Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ SECOND STRINGERS ❯ A UN-WELCOME HOME PARTY ( Chapter 8 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Jepardy 
Tinkerbell and the one and only Jepardy are reunited, and things really start to get interesting. But sometimes home isn't always 'welcoming'...
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.28.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 268 | Status: Work In Progress
Tinkerbell and the one and only Jepardy are reunited, and things really start to get interesting. But sometimes home isn't always 'welcoming'...
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Drama | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 12.28.2008 | Pages: 4 | Words: 8.8K | Visits: 268 | Status: Work In Progress
SECOND STRINGERS
Chapter 8 --- A UN-WELCOME HOME PARTY
//mental talking//
‘mental thoughts’
Crawford sighed as he shut down the laptop. Not the greatest way to start things. There wasn’t much he could do about it though. At least that’s what he was going to keep telling himself. That way he wouldn’t feel so much like shit when it came down to it. Not that he would ever admit those feelings to anyone to begin with, but still, he didn’t want to feel it. //Schuldich. Get in here. I have an assignment for you.// he sent out on the lines of mental telepathy that always seemed to be open between him and the German.
//Does it involve me, you, and those silk sheets on your bed?// the mental reply came back. Crawford cringed at the thought, and the pictures that Schuldich had sent along to accompany it. Crawford was straight, again, something he just had to keep telling himself to make sure that he believed it.
//NO.// was the firm answer.
“Then I don’t think I want it.†Schu said as he walked in to the room and draped himself over the edge of Crawford’s desk, gazing sensually in to the eyes of the man he loved, and who refused to show any of that love back.
“Get off my desk.â€
“I’d rather get off on you.†The only thing that made him miss another gut punch was his lightning fast reflexes, and then it was still close. “What’s this about? I got things to do.â€
“No, you don’t. Its pointless to lie about the future to a precognitive Schuldich, I thought you would have learned that by now.†Crawford looked at the man with blatant detest in his eyes. Nothing new, Schu should have been used to it by now, but it still hurt.
“It has come to the attention of Esstet that, Sünde, did not come directly back to us.â€
“I don’t get it, so what?†Schuldich declared as he flopped in to a chair on the other side of the desk. Trying to look as tempting as possible, it never worked though.
“She originally broke contact with us while heavily undercover with Kritiker, as part of the Crashers to be precise. When she first become aware of us trying to get a hold of her again, she returned to Kritiker first, and one of her old ‘teammates’ from the Crashers, Fujimyia Ran, also know as Abyssinian of Weiss.†Crawford finished. He didn’t appear shocked by this news, or startled, or anything. Part of Schu was beginning to wonder if he had been taking lessons from Nagi in “How to Hide Your Emotion 101â€, but the rest of him was starring open jawed at Crawford in disbelief. Crawford saw the look on Schuldich’s face and waited for the man to recompose himself before he moved on with the new assignment.
“We need to collect information from her. We need to know what she knows about Weiss, Kritiker, and we need to know what she told them about us, Schwarz and Esstet, on top of what they already knew. Is that understood.†He asked, well for him it was asking, but Schuldich knew it was already an order.
“So, I pick the little things brain, and tell you just what I found, right?†Schuldich was used to this routine. It wasn’t the first time that he had been asked to do something similar to this. He was already on his feet and half way to the door before he heard Crawford’s reply.
“No. Not this time. It wont be that easy.†He was still sitting calmly behind his desk, but his voice seemed, strained. “She has shields that are nearly impossible to break, due to her own powers. She knows how to construct them to keep EVERYTHING out, especially telepaths.â€
“Well, I did kind of notice something like that earlier, I thought it just might be a fluke. If its not, then just how do I go about this?†the redhead asked turning from the door to again face the man of his dreams, who was at the moment giving him a reason to have nightmares.
“You have to break her shields.†He said simply, and Schuldich’s stomach plummeted. He had known that was the answer, but he hadn’t wanted to hear it. He knew what that meant. He himself had gone through it with a few of the trainers Esstet had sent in his earlier times with the organization, to make sure he wasn’t holding anything back from them. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience. He had only one last hope to hold on to, and he knew that as soon as he asked it, it too would vanish.
“Drug her?â€
“No. You know that would be a futile point. Drugs on people with mental powers is hard to handle. When you yourself are placed on ones of the magnitude that is needed to break ones shields, the results are disastrous. Imagine that on someone who hardly has any control over themselves, much less there power to start with.†Crawford stared intently at the man before him. Trying to judge his reaction. Schuldich had a heart, one that in spite of everything he was and did, hadn’t been destroyed. This was going to hurt him, weather he had just met her, or had known her for years. But it was orders, that’s all it was. That’s what Crawford had to keep telling himself, yet at the same time, he wasn’t the one to do the deed himself.
“No. I wont. I can’t. Do it yourself.†Schuldich met his cold stare with one of his own.
“I’m not a telepath, it will do no good for me to break down her shields. I wouldn’t be able to get anything from her.†Orders, they were orders. He had to follow them, even when he knew they’d do no good. Even when he knew there was no way to break her shields. Orders were orders. He had to follow them. Even when he couldn’t, wouldn’t, do it himself, that’s why Schuldich was here.
“Brad, she’s just a kid….†Schuldich was now pleading. He didn’t want this to happen, and he damn sure didn’t want to be the one who did it.
“No. She’s a member of Schwarz, she’s an assassin, and she’s fucked her own life up, now she has to live with it.†His voice almost shook, almost.
“And if she doesn’t know anything, or doesn’t talk, or, or..â€
“It will be inconsequential. She will be placed through detoxification and retrained before she actually begins to accompany us on any future missions.†He moved his eyes. While he didn’t, wouldn’t, admit to feeling anything for another male, much less Schuldich, he couldn’t look him in the eyes and tell him this. It hurt to see his eyes in that much pain, and he knew his own shields wouldn’t hold up much longer if he kept the gaze. He turned and opened his laptop again with the premises of going back to work.
“Then, then why?†his voice was filled with concern and compassion. He didn’t want to do this, especially if it was blatant that there was no real point to it at all.
“She will be in mission room two at nine tomorrow morning. Meet her there. Orders are orders, don’t disobey.†He made it clear that that was that. No further discussion. Schuldich just shook his head and sulked out of the room. He was left with no choice. Crawford was right, orders were orders. No matter what.
*~*~*~*~*
Schuldich walked in to the room well over an hour late. He had held the hope that if he showed up late enough she would have left already. As it was she was curled up in a corner asleep on the ground. She still just had on Nagi’s boxers and battered tank top. She looked peaceful lying on the mat by the weights, dozing lightly. Schu was ready to turn right around and leave again, and say he never saw her, but she chose that moment to wake up.
“Gomen,†she said sleepily as she sat up rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. “I can’t sleep in a bed, so I didn’t get much sleep last night. This was comfy.â€
“You can’t sleep in a bed?†he asked her as he walked farther in to the room. Maybe if he made conversation with her, she’d just tell him what he needed to know.
“Not alone.†She told him simply. He thought about laughing for a second until he realized from the look in her deep violet eyes, she wasn’t kidding.
“You really..â€
“Not alone, I don’t remember why, I just cant, don’t you dare ask me another fucking question this early in the shinigami damn morning.†She told him firmly as she stood up and leveled him off with an icy glare that made the temperature drop a good four degrees. It would have been even more effective if she had come slightly higher then his armpit and her hair wasn’t in a sleep tousled mess, clinging to her face, and if the boxers hadn’t been sliding down just a little to much to show her finely curved hips. Even with all of that though, she looked fairly menacing. He had the good idea that she could handle her own in any fight, no matter the circumstances. Schu gave her a slightly hurt, yet baffled look, for her sudden outburst.
“I know Braddy told you, answers. That’s my oh so wonderful gift. You ask, or I ask, or anyone even starts to ask a question and I get the answer running through my brain at top speed. I can’t block it like you can thoughts either, cause this isn’t something someone else is thinking, it’s coming from inside my own head.†He nodded slowly at her, understanding more then she knew, well actually she probably knew given what she'd just said, but still.
“That’s why the drugs.†He didn’t ask it, he stated it. He had already guessed that it was something like that. She instinctively pulled her arms in tighter. She didn’t have many scars, at least not from needles, her power helped her make sure of that. She knew where they wouldn’t scar.
“It gets hard. Too many questions can draw a mind in and it loses focus and then a person can’t even think much less function. Sometimes the ‘perfect’ answer is flawed too. I always get the right answer, but if the right answer isn’t known to anyone, or its two different things, one real truth, yet someone believes it fully to be something else, well, it hurts.†She told him. Then frowned. Nearly her whole existence was summed up in a few sentences, she felt cheap. Then he helped make her feel even cheaper.
