Redemption Tenth in the Sinners & Saints arc

Nagi stumbled along, one hand pressed to the walls of the buildings lining the street to help him stay upright. The other arm hung uselessly at his side, dislocated. A trail of blood splashes marked his path, but he was oblivious to the pain of his injuries. He couldn't remember where he was... or why he was there... or where he was going... but he knew it was very important that he keep moving, that he reach his destination, wherever it was.

One step. Another. Hitched breath as he put his weight down on an ankle that was probably broken. Ignore it... it wasn't important. Just keep walking, one step after another, and he'd get there eventually.

The area he was in was mostly day-time shops, with residences over them. It was well after midnight, and the streets were deserted, only an occasional light shining in a window to show that someone was still awake. There was nobody to see him, nobody to stop him or help him. Just as well... if he stopped moving he was sure he'd fall over, and then he might never get up again.

The half-familiar perfume of exotic flowers made him look up. It had been a warm, muggy day, and scents lingered in the air long after the flower displays had been brought inside for the night. Nagi stared at the store in front of him for a long moment before finally recognizing it... the Koneko no Sumu.

Of course! The Koneko... Weiss... he turned into the alley and limped to the side door, all but leaning on the doorbell. He might have passed out for a moment, because the next thing was aware of, the solid wall supporting him turned into a door and opened away from him, and he tumbled over into somebody's arms.

There was a surprised exclamation above him, and he looked up to catch a flash of red. Red... red hair... Schuldig? "Schu..."

No... no that couldn't be right... this was where Weiss lived, not Schwartz. Schuldig wouldn't be here because... because he was...

"Nagi! Gods, what happened to you!?" A familiar voice exclaimed. "Aya-kun, bring him to the chair... gently..."

He turned his head to one side and saw worried blue eyes surrounded by a familiar face. "Omi..." he croaked, reaching out towards his friend. Omi was here, Omi would help him, he was safe, he could rest now...

The room faded and went black around him as he slid away into oblivion.

Aya grunted in surprise as the telekinetic went limp his arms, and set the boy down in the chair a little more gently than he'd actually intended to. It was hard not to be gentle, despite his all consuming hatred of Schwartz... the psychic looked like he'd been beaten to death, and dragged himself back out of hell only with a supreme effort of will. It had obviously taken everything he had to make it this far... the question was, why was he HERE?

"What the hell could do THAT to HIM?" Ken exclaimed, moving up beside Aya. The swordsman had to agree with his lover's assessment... Nagi was by far the most powerful member of Schwartz, and that was saying something. For him to be this badly injured... either he'd been caught by surprise, or run up against something stronger than he was. And that, in and of itself, was a frightening thought.

"Aya-kun, help him stay upright," Omi ordered unecessarily. The youngest Weiss knelt down and chafed his Schwartz counterpart's wrists to try to wake him. Aya gave the boy a quick visual examination while Omi worked, Ken and Youji hovering behind him.

Nagi's left eye was swollen shut, and the entire left side of his face looked like it had been slammed into something unyielding repeatedly. Dried blood trailed down from a cut at his hairline, staining his face a rusty brown colour. There was more dried blood on his uniform, indicating further injuries beneath the concealing clothes. Here and there spots of fresh crimson were soaking into the fabric, indicating that the telekinetic had started some of the wounds bleeding again recently.

"He looks like he was lying somewhere for a while... long enough for the blood to dry... then got up and walked here," Aya concluded aloud. Omi nodded, his face grim.

"Yeah, that's what it looks like. The question is, who did this... and why? And where are his teammates?"

"And why did he come HERE?" Ken added, mystified. Omi and Youji traded brief, obscure looks, and Aya narrowed his eyes. "He seemed like he was looking for you, Omi," Ken continued, oblivious to the quick interchange.

