Improbability Factor

by Mayhem21

When Esset threatens Schatten’s very existence, what they thought was impossible turns out to merely be ... improbable. Sequel to 'Total Mayhem.

5. Sleep of Death

READER NOTICE!

We've changed our author name from 'Ptath' to Mayhem21. I'm sure you noticed, but we thought it would be a good idea to leave y'all a note. We did this because there's three of us involved, not just me, Ptath. We've been talking about doing this for a while and just got around to doing it.

Also, if you want an email alert and don't want to leave a review here, leave us a message on the LiveJournal. Or email us. Which ever you feel most comfortable with.

Ok, you can go on to the story now.

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Improbability Factor: Chapter Five – Sleep of Death

By Ptath and Thalia

Beta-ed by Thalia

Inspired and assisted by Lady Raina

Disclaimer: We do not own Weiss. Even if we could, simple self-preservation would dictate we stay far, far away.

Email updates available. If you wish to receive email notification when we post an update to this, or any other, story, please leave us a review or send us an email containing an email address and a screen name.

Rating alert: This story is rated 'M' because of language, violent scenes and mature themes. Very mature themes.

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'This' mean thinking to one's self ('Time to introduce myself')

'This' means talking telepathically ('hello, my name is George,')

"This" means talking out loud ("I like cats.")

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

FARFARELLO SAY: Life is not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

9 am, Koneko, Dining Room, last week of January

Aya looked up in surprise when Yohji suddenly stomped into the room, bleary eyed and cranky. "Did Hiro the Cat wake you up again?" she asked innocently.

"Yes, she did," the blonde muttered as he looked for the coffee pot. "I locked the door. I shut the window. I had Schu verify that that blasted feline was in Brad's office. So tell me, how did she get in?"

"She's a cat. If she wants in, she can get in," Aya replied in a patient voice.

"I…the doors….window…"

"Yohji, perhaps if you were to use complete sentences, we could understand you," Ran's voice suddenly drifted out from behind the blonde.

Yohji spun around, his mind making a sudden connection. "You did it," he growled, eyes blazing.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about," the red-head replied as he tried to edge around the other assassin.

"Oh, I think you do," Yohji countered, moving to block Ran. "You're the only one with the ability to do it and a twisted enough brain to come up with the idea."

Ran looked up at Yohji, annoyance beginning to form on his face. "Unless you intend to inform me of what you're accusing me of, move."

Yohji continued to glare, refusing to budge.

Ran sighed. "Yohji, you need to tell me. You're projecting meaningless grumbling, so I have no way of inferring what this is about."

A frown appeared on the playboy's face. This wasn't how Ran reacted when he was guilty. Ran dug in his heels and refused to admit or deny anything. If you wanted a confession, he made you work for it.

Soft steps were suddenly heard on the stairs. A blue head suddenly appeared in the room. "Morning, everyone," Toma said in a chipper voice. He gave Yohji a wide-eyed, innocent look. "How did you sleep, Yohji?"

"How did…why you little…it was you!"

Ran groaned to himself. If he moved, Yohji would probably attack Toma. His cousin was gleefully, and silently, informing him how he'd dared to rouse the blonde before noon on a Saturday. Ran sighed softly. He was never going to get breakfast.

"You're up early," Brad commented without glancing out from behind his paper. "You usually sleep even longer than Yohji does on the weekends."

"Oh, I haven't gone to bed yet," Toma corrected as he edged past Ran and the infuriated Yohji to take a seat next to Aya. "Got a new book yesterday. Had to finish it."

Ran ignored the banter making its way around the table. Pushing Yohji into a chair far from Toma, he grabbed a mug of coffee and shoved it in front of the blonde. He was getting breakfast even if he had to kill (or perhaps merely maim) one of his teammates.

Ken and Farfarello wandered down a few minutes later. Taking in the dark looks Yohji was still throwing at Toma and the blissful innocence Aya's cousin was radiating … "It's too early for this sort of thing," he groaned as he dropped into a chair. "Can someone promise that there won't be death threats at the table this time?"

"Strife hurts God," Far said innocently. "I didn't even have to make that one up," he added.

"Good for you," Ken muttered.

"I take it Yohji was today's victim?" Shay asked as she and Schu appeared in the dining room.

"This morning's," Toma confirmed. When he saw the incredulous looks aimed at him, he put his coffee mug down. "You have me working in a freakin' flower shop. I'm bored. You want this to stop, find me something REAL to do. However, as long as you leave me to entertain myself, this is what you can expect." His piece said, he returned to his breakfast.

Aya looked at Brad. "Find him something to do," she said in an ominous voice.
"I will not have him destroying my house."

"I never said I would destroy the house. I haven't even been pranking people on a daily basis. The house is in no way threatened."

"Yet," Schu muttered.

The conversation lagged at that point. Eventually, Nagi, Omi and Sakura stumbled into the dining room yawning and still half asleep.

Brad looked over his paper at the three teenagers. His eyes suddenly went distant as a vision suddenly washed over him. A few seconds later, he gave himself a slight shake and took an automatic look at his watch. After folding the paper and laying it next to his plate, the precog reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet and withdrew the black platinum card, which he promptly passed to his wife.

"The boys are done growing," he said as he picked his paper up once more. "Go get them clothes that fit."

Nagi's eyes opened from their half-shut position. Omi stared at the precog in shock.

"I can get my own clothes," the blonde stated indignantly.

"Omi, your fashion sense sucks," Sakura interrupted. "If those oversized shorts and strange shirts can even be called fashion sense."

Yohji snickered into his coffee cup. Suddenly, the day was looking up. "Don't worry, if Omi needs new clothes, I'd be happy to lend a hand."

"No, that's not necessary," Omi stuttered. He gave Nagi a wild look.

"I'm sure you're busy," Nagi added. "Aya will take care of us."

"He's going and you're taking Ken," Brad said from behind his paper.

"What?" Ken demanded.

"If you and Nagi are to double each other effectively, you will need to have the same clothes." Brad laid his paper down, a serious look on his face. "The doubling will not just be during missions. It will be during our downtime. We need Esset to be uncertain if they're looking at you or Nagi at all times. To do that effectively, you need to be able to dress the same."

"Ken," Yohji began, a suspicious gleam in his eyes, "say goodbye to all those soccer jerseys."

"I'm coming too," Sakura declared. "There's no way I'm missing this. Besides, it's been a while since I went shopping."

"Shay, you should go too. Have an experience, have a day at the mall," Toma said as he glanced at the woman.

"Goodness knows Toma certainly doesn't know how to shop," Aya added. "He grabs the first thing that looks good and makes for the bookstore!"

Ken groaned, knowing that he couldn't win. He gave Far a hopeful look. "Please tell me you're coming. If we work together, I might be able to get away."

"I need him here," Brad corrected. "Someone needs to be in the shop."

"Isn't that what you have Ran and Schu for?"

"Someone needs to make deliveries," Ran said.

Despite the various protests put up by the boys, the shopping expedition was put into motion. Twenty minutes later, everyone was heading back down to the second floor to receive their marching orders. Yohji volunteered to drive the teenagers in Schu's Mustang (which was being borrowed for the extra seats), leaving Ken with Aya and Shay in Ran's Challenger (being borrowed for the same reason with Aya driving).

Toma watched the assembly from the sitting room with an amused look on his face. As the group began to walk out, however, Yohji threw an arm around Shay's shoulders, commenting that if she stuck with him, she'd have a great time. After which, he threw a wink over his shoulder at Toma.

"Just remember that you started it," Ran commented from another chair.

"Yeah, I know, I know," Toma stated, gnawing on his lip. He glanced at his cousin. "Wanna help me get even?"

"Not a chance in hell," Ran replied. He stood up and gave the other man an amused look. "Like I said, you started this. You get to finish it. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go help Schu and Far open the shop."

"Be that way," Toma muttered at the red-head's back. "You're on the list now." He glanced down at his watch and decided to head on over to Brad's office.

(10:10 am)

Without bothering to knock, he strolled in and seated himself in front of the desk. "So," he began cheerfully, "I have a feeling that you wanted to talk to me."

"I did," Brad said slowly. "You said earlier that you were bored."

"Totally and completely."

"Well, if you wish to do more than work in the shop and train Yohji and Sakura, then I will need to know more about your abilities," the precog said as he leaned back in his chair. "Kritiker hasn't given us a mission since before New Years, but I expect that will change soon."

"And you need to know exactly what I can do so that you can plan accordingly," Toma replied, nodding his head.

"Exactly."

"All right. First off," the blue-haired man began, "you need to know that I don't have Talent. At least, not like yours. Kind of. Not. It's…I'll let you decide. What I do is magic. Which is real. And no, I'm not crazy." He gave the blank faced precog a stern look. "You want to say it isn't real, then you better start coming up with an explanation for what it was exactly that the Elders of Esset were doing. 'Cause that wasn't Talent.

The Elders were summoning a demon. I take care of demons. I've been doing it since I was fourteen. All you need to know is that I do have some tricks hidden up my sleeve, as it were."

"And why don't you wish to tell me what those tricks are?" Brad demanded as he gave Toma a stern look.

Toma merely shrugged. "Because magic attracts more magic. The low-level stuff I've been doing around here passes unnoticed. The bigger stuff, like what was happening when I met Shay, does attract attention. And we have enough on our plates without throwing in some megalomaniac demons. "

Brad studied Toma, silently trying to decide if he was crazy, spinning a story or actually telling the truth.

