Alternatives

Reunions


\"I thought I said no flowers.\" Yohji lit a cigarette and mock glared at Ken.

\"You said no flower shop. This is a garden. Aya will like it.\"

Yohji frowned in concentration. \"Aya likes gardens? I hadn’t remembered that.\"

Ken shrugged. \"He likes flowers. He’s good at looking after them and arranging them.\" He glanced at Yohji. \"How much do you remember about me?\"

Yohji chuckled. \"Soccer. And you like kids.\" That bit had just returned, Ken playing soccer with all the local kids. He had a vague flash of him and Ken teasing each other. \"I think we got on quite well.\" The pleased grin on Ken’s face made adding that last, small sentence worth it. Yohji found himself grinning in response.

\"I’m guessing I’ve been dragged out here so Aya and Schuldig can talk. I hate this, Ken. Without memories, how do I know who’s a friend and who’s trying to kill me?\"

Ken looked away, uncomfortable about something. \"Schuldig could help you.\" It was said hesitantly as if he expected Yohji to explode or something. \"But he won’t without your agreement.\"

Yohji studied the glowing end of his smoke for several minutes. \"Can I trust him in my head, Ken?\"

\"Yeah. I really think you can.\" All the hesitation had vanished. Ken spoke with conviction.

\"Okay. Might be good to get my childhood or something.\" He took a final drag on the cigarette and stubbed it out against the high wall that enclosed the garden.

\"You never really talked about your childhood, but I get the feeling that Aya was the only one of us that had anything like a normal upbringing. Omi was kidnapped then raised as an assassin, I grew up in an orphanage after my mom died. Never did know my father. I don’t know what you might find.\"

\"It doesn’t matter, Ken. What matters is that its part of me, the real me, not the happy little shell of a man who found Aya in New York.\" He had a sudden thought. Ken hadn’t seen him since the…whatever it was. He would know how much he had of himself. \"Do I seem like the man you knew?\"

\"Basically, yes. I mean your personality seems pretty much the same. Only…\" Ken stopped speaking as if trying to figure something out.

\"Only what?\"

\"This is gonna sound nuts, but it seems more real, somehow. It’s like you were wearing a mask or something before.\" Ken frowned direly then suddenly his face cleared. \"I know what it is. Now your smile is real.\"

Yohji raised his brows at that and decided that he needed another cigarette. Aya had hinted that he was ‘improved’ while they had waited in New York for his stab wound to heal and now Ken was saying something very similar. He wondered just how fucked up he had really been. \"Aya seemed to think I was going crazy.\"

\"Last time we saw each other, we both were. I was enjoying the killing too much and you were withdrawn and just weird.\"

Yohji nodded and smoked, staring into the distance. \"I still want the memories back, Ken. I still want to be ‘me’ whoever that is.\"

* * * * * * *

Schuldig grimaced slightly. Kudoh was staring at him as if he were a particularly nasty bug. He wasn’t sure if he could do anything at all while the man was in this frame of mind. \"You need to relax.\"

Kudoh snorted. \"How can I relax when someone I think of as an enemy is going to mess with my mind?\"

Schuldig sighed. This was impossible. Then he realised that he hadn’t fully explained the procedure to any of them. \"All I intend to do is speed up your memory retrieval processes. I don’t intend to read your thoughts or manipulate you in any way. All I will be doing is assisting nature.\"

Kudoh stared at him for a moment longer then, abruptly nodded. \"Okay. Let’s get on with it.\"

Schuldig closed his eyes and concentrated. He was in a dark, silent room with just small flashes of light around him. Realising these were the few memories that Kudoh had so far retrieved, he looked around for something he could use. He spotted a door but it was barred, bolted and chained locked and he knew he was looking at the tampering. Shying away from that, he spotted a small window and went towards it. Outside it was light, but the light wasn’t getting into the room. He tried wiping the pane, only to find it was opaque. Then he spotted the catch which appeared to be stuck. He tried to shift it but found that it really was stuck. He wrestled with it, easing it back and forth, until he felt it give. Releasing it, he threw open the window. Light streamed into the room together with the sounds and smells of the outside world. Nodding to himself, Schuldig retreated back into his own mind.

