Shifting

Shifting

*****

Chapter 2

Gottheit

*****

Disclaimer: I don’t own Weiss in any way shape or form. I am not making money from this. That pretty much covers it. ^^

Pairings: Yohji x Ran, Crawford x Schuldig, Omi x Nagi, Ken x Aya-chan. The usual. ^^

Warnings: Same as for previous, lemon, violence, swearing.

AN: It’s here! See, told you I was writing it! ^^

“Kitten” is the greatest nickname Ran has ever had! XD I first ran into it in Nekojita’s Violet Eyes arc and ever since Yohji’s been running around my brain calling Ran kitten. So there will be such like in here. ^^ (I am totally serious about that, by the way. At all times there’s just this funny little chibi Yohji chasing chibi Ran around the back of my brain saying things like “Kitten, just this once? Please?” or “Come on, kitten! It’s not that big!” o.O;; Sometimes he even catches him!)

*****

Schuldig glanced over his shoulder at Crawford. Crawford, despite having gotten out of bed only twenty minutes ago, was already dressed and ready to leave the bedroom. Schuldig, on the other hand, had only decided on half of his outfit for the day. Well, actually Crawford had only decided on half of Schu’s outfit. After all, this was a semi-rural community. They would, apparently, notice if several young men all living together starting wandering about in the unusual sort of clothing that, at least, Schuldig was partial to.

So he had put back the mesh shirt, which had really been more of a joke anyway. With Weiss around, Schu wasn’t interested in exposing that much flesh just yet. Perhaps later, though. If they behaved.

Crawford had also made him put back the shiny black leather pants, which he had actually intended to wear. What was wrong with those? He’d put a nice calming white dress shirt over them, after all. Crawford had gotten a sort of odd look on his face when Schuldig had said that and flatly refused to let him wear the leather pants.Schuldig was not happy about this (he hated letting Crawford tell him what to wear) but it was easier than fighting him over it and, again, with Weiss in the house ...

So that meant no green jacket, as much as he loved it, it was designed to get attention. And no fingerless gloves, no pleather, nothing shiny. Apparently the dress-shirts made him look too dressed up, which Schu didn’t believe for a moment. He knew Crawford was trying to avoid embarassment on that topic. He absolutely loved seeing Schuldich wear those dress shirts. Especially if he wore nothing else. Schu almost laughed over it. Only Crawford could get hot for office-wear.

Finally they had agreed on an outfit. A sort of olive green t-shirt with a print of an old Doppfelbier* label on it, faded blue-brown jeans, and black suede tennis shoes. Schuldig felt sort of odd in such average garb. He was used to standing out.

“Schu, with your hair, you’ll stand out no matter what.” Crawford informed him. “This way, at least, you’ll stand out as interesting and not as insane.”

“Yeah, until someone tries to talk to me.” Schuldig muttered. He didn’t like the fenced-in quality he had been sensing from the minds of their neighbors. It could have been a result of not being able to actively scan them, but they all seemed to have a dull and diminshed quality to them. The feeling was so disturbing that Schuldig rather wished he could turn his power off completely, at least while they were here and not allowed to fuck with any of these minds. “That reminds me, what’s the view on PDAs while we’re here?” Not that he expected any from Crawford.

“None.” Crawford replied after a moment. Schuldig heard the water turn on then off in the bathroom. A moment later Crawford returned to the bedroom, adjusting his glasses like he did when he had a headache.

“Did you have a vision?” Schulsig asked. That was the usual cause for Crawford’s headaches.

“No, but I will.” Was the reply. “No public anything, Schuldig, I mean it. Try to be discreet.”

“Gah, this place sucks.” Schuldig whined, flopping down on the edge of the bed. “I can’t use my power, I have to dress weird, I can’t hang on my boyfriend in public ... Next you’re gonna tell me I can’t drink either.”

“Actually-”

“No!” Schuldig shouted. “I can’t do anything here! What the fuck?”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t drink.” Crawford clarrified. “I was about to say that you can’t drink much. You become very friendly when your drunk. We don’t need anyone finding out what we are because you decided to go on a drinking binge.” Crawford leveled a mild glare at his redhead. That time Schuldig had decided to go bar-hopping after the end of a rather delicate mission had nearly cost them their lives. Granted he had never done anything so stupid again but still ... “You can smoke all you want, although I’d prefer if you kept it down a bit."

With that the brunette turned and left the room, knowing Schuldig would follow him downstairs soon. Schuldig punched the mattress. This place blew. He could drink, but pobabaly just at home. No fun there. No partying, no public sex, no fun clothes ... this place must have been a dream-come-true for Crawford. At least he could smoke. Grabbing his cigarettes and lighter from the night stand, Schuldig tapped one out and lit it. The first drag off a cigarette, while always pleasant, had not felt rebellious since he was sixteen. Damn.

Schuldig, pocketing his lighter and, carrying the rest of his pack, decided he might as well follow Crawford downstairs. That would be where there was entertainment, if there was to be any at all. Of course, they were supposed to be lying low. Hiding from ... whoever it was. Crawford had not actually told him that yet. But if they were supposed to be hiding out, then they shouldn’t be working. Ah, the oasis in the desert, so to speak. Schuldig grinned as he pictured Crawford coming home with a car full of bottled water, sports drinks, and lube. He had to focus so as not to slip and use his power to show Crawford what they could do with all that.

