Schuldig quietly closed the door to Crawford’s room, his expression thoughtful. In all the years he’d known Brad, he’d never before spoken to him like that. He’d given his orders, yes, been in turn cold, smug, furious and downright evil but he’d never spoken to any of them as if they were a recalcitrant child.
Ken had watched Kai run through the house without a comment. Sure it was odd, but the entire day had been odd so he'd just shrugged and gone about the business of making a sandwich and getting some lemonade.
The clunky contraption that Brad had gotten cobbled together to keep things cold worked to a degree, but stuff still spoiled too fast to suit the former Weiss.
He sat down in the living room with his midnight snack, mentally bemoaning the lack of television and video games for the bazillionth time since they'd come to this here and now.
Schuldig wandered in, not feeling much like going back to bed until he’d tried to work out what had Crawford so spooked. When he found Ken already there he turned as if to go. Of all the ex-members of Weiss, Siberian was the only one who still regarded them as enemies.
Ken had glanced up at the telepath when Schuldig entered, noticed who it was and prepared to ignore him. But something in the older man's expression, some indefinable difference made him chance his mind.
"What's got you so worked up, Schuldig? Farfarello still railing at God?"
“What? Oh, no, Farf’s asleep. Did Kai go back to his room?”
"Yeah I think so." He took a bite of his sandwich, chewed it as he watched the German. After swallowing the food he said, "So if not Farf, why the worried look?"
Schuldig perched his long frame on a corner of the table and shaking hands lifted a cigarillo to his lips before he remembered Ken was eating and left the tobacco unlit. “Brad’s just had a vision that has him really spooked. I’ve never seen him in such a state.”
"Must have been a bad one," Ken replied as he downed some of the lemonade. He frowned, "You know, that meeting the other day... There was something about it... he and Nagi talked but, Nagi didn't say what it was about. But... I wonder... I mean all that talk of team leaders...." Ken's gaze met Schuldig's, "Maybe he knows he's going to die. That would scare the hell out of me. Not because I'm afraid of dying, but well... I wonder what Nagi would do."
Schuldig shuddered, remembering Nagi’s reaction to Tot’s death and the destruction his power had wrought at the time. How much worse would it be if anything happened to either Ken or Crawford? It didn’t bear thinking about. Then what Ken had said really sank in. If Brad had seen his own death… Yeah, that would account for his haunted look and his harshness towards both him and Kai.
He was suddenly glad that Aya was there, to take over. For himself, he wasn’t certain he’d be able to function very well without Brad’s guidance.
“Shit, Ken, I really hope you’re wrong but I’ve got a horrible feeling that you may just be right.”
Ken frowned, thinking about what Nagi had said regarding Crawford. The man had been like a father to him. And if the only father Nagi had ever known died...
He put the sandwich down. He'd lost his appetite.
"We need him, don't we? I mean without him to see the future, can any of you even function? I mean, honestly, can you?"
“Me? No. I’ve relied on him for too long. Farf is the same. He’ll listen to Brad where he won’t listen to others. Nagi can function without any of us although he will be deeply upset and his power may get away from him. You, Aya and Yohji should be just fine. It’s only recently that you’ve come to rely on him. The same goes for Kai, Zeshin and Aya-chan. As for Randall, he strikes me as being his own man anyway.”
He thought some more. “If Aya did take over as leader, well, he does have a lot of similarities to Brad and even their talents are similar. If anyone could pull it off, he could.”
"Aya did well by us," Ken admitted. "But you guys, well you'll be fighting blind in a manner of speaking, won't you? I mean he's been there for the two of you for a long time."
The conversation was making Ken think and while it wasn't that the ex-soccer player couldn't think-- to the contrary, goalies thought all the time and stayed very alert-- trying to work out the dynamics of what Schwarz would be like without Brad around was a bit much for him so late at night.
“Yes he has,” Schuldig said. There was a frown on his face as he tried to think things through. “Sometimes his visions can be changed. Let’s just hope that this is one of those times.”
He didn’t share with Ken his other fear, that Brad might have seen the death of not himself but one of them.
"Yeah, let's hope." Ken sighed and then yawned. "We should get to bed I guess." He picked up his sandwich and lemonade and headed for the stairs. "Don't worry about whatever it was now. We don't know what the problem is. Besides, Crawford is clever, whatever it is, he won't just sit back and let it happen and you know it."
"No, Ken, that's just it. I don't know it."
The brunet looked very thoughtful for a moment, "Maybe if he had a reason to fight. And I don't mean the reason we all have, survival. I mean, what does he really care about? Schwarz? Or..." Ken paused, brow wrinkled in deep thought as he worked something out in his head. The picture was forming, and he realized it wasn't one he liked.