"Basically, just keep in mind that I'm what's referred to as a Wind Mage. And Shay is an Earth Mage. With very low-level telepathic abilities. Now, aside from the magic, here's what you need to know. I practice archery, I'm excellent at hand-to-hand and my weapon of choice is a scythe. Which is a new acquisition. What I can't do is fire a gun. Well, I've never fired a gun. I don't think it'd be hard, however."

Omi was an archer and the hand-to-hand abilities had been assumed. The scythe, however…"A scythe?" Brad asked cautiously.

"Shay insisted that I get a bladed weapon instead of just hitting people with my bow. I've mostly got it down. Like I said, it's new."

Toma had a bland look on his face. It was obvious that he believed every word he had just said. Given the immediate acceptance Ran and Aya had given his earlier comments, Brad knew that he'd have to take him at his word. Well, mostly.

"So, anything else I need to know?" Brad finally asked.

"I really don't want to sound arrogant, but I am exceptionally intelligent. I have an IQ that runs around 230 depending on how much effort I decide to put into a test on any given day. I've never had a piano lesson in my life, but if you were to sit me in front of one and give me Mozart, Bach, or Beethoven I could play the piece with few mistakes. My memory is practically eidetic, and if you let me watch someone doing a task long enough I can imitate it with a fair amount of accuracy. I like challenges, so it's usually pretty difficult to keep me from getting bored. If you want to keep me occupied, the best thing you can do is give me a pretty difficult task that must be completed in a seemingly impossible amount of time and I'm good. That is when I thrive."

Nonplussed, Brad nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. Now, if you really need something to do, then you are welcome to take a look at the books for the Koneko." When he saw Toma perk up with interest, he continued. "I've maintained them, but with everything that's been going on with Kritiker and Esset, they haven't received the attention they deserve for several months."

"Sounds great!" Toma exclaimed. When Brad fished the records out of his desk, he grabbed the stack, flipped the first one open and began to read even as he wandered out of the office.

Ran, who had been walking towards the door, quickly moved to one side to avoid being run over. Shaking his head in wry amusement, he walked into the office.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

10:30 am, Suttafu Mall

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Ken exclaimed. "I don't want clubbing clothes, I don't need clubbing clothes and I refuse to go try some on!"

"This isn't for you, it's for missions," Yohji countered. "We've had to go to clubs in the past, we will in the future and damned if I want to keep having to run all over Tokyo during the late afternoon trying to find you something to wear later that night!"

"You have to get us there, first," Nagi declared, a dangerous light appearing in his eyes.

"We're not budging," Omi added.

Aya shook her head in amusement while Sakura fought to suppress a grin.

"How about this," Shay suddenly said. "Yohji, you know what sizes the boys are. Why don't you go pick some things out while we continue here?"

"I think I could do that," Yohji mused as he studied the ceiling. "I've got a pretty good idea about what's 'in' right now, I can pick out whatever I want and they have to be happy with it!" He grinned at the horrified looking boys. "Sounds good to me."

"Never mind, we'll go," Omi said in a sick voice.

"Excellent," Yohji said with glee.

"Shay and I will stay here," Aya added. "We'll guard the bags and pick out some more clothes."

"Don't worry," Shay called after the group now headed to a darkly lit store that was pumping out very loud music, "we'll only have two or three stacks for each of you."

Once the group had disappeared into the store, Shay and Aya looked at each other and promptly burst out laughing.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

10:33 am, Koneko, Brad's office

"Do you have us all scheduled to come talk to you somewhere?" Ran asked as he walked into the office. "It's seems very convenient that you and Toma should finish just as I was walking in."

"It merely seems to work out that way," Brad replied with a shrug. "I have very little to do with it."

"Compared to what you were like when we were fighting over a year ago, this seems to be rather out of character," Ran commented.

"There really is no point in trying to predict what happens in this house," Brad said. "My visions also tend to focus more on events than people. And even less on the people close to me."

Ran raised a curious eyebrow. That last comment was perhaps more revealing that Brad had intended. The precog tended to focus more on the team than the individuals, something that went against everything Ran believed. But that comment hinted that Brad Crawford cared more than he let on.

"Is there something in particular you wished to talk about?" Brad asked after a moment of silence. "Last time you were here, you dropped a rather large bombshell. I hope you're not planning on doing that again."

"No," the telepath replied, shaking his head. "I came here to thank you."

"For?"

"Taking care of Schu after we were separated." Violet eyes pierced Brad's dark brown. "I know what state he was in after the separation. I know how much work it must have taken to make him a coherent, functioning individual again. That took a lot of patience and care, and since I couldn't be there to take care of him, I felt that I owed you something."

"You don't owe me a thing," Brad replied, trying to hide his sudden discomfort. "I did what I had to do to make Schwarz succeed." Which was true, to an extent. At the beginning, Oracle had been focused more on using Schuldig. But that had changed …

Ran suppressed the flare of anger that ran through him at those words. He did not appreciate hearing that someone he cared about had been used as a means to an end. And to say that after admitting that he cared about the members of Schatten … it made no sense. Not when they were talking about Schu.

"I guess I was mistaken. I won't waste anymore of your time," Ran said in a short, cold voice. Without another word, he turned on his heel and strode from the room.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

2:37 pm, Suttafu Mall

"So we should meet at that restaurant in the East corner of the mall at 5:30?" Sakura asked as she finished her lunch.

"Yes, we'll meet there for dinner and decide where to go next," Aya confirmed.

"How about going back home?" Omi asked in a mournful voice.

"We're just getting started, Omittchi," Yohji said. "We weren't able to get nearly as much of your shopping done as we were Nagi and Ken."

While Omi groaned, Shay raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Omittchi?" she asked.

"He gave me that nickname," Omi responded accusingly as he pointed at Yohji. "Ask him where he came up with it."

"I had to call you something and it sounded good," Yohji explained. "Same for Ken-Ken and Ayan. And you responded with Yotan, remember?"

Nagi shook his head and, rising from his seat, began to gather the remains of his lunch. "I'm heading over to the computer store. Who wants to come with me?"

"I will," Omi volunteered.

"Aya and I are going to the bookstore," Ken said, shaking his head.

"Shay?" Nagi asked, looking at the auburn-haired woman.

She grinned. "Because of Toma I've been in enough bookstores to last me a lifetime. Count me in."

"You kids have fun, Omittchi, chibi," Yohji grinned. Nagi promptly shot him a dark look. "I was thinking about taking Sakura out so that she could do some shopping. The poor thing's been the runner all morning. She deserves to treat herself."

"Oh, but I didn't really bring-" Sakura began.

"I've got it," Yohji interrupted.

"No, it's fine," she protested. "Really. I don't mind being the runner. I'm in track, after all. And I enjoy helping out. We can go do something you want to do."

"Well, what I want to do is take you out shopping," Yohji countered, still smiling. "Now that we're agreed, what store would you like to start in?"

"Well, I do need some new sneakers," she began after a moment's hesitation.

"Then off to the shoe store," Yohji proclaimed with a sweeping gesture. Everyone gathered their trash, threw it away and headed for their respective destinations. "So how's your training with Toma going?" he asked her as they walked out of the food court.

Sakura blinked for a moment and cocked her head to one side as she thought. "Oh, well, we're still working on the very basics. He told me that before I can work on training my power, I need to be aware of what it feels like to use it." She giggled suddenly. "He's walked up to me so many times when I'm studying and told me that I was slowing things down so that I would have more time. I hadn't realized how often I did that."

The green-eyed blonde laughed. "I know the feeling," he said. "I'll be talking to Shayna and she'll suddenly ask me how I know whatever it is we're talking about." He shook his head wonderingly. "I've always just known things, all my life. Who'd have thought that I was picking it up from the world around me? It's almost creepy," he finally admitted.

As they neared the store, Sakura bit her lip and gave Yohji a sideways look. "What exactly is going on between us?" she carefully asked. "I know it's not romantic or anything," she added with a slight blush. "I mean, are we friends or am I just a replacement for Asuka?"

Yohji looked at her in surprise. "No, not at all," he insisted. "This is … it's just the way I show I care. After all, I can't focus on myself all the time," he added with a laugh.

Sakura gave him an amused smile. Whatever he was feeling, it was obvious that he didn't feel comfortable talking about it yet. She'd ask him again later.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Omi and Nagi were chattering merrily between themselves while Shay walked slightly behind them as they headed towards the mall computer store, silently marveling on how much they'd changed over just the three weeks she'd known them.

'I think Nagi's managed to grow three inches and Omi four,' she thought to herself in amusement. 'On top of the two inches Ran mentioned they'd already grown since Schatten was first formed.'

She moved closer to them so that she could hear better. She still had trouble using computers and, while she would never admit it to anyone, she was hoping to pick up a few things.

Suddenly noticing that a bit of Omi's hair was sticking up, she reached out to smooth it down.

The blonde gave her a wide-eyed look.

"It's was messed up," she said simply. "I fixed it." Now moving ahead of them, she began to lead the way to the rapidly approaching store.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ken and Aya took their time walking out of the food court towards the bookstore. "So, how are your classes going?" he asked. "You just started your spring semester, right?"

"They're going fine," Aya replied thoughtfully. "I've been having plenty of time to study…" she paused for a moment. "If the missions pick back up, I'm not sure how well that will go," she finally admitted.

"Yeah, Birman hasn't been around for a while, has she?" Ken murmur, a slightly distant look appearing in his eyes as his cheeks colored slightly.

Aya perked up noticeably. "You'd noticed?" she inquired in an innocent voice.