“Tricking?†Maybe she was wrong for the first time ever. She was getting the impression quickly that she would NOT like this man after all.
“Need money for the poison of the day. But don’t get me wrong, I may be, or was, up until last night, a whore, but I never was a slut. That was one benefit, I knew who wanted what, and how to make it great. The guys who wanted a good blow and would pay well were the best. And it really didn’t matter what they paid, I’d just take the whole wallet. I was above all a thief.†She finished her little monologue and looked up at Schu. Looked up because he was the same height as Braddy, which was a lot taller then her. She was short in every sense of the word. He refused to make eye contact. She nearly laughed, but didn’t. The drugs from last night, or was it this morning, were fading and harsh reality was setting in. She now had to listen and accept the answers that in a cloud of drugs could have been avoided. She knew the minute he had walked in through the doors what he was here to do. Orders were orders. She knew that. It wasn’t him, it was really Braddy, but that she’d forgive. She would always forgive that man more then he was worth. It was just who she was.
“Come on. Those aren’t the questions you’re supposed to be asking me. You’re supposed to be trying to break my shields and get the info Esstet wants, I’m not about to give you, out of my head yourself.†With that she moved to the center of the room, and the thicker training mats. This was going to hurt, and when she fell to the ground she wanted the most padding she could have. He realized then that even after trying to open up to her she wasn’t going to tell him what he was here to find out. Still, he didn’t want to hurt her.
“I, I cant.†He told her as he watched her move. ‘Never punch a lady, isn’t that what people say.’
“Orders are orders.†She told him. She was waiting for it, but she thought he’d argue a little more, or at least not move that fast, even waiting for it, it hurt more then she expected. His fist connected very solidly to her ribs. They didn’t crack, but then neither did her shields.
“I’m so so sorry.†He whispered to her as she nearly crumpled over. “Just answer the damn questions, I know you know the answers.†He didn’t demand, he begged, he really didn’t want to do this. She knew that, but it didn’t change anything.
“No.†was the half-muted replay that she finally choked out. Schuldich sighed and swung again.
“Es tut mir leid süßer…â€(*1) he whispered again as she fell to the mat with a hushed cry.
She hit the ground again. Hard. Her wrist twisted in a struggle to stop herself. Two, no three, or was it four more punches? Those would all bruise. It went on for well in to an hour and a half. Finally Schu smirked at her. He was going to end this.
“I ain’t sorry for this one liebechan.†He said to her. Crawford watched in shock and horror as Schu connected as hard as he could his fist with her jaw. If it didn’t break it, it would be a miracle. She didn’t get back up. She was knocked out for quite a while. It was over then. Schu hadn’t gotten anything. Everyone knew he wouldn’t. This was less about information then it was loyalties. Crawford’s to Esstet, and Schuldich’s to Crawford. They had both passed. The next set of tests wouldn’t be as easy, but they didn’t have to worry about that for a while, at least that’s what Crawford hoped. He left the observing room then and met Schuldich in the mission room where he had been ‘interrogating’ Sünde.
“Take care of her wounds and put her in her room.†Was all he said to the German.
“Nani! Have Nagi do it. He’s better at it, and if I were her, I wouldn’t want someone who just beat the shit out of me anywhere around, much less touching me.†Schu protested.
“Nagi is busy.â€
“Then do it yourself!†Schu normally didn’t talk back this much, he tried to keep things civil between the two of them. Friendship was the closest he would ever have to a relationship with the man, and he tried not to push the limits too much and risk losing even that. This was just too much though. He couldn’t take it any longer. He didn’t care what was between Crawford and the girl in the past but goddamn it he didn’t want to be put in the middle of it.
“No. If it were up to me, she’d stay just like this. I won’t touch her, so either you do, or I’ll call Farfarello.†Crawford told him as he turned and left, already knowing Schuldich would take care of the girl. He should have done it himself, but he couldn’t, not after everything else. Not yet. And just maybe, not ever.
*~*~*~*~*
She gently stirred. Well she tried to gently stir, but it hurt like hell. Everything hurt like hell. Why, beat up by that ever so kind German. How bad, oh shinigami, a broken rib, four more cracked ones, three bruised. A twisted wrist, a black eye, and a nearly cracked jaw, any harder of a punch and it would have been broken, and multiple cuts, scrapes, and bruises, lots and lots of bruises. She didn’t open her eyes at first. The light was on, and that would hurt her head, a head that was to shinigami(*2) damned clean, so clean it pounded its protest in to her. Just another hurt, and shinigami be damned again she hurt. She just let herself try and learn how to breathe first, then she would work on opening up her eyes. That idea didn’t last long though. Someone was gently holding a cold cloth to her battered eye. It felt nice, but who, oh hell no.
“Ahh.†She bolted up, or tried to, just getting away from the cold compress and the person holding it would be enough. The problem was it hurt like hell to move. She ended up falling back down in a ball of pain. And she was falling back on a bed. That didn’t put her in any better of a mood, in fact it made her even pissier if possible. She hated beds.
“Hold still, I won’t hurt you.†A heavy nasal voice rang in her ears. She avoided the look that poured out of his heavy emerald eyes. It was full of compassion, and she didn’t want that right now. No, right now she wanted to be pissed and so help her Shinigami she was going to be!
“Yeah, a little late for that one.†She mumbled. It had started out as an almost curse, but her jaw hurt to bad to barley move it. She wasn’t a stranger to pain, but this on top of the undulated answers in her head, and the cramps of withdrawal on top of broken, bruised, and cracked ribs made her nearly lose composer to the point of crying. And that was something she would never do.
“Can’t say sorry about that one.†He told her as he gently pressed the compress to her jaw. “That was completely intentional. I was hoping to break your jaw.†She gave him a look of horrid disbelief, and pain as answers to questions she hadn’t even asked herself yet went following through her mind to fast for her to make sense of. All she ended up managing was to try and pull back even farther. Not smart with her body in the broken and battered shape that it was, but it was the point of it all she was going for at the moment. Not the lack of logic that it showed.
“Hey, not like that. I couldn’t break you shields, and if I broke your jaw, you really couldn’t talk, I’d get to quit.†He tried to give her a real smile, it came out as a stupid looking smirk. But it was the thought behind it. She didn’t care for that thought in the slightest. She still pulled away. She knew that it wasn’t really his fault that this happened, but still she didn’t hold the best feelings to him at the moment. And damn it all, she wanted off of the fucking bed. She really hated those shinigami-damned things.
“Hold still, you’ll hurt yourself worse. Here,†he attempted to take her wrist. She yanked it away from him and whimpered. Half in pain, half in fear of him, and half from the knowledge of who really made this happen. But she wouldn’t blame him, it was her fault really, not his, at least in her head that’s how it went. Schuldich sighed and sat back in the chair that he had pulled over by her bed. She stayed curled up in a half ball. He just sat there and looked at her with eyes that tried to convey just how sorry he was. She didn’t want to see those eyes.
“Let me wrap it. It will help it heal.†He said in a quite voice, but he didn’t make a move to touch her wrist, or any part of her. She looked at him with cold eyes. Hard and set, and uncaring. Not the eyes one would expect to see on a girl like her, but then most girls weren’t like her to begin with. After what seemed like hours she finally held out her wrist to him. He carefully took it and with as much care as possible wrapped it in the bandage.
“Leave that on for at least a couple of days. And try to stay still.†He said as he finished and stood up to leave. She crawled out of the bed as soon as the chair he had been in was out of her way, and took a pillow with her. She then flopped down on the floor next to the bed. She caught the baffled look in his eyes.
“No beds.†Was all she said. She closed her eyes and tried to find some silence in her head away from the questions, and those damn answers, that ran through it. She was at one time able to control them extremely well, but being on a heavy supply of drugs for so long had made it like starting all over, and that hurt badly. And it was for that reason, along with half a dozen others, she barley noticed when Schu pulled the blanket from her bed and draped it over her small frame.
