Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/4921897.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Weiß_Kreuz
  Relationship:
      Brad_Crawford/Schuldig
  Character:
      Brad_Crawford, Schuldig_(Weiß_Kreuz), Naoe_Nagi, Farfarello_(Weiß_Kreuz)
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe, Explicit_Sexual_Content, Explicit_Language, Assassins
      &_Hitmen, Secret_Organizations, Dysfunctional_Relationships,
      Manipulation, Psychic_Abilities, Telepathy, Precognition, Telekinesis,
      Schuldig_Is_His_Own_Warning, Kapitel, Vegetarians_&_Vegans, Slice_of_Life
  Series:
      Part 1 of If_You_Can't
  Stats:
      Published: 2015-03-01 Completed: 2015-10-10 Chapters: 14/14 Words: 8218
****** If You Can't Stand Them, Crush Them (Prequel) ******
by LiinHaglund
Summary
     Crawford has a few plans about how to crush Eszett, and he has began
     to thin out the herd. Since he can't trust anyone within Eszett he's
     looking to piss off enough people on the outside that he'll have
     help.
Notes
     This story turned out way longer than expected which is why I split
     it up and made it a series.
     Timeline: Sort of fits with Kapitel as an "behind the scenes"-story,
     but it has quite a few AU elements.
     Edited 2017-07-08.
***** Chapter 1 *****
He surfed because it allowed him to not think, and because it was time away
from work. Working out in a gym allowed him to burn more energy, but he needed
to see the sky. Needed to see something that wasn't the tightly packed, crowded
and still distinctly foreign city of Tokyo. Smell the brine and hear the ocean.
It was the same ocean he had surfed back home, and even though he was far away
it felt comforting in it's familiarity.
For a while, at least, he could forget about the Japanese boy he had dragged
out of an orphanage. The kid had gone through basic training at the nearest
Eszett headquarters. He should be thrilled to have both a high level
telekinetic and a technically flawless telepath. They were undoubtedly
important assets to any field team.
Nagi was also scared to death of him and he wanted nothing more than to break
free of his role as cold-hearted team leader and hug him.
Schuldig was stunningly beautiful. It drove him to distraction to have that
lithe body within reach, but if he did touch there would be consequences. Not,
he mused, from Schuldig. Schuldig seemed willing enough, but telepaths weren't
always easy to deal with. It might be a test.
He would love nothing more than to be free from Eszett just so that he could be
selfish enough to get emotionally involved.
But for now the ocean was going to have to be enough.
Because Eszett would rather kill him than allow him to be human.
 
