Thursday 1.19

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

It was late by the time Schuldig, Nagi and Farfarello returned. It had taken forever to find the right kind of cords that Nagi needed. Schuldig didn't get it. A cord was a cord, wasn't it? Oh well, leave the nerd stuff to the nerds. That's why he didn't bother with computers unless it was for porn. He was good at finding porn on the computer. It was really the only reason he had a laptop. Porn and video games.

"I'm going to check on the gimp." Schuldig chuckled as they walked inside, bouquet in hand. He had to admit, the Weiss boys did good work. The flowers weren't even wilted yet. Not bad considering it had been several hours since he'd purchased them.

"Brad..." He called as he knocked on the man's bedroom door. When he didn't get a response he opened the door, expecting to find Brad sleeping. Instead, the sheets were rumpled and the bed was empty. Alarms started going off in his head, and the blood spots on the floor near his feet only made them louder.

A deep frown crossed his lips as he followed the blood to the bathroom, and only pure willpower kept him from crying out when he found the man sprawled on the floor, dried blood on his face and in small pools on the floor, and one of Farfarello's tranquillizer needles empty and still stuck in his neck.

What might have caused this was the last thing on his mind. Right now, he had to make sure Brad was still alive. He closed the bathroom door quickly, though he doubted it would be long before Nagi and Farfarello noticed the blood trail and found them.

//Farf, keep Nagi away from the bathroom. Something happened to Brad.//

He knelt down beside the man, removing the syringe and checking for a pulse.

Comments

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Had they still been in the employ of Takatori, one of Farfarello's tranquilizers would have killed Brad within minutes. But since the death of the fat old bastard, and then the elders, Farfarello's 'mood swings' had evened out considerably calling for smaller doses. Still high - but not instantly lethal.

Brad didn't register the touch, his pulse sluggish, his breath nearly non existant. The morphine was doing its job a bit too effectively. Once again, he was reduced to nothing but limp limbs and dead silence.

At least this unscheduled respite was effectively helping to right his head even further. Opiates were the respite of choice of the few living precognitives for good reason - they worked at silencing the insidious drone of the future calling. It was a crutch Crawford adamantly refused to use.

This was the singular acception.

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

Farfarello froze for a moment as he registered what Schuldig said, growling and cursing mentally as he walked with Nagi to the telekinetic's room, staying with him there and trying to act normal. Well, as normal as any of them got, at any rate.

/What the fuck happened?! Ye've gotta give me more than that! He alright? Anythin' I can do?/ He wondered what in the hell could have happened to Crawford that would have Schuldig worried - beyond what happened with that 'vision'.

If he'd known what Crawford had done, odds are he would be a bit less worried, and a bit more angry at Crawford for doing something like that. At least, for doing it in the bathroom and passing out on the floor. A bed is far more comfortable..

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

//He used one of your syringes. I'm guessing he had another vision. Another bad one. There's blood from his bedroom to the bathroom, and he passed out before he could even take the needle out.//

Schuldig stood up and rummaged through the medicine cabinet. He knew there was a stash of Naloxone on the off chance that Farfarello overdosed when they sedated him. Though he wasn't sure how much Brad would need. Everything was dosed for the madman, and he'd never bothered figuring dosages for anyone besides himself. Brad was always staunchly against sedating himself like this, and if Nagi got to the point where he needed sedating, then it was already too late.

He hated feeling helpless like this. If he gave Brad too much, he could end up worse off than he was now. But they couldn't risk a hospital.

Schuldig took a deep breath and uncapped the needle, sliding it into the muscle of Brad's upper arm and pressing the plunger, giving the man only a fraction of the dose that he himself would need. If he didn't move in about 5 minutes, he would give him a little more, repeating the pattern until the man started to come to.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

The effect was nearly immediate. Brad began to stir, groggily trying to push himself upright, eyes wholly unfocused and clearly still suffering from the opiates in his system. He hated the feeling. Hated the loss of control it brought. Beyond that he couldn't think of anything else at the moment other than trying to shake the effects off and knowing will power alone would not suffice.