She was so small, like she’d be breakable if you touched her wrong, but he’d proved that wasn‘t true. Nagi’s clothes just fell off of her, and that kid was practically anorexic in Schuldich’s opinion. He stayed there for longer then he’d expected, knelling over her. Gently he traced the line of her bruised jaw, pulling her hair back and away from her face. Even painted in the black and blue he’d made her, she was beautiful, ‘Mein Gott!!! What am I thinking?!?!’ He asked himself in shock as he jumped back away from her and out of the room. ‘I’m gay, I’m gay, I’m gay. I don’t like chicks, I never have, I wanna fucking fuck BRAD! I mean mein gott!!’ His thoughts poured through his head in a very hard attempt to remind himself that he didn’t like females, but it was soon evident that that wasn’t the only ‘hard’ thing about this situation. He groaned and banged his head against the door. He needed a cold shower. A LONG cold shower. He stumbled to the bathroom more awkwardly then normal. He closed the door behind him and locked it. Soon he was standing in a blast of icy water, trying to ignore the raging erection that was prominent on his body. ‘Think of unsexual things, the girl, OK that wont work that’s what got me here, Brad, oh hell like that will help, Nagi, well, too young, get away from those thoughts Schu, Farfie….YIKES!’ those last few thoughts were all he needed to make his once hard penis shrink and shrivel up. Farfie was not a sexual type of person, and with that knife infatuation he had, Schu was scared to even imagine what he was like in bed. It gave him nightmares. Finally he crawled out of the frigid water and toweled off. Throwing on his same cloths and pulling his hair back with the same old bandanna he always tied in it. When he opened the door he was face to face with a grouchy looking 15-year-old Japanese boy.
“What’s wrong now Nagi?†he asked patiently.
“You were in there for over an hour Schuldich, you used all the hot water again, and I need to take a shower.†He snapped at the older man in front of him.
“Trust me Nags, you have all the hot water you want.†He said as he patted the boy on the head and walked past him to the stairs leading back down to the living room. Nagi stomped in to the bathroom and flipped the water handle to hot and stuck his hand under it to prove Schu wrong and yell at him some more for his repeated use of all the hot water. 'If he didn’t have such long hair..'
“OUCH!!†He screamed out as the boiling water hit his hand.
“Told you.†Came echoing back to him from the stair way as Nagi cradled his burned hand and wondered just what Schu had been doing in a cold shower for so long, that wasn’t like him.
*~*~*~*~*
Everything seemed to float around on a see of stars and nothingness. It swirled around the room in sweet clouds. Tink could just sit in the space room of the mansion and stare off at the swirling blackness for hours. But today she wasn’t being given that option. The door cracked open and the young boy, Nagi if she remembered right timidly stuck his head in.
“Umm, Dasha Crawf..AHH!!†with moves so fast that he didn’t even have time to use his powers, and pulling knives out of who knows where even better then anyone on ‘Highlander’(*3) ever could have thought of, Nagi was pinned to the very door he had been opening. One dagger landed on the outside of either hip, just above his knees. A third, and more dangerous, was placed right between his legs, and very much to close for comfort. In that same second Tinkerbell herself flung on to the door and was crouched with one foot on either of the outer daggers, knees bending so that she was eye to eye with the terrified boy. In her hand she held her, by far, favorite dagger and was slowly pressing it farther and farther in to Nagi’s throat, slowly beginning to draw a thin line of red from him.
“DON’T YOU EVER FUCKING CALL ME THAT AGAIN!! THAT IS IF YOU EVER LIVE TO SEE PAST THIS!!!†she screamed at him as loud as humanly possible. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to push her off. Both his hands were trapped anyway. He did the next best thing, he used his powers to remove the daggers that the madwoman on top of him was using as foot holds. She slowly slipped down his body, dagger still in hand, slicing through his shirt as she slid. It landed just at his pants line. Before she had a chance to severely injure him for life though, Crawford intervened. He appeared suddenly on the other side of the hall that the door Nagi was still pinned on swung open in to.
“Tinkerbell, I need to speak with you.†His voice held a calm tone, as if he didn’t see, or care, what she was doing to Nagi. Those words though were enough to get her off of him. She flung out her wrist, taking with it the dagger from between Nagi’s legs. It landed less then a hairs breath from Crawford’s temple.
“You gott verdammt fucking asshole precog, don’t you EVER stop me again. And I won’t miss again, just try and give me a chance. I want you dead anyway!!†Her voice echoed off of every wall in the entire house. She grabbed the two daggers off the ground and tucked them back under her clothing in such a way, you had no idea where or how she put them away. After she stormed down the hall, Nagi finally let out the breath he had been holding. His shirt was torn open and a thin line of red traced down his white chest. Crawford simply straightened his jacket and shot Nagi a dirty look.
“I warned you about calling her anything other then Tinkerbell.†And he too turned and left. Nagi slid down the door and lay in a heap on the floor. His eyes were still as wide as saucers and he was finding it hard to breathe. Blinking might resume in a week. At the moment he was most thankful that Crawford hadn’t noticed the fact that Nagi had pissed his pants. Black was good for something after all.
*~*~*~*~*
“What the hell is this all about anyway Braddykins you fucking asshole?†Tink spat at the man, with a maddeningly evil grin on her face though, as he walked in to join them in the mission prep room. Them consisted of herself, Schuldich, and Farfarello. Nagi had disappeared somewhere, probably to change his clothes, she really didn’t care, she didn’t like that kid now. At her words Schu’s eyes jumped four sizes larger. Braddykins! And he thought Braddy was bad. But the man before him seemed to have a lot less temperament and restraint with this nickname then he did with Sünde. One thing that he was leaning quickly though was that these girls were something else all right.
“I have a mission for you.†He said simply. He was getting a hell of a lot of hostility from Tinkerbell, and he just couldn’t figure it out. He had worked with her around the same time as Sünde, and he thought they had parted on fairly normal terms. Sure he had dumped her off in the streets of Berlin, but she had come off of those streets, it didn’t seem to bother her too much at the time. But he was getting the distant impression he needed to watch his step around her or by maimed in as many ways possible as she could come up with. He couldn’t help but wonder why.
“Does it involve me?†Schu asked lazily. He had other things to do, places to be, men to flirt with.
“No, you may go.†As Schu walked by, he was very tempted to grab Crawford’s ass, but he had grown to like having his wrist in one piece, not three, so he decided against it.
“Can I hurt god?†the white haired Irish lunatic asked. Crawford sighed. He really didn’t like the idea of sending these too out together, but he needed, Esstet needed, that damned Chinese ambassador dead. He had gotten to close to what had gone on around the time of Takatori’s death, and they didn’t need him poking his nose around now. The quickest way would be for both of them to go and finish him off.
“Answer the fucking question Braddykins?†Tink purred at him, pulling out a knife and flashing it in the light to occupy herself, when he took too long to answer the question. Crawford’s eyes roared at the sound of his name.
“Do not call me that. That is not my name.â€
“Close enough.†She said pointing the knife at him in a very unfriendly manner.
“No. If you want your right to be called Tinkerbell respected, please only refer to me as Crawford.†His voice was steaming with anger despite the kindness the words by them selves seemed to have.
“But that’s two separate things Braddy.†Came a voice from near the door. Tink barley looked over in that direction before continuing.
“Damn straight it is Braddykin……JEPARDY!!!!âS 64; she started talking to Crawford again before she realized that it was Sünde in the doorway. Once she did connect the two though all thoughts of what she had been doing slipped out of her mind. She tore across the few feet of space and threw herself at the shorter girl, hugging her tightly. Sünde winced slightly, and drew a quick breath. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, if they did, they wouldn’t have thought it anything other then the force of the hug. Tinkerbell knew better. She instantly dropped back and off of her friend. And then she also noticed the bandaged wrist.
“What happened?†her voice held a serious tone that a person would not have expected to come out of the bouncing green haired girl. Sünde just met her look, and lightly shrugged.
“Welcome home party.†She said simply. She wasn’t much for talking. Never had been, never would be. Tinkerbell just backed up from her and shot Crawford a death ray of a look that would have made anyone else ‘eep’ out of fear. He simply glared back at her, and somewhere in the back of his mind wondered again just where in the hell that hostility came from. Pissy, yes, mad, yes, annoying by calling him ‘Braddykins’, oh god yes, but LITERALLY trying to kill him, no, she had never been that pissed at him even at the height of her full force Farfarello ‘soul drain’. And now anything and everything was making her ready to kill him. This was going to be a LONG mission, fuck that, they were back to stay this was just going to be long in general.
As Crawford stood off scowling and thinking about the twist of fate that had screwed him over so badly, Farfarello stood by and smiled around the blade of the knife that was in his mouth. It was nice to see those two together again. He knew that they had been friends from far back, and if the sinner and the lunatic were together again then there was no way god was happy. No, if they were near each other again, then god would be stomping mad. He liked that idea.
“Sünde, what pupos..†Crawford tried to ask, after his thoughts regained focus again, but he was promptly cut off by Tinkerbell.
“Sünde? That’s the name you’re going by now. Well, that’s new, but totally sugee.†Tinkerbell was happily chatting to, not with because she wasn’t responding, Sünde. “I’m still only calling you Jepardy though, no sense messing with a good thing right?â€
“TINKERBELL! Shut up.†Crawford snapped at the girl. He was rewarded with silence, and a double cold glare, one from each girl.