The dining room appeared to be the gathering place for the morning, as Crawford had decided to sit there to read his newspaper and drink his coffee. Honestly, did the man carry those stupid papers around everywhere? Where the hell did they come from? No way had he had time to change the address of his special delivery American newspapers by last night. And it would have been a stupid thing to do anyway, leaving a paper trail.

“Crawford, we aren’t even going to be working. What the hell could you possibly need to read the newspaper for?” Schuldig asked, deciding to ignore where the thing had magically appeared from.

“I won’t intentionally use my power right now.” Crawford said, giving Schuldig a look over his paper that clearly indicated how very stupid this conversation was.

“What, so you’re afraid your stocks will plummet or something?” Schuldig replied, ignoring the look.

“I have neither the desire nor the need to explain it to you, Schuldig.” Crawford replied. dismissively.

“You’re so much nicer in the bedroom, Bradley. Why is that?” Schuldig was not willing to let the boredom set in.

“In the bedroom, you’re easier to gag.” Crawford said without missing a beat.

Schuldig stared in mock amazement for a moment. “Why Bradley, you just made a joke! In public, sort of.”

“Do not call me that. And what makes you think I was joking?”

“I think we all know he wasn’t wearing one last night.” Schuldig looked up to find Nagi seating himself at the table with the youngest Weiss. Bombay, but what was his real name? He didn’t like Mamoru ... it had an ‘m’ in it, though. Nagi glanced over at Crawford, then the Weiss boy. “Omi, are you hungry?”

“Uh, no, not really.” Omi replied. “Thanks.”

He seemed a tad flustered. Well, that was only natural, considering. “So did you tell your teammates?” Schuldig asked, conversationally.

“Schuldig.” Nagi said warningly. Schuldig ignored the warning.

“Well, Nagi sure never told us.” Schuldig said. “But you guys were loud enough, last night. You know that wall you were screwing against? Just the other side of it is our room.”

Omi’s eyes had widened to seemingly impossible dimensions. The kid was almost spooky with those huge cerulean eyes. Nagi glared viciously. “It’s none of your business, Schu. And you’re one to talk about being loud druing sex. At least niether of us sends out psychic bleedover at orgasm. Besides, I just never told you anything about this.”

Schuldig glared back at the kid. Omi, who was turning bright red, tried to get up. “You know, I am a little hungry. Don’t worry about me, I can get it myself.” He smiled. Nagi pushed him back down in his chair and Omi’s smile vanished.

“What do you mean you just never told me?” Schuldig replied.

“I mean Crawford knew.” Nagi said. “So stop bitching.”

“Morning.” Came a somewhat sleepy greeting. Aya-chan waved hello and sat down next to Omi, Ken taking the seat beside her. He kept glancing between Crawford, Schuldig and Nagi, until Aya-chan jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. “Ken!”

“Sorry, babe.” Ken apologized quickly. “Force of habit.”

“Wow, I didn’t relize it was genetic.” Yohji’s voice from the kitchen was followed by a quick exhale, as if he had just taken an elbow to the ribs as well. “See?”

When he and A- no, Ran entered the dining room, Yohji appeared to be grinning. The grin faded somewhat as he saw that there was only one chair left and it was right beside Crawford.

“You want the chair, Yohji?” Ran asked casually.

“No, you sit, kitten.” Yohji said, motioning to the chair. “If I sit you’ll lean against the wall and I won’t get to touch you.”

A loud gagging sound interrupted the conversation. Ran sat down in the chair and glared at Schuldig, twining his hands with Yohji’s without even realizing it. Schuldig pulled his hand from his mouth and grinned.. “If you’re about done, I think Nagi and your own chibi have something to tell you.”

Schuldig grinned wider at the glare from Nagi.

“It’s a little late to tell us about your relationship with Prodigy, isn’t it?” Ran said coolly, looking at Omi. “After all, there can’t have been a neighbor within two miles who didn’t hear you two last night.”

Omi blushed so red that Schuldig wondered if he might get a nosebleed. “Ay- Ran-kun, I’m sorry. There was just ... there was never a good time.”

“I hardly think there will ever be a good time to tell your teammates you’re sleeping with the enemy, kiddo.” Yohji replied. Nagi turned his glare on the older blond, but, having dealt with several of Abyssinian’s death glares, it did not affect him.

“Yohji-kun ...” Omi said, apparently feeling more guilty than embarassed now.

“Were you doing it before the tower?” Yohji asked, knowing it was the question Ran wanted answered but did not trust himself to ask.

“Um ...” Omi, unable to blush any harder, looked down at his lap.

“Did you know Schwarz’s plans for Aya-chan?” Ran asked coldly. He recieved a rather potent glare from his sister, but she remained silent.

“No, Ran-kun.” Omi said quickly. “We never talked about work.” Omi decided to leave out the fact that they had not talked much at all. Most of their meetings had been almost entirely sex. There had been enough actual dating to know that they cared for each other, but they had gotten to be alone together so rarely that it had been difficult.

“In fact, considering the events that have led to our all being gathered here, there are more important matters to be discussed.” Crawford interjected.

“Yeah, like how we’re supposed to trust you guys.” Ken chimed in.

“And all the damn rules around here.” Schu contributed sourly.

“And just who it was that shot us out of our hotel room last night.” Ran stated.