His hand slipped in his own blood, nearly sending him back to the floor. Only then did it register that he was not alone.

He shoved himself back and away, fighting to keep his head level and his eyes focused. He could only hope it was Schuldig and Schuldig alone.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"Shit..." Schuldig choked out in a half laugh. Relief flooded through him when he saw Brad starting to move. It was sluggish, but it was movement. He set the syringe on the counter and carefully helped Brad sit up and lean against the wall.

"Calm down. Jesus. It's just me." He wanted to ask what the fuck had happened, but he knew better than the harass the man right away. Right now, Brad needed to get back to bed to sleep this off. Who knew how long the Naloxone would last? "Just relax. We're alone. You're all right."

[(Anonymous)]

Schuldig's voice brought a small sense of relief but also spiked his anger - at himself. with effort he dragged his thoughts into some sort of order, piecing together what had happened. The vision - that he remembered in detail. The phantom pain was still lurking just beneath the veil of morphine.

Brad let his head lull back as he closed his eyes, searching for the control to make his words coherent.

" ... t'night... t' disk..." It was all he could manage as his head resisted his efforts at control with a sudden loss of equilibruim. Brad listed to the right, haphazardly throwing his arm out to catch himself before he fell over.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig reached an arm out to steady Brad, crouching down in front of him and checking his pupils. They still looked too big. He sighed and slumped down on the floor beside Brad. He couldn't understand what the man was saying other than something about the disk. But it didn't matter. He could ask later when Brad was more coherent.

"We'll figure it out. Weiss is out doing research for us right now." He sighed, wrapping an arm around Brad's shoulders. "Let me know when you think you can stand."

[bloodyfarfie.livejournal.com]

/Son of a-.. Alright, I'll make sure Nagi's nowhere near there. If you need help - if he'll let me help - let me know./ Farfarello left it at that and turned his attention back to Nagi now.

[[Sorry about the delay ^^;; Got..distracted slightly. >.>]]

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Brad frowned hard, brows furrowing as he brought a hand to his face, slightly off target but managing to scrub it over his eyes. He took a deep breath and centered himself again.

" ...t'night...he'll use t' disk... saw it... heard it..."

Brad brought one knee up and shifted his position. He wanted up and off the floor but there was no way he could stand just yet. He NEEDED to get to work on this information but that wasn't happening any time soon either.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

//He's coming around. I'll give you more information once I get him cleaned up and in bed.// Schuldig replied to Farfarello, grateful that Nagi wouldn't have to see Brad like this. He didn't know if Nagi could handle seeing Brad injured like this. Nagi depended on Brad being strong and, well, dependable. Seeing him in this weakened state, while it might be good for him to know Brad was still human, wasn't something he wanted to risk. Nagi had had a rough night and was already edgy.

It took a moment for Schuldig to decipher Brad's words, but when he did, it hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Where?" Schuldig asked suddenly, turning Brad's head to look him in his dilated eyes. "Where is this going to happen?" Near they're home? Somewhere public?

He was really glad he had those ear plugs right now.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

"... movies..." Brad weakly yanked his head out of Schuldig's grip and put an earnest effort into an attempt to stand. He got both knees up but he had no strength to push himself off the floor. With a disgusted grunt he sank back down to the floor.

Brad sat there silently fuming for a few minutes, replaying the vision in his mind. He was sure they could find the theater by the movie title and even though there was nothing in the vision to indicate time, he just had an innate sense of when it would occur. The hand altering the soundtrack - he knew it wasn't Johnson personally without a reason for the conclusion.

So much more detail than he had never really had from his visions before. And Soundwaver... it was as if he were actually there, the effects of it the same as if he had been in the theater. Just like the gunshot bruises.

This was a most disturbing new development.

"... I can't shut it out..."

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig frowned deeply. He did not like the direction that Brad's visions were taking. Two visions that inflicted physical damage within the same 24 hours. Was Brad getting too strong for his own good. After all, it was rare that a precog lived this long, let alone stayed sane...

