Risa jumped as the rear door of the van unlatched with a loud clack and swung open, jiggling the veterinary equipment hanging from the wall. She sat up straighter in the pile of blankets she was nested in as Hattori's head poked in from outside.
"Sorry, did I startle you?" the vet asked the tired-looking girl as he climbed into the van and slammed the door behind him. He was carrying a shopping bag and a drink holder with four coffees in it.
"It's fine," she said, giving her bloodshot eyes a rub with one hand. Her other hand was tightly holding the stone Dark had given her.
"You haven't been crying, have you?" he asked her as he set the supplies down and thunked into the bench across from hers.
"No, I just haven't slept," she mumbled, reaching out to steal one of the coffees.
"Have you heard anything?" Hattori asked.
Risa shook her head, and the vet crossed his arms with a vexed expression.
"Maybe you should hand that to me for a while and get some sleep," he suggested. "If I'm going to be stuck here, I may as well make myself useful. Someone's going to notice the van if I keep going out for coffee to keep you awake.
"Just a little longer," Risa told him, looking down at the stone. She stretched her fingers out stiffly and then curled them around it again. "We have to hear something soon."
"Maybe something happened to break the connection," Hattori suggested.
"No…after his voice cut out, there were footsteps. They must have done something to hurt him, or he'd have said something by now." There was restrained anger in her voice, a brooding anxiety that Hattori knew wasn't aimed at him. Ever since she'd overheard Dark and Daisuke's argument the night before, she had seemed almost fiercely diligent in her vigil over the stone's transmissions.
"I can let you know the moment I hear something," the vet offered.
"Thanks, but I'd like to do it myself," she asserted, her brown eyes flicking to his and asserting that it wasn't up for debate. "He entrusted this to me. If there's something he wants me to hear, I'm going to be there to hear it." She didn't say the whole truth, that she wanted Dark to know she was there for him. Even though he never seemed to need anyone, and he always downplayed her concerns with jokes and smiles, she just couldn't believe he didn't need more than that. People needed other people, and she believed Dark was no exception. He was always so impossible to read, so agonizingly locked down like a nuclear reactor, but after what had happened last night, he had to be feeling at least a little bit upset. No one could really be fine after something like that. What was he going through now? Was he in pain? Hurt? Angry?
The angel had never opened up to her in a situation like this, but if he did – if, for any reason, he decided that this time, it would be easier if he could tell at least one person what he felt – she was determined to be ready for him. "How is he going to get out of this?" she asked openly, though Hattori was the only other person in the van.
"Well, if the kid wants to try this experiment they were talking about, I suppose he doesn't have much choice. All his other options depend on getting your friend to safety first," Hattori mused between swigs of coffee.
"He could break free and take Daisuke from the building. Get them both out safely, and figure the rest out later."
The vet shook his head thoughtfully. "The boy would just be at risk again. Based on what he said about his intentions, he won't willingly open Daisuke up to that risk."
"That was before Daisuke said those things to him." Risa's eyes lit up with sympathetic astonishment. "Right to his face…like he wasn't even a person. It was like Dark meant nothing to him…all that time they were together, the bond between their souls…like he wanted to be rid of it all and couldn't care less what happened to Dark in the process. I just can't believe Daisuke could be so cruel."
Hattori observed her for a moment. Her words reminded him of what he heard every day in his practice. Good samaritans or police officers would bring in abused or abandoned pets of all shapes and sizes, and ask him how anyone could do something so awful to another living thing. It was especially bad with the dogs, a species characterized by such unconditional loyalty and trust. As if he could explain the vast insufficiencies of human nature and cause it all to equal something fair and sensible.
"You may be right, and I can't say I'd blame him if he changed his mind and got the hell out of there. People stink, what can I tell you," the vet answered her. "But while I haven't met this friend of yours, and I barely know bird-boy aside from his skeletal structure and his bad sense of humor, he didn't give the impression he would ditch the kid for something like this. He seemed pretty obsessed with saving him."
"Yeah," Risa concurred heavily. "But where does that end? If the experiment goes off without a hitch, and they release Daisuke, how will Dark get himself out?"
