Brad was seated behind the big oak desk he’d bought for his use. Papers were neatly stacked to one side, a pen and ink fountain laying neatly on one corner of the blotter. As always he was immaculate, his trendy 1880s suit perfect, the dark fabric offset by the gold of the vest he wore under the sombre black waistcoat and the frames of his glasses. Those were still from their own era, as was the gun he wore in it’s shoulder holster under the coat.
He sighed, missing the modern convenience of a computer and pass codes, of being able to trade stocks by internet.
Time for that in the future.
*Schuldig, please tell Abyssinian I want to talk to him. His playtime with Kudoh will have to wait. This is important.*
*He’s actually playing chess with his sister but I’ve passed the message on.*
A moment later the door was thrust open and Aya marched into the room scowling direly. “What do you want?”
Brad regarded the red-haired man, “Sit,” he instructed, motioning to the wingback chair in front of his desk.
Aya remained standing. “I’m not a dog, Crawford, nor, before you say it yet again am I a bitch.”
Crawford was done playing nice with the man. He came over the desk faster than anyone but his own team mates would have believed, to grab the ex-Weiss by the front of his shirt. “No, you aren’t a dog or a bitch, but you are a member of this team now, and you will learn to obey me if you don’t want us all to die!”
He shoved the smaller man toward the chair, “Now sit down!”
Aya sat down but continued to glare at Crawford. “I am prepared to follow you, Crawford, as you seem to know what you’re doing, but you need to modify your attitude.” Then he supposed he did too. “So, what do you want?”
“Just remember my attitude has kept my team alive against Essett and Rosenkreuz. You couldn’t even keep ahead of the little shit Takatori’s scheming,” he reminded the other team leader as he straightened his suit and sat down behind his desk.
“And,” he continued, “what I want is simple. I need someone that can help me keep a rein on our united team. You are, of course, my first choice.”
“If I was so useless, why am I your first choice?” Aya asked. “There doesn’t seem to be any ‘of course’ about it.”
He could have argued that he’d never doubted who was behind Zen’s abortive actions on Hokkaido but he didn’t. It was no argument when dealing with a pre-cog. He’d known in his heart that Omi had become his enemy the day he protected his brother against them but had done nothing about it, had even tried to believe in him and call him Omi again.
“I did not say you were useless, Abyssinian, I said you haven’t had the same success at handling problems as I’ve had. But you are good at keeping your team mates in line and that is what I need from you.”
“I haven’t had your advantages,” Aya said with a shrug. “As for my team mates, Ken follows Nagi’s lead and Kai yours, so you’re talking about Yohji and Zeshin and I’m perfectly capable of dealing with either one of them.”
“No, you haven’t. But you have advantages of your own now, don’t you? One that needs training to be fully effective. And that brings up another reason we need to talk. You, your sister and Kudoh all need to start learning how to control those powers of yours. Nagi is doing well enough with Hidaka, and at least our resident pyro hasn’t burned any thing else of importance.”
Aya sat forward in his seat, his attention fully captured now. “I thought the whole idea of moving times was so that we could train but you’ve been too interested in poker and business deals to initiate anything. And Zeshin is only half trained in his skills. I can feel that but have no idea how to proceed.”
“Training is going to be...” Brad considered how to phrase what he wanted to say carefully, “tricky. We were trained by harsh taskmasters, and that sort of thing isn’t very helpful, though it does get results. Obviously.” He steepled his fingers, looking very thoughtful. “I thought, perhaps the best way to go about this would be for the three of us to take on one of you in a pupil and mentor fashion. Nagi will keep teaching Ken, while Schuldig will work with Kudoh and I will assist you. Farfarello and Kai can assist Aya-chan in getting used to her powers which will, in the long run, help Kai also.
“As for Zeshin, he’s yours to train as you see fit. I believe that was your wish.”
“Yes, it was,” Aya agreed, “but I’m not sure how to bring out his full potential after what I learned that day in the elevator in Singapore. He was never properly trained before and I know, even now, that he would do anything I asked of him and protect Aya-chan but I feel there is more to him than that.”
He was silent for a moment as he digested the rest of what Crawford had said. Could he trust Yohji to Schuldig? They seemed to be friendly enough. As for himself being trained by Crawford… He sighed. “I agree to the mentoring thing,” he said finally.