“Sünde, what purpose do you have here?†He said, trying to ignore both of them, yet still scold them both with his tone. It didn’t really work, but he was trying. Sünde shot him and even colder glare, Tink laughed. Laughed so hard in fact that she fell to the floor in tears. Sünde shot her a glare too, but it didn’t have the same coldness in it that she gave to Crawford. Crawford was literally shaking with anger and hatred for the two standing in front of him. Farfarello was still off to the side, still smirking around the knife in his mouth.
“Answer the question Sünde.†Crawford spat at her again. Trying to hold back his rage to the best of his ability.
“I’m heading out. A night on the town. I thought Tink would like to join me. What’d ya say han�†She told Crawford, helping her friend up off the ground as she did. Crawford almost lost himself in his thoughts again. He had forgotten just how close the two of them were in the years they had spent training in Germany. Now in these few seconds it had become crystal clear to him. And he was hoping it wouldn’t become a problem.
“Tinkerbell has a mission.†He finally told the two in front of him.
“Yeah, we gitta hurt God.†Farfarello chirped in from the background. Everyone ignored him, but that was normal, he didn’t mind.
“Ah, yeah, besides, I don’t think I’m up with your crowed.†Tink replied as she looked at Sünde’s clothes. What few there were on her anyway. The paints were a sparkly purple that was a good two shades lighter then her hair. They were so low on her hips that her entire tight stomach and navel were shown very clearly. Her shirt was a tube top of the same color, tight beyond belief, and covering just the essentials. Her hair was tied back in several small ponytail like clumps, swinging with curls. She looked ready for the nearest street lamp, or dingy dance floor. And if Tink knew her friend like she thought she did, she knew Sünde would be hitting both. Tink herself was wearing a pair of Farfarello’s bondage pants, with loops and straps and buckles enough to trip over. It had three belts around the waist to try and keep them up. The rest of her was covered by one of Crawford’s best dress shirts, it was well over three sizes too big. Half the buttons weren’t hooked, showing off part of her stomach. She was wearing it mostly to piss him off, and it was working well too. Sünde eyed Tinkerbell’s outfit the same way Tink had eyed hers.
“I guess your right. Oh well, I’ll see you later then hanÃ.†And with that she turned to walk out, sashaying her hips with each step.
“I don’t think so.†Snapped the voice of Crawford. He was fuming with anger to a level that smoke was ready to come pouring out of his ears. Sünde turned to look at him with a distinctly annoyed look.
“You are NOT going out.†He growled at her between clenched teeth.
“Yes I am. I won’t get the chance to do this once Esstet starts in, and we ALL know that. So, I’m taking tonight at least.†And before he could protest anymore, which he was trying to do, she was gone. Crawford stood and fumed for a while longer, while Tink tried to hide her giggles at how much she loved the idea of Sünde telling him off. Finally it was Farfarello who snapped them both out of it.
“So, can we go hurt God now or what?†he asked, waving the knife around for emphasis. Crawford glanced at him and sighed. Yes, it was VERY stupid to send these two out together. But they’d at lest get the job done quickly. After it was done, well that was a whole other story, but at least the guy would be dead.
“Yes, as I was saying before..†he started as he gave them their assignment.
*~*~*~*~*
Tink skipped down the hall towards the living room. The mission went well. Well in theory anyway. The ambassador was dead. That’s what mattered. The fact that her and Farfie had some fun after words, well that wasn’t her problem. If Crawford had wanted it done nice and neat, he shouldn’t have sent the two of them together. Farfie was now sleeping off whatever tranquilizers that had been pumped in to him to try and get him back under control. She was just given a dirty look and told her to clean herself up. Crawford knew that she only went as far as she did because Farfie was there. He also knew that she went as far as she did to piss him off. Why, he STILL didn’t know, but if he didn’t that was the bakas own fault. She wasn’t going to tell him. If he couldn’t figure it out, that his problem.
As she passed the living room she caught the faint sent of cherry kool-aid. A smell that never failed to make Tink smile. It always made her happy. Not REALLY happy, but as happy as someone like her could get when Crawford was still alive. That smell meant that Jep was around somewhere. Tink wondered what Jep was doing back so soon though, it had barely been a couple of hours since she said she was going out. If Jepardy was still her same Jep that normally meant ‘don’t wait up’. But that was definitely Jep’s sent, cherry kool-aid. It was an unusual smell, but for Jep, it worked. It had become a comfort thing to Tink in their early years together, and now, it still served to make her smile. Especially now. Now that they were again together, they had each other back. Tink would be damned if she let ANYONE take that away from her now. Jep was back and they were going to stay together through whatever hell Esstet tried to put them through. Tink bounded in to the living room still deeply inhaling the fresh sent of cherry kool-aid, expecting to run smack dab in to her friend, and ask her what she was doing back so soon. The problem was, Jepardy was NOT in the room. The only people in the room were that little fucking Nagi brat, who as she entered immediately began to crawl farther back in to a corner, and Schuldich.
“Where’s Jep? Did she just come by or something?†Tink asked. Schuldich turned off the television he had been watching as he stood and prepared to leave.
“No, she went out. Which sounds like a good idea to me too.†He started to head for the door that Tink still lingered near. She didn’t get it. The smell was faint, to faint for most to notice it, but it was cherry kool-aid. Jep was the only one in the world that wore kool-aid scented perfumes. Then as Schuldich passed her she caught a stronger whiff of the sent. It was coming from him. Suddenly things made sense. The bandaged wrist, the pain when Tink hugged her, her own words, ‘Welcome home party.’, this was the one who had done that to Sünde, to her Jepardy. Even if she didn’t have shields that were nearly as good as Jep, and he had been able to read her, he still wouldn’t have seen it coming. She was scrawny as hell, but strong. Her fist connected immediately with his gut, sending him lurching forward and crumpling to his knees with a small ‘poof’ of air. With her fist still buried in his stomach she harshly whispered in to his ear.
“If you ever even think of touching her again, I WILL kill you.†And then she removed her hand and let him fall the rest of the way to the ground. Just before he hit, and passed out, she heard him mumble one word.
“..orders…â 364; that one word made it crystal clear in Tinkerbell’s head just who had been the one to truly cause that pain to her friend. Even if it had been Schuldich’s hands, he had been behind it. ‘Another reason for me to hate that fucking asshole bastard Bradley fucking Crawford.’ she thought to herself as she stormed off. Not like she really needed another reason, but oh well, now she had one.
*~*~*~*~*
It had been a long night. So long a night that it was actually morning when she stumbled in to the house at, well even with being Jepardy, she didn’t know. //Wow, maybe I overdid it with the drugs and alcohol.// she thought to herself. She had gotten trashed before, but if she tried she could always answer even the harder questions. And something in her head told her that what time it was WASN’T a hard question. Oh well, she deserved it. This would be the last time she ever would be able to use those methods to shut up the shinigami verdammt answers in her head. She needed it. Well, at least that’s what she told herself.
She had some vague recollection of someone being there when she stumbled in to the house. A someone who carried her up the stairs and in to a cold shower, trying to blast away some of the cobwebs in her head. It didn’t help. The water had tickled her skin, skin that was on fire from the last trip she was still floating on. That same person then helped her out of her, then wet and ruined clothes, and in to some of someone’s, Nagi’s most likely, his would be the only ones to even begin to fit her. Then that same set of hands, fuck, she really wished she knew who’s they were, threw her, none to gently either, in to her room, and unfortunately on her bed. She hated fucking beds, but before she could roll off it and on to the floor, she passed out. The owner of those nearly helpful hands stood in the door for a brief second. Watching the girls small form try to roll off the bed, and not make it. He silently shook his head.
“Why do you do this to yourself?†he asked in a hushed whisper, one that was ate up by the silence around them. He then shut her door and left. Moving down the hall to his own room. Thoughts still filled with mixed emotions of the young girl. Tomorrow morning Esstet trainers would be there to start her ‘re-joining’ of Schwarz. He knew their efforts wouldn’t get them far. Once she was clean and sober, she was going to be at her best again. Yet that wouldn’t stop them from putting her through the wringer. He tried not to think about that as he rolled over in his own bed and fell asleep. Just before he shut his eyes he cast a glance at the nightstand clock. 5:17. He wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight either. He probably shouldn’t have stayed up and waited for her to come home. Oh well, that was in the past, and he couldn’t take it back now. He was always more interested in what the future had to offer anyway. Now all he could do was just try and get what little sleep he could.
*1: I’m sorry sweetheart (German)
*2: Japanese God of Death. The only god that Jepardy will claim to believe in.
(It’s also an inside joke)
*3: Come on, anyone who has ever seen the show has wondered how those
people pull a three-foot sword from nowhere.
Anything else that was in either Japanese or German that you didn’t recognize was either a word of affection, like love, dear, honey. Or it was a curse word. You should have been able to guess that though from the content around them.