Crawford nodded. “To the first question,” he began, “I believe that both teams will have difficulty trusting each other for a while. Except Omi and Nagi, of course. However, considering the fact that we are all being persued at equal risk, I think it is in our best interest to act as if this merging is a proffessional endeavor. And let me assure you that if we are all to survive, it is best that we all survive.”

“Seriously, Brad, did they teach you how to be cryptic and weird at Rozenkreuz or something?” Schuldig interrupted.

“It’s a gift.” Crawfor dead-panned. “As for the second concern, there are certain rules for our stay here, although I’m sure most of you already know them. We are trying to keep a low profile so it’s best if none of us stand out too much. I’m afraid Ken and Aya are the only two who can show their relationship in public and it would be best if they pretended to be married.”

“Not a problem.” Aya-chan replied.

“Not for you.” Ran muttered under his breath. Yohji patted the redhead’s shoulder. They had only recently gotten to the point where Ran didn’t mind holding hands and such in public and Yohji was none too pleased about having to hide again. Maybe they just wouldn’t go out a lot.

“Aya, we don’t even have rings. How are we going to pretend to be married?” Ken asked.

“Simple. If anyone asks, we’ll tell them that the engravers still have the rings and, in the mean time, we’ll order a set.” She replied, as if this were the most obvious solution. Ran was too busy glaring at Ken and his sister to notice the tiny smirk on Crawford’s face. The precog was rather impressed by the girl’s ingenuity.

“And who’s going to pay for these rings?” Ken asked stupidly.

“You are.” Aya replied. “Honestly, Ken, what were you going to do when we got married for real?”

Had Ken and Ran had drinks at the time, they probabaly would have both spit them across the room. As it was they just stared at Aya. Aya looked over at Ken, not quite glaring but close. “What? You didn’t think we were ever gonna get married?”

“Well it’s not that!” Ken said hastily. “No, it’s just ... well I guess I hadn’t really thought about it yet.” It was more than clear that Ken was not comfortable having this conversation with Ran just across the table.

“If we could get back to the matter at hand?” Crawford said. Despite the phrasing,it was clearly not a question. Ken and Aya both quieted and everyone returned their attention to Crawford. “As I was saying, the rest of us would do better to pretend to be friends or relatives imposing on the hospitality of these two. Hopefully, we won’t be here long enough for this to appear too odd.”

Schuldig gave a snort but did not actually voice his disagreement this time. It was unlikely that they would be here for only a few days and, in Schuldig’s opinions, that was as long as their situation would remain not ‘too odd’.

“Now, as for who was shooting at us last night, the answer is simple. Gottheit.” Crawford said. Everyone looked confused except Schuldig.

Schuldig gave him an odd look and said, “Divinity? Who the hell is that?”

“They are an organization similar to Esset or Kritiker, but far more dangerous.” Crawford replied. “They are not truly gods, but their name is not entirely undeserved. Not only do their leaders believe in their own divinity, but their powers have led many other to believe in it as well.”

“So we were being chased by a cult? Wonderful.” Yohji said. “But I don’t see why we had to run.” He motioned to himself and his teammates.

“I’m afraid Kritiker will be of no help to you, nor would Esset be of any help to us, even if it was able. I don’t know much about Gottheit but I know that they, in some way, control nearly every organization like ours. There are always a few small groups who operate independently, but they succumb to one of two fates. Either they disappear or they start working for Gottheit.” Crawford said.

“How many people are we talking about?” Ran asked.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to be certain.” Crawford answered. “No one seems to know. But, before you begin plans to hunt them down individually, you should know that they are never seen. Even with my power, I can’t see them.”

This statement effected Schuldig and Nagi much more than Weiss or Aya-chan. Both Schwarz looked at their leader, uncertainty in their eyes.

“You can’t see them at all?” Schuldig asked. Crawford shook his head.

“Then what are they?” Nagi asked.

“Wait, what do you mean: what are they?” Omi asked.

“Well, they can’t be human. Crawford can always see humans with his power, no matter how powerful or well-protected they are. But sometimes, with non-humans ...” he trailed off.

“Only very powerful non-humans.” Crawford clarified.

“So when you guys say ‘non-humans’ you’re not talking about a dog or a snake or something, are you?” Yohji asked, not certain he wanted to hear the answer.

“No.” Crawford answered. “The last time I encountered a being that I could not see was before Schwarz was fully formed. It was just Schuldig and me. We were assigned to take out a target that should have been easy. A single man who lives alone in a very low-rent apartment is usually a target given to a less skilled team, so Schuldig and I were curious as to why we had been given this job. When I tried to see what details we would need to best complete the assignment, I couldn’t. When we finally tracked him down, we learned why.”

“He wasn’t human.” Schuldig supplied. “Freak looked human at first, ‘till you saw his eyes. They were blood red. The whole things, no irises, no pupils, just all red. And he could stop time.”

“What?” Nagi asked. “You never told me about this.”

“Nor would we be telling you now, if it were not necessary.” Crawford said. “Neither of us enjoys discussing it. But it is true. The man could stop time. We only made it out alive because Schuldig is such a powerful telepath.”

“So, however many of these guys there are, they’re all gonna be able to do stuff like that?” Ken asked.

“Probably, yes.” Crawford answered. Schuldig shivered.

“I don’t understand.” Ran spoke up. “Why are they after us? If what you say is true then both of our organizations are working with them. Weiss has never been a threat to Kritiker.”

“Perhaps they’ve heard some of your recent doubts about Kritiker. If not for our ability to hide our actions, Schwarz would have been killed long ago for our part in the taking down of the Elders.” Crawford said.

