Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ Through the Eyes of a Child ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

Through the Eyes of a Child

By Llewlyn

Summary: After episode 24, Crawford takes an unconscious Schuldich to New York City to take care of him. But when Schu wakes up, he isn't the same man he was before. How will Crawford adjust to taking care of a telepath with the mind of a five-year-old?

Rating: R for language, adult situations, violence, and references to child abuse, prostitution, and drug use.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, as much as I like to think I do. But if you do and want to give them to me…

Warning: Enter the Weiß!!

Chapter Four

A year passed. Llew moved in with us, taught Peter about his powers, assuaged my intense migraines, and generally made himself useful. We became a small, irregular family, not without our spats- bedtime, TV time, bath time… the usual when raising a young child. We made it a habit to visit Central Park every afternoon, and with Llew around, it gave me the opportunity to take a position in a small, yet wealthy and influential organization comprised of ex-Eszet agents like Llew and myself. They protected the others like us, people that had grown old and unsuited for field work, those who'd lost their powers in an accident (like me), and people who just wanted out. We were content.

And then the anniversary of our final confrontation with the Weiß kittens arrived. It had been a full twelve months since Nagi and Farfarello had given their lives, protecting us. Twelve months since Schuldich had been put in a coma. Twelve months… and time for us to go back to Tokyo.

I got us another private plane, just like the one that brought us to America, to take us back. Only this time, Peter and Llew were coming, too. We boarded the plane the day before the anniversary, and landed early the morning of. We checked into our hotel, the largest suite. And that afternoon, Peter and I set out across town in our rental car to the ruins of the building that we had destroyed… and that had destroyed our lives.

Peter stood in awe of the sheer size of the place, gazing at the ruins in amazement. Then the moment passed, and he scampered off to play amid the rubble. I let him go- he didn't truly understand what he was looking at.

Click…I understood that sound. A gun was being cocked, and pointed at my head.

"Schwarz." Fujimiya Ran's voice said quietly behind me.

"Weiß ." I answered, and turned around, while through the corner of my eye I saw Peter rushing back to my side. "I see all of you survived." Three more guns were aimed at me.

"Brad! Brad, what's going on!?" Peter cried, arriving and clinging to me, terrified.

"Shh, darling, it's ok…" I said soothingly, wrapping my arm around the frightened child. "Peter, these men don't like us, or what your older self used to do." Peter had gotten used to the fact that there was an older him that we'd known, and forgot about it most of the time.

Weiß glanced at each other, a bit confused, and I noticed the changes in their appearances. Fujimiya's hair was darker, longer… Kudou's short and fuzzy-looking…Hidaka looked like he was wearing a corset, and Tsukiyono… He looked more like a Neo-Nazi girl than any female at Rosenkreuz. I saw them taking in the changes in our appearances as well… Schuldich's waterfall of flaming orange hair was now about the length Kudou's had been, and streaked with darker red and lighter gold than before from the New York summer we'd just spent every afternoon of in the park. And I wore jeans and a black t-shirt and contacts, rather than glasses. When it came to fashion, Llew was as bad as Kudou Yohji.

"Step away from him." Fujimiya ordered, but I could hear the confusion in his voice.

"Don't, darling." I held onto Peter. "We don't want to fight with you. Nagi and Farfarello are dead. Let me mourn them."

"Me?" the Genki One piped up. "What about Schuldich?" He looked at the red head clinging to me in utter confusion.

"Schuldich's dead. They're all dead. Schuldich was in a coma, and yes Fujimiya, I recognize the irony, and when he woke up, he'd regressed to being five years old. He doesn't remember any of you. All he remembers is being a prostitute on the streets of Berlin."

I almost smirked at the assassin's expressions. That hadn't been what they were expecting. Then I was surprised. Tsukiyono stepped forward, smiling kindly. Fujimiya hissed at him to stop, but he ignored him.

"Hello, Peter… My name's Omi." He held out his hand Western-style, and Peter looked up at me, unsure. I nodded at him, and he took it, shaking.

"Hi, Omi." Peter said softly, shy. I squeezed him encouragingly… maybe if the youngest Weiß could make friends with him, they'd all go away and let me remember Nagi… the boy who'd almost been like a son, and Farfarello, who'd been so much more lucid before his death.

Hidaka and Kudou introduced themselves next and I smiled. Peter had already gotten their names from me and my memories of the place. Fujimiya instead moved to stand beside me as the other four quickly became friends; Peter's new trust and Omi's old in the goodness of people in general was contagious. They meandered away, exploring the ruins while learning about each other.

"He really is different," the shorter man beside me said quietly.

"Yes."

"It's been hard for you."

"Yes."

"He was your lover."

"…"

"You can't deny it, we've got proof from records." Ran paused. "It must be cruel to see him and know you can't have him." I looked down at the man, who was looking back at me.

"You sound like you know how I feel."

"What if I do."

"Kudou?"

"Hai. How'd you know?"

"We were psychic."

"Were?"

"I lost my Gift in the accident. Peter still has his."

"I'm sorry." He wasn't, and I could tell.

"I'm not." I wasn't. It was a pain in the ass seeing the future, except it would have come in handy predicting Peter's tantrums.

There was silence for a long time after that. We watched the four men fooling around as the sky slowly changed color from sunlight to softer light, and Peter returned to me, yawning. "Ready to go back to the hotel, darling?" Peter nodded, leaning on me. "Go sit in the car then… I'll be there in a minute." He nodded again and walked slowly back to the car, climbing in and curling up in the front seat. I looked back to watch him, then returned my attention to Ran.

"It'd be nice to talk some more," he said smoothly. "Meet me here." He pressed a small business card in my hand, face down. "Eight o'clock." He smiled slightly, just a quirk of the lips, almost invisible, and walked back to where Weiß was waiting for him by their assorted vehicles. I nodded to them, and followed his example. I got into the fancy sports car and drove back to the hotel, just as Weiß drove back to their home.

When we arrived back at the hotel room, I carried a half-asleep Peter to bed and greeted Llew, who looked at me curiously, like he'd caught some of my thoughts. I knew he hadn't, because it was the only house rule (other than the ones for Peter) that the telepaths never read my mind, because I couldn't really defend against them.

I went into my own room of the spacious, luxurious suite, and for the first time saw the card Ran had given me… a restaurant in the nicer part of town, and one associated with a hotel. My eyebrow quirked slightly, and I smiled.

Ran was lonely, too.

Oo… Wonder what's gonna happen………..

Next Time: needs no hint.