Disclaimer: The Getbackers do not belong to me.

The Tear Ch. 5

Ban's head throbbed as he slowly became aware of his surroundings upon waking up. He was lying on something very soft and cushy that gave him the feeling he was sinking into it, and there was the distinct smell of a flowery expensive perfume. Somehow waking up in such surroundings was far more frightening to Ban then all the times he had woken in unfamiliar places that were cold, damp, and dank. In the later situation it probably meant he had been caught by the enemy and that was something he could figure out on his own. The pleasant surroundings he felt now meant something worse. It meant he had been rescued. With being rescued meant owing someone, and consequences. Not that being caught didn't have its own consequences, but he'd rather take his chances.

Ban shielded his eyes from the light as he tried to open his eyes. Even though he knew his thinking was a bit twisted, he was sure he was not going to like what he would find next.

Lifting his hand a little he met Hevn's face whose eyebrows were scrunched in a mix of concern and anger. Yep, that was exactly what Ban had not wanted to see. He placed his hand back over his eyes and groaned.

"Well good morning to you too Mr. Requisition agent." There was a bit of sourness on the emphasized "Requisition agent" and suddenly the previous hours activities all came rushing back to Ban's mind.

"Ginji!" Ban shot up to a sitting position with a start, but Hevn's hand quickly pushed him back down.

"Not yet, you don't get to see him till you and I have had a little talk."

Ban was shocked enough for a moment to obey Hevn with no protest. He was not used to getting scolded by strong women. He had some occurrences with his mother and the old hag, but that was a long time ago and not something he ever liked to think of much. Sure Himiko had laid into him numerous times, but it was always something he could get around with his usual sarcastic remarks. This tone that Hevn held was different, stronger, and probably not something he was going to get around easily this time.

"Fine." Ban scowled, regaining his usual composure and slowly sitting back up to show he was not going anywhere, "but at least tell me he's all right…right?"

Hevn bit her lower lip and closed her eyes and Ban's heart seemed to drop for a moment.

"Yes, I had a doctor check him out, and he's going to be okay. He's hurt yes, but you know how much he can take with out even complaining. He's tough and that shouldn't stop him from bouncing around again for long. But…." Hevn paused to catch a deep breath, "I think he's hurt on the inside."

"Like internal bleeding?"

"No I mean, his feelings."

"Oh please Hevn, you actually had me worried there." Ban scoffed.

"Ban-kun!"

"What?! What does he have to be all put out for? It's not like I had any way of knowing it was him on that mission. And he can't be mad at me for lying and taking the mission alone, he did the same damn thing!"

Ban could hear his own worry turn to frustration. For Ban, getting angry was always easier than facing a painful truth, but Hevn looked like she was not going to have any of it.

"You baka, do you really think Ginji would ever just volunteer to take a job on his own without your consent? Surely you know your own partner better than that. I talked him into the whole thing."

"You what?"

"The money was good and I had him convinced that you would be a little less of a grumpy ass if he got some cash for you guys."

"Then Ginji's involvement was your fault."

" I know and I feel horrible. But the difference between you and me is, I am admitting this is partially my fault. Now if you are going to talk to Ginji, you are going to have to admit this is your fault too!"

Ban glared at Hevn. Admitting fault, saying sorry, was not one of Ban's strong points. Through all the years when Ban had felt alone, admitting fault was considered a sign of weakness to him. In those times, showing weakness could be an invite to getting ones self killed. Even in the later years of his life when he had Ginji by his side, he still didn't take the blame or apologize very often. Then again, with the clingy eel he had never needed to. Anything that went wrong on a mission or a normal misunderstanding had always been brushed away with a bright smile. Ginji knew him, even if what he was feeling or thinking was not voiced, somehow he was sure Ginji still knew. This time was different though. Ban had really hurt his partner and that was hard enough to admit to himself let alone out loud.

Hevn tried to cool off a bit when she saw Ban's face fall as he ran his fingers through his spikes. For someone who worked so hard to keep a constant cool and in control composure about himself, Ban could still be read like an open book for those who got used to his habits. The habit of running his fingers though his hair when he was really troubled, showed Hevn that she was making progress and Ban was ready to take some advice. She let a small sad smile cross her lips and decided to try a new approach.