There was a pleased glitter in Crawford’s eyes as he said, “I knew you would.”
He studied the red-haired man for a moment, then picked up his coffee and took a sip. “You can manipulate time. We have already used this talent of yours, in conjunction with the ability that Kudoh has of boosting another talent’s capability. What I want you to do is try and use this talent of yours and develop the capacity to selectively manipulate time in a more controlled manner. In short, I want you to be able to move yourself forward or backward by tiny increments, or years.”
Brad paused to let the ex Weiss take in what he’d said. “Then we’re going to see if that lovely ability you’ve got can be focused on someone or something else. I think it can, but even I’m not positive about any outcome involving that aspect of your power.” He frowned, “Trying to read just your future is hard for me, probably because you can manipulate time and that distorts what I’m able to see.”
Aya wasn’t certain if that fact was a comfort or not. Those who had once been Schwartz kept telling him that Crawford always led them right because of his talent yet now the man was saying that it didn’t work too well on him.
“When do you want to start?” he asked. Then something else struck him. “What power does my sister have?” No wonder Crawford had brought her to him. He should have known that the American wouldn’t have done it for altruistic reasons.
Crawford set his coffee aside. “Now. As for your sister, I’m sure you realize she didn’t age while she was in that coma. That is her power. Effectively, she could be immortal.” He waited a second before adding, “Much like Prodigy.”
“So that’s why you tried to take her from the museum,” Aya mused aloud. Suddenly it made more sense why Schwartz had wanted an unconscious girl, why the elders had wanted her for their appalling ritual. “It was Schuldig who dug into her mind deep enough to wake her, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, among other reasons. We didn’t want her killed.” He gave Aya a faint smile, “And we knew Sakura had taken her place of course.”
Aya shook his head. “The silly little bitch did that for me not you nor even for Aya-chan.” He sighed slightly. “So what power does Kai have?” He frowned suddenly. “Was he sent to Hokkaido to be killed for being a ‘talent’ like the rest of us?”
“Of course she did it for you. She was madly in lust with you, Fujimiya. Still is, not that it matters.
“Kai is a healer of sorts. Not a powerful one, but his ability will suffice for our purposes.”
“And Hokkaido?” Aya prompted.
The American sighed. “What about it?”
“Was Bengal sent there and to Weiss because he was a ‘talent’?”
Brad just looked at the other man for a moment then said, “No. He came on his own... but... there were things said that would lead him there as surely as iron is drawn to a magnet. Just knowing you were alive was enough.” The American paused for effect then added, “Takatori is still alive.”
A strangely satisfied expression crossed Aya’s features. “Unlike Ken to make such a mistake,” he said, “but it does mean I can do the job myself, one day. I owe him for all of us but especially for what he did to Ken and Zeshin.”
“Yes. What he did to you and Kudoh was unpleasant, but what he did to the other pair was worthy of Esset or even Rosenkruez. It would seem that they aren’t the only one’s who were manipulated for the amusement of people who enjoy such twisted games.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you don’t enjoy them?” Aya asked sceptically. “I find that rather hard to believe.”
“Not at the expense of people who depend on me, no,” Crawford replied without hesitation and with total candour. “I wouldn’t treat Schuldig or Farfarello like that, and Nagi...” He paused, met Abyssinian’s gaze. “I’ve been protecting him from Esset and Rosenkreuz from the moment I put hands on him so Nagi wouldn’t be subjected to the things the rest of us experienced.”
Aya’s brows rose slightly. “So that’s why he always seemed different to the rest of you. He was just as sneaky but less prepared to play silly mind games or kill needlessly.”
“In point of fact, I have never asked nor expected Nagi to kill. Not once,” Crawford replied. “He has free will in what he does. But the other two,” Brad actually sighed, “they are incapable of functioning without someone to guide them. We were toy’s of the Elders, we are all broken in one way or another.” The smile he gave Aya was bitter, sad, “Damaged goods, like Weiss.”
“Every one of us damaged by the Takatori,” Aya agreed, “though the others didn’t find out till later that they’d been behind the game-rigging that brought Ken down or Riot that had caused the death of Yohji’s first love. And the surviving member is still trying to finish the job!” His hands clenched into fists as he thought back to the way ‘Omi’ had gained their trust.
