Part Two

Nagi refused to fidget as he stood in the antechamber. This was, in part, his punishment, and he refused to allow anyone the satisfaction of knowing it was affecting him. He'd failed to return on time, and his report was purposefully sketchy. Standing still, at least in this position, was a task. It would be a while before he felt comfortable in his clothes now. He hoped he'd never need to, at least like this.

Eventually, as the clock flashed three AM in his direction, Nagi was invited into the office by a smug Rex. Other than the team liaisons, he was the only member of Kritiker allowed to see Persia in the flesh. Sometimes he abused this privilege and called him Bombay, though he bit his tongue when he was Mamoru's aid and any use of 'Omi' was purely accidental.

She abused. Her tongue. He found- She found it hard to swallow. Nagi knew his agitation must be evident now, and fought it down. He was still a young man, no matter what he might look like. At least, he comforted himself, he hadn't grown up with this confusion as others did. He had heard about Ayame.

"Your report was glib," Mamoru said bluntly. "You were missing for almost twelve hours."

"I was injured," Nagi said quietly. "I was struck by the falling rubble." He ran his hand through his hair, lifting his fringe to reveal a black-brown scrape. It had been cleaned thoroughly, though there was a purplish lump that raised it out in relief.

"Then where were you?" Mamoru said crisply. "We have had teams clearing the area since dawn."

"As soon as I came around I felt it necessary to relocate to a secure area," Nagi replied. He hated this game, but he loved playing it.

"Schwarz have been reported in the area," Rex told him. She was smiling.

"Yes," Nagi said simply, smiling back.

"Prodigy, I know you have some vestiges of loyalty-"

"Schuldig told me that your grandfather has been hiring them to take out any targets you have refused to accept as Persia."

Mamoru looked stunned for a second, but the mask fell back into place. "Schuldig is a known liar."

Nagi chose not to argue the point. "They found me," he admitted, "while I was unconscious and revived me."

Mamoru's mouth thinned, but he could not find fault in Nagi for this turn of events.

"You followed them back?"

"I passed out again, and I woke in their apartment."

"Are you willing to reveal the location of that apartment?" Rex asked, a notepad in hand and a challenge in her eyes.

Nagi sighed heavily, rolling his eyes. He caught Mamoru repressing a smile at the action.

"No current member of Weiss could take either Oracle or Mastermind, let alone together," Nagi said, not hiding his contempt. "No previous Weiss managed, and they all had greater experience. Mastermind incapacitated three members of the third Weiss team alone while they were on guard and ostensibly prepared for them." Mamoru looked rather less amused at this reminder. "Even I would be hard tasked to take out either of the remaining members of Schwarz, as the abilities of both would allow them to prepare for any attack I might make. And," he said firmly, "that situation shall never arise. I would never take on such an assignment."

"Thank you, Nagi," Mamoru nodded. "That was... eloquent. However, you still need to account for your lapse in protocol."

"I had information I felt best relayed to you alone."

Mamoru raised an eyebrow. Rex didn't move, and Nagi sighed internally.

"We were attacked by operatives I believe belonged to Rosenkreuz."

"And your evidence for this?"

It wasn't doubt or distrust that prompted Mamoru to ask, Nagi knew. It was fear.

"I believe I was prompted by a telepath into emotionally reacting to minor jibes and used my powers more violently than I had meant to. I suspect there may have been another telekinetic present as well." Nagi paused, waiting for Mamoru to open his mouth and start speaking. As he watched the lips part he plunged on: "When I was revived I discovered that my physical appearance has been altered to female."

The whole travesty was suddenly made much better by the looks on Mamoru and Rex's faces.


Nagi rolled over on his thin bed and stared out of the window. This wasn't going to be a good day. He could feel it. He felt slightly queasy. The weak sunlight filtered between buildings. He hated this room, but as long as he stayed here he wouldn't have Kritiker operatives trying to find him. He knew where the bugs were here.

Nagi sighed and sat up. What was that saying? Better the devil you know. Somewhere along the line that had turned into a kind of personal motto. Better to stay where he knew he was miserable then move and be paranoid.

Dressing was easy. Nagi hated it for that. The clothes felt strange against his new breasts, but he'd figured they'd be slightly more sensitive. He'd read somewhere that small breasts where more sensitive. He touched his breasts through the fabric and stared at himself in the mirror. Perhaps he'd buy a softer shirt at some point. And maybe a tighter one, to wear underneath.