"It's Aya, isn't it? That's the real reason he took us in. He wanted to be closer to Aya, but Yohji's in the way." Ken's eyes narrowed, flashed with a spark of dawning anger. "And that's why he didn't warn us about the gunslinger and Yohji being shot."
Schuldig sighed wearily. “No, Ken, that’s not why he didn’t warn us about Yohji being shot. That vision was blocked from him until it was too late by Everette’s telepath. You don’t get it do you? Without Yohji, we’ll never get back to our own time. Aya’s powerful but not that powerful without Yohji as a battery.”
"Yeah, I get it. I was just putting numbers together and coming up with the wrong answer I guess. But yeah, Crawford wants out of this time as much as the rest of us do. You should have heard him complaining to Algernon about the poor quality of coffee available. Guess he's used to the best in everything, isn't he?"
Ken shook his head, "Must be nice."
“It’s what we’ve done here, with the help of Algernon, that has given us the money to have the best of everything. From here on in that includes you as well.”
"Yeah well the best of anything here is still substandard. I think Aya's ready to go ballistic over not being able to get food that's not coated in three kinds of grease, and I know Yohji's getting really sick of the cigarillos. Damn shame they haven't made him stop smoking. At least his drinking has slowed down a lot and he hasn't come home stupid-drunk once since we've been here."
“I’m not talking about here Ken. What do you think paid for your first class air travel to Bangkok or the luxury suite there?”
"Yeah I know. Brad. Investments. I've got that. And that's another thing. Who has access to the money in our own time if he dies? And if that sounds callous, well I'm sorry but, we have to survive and without money, we're fucked."
“I imagine that, as he’s named Aya, that Aya will be the one with access to the funds. But, quite frankly, Ken, without Brad we’re equally fucked.”
The brunet studied Schuldig for a moment, then nodded, his expression grim. "Then maybe we better make sure that he and the rest of us all stay alive, huh?"
“That’s what we’re all hoping, Ken. To even lose one of us, no matter who, is not an option that any of us wants.”
Ken started and almost dropped his snack as he noticed a pale form just behind Schuldig.
Zeshin ghosted into the room. "Forgive my intrusion, Schuldig-san, Ken-san, but I heard you speaking about Crawford-san dying and I wondered why you would speak as if it were going to happen with such certainty."
“Why? Simply because Crawford has just had a vision that obviously terrified him,” Schuldig said.
Zeshin glanced from Schuldig to Ken, “Are his visions fixed in stone or does he use them to guide him around pitfalls? That was the impression that I’ve had from things that have been said. Didn’t he guide all of you so that it was the Elders who perished, not Schwarz? And did he not have the foresight to keep Weiss alive because we are needed?”
Ken stared at the leopard-boy. It never ceased to amaze the older man how easily Zeshin could reach the heart of a situation with such ease.
If only the boy could work out the problems between himself and Yohji so easily a lot of the tension among them would disappear.
“All that’s true, Zeshin, but I don’t think he’s ever seen his own death previous to this. It might simply be another possible future or it might be more definite than that. All I know is whatever he saw it’s got him frightened and I’ve never seen him frightened before. It’s not a pretty sight.”
The teen frowned. The idea that Crawford was afraid of anything was disturbing to him. He’d never credited the man with that sort of emotion and the concept was sobering.
“Has anyone spoken to Aya about this?”
Ken shook his head, “No. He’s asleep. Why wake him for this? Time enough for potential bad news in the morning, I mean...” he looked at Schuldig as if seeking support for his words, “he’s had a rough day as it is.”
“Nobody’s disturbed Aya, but you go right ahead if you feel that brave,” Schuldig said. “Personally, I’m going to hope it’s a future that can be changed.” He glanced at Ken. “You’d better hope the same for Nagi’s sake. Crawford’s been his father for the past eight years.”
Ken frowned. “Yeah, I know.” He sighed, “There’s got to be something we can do to prevent it. But I guess talking about it tonight won’t get us any closer to the solution.”
“No, I’m not that brave. And I guess he doesn’t need to be told in the middle of the night but... won’t Aya be angry if we don’t tell him what we suspect? I mean in the morning?” Zeshin questioned.
“Won’t Aya be angry about what?” the redhead asked from the doorway as he frowned at the little gathering in the room. “I heard voices. What’s going on?”
Schuldig sighed. “Brad’s just had a rather nasty vision and he’s scared about something.”
“We think he saw his own death,” Ken added. “But that’s just speculation.”
“Schuldig-san says that he looked genuinely afraid, Aya-san” Zeshin added softly, his head bowed respectfully to Aya.