"He said that he wouldn't sacrifice himself for the kid. He must have a plan." He thought for a second, and shrugged. "Unless, of course, he's making it all up as he goes along."
Risa sighed. Dark had to know what he was doing, right? He always had a plan, and his plans always seemed to work. The only problem was that the last plan he successfully executed involved sacrificing himself forever to protect them all. "What would even happen to him without a wing host?"
Hattori gave her an incredulous look. "Like I would know. You know, you seem awfully concerned about this guy. What's the deal, are you thinking of ditching your current catch for a more feathery one?"
Risa glared back at him, but before she could retort, the sharp wail of her cell phone rang loudly from where sat on top of a plastic bin next to Hattori. The vet picked it up, read the display and held it up so she could see it. The letters SATOPUFF3 scrolled across the screen. "Satopuff? Seriously?" Hattori snickered. Risa rolled her eyes and gestured for him to pick it up.
Hattori gave her one more teasing look before opening the phone. "Well, if it isn't the one who tricked me into closing my practice to sit in a van all day for some freak I don't even know," he greeted the boy cheerfully.
"How are things going?" Satoshi asked rigidly from the other end of the line.
"Still nothing since last night. Risa heard footsteps and a door closing. No more voices, nothing from Daisuke. I assume they've got him in some sort of cell again. Otherwise, we've been listening to dead air."
"Can I speak with Risa?"
Hattori glanced over at the girl, who gave him a warning look. The vet tilted his head and widened his eyes insistently. Sighing, Risa reached out and took the phone. "It's me," she said.
"How are you?" Satoshi asked carefully.
"Caffeinated," she answered him. "How are you and Riku?"
"Still doing fine, sleeping on my couch. I think it's best we all continue to stay clear of your house, now that Gorudo knows where it is, just in case."
"Yeah, it would have been kind of nice to not have invited his goons over to abduct our friend."
"Risa, we've talked about this."
"I'm still mad at you, Sato."
"You know this was the only way to handle the situation."
"Oh, really? No other possible way?" she demanded sarcastically.
"He chose this, Risa! It was his own idea."
"That doesn't make it okay. How long did it take Dark to convince you to put a ribbon on his head and hand him over to the goons? Five seconds? A minute? He was upset, Sato. He wasn't thinking clearly." Her tone was oddly gentle, despite her disapproving words. She didn't want to yell at him, but she was trying to make him understand.
"He always thinks clearly. He's a phantom thief, he knows what he's doing."
"That doesn't mean he can't make rash decisions. We're his friends, and we're supposed to stop him from doing crazy things."
"That's a naïve solution for a serious situation."
"Well, I think your solutions are dispassionate."
"Ok, I'll admit I didn't foresee Daisuke cooperating with Gorudo. But Dark is my ally, not my friend," Satoshi said icily. "We share an objective, and this plan will achieve it. I can't be responsible for his judgment. If you were in my shoes, I think you would have done the same thing."
"No…that's the problem, Sato. I wouldn't."
Awkward static crackled over the silent line. "Well, we both know that we see a lot of things differently. Maybe that's important. Maybe we each need someone to bring out the opposites in each other."
Risa frowned soberly. "I'm not sure that's what I need, Satoshi. Not in a lover. Not to this extent."
"Couples have differences, Risa," Satoshi said quietly. He sounded tired, and she knew by his tone that he didn't want to talk about it.
Over the line, she could hear his doorbell ring. She pressed on quietly, "Not like this, they don't. On little things, yes, diversity is good. But shouldn't lovers be able to share the big things? The important things?"
"What are you trying to say?" he asked her flatly, an edge of tired dread permeating the pauses in his speech. The conversation was making him tense, and he was annoyed by the interruption from outside. Who in the world was ringing his doorbell this early? He held the phone to his ear with one hand while using the other to produce a police-issued glock from his desk drawer. He tried to keep his focus on his conversation with Risa as he peered out the corner of his window to try to get a clear view of who was outside. There was no good line of sight, though he didn't see any vehicles on the street. He stepped away from the window and tried to think of how he would react if Risa broke up with him here. How would he react to that?