"Ok Ban-kun. I am sure you took the job for the same reasons Ginji did. To get some money to help you guys live a little better for a bit. But, why would you ever work for a requisition group, and why not just tell your trusting partner?"

Ban felt his pocket for his cigarettes as he spoke.

"I didn't want Ginji to know about the job."

"Why?" Hevn asked shaking her head softly.

Well for one, I didn't think he could do it. The Tear couldn't have any electrical field near it. It would have been dangerous to take him with me, and I didn't want him to feel left out or useless if he knew I was going. He was already feeling bad from my foul mood earlier and I didn't want to push him further. I really just hoped the baka would have a nice evening with one of his friends." Ban threw his crumpled empty pack of cigarettes on the floor in frustration.

Hevn looked at Ban with a little pity, "I know Ban-kun. I know you would never hurt Ginji on purpose and you meant well. Still that doesn't excuse the fact that you should have told him. He's your partner and having a partner means you talk to one another before acting. You could have talked to me too. Sometimes there are other options if you don't decide to try to fix everything yourself."

Ban laid back against the couch he had been sitting on. Hevn was getting a bit too preachy now for his liking.

"When I make a decision I usually have my reasons. And this one was a bit more complicated then just making sure every one was comfortable. Seriously, you know our line of work doesn't always allow for the best human resources decisions, eh Hevn?"

Hevn tapped her nails on the coffee table as she tried to ignore Ban's over the top sarcasm. "So it was also about the requisition service then?"

Taking a deep breath, Ban leaned over to sit with his elbow resting on his knees as he got closer to Hevn. "It's not something I'm proud of, and the past is not something that Ginji or I like to talk about."

Hevn said nothing but also leaned in, to encourage Ban to continue.

"It was a while back when I was still working with Himiko and Yamato. We had wanted to break off all ties with the group and kind of left the last job from them in a bad way. So when they called my cell phone at the Honkey Tonk I was genuinely surprised they had been able to find me again. But, I am not a fool. I also understood that they would use me for this job and seek their revenge against me in the end of it. Still, I knew just from the description they gave me of the Tear it was potentially dangerous. If I had not taken the job someone else would. Also they would have kept pestering me and looking for Himiko too. So I just figured I would take the job to get them off my and Himiko's back."

"Were you really going to just hand the Tear over to them?"

"What? Of course not. These are some pretty scary people we are talking about, not someone you'd hand a weapon over too."

"Well, that's good to know, but then what was your plan?"

"Plan? You know how I work, sometimes the plans just come up while on the job."

"I was worried you'd say that."

"I just figured when we met up, I'd slip them the Jagan make them think that they had the Tear by replacing it with some rock, and then make them believe they had killed Himiko and I after the job, as they probably would have anyways, and there, problem solved."

"You said this group has worked with you before, then they would know about the Jagan."

"Maybe."

"Then what if they had been prepared and all had been wearing sunglasses at the drop off location."

Ban scoffed and shook his head, "I would have dealt with it then."

Hevn rolled her eyes at the ever cocky Getbacker " This is why you have a partner. Don't you get that?"

Ban shook his head and stared at Hevn again, perhaps she was better at the negotiation job than he had ever given her credit for. "Yeah, Hevn, I get that."

"Good. I feel like we have made some progress, so here is a little reward."

Hevn tossed Ban a pack of cigarettes. Ban grabbed them out of the air. They were not his usual Marlboro brand, but he was glad to have them. His sudden relief was fleeting as he looked at the familiar package again.

"Wait a minute, this brand is…don't tell me you had Akabane over here!"

"Hey, calm down Ban-kun." Hevn said trying to smooth things over. "What's the last thing you remember on your mission?"

"I had just realized that Malice was actually Ginji after the car had died and then I passed out…"

"Right. Ginji felt very bad about it, but we both thought it was best to knock you out at that point."

"Now hold on!"

"GIVEN the situation, I'd say it was more than fair." Hevn cut Ban off. "But, Ginji was about to pass out too so I hired a transport service to finish the mission."

Ban groaned and rubbed his temples knowing the next dreaded sentence.

"Himiko, Akabane, and Magaruma were kind enough to finish the mission on very late notice. Akabane was so nice; he even left you a pack of cigarettes for when you awoke."

Ban felt a tinge of sickness now. That was not Akabane being nice, it was the good doctor being a smart ass just to make sure Ban knew just how much he had "helped". A string of curses left Ban's mouth.