Something flickered in the orchid eyes although Aya made no comment. Instead he turned to gaze at the door to Brad’s room before asking, “Is Kai with him?”
“No, he threw both me and the kid out. Was damned nasty about it too. I’ve never seen Kai get angry or cry before.”
Aya sighed. “There’s no point in us speculating about what he saw so you may as well all go back to bed.” He took a step towards the door.
“Night,” Ken said then departed, sandwich and lemonade in hand. He knew better than to question anything Aya said. He’d only be glared down.
Zeshin stayed where he was, big golden eyes regarding his master for a second before lowering once more. He started to leave, dropped onto the lion footed couch instead and curled up to wait.
“Aya,” Schuldig said then stopped. If anyone would be unimpressed by Brad’s viciousness it was the icy ex-Weiss. When Aya turned a questioning gaze on him he shrugged. “Just don’t take anything he says personally.”
He was given a chilling little smile. “I won’t.” Then the redhead was crossing to the door and Schuldig decided that he’d better be anywhere but here.
Brad was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to unravel the images left in his mind from his latest, and most unsettling vision when he heard someone touch his doorknob.
"Go away," he said, not really caring who it was.
“That’s not going to happen,” Aya said as he opened the door.
Hearing the voice of the former Weiss leader, Brad sat up, the covers falling around his waist to show broad shoulders and a well muscled chest. "What do you want, Fujimiya?" Aya was the last person he wanted to see right now. The visions of what might have been clouded by the what would happen, turning his mood bitter as ouzo.
The dark eyes took in several facts at once. Aya was clad only in a pair of briefs that left very little to the imagination. The next thing he noted was the lean swordsman's body, the sleek lines, an expanse of alabaster skin that he wanted to touch, to kiss.
“I wanted to see what’s got Schuldig and Kai so spooked and upset,” Aya said, not mincing matters.
"So ask them," Crawford replied, voice carrying an unwelcoming chill.
Aya lifted an eyebrow. “I’m asking you.”
The American just stared at him, his expression cold as ice. After a moment he said, "Leave, Fujimiya. We have nothing to discuss. As I said, if you want to know what is wrong with Kai or Schuldig, go have a talk with them, not me."
“I’ve already spoken to Schuldig. He says you had a vision that’s got you worried.” Cold eyes raked over the older man, picking up the pallid, sweaty skin and the dilated pupils. “Maybe Kai should have stayed.”
"No. Kai can stay in his own room," Brad retorted as he slipped out of bed, reaching for the robe he'd brought from their own era he pulled it on, his back to Aya.
"For that matter, you can go back to yours."
Aya couldn’t help but see a well-muscled though lean body and well-defined thighs but now was not the time to let the sight distract him.
He nodded to himself. Whatever had spooked the American was major. “I can also be a complete prick,” he said and sat in the rooms only chair, “and I‘m not moving till I find out what‘s got you this wound up.”
Brad stalked over to Aya, grabbed his arm and yanked him up out of the chair. "You do not want the answer to that, Abyssinian! You don't want to know so..." he shoved the smaller man toward the door of his bedroom, eyes blazing with fury, "GET THE FUCK OUT!" he roared, turning the pain of rejection, of knowing he would die for the man into anger.
Aya shoved right back and kept shoving till Crawford was back on his bed, half-tangled in his own robe. The sounds of voices and feet pounding down the stairs made him scowl slightly then concentrate his power. Brad and he went forward in time by exactly one week.
“Now you can shout as much as you like as we’re in an empty house,” he said.
Crawford was breathing hard, angry and very aroused, his erection standing visible beneath a fold of his robe, legs spread, one shoulder bare, his dark gaze on the cold orchid eyes, the pale alabaster beauty of Abyssinian.
He sat up, pulled his robe back on, tried to ignore the pounding blood surging into his cock. "Don't... do that again," he said quietly.
“Don’t do what again, question you, push you or use my power?” Aya asked. “And what makes you think I’ll take any notice anyway?” His eyes strayed to the obvious tenting of Crawford’s robe and he smiled slightly.
"Has Kudoh called you a bitch to your face?' Brad countered. "Because you really are a bitch." He got to his feet, "Take us back. Your time slipping isn't a game, Fujimiya."
“What makes you think that name-calling is going to get you your own way?” Aya asked. “Besides, do you really want to go back to all the worried stares? And when you actually get to know me, rather than make assumptions about me, you’ll realise that I don’t play with my talent.”
Through with talking he shoved Brad back onto the bed, this time going down with him to land on top. He gazed down at the pre-cog for an endless moment then bent his head and kissed him.
Brad froze as dozens of his most recent visions came undone, melting like a candle in a blast furnace, erasing themselves as if those futures had all died within a kiss.
