Nails aren't the only things hard, long, hammered

Word count: 1776 words for Memorial Day

Author Notes: Ce Cle 'Ver got the days mixed up and therefore we're celebrating the Fourth of July for the Declaration of Independence instead of Memorial Day. But according to my brother Ce Cle 'Ver, it's all the same. Hence, 1776 for our second chapter's word count. [He ought to be shot for that in Kimi's opinion.] Anyway, Happy Holidays from GurusGhouls.

Warnings: Kaku x Lucci mentions

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Chapter Two- The Roundabout Way

It had been exactly thirty seven minutes and eleven seconds since Iceburg handed Paulie a cerulean blue folder with unspecified content.Twenty four minutes and thirty six seconds since Paulie abruptly declared he had run out of rope and needed more. Twenty two minutes and three seconds since Paulie had actually disappeared from the work yard with Hattori and Lucci tailing him.

....And it hadn't been until exactly three minutes and forty four seconds that any of Paulie's coworkers, excluding Kaku, had even noticed the blonde was still missing.

"Where's Paulie?" Lulu asked as he approached Kaku, "Another one of his creditors just came by."

"HE WAS HERE A MINUTE AGO," Tilestone blurted out before Kaku could reply, " RIGHT LUCCI? "

Kaku sighed inwardly as Tilestone loudly realized that both Paulie and Lucci were no longer working beside him.

If Tilestone had been a more observant man, he would've noticed their absence much sooner than he did. But like most of the workmen, he was preoccupied and didn't realize that either man was no longer present.

In this regard, Tilestone was very unlike Kaku who had remained keenly aware of his surroundings the entire time. After Lucci and Hattori departed he had continued sawing but his mind was fixated on the mission and Lucci's actions.

Kaku had thought about the accident in the shipyard. Recalling the way Lucci had wrapped his arms around Paulie and held the blonde in his life-saving embrace. For Kaku, it felt strange to see Lucci saving a man's life rather than taking it.

Their occupation prior to the mission in Water 7 had been one of death and murder by assassination. However, since Kaku had arrived in Water 7, he hadn't killed a soul. And the only blood he saw came from those rare accidents at Galley La or the times when he became so aggressive in bed that he nipped Lucci's skin hard enough to draw blood from the surface.

Seeing blood that day would not have been an unwelcome sight, even if it did have to come from Paulie. Kaku missed the rush that seeing and smelling blood gave him. The thrilling feel that gripped him when he encountered the pain of another and came face to face with their agony.

From what he knew about Lucci, the dark haired CP9 member had been the same way. They both shared a common bloodlust and held jobs that allowed them to satisfy that violent side of their nature.

Paulie, Kaku concluded, must still have been valuable to the CP9's mission in Water 7. That fact was obvious because Lucci had kept the blonde from harm. He had protected Paulie.

Kaku noted that Lucci had always maintained a sustained interest in the blonde ever since they started working for Galley La nearly five years ago. Lucci believed Paulie was a key player in their mission. Unlike the other workers at Galley La, Paulie had a unique relationship with Iceburg.

He had what Lucci once referred to as a "hero crush" on the mayor. Paulie grew up admiring Iceburg because he helped build the magnificent sea train and it was through Paulie that the CP9 had learned a great deal more about the purple haired mayor's past. Befriending Paulie gave them a better understanding of life in Water 7 before and during the period Iceburg had united the seven shipbuilding companies within the city.

Paulie was proud to discuss the admirable things Iceburg had done for Water 7 and to explain how the mayor had helped him become a shipwright. Iceburg had even personally mentored the impressionable Paulie when he was eager to learn about shipbuilding. It had been through this mentoring that the two men eventually came to share such a strong friendship and good working relationship.

And it was because of this friendship that Paulie worked hard to become the most respected foreman on Dock 1. He was young and earned his position by not only skill but also dedication.

It had taken nearly half a year for Kaku himself to rise to the rank of foreman at Dock 1. Infiltrating the Galley La Company had required he demonstrate not only a skill in shipbuilding but also a deep commitment to the company.

Kaku found he was well liked in Water 7 because of his job as a shipwright at Iceburg's company and for his own part, Kaku enjoyed being a member of the city and its lifestyle. Califa and Blueno had also taken to this life but it seemed Lucci was still quite detached from it.

Kaku observed that Lucci was very mission oriented and denied having any attachments to the city. But Kaku sometimes wondered if that attitude had been misleading. It seemed impossible for Lucci not to form some attachment to the things and people in Water 7.

They had been there for almost five years and no matter how cold Lucci could become, it didn't seem possible that he could deaden himself so much to everything the city had to offer.