“So are you telling us that in order to survive, we have to take down not only kritiker and any remains of esset, but every organization like them?” Yohji asked.

“No. We have to remove Gottheit. I believe that any other enemies are likely to become easier to handle after their deaths, assuming they come after us at all.” Crawford replied. He had to concentrate a bit more than usual to keep the smirk off his face. After all there was so much that even Weiss did not know about how useful they would be. At least their futures were still somewhat visible, or they had been the last time Crawford had checked. It became less difficultto refrain from showing any emotion when Crawford considered that their futures would likely be somewhat hidden if they agreed to this venture.

*****

After the meeting in the dining room that morning, everyone had seperated into groups and moved off to less public areas of the small house. Ran had suddenly felt the need to have a discussion with his sister, and they had moved upstairs to the bedroom Ran was currently sharing with Yohji. Yohji sighed, shook his head, and patted Ken’s shoulder.

“You know, I know he would have blown up about it no matter what, but this really wasn’t the best way to tell him you were dating his little sister.” Yohji told him, smiling.

“Hey, it’s not like I planned it this way.” Ken defended. “But come on. He’s gotta realize that I just wanna make her happy, right? Isn’t that what he wants, for Aya-chan to be happy?”

“You don’t have to explain it to me.” Yohji said. “I’ll tell you a secret, but don’t tell Ran, okay?”

Ken nodded.

“Okay. Even after all this time with Ran, I’m not sure how anyone can be happy considering the lives we lead. I think he and I have finally managed it, this new Gottheit thing not withstanding. And I still don’t think we should go dragging innocents into it for selfish reasons, got it?” Yohji’s eyes had narrowed as he spoke. Ken nodded again, scowling a bit himself. “But, I don’t think Aya-chan’s as innocent as Ran thinks she is. She’s been invovled since she decided to stay with us and that’s some pretty heavy trust she’s placing on us.”

Ken nodded again. “So what are you trying to say, Yohji?” He asked.

“Even though I know she’s not a complete innocent, I wanna protect her as much as Ran does, so don’t you dare hurt her Ken, but ... well I can’t tell you guys not to be together without being a hypocrite. I’m good at observing people, remember? And whenever she walks into the room, you get the same look I get when I see Ran. It’s like the whole world just fell into place and it’s actually a much more beautiful world than you ever thought it could be.”

“So, does this mean you’ll talk to Ran?” Ken asked.

Yohji grinned. “I’ve already started.” The blond looked over his shoulder in time to see Omi and Nagi looking rather undecided about where to go. It was pretty obvious that both teams were going to need to speak to each other without their counterparts present, but neither boy wanted to be separated.

“Omi,” Yohji said. “I think we’re gonna need you upstairs.”

Omi looked to Yohji and nodded. He apologized to Nagi and left, heading up the stairs after his teammmates. Ken entered the bedroom first, but Yohji paused, turning to Omi. He spoke quietly because he didn’t want to close the door and risk Ken saying something stupid while alone with Ran.

“Hey, chibi. Do me a favor, okay?” Yohji asked.

“What is it Yohji-kun?” Omi asked.

“Um, well, just ... don’t let Ran think that you’d switch teams or anything, okay? Things are changing fast and I don’t think he’s adapting very well yet.” Yohji said.

“Yohji-kun, you guys are my family.” Omi admonished. “I’d never do anything to hurt any of you.” Omi’s eyes narrowed and he pursed his lips a bit. “Besides, you should all be a little grateful to Nagi. He used his powers to keep all of us from getting crushed in that tower.”

“Okay, okay. You’re right, I should know better, chibi. But you know how Ran can blow things out of proportion, and do not tell him I said that.” Yohji said, apparently thinking better of his words the moment he had said them.

Omi nodded, smiled, and entered the bedroom. Yohji followed, seating himself on the edge of the bed beside Ran.

“My hearing is as good as ever, Kudoh.” Ran said when the blond settled his arm around his waist.

Crap, last name. Not good. Yohji chuckled nervously. “Eh, sorry love. I’m just worried, you know I do stupid things when I’m worried.”

“Indeed.” Ran agreed, seeming rather satisfied that Yohji had admitted to his own stupidity.

*****

“Nagi,” Crawford said as Schuldig headed up to their room to retrieve his other pack of cigarettes.

“Yes?” Nagi asked, walking over to the armchair in which the precog was currently settled.

“I’ve never noticed that psychic bleed off you mentioned. Was that true?” Crawford asked.

“Yeah.” Nagi replied. “Every time you guys are alone, I can tell when you’ve finished because Schu loses some of the control he has over his power for a moment and there’s a big wave of emotion. Any psi who was looking could probabaly pick it up from a few blocks away.”

“Mm. Thank you for telling me. Try not to be alone with Schuldig an time soon.” Crawford waited for the telkinetic to nod before continuing. “You know we’re going to have to go after Farfarello soon, right?”

“Yes.” Nagi said.

“Good. You should go downstairs and see if you can track down anything we can use.” Crawford said, dismissing the boy.

Nagi nodded and headed to the computer downstairs. It wasn’t that it was the only one in the house, just that it was the best equipped.

Crawford only had a moment to wait before Schuldig came back down the stairs with his new pack of cigarettes. He hadn’t lit a new one yet, for which Crawford was thankful. It wouldn’t do for the telepath to start the house on fire when he heard the news.

