Disclaimer: The characters do not belong to me.

Warning: Mild language, violence, sexual content between males, INCEST, and disturbing imagery. If any of this bothers you, do not read.

A/N: Thank you for the reviews and please continue to let me know what you think.

Aya's Awakening

Aya shivered; she was still blindfolded and all she could hear was a bunch of shuffling. She didn't know how much time had passed since she had been dragged out of a car and into a building and set down in a chair. She couldn't move, couldn't see, and couldn't talk. Once again she was in enemy hands, only this time she was awake. There was no way out, and she had no hope of escaping for she knew of their abilities. Suddenly the blindfold was snatched from her eyes. She was sitting in the middle of a living area. There was a tall man with black hair and glasses in front of her. Was this the man who could talk to her in her head? He didn't look how she expected; he seemed stiff.

"Hello, Aya. Now I'm going to remove your gag, but first there are the rules. We wont hurt you as long as you cooperate; we are just using you to get some information. You can't run away because all the doors have special codes that only we know. You will be free to go into the kitchen, living room, bathroom, and your own bedroom. Oh, and don't bother screaming; the walls are sound proof, and trying to fight us will only end in you getting hurt." The man she assumed was Schuldig moved his hand behind her head and removed the cloth from her mouth.

"Letter's been written and delivered."

"Good Schuldig." The man with glasses looked over to the door as it swung open. There stood one of the most attractive men she had seen. He had wild reddish hair that flowed down his shoulder and piercing green eyes. He was hot.

"I know all the girls tell me so; it's so hard being this attractive."

"Schuldig, that's enough. She's just a kid."

"Oh, come on, Crawford, don't be such a stick in the mud. If we're going to kidnap someone, we should at least torture them or mess with them mentally until they break down and cry." Schuldig winked at her and then laughed madly. So the man with glasses was Crawford-- the leader--the one who could see the future.

"That's right, maybe later on Crawford can look into his crystal ball and tell you if Ran and you ever have any web-toed babies."

"I don't know if Ran will live long enough to impregnate is adorable little sister." Crawford sneered at her as he threw back his head and laughed evilly.

"See, Aya, Crawford does have a sense of hummer." She glared at him trying hard not to feel scared. This was the man who had tormented her while she was in a coma. He hadn't said much to her, but when he had it was cruel.

"You know, Crawford, if she keeps thinking so much I'm going to go crazy. Oh, wait, I already am."

"Well, you know what they say, 'what makes the sane man insane makes the insane man sane.'" An adorable short boy with black hair and blue eyes said as he came in carrying a book bag.

"Good day, Nagi, Where have you been?"

"It's none of your business, Schuldig." Nagi glared at the redhead. This was Nagi the boy who could move objects with his mind. He seemed too cute and young to be a killer.

"I know, but don't let his looks deceive you." Schuldig grinned at Nagi.

"Stop looking at me," Nagi growled.

"Is that how all those men used to look at you Nagi?" He taunted as he tilted Nagi's head towards his.

"Schuldig, stop it, or do I need to lock you up." Crawford's eyes were flickering dangerously. Aya didn't understand what Schuldig had said, but she could tell that Nagi was really upset.

"I'm not Farfarello; I'm sorry Nagi. I won't ever mention your traumatic past as a male prostitute in front of company again."

"That's it." Nagi hissed as objects in the room began floating.

"Nagi, don't. I'll handle Schuldig. He's just a little pumped up from getting to do something bad again." Nagi just nodded and walked up the stars keeping a perfectly straight face not looking twice at her.

"Schuldig, how would you like me to drag up your past? Just stop harassing him, okay. I don't want him to tear down the whole building again. Remember, you need to be careful with him."

"I think you just care about him. That's why you're always protecting him."

"Schuldig!" Crawford warned him as he untied Aya's ropes. So, this was Schwarz, and they were just as crazy as Weiss told her they were.

"We need the disk, Manx; just give me the disk."

"Once you have the disk, where will you take it? He didn't leave you any instructions."