 
***** Chapter 2 *****
The scrawny kinetic boy was young and pretended to be untouchable. No emotions
on the surface, a blank mask of indifference covered his face and the stillness
in his motions told a lie about relaxation. As if he imagined he could lie to a
telepath. Schuldig grinned when Brad entered the room and Nagi seemed visibly
afraid. Tremors in the mind that showed on the body. It had been the same all
week.
Of course, Brad was a big guy while Nagi was a tiny child. Fear was not exactly
unwarranted.
Supposedly the little yellow man was a telekinetic, but he never used his
power. Not that Schuldig had noted, and he made it his business to notice
things since he was the team telepath. He could tell the talent was there, but
stubbornly not using a talent might as well mean not having one.
Weak.
Eszett hated the weak. Nagi would not have lasted a day in Europe. Schuldig
didn't much care on a personal level, everyone had weaknesses that could be
exploited. Some victims were strong even though they seemed weak. But this boy
was in Eszett now, and weakness would not be tolerated. Curious that Brad
turned a blind eye to it.
On a professional level Schuldig hated weaknesses as much as any other Eszett
operative.
Schuldig cocked his head to the side at Brad's conflicted mood as the older man
walked up to him and handed him some papers. Brad was in his boring suit as
usual. Hair a little more mussed than normal, which made his face softer.
Schuldig took the papers automatically, then skimmed over the text. Adoption
papers? “Oh Hell no, fuck you, I am not doing this!”
He was grabbed by the arm and dragged into Brad's room for a lecture from his
pissy team leader. Pissy, tall as fuck, nice body. It should be illegal to hide
it behind bland suits. Also, Brad did love to lecture.
“He's scared shitless of me,” Brad whispered urgently.
Or not.
“Have you tried not acting like a territorial bulldog with a superiority
complex?” Schuldig asked with a crooked smile. Brad was acting, and he was good
at it. He had everyone fooled into thinking he was a loyal puppet, but Schuldig
knew better.
Brad glared.
“Seems like a lot of work for a lowly minion,” Schuldig argued.
“Eszett is withholding your file from me, Mastermind, but I get the feeling you
ended up getting kicked out of your last team for being difficult to work with.
I have two minors on my team, they need legal guardians.”
“Yes, and you seem like the logical choice,” Schuldig pointed out in a slightly
raised voice. “You're five years older than me and you act like their Daddy
anyway. Not to mention, you're the team leader!”
Brad sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Schuldig wanted to do that. Mess
it up and grab it and -
Dead kittens. Boners in front of team leaders was always a bad idea.
“What would make you do it?” Brad asked.
Oh ho, negotiations? Schuldig frowned. Brad wasn't cut from the Eszett mold, he
knew that, but most of the time Brad kept up appearances. Since Schuldig had
been assigned to him, he had never slipped in company. Plenty when he thought
he was alone, but never in front of the team or anyone else connected to
Eszett.
Schuldig shoved his hands in his pockets despite the jeans being too tight for
it to really be comfy. The reason all his jeans were tight was because that
annoyed Brad. Brad didn't like distractions and pretty little Schuldig was
distracting him. It did his ego wonders to listen to Brad's mental assessment
of him. Of exactly what Brad would do to him.
As a side note, it was nice of him to not do it too. Not that Schuldig was
weak, but Brad could easily win a physical fight if it came to that. Most team
leaders wouldn't have held back. He could do a lot worse than Brad Crawford,
the puppet that was never loyal and who for some reason never got called out by
a telepath.
But then, few were as skillful as Schuldig.
“Eszett is withholding my file,” Schuldig said quietly in a measured voice,
“because I have a shitty reputation that I haven't earned, and they know it.
They want you to judge performance, not speculation. Sign off those kids on me
and I could end up taking your team with me if I leave. That seems more than
just dumb, Mr Crawford. Well, unless that is the grand plan, seeing as you're
stuck with a team of misfits. Is that the plan?”
Schuldig had been allowed a link during their last job and he had never removed
it. Brad was nervous about having his mind read, had good reason for it too,
but for all that he only felt when his shields were breached. He felt nothing
when Schuldig rooted around because he was already in. “No? Could it be then,
Mr Crawford, that you want me tied to the team? Do you want me to not report
something?”
He smirked, slowly. Sometimes just insinuating that you knew something was
enough, it made people actively think about it and that way Schuldig could pick
it like an overripe fruit from their minds.
Brad frowned. Still looked sexy as Hell even though the danger was getting
somewhat imminent. As his team leader, Brad had pretty much free range when it
came to punishment and discipline. Eszett only cared if the jobs got done or if
they lost assets. As long as Schuldig functioned on some level Brad could do
all kinds of horrible things to him.
Right now having sex with his young telepath ranked highest of Brad's personal
Naughty List. Schuldig turned and walked over to the windows, grabbed the sill
and casually leaned on it as if he was just checking out the view – because it
wasn't like he wanted Brad to look at his ass. Nope. Totally coincidental. “I
want time off whenever I need to in order to keep up appearances. School plays,
whatever. I want any and all expenses covered. Babies need clothes, food and
toys. Adding to that, I want you to include a note when you send the papers to
Eszett that I am doing this as a part of our cover, on your request.”
“That's fine,” Brad agreed. He was staring at Schuldig's ass, imagining himself
fucking the slender body roughly.
“I'll never support you to overthrow the Elders,” Schuldig added and then
turned around. It felt good to watch Brad blanch and panic. He liked having
power over other people. “But, I won't tattle and I won't stop you.”
“How -”
“How does my awesome superpower work? Not sure. It does come in so handy
though.” He sat down and signed the papers. His senses were on high alert. He
should, by all rights, get at least a beating out of that stunt. Eszett liked
it's power structure clear and linear, and nobody was allowed to start trouble.
Challenging team leaders was a no-no.
Fortunately Brad seemed too busy with being nervous himself to bother. At least
for now. It might come later.
Brad was quick to type an agreement of Schuldig's terms and handed him a copy
as well. He wasn't sure why he hung around after that. It wasn't about
monitoring what Brad did, not really, he just felt a little lost. He was barely
a legal adult and suddenly he had two kids. It was an awkward feeling. Being a
telepath made one grow up too quickly, but this was ridiculous.
“We don't have to tell them tonight if you need some time alone,” Brad said.
Schuldig figured he had probably misjudged the guy at first, and that galled
him. Brad was... nice. He just kept it hidden under a facade of sadism. It
really was blatantly obvious once you stopped to consider that he never turned
his vicious streak on his team.
Schuldig shrugged. “I don't procrastinate.”
He had been a team leader before, so he supposed he had already experienced
some of the joys of fatherhood, albeit under a different title. Hopefully this
would end better.
“Thank you.”
“Will you at least tell me why? Baby Akira will get over his fear of you, so
that's not all.”
Brad sighed. “I have two kids already, which I never see. I'm married to the
mother of the youngest, on paper anyway. She and my ex-girlfriend are
together.”
“So, do all women you fuck turn lesbian?”
Brad rolled his eyes. “No.”
“Curious, 'cause if we fuck I don't wanna wake up straight. Fucked a girl once
and that wasn't... well, I've had more fun with guys,” Schuldig said as a
parting shot and went to spread the good news.
That would at least stop Brad from thinking he wasn't interested.
“Nagi, great news! I'm your new daddy! Better start loving me, kiddo!”
 