Silence sucked through the phone line again like a numbing vacuum. "You know that I love you, Sato, and I know you're a good person who tries to do what's best… But I need some more time to forgive you for this. And we'll need to talk about it. We both know this isn't just about this one time, and it isn't going to go away."
"Yeah," Satoshi affirmed rather grimly, because it was true. The doorbell rang again, twice in a row. "I'd better check on that."
"Be careful," Risa said.
"I will," Satoshi confirmed before stuffing the phone in his pocket. He switched off the safety on his gun and walked to the front door, rising on his toes to peer out the sight hole. He saw nobody outside. No one in front of the door, no one on the walk. The city street was flowing smoothly with normal traffic, with no unusual vehicles parked at the side. He nearly jumped out of his skin as the bell rang again, even as he stared at an empty front stoop.
He glanced into the other room. Riku was still asleep, thankfully. He cocked the gun, put his hand on the knob, and threw the door wide in a sudden whoosh, immediately dropping to one knee and taking aim at whatever showed up on the other side.
Standing just outside the door, a very familiar boy blinked at him with an alarmed expression and threw up his hands, dropping both of his crutches. Satoshi's eyes widened in shock as he registered the kid, who immediately lost his balance in the panicked gesture and began teetering backward toward the front steps.
Satoshi ground his teeth and threw his weapon to the floor as he sprawled forward to catch the kid by the front of his shirt and tug him forward, away from the concrete stairs. The boy's legs jelloed beneath him and he latched onto Satoshi with both arms for balance as his crutches landed in the shrubs outside the door.
"How come you have a gun?" the boy asked, staring at the weapon that had spun to the end of the hall.
"Never mind that, why aren't you in the hospital? How the heck did you get here?" Satoshi demanded.
Jirou hung onto him for dear life as he stared up Satoshi's chest to look into the blue-haired boy's tense eyes. The kid's expression was scared, yet determined.
"I need your help."
--o0oO~0~Oo0o--
"Don't forget, Dark."
"Hm?"
"I'm inside of you."
"Daisuke…"
"I won't forget about you. I never will!"
Liar.
---
The room was chilly and eerily silent. Shira stood up from her chair in the corner and walked to the far wall, where the Black Wings was still lying unconscious on a low cot. The angel's sleep was so still that it took concentration to be sure he was breathing. She avoided staring at his bare torso. The slow rise and fall of his ribs, firm muscles stretched under taut, warm skin, and the newly bandaged tazer burn on his chest all bore evidence that he was undeniably alive. In fact, everything about him seemed to exude life. Even asleep, it was strangely exhilarating just to look at him. Could he really be a manmade work of art? Then again, maybe that overflowing sense of vitality was exactly what made him art. She'd never had such a strange feeling from looking at a human, that was for sure.
He'd been out for quite a while. Thanks to Trap appointing her to take charge of the angel, she'd been guarding him all night, and it was now well past sunrise. Well, it wasn't a big surprise her ward was asleep. A tazer to the chest was a real jolt to the system, assuming his body worked the way humans' did. Shira had spent the first few hours after Dark's recapture studying the surveillance footage of his encounter with the Niwa boy. She'd only half-believed the angel in the elevator when he said he wasn't here to escape, but after watching his conversation with the boy several times, she was beginning to really believe it. Apparently, the kid meant quite a bit to the strange being, which would make her life easier.
But she still wasn't sure, based on what had been said, if the Black Wings would be willing to fully cooperate with Trap's work. He had not seemed happy about the boy's request to be separated. Well, at this point, his cooperation didn't matter anyway. But she still had a lot of information to get from him when he woke up. "Just how long are you going to sleep?" she muttered under her breath.
"Oh, do you need company?" a suave voice answered her. The angel opened one vivid lavender eye to study her alertly.
Shira nearly stumbled back from the angel. "You weren't asleep?" she demanded, flushing.
"Why would I be asleep?" Dark scoffed, pulling his arms up behind his head to look at her. The movement made the muscles in his chest stretch out invitingly. Shira had to focus to keep her glare aimed at his face.
"What are you doing lying there with your eyes closed, then?" she snapped, sounding more flustered than she wanted to.
