Black Velvet

“Aya, wait!” Ben called after him. But Aya was focused on getting to Yohji to the point of tuning out all else. “Damn it.” Ben swore under his breath and started after the other man.



“Aya, stop!”



Aya felt like he had run headlong into an invisible wall. He spun around to face Ben.



“Let me go! I have to get to Yohji.”



“No you don't, Aya. Yohji is perfectly safe.”



“You're out of your mind! He's petting an alligator!”



“Yes. He is. He's fine, Aya. Calm down. If you go charging out there you'll piss Hector off and he really might hurt Yohji then.”



Aya snarled at Ben who only shook his head. “You don't want to do this, Aya,” he said, trying to talk him down but sensing at least a partial shift was close at hand. “You really don't want to do that,” Ben said, keeping a close eye out for any signs of Aya suddenly forming elongated teeth or claws.



“Just let me get to Yohji and I won't have to,” Aya growled, his voice taking on a deeper timbre than usual.



Ben sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “Why do I always have to deal with the idiot fledglings?” he wondered aloud.



Aya snarled and launched himself at Ben who easily sidestepped the advance. Aya pivoted in mid stride and whipped back around to face the other man again. Ben ducked another swipe of Aya's claws before partially shifting himself. Wicked looking claws met their counterparts and both men stood toe to toe fighting for dominance.



“You don't want to do this, Aya,” he growled. Because he had several years of training Ben was capable of speaking in partially or fully shifted form. Ben dropped to one knee and shifted behind Aya, taking one of Aya's hands and pinning it behind his back before putting him on the ground. Within a few seconds he had both of Aya's wrists secured and had one knee planted between the other man's shoulders.



“Damn it, Aya. Think! Yohji is petting Hector. Do you have any idea what that takes?”



Aya thrashed and bucked wildly trying to break free. Not wanting to hear logic at that moment as he was engulfed in the all consuming need to get to his mate.



Ben snarled and bore down harder. “Aya! Don't you know what Yohji's gift is?”



That filtered through Aya's adrenaline induced haze to the rational part of his mind. He glanced over his shoulder at Ben with a questioning look.



“Animal affinity.”



Control?



Ben answered as though he'd spoken aloud. “No. Not control. Affinity. Kinship. Connection. It's probably one of the reasons he's your mate and why he didn't freak when he found out what you are.”



How can you hear what I'm thinking?



“General path. I'm sure you know what that is by being around Schuldig and the Red Shaman team.”



Aya nodded.



“And since you haven't learned to speak in a half shifted form yet, it only makes sense.”



Both men turned their heads when sensing the approach of another person. Yohji paused to take in the rather odd scene before him.



“Ben,” he said slowly. “Do I want to know why you have my boyfriend restrained?”







From the moment he set foot in the cemetery Crawford could hear whispered voices. He didn't bother to look for the source of them because they seemed to be all around him. It was nothing unusual; he had heard them a thousand times. This cemetery had been his, Ben, and the girls' playground for as long as he could remember. He half expected to see a much younger version of Ben pop his head from behind one of the tombstones or one of the girls dart around one of the crypts. Later in his life, it had been a sanctuary, a place to hide and rest for a little while. He had never had anything to fear from the dead, the living had been far more dangerous to him at that point in time.



He turned his head slightly, thinking he had heard his name but he couldn't be certain. It had come to him almost like a heartfelt sigh. He frowned a little and wound his way through the haphazard gravesites, pausing every now and then to brush the leaves or moss from one of the headstones.



He could have sworn he heard his name said again, this time stronger and much closer. Even thought he heard bits and pieces of a conversation between two women. He worked his way around the headstones, following the voices. He peered around one of the crypts to find Skye talking to another woman who had her back to him.



“Really, Des, you'd be so proud of him,” he heard Skye say. “He's turned out to be a very good man.”



There was no audible response from the woman Skye was talking to. She only looked over one shoulder, directly at him. He blinked in momentary confusion, wondering why Rory was in the cemetery instead of the house.



It was in that instant Crawford realized he could see Skye through the other woman.



“So,” Cassie said, “You're in love with our Braddy.”



Schuldig sighed he might have known that would register to the other telepaths in the house. Well, it wasn't as though he had been trying to hide it. They were sitting on the floor in the ball room for some reason unknown to Schuldig. The girls had been there when he'd come in looking for Skye.



