to respond or what to say, so he changed the subject. "All of your clothes are in boxes in the closet. Well, except for your other suit; that's hanging up."

"That's good. I'll feel better in a suit."

Schuldig held back a comment about how Brad actually looked absolutely fine in just the pants, and for a few moments, entertained the thought of hiding Brad's clothes.

There was a long silence. Then Brad said musingly, "I just wish I knew what to do about everything else."

"Which part of everything else?" Schuldig asked.

"What to do about Chien, and Esset, and . . . everything else."

Schuldig shrugged. "Chien we have to pretend to listen to. And Esset. . . Well, I've called their bluff. Let's wait and see what becomes of it."

Brad frowned in response. "I hate not knowing what's going on."

"Well, your Talent will come back soon, won't it?" Schuldig asked, reasonably enough.

"It's back now," Brad said with a slight nod. "They didn't take it; it just didn't work when I was in the shielded room. That means I know what may happen, but it doesn't mean I know why."

"I'm at a loss," Schuldig declared, almost cheerfully. With Brad back, everything seemed a lot less disastrous. "I mean, what good is a comatose girl and a crazy telepath?"

Brad opened his mouth, then shut it. "No, for once I'm at a total loss."

Schuldig settled back into the pillows more comfortably. As long as he didn't move, the pain was tolerable. "And I still don't get why they took you away. It just doesn't make any sense."

"I'm guessing they expected you to be a little less . . . recalcitrant," Brad said with a slight frown. "They obviously hoped to wear you into submission, then use my captivity as a way to force you to do what they wanted."

"But then wouldn't they have killed Yohji?" Schuldig asked curiously. "I mean, I would have been easier to handle without his support."

Brad raised an eyebrow. "You think you would have been easier to reign in without Yohji? I, on the other hand, think you would have been entirely insane. More so than usual. I mean, honestly, Schuldig, if they had killed Yohji, you would have blown out the mind of whoever came near you for the next three months. Probably even including people you knew and cared about."

"I suppose so," Schuldig admitted. "I almost did that to Daeja anyway."

Brad gave him a steady look. "Why did you think I wanted you to be so close to Yohji? Somebody had to hold you steady in my absence."

"He tried. It was really hard for a while."

"I can hardly imagine why," Brad said, sounding slightly amused.

"And while we're on the subject, I can't fucking believe you set this all up," Schuldig said, suddenly remembering that he was upset about that. "Do you have any idea how pissed off I was? And why didn't you share? Maybe we could have prevented the whole mess."

"Since I think you consider your relationship with Yohji a good thing, why be angry at me for setting it up for you?" Brad asked, conveniently ignoring Schuldig's question.

"Because I can't just trade one of you for the other, so why didn't you say anything?"

Brad sighed slightly. "And what would you have done, Schuldig? To begin with, when I first began setting you up with Yohji, I didn't know precisely why I was doing it. It was just one of my vague premonitions, and it paid off."

Schuldig looked away, feeling a bit pathetic and probably more emotional than Brad really wanted to deal with. "It just seems like you were trying to use Yohji as a replacement for yourself because you were never coming back."

Brad didn't see what he could say to that, since it was actually a fairly accurate statement. "Would you rather I have left with no replacement?"

"You're missing the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that as much as I love Yohji, there's no way anyone could replace you, and having you gone scared me half to death and drove me more than a little mad. I want to make sure you never leave again." Schuldig's eyes flickered to Brad for an instant before he again looked away. "I really don't think I could take it."

Brad was silent for a long minute, brought up short by Schuldig's vehement speech. "I'm sorry," he said. "I . . . didn't know what else to do."

Schuldig glanced over. From the slight hitch in Brad's speech, he knew that it had cost the precog a lot to admit that to him. "I know. Just . . . promise you won't leave again?"

Brad's eyes closed momentarily. "I promise I'll do everything in my power to keep from leaving you again."

"Thanks," Schuldig said, now smiling again. "'Cause I missed you." He reached out impulsively to grab Brad's hand, because at the moment it was close as he could get to hug.

Brad allowed this, which was his way of saying that he had missed Schuldig as well. "Now, really, are you angry about me not telling you?"

"Only because you maybe gave up a chance to stay," Schuldig said.

Brad frowned. "I really don't see how telling you would have changed anything other than to have made you panic."

"But you don't know. If nothing else, we might have been able to protect you." Schuldig tried to shrug, winced, and changed his mind.

