It was cold.
His right arm throbbed with each beat of his heart and his head felt like someone had given his skull a good shake and let his brain bounce around on the inside. "Uugh. I feel like crap."
He murmured without opening his eyes and a dry voice said beside him, "That is to be expected. You were clinically dead for about thirty seconds." Purple eyes snapped open and he sat up, wincing as a needle tugged against his injured arm. "I guess we can take you off the i.v now." Vlad muttered, his tone indicating that he wasn't happy with the current situation.
"I told them not to adjust the time for the surgery, that it was best to keep it under a half an hour, but did they listen? Nooo…" They were in the examination room and alone by the looks of it.
He slid the needle out, put a bandage on the tiny hole, and tapped a metallic device Aisoku hadn't noticed was around his neck. "You have any idea what this is for? They won't tell me."
"N… no. I was dead?" So that's why Krad… He fingered the metal band. It was thick, flat against his skin and had no distinguishing marks besides the fact it was made of- he counted- nine different sections. "Well, yeah…" Vlad sighed. "They're blaming me though, because I didn't give them an outline for a surgery for a longer time. I'll be sent back in…two days, I think?" He scratched his hair and gave Aisoku a long look. "You're the phantom thief's son right? If you have any plans to get out of here, I'd do them as soon as your arm heals- about when I'll be leaving."
"Hmm." Was all Aisoku said because the room was probably bugged. His fingers were still exploring the band, searching for a weak seam. The back of the collar was much heavier than the front and he couldn't slide it around his neck at all. In fact even getting just his nail under it all he felt was more smooth metal. How did they even get this on him? And more importantly how the heck was he supposed to get it off? "I'm supposed to escort you back to your room. They seem to trust me with that much, at least." Vlad helped him up. "Can I take a shower or something first?"
Aisoku didn't mean for that whiny tone to sneak in but at the same time, could almost feel the layer of grime on his skin. And he wasn't about to ask if he needed one. "Yeah- just leave the gauze on- I'll tell Inessa to rewrap it later." He went and retrieved a towel and some soap from a closet down the hallway, and a set of clothes that Vlad admitted were his, "But the ones they got for you were at least two sizes to small so…" Aisoku unfolded the shirt and shrugged, "It looks like they'll fit. I'll have to cut slits for my wings though. Thank you." Vlad made a little wounded sound as they stood in front of the bathroom door. "Do you have to butcher my shirt? I liked that one."
"Your- well alright." The sheets in his 'room' seemed thick enough to let him sleep with no shirt on. As he stepped inside he raised an eyebrow as Vlad leaned against the wall.
"Uh, you can go, you know." The black-haired man shook his head. "Not really. I'm not supposed to let you be 'unattended'." Aisoku snorted.
"I'm not gonna do anything. I'm just a harmless little injured boy remember?" Vlad wrinkled his nose. "Mm hmm. If it makes you feel better I'm gonna sneak a book as soon as you close that door." Aisoku did and waited until he heard the footsteps down the hallway before stripping and turning on the water. Just as his hand touched the water he jerked back with a startled curse. It was absolutely ice cold. His wing feathers fluffed and the curves hugged his shoulders. He waited a good five minutes before the water became bearably warm, and then soaped up his hair and body. Well, his escape wouldn't be all that hard once his arm was back in order. He stared down at it reproachfully. It hurt to rotate his wrist, to even flex it tight enough to hold the soap.
Oh well- he'd always been a fast healer.
"You just…let them go." Satoshi said coldly, dragging Daisuke aside so they could avoid riling the two twins up.
"Have you lost your mind, Niwa? Do you not remember the relationship Krad has with his tamers- what he had with me?" His usually smooth voice became glottal as he sat heavily into a smooth plastic bench and Daisuke realized with a sinking feeling that he had pushed a grown man close to snapping. "I remember but Satoshi near the end you and he were switching bodies willingly…I thought-" The front of the redhead's shirt constricted as Satoshi grabbed him suddenly by the collar.
"Well, whatever you thought, you were wrong! Any understanding I may have had with him ended the moment he was reborn in my son's body."
His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed the sudden burst of anger and he added, "He's made that…quite clear."
