19-Aug-2002
Breakdown: An Alternate Universe Weiss Kreutz Fanfic
by Nixerchan and bonnejeanne
Contact: nixerchan@aol.com and bonnejeanne@yahoo.com
Category: AU
Pairings: Various, or to put it another way, most of them ^__^;;
Warnings: LEMON this section. Weird premise, weird psychic powers, probably confusing plot, um, possibly some OOC, some violence, probably gratuitous use of pointless Japanese and German, what else... oh yeah, LEMON from time to time... poor Nixers, I'm such a corrupting influence... ^__~
Rating: NC-17
SUMMARY/PREMISE: What if the Weiss boys actually possessed psychic powers similar to Schwartz, which had been suppressed or erased from their memories?
AU TIMELINE: Picks up *almost* at the end of the OAV, just after the death of Gen. Norman Powell.
/something/ - may indicate thoughts, telepathy or other psychic contact.
'something' - indicates just thoughts.
Chapter 11: Field Trip
Aya was lounging with remarkable relaxation on the cot they had shared the night before, eating with almost dainty precision. He shifted over when Ken appeared in the door, making room.
The other took the invitation easily, hooking the door with the toe of one sneaker to give it enough momentum to close behind him. He sat down, leaning a little on Aya as he spread out his meal. "Sounds like we've just got a thumbs up from the other side," he commented, flipping open one of the boxes. "Its too bad we can't pick up my spares." He glanced down at his bare hands with more than a little regret.
Aya watched the dark haired assassin. "No reason we can't," he said quietly.
"Besides who we've got to get them from?" Ken asked, throwing Aya a disbelieving look. Then he grinned and shrugged. "Could be a pretty interesting fight."
Aya shook his head. "Knight's armorer... had a very large weapons collection. I've seen bugnucks there."
Ken gave it some consideration. The tools in the prop room would be more than enough, he'd worked with less. "If I can get my hands on a pair, I could fit it pretty easily," he said. "A good friend of yours?"
"Friend? No. But it's do-able," Aya answered. "I'd rather have you as comfortable as possible for this meeting."
"I don't think there's enough weapons for that," Ken said, putting away his portion of the meal at a pretty good clip. He tapped the chopsticks on the rim of the cardboard container. "One thing though, if it does go bad and the twelve hours are up, what do we do about him?"
Aya glanced at Ken. "Suggestions?"
Ken stilled, a frown crossing his face. "Don't know. That's probably the first time I've seen Omi actually... well.. acting his age." He gave another shrug, fidgeting with the chopsticks idly. "I'd imagine it would depend on how badly it fell and why."
Fishing the last bite out of the cartoon, Aya grunted an acknowledgement. "If it's an option, we offer... him, asylum. If it's not, we let them go. Hope it doesn't come to that. Omi's good but it would be a death sentence."
"Mm," Ken agreed, the last option didn't settle as well, simply because of his own reluctant agreement with the assessment. It was still better than what he'd half expected to hear as an option from the tone of the first meetings. He shook his head. "You're doing a hell of a lot better with all this than I am."
Tossing the empty carton in a waste bin, the redhead leaned back, watching Ken overtly. "You're doing fine," he said. "Anything in particular on your mind?"
"Nah, I don't even know what's bothering me the most," Ken said, his free hand absently curling and uncurling. He gave Aya something of a helpless grin. "I'll take it all out in the next fight. Don't worry bout it."
Aya continued to watch him. He dismissed the last remark with a flicker of his eyes. Of course he would retain his concerns. It had become his job. "If you think you're going to have a problem, tell me," he instructed, knowing how unlikely the scenario was to begin with. Trouble rarely gave a lot of advance notice.
The answering 'Mmhmm,' was probably sincere, but distant, dismissive of the idea of a possible problem almost immediately. There was a part of him already chiding himself for not running the comment through a few brain cells before worrying Aya over nothing. "It's not a big deal. We've worked through stuff this huge before, we just have more sides to pay attention to." There wasn't a lot of conviction behind the words, more consideration.
