Paranormal Files

Rating: M

Warnings: AU shounen-ai

Pairing: Ran/Ken (implied Kase/Ken)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I just play with the toys.

Author's note: I love feeding Ran. He's so slim, you know, I really can't help it :P I apologize for having so much revolve around food; I hope you'll bear with me for a bit longer.

Author's note 2: Apologies for the short chapter. I changed some stuff around; so I had to take out a chunk in which Aya and Ken has a heart to heart.Strange as it may sound,I actually like this better. I hope you'll like it too.

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Chapter 6:

Ken watched the young psychic beside him shift restlessly in his seat as they waited to be summoned into the Oracle's office. Normally, he'd be nervous too; but tonight, he felt nothing. He already knew he screwed up badly; Crawford's harsh criticism couldn't make him feel any worse than he did now.

"You don't seem worried. You really should be, you know, especially since Abyssinian isn't here to bail you out."

The brunette made no response to Schuldig's taunt. He really didn't care what punishment he received from Crawford; it would be no more than what he deserved. Aya trusted him enough to give him a chance tonight; and he lost their target. His fists clenched in self-admonition as he thought of his field leader. Abyssinian was in the hospital; the paramedics on Kritiker's cleanup crew had insisted upon taking him in for a comprehensive examination. Youji was there now, keeping an eye on the redhead, reporting back to Oracle on Aya's condition.

The door to Crawford's office opened. Standing at the entrance, the American said with a weary sigh, "Come on in."

The brunette was surprised at the Oracle's lackluster tone. Crawford was egotistical and sadistic; Ken was certain that the man's greatest pleasure in life was to chew others out and make them feel inferior. Considering their performance tonight, Crawford had plenty of ammunition for his favorite sport; the American should be summoning them with a gleeful, condescending smirk, not a sigh.

The ex-soccer player jumped to his feet and led the way towards the Oracle's office. Schuldig shot him a funny look, but Ken didn't slow his pace. He couldn't care less if the German thought he was masochistic or suicidal; there was no point in delaying the inevitable. He heard Mastermind's chuckle as the man fell into place behind him, "You've got guts, kid. It'll probably get you killed someday, but it's kind of cute."

Once again, Ken ignored the telepath as he stepped into Crawford's workspace. /My mistake, my responsibility/ that was the only thought on the brunette's mind as he walked to the center of the room, standing tall in front of the Oracle's desk with a stoic look. Schuldig chuckled again before taking a place to his left. Nagi was the last to enter, standing to his right after closing the door.

"Schuldig, go home and get some rest. We need you to be your charming self tomorrow. Prodigy and Siberian, you two will look through all our files on Kurata. The key to finding him is in there; you will not leave this office until you find it. Is that understood?"

Ken was shocked by the Oracle's concise orders. Why hadn't Crawford reprimanded him? He certainly deserved it this time! More than once in the past month, he'd had his dignity torn to shreds by the American's biting criticism for much less.

As the brunette stood frozen at the strange turn of events, Schuldig frowned in puzzlement. He knew Crawford gets a high from making people feel like shit; it certainly wasn't like the man to miss out on his favorite pastime. But his frown soon turned into a knowing grin as he sensed his leader's restlessness. Crawford really wanted to be at the hospital with Aya right now; the feeling was so strong that it was leaking through the clairvoyant's meticulous mental blocks against his telepathy.

The German knew his leader had agreed to join forces with Weiss out of practical reasons; but in the past year, Crawford had grown as close to Aya as a stiff narcissistic supremacist could get to an ill-tempered human icicle. Considering the Oracle's behavior, maybe there was more than just respect and trust on the clairvoyant's part.

As Schuldig stowed this potential blackmail material safely away in his mind, he broke the stunned silence hanging over the American's office. "Guess I'm off then. Good luck with your search, boys." After a courtly bow to his team leader, the telepath sauntered away.

"Do you understand your orders, or do I need to repeat them in smaller words?"

Ken still wasn't sure what alternate dimension he was in; Crawford, of all people, had offered him a chance to redeem himself. But the brunette was never one to question his blessings for long. He wanted to contribute to the mission; and he knew, at this moment, there was nothing more important than locating Kurata.

Though sitting around and reading wasn't his strong suit, Ken would give his assignment everything he had. He was the one who lost the target; he would be the one to find him again. Holding Crawford's disdainful golden eyes with a determined look, he replied, "Please leave it to us. If there's a clue in the files, we'll find it."

"I should hope so," the American said with mock civility, allowing his piercing gaze to convey his censure. "Now, get out and get started."

"Ha!" both Ken and Nagi replied with renewed vigor as they bowed to take their leave. They knew second chances from Crawford were as rare as snow in July; no matter what it took, they wouldn't fail in their new assignment. They would find Kurata again.

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Ran scowled as he poked the gluey substance with his fork. This was what the Kritiker physicians considered food; but no matter how he looked at it, it just didn't seem fit for human consumption. He remembered the delicious half-eaten dinner waiting for him in his room; and he couldn't help but wish the doctors hadn't halted his physical checkup to give him time to eat. So what if his stomach was growling? They were going to check his head for signs of subdural hemorrhaging and cerebral contusion; it's not as if an empty GI tract would affect the results.

Besides, the redhead knew if they had suspected any serious head trauma, they would have done the cranial CT scan right away. They wouldn't have waited until after the full body X-ray. He stabbed the goo on his plate with his fork as his temper flared. Why did they have to do extra precautionary tests right now anyway?