With a sigh he shook his head. He didn't want to think about the implications of it right now. Right now, he just wanted to get Brad to bed.

He stood up, then carefully pulled Brad up, bracing himself as he knew the man would be a jumble of limbs and weight with no balance.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed."

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

It was a nauseating trip from the floor to standing but somehow Brad managed to keep his feet somewhat under himself. He leaned heavily into Schuldig and he guided him back to bed, sudden fits of vertigo making the trip that much more difficult.

Finally at the edge of his bed he simply collapsed onto it, once again succumbing to the morphine in his system.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig sighed, settling Brad onto the mattress and pulling the blanket up. After a few minutes, he got up for a wet cloth, then returned to clean the blood off of Brad. He was both thankful and concerned that Brad didn't move while he cleaned him off.

His mind wandered as he worked. There was blood all over. Mostly on his face and in his hair, but also on his hands, arms, and legs from when he'd moved to try and stand. His chest felt tight and his heart was pounding. He was truly terrified that he might lose Brad. His power was getting out of control.

Aside from the year he spend alone at Rosenkreuz after Brad graduated, Schuldig couldn't remember a time when he was apart from the American. He'd tagged after the boy in school, and settled comfortable on the man's team after his own early graduation. Brad had been a near constant in his life for the past 12 years. And despite their profession and their upbringing, this was really the first time he thought Brad might actually die.

The thought was overwhelming.

He brushed a few tears away as he looked down at Brad. He looked exhausted and pale. He looked... wrong.

With a deep, weary sigh, Schuldig pulled up a chair beside the bed and sat down, leaning back and watching Brad. He didn't trust himself to lay on the bed. He needed to stay awake in case Brad started to slip back into his comatose like state. Brad needed to be watched until the sedative was out of his system.

[(Anonymous)]

Brad drifted slightly back to consciousness, blinking slowly in an effort to focus his eyes. Schuldig's mop of red hair was unmistakeable though.

This reminded him too much Rosenkreuz.

Schuldig had been sitting in the same spot at his beside before. Several times before but not since he was 15. Even at 9 years old, Schuldig always gave him a sense of security. He was the only person he trusted his back to. Even so, he still despised being so weak in front of him. Or anyone for that matter. The team couldn't afford this incompetence.

"... do you remember our pact?..." Brad whispered, his voice thick and low.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"No." Schuldig frowned. It wasn't a statement that he didn't remember. The word had been too forceful. It was a statement that he wouldn't do it. He'd only agreed because he knew it was much more likely that he would go insane before Brad would.

"You'll be fine. You just need to rest, and stop poking at the future." He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair.

His body language betrayed his words. The redhead was tense and worried. He didn't even fully believe his own words, but he refused to admit that to Brad.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Now, probably more when they had made this agreement, he needed to know that Schuldig would follow through. Brad wouldn't let his talent control him. Too many people were just waiting for that day - the day Brad would become nothing but a crystal ball. The remnants of Esset were certainly still interested. And Rosenkreuz already had teams scouring the globe, rounding up all the stray talents that had escaped Esset control. They would never simply let a talent and their investment in their training, walk away free.

Brad and Schuldig both were at high risk of losing their battles within their own heads. Their pact was their only failsafe - they would not let each other fall prey to their talents or to those that would use them.

At the moment, that was looking like a very real possibility. By the sound of Schuldig's voice, it seemed he knew it too.

"... don't renege on me now... "

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig sighed and shook his head. "Why are we even talking about this? You're still coherent and in the present."

As long as Brad was still living in the moment, rather than the future, Schuldig wasn't going to even entertain the idea of killing him. He knew if Brad died that he wouldn't be far behind. Not that he would kill himself, but he just didn't think he could survive without Brad as his anchor.

"I will do what needs to be done. But only when it needs to be done."