"Thinking," he said frankly. Then he smiled, and his serious tone became teasing. "And you seemed to be admiring me, so I hardly wanted to interrupt that."
The color on Shira's face deepened. "Who would admire you, freak?"
"Most people tend to," he bragged, giving a small shrug that made Shira curse the doctors for taking the angel's shirt when they treated the tazer burn. So he was in shape. Who wouldn't be distracted? To her horror, Dark seemed to notice her discomfort. "If this is awkward, I can close my eyes again," he smiled.
"Don't be stupid!" she growled. "Watching you is my job, not my hobby."
Dark sat up on the cot with a down-to-business look, his wings folding out gracefully behind him. "And will it be just you admiring me today? Don't tell me I've been demoted. I had four guards all to myself last time."
"Don't bother fishing. I'm not telling you how many guards you have to contend with," Shira said simply, crossing her arms. "Or does it even matter? Our boss thinks you'll try to escape again, but I'm not so sure."
Dark raised an eyebrow at her. Now she was the one fishing. "Oh? Trying to figure me out, are we?" he smirked brazenly.
"I listened to security footage of your little meeting with the Niwa boy last night. It sounded like you intend to cooperate."
Dark's eyes seemed to lose focus on her.
'We can each live like normal people, in privacy.' Daisuke's chilled words stung in his memory. 'I can't pay for their mistake for the rest of my life.'
Mistake? Thoughtless brat.
"Hey. I'm talking to you," Shira pressed, studying him strangely. It was hard not to stare at him in the first place, but his zoning out made it worse.
Dark clicked back into focus and locked onto her gaze confidently. "I might be willing to negotiate if you let the boy go first."
"We can't let the boy go; we need him here to perform the operation to separate your minds."
Dark looked at her for a long second, as if he'd noticed something that confused him.
"What is it?" Shira demanded.
The angel focused on her eyes rather seriously, studying her. She just stared back in annoyed confusion. No, he thought, she didn't know. Overtly ignoring her question, he asked, "Suppose I were to cooperate with your little mad science experiment. Would you release him?"
"If it's successful. Gorudo wants just the Black Wings, with no humans riding piggyback." Shira felt strange saying the words. When she'd listened to his conversation with the boy, she thought the angel seemed deeply struck by the idea of being separated, but she couldn't pick up on any reluctance in his tone now.
Dark smirked at her as if he knew some kind of secret. "Your boss wants to complete the original Black Wings? That's why you think he wants me?" he scoffed.
"What's funny about that?"
You're missing half of it, Dark thought in amusement. But that was only the tip of the iceberg. "I would really like to meet this boss of yours," he smiled.
"You will eventually," Shira said, crossing her arms. "After all we had to go through to obtain you, I'm sure he'll want to meet you as well."
"And what exactly do you suppose prompted all this effort? Somehow I doubt he's an art person. Why should he care about my bond with Daisuke, as long as I'm here?"
Again, Shira got the strange feeling that he knew something she didn't, like he was somehow trying to make her get it on her own. Or maybe testing to see if she already knew. "He doesn't need a reason to keep what belongs to him, and you don't need to worry about his motives. Don't think for a second that you can pull another escape from here."
Dark smiled again, but it wasn't a happy smile. "I think we both know it has nothing to do with whether I can," he said.
Shira blinked at him, because his false expression somehow hurt to look at. Dark seemed to notice her reaction and his face cleared as if that aching look had never been there.
"So we do this 'operation' your boss is so bent on, and then what? I just hang around here? Fit myself into the corporate lifestyle? Grumble about management, sleep during meetings, steal office supplies?" He showed her an amused smile. "Piece of cake. Are Fridays casual, because I really don't own a lot of clothes?"
She sighed at his suddenly joking manner. She couldn't make heads or tales of him. All she was really sure of was that she was getting an act. As if to confirm that he was exasperating her deliberately, the angel returned her glare with a smug grin. Shira glowered at him. "Don't get crazy ideas. I don't know what Gorudo's plans are, but you can bet you won't be wandering around the building with the other employees."
