Author's Notes: It's twelve o' three and the power has been out for about two hours now. I'm glad I have a laptop, or else I really wouldn't have anything to do.

It's actually kind of nice, the silence of the house, I can hear just about everything. And the lights from the surrounding areas are enough the pierce the pitch blackness in the house. Of course, it's really very dark in the basement here, and I'm afraid of the dark, but I've got a couple of reliable flashlights that should tide me over until the laptop battery dies and I really have nothing to do.

Insomnia sucks when you can't light candles in your room. I'm scared of the mirrors.

Let's Have A War

There's so many of us,
So many of us,
So many, there's so many, there's so many

Let's have a war
So you can go and die!
Let's have a war!
We could all use the money!
Let's have a war!
We need the space!
Let's have a war!
Clean out this place!

It already started in the city!
Suburbia will be just as easy!

Let's have a war!
Jack up the Dow Jones!
Let's have a war!
It can start in New Jersey!
Let's have a war!
Blame it on the middle-class!
Let's have a war!
We're like rats in a cage!

It already started in the city!
Suburbia will be just as easy!

Let's have a war!
Sell the rights to the networks!
Let's have a war!
Let our wallets get fat like last time!
Let's have a war!
Give guns to the queers!
Let's have a war!
The enemy's within!

It already started in the city!
Suburbia will be just as easy!

-Off of the eMOTIVe CD from A Perfect Circle.

4

/Oracle to Berserker, are you in position/

/Aye. Prodigy/

/Hai. Mastermind/

/Since we're doing this ethnic thing, Ja. And I can see some very lovely young men coming this way. Four of them, armed. About two minutes walk from the North to the door./

/Weiss./ Brad's mind supplied unnecessarily. We all knew who was coming tonight; it was what had kept us going all week. Even Nagi had been looking forward to meeting the kickstarts to our new fate.

/Berserker, you know what to do. Timing must be perfect./

/Ah, rules, rules. You've got to lighten up, Oracle. You're no fun anymore./ I lilt back, but I slink into the shadows anyway and check my knives. No matter what I say, I won't disobey his orders. He knows what he's doing.

I can feel Schuldig close the link around our minds, just between him and me.

/You trust far too easily. He's still a leader in Esset, you know. He could betray us at any moment/ he hisses into my head. My face is grim as I look from the shadowed overhang where I'm hiding to Schuldig's perch on a nearby rooftop.

/Save your plots of treachery for later, Mastermind, and keep on task. Now open up the link before Oracle throws a tantrum./

He does so without hesitation, ignoring my 'I told you so' thought when Crawford gives us an icy remark.

/If you ever do that again, I swear to God I'll have you on a plane to Esset so fast yo-/

/They're at the door./ Schuldig whispers, although he doesn't have to. He thinks it adds mystery, a flair to real life. I think it's annoying.

/At the ready, wait for my word./

/Yes./

/Understood./

/Roger./

I tense, the muscles of my legs bunched under me, keeping balance on the narrow ledge just above the inside of the door. I'm supposed to block it when they enter. I hold my breath when they slither inside, silent as death, and so graceful.

I am silent too, my feet bound in soft-soled boots that absorb the slap of concrete when I jump down from my perch and land in a crouch by the door. I close it quietly, flip the latch and disappear before they even know I'm there. The small one senses something, turns to see me, but I'm already gone and all he finds it a locked door. He's at the ready, a small crossbow on his arm and a whisper into some kind of radio at his ear. The others ready their weapons, look into the darkness wildly.

"Come out!" one of them, a deep-voiced one who carries a sword shouts. I can practically feel Schuldig's leer. By now he should be off of the roof and in the building, snuck in through a back way with Nagi, standing to either side of Crawford when our leader decides to introduce us. I'm still guarding the door, my finger touches a light switch and I almost flip the switch before Crawford's mental voice orders me to.

/On, now./

Fifty fluorescent lights turn on at once; even I'm blinded for a moment. I was expecting it, though, so I have a bit more time to dodge the arrows (darts?) that sing past my head. The four Weiss assassins, our competition to a point, seethe at the idea that maybe they have been had.

Their eyes turn to Crawford, looking smug across the room in a sole office chair, at Schuldig draped over the back of it, smoking. Their eyes widen at Nagi's young face and at my own fearsome strangeness when I slide beside him. There are no words exchanged, no thanks, no threats, just the red katana-carrying one screaming the others into action. A split second later and the four of Swartz are scattered, avoiding harm with the ease of a life's training.

One with claws follows me, even though my eye is watching out for Nagi fighting the one with darts. I dodge a slice of gloved daggers, roll away and unsheathe one of my own knives to defend myself. Nagi can deal with it; he'll be fine on his own. My eye flickers across the room to Schuldig, mocking a blonde man with wire, running circles around him as he brutally plays with whatever horrible memories he might have buried deep inside his head. Crawford is predicting every move of the swordsman, making the redhead look like an idiot.