[(Anonymous)]

"... I'm in no hurry... "

This new aspect of his precognition was actually enough to make even Brad worry. It was theorized that precogs could delve so deeply into the future that they actually coexisted in both places at once - at least mentally. It was something that was conjecture and theory only because precogs were always trampled by their talent fairly early on. The more talented the precog, the shorter their useful life span. None came out whole, sane and coherent past 30.

Brad had already outlived his projected lifespan of 24 by a good 5 years. He was already on borrowed time by the expert estimations so this very well could be the beginning of the end.

Brad brought a hand to his chest, lightly poking at the deep black bruise. The morphine virtually eliminated the sensation of pain but still, it was damning evidence that his days were possibly numbered.

"... but you'll know when it's time..."

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

"Well the time isn't now." Schuldig snapped. "So stop talking about it."

He wasn't normally so rattled. Hell, he'd threatened to kill Brad in his sleep numerous times. But the idea that he might actually, really die... it had him scared. Scared enough that he was having trouble hiding it.

"Tell me about the vision." He said, suddenly changing topics. "All I got was movie theater and the disk."

[(Anonymous)]

Brad stared long at Schuldig, forcing his eyes to focus as best as he was able without his glasses. He hadn't really thought too far into this pact of theirs. Not whether or not he might actually have need of it but he wasn't so sure he could count on Schuldig to make that decision when the time came.

When.

Not if.

He was convinced it was an assured thing now despite his earlier vision to the contrary.

Brad turned away with a quiet sigh as he pondered alternative plans.

" Johnson will have the disk field tested in a movie theater tonight. He will kill more than 300 people with it."

Brad was sure of those details even though he didn't 'see' all of them. He just knew they were correct.

"This will be... " Brad couldn't stifle a wide yawn that broke through his words. "... will be our chance to track down Johnson. He needs to die. Quickly. Just like this project."

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

He didn't care about the people in the theater. People died all the time. But the possibility of getting their hands on Johnson, or at least one of Johnson's cronies...

But with Brad's visions acting up, he was hesitant to leave the man alone again. And if just the vision of Soundwaver hit Brad this hard, he was also hesitant to send Farfarello or Nagi in. Besides, Farfarello might accidentally kill the henchman before they could question him.

"We could send a message to Weiss. I think they would care enough about 300 people to help. Or they would blow off the warning, the people would die, and they would learn not to ignore us when we feel inclined to give them a warning. Or they would die in the theater and Kritiker would dig deeper into their internal files to find out what happened. I don't see a down side to this."

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

That wasn't a bad idea.

"I'm not willing to risk the team on this." Brad would not intentionally put Nagi or Farfarello in harms way if it could at all be avoided. (of course 'harm's way' was a relative thing in their line of work...) If Soundwaver could affect him this strongly then Schuldig wasn't safe from it either.

"This is Kritiker's mess. I see no reason why they shouldn't clean it up."

Engaging in this conversation was working to clear his head. Brad was still a long way from totally coherent but the process was well under way.

"We'll send Nagi to deliver the message again... now that Balinese is his new best friend, that should work in our favor."

Again a yawn interrupted his words.

"But not now... We'll send him later tomorrow. The less time they have to think about it the more likely they will react out of necessity."

Brad looked to Schuldig, still seeing the concern creasing his face. He was half ready to slap him but also half ready to pull him close in reassurance. It was a confusing dicotomy that prevented him from simply acting on either.

If this was what emotions did, Brad wasn't so sure he wanted to give them a try.

His expression softened as his gaze focused on the still vicious bruise around Schuldig's eye.

"It's a power spike... I'll learn to control it just like I always have." And as he said the words, they felt true. He never wanted to get to the point where Schuldig euthanized him with a bullet in the head. He would learn to control this. Crawford was the one in control.

Fuck destiny. The fates would just need to learn their place.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig cocked an eyebrow slightly. Power spikes weren't always a good thing, or controllable. But leave it to Brad to decide to try and fight it. Leave it to Brad to control fate. Neither of them had ever really cared for it, anyway.

