Chapter 35 - Say What You Need to Say
By namek_kaia
As Ozzal left the Grand Hall of Comdot Estate with Dewey close behind, her daughter was trying to muffle her screams. An unfortunate circumstance had placed the girl in the room shortly before her mother made a rather loud entrance with her confidant Dewey Novak. Starry quickly hid behind one of the royal red draperies that were hung all along the wall. From her hiding spot, she could see the entirety of events that took place in the next few minutes.
When the shots rang out that ended Goda's life, they conveniently drowned out the short yelp that escaped Starry's mouth. She covered it and sat in frightened limbo as she waited to be found out.
Somehow, amazingly, she wasn't. After that, she was shocked to hear that the Syndicate could be crushed within a few weeks. Immediately, she thought of Raef and what kind of danger he was in now. It was probably too risky for her to try to sneak out of the Estate now, but she had to find some way to warn Raef about her mother's plan.
Starry waited a few moments, then uncovered her mouth and released a horrified yet choked sort of sound. She ran her hand along the wall to hold herself up, purposely looking at the wall instead of at the grotesque corpse in the middle of the room. All she could see anywhere she looked was red. Blood on the floor, the carpet, the "throne," the paint, the drapes. Everywhere red. When she finally escaped the room, it was like coming up for air after being underwater too long. Fresh, breathable, much cooler air.
She wanted to break down and cry, or throw up, or scream as loud as she could, but she had to get back to her room. She had to get back to Walter so he could warn Raef.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Straight Cougar had paced the length of the hallway in front of the bedrooms at the café so many times that he was making himself a rut. He wanted to see Cille. He wanted to comfort her. But since they had just buried her former fiancé, he wasn't sure that he should. For the time being, he kept pacing.
In one of the bedrooms, Cille carefully removed the washcloth from her eyes and got up to re-soak it in the sink. As she did, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. No matter how many times she put the cold cloth on her face, the swelling in her eyes wouldn't go away. Every time she looked at them, she almost started up again. She didn't want to cry anymore. How many hours had she sat and cried for that man?
First, it was because he left her out of the blue, without explanation about where he'd gone or why. Then it was for worry that he was okay or even alive. Then the betrayal that he'd tried to kill her, and now, after all that had happened, she still cried because he was gone. Sure, he was a double-crossing, selfish ba.stard, but no matter how much she told herself that, she couldn't help feeling sorry about what had happened to him. When would it end? When would he stop causing her so much grief? Moreover, what was she going to do about it? She had to stay strong for her friends. Even though so much had happened in the last few days and weeks, even more stood ahead of them, looming like a giant over a hill of ants. She couldn't just sit here and feel sorry for herself, even though that sympathy was deserved. More than ever, she had to stand up and fight. There was no going back. Not now.
Especially not now.
She looked back up at her face in the mirror, and involuntarily the huge wrenching sobs overtook her again, as if to remind her that she couldn't simply make her emotions go away by telling herself that she needed to be strong. As much as she hated feeling this way, she had just gone through too much to push it all aside. But as long as nobody saw her like this...
Cougar couldn't take it anymore. He could at least ask if she needed some breakfast or something to drink. He stopped pacing and stood in front of her door. He hesitated a bit, but he had already made up his mind.
Quietly but firmly, he knocked on her door.
Cille went to the door but didn't open it. She already knew who it was. Instead she just stood with her forehead against the thin piece of wood that separated her from the outside world. "Yes?"
"Do you want some breakfast? Or maybe something to drink? I can bring you whatever you want."
"No thanks, Cougar. I'm fine," she lied.
"I know... you're going through a lot. I'm right out here if you want to talk. Or do something. Or anything. 'Kay?"
Cille genuinely smiled. The one good thing about this entire experience was that she had met him. He was kind and funny, and... maybe, if things had been different, she... well she didn't know how things would be. Either way, he had saved her life more than once. She owed him everything. There was no way she could possibly begin to pay him back.
That's when she realized... she wasn't the only one suffering. He had lost a friend too, right? Hadn't he been betrayed by that friend just as she had?
She opened the door, and he was still standing there, waiting on her to make sure she would be okay. Maybe, if he stayed with her, she would be.
He gave her a questioning look, and she knew that her puffy eyes gave her away. But she also noticed the worry lines on his face and his tired eyes, and knew that her suspicions had been correct. He was suffering too, perhaps even more out of concern for her than because of Landon's betrayal.
And yet... wasn't she just making him worry more by shutting him out of her life? When it was obvious that she wasn't as "fine" as she pretended to be?
Maybe there was a small something that she could do for him. Instead of shutting herself up in her room and pretending to be strong while she was really falling apart, perhaps she should be facing up to the tragedy they had all gone through, reaching out to him the way he was trying to reach out to her. And then they could both move past it, together.
She smiled at him. "Thank you, Cougar."
"It's my pleasure as always, Ms. Cillie."
She was about to say something more when they heard footsteps coming toward them. They both watched as Hikki came down the hallway and greeted them. And then a young man appeared behind him.
"Raef!!"
"Mom!"
What followed was what anyone would expect of two loved ones who hadn't seen each other in months and thought they might not see each other ever again. They hugged, they cried, and then they hugged and cried some more. Hikki and Cougar respectfully removed themselves to give them privacy. Finally, they ended up back in her bedroom where they sat down next to each other on the bed and intended to just sit down and talk, to say the things that they had been meaning to say for quite some time.
Cille spoke first. She couldn't keep her voice from shaking from the intense emotions. "I was so worried about you, Raef. Cougar told me that you were okay, but... I was so afraid that I would never see you again."
"How do you think I felt when I read about your... horrible death in the paper? I couldn't believe that it was actually true, but what they said... the details... I..."
Cille reached out and held his hand in hers. "You don't have to say it. I get sick to my stomach when I think of what might have actually happened if Cougar hadn't saved me."
They looked at each other for a moment, and the fear they'd been holding onto finally gave way to relief.
"I guess the important thing is that we're both safe, right, Mom?"
"You know you can call me Cille here. There's nobody around who'd care," she said with a laugh.
"Right. So I guess everything's worked out okay, huh?"
She looked troubled again. "Well... Landon..."
"Yeah, I heard. I'm sorry about that."
"If you knew, then why didn't you come to the cemetery today? I mean, I know you two didn't always see eye to eye, but he was still like a father to you."
"That man was not my father! Or anything like it. He didn't know how to stop thinking about himself long enough to actually care for another person."
"Raef, you were young, but I know you know how wonderful he was to you and me before he left."
"The kind of man I remember would not have just left us like that with no explanation. He dropped us like he never cared in the first place!"
"But..."
He didn't wait for her to finish. "Cille, I've kept it from you until now, but I found Landon several months ago. I demanded from him an explanation about why he left like he did. He said that it was for the sake of the revolution, and I believed him. I understood his reasoning, and since he said he only left without saying anything because it was dangerous and he didn't want to get us involved, I decided to join his cause. I think deep down, I wanted to believe him. But for whatever reason, I just couldn't shake my suspicions."
"But you said he was only protecting us. That was reason enough, wasn't it? And what were you thinking?! You could have gotten killed!!"
"That's not the point, Cille! After a while, he started to get reckless. Sending people on missions that had no real meaning or strategy. Then he slowly started to pull away. He was still acting as our leader, but he wasn't leading. No matter how much he had other people convinced, I knew he had something else planned, something that would end with everyone dead except him.
"But... I couldn't prove anything. And no one believed me. So, there wasn't really anything for me to do but hope that either I was wrong or my comrades would realize the truth before it was too late."
Cille was quiet. Not only did she not have any way to respond, she didn't even know how to process all of this. It had been hard enough for her to learn about Landon's wickedness, but she hadn't realized how deeply involved her sweet, innocent adoptive son had become in Landon's deception. How much danger must he have been in...
"Then, things turned even more upside-down."
"You were kidnapped."
"Yeah... I was. It was basically the same thing that happened to you, only it was just me. Someone had identified me as a key member who was important to the missing leader of the Syndicate and I was being held as a hostage while simultaneously being thoroughly interrogated. Though, they didn't expect the leader to be an egotistical pig and for me to still be so determined not to talk, so their efforts were fruitless on both points. Fortunately I was rescued before they could get really nasty."
"But where have you been since then? Why didn't you come back to the Syndicate?"
"Well... when I was there, I met... this girl."
"Oh!" Cille beamed a smile and playfully nudged him in the ribs. "Well tell me. Who is she? Was it some romantic tale of two prisoners coming together and falling in love in a dire situation?"
Raef laughed. A sound that neither of them had heard in quite a while. It seemed to clear the air between them and made them both relax a bit more. "No no... nothing like that. She... Her name... is Starry."
"Well that's a pretty name. Kind of unusual."
"Yeah, she's... she's a very special girl."
"So what was she doing in the Comdot prison?"
"Well... her mom works there."
"And she brought her to work? In the prison? Isn't that kind of risky?"
Raef fidgeted a little. "Well you see... her name is actually... Starry Ozzal."
"Starry Ozzal?!? You mean... she's the Head Governor's daughter!?! Are you effing insane!? Do you know what Ozzal would do to you if she knew that you were involved with her daughter???"
"Cille, Cille! Breathe. C'mon. In and out. Nice and easy," he coached her for a while until she calmed down a bit more. "That's good. Now look. We didn't mean for it to happen, and we know it's such a Romeo and Juliet cliché sort of thing, but we've been careful. She has resources and I have this secret apartment that only she knows about. It's how we keep in touch and know that the other is okay. Cille... with all that's happened, you and she are the only things that keep me going. I love you. You're my mother and you've always been there for me, especially during the hard times after our parents died. I would do anything for you. But... I love her too. I really do. She's not like her mother at all. When this is all over, we'll be able to be together."
"So... are you going to rejoin the Syndicate, then?" she asked worriedly.
"I... I dunno. There's this abandoned bunker outside the city. This guy from some group called the Order of Glass asked me to help check it out, to make sure the electricity and wiring and stuff were still good enough to house hundreds of people. So for the last few days, that's what I've been doing with this guy and some contractor he hired. We all met with Hikki after the funeral service to present the offer to the Syndicate. Now it seems that the Order, the Syndicate, and anyone else who wants to join up will all stay and act together with this bunker as their center of operations.
"Even though I've left the Syndicate, I still believe in helping this country become truly great again. I think now that we officially have new leadership and hopefully have learned from our mistakes, we can actually do some good. But I still have to try to protect Starry, and I know that the more involved with the Syndicate I am, the more danger she'll be in. What about you? You've got a lot invested in this fight now, same as me. What will you do?"
Her brow furrowed and she sighed, leaning over and holding her face in her hands. "Oh, I don't know anymore, Raef. I can barely just handle the things that have been going on, and now I have to worry about what's going to happen in the future. All this at once. I just... I don't know what to do. I thought that I could do some good for this revolution, but I can't even take care of myself, much less the people I care about. I mean, look at you - I'm supposed to be your mother, but I haven't even seen you in months. You've been in terrible danger and I haven't been able to do a thing for you. What am I doing here?"
His arm went around her shoulder and he pulled her to him. "Hey now. Don't say things like that. You've done a lot for me. You sacrificed a lot just so I could have somewhere to live and something to eat. It's time now that I return the favor. Look, Cille, Mom... everyone would understand if you wanted to go away for a bit and wait until this is all over. The Syndicate will beat this thing, I promise you."