"Hn," the answer was neutral but could be interpreted as accepting. Waiting until Ken had finished his meal, the swordsman got up and pulled his katana from its hiding place. Pulling a dark, hooded sweatsuit jacket from a small bag, he put it on and dug out his gloves. "Shall we go shopping?"
Ken moved to his feet almost immediately, reaching for his jacket. Just the prospect of getting some claws back *was* already making him feel better. Didn't matter if he'd put them to use or not. "Sounds good."
Youji couldn't manage to coax himself back to sleep as easily the second time around. Usually, it wasn't much of a problem, a hedonist in nature, the comforts of a long nap, a few interesting dreams and the simple break from everything for a couple of hours ranked somewhere about ... fourth in favorite pastimes. But, that didn't actually mean his body was going to cooperate, especially not when he couldn't manage to get his thoughts settled enough anyway.
There was a wonder, could a hyperactive imagination tire you out? Was worth a try anyway, he figured.
He let one leg dangle off the edge of the cot, kicking absently at the air. There wasn't a whole lot that could be done, one way or another. Every time, he got a good idea of what was going on in the world, he needed to give it a 360 degree twist again.
/When I die I'm asking for a nice quiet island where nothing in particular happens./ Youji decided, smirking. Then after a moment added to himself. /Okay, and some chicks, but that should have been already assumed./
It was good to finally get all of his own secrets out. Three years was far too long to hold anything like that, especially after he'd started to get fond of the rest of them. Insane in their own ways, moody, constant and his for any of their faults. But the way it had to happen, Aya seemed to be starting to get a grip again, but he wasn't sure that was a good think, Ken seemed to be right back to normal, which was... unsettling. And Omi...
He turned on his side, a scowl as he mentally forced the subject elsewhere. That was another thing, after being the only one getting any after all this time, how'd he manage to be the odd one out? Both had managed to happen, it seemed, between blinking.
It was as good of a time as any he supposed. That'd been his excuse since, well since she went first. Stubborn woman, never could stand to let him have first dibs on anything. Probably why she hung around after death with Shrient, just to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.
Bitterness, guilt and an urge for hysterical laughter was, he decided, an odd and unpleasant combination. 'Nother subject: Survival. /Ahh, now that's a more pleasant thought./ Youji smirked. /Island's a better idea./ Schwartz, Kritiker, themselves and who knows who else were going to be on the field now, all at once, and it was far too obvious that they weren't anywhere near prepared.
Omi was the closest to him, and he obviously hadn't gotten it quite mastered yet, if the fragments of the explanations pulled together the way he thought they did. Prodigy was pretty good proof of that. And the other two? He'd hope for a clue and a lot of luck. He didn't have the first idea of how to help either of them, and certainly not in time. The call with Birman had gone pretty well, but that wouldn't last too long before something blew, and Schwartz... was probably tomorrow. That might work out quietly.
Yeah.
Youji sighed and pressed his palms against his eyes, with the irrational hope that it would give his eyes a good hint and speed along a nap.
There was a soft tap on the doorframe. "Youji-kun?"
He let his hands fall and tilted his head back enough to glance towards the door. "Come on in Omi."
A honey-blond head poked inside. "Hey... sorry for disturbing..." the boy's eyes were serious and had a recognizable 'working' cast to them. "You don't have to respond but I thought I'd let you know, Manx... is attempting to make contact on the net. The search is for you... but she put it where she knew I'd find it..."
Youji levered himself up into semi upright position, more draped now than actually sitting. "You want me to give her an answer?" he asked. Wasn't likely he was going to manage to bitch himself to sleep anyway.
Omi lifted one shoulder. "Ah... Aya and Ken left a little bit ago. Something about going shopping... I dunno." He leaned in the doorway for a moment. "We haven't had time to talk about some of this. I know she was in on it, but..." he frowned and shrugged again.
The mental picture of Aya trying to deal with shopping in a mall brought an involuntary smirk to Youji's face. Realizing the expression was rather inappropriate for the rest of what Omi was saying, he let it drop and finished getting to his feet. "Might as well, we can always figure out a way to say no if we don't like it."
Omi chewed on his thumb for a minute and then nodded. "You wanna call, or dictate?"
