Disclaimer; I don't own Tsubasa.

Finding The Feather

Fai jumped as his door was thrown open, revealing a panic-stricken Makayla and a pale Syaoran. He smiled weakly at them.

"What's wrong?" he asked nonchalantly. Makayla opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a strangled laugh.

"Kurogane-san… he…" Syaoran muttered. Fai's smile fell.

"What happened?!" he demanded, looking from Makayla to Syaoran and back again. Makayla took a deep breath.

"Apparently I'm too much of an optimist for my own good," she muttered. "Punctured his lung, nicked his heart, and put a really bad hole in his stomach that, luckily enough, missed all vital points."

Fai stared at her, his mouth suddenly dry. He swallowed a couple times before repeating, "What happened?"

Makayla glanced pleadingly at Syaoran. The archeologist gulped and shook his head. The writer turned back to the magician.

"Evron," she said simply. Fai stared at her, heart slowly filling with dread.

"But… you said…" he stuttered, "you said… he'd be fine…"

"I'm sorry," she muttered.

"You said… Evron wouldn't attack him during the day…" he was rambling, he could tell. "That he wasn't that stupid… that the worst that could happen would be him getting lost on the way back to the apartment…

"You promised," he whispered, staring at her. "You told me not to worry, that he'd be alright."

Fai began laughing like a maniac.

"Syaoran, go," she muttered to the terrified boy. "Go make sure Sakura-chan's alright."

The archeologist glanced at Fai before nodding once and disappearing.

"You promised he'd be alright," he accused her. "You said Evron wouldn't attack him in broad daylight, that he wouldn't even approach him! You fucking promised me he'd be fucking fine!!"

Tears streamed unchecked down his cheeks.

"You promised me," he snapped. The writer stared at the floor.

"I know," she muttered. "I'm sorry."

"Whatever," he hissed before beginning to laugh again. "God I'm such an idiot! I actually… hahahahahahahahaha!"

Makayla walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. He flinched away, still laughing.

"I… I just…" he gasped between laughs, "I…"

Makayla sighed and left. Fai buried his face in his pillows and sobbed.

--

Evron growled at the surgeons working on his leg. Damn ninja… almost dead and he still managed to get me. What did I do wrong? I thought I had his strength assessed correctly… no, I punctured his lung, made sure to get his heart, too… he shouldn't have been able to breathe, let alone take my own damn knife from me and stab me with it. So what the hell happened?

"Dammit!" he shouted suddenly, startling the surgeons. "I did everything right! How the hell did he survive?!"

The surgeons glanced at one another. Evron smiled.

I can still break him… because he loves that magician.

--

…Fai. Did Evron get him? I swear, if that bastard did anything to him, I'll rip him in two.

…Wait. What happened back there? There's no way in hell I shoulda lost to that kid…

"Kurogane-sama?"

Dammit, what?! I'm trying to think, here.

"Kurogane-sama, can you hear me?"

What the hell kinda question's that? Of course I can fucking hear you. You're too loud to be ignored.

…My head's killing me.

"Kurogane-sama, if you can hear me, Fai's fine."

Thank god. I'm still gonna rip that jackass in two.

"Evron'll live, though you did bury that knife rather deep."

…What? I… knifed him? But… I didn't do anything! I couldn't do anything, he fucking ripped my fucking lung open!

"Kuro-rin, when'll you be up? I'm booooooooooooored!"

…Fai? I don't give a damn if your bored, how do you think I felt when you were out of it for six fucking days?! Shit, I was trying to fucking protect you before I passed out, and you're complaining of boredom?!

"Fai, be nice. It's only been a few days, and he was hurt way worse than you."

…A few… days? Holy shit, I'm getting lazy!

"And anyway, Fai, he's not even in a coma, so he could wake up at any moment."

Dammit! I'm awake, I just can't fucking see…or move… or speak! But I'm fucking awake!

"But I'm booooooooooooored. Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan aren't allowed to visit, and Kuro-sama's always sleeping…"

"Well, there's nothing I can do about that. He just got outta quarantine. Of course, if we move him out of your room you can see Sakura and Syaoran, but only staff and volunteers can see Kurogane-sama."

That's the stupidest rule in existence. And whaddaya mean, quarantine? Why was I quarantined?

"That's a silly rule."

See?!

"I know, but there's still a chance of infection, even if it seems unlikely. In all honesty, he shouldn't have left the clean room until tomorrow. Two days isn't long enough to be sure he'll be fine."

"But it's Kuro-pyon! He's tough!"

"He's also injured… too badly for someone who was fighting a teenager."

Finally we agree on something. Now stop talking, my head's killing me.

"I think… Evron has Sakura-chan's feather."

Hmm? Evron… has the feather? No… wonder…

--

Makayla glanced at the unconscious ninja before turning to Fai again.

"What makes you think he has the feather?" he asked, cocking his head to one side as if he was curious. The author chuckled softly.

"For one, we both know that no one should be able to do this to him and only walk away with a knife in their leg," she explained, frowning. "And didn't you say the feather was powerful? Enough so that it might be able to effect the signals your brain sends out?"

The mage seemed to think about this a moment. Then he smiled brightly.

"Hyuu! You're so smart!" he teased. Makayla sighed and massaged her temples.

