Brad had taken Yohji’s position pacing around the room. Omi was still typing away, although he knew that he wasn’t gaining any ground. At least it was keeping him occupied, which meant he was doing better than Brad and Yohji.
He heard a crash and his head whipped around to see Brad lying in a heap on the floor. “Uhm . . . you okay over there?” he asked, puzzled. He walked over to Brad and knelt beside him. “Do you fall over often?”
Brad’s eyes opened. “I know where Schuldig is,” he said slowly. “And I don’t think I can walk.”
Omi blinked. “Where is he? And why can’t you walk?”
“Schuldig just . . . dumped all the information in my brain. Gives me quite a migraine when he does that, but . . . I can tell you which facility he’s in and almost exactly where inside. And he’s with Nagi. They’re in the same room.”
“Are you going to be up to helping us go get him?”
“Yeah, just . . . give me a few minutes and some painkillers. I’ll be fine. I’m not going to miss this.”
“Which facility?”
“The second on the list.”
“I’ll get the schematics. Yohji-kun, help Crawford-san up.”
^^^^
Schuldig had lost track of who was screaming. Was it him or was it Nagi? It could have even been Joaquin. None of them were happy, that was for sure. And somebody was screaming. That was about all he could tell. He had forgotten why he was fighting Joaquin, and was now fighting purely on the instinct that he hated having anyone else inside his mind.
^^^^
Omi had constructed a simple but relatively foolproof plan of going in the two side entrances and splitting up, doing a sweep of the building. Schuldig had not been able to supply a room number; there was only a visual of the room, and Brad suspected all the rooms would look alike.
Omi directed the operation, now in his element. Brad and Yohji had to go in separate groups, since one of the groups would find Schuldig. Brad also had to remain with Farferello, to keep at least somewhat of a leash on him. He also felt he should be on an opposite team from Brad, for Nagi’s sake. “Ken-kun, go with Crawford-san and Farferello. I’ll go with Aya-kun and Yohji-kun.”
Ken looked like he wanted to protest, but knew better. He just nodded, adjusting his headset.
“I’m not used to headsets,” Brad said under his breath, putting his own on.
“Well, us normal people have to put up with these things,” Omi told him. “We’ll meet back here in twenty minutes, no more. Whoever finds Schuldig-san and Nagi-kun let the others know.”
They were inside the building within minutes, and from there, turned it into a bloody spectacle. Farferello was having a grand old time, which rather alarmed Ken, but Ken was a little busy fighting for his own life to care.
“This way.” Brad didn’t know what inner sense was guiding him, but he knew without a doubt that he was going towards Schuldig. It took him less than five minutes to locate the correct room. The door was locked, but one bullet took care of that problem.
Of course, it didn’t help that the room had eight or nine guards in it. Brad was beyond caring. He managed to kill two before one of the others got his gun away. Within moments, they were disarmed and effectively captive. “We’ve hit a snag,” Farferello said calmly.
“And where’s the snag?” Omi asked over the headset.
“Room 215,” Brad said, before the guards yanked away the headsets.
Joaquin didn’t pull away from Schuldig. He was almost to the point where he had what he needed. Schuldig was screaming his head off, and so was Nagi.
“What the hell is going on?” Yohji asked, charging into the room like an idiot. He got three guards with his wire before they managed to hold him down. Omi took out another two, and Aya (not having a long-range weapon) got one. However, more guards were pouring in.
“We’re all going to die,” Brad said calmly.
“See?” Farferello asked. “Snag.”
Joaquin wrenched away from Schuldig, who dropped into silence. His eyes were wide open and staring around frantically. “And now,” he said, gasping for breath, “I can kill you all. Because I have what I need.” He gestured to the guards. “Kill them. And start with him.” He pointed to Nagi.
“No,” Schuldig gasped out, trying to pull away from the wall. The guard nearest Nagi started to scream, clutching at his head. He dropped to the floor seconds later. Schuldig sagged against the wall, trying to stay conscious.
“Don’t pass out, Schuldig,” Joaquin said, grabbing him and turning him so he had to face Nagi. “I want you to watch while we kill your precious little friend.”
Two of the guards roughly grabbed Nagi by the shoulders. Nagi screamed and flinched away, scrambling backwards. “Leave me alone!” he shrieked. “LEAVE ME ALONE!”
There was an odd popping noise, and the guard closest to him staggered backwards. Omi noted, with detached interest, that his head had simply exploded. The second guard fell seconds later.
