Title: Meant to Live
Part 2 of 3 of One and One Makes Two Arc
Notes: As soon as I get done with this arc (the whole thing) I'll get back to Fade to Black. But that was just sucking the energy from me, and I needed to get my mind of it. Try and enjoy this. If you couldn't tell, everything I write completely defies the series. :) This part was done to the song "Meant to Live" by Switchfoot. Gooood song...
Bloodrose 'Valentine' Foxxstar - For you, I add more. XD Hope you like this, and yes, I will finish it asap.
Silverfrost - Thanks for the review! I'm writing, I'm writing! :)
Schuldich stood outside a club, staring at the bright lights coming from inside. He didn't want to go in, not really, but the part of himself that was addicted to all that attention wanted to go it. That part wanted to enjoy itself, to get all this out of his head. In a way, he was free of Esset. Until of course they found him again, but Schuldich didn't want to think about that. He didn't really want to think about anything.
Yet he passed the club by, his only goal finding any of his teammates within a short amount of time. In the back his head, Schuldich knew that his current predicament was his entire fault. He tried to blame Brad for not warning him, but Brad had warned him, and Schuldich had only irritated his leader. That's right; Brad was still his leader, even after Schuldich knew he was somewhat free of Esset. Because deep inside, he realized he would never be free from Schwarz, or Brad.
And wondering why the world has passed him by
Pausing briefly in his quick strides, Schuldich stared down the road ahead of him. The night was still fresh; the darkness still so thick he couldn't see much of where he was going. He realized with a start that he was walking across a bridge, but not just any bridge. This was the bridge he had fled to when he had wanted to die. Stepping up to the railing, Schuldich took in a deep breath of the crisp night's air, remembering that night.
Even now he couldn't remember what had pushed him over that limit, but somewhere along the line he had truly wished to die. He hadn't told anyone where he was going or what he planned on doing when he had left the penthouse that day, but that wasn't unusual. He often did that, usually to go clubbing or something. But this time had been different, even though he didn't know it until he had taken that step off the bridge. The air around him had hardly gotten the chance to mess his hair up before he felt something grip his wrist. He remembered being so startled when he looked up and saw Brad keeping him from falling.
"Why?" His voice had been rough from his crying earlier as he managed out the single word. Brad hadn't said anything as he quickly pulled Schuldich back onto the bridge and onto his own two feet. Finally Brad took a deep breath, and Schuldich realized he'd been nervous.
"I could never live with myself if I let you die."
And failed attempts to fly, fly
Somehow, now standing on that same bridge, Schuldich felt connected to Brad. Because in that one moment it had felt like nothing would ever come between them, that Brad would always protect him. But he wasn't here, Schuldich quickly pointed out to himself as he threw a rock over the railing, watching it hit the water far below with a small splash. Finally Schuldich decided to move on, his feet kicking up puffs of dirt as he dragged his feet in the dirt by the side of the road.
Schuldich kept reaching out with his mind, brushing anyone around him, looking for someone familiar that could tell him where his teammates were. He brushed one mind that was in a frantic rush, and paused to dwell on it. Yet when he dwelt on it, the mind was just an empty void. Recognizing it almost immediately, Schuldich took off running in the direction that he felt he should go, the void getting closer and closer as he ran, until finally he stood in the opening of a dark alleyway.
"Farfarello?" Schuldich called out to the Irish man weakly, still catching his breath. A golden eye gleamed from the alleyway, and the figure quickly stood and came to him. As he got closer to the mouth of the alleyway, Schuldich realized that Farfarello was carrying something. No, someone. Farfarello finally came to a stop, still hidden in the shadows, but he thrust the small body towards Schuldich, and as the faint light hit it, he felt his heart stop and skip a beat. "I killed the men who did this to him." Farfarello's eye stared directly at Schuldich, who carefully took Nagi from him, holding the small boy's body close to himself. Quickly Schuldich felt for a pulse and it was there, but faint. Letting out a sigh of relief, Schuldich looked at Farfarello.
"He'll be okay, let's go find Brad." Smiling, Schuldich had Farfarello help put Nagi on his back so Schuldich could carry him easily. "There has to be a reason we're all still alive, so let's make the best of it." Reaching out with his mind, Schuldich brushed against Nagi's, just to make sure. The kid was still there, still whole and as good as he usually was. He would be just fine in a bit. Now all Schuldich had to worry about was how to get home.
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
"So what happened to Nagi anyway?" After walking for a while Schuldich had gotten bored with the silence, and even though Farfarello wasn't the best of company, he would have to do.
"He was attacked by some guys." Farfarello was actually acting sane, which was unnerving Schuldich just a tad. "After I got there I killed them, but he was pretty badly beaten."
"Did they do anything else, besides beat him up?"
