Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Nobody's Listening ❯ What the Oracle Saw ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Title: Nobody's Listening
Author: Ryoko 03
Series: post-Weiss Kreuz Gluhen
Rating: R; may go to NC-17 depending upon my muses' whims
Status: In Progress

All warnings and pairings noted in the previous chapter.

//blah// = thoughts
~blah~ = telepathy

Note: This chapter contains a flashback sequence. Also, this chapter is jointly dedicated to Enigma (who simply adores Brad/Schu) and Angel-chan (who needed a bit of cheering up recently).

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Nobody's Listening
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Schuldich quietly closed the door behind him and set off down the hall, pulling out his cell phone to call his lover (because one never knows if the person he's trying to make telepathic contact with is actually in close enough range for the connection to be solid, after all). Before he could even dial the first number, however, he heard a familiar voice in a room to his left:

"So you have a lot of respect for your instructor, then?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Himalaya exclaimed, a bright smile on her face in spite of the fact she was still wearing Siamese's blood on her duster. The red-haired German walked in as she added, "Mr. Dante is a wonderful man, so patient with Schatten!"

Brad Crawford nodded, the fluorescent lights reflecting off the glasses he once more sported (at his lover's request; for some reason the redhead enjoyed removing said lenses as part of foreplay). "Although I would tend to disagree with your assessment of Jei's patience, I can't argue that he is a remarkable young man. Of course," he smiled, "I may be biased as I lived and worked with him for three and a half years."

~Chatting up the teenagers, leibe?~ Schu sent to Brad, nudging the older man lightly as he stopped next to him. He grinned at the mental eye roll he got in reply and offered the blond Kritiker agent a wink. "Saw you out there, you've got good reflexes."

Himalaya smiled shyly and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Just doing what Mr. Dante trained me to do. It's nothing really."

"Well," Brad said, "I think that it's something. You're a credit to Kritiker, and I'm sure you instructor is very proud of you."

The blond shyly smiled again and murmured a quiet thank you and good-bye before slipping out of the room, one of her teammates appearing at the door to escort her back to headquarters. Within seconds after the young woman had left Brad Crawford found himself pressed back against the wall with a *very* friendly German attached to him.

"Should I be worried that you were chatting up the little one?"

"No," the older man replied, wrapping his arms around Schuldich's waist. "I was just finding out from our former Berserker's protégé the events of tonight since my vision was rather vague. Young Miss Caroline fought alongside her mentor."

The red-haired man pulled back a bit and blinked blue-green eyes at the American. "Excuse me? I just found out first-hand that bruder does *not* trust anyone of the female persuasion."

"True," Brad conceded, lightly running one hand down the younger man's back, "but in this case, he knows he can trust her instincts and judgment in battle because he personally trained her in what to do in any possible situation. Caroline-or rather Himalaya-sees 'Mr. Dante' as a mentor and brother, while our Prodigal Brother sees her as a protégé and the sister he lost as a young child. They're good for each other."

The American's last words made Schuldich grin, and he lightly nuzzled the man's neck as he purred, "Speaking of being good for each other, there's a tiny wrinkle that apparently your precognition skimmed over in regards to our dear little brother...."

Brad's glasses glinted again in the light, almost hiding the amused smirk that crossed his lips: "If you mean the fact that Fujimiya Ran and Jei Farfarello Dante are stumbling awkwardly into a relationship, I could have told you that... if you'd asked."

"... I really fucking hate you sometimes."

"I know. Love you too," the American replied, punctuating his words with a kiss to the tip of Schuldich's nose. It was an oddly endearing gesture, not to mention adorable, two words which most people would not associate with the man known as Oracle in Este. However, they *were* words that a certain telepath would attach to his lover, and this time was no exception.

With a quiet sigh, the redhead lightly punched Brad in the shoulder: "Asshole. So," he continued with a purr, "exactly when did you find out that Farfie Jei and the red-haired Weiss kitten would become romantically entangled... even though right now they're still in that touchy-feely cautious stage...."

The look Brad gave him clearly said 'they're also currently in the hospital and not in any shape to go much beyond the cautious stage even if they were fully aware the attraction is mutual.'

"Well," he finally said after giving his lover a moment to gain the full effect of the look, "do you remember when Takatori Reiji became Prime Minister for a day?"

