Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ No Mercy ❯ Jigsaw ( Chapter 4 )

Title: No Mercy

 

Author: Blythe

 

Archived: MediaMiner.org, Adultfanfiction.net (once it's working again!), and YxA ML

 

Disclaimer: Alack, alas…they are not mine. *sigh* This is a work of fanfiction and is not for profit.

 

Rating: NC-17, language and lemon (eventually)

 

Pairing: Aya/Yohji (naturally)

 

A/N: This may be the last update for a little while. I will try not to keep it on hiatus for too long, but I am in the process of moving cross-country and it's taking over my life right now. I beg forgiveness.

Thank you to Marasmine for betaing and wailing and supporting.

Thanks to Assassins Anonymous for nagging. (Now, update, all of you!)

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4: Jigsaw

 

 

Yes. That really was Yohji.

 

The words echoed through Omi's mind over and over as he tried to get to sleep that night. Suddenly, all of the niggling little fragments of information were starting to click into place. Like the frame of a puzzle coming together, but the center of the picture still in scattered pieces.

 

The missions. The missions had been too well planned for one of Kritiker's regular intel gathering grunts. No. They'd been planned by someone with field experience. Lots of it.

 

It was more than that though, and Omi cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. Those missions had more than just field experience behind them. They were perfectly planned for the dynamics of Weiss. The placement of long range vs. close combat weapons. The field leader on point. Everything.

 

Damn it! He really should have seen this sooner.

 

Still, he pushed the self-recriminations aside for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief. Yohji was alive.

 

Yohji was still in Tokyo.

 

And, if what Aya said was true, Yohji had another fucking hole that needed to be patched up thanks to Weiss! The man never did know when to stop, when to take care of himself instead of his family.

 

Family. That's what they were. Or, what they were supposed to be anyway, Omi thought. Well, he'd already lost one family and he'd be damned if he'd lose another. Yohji had looked after all of them in his own way. Omi had wanted to help him when he'd packed him off to the cabin with Aya and he still wanted to help him. And now he had enough information to start another search.

 

He'd find him.

 

He had to.

 

***************************************************************** ******

 

“You know what would be good right about now? An extra pair of hands and eyes in the back of my head!”

 

`Who are you talking to?'

 

“Oh, shut up!”

 

`Ooh. Good comeback. Not just crazy, but witty too! Everything he looks for in a man, I'm sure.'

 

Gods, but his inner voice had a lot of attitude!

 

“Everyone talks to themselves. It's not a sign of insanity!”

 

`Right. Insanity is repeating the same action, expecting a different result. Well, I think you've pretty much nailed that one.'

 

Wow. That was so uncalled for.

 

`Well, it's true, isn't it? I mean, think about it. You slept with Asuka and where is she now? And Keiji? Don't see him around anywhere. And now, Aya. Nope, not a trace of him here. But, he could have died tonight, huh? And who put him there? Who planned that mission?'

 

“But he didn't die. He wasn't even injured and that was because of me, too.”

 

`Oh, I see. So, as long as you cover your ass, you can continue to endanger people? You can go on wrecking the lives of some and taking the lives of the rest? How nice for you.'

 

“Shut up! Damn you! I knew he'd need back-up. I knew that security was too spread out to be covered by the three of them. I had to be there.”

 

`When you gonna learn?'

 

“What?”

 

`Come on. Tattooed it on your skin and you still forget.'

 

“No.”

 

`Yes.'

 

“No! This was different.”

 

`Tsk-tsk. It'll never be different. No one is ever going to love you. Just face it. Why are you even trying to patch that? You know you can't do it on your own. You're not going to go to Magicbus. You can't go anywhere else. So, why don't you just sit and wait? Of course, it'll take a while. It's not bleeding nearly fast enough anymore. Maybe you should just, you know, help it along a little?'

 

He turned to the window. There it was again; the pitiful, pallid light that foretold the coming day. He hated how it leeched the life from the earth, the color from the sky, the warmth from the skin. It was an ill omen that he was awake to see it again.

 

He looked down at the gauze in his hand, then turned to the mirror to take in his appearance. He noted the hollow eyes, the gaunt face, the hole in his shoulder, and the steady flow of blood that looked too red against his once tanned skin. He took it all in with an almost clinical apathy.

 

`Is there really anything here worth saving?'

 

His vision grew dark around the edges and he could feel unconsciousness calling for him. He gritted his teeth and probed the wound, using the pain to drown out the voice. The wound seemed neat enough and he taped the gauze in place the best he could.

 

He just wasn't ready to give up yet.

 

What was it that they said?

 

Quitters never win, winners never quit; but those who never win and never quit are idiots.

 

Yeah, that was it.

 

`Well,' he thought, as he slipped into his robe, `Aya always said I was an idiot.'

