Crawford had very real concerns about the arrival of Kritiker’s reconnaissance group and the inclusion of Krypton’s team. With so many involved it would be hard to keep track of everyone physically let alone in his visions. It didn’t help that said visions were confused and unclear. Finally, sick of trying to make sense of things he voiced his concerns to the others over dinner.
Both Schuldig and Yohji started to say that they were picking up good thoughts and emotions from the Krypton team but he held up a hand to prevent them. "I know all that." Really. Both men were as irritating as each other. If he’d had the remotest idea that Yohji was as annoying as the German, and that he would one day share a house with both men, he might have made more effort to kill the empath when he’d had the chance.
"I’m not talking about their intentions or how they feel. I’m talking about logistics. How the hell am I supposed to keep track of so many people in so many different visions? How am I to tell which ones I should be strengthening?"
"Perhaps you shouldn’t rely on your visions as much as you do," Aya suggested without even glancing up from his plate.
Crawford snorted in derision at that idea. "If I didn’t follow my visions when the enemy is Rosenkreuz we would be in severe trouble. They don’t use mundanes the way we do. They are convinced that they have no value. Therefore, everyone we take on in this battle will be a talent of some degree and description. Have you forgotten what Berger and Gietz were capable of?"
Aya shot a quick look at Yohji before gazing across the table at him. "No, I haven’t forgotten."
"Good! Now double or possibly triple their number and you have some idea of what we’ll be up against. It is imperative that I strengthen the correct visions."
"Get over yourself, Brad."
Great, that was all he needed. "Schuldig, instead of making unfunny remarks turn your talent towards Germany and tell me what you hear!" A slight widening of his eyes and a murmured apology convinced Crawford that Schuldig had heard what he had been seeing.
"I agree," he continued, "that we will need good reconnaissance and the addition of two extra talents does us no harm. But I need to see where their actions will lead. I now know all eight of us well enough to keep track of any visions pertaining to our roles but I hardly know this Side B and Crashers I only know by reputation."
"How much would you need to see of the other teams to get a ‘feel’ for them?" Omi asked.
Thank goodness! Finally one of them was making some sense. "Quite a lot. I would need to know strengths, weaknesses, motivation all of them qualities you cannot pick up in one or two brief meetings."
"Did you work all of that out about us?" Ken asked.
"Years ago, when we first went up against you." Ah, Aya didn’t seem to like that idea one little bit. But then Crawford knew why. He smiled across the table at the swordsman. "Aya and Omi were the danger men. Omi, I’m sorry to say, I let Schuldig play with. Aya wasn’t so easy due to his strong mental shields." When Aya raised his eyes to stare at him, Crawford’s smile widened. "I always admired your focus and determination. There were no exploitable weaknesses that I could see apart from your sister." One of Aya’s brows rose but he returned his attention to his food.
"We can easily arrange for you to spend time with Crashers," Omi said thoughtfully. "Side B is more complicated. Let me discuss it with KR."
"I would appreciate that. Thank you, Omi."
* * * * * * *
Omi hesitated at the backdoor. Aya was in the garden planting and tending the plants he’d bought from the garden centre he’d found in Bromley. Yohji was sat on one of the chairs that was part of the brand new patio set smoking and watching Aya. Omi took a deep breath and stepped out into the afternoon sunlight. Both men looked up at his approach.
"The garden is looking very nice," he said.
Yohji nodded. "It’ll be even better if we can find a greenhouse or conservatory that doesn’t take up too much of the space."
Omi smiled. "I thought you’d had enough of flowers, Yohji-kun."
"I’ve had enough of arranging and selling them, but I still like growing orchids."
Omi thought about that as he looked around. The garden wasn’t huge but there would be enough room for a small greenhouse or conservatory.
"What about one of those small, fancy conservatories running off from the patio door in the dining room? We don’t use that entrance at all."
Aya stood up and decided to join the conversation. "That could work. I wouldn’t have to move any shrubs and the patio set could come forward several feet."
"Yeah. It doesn’t have to be very big. And we could put some chairs and a small table in there so we could all enjoy it." Yohji was warming to his theme.