 
***** Chapter 3 *****
Brad loved Eszett's uniform suits. Even Schuldig looked somewhat bland in them,
if you ignored the head. It did wonders for his concentration levels to be able
to focus on business and not his younger teammate's firm ass.
Schuldig was barely an adult anyway. He was still a reckless teenager and made
dumb mistakes because he lacked real life experience. He was sometimes
vulnerable and clingy and sweet. And Brad would have voted him most likely to
be the Antichrist.
“Why the fuck did you give them Red Bull?” Brad growled as quietly as he could.
“Fun,” Schuldig said, as if that one word not only explained his actions but
also excused the nearly torn down safe house. “Possibly science. I've never
seen a kinetic do any kind of drugs.”
He never even got the satisfaction of yelling when these things happened.
Schuldig cleaned up his messes. In fact, he cleaned in general. He was
irritatingly easy to work with.
“How about you teach them to write reports instead?”
“I'm sorry, but does it look like my name is Brad Crawford? Do I wear boring
suits even off duty? No. I am Schuldig and I happen to have a sense of humor.”
“Budgets are fun.”
Schuldig screamed and tore at his hair, but it was clearly more for show than
out of actual frustration. “I swear you must have been brainwashed as a kid. Do
you do anything that's not terminally boring?”
“I surf.”
“What?”
“I surf.”
Schuldig leaned closer to him. “On the webb, surf, or the one that involves you
being mostly naked and dripping wet?”
Brad chuckled. “Surfing that requires a board and ocean waves.”
“Well thank God, I was starting to think you were some kind of robot.” Schuldig
mimed a robot's stiff movements.
A soft mewl had both of them looking down at Schuldig's cat.
“Yes, it's safe now,” Schuldig said.
Brad was relatively sure he could in fact communicate with the animal using his
telepathy. Most of the time he forgot the cat even lived with them. It kept to
itself and Schuldig's room, occasionally begging Brad for scraps of fish or
meat when they were alone in the safe house. It added a little life to the the
place.
He was reluctantly fond of it.
Schuldig picked the animal up and cuddled it.
“So, how was work? Did he die yet?” Schuldig asked in a quiet voice.
“No.”
“Dammit, Brad.”
He sighed. It had to be a redhead thing to want Reiji Takatori dead. Then Brad
had an idea. “He is however going on a vacation, abroad and alone, which means
we won't be needed from Thursday to Sunday.”
“Oh?”
“Come with me, I'll show you how to surf.”
“Sure thing, boss. Don't think I don't know you just want to see my ass in
Speedos, though.”
Brad slapped said ass before leaving for his reports.
“That's sexual harassment you know!” Schuldig shouted after him. “I'll call the
union!”
“You don't surf in Speedos. You'll be in a wet suit.”
“I'll buy one,” Schuldig threatened. Knowing Schuldig he would find a way to
get a neon colored atrocity.
Most telepaths liked bright colors. They hated to fade into a crowd because it
was easier for them to get lost in other people's minds that way.
 
 
***** Chapter 4 *****
The little yellow man was, to put it mildly, appalled that Schuldig held his
hand while they walked through a school building to get to the principals
office. Japanese people were so ridiculous in their fear of touching others.
Jei, bless his delusional soul, was thankfully a fellow European who understood
how things should work. With that charming disposition of his the only real
option was correspondence courses, however.
“Schuldich,” Nagi whispered, “let me go.”
It was tempting to ask the boy to call him Alex. Or Sascha. But that asshat who
had introduced him to Crawford had called him Schuldig, and being the dumb
bitch that he was Brad had assumed that was what he went by. For all his
tactical genius Brad sometimes took things very literally. Maybe there was
something in the water in America that made people blindly believe what they
were told.
“Call me Dad – stick with the cover, kid,” he whispered back.
“We look nothing alike!”
“You take after your mother. Who was probably a total whore, knowing me. It's a
miracle you turned out as well as you did.”
“You can be the mother,” Nagi muttered darkly.
“Sorry, no vagina.”
Nagi blushed and hung his head. An old lady smiled and showed them the way when
they entered the staff rooms. Schuldig thanked her when they parted ways and
greeted the principal.
It took him a few minutes to make the man forge records of Nagi having attended
school there, fixing the problem with the boy's missing records. Telepathy was
very useful for these things. The principal handed copies over and Schuldig
left with Nagi again.
Nagi sighed once they were back in the car. It was a boring, black thing. Perk
of the job, but he'd rather drive a piece of junk as long as it wasn't black.
Black cars were boring.
“Are you going to hold my hand in the private school too?”
Schuldig feigned a shocked look. “Of course, baby. Can't have our precious
little kinetic get lost, can we?”
“Why didn't...”
And there was the million dollar question – albeit incomplete. Why had Brad not
adopted Nagi? Schuldig had heard the story about Brad having kids of his own.
Truth, but still an excuse. Brad never saw his brats, so why not take on Nagi
when the boy worshiped him? Schuldig had some digging to do sometime when Brad
wasn't expecting him.
“Ask him. I'm practically being bribed to look after you two,” Schuldig
answered nonchalantly.
“Two?”
“Oh right. You haven't met our insane basement rat, but he's a minor too. Call
him Farfarello, anything else and he gets sad. And violent.”
The private school Eszett ran was easier to deal with. Schuldig just had to
hand the papers over and then a teacher took Nagi to get him settled in.
Schuldig pressed a metro pass in his hand before he left Nagi there.
“You know when curfew is.”
 