"I, well, we haven't had any missions and she brings the tapes and…" Ken's voice trailed off and the faint blush brightened.

"And what?"

"And…well, you know," he muttered. He gave her a pleading look. "Please don't tell anyone. I'll never live it down. Yohji will torment me, Schu will torment me….who knows what Toma will do…"

Aya laughed. "You have my word that I won't tell a soul," she promised. "But can I give you a little advice?" At Ken's questioning look, she continued. "It might help if you actually talked to her."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

2:43 pm, Koneko

Toma stretched his arms over his head as he wandered into the kitchen to get some water. He'd been going over the Koneko's books for about four hours and had decided to take a break. As he retrieved a glass and turned on the tap, he couldn't help but marvel at how quiet the building was.

'That's right,' he suddenly realized. 'Almost everyone is out shopping.' His tired mind mulled over that revelation for a few moments. 'Now's probably a good time to talk to Schu,' he thought.

Draining the glass, he placed it in the sink and headed for the stairs. Once he reached the first floor, he walked through the garage, through the backroom and onto the Koneko's main floor.

"Hey, Ran, mind if I borrow Schu for about thirty minutes tops?" he asked

His cousin gave him a curious look before shrugging. "It's a slow day," he said. "Go ahead."

"Don't I get a say in all this?" the German demanded from his place behind the till.

"I, well, I suppose I could give you a say, but I need you to say the same thing and you might say something different. So I had to take away your say."

Schu stared at Toma for a long moment. "What are you on?"

Ran laughed softly. "It's not a question of what he's on, it's a question of what he's not on. And that would be sleep." He looked at Schu in amusement. "Toma gets rather strange when he's sleep deprived."

"And that's different from when he's not sleep deprived how?" demanded the other telepath.

"It's very different," Toma explained. "Now! Time to go! Upstairs! My room!"

The pair made their way up to the third floor without incident. Once they reached Toma's room, Schu pulled the door shut while Toma walked over to his dresser and pulled something out of it, which he promptly stuck in his pocket.

Schu glanced around the room curiously. The bed was covered in official looking books and scraps of paper with note scrawled over them. The rest of the room had piles of clothes and books here and there.

"I know it looks messy, but I do know where everything is," Toma said as he turned around. "Please, have a seat."

Once Schu had seated himself on the bed, Toma began to fidget slightly, wanting to pace back and forth.

"I wanted to talk to you before you could come up with any misconceptions." Blue eyes looked at the German sitting on the bed. "Shay and I did live together for a year and a half. She had just returned to this world and had nowhere else to go. And we did spend most of that time looking for you." He paused for a moment, his eyes suddenly widening. "I mean, nothing happened. We're a couple, but nothing's happened! Not like that! I just, uh, wanted to clear that up and, um…"

Schu could only stare at him for a moment before he saw the perfect opening. "And why hasn't anything happened? Isn't she good enough for you? Is there something wrong with my sister or are you just stringing her along?"

Toma looked up suddenly and started talking quickly again. "No, it's nothing like that. I would never . . . it's just that Shay doesn't always understand everything all the time. I mean she was gone for a really long time and she's still learning how all this works and I don't want to take advantage of that so I've been trying not to move too fast or anything and I really don't want there to be a misunderstanding and it hurting her and messing things up because I really care about her and I don't want to mess this up." The blue-haired warrior finally stopped to fish something out of his pocket. "I even got her this, but I haven't given it to her yet because I wanted to talk to you first. Also, I'm really not sure it's good enough. Here why don't you take a look? If it's not good enough I can take it back and get another." He held out the small velvet box which Schu took.

When the German opened the box, he got quite the surprise. The ring was definitely good enough. In fact, it was stunning, gorgeous even. He was sure Shayna would love it.

Finally he looked back up at Toma, but before he could get a word in Toma started up again, but a little calmer this time. "Look, I love Shayna very much, and I would really like to have your blessing before I ask her to marry me."

Schu handed back the velvet box and looked Toma straight in the eye. "Then you have it," he said simply.

It was Toma's turn to be a little shocked. "Really?" he asked softly.

"Everything you have just told me is everything I need to know. You rescued her and brought her back to Earth. You made sure she was safe and helped her look for me. It also appears there has been more than one opportunity for you to take advantage of her, but you haven't. It's clear from watching you two that she also cares about you a great deal and more than anything else I want her to be happy. So, you have my blessing and may pop the question any time you wish." Schu paused here a moment before continuing in slightly more threatening manner. "But rest assured that if you hurt her, there will be nothing that will save you from, and no end to, the damage that I will inflict."

"I would never hurt her," Toma said very seriously.

The telepath smiled at him and winked, "That's what I'm counting on." He rose to leave. "I had better get back down stairs. I suggest you take a nap or something before the others return though. Honestly, you're kind of frightening when you haven't slept." With that, Schu left.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

7:03 pm, Koneko

Schu gnawed on his lip as his eyes flickered back and forth between Ran and Brad. For some reason, the red-head had been firing angry looks at the precog, looks that Brad was ignoring. More than ignoring, in fact. He'd pulled on his 'I'm-better-than-the-world-so-you-mean-nothing' guise, something the German hadn't seen since they left Esset.

He cast a despairing look at Far. Like the others who had remained at the Koneko, he was sprawled on a chair in the sitting room. Unlike Brad, Ran and Schu, who had all found a book to read (or to pretend to read), Far was staring absently at the ceiling, thinking quietly to himself while he absently twirled a very long, narrow knife in his fingers.

Schu let his eyes drift back to the open page of his book. He'd been reading the same paragraph over and over again since he'd dragged Brad out of his office over an hour ago. He didn't know what had made Ran so mad at Brad and wasn't sure he wanted to know.

The sound of a door slamming on the floor below suddenly echoed through the quiet building. Aya could be heard calling out that they'd returned from the mall. Suddenly, pounding feet could be heard on the third floor. As the shoppers reached the second floor and began to disembark, Toma flew down the steps.

"Hey, Shay, you're back!" he exclaimed as he bounded towards the startled woman. "So, how was it, what'd you think, have a good time? What'd you get?" he asked in rapid-fire speech, his eyes glowing with a wild light as he caught her around the waist and swung her around.

Shay gave him a despairing look as she tried to stop him. "I thought I told you to take a nap," she demanded.

"I did too," Schu called out as he twisted around to watch the exchange. "Obviously he didn't listen."

"I'm fine!" Toma insisted with a dismissive flick of his fingers. He turned back to Shay, grinning. "Brad gave me the books to the Koneko. They're a mess and I get to fix them!"

"Considering your current state of mind, is that really a good idea?" Shay questioned. She shook her head. "You're hopeless. Here," she said as she shoved a bag in his hand. "Help me carry this upstairs."

Brad sighed to himself. "And for some reason, I really don't think I'll find any mistakes in the books."

"Of course not," Aya stated as she walked up to him. "He gave you the IQ speech, didn't he?"

"What?"

"He pulled that a lot when we were growing up," she explained. "It's all true, but it was also the only way he could get anyone to take him seriously. Otherwise, he'd just be the son of that crazy and brilliant scientist who managed to turn his hair blue."

"Do I even want to know?" Brad asked.

"About the hair? Well, even if you did want to know, no one's been able to figure out what exactly happened." Aya's eyes glowed with laughter. "All we know is that his father was doing some kind of experiment, something exploded and his hair had been turned blue. And when Toma was born, he also ended up with blue hair."

"That can't be possible," Brad muttered. He shook his head. He was not going to waste his time on debating the possibility of accidental genetic manipulation. "Did you pick up my glasses?" he asked.

Aya grinned and perched herself in his lap, twinning her arms around his neck. "Yes, but the prescription wasn't updated. I got you contacts instead." She gave him a deep look. "I miss seeing your eyes," she added in a soft voice.

While Aya began to lecture her husband on the virtues of contact lenses, Ran followed the others upstairs and was promptly cornered by Omi and Nagi, who started peppering him with details about the new games they'd gotten at the computer store.

After several minutes of specs, features and details about games he would never play, Ran raised a hand to interrupt them. "What about the shopping you went out to do?" he asked.

Omi gave him a sour look. "Yohji was a nightmare. He insisted we get clubbing clothes and dragged us into a darkly lit store with pounding music. How are you supposed to pick out clothes when you can't even tell what color they are?"

"You have clubbing clothes?" Ran asked curiously.

"Don't even go there," Omi snapped.

"What about when you weren't shopping for clubbing clothes?"

"The dressing rooms were crowded, the salespeople were pushy, no one would let me pick anything because I apparently have awful taste in clothes…" Omi gave him a despairing look. "Is it really that bad?"

Ran bit back the laughter trying to push its way to the surface.

Upon seeing the red-head's struggle, Omi groaned. "Why didn't anyone tell me? I take criticism well. I'm always willing to listen to other people's opinions. I …"

"Nagi, how did things go for you," Ran asked hastily.

"It went fine," the kinetic replied with a shrug. "It was exhausting, but I liked it. It was fun."

"Traitor," Omi muttered.

At that, Ran couldn't help but laugh. Downstairs, they could hear Yohji and Schu laughing while Ken did his best to defend himself.

"We'll be expecting a fashion show," the German's voice said as it drifted up the stairs, quickly followed by another explosion from Ken.

Sakura and Farfarello suddenly appeared on the stairs and walked by the trio, both laden with bags. Grinning, she stuck her tongue out at Omi. "Wimp," she called as she rounded the corner.

"Thanks for helping me carry everything up," she said to the Irish-man. "I think Yotan went a little bit overboard."