Looking into the redhead's wide doe-like eyes the blunette realized he really wasn't mad at Daisuke at all- he was mad at himself. Mad for not preparing his son for Krad and all that he could, and most likely would do. Mad because so many happy Krad-free years had gone by he'd almost forgotten the fate of the Hikari men. Daisuke put a hand around the Hikari's clenched marble wrist, noticed it was shaking. "I'm sorry-" Satoshi dropped his hand and sat back down and his hands slid up to cover his eyes.
"Niwa… A person from your clan couldn't understand. When Risa and I found out we were going to have a boy… we cried. We thought we could get away from that, at least for a while."
His voice got quieter and Niwa almost had to lean in to hear, "Even now Kiryu could be in pain-and I'm not there-I can't protect him from-" The Hikari swallowed once, twice and when he lifted his eyes they were clear, the redness around cornflower blue the only sign he'd been under any emotional stress. "I'm going after them." The redhead looked down. He hadn't realized that Satoshi's job of taming the yellow-eyed blonde hadn't translated to his son. This complicated things- it meant the only one who could keep Krad under control…was Dark, since Kiryu was obviously not made of the same steel of his father. "I want to come with you." Satoshi shook his head.
"Niwa, I don't want you to be at the mercy of him. I may be old but I'm the only other person besides the phantom thief who can stop him if he decides… to do something rash. You know that he would do anything to get Aisoku back." He shook his head once more.
"No- I'm the chief of police- I should have enough ties up-top to let this little passport mix-up slide." Niwa's eyes widened. "But Risa won't want you to go by yourself."
"I think she'll understand. She will be much safer here, and Riku as well." Satoshi stood up again, the lines of his body taunt with tension. The redhead murmured, " I know." and cleared his throat. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to get them involved in the first place." Satoshi snorted.
"Perhaps. She won't be happy of course. But the she always was one to put up a fight." His voice held a twinge of fondness. The Hikari turned to head back and after a moment the redhead matched his quick pace and they walked back to their wives side by side in a tired, but comfortable silence.
"Nuh?" Dark rubbed his eyes and stretched, glancing around at the unfamiliar ceiling. Well, it wasn't the first time he'd woken up in a strange hotel with no recollection of the night before.
Wha-What! Kyo stuttered and Dark nudged him back into sleep so he could get a good idea of what was going on. He rolled over and was surprised to see bright blonde hair spreading out in tendrils on the blue and white sheets of the bed next to him. Huh. Usually I don't go for blondes. He must have really lost track of things. His brain still muddled from sleep, Dark detangled himself from his sheets and clad in only his usual purple boxers, slipped into the bed next to him and cuddled up to the form in it.
"Mooornin'…" He purred into the woman's ivory-colored ear.
Just at the second he realized that the shoulders he was hugging were rather-well, wide, the blonde rolled over and stared at him with his mouth agape.
"Dark?" Silence. Outside the hotel, a flock of geese took off in alarm as a cry of disgust ripped across the barren fields.
"G-god dammit Krad what the Hell!" Dark had fallen off the bed in his mad scramble to get away from the hunter and was now gesticulating wildly from his spot on the floor.
"I could say the same to you, you pervert!" He accentuated the last word with a half-assed kick at Dark's head. " I'm not another one of your flings, okay?" The blonde was red up to his ears and flung his sheets and pillow viciously in Dark's direction, the pillow connecting with a solid 'thwack'. "Oaw! That hurt you damn girly-man!" Krad rubbed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh."It's not my fault you misidentify me so easily. So much for a good night's sleep…" The thief emerged from the pile of sheets, one cheek slightly more red than the other and announced,
"I'm going to take a shower. Don't you dare do anything …weird while I'm gone." Yellow eyes looked at him with a distinctly bored expression.
"I think you've already won the award for the weirdest wake-up call. I don't know if I'll be able to top that." The phantom gritted his teeth. "Why I- you- it was…" He walked over to the bathroom stiff-legged and just as he was about to slam the door when Krad said casually, "You will be missing breakfast if you take longer than seven minutes." His tan hand froze in midair as Krad walked past him and opened the front door to their room, weaving their only key slowly between his fingers. "Bye bye now."