She shook her head. "As hard as it might be for me, I don't feel right about just running away. Too many people here have done too much for me. Even if I would probably only get in people's way, I have to stay and support everyone I love. All my friends, and especially you. I want to get stronger and do something for a change!"
"That's the spirit, I guess!" he said, smiling at her. He could tell that she had changed a lot since they had last been together. "Maybe..." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe I should stop waiting on the sidelines and get involved again too. I can try to protect Starry, but I can protect you too. Looks like we'll be fighting side by side, eh?"
They both laughed. Somehow it was just like it used to be. Sitting down and talking about each other's days. They were finally back together again. It felt good to know, if even for a little while, that the other was safe. It was good to hug each other again.
"So," he asked, "what actually happened with you? I suspected you weren't really dead, but I'm glad to see that I was right."
"Well... there's not a lot to tell, really. I was captured during the Echelon's raid on the Syndicate and, just when I was sure I was going to die, Cougar came bursting through a wall out of nowhere and got me out of there. Next thing I knew, I was further away from danger than I had ever been. Turns out Cougar had some friends that were living on a cabin in the middle of nowhere. We hid out there so no one would know I had actually survived until we could figure out what to do. Everyone was so kind to me there. Even though I felt horrible about not being able to tell everyone I was really okay, I had time to think about what I wanted to do from then on. Not that that makes me feel any more certain about things now."
"I'm glad you're still here, Cille. I don't know what I would have done without you."
"Same goes for you."
A pause of silence stretched out between them. They sat with their arms around each other and just enjoyed the company for a while.
That was, until both their stomachs rang out with hunger.
"So... how about we beg Hikki to make us some of his wonderful food?" he asked.
"Sounds good," she answered. "I'm absolutely starved."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kazuma and Captain Yemman burst their way into the GAR Street Bar rather dramatically... only to be met by an empty bar.
"Well that was anticlimactic," Kazuma said to no one in particular.
"What the hell? Where is everyone?" he asked as he approached an old man at the bar, who was cleaning glasses very intently.
"The masters all went to find some group called the Blacken Syndicate. Master Kamina gave a rousing speech about Comedian forces attacking in a few weeks and they all left to go find these people and possibly join them in the fight, I suppose. You just missed them, actually."
"Thanks, old man."
"Watari."
"Who be this then?" Yemman asked.
"Watari. My name is Watari."
"Er... right. Thank ye, Watari."
After they left the bar, Yemman smacked Kazuma in the chest with his mechanical arm.
"What the hell was that for?!"
"If ye had'na been lollygaggin' all about through e'ry alley looking for that Ryuho character, we would'na missed the par'y. An' draggin' me with ye no less!"
"Well what about you when you run off suddenly in the direction of anything that's shiny?!"
"I's a pirate! Searchin' fer treasure is wot I do!"
"Just shut up and let's go find this Black thing."
"The wot?"
"The Syndicate, man! Where everyone else went."
"O that. Well I has an idear 'bout where they might be. I used ta be in the Syndicate, 'member?"
"Yeah, yeah. You never shut up about it."
And so on the argument went the entire way to Trunks' pub.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Bruce Herman arrived at his home tired, cold, and not looking forward to this new job. Not that he didn't like his work, or his new client. But he was worried that if something happened before the job was done, he wouldn't be able to take care of his girlfriend Sarah. Worse yet, he knew that this job meant working closely with some of the Syndicate's members. After what happened to them, he wanted to protect his girlfriend by helping them and securing her a safe future, but then again what would happen if he were defeated? Who would take care of her then?
"Yo. Sup? You look like hell," Jean Pierrot greeted his friend. He was stretched across the couch eating a box of Samoa cookies.
"And you look so well yourself, gorging on those cookies while sitting on your a.ss."
"Don't take it out on me because you had a bad day. What's up with you anyway?"
"I got a new job. It's just kinda giving me more to think about than usual."
"Yeah... like you do a whole lot of thinking on a usual basis."
Bruce finished putting up his keys and jacket and joined his friend on the couch after shoving him over. "It's a job securing a safe house that the revolutionary Syndicate wants to use as a base of operations. With all that's happened to us, I can't decide if I want to get back at those bastards for trying to destroy my house or not."
"I get what you mean. But I'm definitely up for anything. You won't mind if I tag along tomorrow then?"
"Nah, you can help me lift all the heavy stuff. I need to make sure parts of the old place don't fall in on us."
"Well... I guess all I'm good for is to make sure things don't rain down on you."
"Pretty much. Now give me one of those cookies before I have to kill you."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lloyd Asplund was bored out of his mind, looking blankly out of the window as the bullet train sped past the landscape. Nothing interesting had caught his eye for hours. Just blur after blur of snow-covered fields and the occasional small town. It was boring how similar it all looked. He actually liked the color white; wore it more often than not, but this was just ridiculous. Everything was white! That is, until the train reached the outskirts of Orly.
White fields changed abruptly to dark broken stone and asphalt. Most buildings were reduced to rubble and those that were spared destruction weren't exactly in the best of conditions either. What Argeno had told him before was true. Actonia really was in a state of serious disarray. The last time the two scientists spoke, Argeno expressed to Lloyd how concerned he was about the job he now had as one of Ozzal's personal scientists. Apparently, he felt he was in over his head - something about how betraying those he cared about was not what he signed up for. Shortly after that, Lloyd had received word that Argeno had been killed during a raid on the Comdot Estate. But no matter how Lloyd manipulated the data, it didn't add up. Something was wrong with the way Van had died.
The train rolled on quickly to the middle of the city, which looked much more neatly groomed than the scenery that had just sped by. The area around the Comdot Estate looked more like what he was used to back in the Land of the Rising Big Red Dot. His thoughts of Argeno were stayed for a moment as the train slowed and finally pulled to a stop at the Orly station. He maneuvered around people grabbing for their bags and various things and quickly made for the exit. As he stepped down from the train, the soft chilling breeze blew his hair this way and that... just like it would for any handsome man stepping off a train in a dramatic fashion. Now that that was done and people standing idly by were gaping at his awesome dramatic effects, he left the station and headed to the Comdot Estate. He knew it was a dead end, but he figured that his investigation should start where it all took place. No matter what, he had to find out the truth about Van Argeno's death.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"It's so big!" Kaia said, amazed.
"I told you it would be, didn't I?" Sadar answered with a chuckle.
"Well yeah, but when you told me we were finally gonna do this, I imagined it would be pretty big. But not THIS big. It's huge."
"I told you how big it was before. You just didn't believe me."
"You did no such thing. Can I touch it?"
He grabbed her hand as it shot up. "I think we should wait. Just until a few of the others show up."
"Others? What have they got to do with this? It's always waiting with you. Let's just do it!"
A freaked-out Cowboy and April delicately made their presence known and everyone was silent for a moment.
"So..." Cowboy said with a grin on his face as he settled his cello case on the ground. "What were you two talking about?"
"Sex. Stupid perverts," April said under his... er, her? breath.
"I wanna go ahead and go into the bunker but the Father here wants to wait on everyone else," Kaia explained, pointing at the huge structure in front of them.
"You're always so impatient," Sadar sighed.
"And you're too slow."
"Ah, I see what the situation is now," Cowboy said. "Forgive me for interrupting this lovers' quarrel."
Kaia blushed and beamed at the same time. Excitedly, she linked her arm with Sadar's. "Really? You think we look like lovers!? Isn't that wonderful, John?"
Sadar facepalmed. "Oh dear god. You just had to go and say the L-word, didn't you?"
At that point, Raef, Cille, Cougar, Bruce Herman, Shunsui, Nanao, and Jean Pierrot all appeared on the edge of the woods, making their way down to the bunker entrance.
"Raef! We were waiting on you before going in," Cowboy greeted them.
"You guys could have just asked me for the code instead of waiting on me, you know," Raef answered as he punched the code into the keypad that Kaia had so eagerly wanted to touch before. The doors whirred to life and opened wide enough for the whole party to stand in the entrance.
"Whoa. You could fit the whole city in there!" Pierrot gawked.
Bruce smacked him good-naturedly on the back. "Yep, that's the idea, Pierrot."
"Sarcastic bastard," his friend muttered just loud enough for him to hear.
Bruce ignored him. "Alright everyone! Let's go to work. This bitch is huge, so just pick a spot and start cleaning."
"Shouldn't we work on the living areas first?" Kaia asked. "Since we're supposed to be practically living here now."
"But we do need to start stocking up on weapons. The armory needs to be cleaned first," Pierrot said.
A small uproar started up about which areas should be cleaned first. After a few seconds, Bruce's headache started to come back. He could only take so much at one time. He barked over the noise for everyone to quiet down. "This is why I said to pick any area, people! It's all gotta be cleaned. It doesn't matter what's first. Now let's go!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lloyd sighed as he walked around the uptown area. He'd been here for half a day and came up absolutely dry on leads. Investigative worked s.ucked unless he was manipulating data. Having no data at all was a real problem. In this situation, there were no tests he could run to come to a conclusion or even a guess. He had absolutely nothing to go on anymore. No one at the Comdot Estate would give him a second glance. Even his smooth talking had gotten him no real response. It was if no one knew what had happened, or if they did it was being covered up. He tried the city police next, hoping there was some report or autopsy or something to look at, but he was told that to access the files for his inquiry he would have to talk to the chief. It just so happened that the chief was out of the office and no one had any idea when she would be back.
Lloyd sighed again, even more melodramatically this time. Here, he couldn't use his status to get the information he needed. There was only one place left for him to look, and he doubted a small little rundown café would give him any more inkling as to what happened to Van any more than the authorities would. Though... something was better than nothing, and he wasn't going to be any worse off if it turned out to be another dead end.
He was almost to the corner when a most glorious smell hit him. Crepes, muffins, croissants, cakes and cookies - all the orgasmic smells filled his nose at once. Suddenly, his stomach gave a telling growl and he realized that he hadn't eaten since that morning before he had gotten on the train. He was about to go straight into the café when something made him look up at the name painted above the door. Café de l'Argeno. Now, Lloyd Asplund was not one to believe in fate, but this... this was probably as close as he was ever going to get to the truth. Even he had to admit that it was quite the coincidence. Why would the café that Argeno was said to be a regular of be named after him?
At that moment, Hikki Follet was taking the last batch of mini cheesecakes from the fridge and delicately placing them in their own individual boxes. How he could afford these little boxes when half the entrance was still haphazardly boarded up no one knew. But Hikki paid attention to presentation almost as much as he did the pastries themselves. "Zeese should be enough for ze meeting tonight. Zho... I wonder eef I should bring one for Trez. I've never zeen heem eat." He continued putting the delicious little cakes into boxes.
The entrance bell rang as someone entered the café. Hikki had put the last of the cakes in a box and turned to put them with the others. "I'm sorry, but we are clo-" He looked up at his new customer and nearly dropped his cakes. Purple-ish hair. White suit. Glasses. Not to mention a gorgeous face. For a moment, he swore that he saw Argeno. That is... before that sinking feeling in his chest told him it couldn't possibly be. He blinked a few times before he could focus on the man before him. It really wasn't Argeno... but this man wasn't far from his former love.
"Congratulations! This is the greatest little café I've ever set foot in!" Lloyd gushed.
