Oh look, another chapter, who'd have thunk it? I'm terrible, I know. I do try...it just, errr...yeah. So, thanks to both X-parrot and stitcher2ficcer for both doing beta on this for me...it made for a rather amusing editing. Thanks, love you both oh so muchly. And now, on with the next part:
Shido froze, mid-lunge, and blinked.
Distracted by keeping command over the birds, he had almost missed Midou beginning to collapse. Instinctively jumping forward to catch him, resigned to the knowledge that this was becoming a habit, he realized he had been beaten to it.
Ginji, not Raitei, knelt, crouched over his partner, frantically calling Midou's name. Glancing quickly about, Shido ascertained that Nannamae's man were just as thrown by Raitei's supernatural burst of speed and subsequent disappearance as he had been. Before they had a chance to recover, Shido took advantage of the situation.
A whistle returned all the birds to wing; the caws and the numerous panicked shouts would hopefully provide the necessary distraction. Stepping close to Ginji, Shido raised his voice over the racket. "Ginji?"
Worried brown eyes snapped up, searching for reassurance. "Shido, Ban-chan... what should I--"
"First, we need to get him out of here," and immediately to a hospital, he added silently, if the size of the stain was any indication of how much blood Midou had lost.
"Alright, you two, on your feet!"
As luck would have it, two of their attackers had managed to traverse the birds and rubble and now stood a few feet away, guns pointed steadily at them. Heeding their command, Shido rose slowly. Those were semi-automatics trained on them, and though he was fairly certain both he and Ginji could dodge in time, Midou was an entirely different matter.
"That means you too, lightening boy!" Shido risked a glance down. Ginji had not moved, still hunched protectively over his partner, eyes glued to Ban's pale face as he once more attempted to rouse him.
"Ch," one of the men swore, as the other reached for his walkie-talkie.
"Boss, we got all three of them corned. Orders?"
Straining, Shido could make out the faint, static-filled response. "Restrain the intruders. Bring Midou to me."
The two nodded to each other and took a step forward. The air crackled. Carefully lowering Ban to the ground, Ginji slowly raised his head, a low buzz filling the air. Both guns immediately swung to cover him. "The boss would prefer you alive but we will shoot if?" began one of the men.
His partner did not waste time on words, firing even as the electricity enveloped Ginji, crackling outwards. Bullets easily swept aside, the men themselves were knocked off their feet as the wave of energy blasted out from Ginji.
Shido's eyes watered at the searing light, like a miniature star springing brilliantly into existence. As his vision slowly cleared, he blinked, startled at the sight. Expecting to see two more victims of Raitei's tremendous power, instead the two men cowered on the ground a few feet away, unharmed, eyes wide with the realization of the certain death they had just narrowly evaded.
If the entire situation had not had the feel of a powder keg too close to a flame, Shido might have found it comical the way his friend was frozen, half standing, caught somewhere between Ginji and Raitei. His body still pulsed with the unnatural brilliance of the Thunder Emperor, but the brown eyes opened wide, regarding in surprise the hand clenched tightly about his wrist.
Shido's own breath caught in unconscious sympathy with Midou's labored gasps as the injured man levered himself off the floor, fingers clenched in an iron grip about his partner's arm, blue eyes boring into brown.
"No more Raitei." Not a request, more than a command. A statement of fact so absolute as to be impossible to defy. Ginji met such certainty with paralysis. Obviously wanting to agree, but unsure how long he could keep his other self in check.
"Ban-chan?"
Shido caught the slight nod, Midou barely moving, not risking losing Ginji's full attention. "Idiot, you're strong, aren't you? You can do this."
And Ginji smiled, a small grin but it was enough?no trace of Raitei's presence in that expression. "Un!" His hand covered Midou's, and in one swift motion he had his partner's arm slung over his shoulder, supporting most of the other's weight as he brought them both to their feet. Ginji's brow knitted with worry at Midou's grunt of pain, but his eyes held only determination.
"Let's go." It was strange. Raitei was a force of nature, a storm one could not possibly control, simply hope to weather. And yet somehow a composed, utterly resolute Amano Ginji was almost as frightening.
Backtracking down the hall Midou had emerged from, they encountered only minimal resistance, most of Nannamae's men still distracted by the animals. The limited opposition they did run across, Shido heard coming far in advance and dealt with easily.
Midou was somehow managing to maintain his grip on consciousness, stumbling along, most of his weight supported by Ginji. "There," he ground out, voice tight with the strain. Indicating a door off to the right with a slight jerk of his head, they made their way down a narrow staircase. They found themselves in a wide hall that opened to kitchens on the left, and the next passageway ended in a door leading outside, a service entrance.