He put his arms around the ex-Weiss and held him tight, returning the kiss passionately.
Aya drew back slightly, frowning at him. Something in his eyes must have changed for suddenly the redhead nodded and smiled. The first genuine smile he had ever seen on his face. “Something in the future altered, didn’t it?”
Crawford nodded, brushed a thumb across the red-head's bottom lip before he slipped his fingers into Aya's hair, letting the fiery strands glide through his fingers, inhaling the scent of Aya mixed inextricably with the blonde man that Abyssinian loved.
There was tension in Aya’s body for a moment then he relaxed and rested his head on Crawford’s broad chest. “I mean the difference between life and death for you?”
"I... don't know. Your proximity alone changes the visions, whether those changes are real, I don't know," Brad replied, realisation dawning that the kiss had been nothing, that he'd let himself hope for something that was never going to happen.
"Get off me and let's go back," Crawford all but growled as he pushed at the swordsman's shoulders.
Aya didn’t move. “Is that what you really want? You’ve been dropping not so subtle hints, kissing and confusing me ever since we threw in our lot with Schwarz and now you want me to get off you and go back? Why?”
"Why? You're asking me why?" Brad actually laughed. "What about your precious lover? I seem to recall you being upset when he nearly died. Or was I imagining that?"
Aya sighed. “Of course I was upset. So was everyone else!” He was silent for long moments, his eyes distant. “I can’t deny that I love him,” he said eventually, “but we all know that I’m not what he needs and he’s not what I need. I keep trying. He keeps trying. We’re both wasting our time as it’s doomed to failure. I don’t need your talent to see that.”
Crawford said nothing. There was really nothing for him to say about it. Even with his talent he couldn't tell how things would go between the former Weiss. Aya's power skewed everything he saw regarding the pair of men, or for that matter any future for Aya and himself.
Every future but the one he'd seen for himself if the pair continued to be lovers.
Much as Schwarz needed him, without Aya and Yohji they were all doomed. Better for him to die, than for everyone else to fall to the agents of Rosenkreuz.
"You could make it work," he finally stated. "But there's a price for that too. Just as there would be a steep price for us to pay if you leave Yohji."
“You mean he’ll come home, wherever that might be, every night stinking of sex and booze until he finally fucks up his liver beyond repair?” He went silent again before adding, “You said yourself that he’d have to share.”
He chuckled then, a cynical little sound. “Then there’s his fascination with Schuldig. Have your visions shown you that little development? Sometimes I think you rely so much on them that you forget to simply observe what’s going on.”
"I'm well aware of Kudoh's attraction to Schuldig," Brad replied. "I think it's the underlying reason he failed to really do our dear telepath any lasting harm that night in the Ani. I think it's an outgrowth of his inability to admit how he felt for you."
Brad looked around on the bed for his glasses, then stopped. Chances were they'd been left back in his room a week before this spot in time.
"I also know a few things about him that you are unaware of."
“Such as?”
Brad shook his head. "Ask him about his first mission for Kritiker. Beyond that, I'm not going to enlighten you. It's up to him if he wants you to know."
Crawford thought about his own secret, "And Kudoh isn't the only one fascinated by someone he once regarded as an enemy. It seems to be an epidemic," he stated. "You see, I've been in love with you almost as long as your pretty blonde lover has."
Aya’s eyes widened in some surprise. “I thought it was just lust,” he said. “You wanting something you couldn’t have.” He lifted first his head and then the rest of his body off of him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t intending to tease you. I thought…oh I don’t know what I thought.”
Brad's mouth tightened into a hard line, eyes going cold. "So if it was just a case of me wanting to roll in the sheets with you once you'd have done me for the hell of it? Thank you but, what would make you think I'd want a mercy fuck or a one night stand from you? I'm the leader of Schwarz, not someone you can fuck once and walk away from, Fujimiya," he grated out.
“I never have and never will do anyone for the hell of it,” Aya said coldly. “I don’t do one night stands either.” He gazed down, eyes hard, mouth grim. “I’d better take us back.”
Brad snarled and grabbed Aya roughly by the shoulders, his mouth closing on Aya's in an intensely passionate kiss, weeks worth of visions running like chalk drawings in the rain.
Aya’s arms went round him and he parted his lips, allowing complete access to the warmth behind them. His body pressed close again, one hand ghosting over Brad’s body, over its contours, learning its dips and smooth planes.
The American could hardly credit his own senses, half worried that he was having another of his out of control visions.
The redhead pulled away finally, gazing at him through eyes gone sultry. “I won’t walk away from you, Crawford. That’s a promise.” Then he pushed him back and straddled him, leaning down to capture his mouth with his own.