Kritiker's specialists had already confirmed that there were no broken bones or spinal trauma that could affect his performance in the future. For all intents and purposes, all he had was a bump on his head and a bruised back. There was no reason why they couldn't send him home now and finish the examination later when he felt more human.

Ran was tempted to just get up and leave; but he wanted to stay in the medical staff's good graces. After all, these were the same people who looked after his sister; he didn't want to do anything that might reflect badly on her. He eyed his 'food' distastefully again before moving to bring a forkful to his mouth. His body needed the nutrients, now more than ever, if he were to recover in time to take another crack at Kurata.

The redhead swallowed the mush and sighed. It didn't taste bad; it just had no flavor whatsoever. He'd had worse. He was about to eat more when the door opened to reveal Crawford at the entrance.

"Don't eat that. I brought lasagna." Gently closing the door, the American strode to Aya's bedside to place a fancy takeout box on the redhead's bed tray. With a look of disgust, he proceeded to dump the plate of hospital food into the trash.

As Aya opened the box, a mouth-watering aroma permeated the air, making his stomach growl in delight. From the looks and smell of it, his meal was gourmet Italian fare. While he knew Crawford never did anything in half measures, it was unusual for the man to expend time and money on anyone's behalf. Besides, wasn't Oracle mad at him for taking Siberian as backup on the mission tonight? Frowning in suspicion, the redhead remarked, "This is a lot of trouble to go through just to say 'I told you so'."

Sighing at Aya's reaction to his goodwill, the American replied, "I'm not here to gloat. I want to see how you're doing."

"I'll live." The redhead would have shrugged, but he didn't wish to make any unnecessary movement. His entire body was sore; and he had every intention of letting it rest as much as possible in the next few days.

"You know, when I foresaw our blotched mission, I didn't see this coming," Crawford said as he surveyed the hospital room. "I wouldn't have sent you in if I did."

The Oracle was never one to apologize, but he didn't want Abyssinian to think he'd foreseen the man's hospitalization and allowed it to happen. Though it was a big blow to his ego, he would rather admit he had been caught by surprise than risk losing Abyssinian's trust.

The redhead stared at the clairvoyant as if he'd grown two heads. Aya knew the arrogant American was under the delusion that he was always right; the man would never admit to making a miscalculation! "Who are you and what have you done with Crawford?"

"Damnit, Aya, stop questioning me and eat! You're making it harder than it already is!" Crawford growled in an uncharacteristic outburst. Against his better judgment, he'd come tonight without the guidance of his visions. He had wanted to fix his rift with Abyssinian as soon as possible; yet now, having put his pride on the line with his pseudo-apology but to not effect, he couldn't help but wished he'd waited for a sign.

Aya was beginning to understand the Oracle's motives. The man didn't want this incident to get between the trust they'd developed over the past year. It was a feeling the redhead shared; but he never thought a vengeful man like Crawford would voluntarily offer truce. After all, he was the one who stuck his nose into the clairvoyant's business first.

Not one to let the Oracle's offer past, Aya graced the man with a rare full smile. He then proceeded to make a show of tasting his lasagna with relish, a wordless signal to the American that, as far as he was concerned, all was as it should be between them.

Crawford fought to suppress a sigh of relief; he had the image of an uncaring bastard to upkeep after all. Now that 'personal' matters had been dealt with, the Oracle's tone resumed its normal hard, business-like edge. "Just rest here for now. I'll let you know when we find our target."

"Hn," Aya replied as he laid his fork down and took a deep breath. He had a feeling that Crawford wouldn't like what he wanted to bring up next; but he had no choice. As important as their mission was, there was an even more pressing matter – Ken. Having witnessed the brunette's Craft, Abyssinian knew it was too dangerous to be left unchecked. If the man couldn't control it, they would need to partially seal it with a custom amulet. "What about Siberian?"

"What about him?" Crawford shrugged, concealing his annoyance at the mention of the rookie. Though he wouldn't admit it, he was still smarting from the way Aya took Ken's side at the mission meeting earlier.

"We can't afford to have him stay the way he is," the redhead replied calmly, knowing he was treading on thin ice to show 'interest' in Ken so soon after his 'reconciliation' with the Oracle. After all, the brunette was the catalyst to their disagreement tonight in the first place. "He could have killed us tonight."

/Damn Aya for playing the guilt card/ If Abyssinian had said anything else, Crawford knew he could have come up with an excuse to not help the rookie. Ken got on his nerves like none other; and he'd retaliated by making the man's life as miserable as possible. He certainly didn't want to do the brunette any favor of any sort! But part of the clairvoyant was still reeling from how close he'd come to losing Abyssinian tonight; he simply couldn't dismiss the man's point when it was put that way.

"Fine, we'll watch him train when you get out. We have more hands-on experience with Witch Craft than the Kritiker trainers; we should be able to figure out what's wrong with him."

"Thank you," Aya smiled gratefully, masking his surprise. He could tell there was some bad blood between Crawford and Ken; he'd thought it would take a lot of convincing to secure the American's help in Siberian's training.

But whatever the reason, the redhead was glad that everything was settled, the way he'd hoped for. He really didn't want to do any more talking tonight. As if sensing his mood, Crawford spoke, "Whatever. Just eat and get better. I'll come pick you up in a couple of days."

"Hn."

At Abyssinian's monosyllabic reply, the American nodded and left. He wasn't looking forward to getting involved in Siberian's training; but his relief at having set things right with Aya outweighed his annoyance. Besides, Ken having control over his powers didn't mean an end to his fun; it only meant he'd have a stronger and more dangerous 'target' to humiliate. A vicious smirk settled upon the Oracle's face; oh, things would definitely get a lot more interesting around the office in the near future.

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