"-zing."
"What was that?"
"Clozing. We are about to cloze for ze day."
Lloyd pouted, and his stomach rumbled again. "Couldn't you let me be the last customer of the day? Please? Your food smells so good, and I'm very hungry." He put on his best smile and waited for the other man to mercifully give him some food.
Hikki was still slightly slack-jawed. He could barely process anything Lloyd was saying. "Zat ees... I mean... we were going to close, but I zuppose I could spare a few meenutes to zerve someone as handsome as yourself." Hikki, back to his normal self, leaned across the counter and winked at him.
Lloyd let out a bubbling laugh. "Well well. I don't think I've ever met someone as bold as myself. Tell me, Mr. Baker, what is your name?"
"Hikki Follet. I am very pleased to meet you."
"Lloyd Asplund. Same to you. I was wondering if we could chat while I eat."
"Only chat?"
"Well... the rest can come later."
Only a few minutes had passed and Lloyd had already downed two croissants, a blackberry muffin, two small cakes, and half a cup of coffee. "Mmm. I must tell you, Mr. Follet -"
"S'il vous plaît, call me Hikki."
"Hikki. You have the finest pastries I think I've ever tasted. No wonder Van always came here."
Hikki nearly choked on the coffee he had been sipping on. "Van? You can’t mean..."
"Van Argeno."
"You knew heem?! How?"
"Yes, I knew him. More importantly... I'm wondering why this café is named after him? I was told its name was the Café de Lune."
"Eet ees my café now, and I chose to change ze name. Zees being my café, I zeenk eet would be better eef you first told me how you knew heem."
"But I asked you first."
Hikki just sat in silence. Waited for his answer. This man was handsome, but Hikki definitely wasn't going to give in on the matter if it was about Van.
Lloyd sighed. "Very well. I am beaten. Congratulations!" He took another sip of coffee. "Van Argeno is... or rather, he was... my cousin."
"You are related to heem?! Well, I zuppose zat would explain ze zeemeelarities."
"I traveled here from the Land of the Rising Big Red Dot to investigate his murder."
"Murder?" At that word, Hikki heard that voice in his head he could never forget. "Ozzal has no need for traitors." He could see Argeno lying in the floor in front of him. Moments ago he was moving, breathing, and then he just wasn't. Red stained his usually perfect white suit. Worst of all, he couldn't ever forget that shocked expression that was frozen on his lover's face. That image, accompanied by that malicious voice, had haunted him in his sleep many nights since then. The papers, which barely bothered reporting it, passed it off as another casualty of war. Hikki knew the truth, though. After reliving it all again and calming himself, he was finally able to say, "But ze reports said he died een service of ze Head Governor."
"I don't know for sure yet if it was murder, but there was something that doesn't add up about his death if it happened the way they say it did. Now, you haven't answered my question. Why does this café bear his name? What was he to you?"
Hikki thought about how to say it. It was hard enough just thinking about it. "I loved heem," he finally said. "Nozing has been ze same since he died. Because you are heez cousin and traveled so far for heem, I will tell you. Eet eez as you say. He was murdered.
"Ozzal keeled him."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Raef Compton finally decided to leave his adoptive mother's side and go home to his apartment to clean up and get some fresh air. He had never been so happy in his life, or so sad, or so completely filled with mixed emotions that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry or just do nothing at all. Today was a great day nonetheless. He had been reunited with his mother and he had been gladly welcomed back into the Syndicate. It was clear that everyone appreciated having him around to help with the cleanup and checking out the electrical and security systems in the bunker. Things were looking up a little for him and his friends.
Now, if only he could find some way to be with Starry. Then everything really would be great.
As he climbed the last few steps to his floor, he saw a figure standing by his door. Immediately, he was on guard.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked in a firm tone. No one was supposed to know about this apartment. Had he slipped up and led the enemy right to his door? What would they want with him anyway?
He warily drew closer to the figure and saw that he was sharply dressed in a white shirt, black vest, pinstriped slacks, and the best-looking dress shoes he'd probably ever seen. The only other noticeable traits were that his long hair was pulled back and... was that a monocle?
"Forgive me trespassing, Master Raef. My name is Walter C. Dornez. I was sent by Miss Starry to give you a very urgent message." Walter bowed and produced an envelope from out of nowhere.
Raef warily took the letter and scanned through it. The words he caught alarmed him and he had to read it again more carefully. He looked up afterward to ask Walter if the note was for real, but the monocled gentleman was already gone.
"I have... I have to warn everyone else. This is bad. This is really bad." He fumbled for his keys, quickly unlocked the door, packed a bag as fast as he could, and left just as quickly. Hikki needed to know about the note if a single word of it was true.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hikki had just spent the last few minutes telling Lloyd everything he thought he needed to know. He left vague the parts about him being so involved with the Syndicate and currently being its leader after Landon Blaken's death. But it was enough that Lloyd understood that even though Hikki and Argeno had become more than good friends, Argeno was ordered to execute a raid on the café and capture its employees under suspicion of terrorism. After fierce interrogation, their relationship led Argeno to let Hikki and his friends go, but also caused his own tragic death.
“So… it wasn’t actually Ozzal that killed him then?” Lloyd asked, a bit disappointed.
“Well… she did not pull ze trigger. But she might as well ‘ave. ‘e was keeled under ‘her direct orders.
"I thought as much," Lloyd said. He had a kind of sad tone to his voice. "You got me quite excited there for a while. Well… at least I know what happened." He forced a smile. "I got some real data, so it wasn't a wasted trip!"
Hikki, who had been doing quite well at not crying so far, started to sniffle a little, no doubt from the emotional stress of having to tell the story over again. "Eet... eet eez all my fault! Eef I hadn't been zere... eef we deedn't do what we deed... I made him a traitor! Zey killed heem because of me!"
"Hey, hey now," Lloyd said in a soothing tone, offering a fancy embroidered handkerchief. "If this Ozzal person is as bad as I've heard that she is, Van might have met the same fate eventually anyway. When he would visit or call, we always told him that this job of his, though worthy of his scientific 'genius,' was more than a little on the dangerous side. I really don't think it's your fault. I'm his family and not even I can blame a cute blond baker who is grieving just the same as we are."
Hikki took the offered handkerchief and dabbed lightly at his eyes under his glasses. "Well, eet's not really going to make me feel any better, but I guess I'm glad you don't hate me."
"On the contrary, I think I could begin to like you," Lloyd flirted.
At that, Hikki smiled. "Well zen! Let me pour you a cup of my special coffee."
"You mean there's a brew more lovely than this French roast?"
Before Hikki could brag about how he hand-picked these coffee beans, roasted them himself in his own particularly special secret recipe, and brewed it just right, a loud crash was heard from the front of the cafe. He ran into the dining area to find a giant hole right where he and his friends had just boarded up the damage made by Roy and Emiri. Some rather dangerous looking characters were now gathering right in the entrance.
"Is this Café Argeno? We've got some words to have with the owner!" a blue-haired tattooed man called from the head of the group. His cape was blowing gloriously behind him despite the fact that it was not windy at all that day.
Furious, Hikki nearly broke his cup and saucer as he very firmly set them down on the counter. He walked right over to the guy who seemed to be the leader and promptly slapped him across the face. The group of men behind him made a shuffling sound as they halfway drew their weapons, one of them grumbling "You gonna take that, Kamina?" But Kamina motioned to them that it was fine.
"Mon Dieu!! What eez wrong weez you?!" Hikki yelled. "Why do you brutes keep destroyeeng my poor eenozent café for no good reason? Not only have you rueened ze front of my café, AGAIN, but you have rudely eenterrupted a very eemportant conversation zat I am having weez a friend of mine. What could posseebly be so urgent zat you felt you had to destroy my property seemply to have a word weez me!? And ze name of zees estableeshment ees Café DE L'Argeno. Eet eez French and you should pronounce eet as such."
As if no yelling had taken place, Kamina replied, "Oh, so I take it you're the owner. We were told that you were the go-to person for all things having to do with this little revolution that's going on. We came to see what you're all about."
"Zat ees all?"
"Yep. That's about it. Your door said you were closed, but I felt like I should make a dramatic entrance. The boys... and lady here agreed."
"I had nothing to do with that," Hilda grumbled.
"Zat eez why you destroyed half ze front entrance?"
"Well... I guess, yeah."
After a short break of silence, Hikki went off into a furious string of French that no one around him could make sense of. Though, they were all pretty sure it was laced with several curses and obscenities.
"Are we really thinking about joining this Syndicate thing when we could just join the fight on our own? If this is their supposed leader, how tough could they really be?" Mugen said, casually cleaning his ear with a pinky finger.
"I'm with him. I'm not sure what we're doing here," Champlan agreed.
"But it's about the romance, remember? Romance! How great would it be to lend our strength to the revolutionaries and help bring them to victory in the face of great opposition?!" Charles beamed.
Holland facepalmed.
"I think this guy's got the right kind of spirit," Kenpachi spoke up, a wide grin spreading across his face. "He may not look very strong, but he could have what it takes to make things happen. Just look at him go, and all we did was make a hole in the wall."
Zoro took this opportunity to prop himself against said wall and grab what nap he could.
"At any rate, it doesn't look like there's anyone here. Even if he is the leader, this isn't their HQ," Hilda observed.
"Yar. It do be lookin that'a way, don't it? If thar HQ not be the pub a'not this here place, where be it?" Yemman demanded. He was feeling quite good about himself since he and his sidekick had fallen in with the bigger group.
"Perhaps we should just wait for the little French guy to stop throwing a fit. Kamina sure seems to know how to handle him," Goose Maverick commented.
And so... they waited.
Once Hikki was done, he smoothed his hair and clothes back into place and delicately placed his glasses back atop his nose. "Pardon me. Eet has been a rough day. Now... eef you are here about ze Syndicate, I'm afraid zees eez no longer ze place for zat. However, you have just shown up out of ze blue. We can't exactly just lead you to our headquarters weezout knowing who you are and why you are eenterested een us."
"I guess that's understandable. So a meeting on neutral ground? You bring your guys and I'll bring mine? That fair?"
"I zuppose. Do you have a suggestion?"
"How about the park just down the way? That's pretty neutral and full of innocent people. That'll ensure that there won't be any fights breaking out between the two of us. We're not the kind to hurt innocent people just for the hell of it."
"I'll take on anyone who gets in our way," Mugen said firmly.
"Okay... most of us wouldn't harm just anyone."
"Well... eet will be a hassle to go all ze way to headquarters and back here, but we need ze manpower. And you bunch look like you have plenty of zat."
"You bet your a.ss we do."
"Zen eet ees zettled. We will meet you zere een a few hours."
Both parties went their separate ways, but before the members of the GAR Street Bar had completely vacated, Hikki yelled, "And board zees back up, you ruffians! I am tired of people rueening my café!"
When Hikki took his place back behind the counter, he saw Lloyd saunter into the doorway. "I am sorry about zat. How eencredibly rude of me to neglect you over zoze... people. I'll get zat cup of coffee for you."
"Could you make it to go? If you don't mind, I'd like to accompany you to this headquarters of yours. You've become quite an interesting person, Mr. Follet, if the things I couldn't help overhearing from your conversation are any indication."
"One coffee to go, zen."
