Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ To Those About To Die ❯ Chapter 11 - Comprehension ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter Eleven -- Comprehension

As far as our mission was concerned, I could describe the entire damned thing in one paragraph: I studied the old information every few weeks. I studied new information as it came to us. I searched for meaning in old paperback books. We surveyed places where they were seen. We watched other teams come close and miss, or die, or simply vanish. We followed leads that led nowhere.

They say that doing the same thing again and again in hopes of a new result is a sign of insanity. If this is true, then Rosenkreuz itself had gone insane.

Rather, Schwarz had finally driven Rosenkreuz insane. The four were beyond slippery. They were astoundingly skilled at deception and disguise. To me, Brad Crawford was Moriarty; to the younger teams he had become known as the Chameleon.

Every so often we would receive a packet of new information and leads. These were enough to drive anyone mad. The renegades had split up. The renegades travelled together. They were in London. They were in Beijing. They were in every place imaginable, and simultaneously, too. Bilocation - neat trick.

I had thought that time would wear them down, rob them of the energy and innovation they had used against Esset for so long. But they refused to weaken. Instead, they seemed to gain strength with age, adding a new level of cunning every time I thought I had them figured out.

Crawford seemed to have no end to his ingenuity. I believed that he was the source of their luck if not their cleverness, for he would know where to go and when to leave. His talent would keep him one or two steps ahead of pursuit, and so far had served him well.

Recent rumors held that the team had, in fact, split into two sometime in the past year and a half. Photographs showing a man who might be Brad Crawford in the company of either Naoe or Farfarello had ceased to surface. Photographs showing a man who might be Schuldig, alone, had also ceased to surface. Whatever the fate of the younger two, Crawford and Schuldig were together.

Together. For the first time in years I felt that "almost got it" feeling.

Over the years, our collection of all things Schwarz had grown obscene. Kiko and the Girl had ceased looking at the information as it came in; I couldn't stop looking at any of it. I grabbed the closest stack of files and hauled it to the floor. It was mixed, old information and new, but that didn't matter. They all held the clues I had been obsessing over for more than six years, and this time they would tell me their secrets. The two newest boxes and another stack of folders joined them. I sat on the floor in the middle of the clutter and began sifting through the folders, one more time.

A soft sound brought me out of my reverie to the realization that my back was stiff from sitting still too long. I looked up with a slight wince.

"Again?" Kiko, as usual, posed in the doorway until I took off my reading glasses and focused on him. Then he sauntered over and flopped to the floor beside me, and took the papers out of my hand.

"Yes, again," I murmured. "This is driving me crazy. It's been seven years of bad luck with this!"

"Maybe I can help," he offered.

"Kiko, you haven't even kept up on the briefings," I chided.

"Well, lot of good it's done you, Berger!" he chided back. "You keep reading the same old things over and over again, and what has it gotten you? Chronic back pain, weak eyes and an ulcer. So let's try something different, shall we? You talk, I'll listen, and maybe we'll pick something out of thin air."

I shook my head, but, as I was too damn tired to want to do anything else, I went along with him. As I stretched my weary back muscles, I tried to put my thoughts in order. Then I realized this was the wrong approach: order had nothing to do with it, and everything to do with our failure to date. I closed my eyes and tried to let the thoughts remain cluttered as they rolled off my tongue.

"Team of four, Crawford engineered the assignments. He wanted the little telekinetic, he got him. He wanted the red-head, he got him. Don't know about the lunatic. They served the letter of their contract with Takatori, then served the letter of their contract with Esset. They had opportunity to sabotage the ritual and they did so. In theory they could have brought back the demon-god themselves, but either were thwarted or chose not to. In any case, they were responsible for the failure of the Elders' plan."

"Berger. Berger. Hey, Berger!" Kiko's voice broke through my droning recitation. "Not like that. We all know that stuff. Tell me what you know."

I blinked. Tell him what I know? Did he think I was hiding something? I reined in the paranoia before it could run away with me. Kiko had shared my bed for many years now, though we never ventured past a certain point of intimacy. I couldn't, and he respected that. I had come to really trust him, and to value his humanity. Why did it surprise me that, while I had tried to figure Schwarz out, Kiko was figuring me out?

"All right, we'll try it your way." I cleared out the rote information and focused on my own theories. "Schwarz has always been a very tight team. They watched each other's backs, though not to the point of self-endangerment. It could be that Crawford kept it from ever really being tested, though. We don't really know how close they are, or were. Any one of them could have turned the others in, in trade for amnesty if not reward. But they didn't."

I found myself standing and pacing the room as I continued to speak. "Crawford and Schuldig seem to be inseparable now. Perhaps the telepath is weakening, and the quiet zone Crawford gives him is his last link to sanity. Or perhaps they've figured out how to use their talents together, strengthening both. But I think it's something more. That little boy, Naoe Nagi, when he came to Rosenkreuz he was under Crawford's care. Schwarz always seemed to close ranks around that boy. I think..." I paused. "I think they became a family. I think that Crawford and Schuldig are a couple, and Nagi is `their' child. If we look at it that way, it's no surprise that they haven't turned on each other. It's not in their hearts to do so."

"Berger...that's it," Kiko whispered, looking up at me with amazed eyes. "In their hearts! Rosenkreuz couldn't corrupt them because they remember how to love!"

"My God," I murmured, gazing at the ceiling as the truth of that statement washed over me, a truth I had known all along. It all made sense now. Karl, Schuldig, Schwarz -- Rosenkreuz had failed to mutate their humanity. Of course they would choose exile over the loss of their souls. Who wouldn't?

