Chapter Thirty – Alliances Broken

Schuldig jerked awake. Something was happening. It reminded him of Nagi's earthquake, almost a year ago now, in the way it touched every person in the area to a lesser or greater extent, and threatened to undermine the institution's very structure. Of course, it was a different structure that was suddenly on the verge of collapse, and that made Schuldig grin. An anarchist at heart, he revelled in the chaos that when felt certain would descend sooner or later.

He reached out with his mind, studying those around him. Perhaps the Telempaths had some inkling of what was going on, but for the most part the residents of Rosenkreuz were reacting at a subconscious level to something they couldn't even sense.

One mind was a blank to him, and this was the epicentre of the psychic quake. Brad… no, Crawford… Crawford's shields were so tight Schuldig had no hope of getting past them. Still, the shields themselves were telling, reinforced the selfishness and greed and desire. He had been given something he wasn't willing to share. There was only one thing Crawford wouldn't dream of letting others have: Power.

"We'll see about that," Schuldig told the tiled wall in front of him.

"See?" his companion growled sleepily.

"You and I," Schuldig told the redhead, "are going to paint the town red."

Jei opened both of his tawny eyes. "That was my idea," he objected. "To take vengeance on God-"

"No, Jei, not God. We're going to take something, yes, but not vengeance and not from God."

Jei regarded his lover with lazy indifference. If it wasn't god, it wasn't worth it. He went to roll over but Schuldig grabbed the youth's shoulder.

"Jei, if I get my way God is going to howl. Crawford's just been handed a whole heap of power. All power here is related to this summoning we're all supposed to be working towards, to rebuilding this 'empire'. So something's got to happen that changes the status quo and let's Estet do that, right? So Crawford's got that something. And if we steal that something, image what havoc we can wreak!"

"You're reasoning is flawed," Jei pointed out, but he was clearly interested again. Schuldig shrugged off the rebuke and started to get dressed.

"Do you mind if I sleep with Crawford?" Schuldig asked casually. Jei shrugged nonchalantly.

"Buggery, sodomy, sins," Jei smirked.

Schuldig had been surprised at first at how easily Jei had taken to the idea of homosexual sex. He was an attractive boy for all his scars, but Schuldig couldn't figure out if Jei returned this attraction. It didn't particularly bother him, since Jei was more than willing to do anything forbidden by the Bible, which turned out to be rather a lot of things, but Schuldig wondered whether he was just screwing the kid up even more.

Schuldig had taken to dropping into chat with Jei on a regular basis early on. Now that he was depriving himself of Brad's company he needed to be around someone who didn't think at him all the time.  The only thing Jei ever thought about was God anyway, and his tangled and warped mind made even that hard to decipher. He didn't mind being talked at for hours on end, and when Schuldig occasionally felt like talking to him he could hold up his end of the conversation with ease, much to Schuldig's surprise.

One day, out of the blue, Jei had asked to have sex with him. Flattered, Schuldig leapt at the chance. A lot of people took interest in him, but he'd never thought Jei would. The mood had been somewhat spoiled when Jei had carefully and methodically explained the reasoning behind his request, but Schuldig was still flattered at being chosen instead of, say, 'the sedative man'.

That had been two months ago. Since then they'd been sleeping together from time to time, usually when Schuldig was sick of his room mates or forgot to leave Jei's cell before visiting hours ended. He smirked. There hadn't even been 'visiting hours' until he'd taken such an interest in the Irish teen.

"Schuldig?" Jei hovered just behind his fellow redhead. "They're not going to let me out."

"It isn't a matter of let," Schuldig told him breezily. "In this world you have to take what you want when you want. We have power, Jei. And so does Crawford."

"So does God."

Schuldig grimaced, glad that Jei couldn't see his face. The guy was all right company but this obsession with God could get so dull! That and the 'I'm a victim' spiel. Schuldig had a sneaking suspicion that the reason Jei's mind was so snarled up was because he wasn't a victim, quite the opposite, in fact, but couldn't acknowledge it.

"We can take Crawford's power. We can't take God's. Not yet, anyway," Schuldig said impatiently.

Jei froze. "Yet?" he asked, voice dangerously low. "What is the nature of this power, then, that we are seeking from Crawford?"

"Knowledge. Knowledge is power, Jei. Like said, God is omniscient. All knowing equals all powerful, right?" Schuldig hoped Jei would accept his reasoning.

"And what is it Crawford knows?" Jei wasn't fooled. Schuldig knew something. Knowledge is what people know. Schuldig could read minds. Schuldig knew what everyone else knew. Ergo, Schuldig knew everything there was to know, if he stretched far enough. If Schuldig knew all, he was omniscient. By Schuldig's own reasoning, this made him omnipotent. And that made him a friend worth having when you were fighting a one-man war against the only other omnipotent being.