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was early afternoon and Angel still could not keep her eyes off of one rather handsome ex-Colonel Roy Mustang. The few times she had seen him before, he was still wearing his blue military uniform, which was hot in its own right. But now... now that he had solved his ex-fiancée's death and laid her to rest, he was dressed in a simple white collared shirt and undershirt along with some gorgeous-looking blue jeans. She really could not tell whether she was mopping the her area of the bunker with water or her own drool. That man was so gorgeous!! It was making the talk she kept telling herself she had to have with him even more difficult to make a reality. How was she supposed to concentrate when he was wearing that? She had never had a problem talking to men before, yet now she was nervous. It didn't make sense.
At this particular moment, even though she didn't notice, he couldn't stop glancing at her either. He had just buried his ex-fiancée, the woman he loved, and he was already looking at other women. He was definitely going to hell for this.
Havoc, also out of his uniform and in casual clothes, came over with a dustpan full of waste to dump in the waste can they were sharing. "Dude... if you don't say something to her, I will."
"What makes you think I want to talk to her?"
"Well you two have only been trying to hide glances from each other all day."
"Shut up. Go... clean or something." Then, after Havoc had left, he went right back to throwing glances at Angel. There were a few times that their eyes met and they quickly looked away. Finally... Roy decided he was being stupid and acting like he was twelve. That had to stop, now.
"You remind me of her."
She turned, surprised that he even said anything. "I'm sorry?"
"Riza. Riza Yu-"
"Riza Yuy. I know who you're talking about. I knew her... before she died."
"You knew her?"
She couldn't exactly tell him that they had had hot wild lesbian sex or that Riza had killed herself shortly after said sex... in her apartment. But maybe she could give him some sort of comfort. "Yeah... she stayed with me for a few nights. That was... just before she died."
"Yeah... I thank for that, I guess. Seems like she was going through quite a lot before she died. Thank you for being kind to her."
"It was my pleasure. She was a great girl. I really liked her."
They stood silent for a while, as if they were holding a moment of silence for their mutual friend. "I was saying that you remind me of her, somehow."
Angel smiled. "Oh really?"
"I don't quite know what it is. Maybe it's your nose or your... face. Or they way you carry yourself. It's hard to place."
She stepped closer, enough to whisper in his ear, "Well perhaps we should meet later so you can study me properly. You know... until you figure out what exactly it is." Then she winked and returned to her mopping spot.
They continued hiding glances at each other for the rest of the day.
~*~*~*~*~*~
About mid afternoon, Sadar decided he needed a break from moving boxes around in one of the bunker's several storage rooms. As he stepped outside, he noticed he hadn't had to avoid Kaia or convince her to leave him alone since that morning. He breathed in deep, inhaling the nice cold air. After a few minutes, he noticed a strange presence.
"I was wondering where you went off to. Are you hiding again?" he asked into empty air.
"I'm masking my appearance, if that's what you mean. But I'm not hiding," Kaia answered. Sadar still couldn't see her even though her voice came from right in front of him.
"Could you put it down? I wanted to talk to you."
"I don't think you really want me to do that."
"C'mon, Kaia."
"Fine. But I warned you." A moment later, it was if she materialized in front of him. His heart nearly stopped when he saw that she was lying there on a lawn chair in a barely-there excuse for a swimsuit. Sadar quickly turned away and dabbed at his nose with a cloth, all the while blushing more than he ever had.
Kaia laughed and reached for her clothes.
"It's freezing out here! What the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm sunning," she said as she pulled a loose black shirt on over her head. "I found this chair tucked away while I was cleaning and realized how badly I needed a tan, so I got the sudden urge to sun. You know I can't feel the cold, and not even an advanced ki master can deteriorate my shield without physical contact. Besides, I needed a break. I'm just... stretching my ki, so to speak."
"Yes, well." He peeked just over his shoulder and was relieved that she was dressed now. He sighed and sat at the foot of her chair and she playfully propped her feet in his lap. That made him smile a little. If it was one thing he could count on in his life now, it was her flirting - whether it was welcome or not. Mostly, it wasn't.
"I never really thanked you for coming with me," he said in a serious tone.
"I never thanked you for asking me to come with you. You take on so much by yourself sometimes that you forget that you've got friends who'll support you. Anyway, where you go, I go... eventually."
"Well, I guess it worked out anyway. All of our friends are together on the same front now."
"And thank god, too. I know going up against Iron was how we started out, but all this passive play was getting to us warriors, right?" she joked.
"Right," he agreed. "This is what we should have done from the start."
"Well no use dwelling on the past," she said, nudging him in the stomach with her foot. "We need to worry about our future. Hikki will be here in a few minutes with orders. And -"
"Were you angry with me?"
Kaia suddenly became reserved. "What did I just say about dwelling?"
"Were you?"
She sat in silence for a while. He tickled the bottom of her foot to get her attention and she jerked it back.
"I wasn't... mad at you really. I was just..." She sighed. "Nevermind. It's stupid."
He grabbed her when she moved to get up and forced her to sit. "Look, Kaia. I know I push you away a lot and avoid you when you get all clingy, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you. I became a priest to make right all the regrettable things I've done. Lately, I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping people's trust and not hurting them. But whatever I was doing, I thought it was the best thing to do."
"Don't you think I know that? It wasn't anything you did. I was just... kinda jealous. You were thinking more about them than us. For some reason, I've always thought about all of us being two separate forces even though we were working for the same cause, because our methods were so different. You were the one that brought us all together. In the end, you made it right. I'm proud of you."
He laughed. "You're giving me too much credit. Samson and Hikki had a lot to do with it too."
"As far as I'm concerned, it was your idea and you made it happen. You're the reason why all of our friends are together instead of fighting each other."
The two sat silent for a while, smiling at each other. Kaia couldn't help herself after a while and leaned in toward him. But the balance of weight on the lawn chair shifted, and they both tumbled to the cold, snow-covered ground. Much to Kaia's delight, their faces were closer than they had ever been. This was her moment. He couldn't push her away at this point.
Sadar didn't know what to do exactly. He should push her away, but in this position he wasn't sure he could. Even with his skills, Kaia wasn't just any woman. She was about as strong as he was.
Then suddenly, she was off of him and searching the line of trees at the edge of the woods. "Something's wrong," she said. "Someone's coming pretty fast. Their energy is fluctuating like they're stressed or something. This definitely isn't good."
Soon, Raef came running out of the woods with a bag across his shoulder. "Kaia! Father Sadar! Where's Hikki!?" he asked once he got to them and caught his breath again.
"He's not here yet. What's wrong?"
"Comedia... planning an attack. Outside the limits. One month!"
"** rabble **! I'm so stupid!!" Kaia yelled more at herself than the other two men.
"What do you mean?" Sadar asked.
"We're not that far from the border now. I've felt a collection of energy signals a good distance away. I thought they were our guys from Comedia. I didn't realize... that it would be something like this. I'm so stupid!!"
"We haven't got time for this! We've got to tell Hikki so we can figure out what to do!"
"Calm down, Raef," Sadar said calmly. "If what you said is true, then we've got a month. Hikki should be here as soon as he's done at the café. We'll tell him then and figure something out. This doesn't change our situation. It just makes it more... severely more complicated.
"Our job is still the same. We have to overthrow Ozzal and take down anyone who gets in our way."
"I love it when he gets like this," Kaia said to Raef off to the side.
"By the way... why are you barefoot and wearing summer clothes?" he asked back.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Later, Hikki Follet smoothed his orange tie over his black shirt, wishing that there was a mirror somewhere in this bunker.
"Very nice," Lloyd complimented from the doorway. He leaned against the entryway as he admired his new friend. "I'm jealous."
"Of what?"
"My cousin. He has very good taste in men. I almost wish I got the research job instead of him." Hikki blushed and laughed nervously, but didn't know what to say. He just fooled needlessly with his tie and kept adjusting his glasses on his nose. He didn't really understand what was going on with himself. Where did all his confidence and playfulness go when he was around this man?
"Those pants too. Those white slacks make your a.ss look great."
Hikki turned and walked past him out the door. "Your a.ss doesn't look half bad een zat outfeet eezer," he shot over his shoulder, and followed the hall down to the main entrance where Samson was waiting for him.
"Well, mon petit gâteau de sucre, shall we go?"
"Not that again. Anyway, we're all ready on this end. I asked Sadar to come along to represent the Order and our new friends. Kaia has attached herself to him and wouldn't take no for an answer, so she's coming too. Should just be the four of us."
"Zounds good. Let's not keep our potential friends waiting."
When they opened the door, Emiri and Kira were staring them in the face.
"What up, bit.ches? Going somewhere without me?"
"Actually, we were. We'll see you when we get back," Samson said and tried to get past her.
"Not so fast, you. Why don't I get to come?"
"To tell you the truth, Emiri, we're going to check out a potential group of allies that might be able to help us out. We thought we should wait to introduce them to the rest of the group until after we decide they're okay."
"Well should I come along to check them out and see if they're man enough? We don't want some bit.ch a.ss punks getting in our way when the ** rabble ** hits the fan."
"Really, Emiri. I think we've got it. We'll see you when we get back. Have fun!" And with that, Samson brushed past her and escaped with the others before she could smack him in the back of the head with her weapon.
"Grrr! I never get to do anything!" she yelled and took her frustrations out on a bucket full of water, which went flying across the room and onto Angel's head. Despite her frustrations at having soapy water dumped on her, she did receive quite a few whistles.
"Miss Emiri," Kira suggested meekly, "perhaps we should find another place to clean before you actually hurt someone?"
"Maybe you're right."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The scene was silent at sunset as two small groups of people sat on opposite park benches. The sun had just set on the horizon and everyone present at the park was cast in a bight mixed hue of oranges and reds. Despite the cold, Kamina and Kittan were still basically shirtless, and an inexplicable wind continued to blow at the edges of Kamina's cloak. Behind them stood Hilda and Holland. They were calm and collected (by group standards, of course) compared to Kamina and Kittan's wild and emotional spirits. Their main objective was to keep the two "leaders" of their group in check while calmly reiterating any inspiring speeches in a more understandable manner, if need be.
Hikki and Samson sat on the opposite bench, their arms and legs crossed and their expressions wary. This was the first time for Samson, Sadar, and Kaia to meet these people, but Hikki had seen them all firsthand. Well... most of them anyway. And he wasn't at all pleased with the earlier scene in his café. Even though they did end up fixing the wall back to the way it was, he was still not pleased or amused. This already did not look good for this bunch of rough-looking people who only seemed to want a good fight. Why it had to be this fight, Hikki had no idea. Everything was going to be explained and out in the open before any decisions were made. That was for sure. That was why they were all there.
Both groups had been sitting and standing in silence for at least a few minutes, each one sizing up the other one. Out of the corner of Sadar's eye he thought he saw Kaia giving Kamina a particularly close look.
"Alright!!" Kamina suddenly burst out. "That's enough of that. You've got a good look at us. Are we in or not?!"
"It's not that simple," Samson answered. "But yeah, you guys look like you could be of some use. The real question is, how do you know about us and why do you want to help?"
This time, Kittan was the one to speak up. "Well after what happened at the manor the other night, we knew already that you guys were some pretty interesting characters. That was quite an uproar you caused."
"How do you know about zat?" Hikki asked.
"We have our ways. And you guys," he said nodding towards Kaia and Sadar. "You guys must be from the Order of Glass if those crosses are any indication."