"It's fine," Far replied as he set the bags down on her bed and sat down next to them.

"So how did your day go?" Sakura asked as she began putting things away.

Far looked at her in surprise. No one ever asked him how his day went. "Well," he began hesitantly, "the deliveries went well. I didn't run over anything this time, so we won't have to worry about cleaning the delivery bike."

Sakura looked at him in horror.

"I was joking," he added quickly. "I've never run over anything. Really." He gave her an innocent look. "What else," he murmured. "Oh! Ran's mad at Brad for something and Schu and I can't figure out why."

"What?" Sakura asked in surprise. "They were fine this morning!"

"Like I said, we don't know why," Far replied with a shrug. "And asking Toma won't help. He's been holed up in his room all day working on the books for the Koneko." He gave her an expectant look. "How did shopping go?" he asked.

"It went rather well, I think," she replied. "It was exhausting but fun. I liked being able to hang out with everyone. We got Omi out of those awful shorts and I got to spend time with Yohji…" Here she paused for a moment. "He seems rather lonely," she added thoughtfully.

"He does, doesn't he?" Far murmured in agreement. He glanced in the direction of the stairs when Ken's voice was suddenly heard again, yelling at Yohji to knock it off or else he'd knock him out. "I'd better go keep blood from being spilled," Far said thoughtfully as he rose from the bed. "And they say that I'm the crazy one?"

Sakura laughed as he walked out the door. Several minutes later, after she had finished putting away her new belongings, Nagi suddenly poked his head in the room.

"Got a minute?" he asked.

"Sure," Sakura replied, looking at him curiously.

"Is everything okay?" He asked in a slightly hesitant voice as he walked into the room.

"Everything's fine," she replied looking confused, "why?"

Nagi bit his lip. "It's just … when we were in the food court having lunch and Yohji offered to take you shopping, you seemed a bit reluctant. He hasn't, you know, been bothering you or anything has he? Because if he has. . ." he trailed off and his eyes began to glow dangerously.

Sakura was quick to shake her head. "No, it's nothing like that at all. It's just that I'm not really used to people doing things for me, and I don't expect it from anyone here." Sakura gave Nagi a serious look. "Yohji has always been very respectful of me, and has really tried to make me feel comfortable and welcome ever since I moved in." A small smile suddenly crossed her face "It's nice that our powers are connected. I have someone to talk to that really understands what it's like, and he's a great listener."

"So you two had a good time?" Nagi questioned skeptically.

"It was really great," came her honest reply which was accompanied by a smile.

"I'm glad," the kinetic said. "It's … I just wanted you to know that, you know, if something ever happened, I'm here. I'll listen and do whatever I can to help." He gave her a hesitant look, inching towards her.

Sakura stared into Nagi's dark blue eyes, feeling a blush rising on her cheeks. An eager silence filled the room, and suddenly she could feel his hand brushing hers and he was leaning towards her while she leaned towards him. And then there was nothing but the feeling of his lips brushing against hers.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

9:30 pm

Aya knocked on Nagi's door and smiled slightly when it swung open silently. When she entered, she saw the kinetic sitting on his bed with his computer. The door closed softly behind her as Nagi looked up to give her his full attention.

"Nagi," she began, "There's something I want to discuss with you. I know you will be of age in less than a year, but I was wondering how you would feel about Brad and I adopting you."

Over the past year the kinetic had become fairly good at controlling his powers when under extreme emotional stress. This control was especially important in a house so full of surprises, but this simple sentence was too much for him. The lights died throughout the Koneko as the breaker box exploded. Prepared as always, Aya switched on the flashlight she'd brought with her. In the light, she could see Nagi's still shocked expression. She waited patiently for him to speak. As they sat in a stunned silence the lights flickered back to life. The sudden brightening of the room was enough to bring Nagi out of his trance.

"I told Brad something like this might happen," the empath said calmly. "I also told Ran, so he'll keep everyone from pounding down the door to make certain we're alright."

"Crawford wants to adopt me?" Nagi asked in stunned surprised.

"Actually, I haven't talked to him about it yet," Aya replied. "I wanted to know how you felt first."

"He won't want to," he stated matter-of-factly.

Aya's eyes went wide in shock. Did he really think he meant that little to Brad? "That's not true. Brad cares about you very much, Nagi. When Esset left that note for you at school, he was very worried about you and it bothered him even more that you didn't feel like you could talk to him about what was bothering you." She paused to let her words sink in before continuing. "I don't want you to feel forced into this though. I want this to be something you want."

"You don't have to do this," Nagi said, his face slightly pale.

"I want to do this." She said with a smile. "I want to do it for you, but you have to tell me what you want. You don't have to be afraid to say what you want anymore. You don't work for Esset and there is no danger. So, just tell me what you want."

She watched as the little boy inside Nagi came to the surface. She saw the scared, lost, lonely little boy he had once been emerge and whisper, "I want a family."

He hadn't meant to say it. He had been afraid to say it. Afraid that if he said it out loud Aya would reveal that it had all been a cruel joke, even though he knew she would never do that.

With this quiet admission, she reached over and hugged him. "I'm glad to hear it," she said with a soft smile. "I'll talk with Brad tonight and then we can all talk about it together tomorrow when you come home from school."

He nodded. She was about to leave when the teenager spoke.

"Aya?"

"Yes?"

"If Crawford says yes, will it be okay if I call you Mom?"

She beamed at him. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Brad and Aya's Bathroom

"What is it that you want to talk about?" Brad asked as he squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush.

"You know I hate it when you do that," Aya complained.

"Do what?" the precog asked playfully.

"You know what," the Japanese woman stated giving her husband a Look.

The precog suppressed a grin as he began to brush his teeth. His Sight was one of the few advantages he had in this household. Nothing could make him give it up, not even his wife. "So…" he prompted.

"I was just talking with Nagi," Aya began, "and I think we should adopt him."

The bathroom mirror was suddenly covered in toothpaste, spewed by one very shocked Brad Crawford. He clutched at the counter for a moment before reaching for a towel to wipe away the excess toothpaste around his mouth. He hadn't seen this coming. He hadn't Seen this coming either for that matter. Why hadn't he Seen this coming? Then something dawned on him.

"You blocked this didn't you?"

"Please don't be angry, sweetheart." Aya began in a wheedling tone. "I really needed to know how Nagi felt about it first before I came to you."

"And how does he feel about it?" Brad asked as he frowned at the speckled mirror.

The empath shook her head. "I need to know how you feel about it first," she said.

The precog reached out to wipe the mirror clean. "You know I would love to adopt Nagi if I thought he wanted it, but what about the team? What kind of precedent is this going to set? Are we going to try and adopt Omi next?"

"Damn it, Brad," Aya snarled, "for once would you stop thinking about the team and think about Nagi? He needs this. Don't you understand? He needs someone to choose him for him. Not for what he can do for the team. And how many times have you told me that you wish you could be his father sometimes instead of having to be his leader? Everyone else in this house has had a real family except Nagi. Almost everyone else has memories of parents that loved them unconditionally. Sakura still even gets to see her mother from time to time. How do you think it must feel not to know the unconditional love of a parent? Or anyone for that matter? This is the only thing Nagi has ever really wanted and we can give it to him. I want us to give it to him." She watched Brad carefully, trying to gauge his reaction to her sudden outburst. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps Nagi had been right.

Finally he spoke. "Then we will."

"We will?" Aya asked, honestly a little shocked.

He stood and walked over so he could hold her. "Of course. You're right, he has always been like a son to me. Why not make it official? Besides, Nagi deserves a family too."

"So, we're really going to do this then?"

"Yes, sweetheart, we're really going to do this." With that he leaned down and kissed her. "Should we go tell him?"

"No, I told him we would talk about it tomorrow. He didn't think you would agree to this, and I really don't think the house can absorb the result of Nagi in a state of shock right now."

Brad shook his head in slight disbelief. "He really told you that he didn't think I would want to adopt him?"

"Yes, he did."

"This is going to take some time, isn't it?"

"Don't all things that are important?"

A smile flickered across Brad's face. "Did you come up with this all by yourself?'

"No, actually," Aya replied in a pleased voice. "This was mostly Ran's idea. He really cares about Nagi and wants him to be happy, but he knows he can't give Nagi what he needs. He also knows how much you care about him. One night he and I were talking and it just sort of came up. The more I thought about it the more I knew he was right."

Brad looked thoughtful. "We'll have to thank him."

"Yes, I think we will."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

1:24 am, TV Room

Ran studied Toma out of the corner of his eye. The other man had challenged him to a few races on the game console and, anticipating the eventual collapse of his exhausted cousin, Ran had accepted.

The room was dark, filled only with the flickering light from the television. Toma rambled on, letting whatever stray thought that entered his mind emerge. The stream of consciousness, however, came to the occasional pause as he struggled for a word here and there while he struggled to remain awake. Ran rolled his eyes mentally and deliberately set to losing the race.

"Game over," he said when Toma's character crossed the finish line. "Bed time."

"What?" Toma asked in a startled voice, blinking furiously. "Nonsense. The night is still young. What's a few more hours?"

"You will be spending those hours asleep," Ran corrected as he gently pried the controller from long-fingered hands. After turning off the console and setting the TV to the correct channel, he turned to his cousin.

Toma's eyes fluttered closed every few seconds as he fought the exhaustion creeping through his limbs.

"Come on," Ran said. Reaching out, he grabbed the blue-haired man's shoulders and pulled him to his feet. A hand on his elbow kept the archer walking straight until they reached his room. Seeing a pair of pajama pants and a worn t-shirt on the floor, Ran grabbed them and shoved them into Toma's arms. "Go change and get ready for bed," he instructed him.