“For all the good that does me,” he said.



Cassie grinned a little at Dee. “Don't worry about it. He loves you too, y'know.”



“Yeah, well, he's got a damn funny way of showing it,” Schuldig grumbled.



Dee jumped up from her seat on the floor. “Yes. I suppose dying for you is a funny way of showing it,” she said before stalking off.



Schuldig shot Cassie a puzzled look. “How did she know that?”



“She felt him die.”



“Scheisse. How?”



“All of them are connected. Even Braddy's stubborn ass couldn't completely cut that off. We hadn't seen him in at least ten years and to suddenly feel him leave this world, well, that can't have been a picnic.”



“What the hell happened to make him cut all ties to his family anyway? I've been working with him for five years now and there hasn't been so much as a peep about them.”



“Gotta be the “If they don't exist to me, they can't be connected to me, if they can't be connected to me, no one can get to them through me” weird little syndrome he's had for ages now. I think that all started in his head just before he bailed out of here.”



“What made him leave in the first place?”



Cassie looked at him suspiciously and Schuldig felt little stings going up into the back of his head. She was digging for something specific and he let her dig.



“Heh. Might have known you'd be in one of those places too. They never let the really strong ones pass them by without at least trying to make a grab for them. You know they killed your parents to get to you and your brother, right?”



“I suspected as much when I came home and they were dead, yes.”



“Then you know the lengths certain agencies will go to in order to obtain those with gifts.”



He nodded. “This has something to do with the missing sister, doesn't it.”



“To a certain extent. She was the reason they suspected at least one other of the kids in the family had certain talents. Brad evidently saw something he didn't like about that. He let it be known he was one hell of a strong precog and split town.”



“You mean he drew them away from his sisters?”



“That's the way we all have it figured. It's the only good explanation for his actions. He'd always done anything he felt was necessary to protect his family. I suppose he thought that was the best way to keep Rory and Dee safe after their parents died.”



“This just doesn't really gel with what I know of Brad,” Schuldig said, shaking his head.



“Maybe not the Brad you know. But the one I know is still in there somewhere,” Cassie said firmly.



“What was he like before?”



Cassie smiled as a dreamy expression came over her face. “Hmmm, Brad. Sweet, sensitive, generous, funny, hyper protective, incredibly strong mentally as well as physically, astoundingly pretty. But you know all that.”



“I have no clue about anything but the last two, those I know very well. He was your first crush,” Schuldig said, smiling.



“Yeah, I guess it was that whole little sister having a thing for her older brother's best friend. I suppose I still sort of have a crush on him even after all these years. I know it isn't going anywhere because he doesn't like girls. But he and Ben are still who I measure most guys I date to. I guess that's why I'm still single,” she said with a laugh. “It's kind of hard to compete with them.”



“So Ben was Brad's best friend. I can kind of see that. There are definite similarities between them,” Schuldig said thoughtfully.



“Mmmhmm. If you didn't know different, you'd think they were blood. There was always this running competition between the two of them over everything. From sports to cars to music to girls. Though that stopped when Brad figured out he liked guys.”



“I wonder how he figured that out,” Schuldig mused.



“Weeeelllll, I did pick up an interesting little tidbit in Ben's head a few years ago that could explain that.”



“Really?”



“Yeah, it would have been totally hot if it weren't for the “eewwwww! Ben's my brother” factor.”



“Ben isn't my brother so I can think about it,” Schuldig said with a grin. Letting the image of Brad and his best friend in an interesting situation roll around in his head for a minute. Both men were gorgeous, of similar height, build and coloring, though Ben's eyes were dark brown instead of honey gold. They would definitely make a pretty picture together. “Damn, that is hot.”



“Better not let Rory catch you thinking like that about her husband,” Cassie said, grinning. “She'll skin you alive.”



“You know, that wouldn't surprise me considering she's Brad's sister.”



“Brad always was a good guy though. I know his mom being killed changed him a lot. From what I can gather out of Ran, Yohji and your head, he's been a real hardass with you all. Which is a part of his personality as well. You can't really go through what he did and come out all cream puffs and sunshine.”



“What do you mean go through what he did?”



“Oh, hell, he's gonna shoot me for blabbing all of this to you.”



“No, he won't.”



“Why not?”



“The Beretta is in Chicago.”