“There is one thing I think you should bear in mind, a fact that I don’t think any of you have ever considered,” Crawford commented softly, “Reiji was part of Esset.”
He let that sink in for a moment, “And if he was part Esset, doesn’t it stand to reason that other members of their clan were also part of Esset or perhaps even part of Rosenkreuz?” It wasn’t something Brad had felt any of the Weiss were ready to hear when they first threw their lot in with Schwarz, but it was imperative that the former Kritiker operatives understand exactly how things stood, and who they’d actually been working for.
Aya was silent for several moments as he thought about how he should reply. Should he let Crawford know exactly how much he had worked out for himself. Trust was so hard now and yet, so far, the pre-cog hadn’t broken his word to any of them.
“We had all figured Reiji out at the end,” he said, then thought some more.
“I had wondered how deep the connection between Kritiker and Esset went,” he said slowly. “I knew that Botan and Takatori Shuichi were clean and believed in what they were doing, also Manx. Birman I wouldn’t trust any more than I’d trust a cobra and the rest of Kritiker was faceless as far as we were concerned. I actually went to a cyber-café and did some digging on one occasion. That’s when I found out that Takatori Saijou had founded Kritiker and when I first realised there had to be a link to Esset, at least.”
He snorted ironically. “I wasn’t prepared to be a pawn in that particular game of chess and so I went ahead and killed Takatori Reiji.”
“Essentially Kritiker started out as a vehicle for Esset to manage the political climate in Japan. That was years ago, and the organization drifted a little from their original goal under the auspices of Takatori Shuichi. But he was still one of them, even if he didn’t see eye to eye with his brother. He preferred a different approach and despised the Elders nearly as much as we Schwarz did.”
The American picked up his cooling coffee, “Would it surprise you to know that his death saddened me? He was very nearly an ally to Schwarz. Unfortunately his death was inevitable. While he need not have died, I saw no future for any of us if he did not die at Reiji’s hands.”
“I’m guessing that if he’d lived, we would have died on Saijou’s orders or something like that and then you wouldn’t have our talents to use against Rosenkreuz.”
“No, Shuichi would have ordered you eliminated once your usefulness to him had come to an end. And it ended with Reiji’s death.”
Brad took a sip of the coffee, set the cup down. “I think we’ve talked about this enough for now. It’s in the past--“ he actually grinned, “or the future depending on how you choose to look at it.”
Shuichi’s perfidy not surprising Aya in the least he agreed to the change of subject without further comment. “So you want me to be your second-in-command, is that it?”
“Yes. I would also like it if you could back time up a bit and reheat this coffee.” Brad set the cup down on the desk and watched Aya expectantly.
“Wouldn’t that take us back to when I entered the room and a rerun of the whole conversation again?” Aya asked. “If I simply send the coffee back, you won’t be able to drink it anyway.”
Brad smirked, his dark eyes glittering in amusement. “Good, at least you understand what is, and is not possible.” He stood, picked up the cup and motioned for Aya to follow him. “Now we will go and actually have you practice. But first I want a refill on my coffee.”
Aya rose to his feet feeling a bit like a naughty five-year-old. Crawford always seemed to have that effect on him these days.
After refilling his coffee Crawford led Aya into what passed for their back yard, the scent of horse manure thick in the air. Crawford frowned but stepped into the grass at the back door, “While making money here is all well and good, I’m getting heartily sick of being in this time period. Which is all the more reason for us to make your training go as quickly as we can.”
“I’m in full agreement with you there,” Aya said. “I would very much like to get back to a more civilised time… and country. I really need a proper hot bath.”
That brought a soft chuckle from Crawford, “I’d love a decent meal. Steak is all well and good, but I’d really love to dig into a large plate of sushi and a steaming bowl of miso,” he admitted. “I’m fairly sure Kudoh misses his junk food, and I overheard Ken bemoaning the lack of soccer games and TV.
“He’s making good progress, and in truth he was the one that concerned me the most. Pyrokinetics have a notoriously difficult time learning to manipulate their abilities.”