Once the bathroom door shut, the red-head set to cleaning off the bed. The books, notes and pens were relocated to a clear spot on the floor and the sheets and comforter were straightened.

"You worry too much," Toma muttered when he finally emerged from the bathroom.

Ran merely gave him a mild look and pulled the covers back. "You don't worry enough," he countered. "I know you haven't slept more than four hours in a single night ever since you arrived."

"A minor detail," Toma corrected as he climbed into bed. "Sleep is over-rated," he yawned out as his head hit the pillow and his eyes fluttered shut.

"Of course it is," Ran muttered. "That's why you're out cold." He pulled the covers up to Toma's chin and then shoved his hands into his pockets, studying the sleeping face in silence.

"Why?" he muttered. "Where were you? Why did you suddenly stop talking to me, stop communicating? What made you pick now to show back up?"

The questions that had been building in Ran's mind since New Years Day swirled in his head. He gave his head a sudden sharp shake. It didn't matter. Toma was back. He wasn't mad at Ran or not talking to him. He had Aya, Schu, Weiss and Schwarz now. His family was complete once more.

And nothing else mattered, did it?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Brad's Office, Next Day, 4:10 pm

A soft knock heralded Nagi's arrival. 'Right on time,' Brad thought. "Enter."

Nagi walked into the office, casting a nervous eye over Brad and Aya's faces. Unfortunately, both their faces were calm, and gave nothing away as to what they were thinking. But this had to be good, didn't it? They were both here, after all.

"Before we get to our final decision, I just want you to know that we put a lot of time and consideration into this. It was not something we took lightly," Crawford stated in that all-business manner he had when dealing with tasks that needed doing, no matter how pleasant or unpleasant they may be.

Nagi's heart fell but his face remained blank. The answer was no. This was stupid. He had known it would be and had told Aya as much. But part of him had hoped, had whispered how much he wanted a real family. "I understand," he replied his tone neutral.

Aya almost couldn't handle the waves of despair rolling off him, but she sat quietly and let Brad handle the situation as they had agreed.

"There was much to consider," Crawford continued. "There was, of course, the team to consider, Kritiker and the war we have declared against Esset." His brown eyes were serious. "Esset will soon strike back at us, and they will use whatever weapons they can find against us. We need to limit what weapons we hand over to them." A warm smile spread over Brad's features, "Keeping all that in mind, Nagi, we would like to adopt you if it is still something you want."

The sparkle in Nagi's midnight blue eyes was priceless. "Really?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Really," Brad answered with that same smile.

"Yes," Nagi replied shyly. "I would like that very much."

"Then I'll push the paperwork through, and it will all be official by this time next week."

At this, a smile graced Nagi's features that was so beautiful, so childlike, so pure that any doubts that had still lingered for Brad were completely erased. They had done the right thing. He could honestly say he had never seen Nagi this happy and for the first time in a very long while Brad knew he had done a good thing.

Nagi's smile suddenly faded as a look of agitation appeared. "Um . . ." he began rather unsteadily.

Aya jumped in. "What's wrong, Nagi?" she asked in a worried voice.

"Well, remember I asked if I could call you Mom?" Nagi's eyes flickered between Aya and Brad. "I still want to if it's okay, but," here he paused and looked directly at Brad, "is it okay if I just call you Brad for now? I mean, with the team and all it might be kind of awkward, and well . . ."

"That's fine." Brad said reassuringly. "This is going to take some time to adjust to for all of us. We want to make this as smooth a transition as possible, so if it makes you more comfortable to stick with calling me Brad that's fine."

His fears allayed, the smile returned full force. It really was quite beautiful.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kritiker Headquarters, 4:45 pm

Birman knocked hesitantly on the door to Persia's office.

"Enter," a deep sure voice devoid of any emotion answered from the space within.

"Sir," she began as she closed the door behind her, "I've been looking over the file that our agents have compiled for Schatten's next mission, and there is clear evidence that this is a trap Esset has put together in order to draw Schatten out into the open."

"Yes, I know." The response was cold, indifferent.

"Sir, that information has not been put in the file that I'm supposed to deliver to them this evening."

"That is correct."

"But sir they're the best lethal team we have. Letting them walk into an ambush could be-"

"There seems to be a misunderstanding here. Allow me to clear it up." Persia's tone was icy as he continued. "You appear to be worrying about issues which are, quite frankly, none of your concern. You are their contact agent, nothing more. You give them the information we tell you to give them and nothing more. If, for any reason, you warn them or tell them anything other than what you have been ordered to, you will find yourself searching for a new job. Assuming, that is, that the organization doesn't feel that more drastic measures are required to rectify your inability to hold your tongue. Do I make myself clear?"

Birman swallowed hard as his tone left no room for argument. "Crystal, sir," she answered in a flat tone.

"Perfect."

"Sir, if I may . . ." when Persia nodded she continued, "why?"

Persia leaned forward as a predatory smile crossed his face, eager to answer her question. "Crawford claims that his team can handle Esset. We will see just how well they 'handle' Esset, but this time they will do so without our help."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Koneko, Dining Room, 7:28 pm

Most everyone had finished eating when Brad finally began to speak. "I have an announcement to make."

"When do you not," Omi interjected sarcastically.

Brad gave him a dark look at which Omi rolled his eyes but remained silent.

"Aya and I have decided to start a family."

The shocked silence that filled the room was deafening. Brad loved every minute of it.

"Does this mean Aya's pregnant?" Ken asked.

"No, I'm not pregnant," Aya stated firmly. "Honestly, Brad, of all the convoluted ways to make this particular announcement this has got to be the most misleading."

Brad scowled at his wife. "Why is it that everybody in this house gets to screw with everyone else's heads except me? Why don't I ever get have any fun?"

Nagi sighed exasperatedly. At this rate the team would never find out. "Brad and Aya have offered to adopt me."

Again the shock overwhelmed and silence prevailed.

Ran finally spoke up. "Congratulations," the telepath said giving Nagi a warm smile.

"Thank you," came the kinetic's soft response.

Brad cleared his throat to get everyone's attention so he could clarify a few things, "Yes, we are adopting Nagi. Everything will be official by this time next week." Before Brad, or anyone else could say more however, the sound of high heels could be heard on the stairs and Birman appeared shortly.

"You have a mission, all of you," she said simply.

Everyone rose and headed for the briefing room.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Briefing Room, 7:45 pm

Once everyone had gotten settled, Birman put the mission tape in and let it role.

"Schatten," the image of Persia began, "this is a yakuza drug-lord and arms dealer known only as Niku. He has recently expanded his enterprise to Kyoto and has re-established his headquarters there. To prevent the police from taking action against him, Niku bribed several members of the government and had several more high-officials assassinated. He has also solicited the help of Kobayashi Nai, a highly placed government official."

As Persia's voice spoke, images flashed on the screen of the targets … and the victims of the crime-lord. "Your mission is to dispatch these two men with all speed. Schatten, deny these dark beasts their tomorrow." The screen went black.

"Here is all the background we have on Kobayashi and Niku," Birman said with a blank face as she passed out the mission folders.

"Why are we being sent to Kyoto?" asked Omi in a puzzled tone. "I mean, why can't a local unit take care of them?"

"The operations Niku has set up are too advanced for the Kyoto units." Birman gave them a piercing look. "It's taking longer than we expected to bring the Kyoto units back up to full strength after Esset gutted us two years ago. Schatten is simply the best unit for the job"

Ran flipped through the last pages of the folder with a frown on his face. He looked up at Birman. "This is everything Kritiker has?" he questioned in a sharp voice.

"Yes, it is," came Birman's reply. "Niku has corrupted or killed so many government officials that getting data has been very difficult. You'll have to do some footwork yourself."

Aya looked up at Birman puzzled. "The brief says we're staying in a hotel. Why aren't we staying in a safe house? Isn't it risky having us out in the open like this, and in a public arena no less?"

"Many of the safe houses are currently be used for training purposes, and Kritiker would prefer not to have to mix in an experienced team such as yourselves with novices. Besides, putting a team the size of Schatten into any of the safe houses in use would be very crowded," Birman replied evenly.

"You're afraid we're going to scare them off," Ken stated matter-of-factly.

When Birman didn't respond, Schuldig rolled his eyes, "Okay, fine, but what about the safe houses that aren't in use? What's wrong with those?"

"The ones that aren't currently in use were compromised during all the Esset activity two years ago. While the Tokyo sector of Kritiker did sustain a majority of the damage, Kyoto was fit fairly hard as well. The truth is we just haven't had the time or the resources to go back and resecure those facilities. Also, we figured that since so many members of Schatten have a distinctly gaijin feel, that you all could pose as tourists for the most part. Those of you that blend with the population can simply be on vacation. Are there any other questions?"

When no one else spoke up, Birman looked at the group in satisfaction. "Excellent," she said coolly, "we expect results by the end of the week." With that she turned on her heel and left.

Once he was certain Birman had left the premises, Yohji looked at the group with a wide grin. "Road Trip!" he exclaimed merrily.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kyoto Hotel, Two Day later, 3:00 pm

The team had spent a good deal of yesterday afternoon, last evening and the morning doing recognizance work before returning for lunch. After that Brad, Ran, Schu and Toma had spent the last few hours pouring over and compiling all the information, so that they could plan the hit that had to be made in the next two days. The longer they stayed the more likely they were to call attention to themselves and become suspects when the massacre they left behind was discovered. So they needed to do this and fast.