"He probably was," Omi admitted reluctantly. He was about to say more, but at that moment Nagi regained consciousness with a gasp, flailing out at Omi and Aya. Omi caught his hands again deftly, and Aya simply stepped to one side to avoid the blow, keeping his hands on the telekinetic's shoulders to help him stay upright. Without the help, it was very likely he'd have fallen off the chair, from what Aya could see.

"Nagi, it's okay!" Omi said hastily, holding tight to the boy's hands. "You're safe. You're okay. Wake up, please..."

"O-omi?" Nagi stuttered after a moment as his eyes finally focused on the room. "Oh gods... Omi..." he all but threw himself forward into Omi's arms, sobbing helplessly on the older youth's shoulder. Omi looked surprised, but held the smaller boy automatically, patting an unbloody spot on his back gently. Aya stood watching with Ken and Youji, eyes still narrowed as he watched the interplay between the two teens.

"Nagi, what happened? Where's Schuldig?" Omi asked when Nagi's sobs started to quiet.

"Th-they took him," Nagi whimpered, face still buried in Omi's shoulder. "They t-took him, and C-crawford... I think they k-killed Farfarello..."

"Who took him?" Youji broke in. "Nagi, who attacked you?"

Nagi turned to look up at him, dark blue eyes filled with tears that slowly spilled over onto his cheeks. They mixed with the flakes of dried blood already there, turning pink and making it look eerily like he was crying blood. "I don't know," he said, voice hoarse. "I didn't recognize them. I think Crawford did, but he didn't get a chance to say anything before they knocked him out."

"Why didn't Crawford see it coming?" Omi asked. "Why didn't you just blast them?"

The telekinetic shook his head miserably. "I couldn't. They were blocking me somehow... blocking all of us. They were psychics." He started to shake. "I woke up... and Farfarello was just lying there... and S-Schuldig and C-crawford were gone... I... I didn't know what to DO..."

Aya's eyebrows raised. This sounded nothing like the calm, confident young assassin he was used to seeing in battles. Nagi sounded like a small child... a small, distressed, injured child who was lost without an adult to guide him. Omi was rocking him now, still patting his back.

"It's okay, Nagi... you did the right thing," the leader of Weiss murmured softly, reassuringly. He glanced up at his teammates, looking nervous, but his tone of voice didn't change. "You made the right decision to come to us."

"I was s-so s-s-scared," the telekinetic sobbed, burying his face in Omi's shoulder again.

Omi held him soothingly, but his expression was grim as he looked up at the others. "Aya-kun, I want you and Youji to go out there and take a look around, see if you can find any sign of who these people were. Double-check to make sure Farfarello is actually dead... the last thing we need is him running around loose in the city. Ken-kun, you help me get Nagi upstairs to my room, and we'll see what we can do about his injuries."

"We're going to help them?" Ken blurted out, eyes wide. He looked down at the shivering boy in Omi's arms, and flushed. "I mean, yeah, we'll get him patched up and all. He was always the best of the bunch of them, I guess. But why are we going looking for clues?"

Omi shook his head. "For now, just operate on the assumption that anyone who could do THIS to Schwartz," he nodded at Nagi, "may be a danger to us as well. If this is a bunch of former Estet agents who've come to get revenge on the people who killed the leaders... they'll be looking for Weiss as well as Schwartz."

"That's... logical," Ken admitted, albeit reluctantly.

"I'm not buying it," Aya growled. "That doesn't explain why he came HERE for help... or why you two aren't surprised that he did," he added, including Youji in his glare. Youji just looked back at him with a level, shuttered gaze, but Omi sighed and shook his head.

"I'll explain everything AFTER we get this sorted out," the youngest Weiss said. "I promise. But right now we have more important things to do... the explanation can wait. Ken-kun, help me get him upstairs, please?"

