Fushigi Yuugi Fan Fiction ❯ A Fine Line - FY ❯ Of Flotsam and Jetsam ( Chapter 8 )

Author's notes and Warnings: *waves* Hello and welcome back! I really have absolutely no excuses for the long delay…just that my muses were taking a break and nothing could lure them out… Writers out there know what I'm talking about, ne? We are at the mercy of our muses, no daaa… So thank you very much for hanging around with me. ^_^

Ran and Ken are back in the FY version…as well as Youji and Omi. I hope you enjoy.

I love all my reviewers to death!!! Thank you all so so so so SO much! *hugs and kisses*

Thank you Hitari-chan for betaing! *hugs*

Please enjoy!

A Fine Line - FY: Chapter 8 - Of Flotsam and Jetsam

By Moonraven

(Day 5, around mid-day - South China Sea)

Tryffin sat curled up on Ceilen's bed, his arms wrapped tightly around his drawn up legs. He rocked nervously back and forth as he tried to keep his mind from conjuring up images of the two men going down with the boat. He didn't even know who they were and they were going to die because of him. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he tightened his grip around his legs as he did his best to stop the shaking in his limbs.

They were going to drown. His lips were numbed with dread and he pressed them together tightly. Images of swirling water crashed over his head, suffocating him as it rushed in his mouth and nose. He pressed his face between his knees and his chest, trying to hold back the scream that was threatening to burst through his control.

They were going to die… just like his parents. Drowned. Dead. Drowned. Dead.

"Tryffin!"

Drowned.

"Tryffin!"

Dea-

Strong hands shook him and Tryffin came out of his waking nightmare with a sharp intake of breath - he wasn't even aware that he'd stopped breathing.

Ceilen was in front of him; his hands gripping both of Tryffin's shoulders firmly and he was shaking the lights out of him.

"Oi!" Tryffin protested weakly and tried to pull away.

Ceilen stopped the shaking but didn't remove his hands and continued to stare down at him, his expression thoughtful. "Look, I know this is hard for you… I shouldn't have…" Ceilen's struggle was actually quite painful to watch but Tryffin did nothing to ease his discomfort. His nearly numbed mind barely registered what the man was saying to him.

They were going to drown… just like his parents. And it was all his fault…

"… They're rather hard to kill. Just remember that, okay?"

Hard to kill… Tryffin looked up into the brown eye doubtfully. Really?

The serious eye stared back down at him, warming him, calming him. He blinked up and was ashamed to find that the back of his eyes were burning with unshed tears.

"You'll get there in time?" Tryffin's voice was small as he shifted his grip from around his legs to Ceilen's arms. "They won't… die?"

If Ceilen felt uncomfortable about Tryffin's hold on him he didn't show it. Instead he squeezed Tryffin's shoulders gently. "They had plenty of warning. I'm sure they'd found the lifeboat. Now breathe." Ceilen instructed gently.

Tryffin continued to clutch at Ceilen's forearms as his panic stricken eyes darted about the room. "My parents had a life boat. I saw it. It was white with red trims…" His grip tightened and he began shaking again. "But… it didn't work, did it? No…"

Tryffin saw his parents clearly in his mind, crying out to him as they were swallowed up by giant blue waves. "No…" He began to struggle but Ceilen's grip was strong. With an exasperated sound, Ceilen sat down on the bed and pulled Tryffin roughly into a tight embrace. Tryffin clutched desperately at the man's loose shirt, his body half lying in Ceilen's lap. He buried his face in his bodyguard's chest while breathing in the comforting scent of Ceilen and waited for the nightmare to recede back into the depth of his mind.

After a few moments of silent rocking, Tryffin sighed; his fingers loosened their hold on Ceilen's shirt and his arms snaked around the man's neck as he pressed himself tighter against the older man. Why was it always like this? How could this insensitive, exasperating man be the only source of comfort amidst all his hellish fears? Why?

"Are you alright now?" Ceilen's voice was strained as if he was struggling with one control issue or another. With the man, it was kinda hard to tell which.

Tryffin nodded but refused to let go and buried his face tighter into the crook of Ceilen's neck. Just a few more minutes, please, he silently begged. Ceilen never let him this close unless he was freaking out of his mind and Tryffin wasn't sure if he would survive all the `freaking' just to get some attention.

Though it was very tempting...

By this time, Ceilen was as stiff as a cardboard though he didn't make a move to get away. As Tryffin slowly relaxed, he suddenly realized why his bodyguard was so tense; somewhere in the middle of it all, Tryffin had climbed completely into Ceilen's lap and even had his legs wrapped snugly around the rigid man's waist.

