Wavering

"The art of stealing is more complex than people give it credit for. A good thief is always on guard, always prepared for any given situation, yet no matter how much planning is accomplished it still doesn't make up for skill and training. Until you are capable of sneaking up on that rabbit without scaring it, you will never prove yourself worthy of my teachings."

…

"Remember, boys, the prize is not important but the way to acquire it. Even stealing an unknown item can be blown into a national event if the thief is doing it in a non-conventional manner. Also, it's important for a good thief to use raids from time to time as a means to test themselves. If you were caught in a place before, go back and try again. See whether you've improved or you need more practice."

…

"Arrogance has no place in a thief's mind. Arrogance leads to mistakes and mistakes lead to failure. A failed robbery can very well sign the death warrant for a thief. Understand that while a confident façade may trick others into believing you're more proficient that they think, it does have one dangerous down-side. You're not the only one who can prepare, after all."

…

Rai sighed for the nth time. The day passed in a blur and now he was lying on the couch while Kimiko slept with Jack in the bedroom to make sure nothing bad would happen again. He was dead tired but couldn't close his eyes without replaying the scene from earlier. Past voices also didn't help his stressed mind either.

He chose to distract himself by thinking how the day went only to grimace as he remembered Jack's pale – well, paler than normal – face when they had arrived. The shirt they used to wrap and tightened the wound with was soaked in blood and his fever skyrocketed until Kimiko placed several ice packs on him to stabilize his temperature. He has been sleeping ever since and Rai couldn't honestly blame him. Such a trauma was hard to get used to in just a few hours even thought Kimiko mentioned he was dealing with it better than others. That caused Rai to proudly think how Jack always has been stronger than people first believed.

Then came the part he dreaded. They had to explain things quickly as to give the three officers time to also get ready to leave to the section. They weren't drawn into the last night's operation because of the reason they were too emotionally involved and Rai had to agree wholeheartedly with that.

So after telling them everything – though his own answers were more vague and reserved than Kimiko's – the cowboy, the chick and the baldy – as Rai dubbed them – left with the promise of keeping them updated of the situation. However, he had the weird feeling Clay and Omi didn't particularly like him if the glares and cold shoulders said anything. At that moment he didn't care but without the possibility of sleeping he finally got time to think about it.

Because of his own selfishness, one of their best friends ended up an accomplice for one of the most wanted thieves of Brazil, Australia, United States and now Japan. Also, it was still his fault how Japan's security has been humiliated twice in less than two weeks and the fact that considering what has happened last night, it was very probable of them losing their jobs and maybe ending up in jail.

He was a bit surprised when he thought of it later.

'So this is where that Arrogance part comes into play…' He mused forlornly. '…well, it's not exactly a death warrant but…with the way those two were watching me I believe it may not be much of a stretch…'

News came later in the afternoon – bad or good, it actually depended on perspectives – when Keiko mailed Kimiko and told her about Chase Young. To say he was furious would have been a crime of the highest level mostly taking into account the way he was defeated and by whom.

As they all have been expecting, he reported everything that took place; everything up until the fight on the docks. None of them could accept as true the fact that he lied about Clay's, Omi's and Keiko's involvement, but of course their questions had to be put on hold when he went to explain a more abridged recount of the events with descriptions and verbal exchanges.

Now, the police had more detailed depictions of both Phantom and his accomplice though, they weren't sure if they knew Jack's identity. Nonetheless, he and Kimiko decided to wait for a two weeks period in order for him to recover before they could leave the country. Initially it was only one but Rai reminded the girl she would have to create herself a new identity and that required some time and money. They were still debating whether to make one for Jack too until they agreed to wait for him to wake up and more information to come from Keiko.

-.-

He was running on the staircase again, trying to reach for the roof as his brother told him. The thunderous footsteps from behind closed in on him and he prayed his older sibling was following him. He hadn't been as scared as he was at that time never before. He knew he had made several mistakes while infiltrating and he knew Haze knew it as well yet, in spite of that he choose to continue.

Why…Why would he risk their lives for a compromised cause?

"Arrogance has no place in a thief's mind." That's what his father used to tell them.

But he honestly couldn't make head or tails of his brother's intentions and it wasn't like he could voice it aloud, after all, he hesitantly decided to bring him along in the first place.