"Yeah, sure," Ken agreed belatedly. He slid his arms around the telekinetic's shoulders. "You get his legs, okay?" he said as he started to lift. Omi nodded and supported the boy's lower body weight as they moved carefully towards the stairs. Aya watched them go, eyes still narrowed, trying to figure out just what piece he was missing to complete this puzzle.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Youji asked as the younger men made it through the door to the stairs. "If Farfarello isn't dead, every minute we stand around here is another minute to help him get away. Let's go."

They managed to get Nagi up the stairs without doing much more damage to him, though the boy did pass out on the way up. That was actually something of a blessing, since it meant they didn't have to listen to his tiny, pained whimpers any more. Those small sounds stabbed straight through to Ken's heart, making him feel guilty for not really wanting to help the youth. But hell, injured or not, teenager or not, the boy they were carrying was their ENEMY, and a very dangerous enemy at that. Ken couldn't help but think that it wouldn't have been a totally bad thing if Nagi had just died before making it to them. And that was a whole other issue... Aya was right, there was something more going on here. Why HAD Nagi come to them for help? Come to Omi, specifically?

"Explanations later," Omi said sternly as they laid the telekinetic down on the bed and Ken started to ask the questions preying on his mind. "Get his clothes off - cut them off if you have to. I'm going to get the first aid kit." His hand lingered gently on Nagi's for a moment, before he turned and left his bedroom. If Ken hadn't known better, he'd have said that gesture was an affectionate one - the touch of a worried friend... or lover.

The ex-soccer player shook his head, dismissing THAT thought before it could get any further. The idea that Omi was secretly friends with Nagi was stretching probability, but potentially believable. The idea that Omi was secretly sleeping with Nagi was simply beyond belief... after all, Omi was quite firmly attached to Youji, and Youji was rather possessive of his young lover.

He made one abortive attempt to get Nagi's clothes off the usual way, but realized quickly that it just wasn't going to work. He had no idea where Omi kept his knives or scissors... but hadn't he been wearing these pants today earlier in the shop? He checked his pockets, and found the folding knife he often carried with him at work. Snapping it open, he carefully cut through the tough fabric of the telekinetic's school uniform tunic, careful not to jostle the boy too badly.

Each piece of fabric that he peeled away revealed new injuries... and old scars. Ken's eyes got wider and wider as he worked. Nagi was literally covered in scars, and almost all of them were several years old. Some of them looked like he'd had them from early childhood - they had stretched out as the boy had grown. What on earth could have marked a young child like that? Repeatedly marked him? Had Nagi come from an abusive family of some kind? Hell, no wonder he seemed so uncaring of what happened to other people... probably figured the world had never done anything for him, so why should he do anything for the world.

Not that it excused his actions... just explained them. Ken shook his head and kept working. He slid the knife carefully under the tight collar and pulled upwards, and the tough fibres gave way beneath the sharp edge. He peeled the tunic collar away from Nagi's throat, and paused. Nagi was wearing a choker that had been hidden by the high neck of the tunic. A plain leather band with a small pendant attached. Ken frowned and leaned in for a closer look. He'd seen a collar like this once before... but where?

He reached out to unfasten it, figuring the boy would be able to breath easier without it around his throat. "Don't!" Omi exclaimed from behind him, making him jump. He looked around to see his friend in the doorway, carrying a basket full of the medical supplies they all kept handy. "Don't take it off," Omi continued as he entered the room and set the basket down beside the bed. "He'll be frantic if it's gone when he wakes up. The last thing we need now is for him to be more panicked than he already is."

Looking at Omi, the connection clicked in Ken's mind. "Omi, that's a bondage collar," he accused, gesturing at Nagi.

Omi nodded, not meeting his eyes as he moved to get Nagi's pants off. "Yes, it is," he agreed shortly. "Now either help me finish undressing him, or get out of my way, please."

Ken moved to help Omi get the bloody pants off, his body working on autopilot as his mind raced. Nagi was wearing a bondage collar. Nagi was a sub. Nagi was wearing a bondage collar with a pendant that looked an AWFUL lot like the one Omi had worn on that mission... though admittedly with all the fancy scrollwork, it was hard to tell. But weren't those things supposed to be easily recognizable? So didn't that mean all the scrollwork must mean they WERE the same? But that would imply...