Oh boy. Tryffin blinked and wondered if he should wait for Ceilen to come out of the coma and shove him off. Maybe it would be better if he regained some of his dignity and get off the man before that happened.

"Er, sorry, man." He mumbled and removed his arms gingerly. "I… er… thanks."

Ceilen wasn't looking at him, rather at a point somewhere to the right. Tryffin figured he should get off now before the man popped a disc from all the stress… but his body didn't want to.

It was safe here in Ceilen's arms. His nightmares and fears couldn't haunt him… couldn't paralyze him. The terrifying images of his parents and the unknown men were somehow muted and stayed relatively in the background… still there, yet allowed him some peace.

Tryffin sighed. As much as he would like nothing more than to stay perched on Ceilen's lap, he didn't need Ceilen to have more stuff to get mad at him about… but the man was confusing to say the least. Tryffin couldn't believe Ceilen had allowed him to get this close again, not after what had happened last time. And even then, Tryffin knew that Ceilen wasn't indifferent to him. He knew that Ceilen, at one point or another, had wanted him, and desired him. So what the hell was stopping him?

Involuntarily his eyes shifted to Ceilen's face. It was devoid of any emotion but Tryffin saw the tense set of Ceilen's jaw. Yet the man made no move to push him away…

"Ceilen?"

His bodyguard shifted his focus to Tryffin's eyes. They locked gazes for a moment then everything started to spin in the background. Tryffin grabbed onto Ceilen's shoulders tightly and closed his eyes to block out the insane imageries. When he opened them again, Ceilen was no longer there.

Tryffin blinked and stared at the smiling man in front of him. He was no longer sitting on Ceilen but found himself on the blue-haired man instead, the man from his dreams.

"As much as I like you where you are, we should get started, no da."

Tryffin blinked again but before he could find a reply, his mouth was already shooting off things without running them by his brain first.

"That's what I've been telling YOU, Chiri." Tryffin didn't know why he'd said that or who Chiri was? This whole thing seemed like a dream but he wasn't asleep, surely?

The blue-haired man laughed and shook his head. "I meant `started' on our way to the village, no da. That's NOT exactly what you'd proposed, na no da."

"But MY idea is more fun, Chiri. C'mon… what's five more minutes." Tryffin found to his horror that his body moved forward without him commanding it to… and he was now licking the smiling lips of his companion rather suggestively.

The man in front of him sighed and opened his mouth, then gave Tryffin a kiss that had an inevitable effect on his anatomy. "It's never five minutes, Tasuki-kun." Vaguely he wondered who Tasuki was but as the kiss deepened he began to care less. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the dream; the ones with the blue-haired man - Chiri - were always better than any he'd ever had. What the hell did it matter that he had no clue who the hell they were supposed to be.

The kiss broke off gently and Tryffin sighed disappointedly at the loss of touch. He opened his eyes to voice his complaint but the shocked brown eye that stared back at him had him choking on the words.

Ceilen.

His bodyguard's wet, slightly swollen lips told Tryffin that it wasn't a dream… not to the other man, anyway. HE had been kissing Ceilen! For real!

Tryffin gasped in shock and the sound echoed Ceilen's reaction. The other man's stunned expression led Tryffin to wonder if maybe his bodyguard had also witnessed the scene in his dream… did Ceilen see this Tasuki instead of Tryffin? Or could it just be that the man was surprised at the kiss.

Ceilen stood up suddenly, unceremoniously depositing Tryffin on the floor. He stood there, staring down at Tryffin with what could only be described as severe shock. No…Tryffin didn't think surprise at the kiss caused that look. It was definitely more than that. Surprise certainly couldn't describe what Tryffin was feeling now.

"What the…?" Tryffin muttered in confusion. "Who…?"

Ceilen shook his head briskly and rubbed the spot between his eyebrows. Then frowned down at the redhead sprawling on the floor in disbelief. "What did you do?"

"ME!?!" Tryffin scowled at Ceilen in disbelief. "I didn't DO shit! What the hell kind of tea did you make THIS time?"

"I didn't make any tea." Ceilen continued to stare down at him but his expression now was confused.

"So… what… did you see?" Tryffin asked.

Ceilen's frowned was back but he didn't answer, he just stood there looking down at him.

"Ceil---" Tryffin started but was interrupted when Ceilen's computers started to sound out alarms.