“He was a professional goalkeeper,” Aya said, “and that would have taken discipline. Although he has a short fuse and a hot temper (if you’ll excuse the unintentional puns) Ken is much more focused than most give him credit for.” He smiled slightly. “Although the constant soccer on TV is not something I’m missing.”
He was quiet for a moment before frowning slightly. “Zeshin worries me. Did they really breed him to be that docile? It goes totally counter to the instincts he has gained from his cat side.”
“No. He wasn’t bred to be docile, but the training that Rosenkruez inflicts can alter the mind of anyone.” He shook his head, “You should have seen Schuldig when I acquired him. He’s recovered, but for the first few months--“ Brad went silent remembering too much of his own past, too many things that had happened, glad that he’d managed to spare Nagi the horrors that he and the German telepath had survived.
“Work with him. He’s good, but with you to teach him he could be better.” He gave Aya a speculative look, “You know, it might be beneficial for us all to train together in respects to fighting styles. I think you could learn a lot from Farfarello, and I suspect Schuldig could learn a great deal from both Hidaka and Kudoh.”
Aya nodded. The telepath was fast but, in his opinion, both he and Crawford relied too much on their guns and talent to carry them through. He knew exactly what Farfarello could teach them, that the way to lose a fight was to be afraid of getting hurt or dying. But Yohji, Ken and himself were way beyond that point by now.
Styles though, that was a different proposition. Farfarello’s style was very street whereas his own was almost totally traditional kendo. On the whole, Crawford’s idea was a good one.
“Well, let’s get on with this shall we?” Brad said as he walked into the yard. “What I want you to do is go forward in time a few minutes. It’s a simple matter of focusing your mind on what you want to achieve. The same way you got us here.” The man smiled, “But this time you won’t have so much power at your disposal since Kudoh won’t be playing supercharger.”
Aya concentrated and Crawford blurred in his vision. There was the feeling of disorientation he always got when he played around with time and then he was in the yard but he know he had gone forward in time by about five minutes.
The world seemed the same but it wasn’t, not quite. The bird that had been sitting on the eaves of the house was no longer there and although Crawford appeared to be there, was there, he had moved several feet to the left. Taking in these details, he transported himself back to when he had been before, careful to add the few seconds he had taken to look around.
He gave Crawford the details on his return in a tone of utter boredom. Seconds and minutes were easy. It was days, weeks, years that created the dangerous paradoxes.
“Excellent.” Brad walked closer to the red-haired man. “While you were gone, I took the liberty of trying to see you and I did.” There was an odd glint in his gaze as he added, “This may prove to be far more advantageous than I realized.”
“As long as you remember that nobody can be in two places at one time,” Aya said. “We do not have doppelgangers roaming about in our own time period. We simply vanished.”
Crawford gave Abyssinian a long suffering look, “Please credit me with a bit of intelligence, Fujimiya.”
He was just about to say something else when his gaze went completely blank, and he swayed slightly on his feet.
Knowing the signs of one of Crawford’s visions by now, Aya merely stood ready to catch him should he fall. He was pleased that the man who could be nothing else but their leader grasped the problems of time manipulation. So few people did. Even Yohji, normally extremely bright, had made a few crazy suggestions for its use.
Crawford staggered, his knees starting to buckle as he came out of a powerful vision, the man’s face ashen.
Aya caught him and half carried him to the rocker on the porch where he sat him down before handing him his coffee. “An important one, huh?”
Crawford took the coffee, noting that his hands were shaking from the force of the vision he’d just had. “Crossroad,” was all he could manage to say.
He sipped the coffee, mind filled with a riot of images that he was still sorting out.
Aya remained silent, allowing Crawford the mental space he needed to sort through the visions. Crossroad sounded to him like they were going to be making some major moves and decisions very soon.
When his heartbeat had slowed and his breathing was more normal, the American looked up at the red-head. “We’ve got trouble coming. Everette’s gunslinger is lusting after Aya-chan.”
“We already knew that,” Aya said, his eyes as cold as ice. “You even said he’d either meet my katana or Yohji’s gun. So what has changed in your vision?”
“In this vision he had help. Someone that Everette is going to hire.” He got to his feet, and headed into the house. “Another gunslinger with a talent and we need to either kill him, or enlist him on our side.”