Crawford returned the kiss, lips parted, letting Aya be the aggressor. His prick was hard as stone, and he rocked his hips to try and get Aya's attention on something more than their dancing tongues.
He felt an answering hardness and Aya moaned softly as he moved from his mouth to run lips and tongue down his body, biting down on a nipple hard enough to leave teeth marks.
Crawford groaned at the flare of pain that lit his nerves as Aya bit him, his cock jumping from the exquisite sensation. Pain, sexual need.
Real. Totally, completely real.
But how far would the former Weiss go?
He shoved Aya away hard enough to send the red head to the floor, "If you want to fuck me, you have to earn the right, Fujimiya."
Aya’s eyes narrowed and became as hard as pale amethysts. He snarled, sounding much like Zeshin did in a fight and leapt to his feet, his fists clenching and unclenching. “You really love to push things don’t you?” he growled.
He launched himself at the bed and tore the robe off of Brad’s body.
For the second time that night Aya had knocked him down on the mattress, his vaunted ability to see what his opponent would do disabled by the chronokinetic power of Aya.
He did manage to grab Aya by his biceps and shove him aside a third time. "Not good enough, Abyssinian. Not even close," he said, mocking humour curving his mouth into a sensual smirk.
This time Aya went for his dick, clasping it close to the root and squeezing to the point of pain. “Shut up.”
Brad's smirk didn't waver, nor did the hardness of his cock. If anything the pain only served to increase the hardness of the flesh in Aya's hand.
"No," was Brad's reply an instant before his open hand cracked across Aya's face.
Those incredible eyes widened in shock and his free hand stole to his stinging cheek. Then he grinned his delight at finally having found exactly what he had been searching for before he backhanded Brad in return.
Crawford's dark eyes narrowed, the backhanded blow had bloodied his lip. He licked it, swallowed, gave Aya a slight nod of his head, acknowledging he'd taken the better half of that exchange.
His fist slammed into Aya's belly an instant later. "Keep trying. You might earn permission to lick my balls at the rate you're going."
Aya doubled over at the blow which brought his mouth close to Brad’s unbitten nipple. He bit down on it, drawing blood this time.
A gasp escaped Crawford at the pain. "Better," he said and punched Aya in the stomach again.
There was a groan from Aya, the first sound he’d made since telling the American to shut up. It was a groan of pleasure rather than pain and one word escaped his lips. “Yessss,” he hissed out.
A hand closed in Aya's hair, pulled his head back, Brad's mouth closing on his lips, teeth biting, drawing a bit of blood as he savaged the younger man's mouth.
Aya returned the kiss, bite for bite, his fingers digging into Brad’s shoulders enough to bruise.
A groan of need escaped Crawford and he broke the kiss to roll Aya onto his back. He sat there regarding the red-head with passion bright eyes, his jutting cock leaking arousal. "You'll do, Fujimiya," he remarked then got to his hands and knees. "I'm willing to bet there's a bottle of lotion in one of the nightstands."
Aya didn’t make a move towards the nightstands, instead he reached down to remove his briefs letting Crawford see the unmistakable signs of his own strong arousal. Once free of the garment he laid himself back down gazing challengingly at his latest and most satisfying lover.
The American reached out and took a firm grip on Aya's cock, squeezing it a bit too hard before he leaned down and took the full length into his mouth, sucking eagerly.
Violet eyes closed in bliss and one strong, sword-calloused hand tangled itself in thick black hair. The other hand reached blindly for the nightstand, finding the bottle of lotion that Crawford had mentioned.
He wanted to let Aya cum in his mouth, wanted to drink Aya down and get lost in the simple pleasure of bringing a lover to completion. But he wasn't about to waste this opportunity.
When Aya pushed the lotion into his hand he took it, sat back on his heels and gave the red-head a questioning look. "Your ass or mine?"
“Right now I don’t give a shit,” Aya told him.
"Really?" Brad smirked and flipped the slender man over on his belly, "Me first then," he said as he opened the bottle and dumped a generous amount out into the crack of Aya's ass.
He recapped the bottle, hauled Abyssinian to his knees, got into position and pressed the head of his cock into the slick, warm cleft of the red-head's ass, probing a bit until he found what he wanted and thrust the movement fast, and hard, going deep as he could drive his cock.
Brad groaned as his balls slapped Aya's body. Sunk to the root of his dick in Aya, he sighed in pleasure. "Exquisite"
There was a muffled gasp and then the body beneath him writhed against him trying, impossibly, to impale itself even further. “Kami-sama,” Aya breathed.
Crawford slapped Aya's hip hard enough to raise a handprint, which had the younger man squirming against him even more.