"It really doesn't bother you to not know his plans?" Dark asked her curiously, focusing in on her. His violet orbs seemed to be peering into her soul. Again, that sense that he was testing her.
"It's not my business to know his mind. I'm here to do my job," she said flatly.
"And your job is more important to you than your conscience?"
Shira's tone grew angry. "This is hardly a crisis of conscience. You're a commissioned property of Mr. Gorudo. You're a statue, for god's sake!"
"Do I really look like a statue to you?" Dark asked her coldly. He watched her expression for a sign of doubt, but she only looked angry.
"Yes," she said flatly. "A very expensive one. And if you're thinking I'm going to be some kind of ally to you because of what happened in the elevator, forget it right now. I'm not here to keep you company, and I have no reservations about my work. I won't be psychoanalyzed by some freak artificial lifeform."
"You don't mean any of that," Dark contested in a low voice.
"Oh, I really do," she returned icily. "Don't tell me how to be human, Black Wings. You wouldn't know a damned thing about it."
The angel just looked at her, leaving a torturous silence in the room. It was impossible to tell from his expression what he was thinking. 'Did that actually hurt him?' she wondered as she met his stare with a cold look. At least he wasn't pressing on and on about Gorudo's motives anymore.
"Well, I have been called a sociopath before," he finally said, his mouth working into a mechanical grin. She expected him to follow it up with something else, but he didn't. He just took a long pause. "This conversation is just riveting, but I actually need some privacy," he finally said, gesturing with his head toward the toilet that was sitting unscreened in the corner of the cell.
Shira glanced at the lavatory and back to the angel. Seriously? It was hard to imagine him having biological needs, but what did she know? "You have two minutes," she said, walking to the exit. She pressed her thumb onto a panel on the wall, and the heavy door slid open. It closed directly behind her.
Dark waited to hear the latch seal, and then he didn't move. The room was oppressively silent. He took a deep, frustrated sigh, scrambling his hair with both hands. Shira's words only seemed to magnify the endless mental rerun of his fight with Daisuke the night before. How could they possibly believe the things they said? Wasn't it obvious that he had the power to think and feel? He'd always believed that at heart, even if they did wrong, humans were a miraculous race that collectively understood and valued love and beauty. That treasured loyalty. Now, he could feel that confidence faltering. Was it possible he'd been mistaken? Had Krad been right all along? How could loving beings be capable of this kind of cruelty?
Well, that was irrelevant at the moment. Daisuke was still in trouble, whether he realized it or not, and this latest development made it all the more important that the angel stay focused. He couldn't afford to care about disillusionment or isolation right now. He had to stay in control.
"Whoever's listening, hold your position outside. Everything's fine for right now," he whispered, knowing the stone he'd given Risa was relaying every sound around him. There was no reason for Risa or the others to get involved at the moment. This was nothing he couldn't handle, and his immediate decision was almost too simple. Even if the boy's life weren't already hanging in the balance, his pride certainly wasn't going to let him stay where he wasn't wanted. Assuming they could actually do what they claimed, he had to let Daisuke go. He leaned forward and clenched a fist absently against his chest. A suffocating pressure was building inside him.
He blinked hard and looked around for a distraction. The walls were white and impersonal and meaningless. It was reminiscent of the gray world he'd been sealed in for the last two years. Except Krad wasn't here, pain in the butt though he was. And from now on, neither was Daisuke.
Never forget me?
Liar.
He drew an erratic breath. He couldn't afford to think about this, and yet he couldn't stop. There was no way to ignore that fact that here, he was just a very fancy statue, bought and paid for, as Satoshi had said. And Daisuke expected him to stay in this place and behave like property. How could the boy ask such a thing, knowing his soul the way he did? This place was like hell to him. The angel clenched his teeth in frustration, his lips pulling back. He seriously considered blowing something up. Why couldn't he make himself think of something that didn't hurt? His chest felt ready to burst.