"Something about the summoning," Schuldig said vaguely. "He's going to be there. I'm going to be there, Nagi's going to be there, and if I get my way you're going to be there too."

"Not if we're killed for misbehaviour," Jei pointed out. Schuldig stopped in mid step.

"Shit."

"We're not going to wreak havoc and mayhem and bleed Rosenkreuz dry, are we?" Jei said forlornly as Schuldig started stripping off again and climbed back into the small camp bed.

"One day," Schuldig reassured him. "Just not yet. We'll court Crawford's favour, I guess. And Nagi's. When they start letting you out again go and befriend the Japanese kid. I've already snared Crawford."

Jei lay down next to Schuldig and let the older boy start to explore his body. Sometimes he wondered if there was more to Schuldig's life than sex, but he didn't mind if there wasn't. God disapproved of pre-marital gay sex with minors, even if he was a minor giving consent.

"I wish I'd kept my mouth shut," Jei sighed.

Schuldig chuckled. "Yeah, but they'd have killed you if we'd gone ahead. I'm too unique to kill, but they don't need me sane."

"You're not sane," Jei pointed out.

"Neither are you."

"True enough."

* * *

Nagi stared at the computer printout. Three candidates. Rammi read it over his shoulder.

"Why don't we just kill all of them?" Rammi asked carelessly. "Saves time."

"That would stop it happening again," Nagi told him blandly, "but it wouldn't be revenge. Revenge is personal."

Rammi shivered. Nagi's dedication to this vengeance on his rapist still frightened him. He'd made several suggestions over the past few months of ways to dispatch the rapist, but Nagi had turned down every one. Nagi only wanted the one person dead. He wouldn't do it during rape, since no one else would see. He wanted it public and personal. Perhaps what frightened Rammi most was Nagi's complete disregard for his own safety. Nagi didn't give a damn if it was the newest first year or Hertz himself. He didn't care about being punished.

Nagi traced patterns on the laptop's chunky screen with weary fingers. This was his third laptop. He didn't know who was being so kind to him, but he did appreciate it. Some member of staff was keeping an eye on him, making certain he learnt German and English and kept up in lessons.

Rammi rubbed Nagi's shoulders gently. He wondered if he should tell Nagi to whom he owed this patronage, but he got the impression Nagi's respect would not be earned with kindness. Nagi didn't believe in kindness.

The truth was Rammi had no idea how to get Nagi's respect, or even liking. Nagi didn't believe any did anything for free, so if Rammi admitted to helping him then Nagi would assume he only did it to get something in return. If Rammi stood up for him Nagi would assume Rammi only did it so Nagi would do the same for him.

Of course, Nagi would be right, but Rammi had no intention of letting the boy now that. Nagi had to do everything willingly and freely, and that was going to be bloody difficult.

"What?" Nagi asked, turning to look at the older boy's pensive frown.

"Do you trust me?" Rammi asked.

"No." Rammi flinched slightly, enough for Nagi to notice. Nagi never suspected the almost suppressed look of hurt was solely for his benefit. "I trust no one," Nagi explained softly. "I've seen to much to rely on good nature and kindness. People are only nice as long as they feel like it. When it starts to cost them too much they take it away and you lose everything you've grown to depend on."

"Have I given you anything? Have I been nice to you?" Rammi asked. "I've always been frank, haven't I, Nagi? I need your protection, you need mine. This sort of dependency relies on a modicum of trust."

"I do see your point," Nagi said quietly. "This isn't about what you can spare and what will make you feel better about yourself. I can live with being used, I guess. So maybe I do trust you, but not much, I'm afraid."

"Why not much?"

"You rely on me. If you can get the same from someone else without that reliance you'd drop me. You can't depend on me always being there, or doing precisely what you wish. If we're both in danger I'm more likely to save myself than you." Nagi turned back to the laptop and opened a game, trying to ignore the ache in his heart. Being so practical hurt, sometimes. The truth hurt. Sometimes he wondered what it was like for those lucky children who got told the lies and stayed safe believing them.

"So, if there was a way in which I could have the same power as you, and you me, we'd be equals, and free. You wouldn't have to worry about me abandoning you for someone better," Rammi reasoned gently.

"No, you'd just abandon me altogether," Nagi said bitterly.

"What if I didn't? You'd still be a powerful ally. You have one power and I have another. If we both had both, we'd be twice as powerful. Me alone would only be equal to the two of us as we are now. We'd been better off together, but not dependent."