TBC.......
Chapter 8 --- A UN-WELCOME HOME PARTY
//mental talking//
‘mental thoughts’
Crawford sighed as he shut down the laptop. Not the greatest way to start things. There wasn’t much he could do about it though. At least that’s what he was going to keep telling himself. That way he wouldn’t feel so much like shit when it came down to it. Not that he would ever admit those feelings to anyone to begin with, but still, he didn’t want to feel it. //Schuldich. Get in here. I have an assignment for you.// he sent out on the lines of mental telepathy that always seemed to be open between him and the German.
//Does it involve me, you, and those silk sheets on your bed?// the mental reply came back. Crawford cringed at the thought, and the pictures that Schuldich had sent along to accompany it. Crawford was straight, again, something he just had to keep telling himself to make sure that he believed it.
//NO.// was the firm answer.
“Then I don’t think I want it.†Schu said as he walked in to the room and draped himself over the edge of Crawford’s desk, gazing sensually in to the eyes of the man he loved, and who refused to show any of that love back.
“Get off my desk.â€
“I’d rather get off on you.†The only thing that made him miss another gut punch was his lightning fast reflexes, and then it was still close. “What’s this about? I got things to do.â€
“No, you don’t. Its pointless to lie about the future to a precognitive Schuldich, I thought you would have learned that by now.†Crawford looked at the man with blatant detest in his eyes. Nothing new, Schu should have been used to it by now, but it still hurt.
“It has come to the attention of Esstet that, Sünde, did not come directly back to us.â€
“I don’t get it, so what?†Schuldich declared as he flopped in to a chair on the other side of the desk. Trying to look as tempting as possible, it never worked though.
“She originally broke contact with us while heavily undercover with Kritiker, as part of the Crashers to be precise. When she first become aware of us trying to get a hold of her again, she returned to Kritiker first, and one of her old ‘teammates’ from the Crashers, Fujimyia Ran, also know as Abyssinian of Weiss.†Crawford finished. He didn’t appear shocked by this news, or startled, or anything. Part of Schu was beginning to wonder if he had been taking lessons from Nagi in “How to Hide Your Emotion 101â€, but the rest of him was starring open jawed at Crawford in disbelief. Crawford saw the look on Schuldich’s face and waited for the man to recompose himself before he moved on with the new assignment.
“We need to collect information from her. We need to know what she knows about Weiss, Kritiker, and we need to know what she told them about us, Schwarz and Esstet, on top of what they already knew. Is that understood.†He asked, well for him it was asking, but Schuldich knew it was already an order.
“So, I pick the little things brain, and tell you just what I found, right?†Schuldich was used to this routine. It wasn’t the first time that he had been asked to do something similar to this. He was already on his feet and half way to the door before he heard Crawford’s reply.
“No. Not this time. It wont be that easy.†He was still sitting calmly behind his desk, but his voice seemed, strained. “She has shields that are nearly impossible to break, due to her own powers. She knows how to construct them to keep EVERYTHING out, especially telepaths.â€
“Well, I did kind of notice something like that earlier, I thought it just might be a fluke. If its not, then just how do I go about this?†the redhead asked turning from the door to again face the man of his dreams, who was at the moment giving him a reason to have nightmares.
“You have to break her shields.†He said simply, and Schuldich’s stomach plummeted. He had known that was the answer, but he hadn’t wanted to hear it. He knew what that meant. He himself had gone through it with a few of the trainers Esstet had sent in his earlier times with the organization, to make sure he wasn’t holding anything back from them. It wasn’t the most pleasant experience. He had only one last hope to hold on to, and he knew that as soon as he asked it, it too would vanish.
“Drug her?â€
“No. You know that would be a futile point. Drugs on people with mental powers is hard to handle. When you yourself are placed on ones of the magnitude that is needed to break ones shields, the results are disastrous. Imagine that on someone who hardly has any control over themselves, much less there power to start with.†Crawford stared intently at the man before him. Trying to judge his reaction. Schuldich had a heart, one that in spite of everything he was and did, hadn’t been destroyed. This was going to hurt him, weather he had just met her, or had known her for years. But it was orders, that’s all it was. That’s what Crawford had to keep telling himself, yet at the same time, he wasn’t the one to do the deed himself.
“No. I wont. I can’t. Do it yourself.†Schuldich met his cold stare with one of his own.
“I’m not a telepath, it will do no good for me to break down her shields. I wouldn’t be able to get anything from her.†Orders, they were orders. He had to follow them, even when he knew they’d do no good. Even when he knew there was no way to break her shields. Orders were orders. He had to follow them. Even when he couldn’t, wouldn’t, do it himself, that’s why Schuldich was here.
“Brad, she’s just a kid….†Schuldich was now pleading. He didn’t want this to happen, and he damn sure didn’t want to be the one who did it.
“No. She’s a member of Schwarz, she’s an assassin, and she’s fucked her own life up, now she has to live with it.†His voice almost shook, almost.
“And if she doesn’t know anything, or doesn’t talk, or, or..â€
“It will be inconsequential. She will be placed through detoxification and retrained before she actually begins to accompany us on any future missions.†He moved his eyes. While he didn’t, wouldn’t, admit to feeling anything for another male, much less Schuldich, he couldn’t look him in the eyes and tell him this. It hurt to see his eyes in that much pain, and he knew his own shields wouldn’t hold up much longer if he kept the gaze. He turned and opened his laptop again with the premises of going back to work.
“Then, then why?†his voice was filled with concern and compassion. He didn’t want to do this, especially if it was blatant that there was no real point to it at all.
“She will be in mission room two at nine tomorrow morning. Meet her there. Orders are orders, don’t disobey.†He made it clear that that was that. No further discussion. Schuldich just shook his head and sulked out of the room. He was left with no choice. Crawford was right, orders were orders. No matter what.
*~*~*~*~*
Schuldich walked in to the room well over an hour late. He had held the hope that if he showed up late enough she would have left already. As it was she was curled up in a corner asleep on the ground. She still just had on Nagi’s boxers and battered tank top. She looked peaceful lying on the mat by the weights, dozing lightly. Schu was ready to turn right around and leave again, and say he never saw her, but she chose that moment to wake up.
“Gomen,†she said sleepily as she sat up rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. “I can’t sleep in a bed, so I didn’t get much sleep last night. This was comfy.â€
“You can’t sleep in a bed?†he asked her as he walked farther in to the room. Maybe if he made conversation with her, she’d just tell him what he needed to know.
“Not alone.†She told him simply. He thought about laughing for a second until he realized from the look in her deep violet eyes, she wasn’t kidding.
“You really..â€
“Not alone, I don’t remember why, I just cant, don’t you dare ask me another fucking question this early in the shinigami damn morning.†She told him firmly as she stood up and leveled him off with an icy glare that made the temperature drop a good four degrees. It would have been even more effective if she had come slightly higher then his armpit and her hair wasn’t in a sleep tousled mess, clinging to her face, and if the boxers hadn’t been sliding down just a little to much to show her finely curved hips. Even with all of that though, she looked fairly menacing. He had the good idea that she could handle her own in any fight, no matter the circumstances. Schu gave her a slightly hurt, yet baffled look, for her sudden outburst.
“I know Braddy told you, answers. That’s my oh so wonderful gift. You ask, or I ask, or anyone even starts to ask a question and I get the answer running through my brain at top speed. I can’t block it like you can thoughts either, cause this isn’t something someone else is thinking, it’s coming from inside my own head.†He nodded slowly at her, understanding more then she knew, well actually she probably knew given what she'd just said, but still.
“That’s why the drugs.†He didn’t ask it, he stated it. He had already guessed that it was something like that. She instinctively pulled her arms in tighter. She didn’t have many scars, at least not from needles, her power helped her make sure of that. She knew where they wouldn’t scar.
“It gets hard. Too many questions can draw a mind in and it loses focus and then a person can’t even think much less function. Sometimes the ‘perfect’ answer is flawed too. I always get the right answer, but if the right answer isn’t known to anyone, or its two different things, one real truth, yet someone believes it fully to be something else, well, it hurts.†She told him. Then frowned. Nearly her whole existence was summed up in a few sentences, she felt cheap. Then he helped make her feel even cheaper.
“Tricking?†Maybe she was wrong for the first time ever. She was getting the impression quickly that she would NOT like this man after all.