He rammed his shoulder in the door to pry it open and the cold air of the night hit his sweaty face full force. He stopped to catch his breath as his eyes traveled on the small area filled with huge pipes and cylinders whereas the roofs rose on both sides blocking from view the surrounding streets and buildings.

'What to do, what to do…' He wasn't sure where he was supposed to run any longer. Should he hide behind the ducts? Was Haze even behind him anymore?

When he chanced looking back, an object bigger than him slammed into him sending him face first on the concrete. But the contact was fortunately avoided when the person grabbed his upper arm and started dragging him on the other side.

"I said don't stop." A frustrated voice called and Phantom silently breathed in relief when he realized it was his brother.

They weaved through the machineries all the while yells from the back reached their ears with a slowly increasing intensity. Several bangs resounded but Haze maneuvered them out of sight, the bullets hitting the metallic surface of the pipelines. They were almost on the edge when an unexpected sense of dread curled in the pit of his stomach.

He wasn't sure where it came from nor what it meant but the air shifted around them, reality bent and they were suddenly running in slow-motion. The pressure on his arm retreated and the Phantom tried calling for his brother.

Only it wasn't his brother anymore and he wasn't on the rooftop either. Rather the sky shut down, leaving everything in a frightening shadow with him in the middle of it. Their earlier pursuers were lost in the darkness and the figure in front of him continued to run away, faster and further until he too was swallowed in the blackness.

"Haze!" His scream was muted, seemingly unable to penetrate the dark walls surrounding him. His hand stretched forward in an attempt at recovering the human presence despite not being sure of its identity. "Come back…"

"Well, don't you two look changed…" He started at the familiar voice echoing with a surprising clarity. "You are growing so fast…might as well retire and bask in the good life you'll make me, haha!"

"What makes you think we'll do that?..."

He stopped, desperately looking around through the slits of his mask. "Wha'?"

"Why you, ungrateful child… I raised you now show some respect for your elders…"

The words trailed in the air until the gravity gave away and Phantom found himself hitting face first the floor of an average room that he knew too well.

"I will make waves in the world…I will rob and steal and always return…"

The voice declared but the room remained empty. Stretching out in the bright light of the outside sun, everything looked terrifyingly clean and beautiful. Phantom shook his head feeling the hammering pounds of his heart and his quickening breathing, before bursting through the doors back into the darkness. He gasped, eyes wide opened as he turned on the spot and saw the door vanishing, changing into dust and scattering all around.

"What's the point in that?..."

"Father said we should make our own style…I'm doing just that…"

BANG

He jumped and the earlier scenery returned. Haze was gripping his arm, the guards were coming after them and they were running on the rooftop. He panicked realizing what was to follow.

Although he tried not to, although he screamed on the inside to stop, his younger self looked back and he missed the thin, old tube lying on the ground. He tripped, Haze halted with the sudden weight pulling him back and then the bang of the releasing bullet broke through the air.

"…I will rob and steal and always return…"

Rai sat up on the couch panting. His throat hurt like he has been screaming to several hours straight, but the darkened house spoke of silent tranquility. His body gave away with exhaustion as he fell back on the cushions, breathing in and out. Running a hand through his wet hair and clammy face he closed his eyes concentrating on the swift poundings of his heart.

"Just when I finally fell asleep too…" He muttered drained.

He sat unmoving for several minutes before he finally found the motivation to drag himself to the kitchen and warm up some tea. It was clear he wouldn't be going back to sleeping any time soon. Some tea might relax him and make him feel better and if not, it gave him something to do.

-.-

The week passed uneventful for Kimiko. She tended to Jack every day, gave him the necessary medicine and changed the bandages while the red head found it to be quite flattening and even began calling her 'nurse Kimiko'. Of course he stopped doing that after day three when she bonked him hard on the head and knocked him unconscious for several good hours.

All in all, he was on his way to recovery. But Kimiko wasn't worried about Jack anymore. Ever since that night, she noticed several changes in Raimundo; one was he was always up earlier than her, in fact she had an inkling he barely slept and that thought proved true as the days passed by and the bags under his eyes became more evident. Two, he was way too quiet, a far cry of how he usually behaved. And three, he started to space out a lot.