Ken's mind shied away from that thought, and he let it for now. Questions later, he reminded himself grimly as Omi started taking inventory of Nagi's injuries. For now, they had a badly injured boy to try to help.

"His shoulder's dislocated," Omi noted, scanning the telekinetic. "Looks like his ankle might be broken as well. That bruising on the ribs looks nasty... I wouldn't be surprised if he's broken or cracked them. The cuts all look like the skin just broke open after being bashed against something, not as if he was slashed with something..." he paused and tilted his head. "You know, he looks an awful lot like *I* did after facing him, only worse. At a guess, I'd say a telekinetic did all this."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Ken agreed after looking at the injuries again. "Slammed him against something on his left side, repeatedly. Jesus. And they were able to BLOCK Schwartz somehow? This is starting to look seriously scary."

Nagi whimpered and stirred, his eyes slitting open. "Omi?" he croaked, reaching out. Omi caught his hand.

"I'm here, Liebe," he murmured softly. "It's okay. We're just treating your injuries, okay? I need you to lie still for me, but don't tense up."

Nagi nodded, and visibly relaxed every muscle in his body. Ken blinked, surprised... given the amount of pain the boy had to be in, he wouldn't have thought it would be possible for him to just voluntarily relax like that. Omi looked at his teammate. "Ken, can you get his arm back into place? You're better with dislocations than I am."

"Yeah, sure," Ken agreed, moving to grasp Nagi's arm in one hand and his shoulder in the other. "On the count of three, okay? One... two..."

He wrenched sharply at the telekinetic's arm, twisting it back into place with an audible crunch. Nagi cried out, and a sharp blow hit Ken in the chest, sending him tumbling off the bed and onto the floor, gasping for air. When he finally managed to draw breath again, he turned his head to see that Omi was lying beside him, likewise winded.

"Should... should have expected that," Omi finally wheezed, looking chagrined. "I didn't think he had the energy left, though."

"I'm sorry," Nagi sobbed from where he was now huddled on the bed. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... please don't be angry, I didn't mean to..."

"We're not angry," Ken said automatically, and then realized it was true. Hell, he'd taken worse shoves from people he was resetting dislocated joints on. But this utter wretched misery... Nagi seemed genuinely terrified that they would be angry with him for hitting them. "Calm down, kid, we're not going to hurt you."

Omi scrambled back up to his feet and perched on the edge of the bed, reaching out to hug Nagi carefully, mindful of his possibly broken ribs. "It's okay, Liebe, it's all right. You're safe, nobody is going to hurt you. Trust me, all right?"

Nagi nodded against Omi's shoulder, but didn't seem entire convinced. Ken got to his feet as well. 'Liebe'? he mouthed at Omi, but the younger Weiss just gave him a warning look and shook his head. Ken sighed and raked his hair back out of his eyes. The puzzle pieces were piling up, and he was really starting to dislike the picture they were showing.

With Omi holding the boy soothingly, Ken managed to tape up his ribs without too much further difficulty. His ankle turned out to be sprained, not broken, so he wrapped it tightly and applied a chemical cold pack to it. Nagi bore the pain stoically, never making a sound louder than a whimper, though his face was twisted with agony. Omi helped Ken clean out the cuts and abrasions, and they patched up the worst of them.

At last Ken stood back and surveyed their work. "Okay, I think he's good now. So long as he stays off that foot, the brace will hold his ankle until it heals a bit. How do you feel, kid?"

Nagi was still curled up against Omi, face tucked in the older boy's shoulder and clinging to his shirt like a lifeline. He shook his head slightly, but didn't say anything. Omi sighed. "Right. Well... there's nothing more we can do until Aya-kun and Youji get back, and you need rest more than anything, I think." He shifted slowly out from under Nagi, guiding the youth to lie back against the pillows. "Ken-kun, I've got some instant soup in my kitchen... could you go make some for him while I put the medical supplies away, please?"