He opened his eyes to find Kudoh wide-eyed with shock and he wondered if the man was going to have a seizure. Then the green eyes focused and Kudoh smiled at him. \"Thank you.\"

For what? Schuldig wondered. \"You have some more memories?\"

\"Not so far, but the memories I do have make more sense now. Before it was like they’d happened to someone else. Now I know they happened to me.\" He was quiet for a moment before catching Schuldig’s eye again. \"I know that we were enemies at one time, but, with what you’ve done here, I’m prepared to try being friends.\"

Schuldig smirked at him. \"Don’t go overboard, Kudoh. Use your common sense, and decide over time if I’m trustworthy.\"

\"You kept your word while you were in my head. That’s good enough for me.\"

\"Not strictly true, Kudoh. I opened the way for your memories to take some substance, which means I experienced some of them.\" He grinned. \"I promise I stayed away from anything to do with Fujimiya, though.\"

Kudoh actually blushed. \"So I should think. Pervert!\" It was said without real heat, much as he might say something similar to Ken. Schuldig began to believe that he might actually have made a friend.

* * * * * * *

Aya awoke to the insistent sound of his cellphone ringing. He groaned slightly and glanced at the clock on his nightstand. Three in the morning. Who the hell would be calling at this time? He reached out and fumbled about until he found the damned phone and flipped it open.

\"Do you know what time it is?\" Not the best of greetings but he didn’t much care.

\"I’m sorry, Aya-kun. Our plane only just got in and apparently no hotel will book us in at this time of night.\"

Aya sat up rather quickly. \"You’re here? In London?\"

\"Well, at the airport, but yes.\"

\"Okay. Were you followed?\"

\"Not as far as we can tell. It would probably be safe for us to stay here until morning.\"

\"No. Don’t do that. Get a taxi. It’ll cost a great deal. Do you have English money?\"

\"Yes. I’ve just been to the exchange. Money’s not a problem.\"

\"Okay. Get a taxi to this address.\" He gave the address. \"I’ll wait up for you to arrive.\"

\"Thank you Aya-kun.\"

\"I’ll see you in about an hour. Shouldn’t take longer than that for you to get here.\" He turned off the phone and hauled himself out of bed. Pulling on a robe as he went, he headed downstairs to the kitchen only to be bought up short by the light streaming from the doorway. He shrugged and entered the room to find Ken sitting at the table and nursing a mug of coffee.

\"Is there more of that?\"

Ken gave a start and turned to see who had disturbed his reverie. \"Oh, Aya. Yeah, there’s coffee in the pot still.\"

Aya crossed the kitchen to the machine and poured himself a mug. \"You’re up late.\"

Ken shrugged. \"Couldn’t sleep. I’ve got too much on my mind. Anyway, what’s got you out of bed?\"

Aya joined him at the table and sipped at his coffee. \"Takatori and Naoe are on their way here from the airport. I said I’d wait up to let them in.\"

\"Damn! As if I didn’t have enough problems.\"

Aya raised one crimson brow, wondering what problems Ken was thinking about. He understood that the arrival of Takatori Mamoru and Naoe Nagi were likely to cause the brunet pain, but Ken hadn’t known they were coming here until just now. He wouldn’t pry, though. He never did. Just waited until people told him what they wanted him to know.

\"Do you hate Schuldig?\"

Where the hell had that come from? \"I don’t like him very much. I remember too well that he was involved in the kidnap of my sister and what he tried to do to Sakura-chan. I know that he and Crawford helped us out that last time but I can’t trust him yet.\"

Ken nodded as if he’d been expecting that sort of answer. \"I’ve been around him the last few days and he seems to have changed a lot, you know.\"

Aya had to admit to himself that Ken’s words were true. The telepath had changed. Being on the run from Rosenkreuz seemed to have knocked some of the arrogance out of him. As to whether the change of heart was permanent, only time would tell. \"You always were too trusting.\"

\"Yeah, yeah, I know.\" Ken resumed the study of his coffee.