“Schuldig, have a seat.” Crawford sighed.

Schuldig stopped in the middle of the room and looked at Crawford warily. “What is it? You never tell me to have a seat if it’s good news.”

“It’s not. Please just sit.” Crawford said.

Schuldig sat down on the couch beside Crawford’s chair and looked worried. “Now you’re saying please, what the hell?”

“Schuldig,” Crawford took a deep breath and steeled himself. This was going to get ugly. And ugly it got. An ear-splitting shriek tore through the entire house before Crawford had even finished his sentence. One that was probabaly heard throughout the neighborhood. Omi’s head popped out of the bedroom door upstairs, but Crawford waved at him and the boy disappeared again. Nagi didn’t come upstairs, since he knew what the shriek had been about.

“What the fuck do you mean no goddamn sex?!” Schuldig screamed. And now everyone else knew as well. “Did you just bring me here to fucking torture me, Crawford?! No drinking, no parties, no powers, and now no motherfucking sex?! You - I’m gonna - We ...! I don’t even know a nasty enough name to call you right now you bastard. If you think I’m gonna just let you cut me off until you’re ready to hop back on, you are dead fucking wrong!”

“Have you vented enough to let me explain why, now?” Crawford asked, infuriatingly calm.

“Knock your fuckin’ self out, it won’t make a difference.” Schuldig replied, obviously still very pissed. Crawford did not expect this mood to lift any time soon.

“You lose some of your mental control during sex. We can’t afford to be tracked down because you need to have sex.”

“First of all, Bradley, it ain’t just me! You can deny it all you want but you need it just as much as I do. And what about you and Nagi? Why the hell doesn’t this shit happen to you? Why the fuck is it always me?!” Schuldig demanded.

“Because our shields are different from yous. We both have solid shields, whereas yours have to be able to allow things in for your power to function. That makes you vulnerable to this kind of thing.”

“You better sleep light, Crawford.” Schuldig said, dangerously.

“I’m not kicking you out of my life, Schu.” Crawford said. He lowered his voice then added, “And you’re right, this is gonna be hard for me too.”

“It damn well better be.” Schu scowled and punched the back of the couch. This day was just getting worse and worse. He glared over at Crawford for a second before getting up. He stood directly in front of the brunette, making certain that Crawford’s whole attention was on him, and then firmly planted himself in Crawford’s lap.

“Schu-“ Crawford began.

“You’d better not ever try to kick me outta your life.” He whispered beside the precog’s ear. “Cuz if you do, I really will kill you, and then I’ll die too, just to spite you.”

“And how does that spite me?” Crawford asked, running a hand over his lover’s long firey locks.

“Cuz I say it does.” Schu answered.

“I won’t kick you out of my life.” Crawford promised. “But if someone is going to kill me, I’d prefer it be you.”

“Same here.” Schu replied.

*****

So far the day had not improved. Now, not only was Schuldig stuck in the middle of conservative-town, not allowed to touch Crawford in public, not allowed to drink or party or tease anyone, not allowed to use his power, not allowed to have sex (which was far worse than any of the others), but someone had taken the goddamned sandwich he had been planning to eat for lunch. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, he couldn’t get too violent with said person because said person was standing in the kitchen doorway happily munching away on said sandwich instead of being tortured in some dark, dank cell like he was supposed to be.

“So how, exactly, did you escape?” Crawford was asking Farfarello as the one-eyed man ate Schu’s sandwich. Schu vowed to find some form of pain the man could feel and exploit it at great lengths.

“The guys who caught me got pulled over and arrested for something.” Farf replied, taking another bite of Schu’s delicious sandwich. Schu ammended his vow to include several types of pain.

“And why weren’t you arrested as well?” Crawford asked far too calmly.

“They were gonna arrest me.” Farf said.

“But?” Crawford prodded.

“Said they couldn’t do it with me in the straight jacket. I coulda been hiding something dangerous. So they took it off and I attacked before they could cuff me.” Farf grinned and finished off the half of the sandwich he had been eating. He looked at the other half of it with some disdain. “You want this?” He asked Schu.

“Yes.” Schu stated, without hesitation, grabbing the sandwich and stuffing the entire thing into his mouth. It was a bitch to chew like that but no one was getting another chance at the thing, dammit. At least he’d got half of the sandwich. Maybe just one kind of pain would do after all.

“So does this mean there are dead police officers lying in the middle of some road, or just unconsious ones?” Crawford asked.

“Well it was too dangerous to leave them alive.” Farf replied, as if it were completely obvious. “But don’t worry. We were behind those guys’ van, where the camera couldn’t see.”

“And what about the people who abducted you?” Crawford asked.

“Well, I wasn’t sure about them at first, but I figured dead men can’t go telling who attacked them.” Farf suddenly looked a bit thoughtful. “Although I’m not sure if their deaths were painful to Him or not. They were bad men, so maybe not, but I think they meant to kill me, so maybe.”

“This is fortunate. We needed to get you back, anyway. Weiss is here, leave them alone. Let me know if you feel a particularly strong urge coming on. We can’t afford to let you go play on your own right now.”