"Alright," Brad began, "I think we would do best to hit both targets simultaneously, much like we did with the smuggling ring."

"That's a bad idea," Ran replied with a shake of his head. "With the numbers we were able to see around Niku, we're going to need everyone when we strike the warehouse. Plus, if we have Sakura leading tactical we don't need her having to split her attention for simultaneous attacks on her first run, even if Nagi is here to back her up. We'd also have to keep at least two of the more experienced people we have out of the attack on the warehouse to deal with Kobayashi. He has too much security to do anything less."

Toma leaned forward. "Ran's right. We also need to consider how we're going to deal with other gangs in the surrounding area of the warehouse. We need to set up an approach that will be unnoticed, but will also keep us clear of as much rival/enemy territory as possible. I think I might have seen a way to do that when Ran and I were checking out the area. I think if we use the river-"

"No," Ran interjected, "the rivers that run through that district are watched very closely by all the groups in the area. A few years back, during all the gang wars, that strategy became a favorite way to attack at night. Eventually, the gang wars forced the police to get involved because they were interfering with the commerce that occurred on the river hurting the local economy. The gangs finally agreed to make the rivers neutral territory and also made them boundaries of sorts. If we use the river, it will cause the wars to break out again and that's the last thing we need."

Brad gave Ran a questioning look, "How do you know all this?"

"I did some work in this part of Kyoto when I was with my original training group."

The precog nodded. "Well, then what would you suggest we do?"

"We use roof tops and the main streets to approach the warehouse."

"Why not the allies?" Schu questioned.

"My guess," Toma said thoughtfully, "is that for the time of night we plan on striking, the back streets and allies will be alive with activity because of the area we'll be in. So, if we stick to the shadows of the main streets we should pass by fairly unnoticed, thus maintaining the element of surprise."

"Exactly," the American telepath said. "And if we start out on the outskirts of the yakuza territory we should be able to slip in virtually undetected."

"Fine. Now that we have that settled," Brad began in a slightly irritated voice, "Let's discuss how we are going to take care of Nai. I want to send in three people just to be on the safe side. We can't afford any screw-ups and Nai's office building has enough security that I feel better about sending in three. In fact, I've seen this hit and three is the number. You three to be exact."

Ran looked up from the information and maps he had been studying. "Are you sure sending Toma on a face-to-face hit his first time out is a good idea," he questioned with a frown.

"No, I'm not sure it's a good idea, but I know he is part of the hit team for this particular mission and that you all are successful. I understand your concern, but we are just going to have to let this happen and pick up any pieces later. You and Schu will also be there in case anything goes wrong, and I trust your ability to handle any situations that come up."

"I promise not to freak out," Toma suddenly said sarcastically, slightly annoyed at being talked about as though he wasn't present. Ran started to say something, but Toma cut him off, "Look, if I'm supposed to be there, then I'm not going to leave you two hanging. Also, I can keep it together long enough for us to get back to a safe place if any part of the mission is . . . unsettling."

Ran nodded. His cousin was determined to help which meant there was no stopping him. He was merely going to have to do the best he could to protect Toma and deal with any fall out later.

Schu spoke up. "So we make our hit and then meet at a rendezvous before we go hit the warehouse?"

"Yes."

"No."

Toma looked curiously between Brad and Ran. "So which is it?"

Oracle, not used to having his authority questioned, glared disdainfully at the red head. "What now, Fujimiya?"

Ran matched Crawford's glare. "I think it would be better if we hit Kobayashi the day before giving time for word to circulate around to Niku about his partner's execution. It may cause him to panic and make a mistake. If Niku and his thugs are in a state of panic when we strike, we will have an advantage decreasing the possibility that any of our people will be hurt. It will also make the hit easier in general."

"Or," Crawford countered, "them being in a state of panic could work against us. We could possibly find them in a state of disarray, and then all the adrenaline that is pent up is released when we attack causing them to react more fiercely and violently than they normally would causing an increased probability that one of our people will be hurt and injuries will probably be more severe than they would have been otherwise. The other possibility is that they don't panic, but tighten security around the warehouse making it harder to make the hit, and again increasing the probability of injury to one of our own."

"That's true," Toma agreed, "but they're already constantly on their guard and this hit is going to be difficult no matter what. I mean, isn't that why we were called in to begin with? So shouldn't we at least try and give ourselves every possible advantage, even with the possibility that the plan could back fire. It's not like them deciding to increase fortification is really going to make that much of a difference in the long run."

"Unless you've Seen something that would indicate they are planning to increase fortification and haven't told us," Ran challenged.

Brad shook his head. He hadn't Seen anything of the sort.

Schu decided to put in his two cents. "Toma and Ran are making a lot of sense. I mean, shouldn't we take every advantage we can get, even if it is only minimal?"

After a moment, the precog made a decision. "This is what we are going to do, and there will be no arguments." He gave the others a meaningful look before continuing, "You three will make your hit at Kobayashi's office at approximately 5:30 tomorrow afternoon after sneaking into the building from a back or side entrance. He always stays at work an extra hour just to avoid going home to his wife, so we can be sure he'll still be there and the building will be fairly empty at that point. As soon as you've made the hit 'port out of the office to the alley here behind the hotel and then come in through the front lobby so the cameras see you. There won't be any footage of you on the office security cameras, but on the off chance that a civilian spots you this will give you an alibi; you can't be in two places several blocks apart at the same time after all."

"But we'll still be in our mission gear," Schuldig said. "It won't do us any good to walk into the hotel lobby covered in blood."

"We'll have Aya waiting at one of the service doors that opens into the alley for you to take your mission gear and pass you fresh clothes in the event that it is necessary," Crawford explained. "Now," he continued, "the cleaning crew will be in at six and will find his body. The news stations will find out and run the story. This will give Niku a chance to hear of his partner's untimely demise. If everything works out the way we want it too, then this will give us an advantage, just like Ran suggested. However, in case they decide to fortify, we will hit the warehouse later that night. So we are still fitting the mission into a single night, but if the plan to take out Kobayashi backfires, Niku and his men won't have much time to increase security."

"Sounds good to me," Toma said seriously.

Both telepaths nodded their assent.

"Good," Brad said. "I will leave you three to discuss your part of the mission amongst yourselves while I go inform the rest of the team what we have come up with."

As he left, the three remaining men began making plans.

Hotel, Next day, 5:00 pm

Ran looked at both Schu and Toma giving them a critical once over. All three assassins were dressed in identical black three piece suits for 'effect' as Brad had said. Ran had his katana, Toma his scythe, and Schu was checking the safety on his Bersa. Ran sighed; he really didn't like this.

"Alright, Ocicat," Ran said using Toma's new codename, "We do this just like we did when we were kids, codenames and all."

"Roger that, Abyssinian," Toma replied with a salute.

Nagi suddenly appeared. "We're ready to do the com check now."

"Lead the way, Prodigy." The blue-haired warrior exclaimed with gusto.

Ran rolled his eyes as they followed Nagi into the other room where all the computers and communications equipment had been set up. "Now you're just showing off," he said giving his cousin a mild look.

Nagi passed ear pieces around to the three assassins. "You will be in direct contact with Sakura with these," he explained, more for Toma than the other two. Nagi had no doubt that Toma could work a simple com, but this was his first time on a mission with them, and it was making everyone a little nervous. Once the three men had their earpieces in place, he finished giving them instructions, "Now go back into the other room so we can make sure everything is working properly."

As soon as they had closed the door, Schu heard Sakura in his ear.

"Mastermind, this is Chantilly. Do you copy?"

"Yeah, but you're a little on the soft side. Where is the volume on this thing?"

There was a moment of silence and then she was back again. "Is this better?"

"Much."

"Good, over and out."

"10-4."

Sakura repeated the same process with other two before proclaiming them mission ready.

At that moment Oracle appeared. "Perfect," he said as he surveyed the trio taking in their appearance. "I'm told you're mission ready." He got three nods in response. "Good, commence phase one." Again he got three nods before the group headed out.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kobayashi's Office, 5:31 pm

Ran, Toma and Schu were outside of the office building waiting for Sakura to signal that it was safe for them to enter. For as much as she kept claiming to be nervous, she was doing an excellent job.

"Alright," came Chantilly's voice, "we are go in five, four, three, two, one, now!"

The three assassins strode in with confidence, entering the stairwell silently and beginning their ascent. Fortunately, they only had to climb five flights before they reached the designated floor. They swept down the long corridor towards the office at the end of the hall.

Mastermind was in the lead flanked by Abyssinian and Ocicat. When they reached the office, the German telepath swung the door open without any pretense, and the trio moved in authoritatively.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Kobayashi demanded of the intruders.

Each man fixed him with a deadly gaze in response. He watched as each studied him intently. Each set of eyes seemed to drink in every detail of him. It was very unnerving.

"Can I help you," he inquired much more politely.

At this, each of the well dressed men broke into a wicked smile.

'Wait,' Kobayashi thought frantically, 'they're in suits, they all have ear pieces.' His eyes went wide. 'The upper ranks must have sent them! They must know about my illegal dealings!.' He paled and his hands began to tremble. "Look, you don't have to take me in," he began in a shaky voice as he stood up behind his desk and headed for one of the filing cabinets, "I'll give you as much money as you want. I even have some right here." After opening a drawer, he pulled out a large wad of cash.

As his soon-to-be killers laughed coldly, he finally notice that the two flanking men each held a weapon. These men had not been sent by his superiors.

