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Dragon Cycle	By : RubyRoh Category: Weiß Kreuz > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 6229 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own WeiÃŸ Kreuz, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 26
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Dragon Cycle – Chapter 27 – Pursuit
Author's Notes: It’s been *mumble* years since I tackled this fic, but it nagged at me through all those years that I hadn’t finished it. So I got to work recently, and now it’s complete. This is the next chapter in this story.
Again, no beta was used for this chapter so any grammar, punctuation, spelling, translation, characterization, etc. mistakes are purely my own work.
*********
Schuldig was feeling increasingly disoriented, and the search seemed to take forever but he was a child of Rosenkreuz and he didn’t panic. He located the anchor line after what seemed an eternity and hauled himself back into Stein’s mind.
“What the..?” the newly-released Stein sputtered, as Schuldig corralled him back into a corner of his own mind.
Where’s Verena? Schuldig asked.
“Get out! Get the fuck out!” Stein shouted, furious.
Where is she? Schuldig insisted, beginning to bring his own mind to bear on Stein’s.
“You bastard…”
Verena is behind the attacks on the teams and she is getting away, Schuldig spelled it out for him impatiently.
Stein’s confusion was palpable. “Verena? What? No! I don’t…Oh, she was here…”
We need to find her, Schuldig said. Confusion warred with indignation in Stein’s mind. Now! Schuldig shouted. Both emotions faded to disgruntlement as Stein took control of his own body and headed for Verena’s room.
She won’t be in her room, Schuldig told him. Go to the car park.
“Why should I believe you?” Stein asked. “She wouldn’t…”
She’s run off. We can discuss her guilt once we find her, Schuldig replied. Also, you understand I’m not standing in front of you, yes? You understand that to the casual observer you look as though you’re having a psychotic episode?
He felt Stein stiffen with indignation. The rapid flow of thoughts moving through the Austrian’s mind informed the telepath that Stein had been in his room when Verena paid him a visit earlier in the night. He remembered nothing after inviting her in.
And Stein was still heading for her room.
She's not there! Schuldig insisted angrily, but Stein ignored him, pressing forward towards the empty room.
Schuldig growled his frustration. Sure he could dig in, force Stein to do his will, but he was dealing with another child of Rosenkreuz here. Stein's will was strong and time was needed to force him to do other than he chose to do.
Schuldig had already run the equations and knew it would take him almost as long to overtake control of Stein's mind as it would to return to his own body and physically bring himself here. The downside of returning to himself was that he may very well lose the already tenuous hold he had on Verena's mind. Even now she was a fading presence. He could feel the tension in the link increasing by the second, like a piece of elastic being stretched beyond its endurance. Any moment it was going to snap and he'd have lost her.
He needed one of two things: his own body or Stein to give up control to him. One was impractical, the other an impossibility.
She's not in there! Schuldig shouted at Stein, who ignored him and reached for the handle on the door to Verena's room. As they stepped into the room, Schuldig felt the link give a little. God damn it! He was going to lose her! Get out of here! he ordered Stein. I'm losing her!
Stein hesitated long enough to give the room the once over, then turned.
"Which way?" he asked.
Car park, Schuldig snapped. And fucking hurry!
Stein bolted along the hallway, but only as far as the next room. He stopped and knocked rapidly. Schuldig's frustration overflowed and he let loose a stream of vitriol at the Austrian.
By now, Clara had opened her door.
"Stein?"
"Get Jerry and meet me in the car park - now," Stein ordered. He turned away then turned back. "Also, see if you can track Verena’s mind. We need to find her," he added before breaking into a run.
Thank fuck you've finally understood the urgency of this, Schuldig griped.
Why don't you shut your big, ugly mouth for two seconds? Stein shot back. A person can't think with your incessant babbling.
If we lose Verena, it won't be because of my 'incessant babbling.' And, for the record, my mouth is not ugly. If you won't take my word on that, ask Brad. Schuldig provided some lurid images to authenticate his claim and didn't bother to suppress his laugh at the envy-tinged revulsion that flooded Stein's mind.