“I understand.” Farf said. He nodded once then went downstairs, presumably to say hello to Nagi who was still down on the computer. Briefly Schu wondered how Omi, who was down there with the boy, would react. Most of Weiss seemed rather afraid of Farf. Of course that was understandable. Sometimes Farf even scared Schu. It was usually when his head was spinning so fast that no creature, living or dead, could make sense of it ans Schu wondered how Farf survived those times. Although there was the occasional moment when he was very much lucid. Schu really didn’t like those but usually felt safe because he knew he could mentally overpower the man when he was lucid. Of course right now he couldn’t use his powers ... He finally mamanged to swallow the last of his half sandwich and decided to stop that train of thought before it got worrisome.

“It’ll have to wait until we’ve made it out of this.” Crawford said suddenly.

Schu looked over at him. “What will?”

“Your revenge for the sandwich.” Crawford smirked. “Although perhaps by then you’ll be less inclinded toward it.”

“Don’t underestimate my ability to hold a grudge, Bradley.” Schu replied.

“Don’t call me that.” Crawford said.

“Look here, Bradley, if I have to behave while we’re here and I don’t even have a reward fuck to look forward to, I’ll call you whatever I damn well please. You’re lucky I didn’t pick snugglebunny or something like that.”

Crawford looked irritated. His glasses reflected the light as he tilted his head back for a moment, obscuring his eyes. He looked back at Schu then, and said, “Bradley’s fine.”

“Damn right it is, and you’re gonna like it too.” Schu grumbled.

*****

Weiss, along with Aya-chan, had gone through a very long discussion. Most of it consisted of trying to find out as much about Schwarz from Omi as they could and discovering that, while the kid had met most of its members outside of work once or twice, he didn’t know much more than the rest of the team did. Omi was willing to trust them, however, because Nagi cared so much for them.

That logic was not so appealing for the others. Ken had no desire to trust any of Schwarz, even Nagi. He seemed unable to erase the image of Nagi squashing poor little Omi into a brick wall, despite the fact that Omi had explained that the telekinetic had not really smashed him into the wall, only lifted him up and crushed the wall behind him.

Several reasons not to trust Schwarz had been presented over their conversation. Both Oracle and astermind were very cunning and had, on several occasions, manipulated Weiss. Berserker was not be trusted simply because if his unpredictablility, Schwarz was always moving toward some goal and none of them knew what that was and, of course, almost all of their past experiences with the other team. Nagi (Omi had insisted that they stop calling him Prodigy) was the only on who no one could find real fault with. Actually, aside from following orders, the kid had never been a big threat to Weiss. Apparently he had even helped them a few times.

Nagi’s record aside, the only reason they had to trust Schwarz seemed to be the fact that Esset was in ruins so they were following their goals now. Then again, that could make them more dangerous. But here was Weiss, having apparently trusted them enough to come here. They were in a Schwarz safehouse, as Aya-chan had pointed out. Ran had quickly agreed with his sister. They might as well make the best of their situation an begin trying to verify what Crawford had told them earlier. That descicion more or less settled, Omi headed downstairs to find Nagi and begin researching this Gottheit thing.

Soon after, Aya-chan had attempted to drag Ken out of the room under the pretense of ordering those fake wedding rings. Of course, it was that point when Ken had decided to stop her and ask if she really wanted to marry him someday. Ran had gone very stiff at that. Although Yohji knew better, Ran seemed to believe that there was still and out for Aya-chan, just because she had never personally killed anyone. Come to think of it, Ken and Aya-chan probably knew better as well. Hell, at this point Ran was most likely the only one still suffuring that dillusion.

Honestly, Aya-chan might not be a killer like the rest of them, but she was still just as stuck with them. She loved her brother enough to accept what he had done to save her, and that was pretty impressive in itself. She had fallen in love with Ken and was currently discussing marrying him, despite having been out of a two-year coma for only two months. Again, incredible. She had told Yohji herself that she loved him for how alive he made Ran. And she had quickly become close with Omi after waking up. The two were like best friends. Aya-chan had a heart that was bigger than any Yohji had ever found before, and she was just as strong-willed, just as protective as her brother. And perhaps even more possessive.

In fact, if Schwarz turned out to be trying to manipulate Weiss, Yohji thought they just might have more to fear from Aya-chan than from anyone else. Yohji had only seen her angry once, when Ran had tried to get her to want to leave, and it had been scary. Ran had told him later that what he had seen was little more than aggravation.

After Ken had essentially proposed to her, Aya-chan looked at her brother.She frowned a little at his clear rigidity, then turned back to Ken and told him that yes, she did want to marry him someday. Ran, apparently unable to hold back, had spoken up then. He had asked Aya-chan why she insisted on tying herself to people like them. It was better than it could have been but it still hurt a bit.

Aya-chan had informed him that she would tie herself to anyone she felt worthy of it, and that included him and Ken. She told him that, no matter what, he would always be her brother and she would always love him. Ran did not seem to know how to react to that, so he remained silent. Ken, in a moment of surprising wisdom, said nothing as well. Finally Ran decided to play the big brother role properly and told Aya-chan that he loved her too, which she had said was unnecessary since he had proved it so well for two whole years. Then he had turned to Ken and told him in no uncertain terms to make damn sure that Aya-chan remained safe and happy. During those times when Ran, himself, couldn’t do it, of course.

Then Ken and Aya-chan had left the room, heading downstairs to the sofa bed they were sharing. Yohji thought they looked cute together, and even wondered if he could get a picture of them snugled on that sofabed to prove to Ran that they were really in love. Ran had just sighed.