Ceilen snapped out of whatever trance he was in and sprinted towards the sound immediately. Tryffin got up and went after him, their mutual dream temporarily on hold in face of potential danger.

"What is it?" Tryffin asked, his eyes darting from screen to screen. He still had no clue which one was the problem.

"We found them." Ceilen's voice was quiet as he typed something into the computer. An image changed on one screen and Tryffin found himself looking at the ocean. Ceilen typed in something else and the image zoomed in and now Tryffin could clearly see something floating in the water.

Tryffin hissed sharply and clutched at the table. NO! They couldn't have been too late. Please, don't let them be too late!

Another shift in the monitor and the small black thing floating in the water turned out to be a lifeboat. Tryffin could just make out two men sitting side by side in the middle of the craft. He sighed in relief and sagged bonelessly into the chair by the table.

"Thank the gods!" He muttered with a small smile. "We made it in time."

"Yes." Ceilen said distractedly as he continued to type things into the computer but now he was using more than one of them. "Stay here." He commanded quietly and headed for the door.

"What are you going to do?" Tryffin asked from where he sat.

Ceilen didn't look back as he walked through the door. "That depends on what I think of them." Then he was gone.

Shit. Tryffin hoped for the two men's sakes that they didn't piss Ceilen off too badly… or it might just be better for them to stay on the raft.

~*~*~

Some time passed before Tryffin heard footsteps and hushed voices coming down the hall. He sighed in relief - again - Ceilen didn't feed them to the sharks after all. He swallowed and held his breath as he waited for the door to open… and waited…

But no one came in. Tryffin frowned then got up and went to the door. He poked his head out and looked toward what he knew to be the steps leading up top. No one was in the hall but he heard voices coming from his cabin. Well, he couldn't really call it HIS cabin since most of his time he spent in Ceilen's but… oh hell, what the fuck was he doing arguing with himself?

He stepped out into the hall and headed toward HIS cabin - so there! By the time he reached the open doorway and looked into the room, he wished he hadn't. His heart thumped strangely in his chest as conflicting emotions rushed through his body.

In the room was Ken, wrapped in a blanket, lying on the bed propped up on one elbow, looking up nervously at Aya who was holding the mean looking katana to Ceilen's throat. In one of Ceilen's hands was a syringe and in another, a clear bottle of fluid. Tryffin blinked silently at the scene, gladness at seeing the two men safe and sound warred with fear for Ceilen's life. There was also confusion at seeing Aya and Ken again though he wasn't completely surprised. They seemed to show up in the oddest of places.

"What's going on?" He asked from the doorway, his gaze shifting from one man to another. The electrifying charges in the room reminded him of the last time they were all together, in the parking lot by Tokyo bay.

"Are you alright?" Aya asked without looking away from Ceilen.

"Yeah… what's going on?" Tryffin asked again.

Ken slumped back on the bed and waved his hand at Aya while rolling his eyes. "C'mon Aya, if he wanted to kill us he would have just shot us when we were in the boat. You don't think he would have hauled our asses up here, stick them full of needles and then dump them out again, do you?"

Aya didn't say anything but the katana didn't waver.

"What's going on?" Tryffin asked again, this time, coming into the room. He came to stand right by Aya's hand… the one holding the sword then looked from Aya's unreadable face to Ceilen's inscrutable one. Damn but they were so alike!

"Look, I'm gonna sound like a parrot if I have to ask that question again… so… guys?"

Aya finally lowered his katana and sheathed it silently. Then he held out his hand to Ceilen and after a brief hesitation, Ceilen handed him the glass bottle he was holding. Aya read the label then gave the bottle back to Ceilen. He looked Tryffin up and down critically to make sure the redhead was indeed all right before he moved to the foot of the bed and stood there watching Ceilen.

"Um… and maybe you could put the needle away too, okay, Peregrine?" Ken turned to eye the syringe nervously.

Peregrine? Tryffin raised his eyebrows at Ken then turned to his bodyguard inquiringly but the man was just bent on sticking Ken with said needle.

"Are you allergic to penicillin?" Ceilen asked, obviously not listening to Ken.

"You sound like a frigging doctor - no, I'm not allergic to penicillin but I am allergic to needles, so just put the damn thing away already." Ken grumbled and scooted closer to the wall, away from Ceilen.

Tryffin suppressed the urged to giggle. Despite the tension in the room, this whole scene was just too damn funny.

Ceilen frowned at Ken. "If my guess is right, you're going to need this antibiotic."