"They're Schwarz, they'll know when we have the disk," Ran snapped impatiently. "Just give me the disk, Manx."

"I can't; you don't understand what's on that disk."

"Nothing is more important than Aya."

"He's right, nothing is more important that Aya," Youji said from his place on the wall. They were all gathered in the mission room. Omi was by Ken who had been silent since Manx had arrived.

"I'm sorry, but Kriticker can not help you. What you guys do on your own is your business." With that Manx left up the stairs. Ran stared at the wall. There was nothing he could do; he couldn't help her. Tears formed at his eyes as he fought to keep his calm. He would try anything even if it meant his own death.

"You're not alone, Ran." Omi murmured from the couch.

"That's right; we will all help you any way we can." Ken spoke for the first time. "She's important to all of us."

"I can do research and try and locate them or the disk. We won't be able to get her back right now, but I promise we will get her back alive." Omi looked at him with large blue eyes. Omi was right, they couldn't just rush into this one because they were dealing with Schwarz. He wanted her back but he wanted her alive. "Don't worry I'll get right on it. Why don't you go lay down; there's nothing you can do tonight."

Ran sighed he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep. He went to his room and laid down. She was gone, and it was his fault he should have done more to protect her.

She had been at the Schwarz residence for two whole days. She still hadn't met the last member of Schwarz. She was curious as to what he would look like. Right now she would take anything to the boring silence she had been forced to endure. Schuldig, had been sent on a mission which left her alone with the two nonverbal members Crawford and Nagi. It wasn't like she really thought she would like Schuldig's presence, but she would take his cruel words to Crawford's condescending looks. She sat in the kitchen pushing around some eggs on her plate as Nagi stared at her from across the table.

"Nagi, right." Aya smiled at him. At this point she was tired of being the silent captive. He just continued to stare at her. "So, um, how old are you? What grade are you in?" Silence followed her questions and Aya was ready to scream. "I'm a junior, I'm sixteen, but really I guess I'm eighteen. Isn't that weird?"

"I'm fifteen, I'll be sixteen in a week. I'm a sophomore." Nagi's voice was soft and Aya smiled at him.

"Don't you get bored here? I mean you guys don't seem close."

"You should be careful what you talk about."

"What's wrong with making an observation? I was just stating the facts."

"You talk too much."

"Well, you and Crawford don't talk enough. You know being kidnapped shouldn't be this boring. I mean, I shouldn't be going out of my mind with boredom. Instead I should be out of my mind with fright." She brightened when a strange looking man with an eye patch and white hair came into the kitchen. He had scars all over his body but he was well built. This had to be Farfarello; it was about time someone new showed up. Maybe he would be more interesting than Nagi. He sat down and began scooping out some eggs.

"I see Crawford let you out, are you going to behave? Have you learned your lesson?" Nagi asked as he scooted away from his partner.

"I have. I'm sorry; it won't happen again." Farfarello's voice had an eerie ring to it.

"Hi, Farfarello, I'm Aya." She extended her hand. Farfarello looked at her oddly before extending his hand and touching her fingers. It seemed he didn't know how to shake someone's hand. She let him touch her fingers because he seemed festinated by them.

"You have pretty fingers."

"Thank you." She was starting to get a bit creped out.

"I wouldn't let him get too attached; he tends to just take what he wants. I wouldn't want for you to lose your fingers." Nagi pulled Farfarello's hand away from hers.

"I wouldn't cut them off. Does she still have the power to give us our youth?"

"We don't want eternal youth anymore. Don't you remember, we want something else now." Crawford had entered the kitchen, and Aya tensed. There was just something about Crawford that made her skin crawl.

"Don't worry he makes all of our skin crawl." Schuldig was leaning up against the door frame.

"I see you've taken care of business." Crawford gave Schuldig a creepy smile.

"Of course, would you expect any less from me?"

"You should have sent him on a more difficult mission," Nagi grumbled.

"Nice to know I was missed."

"Did you hurt God?" Farfarello looked at Schuldig hopefully.

