2.   the serpent
 

But in an unintentional
Chance
And it seems that you are toyed with
By time
You will be introduced
And at first sight
Feel true love.

                    "Ikaw Sana" by Ogie Alcasid
                    Translated by silrayn silverwolf

  Crawford remembered the day Schuldich brought Fujimiya Ran a.k.a. Abyssininan of Weiß. It had been the that Weiß had disbanded…

***

"Schuldich, don't be so noisy in there! You're waking up the whole house." Nagi had said loudly outside in the stairwell of their small apartment.

"I can do whatever I like, Nagi-chan, we're not on a mission. Besides we're celebrating our freedom…" Schuldich said gaily.

"What is he doing here?" Nagi demanded in a hiss.

"Easy, I can explain…" Schuldich said.

"Really now. How do explain bringing one of our enemies in our safe house?" Nagi asked in a cutting tone.

That had Crawford bolting out of his room and into the hallway. He bounded the remaining steps to confront Schuldich.

"Now Nagi, you've been hanging around with Crawford for too long…"

"Nagi, Nagi…"

"Yes, explain to me. Why bring Abyssinian here?" Crawford said as he loomed over the stairwell behind Nagi. In the weak halogen glow, he could see the distinct red that he had seen only in battle.

The man was clearly uncomfortable. He was wearing a tight T-shirt and leather pants with boots not his usual assassin's gear.

"Well, you said if I was ever going to have a permanent lover I could trust, I could always bring him to live with us didn't you?"

"Aa." Crawford said, his forehead was scrunching up with the beginnings of a headache. He knew what the German telepath was getting at.

"I've found him."

"But Weiß…"

"Weiß has completely disbanded, Kritiker has completely let them go. We're legit now anyway."

"Okay, as long as he doesn't cause any trouble." Crawford said finally, toning down his glare.

"Thanks, Crawford. Come in, kitten." Schuldich drawled.

"Hn." Ran replied as he climbed the stairs to go with Schuldich in the German's room.

At least, he isn't going to be noisy as some of Schuldich' lovers. He also isn't likely to be indiscreet…

***

The Weiß redhead had merged with Schwartz' household with the minimum fuss. Doing the same chores as the others did with his usual efficiency. He studied at a local college and practiced kendo at a dojo. He waited up with Crawford on the nights when Schuldich had bodyguard duty with Farfarello.

That's what started it all…

***

Crawford still didn't trust Abyssinian much, though the man seemed to be truly devoted to Schuldich in his own quiet way. It was probably because they had fought so long and so hard. Schwartz murdered the man's family and he wasn't known for being the forgiving type. Besides, the man seemed hell bent on opposing his command decisions for Schwartz.

Like right now…

"Hn." Ran glared at him.

"Fujimiya, it's my decision. It's not going to harm any for Schwartz to have two employers at the same time. I'm a precog remember." Crawford explained patiently.

"Hn."

***

A mission night…

They sat on couches on the living room waiting for the rest of Schwartz to go home. Crawford hadn't been on the mission since he judged that three was enough for this night's work. He sat on one of the chairs with a newspaper waiting for warning vision that might come. He kept half an eye on the Weiß redhead.

"Ran, we're home!" Schuldich said, rather like a child in his enthusiasm.

Ran looked up to meet Crawford's eyes briefly as he got up to fall into his lover's arms. Purple eyes rolled in exasperation and a silent understanding passed between them. Crawford read the fond affection from that gaze and knew that Ran would not do anything to endanger the German telepath and by extension Schwartz. From then on, they had managed not to fight over inconsequential things. Crawford knew that they had found agreement in common ground of Schuldich. The waiting silence between them became comfortable, betimes too comfortable.

Crawford found himself wishing that he could spend more time with the quiet redhead that didn't need to chatter to fill the silence like Schuldich, or have need bustle like Nagi and moreover different from the stir craziness of Farfarello.

It's nothing but a friendly quiet… Nothing any different from what I would share with Schuldich if he could be still…

***

Still Crawford found himself looking at the scarlet haired man with new appreciation that was hard to deny.

One morning, Schuldich couldn't fetch Ran from the local dojo.  Crawford was the only one free to go.  He had entered the dojo with trepidation.  Then he found himself looking at the fighters with very little interest.  He had often heard from Schuldich that Fujimiya could get so involved with his sword work that he could forget the time.  When he came into the second room same room he saw the man turn with subtle grace of an athlete, red hair waving lightly into place and his breath caught.