"It's just a fever. I had them before; it'll go away by morning. I'm sure."

Ceilen didn't say anything but looked pointedly at Aya. The taller redhead stared back then after a few moments, nodded.

"Stop whining, Ken. You're sounding like Youji."

"Ha!" Came the squawk from the bed. Then Ken hissed sharply and clutched at his chest.

"Look, you've picked up a lung infection when you swallowed some water. It could get dangerous and since we're not going anywhere near a medical facility and I certainly didn't pick you up so I can bury you..." Ceilen trailed off as he stuck the needle into the top of the little glass jar and drew out some liquid. "Give me your arm."

Ken grumbled but stuck his arm out of the blanket, glaring the whole time. When Ceilen was done with Ken, he turned to Aya. "That's all I can do. I don't have a very wide range of antibiotics and if he doesn't get better with what I have…" Ceilen's voice trailed off but his eyes remained locked onto Aya's.

Aya nodded grimly but didn't say anything.

Tryffin frowned as he looked from the two men to Ken. "What are you talking about? How bad is he?"

They both ignored him, of course. What did he expect?

"Keep him warm. I'll be back with some oxygen." Ceilen told Aya quietly then left them the three of them alone.

"Oxygen?" Tryffin repeated numbly. Was Ken really that bad?

The brunette groaned and pulled the cover over his head then turned his back on them. He mumbled something Tryffin didn't quite catch then snorted.

"That's really mature, Ken." Aya said as he eyed the lump under the cover.

Tryffin raised his eyebrows. "What did he say?"

"You don't want to know."

"Oh." Tryffin blinked up at the taller redhead then turned his gaze to Ken. "Is he going to be okay?"

More muttering was heard from the lump and since Tryffin had no idea what was said, he turned his attention to Aya instead.

"Ken..." Aya muttered but Tryffin saw the softening in his expression.

At that moment, Ceilen returned with a slender green tank a couple of feet long and a black rubbery looking hose with a mouthpiece of some kind. It looked very much like the scuba gear Tryffin had seen on TV but the air tank was much smaller and the whole thing looked less complicated somehow.

Ceilen went and knelt down by the bed then started to hook up the tank to the hose he was carrying. When he was done, he turned the valve on top of the tank and tapped the gauge with the tip of his finger. Then Ceilen reached over and shook Ken's shoulder gently.

Ken muttered then poked his head out from under his blanket and looked over his shoulder at them. His hair was tousled and his face flushed from the fever but he managed to give Ceilen a feisty glower.

The unfazed Ceilen silently handed him the mouthpiece and instructed, "This goes between your teeth. Inhale with your mouth and exhale through you nose."

Ken lowered his gaze to the oxygen tank, to the mouthpiece then sighed. He rolled over to face Ceilen then took the mouthpiece and did what Ceilen had told him.

"One hour." Ceilen instructed Ken then got up and turned to Aya. "That's pure oxygen but I don't have a lot of it. When his temperature comes down, we can take him off it." Ceilen rummaged through his `first-aid' kit and came up with a bottle.

Aya took it, read the label then nodded his thanks. Or so it appeared. Silent communication was never Tryffin's strong point… he was always the vocal one but since his stay with Ceilen, he'd learned a few things. Tryffin looked back to Ken and the brunette was watching the exchange with tired eyes.

"Why don't you lie back down?" Tryffin moved over to gently push Ken onto his back and tugged the blanket snugly around the sick man. "I won't let them kill each other, I promise."

Aya came up next to them and handed Ken some pills and a glass of water. Ken took the mouthpiece off and took them grudgingly. "And that's a bad thing because?" He muttered to Tryffin before swallowing the pills and some water.

Aya, ignoring Ken, turned back to Ceilen and asked, "What are your plans?"

Ceilen shrugged. "That's pretty screwed already, don't you think?" He ran a hand through his hair unhappily. "If you mean my plans concerning you two, I don't know yet. I've already lost half a day coming for you and I can't afford to lose anymore time."

After a short silence, Aya asked another question. "Are you following some people from the faction?"

Ceilen looked sharply at him but didn't reply right away. He narrowed his eye at them then asked back, "What is your assignment?"

Aya shrugged. "It depends."

Ceilen stared.

"We're winging this one." Ken whispered from the bed.

Ceilen was silent as he stared searchingly at Aya. Then, as if he wasn't sure he could trust what he saw there, he turned to look at Ken. Tryffin saw Ken nod almost imperceptibly before the sick brunette closed his eyes tiredly.