Brad thrust forward, and went still. "What do you want, Abyssinian?"
“Pleasure, pain, I don’t know!” He thrust back again.
Hard fingers closed on Aya's hips, forced him to be still. Brad bent over to bite the swordsman's shoulder, his cock nudging the right spot inside Aya as he did so.
"Don't lie to yourself, Fujimiya. You know exactly what you want. Now tell me what it is."
“Both,” Aya gasped out on a moan of pure pleasure.
Brad actually grinned. His hand came down brutally hard on Aya's hip as he drew back his hips. A second blow landed as he drove forward, his cock ramming home forcefully.
Aya thrashed and panted beneath him, emotions and desires long pent up and denied exploded and he screamed out Brad’s name.
Oracle smirked, realizing that the existence of them all was balanced on the head of a pin, Schwarz-- which now included Weiss-- living or dying based on something so simple as how well he fucked Aya.
Nails raked along Aya's thighs, Crawford hammering his prick into the willing ass of his former enemy. An enemy he'd wanted like this from that night in the rain when he could have killed Abyssinian once and for all.
But seeing the future, knowing what could be, he'd let him live. Not because he'd thought they'd need Weiss to overcome Essett, or Rosenkreuz. No, it was because of this moment.
His cock. Abyssinian's ass.
And one mind-blowing fuck.
Because of now.
Aya was well beyond rational thought. He had been reduced to a quivering, feeling mass of desire. He groaned as he felt his orgasm approach, groaned because he didn’t want this to stop.
Crawford reached beneath Aya and got a good hold on his cock. He thrust hard, driving his dick deep into the tight and all too willing ass.
Not even his visions or idle daydreams about this moment had fully prepared him for the reality.
Being inside Abyssinian, fucking his former adversary, hearing his helpless cries of pleasure drove Brad into a storm of sexual frenzy in which he lost his self-control, fucking the redhead so hard the pain and pleasure turned into a haze of misty what-if on the edge of time.
Aya cried out as Crawford’s hand found his cock and made a channel for him to thrust into. He did, moaning once again as his orgasm hit him with the force of an avalanche, leaving him struggling to breathe, fighting to regain his emotional equilibrium.
Crawford shuddered as he came, his mind full of light and sound, reality spinning out like a red carpet to welcome the masters of time.
Aya was motionless, still trying to catch his breath, his vision clouded until finally he focused on the pillow between his braced hands and arms. It looked welcoming so he collapsed onto it.
Shuddering Brad lay down beside the redhead, the visions playing through his mind. Kaleidoscope visions, sugar plum fairies in leather and steel dancing a manic head banger waltz in his head.
Rosenkreuz, the remnants of Essett, the agents of Kritiker spinning on a carousel of time, a flickering madcap movie in his head.
Aya moved enough to throw an arm round Brad before he shut his eyes, his breath still coming in shuddering gasps.
Crawford felt his lover's touch and wrapped an arm around Aya, pulling the younger man close, the visions slowing until all that remained was Schuldig running down a beach with Farfarello in hot pursuit.
And both of them were laughing.
* * * * * * *
Aya awoke maybe hours, maybe minutes later. His body felt like one big bruise but he was happy and sated. He glanced across at Brad who was still asleep with a very smug, self-satisfied grin on his face. Aya muttered slightly before smiling himself. They had both got exactly what they had wanted.
Crawford was enmeshed in a most pleasant dream. He was seated in front of his computer, reading the latest report on the earnings of his holding companies while Aya, beautiful orchid-eyed Aya leaned over his shoulder and kissed his neck, nipping and trying to distract him with a more physical sort of pleasure.
His cock rose at the red-head's sweet teasing, his body mirroring the dream.
Aya felt Brad’s arousal against his thigh and grinned a little maliciously before gripping the erection at the root.
The man's dark eyes opened, his head turning to regard Aya. "Is there something you're planning on doing with that, or were you just warming your fingers?"
Aya smirked back at him and let go. “I just thought you needed to wake up before your wet dream went too far and I got soaked.” The smirk died leaving his expression serious but not unfriendly. “We should talk.”
"Well if you'd just covered it with your mouth you wouldn't have had to worry about getting wet," Brad stated.
"Talk?" He trailed a finger along Aya's bruised cheek, enjoying the knowledge of how the dark smudge had gotten on the man's face.
Aya rubbed his cheek against the caress. “Yeah,” he murmured, “talk.”
Brad pulled Aya closer, forced Abyssinian’s head onto his chest and held him there. "So talk," he said as he brushed his hand down the pale body until he reached his ass, the tip of one finger sliding into the crack, teasing.