The Austrian tamped down on his emotions quickly.
I stopped trusting Crawford's judgement on what's attractive when I saw what he prefers to take to his bed, Stein replied, his tone disdainful.
And still you want him, Schuldig mocked.
You gloat like an immature teenager, Stein chided.
“Shit!” Stein shouted then.
Schuldig realized they were in the Austrian’s room. What the everloving fuck? He was just about to ask if this looked like a car park when Stein spoke again.
“The car keys are gone,” he said.
Oh.
Stein bolted for the stairs.
At last! Schuldig said caustically.
“Fuck you, you Teutonic prick,” Stein snarled.
No, thanks. But I can make you believe you have – and loved every minute of it. Schuldig offered. He almost cackled from the flash of fury he felt from Stein. And, you’re still talking aloud to yourself.
Fuck you. Fuck! You! Better?
Well, that was amusing, Schuldig thought to himself as Stein dashed through the foyer and outside into the car park. He arrived mere seconds after Jerry and Clara.
“Did you see her?” he asked them. Neither of them had. “Clara, have you found her?” he asked then. The telepath replied that she had not.
“Our car’s gone,” Jerry pointed out helpfully.
Stein took a deep breath to steady himself. “Yes,” he said. “Clara, we’re going to need another car. As quick as you can.”
After long minutes, Stein was out of patience.
Where is she? he asked.
Since he was speaking mentally, Schuldig knew the question was directed at him. He still had a tenuous hold on her, but it was fading. Direction was almost impossible to discern.
Schuldig? Stein was wanting an answer. After long moments without a response he tried again.
Shut the fuck up and let me concentrate, Schuldig told him. He heard the low growl Stein made but he was already focusing on his next task. Crawford?
We’re on our way, Crawford answered eventually.
How long before you’re here?
Maybe five minutes, give or take, Crawford advised.
Schuldig turned his attention back to Stein. Unless you have a definite lead, we need to wait here for Crawford.
“Thank you,” Stein was saying. He turned from the couple he’d been talking to. “We have a definite lead,” he snarled lowly. “Someone saw her leaving and heading north.”
Clara drew up and handed over a set of keys. “Black Honda,” she told Stein.
Schuldig had no choice but to go with them, but he was seething. He wanted his own body back.
Crawford? he sent, please tell me you’re almost here.
Five minutes, came the reply.
You said that five minutes ago! Drive faster! Stein is leaving and heading up the mountain.
We’ll be there as soon as we can. And I said ‘give or take’, Crawford argued back.
Schuldig felt the car begin to move and let out a deep sigh. Then, resigned to his current situation, he went back in search of Verena. With all the distractions, Schuldig found that the tenuous hold he’d had was almost lost. He focused all his attention on catching firmer hold, on not letting her get away. If Stein was heading in the right direction, it should be easier to tighten his hold, or at least not lose her completely.
A mind brushed up against his. Schuldig? Clara. He pushed her away easily reaching out into the countryside to keep tabs on the fleeing Verena.
Stop being such a prick and let her help. This mind was harder to ignore given that he was presently sharing it.
Jesus, Schuldig thought to himself, Clara was quick to go crying to her boss.
They are team mates, for god’s sake, so it will be easier for Clara, Stein argued.
Gritting mental teeth, Schuldig reminded himself that leaving Stein a mindless vegetable would require more explanation than even he could come up with - not that it still wasn’t tempting.
If she ‘helps’ any more, I’ll lose Verena, Schuldig snapped back, then to himself, Fuck! the sooner I get out of here the better.
Leaving Clara to do whatever she wanted, he returned to his task, only to realize Verena had slipped his grasp. Fuck no! Was it because they were moving in the wrong direction or because his hold had been so fragile that Clara’s slight interference had caused him to lose it?
He reached farther into the countryside in a now desperate attempt to relocate Verena. She still had to be close – unless they were driving in the wrong direction.
Stein, we should stop, he insisted.
“No, she went this way. She was seen. We keep going,” Stein replied.
“Who are you talking to?” Jerry asked.
“I think he’s got a guest,” Clara answered.