===============================================================================
 
 
Schuldig hadn't planned it, but he thought ahead enough to bring condoms and
lube before walking into Brad's room. “Nagi thinks of you as his dad and me as
his mom,” he grinned as he leaned on the door to close it. “I think we should
start fucking. That's what parents do.”
Brad dropped his pencil, cursed, then quickly snatched it up from the floor.
“Mine haven't since I was made.”
Schuldig walked over and sat in Brad's lap. “I know you want to,” he whispered
into Brad's ear, making sure his lips brushed the delicate skin.
“You're Satan,” Brad muttered, but his hand stroked down Schuldig's back and
teased the skin where his too-low jeans ended. They did cover his ass, if just
barely.
“Aw, come now. You've been staring at my ass since I got on your team.”
Schuldig pouted prettily. “Aren't you dying to find out if I'm as tight as you
fantasize about when you jerk off?”
“I'd rather fuck a woman, to be honest. One who won't try to make me sign off
my soul.”
“Bitch, bitch, bitch. I'm here, women are out there, and they require all kinds
of social interaction you lack the time for.” He took a condom out of his back
pocket and held the foil pack between his lips.
Brad snatched it and slapped him. Not hard enough to mean business, just enough
to make Schuldig wince. “Go get some lube and -” Schuldig held up a tube he had
hidden in the big pocket on his hoodie. “Fine.”
“Hit me again and I will stop your heart,” Schuldig hissed in a quiet whisper.
Not his idea of foreplay, especially not since the disaster on his last team.
Brad nodded once that he understood. “This isn't going to be a love affair,
Schuldig.”
“I know that. Doesn't mean you have to hurt me.”
Brad kissed his throat briefly, but softly enough to be an apology if you
wanted it to be. He rose smoothly from the chair and kept Schuldig in his arms.
He wasn't surprised by Brad's strength, but it made him excited to think of it
in terms of all the stamina the guy must have.
He slid down Brad's body until his feet were on the floor. Schuldig undid his
pants, pulled them down and bent over the desk. Brad's warm hands were on him
in an instant, finally allowed to roam free. Not just on his ass, but under his
shirt to feel his chest and later caressing his back and arms.
Schuldig was surprised when Brad slowly stretched him, but it was a pleasant
surprise. It felt good. It felt better when he was penetrated and only felt a
dull stretching pain, not a sharp pain from something tearing. He had worried,
even if he did a good job of fooling himself into thinking nothing could hurt
him.
When he tried to touch himself Brad grabbed both his wrists and held them
against the hard wood of the sleek modern desk.
“If you want to come, you're going to have to do it like a woman,” Brad hissed.
Schuldig pouted. He liked it much better when he didn't have to rely on someone
else to get off. But Brad changed his angle until he had it just right and
Schuldig couldn't have shut up if his life depended on it.
Brad was officially his favorite fuck toy.
When Schuldig came he knew he lost control over his gift for a bit, but Brad
kept pounding him so he didn't bother with that. He came again when Brad did,
whether it was from his own body being stimulated or of it was Brad's bliss
that brought him over while he had no control over what his telepathy was up to
– he neither knew nor cared.
“We have to do this again.”
Schuldig shuddered when Brad ran a hand through his hair and lazily tugged his
head back. “Sure. Now leave me alone so I can finish the budget.”
“I could sit in your lap.”
“No.”
The hand in his hair petted him like he was a cat. Brad slid out of his body
slowly, taking care of the condom.
“Killjoy. At least clean your gun while you're at it.” Schuldig fixed his
clothes.
“Why?”
“You heathen! Why? Because your life depends on that thing working, that's
why.”
Brad nonchalantly waved him away.
Schuldig huffed but left.
How did people not clean their guns?
How?
He went to take a shower, but ended up cleaning the bathroom first. Then he
made sure his own guns were working properly. When he had been a team leader he
had made it mandatory to make sure all the tools were cared for – and that the
safe house was clean.
Brad was so... different.
Having done all that, he took his shower. He was a little sore, enough that he
felt his pulse speed a little when he though on how he had gotten sore.
 
 
***** Chapter 5 *****
All things considered it was a harmless thing for Schuldig to have a cat. It
was a white, likely crossbred, shy little creature. Farfarello fed it dutifully
if Schuldig was away. It was amusing seeing Farfarello treat it like it was the
most precious thing in the universe when he had no regard for even his own
body.
Then again, Farfarello seemed very fond of Schuldig too.
Their overseer wasn't so amused by the cat. “You'll get rid of the animal,” he
said to Schuldig. “You have until tomorrow, then I'll do it.”
Franz was one of the four founders. He inspected everything Brad was involved
in. He wasn't as terrible as he could be, not like the other three old geezers,
but he was still coldly efficient and jaded.
“The child needs to improve his grades, this is not a vacation.” Franz ticked
off his list one item at the time. “Farfarello seems to do well on the new
drugs.”
“He's been much easier to use on jobs lately,” Brad confirmed, but left out
that he had taken the boy completely off all the drugs Eszett had supplied.
Minus the vitamins. God knew Farfarello needed all the nutrients he could get.
“Good,” Franz smiled a little.
Schuldig collected the cat and the things he had for it, then took off in his
car.
“How is he doing?” Franz asked when Schuldig had left.
“He's the best I've worked with,” Brad said easily. It was true, Schuldig's
proficiency with telepathy was impressive and he constantly surprised Brad with
just how much he could do. “He's not difficult to manage either. He argues at
times, but always does what he's told in the end.”
Franz nodded, muttered about teenagers, and wrote something down. “Is he
classified correctly?”
“Yes, for now. We should give him a a new evaluation when he's out of his
teens, I'm hoping we can bump him up a notch once the hormones are gone. His
control is admirable for his age.”
They looked over the reports, the budgets, the overall paperwork that Brad kept
and Franz was as meticulous as always. Franz gave him a green light to keep
going. Brad was relieved, even though he knew Schuldig's pet was not a big
deal. Not in light of all the other good things they had going for them. With
another overseer it could have been a mark on their record.
 
