Wednesday 1.27

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig frowned, knocking on the door to Crawford's office before letting himself in. He kept a cool smirk on his face, not wanting to let Crawford see his concern. Crawford probably knew Schuldig was, for lack of a better word, scared, but it didn't mean he had to let it show. Besides, the worst he was going to get would be a severe asskicking. He wasn't going to die. He couldn't be sent back to Rozenkreuz.

"What do you want?" He scowled at Crawford, closing the door behind him and leaning against it.

He knew he should be more gracious toward Crawford, by authority had always chaffed him. Rubbed him raw. He was a wild thing forced to wear a collar, and he didn't appreciate it. He did, however, appreciate the protection that being with the precog offered.

Plus he wasn't too hard on the eyes, either.

Comments

((funny he should say that))

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Crawford was stationed at the end of his desk, leaning casually back, arms posted, hands gripping the edge, head bowed low. His jacket was already off. His sleeves were already rolled up high.

He had already centered and grounded himself and was well into his meditation when Schuldig finally arrived. Unfortunately, the brief moments of zen did little to drain the rage away. He slowly raised his head, dark eyes boring into his telepath, knuckles suddenly blanching white in their grip on the wood of the desk.

He pushed off of the desk in a sudden motion walked to Schuldig, simply staring him down with a hint of scowl on his face, making sure his thoughts were locked away tight. The redhead wouldn't need them anyway... he knew this was coming.

Then just that fast his right fist was in motion, sinking hard into one beautiful blue eye, his knuckles immediately aching as they met Schuldig's skull. The unrestrained force of it sent Schuldig back a few steps and Brad followed the momentum, gripping him up by the throat and jacking him up against his office door with a loud thud.

" I have tolerated your ocassional stupidity. Perhaps THAT has given you the wrong idea... the one where I might let you get away with anything your twisted little head can come up with." Brad tightened his grip to choking, bouncing Schuldig's head off the door. "Our own HOUSE! Your hard on for Weiss is THAT insistant?!"

Brad's glare intensified as he seriously considered stringing Schuldig up in Farfarello's room for this stupidity. Maybe some bloodflow to his head would remedy his sudden lack of rational thought. Instead he bounced Schuldig's head off the door once more then pushed away disgusted.

He hadn't hit him in over four years.

"Did it occurred to you that perhaps more than just WEISS might come looking for Balinese? Weiss was the bait and you fucking took it hook, line and SINKER!" Brad barely ever raised his voice, more or less, screamed. He swung his arm wide sending half of things on his desktop crashing to the floor in a rare fit of rage. He was just barely keeping himself from taking it out on Schuldig. He knew that if he hit him again he probably wouldn't be able to stop himself.

"A predator never brings a kill to its den, a bear doesn't shit where it sleeps. Your fucking playtime should NEVER compromise the team! Even Farfarello has more presence of mind to keep his fun far from the rest of us. But of course asking to you think of anyone other than yourself is just too much. Isn't it?"

Brad slowly turned looking at Schuldig from the corner of his eyes, the utter disgust clearly etched on his face. Of all things he anticipated Schuldig getting into he would never have thought he'd be so engrossed in himself that he'd make such a potentially lethal, amateur mistake. And for it, Brad could clearly seeing himself putting a bullet between those bright blue eyes.

Cut the losses. Eliminate the risk. Put the diseased dog down before he infected the rest.

Brad's balled up fists were trembling with the force of his restraint. Beyond the rage, he was disappointed and feeling betrayed. Six years as a team, another eight more or less together in Rosenkreuz. Schuldig was the only one he could possibly consider like family. It hurt. But that was not an emotion Brad was practiced at interpreting. In the ways that mattered Brad had absolute trust in Schuldig but now...

He roared in his frustration clearing the rest of the contents of his desk onto the floor and looking for something to throw, kick, break... anything... But he turned and focused again on Schuldig, rushing up to him fist tight, arm cocked, grimacing as he wrestled with the overwhelming urge to do permanent lasting harm.

With that shock of disheveled red hair, his eye already swelling and turning purple under the skin, Schuldig looked impossibly young and wounded. He bit back his fury and squeezed his eyes tight, arms dropping to his sides in an effort to regain control.