But... well... Schuldig would believe it when he saw it. Right now Brad was a mess. It was obviously affecting his memory...

"If the attack is tonight, how can we send Nagi out tomorrow?" He frowned a bit. "Wouldn't he be a little late?"

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

Brad simply closed his eyes with a sigh. If Schuldig was looking for absolute clarity maybe he shouldn't be questioning him while doped up on morphine. Brad couldn't even get the explanation clear in his head because, he realized, he had no clue what time it was.

"Nagi... in the late afternoon... attack at 8:27pm."

Where had that time come from? There wasn't a clock in his vision... Brad decided that and all other questions were now irrelevent until he could sleep this off.

"Are you just going to sit there and watch me sleep?" The question came out more sarcastic than intended. It was intended to be more of an invitation to join him. Schuldig needed the rest just as badly. And, in his current frame of mind, Brad admitted to himself that he enjoyed simply being free to pull Schuldig close even if he was horrible at letting that be known.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig nodded at the plan, then yawned almost as if on cue. "Mm.. yeah. That was the plan, at least until I know that you're going to be all right." Sure Brad was awake and talking and seemingly coherent, but he wanted to make sure it wasn't just the Naloxone working its temporary magic.

But then... he was pretty tired. Getting home in itself had worn him out, and probably scared years off of life, not that he expected to live to a ripe old age where he would want those years back. And Brad seemed pretty stable. It didn't take much longer for Schuldig to convince himself that laying in bed made a lot more sense. He would probably fall asleep in the chair anyway. This way he wouldn't wake up with a sore neck.

The bathroom could wait. If Nagi saw it, he would worry, but at least Brad was all right. That was what was important.

With a weary sigh, Schuldig stood, stripping off his bloody clothes and crawling into bed beside Crawford. "Just... don't die."

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

"I'm touched." Brad actually smiled a little quirk of a smile. He knew he was probably the only person that ever saw this side of the redhead. And he wanted to keep it that way. No one really knew anything about either of them - not the way they knew each other.

Brad would and already had killed in order to preserve that.

"I have it on good authority that I have another 30 years or so..." Brad held out his arm inviting Schuldig in close. As sappy as it was, he was finding that he enjoyed the contact. He had never really been able to do something as simple as this before. It was comfortable.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig moved a bit closer, touching Brad, but not leaning on him, though one arm did snake it's way over the other man's stomach. "I hope that authority is a good source." He sighed and closed his eyes. "..'slong as you don't leave me here alone." He yawned.

[oracle-dreams.livejournal.com]

"I don't hate the world quite that much."

It was a given - without the other, they would each lose their constant struggle against their talent. Schuldig's words sank in a bit belatedly though. His usual demeanor did nothing to hide the truth behind his words.

Schuldig was honestly scared - terrified - of being alone.

Brad looked down at the top of his head, slowly burying his face in his hair. When Schuldig first became his pet project at seven years old, he used to sneak into Brad's bed when the voices became too much. They quickly learned how they benefitted each other and from then on they were just - together. Beyond family - they belonged to each other.

It may have taken enough morphine to drop a pony to get him to realize it, but Brad was finally beginning to understand.

Caring wasn't soley about what another could do for you... it was more about what you could do for them. Because right now, Brad wanted nothing more than to take that fear away.

Brad pulled him closer and settled in with a soft exhale.

"I'll always find you... " he whispered into his hair.

[aki-jade.livejournal.com]

Schuldig didn't say anything. There was really nothing to say. Despite their fights, even the ones that ended in violence, Schuldig knew Brad wouldn't leave him voluntarily. And for all of the threats Schuldig made to leave Japan and travel the world alone, they both knew the German wouldn't go anywhere for longer than a few days without Brad unless absolutely necessary.

Instead, a soft smile curved Schuldig's lips. One of his rare, genuine smiles. One that wasn't corrupted with harsh sarcasm, or a wicked smirk. Just a simple smile, one that was reserved only for Brad.