"But see, that's why I left the apartment," Brad reminded him. "Because I knew you would try to protect me, and there would have been injuries, probably fatalities."

"Let's . . . let's just not talk about it any more."

Brad was perfectly glad to change the subject. "I am glad to be back, if that helps." He smiled a little and said almost teasingly, "First thing tomorrow, haircut."

Schuldig pouted and repeated, "But I like it like this!"

"I know. You've said that three times now. And . . . if I had grown it out on my own, I might too. It doesn't look bad. But I was given no choice in the matter, so for now, I'm going to get it cut." Brad saw no way to reasonably explain that for now, the long hair was only serving as a reminder of his imprisonment.

"Oddly, that makes sense," Schuldig said thoughtfully. "Maybe think about growing it out again later?"

"Maybe," Brad said, and smiled again. "Just for you."

When Schuldig woke up the next morning, he was immediately aware that he was in a lot more pain than he was really comfortable with. He glanced around for Brad and found the man sitting at his desk, looking through the newspaper. He had his habitual morning cup of coffee. The only way it was different from his usual routine was that he was at Schuldig's desk instead of the kitchen table.

"Does this mean we can eat in our room?" Schuldig asked, grinning over at him.

"Do you see any food here?" Brad asked, not looking up from the newspaper. There was a nest of blankets on the floor that he had neatly folded. Schuldig wondered if he was going to remake the bed every night. Probably. He was certainly anal retentive enough.

"You are such a jerk," Schuldig grumbled, then added, "I missed that." He noted with a small amount of disappointment that somewhere in the morning, Brad had gotten a haircut, and was wearing his usual immaculate suit.

"Hm, I'm sure," Brad said noncommittally. "I'm sure you'll be back to complaining about it in no time."

"Do I get coffee?" Schuldig asked.

"I don't know. Do you?"

"Well, yes." Schuldig tried to sit up, just to see what Brad would do. Brad did absolutely nothing, but Schuldig only managed to move a few inches before pain shot through his chest and he sagged back onto the pillows. "Okay, I admit defeat. Can I have some coffee and painkillers?"

"Ask Nagi. He's out in the kitchen making breakfast."

"Oh, sure, suck up my room and don't bother to get me any coffee."

Brad did not dignify this with a response.

"You are such an ass." But Schuldig was smiling. /Nagichen?/

/What?/

/How much do you love me?/

/Gee, I dunno. It was awfully quiet while you were in the hospital. Kinda nice, actually./

/Oh, fuck you all,/ Schuldig remarked. He tried to sit up again and managed a little more leverage, gritting his teeth. Brad sighed and stood up, leaving the room before Schuldig could manage to get out of bed. Schuldig decided to wait, although he didn't lay back down.

Brad came back in a few seconds later, with a cup of coffee and a muffin. He put the cup on the nightstand and handed the plate to Schuldig. "Eat that and then you can have your painkillers," he said, his tone neutral.

Schuldig accepted the muffin. "Thank you," he said, grinning.

"Hn." Brad sat back down and picked up the paper. For a few moments, he pressed two fingers against his temple, then opened the newspaper to the page he had been on and went back to reading.

"What's wrong with you?" Schuldig asked curiously.

"Headache," Brad said, in a completely noncommittal tone.

"Did Chien start talking to you?" Schuldig asked.

Brad snorted. "No. It's because of my glasses. I hadn't worn them for quite some time, and I have to readjust to them."

"Why haven't you been wearing them?" Schuldig asked curiously.

"I wasn't allowed to have them while I was in captivity. Or my belt. Or my shoes." Brad sounded absolutely disgusted with this statement. "I haven't the faintest idea why. If I was going to kill someone, I'd use my bare hands before I'd get blood on my glasses by trying to skewer someone with them."

"Only you would use the word 'skewer' right there."

Brad shrugged and went back to his newspaper.

"So," Schuldig said brightly, "anything exciting happening today? Chien was a big dick and would never tell me."

Brad cleared his throat. "Let's see . . . for you I foresee a nice boring day of staying in bed and not causing any trouble. And then I see another six days of the exact same thing. So I think the short answer to your question is 'no,' at least for you."

"Staying in bed doesn't mean staying out of trouble," Schuldig said, somewhat disgruntled at Brad's answer. "And it doesn't mean I can't watch world events. Anything exciting happening?"

"Yes."

"What?" Schuldig asked, frustrated. "Don't make me toss this muffin at you."

Brad raised an eyebrow at him. "And what would be exciting enough for His Majesty?"