The telepath was going to be the death of him. This he already knew.

"Explain this to me. Give me a reason not to cut you loose."

((fucking lol. XD))

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig's head snapped back as Brad's fist collided with him, slamming into the door. He'd prepared for it, mentally at least. He'd known it was coming long before he even saw Crawford with his sleeves rolled up. He'd known the second he pulled Yohji into the car.

But he didn't know it would hurt so fucking much. It had been years since Brad had hit him. And it hurt. More than just physically.

When Brad started choking him, however, that's when he got scared. Stars flashes in his vision as he head was slammed back against the door again. Fear clouded his mind and he started clawing at Brad's arm, trying to pry him off. He could hear Brad's voice, but not the words. It didn't matter, though. He could still hear the barely restrained rage. The words were secondary.

He was starting to get lightheaded the second time his head connected with the door. Or was it the third? He wasn't sure. But suddenly air was being drawn back into his lungs, fast enough that he started to cough, sinking down to the floor and doing his best to look like he wasn't cowering. He didn't think his flinch when Brad sent the contents of his desk flying to the ground helped. And throwing his arms up to protect himself when Brad rushed him... he knew that didn't help. He was officially cowering.

At least he wasn't crying.

"He has information." His voice was gravelly from the choking. He knew his explination of how much fun Yohji's mind was would not be helpful. "But he's good about not thinking about it. I was going to take him back..."

Schuldig coughed again, curled in a tight ball on the ground against the door.

"I'll take care of it. I promise."

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

"Did you even bother to complete the mission?" Crawford already knew the answer to that question. He started rolling down his sleeves, snapping the cuffs straight as he buttoned each in turn.

Nearly black eyes never left the redhead. Like a puppy rolling over and showing his throat. That was something Schuldig never - NEVER - did. Even in Rosenkreuz, under the threat of death, he remained defiant to the core. The throbbing in his knuckles was just starting to register and judging by it he laid into the redhead full bore.

There was more to his anger than just this. But there was no time just now to explore the reasons.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"Kind of..." Schuldig said, slowly sitting back up, trying to relax, but staying on the floor for the moment. He was still a bit dizzy from having his head bashed into the door repeatedly. Carefully, he leaned back, not wanting to bump his head again. No need to give himself a bigger headache than he already had.

"Balinese doesn't know if Weiss has the disk. Neither did Abyssinian." He reached up to touch his swelling eye, hissing slightly. Ice would be needed soon. As it was, his eye was already starting to swell shut. "But they both mentioned, thought rather, about a man. Kritiker agent. Goes by Sato. If the little Weiss doesn't have the disk, he has it."

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

"But bringing Balinese here was more important than finding out if Bombay was in possession of it..." Crawford finally broke his gaze, turning to retrieve his jacket from the coat stand. He slipped the jacket on with a few sharp, economical movements, straightening the lapel before reaching a hand down to assist Schuldig off of his floor.

"Consider your fun interrupted. Since he is here, we will use him. The disk is not critical except for show. Find out about Weiss' mission to retrieve it. Any details he remembers in the assignment. Bombay would have more useful..." He glared momentarily but the clockwork gears of strategizing were already supplanting his anger.

"I don't care what state you need to leave him in... get the information whether he wants to think about it or not."

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"I'm working on it." Schuldig said, accepting the hand that had not five minutes ago punched him in the face and nearly choked him unconscious. He pulled himself up and pushed his hair out of his face. "I didn't think the retard would try to punch me when I had a gun to his head." He shook his head, deciding not to talk about it anymore, since it would only serve to make him look more imcompetent.

"Am I excused?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. He needed a few minutes alone before he went to harass Yohji again. Also, he needed some painkillers, and maybe a stiff drink to go with them. Nothing like alcohol and painkillers to make your problems go away.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

"Kritiker has a habit of recruiting those with nothing left to lose. And you have provided them all with such incentive." Schuldig's eye was swelling to impressive proportions, taking on some nice deep color. He wouldn't be surprised if the blood vessels in his sclera were broken as well. It would ruin his clubbing for weeks. The bruises around his throat were sure to pale in comparision.