Ceilen thought about that for a moment then shook his head. His looked really upset and Tryffin couldn't understand why. It was obvious that the two men they picked up were willing to help Ceilen. Why was Ceilen resisting it?

"It has nothing to do with us." Ken mumbled from the bed, his eyes half closed. "We heard you the first few times. But that's where you're wrong. WE are part of Kritiker. This makes it our business as much as it does yours, more so since we're STILL part of the organization and you're not." By the time Ken was done, he was panting heavily.

Aya gently push the mouthpiece back in place before straightening up to face the troubled Ceilen. "We're doing some research of our own and we know about his---" Aya's eyes darted to Tryffin but Ceilen cut him off sharply.

"No! Not now."

The two men stared at each other silently. Tryffin wondered what Aya was going to say… his what? Whose… what? Was he referring to Tryffin? And why `not now'?

"I'll bring in a cot for you." Ceilen said quietly. "I only have one spare cabin so you'll have to share. Someone should be with him anyway, at least for the first 24 hours."

The taller man nodded - basic Aya communication skill - then he motioned towards Tryffin. "And him?"

Ceilen's frown was back as he glanced at Tryffin. "He's been sleeping in my cabin."

Choking noises from the bed had the attention of all three men. Ken seemed to be in a coughing fit but he waved them away carelessly. He removed the mouthpiece again and this time managed to smirk at Tryffin. "Man, you don't waste any time, do you?"

Tryffin tried hard not to blush but knew he failed miserably. He glowered and shoved the mouthpiece back into the brunette's mouth. "Shut up. It's NOT like that!"

He glanced quickly at Aya and nearly groaned out loud at the openly amused expression on the other redhead's face.

Ceilen looked from him to Aya then to Ken, his frown deepening with each man. "No, it's not like that at all." He said that rather indignantly. Tryffin was miffed. "He has hydrophobia. But since you're here, maybe he won't feel the need to latch onto me every time he thinks about the ocean. Maybe I should bring in two cots?"

Tryffin swore his face was redder than the killer tomatoes in Ceilen's lame sci-fi movie. He sputtered and waved his arms around wildly. "It's your goddamn fault for bringing it up all the time! And I DON'T latch on to you!"

Aya raised his eyebrows at Tryffin. "You're afraid of water?" Then he turned to Ceilen. "And you brought him on a boat."

Both Tryffin and Ceilen glared at him while Ken chuckled softly on the bed.

"You should have left them on that goddamn raft!" Tryffin muttered gruffly to Ceilen.

"I can always put them back." The older man replied, his expression revealing nothing of his actual thoughts.

Ken choked on his oxygen, while Aya did his best to keep his face straight.

This was going to be one LONG trip.

~*~*~*~*~*~

(Day 5 late night - Japan)

"Will you hold that still?" Shinji scolded when the light from their flashlight wavered for the umpteenth time.

"Someone's coming!" Kouji hissed and tried to pull the younger man behind the file cabinet.

"I almost got it!" Shinji hissed back but before he could pull the file out, he was yanked away. "Kouji-san!"

"Shh!"

"At least close the damn cabinet!"

Kouji reached over to the front of the cabinet then gingerly pulled it shut. Hushed voices could be heard outside the door and Kouji watched as a dim glow of light shone through the bottom of the door. Jingling of keys and muffled rattling of the door handle had Kouji pulling Shinji deeper into the shadows, behind rows of cabinets.

Then Kouji heard a startled squawk as the door started to open, followed by, "Youji-kun! THAT is not the door handle!"

"You weren't complaining a while ago."

"We weren't sneaking in Kritiker's storage room a while ago!"

"Shh, Omitchi. For an assassin, you sure are noisy."

Assassin? Kouji's hold around Shinji's waist tightened but the young man in his grasp just chuckled and wiggled. Then to Kouji's dismay, Shinji called out, "For assassins, BOTH of you are noisy."

Silence greeted them momentarily then Kouji heard soft laughter on the other side of the cabinet.

Shinji pulled himself free and tugged on Kouji's arm as he walked towards the voices, then he shone his flashlight at the two newcomers. Both figures squinted back at them in the light but the shorter young man smiled amidst the glare. He was currently pinned against the back of the door by the taller young man wearing sunglasses - which made absolutely no sense to Kouji whatsoever, seeing that it was at night - who looked slightly irritated at the untimely interruption.

"Shinji-kun." The smaller young man waved at the light and Shinji lowered it to the ground. "Fancy meeting you here."