Omi nodded then changed the subject. "Actually, I didn’t come out here to talk about conservatories. Crashers will be arriving at Heathrow this evening and Nagi and I are going to meet them. I was wondering if you and Aya would be prepared to come with us. That way Crashers would see you’re both safe and happy and…"
"Honjyou shouldn’t take another pop at you," Yohji finished for him.
Omi drew himself up and gazed coolly at Yohji. "Also, it might make them feel more welcome. Aya having worked with them for a while, they know him best."
Aya shrugged. "I’ll go with you, if you want, Omi. How are we managing transport? And where are they going to stay?"
"We’ve arranged for them to use the apartment above the offices. It’s plenty big enough for them and Crawford can get to know them. As for transport, if you drive your car and I take mine we should have enough room."
Aya nodded. "Sounds good. What time are we leaving?"
"About six if that’s okay. I know it means missing dinner but we can get something at the airport." Omi grinned at Yohji, knowing how much he hated fast food.
Yohji groaned. "Ach! No! Anything but that! But we could stop at an Indian restaurant on the way and get take out. It would mean leaving a little earlier so we could eat in the cars…"
Omi’s grin got almost impossibly bigger when Aya shook his head. "No way, Kudoh. I am not prepared to have my car stinking of curry for days!"
Yohji’s face fell. "Then what…?"
Omi took pity on him. "Crashers will only have had in flight food for about fifteen hours. I think they might appreciate a decent meal…at Kritiker’s expense, of course. How does that Italian bistro in Kensington High Street sound?"
"A lot better, chibi!"
"Good, because I’ve booked a table for nine-thirty."
* * * * * * *
Yuushi wasn’t at all sure how he would react to seeing Ran again. To think him dead, only to have him crop up in London seemingly alive and well, had given him a bad case of emotional whiplash. There was still the faint possibility that this was Weiss four and not three, although Reichi seemed to doubt that. Thinking about it, Yuushi had to agree with him. Weiss four would be based in Japan and not England. But working with Schwarz…? That was so unlikely as to be ludicrous. And yet that was what they’d been told.
Masato’s steadying hand on his shoulder brought him back to a sense of his surroundings. Finally, the cases from their flight had reached the baggage carousel. Someone had greased the immigration cogs so only customs to go and then…
"I wonder if he came to meet us."
"Who, Ran?" Masato thought about it for a moment. "If this is Weiss three it would make sense for him to be part of the welcoming committee. Chances are he’s here. Ah! And so are our cases!"
Yuushi grabbed his own cases and dumped them on the trolley. Masato’s followed and they were heading through customs. Masato tapped his arm and Yuushi gasped. There stood Ran with King, a tall man he knew to be Kudoh and the youngest member of Schwarz.
"Well, well," Masato murmured, "I’ll be damned!"
Yuushi nodded. "Looks like the information was correct." He pushed the trolley towards the small group in time for Ran to turn and look at him. "Hello Ran, King." King smiled at him but Ran didn’t, simply gazing past him to look for Reichi and Naru.
"It was good of you to come all this way on such short notice," King said politely. "I don’t believe you’ve actually met Nagi or Yohji."
Yuushi bowed politely as the introductions were made and found himself staring at Kudoh. The handsome blonde stared back at him, green eyes watchful. Something told Yuushi that Kudoh didn’t like him much. He turned to Ran who was smiling at Reichi and Masato. "The last I heard was that you’d died." He hadn’t actually meant for that to sound as accusatory as it did.
"I survived thanks to Yohji. How are you, Yuushi?"
"Better for seeing you again." There was a low warning snarl from Kudoh as he spoke and Yuushi turned to him in surprise. "Something wrong?"
"Not so far. Whether it stays that way is up to you." Kudoh looked rather intimidating. Yuushi suddenly had a good idea why that might be and grinned.
"He still carries the name you saddled him with. What does that tell you, Kudoh?"
Kudoh grinned back and it was one of the most chilling expressions Yuushi had ever seen. "That he’s not your Ran anymore."
"Kudoh!" Ran said warningly. "I refuse to be fought over like a bone between two dogs!"