===============================================================================
 
Franz had retired to his hotel hours ago when Schuldig returned.
“What did you do with her?” Brad asked softly.
“Left her where she can claw up your surf board,” Schuldig replied sulkily.
Brad nodded. He'd miss having the thing around. They all would. “We passed
inspection.”
“Even with the cat, and your inability to keep your gun clean and oiled?”
Schuldig asked with a glare.
“Franz is the only sane one. He realizes we've been here too long to not get
domestic. You followed orders as soon as he gave them, there's no problem. Not
with him. And stop bitching about the gun!”
Franz also was nearly dead, more so than the other Elders.
“The other three are coming eventually, right?” Schuldig threw himself on the
couch.
“Yes. Their favored time for the ritual is closing in.”
Schuldig sighed. “Right. I wanna fuck.”
Brad could tell that he didn't. It was stress. It was losing a loved pet. It
was the need for comfort. He straddled Schuldig's hips He was gentle when he
tangled his fingers in Schuldig's hair, even though grabbing a fistful of it
looked forceful.
“Oh? Did you enjoy what I did to your ass last time?” Brad mocked. He used very
little force to make Schuldig's head tilt a little. “I thought about fucking
you yesterday, over the hood of the car, right in front of everyone. Show them
what a slut you are and how good you take it.”
Schuldig did nothing to pull away.
“If I fuck you tonight, you won't touch anyone else as long as you're on my
team. You'll be my bitch and I will fuck your tight hole raw.”
Brad almost pulled away when Schuldig's blue eyes quickly darted over his face
as if looking for something dangerous. He used his thumb to gently stroke
Schuldig's scalp. Something had spooked the normally cocky teenager.
“Possessive, Mr Crawford?” he smirked, not quite masking his unease.
Brad wondered if the last team leader had hurt Schuldig, but he would rather
not know. He knew enough about Eszett's cruelty without adding rape to it.
“I won't force you.”
“You won't need to.”
 
 
***** Chapter 6 *****
He studied his bruised wrist for a second while they waited at a red light.
“Nagi, Nagi, Nagi. Tot? Really?” Schuldig knew the boy was lonely and felt out
of place, but the blue haired fluff-brain barely had the IQ of a ten-year-old.
“Are mentally deficient kids your thing?”
Nagi ignored him from the backseat of the car.
“We just care about you,” Farfarello said from the passenger seat. “Nothing
good will come of it.”
“He's right,” Schuldig singsonged.
“I could say the same thing about you and Brad,” Nagi bit back. “Half the time
you're cuddly and lovey-dovey, the other half I'm not sure if you're getting
raped or if you're into being beaten while you fuck.”
“Mommy's love life really is none of your business.”
“Yeah? Then back off from my business.”
Farfarello huffed.
“Fine. Crash and burn, kiddo,” Schuldig muttered.
It bothered him that it was true, that he and Brad had one of the more fucked-
up relationships in the history of dysfunctional relationships.
Well, perhaps not really, but it sure was a weird dance they did.
Schuldig decided to put everything on hold for a bit. He could bemoan his love
life later and a little heartbreak wasn't going to kill Nagi.
“So, dinner?” he asked. “I think the Chinese place across from us might still
be open. We'll pass by a pizza place and I could find one of the burger joints,
but I doubt there's much else open at this hour.”
“I'm not hungry,” Nagi said.
“You will be, we won't have time to get breakfast. Or did you forget we start
at six tomorrow? That means leaving at five.”
“Whatever,” Farfarello said with a shrug, tone of voice implying he didn't care
what they ate as long as there was food.
“Pizza,” Nagi decided.
“Pizza it is.”
Driving was almost meditative, he had to focus on what he was doing and ignore
the thoughts floating around. Mostly, anyway, because if there was something
interesting enough he would catch it no matter what he was doing.
He parked by the little restaurant and got his phone out to call Brad. You
don't take detours from jobs without notifying someone, otherwise there will be
an embarrassing discussion with the rescue op. He got out of the car to follow
the two kids inside.
“Yo, boss man, stopping for dinner,” Schuldig said into the phone, attempting
an American accent that most likely sounded fake.
Nagi ordered as soon as they were by the counter, Farfarello after him.
Brad muttered a “fine” and told him to call again when he was leaving. Schuldig
hung up before ordering.
 