"I'm working, I don't know about you two." Kouji noted the smile in Shinji's voice but he did not remove his hand from around Shinji's waist. The kid may know these people but HE still didn't know what the hell was going on or whom he could trust.

"I'm working… on Omitchi here." The taller man said with a lazy smile then he flickered his eyes - over the rim of the sunglasses - to Kouji. He smirked then looked back at Shinji. "What are YOU working on?"

"Baka." Shinji muttered, shaking his head. "You get horny at the oddest places, I swear." Then he turned to Kouji and smiled. "Kouji-san, may I introduce you to two of my colleagues? The one being groped is Bombay and the one doing the groping is Balinese."

Kouji frowned. "Then who's Omitchi and Youji-kun?" He asked.

Shinji sighed then glared at the two men. Apparently, they weren't supposed to have used those names.

"Nevermind." Kouji said quickly. "I don't want to know."

"Good." All three said at the same time, huge smiles on their faces.

"So… did you find anything?" Omitchi or Bombay asked as he disengaged himself from the `groper', who didn't look like he wanted to let the young man go.

"Not yet." Shinji said lightly as he turned back to the cabinet. "You guys interrupted us."

"We could leave." Balinese said mildly as he and Bombay joined them. "We have unfinished business to attend to." He ran a playful hand down Bombay's back and the young man shivered delightedly.

"Youji-kun!" Bombay admonished in a hushed voice.

"Okay… you guys make up your mind." Kouji interrupted. "Is it Balinese or Youji? Bombay or Omitchi?"

Shinji sighed and shook his head but he didn't turn away from the files he was digging through. The two newcomers smiled and shrugged.

"It's Omi." The taller young man said with a calculated smile. "Only *I* can call him Omitchi."

"Ah." Kouji nodded. "And can *I* call you Youji or is that only for him?"

Shinji and Omi laughed quietly while Youji's smile got bigger. "You can call me Youji. HE calls me something else entirely."

Omi groaned and hid his face in his hands. "Youji-kun!"

"Found it." Shinji announced and pulled out a file.

"I can't believe Kritiker is leaving paper trails... literally." Youji muttered, suddenly all business. Kouji looked around and felt like he was with a different set of people. Gone were the bickering friends and lovers, in front of him were trained killers - assassins. Kouji shivered and tried to focus his attention on the papers that Shinji held in front of him but his mind kept reminding him otherwise.

"After what Cei… Peregrine had found, I guess even THEY can't trust electronic information." Shinji sifted through the pages then muttered in frustration. "It's not here." He handed the folder to Kouji. "But Shitahara's file is here."

Kouji frowned down at the file then back up at the young man. "The proof?" He asked softly.

Shinji smiled tightly and nodded. He took a hold of Kouji's hands that were gripping the folder tightly. "You don't have to read it. The details are pretty gruesome and graphic."

Kouji shook his head. "I have to know. He was… I thought he was my friend."

"I've shown you what we do… that we are not villains." Shinji squeezed his hands and looked questioningly up at him. "I think you've realized that you may have been mistaken about him."

Kouji shook his head stubbornly. "Doesn't matter. I have to know."

"He's dead. There's nothing you can do. If he was a good friend of yours… maybe what's in this folder really doesn't matter."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Kouji snatched his hands away roughly. "It mattered enough for him to die for. It mattered enough for THEM to come after Tryffin. It mattered enough for you to think they might come after me too. So what do you mean `it doesn't matter'?"

Shinji stared back at him sadly. "If you want to remember him as a good friend, then forget the folder. Apparently he was a different person with you. He was a friend. Maybe there was something worth remembering… by someone… something that isn't monstrous. Something… good, something that he himself had forgotten." Shinji looked away suddenly. "I haven't seen anything worth treasuring in a long time, Kouji-san. If there is something…" He shook his head then went back to the file cabinet. "Do what you want, I still haven't found what I'm looking for."

Kouji involuntarily shivered at the suddenly cold tone from the young man. He wondered what kind of lives these `assassins' lived. What kinds of horrors did they see that just a tiny glimpse of goodness would make them cling on so tightly?

A tiny blipping sound from Omi's direction made him turn towards the young man. Omi had a small palm sized gadget out and was looking at the tiny screen attached to a mini keyboard. It looked like a very small laptop.

"Nao-san." Omi whispered then glanced sideways at Youji. "He's here."

Shinji stopped his search and looked over his shoulders at his two colleagues.

"I'll take care of him." Youji said quietly and turned to go.

"No." Omi said firmly. "I'll go."