"Of course, but I wish you could have come with me. It's just too bad Nagi had to go getting you in trouble."

"Schuldig!" Crawford and Nagi glared at him. Aya smiled slightly, finally something interesting.

You know you shouldn't be so casual about all this, little Aya. Crawford will hurt you if we don't get what we want in two weeks. And I will be first in line to torture you. Schuldig's voice sounded in her head. She shivered slightly when she looked into his green eyes. She could tell he meant it. They would seriously hurt her to get what they wanted. When she looked into his eyes she saw the power that was behind them.

It had been two days since Aya had been kidnapped and Ran hadn't slept, actually no one had slept. They had all been working hard trying to come up with a plan to save Aya. Ran could feel the life draining from his body as he walked into his room. He stared at the bed with dread as he pulled off his shirt.

"Ran?" Ken opened the door peeking in at him. "I just came to tell you I talked and interviewed all the people I thought might have seen her on her way to the ice cream shop. No one saw her. I'm so sorry, Ran." Ken looked tired and worried as he approached him.

"It's okay, we weren't expecting to find much."

"Ran, I really care about Aya. I love her, I know you think I just wanted her but that's not how it is." Tears were running down Ken's cheeks. Ran hated seeing a grown man like Ken crying.

"I know Ken. I know you miss her. I'm not angry with you anymore." He ran his hand over Ken's bruised cheek. He had caused him that bruise when he thought Ken was attracted to his sister. "I'm so sorry Ken." He wiped the tears out of Ken's eyes.

"For what?" Ken looked at him with wide questioning eyes.

"For hurting you. You didn't deserve to be hurt for the way you feel. You were sleeping and I know you would never do anything to hurt Aya. I wish I could say the same. If I hadn't upset her, she wouldn't have left and she would still be here." Ran choked back the tears as he watched them flow freely from Ken's eyes. He wished he could be like Ken. He wished he could cry, laugh, and be angry. He buried his face in his hands, shaking.

"It's not your fault, Ran. They would have gotten a hold of her anyway. They wanted her so we would give them that damn disk, but we don't have it: Kriticker does."

"I can't lose her again. I'm nothing without her. I thought when she woke up everything would go back to the way it used to be, but it hasn't."

"Aya." Ken grabbed him and hugged him.

"It's Ran, Ken."

"Sorry, I'm just used to Aya." Ken flushed and Ran had to admit he look kind of cute.

"It's okay."

"You look tired, Ran. You should go to sleep."

"I can't, I'll only think of her."

"Ran, don't blame yourself."

"You don't understand, I did something I shouldn't have."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does, Ken, I defiled her. I took away her innocence. I stole her first kiss, her first touch. I wanted to take more, but she stopped it and left. I'm a monster; I'm in love with my sister." Ran broke down burying himself into Ken's strong chest. Something in him snapped and he couldn't control himself. He had finally let it out and he had finally let out his dirty little secret.

"Hush," Ken soothed. There was a little surprise in his voice, but he wasn't pushing him away. Ken didn't hate him for what he had done to Aya. "It's okay, Ran, we'll help you through this."

"I'm sick."

"No." Ken was running his hands up and down his spine. Ran felt soft kisses on his neck. Then suddenly Ken pulled away tensing and looking at him with frightened eyes. "Ran, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry it was a…."

"Stop, it's okay I already know, and it's okay."

"But how?"

"Doesn't matter. I have no right to judge you."

"Is is that obvious?" Ken flushed as he looked at himself in the mirror on the dressor for signs that screamed gay.

"No," Ran answered truthfully. "Ken we should both go to sleep."

"Yeah." Ken hesitated, so Ran grabbed him by the hand and led him to the bed. "I don't want to lead you on, Ken, but I don't want to be alone."

"It's okay. I've always known you'd never feel the same. I know you're not… well, you know." Ken's face reddened more as they both stripped down into their boxers. They laid down on the bed keeping a space between them. Ran smiled when he heard Ken's breathing. He wasn't alone; he had his team. He would always have his team. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

TBC