Chapter Five: Quarantine

Aya opened his eyes groggily. Where was he? He looked around, but all he could see was a white room with a mirror on one wall and he was strapped to a table in the center of it. Deja vu anyone? He frowned. Where was Youji? Was he okay? His head exploded in pain as he started to panic. "Remain calm." A voice issued from a speaker near the mirror. It blended in with the wall. "Your abilities are being negated. Any attempt to use them will result in a headache." The voice was male and spoke in a monotone.

"Where am I?" He asked, but he had a sick feeling in his gut that he already knew.

"...Quarantine." The voice said after a slight pause. Shit. Aya began to struggle against the straps holding him down. "You are quite safe."

"Fuck you." He growled at the voice. Despite the pain in his head, he focused on the straps across his chest. He wasn't sure how to get his new power working. It took a few seconds for it to work and it made his eyes water with pain, but purple flames erupted, burning away the straps. He sat up and was about to reach for his leg straps when three men came running in. They were all wearing white coats; like the ones in hospitals or labs, over suits. He couldn't force his mind to focus and swore as two of the men grabbed him, making him lay back. The third held a syringe full of a murky liquid. He plunged it into Aya's neck. Everything went dark.

He woke up in a different room. It was still white, but this one was all tiles. Floor, walls, even the ceiling. He was strapped to a metal table. As soon as his eyes opened someone blindfolded him. Fuck. He struggled against the straps. "Calm yourself, Mr. Fujimiya." That same monotonous voice.

"How about you stay calm while I tie you down and-" He cut off with a strangled cry as a needle plunged into his chest. It felt huge and whatever was in it made his blood feel like it was burning. He clenched his jaw against the pain.

"Stop fighting." The voice was by his head. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Your talking to the wrong guy."

"If you cooperate-"

"Not my style. Ask Schwartz."

"I cannot promise that this process will be painless-"

"And I can't promise you'll survive." Aya shot back. A second needle went into his arm. A sharp prick at the crook of his elbow. The needle was taped down. An IV of some sorts? Didn't matter they were all gonna die then he was screaming. Every nerve felt like it was being cut and his veins were on fire.

"If you calm down and stop fighting; it won't hurt so much." That voice said in his ear.

Give me your pain. Now the voice in his freaking head wanted to tell him what to do. You are weak now. I can make you strong. A coldness in his chest. He'd felt this before. When Schuldig was...he shook his head. The man took it as a no.

"If you just relax-"

"You can shove it." Aya snapped. "Both of you."

"Both of us?" Confusion from the man followed by a babble of unseen voices filling his head. They were thoughts. He could hear their fear, the doctors were scared, but of what? They weren't blindfolded and strapped to a table with people poking at them. They had all the power. What could they possibly be afraid of right now?

Us. The voice in his head whispered. Wait. Us, what us? Where was the plural? He was just one person. One scared person. Give me your pain. No. Shut up. He had to think. The voices were making it hard.

"Stop thinking." He snapped. A general sense of shock. "What are you trying to do anyway."

"We need to stop the-"

Useless.

"How about you stop trying and leave me the hell alone?" Aya asked in a polite tone.

"It's for your own safety." The man tried to reason.

"Bull shit." The swordsman spat.

Their drugs are useless. Who was in his head...or was it a 'what'? You know me child. We are one. And just like that; Aya knew. He understood what was going on in his mind. It was his other self. That's it. Feed me your fear...your pain. His body went cold. The light was enveloping him like a cocoon.

"What are you doing?!" He heard the monotonous voice crack in fear...barely. There was a whispering in his mind. A cacophony of voices drowning the man out until all Aya could hear was that voice. The light that whispered to him.

Let it go. Aya closed his eyes behind the blindfold. We are one. We are the fire of purification. We are- He screamed in pain as needles entered his neck and chest. What ever was in them turned his blood to ice. He could feel nothing but cold.

"Christ! He's a strong one." He heard someone curse. There was the scent of fire and blood then Aya knew no more.

It had been almost a month since they'd taken Aya away and Youji was getting more pissed each passing moment. Manx said he was fine and cooperating with tests nicely. She was lying. He knew. She hadn't felt the swordsman's fear. Hadn't seen his eyes. Sure she had been there, but she hadn't seen. Aya had been beyond terrified and Youji knew the swordsman was a little shit on his good days. He was the most uncooperative bastard out there if he didn't like a person...or situation...or object...command...opinion...nothing. So if he was scared or hurt; Aya would do the exact opposite of what was directed.

Cooperating.

It almost made him laugh. Kritiker had no frickin clue what they'd found. Nevermind the psychic shit. Aya was going to take his katana and slit every one of the bastard's throats when he got free.

When.

Not if.

They were like a dog with a cornered cat. Aya was going to fuck their shit up. Youji did laugh then.

Unfortunately he was in the middle of a mission briefing. Ken raised a questioning brow while the other two stared at him in surprise. There was a mutilated female corpse on the big screen. Manx had been describing the torture methods used on her. Not so funny.

"Sorry." Youji snickered. "I was just imaging what Aya was going to do when he escapes." Manx huffed in exasperation.

"I told you he was fine." She sighed. "Totally cooperating."