“What?...oh!” Jerry caught on. “Interesting.”
"No, no it's not," Stein ground out.
Schuldig had had enough. He brought all his mental force to bear on the Austrian and after long minutes, the car began to slow to a stop.
“Stein?” Clara asked from beside him.
“I will fucking kill you!” Stein promised Schuldig.
Shut up and let me work, Schuldig told Stein. Don’t, he warned as he felt Stein move to set the car back in motion.
“I’m not waiting here,” Stein snapped back. “We know she went this way and I’m going to follow her. Otherwise we’ll both lose her!”
Schuldig didn’t have the strength to keep Stein incapacitated and look for Verena. He wondered whether the few minutes wasted had allowed Crawford to catch them up at least a little.
Crawford, have you passed Stein’s hotel yet? he sent. He felt the car move and lost all patience. Can Nagi stop this fucking idiot from driving?
We should be at the hotel in a couple of minutes, Crawford replied. And Nagi, no. We’re too far away.
Christ! What was it with Crawford and his inability to estimate time? Ten minutes ago he was five minutes away; five minutes ago he was five minutes away and now he was still five minutes away. Schuldig seriously wanted to punch someone.
You can punch Farfarello when we get there, Crawford offered without a trace of humor.
Schuldig growled lowly and shut his mind off to the American. If only he’d been traveling with someone else, someone who wasn’t a product of Rosenkreuz, Schuldig would have taken control of them with no effort. But Stein wasn’t someone else, and Schuldig needed his attention elsewhere. At least he’d managed to delay them slightly, he told himself.
With Stein tearing up the road, Schuldig’s attention went to Verena again. Listening hard, he thought once or twice he’d found her, but those proved to be false alarms. He was beginning to believe that he really had lost her; that with her shields no longer stretched to hide and bind other minds, Verena had become invisible to any telepathic hunt. And the longer he searched, the more convinced he was that he was correct. But at the moment, he had nothing else to do but look.
He’d stretched out over the villages and farming towns and found nothing. Now he’d reached a larger town and he knew she hadn’t had time to get that far away. And here were more mundane minds slowing down his search…
…where is she? Verena? Verena? Where are you? Verena? Jesus!
Well, hello there, Schuldig thought to himself.
Do I get out? Do I leave? I don’t know what has happened…how it could have happened…it was all planned perfectly, she said so…now something terrible has gone wrong…she shouldn’t have abandoned us…maybe she couldn’t help it…maybe she’s in trouble…should I go to her hotel…no, leave…I have to get out in case trouble is coming…but suppose she’s in trouble and needs us…us?... There was a short, hard laugh. The others up in the hills are dead…what do I do?...go to her…run…I have to get out of here just in case…go where…Nagano maybe…but she won’t go there now…
Schuldig grabbed hold of those thoughts like a tow rope and followed them to their source. Seconds later, he stilled again. If he’d had lips, they’d have quirked in a savage smile.
Gotcha.
Face, name, location – he took them all from the frantic mind surrounding him.
Against all odds Aleksandra Pastukhova was back from the dead.
She was also in a panic; horrified at the turn of events, shocked at being deserted, terrified of imminent capture and no longer certain of the best course of action.
And by some astounding stroke of luck, Stein was heading in the exact direction they needed to go. Schuldig checked back in with Pastukhova. She was still panicking and now she was packing. Too late, Schuldig thought with grim satisfaction.
Guess who I’ve just found lurking in a nearby town? he sent to Crawford.
Dare I hope it’s Verena?
Damn Crawford! Always bursting his little bubble of smug.
Aleksandra Pastukhova, Schuldig replied, hiding his chagrin. Not inclined to engage in further conversation, he sent the destination to Crawford and urged him to catch them up sooner rather than later.
Since he had nothing to do during the fast drive, Schuldig lurked about in Pastukhova’s mind, searching out details and information and hoping that, maybe, if he was extremely lucky, Verena would make a call on her abandoned team-mate. If she did, Schuldig might be able to get a location, making her easier to corner.