Schuldich chuckled softly: "Ja, and quite literally for a day! I would have paid good money to see the expression on his face when Abyssinian sliced and diced him...."

Brad smiled and shook his head slightly, then took a breath and began to speak.

{Flashback}

He had to admit, Farfarello was good at what he did. It made the Oracle glad that he'd conceded to the teen's whining and allowed him to come along on the assignment. Plus, this was a perfect opportunity to watch The Cat in action and to assess the Weiss swordsman's skills.

Brad smirked slightly as the pale teen let loose a cry worthy of Xena (which was where he'd gotten the idea in the first place, claiming that if he was supposed to be insane then damn it he was going to have fun with it) and launched himself towards the downed Abyssinian. He landed with feet planted on either side of the redhead and plunged his blade downward.

At that instant, the world tilted... at least, it did to Brad Crawford's perception.

The scene he saw with his mind's eye was similar to the one he'd witnessed before the vision hit, only... well, *not*. True, he was almost positive that the redhead was Abyssinian although his hair was cut in a different style and was more a wine color than the vivid red he knew, but it took an instant for him to recognize the rust-haired man crouching over him as Farfarello. And they weren't exactly in a life-or-death struggle; the scene he was witnessing had a more tender air about it.

As he watched, the wine-haired Abyssinian reached up and tucked a strand of rust-red hair behind an ear sporting only one small gold hoop. Farfarello offered a small smile and said something that made the other man laugh softly. The Weiss assassin then rested his hand on the back of Berserker's neck and gently pulled him into what Crawford could only imagine was one of the softest of kisses.

As quickly as it hit, the vision ended, the sound of Farfarello's blade striking the pavement drawing him back to the battle at hand. Abyssinian was now putting up more of a fight, and he caught the hint of a smile as the Irish teen was thrown past him.

Brad pushed the vision to the back of his mind for the moment; he could mull over it after Weiss had been dealt with... although his resolve to kill the redhead had wavered considerably since the start of the battle....

{End Flashback}

Schuldich blinked at his lover, then blinked again before a slow smile slid across his lips. "Ah, so despite the fact that you had Fujimiya's own weapon at his throat, you had no intention of killing him."

"I already knew when I picked up the katana that Persia's car was going to come barreling through the bushes before I broke the skin," Brad said with a slight shrug. "Jei was insistent on following; he told me on the drive 'home' that there was *something* about Abyssinian that intrigued him. I think, on some level, his ani psi self imprinted Fujimiya Ran as a non-threat and...." The man trailed off, running a hand through his slightly-ruffled silver hair (cut once more in the style his lover preferred; if this kept up he'd be dying it black again by the time he reached his thirty-fourth birthday).

The telepath frowned slightly, reaching up to remove Brad's glasses and look him straight in the eye. "A non-threat *and*?" he said pointedly.

Brad shook his head and smiled warmly, tightening his hold around Schu. "I think you can guess. You *have* seen how Jei acts with him, correct? Protective and obsessive over his physical well-being to the point of ignoring his *own* physical needs?"

"Now that you mention it, I don't think he'd slept in three days until I shut him down an hour ago."

"Exactly. And we *both* know how close to the surface The Cat is once he wakes up. Or rather"-here the American just had to grin a bit wickedly-"The Kitten."

Schuldich stared at Brad for a moment before he started laughing quietly. "Oh, man, I *so* want to be in the room when Farfie wakes up acting all kittenish! I bet he'll crawl into Fujimiya's lap and purr!"

The Oracle only smiled and ruffled his lover's hair. After all, he already knew what was going to happen when the two younger men awoke.

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Owari Part the Sixth
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Schatten = Shadow (German); in other words, the team trained by Tortoiseshell for Kritiker New York under Persia's orders. It's not really important, but I thought I'd mention them since they're likely to never be seen again once the action moves back to Japan =^_^=

Also, in case anyone missed it, the scene I described briefly in the flashback is from episode 13 of the original series. Anyone who doesn't remember the tableau of Farfarello straddling Aya with his blade poised to strike with a smirking Crawford in the background, let me know and I'll direct you to the screen grab that Angel-chan was nice enough to snag for me =^_^=