"You know, that's really irritating," she snapped. Fai raised an eyebrow.

"What is?" he asked, still smiling. The writer sighed.

"You don't believe me, do you?" she asked, smiling. "My dad gets the exact same look in his eye when he thinks I'm drawing conclusions based off nothing."

The magician chuckled.

"I don't think you're jumping to conclusions," he assured her. "It's just…"

"You don't believe me," she repeated. The mage chuckled and nodded.

"It's a little hard to believe," he admitted. Makayla grinned. She loved a challenge.

"Not really," she laughed. "Think about it. If he could manipulate the feather's magic enough, he could slow someone's reaction time. Like what he did with you. You normally wouldn't go down that easily would you?"

The magician frowned.

"Yeah, but I was injured," he pointed out. Makayla shook her head.

"Even injured, you should have lasted longer. And Kurogane-sama. He was completely fine, and yet he ended up with a punctured lung and a hole in his stomach. But he shouldn't have. In fact, Evron shouldn't have been able to touch him. Even without Sohi, Kurogane-sama had the upper hand, with his speed and strength. He should have been able to defeat him quite easily. Evron might be strong, but he's not that strong. And then there was that…"

She fell silent. All that flat lining… he might have something to do with it. If he could use the feather's power to manipulate brain signals, couldn't he just as easily cut them off all together? As an experiment, perhaps… but that would mean he either a) hasn't had it very long, or b) has had it a while and was learning how to manipulate it until that day…

"There was what?" the wizard asked, snapping her back to the present. She stared at him.

"Well… there was an incident shortly after you checked in," she explained briefly. "Everyone in the ICU's heart failed almost simultaneously. But then afterward only Kurogane-sama, Kaylee and I seemed bothered by it. I was thinking… what if it was an experiment? Seeing how weeks of hard work paid off…"

"Using ICU patients?" Fai asked skeptically. "Why would he do that?"

Makayla glanced up at him.

"I-C-U stands for Intensive Care Unit," she said after a moment. "Everyone in here was in pretty bad shape except for Kurogane-sama. It would have been easy for their families to think it was a medical mistake, with how many drugs some of them were on."

"How many people died?" he asked quietly. The writer stared down at the floor.

"Twelve," she said after a moment. Silence reigned until she grinned up at him. "But at least you survived, right?"

The wizard smiled sadly as he sat on the edge of his bed.

"I don't know…" he muttered, glancing at the ninja. "Maybe…"

Makayla jumped as a low growl came from the swordsman.

"Idiot… mage," he muttered. The writer turned toward him. His eyes were narrowed with annoyance, and he was struggling to sit up. Chuckling, the twenty-one year old moved to sit by Fai.

"You're awake," she noted. He growled at her.

"No shit, Captain Obvious," he snapped. "I also feel as if I had my back stabbed with a rather dull knife and a teenager's fist in my throat."

"Hyuu," Fai whispered. "Kuro-cranky's in a bad mood."

He glared at the mage for a moment before sighing and collapsing on his pillows.

"Damn," he muttered. "What the hell happened? All I remember is taking that damn knife from him before blacking out. You -" he pointed accusingly at Makayla, who was filled with a vague sense of amusement as he almost ripped the I.V off his arm - "said something about me stabbing the ass."

The writer stared at him. He was conscious…?

"Yeah," she said, grinning. "You stabbed his right leg. Pretty deep, too. Surgeons had trouble getting the blade out, it had snapped and the handle was half buried in his thigh. You could hear them swearing from here." She chuckled. "He'll be fine, though. He won't be able to walk properly for a long time, if ever, but he'll live. We've assigned him a psychiatrist, too. What else did you hear?"

The swordsman growled again.

"I heard you shouting at the mage about Evron having the princess's feather," he mumbled. "That he was using it to manipulate brain signals or some shit like that, and that all of those patients…" his eyes narrowed dangerously. "All those patients… and Fai… they were all guinea pigs so he could see just how well he could use it."

"So you heard everything?" she summarized. He shook his head.

"No… I um, well I…" he flushed. "I blacked out… for a minute or two… why did he use the ICU patients?"

The writer laughed.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "No one'd believe me, anyway."

"Hmm…" the swordsman muttered, his eyes closing. "Right. Whatever you say…"

He yawned.

"Tired, Kuro-chan?" Fai asked, laughing. The ninja flushed as his eyes shot open.

"N-no! What kinda question's that? I'm fine, dammit!"

Makayla chuckled as she slid the door shut. I'll leave them alone for now. She laughed. I wouldn't wanna be Fai when he starts throwing things, his aim with a needle is deadly.

Chuckling to herself, she headed for the cafeteria. I should check on the others… and tell them about the feather. Mokona-chan should be able to sense it now.

And anyway, I don't have the desire to see my parents start making out.

A/N; Whew. Their time in this world'll be a little longer than I expected… damn Evron. And I apologize for any severe OOCness on Fai's part... he kinda snapped...

Okay, before I forget. I received a comment a couple chapters back from someone I'm not sure if I can name without them getting mad at me stating how Makayla seems to guess everything correctly. Here's why; In every room in the ICU is a video camera for security purposes. The security office is right by the ICU in this hospital. Just put two and two together, and you'll understand how. It confused me, too, at first.

Reviews? Pretty pretty please?