Goodnight and Goodbye
It was easy to lose hope. Sitting in the dark, chained to a cold stone wall. Yes, it was easy to give up. Easy to quit and wait for death.
Bradley Crawford was a man who prided himself on taking the road less travelled and avoiding the easy way out.
So why was he fighting tears?
Each hiccupping sob echoed in the lonely room, and Brad was crying because he knew Schuldig had meant what he said. Perhaps death wasn't something he was willing to face after all. Not with all those big ambitious plans stretching out before him. Not before he'd accomplished something. Anything.
Sometimes he slept. Sometimes he called for help. Sometimes he cried. Days passed, of that Brad was sure. Hunger and thirst were driving him insane. He tried to convince himself this was all just another new form of torture, but at no point in the future would Schuldig come for him. Both his inner and outer eyes had told him that as Schuldig closed the door for the last time.
There was a click and Brad gasped with pain at the sudden burning on his eyes. The light couldn't have been that bright, but after what seemed like a wretched eternity in the dark he might as well have woken in the centre of the sun. He knew it wasn't Schuldig before he'd even managed to blink and squint his way back to vision. Schuldig wasn't coming back.
"Crawford san?" a soft voice said breathily, native accent oddly thick on the tongue, betraying anxiety.
"Naoe?" Crawford peered through lowered lashes at a fuzzy silhouette.
There was a loud crack and Brad jumped out of shock. It was the work of a moment to realise what had happened and he shook the shattered manacles from his wrists. The metal had scraped the hair off and he almost laughed at the smooth circles of skin. Looking up, fringe cutting out the worst of the light, he studied the boy in front of him.
Neat. Small. Self-contained.
"I couldn't read all of it," Nagi said calmly. "My English isn't that good yet, and parts of it weren't in any language I recognise."
"Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Ancient Arabic..." Crawford listed tiredly. No wonder the damn thing had taken so long to read. His apartment had been littered with foreign language dictionaries.
"I got the gist of it, though," Nagi said solemnly. "Empire. Demon. Japan. Last attempt in Himalayas long before any of us were born."
Crawford sighed. "I wish they had done that," he groaned. "I had to read the whole bloody thing and you've just summed up everything I needed to know in three words."
Nagi cocked his head to one side. "But... It must go into more detail, yes?"
"No," Crawford sighed. "Feel free to tell Schuldig, next time you see him, that he knows everything I do already."
"So why did you hold out?"
Crawford shrugged and looked a little embarrassed. "I can't fold before Schuldig, can I?"
"You could have died before him though," Nagi said dryly. "Any particular reason you saw that as preferable?"
Crawford's heart stopped. Nagi hadn't freed him. Nagi didn't need the manacle to hold him, that was all. He was still just as much a prisoner. And Nagi had every reason to hate him. Crawford had brought him here, after all. If Schuldig, who had once loved him, could hate him enough to leave him to die, what would Nagi, who had never had any inhibition in his loathing, do?
"I'm Japanese," Nagi observed, a smile tugging at one corner of his mouth. "Does that suggest anything to you?"
"You're not the only Japanese person here," Brad said, kicking himself for each word that escaped his lips.
"I'm the only one who knows," Nagi pointed out, squatting down in front of Crawford, eyes gleaming. "More than that, other than you and Hertz, I'm the only one who knows the contents of that dossier."
"Blackmail?"
"Maybe. Schuldig would give his left arm to know, and not for any other reason than that you've held it back for him." Nagi shrugged. "As I said before, I do need a favour from him."
"And as I said before, feel free to tell him." Brad frowned. "And Schuldig wouldn't have gone to these lengths if he was simply being pedantic. He's concerned I'll keep any and all glory to myself. Ever since we met he's been determined to leach off of my ambition."
"Speaking of leaches," Nagi said quietly, "do you know who Rammi's friend in high places is? Only I know I'm getting help I don't deserve right now, and I'm concerned about what will happen when it's time to return the favour."
"Rammi? That Indian boy Schuldig was upset about?" God, it seemed years ago now. It was less than a year, Brad realised, but not by much. "No, I don't know anything in particular about him. I thought you were the hacker. Can't you find out from whatever records they keep here?"
"He's not in them," Nagi said bluntly.
"Have you checked the laboratory records?" Brad asked softly.
"No," Nagi said thoughtfully, a chill touching his spine.
Brad, watching his new captor closely, stood up carefully, stretching. Nagi remained squatting on the floor, apparently lost in thought. Brad studied his own emaciated body and ran a hand through shaggy hair. He looked down at Nagi again.
"Am I..."
"I'm doing you a favour," Nagi told him, standing up. There was something pathetically cute about the boy's bargaining when he was barely as tall as Crawford's elbow. "Can I count on you to be honourable?"
"Yes," Brad told him.
Nagi started out of the room, but paused in the doorway. Brad wasn't quite up to walking yet, and he was edging along the wall.