 

He made it to the kitchen table before he passed out.

 

***************************************************************** *****

 

Manx read over the report again. Something was wrong. She listened to the recordings from the comlinks and couldn't shake the feeling that she wasn't hearing everything. Something had happened during last night's mission and Weiss didn't want her to know.

 

She sighed. Hadn't they figured out by now that there was nothing that she couldn't find out?

 

It was something about Abyssinian's part that wasn't making sense. He'd been pinned down. Even using the target's body as a shield wouldn't have gotten him past two gunmen unscathed. She was glad he wasn't dead, but the account in the report she held just didn't ring true.

 

She let the events play in her mind over and over, occasionally making minor adjustments to the scenario to account for everything. In the end, the only thing that really fit was the presence of another ally.

 

She double checked her records, though she already knew the answer she would find. Pre-mission intelligence. There was only one other person who had access to it and that was the one who'd gathered it.

 

Looks like it's time to pay a visit to Balinese.

 

***************************************************************** *******

 

There was no doubt this time.

 

It had been Yohji.

 

And he had run.

 

`Well, may as stick to what you're good at,' was Aya's first, uncharitable thought.

 

He shook his head. It wasn't Yohji's fault. Not entirely his fault, anyway. If he'd been more honest, if they'd both been more honest, much of this could have been avoided. If Yohji could have just admitted that he needed help. If Aya could have just admitted that he truly cared.

 

Well, there was nothing to be done for it now. The past was gone and it was time to move forward.

 

Aya trotted down the back stairs heading for another run. It seemed to be the only thing that could clear his mind these days.

 

He slipped out the back door and took off on what had quickly become his usual route. He ran harder and faster today than he normally did; an inexplicable sense of urgency driving him that he just couldn't deny.

 

He was surprised when he finally looked up and found himself outside of what he'd come to think of as “his” building. He must have made it there in nearly half the time. He turned to face it, simply staring at it while catching his breath. Without conscious thought or decision, he found himself approaching the front doors. He wandered over to the mailboxes, perusing the names. There were only seven. Flat 4A was, apparently, unoccupied. And yet…

 

He backed down to the street again and peered up at the fourth storey windows. Yes. There were curtains. And he was nearly certain that he'd been by when the window had been open. Surely he would have noticed someone moving out since he was here nearly every day.

 

No. Something didn't fit. There was definitely someone living in that apartment.

 

What difference does it make?

 

He couldn't answer his errant thought. He only knew that it was important somehow and that was enough. His instincts had saved him enough times for him to give them this small amount of consideration.

 

He slipped around the side of the building, searching for the back door he suspected was hidden there.

 

As expected, there was a small carport off the alley and a door into the building to save people from having to walk around front to get in. He quickly scanned the area, but once again, being that it was early morning, there were precious few people around. The ones that were out paid him no mind.

 

He crept closer to the back door, hoping against hope that he could find a way in. His eyes, trained to pick up every subtle clue, continued to dart around. That's how he spotted it.

 

The alleyway was dim, shadows cast from buildings on either side kept the nascent sun from illuminating the area. Had he not been well-schooled in such things, the irregular splotches on the ground would have escaped his attention.

 

But, from the moment he'd entered the alley, he was Abyssinian and Abyssinian knew blood when he saw it.

 

He followed the trail, suddenly vividly reminded of doing the same thing during the mission last night.

 

`This is it. It has to be.'

 

He knew that he was close, so close to having the answers he'd sought for what felt like an eternity.

 

Aya approached the door and reached for the handle, hoping against hope that it wasn't locked.

 

It was.

 

He sighed a little, not surprised, but disappointed. Then, he laughed, remembering how Yohji always had his lock picks on him, even when you'd have sworn there was no way he could have hidden them on his body and no reason he could possible need them. He scoured the ground for something he could use. He found a straight pin and looked at it dubiously. Well, it was better than nothing. As he once again closed his hand around the knob, his phone rang.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Aya, it's Omi.”

 

“Can it wait? I'm -“

 

“Aya! It's about Yohji. Please, come in. Now.”

 

He couldn't breathe. What was he doing here anyway?

 

“I'm on my way.” And with that, he was off and running, again.

 

From the other end of the alley, Manx finally let out the breath she'd been holding. She hated using Omi this way, but she knew that there was nothing else that would have deterred Abyssinian in that moment. She didn't like feeding them false information. She didn't want to get their hopes up, but what else could she do?

 

Maybe… Maybe this time it won't have to be a lie. Maybe this time it'll work and he'll go home.

 

Maybe this would be the day that she could put Kritiker's best team back together, fitting the puzzle pieces in place again.

 

She stood outside the plain brown door marked 4A. She had her best tirade ready as she stepped into the apartment, but the words died on her lips.