Smirking, the one in the middle slowly pulled a firearm from inside his jacket while simultaneously retrieving a silencer from another pocket. As he assembled the weapon, he spoke. "We do not want your money," Mastermind sneered. "The only way to pay the devil is with your soul, and we've come to collect."

Kobayashi watched in stunned horror as the orange-haired demon raised the gun swiftly and put three bullets in his chest. He looked down bringing a hand up to touch the warm crimson that was quickly staining his shirt before collapsing.

"Phase one complete," Abyssinian said coldly into his com while grabbing his teammates, so they could make their escape.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Niku's Headquarters, 2:14 am

Toma looked over at Shay, who was on the rooftop adjacent to him. "Are you ready, Nebelung?"

"Affirmative," she replied, "and you?"

"Are you kidding? I was born ready."

Shay couldn't help but smile at the response. It reminded her so much of when they had first met. She knew the others probably thought Toma wasn't taking this seriously, but she knew just the opposite was true. If he was joking that meant he was ready, it meant he was at his most focused, and that made her feel good, safe, confident.

Prodigy's voice suddenly came over their coms. "It looks like they tightened things up instead of panicking like we wanted."

"Is everyone in position?" Chantilly inquired. After receiving a round of affirmative responses, Sakura checked to see that everything else was in order. "It looks like they've had enough time to increase their numbers by fifty percent, so watch yourselves." She took a deep breath before giving the final order, "Execute phase two."

On her command, Schatten emerged from the shadows in a whirlwind of terror striking from every direction. Niku's henchmen fought back fiercely. Bullets whizzed by continuously as the group of assassins penetrated to the inner sanctum of the warehouse.

Brad and Ran infiltrated the converted fortress from the north and east entrances respectively, while Far and Ken had converged on a large group of guards gathered in the loading bay on the south side of the building. Schu entered above Brad from an adjacent roof top through the large windows that lined the top of the building and landed neatly on one of the catwalks. Omi did the same on the east side to give Ran any cover he might need. Yohji used his wire to swing into the building, but instead of landing on a catwalk, he allowed himself to drop to the ground, taking the guards inside the loading bay waiting to ambush Ken and Far by surprise.

The warehouse had once been a factory, but all the heavy machinery had been removed leaving a large space which had been filled with crates of all shapes and sizes. They were piled high with mazelike paths running between the mountains of boxes. About two thirds of the way up was a series of catwalks which were accessible via a metal staircase tucked in the southwest corner. Along the catwalk on the west wall were a series of small offices, and one large office with a large paned window which had formerly belonged to the foreman of the establishment.

"Do we have a visual on the target?" Oracle demanded in a loud voice. He was currently in a fire fight with two of Niku's thugs and was pinned down behind several large crates severely limiting his visibility. "Mastermind, what the hell are you doing up there?"

"You're not the only one getting shot at," was the telepath's hasty reply. "And, yes, I do have a visual. He's on the floor with two body guards – shit!" Mastermind ducked and rolled as a steady stream of fire pushed him back.

"Mastermind, how do I get to the target," came Abyssinian's voice.

"I can't tell from here, it's all a bunch of mazes, but he's headed for the stairs."

"Copy that. I'm headed that way." he paused and looked up at the catwalk above him, "Bombay, you with me. I'm going to need you to help me intercept him."

"Roger that. Just start moving and I'll lead the way."

"Alright, let's move."

As the fight continued, more and more of Niku's thugs were running out of ammo turning what had started out as a fire fight into an all out brawl. As each of the enemy threw down their guns they quickly armed themselves with clubs, pipes and chains. The problem was, they didn't seem to be thinning out any. If nothing else, they seemed to be getting more numerous.

"Sweet Mary mother of Jesus," Ken exclaimed through gasps of air. "Chantilly, where the hell are all these guys coming from?"

"They're filtering in from the outer parts of the territory," Sakura replied. "It appears the initial fire fight drew the attention of surrounding yakuza members, and the ones that showed up after the fact must have called for reinforcements."

"That doesn't explain why the hell it isn't getting any better in here," Balinese growled.

"Ditto," Schu replied.

Suddenly Prodigy's voice came in over the com link. "I just finished a thermal scan of the building and from what I can tell they reopened that basement that was supposed to be closed off, so you have guys coming up from beneath you."

"Shit," Oracle hissed. "How the hell did we miss that?"

Omi spoke up, "There's no way anyone could have known –"

"Siberian, Berserker, you have incoming at ten o'clock," Chantilly broke in. Even as she gave the warning, she saw Yohji take a blow that sent him sprawling off balance. "Balinese is in trouble," she said desperately.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Ran cursed as pandemonium broke out all around the warehouse. He was currently isolated deep within the maze of crates rendering him completely unable to assist his teammates, and he couldn't afford to turn back. They had to take out the target; they had to complete this mission. Finally, the red-head made a quick decision.

"Bombay, go cover Balinese."

"But –"

"I'll be fine! Go, now! That's an order!"

Omi dashed off to aid the older blonde leaving Abyssinian to his own devices.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Yohji felt the chain hit his knee as an immediate, sharp pain spiked up his leg. Instantly, he knew that this was the end. He was going down and there was no one there to save him. He deserved to die alone though; that's how Asuka had died after all. He certainly didn't deserve anything better. But honestly, he hadn't expected it to be so soon. They weren't even fighting Esset for crying out loud, just a bunch of Yakuza scum. Oh well, the team would probably be better off without him, and he would finally be able to rest, to see her again. As Balinese resigned himself to his fate, a crazy battle cry filled the warehouse echoing bizarrely inside the closed space. He looked up sharply to see a blue-haired warrior falling from the sky scythe in hand.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Toma had been waiting in the smaller of the two offices on the west side of the building while Shay was next door in the main office. He and Shay had been assigned these spaces in the event that the target was there, and if not they were to remain there in the event that Niku attempted to escape via either avenue. However, when Ocicat had heard that Balinese was in trouble, he had gone flying out the door and over the railing without a second thought. He was not going to just standby while one of his teammates died! Screw the target!

Ocicat landed just above his fellow assassin and began a vicious attack. He sliced through everyone that tried to come near them twirling the scythe with astounding skill and grace.

As blood spilled all around them, arrows and darts began raining down. Balinese staggered back to his feet regaining his wits as the realization that he was not going to die tonight sank in fully. The lanky assassin rejoined the battle full force smiling as he finally witnessed fear in the eyes of his opponents.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Abyssinian had begun moving swiftly through the maze after Bombay had left him, but with every attempt he made to reach the staircase in the far corner of the building, he only seemed to get further away.

'Screw this' he thought hastily.

He ported himself to the catwalk directly above him. He quickly spotted the target and his body guards. They were just reaching the stairs. In the next second, he stood in front of them katana drawn. He wasted no time going in for the strike, but one of the guards interfered. Metal hit metal in a sharp clang as the red-haired telepath's blade came into contact with the gun barrel.

'Maelstrom, move NOW!'

The swordsman obeyed immediately, but it wasn't enough to keep the bullet the other guard had fired from grazing just across the top of his hip and taking a fair amount of flesh with it. Ran grunted in pain as he staggered back slightly looking up just in time to notice that Niku himself had a gun pointed at him. He turned quickly in an attempt to dodge the second bullet only to have it graze the back of his shoulders. Pain seared through his back as he hit the ground with a solid thud. As his self-preservation instincts kicked in, he ported back up to the walk where he knew Schu was waiting.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

When the assassin had disappeared into thin air, Niku had taken the opportunity to continue with his escape.

"Nebelung, the target is headed straight for you," Mastermind warned his sister quickly. "Maelstrom is down;" he continued, "his injuries aren't fatal, but he's going to need some TLC when we get back to base though."

"Copy that," Prodigy answered quickly, "we'll pass the information along to Korat. She'll be ready and waiting."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Shay drew the sword he had borrowed from Ran for this mission, and tensed with anticipation. She knew she had to be ready to strike as soon as the target came through the door.

When the door finally swung open, the drug lord barely had a chance to register that someone else was in the room before his head was separated from the rest of his body. Shayna had taken the quickest, cleanest kill shot she knew, and as she watched the target's head roll away from her, she regretted it. There was nothing honorable about killing this way, and she didn't like it. The deed was already done, however, and now they needed to get out of here while they still could.

"Mission complete," Nebelung stated quickly.

"Everybody pull out now," Chantilly commanded.

All the assassins obeyed.

2:29 am

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Koneko, Brad's Office, 11:07 am

Brad looked up as his wife entered his office. He quickly noted her disheveled appearance and the dark circles under her eyes, and running a hand through his unruly hair realized he probably didn't look much better.

They had returned to the hotel by three a.m. and had quickly packed up and moved out within two hours. In those two hours, Aya had managed to make sure their injured were stable enough for the long trip home.

"How are they?" Crawford finally asked.

Aya walked around and leaned against his desk looking at him. "Yohji and Far are both pretty banged up. Yohji took a pretty bad blow to his knee. He needs to stay off of it for the rest of the day, but then he needs to start getting around as much as he can. He'll have a bit of a limp for the next couple of days, but over time it should heal completely. He actually got lucky. It must have been a glancing blow because if it had been a head on hit I'm fairly certain it would have shattered his kneecap." She yawned briefly before continuing, "He also sustained some pretty deep knife wounds, and he's got a black eye, split lip, and a badly bruised jaw as well as other minor cuts and bruises."

Crawford sighed. "Sounds like he got the worst of it."

"Yeah, seems like it," the empath concurred.