I can feel a sweat break out on my forehead when our knives clang against one another, the tiger's claws and mine, my mad little blood-loving smirk against his growl, his strange brown eyes. We manage to lock our weapons together and I kick him in the thigh hard enough to make him cry out and kneel, but I'm pleased to see that his claws remain steady.

"Who are you?" he hisses at me. I smile and tower over him.

"Swartz."

/Mastermind, cover. We're pulling out./

/Aw, but I was just starting to have fun/ Schuldig whines. I'm afraid I agree with him. I want to tear this boy at his knees before me apart.

I can feel the surge of Schuldig's power, knowing Crawford and Nagi have already cut the connection and getting ready to make their escape. The eyes of the boy before me narrow, and then blank and his grip on the claws go slack enough for me to release my knife. I slip away and meet the others outside. Crawford's straightening his tie and Nagi's already in the car. Crawford starts the car and we wait for Schuldig to back out of the building, red-faced with the effort of keeping four apparently driven minds entirely under control.

We could kill them so easily, crush their frail bodies and minds, tear them apart…

I almost ask why we don't as Crawford drives off, tires squealing. Schuldig lays his head in my lap, a headache burning behind his eyes.

"Because they're important," Crawford growled.

"How?"

"Later."

NS

Schuldig swallowed a couple of headache pills and he and I stepped into the shower to fight over the hot water, although we were too tired to really carry on very long. I had no real reason to be there, I hadn't wallowed in any blood, but I was reluctant to get out all the same. It didn't help that Schuldig was smirking at me in a nasty way that made my hackles rise whenever I considered getting out. It was actually Crawford who ended our silent dispute, his fist loud against the door.

"Stop wasting the hot water!" I tense at the tone of his voice and nearly crouched to escape any gunfire. He is a little trigger happy after a mission without kills, though thankfully he's only shot at Schuldig once before. I sigh and get out of the shower, taking a moment to dry off while Schuldig try to decide if it is a good idea to test Crawford's patience or not.

I rip the curtain open and Schuldig curses eloquently at me. I shut off the water and throw him a towel.

"Goddamn asshole!"

I turn and leave. I really don't feel like dealing with him. I go to my room and lock the door. I don't want to wake up and find myself pranked by an angry telepath just because I ruined his shower. The last time he dyed my hair matchstick red.

I go to bed dreaming of the clawed boy from Weiss.

NS

I groan when the towel is ripped from the window and the light punctures my sleep. I throw my arm over my eyes and try to turn away from the light when Schuldig sits on my hips.

"How did you get in here?" I grouse, "Get off!"

"You fucked up my shower."

"That's not all that going to be fucked up if you don't get off of me!"

"Oh, scary…"

"Can't you two do something productive for once?" Nagi snarls from the doorway. Schuldig and I turn to frown at him, wondering why he isn't at school.

"It's Sunday."

"Oh," I whisper, laying back on the pillow and wishing so very much that I could go back to sleep.

"Can't you go play with your little pussycat, Nagi-boy?" Schuldig sneers.

I try to throw Schuldig off, but he barely moves. "Shut up, Schuldig."

He rounds on me, his eyes afire with anger, "I bet you'd like to go play with that little pussycat of your own…Pretty little white kitty…"

"Oh, Hell, Schuldig…"

Schuldig's sneer widens more, his blue eyes furious. He lets out a sharp laugh. I throw him off and slip out of bed. He's already on his feet.

"Jealous, Love?" I purr, matching Schuldig's smirk with one of my own. I can see Nagi in the doorway, leaving to go find Crawford, expecting the man to somehow manage to get us to stop fighting.

"Jealous? Of you? God, never!" Schuldig scoffs, eyes cutting derisively at me. It would bring me such pleasure to hurt him…

I grab him by the hair and drag him to the door, throw him out and lock it. I jam my chair under the knob and hope it actually works somewhere else besides the movies in keeping unwanted people out. Schuldig is cursing on the other side, slamming his hands against the wood and arguing with Crawford when our leader arrives and tells him to shut the hell up. Brad asks him if he's been drinking. I think it's too early to consider that, but you never know with Schuldig.

To be honest, though, he's right. I can't wait to play with that clawed boy again…

What can I say? I'm a cat person.

Fin Chapter 4

Please Review

Author's Notes: Cue the dramatic music, Weiss is here! About time I dragged them into the story, isn't it?

To My Readers:

Rori Barton…Exactly like the first one? Well, I was kind of going for some consistency, but is it really that much of a carbon copy? Oh man, if it is, I might as well go and suck some bleach fumes and end it all…

Morbid KnightHey, I like fangirls.I'm a fangirl myself. Fangirls read my stuff. How could I dislike fangirls? That'd be moronically hypocritical.

But I'm not very fond of Nagi/Farf fics. I don't know, I just draw the line at shota.

xKokuroxI agree with you totally about Farf, Nagi and Schu.

And I tried to put the site up but fanfiction dot evil decided to mess it up.

Go to Farfarello dot org and read the fics. They're so good.