"The other day," Nagi said quietly, "I'm sorry. Most people in your position would have expected that off me. I forget that you like to be different."
Nagi made certain the door was propped open and left Brad to try and process what he'd said. '...Like to be different.'
* * *
"Oi, Indian boy!" Schuldig called. He watched the shoulder's tense and heard 'what else should I have expected from a German?' ripple through a defensive mind. Schuldig gritted his teeth. "Hey, person I want to talk to but whose name I can't remember, and who's most identifying characteristic happens to be the fact he is the only member of his race in this corridor."
Rammi stopped and let Schuldig draw level. "That was uncalled for," Rammi said coldly. "You needn't flaunt your power, either."
"You needn't leap to conclusions, especially hypocritical ones," Schuldig snapped back. "German is a nationality, isn't it? If you don't want people to make snap judgements about you on the basis of your race then don't do it to others."
"Yeah, like you've ever experienced racial discrimination," Rammi rolled his eyes.
"I just did," Schuldig said acidly.
"What do you want?" Rammi sighed wearily.
"What do you want with Nagi?" Schuldig asked frankly.
"We've had this conversation before, I recall."
"Yes."
"The reasons are different. Nagi came to me," Rammi said calmly. He didn't dare lie to Schuldig, in the same way Schuldig knew he couldn't lie to Rammi.
"And what reasons are those?" Schuldig asked nastily.
"Ask Nagi," Rammi said bluntly. "They're his problems."
"You're not a doctor. There's no confidentiality clause here," Schuldig pointed out.
"There's still trust," Rammi said.
"No, there isn't. Nagi doesn't trust you."
"He expects me to be truthful with him," Rammi said, remembering the morning's conversation.
"Did he ask you not to tell me?" Schuldig asked.
Rammi grimaced.
"No," Schuldig said flatly. "Have you been entirely truthful with him?"
Rammi knew he had to get out of the conversation now. "I've ever been entirely truthful with anyone," he evaded. "It's hardly a survival tactic."
"Not here, true," Schuldig conceded.
Schuldig froze. Rammi read what he could from the German's emotional state, but it was too mixed. Shock, definitely. A little anger, but rather more guilty relief. Curiosity. Rammi could feel the rumour running through the student body. Some rumours took weeks to reach everyone, but this one was in a hurry. Someone was actually passing it by word of mouth. Rammi glanced jealously at Schuldig, who could clearly 'hear' what was happening.
Rammi spotted his mother dashing through the corridors. "What's going on?" he called out.
"Crawford iz free again. 'ertz is 'aving ze kittens," she explained. "I told 'him Crawford would die."
Schuldig smiled at the news. The other students who dared to loiter between lessons took the news with varying degrees of shock and disinterest, though those who had had Crawford as a teacher for the short period he had been one seemed encouraged by the news.
"I must go," Madame DuBois spluttered, and teetered away at a fast totter in heels that embarrassed Rammi. Parents ought to have some dignity.
Schuldig's head snapped around. "Parents?" he murmured.
Rammi held his eye. "You knew one of my parents had to be a talent," he pointed out far more calmly than he felt.
"One of the three in charge here. One of the three who hopes to replace the Estet, the top three, when they eventually pass on," Schuldig smirked menacingly. "No wonder you do so well for yourself. Hertz must loath you."
"It's more than mutual," Rammi said openly.
"I heard she'd had several children," Schuldig went on. "I mean, it's well known your mother is a slut." He paused, but Rammi didn't rise to the bait. "So were you bred, or just coincidence?"
"Coincidence," Rammi said. "She never cared much for those that were bred. My father," he added, "was the man who gave you the name you currently bear."
Schuldig frowned. "What, Crawford?" he gave Rammi an incredulous look.
"No, the clerk who added you to the register," Rammi said patiently.
"Oh, him?" Schuldig said nonchalantly.
"Yes. Are we done, or shall we start talking about your family?" Rammi said bitingly. The minute the issue had come up he'd sensed a little wistfulness and jealousy on Schuldig's behalf. Schuldig himself probably had no idea they were there, but it was just another example of how powerful Rammi was.
"They're dead," Schuldig said bluntly. He shot Rammi a sideways look. "Be careful of over using your influence," he said smoothly. "Hertz doesn't like those who play favourites. That's why he never had much truck with Crawford."
"He can't afford to kill mother," Rammi said smugly.
"He can kill you," Schuldig pointed out, and flashed a wide, toothy grin. "Perhaps you better leave Nagi alone, yes?"
"What use do you have for him?" Rammi asked suspiciously. "I've never understood why you have such an interest in him."
"Sometimes there isn't a reason. That's how you can tell we're actually friends," Schuldig said bitingly. "Thank you for all you've told me. I'll be sure to pass it on to Nagi, naturally. Goodbye."