Yuushi was rather pleased to see the apologetic expression Kudoh shot at Ran.
* * * * * * *
Dinner was much less fraught much to Aya’s relief. If Yohji and Yuushi were going to start a pissing contest over him he was going to bang two blonde heads together! Luckily both men decided to behave and made small talk over the meal. There wasn’t much else they could do in a public restaurant.
"You have somewhere for us to stay?" Reichi asked.
Omi nodded. "There’s a rather nice apartment above the offices. It should be big enough for you all. We’ll take you there to rest after dinner and talk business tomorrow."
"That’s much appreciated. I doubt if any of us would make a lot of sense right now."
"There is one thing," Omi continued nervously. "One of my colleagues needs to get to know you all better than he does right now."
Here it comes, Aya thought. One of them is bound to kick up a fuss when they hear who it is. He watched them all carefully as Omi told them about Crawford.
They were more intrigued than angry and carefully agreed to meet and share information with the precog. Aya relaxed again. So far, so good. Now they just needed to find out what Rosenkreuz were planning this time.
* * * * * * *
Masato studied the men sitting round the large table in the apartment’s dining room. Ran, no Aya, he had to remember that, he had known for several years, although it was hard to find the focused and idealistic boy in the man before him. He seemed more relaxed yet more cynical. Masato realised that six years as an assassin was likely to do that to anyone.
The other former Weiss members he didn’t know so well and studied them in turn. King was more relaxed and less uptight than on the last occasion they’d met outside the ruins of the Koua Academy. He had grown, matured and escaped the shackles that his family name and grandfather had tried to heap upon him. He liked this incarnation of King. Ken seemed likeable and friendly with an open smile. Masato wondered just how he had survived as an assassin. Yohji was also friendly but more watchful than Ken. It was good to see the man’s memories fully recovered even with the shadow of pain in his green gaze.
He turned his attention to those who had been Schwarz. Only two of them were present but he knew they had both been dangerous and almost invincible enemies. It was still difficult to perceive them as friends. The precog, Crawford, gave him the creeps. The man was so self-contained, so assured. The telepath, Schuldig, seemed, on the surface, friendly and outgoing. There was no hint of the mental manipulator they’d all heard about.
Schuldig glanced over and caught his eye before smirking at him. *That’s because I’m on my best behaviour today.*
He had to smile back at the telepath. He’d just been as good as reprimanded that they were all on the same side now and had a common enemy. He sat back and listened to the conversation.
"So," King was saying, "you are certain that Japan remains untouched and that they are concentrating on Europe?"
Reichi nodded. "It caught our attention because the children are snared after the purchase of a popular video game. We tracked the game to its source and found that it was not of either Japanese or American origin which was surprising in itself. At a guess, Rosenkreuz have a tame computer-programmer or team who specialise in computer games."
"The marketing is also specific," Yuushi added. "We doubt that a kid could go into a game store and buy this."
Naru almost bounced in his seat. "I tried to get hold of the game in Japan and they’d never heard of it. This morning I found a store here and they had heard of it but thought it was only available as a download from some site on the net."
"Which means they can keep track of the ISP," King said thoughtfully. He produced a laptop and powered it up. "Do you happen to know the URL, Naru?"
"No, but the game is called Hidden Talents. I did a search in Japan and found nothing so it’s not a world wide web site."
"So we’re looking for an IRC," Reichi added, "but it’s a long job."
King glanced up at him and grinned. "Not if you know how to look," he said. "There it is." He turned the laptop so they could all see the screen.
He should have known. Rosenkreuz had kept it simple with a members only forum in German and English. The registration form included several pertinent questions which could be summed up as do you feel you’re different and special? It would appeal to most kids and young teens.
"So why aren’t they recruiting in America?" Reichi asked.
"Simple logistics." Crawford spoke for the first time. "They are based on the German-Austrian border. If they are seizing talented children they don’t want to have to move them too far. Britain is reachable, America isn’t."
"Why not restrict it to German-speaking kids then?" he asked.