"Sure," Ken agreed, heading for the door to the rest of Omi's apartment. When he reached it he glanced back once at the pale, slender form in Omi's bed; then he shook his head and kept moving. Omi was going to have a hell of a lot of questions to answer when this was over.

Youji insisted on taking his car, knowing that Aya became a rather reckless driver when he was angry. And there was absolutely no doubt that the redhead was furious, as he sat fuming in the passenger seat of Youji's car. Youji figured silence was the better part of valour in this case, and kept his mouth shut. With any luck, he'd be able to delay the final confrontation until they were back at the Koneko, and he could find out just how much Omi was planning to reveal.

"I don't suppose you'd like to tell me how you know where you're going," Aya said coldly after Youji made another turn without hesitating. Youji's eyes widened, and he cursed silently.

"Uh, no, not really," Youji muttered. He glanced over and caught a glimpse of violet eyes darkened with rage, and sighed. "Look, like Omi said, explanations can wait until later. We've got a job to do, let's focus on that for now, all right?"

As he'd hoped, appealing to Aya's sense of duty helped to stave off the questions for a little while longer. But Youji knew very well it was only a temporary stop-gap; once the swordsman latched onto something that irritated him, he never let go until he'd solved the mystery by any means necessary.

He pulled into the underground lot of the condominium building that Schuldig and Nagi lived in. He had no idea if the fight - or whatever it was - had happened here; given that Crawford and Farfarello had also been involved, it might very well have occurred at Crawford's apartment. But Youji didn't know where the precognitive lived, and he also didn't have a key to the door. Given Nagi's abilities with electronics, he didn't fancy trying to break into any place any member of Schwartz spent a significant amount of time in.

He got out of the car, then looked over at Aya. "Listen... if Farfarello did live through that attack, he's probably healed himself by now. If you're more focused on being irritated with me than on watching my back, you can stay HERE instead of risking both our lives. Understand?"

Aya stared at him, but nodded slowly after a moment. "I'm coming with you," he said shortly, picking up his katana and fixing the sheath to his belt. "But I want answers after this is over, and they'd better be damn GOOD answers."

Pulling out a length of his wire to test the release, Youji nodded. "You'll get your explanation, once we're all in one place again. For one thing, it's not really my place to tell you anything." He let the wire snap back with a satisfying whir, and headed for the elevator.

There was no question that Schwartz made a hell of a lot more money than Weiss ever had. Even the elevator was posh, and required a keycard to be inserted into a slot before any level but the lobby could be activated. Youji fished his card out of his pocket and slid it into place, then hit the button. The elevator moved so smoothly he was hardly even aware of the ascent.

Aya's brows had drawn together in a scowl again when he saw the keycard, but he kept his mouth shut and his eyes focused on the door. After a moment the scowl changed to a frown. "Look... there's blood on the doors," he said, stepping closer. Youji leaned in as well.

"Yeah, looks like it," he agreed. He glanced down, but the bright red of the plush carpet made it hard to spot any more blood there. "If that's Nagi's, then we're at the right place." The elevator dinged discreetly, and the doors slid open to reveal a hallway decorated in the same luxurious style as the elevator.

There was more blood on the walls, staining the gold and cream wallpaper a rusty brown colour. Youji frowned as he saw at least one clear handprint, too small to belong to an adult. "That's Nagi, all right... he must have been holding himself up by leaning on the wall." He followed the trail back to the right door, not that he needed the indicator. The door was ajar, showing an inch or two of the vestibule.

"I'll go first," Aya murmured, barely loud enough to be heard. Youji nodded - his was a long range weapon, and it made sense for the more effective close quarters fighter to go in first. Of course, Aya was going to be hampered by the narrow hallway - there wasn't room to swing his katana properly. Youji readied his wire, in case Farfarello was waiting to ambush them.