He paused at the door, “Crossroads. If we get him first, he’s the answer to a few of our problems. If they get him first, he becomes our most dangerous opponent.”
Before Aya could answer, Brad turned to him, gripped him by the upper arms and said, “Kudoh will have to learn to share what is his.” Then he kissed Aya, his grip harsh, the kiss itself almost gentle.
Aya stood still and unresponsive as his mind went over Crawford’s words. Yohji already shared him with Zeshin but he couldn’t see the blonde’s pride allowing him to share with Crawford as well. His life was turning into a real mess and he should have remained the closed off celibate ‘virgin’ that Yohji had always accused him of being.
* * * * * * *
Schuldig had received a mental command from Brad telling him to start Kudoh’s training so he deliberately took them both away from the distractions of Sacramento and into the quiet of the surrounding countryside.
Yohji was happy enough to start his training and was a fast learner, grasping the concepts of what he could and could not do very quickly.
Having made him work hard for an hour he took pity on him and suggested they both take a break.
The blonde sat down under the tree they’d been close to and leaned back against the trunk, a shaking hand fumbling for one of the cigarillos in his pocket.
“This is more work than the training exercises Kritiker use to send us on sometimes.”
“Because you are working with your mind rather than your body,” Schuldig told him. “This is a piece of cake compared to what we went through in our training. Rosenkreuz were not gentle trainers and we were only children.” He lapsed into silence, not wanting to dwell on the horrors of the past too much.
Yohji nodded, as the telepath sat down beside him. “I guess only the toughest...” he hesitated looking for the right word, “candidates survive.” His jade gaze went hard, “And they’re still doing it, torturing innocents, turning children into killers.”
He looked at Schuldig, reached out and curved the back of his hand around the nape of German’s neck and leaned in to kiss him.
It was something he’d been wanting to do since their little talk back in Bangkok, and with Farfarello back at the house he figured if he was going to fully satisfy his curiosity now was as good a time as any.
Schuldig stiffened under his touch before relaxing and returning the kiss. When they broke apart he laughed, a little shakily. “You trying to get us both killed?”
“I was just trying to satisfy my own curiosity.” He touched Schuldig’s mouth with the tip of a finger, “I’ve always loved the shape of your mouth. Even when you were sneering at us. Or maybe because I think your sneer is kind of sexy.” He grinned, “Crazy, ne?”
“Completely fucking nuts,” Schuldig agreed although he didn’t move away. “You always were the Weiss party animal, weren’t you?”
“Yeah, that was me. Drinking and fucking everything in sight. And if things had kept going the way they were, I’d probably have gotten killed by some angry boyfriend or melted my liver and died.” He shrugged, “But here we are instead.”
He looked away as he lit his cigarillo, “I’d do more than kiss you if I didn’t have to worry about being gutted like the catch of the day.” He inhaled smoke, let it drift away from his lips in a thin stream. “Too bad we never hooked up before. I think we could have had some interesting times.”
Schuldig smirked. “I’ve been with Farf for longer than we’ve known you, Kudoh, so the likelihood of ‘hooking up’ was always going to be unlikely. Besides, I have no real desire to end up as kebab on Aya’s sword.”
“Hey, he fools around with Zeshin, I should be able to have a bit of fun too.” The blonde took another drag off the cigarillo, watched the smoke drift away.
He saw a motion from the corner of his eye and turned to see what it was. To his credit he didn’t go pale or start to shake when he realized Farfarello was leaning against a tree about fifty feet away, just watching the two of them.
“Fuck,” he muttered softly. “Your lover boy’s here.”
“I know,” Schuldig said without even a twitch. “And Zeshin isn’t your biggest rival. Crawford is.” Raising his voice slightly he called to Farfarello. “Come and join us, Farf.”
“Crawford? Great. Just fucking great.” Yohji muttered as Berserker came over to join them.
The Irishman didn’t sit, he just stood over them, single amber eye gazing down at the former Weiss. There was an odd look on his face. Then he crouched down and touched Schuldig’s mouth.
“Kiss him, Schuldig,” he murmured, “I want to be closer this time.”
Schuldig smirked again and complied with Farfarello’s request, pulling Yohji closer and holding him still as he pressed his lips against those of the ex-Weiss assassin. *Why?* he asked over his link with his lover.