Everyone stared at Nagi. He pressed himself against the wall, hands outstretched. “Leave me alone . . . leave me alone . . .” The other guards started to fall, quickly and systematically. Joaquin swore and started forward, but collapsed only moments later.
Omi realized he had a headache. It was like a pressure on his entire skull from the inside out. Schuldig was yanking at the chains that held him to the wall, trying to get to Nagi before he killed everyone in the room. Omi started forward slowly. They were now the only ones in the room; the guards had all been killed. “Nagi? Nagi-kun, can you hear me?”
Nagi whimpered, pressing himself backwards. The pressure Omi felt didn’t let up any. From the looks of the others, they weren’t faring any better. “Please, Nagi. We’re your friends. It’s me, it’s Omi.”
“Leave me alone, don’t hurt me . . .” Nagi buried his face in his legs.
“We’re not going to hurt you,” Omi said.
“I don’t think he can hear us,” Brad said, through clenched teeth.
“Then get somebody he can hear,” Omi replied. He continued to walk slowly towards Nagi. “Please, Nagi-kun. It’s me. I’m not going to hurt you.” He continued to talk in a low, soothing voice. The pressure started to abate, although not by much.
Brad fished around and got a set of keys from one of the dead guards. He went over to Schuldig and unfastened the chains that held him. “You have to get Nagi out of that loop,” he said, his voice strained.
“I know,” Schuldig replied, glancing at Joaquin’s body. He walked over and knelt next to Nagi, who flinched away. However, his head didn’t explode, so Schuldig figured he was doing pretty well. “Nagi, it’s Schuldig.” He reached out and put his hand on the side of Nagi’s face. He wound up being thrown across the entire room, but not before he slid underneath all the panic and released the loop that was holding Nagi inside his own mind.
Yohji helped Schuldig up. “You okay?”
Schuldig wiped blood off his face. “No,” he said, leaning heavily on Yohji.
“There’s more guards coming,” Aya reported.
“Nagi-kun?” Omi asked quietly.
Nagi looked up. His face was tear-streaked. “O . . . Omi . . .?”
“Yeah, it’s me,” Omi said, smiling at him. He didn’t really feel like smiling, but he knew that Nagi would recognize that expression and hopefully assume that everything was all right.
“My head . . .” Nagi slumped forward, eyes closing.
Omi looked up. “He’s passed out. Ken, you’d better take him.”
Ken nodded and scooped Nagi up, figuring that Omi’s logic was probably that they were hoping all the guards would be dead by the time they were close enough for Ken to be able to kill them. Brad walked over and got an arm around Schuldig’s shoulders. “Are you okay to walk?”
“There are sixteen guards coming,” Schuldig said vaguely. “Nine from the left, seven from the right. Two telepaths, four telekinetics, one pyrokinetic -- those are always fun -- ”
Brad closed his eyes. “Yohji, get the med kit. We’re going to need to sedate him as soon as we’re out of here. Schuldig, I’m going to pick you up.”
Schuldig had time for a faint ‘huh?’ before Brad picked him up, swinging him over one shoulder so he still had one arm free for his gun. “See?” he said to Omi. “You just have to be unpredictable. I think Nagi blowing off all their heads was probably the last thing they would have expected.”
“Let’s just get out of here,” Omi said.
^^^^
Knowing that Schuldig might approach hysterics when he first woke up, Brad decided to let Yohji stay with him after reaching the safehouse. The telepath had a great deal to do with why they had survived long enough to get out of the secure facility, but he had been so completely insane that Brad had sedated him as soon as they had gotten out.
Nagi was still unconscious, and Brad did not expect him to wake up for several hours. He wasn’t sure exactly what the Esstet telepath had done to him, but it couldn’t have been good. Omi had, not surprisingly, volunteered to stay with him.
Aya and Ken, after a lot of griping about how they wanted explanations and the sooner they got them, the better, decided to get some rest. The fighting to get free of the Institute had been grueling; it was largely due to Schuldig’s nearly out of control telepathy and Farferello’s complete insanity that they had lived.
Schuldig only slept for a few hours before his body, uncertain of what sort of position it was in, fought its way back to consciousness. He woke up slowly, wincing at the headache that became more and more obvious. Not only did it hurt, but it felt like it had been stuffed with cotton.
“Hey, baby,” Yohji said softly, seeing his eyes flutter open.
Schuldig turned subconsciously towards Yohji’s voice, his vision still blurred and uncertain. “Yohji?” he asked, pressing his palm against his temple. “Who kicked me in the head? And are they dead yet?”