"You seem to know a lot about us," Kaia said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as if she were getting restless. "We don't know anything about you. It hardly seems fair."
"Like we said... we have our way of knowing these things."
Kaia smirked, but Sadar managed to show no emotion even though his brain was beginning to put together the pieces. "Well to know so much about both our organizations and the supposedly secret actions that happened at the manor, you have to work for some sort of authorized agency. The only trouble I'm having is figuring out which one."
"Oh ho!" Kamina said, surprised. He even clapped a few times in a genuinely congratulatory manner. "Someone has a brain. You live up to the Order's standard, monk."
"Priest."
"Same difference."
"You haven't answered our question."
"Which one? You've asked quite a few," Holland pointed out.
"Zees ees not going anywhere. We are here to ask you ze questions. Not ze ozzer way around."
"On the contrary," Hilda spoke up for the first time. "We're also here to decide if you guys are worth our time, effort and abilities. It's true that we all enjoy a good fight. It's what we live for. But we never fight for no reason, let alone the wrong reason. We have to be assured that you're not a whole bunch of immature children who are trying to get revenge on the pathetic bully that stole your lunch money."
Everyone on the receiving end of Hilda's words tensed, but it was Samson whose voice rang out. "They've stolen a hell of a lot more than just our money. We can't eat, breathe, or even ** rabble ** unless Ozzal says it's okay and that’s exactly the way she plans to keep it. We've watched our friends die right in front of us. We have fought and died and gotten nothing as a result. We are suffocating, and we can't live like this anymore. We will not be manipulated into submission. And we're not just doing this for us. We're doing it for our families, for the future generations that we'll never get to see. This has to end now, or this country... this world has no hope."
Kamina grinned. "Spoken like a true man. But do you really think you can do anything against Ozzal's army? Not to mention that Comedia's army is going to totally obliterate everything in less than a month?"
"We already know zat," Hikki said. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose. "Ze odds are against us. But we have to try, weez or weezout your help. Zat eez where we stand."
Kittan uncrossed and re-crossed his legs. "Well... after what your boy said, I think it's pretty clear that your cause is noble. There's no way we can deny that being the underdog is such a romantic story."
"We haven't said you're in yet. I wouldn't get ahead of yourselves if I were you," Kaia mentioned sternly.
"What about you?" Holland countered. "The Order of Glass has never been known for its bold actions. They have always manipulated things from behind the scenes to ensure that none of their members ever get involved. So... pardon us for being suspicious when a non-active party suddenly decides to jump in."
Sadar held up a hand for Kaia to let it go. "The Actonia Branch of the Order of Glass has been disbanded. Those who have always disagreed with the passive strategic policy have joined up with the Syndicate. At this point in the game, what matters most is that the people who have the same goals are working toward that goal. Which brings us to our main concern. What exactly is your goal? We're not here to entertain you with a good fight. We're doing this to achieve a better country for all those who live in it."
Kamina stood and, with him, so did the rest of the two parties. "Look, we lot have never been one to take sides. We mostly fight for the sheer enjoyment of it. But when we heard that Comedia planned on invading, we thought it could affect our futures as well, and we can't have that. Plus, as warriors, it is our job to be the heroes once in a while. The common link in all these is to lend a helping hand to this revolution you guys have got goin'. So whaddya say? Do we have an arrangement?"
"Just one more question," Samson interjected.
"And that is?"
"What about your prior commitments to your jobs? You work for some government force, right? Under Ozzal's command, no doubt."
"Well, that's sort of true," Kittan answered. "And so far, we love our jobs. But we're mostly there for the thrill of battle, which will completely disappear if Comedia wins the war. So if we don't help you, our jobs will be nearly nonexistent anyway. If we team up, it's win/win for everyone. Besides," he added with a grin, "you guys could probably use some friends on the inside."
Hikki, Samson, Kaia, and Sadar all quietly consulted with each other and decided on what to do. After a few moments, they all nodded their agreement. Samson and Hikki walked over to Kittan and Kamina, and - after a few moments - smiled and shook hands with them. The deal was made. The regulars of the GAR Street Bar would join the Syndicate and help them fight two armies at once. If they somehow managed to win, it would definitely be a victory for the history books.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, after the Syndicate's leaders had returned to the bunker with a whole group of less-than-reputable-looking characters and things were calming down, several of the revolutionary group's women sat in a circle of chairs sipping hot beverages and trying to relax after a trying day. Cille, Roxie, Kirara, Winry, Kaia, Angel, and Clarice alternated between talking in small groups and together as one. It looked a lot like a book club, only there were no books and a lot more talk about beating up their enemies.
Throughout much of it, Cille sat back and listened without saying much. Angel and Clarice, who knew more about her situation than the others did, tried to ease her into the conversation. "We heard from Cougar earlier that he's been training you?" Clarice began.
"Yeah. He's taught me some basic combat techniques and how to handle a firearm, but... there's really not anything I can do against an army," Cille said drolly.
"So you really don't have that much experience fighting? Aren't you afraid of dying?" Kirara asked.
"Aren't we all?" Kaia spoke up and took a sip of her coffee. "There's not one of us here that isn't afraid of dying, no matter how much experience or training we've had. There's not a man out there that's not afraid either. During war, all you can do is try to survive, and if you can't, take as many bast.ards as you can with you."
"Well, I guess that's a nice thought," Cille answered, getting a bit overwhelmed again, "but I try not to think about actually dying if I can help it. Except that I don't think it'll do anyone any good if I die as soon as I set foot on the field."
"Well at least you're worried about the right kind of thing," Kaia commended. "What you have to do, what all you girls that are new to fighting have to do is find the kind of combat that you'd be best at. For starters, decide if you think you'd like or be good at short, medium, or long range combat. Short range includes some sort of martial arts fighting skills. From what I know, that's what all of you except maybe you, Clarice and Angel, have been working on. Everyone needs those basic skills in case your enemy gets closer than expected. But now that we have a deadline, if you're going to choose short range fighting, I'm going to have to teach you some advanced techniques that you need to work on for the next four weeks, whether it's ki attacks or sword fighting. Though, I'm sure that our Soul Reaper friends would be better qualified than I would be for that.
"Middle range fighting would involve some weapon skills. There are a lot of guys out here who are going to be specialists in different kind of mid-ranged weapons. Guns, throwing weapons like grenades, and the sort. Archers can be a little bit of both. It really depends on how you're using it and if you're skilled enough to fire the long shot. I’m sure Uryuu Ishida will help anyone that asks for it, if you don’t mind some condescending comments along the way. Then there’s Snipers, bombers; the list goes on. We don't exactly know what we're going up against, so we can probably just cover all the bases to be sure."
She looked around and saw them all staring at her, many of them with blank or confused expressions. She immediately laughed it off. "Listen to me rambling on. There's gonna be a lot of strategy meetings from people like Mustang and Havoc who have gone up against the Comedian army before. A lot of us already know what to expect from Ozzal and her army of freaks." When she heard that, Kirara looked slightly uneasy.
Just then Kamina came sauntering into the kitchen, apparently looking for something to eat. He headed for the fridge and started rummaging around, oblivious to the fact that every single pair of female eyes in the room was glued to his back, or rather, his backside. He surfaced with a few plates of leftovers and a baggie of cookies clenched between his teeth. He nodded and mumbled a greeting to the ladies, and then ambled out again.
The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Some of the girls exchanged glances and tried to stifle giggles, and others simply tried to seem nonchalant.
"So um... what?" Winry said at last, looking quizzically at Kaia.
"Uh..." Kaia could barely remember what they'd been talking about herself. She racked her brain to say something to pick things back up. But… after that handsome display, there was only one thing on her mind. "You've been spending a lot of time with Samson lately, Clarice." She grinned. "Why don't you give us the juicy details!"
Clarice blushed and flat out said, "No!"
Everyone was disappointed. "C'mon!" Angel said, nudging her in the side. "How far have you two gotten?"
"Oh, would you all stop it! We didn't even kiss until a few days ago! You guys are making a big deal out of nothing!"
"A kiss isn't nothing," one of them said under her breath.
"Look... I don't know what's happening with us, or what's going to happen. We just... got together, sort of, and now there's impending doom on the horizon... literally. It's not exactly the most romantic of situations."
"Are you kidding?! It's the most romantic of situations!" Roxie gushed, her hand clasped together in a melodramatic fashion. Then she cleared her throat and contained herself. "Two people who are attracted to each other are more likely to express their feelings somehow if the odds are stacked against them and either one of them could die. I mean, have you guys never seen action movies?"
The others exchanged amused glances and raised eyebrows. It was true that Roxie was the only one of them who was actually married, but she did seem to have some funny ideas about romance.
"Cougar seems to be a nice guy," Clarice offered, trying to shift the attention away from herself without being indelicate. She turned toward Cille. "You two make a good-looking couple. Maybe when this is all over and you get back on your feet a little -"
"I dunno," Cille said, looking slightly embarrassed but trying not to show it. "Cougar's great, and he's done more for me than anyone else I know, but..."
"Do you like him?" Angel asked.
Cille blushed. "Well... I mean, I guess. I haven't really thought about it." She looked down evasively.
"Don't think too hard about it," Kaia advised. "You've already got enough on your mind. Right now, all that really matters is if he makes you happy or not. From what little I've seen today, he obviously cares about you an awful lot. I bet we all wish we had a guy like that."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Cille seemed to appreciate the thought, but still didn't seem inclined to talk about it.
"What about you?" Cille asked in return. "My son was telling me that he thought he might have interrupted something between you and that nice priest."
This time, Kaia blushed.
"You mean Father Sadar?" Kirara asked, quite concerned.
"Yeah. He's the only priest we've got, right?"
"Oh... I didn't realize you two had actually gotten together," Kirara said quietly, suddenly very interested in her fingers.
"Look, John's a celibate priest who has made it quite clear that he has no interest in having a relationship with anyone outside a religious one. Believe me, I've been trying for years. So... if you're into him too, then I welcome the competition." Kaia winked and raised her mug in a sort of welcoming toast.
"What about you, Angel?" Winry asked.
"I'm not the relationship type, really."
"So all that talk with Roy Mustang didn't mean anything? I've known Roy for a long time, or of him, really. Despite being known as a ladies' man, he doesn't often talk to them like he did to you today," Winry said.
Angel slinked down casually in her chair. "He's probably too stuck on his old girlfriend to even notice anyone else. Besides, I have plenty of other guy friends. What about you, Winry? You're the only one we haven't heard anything from."
"Nah. There's not really any guy that I'm interested in right now."
"Any girl?" someone asked.
"No! I mean... I haven't found anyone I'm interested in around here. There was this one guy back home, but he left suddenly and I got a job here. So... that was that."
The conversation lapsed into silence, so Clarice stood and took her cup over to the sink. "Well, we should probably get ourselves some sleep. We'll have another hard day of work tomorrow." The rest of the girls agreed and began heading out of the room. But once everyone else had left, Kaia pulled Kirara over to the side.
"Hey, what's up with you lately?"
"What do you mean?" Kirara asked, feigning ignorance. Though, she knew exactly what Kaia was talking about. Ever since she was captured during her first mission invading the Comdot Estate, something had been happening to her body. She had a pretty good idea what it was, she just didn’t know what to do about it.