 
***** Chapter 7 *****
“No one was supposed to die,” he hissed when he moved enough to cause more pain
to flood his system. He was in the car while Brad drove him to one of Eszett's
healers. It was an expense most teams wouldn't bother with.
Kidnapping Omi – Mamoru technically – for Hirofumi had been easy. The kid was a
lightweight. He didn't care much for Reiji's brats, but there was drama here,
and Schuldig wanted to soak it all up like a sponge.
Especially with the two half-siblings falling in love. Kids these days. Nagi
was busy with Tot and Omi had been... well, actually Ouka had been two steps
away from fucking her brother. No way was dainty little Omi going to end up on
top of her. He snickered at the image of Ouka doing Omi with a strap-on.
“I warned you,” Brad hissed.
He had concocted this little plot where he'd forced the truth on Ouka and then
taken her as a prop for his favorite show called Weiss stumbling around trying
to figure shit out.
“Cryptic son of a bitch,” Schuldig muttered.
“I warned you,” Brad repeated, calmer. “How bad is your head?”
“Bad. My back's worse. I hate golf.”
“On the plus side, Weiss will take the fall.” Brad parked the car and got out
to help him.
Schuldig bit back all noises he could have made from the pain. Brad was gentle
with him for now, caring and doting almost. It still hurt like Hell to breathe,
let alone move.
The healer was not impressed. Schuldig was given a cocktail of drugs and was
nearly unconscious while the old man tried to get all his cracked bones and
bruised flesh in order.
He eventually passed out and woke up in Brad's bed. He was still in pain, but
it was better. Better still wasn't good, but it was easier to breathe.
“Don't move. He's coming back in an hour to check on you again.” Brad sounded
about as interested in Schuldig's health as he did in his reports.
“How bad is it?”
“He's not sure yet.”
Schuldig wanted to ask if Brad had allowed it. He wanted to know if Brad had
known. For now he wasn't in the mood to risk a fight.
“Are you hungry? Thirsty?” Brad asked after a little while.
“If I breathe too deeply I'm in enough pain to get nauseous, I could not care
less about eating right now.”
“Are you angry with me?”
“Should I be?” Schuldig asked.
“I couldn't have gotten there sooner and I didn't foresee him hitting you,”
Brad said softly. “But I could have done more to stop you from playing games.”
“It feels like my spine will snap if I move.”
“Don't move then.”
“Funny, Crawford, funny.”
 
 
***** Chapter 8 *****
It played into his plan well to make Weiss out to be more of a problem than
they actually were, as long as they could survive the extra stress.
The cameras he had placed in Kritiker's hideouts showed more teams than Weiss
being on alert.
“Guilty likes him,” Farfarello said one morning.
“Who?” Farfarello nodded towards the video feed Brad was watching. “Fujimiya?”
“Says he's easier to listen to.”
“Easier, or quieter?” Brad mused to himself.
“Didn't ask,” Farfarello said, disinterested. “There is something off about
him, you know.”
“Off how?”
“Off,” Farfarello said and left.
 
 
***** Chapter 9 *****
They hadn't known Schuldig could do his thing over a distance. Over a computer
connection. It couldn't have been the first time he did it with the ease he
showed. Brad looked over to the telepath in question where he sat on the couch
with a container of fried rice. Which he had insisted on instead of getting the
same food as the rest of them. “When did you stop eating meat?” Brad asked.
“Never liked it,” Schuldig replied in a bored voice. “I know animals think and
feel just like we do. It's weird eating them.”
Brad knew things would speed up now that Eszett's D-Day grew nearer. Nagi was
more and more openly doubtful of Eszett's plans for the future. He was still
quiet and cryptic, but Brad saw it in his eyes.
Brad chewed his own food. In the end it should all work out.
“Where is Farfarello?” Nagi asked.
“He'll be back at six,” Brad replied.
Schuldig finished his food and disposed of the container and the cheaply made
chopsticks that had come along the meals. He looked worn out. He took a few
painkillers with the last of his water. “I'm going to bed,” the younger man
muttered.
“Sleep well,” Nagi said with a forced smile. Schuldig's slow recovery was a
cause for concern among all of them.
Brad found he had nothing to say to Nagi while they ate the last of their food
and later cleaned up the containers and water bottles.
He went to check on Schuldig, who was out cold. They hadn't lived in their
current safe house long enough to get settled, so the blank walls weren't
surprising. Still, someone was lively as Schuldig should never live in a bland
room like this.
Gently Brad placed his hand on the cover, right over Schuldig's back. He
checked with his precognition, and sighed sadly.
“It won't heal, will it?” Nagi asked quietly from the doorway.
Brad allowed his hand to stay where it was. “It has already healed, but it has
healed wrong.”
“Aren't there any other healers?”
“I doubt it. We would need one who's not just a healer but a skilled kinetic as
well. It's not something – to my knowledge – Eszett has.”
“Will he get better, at least?”
“Yes, he will,” Brad said quietly. “I just wish I could have stopped it.
Injuries are such a bother.”
Nagi looked at him like he didn't know him.
 
 
***** Chapter 10 *****
Nagi checked the recipe again. He wasn't sure what to think about the whole
business with Farfarello's mother. Few six-year-olds murder their families.
Nagi had the power to at that age, but not the control. At most he managed a
whirlwind, which wasn't all that harmful really. Farfarello had told him all he
remembered at night after Schuldig had patched him up. There had been a lot to
patch up. He had been calm though, and the two of them had stayed up while
Schuldig and Brad fucked. Nagi liked Farfarello when he was calm. He was
smarter than he pretended to be, but he was not always logical.
Why did cooking food need so many weird words? Why was he even bothering?
Apart from Brad telling him to learn, anyway.
The American was labyrinthine at best. He seemed to have reasons for everything
he did, but nobody else necessary saw those connections. He was a bit like
Farfarello in that sense, but unlike the resident nutjob he was an excellent
strategist. Nagi sometimes wasn't sure how much of the future Brad could see
and how much was just him planning five steps ahead of everyone else.
He added the ingredients he had measured up into a bowl and stirred. It looked
like mud.
“I smell chocolate,” Schuldig singsonged from the other room.
“Brad is making me bake stuff.”
“He's making you bake?”
“Following a recipe is necessary for a lot of things,” Brad told Schuldig in a
voice that said he didn't see anything odd with the request and that Schuldig
could file an offical complaint if he wanted a fist to the face.
Thankfully they were in the living room while Nagi was in the kitchen. If they
decided today was a good day to have a physical argument he wouldn't end up in
the crossfire.
“Why brownies? Why not miso?” Schuldig asked.
“First of all it doesn't require baking, and secondly Miso isn't going to make
him gain weight,” Brad said in a bored voice. “He's too thin and he won't build
any muscles if he has no energy to exercise.”
Nagi rolled his eyes, knowing Brad couldn't see him.
“Mhmm, I think you're just homesick, Braddy,” Schuldig singsonged merrily.
Nagi smiled, knowing Brad couldn't see him.
That made sense.
“Want me to make you cornbread?” Schuldig asked sweetly.
“Want me to force you to eat meat?” Brad asked just as sweetly.
 