Kaku wondered what would happen when the mission was completed and they really had to leave everything behind. He could see this nagging realization present in Califa's eyes when she had spoke with him in the workyard. Hers was a look of silent regret, one of acknowledgement that their lengthy mission was finally on the verge of ending.

Of course everything wouldn't end. Kaku would still be part of the same team. Only the CP9 would have a new mission, one that hopefully was a more active assignment than their present one. And he suspected that he'd still have those rough nights with Lucci to look forward to. Nights when the sex was so forceful that they ended their erotic session covered in sweat and blood. Nights when Kaku made every effort to dominate Lucci in bed in the hopes that one day the dark haired man would slip up and cry out his name in the heat of passion.

And although there were many things that might continue after Water 7, there were also many more things he was sure he'd miss about living in the city. Like the way the children admired him and made him feel like he belonged. Or the fact that he got to live out his childhood ambition of building ships.

It would be a shame to leave Water 7 but like all missions, he understood that it was necessary for them to come to an end.

So Kaku had been sawing and waiting in the shipyard for Lucci's sign. Anticipating the moment when the other CP9 member would return with either some news or Iceburg's folder.

Yet the wait had been almost too long by Kaku's standards and he wondered if perhaps there had been a complication.

"LUCCI?" Tilestone shouted, expecting him to return from somewhere nearby.

"Anybody know where Paulie is?" Lulu asked loudly, "I got a message for him."

"I don't know about Paulie but I just saw Lucci's bird hanging around outside the abandoned shed," a workman carrying a plank told them.

Both Tilestone and Lulu exchanged glances, "Abandoned? You mean THE abandoned shed."

"Yeah. Lucci looked like he wanted to go inside so I talked him out of it." the plank carrying workman explained.

"WHY WOULD ANYBODY WANNA EVEN GO INSIDE SHED NUMBER 4." Tilestone worried aloud. "UNLESS...UNLESS...HE HEARD SOMETHING COMING FROM INSIDE."

"Abandoned shed?" Kaku interrupted, taking close note of their reaction to the building's mention, "Oh...Isn't that the one haunted according to folklore?"

"THERE'S A GRUDGE IN THERE KAKU!" Tilestone exclaimed.

"A ghost," Lulu interjected, pushing the point of his hair back down.

"DEAD MEN WHO KILL PEOPLE AREN'T GHOSTS, THEY'RE GRUDGES."

"Well, now if we're getting technical, it's not men, it's man. Dead man." Lulu corrected, "And no, it's not 'grudges' we're dealing with, it's 'a' grudge."

"BUT WHAT ABOUT---" Tilestone argued back and just kept on going.

Kaku stayed out of the matter as best as he could. He didn't find himself believing in ghosts or grudges and viewed the entire argument over the supernatural being's existence as a waste of time. The only purpose it did serve was to make the men at Dock 1 steer clear of shed number 4.

It was amazing how a little rumor could scare the hell out of these buff shipbuilding men. Kaku had been in that shed only once and it had been because he had heard so much about this strange, superstitious rumor that he decided to investigate the matter. He wasn't surprised when he found nothing unusual about the shed. To him, it was just a cramped building with narrow corridors lined with old tools and construction equipment. And although he had heard the occasional rumor about the odd moaning that sometimes emanated from the building, he had never actually encountered the phenomena so didn't really believe in any of it.

Yet, he was certain that if Hattori was near the tool shed and a worker had reported that Lucci was staring at that building, then he could conclude that Paulie must have entered it in the hopes of concealing the secrets plans.

"Lulu. Perhaps Paulie saw the man you were speaking with and rushed off, " Kaku offered.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Lulu remarked, picking up the carving Paulie had been working on, "And it seems he did leave in a hurry."

"I'll check around for him. There's an errand I need to finish." Kaku stated.

And after a consenting nod from Lulu, Kaku leaned his saw against the sawhorse and headed towards the opposite end of the work yard.

He deliberately spoke to one of the workmen once he was out of Lulu's hearing range to create the illusion that he was asking around about Paulie's location. He wanted to convince Lulu that he would handle the task and yet actually do so without completing it.

After all, he already had an idea where Paulie had gone and did not want an interruption to blow his team's mission. It would be troublesome indeed if there was outside interference in their group's affairs.

So Kaku took the roundabout way of heading to the back of the workyard until he came upon the row of tool sheds.

As the plank carrying workman had described, Hattori was perched on the roof opposite Shed #4.

Yet there was something about the scene that automatically put Kaku on alert. Something that seemed very out of place considering the situation.

He could hear a noise. A distinct series of sounds.

And to his ears, it was the unmistakable echo of moaning.

****To be continued in Chapter 3****

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