The moment they stepped inside, the smell of blood hit them full in the face. Youji breathed shallowly through his mouth as he had learned to do - Weiss often faced this after killing their targets, though he had only occasionally walked in on someone else's mess. It was much worse when it was slightly stale, he discovered.

The hallway branched not far past the door. Youji caught Aya's eye, and motioned to the right. 'Bedrooms', he mouthed, and then 'living room' while pointing to the left. Aya's eyes narrowed again, but he just nodded and jerked his head to the left, indicating that he would take that direction.

They split up, and Youji made his way down the hall on catfeet. The bathroom door was open, and a quick glance inside revealed nothing out of place. There was no blood on the walls here, and it wasn't likely that Schuldig would have been entertaining Crawford and Farfarello in the bedroom, so he wasn't likely to find any bodies in this direction. But if Farfarello hadn't been dead and had recovered, and was waiting for them, it would make sense for the Irishman to hide in the bedroom and then attack them from behind when they went into the living room to investigate.

And, frankly, he'd rather Aya didn't get a look at the bedroom and its... accoutrements. That would just raise far too many questions he wasn't sure he wanted to answer, now or ever. Admitting to fraternizing with the enemy would be bad enough... Aya and Ken really didn't need to know all the gory details.

"Youji!" Aya called, just as Youji opened the bedroom door and glanced inside. "I found him."

Youji did a quick check of the bedroom just in case, but there was nothing out of place here, either. He shut the door again and jogged back down the hall to the living room.

The smell of blood got stronger as he headed towards the living room. He stopped in the doorway and looked around. The carpets in here were a light beige colour, so the puddle of mostly dried blood by one wall stood out clearly. There were bloody indents in the wall just above it - presumably where Nagi had been slammed into the wall, then left lying in his own blood. The furniture was all tipped over, and Farfarello's knife was lying in another, smaller puddle of blood near the door Youji was standing in. The Irishman himself was sprawled out over the floor, his body partially concealed by the overturned couch. Aya was kneeling next to him, checking his vital signs.

"Is he actually dead?" Youji asked, moving forward. He couldn't see a visible wound on the psychic, even when he rounded the couch and could see the man's entire body.

Aya looked up and nodded. "He's dead. No heartbeat, no respiration... I've been checking for the last five minutes, just to be sure. It wouldn't surprise me if he could slow his heartbeat and breathing enough to fool someone into thinking he was dead."

Youji nodded and knelt on Farfarello's other side. "No offense," he said as he leaned forward and checked for himself. "Not that I don't trust you or something... I just won't be able to shake the feeling that he's about to leap up and slice us to ribbons until I see for myself."

Aya raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "I have to say, I'm not quite willing to turn my back on him, either."

There was indeed no sign of life in the man's body. His single golden eye was wide open, and a trail of blood had welled up from it and trickled down over his cheek. More blood trails led from his nose, mouth, and ears, but other than that there was no sign of injury. "What the hell killed him?" Youji wanted to know. "It looks like he was... pressurized, or something. Or his brain exploded."

"Maybe it did," Aya replied grimly. "If we're dealing with psychics, there's no telling what they're capable of. I'd believe that Schuldig or Nagi would be capable of something like this."

Youji shuddered. Despite himself, he reached out to close Farfarello's eye - more to escape that golden stare than out of any form of respect. "Yeah, probably," he agreed. "Well... that's one burden off our backs, anyway. Let's start looking for any sign of who the hell did this."

He stood and surveyed the room again, and shook his head. "I have a nasty feeling we haven't seen the last of these people."

|Part 1| |Part 2| |Part 3| |Part 4| |Part 5| |Part 6| |Part 7| |Part 8| |Part 9| |Part 10| |Part 11| |Part 12| |Part 13| |Part 14|

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