Youji fished the cell phone back out of his pocket, then paused to glance at Omi, then behind him. He raised an eyebrow at the boy. "No shadow this time?" he asked lightly.
Omi met his look directly. "Not shadow," he said softly. Then a look flickered across his face that reminded Youji of something... something from a long time ago, not immediately place-able. "He's sleeping."
Youji watched the younger boy for a moment longer before turning the phone back on. This number, he didn't need his book for. As soon as he heard the line connect he said, "Hey good looking, heard you're looking for someone."
The voice on the other end of the line was deliberately collected. Strictly so. "Balinese... we have been unable to confirm any threat to you and Bombay... or the others. Unless you have updated information for a higher risk assessment, we need to make arrangements for you to come back in."
"Mmm might be inconvenient," Youji said, giving her a sigh. "There might be a chance the other two haven't skipped town yet, so I'm not all that hot on relocating just yet." He added a little honey to his tone, managing to smirk without changing his more serious expression a tick, "You won't hold it against me will you?"
After a short silence, the voice on the other end said, "Of course not... darling. So you don't want to inconvenience yourself, even for me?" The tone wasn't heavy but the flirt was detectable.
This time, a slight upturn of Youji's lips actually surfaced. "For you anything, but.. I know this great little place in town, a little romantic hideaway with a lot of privacy. It would be a shame to abandon it without gracing it with a suitable beauty," he purred. "Lonely tonight, lovely?"
Instead of the typical, cool brush-off she always gave him, the woman on the other end of the call hesitated, and then said, "Not tonight... what about tomorrow... late...?"
"It's a date then," Youji said, a thumbs up to Omi. He gave her the address of a fancy restaurant he knew of across the city from them. "Though I may have trouble finding a babysitter on this short notice, you understand." He smirked and winked at the boy. "I hope it won't ruin the mood."
Omi stuck out his tongue.
"Have you tried roses? That might solve your custody issue," Manx said. She made a sound that passed for an audible shrug. "Don't stand me up."
"I'd never leave a lady cold," Youji replied, as if offended by the very notion. "See you then love."
The line went dead.
Omi raised his eyebrows inquiringly.
"Well, she's either thawed to my impressive charms," Youji smirked at that. "Or we'll see how your intuition is. Come along or not, your choice."
Omi nodded. "Was that all?"
"We've got a meeting she doesn't want official to the point where /she's/ flirting and sounded more than a little strained, that's enough for me anyway," Youji said. He glanced back down at the cell phone before hiding it again with a quick mental note to get the thing recharged soon. "I'd make a bet she knows we've found the others, or at least figures we will. So, it may be a split, may be a trap." He had an idle thought of bringing the roses anyway, just for her expression.
The younger blond nodded slowly. /She's going to get herself killed,/ he thought. "I don't know yet," he said, in answer to the question of his going. "If she damps me out, I don't know how that will affect... others."
Youji nodded. "I don't want any of you to wait for longer than an hour. If it takes me longer, I'll get in contact with you when I can."
Omi frowned. He didn't argue but, "Make sure you let Aya know."
"Yeah, I'm planning on it. She mentioned him specially," Youji said. [1] He shrugged. "The word from above is they want both of us to report in officially. Won't be long until we're going to have to break completely if they push it."
Sighing, Omi shrugged. "I've been trying to compile a history of the project to form Weiss, with attention to anything relating to talent or the blocking. There's nothing to track. The only thing I have been able to pin down is the association of something called Project Treasure, but what it is and what it is for," he shook his head. "It has a clearance level I've never even heard of. One above Persia's, apparently."
"I've never heard of it," Youji mused. He looked at Omi carefully. "I didn't think there was anyone above Persia in this. Any luck in breaking it?"
Omi shook his head. "The most I've been able to do is almost establish the existence of a hidden network. One that seems to ghost on Kritiker machines... sometimes. And leaves no data traces."
"I didn't know that was possible." His computer experience was limited, but... There were more things to consider than the typical now. It was hard to get his mind out of the more mundane mindset of solving things. "Another like you, or something different?"