Aya drank some of his own coffee and glanced at the kitchen clock. Another forty-five minutes and all hell might just break loose. \"Are you going to be okay with Naoe?\"

\"What? Oh, maybe. I’m not sure. He’s not that fond of me, either.\"

Whatever it was on Ken’s mind, obviously had more to do with Schuldig than with Naoe, Aya realised with a frown. As if their lives weren’t complicated enough already. Since Schuldig had done whatever it was he’d done to Yohji’s head, the blond had been remembering more by the hour and seemed more emotionally involved with his memories. Of course, that meant he was even more determined for them to get back on their old footing and become lovers again. Aya still wasn’t sure that he could do that even though…no! He was not even going to go down that road. Yohji was best kept as a friend. So why did he keep remembering that sweet kiss at the Red Roof Inn? He shook his head, sighed and took another sip of coffee.

\"Looks like I’m not the only one with stuff on his mind.\"

\"Hn. Probably not.\"

\"I know it’s none of my business, but you and Yotan always seemed good for each other somehow.\"

\"Good for each other? We nearly ended up killing each other! And you’re right, it is none of your business.\"

\"Fine, then.\" Ken subsided into huffy silence.

Aya sighed. \"I’m going to regret this, I know, but how were we good for each other?\"

Ken looked up and thought for a moment. \"Yesterday Yohji asked me if he had changed. I said that he hadn’t except that his smile was real. It seems like it was more real when he was around you. Well, until things went to hell in a handbasket.\"

\"And he was good for me how…?\"

\"Oh, that’s simple. You were more human when he was around.\"

Aya glanced round the kitchen, hoping that Yohji had left his cigarettes down here. Suddenly, he felt the overwhelming need for one of them. Damn Ken and his observations and damn Yohji for being….Yohji. He spotted the packet on a counter and stood up, growling that he was going to get some fresh air. He grabbed the pack and lighter on the way.

Ken followed him into the back garden. \"Fresh air, huh?\"

\"Shut up.\"

* * * * * * *

Mamoru paid off the taxi driver and glanced up at the house. It was dark and quiet and he wondered if Aya had waited up after all. He opened the gate that led into the tiny patch of front garden and was just about to knock on the door when a light went on and the door opened. Aya stood there frowning at him and Nagi.

\"Aya-kun.\" He started to smile then stopped. Had too much passed between them for them to be friends anymore?

Aya held the door open for them to enter the house then closed it behind them. There was a light on at the back of the house and Aya led the way towards it. It turned out to be a large and homely kitchen with Ken seated at a table in the centre of it. He glanced up as they entered and stood up.

\"Well, I’m going back to bed,\" he said and brushed past them without saying anything further. Mamoru didn’t know what to do so he simply stood there and let Ken go.

\"I made some tea if you want some.\" Aya’s deep voice brought his attention back to the present and he nodded thankfully.

\"Yes, please.\"

Aya poured three cups of tea and sat down at the table. Nagi followed his example and finally, Mamoru sat down also. The silence was almost deafening.

\"Are Schuldig and Yohji-kun asleep?\" He asked the question more for something to say than from any real desire to know. Aya didn’t even look at him as he nodded.

\"Did Schuldig…?\"

\"Yes. It worked to an extent.\"

He frowned at that. \"What do you mean by an extent?\"

\"Yohji still only remembers bits and pieces, but he now knows that they really are his memories and not some sort of movie playing in his head.\"

\"It didn’t help him retrieve more, then?\"

\"Some, not much, though Schuldig seems to think that more will come back with time\"

\"Good.\"

They lapsed into silence again and Mamoru sighed softly. He was considering booking into a hotel in a few hours when Aya spoke again.

\"We made you up a bed in the spare room. It’s a double so you should be comfortable.\"

\"Thank you, Aya-kun. We appreciate your taking us in at such short notice.\" Gods, he sounded so formal. Only a year or so before he would have thrown his arms round the older man. Okay, so the embrace would have been simply tolerated rather than welcomed but it would have been better than this.