Now he tried to hide everything and pretend it was all ok around her and Jack but it was painfully obvious to her that something was terribly wrong. She was especially mad that he choose to keep the whole thing to himself and not confide in her or even Jack, though she suspected the red-head was familiar with this. Nonetheless, she decided to confront him.

Another dinner began in perfect silence but Kimiko didn't expect it to end the same way. She slowly put her chopsticks down and mentally prepared to dive in.

"Rai, are you feeling ok?"

Jack glanced at her for two seconds before sighing and lowering his fork too. They weren't going to eat any more.

The one in questioned blinked at her confused. "Of course I'm fine."

Kimiko shook her head with a frown. "Please, don't do that." She sighed exasperatedly when Rai continued to watch her puzzled. "That's exactly what I'm talking about. You keep faking everything is fine with you when it's not. Why don't you tell us what's bothering you instead of bottling it up? It's not healthy not to mention it won't do you any good."

"Maybe I'm not telling you because it's something personal and because it's none of your business." He replied with the slight tinge of annoyance lacing his words.

The woman frowned at the outburst but wasn't about to give in. "That may be so but you can't solve every problem on your own."

"Yes, I can. And why? Because they're mine. Why should I implicate someone with no reason in something they wouldn't understand?"

"No reason? I think a good reason would be that we're friends and in case you've forgotten, friends help each other. And about not understanding, I believe I've been in my fair share of shitty situations to come up with a better way to deal with my problems other than lock myself up and ignore the whole world."

Rai fixed his emerald haze on her with a steel glare. "So you think that just because you've seen horrible things you can understand how it is to suffer through them, is that right? Well, let me tell you something, princess, you know nothing about real pain. You do not know how painful it is for a father to feed ten kids in a poor forgotten village and still smile and hope for tomorrow. You can't imagine what a kid feels like when he's ignored and put down by his own parents, when he's forced to live in the same house with a bunch of strangers and then thrown out simply because he's written off as not fit for their heritage. You have no idea what it means to watch somebody you love die in front of you with nothing to do and no one to be there for you to say it'll be alright. You can't even begin to dream how unbearable it is to experience such pains on your own, not to mention stand and bounce back like nothing happened afterwards."

There were several minutes of silence marked by Raimundo's hard breathing as he stared right through Kimiko's soul. The searing anger running through his eyes only emphasized his point and it didn't soothe in the slightest bit as he continued in a calm tone, ignoring the woman's stillness.

"You are so ignorant…you're life is so good and you think you can help anyone with some comforting words. Not everyone wants that. We all have ways to cope with disturbing experiences and I tell you, in my case this is not one of them. Jack is fine, that's everything I wanted, it's just that the accident reminded me of something from my past. I have nightmares, if you want me to answer your question so badly. There is nothing I can't handle. So do me a favor and stop prying." With that, the brunet stood up and walked out the door.

Kimiko felt ashamed of herself if not a bit angry too. Again, she passed the line when all she wanted was to help. She held the tears in as she rushed to the bathroom and then broke down. And this time there was no Raimundo to hold her.

Alone at the table, Jack sighed as he began gathering the dishes with one hand. He tried to tune out the silent sobs coming from the restroom, but he couldn't deny that Raimundo's words touched a chord in him too. He knew how it was to suffer on a mental and emotional level, yes, and he knew how sensitive his friend got on such subject.

'But he doesn't know the meaning of holding back, does he?'

Raimundo never liked exposing his deepest feelings unless in certain circumstances and he never liked people bugging him about it either. He thought he could deal with the pain on his own yet Jack could still remember times when the brunet was on the verge of breaking and he was there for him. He was sure he was the only person on earth Raimundo trusted entirely and that's why he didn't say anything. Raimundo would come to him if he wanted a talk. If he hadn't come until then, then Jack knew he could handle it alright. Unfortunately, nobody told Kimiko about that unwritten law.

He shook his head and mulled whether he should talk to Kimiko about it and make her understand. Pausing in front of the door where the woman locked herself up, he decided he should wait for her to calm down. Until then…

'Hello, pudding dear.' He still needed to eat.

I'm not much of a good nightmare scenes writer because I've never in my life remembered what I would dream about. My friend is usually telling me of her dreams but most of the times they are funny and I'm lol-ing on the ground at how ridiculous they can be. :) Hope you'll find this satisfying.

Now, there's one more chapter to go and this story can be labelled as complete. :D