Omi tilted his head. "No... don't *think* so. Just some very advanced work. I'll track it down, but it's going to take time. I don't know how long things are going to settle for it. But I'm not stopped yet."
"So another element into play," Youji made a helpless gesture with his hands. "Another organization or a parent might explain how quickly Kritiker recovered from the rout Estet delivered." He gave the other a fond expression. "Just don't burn yourself out. You have to sleep too sometime."
The younger blond nodded. "I will," he promised.
Youji returned the nod, making a mental note to check on the kid later to make sure he didn't 'lose track of time' again. "Are you holding up okay?" he asked. "I know there hasn't been a lot of time..."
Omi looked at the older assassin for a moment. Reaching out, he felt Nagi sleeping, had a fuzzed impression of something he realized was probably a dream - 'and he says he doesn't have 'em, yeah' - but it didn't seem to be anything to be concerned over, from the faint sense of what he could feel from it.
He unleaned from the doorframe and came into the room, sitting down beside Youji.
"I think I'm ok," he said seriously. "It's been kind of up and down. Thinking about what happened and the 'no going back' part is a bit scary so I'm not thinking about it," he said with a half grin. His wide blue eyes met Youji's. "I'm really grateful, Youji-kun. I knew you would help."
"Some old habits aren't worth breaking," Youji said, tossing Omi a rueful grin. "I'm used to keeping things together. Maa, seriously, don't worry about it, I'd hate to see you go over this or anything."
Omi nodded and was quiet for a moment but he didn't get up. Instead, he twined his fingers loosely and looked at them. "Youji-kun... last night, before I left..." There was a shy awkwardness in his voice.
A replay of Omi's earlier comments put a bit of a wistful smile on the taller blond's face. There probably wasn't a going back, but he couldn't hold it against him, or really either of them. "It's okay," he said, he reach over to flip a lock of honey colored hair, both playful and lingering at once. "I'm not holding you to anything."
Omi looked up, his eyes shining just a bit, an expression neither sad nor happy, just a quiet regard. "I love you, you know. That's something you can hold me to. The other... hasn't changed either, but he... needs me right now." He ducked his head. "I need him too. I don't even know what that... involves exactly. You know what? He actually flirts sometimes... but I don't know whether..." He trailed off, shaking his head.
Youji felt a sort of settling contentment at the first declaration, and let it take away some of the tension in his limbs. Listening, he nodded slightly as the other's voice died away. "Whether he's really serious or if it's a good idea at all," Both statements had the air of a question. It wasn't the first time he'd wondered just how close the connection was, but just from the... contact last night, he could imagine.
Omi looked back down at his fingers. "I found someone who's life is darker than mine," he said softly. "I'm afraid that... I don't know what all has happened to him. I don't know if that kind of physical... expression... is okay. I was lucky," he gave a little, almost ironic laugh. "The guys that kidnapped me were just scumbags and murderers, but they didn't have that kind of sickness. I'm pretty screwed up but I don't have *that* to contend with. I don't know..." He looked up suddenly. "Not that I have any reason to think... but he's so closed up, everything's in compartments. I'm not sure and I don't wanna... I don't..."
Youji slid down next to Omi, placing an a comforting arm across Omi's shoulders, slowly enough to withdraw gracefully if the younger boy gave any indication it wasn't welcome. He sighed, considering. "I'd just take it slowly. If he's responding like that, there's some interest anyway. Just let him move first and be ready to back off." He gave Omi a slight smile. it was comfortable enough to fall into new roles, even with a few new dimensions to them added. "If it is that, it's not easy to work through."
Omi seemed to relax under the light half-embrace. He nodded to the advice. "That's what I was figuring," he said, but there was a tinge of slight relief of having his thoughts confirmed. He shook his head, relaxing a little more. "If that part doesn't... turn out to be ok, it doesn't matter. Not really." There was a little throb of wistfulness and a lot of determination. He laughed again. "I feel like such a dork, you know? I fall for my team mates... then Oka..." the sorrow was resigned. "...I really had to ask myself a lot of questions, I wasn't sure how I felt about her... I like girls, but I don't usually feel... other things. But she was so determined, and I finally thought, it could be nice... then..." he shook his head, cutting that line of thought.