Aya squirmed against him. “How am I supposed to concentrate when you’re doing that?” he demanded. “Seriously, Crawford, we need to talk about the future.” He didn’t mention Yohji’s name, knowing that particular problem was his, and his alone, to deal with.
"Where is that vaunted focus everyone so admires in you, Abyssinian?" Brad questioned as he slid his finger deeper, touching the tight entry to the heat he'd enjoyed not terribly long ago.
Aya’s eyes narrowed and he pulled away from Crawford. It seemed to him that, now the man had had what he’d wanted he would no longer take him seriously. “Forget it,” he snapped. “I’ll take us back.”
Much like tropical weather, Brad went stormy in an eye blink, "No you won't. You'll pardon me if I find touching you enjoyable. Since I've not had sex of any kind since I was sixteen please forgive my desire to have it with you again before we have to go back.
"Now what do you want to talk about?"
Aya relented and snuggled close again. He couldn’t really help himself. For all Crawford’s faults he was the one and only man in his life that had ever given him exactly what he’d been craving without even really knowing it.
“The usual stuff, I guess, like where do we go from here? How long before we return to our own time and what the plan is once we get there?”
"We go back to the others. You face Yohji and turn control of Zeshin over to Farfarello. He won't hurt the boy. He's rather taken with the idea that Zeshin is, in a manner of speaking, his son.
"We'll train for about a week, then head back to our own time. Once we get there," he smiled the look purely feral, "we bring both Rosenkruez and Kritiker down in flames."
Aya frowned. "Farfarello might be happy with the idea but will Zeshin?" He sighed. "I was never as cruel to him as I might have been, but I did rather use him as a convenient fuck."
There was no question in his mind that he would need to talk to Yohji, to hurt the blonde and it hurt him too but he knew that there was no going back now. Sooner or later he would lose control of his dark side and it would be Yohji who paid the price if they tried to stay together.
"Farfarello isn't going to fuck him. He'll teach him how to fight. That's all."
Crawford caressed Abyssinian's ass, eyes half closed, just enjoying the peaceful moment. He knew it would be a long time until they had another chance at such pleasure.
"Cruel as it might sound, the best way to make a clean break with Balinese will be to give him a taste of what you really want."
Aya grimaced. “He says he’s not afraid anymore, that I can do whatever I want but I’m very much afraid that if I gave him even a taste that it would destroy something in him. He’s basically a gentle, protective type.”
Brad raised an eyebrow, then sighed. "Not that I don't like the idea of fucking you blind and having that privilege exclusively, but you don't want to destroy him by turning your back on him either, do you?"
A finger nudged at the tight muscle of Aya's anus, "Ask him about his first mission for Kritiker. If he tells you, it might help you to understand a few things."
Aya frowned. “You’d be prepared to share?” Somehow the idea didn’t sit well with him. “I don’t think he would. He has enough problems with Zen.” He raised himself on one elbow and gazed down at Crawford.
“And next time it will be me fucking you blind.”
Brad smiled, "Even better."
He lay back on the bed, "You really should get him under control. Kudoh I mean. Wasn't it him who pushed you toward Zeshin? Haven't you wondered why? Then there was the whole thing with him and Schuldig. They were going at it rather hot and heavy up in the grove of trees yesterday, relative to our prior when, of course.
"Don't things like that make you wonder what's really going on behind those jade eyes of his?"
“I’ve often wondered,” Aya admitted. He chuckled softly yet mirthlessly. “Compared to Schwarz, Weiss were a real bunch of screw-ups. And, for that very reason, we never pried too much into each others pasts or solo missions. I often accused that little Takatori shit of being in denial but it wasn’t him. It was the rest of us.”
He thought about Yohji and Schuldig together and strangely it didn’t evoke anything in him other than a soft melancholy and the realisation that Schuldig was a lot better suited to Yohji than he was. Of course, one had to take Farfarello into account. Then there was the obvious crush that Kai was feeling for the blonde.
He sighed. Emotions were almost as hard for him to deal with as the right words were.
"Let go of the past and move forward," Brad told him softly as he pulled Aya into his embrace and kissed him, sucking at a bruise on Aya's lip, giving Abyssinian a taste of pain, a reminder of how good they were together.
Aya moaned softly into the kiss and then returned it. He hadn’t really got much out of Crawford but that was nothing new and he doubted if things would change very much in that regard. They both kept their own council most of the time.
Forgetting everything but pleasure for the time being, he rolled on top of Brad and really started kissing him.
* * * * * * *
Ken bolted from his room, almost colliding with Farfarello in the hallway.
"What's going on down there?" he asked the Irishman.
"Nothing good. Crawford never yells like that."
Schuldig sighed. He could guess exactly what the problem was but now was neither the time nor the place to air it especially as Kai chose that moment to poke a tear-stained face round his door.
