Author's Notes: The NS means a 'New Scene' or 'Change of Scene'. Why? Because fanfiction is being a bitch and I wanted this up today.
Oh, this is the final chapter. Enjoy!
10
My first day out of the straight jacket was dull, or the beginning of it was…
Schuldig cooked a meager breakfast of eggs and coffee while I drowsed at the kitchen table and waited for a plate to appear. We weren't expecting Crawford for a couple more hours. As usual, we assumed he would be sleeping in, so when he showed up and sat down at the table next to me, we both looked a little shocked. He just glowered at us and ordered Schuldig to pour him 'some goddamn coffee'.
Ah, Crawford…if Takatori saw him like this I think the man would have a stroke. He is so unlike the front he presents and I suppose that's why I like him…today.
Eh, I'm allowed to be capricious.
Schuldig laughs at that thought and dropped the mug of steaming coffee in front of our leader, who is sitting so illustriously in his usual boxer and robe ensemble. His hair was sticking up on one side of his face and I wondered why he was up at this time of day. The man was practically nocturnal…didn't the sunlight make his skin burn or something?
"He isn't a vampire, Far," Schuldig commented and shoveled the eggs into a collective bowl and put it on the table. Crawford just gave me a look and went back to regarding his coffee, I guess trying to divine whether or not Schuldig's cooking would kill him.
Schuldig smacked me and sat down.
"You think too loudly," the redhead said by way of explanation. I was still feeling affronted and rubbed the back of my head.
"Well, excuse me for being human," I growled back and poured eggs onto my plate, sucking down coffee as quickly as it came to me.
"Stop bickering," Crawford snapped, "You two sound like a married couple. It's grotesque."
"Oh, that makes me feel much better, Brad. Thanks," I snarled at the same time Schuldig was making a comment about 'Lucy and Ethel', whoever the hell they were…but I might've heard wrong.
"Too early in the morning to deal with you two…"
"Then go away! We didn't invite you, you trigger happy son-of-a-bitch!" Schuldig shrieked, privy to the nasty thoughts I imagined Crawford thinking at that very moment. Obviously it had something to do with guns.
"Why are you up, anyway?" I asked, my tone notably calmer.
"I thought you'd like to know that the kid's coming back tomorrow. He passed with fucking flying colors," Brad said, his face twisted slightly. It worried me, that moment of sharp anger.
Did that mean that Esset had totally brainwashed him, just as I had expected?
I opened my mouth to ask, but Crawford cut me off.
"Yes, exactly as you said."
"Does that mean-"
"Yes. I'm afraid so."
I set my head down on the table and tried not to shake, tried not to feel as angry as I knew I felt. Schuldig moved away from me, sensing the danger.
"We're fucked…so fucked…That poor boy…"
"He's an operative now, nothing more," Crawford said, heartless as ever when it got down to business. I wanted to cry, I wanted to smack an emotion out of him, I wanted to know I was working under the direction of a man who still felt something, anything.
Preferably someone who knew and respected regret. I wanted this man to die from the grief of virtually killing someone's soul.
I lifted my head and stared at him, trying to read his face.
"We have a new mission when he arrives," Crawford said, ignoring me.
Schuldig nodded, ready for his orders, thought I could sense something sad about his body language. He understood my anger, he shared in it.
"Schuldig, I want you to try and break some of the mental locks they've set on the boy, get some personality back. On his off time, I need Nagi around, not some robot. Farfarello, you're to help educating him. Read to him, give him resources and direction. I'm going to be enrolling him into school within the year, so I want him ready for social interaction with others his age. I'll keep up the team's front, as per usual."
The orders were flat, to the point and they warmed my heart. I smiled and nodded, Schu mock-saluted. Crawford got up and went back to bed.
NS
I don't know much about social life in most of the western world. I wasn't part of it for very long, but I had a fair guess to how teenagers lived. I figured it would be universal but for the most basic traditions of the Japanese. I was ready with music, books and a laptop for when Crawford would bring the boy home. Schuldig continually checking the team link with Crawford, telling me when he got to the airport, when he saw Nagi, when he got back in the car with the boy at his heels, when they were in the elevator…
The door opened on silent hinges and I watched from the couch as Crawford, then Nagi entered and shed their shoes. The boy was taller now, but still thin. His eyes seemed huge in his round face, his lips dainty and a little purple. His skin was the color of paper and I wondered if he had seen the sun since we had picked him up, the fateful day we'd found him.
He looked at me and no expression crossed his face. He gave me a silent bow and looked beyond me to Schuldig, who was lounging on the couch beside me.
"Hello Berserker, Mastermind," he whispered, "I am called Prodigy."
A complete team: Oracle Mastermind, Berserker, and Prodigy.
And that's the end of the beginning…
Fin Birth of a Monster
Please Review
Author's Notes: No, I'm dead serious, this is the last chapter! I hope you liked it.
No worries, I might come up with a sequel someday…