***

Crawford found himself looking for Ran constantly as the redhead continued on his business.  Cooking, cleaning and even studying, he found the Spartan movements to have a certain grace of their own.

I must hide this from everyone.  It will not be good for the team…

***

Another night of waiting and watching…

Suddenly, the room tilted and blurred. He saw another place and time. It was their current employer's house. He saw the Schwartz formation how it could go wrong and made note to call Nagi to move his position to the other corridor. When it cleared, he was staring into luminous purple eyes that made his breath pause. His heartbeat loud and uneven and for a few seconds he forgot what he was about to do. He was very conscious of spare muscular arms supporting him.

"Hn?" The questioning grunt snapped him out of the dazed reverie he had fallen in.

"Vision. I have to call Prodigy." Crawford said as he rose, backing away slightly from the tempting support.

"Hn." Slender fingers grasped his cellular phone, handing it over. An electric tingle not unlike static came up Crawford's arm when their fingers brushed briefly.

I must call Schwartz… I must not think of such things of this man. He is Schuldich's. I must not think him…

"Nagi go to hallway C and back up Farfarello and Schuldich…"

All throughout the conversation, Crawford felt purple eyes watching his every action. He felt a stirring within him. Something he hadn't felt for a long time.

No, he is Schuldich's lover. He can't be mine. Schuldich is a teammate. I will not try to disrupt the team's effectiveness by causing such a rivalry.

No matter what reason, Crawford tried to give himself. He failed to loosen his gaze on the redhead. He was acutely conscious of the inches between them. He found himself, secretly, in the cover of the newspaper, observing the graceful lines of feature and body that made up Fujimiya Ran. He even found himself warming up to the thought of embracing the redhead. He bristled ever so slightly when he saw how Ran's eyes lit up when Schuldich walked into the room.

Schuldich is my teammate. More importantly, we have been teammates for so long that we are closer to being friends. I can't do that to him. Besides Ran loves him, not me… How do I think to replace him in Fujimiya's affections? You have done so many crimes, killed, tortured many innocents but you never did that… Sinking to a new low aren't we….

Still it didn't hurt to dream…

And while you're at it why don't you wish for the moon to come down and talk to you.

***

Crawford sighed as he sat up from his bed. He was wet and sticky and felt disgusted with himself. He remembered all too well the details of his dream. Red hair fanned across his pillow, purple eyes glowing with desire only for him. Soft white skin under his hands, pale slender fingers returned caress for caress. He was hard with incompleteness and almost against his will he found himself listening closely to the sound that came from the wall he shared with the two lovebirds. Moans and sighs came through faintly but still audibly and for a while he could pretend that they were for him. He lowered his hand down to his boxer shorts.

***

Still another mission night…

Crawford sat comfortably at the couch, happily contemplating the redhead through the newspaper as always. He had found a certain acceptance towards the situation. He assigned himself most often to stay home more often just so he could let his thoughts unguarded for a while.

And to admire the lovely Ran from afar? Definitely. Face it, Crawford, you're too smitten to be objective about this…

It was almost relief when Crawford felt the familiar vertigo of his visions. The vision was eerily clear this time, as if he was in the same room with Schuldich and the guards. One of the guards drew and instead of shooting the attackers, he shot at Schuldich. Blood, there was a lot of blood and Crawford saw Schuldich so still on the floor. It was the stillness of death. He came to, in the supporting arms of his teammate's lover. Still dazed and disoriented, and for one tempting moment he thought of not calling.

I don't even have to do anything… No, that wouldn't be right…

Crawford struggled for a moment with selfish desire and professionalism, savoring for the moment the forbidden touch that embraced him. Then he took the phone from the redhead's grasp and called Schuldich' number.

Bring…Bring…Bring…

~TBC~

Author's Notes:

If you folks have guessed which biblical reference I'm talking about, you'll know what happens next.  Here's a clue, it's the most famous love triangle in the Christian Bible that I know of.  And it's not Adam, Eve and Lillith, that was a modification of someone!

As an old song goes: "Di ba't ako'y tao lang na natutukso rin" (Isn't it that I am just human and can be tempted too)

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