There was a blink and a sidelong look at the plural on team mates but Youji had that under control fairly quickly. The mention of Oka brought a wince and some unhidden sympathy. "She just wasn't listening to anything short of no," Youji agreed, keeping his tone light. /And no was probably ignored a couple times too./ He shook his head. "You have any idea how astronomically unlikely that should have been? Love isn't usually like that anyway, can't be pushed like that. It just slides into place, in a blink of an eye or over years."
Not looking up, Omi's shoulders hunched slightly. "I thought... once... what if she had a little of it too... what if she felt the connection between us, only she didn't know what it was? And I didn't feel it because I was blocked off... Because I *did* love her... it took a while to understand, but when I did, I wanted to make her happy. Then... *he* made it into something... dirty..." The boy reached up to swipe his arm across his face almost angrily. /Calm... don't disturb the sleeper.../
"He made it into a weapon," Youji said, not quite arguing. The arm around Omi tightened a little. "No one else thinks of it like that. Neither of you knew, and even if she did have something, you still couldn't have known." He winced a little internally at the mention of the blocks, trying to remind himself that he didn't know how much memory was involved. "Neither of you were going to go by that family name.." That was an odd thought, that it could have taken them years to figure it out, in better circumstances.
The empath reached out quickly with a brief touch of reassurance. /Not your fault, don't think that./ Then he shook his head. "I shouldn't even be thinking about it, but I saw *him* today. It's such a travesty for someone to be able to look into a person's head, and still be so heart-blind," Omi said, his tone a little flat. "I want to just... kill him. But I can't go there if this is going to work." Taking a deep breath, he exerted the effort to tuck the emotions into a tight knot that could be pushed aside.
"It may work out that way yet," Youji said, a slight lift to one shoulder. There was always that entirely satisfying memory of his wire around Mastermind's neck just before the floor gave out in their last battle. A moment passed. "If it gets too difficult, you know where I am. I can't offer much but... You shouldn't have to deal with this alone."
Omi gave it up and hugged Youji tightly. "Thanks, Youji-kun," he whispered in the older blond's ear. "Don't forget it goes both ways too, okay?"
Youji smiled and tucked his chin against Omi's shoulder, completing the embrace naturally. "Gotcha," he said quietly, stroking the younger assassin's back.
Omi relaxed, and a warm glow spread from the contact for a moment or two. Then he moved back a little reluctantly, brushing a soft kiss along Youji's cheek.
"I better get back to work. But I promise I'll knock off in an hour or so." He got up, and his hand touched Youji's shoulder before he moved away.
The soft laugh from the assassin completely ruined the stern look he was trying to give the other boy. "And don't think I won't check," he replied, only half teasing.
Omi ginned over his shoulder and waved before disappearing as he closed the door behind him.
Youji got up only long enough to find a more comfortable position, half supported by the wall and giving the ceiling an ironic smile. It was easy to *council* patience.
Aya took the extra precautions of scouting the area around the theatre in a series of decreasing perimeters before coming it. They'd been there for more than twenty four hours, and that was long enough to pick up watchers, but the scout indicated they were still clean for the moment. The trip to the armorer had gone fairly smoothly, and the man had been able to offer a choice of two sets of the weapons, causing Ken some pleasant surprise. His price was of course ridiculous but Ran talked him down enough to avoid suspicion and then paid him from emergency funds he'd collected on the way. The run there and back had given both assassins a welcomed feeling of getting back into a familiar groove, seasoned with the need for all extreme awareness because of the hunt being done for them.
Youji had met them at the door, outside for both some fresh air and a late night smoke. His voice was low in greeting, conscious of the two youngest assassins, both now curled up on a futon deeper into the theater. "I've got a late meeting with Manx tomorrow. Whatever happens on it, you guys need to move without letting me know where," he said quietly, opening the door for both of them. "Just in case it's not as friendly as I suspect."
Aya regarded the tall blond for a moment, pulling the hood of the jacket off his vivid locks and stripping off his gloves. He considered it. "You'll need backup."