The rain was still coming down in sheets, loud, confusing the senses. A single man rounded the building just as they exited, missed even by Shido's heightened hearing. The attacker raised his gun too late, though, Ginji blasting him even as he readied to fire. Concentrating, letting the sounds flow around him to compensate for the storm, Shido made sure no one else was in the close vicinity, then nodded. "All clear."
"Just a little farther." Ginji's soft reassurance was barely audible, but Ban clearly heard it, head rocking ever so slightly in acknowledgment. "Just a bit more, and then we'll get you to a hospital and?"
"No!" Tone vehement, Midou stopped abruptly, halting Ginji as well.
Shido turned to regard him steadily. "Snake bastard, don't be an idiot, you need?"
"No," quieter this time, but no less forceful. Eyes mostly closed, he sagged further into Ginji's support, the simple effort of rebuttal overextendinghis flagging strength.
"But Ban-chan, you're--"
"Idiots," Midou groaned. "Did you notice how many guys this bastard has working for him? Do you think he's stupid enough not to have all the hospitals checked? He'll be waiting for us!"
Shido grimaced; the bastard had a point, a good one, even. Ginji was not so easily dissuaded. "But Ban-chan, we'll protect you! You're hurt, the doctors will have to treat you no matter what!"
"Ch...and turn the hospital into a war zone like the foyer back there?" Same mocking, annoyed tone as usual, yet Midou's voice was so soft as to be almost unrecognizable. "Great plan.... No hospital." The vice-like grip he had been maintaining on Ginji suddenly slackened, Midou's knees giving out completely as he fainted.
Bearing his partner's full weight, Ginji slid to his knees, Midou's limp form cradled in his lap. "Ban-chan? Ban-chan!"The slight shaking invoking no response, Ginji relented, gaze shifting up to his friend's face. Shido saved him the question.
"He's right." Shido wasn't sure which was worse, the fact that those words could ever come out of his mouth in connection to the snake bastard, or the look of panic which they elicited from Ginji.
Swallowing, he tore his gaze away from Shido, back to Midou's pale visage. "But if we don't, he could die?" And then he shook his head once, hard, the sharp motion cutting off his own words. Back tense with the strain, Ginji rose swiftly to his feet, Midou cradled in his arms, held lolling limply against his shoulder.
Caught momentarily off guard, Shido hurried to catch up as Ginji started off again, strides long as he jogged towards the spot where the car had been left. Three guys stood guard over the Ladybug, guns drawn.
Ginji's approach was not exactly subtle, but even so, the men were far too slow for the speed of his electricity and the animals that emerged out of the darkness at Shido's shrill whistle.
Shido reached the car first, wrenching open the door and adjusting the seat. Gently Ginji eased Midou into the back seat and climbed in after him. It was a good thing, Shido reflected, that he had decided to get his license shortly after going to live with Madoka, seeing as Ginji obviously had no intention of driving. His attention was entirely focused on Midou, propped half sitting against him so his partner's long legs would fully fit in the cramped backseat.
About to request the key, Shido noticed it still sitting in the ignition. If these guys had had any brains, they would have at least taken that, or slashed their tires, or done a number of other things to render them incapable of escaping. Thankfully they seemed thrown off enough not to have thought of the obvious. Perhaps the hospital wasn't totally out of the question after all?
A glance back in the rearview mirror made it obvious to Shido that Midou needed it. In the dim light of the car, he looked more ashen, the rain-streaked windows casting strange, sickly patterns on his gray skin. But was it worth the risk? A retriever was expected to put his life on the line; it was part of the job description. The same could not be said for a hospital staff or its patients.
Ginji glanced up, met Shido's reflected gaze for an instant before glancing back down. "Kazu-chan...and Juubei," he continued, hand absently rising to brush a stray lock of damp hair from his partner's brow. "You remember...in Mugenjyo they used to tend the hurt. Juubei was a doctor...and Kazu-chan knows so much. They'll be able help."
A ring of utter certainty sounded in Ginji's voice, faith so certain as to make any alternative impossible. Adjusting himself carefully, one arm still wrapped around Midou's waist to prop him up, Ginji dug out his cell phone with the other hand. "They'll be able to help, they'll make Ban-chan better..."
The mantra continued quietly as he punched up the number. Shido saw no reason to contradict, hoping the snake bastard wouldn't up and die before they arrived. What ever else could be said about him, he didn't think even Midou would have the audacity to do something so stupid as to rob Ginji of his faith. There was at least one thing he could count on, regardless of all else: Midou was one stubborn bastard. He'd make it, he was too pigheaded not too. Or else there was going to be hell to pay.
To be continued...in hopefully not tooooo long a time. Thank you all and any actually willing to stick with this thing! Its going on a year since I've been in GetBackers, wow...wouldn't it be good if it took me less than a year to FINISH this thing! ;)