Yohji reached out and took one of his hands. Along with the sedative, Brad had given him something he called an inhibitor, stating that the last thing they needed was a panicked telepath. Then he had rescinded his statement and corrected himself – the last thing they needed was a panicked telekinetic – and given Nagi a dose as well. “The Esstet telepath kicked you in the head, and yes, he’s very dead.”
There was a long pause while Schuldig digested and assimilated this. His memory was very foggy and there were patches that were missing, which displeased him greatly. After a few seconds, he managed to get most of the pieces in the proper order. His eyes widened. “Nagi. Is Nagi all right?”
“Nagi’s fine,” Yohji said, overstating the case slightly in an effort to keep Schuldig calm. He gave the telepath’s hand a comforting squeeze. “He splattered said telepaths across the wall for us and kept us all from getting killed. Crawford dosed him with the same stuff he dosed you with, and Omi’s staying with him. He’s still unconscious, but he seems okay.”
“Good.” Schuldig rubbed at his eyes with his free hand. “God, I feel like crap.”
“I’m not surprised,” Yohji said, his thumb rubbing across the back of Schuldig’s hand. He added somewhat jokingly, “I don’t know exactly what was going on with you when we got there, but Crawford was really cranky about it.”
“They were trying to pick my Talent apart,” Schuldig explained. “God, did they ever fuck my head up.” He paused, then rubbed absently at his ear. “And you sound like you’re coming through twelve feet of water.”
“Yeah, Crawford gave you some stuff to damp your telepathy until you could get it back together,” Yohji repeated patiently. He wondered off-handedly with Schuldig could cope with the dampening of recreational drugs, but this sedative bothered him. “Same with Nagi. Kid damn near blew us all up. You want any tea or anything?”
“Is there coffee?” Schuldig asked, apparently not bothering himself with linear conversation.
“I don’t know,” Yohji said, “but if there isn’t, I could make some.”
Schuldig’s eyes narrowed slightly and he backtracked in the conversation considerably. “Did you say Nagi nearly splattered everyone?”
“Well, he sort of lost it,” Yohji said, as if this statement should make everything perfectly clear. “Omittchi managed to get through to him after he splattered the bad guys but before he splattered us. At least, he got through to him long enough for you to undo whatever they’d done to him.” Yohji didn’t bother elaborating, since he wasn’t sure exactly what had been done to Nagi in any case.
“Poor kid,” Schuldig said softly. “He must have been really scared. He doesn’t use his power like that.”
“I don’t think he was really seeing us,” Yohji said cautiously. “If you know what I mean. They had that weird telepathic hold on him.”
“Well, he dropped like a rock just after splattering everyone and hasn’t woken up yet. I haven’t seen him since we got here, but Crawford said he’d be all right, and Omittchi promised to take care of him.”
“Good.” This statement seemed to sink in. Schuldig sat up, winced at the pain in his head, and looked around at their surroundings. “Where are we?” he asked, suddenly realizing that the room was not familiar in the slightest.
“At a secure Kritiker compound. They’re taking good care of us.”
“And they haven’t killed us?” Schuldig asked, startled.
“Why would Kritiker have killed us?” Yohji replied, just as startled.
“Schwarz, I mean. Not you guys.”
“I dunno,” Yohji said. The particulars of this had somewhat escaped his notice; he had been so worried about Schuldig that he hadn’t really cared at the time. “Omi talked to them a whole bunch and got Manx to vouch for us, then Crawford’s been talking to one of the high-ups ever since we got back.”
Schuldig’s eyes widened a little. “Do you know what Crawford is telling them?”
“I really don’t have a clue,” Yohji admitted, reaching out and running his fingers through Schuldig’s hair. “I think he’s telling them whatever it takes to get their protection from Esstet. He isn’t about to take chances after what just happened.”
“Yeah, I’m glad,” Schuldig said, unconsciously nuzzling into Yohji’s light touch. He was having trouble thinking straight, quickly, or at all. Slowly, he began to put some pieces together. “So . . . wait,” he said. “This means we have no apartment anymore. Where are Farfie and Katzchen?”
“Here,” Yohji said reassuringly. “Everyone’s here. In fact, if you look down, your kitten is snoozing on your feet.”
Schuldig blinked down at the kitten, which was sound asleep, and looked somewhat perplexed. “It’s so strange to have everything muffled. Oddly, I think I would go insane if the noise all went away forever.”
“Well, it’s all in what you’re used to. Anyway, Crawford said the drug would wear off in about twenty-four hours, so don’t worry too much about it.” He didn’t bother telling Schuldig about the fact that Crawford had already prepped the next dose, in case Schuldig was still out of it when he woke up.
