Breakdown

Chapter 18: Precog

Crawford watched Schuldig bound into his office and shut the door with a flourish. The German looked far too giddy in the dark-haired man's opinion. And when Schuldig sat without an invitation and propped his feet up on Crawford's newly straightened desk, he decided he should step up and start the proceedings before the German also took it upon himself to conduct the conversation.

"Don't say a word, Schuldig," Crawford began, "And don't look so excited. You aren't going to hear what you think you are." He shut the lid of his laptop and focused his attention on the German, giving the man's feet a shove off the desk. Schuldig grabbed the edge of the desk to steady himself and scowled.

"What does that mean?" he said, righting himself in his chair.

Crawford huffed quietly. "I thought the statement was clear enough," he said, "Don't get your hopes up. I didn't call you in hear to tell you that we're going to fuck."

Schuldig was visibly disappointed and he didn't look half as interested to be sitting in Crawford's office anymore. "Then why am I here?" he asked with a pout.

"We have an assignment, and if you would like to remain a part of it, I suggest you behave and pull your weight."

"I always do!" Schuldig answered indignantly.

"Really?" Crawford sounded quite surprised, "Always?"

"When have I ever fucked up a mission?"

"I am not referring to your behaviour on missions, Schuldig. What have you done all day?" Schuldig didn't look like he wanted to answer so Crawford did it for him. "I am going to take a leap here and say that you did absolutely nothing but whine. And although that may be a time consuming and taxing exercise for you, it is unproductive and unimportant, and there were other things to get done. It is not entirely up to Nagi to take care of Farfarello. You shirked your duties for a selfish reason, as usual."

"Farfie's fine," the German muttered childishly.

Crawford sighed. "Schuldig…this may come as a shock to you, but there are other individuals in this world apart from you, most of which are valuable members of society, you might want to follow their example and do what's expected of you for a change."

"…I usually do," the telepath responded unenthusiastically.

"Occasionally is the word I would use, Schuldig," said Crawford, "You follow orders when it strikes your fancy. You have to begin listening to me."

"I listen fine…I just don't always do what you say."

"That's what I'm getting at, Schuldig," Crawford answered tiredly, "Now about this mission, I wanted to talk to you in private before I let the others know."

"I know," Schuldig cut in moodily, "You want me to behave. Can I go now?"

Crawford pursed his lips in annoyance and took a deep breath. "That is not all, Schuldig. Do not interrupt me," he said. "I had a vision. We will run into Weiss on the mission, and I want you to stay completely clear of Abyssinian. Stick to your usual mark, Balinese. Is that clear?"

"Why?"

"Because I wish to avoid as much conflict as possible."

"What exactly did you see me doing?"

"That is not important. I don't want to tempt you by telling you. Just stay away from him. I saw the way you were glaring at Abyssinian and I know you are just itching for the opportunity to do something stupid."

"What the hell do you expect? The bastard was all over you. A rag doll had more spine than him and you were just standing there holding him. What are you playing at Crawford? Why were you cuddling with the enemy?"

"I was not cuddling. And as I've told you before, what I do is none of your business."

Schuldig rolled his eyes and snorted. "Bet Esset would think it's their business though, Bradley."

"…" Crawford fell silent for a good while, in which time he watched the German closely, trying to decide whether Schuldig was covertly threatening him, or just pointing out a fact. After some time he decided on the latter. Schuldig would be in trouble too if Esset got involved.

"I'm sure they would, Schuldig," he said at last, "Now will you help on the mission or remain at home?"

The redhead narrowed his eyes, but instead of arguing about Esset, he took the cue to switch to the next topic. "You can't keep me here, Crawford. I'm part of the team."

Crawford smirked softly and slid some papers his way, happy that he'd let the other subject drop for now. "Do you see what these are Schuldig?"

The German looked down, read the first line quickly, and gasped. "Transfer papers!?"

"Yes," Crawford confirmed, "And do you see whose name is at the top?"

Schuldig stared in disbelief and nodded miserably. "It's...mine."

"It is," said Crawford, "Now look all the way down at the bottom of the page. Do you recognize the signature?"

Schuldig didn't look up. "Yours."

"Mine," Crawford nodded and pulled the papers back, slipping them into a drawer. "Continue to act childish and insolent and I will wash my hands of you. You are one headache that I have finally decided I can do without. Do you understand, Schuldig?"

"…ja Herr Crawford."

Crawford was mildly amused by the formality. "And you will behave?" he asked, smiling slightly.

Schuldig nodded. "Jawohl."

"And leave Abyssinian alone and obey my orders?"

"JA! To all of the above!"

"Good. Start by changing your tone. Now get out of my office. You and the others will be briefed on the mission later."

Crawford watched Schuldig solemnly get up, though there was no mistaking the anger and hurt in his gaze—not that it bothered the American in the least. He had finally found a way to sedate the German redhead, and he wondered why it had taken him so long to think of using a transfer as a threat. Still, it was better late than never.

The American waited for the door to close before turning in his chair to look out the window. He smiled to himself, thinking about the coming mission. It was sure to be a memorable one; what with Schuldig being convinced to stay out of his and Abyssinian's way, even if the vision had not actually involved the telepath in the slightest. As long as the telepath thought it did, everything would go smoothly.

Crawford was pleased that Schuldig believed everything he told him because the redhead had no way of double checking to make sure, unlike everyone else, whose minds he could read. However with Crawford, Schuldig had to take everything at face-value, even if he had his doubts, and it was a flaw that the American was more than willing to exploit.

And since he'd convinced Schuldig to stay out of his way, he could have all the time he wanted with Weiss' redheaded leader.

Crawford, for one of the few times in his life, was excited about something.

"Soon Ran," he grinned, "…soon…"