"Hey, hey now. That team was a big help. Magaruma towed the Ladybug here and Himiko was not too happy about having to scale the ravine to retrieve the Tear, but she still did it."

Sighing Ban asked in defeat, "So Ginji got paid at least, right?"

"Yes. I had to pay Himiko and Magaruma, and pay for my bike YOU trashed. But, I took that all out of my sum and not Ginji's. I figured I owed him that much."

Ban relaxed a little before stopping himself to look at Hevn accusingly. Knowing she was caught Hevn quickly looked away.

"You said you had to pay Himiko and Magaruma, but what about Akabane?"

"Ah well, you know how odd he is. He said the enjoyment he got out of this job was more than enough. You know, nothing out of the usual, for him at least." Hevn said quickly with a flirty shrug.

"Oh… and what exactly was this enjoyment he got off this job?" Ban furthered not letting go of the scowl he was giving Hevn.

Sighing Hevn continued, "Well for one, Himiko recognized who you were working for and offered Akabane the job of meeting up with the team at the drop off location you were set to go to."

Ban rolled his eyes; Himiko could be pretty ruthless and thorough sometimes. But, that hadn't been his choice and he could not help but feel the scumbags he had been working for might have had it coming for a very long time now. Nothing he could do about it now, and he was sure that Ginji would know he would not have taken the same action as Himiko.

"Ugh, and I am not sure I even want to know but, what would be the other reason, I know taking out a few thugs couldn't have been that thrilling for Doctor Jackal."

"Well yes, so…secondly, I did mention to you, I had Ginji checked out by a doctor earlier, and…"

"Oh Hevn, please say you didn't let that creep touch Ginji!"

Hevn winced "Gomen, but its not like I had a choice! He was bleeding pretty bad, and Akabane was here, and was at some point a real doctor…at least I think…"

"Fine! But, you didn't leave him alone with Ginji did you?"

"Ah, of course not!"

"And you're not going to ever let Ginji know who…" Ban stopped at the creepy image of the good doctor hovering over a sleeping Ginji with scalpels in hand.

"No, I figured its best we leave that part out. Ginji has still been asleep for most of the night. He woke up once and asked about you before falling back asleep, so he doesn't really know much of anything right now."

Ban's chest tightened as he suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to see if his partner was all right for himself.

"Would you like to see him then?" Hevn offered knowingly.

Ban let himself give a real smile, "Does this mean you are done lecturing me?"

"You could just say thank you." Hevn huffed playfully.

"Where is he?"

"In my bedroom."

"How come he got the bed and I got the couch?"

"Ha!" Hevn laughed at the pertinacious remark, "Because you are the rotten one!"

She paused a bit to smile at Ban before adding, "Though I am sure if you asked nicely he'd share."

Ban casually turned to the bedroom door pretending not to notice as Hevn snickered behind him.

Ban paused at the door and closed his eyes for a moment to prepare himself for what he was about to see. Sure he had seen Ginji hurt plenty of times. After a hard mission, in the Jagan nightmares he gave others, even in his own nightmares, but this time it was his fault and somehow more real than ever. His mind flashed an image of Yamato slumped up against to a wall, covered in blood. Furiously Ban shook his head trying to will the image away. Ginji would never ask such a thing from him, Ginji had already shown he would give his life for Ban without a thought, and he had proved that again last night. Ginji would never end up like Yamato and Ban would make sure of it.

Hevn clasped her hands together as she watched Ban frozen at the door. She knew he was feeling worse than he would ever admit, but she also knew that although both of the Getbackers were feeling weak now, they would always be strong together.

"Hey, " Hevn spoke up startling Ban from his frozen daze, "go ahead on in, I don't think Ginji has enough energy right now to knock you out again."

Making a shooing motion with his left hand as he reached for the door with his right, Ban gave a quiet, "Meddling wench" before he entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

To be continued…

A/N

As always thanks for all the sweet reviews! Also thanks to those who have all added me to your alert list, its good to see the story is being followed and hopefully enjoyed. This chapter got a little longer than I thought it would, but I think it was needed and shows a lot about Hevn's real relationship with the boys. So once again I leave it to be continued and hopefully finally wrap it all up next chapter. Sorry I don't have the time to finish it all now, but I am working on it as soon as possible.

Thanks again to my wonderful beta lksugi. She makes everything easier!