"I mean... I've heard that you've been acting kind of strange lately. Like you've been consistently more active at night and can't stand to go out in the sun. I'm not trying to pry or anything, but I and a few others are kinda worried about you. Did... something happen?"
"Look, I appreciate your concern, but I'm not sick or anything. I just don't like being out in the daytime. My eyes have always been sensitive to light and it's just bothersome unless I absolutely have to. Whatever you've heard is all being blown out of proportion, I think. I'm fine, really." She faked the best smile should could and started to walk toward the door.
Kaia didn't believe it for a minute. She hadn't known Kirara for very long, since the young woman had just joined the Order not too long ago, but even she had noticed a little bit of change in her over the last few weeks. Something was definitely wrong, and she knew if her friend kept ignoring it, it would spin way out of control.
"Kirara, if this is what it's sounding like, there's no reason to hide it. Just don't try to suppress it for much longer. A while ago, the Order received some inside intelligence that Ozzal's lab minions were experimenting with all kinds of different creatures to use as weapons. It's not that far of a stretch that you might have been exposed to them, with or without knowing it. Maybe you should think about when some things started to change and try to contact whoever might be responsible, if you know what I mean. Learning from them how to control these changes would be better than hiding it. Just something to think about."
Something to think about? It was entirely too much to be thinking about. Kirara knew exactly what was happening to her and had tried to deny it every step of the way. To think that anyone, especially one of her friends, would know what was going on was nothing less than shocking. "How... could you possibly be okay with this? Do you even know what you’re talking about? What exactly do you think is going on?"
Kaia decided the best thing was to just come out and say it if it was bothering her so much. “Kirara… I think… you’re turning into a vampire.”
She was dead on, but Kirara laughed anyways. “A vampire? That’s crazy.”
“You’re reaction says I’m right. Look, I wouldn’t go around telling everyone, but you can not ignore this. I don’t know everything there is to know, but I do know that if you deny your need for… “new nourishment” that you could die or even hurt your friends. Please, I’m not trying to call you out, but you should try to talk to whoever turned you. They would know more than anyone what you should do.”
Kirara stood there, still totally unsure about this. “Kaia… how can you not be freaking out? I thought the changes would go away, or I hoped they would. I still don’t know what to do, and the changes are getting worse.”
“What freaks me out is that you could be hurting yourself by trying to run away from this. When you first joined the Order, we had a lot of time to talk. We can still talk, whenever you want, especially if something is bothering you. So, what I’m going to do is talk to our guy on the inside that gave us the info and see if he can set something up. I personally think that if you embrace this, you could be one of our trump cards. I think it's kind of cool.
Kirara smiled and for the first time in a while, she felt relieved and less like a freak. “Thanks, Kaia. You’re a real friend. I don’t think anyone else would have been this calm over something like vampires.”
“It’s no problem, my Nosferatu friend."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Cille wandered the halls after she had left the rest of the girls in the kitchen. Despite the late hour and the fatigue in her body she didn't feel quite ready for sleep yet, especially with so much still on her mind. And so she decided to look around a little, figuring that either the time alone would let her think things through a little more, or whatever she found might help take her mind off her troubles altogether.
So she took the time to just wander and explore the vast space of the bunker, finding all kinds of different rooms: bedrooms, garages, storage, bathrooms, and even the armory. At one point she passed by Kamina, who was still munching on cookies while he kept the night watch. He nodded to her, and after he passed she found herself unable to resist following his impossibly buff and inexplicably shirtless figure with her eyes. It took a few moments for her to come back to her senses, and then she continued on, feeling slightly relieved that nobody else was around to see her moment of schmoopiness.
But she wasn't alone again for long. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, she felt warmth from behind her and a voice whispered in her ear, "Did you have fun with the girls?"
After recovering from her brief moment of shock, she turned around to see Straight Cougar grinning at her. "Yes... I guess I did," she said, smiling at him. "It was kind of nice to just sit and talk to people, especially after working all day. Although I didn't have all that much to say."
"So what did you talk about? Wait, let me guess... probably something girly, like makeup or how you'd like to decorate the bunker... or maybe what boys you like?"
"Well, um..." She felt more uneasy than she wanted to be, and hoped that he couldn't see the blush she felt coming to her cheeks.
Cougar let out a raucous laugh. "I was just joking, you know. I'm sure you weren't talking about silly things like that."
She laughed, a little bit nervously. "Yeah... Actually, that Kaia woman from the Order of Glass was telling us about different combat styles... I didn't catch all of what she said, but it sounded like she wants us to be trained in specialized methods of fighting or something. So I might have to choose what I want to do."
"Hmm. Do you have any ideas yet?"
"No, not really."
"Well, that's something we can talk about later if you'd like. I imagine you're pretty tired after the day we've had."
She nodded, as it suddenly hit her just how tired she was. Looking around, she also realized that she had no idea where she was - or even where she was supposed to sleep.
"Hey, do you... do you know where our bedrooms are?"
Cougar grinned at her, looking slightly mischievous. "As a matter of fact, I was just wondering if you wanted a lift to your room." And before she could respond, he had picked her up and sped her through the complex. In a few seconds they stopped outside a door that looked like the rest of the doors she had been passing all day.
He set her down, and oddly enough it was she who had to take a moment to catch her breath.
"Now if you wouldn't mind closing your eyes, Ms. Cillie, I have something I want to show you."
"Couga~ar," she groaned skeptically.
"Please? I promise that you'll love the surprise I have for you."
If it had been anyone else, except for maybe Raef, she would have felt wary about letting down her guard. After a moment, though, she decided to comply and closed her eyes. She already trusted him with her life, so walking into a room with him should be no big deal.
She felt him gently lead her by the arm as he opened the door. He led her inside and she could smell scented candles competing with the smell of dust and mold. She waited as he left her side to turn on the lights and close the door.
After a few seconds, she heard "Okay... you can open them."
She opened her eyes and was totally overwhelmed. The walls had been painted a cheerful light blue, her favorite color. There was a bed with a very familiar-looking quilt on it. On a small cabinet there was a vase filled with faux tiger lilies. There was even a small figurine that she had admired at the HOLY cabin, along with...
"This is... did this come from my apartment? I thought everything there was burned or trashed, or something! But not here. How did you...?"
He smiled, obviously satisfied by her reaction. "I still have a few friends in Comdot, thankfully. I figured they'd confiscated anything that had belonged to you, and sure enough it was all in one of the government's storage facilities. Once I found out just where it was, it wasn't too hard to swipe it."
"But... they could have caught you! If you'd been -" He grinned, and she remembered who she was talking to.
She looked around the room again. There were pictures of her family, a box of jewelry that had belonged to her mother, various family heirlooms, some of her clothes, even one of her old unfinished chainmaille projects. "Cougar, I... don't know how to thank you. I thought this was all lost forever." She quickly wiped away the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
"Don't mention it. I thought you could use a little cheering up, and I thought this might help you feel more settled in and comfortable here."
She just stood looking at everything in the room, still feeling overwhelmed and trying not to cry.
"I'll uh... just leave you to get some rest then," he said, feeling that it was time for him to go. "Let me know if you need anything." He excused himself and headed for the door.
"Cougar..."
He paused with his hand on the doorknob, waiting for her to continue. After a few moments of silence, he felt her arms slowly wrap around him from behind. He smiled and held one of the hands that rested on his stomach.
"I'm really glad you like it. It was the least I could do to try to help you feel better."
"You've done so much for me already, though... You really didn't have to, and... I haven't done anything for you... not like this..."
"Sure you have. You do plenty without realizing it. Those things make it worth it." He laughed.
She wasn't convinced, but she was too tired - and too grateful to him - to argue about it.
"So... I take it that this is going to be my room?" she said after a moment, loosening her hold on him and taking a step back.
He turned around to face her. "It's yours if you want it. Which... I'm guessing you do."
She smiled. "It'll be fine, yes. And... where are you staying?"
"Well... I started cleaning out the room next door, but I figured you'd want Raef there since he hasn't gone back to his apartment yet. But there's another room down the hall that I could take. I should probably actually get over there and see if I can get enough junk out of the way to find a place to sleep. You just get some rest, okay?"
She nodded, and he started to turn toward the door.
"Um..." she began impetuously, and then stopped when he turned back to her. "Would you... mind... staying here tonight?" she continued hesitantly. "I mean, I know there's only one bed, but... we could put the quilt down on the floor, as long as that's still okay for you... I mean, I don't want you to have to sleep on concrete or anything, but..."
He smiled. "I can think of worse places to sleep. And if you want me here, I can't think of any place better."
She blushed a little. "Okay. And... thanks." They smiled at each other, and then she took a deep breath and stretched out a little as if to break the tension of the moment.
"So, um, is there a bathroom around here anywhere?"
He laughed and turned to open the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Sometime in the middle of the night, Hikki collapsed on a bed somewhere with his clothes still on. He almost immediately fell asleep, but a voice brought him back to a state of consciousness.
"Today was quite a day, was it not? Such excitement." Lloyd said as he sat down in a chair next to the bed. He leaned over and removed Hikki's glasses for him, pausing to brush a blond strand of hair out of his face.
"Mmm hmmm" Hikki managed, almost drifting off to sleep again.
"You're exhausted."
"You really are ze genius, aren't you?" Hikki quipped.
"Well this genius thinks a certain baker is pushing himself a bit too hard. Waking up early to run your café, running a revolution by night, staying up to ungodly hours to do what didn't get done. There is only so much one person can do, my friend."
Lloyd looked over at the Frenchman only to find that he was already asleep. It was hopeless. He placed the glasses somewhere where they wouldn't get broken and came back to untie the silk piece of cloth that tied back his friend's hair. Once that was done, he looked at the snoozing figure and realized how easy it would be to take complete advantage of the opportunity. As much as he would like to, all that would have to wait. It had been a trying day for him as well.
He had solved the mystery of Argeno's death, made a rather pleasurable new acquaintance, and half-joined a revolution. There was no telling what the weeks to come would hold in store for him. He didn’t know if he should stay here or go back home. He had reason enough to understand their situation and want to help, but he didn’t really have a place here. The only real connection he had made was with Hikki, and despite the flirting and fun, he didn’t realistically think that would go anywhere. All this thinking wasn’t getting him anywhere either. For now, he needed sleep. He sat in the chair and fell asleep almost as quickly as Hikki had. The ribbon of black silk dangled from his hand.
There was still so much that needed to be said.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hill’s eyes opened slowly. He blinked so that the blur of colors and shapes turned out to be a nightstand and carpet and wallpaper. Apparently, he was lying on his stomach in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, and he had no idea why. He groaned and attempted to move, but as soon as he did, everything in his body screamed in protest. Why was this happening? What did he do?
Then he heard someone enter the room and come into his line of sight. “You’re awake!” he heard a woman’s voice say. His vision focused long enough to concentrate on her face. It was the lovely police chief he had met the day before.
That’s when he remembered. They were driving at top speed to where they had been informed the Order of Iron and the Cool Mexicanos had ultimately engaged themselves in battle. And then they saw the bombs begin to rain down from the sky.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
Q pulled up a chair and sat where he could see her. “I really should be asking you that. I don’t really remember what happened when the bombs started falling, but we were far away enough from them to not be seriously hurt. I think you stopped the car, dragged me out of it, and shielded me from the blast in a nearby building. That’s where I woke up, anyways. You were on top of me, and your back was covered with burns.”