"I'm stuck in bed. It won't take much."

"Nagi is going back to work today."

"Uhm . . . oh."

"And I'm going with him."

"Really?" Schuldig asked.

Brad gave Schuldig a look. "When the job first came up, it was for a three to four member team. Farferello hasn't been able to go because he wasn't stable enough. And now you're an invalid. It's hardly fair to make Nagi do it by himself."

"Don't use the word invalid," Schuldig protested. "You make it sound like I'm going to be this way forever. Use 'temporarily incapacitated' or something."

"Picky, picky."

"You love me that way." Schuldig considered the rest of Brad's statement. "So how'd you get to do that? I mean, I thought you weren't allowed to be 'part of the team' anymore."

"I'm not allowed to interfere in Esstet affairs, this is true. However, this job working for Daishi is not an Esstet affair. I procured the job and I won't be told that I can't be part of it."

"You're gonna have a fight with Chien," Schuldig said, sounding gleeful.

"Well, I did say something exciting would be happening today."

"Oh yeah." Schuldig grinned in anticipation. "Do I get to listen? Please?"

"I can hardly stop you as long as you listen through someone else's ears. I'm sure Nagi will be present."

"Oh yeah!" Schuldig munched on the rest of his muffin, quite pleased. "Maybe you can kick him while you're at it. Can you?"

Brad just gave him a look.

Schuldig wilted. "You haven't even had to spend a full day around him yet. Trust me, soon you'll want to kick him. Preferably while he's down."

"I haven't, that's true, but he also got one of my team members shot," Brad said. "Believe me, I'm not exactly pleased with the man. I can't imagine what a complete lack of professionalism would have led to that."

Schuldig let out an irritated noise. "He wasn't paying attention."

"Clearly, but . . ." Brad shook his head. "I'm not going to go into my half-formed and unlikely theories. Those can wait."

"Your theories are the most fun when they're half-formed," Schuldig said hopefully.

Brad snorted and stood. "Chien is back from his morning errands, so if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

"Oh, all right," Schuldig said, pretending to be much put upon. Inwardly, he was thrilled. He couldn't wait to hear Brad and Chien have it out. He waited while Brad straightened his tie, readjusted his glasses, and left the room. /Nagichen?/

/I would have gotten you the coffee if you'd asked, you know,/ Nagi said, sounding amused.

Schuldig sighed. /I know. But I got Brad to get me the coffee, and that's even better. But I do have another favor to ask./

/Uh oh./

Schuldig explained what Brad had said he was going to do. /Can you listen? You can hide around the corner if you want, but if you don't listen, then I can't listen./

/Until they start shouting./

/Once they start shouting, I'll use my own ears./

There was a long pause. /I suppose I can manage./

/Yay! You're the best./

Nagi rolled his eyes and glanced up as Chien came into the kitchen. The older man gave an unfriendly good morning and poured himself a cup of coffee. He picked a muffin out of the box on the table and sat down with it. Brad came into the kitchen a few minutes later and nodded at Nagi, who was making himself rice and miso.

Brad took a seat at the kitchen table. "I'd like to have a word with you."

"Mm hm." Chien didn't look up from the paperwork he had spread out on the table before him.

Brad rolled his eyes. "Nagi, what time do you leave for work today?"

"Eh?" Nagi looked startled to have been brought into this conversation so abruptly. "Uhh . . . Daishi-san has a meeting at nine thirty and I need to accompany him. So I'm leaving at eight thirty."

"And when do you expect your day would be over?" Brad noted that Chien seemed to be paying no attention to this conversation, but he suspected that the man was actually listening closely.

Nagi mentally reviewed his schedule. The morning meeting, morning's business, then luncheon meeting, then Daishi's full day of business . . . then making sure that he had settled in for the night. "Probably seven thirty."

"I see," Brad said. "Have all your days been that long?"

Nagi smiled thinly. "Actually, they're usually longer."

"Mm hm," Brad said. He looked over at Chien. "I'll be accompanying Nagi to work."

Nagi blinked at this, surprised.

"You will not," Chien said calmly, not looking up.

/Oh here we go,/ Schuldig said to Nagi. /Things are going to start getting good./

Brad cleared his throat. "As much as you may expect Nagi to work twelve hour days and do the work of three people, I'm sorry to say that I don't. I picked that job for a full team. It's unfair to make Nagi handle it all himself."

Nagi turned to the ricemaker and tried to look small.

Chien now glanced up, although only briefly. "You are not a member of the team anymore, Crawford, and I suggest you get used to it."