"What about your brother and Far?"

"Ran caught two bullets, but both grazed him, though the one near his hip was pretty deep. He lost a good amount of blood, but with some rest he should be fine. Far just got beat up real bad. He incurred several cuts and he's covered in bruises, not to mention several cracked ribs to go with a nasty bump on the head. Nothing really new for him, but it's worse than usual. Everyone else either had very minor cuts and bruises or came away clean."

"That's everything?" the precog questioned.

"All the physical damage . . . I don't think you have time for my assessment of the emotional and mental status of the team."

The American closed his eyes and sighed. "How bad is it?"

"Shay's the worst after having to make the kill. She really wasn't ready for that yet. I think maybe you should talk with her. I mean Toma and Schu will take care of her, but I think something coming from you would really go a long way," Aya finished.

Brad nodded, "If you'll send her my way, I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you sweetheart," she said as she leaned in and gave him a kiss.

"You're welcome," he replied, "and after you talk to Shay you should go rest, I'll be upstairs in a bit."

Aya had only been gone a few moments before Nagi and Sakura appeared in his office. Brad suppressed a sigh before asking curtly, "What?"

Sakura was a little shocked at his tone and quickly began back tracking, "We can come back later if this is a bad time."

When the precog saw the perplexed looks both teenagers were giving him, he realized his tone had been overly harsh and amended his previous statement, "No, I'm sorry for snapping, what was it you came to tell me?"

"Um . . ." Nagi began since Sakura looked very uncomfortable, "Sakura and I have been going over all the information that Shay hacked for us and –"

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, yes, I figured since Shay was in the main office there might be a computer there with some valuable information that Kritiker could use in the future, so while she was waiting at her post I isolated her com feed to a private frequency between the two of us and walked her through how to take down computers security systems. It gave me quick and easy remote access which allowed us to pretty much copy everything off their system."

Sakura jumped in finally. "We've been going over all the information since we started back from Kyoto and we sort of found something."

This was bad, Brad was sure of it. He had noticed that 'sort of' seemed to be Sakura's qualifier for any sort of overly negative instance like when she told him how Birman had 'sort of' threatened the three youngest members of his team. In fact, Sakura's 'sort ofs' acted much like one of Aya's 'oh dears.' "What did you find?" he asked reluctantly.

Nagi took it upon himself to break the news. "Niku and his men weren't Yakuza," he hesitated for a moment, "they were Esset."

When their leader broke into a string of expletives, both teens were shocked. After a few moments though, the American recomposed himself and then spoke. "Alright," he said slowly, "this is actually the best news I've heard all morning. It explains a lot of what happened during the hit, both that which we expected and that which we didn't."

Brad shook his head. "Honestly, I was rather concerned about our performance tonight, but the fact that we were fighting Esset and not Yakuza changes everything." He gave the pair an approving look. "Excellent work, both of you. I'll need both of you, as well as Omi, to start trying to track down where they were getting their orders from immediately. Hopefully we can find the base and hit it before they relocate; it would be a great victory for us. But first, I want you both to get some sleep. You've been working non-stop, and the team can't afford to lose either of you to illness or a burn out, so sleep, now."

Nagi and Sakura both nodded and headed out of the office. Almost immediately, Shay poked her head in.

"Aya said you wanted to speak with me?" she asked.

"Yes, please come in and have a seat," Crawford answered. As she moved into the office, he continued. "I wanted to start by saying that you were invaluable to this mission, as you showed through your actions, and you did very well on your first time out." At the dark look that crossed the woman's face Brad sighed, "But that's not how you feel about what happened, is it?"

"There was nothing honorable about what I did. I just killed him. He wasn't a threat to me or any of us and he hadn't attacked me, and I just killed him with no pretense except that it was what I was told to do by an aloof organization who decided he deserved to die. What gives them that right, to judge like that, and then for me to mindlessly carry out their orders because that's what is expected of me. That's not who I am, and that's not who I want to be."

"Really, because from what I understand you were very good about following Naga Shado's orders when you were helping him take over other realms and casting them into eternal darkness."

Shay paled. "That's not fair," she said through gritted teeth as tears gathered in her eyes, "I didn't have a choice. If this is what you asked me to come talk about then I'm leaving. In fact, I'll pack my things and be gone by nightfall. That will fix all our problems." She stood abruptly and headed for the door.

'Shit.' Realizing he had to fix this before it caused an uproar, Brad set himself to a hasty apology. "Wait," he said as he rose to follow her.

Schu's twin turned an angry, hurt look on the precog, "What do you want now?" she practically snarled.

"I wasn't trying to insult or upset you just now. I was trying to show you how little of a difference there was between what you did earlier this morning and what you did to survive during your time away from Earth. I'm sorry for hurting you. That was not my intention." Her eyes softened as the tension and anger drained from body leaving behind very discernable guilt and shame. "Look, the first time you do this job it is never easy, and the way you feel right now is completely normal. And you're right, there is nothing honorable about this line of work, but it is necessary. And you are necessary to this team. If it will make you feel better, I can pull you out of the field for a while and give you a chance to work through this and get accustomed to the idea of some of things you are going to have to do, but eventually I will need you to fight, and I will need you to be willing to do whatever is necessary to win this war. The people we are fighting play dirty which means we are going to have to do the same, but always remember that I will never ask you to do anything that I wouldn't do myself."

Shay nodded. "Alright."

The American felt relief sweep through him when he was sure he had averted an impending crisis. Sometimes, he swore that with the way he handled women that it was a miracle Aya ever agreed to marry him. "Very good," he said, "I can replace you with Nagi next mission, and I'll have Omi give you a crash course in computers so you can act as Sakura's back-up. Is that acceptable?"

Shay nodded again. She hated to show any weakness to this man, but she knew that until she was able to work some of these feelings out she would be a danger to the other members of the team. The last thing she wanted to do was endanger her new family even if they were off to somewhat of a rocky start.

"Alright, that settles everything. You should go get some rest; it's been a long day."

"You should too. You look like hell."

Brad grimaced at Shayna's back as she walked out his office. Deciding that she was probably right, he turned out the light and followed her lead.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Secluded building just outside Tokyo, 4 days later, 11:13 pm

It had taken less than two days for the techie trio (as everyone had taken to calling Omi, Nagi, and Sakura) to track down the Esset base that was giving Niku orders. Brad had met little resistance from Kritiker concerning Schatten's plans to attack the base. In fact, they could have, and would have, made the hit last night, but Aya had thrown a fit, saying her patients needed at least one more days rest before they went on another. In the end, Brad had decided that they would need everyone as close to one hundred percent as possible, so they had waited.

The women of Schatten were at the Koneko running tactical and waiting for any injured while the men silently approached the old run down mansion that served as the enemy base.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Inside the building, a group of over thirty Esset agents waited anxiously for the arrival of Schatten intent on destroying them. Finally, one of the telepaths gave the signal that the enemy group was approaching.

One of the Esset snipers smiled to himself. 'This is too easy," he thought snidely. 'I'm going to enjoy this.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Schatten entered into a large, dark space which was mostly empty except for a few dilapidated pieces of furniture and some columns.

'Place doesn't exactly give you that warm fuzzy feeling of home now does it,' Schuldig sent in an attempt to release some nervous tension.

'Focus,' Brad commanded sharply silencing the German.

As the rest of the team entered the building Ran noted how unique the interior design was. Sure, he had seen the floor plans when they were planning the hit, but seeing the place in person was quite different. They had entered into a foyer which basically had a very large square hole cut in the ceiling above it that was lined with railing because there were hallways on each side on the upper floor and then there was another floor above that. The building was huge and the enemy could be anywhere, and that definitely didn't work in their favor. Ran sighed. He didn't have a good feeling about this.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Omi clambered up to the second floor balcony soundlessly to take his position. He was there only long range assassin tonight, so he had been positioned up high. Not that he minded, it was where he preferred to be really.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Esset sniper smiled viciously when his target came into view. 'Like shooting fish in a barrel.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Just as Schatten was getting ready to split up, everyone blinked in shock as they were blinded by a sudden light. Gun fire suddenly ripped through the air and Schatten scattered as everyone dove for whatever cover they could find.

Ran looked up in an attempt to spot some of their assailants. Suddenly he froze, his complexion paling noticeably.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Schu looked in Ran's directions when he picked up alarm and panic from the red-head. When he finally spotted him, he followed the other telepath's gaze. A cold chill went down his spine.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The Esset sniper positioned his crosshairs carefully. He didn't intend on missing the young blonde.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

The panic surging through both telepaths finally pushed them into action. Ran screamed silently at Omi while Schu yelled at Brad.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

At that very instant, the trigger on the sniper rifle depressed, the shot echoed sickeningly drowning out everything else. The sniper watched as his target slumped to the floor. 'Mission accomplished.'

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Who can say what fate lies ahead for Schatten? And what of Omi? Was he picked because of situational convenience or deliberately targeted? Hardship lies before Schatten now, and before they can continue with their self-declared war, they must first escape the hell zone they have found themselves in. With one team member down, will they succeed? Or will some be captured by Esset, tortured, or perhaps even killed? Schatten dared to throw the gauntlet at Esset. This massive organization has not taken this taunting well and has mobilized to destroy Schatten.

And much lies ahead, still. What shall Birman do when faced with a choice that can lead to her death? Can Schatten survive the war of wills that will soon arise between Ran and Brad as they battle for leadership? And what of Kritiker? This so-called force for good has shown itself to be as manipulative and vindictive as Esset. What actions shall they take when all is finally revealed?

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