Aya shrugged and sipped his tea. \"Where else could you have gone? They’ll be watching all known Kritiker agents.\"

Mamoru nodded his understanding. Only he and Nagi knew of Aya’s existence and Yohji would be considered an ex-operative. Ken had only just left prison and had come straight here. Even Rex hadn’t known where they were or even that they still worked for him. He just hoped it was enough.

* * * * * * *

Ken wondered how they were going to survive the arrival of his boss and Naoe. Mamoru wouldn’t even look at Schuldig. Nagi wouldn’t look at him, which was fine as he found it just as hard to look at the telekinetic. Aya was silent and watchful and Yohji, after having recognised Nagi as the young man from the hospital, was not remembering anything, deliberately in Ken’s opinion. To say that breakfast was horrific was an understatement.

He gulped his food down, as quickly as he could, trying to get away from the tense atmosphere. Strange how the house had been ‘home’ when it had just been Schuldig and him. After the initial distrust, it had settled back after Aya and Yohji had arrived. Now he thought it might never settle again.

Breakfast eaten, Ken escaped into the garden. Yohji and Schuldig soon followed him, both wanting cigarettes.

\"Well, this is going to be fun,\" Schuldig observed. \"Even Nagi isn’t speaking to me.\"

Yohji studied his smoke for a moment. \"The kid’s caught between a rock and a hard place. He’s fond of you but doesn’t want to upset Omi.\"

And that reminded Ken of something else that had irritated the hell out of him at breakfast. \"Yeah, that really helped the atmosphere, Yotan! Omi, this and chibi, that. He’s not Omi anymore.\"

\"It’s all I know him as, Kenken. Just don’t remember him being this stiff and formal, like someone stuck a two by four up his ass. The Omi I knew would have given me a hug by now.\"

Schuldig chuckled but Ken was worried. \"We’re all supposed to be on the same side, so why doesn’t it feel that way.\"

\"Perhaps because nobody is prepared to give it a chance. Anyway, they’ve only been here a few hours. Give it time.\" Schuldig didn’t seem too worried and Yohji nodded his agreement.

\"We just need to adjust to each other and the fact that two of us were once on the other side.\"

And one of those two was cosy with Ken’s ex-lover while the other… Damn! He couldn’t be getting that fond of Schuldig could he?

* * * * * * *

Dietmeiller’s reaction to the young Kritiker boss vanishing had been pretty much what Andrews and Dubois had expected but his fury had abated somewhat when they’d told him of the dent in the desk. So Naoe was with Takatori was he? Which meant that Kritiker was probably protecting Schuldig, too. Ordering the two men to stay in Japan, just in case either of the missing young men turned up, he put down the phone and thought carefully for a while. It was time to talk Crawford again.

He made his way out of his office and traversed the Rosenkreuz building until he reached a particular locked door. He smiled to himself as he unlocked the door and released the constraints on Crawford’s talent. Stepping inside the room he watched with cruel amusement as the precog arched in pain as vision after vision assailed him.

When the visions ceased and Crawford slumped back, he crossed the room to stand over the precog. \"You should have enough information now to tell me where Kudoh and the rest of Schwarz are.\"

Crawford moaned but managed to spill out one word. \"London.\"

* * * * * * *
\"London.\" The word had almost been torn from his lips and Crawford knew he’d betrayed both Schuldig and Nagi with that one word. Dietmeiller was so excited that he almost ran from the room, presumably to contact Rosenkreuz agents in London. It was only after the pain of so many visions at once had subsided that he realised that the bastard had forgotten to reinforce the dampening constraints on his talent.

Surely that meant that he could reach Schuldig through the old Schwarz link. Trying to think through the pain he sorted through the visions he’d received. Ah! There it was. He smiled to himself as he realised that things had already started to go wrong for Rosenkreuz and Dietmeiller. Kudoh was getting his memory back. Now, if he could just get that other vision to become reality. He smiled as he realised the best way to do just that.