Ran leaned back against Yohji, who was situated back on the bed, against the wall, and laid his head on the blond’s shoulder. It was silly, especially with what had gone on today, but he rather missed their old room over the koneko. This room was a little bigger but it seemed colder. Ran had not realized until now how nice it was to have a place where they could be surrounded by things that belonged to both of them. Of course it could have just been the fact that their current situaiton had come about so quickly that his head was spinning a little.

Actually, come to think of it, Ran was still a bit ticked off that he had been deprived of his morning at that hotel. He had planned on sleeping in a little, something he almost never did, and letting Yohji believe that the blond had woken first. Yohji liked to watch Ran sleep and Ran knew that, but he didn’t often let him do it. Usually he had to get up to open the shop.

He had been really looking forward to a bit of morning sex too. Not that he would ever tell Yohji, at least in words, how much he enjoyed that. But it was wonderful. Slow and sweet and still a bit sleepy and absolutely perfect for the mood.

Ran knew it was Yohji’s favorite. Yohji said that Ran always looked happiest right afterward. Ran let out a heavy breath that might have been a sigh.

“Yohji?” He asked quietly.

“Hm? What is it, kitten?” Yohji asked, sounding a bit as though he had been woken from a daydream.

“What’s gong on here?” Ran asked.

Yohji said nothing for a moment. His right hand was moving up and down Ran’s arm, his left wrapped around the redhead’s waist. After a few minutes Yohji finally said, “Are you asking about why we’re here or about how everything is suddenly changing so fast?”

“Things really are moving fast.” Ran said. “It’s ... odd.”

“I know, kitten. For a long time all we had to do was complete our missions and run the shop.”

“Hm. I’m surprised you can remember it all the way back.” Ran said. It sounded a little harsh, but with a note of sadness to it.

“Ran, we’ve had this conversation before.” Yohji said softly. “I thought you hated me. I couldn’t stand knowing that I didn’t have a chance in hell of getting the one person I was completely in love with.”

“Yes and looking back on it is terrifying. I could have lost you to liver disease or something, and never had a chance to-“ Ran was cut off.

“Don’t think about it, kitten. I love you way too much to ever do anything like that again.”

“I know.” Ran said. “But ... that’s it. Everything else is upside down. We’re supposed to trust Schwarz and work with them, Omi, of all people, has been sleeping with the enemy since they were still enemies, and my little sister, who’s only been awake for two months, is seriously dating- no, I guess she’d engaged now. And not to just anyone, but to Ken.”

“I know, kitten, I know. But at least you know you can trust Ken. He helped to save her before he even knew her.” Yohji pointed out.

“Yes but-“

”And you can see that he makes her happy.” Yohji continued. “I know you want her to be happy.”

“She deserves it.” Ran said.

“And as much as I know you want to believe she got dragged into this mess because of Ken, it wasn’t him. It was esset. The minute they decided she would be right for their ceremony, she was involved. But she’ll be all right, you know? After all, she has eight proffessional assassins for bodyguards. And she’s priorty one for three of us now.”

“Three of us?” Ran wasn’t sure about that.

“Well you know she’s top of Ken’s list. And I know she’s at the top of yours. So she sort of ties for first on mine too.” Yohji hugged Ran a bit closer. “I never want to lose you, but I know how much she means to you.”

“So if we were both in danger you know what I d ask you to do?” Ran asked darkly.

“I know.” Yohji said. “But you’ll understand that if I saved her and you died, I’d have to kill myself and leave Ken to take care of her.”

“Well, let’s just try to avoid that situation altogether, then.” Ran decided.

“Good idea.” Yohji smiled a little. “Besides, you know that you’d break her heart if you went and died on her.”

“Mm, not to mention yours.”

“I already told you, I have no intention of letting you go alone. I’ll follow you anywhere, even death.” Yohji said.

“You really think we can trust Schwarz that much?” Ran asked.

“Hm? What do you mean?” Yohji wondered.

“You said eight body guards. You were including Schwarz.” Ran stated.

“Oh Yeah, I do think so. Schwarz very clearly wants to survive and Crawford said that all of us, including Aya-chan, had better live if that’s gonna happen. So at the least, I think they’ll risk as much to save her as they would to save any of us right now. You can’t ask for more than that.” Yohji finished.

Ran was quiet for a long time. Finally he turned in Yohji’s arms and kissed him. It started as a sweet, almost chaste kiss, but quickly became more passionate. Ran opened his mouth eargerly when he felt Yohji’s tongue slide over his lip. He sucked on the slippery muscle, pulling it in, pressing his own tongue against it, savoring Yohji’s flavor. When they broke apart, Ran was quiet for another long moment. He caught his breath, looking down into the beautiful emerald pools of Yohji’s eyes.

“Yohji,” his voice was nearly a whisper, “I love you.”

Yohji smiled a small, but very happy smile. “I love you too, kitten. You pulled me out of hell to have me here with you. I’ve never loved anyone like I love you.”

“You Weiss kitties sure are sappy.” Schuldig stood in the now-open doorway. Ran turned his head and gave the other redhead a venomous glare. Yohji decided surprise was a good enough reaction, since there was nothing he could add to Ran’s glare.

“What are you doing here?” Yohji asked the telepath.

“Well I figure if I can’t have sex, no one else should, eh?” Schu replied blithely, leaning against the doorframe.

“So that wasn’t a joke?” Yohji asked.

“No, it was not a joke.” Schu sneered. “I-”

“Schuldig, leave them alone.” Crawford’s voice came from behind Schuldig.