“What’s going on? Who’s yelling?”
"Crawford," Ken replied.
Farfarello eyed his lover, "You know something, Schuldig. Spit it out."
"Yeah, spit it out," Ken added.
The door to Aya and Yohji's room swung open, "Where's Aya?' Yohji asked sleepily, draping himself against the doorframe.
Nagi appeared then rubbing sleep from his eyes. “What’s all the noise about? Schu what have you done now?”
Schuldig grimaced. “Why should I have done anything?” He eyed Yohji warily. “Shouldn’t you be in bed getting your strength back?”
"I just heard everyone out here and wanted to know where Aya is. But... something woke me up," he sighed, "and I want a smoke."
"You don't need a smoke, Yohji. You need bed," Ken said turning an imploring look on Kai.
Kai frowned at the blonde. “I didn’t heal your chest just so you could fill it full of smoke,” he said. “Let one of the others find Aya for you. In the meantime get back to bed or I won’t bother next time you get shot!”
Schuldig winced. The kid was still furious by the sound of things. He couldn’t really blame him but Yohji hadn’t been the one to humiliate him.
Meanwhile, Nagi was heading purposefully down the stairs. Oh shit, now they’d all troop down and he dreaded to think what they might find.
Ken was right on Nagi's heels. Farfarello gave Schuldig a look, *You know something, and whatever it was involved Kai and Brad. So tell me what is going on.*
Yohji smiled at Kai, "Saving me is appreciated, but if I don't get a smoke then I need Aya to keep me distracted."
*It was Aya that Crawford was screaming at, not Kai. He’d already thrown him and I out by then. Whatever else happens, Kudoh had better stay up here.*
*Got it. You keep Kudoh busy, I'll see what Brad's done to Fujimiya.*
Kai visibly wilted under Yohji’s smile and with a muttered, “suit yourself,” marched back towards his room.
"Hey! Kai, what's wrong?" Yohji asked, totally thrown off balance by the boy's odd reaction.
Kai whirled. “What’s wrong? I’ll tell you what’s wrong! I’m tired of being everybody’s second or third choice if I’m a choice at all!”
Yohji blinked. "Choice?" Then it dawned on him what the kid meant.
"You aren't alone, Kai. You aren't alone," he said, a touch of bitterness in his voice.
“Well whoopee! That makes me feel so much better!”
Yohji's jade eyes narrowed and he bolted out of the doorway and into Kai's room, shoving the boy backward, closing the door behind him. "What happened to tick you off so bad? Did Aya tell you he wanted your ass too?"
“Aya? No. Why would Aya want me when he’s got you?” The boy was completely mystified. “It’s Crawford who doesn’t want me, any more than… oh, never mind.” He turned away unable to meet that green gaze any longer.
Yohji blinked. "Crawford? He..." the blonde shook his head.
"As to why Aya might want you, it's because you're small and beautiful."
It was Kai’s turn to blink. “I’m what?”
Yohji smiled at him, "Beautiful. Haven't you looked in a mirror?"
“Yeah, I’ve looked. I’m nothing special. That’s why everyone wants Aya and not me!”
"Aya is... well Aya. Sometimes it's fun to want what you can't really have." Yohji sighed realizing just how true those words were. He wanted what he could never have.
It hurt but he ignored it. He knew emotional pain and couldn't really remember a day in his life when it hadn't been there, weighing his heart and soul down.
"And don't knock yourself, Kai. You are beautiful."
“But you have Aya,” Kai said slowly. He knew there was more to Yohji’s words than met the eye but he couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Aya and Yohji had been together since he’d first met them so why did Yohji seem so sad?
Yohji sat down on Kai's bed, "That's just it, Kai. I don't have Aya, and...." he sighed, fighting a pain greater than any gunshot wound, "I never will. We know it, but... I can't let go... I... can't let go..." his voice caught and he lowered his head to stare blankly at the floor.
Kai stopped arguing, all the fight and self-pity oozing out of him at the sight of real pain, deep, unrelenting agony. Throwing caution to the winds he sat down next to Yohji and simply hugged him.
Yohji turned into the boy's embrace, tears welling in his eyes, "Kami-sama I love him, I love him so much..." Clinging to the younger former Weiss he started to sob.
Kai let him cry, occasionally murmuring little noises of comfort or rocking him gently. He didn’t know what else to do. The only experience he had of other men was killing them.
Worn out from the emotional strain coupled with his near death experience, Yohji slowly went limp in Kai's hold, the healing forgetfulness of sleep claiming him.
Kai leaned back until they were both lying on his bed then he pulled the covers over them, nestled against Yohji and fell asleep.