"Not that I know of or could tell, but you might ask him when he wakes up." Farfarello was definitely acting too sane for Schuldich's comfort, but he decided to let it slide. As long as he's in this sane mood, Schuldich might as well make the most of it.
"So what happened after I was knocked out?" Or at least Schuldich was guessing he had been knocked out. Well, of course he was knocked out. He didn't really remember much about the meeting itself except…
Except, had Brad actually started to come to his rescue? Again?
"Basically Takatori just yelled. Then some guards came and dragged Nagi out. Crawford ordered that I go find him and take care of him. I don't know what happened after that." Farfarello was concentrating on kicking a rock down the sidewalk in front of them, and it made Schuldich smile.
"Do you know where we are or are going?"
"No, do you?"
"No, not at all."
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
"What's going on?" Schuldich actually felt Nagi's voice more than heard it. The teen's head was propped on his shoulder, so his breath came out against Schuldich's ear, sending a chill down his back.
"I was going home, found you and Farf here along the way. Decided I'd pick you up." Schuldich smirked as he and Farfarello kept walking.
"Schuldich!" Nagi's grasp quickly tightened into a hug, and Schuldich had to smile.
"The one and only kid; the one and only." Even though Nagi was awake, Schuldich didn't bother setting the kid down, and since Nagi didn't object to being carried, he didn't worry about it. "Care to share what happened Chibi?"
"Well the guards dragged me into their car, drove for a long time, and then ditched me." Nagi rattled off the facts without hesitation. That was the great thing about Schuldich and Nagi; Schuldich was like his older brother, and Nagi felt safe enough to tell Schuldich anything. "The guys that found me just beat the crap out of me for not having any money."
"Why didn't you fight back?"
"Like my mind was in a state to fight back Schuldich, really." Nagi chuckled lightly, and Schuldich smirked.
"Good point. Well, I'm just glad you're still alive and well." Schuldich smiled faintly to himself, realizing just how much he really cared about Nagi and the others. They really were his family, and he was glad they were okay. Nagi had been through enough, Schuldich didn't want to see him in any more pain than he had to be in. At least Farfarello and Nagi hadn't been sent to Rosenkreuz like he had originally feared. Because of that, they could all eventually go home again. Together.
And whether mice or men have second tries
They walked in silence for quite a while, and Schuldich was finally beginning to think that Nagi had fallen asleep when the teen spoke up. "What are you thinking about Schuldich?"
Taken aback by the question, Schuldich turned his head to the side so he could almost see Nagi. "I was thinking about how great it would be to get home again and go about stuff like we had been."
"Do you really think that Esset will let us?" There was a pain in Nagi's voice, a distrust that made Schuldich curse under his breath. He hated to hear that pain in Nagi's voice, hated it because he knew it would effect how the kid dealt with them.
"Well Nagi, we just won't give them the option. We are Schwarz, and that's all there is to it." Schuldich smirked; the thought of defying Esset was just too good. They could beat him down and beat him down, but in the end, he would still rise against them. And in those few seconds, Schuldich realized that without a doubt, he would fight to the death to keep Nagi from experiencing what he had, and that he would give his life to keep the members of Schwarz safe. And that was really all that mattered right then as he felt Nagi's arms tighten around him in a minute hug.
Maybe we're bent and broken, broken
"Hey, you guys over there, stop!" Schuldich and Farfarello froze at the sound of voices calling out to them. They weren't familiar voices, but that didn't phase either of them. Schuldich quickly brushed against their minds, snarling at what he read from them.
'They think we're weak because I'm carrying the kid.' Schuldich filled in his teammates telepathically. 'Let me do the talking, Farfarello, don't attack until I tell you to.'
"We don't want any trouble; we were just on our way home." Schuldich called out to the darkness, knowing exactly where the other guys were. Three figures slowly emerged from the darkened alley to their side, and Schuldich made a mental check that two had bats.
"Well that's just too bad," One of the guys with bats started to walk closer to them, and Schuldich felt Nagi tense, "because we could use a little trouble right about now."
Schuldich slowly knelt and let Nagi climb off his back to stand on his own two feet, and that action alone seemed to make the punks draw back slightly. They had thought Nagi was wounded somehow, handicap. Schuldich smirked at the mental readings. Like Nagi would be handicap.
We want more than this world's got to offer
"I told you once, and I'll tell you again." Schuldich took a step closer to the punk that had started to approach them. "We don't want any trouble." His eyes narrowed and he stopped a few feet in front of the man, who wasn't backing down anymore. The bat gave him a false sense of security.
"Yeah, and I told you kid, we could use some trouble right about now." The sneer that crossed the man's face could have rivaled Schuldich's, if he would have been sneering. But the telepath had better ideas. Using his speed to his advantage, he quickly pulled his gun from his coat, pressing the point of it to the other man's forehead.