"Omi."

"We agreed that you wouldn't baby me." Omi said sternly.

"I'm not." Youji said innocently. "I'm doing my part in the team."

"Why don't you both go?" Kouji wanted to know.

Shinji stared at the glaring couple for a few seconds then he closed the cabinet door softly. "I'll go with Omi." He walked between the two lovers and pulled on Omi's wrist as he walked passed. "See if you can find anything on the Atlantis project, will you, Youji-kun? We'll be back shortly."

Before the taller man could protest, the two younger men left the room. Youji growled and slammed a fist into his palm. "If he touches a hair on Omi's head, so help him god…" He stopped and turned guiltily towards Kouji. "Er… I meant Nao, not Shinji."

Kouji shrugged. "I didn't think you meant Shinji."

"Oh." Youji rubbed at the back of his head. "Yeah, of course. Now where was he?" He walked up to the file cabinet then started rummaging through the files.

While Youji went about his business, Kouji continued to eye the file in his hand uncertainly. Did he want to know? Did he need to know? Yes, damn it! It couldn't be true. But what if it were true? What if Shitahara really did those things? What then?

No. His friend couldn't possibly be the monster they made him out to be. Sure he was a bit rough when he got excited - well, maybe a lot rougher than most people but he had never seen anyone permanently damaged. Kouji's frowned deepened as he remembered how Tryffin had always thought something was wrong with his friend. Tryffin didn't trust Shitahara and when he spent time with him, Tryffin had always came home with bruises.

Kouji closed his eyes in annoyance. Did he really want to know?

"What's taking them so long?" Youji muttered beside him. Kouji looked to the tall man who was now staring at the gadget identical the one Omi had. Kouji blinked at the worried expression on Youji's handsome face in confusion. Were they gone that long? Youji was already working on a different file cabinet. How long was Kouji out of it? Did it take him that long debating with himself?

"Stay here and hide." Youji instructed him shortly and he pocketed the little computer and headed for the door.

Kouji tucked the file he was holding into the waistband in the back of his pants then followed the taller man. "I don't think so."

Youji turned to him abruptly. "Stay here. It could get dangerous."

Kouji pulled out his gun and gave Youji a grim smile.

Youji stared at him for a moment then shrugged. "Whatever." He said carelessly and turned back to the door. "Just try not to shoot me." He tossed over his shoulders.

"Try not to tempt me." Kouji returned.

Youji chuckled softly but didn't reply. They turned off their flashlights and followed the corridor in semi darkness, making sure to hug the walls. After a few minutes, Kouji tugged on Youji's blond locks. "Do you know where you're going?" He whispered.

"Of course I do!" Youji whispered back… a bit loudly. Despite his supposed confidence, Youji pulled out the little palm computer again and pressed a series of numbers and letters. He muttered when what he wanted to see did not appear on the screen. "Damn it, where are they?"

Kouji frowned. "Who's Nao?"

Youji didn't bother looking at him but continued to fiddle with the gadget. "A very bad man."

"Are they in danger?"

Youji did not answer but snapped the computer shut then started along the corridor once again.

Kouji fished into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He started to dial his men when Youji suddenly turned and snatched the phone away. "Hey!" Kouji hissed and tried to get it back.

"What are you doing?" Youji looked at the phone and the number Kouji tried to call.

"Call for back up." Duh!

"Are you crazy? Didn't Shinji tell you who we're dealing with?" Youji promptly turned off the phone then pocketed that too.

"Hey!" Kouji protested.

"They'll get to us before your men get here." Youji sighed heavily at the look on his face. "Shinji told you we are dealing with VERY, VERY BAD men. Stay close to me and… and try not to get killed."

Youji started down the corridor again and Kouji followed numbly. "What about Shinji and Omi?"

Youji paused but didn't stop. "I don't know but they better be okay or there'll be a whole lot of fucking hell to pay."

Chills ran down Kouji's spine at the dangerous edge in Youji's voice. Kouji didn't have any doubt that the deadly promise would be carried out. He just hoped that it wouldn't be necessary and that if it were; he wouldn't be around to witness the carnage.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(About the same time - South China Sea)

"His temperature is still down." Tryffin announced as he entered Ceilen's cabin - then wished he hadn't. The scene before him was becoming all too familiar. Every time he turned around Aya and Ceilen were at each other's throats. Currently, it wasn't so literal. They were just glaring daggers at each other.

Both men turned towards him as he spoke, then Ceilen turned away and went to his computers.

