Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ You're Joking, Right? ❯ Chapter 21

Aya knew all about waiting for things you'd almost rather die than do. It had been a big part of his life in the past few years. But getting through the ten minutes or so between Yoji's departure and Omi's arrival was still brutal.

 

It shouldn't matter so much. It's not like he'd ever been free. Then again, maybe that was it - he cherished the tiny bit of freedom he retained, and Omi was going to take it away, and Aya would really be nothing but a dog on a leash.

 

Aya's current helplessness made it worse. He wished Yoji were still here, and the surge of annoyance that went along with that realization almost distracted him for a moment. It wasn't enough, though, because he'd already given in to Yoji, and resentment wouldn't save him now. He'd lost his bet, and he had to take it like a man.

 

It was a good setup, though. The best he could manage at this point, anyway. He'd come to Omi for help before he had to, and he was allowing Omi to see him here, in what used to be his refuge, weak and vulnerable. Omi might be beyond sympathy for him, but if he wasn't, this should do the trick. It couldn't be more submissive.

 

A knock on the door woke Aya up - he'd drifted off again, God damn it. He was so tired, and the pain was relentless. "Come in," he called. His voice sounded thick and his words were sluggish. He wasn't even going to try and sit up; it wasn't worth the effort.

 

The door swung open and Omi entered, obviously wary. His eyes swept the room before he closed the door. He was alone - Aya had thought he might bring Ken to get his back. On the other hand, maybe Omi thought he could take him out, in which case he wouldn't necessarily want a witness.

 

"What happened?"

 

"I killed Nakayama." Aya took a deep breath; like everything, it was hard and painful. "Have a seat. Sorry I can't get up."

 

Omi studied him, then perched on the edge of the chair.

 

"Why?" Omi's face and posture telegraphed every emotion he was feeling - indecision, anger, affront, stress. Aya didn't think it behooved a leader to give himself away like that, but maybe that was just a personal preference. Omi wasn't showing him anything he didn't already know, after all.

 

"He worked for Eszett. He was using Kritiker research to help Eszett build an army of genetically enhanced foot soldiers."

 

Shock. OK, that was helpful.

 

"How do you know that?" Wary. Omi believed him, though.

 

"I have sources. Had sources," Aya corrected himself.

 

Omi thought about it, and finally nodded. Well, it was hardly news that a Kritiker insider might be sleeping with the enemy, especially given the kind of projects Nakayama worked on. At least Omi knew who Nakayama was. It was easier if Aya didn't have to lay out the whole thing from zero.

 

Aya could see Omi's mind working, obviously wondering if someone else in Kritiker had given Aya the order. There were only two places it could have come from, Persia or Omi's grandfather, but Omi might not even know that. And asking would betray how little Omi knew about Kritiker's workings. Aya decided to give him this one. "I did it on my own. It affected my sister, and Kritiker wasn't interested in addressing the situation."

 

He let that sink in, and wondered what Omi's next question would be.

 

"It affected your sister."

 

Ah - so Omi wasn't in on that part of the plot. "Do you know about Eszett's demon?"

 

Omi looked at him, obviously weighing his options. Which meant he didn't know that Kritiker's prime mission was to keep Eszett from raising a demon that would destroy the world. And if he didn't know that, Aya was going to assume he didn't know about the organization's special relationship with Crawford, either. Jesus Christ, Omi was the crown prince, and even Persia's secretary was keeping secrets from him.

 

"The breeding program Nakayama ran. It started out a long time ago as a way to create the perfect specimen for Eszett's demon to take over. They get the opportunity to raise the demon every thousand years or something, and it's coming again soon. I was supposed to be the perfect specimen, but I wasn't. So they tried again and came up with my sister. That's why Kritiker is taking care of her. That's why I'm here - that's what I'm fighting against."

 

To his credit, Omi let all that sink in while showing very little of the effort on his face. Finally, he chose a question. "Why kill Nakayama now, then?"