"I'm not a kid, and I'll pull this trigger in a heartbeat if you don't call off your other buddies." Schuldich stared at the man's eyes as he spoke the words, willing the man to believe him. Knowing that it was too dark for the man to remember anything about them, Schuldich took a gamble he usually wouldn't. But the only thing on his mind at that moment was getting home. "All three of us are trained assassins, and I have a feeling our leader would be very pissed off if he had to fill out the paperwork to get your deaths covered up."
The man's eyes widened and he visibly tensed as the sneer faltered and finally disappeared from his face. "We meant no harm!" He stuttered as he took a few steps away from Schuldich, who pointed the gun skyward. The man turned to his friends and they all quickly took off back down the alleyway where they had come from. Schuldich smirked as he turned back to Nagi and Farfarello, and quickly put the gun away. But his own smirk faltered at the look on Nagi's face.
"Would you have done it Schuldich?" Nagi asked after a moment, his voice quiet. "Would you really have killed that man?"
Swallowing back the pride inside of him, Schuldich shook his head. "I would have been able to, only if they had really been trying to kill us." Standing there staring at Nagi's hurt expression; Schuldich felt something inside of himself breaking. He had broken another telepaths mind just hours before this, and somehow he could stand there face to face with Nagi and tell the boy he wouldn't do something unless it meant their death.
He realized with a start that he had just flat out lied to Nagi.
"What aren't you telling us?" Obviously Nagi was smarter than he looked, because he guessed the turmoil inside of Schuldich had to do with some deep secret.
"I broke another telepath's mind without a second thought, just to get free from their team and find you guys." Schuldich watched the horror flash across Nagi's face, but then it was gone. Yet it was too late, Schuldich had seen it, and it had been there. Falling to his knees, Schuldich gripped the sides of his head and screamed for all he had in him.
And everything inside screams for second life, yeah
"Schuldich, it's okay, it's going to be okay, just calm down." Schuldich was barely aware of the frail body holding his own, the small hand smoothing small circles on his back, trying desperately to calm the telepath down.
Yet Schuldich couldn't control the shaking of his body. All he could think about was that stupid telepath and his stupid lover and who they would never be happy because they could never be just another normal couple. They'd love each other more than most married people could, but they'd never be able to prove it to each other in actions.
Nagi felt Schuldich's body suddenly stop shaking; the telepath's breathing slowly returning to normal. Sparing a glance down at him, Nagi met Schuldich's eyes, and was almost frightened by them. "Schuldich?"
"Let go of me Nagi." Schuldich slowly stood up as the boy moved away from him. "We're going home, and we're going to Schwarz again." Glancing from one team mate to the other, Schuldich smirked. "There's something I need to tell Brad."
Have we lost ourselves?
"Schu, are you sure you know where we're going?" Nagi tagged along behind Schuldich, keeping a close eye on Farfarello. Schuldich just scoffed at the question and kept walking. It was really not reassuring to Nagi. "Schu, I swear I've seen this building before…"
"It's dark Nagi; all the buildings look the same."
Have we lost ourselves?
"Okay Schuldich this is insane, I know I've seen that building before!" Nagi groaned in frustration at the telepath's lack of caring. "Schuldich I'm serious, you're leading us in circles!"
"Am I now, Nagi?" Schuldich smirked at the telekinetic, and in the faint light that the morning sun gave off, Nagi could see a small spark of amusement in Schuldich's eyes.
"This isn't funny Schuldich, we might really be lost!" Frustrated at Schuldich's lack of caring about the situation, Nagi stormed up to the telepath and gave him a slight telekinetic shove. "I want to go home Schuldich, what do you find so damn amusing about that?"
Smirking, Schuldich pointed across the street, and Nagi turned to look, fuming. But all his anger drained out of his body as he laid eyes on their house. "The penthouse… but… how'd you know where it was?"
"I didn't." Schuldich grinned. "I just had to keep walking until I had some light to see by."
"Schuldich, even I could have done that."
"Then why didn't you?"
"For some reason, I thought you knew what you were doing…"
Have we lost ourselves?
"So who gets to do the honors?" Farfarello asked as they all approached the front door. Suddenly everyone seemed tense. The fact of the matter was, maybe this was a trap. Maybe they'd just get killed now that they had all managed to find their way home.
"Only one way to figure it out." Schuldich smirked, and Nagi realized he had skimmed everyone's mind for some train of thought. But Schuldich was already reaching for the doorknob, so he didn't bother saying anything threatening.
Schuldich's hand hesitated briefly over the doorknob, and as he reached to grab it, it turned underneath his faint grasp. He froze in his spot at the sight before him.
Brad stood in the doorway, hand on the doorknob on the other side, welcoming them in. "Welcome home, Schwarz. I see you all passed the test."
We were meant to live