“Ah. So that’s what that searing pain is,” he tried to joke.
“Here,” she said, carefully taking him by the arm and helping him to sit up. She opened a bottle on her nightstand and placed a pill in his hand, followed by a cup of water. “I’m no doctor, but I did what I could at first. Then I pulled some strings to get someone to come here and fix you up properly. It was easier than trying to move you again. Anyways, he gave me those and told me to give you one when you got up.”
He took it quickly, and drank all the water to wet his dry throat. “How long have I been out?”
“Not long. Two or three days. We didn’t get much of the blow from the bombs, but what little got to us, you took nearly all of it. You saved my life.”
“You’ve been here the whole time?”
“Well… it’s not like I dropped everything so I could take care of you or anything. Some of my job I can do from home, so that’s what I’ve been doing. All you did was sleep anyways.”
“This is your place?”
She was getting tired of these questions, but tolerated them because she would have been hurt a lot worse or could have been dead if he hadn’t done what he did. “Yep, my place was the closest place to take you.”
“So I’ve been imposing on you and sleeping on your bed?”
“Oh, it’s not as bad as all that. My couch folds out. I’ve been sleeping there since I can hear you from in there, in case you woke up.”
“Well that stops now. I’m going back to my hotel room. I’m sorry to have imposed on you for so long.”
Q hesitated, but protested all the same. “I really don’t think you should. I mean… it’s not like.. I want you to stay here or anything, but I don’t think you’re in any condition to get across town by yourself .”
He ignored her and indignantly stood up, only to have the room go blurry and start spinning around. He stumbled but managed to sit back down on the bed.
Q crossed her arms, but couldn’t look too smug since she really was concerned about him. “I told you, you idiot. You haven’t had food or water for three days. You have to walk before you can run. Or in your case, get your head on straight before you walk.”
“I’ll be fine. I just need a minute to rest and process all this. So… did you find out what happened with the Order of Iron?” he asked as he grabbed the shirt laid out for him on the end of the bed.
“Nothing much. Just that there’s no way that anyone lived to escape after that. The entire area was demolished and burned to ash. We were lucky enough to have been on the outskirts of the blasts. We have no idea who they really are or why they were fighting, or who dropped the bombs. It seems that the more we try to find answers, the more questions we come up with.”
“That’s the problem we’ve been having for years. With these secret organizations, you get more false information and empty leads than you do actual evidence. I thought I finally had something. This was a definite lead, and I guess I got too excited. I’m sorry I dragged you into it.”
He carefully eased the shirt over his head despite how the muscles in his back screamed. When his face came through the shirt hole, he suddenly felt her lips on his. But it was only for a second. A moment later, she was a respectable distance away and trying her best to scowl at him.
“Don’t read anything into that. That was a thanks for saving my life. Nothing more.”
Hill laughed. “Well thank you all the same. It’s always a pleasure to kiss a lovely lady.”
At that, Q was taken aback and couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed. Being the chief of a police for that mostly consisted of tough men, she didn’t exactly hear comments like that very often. After all, to command respect she had to be tough herself. She suddenly realized that he could probably use some more water and quickly went to get him some. She needed to be away from him for a little while, to not look at that handsome face or hear that irresistible accent of his.
He was waiting on her when she returned. A short thanks was given for the water and he quickly drank the whole glass down. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t,” Q said quicker than she probably should have.
“I meant what I said. I won’t sleep in your bed anymore. I’m going back to my hotel room.”
“Are your buddies from your organization-”
“MI-6.”
“That. Are they going to change your bandages and stuff? Or aren they off working on their parts of the investigation? They haven’t exactly come by to look for you or anything. I was given strict instructions by the doctor on what to do. It’s a lot of work.”
“I can do it all myself. I’ll be fine.”
“Oh really? Try,” she said indignantly.
He didn’t try to remove the bandages though. He just slumped – which was now painful – and sighed. “Fine… since you’re so insistent, I’ll stay. But only until I stop tripping over my own feet, and I’m sleeping on the couch. A lady should sleep in her own bed.”
“How chivalrous of you.”
“Chivalry is not dead, Chief Holmes.”
“It is here,” she replied. “But you have a deal. And just so we’re clear, I’m only taking care of you because you saved my life, okay?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t think otherwise. I consider myself lucky to have had my life in your capable hands.”
“Yeah, so don’t ** rabble ** me off or I might just kill you.”
They both laughed.
“So what do we do now? I mean… with the investigation, when you get back on your feet,” Q asked.
“Start from square one again. Find other leads. I mean, Iron is pretty much gone, but we still need to know what was going on, and who would try to destroy both those groups at the same time.”
“I’ll go back to the station later and try to see what I can find out.”
“And I’ll meet up with November 11 and Miss Readman as soon as I can. Though, I feel like we’re not going to come up with much. We never have before.”
Q sat back down in the chair across from him, and thought for a minute. “I’m not so sure. I have a hunch that all this is building up to something else; something bigger. Maybe this time, someone left something for us to find. It’s just a feeling though.”
“Well… let’s hope your feeling’s right. Now… I really don’t want to seem ungrateful, but could I have something to eat? I’m starved.”
Q stood and shot him a stern look. “God, you’re so much trouble.” He smiled as soon as she wasn’t looking. They both knew she was joking.
~*~*~ END ~*~*~
Characters:
Starry Ozzal – starryjelly
Ozzal – Mike Lazzo
Dewey Novak – (Eureka Seven)
Goda – (GITS: 2nd GIG)
Straight Cougar – (s-CRY-ed)
Cille Compton – Cille
Hikki Follet – Kohikki
Raef Compton – Maenos
Landon Blacken – Blah_canbespanish
Kazuma – (s-CRY-ed)
Captain Yemman – myname
Watari – (Death Note)
Ryuho – (s-CRY-ed)
Bruce Herman – bherman
Jean Pierrot – pierrot_le_fou
Kaia – namek_kaia
John Sadar – FurionTassadar
Cowboy – CowboyCadenza
April – LirpaYamEnujYluj
Shunsui – (Bleach)
Nanao – (Bleach)
Kamina – (Tenga Toppen Gurren Lagann)
Hot-Ice Hilda – (Outlaw Star)
Mugen – (Samurai Champloo)
Champlan – Samurai_Champloo_Fan
Charles Beams – (Eureka Seven)
Holland Novak – (Eureka Seven)
Zaraki Kenpachi – (Bleach)
Zoro – (One Piece)
Goose Maverick – Top_Gun
Angel – mgangel1124
Roy Mustang – (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Havoc – (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Samson – Master_Samson
Emiri - _Boxers_
Kira Izuru – (Bleach)
Roxie Goldsmith – anime_goddess05
Kirara Amour – kiraralove
Winry – (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Clarice Rowe – QueenoftheDorks
Q Holmes – Q_chan
Hill – fool_on_the_hill
November 11 – (Darker than Black)
Yomiko Readman – (Read or Die)
New Characters:
Walter – (Hellsing)
Lloyd Asplund – (Code Geass)
As Ozzal left the Grand Hall of Comdot Estate with Dewey close behind, her daughter was trying to muffle her screams. An unfortunate circumstance had placed the girl in the room shortly before her mother made a rather loud entrance with her confidant Dewey Novak. Starry quickly hid behind one of the royal red draperies that were hung all along the wall. From her hiding spot, she could see the entirety of events that took place in the next few minutes.
When the shots rang out that ended Goda's life, they conveniently drowned out the short yelp that escaped Starry's mouth. She covered it and sat in frightened limbo as she waited to be found out.
Somehow, amazingly, she wasn't. After that, she was shocked to hear that the Syndicate could be crushed within a few weeks. Immediately, she thought of Raef and what kind of danger he was in now. It was probably too risky for her to try to sneak out of the Estate now, but she had to find some way to warn Raef about her mother's plan.
Starry waited a few moments, then uncovered her mouth and released a horrified yet choked sort of sound. She ran her hand along the wall to hold herself up, purposely looking at the wall instead of at the grotesque corpse in the middle of the room. All she could see anywhere she looked was red. Blood on the floor, the carpet, the "throne," the paint, the drapes. Everywhere red. When she finally escaped the room, it was like coming up for air after being underwater too long. Fresh, breathable, much cooler air.
She wanted to break down and cry, or throw up, or scream as loud as she could, but she had to get back to her room. She had to get back to Walter so he could warn Raef.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Straight Cougar had paced the length of the hallway in front of the bedrooms at the café so many times that he was making himself a rut. He wanted to see Cille. He wanted to comfort her. But since they had just buried her former fiancé, he wasn't sure that he should. For the time being, he kept pacing.
In one of the bedrooms, Cille carefully removed the washcloth from her eyes and got up to re-soak it in the sink. As she did, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. No matter how many times she put the cold cloth on her face, the swelling in her eyes wouldn't go away. Every time she looked at them, she almost started up again. She didn't want to cry anymore. How many hours had she sat and cried for that man?
First, it was because he left her out of the blue, without explanation about where he'd gone or why. Then it was for worry that he was okay or even alive. Then the betrayal that he'd tried to kill her, and now, after all that had happened, she still cried because he was gone. Sure, he was a double-crossing, selfish ba.stard, but no matter how much she told herself that, she couldn't help feeling sorry about what had happened to him. When would it end? When would he stop causing her so much grief? Moreover, what was she going to do about it? She had to stay strong for her friends. Even though so much had happened in the last few days and weeks, even more stood ahead of them, looming like a giant over a hill of ants. She couldn't just sit here and feel sorry for herself, even though that sympathy was deserved. More than ever, she had to stand up and fight. There was no going back. Not now.
Especially not now.
She looked back up at her face in the mirror, and involuntarily the huge wrenching sobs overtook her again, as if to remind her that she couldn't simply make her emotions go away by telling herself that she needed to be strong. As much as she hated feeling this way, she had just gone through too much to push it all aside. But as long as nobody saw her like this...
Cougar couldn't take it anymore. He could at least ask if she needed some breakfast or something to drink. He stopped pacing and stood in front of her door. He hesitated a bit, but he had already made up his mind.
Quietly but firmly, he knocked on her door.
Cille went to the door but didn't open it. She already knew who it was. Instead she just stood with her forehead against the thin piece of wood that separated her from the outside world. "Yes?"
"Do you want some breakfast? Or maybe something to drink? I can bring you whatever you want."
"No thanks, Cougar. I'm fine," she lied.
"I know... you're going through a lot. I'm right out here if you want to talk. Or do something. Or anything. 'Kay?"
Cille genuinely smiled. The one good thing about this entire experience was that she had met him. He was kind and funny, and... maybe, if things had been different, she... well she didn't know how things would be. Either way, he had saved her life more than once. She owed him everything. There was no way she could possibly begin to pay him back.
That's when she realized... she wasn't the only one suffering. He had lost a friend too, right? Hadn't he been betrayed by that friend just as she had?
She opened the door, and he was still standing there, waiting on her to make sure she would be okay. Maybe, if he stayed with her, she would be.
He gave her a questioning look, and she knew that her puffy eyes gave her away. But she also noticed the worry lines on his face and his tired eyes, and knew that her suspicions had been correct. He was suffering too, perhaps even more out of concern for her than because of Landon's betrayal.
And yet... wasn't she just making him worry more by shutting him out of her life? When it was obvious that she wasn't as "fine" as she pretended to be?