"Krad-!" The door clicked shut and Dark yanked on a pair of jeans before sprinting out after him. He glanced back and forth down the tan colored hall and raised an eyebrow. Krad was fast but he wasn't that fast. He strode down the hallway, checking every corner, but when it became apparent his other half was no longer on the same floor he growled mutedly and started down the stairs. Maybe somehow Krad had made it to the stairwell without him noticing. Either way he still really needed breakfast. As soon as the third-floor hallway was completely empty a small anomaly appeared underneath one of the brighter halogen light bulbs. It shimmered and grew, stretching down onto the floor and up almost six feet before finally settling on the shape of a smug seventeen year old blonde. He twirled the room key once happily and went down to the opposite end of the hallway, where the other stairwell led straight to the breakfast room. Krad naturally arrived back at the room before his other half and was enjoying a glass of milk with pancakes and a three-egg omelet when he heard the padding gait of his other half.
He put his glass down, clicked he timer on his watch, and picked up a fork.
Within fifteen seconds his other self was inside, spreading out his rather opulent breakfast onto their table and giving Krad a small glare before digging into his food. "Just keeping you sharp." Krad said with a small grin. "I'm thinking the security on base will be more advanced than a simple card-lock." The phantom said between gulps and Krad nodded.
"Indeed. What's our plan of action as far as narrowing down which base Aisoku is in? You mentioned at least three before." Dark pointed his egg-laden fork at Krad.
"That's where you come in. Or at least, in part. I won't even have to get inside if you can tell where he is- theoretically I figured we'd just drive out to all three, figure out which one he's in and go from there." He took an enormous glug of orange juice and continued, "That neighbor guy had only worked at one- the sovetskaya research station- so he wasn't sure if that was where they were keeping him now, since the company works at all three areas." Krad had finished his omelet and was busy drowning his pancake in a mix of syrup and butter. He was about to point out that the sense he shared of Aisoku's well-being wasn't exactly as accurate as a locator, but it'd probably work well enough.
"We should drive out to the one farthest away first, then." Dark nodded, unable to speak as he'd just placed an enormous amount of bacon in his mouth.
When he'd swallowed he asked, "Yeah. In Khabarovski. But how is he, buy the way?" and Krad paused for a moment.
"Fairly well. They've injured one of his arms... But he's not in an enormous amount of pain." Dark's grin faltered. "Oh. Well we should go catch a cab pretty soon because I rescheduled the rental car meeting for eleven, so…" He trailed off as Krad's gaze pierced him and barked, "What?" The White Wings startled a bit, almost dropping the last bit of pancake from his fork. "Oh. Hmm." Dark prodded him with his knife. "What? What is it?" Krad shook his head, "Nothing." and removed from his mind the thought that the soft amethyst of Dark's eyes brought him any comfort.
They certainly weren't the same as Aisoku's at all-not one bit.
"How long is it going to take us?" Dark put his plastic dishes in the trash and estimated "About the whole day really- seven hours to get there." By the time Krad had finished Dark was already ready to go and had somehow managed to catch a cab for them, which was already parked in the overhang at the front of their hotel. "What kind of rental are we getting anyway?" Krad grumbled as he pulled his hood tighter. It had begun to snow again, and added to a severe wind was pummeling all the warmth out of his already too-lean body. "I dunno. They'll have it for us when we get there." The thief answered a little too cheerfully. Krad narrowed his eyes at him as they climbed into the cab. In reality Dark had already put in an order for a Rolls-Royce Phantom which, although wasn't in any way stealthy was in every way stylish. Besides, he'd always wanted to drive one and they attracted chicks like crazy.
From the right seat Krad muttered, "I hope you didn't put an order in for anything..flashy. We're not here on vacation, and that might attract unwanted attention."
Psh. If it'd been up to you you woulda had me driving some dinky minivan. Instead of responding he cleared his throat and looked out as they passed a particularly gothic-style church.
"Dark." He blinked innocently.
"What?" Krad crossed his arms, his black boots still coated in half-melted snow.
"What kind of car did you order." In the front seat Krad saw the driver incline his head to listen for Dark's answer. "You know, a compact. So- how come your all curled up like that?" The change of subject worked; Krad frowned and buried himself deeper in his jacket. "If you must know I am not well-suited to cold climates." Dark was perfectly fine in his jacket, even a bit on the warm side. "Aww Kraddykins. You want my jacket?" As he unzipped the black coat Krad sneered at him, "No. If you ever call me that again I'll kill you." and Dark paused. Only for a minute though. Just long enough to see a shiver pass through the blonde's body. "Take it Krad."