Youji shrugged. "Omi's worried about what'll happen with a split, and either of you even close would be a huge risk," he said. "Could set up a surveillance... There's no one outside I trust right now."
"Risks are part of the landscape," Aya said. "We'll work it out." He looked into Youji's face for a long moment. "You're not expendable, Kudo. Heroics may be your style but try and curb yourself."
"Wasn't planning on leaving you kids so early," Youji protested, giving Ken a slightly smug look as he ruffled a bit under the description. Too easy. He made a quick note on the new 'gloves.' He'd have to have Omi check them over sometime discreetly. "I obviously haven't imparted my refined sense of drama yet."
"Hn," Aya changed his mind about going directly in. He leaned on the outside wall for a minute. "Manx... you sent Omi out with Manx, at the base. Is she like Birman?"
"Does she have extra skills? Yeah. I'd trust her faster with Omi than with Birman," he replied, leaving that the extent of his generosity with her. "Omi's been dropping little hints about her here and there, and she was round about enough about setting up an unofficial meeting. She's already recommended you as my backup. Take that how you want."
The redhead considered the words. "What are her skills? What do you know about Birman's skills? And do you know of any others in Kritiker?"
"She's what they call a specialist. She can shut down any talent within a certain distance or just dampen it down to various degrees. Any blocks you've got are probably her work. Birman's same as you, Aya. I don't know about who else, but there's probably a good percentage of anyone we encounter from Kritiker, there were a whole lot of new faces after they rebuilt."
"So, could she break the ones she set?" Ken asked, shifting his weight a little restlessly.
"Don't know. I've never seen it done," Youji replied honestly.
Aya glanced at Ken. Then back to Youji. "Same as me... I haven't had any real explanation of what that actually entails."
"I was just told what to watch out for," Youji said. "I had a pretty vague knowledge of what each of you were capable of from the start, and just figured out the rest from there. A little guesswork, a little observation. Right now, you probably know more about it than I do. If you were a kinetic, I could help you more."
Aya frowned. "When we escaped from the base, we ran into Birman. It was different. Not like with you," he carefully did not say 'and Ken'. "She put words in my head. Out loud she was giving some kind of story about how it was all some kind of hallucination based on a chemical weapon or something. Mind to mind, she got nasty. Stuff about damaging people, or ourselves..."
"That's kinda what it felt like for me, except I had no choice but to listen," Youji said. "The story was probably just to get you back without aggravating everything further. As for the rest... I don't think either of you have a clue just how powerful you can get." An elaboration was halfway to his mouth before the omission of Ken's name really sunk in. Covering for it, he switched focuses, "Omi said he felt Birman's fear, so I assume you came out on top of that encounter."
"Seemed to," Aya answered shortly. He glanced at Ken to check how the other assassin was reacting to all this.
Ken had found a spot a little further along the wall at Aya's side to lean against, and for everything just had the attentiveness he usually shown at any mission's information - a sort of distracted absorption of information. Watching the distant run of traffic, he didn't so much as notice Aya's regard as the halt in the flow of conversation first. The look he gave Aya was the startled/guilty sort, suspecting that he'd missed a question directed at him.
The redhead smiled slightly and shook his head. Turning back to Youji, he said, "Schwartz...?" It was open ended and intended to be such.
"If you know something I don't, I'd be glad to hear it." Youji half-smiled. "But I don't have anything you wouldn't know already."
"I don't know what you think about this... proposal..." Aya said. He wasn't going to push it. Youji had given him the short version, he'd just opened the door in case there was anything else.
"I don't think we have a lot of a choice. If it's honest, we can sure as hell use the help, no matter who it comes from. If it's not.." Youji sighed, glancing up for a moment. "Guess we've gotta do our best. If it weren't for... what happened with Omi, I'd say screw it just out of principle."
Aya inclined his head, an acknowledgement of Youji's willingness to add the answer. He lingered a moment longer and then unleaned from the wall. Glancing back a Ken, again, he said, "What was that about eight hours?" Then with a slight smile at the other boy, he entered the theater.
TBC
[1] Aya's "image flower" is a white rose.