It didn't make sense. This wasn't like him at all. He was never this sensitive; his nerves shouldn't be this raw. But everything seemed to be disintegrating, all the foundations of his reality wilting, twisting into something that was nonsensical and ugly. And he didn't understand any of it, which meant he didn't know how he was supposed to fix it, which was positively maddening to his practical mind. Maybe what he thought he knew had ever existed in the first place? He opened and closed his hand pensively, letting a ball of black magic form in his palm and then disperse each time he closed it. It was his way of pacing. He found himself thinking of Risa's words from after the earthquake. That people went crazy if they didn't tell anyone what they were feeling. Was that what this was? Was he going crazy?
Right now, she was probably listening to every word he said. If he chose, he could spill all these thoughts out, throw them into her lap and see if she made sense of them. So why didn't he? Why couldn't he think straight? The angel grimaced and pressed his fist back against his ribs. Deep breaths did nothing to quell this awful feeling. Breathe. Just breathe, and let it pass, he told himself. It has to pass.
--o-O0O-o--
There was nobody else present in the small outer chamber of the cell, though she knew several armed guards were posted in the hall. Of course, the 'privacy' was just a facade. Orders were to not leave the angel unattended for a second, so Shira had several cameras positioned in the room. Not that she had a particular desire to watch the strange being relieve himself.
She decided to give him some privacy after all. The big wigs didn't need to know. Maybe she was feeling just a little bit guilty. She waited a minute or so, still thinking about the conversation she'd just had. About the expression on the Black Wings' face, and his tone of voice. His questions had gotten to her. Had her response been over the line? Was it possible that he really had human emotions?
She walked to a monitor on the wall and a splitscreen image of the angel's cell flashed to life. But the angel hadn't moved. He was sitting on the bed, staring at nothing she could discern, with his left fist pressed firmly to his chest. His shoulders rose and fell as he took several long breaths. Shira stared at the angel's form on the monitor. Was his burn hurting him? At any rate, it was obvious he'd fooled her into leaving the room for nothing. At that realization, good old anger kicked back in.
She slammed her thumb against the lock on the door, storming back into his cell. "This isn't a game. You don't get alone time whenever you feel like asking for it," she snapped at him as the door closed again behind her.
Dark straightened quickly and flashed his gaze to meet hers. Whatever was on his face buried itself like a worm under a smug grin. "Funny, it seemed to work pretty well," he chided.
"Don't play around. What's wrong with your chest?" she demanded.
"Nothing," he said with a stern glint in his eyes. The last thing he needed was for Risa to hear that and think something was up.
"I have cameras in this room."
"Yes, I know that now, thank you," Dark smiled.
Shira did not seem amused. "I saw you breathing strangely. If something happens to you, Gorudo will have me cremated."
"He sounds like such a nice guy. You still won't tell me why you're working for him?" Dark pressed.
"We're off that subject, permanently," Shira growled. "I asked you a question." Why did he seem so sure that she had to have a good reason to do someone's dirty work? What was he, Santa Claus?
"I'll answer yours when you answer mine," Dark smirked.
"You're being awfully cavalier for a prisoner," Shira said coldly. "I could make your time here hell and enjoy every minute of it."
"No, you couldn't," Dark said.
"I'm dying to know what makes you so sure," she scoffed, drawing her gun and training it on his shoulder.
"I'm not." A layer of bravado peeled from his voice as he spoke the words, and suddenly he sounded almost…tired. If he was concerned about the gun, he didn't show it. "I just want to believe that you couldn't."
Shira couldn't make sense of that answer, but something in his voice made her abandon the argument. She had the oddest feeling that she'd just disappointed him. Not that that was her problem. "Stand up and walk to the wall," she ordered, pointing the gun at him halfheartedly. "I need to be sure nothing's wrong with you."
Dark rolled his eyes and stood up, his wings stretching like tapestries behind him as he crossed the room effortlessly. Nothing seemed wrong with his chest now. The angel stopped a few feet away from her and crossed his arms. "There you go. No damage on the merchandise," he reassured her. "But I could go a few more laps, if you're enjoying the show."
The abrupt flush in the guard's cheeks inspired a satisfied grin from the angel. Shira just scowled at him. Was there really nothing wrong with him? "I have an errand to run," she said, holstering the gun. "I'll deal with you later. My men will be watching, so don't try anything fancy."