On the heels of that came a deeper understanding, and I regarded Kiko with sorrow. "If that is true, if it's that simple --"

"Then we have them!"

Kiko and I both turned to glare at the Girl, hideous in her proud triumph.

"Berger, why didn't you tell us this before? Esset will be furious if they think you've been hiding evidence," she purred, strolling toward me with a predatory leer.

"He didn't hide nothing, you stupid bitch," Kiko snarled. "He's been trying to figure them out for years, and Esset didn't give us all their information."

The lie was off his tongue so fast I almost blinked, but self-preservation and training took over. "Mädchen, are you threatening me?" My voice dripped contempt.

"Not at all," she replied, her eyes feral and dangerous. "Just stating a fact. But we all know you have nothing to hide, don't we?" She passed by me, close enough that I could smell her unwashed hair, and moved on into the kitchen. "Do go on, I'm keen to hear this new theory of yours," she called over the sound of rummaging for snacks.

I met Kiko's gaze. She would turn on us the moment she sensed weakness. I sent a short telepathic message to Kiko. ::Looks like this is it, my friend. Are we in, or out?::

::I don't want to die just yet, Berger. I'm sorry.::

::I'm sorry too. They deserve better. Let's hope their luck holds out a little longer.::

"You're not talking without me, are you?" she asked as she reentered the room with a bottle of pop in one hand and a bowl of marshmallows in the other.

Kiko rolled his eyes. "No, we were awaiting your grand return, your highness."

"So, Berger, tell me how we catch them!" As she spoke, the Girl crammed a handful of marshmallows into her mouth and began chewing on them with an audible squish.

I collected my calm and reminded myself that I had to be convincing or risk exposure and death. As much as my heart screamed at me, I had to act as though I were ready to use Schwarz's humanity against them.

Once again, however, Kiko intervened. "We're pretty sure they've split up at this point. Don't know if the killer and the kid are together, but Crawford and Schuldig seem to be. I think the telepath is falling apart. You know how they say Crawford has this calming effect on him? If I was a telepath and going crazy, I'd want to stay close to a safe zone too. So if we want to find them, we look where a man with some conscience might take a damaged telepath. The question is, are they hiding out there or do they have more than one place to stay?"

The Girl munched on another handful of sweets, seeming to mull over Kiko's words. She started talking, mouth still full of dissolving white goo. "Well, if Schuldig is slowing him down, maybe Crawford is looking for a good place to ditch him. Though why he wouldn't just shoot the telepath is beyond me."

Of course it's beyond you, you heartless bitch, I thought, but kept my mouth shut.

"Maybe he still needs him," Kiko said, trying not to look at her. I knew he found her marshmallow habit disgusting, as did I. "Maybe they need each other to stay away from our field teams. There hasn't been a contact in months, only tourist sightings and surveillance film."

"In nearly two years, actually," I murmured, surprised at the realization. "Ever since the team split, no one has gotten close to any of them."

"And you're still reading those damn novels instead of going out there and looking for them," the Girl said, her eyes again flashing contempt. "I swear, Berger, if I didn't know you were an Esset operative I'd think you were working for the other side." She got up from the couch and stomped out of the room, presumably toward the toilet.

I rubbed at my weary eyes, trying to put down the feeling of panic her words had wrought. Kiko watched her go, then sauntered over to the couch. He dropped onto the cushions where she had been sitting. "It's okay, Berger. She's just full of herself, that's all. You don't see her bringing them in for Esset, do you?"

Switching back to telepathy, I told him, ::As much as I detest the idea of hunting them down, you know we have to make a stand one way or the other, Kiko. If you don't want to risk death by rebellion, then I will try to lead the team to find Schwarz no matter what I may personally believe is right.::

::I'm a coward, Berger. Always have been. If it matters, I happen to think you're right about them. Hunting them down is a bad thing. I have the feeling something is wrong with them, like we should just leave them the hell alone and they'll just go away peacefully. But Esset doesn't want peace, does it.:: It was not a question.

::No, my friend, it never did.::

Kiko sighed. He looked at the table next to the couch. The half-full bowl of marshmallows sat waiting for the Girl's return.

"You know, just looking at these damn things makes me want to puke? I can hear her chewing on them: squish squish squish!" With that, Kiko picked up the bowl and held his right hand over it. A brief, intense flash of heat fused the marshmallows into a flaming blob. Kiko blew out the fire just as the Girl returned.

"What the fuck did you do to my marshmallows, you sick piece of shit?!?"

"I like them better this way," he said mildly, tearing off a crusty wad and offering me the bowl.

The smell was enticing. I ripped off a gooey chunk, the scorched edges crumbling to ash on my fingers. "You're right," I told him after tasting the burnt treat. "Much better."

The Girl yelled wordlessly and stomped back into the kitchen. Loud cursing informed us that this had been the last of her stash.

Kiko pulled the final handful out of the bowl, biting off the sugar strings that connected it to the bowl like spider strands. ::Feel better now, Berger?::

::Childish though that was, yes, I do.:: I couldn't help smiling. She was throwing a righteous tantrum in the kitchen, and I heard something break.

::It'll be okay, Berger. Somehow, I don't think we're gonna ever find them. Though, it might be better for them if we do.::

::Well, if it is our place to find them, I think we'll have one more chance to change our minds. Remember that, Kiko. Only one chance. We'll have to be sure. If anything were to go wrong...::

::Nothing'll go wrong, Berger. Remember, I'm the lucky one.:: Kiko grinned and switched back to speaking. "Hey, Chick, you gonna clean up this bowl or what?"

He didn't flinch when the coffee pot hit the door.