"Aya?" Youji and Ken said as one. They looked at each other and burst into hysterical laughter. Manx's phone ran. She answered with a perturbed:

"What?" She listened for a moment, then her eyes widened. "He WHAT?!"

They kept him in a metal cell with nothing but a blanket. There was a speaker on the wall with the handleless door. It was one of the recessed kind, and a toilet was fixed seamlessly to the opposite wall. So there was nothing in the room to use as a weapon. Not that it mattered. The building had a security system in place to keep psychics and other prisoners in line. A sort of anti-aggression field that employees were given an implant to be immune to. It cut off most of his abilities.

Abilities given to him by a 'Transdimensional Being' or 'TDB' as the Kritiker people called it. All they knew was how to keep one contained. It would just move to a new host when its old one died. Like a magic parasite.

They'd been able to trap it in him when he was a child and started showing signs that he was a host for a TDB. The emotional distress he'd felt when his sister died had been the catalyst needed for the TDB to break loose. The more pain he was in; the more it could feed. Then Schwarz gotten involved and sped up the process so they could try to make a world where psychics reigned supreme.

Aya wasn't an ordinary psychic who had limited abilities. The occult community considered people like him to be 'gifted with spirits'. Most TDB hosts were known as shamans or witches...demons in some cultures. They remained isolated and few knew they existed. He didn't care. All he knew was that this TDB thing had stopped whispering. He just knew things now. Like the anti-aggression field was flawed.

It was based on intent. So just his abilities that were triggered by the intention to do harm were locked. He had spent years mastering his thoughts and feelings. He could mask the intent of his abilities in such a way that using them to sharpen plastic utensils to cut through the metal speaker front was easy. Sure he'd never be able to use them as weapons, but that was fine with him. He just wanted access to the wiring in the walls.

The speaker cover came off with a snap. Aya felt his lips twitch as he pulled out the speaker and was able to plunge his hand into the cables behind. Closing his eyes in concentration, he melded his mind with the security system.

Off; went the anti-aggression field.

The place went nuts. People long held captive began making themselves nuisances. Security guards were everywhere and in the chaos Aya was able to walk free. He glanced back at Quarantine from a safe distance away and turned the field back on. No one else had escaped their cells, but the place was in chaos. As much as he hated the place; it did him no good to let the people inside tear each other apart.

As comfortable as it was Youji knew the room he, Omi and, Ken were standing in was basically a prison cell. After Manx had the alarming phone call that Aya had escaped; she'd brought the three assassins to a Kritiker building. Not the HQ. It wasn't in the city. Youji didn't know what the place was for. They were being held in what seemed to be a roadside motel. The idiots at Kritiker had made the biggest mistake of all. He chuckled to himself "I fail to find the humor in being held captive." Ken growled. "Why do they think holding us hostage will get him to cooperate? He hates me and he barely tolerates Omi. I can't understand why he seems to like you, Youji, but he does."

"It is strange." Omi pitched in. Youji tried not to feel offended.

"Guess I'm not just a pretty face," He chuckled.

"Don't make me punch you, Youji, you know what I mean." Ken snapped. "Aya isn't the easiest person to get along with."

"It took years to get past his frostiness." Youji admitted. "I don't know how I got in his good graces. All I know is how hard it was."

"I think they mostly just wanted Youji." Omi frowned "But they couldn't just take him. They had to bring us too or risk us going to the police or mounting a rescue. My guess is that Youji is some kind of bargaining chip. While Ken and I are collateral that can be killed to show their determination."

"What?!" Ken jumped to his feet. "I won't-" He cut off as the door slammed open. Manx and some some Kritiker agents came running in, slamming the door behind them. Youji heard the click of a lock. He was about to demand what was going on...then the lights flickered and he noticed a few of the agents were bleeding from the ears. He grinned. Aya was here. His heart soared as the lights flickered and went out. A split second later the door unlocked and blew open. The agents opened fire on the shadowy figure in the doorway. The bullets stopped in the air about three feet from their mark. They were held in place by a purple glow that illuminated Aya.

He looked sexy as hell, despite the green scrubs he wore. His hair was a bit longer and he was clean shaven, with that look of fiery determination in his eyes. Eyes that immediately sought Youji out. Aya calmed a bit after seeing he was unharmed. "C-can w-we t-talk?" Manx stammered. Violet eyes moved to her and were suddenly actual fire. Aya's whole body was aflame. She screamed. Youji only laughed and stepped forward. After batting the frozen bullets out of the air he got close enough to give Aya a hug. Immediately the flames went out.

"You're fine, bud." Youji whispered. He cold feel Aya trembling with barely controlled rage. "I'm fine. The others are fine." He pulled back to meet Aya's gaze. "Everyone's fine. You don't need to make human grenades." He gave the swordsman a crooked grin and squeezed his shoulders. Aya blinked then the lights came back on and the bullets pattered the ground. "Maybe we can figure all this shit out with as little bloodshed as possible." Aya's chin stuck out defiantly. "Please." Youji pleaded quietly. "You've made your point."

"Not yet." The redhead shrugged. He looked at Manx, his eyes devoid of emotion. "Speak your piece."