TwinsOfABlackRose

Claire walked down the street quickly, his irritated glare staring down at the snowy footpath. Why was Firo chasing him? Okay fine, he could see why he wanted to protect Czes but they knew each other longer. It wasn't fair. Was this anger? Jealousy he felt? He shook his head turning around.
"Where's tha brat?" He spat.

"Whoa whoa Claire calm down," Firo moved his hands gently coming to a stop, "listen I'm sure we can work this out peacefully y'know?"

"No," Claire said, he could say that the brat tried to kill him but he would not and was not prepared to admit weakness especially to Firo, "anyway I think I know where I can find him," he said with a smile continuing to walk. Claire tried to block out Firo's voice from behind him and quickly slid down the small curb and started to go across the road. Or at least he tried to.

"Nghn..." he grunted clasping his leg.

"Claire!" Firo ran down attempting to lift him up, "You're injured aren't you? What do ya think ya doin' trying to take on a kid in dis state?"

"Leave me alone and mind your own business," he said stepping up starting to limp toward the train station, Luck would be coming back soon. He had to apologize for what he did to his handkerchief. He wasn't bothered with the brat at the moment, "Czeslaw isn't at the train station right?"

"No..." Firo replied standing and following Claire, "he's at home with Ennis...why do you ask?" He got ready to either hold back Claire or run back home if he chose to do that. But something told him that the assassin would do no such thing.

"Good," he said with a smile, "no one will be interfering then!"

~~~~

Claire waited with a coffee in his hand for the train to stop, he watched as the passengers piled off and he walked over to Luck as he got off, "You would not believe my week," he said handing the coffee to his older brother, "but I think I've got it all worked out and I know you've been worrying so I want you to know you can stop."

Luck glanced down at the coffee than back at Claire, "You okay Clai-...Vino?" He corrected himself quickly not looking for another talk from Claire. He looked over his shoulder and saw Firo with his normal look and a smile.

"Yeah," he said starting to walk. He said nothing about his double-limp and his toes dragging along the ground and the bandages around his fingertips. Luck stared at them with a small frown but he too said nothing knowing that if he had gone through that much he probably didn't want to talk.

"Anyway I need to tell you something..." Claire said walking around a corner, his aim; to find somewhere that Czeslaw Meyer and Graham Spector could not and would not be able to find him.

Luck nodded following him, "If you say so..."

Firo followed along silently watching Claire's feet, all the while wondering what had been going on. This was something he needed to stick his nose into.

LOKIforDREAMS

Claire limped with his brother out the where the Flying Pussyfoot was being reconstructed after Graham had gotten done with it. Luckily, the maniac had left all the pieces lying on the ground intact, so work was proceeding smoothly. "Look, bro, while you were gone, I kinda-"

He was cut off by footsteps. He would have guessed it was Firo, but these were much too light, and anyways Firo was sitting in the train's half completed dining car. He turned, and froze, the fires of anger flaring in his chest.

"Hey Firo! Ennis says dinner is-" Czes stopped there. He'd been expecting to find the green suited mafioso here, but standing there was the man he'd been unsuccessfully been trying to kill for the past five or six days now. Why the hell was he here? Damn, it must have been he'd come to see the train. The train Czes had told that spanner-wielding crazy man to destroy . . . Czes turned and fled.

Claire went after the small boy without a moment's hesitation. This kid was quick. Figures since he was so light and small. But Claire had the advantage of years of training. Forgotten was the injuries that should have kept him to a snail's pace. He was just flying along. He wouldn't escape this time, Claire knew that. Locked on to his target, he caught Czes trying to climb the fire escape in a dead end alleyway and pulled him down.

Czes screamed, trying to get help. But Firo and Luck weren't around, and in this area of town, screams were commonly heard and ignored. Claire pulled the knife he'd brought from his jacket sleeve and swiftly cut the boys voice box. The scream choked out and Czes grasped his neck, backing away. Claire followed, knowing the child wouldn't get far. True enough, Czes soon hit the back wall of the alley and slid down, trying to scoot back into the wall.

Picking the small immortal up by his healing neck, Claire swiftly drove the knife home between the boy's ribs just below his heart, and held it there. Unable to push the blade out, the wound remained open. And the child vomited blood. "Ya know, Czes? What the worst wounds are? When ya take a knife, and ya cut inta the stomach, so all the stomach acids leak into the resta your body. Let's try it, shall we?"

Czeslaw Meyer had been through hot pokers, fireplaces, and numerous other tortures before. But the next thirty minutes with the assassin called Vino, and he would rather have been able to die. He had his guts ripped out and played with, his heart lay beating in Vino's hand for about five minutes before he died and it was pulled back into his chest, his hand was severed inch by inch while his arm was squeezed and pretty but milked for blood. And there was worse. Czes figured that he had died more times in that half an hour than he'd died in the past hundred years. The only thing that saved him was the timely arrival of Luck.

Luck Gandor slowed to a stop, having followed the metallic scent of blood and the choked screams. He really didn't want to look around that corner and so called out, "Clai- Vino! Come on, let's go home!" Claire looked down at the currently dying body in front of him, he leaned down to whisper, "Sorry, Kid. I gotta be goin' now. But don you worry. We'll get more time ta play later. Don't you go gettin' devoured or nothin on me. Yer ass is mine." He then walked out of the alley as if nothing had ever happened.

"Sorry bout that, Bro. I jus had ta take care of somethin."

TwinsOfABlackRose

Luck waited around the corner for Claire trying to erase the image of what he had seen. Sure he had seen his fair share of blood and guts but there was something in the way that Vino worked that was sickening. He couldn't complain though, he and the rest of his family needed and regularly wanted his skills to finish jobs for them. It worked perfectly.

Claire was taking much too long finishing the job off, Luck pulled out his deck of cards picking out the aces and dropping them. Then the kings, then the queens, then the jacks and finally the jokers before going onto each individual card and suit and so on and so forth before he finally dropped the card case to the ground turning back to the assassin.

"Come on Claire," he groaned as Claire jumped down running closer to him, "I don't want to be spending too much time around the body as it heals."

Claire nodded and started to walk after Luck, however the pain of his injuries caught up with him. He could feel the wounds open and his legs start to ache; he collapsed to the ground panting and trying to push the pain to the back of his mind once again. Blood started to come up onto his black coat, and this time it wouldn't fly back to the body.

"L-luck..." he whispered holding his stomach gently before falling to his side straining to forget, it wasn't all that bad but the running had done a number on his legs. One which would mean he couldn't do any rail tracing for a couple of months.

"Come on Claire," he said lifting him up, he felt stupid and he was sure that Claire felt very stupid and foolish too with the situation he had gotten himself into so he didn't push the point any further.

He had a good grasp on his brother taking the back alley ways and watching the stars come out, then he remembered when they were kids and he himself had tripped and fell and Claire had piggy-backed him all the way home and they looked at the stars. He then remembered the clean handkerchief and wondered if it was still on him. Then he remembered that Claire wanted to talk to him, "What did ya wanna talk about?"

"I'm sorry Luck..." he whispered reaching into his pocket pulling out the now red and scrunched handkerchief, "I-i tried my best but it wasn't enough...your father made you this...and I ruined it...I'm sorry..."

Luck laughed, "It doesn't matter!" He smiled down at him as they reached his house, "I gave it to you when your parents died anyway, I never expected it back. That small piece of silk in your hand was my way of sort of proving that I was your new family, it was to make you forget or at least smile...that's all I wanted...and I got it."

Claire looked up smiling, "Thanks."

"You're welcome," Luck said laying Claire down in his own room, "Vino."

END