"And you aren't worried at all about another assassination attempt?" Brad asked nonchalantly, a very subtle insult.

Nagi looked over at this. He had been expecting another, given that the first had failed, but there hadn't been any sign of an attack at all. This had him slightly worried, but he hadn't wanted to bother anyone with it; there wasn't anything they could do, in any case.

"I'm sure Nagi can handle it. I assure you that I'm checking his future very carefully."

"Like you checked Schuldig's?" Brad asked coolly.

"Nagi, unlike Schuldig, is not intractable." Chien shot Nagi a look. "Most of the time."

Nagi hurriedly went back to his breakfast.

Brad smiled slightly. "That is something that I wouldn't bank on, if I were you. In any case, that's not my point. Whether or not I'm on probation has nothing to do with this job. It's not an Esstet affair, and therefore you have no right to tell me that I can't participate. Our reputation needs to be maintained."

Chien gave him a look. "You should have thought of that before you betrayed Esstet."

"I never betrayed Esstet," Brad said. "Not yet. They only thought I was going to, but it can't be proven. The future is a very fluid thing, as you well know."

"Trust me, your reputation will remain intact," Chien said dryly. "I promise to inform Nagi if there are going to be any more snipers."

Brad smiled slightly. "Oh, I'm sure you will. However, I'm going to accompany him whether you like it or not." He stood, picked up his coffee, and left the room. He went back into Schuldig's bedroom and shut the door, now looking quite pleased with himself.

Schuldig, having noticed Nagi's startled attitude at Brad's sudden departure, asked, "What was the point of that, if you were just going to leave whether you won the argument or not?"

"I was testing my theory," Brad said. "It's now fully formed."

"Well, share," Schuldig demanded.

"Chien arranged the assassination attempt. I thought he had, but I wasn't sure."

"What?!" Schuldig squawked. "How do you know that? Fill me in!"

Brad smiled. "I knew that he had to have been involved, because otherwise he wouldn't have let you get shot. He knows how important you are to Esstet's future. The only reason he wouldn't have checked carefully enough is if the attempt was an inside job sponsored by Esstet. They wanted you out of that contract -- killing Daishi would be the fastest and most effective way to do that. The snipers most likely had orders to not kill you, and one of them got careless."

"So any of the ones that I missed are dead by now anyway," Schuldig mused. "Well, at least that's comforting. So how did you figure it out for sure, Sherlock?"

"Because I asked Nagi this morning what Chien had been told. No one ever informed him that it was snipers. He never got any of the details; Nagi never told him. And yet, he knew."

Schuldig gaped. "What a slimy little fucker. I mean, more than I anticipated."

"It's also why he doesn't want me accompanying Nagi, I'm sure," Brad said. "There's probably going to be another attempt. They would want to do it before you were back on your feet and able. I'm assuming the only reason they didn't do it while you were in the hospital is because Nagi was barely at work, and they're probably hoping to do it while one of us is there so they can kill Daishi and ruin our reputation all in one shot."

Schuldig sputtered a little. "I hate my life."

"Mm," Brad said. "I must say I'm rather at a loss as to how to prevent the assassination without openly defying Esstet, which is, of course, what they want me to do."

"But if you're allowed to work with us, you can just protect Daishi, which would be rather effective," Schuldig said.

Brad gave him a look. "You might have noticed that nowhere in that conversation was I actually given permission to go to work with Nagi today. They'll let it slide this once, but I doubt they will a second time."

Schuldig wilted. "How do we get ourselves into these messes?"

"Bad luck," Brad told him.

There was a quiet knock on the door, then it opened and Nagi walked in. "So he did arrange it?" he asked Brad.

Brad nodded. "I'm sure we'll never prove it, but yes, he did arrange it. And I imagine that trying to get Schuldig moved to a secure facility was his way of attempting to salvage the situation after that disaster."

"I'm gonna kill him," Schuldig declared. "One of these days, I'm going to get my chance and grind him into the pavement."

Brad ignored this comment. "In any case, I think it's safe to say that we'd better be on guard. I don't see anything untoward happening today, but everything lately has been very prone to rapid change. Even before I was taken to Germany, I noticed that."

"So what you're saying is that you're not sure if we can salvage the situation at all," Schuldig stated flatly.

Brad smiled slightly. "I would never imply that, Schuldig. That would be admitting defeat, and I'll do that approximately . . . never."

Schuldig grinned. "I knew there was a reason I liked you."