"For two reasons," Crawford told him. "Firstly, all Rosenkreuz trainers and agents can speak English, secondly, for some reason there are more natural and latent talents in the British Isles per thousand people than in German-speaking countries. They will be using the German more to recruit in Romania, Hungary or northern Italy, where it is a second language, than in Germany, Austria, Switzerland or Liechtenstein."
"Is there any generic reason why there are more natural talents in the British Isles?" Aya asked.
"The consensus of opinion is that it is something to do with the Celtic blood in the British people. Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Scotland, in that order, being the richest picking grounds," Crawford told him.
When the man did speak he was a wealth of information, Masato realised. Well, if he wanted to get to know them so desperately he could share that information.
* * * * * * *
Yohji raised a surprised brow when a knock on the door interrupted his reading. All of them had their own keys and they never got house guests. Then he remembered that Crashers were in London and thought it might well be one of them. Putting his book down with a sigh, he wandered out into the hall and peered through the spy hole in the front door. The other brow rose. What on earth was he doing here?
He opened the door and gazed at his guest. "This is an unexpected surprise. To what do we owe this pleasure?"
Chloe stared back at him, pale blue eyes cold and hard like the ice they resembled. "We thought, if we’re to work together, that we should get to know you and this other team you’ve brought in. Or are we to be kept out of the loop until needed?"
He scratched his head, never having thought much about that. He had to concede that the cool blonde had a point. Opening the door wider he stepped aside to let the man in. "You’re right. We do need to know each other. With so many of us involved we need to share information and use skills wisely. Only problem is there’s only me and Nagi home right now and if you can tear him away from his Final Fantasy battles I’d be very surprised."
Chloe stepped through the door and waited for him to shut it. "Leave Nagi to his game. The reason only I’m here is because we thought you might not wish to be bombarded with all of us at once. I would rather speak one to one with you."
"Come into the sitting room then. Can I offer you a drink? Tea, coffee or something stronger?"
Chloe nodded. "A beer would be nice if you have one."
"No problem." He left Chloe in the sitting room while he collected two cans of beer from the fridge and a couple of glasses from one of the cupboards. When he returned, Chloe was studying Ken’s framed print of The Lady of Shallot.
Chloe turned away from the print smiling slightly. "A bit depressing isn’t it?"
He shrugged and handed over a glass and a can. "Ken bought it. Something to do with the expression." He snorted softly. "We’ve all seen it after all. But the reason we let him put it in here is simple. It brought us together in a roundabout way."
Chloe nodded and gracefully arranged himself on one of the sofas. "Is the redhead likely to kill me if he comes in while I’m here?"
"Aya? No, I don’t think so. What made you think that?"
"Just the unfriendly stare I got at the castle."
"Aya just takes his time in getting to know or trust people, that’s all."
The front door slammed and there was the sound of footsteps coming closer until Aya himself appeared at the door. "Reichi says…oh…hello."
"Talk of the devil…," Chloe said calmly. "Hello yourself."
Yohji wasn’t entirely sure if he should try sinking into the sofa cushions right then and there. Aya was going to kill him.
However, Aya merely raised a brow before disappearing into the kitchen. He was back a moment later with a beer of his own. "So, what exactly were you saying about me?"
The sofa cushions were beginning to look appealing again. "I was just saying you take your time getting to know people." He was inordinately relieved when Aya chose to sit next to him.
"I see. And why should I want to get to know anyone?"
There was a flash of anger in Chloe’s eyes and for a second he looked very intimidating. "Because we have to work with each other."
Aya tapped his beer can with a thumb nail, a sure sign he was thinking. "You could be right," he conceded. "We know absolutely nothing about you other than Free was captured by Rosenkreuz and had his mind wiped. What does that child do?"
"Michel? He’s an excellent decoy, looks just as convincing as a girl and is quite capable of taking down a man twice his size. He might look like a child but he’s not."
"And the other boy?"
"Communications mostly, but he can also kill when he has to."
Yohji glanced at his lover to find him frowning slightly. "Omi and Nagi were both as young."
Aya glanced up and sighed deeply. "I know. Doesn’t make me like it any better though."