Schuldig nodded. “It feels like my head is stuffed with cotton,” he said, shaking it slightly. “Jesus. There are patches of time I can’t remember. Do you know how disturbing that is?”
“Yeah, but I get drunk a lot,” Yohji teased.
Schuldig smiled. “But seriously. My memory is perfect. At least since Crawford picked me up.”
“Well, you just had quite the misadventure,” Yohji said lightly, trying to downplay the near disaster so it wouldn’t seem quite as frightening in retrospect. “It makes sense that some of it would be blurry. People were fucking with your head.”
Schuldig nodded again a bit absently, as he sifted through his memory and tried to put all the pieces back in order. He found it most disconcerting when he couldn’t. “I remember almost everything until I let them into my head . . . then contacting Crawford, then things start to get blurry. Bits and pieces. Faces, but the places are wrong.” He shook his head, confused. “And not the right faces.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t try to think about it,” Yohji said gently, not wanting the telepath to start panicking or narrating everyone else’s mind again.
“I just . . . don’t like losing things like that,” Schuldig said, his voice trembling just enough for Yohji to notice. “I don’t like it when things in my own head don’t make sense. I’m missing huge chunks from when I was little. That’s enough.”
“Well, I can tell you what happened after we got there, if that helps.”
“Please,” Schuldig said.
Yohji explained the situation, or as much of it as he had been able to understand, to Schuldig. He started when Crawford had arrived at the Koneko no Sumi, detailed the events in the Kritiker compound, and what had happened in the Esstet facility. “And then we’re here,” he added, unnecessarily.
“How did you stop Nagi from tweaking out?” Schuldig asked uncertainly, picking up the kitten and cuddling it to his chest. The kitten gave a sleepy mew, clearly approving of this treatment.
“Well, after Nagi calmed him down a little, you fixed whatever it was they had done to him,” Yohji said, fairly sure that he had already related this piece of information, but not about to blame Schuldig for having trouble with retention.
“I what?” Schuldig asked, startled.
“You fixed what they’d done to Nagi.” Yohji blinked at him for a few seconds before remembering that Schuldig had said there were gaps in his memory of the past few days’ events. “You don’t remember doing that?”
“I shouldn’t forget,” Schuldig shook his head, seeming rather upset over this. “I shouldn’t forget things like that.”
“You were barely conscious, Schu,” Yohji said, not understanding why Schuldig had his pants in such a knot. “You were totally off the wall afterwards until Crawford managed to sedate you.”
Schuldig stared at him, his green eyes wide. “But I shouldn’t forget using my Talent. There’s a reason . . .” He trailed off, then finished in a quieter voice. “I don’t like forgetting things.”
“You shouldn’t worry about it so much.” Without any way to help, Yohji took stock in regular comfort. “I mean, Omi doesn’t remember half of his life. A few hours isn’t so bad in comparison with that.”
“I don’t remember most of mine, either,” Schuldig pointed out, snuggling the kitten.
“Oh, so that’s why you never talk about it.” Yohji laughed a little. “I thought you probably just didn’t want to.”
“I just remember little bits, from the streets and the hospitals. Nothing from before. But now they’ve messed with everything.”
Yohji was at a loss. “What do you mean, messed with everything?”
There was a pause while Schuldig fumbled for the right words to explain. “Like they reached into my thoughts and stirred. They wanted to know how my Talent works, but I don’t know. I don’t know when I learned it, or . . . it’s all buried in what I can’t remember and they kept looking.”
“Hey, calm down,” Yohji said, somewhat alarmed by Schuldig’s wide-eyed and panicky stare. He reached out and caressed Schuldig’s cheek gently, trying to ground him, barely even remembering that his telepathy was all but gone at the moment. The gesture was familiar to both of them. “Crawford will get it all worked out.”
Schuldig took a few deep breaths, visibly trying to get a hold on himself. “I seem to be tweaking out on you a lot lately,” he finally said, with a shaky laugh.
“Yeah, it really is,” Yohji said with a sigh, knowing that there was really nothing he could say that would help.
“They’re just going to keep coming after us,” Schuldig said grimly. “If Nagi killed them all, then they don’t even have what they want from me.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Yohji admitted, “except that Crawford seems to always know what to do, as far as you’ve told me, and I’m sure that between him and Omi, they’ll come up with something.”
“I hope so.” Schuldig leaned against his lover, pressing his cheek into Yohji’s shoulder. He had decided to use him as furniture for a while; he felt that he could definitely use the physical comfort. He still felt very shaky after what had happened in the facility.
Yohji wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and held him in silence.