“Need money for the poison of the day. But don’t get me wrong, I may be, or was, up until last night, a whore, but I never was a slut. That was one benefit, I knew who wanted what, and how to make it great. The guys who wanted a good blow and would pay well were the best. And it really didn’t matter what they paid, I’d just take the whole wallet. I was above all a thief.†She finished her little monologue and looked up at Schu. Looked up because he was the same height as Braddy, which was a lot taller then her. She was short in every sense of the word. He refused to make eye contact. She nearly laughed, but didn’t. The drugs from last night, or was it this morning, were fading and harsh reality was setting in. She now had to listen and accept the answers that in a cloud of drugs could have been avoided. She knew the minute he had walked in through the doors what he was here to do. Orders were orders. She knew that. It wasn’t him, it was really Braddy, but that she’d forgive. She would always forgive that man more then he was worth. It was just who she was.
“Come on. Those aren’t the questions you’re supposed to be asking me. You’re supposed to be trying to break my shields and get the info Esstet wants, I’m not about to give you, out of my head yourself.†With that she moved to the center of the room, and the thicker training mats. This was going to hurt, and when she fell to the ground she wanted the most padding she could have. He realized then that even after trying to open up to her she wasn’t going to tell him what he was here to find out. Still, he didn’t want to hurt her.
“I, I cant.†He told her as he watched her move. ‘Never punch a lady, isn’t that what people say.’
“Orders are orders.†She told him. She was waiting for it, but she thought he’d argue a little more, or at least not move that fast, even waiting for it, it hurt more then she expected. His fist connected very solidly to her ribs. They didn’t crack, but then neither did her shields.
“I’m so so sorry.†He whispered to her as she nearly crumpled over. “Just answer the damn questions, I know you know the answers.†He didn’t demand, he begged, he really didn’t want to do this. She knew that, but it didn’t change anything.
“No.†was the half-muted replay that she finally choked out. Schuldich sighed and swung again.
“Es tut mir leid süßer…â€(*1) he whispered again as she fell to the mat with a hushed cry.
*~*~*~*~*
Crawford watched from the other side of the two-way mirror. He cringed every time that Schuldich hit her. He didn’t want this, but orders were orders. It was something Esstet required from all, never disobey. He had no choice here. OK, that was wrong, he did have a choice, and he chose to follow orders. He heard Schuldich’s gasped sobs of distress for not being able to break her shields. He heard Sünde’s pained cries. He felt like shit. Though admitting it was too far below him.She hit the ground again. Hard. Her wrist twisted in a struggle to stop herself. Two, no three, or was it four more punches? Those would all bruise. It went on for well in to an hour and a half. Finally Schu smirked at her. He was going to end this.
“I ain’t sorry for this one liebechan.†He said to her. Crawford watched in shock and horror as Schu connected as hard as he could his fist with her jaw. If it didn’t break it, it would be a miracle. She didn’t get back up. She was knocked out for quite a while. It was over then. Schu hadn’t gotten anything. Everyone knew he wouldn’t. This was less about information then it was loyalties. Crawford’s to Esstet, and Schuldich’s to Crawford. They had both passed. The next set of tests wouldn’t be as easy, but they didn’t have to worry about that for a while, at least that’s what Crawford hoped. He left the observing room then and met Schuldich in the mission room where he had been ‘interrogating’ Sünde.
“Take care of her wounds and put her in her room.†Was all he said to the German.
“Nani! Have Nagi do it. He’s better at it, and if I were her, I wouldn’t want someone who just beat the shit out of me anywhere around, much less touching me.†Schu protested.
“Nagi is busy.â€
“Then do it yourself!†Schu normally didn’t talk back this much, he tried to keep things civil between the two of them. Friendship was the closest he would ever have to a relationship with the man, and he tried not to push the limits too much and risk losing even that. This was just too much though. He couldn’t take it any longer. He didn’t care what was between Crawford and the girl in the past but goddamn it he didn’t want to be put in the middle of it.
“No. If it were up to me, she’d stay just like this. I won’t touch her, so either you do, or I’ll call Farfarello.†Crawford told him as he turned and left, already knowing Schuldich would take care of the girl. He should have done it himself, but he couldn’t, not after everything else. Not yet. And just maybe, not ever.
*~*~*~*~*
She gently stirred. Well she tried to gently stir, but it hurt like hell. Everything hurt like hell. Why, beat up by that ever so kind German. How bad, oh shinigami, a broken rib, four more cracked ones, three bruised. A twisted wrist, a black eye, and a nearly cracked jaw, any harder of a punch and it would have been broken, and multiple cuts, scrapes, and bruises, lots and lots of bruises. She didn’t open her eyes at first. The light was on, and that would hurt her head, a head that was to shinigami(*2) damned clean, so clean it pounded its protest in to her. Just another hurt, and shinigami be damned again she hurt. She just let herself try and learn how to breathe first, then she would work on opening up her eyes. That idea didn’t last long though. Someone was gently holding a cold cloth to her battered eye. It felt nice, but who, oh hell no.
“Ahh.†She bolted up, or tried to, just getting away from the cold compress and the person holding it would be enough. The problem was it hurt like hell to move. She ended up falling back down in a ball of pain. And she was falling back on a bed. That didn’t put her in any better of a mood, in fact it made her even pissier if possible. She hated beds.
“Hold still, I won’t hurt you.†A heavy nasal voice rang in her ears. She avoided the look that poured out of his heavy emerald eyes. It was full of compassion, and she didn’t want that right now. No, right now she wanted to be pissed and so help her Shinigami she was going to be!
“Yeah, a little late for that one.†She mumbled. It had started out as an almost curse, but her jaw hurt to bad to barley move it. She wasn’t a stranger to pain, but this on top of the undulated answers in her head, and the cramps of withdrawal on top of broken, bruised, and cracked ribs made her nearly lose composer to the point of crying. And that was something she would never do.
“Can’t say sorry about that one.†He told her as he gently pressed the compress to her jaw. “That was completely intentional. I was hoping to break your jaw.†She gave him a look of horrid disbelief, and pain as answers to questions she hadn’t even asked herself yet went following through her mind to fast for her to make sense of. All she ended up managing was to try and pull back even farther. Not smart with her body in the broken and battered shape that it was, but it was the point of it all she was going for at the moment. Not the lack of logic that it showed.
“Hey, not like that. I couldn’t break you shields, and if I broke your jaw, you really couldn’t talk, I’d get to quit.†He tried to give her a real smile, it came out as a stupid looking smirk. But it was the thought behind it. She didn’t care for that thought in the slightest. She still pulled away. She knew that it wasn’t really his fault that this happened, but still she didn’t hold the best feelings to him at the moment. And damn it all, she wanted off of the fucking bed. She really hated those shinigami-damned things.
“Hold still, you’ll hurt yourself worse. Here,†he attempted to take her wrist. She yanked it away from him and whimpered. Half in pain, half in fear of him, and half from the knowledge of who really made this happen. But she wouldn’t blame him, it was her fault really, not his, at least in her head that’s how it went. Schuldich sighed and sat back in the chair that he had pulled over by her bed. She stayed curled up in a half ball. He just sat there and looked at her with eyes that tried to convey just how sorry he was. She didn’t want to see those eyes.
“Let me wrap it. It will help it heal.†He said in a quite voice, but he didn’t make a move to touch her wrist, or any part of her. She looked at him with cold eyes. Hard and set, and uncaring. Not the eyes one would expect to see on a girl like her, but then most girls weren’t like her to begin with. After what seemed like hours she finally held out her wrist to him. He carefully took it and with as much care as possible wrapped it in the bandage.
“Leave that on for at least a couple of days. And try to stay still.†He said as he finished and stood up to leave. She crawled out of the bed as soon as the chair he had been in was out of her way, and took a pillow with her. She then flopped down on the floor next to the bed. She caught the baffled look in his eyes.
“No beds.†Was all she said. She closed her eyes and tried to find some silence in her head away from the questions, and those damn answers, that ran through it. She was at one time able to control them extremely well, but being on a heavy supply of drugs for so long had made it like starting all over, and that hurt badly. And it was for that reason, along with half a dozen others, she barley noticed when Schu pulled the blanket from her bed and draped it over her small frame.
She was so small, like she’d be breakable if you touched her wrong, but he’d proved that wasn‘t true. Nagi’s clothes just fell off of her, and that kid was practically anorexic in Schuldich’s opinion. He stayed there for longer then he’d expected, knelling over her. Gently he traced the line of her bruised jaw, pulling her hair back and away from her face. Even painted in the black and blue he’d made her, she was beautiful, ‘Mein Gott!!! What am I thinking?!?!’ He asked himself in shock as he jumped back away from her and out of the room. ‘I’m gay, I’m gay, I’m gay. I don’t like chicks, I never have, I wanna fucking fuck BRAD! I mean mein gott!!’ His thoughts poured through his head in a very hard attempt to remind himself that he didn’t like females, but it was soon evident that that wasn’t the only ‘hard’ thing about this situation. He groaned and banged his head against the door. He needed a cold shower. A LONG cold shower. He stumbled to the bathroom more awkwardly then normal. He closed the door behind him and locked it. Soon he was standing in a blast of icy water, trying to ignore the raging erection that was prominent on his body. ‘Think of unsexual things, the girl, OK that wont work that’s what got me here, Brad, oh hell like that will help, Nagi, well, too young, get away from those thoughts Schu, Farfie….YIKES!’ those last few thoughts were all he needed to make his once hard penis shrink and shrivel up. Farfie was not a sexual type of person, and with that knife infatuation he had, Schu was scared to even imagine what he was like in bed. It gave him nightmares. Finally he crawled out of the frigid water and toweled off. Throwing on his same cloths and pulling his hair back with the same old bandanna he always tied in it. When he opened the door he was face to face with a grouchy looking 15-year-old Japanese boy.