Dark smirked. "Believe me, if I actually tried something fancy, it wouldn't make a difference who was watching."
Shira frowned, because she was starting to believe him about that. "Behave yourself," she ordered, unlocking the door.
"Wait," Dark called after her, earnest enough to make her look back. "Let me talk to Trap."
"Trap is forbidden to see you," she replied flatly. She couldn't help but remember, just a little regretfully, how clearly her former research partner had snubbed her after the incident in the hall. Yet despite the fact that he clearly thought she'd backstabbed him, he had appointed her to take on the role of the Black Wings' guardian in his place. That, she couldn't understand. "Stay put and don't do anything stupid."
"Then let me talk to Daisuke," the angel followed up. "I need to speak with him. Seriously."
Her red hair glinted in the neon light as she shook her head in disbelief. "You're not going anywhere."
"I don't need to," Dark persisted. "Just turn that machine off for five minutes, so I can reach his mind."
"What machine?" Shira asked, baffled.
"The one you have him hooked up to. It's muting the link between us."
His guard blinked as she remembered that part of the conversation between the boy and the angel last night. Oh, the irony. "I hate to burst your bubble, but that machine's not blocking anything." She narrowed her eyes at the blank look on his face. "All our-.. all of Trap's research suggests that the kid's mind is connected with yours through a conscious link. It takes two willing minds to keep it open. The second we told him we'd found your thought patterns running around in his, he freaked out and broke off the signal himself. It almost ruined the whole project. But then we found a way to control the strength of the link through his subconscious. Not that I get the technicals of any of it, but it's the same control Trap can use to separate you when it's time." She noted that the angel was still just staring her. Had he not understood? "To put it simply, that machine isn't blocking the link between you. It's amplifying it. Without it, we'd have nothing to research. The kid's obviously forged his own theories, but he doesn't have a clue."
Dark swallowed, looking like he was out to bore a hole through her with his violet eyes. She had no idea what to make of that look. "If you just want me unlinked to Daisuke, then why don't you switch that machine off and let him go now?" he challenged her coldly. She was slightly surprised to realize he was angry, though it wasn't clear if it was necessarily directed at her.
She also realized she didn't know the answer to his question. Moreover, he didn't appear to expect her to. Again, it was like she was a step behind somehow, and he was trying to make her catch up. What was it he thought he knew? Or was this some kind of mind game? "I don't have time for this," she snapped, turning and disappearing into the next room.
--oOoOo--
To be continued!
Thinking and rethinking about this chapter has basically distracted me constantly for the last few weeks, which has made me rather spacey at work, but I finally got the time to sit down and write it out!
Coming up next, Krad reaches his limit. Will Satoshi be willing to search for him?
Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know your comments and reactions if you have a minute, because I'd love to hear them : )
Some shout outs:
Leonawriter – I really appreciated reading your detailed review! You're dead-on about Jirou : )
Moondrops – Haha, you are twisted! I like it! Thanks for the review!
Evilmuffintoaster – Those fan girls might end up disappointed after all…or perhaps they'll actually be the opposite -wink-. Thanks so much for the review!
Animeannie – Yeah….I'm being mean to Krad. But don't worry, I don't have the stomach to make him literally bite off his wrists!
Stormshadow13 – I hereby promise that Dark has not seen the last of his vet : )
Marium – Thanks so much for reviewing! Oh, the premise of the Saw movies is always something sadistic and manipulative. Think like "Lock a guy in a room. Handcuff one arm to the wall. Place food on the other side of the room. Set a saw on the floor next to him. Bust out the popcorn and wait." Not my kind of movie! As mean as I tend to be to my characters, I'll try not to be THAT awful.
Fireflower19 – I'm so thrilled you're enjoying it so far! Hopefully I didn't stir up bad memories with the Krad thing, but I'm also sorta excited that the scene managed to have some impact. You can never really be sure if a scene does what you're trying to make it do until someone lets you know about it, so thank you so much for the feedback!
Kaida-karasu – Thanks a million for your kind words, reviews like yours always help me motivate myself!
Dark hearted shinobi – You are awesome! That is all.