"Is he awake?" Aya asked.

Tryffin nodded and came to sit on the bed, drawing his legs under him. It was strange that neither Aya nor Ken could quell his fears like Ceilen could. He had been taking care of Ken for the last couple of hours and now he was drained. His fears had been eating away at him a little at a time and even if it wasn't a full-blown panic attack; it was enough to tire him out after a few hours.

"I gave him more water, that was all he would take. What are you guys fighting about this time?"

No one spoke but the look they threw at each other was enough for Tryffin to regret asking. When Aya started talking again, Tryffin knew he was going to find out the hard way.

"We are NOT staying on board."

"You can't expect Ken to---" Ceilen stopped abruptly, his eye shifted to Tryffin.

"What?" The redhead asked (FY's redhead ^^;;) as he looked from Ceilen to Aya, then back to Ceilen again. "What don't you want Ken to do?"

Aya narrowed his eyes at Ceilen, a small smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "Yes, Peregrine, what can't Ken do?"

"The name is Ceilen." Ceilen growled but didn't answer the question. Tryffin watched his bodyguard carefully. Ceilen was doing that `you don't want to know' thing again.

"Why do you call him Peregrine?" Tryffin asked Aya instead. If he changed the subject, he might defuse the situation before it got out of hand. Later he could steer it back to the `what Ken can't do' issue.

Aya shrugged. "To us, he's Peregrine."

"Is it like the Abyssinian and Siberian thing? A nickname? How cute!"

Ceilen suddenly had a coughing fit and Aya's face turned different shades of red. "They're CODENAMES, not nicknames! And they're NOT cute."

It was Tryffin's turn to shrug. "You're a kitty and he's a birdie. Sounds cute to me."

Aya narrowed his eyes dangerously. "Let see if you'll still think it's cute when your little birdie makes you swim ashore."

Tryffin froze, the little smirk he wore dropped like a dead weight. He heard a gasp from Ceilen but he couldn't see his bodyguard; he was hidden behind the computer screen. He turned back to Aya. "Very funny."

"Is it?" Aya gave him a cold look then walked toward the door. "I'll leave you to discuss it while I check on Ken." Then he was gone.

Tryffin rocked back and forth on the bed, his eyes riveted to the top of Ceilen's head, the only thing he could see above the screen. "He's joking, right?" He asked quietly.

When Ceilen didn't answer Tryffin got up and went over to stare down at his bodyguard. "Tell me."

"It hasn't been decided." Ceilen said, his eye not meeting Tryffin.

"So… you might leave me on board with Aya and Ken?" Tryffin asked hopefully. But then Aya didn't want to stay… "I can stay with Ken instead." He offered quickly, remembering Ceilen's comment to Aya's objection.

"Like I said." Ceilen looked up coldly. "It hasn't been decided."

"You WERE planning on talking to me BEFORE you decide, right?" Tryffin asked, his temper began rising and his fear took the back seat.

"What's there to talk about?" Ceilen asked, his own temper rose as well. "You would just refuse regardless of any discussion."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? So… you're just gonna knock me out and drag me ashore, is that it?" Tryffin boomed over the computer monitor as he glared down at his bodyguard.

"Actually, you need to be conscious for what I have in mind." Ceilen glared back up at him.

"Wh-what do you have in mind?" Tryffin's voice faltered as his mind filled with Ceilen dragging him across the water. He shuddered uncontrollably.

Ceilen sighed heavily. "It hasn't been decided." Ceilen repeated for the third time. "I'm looking for alternatives, so don't panic just yet."

Tryffin took long breaths and nodded. "Okay… but promise you won't… I mean you WILL tell me before you do… anything?"

"Of course." Ceilen said with a quick nod.

Tryffin narrowed his eyes at his innocent looking bodyguard. Now why didn't he believe that?

"Didn't I promise that I wouldn't let anything happen to you?" Ceilen asked softly and Tryffin found himself drowning in that warm brown depth of Ceilen's eye. He nodded dumbly, his heart fluttering in his chest. What the…? He was supposed to be pissed, damn it, not melt! He refused to melt!

The corner of Ceilen's lips turned up slightly and Tryffin's heart skipped several beats. That was an almost-smile!

Tryffin melted.

Damn!

TBC…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Note: The WK version will pick up from somewhere in the middle of this chapter. I won't start it from where I left off in AFL-WK-8. It should move along much faster now that they are closing in on the baddies. ^_^ I think. ^^;;

Thank you everyone. You are all wonderful people! ^___^