 
***** Chapter 11 *****
Being threatened with a golf club ranked high on Brad Crawford's list of Things
That Will Piss Me Off. Of course every Eszett lowlife knew of the little
incident with Takatori's daughter, and they exploited it.
He had to give it to the lawyer though, he had been subtle and Schuldig had not
been present. Things went messy when Schuldig was present for such events.
He was worried he was getting too obvious, that he was leading too many of
Eszett's minor pawns into Kritiker's blood stained hands. Though to be fair,
the... 'sound artist', was it? He had needed to go. A low-level telepath with a
law degree, perhaps not, but he had pissed Brad off.
Eszett wanted chaos, they wanted the random deaths. It would scare the general
populace until they would crave stability. Which Eszett would bring.
Japan was a giant experiment at the moment.
Schuldig revved the car while they waited at a stoplight.
“What?” Brad asked.
“If Eszett decides I'm a liability, I want you to shoot me. Just a clean shot,
no dallying,” Schuldig said, as if they were discussing the weather. He sped
off as soon as the light switched, the car leaving all the other cars far
behind and speeding dangerously fast in the crowded city.
“You're too valuable to be a liability,” Brad said firmly. “Damn you, Schuldig,
you're not taking the coward's way out.”
Still speeding and driving more aggressively than he did even when he had to
shake off people following, Schuldig's face was grim. “I'm no coward, Brad. It
hurts.”
“I should shoot the fucker who healed you,” Brad muttered. It wasn't the first
time he had considered it.
“He did the best he could. I know that even if you don't.”
“Point still stands, you're not committing suicide, by proxy or otherwise.”
“I'm saying,” Schuldig hissed, “that if they decide to off me, you do it.”
Brad sighed. “Fine.”
 
 
***** Chapter 12 *****
Headquarters wanted Aya. At first he had assumed they meant Abyssinian, but
they wanted the girl.
Brad was nonplussed, but Schuldig knew Abyssinian was fierce in protecting what
he considered his family. It wouldn't have been so bad to have someone like
that around, he mused. He had people who cared, but not quite like that. Not to
the point of being willing to go through Hell and back.
He wondered how he would survive after Brad's plan went through. And it would,
he had no doubt about that. There would be no way for him to plead ignorance.
If Brad left him behind, which was the plan, Schuldig would get beaten to death
to satisfy the frustration of some higher official. He didn't like that
scenario, but he knew that no one would cover for him. His parents would be
expected to lie to keep him alive, so they wouldn't matter in this.
The best thing to do would be to skip town on his own.
There were other people who had given Eszett the slip, most of them hiding in
Russia. The Elders called them Rebels and wanted them shot on sight. There was
safety in numbers, but he doubted they'd accept him. After Brad killed the
Elders there'd be no way anyone would trust him.
Schuldig spun on his desk chair, round and round. He was alone in Brad's
current office – an actual office too – and he hated his life.
Perhaps he could take Nagi and hide somewhere. He reluctantly liked his “sons”,
though Farfarello would be more of a liability than an asset in a few years. He
was damaged goods. His body would give out soon.
Weiss would probably die. Brad planned to let them take out two of the Elders.
Schuldig hoped they'd live to cut Brad down. Bastard deserved it for getting
him into this mess.
He knew this was probably what Brad wanted, because if Schuldig was worried
then Brad's nonspoken offer to bring him along after was worth more. He snarled
at the floor.
He had led a highly successful team once, now he was considering defecting.
Brad owed him.
 
 
***** Chapter 13 *****
It was raining on him and he was cold, but he didn't have the strength to move.
He couldn't even open his eyes for more than a second. Brad had warned him that
this would outright kill him. Nagi's brain replayed that conversation over and
over. He knew Brad cared, he just wished the man cared more.
There were voices around him, but they seemed to be moving away.
He suddenly felt very small and very afraid that he would die alone. He managed
to move his head a little, then to keep his eyes open. Everything hurt and felt
oddly heavy. He was half buried under some rubble.
Nobody was there. Tot was gone too. Nagi wasn't sure how that had happened. Why
take her and leave him?
Nagi tried to move out from under the wood trapping him, but he was too weak
and his body was starting to numb from the cold on top of having overexerted
his talent.
He figured Schuldig and Brad wouldn't come for him. They had the girl, last he
saw, so they would have rushed her to headquarters. That was more important
than him, because Eszett would do horrible things if they failed an objective.
What, Nagi had no idea, but he had pieced enough together to realize that
Eszett had no scruples about torture.
He got his hopes up when a car pulled up by the edge to the rubble pile that
had once been a mansion. He just made out a coat and boots. At first he was
relieved to see the person walk right up to him, but the glimmer of sharp metal
made him panic. That was a katana.
“Where did they take her?”
Nagi relaxed against the concrete slab he was on top of. It wasn't a voluntary
reaction, he was too tired to stay awake much longer.
 