“What’s wrong now Nagi?†he asked patiently.
“You were in there for over an hour Schuldich, you used all the hot water again, and I need to take a shower.†He snapped at the older man in front of him.
“Trust me Nags, you have all the hot water you want.†He said as he patted the boy on the head and walked past him to the stairs leading back down to the living room. Nagi stomped in to the bathroom and flipped the water handle to hot and stuck his hand under it to prove Schu wrong and yell at him some more for his repeated use of all the hot water. 'If he didn’t have such long hair..'
“OUCH!!†He screamed out as the boiling water hit his hand.
“Told you.†Came echoing back to him from the stair way as Nagi cradled his burned hand and wondered just what Schu had been doing in a cold shower for so long, that wasn’t like him.
*~*~*~*~*
Everything seemed to float around on a see of stars and nothingness. It swirled around the room in sweet clouds. Tink could just sit in the space room of the mansion and stare off at the swirling blackness for hours. But today she wasn’t being given that option. The door cracked open and the young boy, Nagi if she remembered right timidly stuck his head in.
“Umm, Dasha Crawf..AHH!!†with moves so fast that he didn’t even have time to use his powers, and pulling knives out of who knows where even better then anyone on ‘Highlander’(*3) ever could have thought of, Nagi was pinned to the very door he had been opening. One dagger landed on the outside of either hip, just above his knees. A third, and more dangerous, was placed right between his legs, and very much to close for comfort. In that same second Tinkerbell herself flung on to the door and was crouched with one foot on either of the outer daggers, knees bending so that she was eye to eye with the terrified boy. In her hand she held her, by far, favorite dagger and was slowly pressing it farther and farther in to Nagi’s throat, slowly beginning to draw a thin line of red from him.
“DON’T YOU EVER FUCKING CALL ME THAT AGAIN!! THAT IS IF YOU EVER LIVE TO SEE PAST THIS!!!†she screamed at him as loud as humanly possible. He didn’t even have the presence of mind to push her off. Both his hands were trapped anyway. He did the next best thing, he used his powers to remove the daggers that the madwoman on top of him was using as foot holds. She slowly slipped down his body, dagger still in hand, slicing through his shirt as she slid. It landed just at his pants line. Before she had a chance to severely injure him for life though, Crawford intervened. He appeared suddenly on the other side of the hall that the door Nagi was still pinned on swung open in to.
“Tinkerbell, I need to speak with you.†His voice held a calm tone, as if he didn’t see, or care, what she was doing to Nagi. Those words though were enough to get her off of him. She flung out her wrist, taking with it the dagger from between Nagi’s legs. It landed less then a hairs breath from Crawford’s temple.
“You gott verdammt fucking asshole precog, don’t you EVER stop me again. And I won’t miss again, just try and give me a chance. I want you dead anyway!!†Her voice echoed off of every wall in the entire house. She grabbed the two daggers off the ground and tucked them back under her clothing in such a way, you had no idea where or how she put them away. After she stormed down the hall, Nagi finally let out the breath he had been holding. His shirt was torn open and a thin line of red traced down his white chest. Crawford simply straightened his jacket and shot Nagi a dirty look.
“I warned you about calling her anything other then Tinkerbell.†And he too turned and left. Nagi slid down the door and lay in a heap on the floor. His eyes were still as wide as saucers and he was finding it hard to breathe. Blinking might resume in a week. At the moment he was most thankful that Crawford hadn’t noticed the fact that Nagi had pissed his pants. Black was good for something after all.
*~*~*~*~*
“What the hell is this all about anyway Braddykins you fucking asshole?†Tink spat at the man, with a maddeningly evil grin on her face though, as he walked in to join them in the mission prep room. Them consisted of herself, Schuldich, and Farfarello. Nagi had disappeared somewhere, probably to change his clothes, she really didn’t care, she didn’t like that kid now. At her words Schu’s eyes jumped four sizes larger. Braddykins! And he thought Braddy was bad. But the man before him seemed to have a lot less temperament and restraint with this nickname then he did with Sünde. One thing that he was leaning quickly though was that these girls were something else all right.
“I have a mission for you.†He said simply. He was getting a hell of a lot of hostility from Tinkerbell, and he just couldn’t figure it out. He had worked with her around the same time as Sünde, and he thought they had parted on fairly normal terms. Sure he had dumped her off in the streets of Berlin, but she had come off of those streets, it didn’t seem to bother her too much at the time. But he was getting the distant impression he needed to watch his step around her or by maimed in as many ways possible as she could come up with. He couldn’t help but wonder why.
“Does it involve me?†Schu asked lazily. He had other things to do, places to be, men to flirt with.
“No, you may go.†As Schu walked by, he was very tempted to grab Crawford’s ass, but he had grown to like having his wrist in one piece, not three, so he decided against it.
“Can I hurt god?†the white haired Irish lunatic asked. Crawford sighed. He really didn’t like the idea of sending these too out together, but he needed, Esstet needed, that damned Chinese ambassador dead. He had gotten to close to what had gone on around the time of Takatori’s death, and they didn’t need him poking his nose around now. The quickest way would be for both of them to go and finish him off.
“Answer the fucking question Braddykins?†Tink purred at him, pulling out a knife and flashing it in the light to occupy herself, when he took too long to answer the question. Crawford’s eyes roared at the sound of his name.
“Do not call me that. That is not my name.â€
“Close enough.†She said pointing the knife at him in a very unfriendly manner.
“No. If you want your right to be called Tinkerbell respected, please only refer to me as Crawford.†His voice was steaming with anger despite the kindness the words by them selves seemed to have.
“But that’s two separate things Braddy.†Came a voice from near the door. Tink barley looked over in that direction before continuing.
“Damn straight it is Braddykin……JEPARDY!!!!âS 64; she started talking to Crawford again before she realized that it was Sünde in the doorway. Once she did connect the two though all thoughts of what she had been doing slipped out of her mind. She tore across the few feet of space and threw herself at the shorter girl, hugging her tightly. Sünde winced slightly, and drew a quick breath. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, if they did, they wouldn’t have thought it anything other then the force of the hug. Tinkerbell knew better. She instantly dropped back and off of her friend. And then she also noticed the bandaged wrist.
“What happened?†her voice held a serious tone that a person would not have expected to come out of the bouncing green haired girl. Sünde just met her look, and lightly shrugged.
“Welcome home party.†She said simply. She wasn’t much for talking. Never had been, never would be. Tinkerbell just backed up from her and shot Crawford a death ray of a look that would have made anyone else ‘eep’ out of fear. He simply glared back at her, and somewhere in the back of his mind wondered again just where in the hell that hostility came from. Pissy, yes, mad, yes, annoying by calling him ‘Braddykins’, oh god yes, but LITERALLY trying to kill him, no, she had never been that pissed at him even at the height of her full force Farfarello ‘soul drain’. And now anything and everything was making her ready to kill him. This was going to be a LONG mission, fuck that, they were back to stay this was just going to be long in general.
As Crawford stood off scowling and thinking about the twist of fate that had screwed him over so badly, Farfarello stood by and smiled around the blade of the knife that was in his mouth. It was nice to see those two together again. He knew that they had been friends from far back, and if the sinner and the lunatic were together again then there was no way god was happy. No, if they were near each other again, then god would be stomping mad. He liked that idea.
“Sünde, what pupos..†Crawford tried to ask, after his thoughts regained focus again, but he was promptly cut off by Tinkerbell.
“Sünde? That’s the name you’re going by now. Well, that’s new, but totally sugee.†Tinkerbell was happily chatting to, not with because she wasn’t responding, Sünde. “I’m still only calling you Jepardy though, no sense messing with a good thing right?â€
“TINKERBELL! Shut up.†Crawford snapped at the girl. He was rewarded with silence, and a double cold glare, one from each girl.