 

"He had new plans for my sister. That couldn't be allowed to happen. That's my deal with Kritiker. I go along with everything they're doing to fight Eszett, and they make sure I get my sister back." He wouldn't mention that nothing could be allowed to interfere with Crawford's plan. Crawford would save the world; all Aya had to do was hang on and kill everybody who stood in his way.

 

"Why didn't you talk to me about it?"

 

Oh, for fuck's sake. "You wouldn't have been interested in addressing the situation, either."

 

"You don't know that."

 

"Yes, I do."

 

Eventually, Omi nodded. Reluctantly. Omi liked to think he was there for his team, that they were family. Aya's arrival had been a burr under his saddle from day one.

 

Aya had always disliked Omi's management style. Aya distrusted people who wanted to be his friend. They didn't, really, and Omi was no exception. Open hostility allowed everyone to know where they stood.

 

"Who else knows?"

 

"One other person - my information source. I can't tell you who that is, but I guarantee there won't be any leaks there."

 

Omi frowned. "Who could trace it back to you?"

 

Relieved that Omi was focusing on the situation at hand, Aya explained how the job had been done, leaving out any reference to Yoji. "There are two guards who weren't killed, but neither one looked at me very closely. But the person who drove the truck brought me here, so it could be traced to this apartment."

 

"Who drove the truck?"

 

"Someone who worked for my informant. He's - out of the picture."

 

"And what do you plan to do now?"

 

"I want to come - home." The word stuck in Aya's throat, partly because it was the truth, God help him. And the rest would be worse. "I need your help, Omi. If Kritiker doesn't find out about my injury, they won't have any reason to connect me with this. Eszett can't track me anywhere but here. Nobody but you needs to know what happened. Kritiker doesn't need to know I did this." Aya paused to make sure Omi had time to consider the implications. It wouldn't do to actually remind Omi that it looked like he didn't know what he was doing, letting someone on his team pull off something like this without his knowledge. It was a good lesson for him, of course, but he'd have to draw the conclusion on his own.

 

Omi frowned more deeply - more of a pout, really. How this kid was going to be ready to take over Kritiker in a few years was a mystery. "Why should I help you?"

 

Christ, it was humiliating to beg someone who looked twelve years old and wore shorts and sneakers. "You're better than the old man, Omi. You know that some of the things they're doing are wrong. I just fixed something, OK? Look, I know I've been hard to work with. I can change. Now that I need help myself, I realize how important it is to be part of a team. If you'll let me come back, I'll do whatever it takes to make you trust me. That's why I asked you to come here. I didn't want to hide anything from you." Aya watched Omi carefully, looking for clues as to how that had gone over. He hoped it wouldn't take much more, because the words were scouring his throat like ashes.

 

Omi wanted to believe him. It showed in the way he leaned forward in his chair, the excitement in his eyes.

 

Just a little more to sell it, then. "Omi, you're the only one who can do this. I'm putting all my cards on the table now. Please help me. I'll make sure you won't regret it." Aya shifted enough to pull on his wound, bringing tears to his eyes. The pain made him dizzy and nauseated, and he breathed deeply to work through it. He checked Omi's reaction surreptitiously, through his eyelashes. Omi looked worried. Aya had no doubt the chosen one would get over that propensity soon enough, but for the moment, it was a useful weakness.

 

"What happened to you? Have you seen a doctor?"

 

"I got shot. Just needs to heal, but -" Aya smiled self-deprecatingly. "It hurts. And don't worry. The doctor's dead, too."

 

Omi tsked. He sat back in the chair, considering. "Aya, I'd like to keep you on the team, but you're going to have to work to build my trust."

 

Fortunately, Aya was too tired to roll his eyes. They all mouthed the same meaningless bullshit, probably from some corporate management seminar, and there wasn't anyone in the bunch who could actually think for himself. Kritiker wasn't going to make it out alive; he didn't need Crawford to tell him that. But they were going to hang on, flailing the same dead horse and finally grinding their teams to dust. And all Aya could do was let them.