" No. You are going to clean this up while I go clean up this mission. I'm taking Farfarello. You and Nagi will need to stay alert. Watch the cameras." Crawford swung the door open and headed out without a glance back.

"And get some ice on that." His voice trailed along his path through the living room as he headed for Farfarello's room.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig flipped Crawford off as the man walked out, turning to look at the mess the American had left. He growled faintly. It wasn't his office. He didn't throw the items on the ground.

Did he look like a maid? Did he had a little frilly black and white dress and a feather duster?

Hell. No.

Fuck Crawford. He could clean it up himself. The man had given him enough shit for the day. He understood that he deserved the asskicking, but cleaning up his office on top of that?

Schuldig didn't think so.

Instead, he left, heading for the kitchen to get an ice pack.

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

Nagi didn't have to go very far in his search for the telepath. Actually, he barely had to leave Schu's room before he ran into him. The German was obviously headed for the kitchen and Nagi followed.

He didn't know exactly why he was as upset by this all. Crawford had done what was necessary for the best of the team, for them. Crawford was always right. What if Schuldig pulled a stunt like this again? What if someone did follow him that time? What if the man got reckless in his 'jokes'? What if he started disregarding Crawford all together? And if the only way to make sure that didn't happen was to really scare Schuldig... But still.

When he caught up with Schuldig, saw the thick eye and the bruises on his neck, Nagi stopped in place, shock and upset radiating off of him without check.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig paused when he saw Nagi, frowning a bit. But the frown turned into a full on glare (okay, half a glare since he could really only glare with one eye) when Nagi didn't check his feelings, and instead let them run free. He didn't need anyone feeling anything close to pity for him. It was what it was.

"Are you just going to stare, or are you going to help me find the ice pack?" He scowled, continuing to the kitchen and beginning to rummage through the drawers and cabinets. He knew they kept it in here, but it had been a long time since he had needed it.

Then he paused, smirking a bit and abandoning his quest in favor of the freezer, pulling out one of Brad's expensive Kobe steaks, wrapping it in a towel and holding it on his eye.

The fucker.

Pleased with his petty revenge on the man, Schuldig continued to the living room, sitting down to watch the movie Farfarello had abandoned. Fight Club. How appropriate.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

[exit back to Wednesday 1.25]

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

When Schuldig managed to find a replacement for the icepack it was so ridiculous that it started Nagi out of his reverie. Only Schuldig could Find such a weird way to exact 'revenge'...

Suddenly noticing his shields were down, he pulled them up, throwing Schuldig an apologetic look.

Than Nagi realized that the American probably wouldn't be in the mood to put up with Schuldig's petty revenge and Nagi just hoped that he wouldn't lose his temper too badly. While he was pretty sure there wouldn't be a beating for that, this time, he didn't like them fighting, period. Not when it was serious, anyway.

"Did Crawford leave any orders?" he finally asked, both for lack of anything better and because he really did want to know.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"Keep an eye on Balinese." Schuldig shrugged. He wasn't going to mention the bit about cleaning up the office. The American bastard could do it himself. "I think the kitten will be fine for a while."

In reality, he didn't want to bother with Yohji yet. He didn't want the white assassin seeing him with a black eye and a necklace of bruises around his throat. When he went back, of course, Yohji wouldn't see it. Schuldig would make sure of that.

For now, though, he just wanted to pout.

[ginnyvos.livejournal.com]

Nagi sighed and nodded. He started for Schuldig's room before rethinking. He went to his own room, than, and took his laptop. Than, he went back to Schuldig's room to follow the orders given to them.

[Aaaand back to Wednesday 1.25 again]

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig sighed. Once the movie ended and Brad's steak was ruined, he threw it away, then grabbed a new towel and filled it with ice before returning to the American's office. He glanced around and frowned, but did begin setting it to rights. He set everything back on the desk, checking to make sure it was more or less the way it had been. He was sure it wouldn't be completely right, but since he couldn't pluck the correct layout from the precog's head, this would have to do.

Once that was done, he went back to his room.

[Exit to Wednesday 1.29]