He'd dreamt a lot last night. He'd expected to, in a way. It had been a disturbing day. In his dreams he'd switched between male and female smoothly, not even noticing most of the time unless something drew his attention to his gender. Except, in one dream, something had. Someone. He'd woken up sweating and swallowing. Things inside him tightened and throbbed and burned and he hadn't known how to reach them and quell the desire. Hands had explored fruitlessly. He'd thought he'd known how this was supposed to work, and sometimes a wave of sensation would hint that he was getting something right, but he'd given up in despair, and had eventually fallen asleep again no more comfortable than he had been when he woke up.

Running his hands across his breasts again Nagi groaned. Of course it was going to be a bad day. He only had to remind himself of that feeling and it came back, and he still couldn't cope with it. He wanted to cry with frustration.

The mirror flashed as light slipped through the opening door opposite it. Nagi blinked and raised a hand.

"Is it hard to knock?" he asked coolly. The colour in his cheeks was higher than usual, but he hoped it wouldn't be too noticeable in the dim light of the room.

"I thought you might require some help dressing," Rex said calmly.

"Thank you, but I seem to have managed," Nagi told her reflection. "I don't need your assistance."

"Persia felt it wise..."

"I'm sure he did," Nagi said. "I'm quite capable of looking after myself, though."

"You might need some new underwear," Rex said.

"No. Thank you," Nagi said firmly.

Rex held his gaze in the mirror. "You don't need to be stubborn. I know this must be hard for you."

"You don't know," Nagi said calmly. "And since we both know you don't want to be here any more than I want you here shall we just consider our business concluded?"

"Certainly," Rex smiled. "What shall I tell Persia?"

"Whatever you like," Nagi said. "I'll speak to him later."

"You can speak to me now, if you want," a voice came from the corridor. Nagi looked up and actually smiled as Mamoru stepped into the small room. Rex made her silent exit and Nagi leant on the dresser to face his employer.

"Formally or informally?" Nagi asked calmly.

"Oh, informally, definitely," Mamoru told him. "I haven't had enough coffee for anything formal yet."

Mamoru sat on the bed, brushing aside discarded clothing to do so. Nagi admired that easy confidence. Mamoru fixed his eyes on Nagi. Something inside jumped, and Nagi glanced away. Those were nice eyes. They'd been nice eyes in the middle of last night as well.

"I just wanted to check how you were doing," Mamoru said casually. "This must be very disorientating for you."

Nagi flashed him another smile. It seemed easier to smile like this. He glanced down and noticed he hadn't finished buttoning his jacket. Oh well. And if he leant back and bit, and flashed that smile again, and look how it opened slightly lower than was necessary, and see how his legs looked that bit longer.

Hey, he was flirting. This wasn't so hard.

"I think it's good that you can still pass for male," Mamoru yawned. "I don't want to have to explain to the rest of the staff what's happened. They still don't believe half of the things that went on while I was with Weiss."

The small smile didn't falter, but Nagi felt his lips thin in protest. "It's not worth bothering about, really," he managed.

"That's what I thought," Mamoru said. "No, wait, obviously it is worth bothering about," he corrected himself hurriedly, "but I can't see what Kritiker can do for you, if you see what I mean. There's no medical explanation, and nothing in the historical files."

"Did you check yourself? Thank you," Nagi could feel his throat getting tighter and tighter.

"Oh, it was no problem," Mamoru smiled warmly. "You know, you might want to go and talk to Schwarz again. I'm afraid your old team are more likely to be of help than anyone here."

Nagi tried to relax. He knew that talking about Schwarz was hard for Mamoru. The mere idea of having Schuldig so close and knowing so much must have been torture for him. But still...

"Do you really think I'm still basically the same?" Nagi asked. "I mean, so people won't notice."

"I didn't, not at first," Mamoru shrugged. "I don't think you have anything to worry about." Nagi could see the bedclothes behind him begin to tremble. He'd forgotten about the mirror until Mamoru turned around in horror. "Nagi? Is something..."

"I'm okay," Nagi swallowed hard. "I just... I'm okay." The clothes stilled at the tone of his voice. "I'm going to go and see Crawford and Schuldig today," he said firmly, watching for the wince.

"I didn't mean..." Mamoru murmured. "Oh, shit," he said as Nagi pushed past him. "When did my common sense get so dependant on caffeine?"