“Sünde, what purpose do you have here?†He said, trying to ignore both of them, yet still scold them both with his tone. It didn’t really work, but he was trying. Sünde shot him and even colder glare, Tink laughed. Laughed so hard in fact that she fell to the floor in tears. Sünde shot her a glare too, but it didn’t have the same coldness in it that she gave to Crawford. Crawford was literally shaking with anger and hatred for the two standing in front of him. Farfarello was still off to the side, still smirking around the knife in his mouth.
“Answer the question Sünde.†Crawford spat at her again. Trying to hold back his rage to the best of his ability.
“I’m heading out. A night on the town. I thought Tink would like to join me. What’d ya say han�†She told Crawford, helping her friend up off the ground as she did. Crawford almost lost himself in his thoughts again. He had forgotten just how close the two of them were in the years they had spent training in Germany. Now in these few seconds it had become crystal clear to him. And he was hoping it wouldn’t become a problem.
“Tinkerbell has a mission.†He finally told the two in front of him.
“Yeah, we gitta hurt God.†Farfarello chirped in from the background. Everyone ignored him, but that was normal, he didn’t mind.
“Ah, yeah, besides, I don’t think I’m up with your crowed.†Tink replied as she looked at Sünde’s clothes. What few there were on her anyway. The paints were a sparkly purple that was a good two shades lighter then her hair. They were so low on her hips that her entire tight stomach and navel were shown very clearly. Her shirt was a tube top of the same color, tight beyond belief, and covering just the essentials. Her hair was tied back in several small ponytail like clumps, swinging with curls. She looked ready for the nearest street lamp, or dingy dance floor. And if Tink knew her friend like she thought she did, she knew Sünde would be hitting both. Tink herself was wearing a pair of Farfarello’s bondage pants, with loops and straps and buckles enough to trip over. It had three belts around the waist to try and keep them up. The rest of her was covered by one of Crawford’s best dress shirts, it was well over three sizes too big. Half the buttons weren’t hooked, showing off part of her stomach. She was wearing it mostly to piss him off, and it was working well too. Sünde eyed Tinkerbell’s outfit the same way Tink had eyed hers.
“I guess your right. Oh well, I’ll see you later then hanÃ.†And with that she turned to walk out, sashaying her hips with each step.
“I don’t think so.†Snapped the voice of Crawford. He was fuming with anger to a level that smoke was ready to come pouring out of his ears. Sünde turned to look at him with a distinctly annoyed look.
“You are NOT going out.†He growled at her between clenched teeth.
“Yes I am. I won’t get the chance to do this once Esstet starts in, and we ALL know that. So, I’m taking tonight at least.†And before he could protest anymore, which he was trying to do, she was gone. Crawford stood and fumed for a while longer, while Tink tried to hide her giggles at how much she loved the idea of Sünde telling him off. Finally it was Farfarello who snapped them both out of it.
“So, can we go hurt God now or what?†he asked, waving the knife around for emphasis. Crawford glanced at him and sighed. Yes, it was VERY stupid to send these two out together. But they’d at lest get the job done quickly. After it was done, well that was a whole other story, but at least the guy would be dead.
“Yes, as I was saying before..†he started as he gave them their assignment.
*~*~*~*~*
Tink skipped down the hall towards the living room. The mission went well. Well in theory anyway. The ambassador was dead. That’s what mattered. The fact that her and Farfie had some fun after words, well that wasn’t her problem. If Crawford had wanted it done nice and neat, he shouldn’t have sent the two of them together. Farfie was now sleeping off whatever tranquilizers that had been pumped in to him to try and get him back under control. She was just given a dirty look and told her to clean herself up. Crawford knew that she only went as far as she did because Farfie was there. He also knew that she went as far as she did to piss him off. Why, he STILL didn’t know, but if he didn’t that was the bakas own fault. She wasn’t going to tell him. If he couldn’t figure it out, that his problem.
As she passed the living room she caught the faint sent of cherry kool-aid. A smell that never failed to make Tink smile. It always made her happy. Not REALLY happy, but as happy as someone like her could get when Crawford was still alive. That smell meant that Jep was around somewhere. Tink wondered what Jep was doing back so soon though, it had barely been a couple of hours since she said she was going out. If Jepardy was still her same Jep that normally meant ‘don’t wait up’. But that was definitely Jep’s sent, cherry kool-aid. It was an unusual smell, but for Jep, it worked. It had become a comfort thing to Tink in their early years together, and now, it still served to make her smile. Especially now. Now that they were again together, they had each other back. Tink would be damned if she let ANYONE take that away from her now. Jep was back and they were going to stay together through whatever hell Esstet tried to put them through. Tink bounded in to the living room still deeply inhaling the fresh sent of cherry kool-aid, expecting to run smack dab in to her friend, and ask her what she was doing back so soon. The problem was, Jepardy was NOT in the room. The only people in the room were that little fucking Nagi brat, who as she entered immediately began to crawl farther back in to a corner, and Schuldich.
“Where’s Jep? Did she just come by or something?†Tink asked. Schuldich turned off the television he had been watching as he stood and prepared to leave.
“No, she went out. Which sounds like a good idea to me too.†He started to head for the door that Tink still lingered near. She didn’t get it. The smell was faint, to faint for most to notice it, but it was cherry kool-aid. Jep was the only one in the world that wore kool-aid scented perfumes. Then as Schuldich passed her she caught a stronger whiff of the sent. It was coming from him. Suddenly things made sense. The bandaged wrist, the pain when Tink hugged her, her own words, ‘Welcome home party.’, this was the one who had done that to Sünde, to her Jepardy. Even if she didn’t have shields that were nearly as good as Jep, and he had been able to read her, he still wouldn’t have seen it coming. She was scrawny as hell, but strong. Her fist connected immediately with his gut, sending him lurching forward and crumpling to his knees with a small ‘poof’ of air. With her fist still buried in his stomach she harshly whispered in to his ear.
“If you ever even think of touching her again, I WILL kill you.†And then she removed her hand and let him fall the rest of the way to the ground. Just before he hit, and passed out, she heard him mumble one word.
“..orders…â 364; that one word made it crystal clear in Tinkerbell’s head just who had been the one to truly cause that pain to her friend. Even if it had been Schuldich’s hands, he had been behind it. ‘Another reason for me to hate that fucking asshole bastard Bradley fucking Crawford.’ she thought to herself as she stormed off. Not like she really needed another reason, but oh well, now she had one.
*~*~*~*~*
It had been a long night. So long a night that it was actually morning when she stumbled in to the house at, well even with being Jepardy, she didn’t know. //Wow, maybe I overdid it with the drugs and alcohol.// she thought to herself. She had gotten trashed before, but if she tried she could always answer even the harder questions. And something in her head told her that what time it was WASN’T a hard question. Oh well, she deserved it. This would be the last time she ever would be able to use those methods to shut up the shinigami verdammt answers in her head. She needed it. Well, at least that’s what she told herself.
She had some vague recollection of someone being there when she stumbled in to the house. A someone who carried her up the stairs and in to a cold shower, trying to blast away some of the cobwebs in her head. It didn’t help. The water had tickled her skin, skin that was on fire from the last trip she was still floating on. That same person then helped her out of her, then wet and ruined clothes, and in to some of someone’s, Nagi’s most likely, his would be the only ones to even begin to fit her. Then that same set of hands, fuck, she really wished she knew who’s they were, threw her, none to gently either, in to her room, and unfortunately on her bed. She hated fucking beds, but before she could roll off it and on to the floor, she passed out. The owner of those nearly helpful hands stood in the door for a brief second. Watching the girls small form try to roll off the bed, and not make it. He silently shook his head.
“Why do you do this to yourself?†he asked in a hushed whisper, one that was ate up by the silence around them. He then shut her door and left. Moving down the hall to his own room. Thoughts still filled with mixed emotions of the young girl. Tomorrow morning Esstet trainers would be there to start her ‘re-joining’ of Schwarz. He knew their efforts wouldn’t get them far. Once she was clean and sober, she was going to be at her best again. Yet that wouldn’t stop them from putting her through the wringer. He tried not to think about that as he rolled over in his own bed and fell asleep. Just before he shut his eyes he cast a glance at the nightstand clock. 5:17. He wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight either. He probably shouldn’t have stayed up and waited for her to come home. Oh well, that was in the past, and he couldn’t take it back now. He was always more interested in what the future had to offer anyway. Now all he could do was just try and get what little sleep he could.
*1: I’m sorry sweetheart (German)
*2: Japanese God of Death. The only god that Jepardy will claim to believe in.
(It’s also an inside joke)
*3: Come on, anyone who has ever seen the show has wondered how those
people pull a three-foot sword from nowhere.
Anything else that was in either Japanese or German that you didn’t recognize was either a word of affection, like love, dear, honey. Or it was a curse word. You should have been able to guess that though from the content around them.
TBC.......