 

Well, Aya hadn't doubted that Omi would take him back - with enough concessions. It was a relief, really, to just get to it. He established eye contact. "I understand. I'll do whatever you want."

 

Omi gave an almost imperceptible shiver of anticipation. Was that sexual? Well, it might be another angle to work. The kid was an insipient megalomaniac, and the power dynamic between them at the moment couldn't be better for that kind of thing. Maybe Omi liked broken doll porn, too.

 

"No more unexplained absences, and any side jobs have to be cleared through me. I'll expect you to show up for work, and to take all the missions Weiss is assigned. And I'll also expect a major attitude adjustment." Omi was warming to his subject. "If I find out you're working through anyone but me, I'll consider it a betrayal."

 

Nothing more than Aya had expected. He wouldn't be able to maintain his own contacts, he wouldn't be able to freelance, he wouldn't be able to investigate on his own. He wouldn't be able to see Farfarello. He'd have to clear every fucking move he made through Omi. "Agreed."

 

"I'm not sure about letting you plan missions, either. It would be better if you just followed orders."

 

No. There was a line between swallowing his pride and getting everybody killed. "Omi, I'm too good to throw away. You've worked with me. You saw my file." Although he'd obviously seen the version with the thick, black lines through every other sentence. "You needed a tactician. That's why Kritiker sent me to Weiss. That hasn't changed."

 

"Aya, I know you were trained by Kritiker's best, and they think highly of your skills. But I can't have someone I don't trust working on mission planning and making modifications in the field."

 

Trained by Kritiker's best, indeed. Aya had been trained by Schwartz, and Kritiker's best could only dream of being as good as Brad fucking Crawford. "Watch me. Check my work. Monitor my communications." Omi was going to do all of that anyway. "You need me for strategy." The little fucker knew it, too, but he was going to dole it out like a favor.

 

"Well. We can try it. But if I ever feel I have any reason not to trust you, I'm cutting you out of the planning."

 

Aya nodded. Fucking overreaching little shit.

 

"What about Yoji?"

 

"What about him?"

 

"Is there an - emotional - component to your relationship?"

 

Aya didn't see how that was any of Omi's business, but he was going to have to get used to the prying. "Yes." He wasn't sure if that's what Omi wanted to hear or not.

 

"What does he know about this?"

 

"Nothing."

 

"Nothing?"

 

Omi had a lot of work to do on his hard-ass "do you really expect me to believe that?" expression.

 

"Who would involve someone they love in something like this?" Well, it helped to be barely human. He judged that Omi still had a way to go before he'd truly understand that, though. Not a long way, but he wasn't quite there yet.

 

"You love him?"

 

Fucking hell. More leverage. Still, there was nothing for it. "Yes." Aya tried not to imply the "and fuck you" too loudly.

 

"Then where does he think you were last night?"

 

"I don't know where he was last night; why should I tell him more than he tells me?"

 

"But I thought -"

 

"There are a lot of ways to love somebody, Omi."

 

Omi sat quietly, thinking. At least he realized how little he knew about that sort of thing.

 

"What are you going to say to him? About this?"

 

"Whatever you tell me to say."

 

Omi's brows knit. "I don't understand you, Aya."

 

"I fucked up, Omi. You get to make the decisions about damage control."

 

"And what would you do, Aya? If you were me?"

 

I'd shoot you in the fucking head and never look back, Aya thought. "You should keep me. Monitor me as much as you need to until you can trust me, but use me to do the things you can't. Tell Ken and Yoji I got hurt doing a freelance job, and you're watching me to make sure I don't take any more outside work. That'll explain why you're covering for me with Kritiker. Don't tell Kritiker anything. If we get a mission in the next week or so, I'll go to the briefing like always, and I'll turn it down. After that, I'll take whatever I think I can do, until I'm healed. Then, I'll take them all, like you said."