Nagi sighed and pushed the laptop away. He stood up and paced around Rammi's third year room, which had already lost its other occupants to the system. Leaning against one of the bunks he regarded Rammi steadily.

"What do you want?" he said tiredly. "I knew it would come to this, eventually, but I still don't know precisely what it is you're trying to take from me."

"Not take, Nagi, share. I'm what is vulgarly known as a 'leech'. I can share people's gifts. I can take a little of yours and you can take a little of mine." Rammi gazed at him imploringly. "All you have to do is give it willingly. If you let me in it will all be over in seconds."

"It's already over," Nagi snarled. "The clue is in the name 'leech'. You don't share, do you? Don't mistake me for a child, Rammi, not when I've lived more than you already."

Nagi stalked out of the room, the door slamming behind him. Rammi spat curses at him in his father's tongue, snarling insults in Hindi until his voice was hoarse. It did no good. Nagi was gone and all hope of absorbing his significant powers dashed. Rammi's curses turned to himself and he screamed self-abuse until his mother came to calm him down.

"I warned you, didn't I?" she murmured to her frustrated son, leading him out of his tantrum like she would out of a storm, with calm words and soothing rebukes. "I told you this was going to happen. I foresaw it."

* * *

Crawford's fingers drummed a nervous fandango on the documents, the rhythmic tapping soothing to his strained heart. When both heart and fingers were beating at the same pace, slow and steady and self-assured, he trusted himself to speak.

"Run that by me again?" he said quietly. He was sitting next to his kitchen table, legs crossed and one hand resting in his lap, the other elbow on the table as he rapped his nails on the sheaf of papers.

Schuldig rested the heels of his palms on the table and leant over the older man, face serious. "I saw that vision, second hand. We both know I'm going to be there. I want to know in what capacity."

"I'm sure that will become clear over time," Crawford said languidly.

"It's up to you," Schuldig warned. "You have a choice, either you take me willing and eager, or you take me as an antagonist. You know I'll make your life hell."

You already do, Brad thought to himself. He was a man torn asunder, personal motivations clashing with a deep-rooted regard for the man in front of him. He had no intention of sharing power, but Schuldig would never accept anything other than what he felt he had a right to, and more often than not that meant everything. If there was some way for Brad to have both, to have Schuldig and have power and have something similar to happiness…

"You can't do it alone," Schuldig said deceptively softly.

Brad's head snapped up. "What?"

* You can't do it alone, * Schuldig repeated. * You can't rule the world on your own. There's too much of it. Why else has no one man ever managed it? Wise men make alliances, agree to split the spoils. *

* You're overlooking the point of those alliances and agreements. They are the means of gaining power, not the means of keeping it. Do you really think any of those petty dictators ever had any intention of keeping their word? * Brad shook his head with a cat-like grin. * I can do it alone, Schuldig. How can you defeat a man who knows your plan before you do?  I can employ people to deal with the paperwork, the peripherals. The only thing I learnt at Rosenkreuz was how to control people. Fear, respect, fanaticism, dependence… *

* You're bloated on your own ego, * Schuldig told him disparagingly. * You can't do it alone. You need people you can trust. The decision you make now will mean the difference between trusting me or fearing me, Bradley. You see, if I'm not with you, I'm against you. And my enemies don't last long. *

"Are you threatening me?" Brad was startled into speaking aloud. He chuckled. "Schuldig, you wouldn't have a hope in hell of taking me out."

"You can see the future, but I can read minds. The future ain't always certain, but I am." With that Schuldig suddenly wrapped both hands around Crawford's neck.

Crawford clawed at Schuldig's tightening fingers, struggling for breath. One flailing hand knocked his stack of documents into a blizzard of paper across the room. Why hadn't he seen this coming? Because the future was uncertain. His own emotions had made it so. If his arrogance, his pride, his power lust hadn't made his decision for him he and Schuldig would be allies. He'd pushed aside his care for the younger man and he was going to pay for that mistake with his life.

Schuldig let go.

"I'm not going to kill you yet," he said conversationally as Crawford collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. "Hertz would kill me. He'd probably thank me first, but he'd be obliged to kill me and frankly I think he's just waiting for an excuse. We're both going to go higher and further than he ever will, and he knows it. But once I've graduated? We're on equal footing then, liebhaber, and you will live in fear of that day."

As the purple and black bruises made a necklace around Crawford's crushed windpipe and he spat up blood on the kitchen floor his only solace was Schuldig's bitter endearment. "We're on equal footing then, lover…"

Would you like some Schuldig/Farf action, like I did with Brad/Schu? It's up to you guys. If you want it, I'll write it.