Krad's lip curled. " No." Another awkward pause and then Dark's temper got the better of him.
"You'll take it and you'll like it got dammit!" With that he leapt at the hunter and there was a brief scuffle.
"Get off me- child molester!" The cab driver watched from his mirror with interest.
"Oh that's rich considering you- you ax murderer!"
Bang.
"It only happened once-!" Kick, flail.
"You egotistical, conceited-rrgh!" There was a thud.
"No-no, you cat burglar! Purse-snatcher! Mugger! Auug….curses." Krad sat with his pink lip sticking out in an unhappy pout, trussed up tight as a Christmas turkey in Dark's jacket. His face was flushed and his blonde hair had escaped some of his ponytail, trailing down one shoulder. As added insurance the thief was holding both ends of the jacket down on either side and grinned at the blonde in triumph. Just as he did the taxi driver made an illegal u turn into a parking space and announced in Russian that they had arrived. Krad sighed in relief as Dark turned to pay the man and promptly detangled himself, shoving the furred hood down over the thief's head before freezing in place at the sight of the vehicle they were to be taking.
"A Rolls Royce Phantom. You- you got us a…"
"Heheh." Dark jangled the keys merrily and didn't give Krad a chance to process his decision before shoving him in and driving off. They took turns as they drove, switching off every two hours, and spent most of that time letting their tamers rest and adjust to the time zone change. As soon as they managed to pull up to the building Dark parked the car on the edge of the chain link fence and asked, "So? Can you sense him here stronger at all?"waking Krad up from what had been a nice nap. "Hmm. Stay quiet for a second." He glanced for a moment at the building. It was a sprawling concrete monster with narrow beady windows, large cameras on each black-streaked corner, and a single light grey door near one end. Krad closed his eyes and reached out as he had before, trying to ignore the thief's soft breathing and shuffling. Honestly, why is he always so restless? Aside from the fact they had been in the car for almost seven hours already.
His link to Aisoku wasn't tugging him in the direction of the building. Actually it was telling him to go back, ever so faintly. Back and slightly left.
"No. He isn't here."
"Damn." The phantom said softly and scratched his head. "Ah, well. At least we won't ever have to drive out to this place again." When Krad didn't respond he glanced over at him and was surprised to see the muscles in his orchid-white neck were taunt as steel. "Krad?"
"If we had flown we could have cut this time in half." Dark jerked a thumb at the window.
"Uh, blizzard conditions? We'd be lucky not to get hypothermia and die." Krad made a little impatient hissing noise.
"I am tired of dilly-dallying around this wasteland of countryside when my son is…" Dark leaned back in the seat as he turned the car around and a few strands of purple fell over his eyes.
"I'm doing the best I can, Krad. We can't go pillaging and destroying until we find him, okay? I'm… getting antsy too." He did look it- his tan hands were tightly strapped against the steering wheel and there was an almost fevered gleam in his eyes. Krad closed his eyes and whispered almost to himself, "It hurts to be away from him."
"Yeah it's called missing someone." Dark muttered as he adjusted the rearview mirror. "I know what it's called." Krad said sharper than he intended, then settled back and curled up in the direction of the window, away from Dark. "I thought the anger that comes with it would fade off." Dark chucked a little."You've never really been that kinda a person. You don't let things go easily." Krad raised an eyebrow. "And you would let this go?"
"Oh Hell no. I just don't get nearly as mad as you." The hunter looked at him for a moment and acknowledged, "Hmm. I suppose in that's one of your more agreeable points. I'm letting my tamer take over now." Dark shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Kiryu and I are bff's." The White Wings snorted. "Don't blame me if that comes to bite you." Before Dark could retort Krad had already transformed and Kiryu asked in a plainly tired voice, "You mind if I just kinda sleep? I'm not to transforming this much…" Dark turned down the radio.
"Go right ahead. Kyo's taking a nap up here as well." He tapped his temple. "I hope you find him soon." He offered as his blue eyes closed and Dark said quietly, "It'd be best for all of us, I think."
Woot! Another chappie done. Review please!