===============================================================================
 
I could have been hours, days or months later when he next woke up, he wasn't
sure, but it felt more like seconds. The only thing telling him that any time
had passed was that he was indoors and warm.
He felt better. Still too heavy and weak, but much better. There was a
lingering feeling of contentment in him, warm and pleasant. He didn't hurt
either.
The room looked like it belonged in a cheap hotel. Two single beads. On the
other bed Weiss' redhead was reading a book. Nagi would have given both his
kidneys to have Schuldig there instead.
“I won't talk, and they won't trade,” Nagi croaked. His throat felt like
sandpaper with barbed wire embedded in it. Abyssinian threw him a bottle of
water. He happily drank it.
“For all the times you've thrown him into walls, Bombay is remarkably unhurt,”
the redhead said in a bored voice. “Oracle puts away his gun when he fights us,
and he pulls Farfarello away. Schuldich -”
“Schuldig,” Nagi corrected before he could think about it. He liked the German,
and he wanted him here, and Schuldig hated it that everyone in Japan
mispronounced everything.
“Schuldig,” Abyssinian mimicked, “miraculously miss when he shoots at us,
despite killing other people without any problem with his aim.”
Nagi kept quiet and fiddled with the bottle cap.
“Forgive me, but there seems to be something going on here and I would like to
know what. Considering your team has taken my sister.”
“What are you going to do? Kill me? Torture me?” Nagi asked.
Abyssinian huffed. “I didn't fix you to break you.”
“You won't get any favors out of this.” Nagi sat up gingerly. He really did
feel better, but he was loathe to thank Abyssinian for anything.
There was a commotion in the hallway. Abyssinian threw the book in Nagi's lap
and slipped out an open window.
He turned the book over to see the title.
The door was kicked in violently, but Nagi wasn't afraid. Somehow he felt too
warm and at peace. Perhaps Abyssinian had drugged him, or it was some side
effect from a common pain medication, he wasn't sure.
Brad came in with a drawn gun and Nagi stiffened. Did Brad even want him alive?
Then he heard a shout and Schuldig suddenly hugged him tight. Schuldig would
want him back, and Schuldig would convince Brad if need be.
 
 
***** Chapter 14 *****
Nagi slept like the dead once they got him back to the safe house. Schuldig was
curled around him on the small bed and crying.
“Schuldig, you have to stop,” Brad pleaded, “please! You know how much scrutiny
we could be under now.” He knew he would have to leave Schuldig behind, to
whatever faith awaited. If Schuldig didn't want to break away from Eszett then
Brad wasn't going to force him. It tore at him, but he could respect the
choice.
The telepath flew at him, faster than he could block the first punch. He
blocked instead of fighting back after that, letting Schuldig tire himself out.
Schuldig sagged down, screamed in frustration and slammed a fist into the
floor. When his eyes turned up to look at Brad again they were still wet, there
were still tears running down his face, but there was a fury there that frankly
scared him.
“You said he would die,” Schuldig said quietly. There was barely a sound. One
loud breath in the room and he would have missed it.
“That was the most likely scenario. I can't ever be a hundred percent certain,
you know that.”
Schuldig nodded slowly, wild hair bobbing along with the motion. “I know. We're
going to kill them,” he said whisper soft, but his tone was neutral.
Brad rubbed his nose. “I need them -”
“Oh no, Braddy Boy,” Schuldig said hoarsely as he rose up, furious eyes locked
on his, “I like cats. You know I do. And you need me to help you with something
else, don't you?”
It clicked then, what Schuldig meant. He nodded. Getting Schuldig on board
would make things so much better. Easier, of course, but better in the sense
that he didn't have to leave Schuldig behind, along with whatever was left of
his heart.
“They're not sending anyone. Relax,” Schuldig whispered, still looking like he
was half a second away from committing murder... or being committed to the
psych ward. Brad placed his hands on Schuldig's shoulders and kneaded lightly.
Schuldig shrugged him off and went back to Nagi. “You had better make it worth
my while,” Schuldig whispered angrily. “Leave me alone for a bit.”
Brad sighed, but familiar as he was with how Schuldig's tempers worked he did
leave. He needed to get a hold of a certain cat anyway.
 
===============================================================================
 
He went to the gym first, then the grocery store. Not because it was necessary
– but to calm Eszett's spies. Telepaths might have caused him grief, but the
regular goons just wanted him to do what he normally did.
It was easy to sneak past them after that.
He found the cat he wanted with relative ease. Ran was where he usually was at
that hour, in a dojo near the flower shop. The kitten wasn't spectacular with a
katana, but he was good enough to be dangerous. Brad watched him, making no
effort to hide himself.
“What do you want?” Ran hissed at him when he spotted Brad.
“A word. Alone.”
Ran went with him when he left. The training gear made him look less like a
lanky youth and more like the man he would be in time.
They walked for several minutes until Brad was sure no one was around. Ran had
his arms crossed and a frown on his face. Defensive more than hostile.
“I'm not sure if I should consider you a bigger threat than I have had you
pegged for, or if I should be thanking you.”
“How about giving my sister back and leaving me the fuck alone?” Ran bit out.
Brad smirked. “I have orders to follow, just like you.”
 
 
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