 

"And what if we get a mission tonight? You aren't in any shape to even show up at the briefing."

 

"That shouldn't raise any suspicions; I don't always come to the briefings. But I'll do what I have to do."

 

"And what if someone traces the job to you?"

 

"You can hand me over."

 

"If it's Eszett, they won't exactly go through diplomatic channels."

 

Aya nodded. "Eszett won't trace it to me. They might trace the van to this building, and they might figure out that whoever rented this apartment didn't really live here. But that's as far as they'll get."

 

"You're that sure the apartment can't be traced?"

 

"I'm sure." Aya realized everyone had good reason to be questioning his judgment right now, but it still rankled.

 

"Who's your partner, Aya? It has to be someone powerful."

 

"Omi, you stand to gain something from keeping me. But you wouldn't gain any tactical edge from knowing who my partner was." Although it might be enough knowledge for Omi to get himself into some major shit. It would annoy the hell out of Crawford, too. Both of those ideas were tempting, but Aya had always been able to resist the most self-destructive cheap thrills. He went back to connecting the dots for his new overlord. "You wouldn't get anything you could use out of it, but you'd lose the advantage of keeping me, because he'd kill me."

 

Omi gave him a look, like he maybe didn't believe it. Aya wasn't sure if it was a lie or not. He would have shrugged, but he'd already made it past the part of his performance that required tears. Instead, he let his eyelids drift down, maybe even fell asleep for a few seconds while Omi pondered.

 

"What about your sister?" Omi finally asked.

 

Aya's eyes flew open. "What about her?" He wasn't worried about his sister because Crawford still needed her, and as long as he needed her, she was safe.

 

"Aren't you worried about what will happen to her if I don't accept your offer?"

 

Aya almost hoped the little prick followed through on his implied threat. Crawford needed Aya-chan alive, but he'd never said anything about needing Omi. Still, if Aya had to stay with Weiss, this shit had to stop now. He could swallow just about anything they fed him, but if Omi thought he was going to use Aya-chan for leverage, he needed to be set straight. Kritiker was a lumbering corpse, but they'd still manage to take Aya out if he snapped and killed their rising star. Very carefully, he said, "You don't have to go there, Omi."

 

Omi looked pained. "You're right. I'm sorry, Aya. I'd never…"

 

Bullshit. He absolutely would; Omi was Kritiker, through and through. He just didn't know it yet. "Let's get this out in the open. I just made you a promise, and I'll honor it. I'll do what you need me to do, no hesitation, no complaints. Just keep pretending you don't know Aya-chan exists, and don't fuck with Yoji. I'm not bargaining with you now - I don't have anything to bargain with. I'm just telling you how it is. My loyalty's worth something, and you know it."

 

"So you're protecting him too? Yoji and your sister. I didn't realize he meant that much to you."

 

"He's - Omi, nobody's going to make him pay just because I love him. If you can't honor that, kill me right now, or turn me in, or whatever you need to do."

 

"You know he's going to move on, right? He would have anyway, but it'll happen even sooner now that you won't be all mysterious and fascinating. What are you going to do then?"

 

"Nothing. My job." So fucking stupid. And it annoyed him that Omi thought he knew who Yoji was. It was obscene. Yes, Yoji would leave him, but not because Yoji was stupid playboy, the way Omi thought. It was because Yoji's grief had already eaten him away from the inside out, and there wasn't enough left to hold. When Yoji let Aya go, it would be because he'd let go himself. "I know who Yoji is. It won't cause a disruption - you don't have to worry about it." A wave of pain swept over him, so tangible he thought at first it was his chest instead of his heart. "Look, Omi, I can't do this much longer. Do we have a deal or not?"

 

"We have a deal." Omi stood up and walked to the door. "I'll send Ken and Yoji to come get you."

 

Aya just closed his eyes and let the drugs take over. He'd done everything he could.