“Crawford, you’re pushing it.” Schuldig actually growled at his lover.

“Come on, Schu, let’s go to bed.” Crawford tried. He was being especially harsh on his lover with all these standards, and he knew that, but there was no other way right now. Besides, it wouldn’t do to have him terrorize their new allies into running off in the middle of the night.

“Why should I?” Schu grumbled.

“Schuldig, get in the bedroom. Now.” Apparently being nice was not going to work right now. Schu growled again but turned to head into the bedroom he shared with Crawford. Crawford, now visible in the doorway, turned to the two on the bed. “I apologize for him. He’s not himself right now. He doesn’t usually restrain himself from tormenting his housemates, but he is capable of better interaction than that.”

“Uh, sure, no problem.” Yohji said. Ran nodded. “It must be frustrating for you guys to have such abilities and not be able to use them now, of all times.”

“Hm. I imagine you’ll find out just how difficult rather soon.” Crawford said, pushing up his glasses. Before either Ran or Yohji coul ask what he meant by that, Crawford had disappeared into his own room.

*****

Yohji pushed into his lover, savoring the delicious moan Ran let out. It wasn’t loud, but Ran had never really been the loud one in their relationship. After a moment of waiting for him to adjust to the intrusion, Yohji began to move, eliciting more small noises. He loved those sounds. Gasps and moans and tiny cries all sounded in that wonderfully deep and rich voice. He did his best to keep his eyes open as he made love to Ran, watching the redhead’s face shift through various stages of pleasure. The ruby hair stood out against the white sheets, flashes of violet eyes captivated him. Ran’s pale skin seemed to glow in the faint moonlight from the window.

Yohji let out a gasp of his own as Ran clenched his mouscles around him, writhing beneath him. The redhead was passion personified. “Ran ...” Yohji had to focus to speak, as the sensation of being inside the swordsman was always intense. “Gods, you’re so beautiful! Open ... open your eyes for me, please.” Ran’s eyes opened. His flushed face and reddened lips made the deep violet of his eyes stand out even more brightly. Yohji moaned at the sight. “Oh ... I could come just from watching you like that.”

“Y-Yohji ...” Ran groaned. “Nn ... Just- oh yes, there! Like that ...” Yohji was smart enough, even now when most of his brain was turned off, to know when he was supposed to stop talking and keep fucking. Of course, Ran’s voice enouraging him made it even better. “Ah! S-so ... so good! Nnng, harder ... yes ... oh gods ... yes ... ah!”

Speech degenerated into simple grunts and moans as Yohji pushed Ran closer and closer to his climax. He held himself back, waiting for the moment when Ran came, watching and savoring the image of the redheaded man below him, glowing and beautiful and shining with sweat as he came. The sound of Ran’s voice, low and not loud enough to be heard outside the room, was what pushed Yohji to the edge of his own climax. One, two, three more thrusts into his lover’s body and he followed him into ecstasy, barely able to hold his own voice down.

Yohji had always been vocal suring sex, but there was something about Ran that made him want to roar his pleasure loud enough for the world to hear. Or at least anyone in the immediate vicinity. Tonight, though, he had to try his best not to be so loud, so as not to raise questions from the neighbors.

Yohji, now sated and very happy, pulled out of his lover and flopped down beside him. Ignoring the mess between them, he pulled Ran tight against him, nuzzling his face into the scarlet hair. He smelled like jasmine and musk. It was a rare man who could pull of smelling like flowers, but they didn’t come much rarer than Ran Fujimiya.

“Yotan,” Ran’s voice was sleepy, calm. Yohji loved hearing the redhead’s voice like that, loved knowing it sounded that way because of him.

“Hm?” Yohji was not up to answering in full words yet.

“Sticky.” Despite the complaint, Ran snuggled closer to the blond.

Yohji smiled. “I know, kitten. I’ll fix it in a minute.” Yohji ran his fingers over the tangled mass of red hair at the back of Ran’s head a few times before shifting to reach over to the night table. Ran, being the more cool-headed of the two of them, had the forsight to have placed a brand new box of tissues on the night table. Yohji managed to get the box without too much trouble, despite having Ran and the wet spot between him and his goal.

Yohji switched places with Ran, cleaned the redhead off and moved on to himself. When they were both clean enough to sleep comfortably, the blond maneuvered himself back into his original spot, pulling Ran on top of him. He had resigned himself to the fate of becoming the man’s own personal body pillow after the first two or three times he had actually gotten to wake up with him. Ran would always end up sleeping on top of him, as if some deeply buried instinct told him that was where he needed to be.

Of course, Yohji was not one to complain about such fortuitous destiny. He stroked a few of the scarlet bangs from Ran’s face, earning a small grunt in return. Ran was mostly asleep by now and soon Yohji would drift off to join him, but not before his ritual of admiring the incredible beauty he had managed to entice into staying by his side.

*****

So how was that for a lemon? Good, I hope. I’m always really nervous about writing YohjixAya/Ran (or vice versa) lemons. They look so good in my head but I’m never sure if they’ve turned out right on paper ... screen. Whatever.

Also, this chapter is shorter than the first, sorry, but I hope it was worth the wait. I’ll have chapter three (in which there will be more information revealed) up sooner than this one took. Promise. ^^

*****

*Doppfelbier is an old German beer brand I found online. I just saw a picture of a label from the 20s-30s and thought it would look good on a t-shirt. ^^