Then Yohji got the shock of his life as Aya leaned his head against his shoulder. This was something he never did in front of the others, let alone almost total strangers. His arm went round his beautiful redhead automatically though and he stared challengingly at Chloe, daring the other man to make something of it.
The blonde sipped calmly at his beer as if nothing had happened. "It is not easy for them, I agree. And yet they cope because they must."
"How did they come to be involved?" Yohji asked.
Chloe tilted his head to one side. "I think, if you don’t mind, that I’d rather they told you their own stories. You might feel better about their involvement then."
"So tell us yours instead," Aya suggested.
Chloe nodded. "Yes, I think I must, hard as it is. Some of it is quite…ironic. I was born in the Transylvanian Mountains of Romania and I don’t like direct sunlight. I take it you understand that first irony."
"Dracula," Aya said, "or Vlad the Impaler, whichever you prefer."
"Exactly," Chloe said with a slight smile. "Romania is a country full of legends. That may be because so many Romanians are talented to a greater or lesser degree. Which is why Rosenkreuz takes such an interest in the place. This is not a new development. When I was twelve I was tested for talent at school. Oh it was done very cleverly, nothing overt, nothing out of the ordinary. It was disguised as part of an intelligence test, an end of year exam, what you will. They picked up on telepathy, empathy and pre-cognisance first, of course. That was specifically what they were looking for. But there were other talents that they discovered that day. A pyrokinetic, a psychometric and I were also discovered."
Chloe fell silent, obviously thinking back. By the expression on his face, Yohji guessed that none of his thoughts were very pleasant. "What happened to you?"
"An educational trip to Germany was suggested for those of us ‘exceptional students’ who would most benefit from it. Those, like myself, whose parents either refused or could not afford the fee were snatched from the journey to school anyway. We were taken to Rosenkreuz."
Chloe stopped speaking once again and took a long swallow of beer. Then he gazed straight at them. "When we arrived, together with children from all over Romania, we were sorted according to talent. I never saw the others from my school again so I don’t know what became of them. At first they thought I should be placed with the other telepaths but my telepathic talent was not strong enough to interest them. They poked and prodded at me, tested and drugged me and still my talent defied recognition. Finally, after two miserable years of this, they decided my particular gift was of no use to them and sent me home. Their treatment of me over those two years was not without consequences."
"I could no longer concentrate at school. I would…phase out, possibly as a result of the drugs that had been pumped into me. I don’t know. My very personality had changed and, from a quiet, studious boy, I became a rebellious and vicious teen. Of course, I ended up in serious trouble and by the age of sixteen I was in a place of detention. I spent a year there and then hitch-hiked my way across Europe. Eventually I stowed away on a channel ferry and came to England. I was soon in trouble once again and would have gone to prison if it hadn’t been for KR. He saw something in me that was saveable and took me in. A year or two later I learned to trust KR and trained with Michel, ready to join Side A. Then they got captured and Michel and I became Side B. Yuki joined us later, but that’s another story."
"The time you spent with Rosenkreuz. Does it give them a particular hold on you?" Aya asked.
Chloe shook his head. "That’s just the problem. We simply don’t know and we didn’t want you to be unaware of that. Thanks to your friend, Free is no longer a liability. I, on the other hand, may well be."
"You will be," Aya said flatly.
Yohji sighed. Aya was obviously going to be both difficult and his usual tactless self. He smiled apologetically at Chloe. He was about to say something conciliatory when Aya spoke again.
"As will Crawford, Schuldig and Jei. I saw Schuldig silenced and deafened to the thoughts of others. Yohji saw Crawford blinded. It may be that they have others like Dietmeiller who can suppress talent at will. So, how much of a liability you’re likely to be is directly proportional to how much you rely on your talent."
Chloe chuckled softly. "I have some telepathic control over birds and can make plants obey me. I don’t think they were even able to categorise me let alone use me. And that’s just it. This is not a talent I need in order to fight." He shrugged. "Although the plants can be useful to bind people."
To his immense surprise, Yohji felt Aya chuckle in return and got the distinct impression that his lover liked Chloe. "Maybe I’m the one who should be jealous," he muttered and received an elbow to the ribs.
~TBC~