In answer to Schuldig’s silent question Farfarello stroked his hand through the blonde’s hair, watching the sunlight turn it to molten gold.
Schuldig could feel Yohji tense as Berserker touched his hair, but the man didn’t try and pull away, which showed a great deal of trust on his part, and he was returning the kiss with enthusiasm.
*If he follows us home, I might let you keep him.*
*He might not want to be kept, Farf.* Useless to refute his growing attraction for Yohji and stupid to even try. Were they all going stir crazy or was it just the presence of so many gorgeous men, all stuck in one house far from everything they knew, that was making so many of them twitchy. Even Crawford was not immune.
*Well I think he wouldn’t mind being borrowed,* Farfarello remarked as he edged a bit closer to his lover and Balinese. He waited a few heartbeats then he slid a hand down Kudoh’s back in a caress meant to test the man’s reaction.
Yohji kept kissing Schuldig, wary of Berserker, but putting enough faith into the telepath and Crawford to believe they’d prevent the Irishman from killing him since he was so important to their future.
But when Berserker’s hand slid down his thigh heading for more intimate territory he dropped a hand down to stop it from reaching it’s intended goal. A goal that was getting very evident inside the jeans he was wearing.
*Kitty’s not ready to play with both of us. Not yet anyway.*
*Hardly surprising seeing as he won’t even get involved in Aya and Zeshin’s games. And Kai was ignored too. Maybe he just has a thing for redheads.*
*I hadn’t considered that,* Farfarello admitted as he touched the hand that had taken hold of his wrist. It was a strong hand with a few faint scars from cuts. Probably caused by the harigane.
Yohji lay back, pulling Schuldig with him so that the German was on top of him, a line of defence between himself and anything the unpredictable Berserker might do.
“Oh no you don’t!” Schuldig exclaimed as he used his enhanced speed to free himself. “You’re not using me as a human shield! Anyway, if Farf was going to hurt you he’d have done so by now.”
He turned his bright blue gaze on the Weiss blonde, his expression speculative. “What exactly do you have against threesomes?”
“I... ummm... never considered a threesome that might include Farfarello,” he admitted, choosing to be honest rather than make a pointless attempt to lie to the telepath.
He did, however, try to hide the fact that he’d considered one involving Schuldig and Crawford, or a foursome with Aya in the mix. But it had been only a vague idea, one that occasionally surfaced when he’d had a few too many beers.
Schuldig laughed suddenly. “Not as straight as you like to make out, are you, Kudoh? Nice pictures you have in there!” He chuckled again and shared some of the images in Yohji’s mind with Farfarello.
“Although I am a little hurt that you don’t find Farf an object of desire.” There was more he could say to tease the blonde, like the fact that Kai had the hots for him or that Aya was looking for ways to make Zeshin a little less submissive and more prepared to fight back occasionally, but he kept these facts to himself for now.
“I’m sorry but one blade wielding man in my life is very close to being one too many.” Yohji turned a speculative eye on Farfarello, “Not that he’s unattractive, but the thought of pissing both him and Aya off at one time makes my blood go cold.”
Farfarello touched the blonde’s face, “I wouldn’t cut you. You’re too pretty to damage, like my Schuldig,” he said before taking a grip in Schuldig’s hair and bringing his head closer for a kiss.
Schuldig returned the kiss with enthusiasm before pulling away slightly and standing as if listening. “Party’s over, boys. Looks like there’s a new talent on the block.”
Yohji frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Farfarello was on his feet instantly, his thoughts sharp in the German’s mind as he asked, *Where?*
*Settle, Farf. Crawford thinks this one maybe useful to us. Right now he’s being recruited by Everette. We’d better get back and see what Vater wants us to do.*
He smirked at Yohji. “Everette is recruiting a new talent, one that might just end up being useful. We need to go back to the house.”
Farfarello reached down, offering Yohji a hand up. He knew the blonde didn’t need it, but he wanted to try and prove to the former Weiss that, whatever had gone on in their past as enemies, it was over. They were team mates now. Schwarz because that was how Crawford wanted it.
“Let’s go then,” Yohji said as took the other man’s hand and accepted Farfarello’s help, rising with the powerful tug on his arm.