However, he wasn’t overly hopeful Verena would be in touch. It was clear she’d withdrawn her Shields from Pastukhova, which was why he could hear her now when he’d previously had no idea she was even alive.
There was another scenario, one where Verena got herself safely away and then began Shielding the Russian again, protecting the other woman and helping her escape. That was the worst case scenario, but it wasn’t out of the question in Schuldig’s considered opinion.
Okay, he thought, still digging around in Pastukhova’s mind, what are my options here? He could, of course, hide himself in the Russian’s mind, hoping and praying that Verena would opt for the worst case scenario. If that happened, he’d be perfectly placed to find out all he needed to know in order to corner both women.
His other option was to search for Verena. That was not going to be easy. Her Shields protected her thoughts and hid her from him, but those Shields were traceable. It would be like searching for a black hole in space, and he would be very pressed for time, because the farther away she got, the harder it would become to track her.
And whichever option he chose, it would be easier to accomplish in his own body.

**********

Crawford was driving as fast as he dared. He knew that Stein had a five minute head start and he also knew that Stein would be driving as fast as he himself was. Beside him, Farfarello sat, looking ahead and absently toying with a knife. This close, Crawford could still catch a trace of the onsen on him. That did nothing to improve his mood.
In the back seat, Nagi was making sure Schuldig’s body stayed upright and wasn’t tossed around too much during the hectic pursuit. Crawford cast a quick glance in the rear-view mirror before returning his attention to the road. He’d grown accustomed to seeing telepaths in this condition during his years at Rosenkreuz. Some of them had merely been ‘away’ doing exactly what Schuldig was doing now. Some of them were away and never coming back; the ones that lost their way and couldn’t reconnect for whatever reason, be that a lack of Talent or overstretching themselves.
Crawford had wondered what happened to those lost minds. There were rumors that Rosenkreuz had devised a way to trap them and put them to some other use. If they had, it was the toppest of top secret. Crawford doubted it was true, though. He was certain that a telepath as nosy as Schuldig would have heard the rumors and gone on the hunt to try and verify them. The German had never mentioned finding a vat of lost minds so Crawford very much doubted Rosenkreuz had the resources or knowledge to track and harvest them.
His thoughts were interrupted by the tingling that warned of a premonition. He slowed the car.
“Nagi, mind the wheel a minute,” he said. Then he couldn’t see the road any more.
It only took a few seconds before he was back in charge. He pressed his foot down on the accelerator and contacted Schuldig.

**********

Several minutes later, a stuttering breath from behind him drew Crawford’s attention. He looked into the rear-view mirror long enough to see a flicker of the telepath’s eyelids just before his eyes opened, and Schuldig was back.
“Thank fuck!” the German declared. “You were lucky,’ he advised his leader, “I was just about to jump back when you contacted me.”
“Stein?” Crawford asked.
“Your boyfriend is taking a long nap – they all are,” Schuldig assured him. “Tucked up in their borrowed car and parked safely in a rest stop. We’ll pass them in a minute.”
“The call?” Crawford asked. This was what he’d Seen just minutes ago – Stein making a call to Eszett.
“Unfortunately, Stein felt so weary he decided a nap was more desirable that alerting Eszett to the current situation,” Schuldig replied.
“And Clara – was she aware of Pastukhova?” Crawford asked further.
“No,” Schuldig said with a shake of his head.
Crawford knew they wouldn’t be able to keep Ezsett out of things for too much longer. But a little breathing space would allow them time to get to the Russian and get some long overdue answers.
“How long before Stärke are back?” he asked.
“A couple of hours,” Schuldig replied. “Should give us plenty of time.”
Crawford gave a satisfied nod but he remembered that Eszett had been on the hunt for Pastukhova and now, with her mind open to being read again, they would locate her in no time at all.
He glanced in the rear-view mirror at Schuldig. The German seemed preoccupied. A thought came to Crawford.
“Is Pastukhova linked to anyone?” he asked.
Silence for a moment, then, “She was, but that link is dead,” Schuldig replied.
The rest of the drive was carried out in silence.
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Dragon Cycle