Maybe there was a small something that she could do for him. Instead of shutting herself up in her room and pretending to be strong while she was really falling apart, perhaps she should be facing up to the tragedy they had all gone through, reaching out to him the way he was trying to reach out to her. And then they could both move past it, together.
She smiled at him. "Thank you, Cougar."
"It's my pleasure as always, Ms. Cillie."
She was about to say something more when they heard footsteps coming toward them. They both watched as Hikki came down the hallway and greeted them. And then a young man appeared behind him.
"Raef!!"
"Mom!"
What followed was what anyone would expect of two loved ones who hadn't seen each other in months and thought they might not see each other ever again. They hugged, they cried, and then they hugged and cried some more. Hikki and Cougar respectfully removed themselves to give them privacy. Finally, they ended up back in her bedroom where they sat down next to each other on the bed and intended to just sit down and talk, to say the things that they had been meaning to say for quite some time.
Cille spoke first. She couldn't keep her voice from shaking from the intense emotions. "I was so worried about you, Raef. Cougar told me that you were okay, but... I was so afraid that I would never see you again."
"How do you think I felt when I read about your... horrible death in the paper? I couldn't believe that it was actually true, but what they said... the details... I..."
Cille reached out and held his hand in hers. "You don't have to say it. I get sick to my stomach when I think of what might have actually happened if Cougar hadn't saved me."
They looked at each other for a moment, and the fear they'd been holding onto finally gave way to relief.
"I guess the important thing is that we're both safe, right, Mom?"
"You know you can call me Cille here. There's nobody around who'd care," she said with a laugh.
"Right. So I guess everything's worked out okay, huh?"
She looked troubled again. "Well... Landon..."
"Yeah, I heard. I'm sorry about that."
"If you knew, then why didn't you come to the cemetery today? I mean, I know you two didn't always see eye to eye, but he was still like a father to you."
"That man was not my father! Or anything like it. He didn't know how to stop thinking about himself long enough to actually care for another person."
"Raef, you were young, but I know you know how wonderful he was to you and me before he left."
"The kind of man I remember would not have just left us like that with no explanation. He dropped us like he never cared in the first place!"
"But..."
He didn't wait for her to finish. "Cille, I've kept it from you until now, but I found Landon several months ago. I demanded from him an explanation about why he left like he did. He said that it was for the sake of the revolution, and I believed him. I understood his reasoning, and since he said he only left without saying anything because it was dangerous and he didn't want to get us involved, I decided to join his cause. I think deep down, I wanted to believe him. But for whatever reason, I just couldn't shake my suspicions."
"But you said he was only protecting us. That was reason enough, wasn't it? And what were you thinking?! You could have gotten killed!!"
"That's not the point, Cille! After a while, he started to get reckless. Sending people on missions that had no real meaning or strategy. Then he slowly started to pull away. He was still acting as our leader, but he wasn't leading. No matter how much he had other people convinced, I knew he had something else planned, something that would end with everyone dead except him.
"But... I couldn't prove anything. And no one believed me. So, there wasn't really anything for me to do but hope that either I was wrong or my comrades would realize the truth before it was too late."
Cille was quiet. Not only did she not have any way to respond, she didn't even know how to process all of this. It had been hard enough for her to learn about Landon's wickedness, but she hadn't realized how deeply involved her sweet, innocent adoptive son had become in Landon's deception. How much danger must he have been in...
"Then, things turned even more upside-down."
"You were kidnapped."
"Yeah... I was. It was basically the same thing that happened to you, only it was just me. Someone had identified me as a key member who was important to the missing leader of the Syndicate and I was being held as a hostage while simultaneously being thoroughly interrogated. Though, they didn't expect the leader to be an egotistical pig and for me to still be so determined not to talk, so their efforts were fruitless on both points. Fortunately I was rescued before they could get really nasty."
"But where have you been since then? Why didn't you come back to the Syndicate?"
"Well... when I was there, I met... this girl."
"Oh!" Cille beamed a smile and playfully nudged him in the ribs. "Well tell me. Who is she? Was it some romantic tale of two prisoners coming together and falling in love in a dire situation?"
Raef laughed. A sound that neither of them had heard in quite a while. It seemed to clear the air between them and made them both relax a bit more. "No no... nothing like that. She... Her name... is Starry."
"Well that's a pretty name. Kind of unusual."
"Yeah, she's... she's a very special girl."
"So what was she doing in the Comdot prison?"
"Well... her mom works there."
"And she brought her to work? In the prison? Isn't that kind of risky?"
Raef fidgeted a little. "Well you see... her name is actually... Starry Ozzal."
"Starry Ozzal?!? You mean... she's the Head Governor's daughter!?! Are you effing insane!? Do you know what Ozzal would do to you if she knew that you were involved with her daughter???"
"Cille, Cille! Breathe. C'mon. In and out. Nice and easy," he coached her for a while until she calmed down a bit more. "That's good. Now look. We didn't mean for it to happen, and we know it's such a Romeo and Juliet cliché sort of thing, but we've been careful. She has resources and I have this secret apartment that only she knows about. It's how we keep in touch and know that the other is okay. Cille... with all that's happened, you and she are the only things that keep me going. I love you. You're my mother and you've always been there for me, especially during the hard times after our parents died. I would do anything for you. But... I love her too. I really do. She's not like her mother at all. When this is all over, we'll be able to be together."
"So... are you going to rejoin the Syndicate, then?" she asked worriedly.
"I... I dunno. There's this abandoned bunker outside the city. This guy from some group called the Order of Glass asked me to help check it out, to make sure the electricity and wiring and stuff were still good enough to house hundreds of people. So for the last few days, that's what I've been doing with this guy and some contractor he hired. We all met with Hikki after the funeral service to present the offer to the Syndicate. Now it seems that the Order, the Syndicate, and anyone else who wants to join up will all stay and act together with this bunker as their center of operations.
"Even though I've left the Syndicate, I still believe in helping this country become truly great again. I think now that we officially have new leadership and hopefully have learned from our mistakes, we can actually do some good. But I still have to try to protect Starry, and I know that the more involved with the Syndicate I am, the more danger she'll be in. What about you? You've got a lot invested in this fight now, same as me. What will you do?"
Her brow furrowed and she sighed, leaning over and holding her face in her hands. "Oh, I don't know anymore, Raef. I can barely just handle the things that have been going on, and now I have to worry about what's going to happen in the future. All this at once. I just... I don't know what to do. I thought that I could do some good for this revolution, but I can't even take care of myself, much less the people I care about. I mean, look at you - I'm supposed to be your mother, but I haven't even seen you in months. You've been in terrible danger and I haven't been able to do a thing for you. What am I doing here?"
His arm went around her shoulder and he pulled her to him. "Hey now. Don't say things like that. You've done a lot for me. You sacrificed a lot just so I could have somewhere to live and something to eat. It's time now that I return the favor. Look, Cille, Mom... everyone would understand if you wanted to go away for a bit and wait until this is all over. The Syndicate will beat this thing, I promise you."
She shook her head. "As hard as it might be for me, I don't feel right about just running away. Too many people here have done too much for me. Even if I would probably only get in people's way, I have to stay and support everyone I love. All my friends, and especially you. I want to get stronger and do something for a change!"
"That's the spirit, I guess!" he said, smiling at her. He could tell that she had changed a lot since they had last been together. "Maybe..." He looked thoughtful. "Maybe I should stop waiting on the sidelines and get involved again too. I can try to protect Starry, but I can protect you too. Looks like we'll be fighting side by side, eh?"
They both laughed. Somehow it was just like it used to be. Sitting down and talking about each other's days. They were finally back together again. It felt good to know, if even for a little while, that the other was safe. It was good to hug each other again.
"So," he asked, "what actually happened with you? I suspected you weren't really dead, but I'm glad to see that I was right."
"Well... there's not a lot to tell, really. I was captured during the Echelon's raid on the Syndicate and, just when I was sure I was going to die, Cougar came bursting through a wall out of nowhere and got me out of there. Next thing I knew, I was further away from danger than I had ever been. Turns out Cougar had some friends that were living on a cabin in the middle of nowhere. We hid out there so no one would know I had actually survived until we could figure out what to do. Everyone was so kind to me there. Even though I felt horrible about not being able to tell everyone I was really okay, I had time to think about what I wanted to do from then on. Not that that makes me feel any more certain about things now."
"I'm glad you're still here, Cille. I don't know what I would have done without you."
"Same goes for you."
A pause of silence stretched out between them. They sat with their arms around each other and just enjoyed the company for a while.
That was, until both their stomachs rang out with hunger.
"So... how about we beg Hikki to make us some of his wonderful food?" he asked.
"Sounds good," she answered. "I'm absolutely starved."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Kazuma and Captain Yemman burst their way into the GAR Street Bar rather dramatically... only to be met by an empty bar.
"Well that was anticlimactic," Kazuma said to no one in particular.
"What the hell? Where is everyone?" he asked as he approached an old man at the bar, who was cleaning glasses very intently.
"The masters all went to find some group called the Blacken Syndicate. Master Kamina gave a rousing speech about Comedian forces attacking in a few weeks and they all left to go find these people and possibly join them in the fight, I suppose. You just missed them, actually."
"Thanks, old man."
"Watari."
"Who be this then?" Yemman asked.
"Watari. My name is Watari."
"Er... right. Thank ye, Watari."
After they left the bar, Yemman smacked Kazuma in the chest with his mechanical arm.
"What the hell was that for?!"
"If ye had'na been lollygaggin' all about through e'ry alley looking for that Ryuho character, we would'na missed the par'y. An' draggin' me with ye no less!"
"Well what about you when you run off suddenly in the direction of anything that's shiny?!"
"I's a pirate! Searchin' fer treasure is wot I do!"
"Just shut up and let's go find this Black thing."
"The wot?"
"The Syndicate, man! Where everyone else went."
"O that. Well I has an idear 'bout where they might be. I used ta be in the Syndicate, 'member?"
"Yeah, yeah. You never shut up about it."
And so on the argument went the entire way to Trunks' pub.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Bruce Herman arrived at his home tired, cold, and not looking forward to this new job. Not that he didn't like his work, or his new client. But he was worried that if something happened before the job was done, he wouldn't be able to take care of his girlfriend Sarah. Worse yet, he knew that this job meant working closely with some of the Syndicate's members. After what happened to them, he wanted to protect his girlfriend by helping them and securing her a safe future, but then again what would happen if he were defeated? Who would take care of her then?
"Yo. Sup? You look like hell," Jean Pierrot greeted his friend. He was stretched across the couch eating a box of Samoa cookies.
"And you look so well yourself, gorging on those cookies while sitting on your a.ss."
"Don't take it out on me because you had a bad day. What's up with you anyway?"
"I got a new job. It's just kinda giving me more to think about than usual."
"Yeah... like you do a whole lot of thinking on a usual basis."
Bruce finished putting up his keys and jacket and joined his friend on the couch after shoving him over. "It's a job securing a safe house that the revolutionary Syndicate wants to use as a base of operations. With all that's happened to us, I can't decide if I want to get back at those bastards for trying to destroy my house or not."
"I get what you mean. But I'm definitely up for anything. You won't mind if I tag along tomorrow then?"
"Nah, you can help me lift all the heavy stuff. I need to make sure parts of the old place don't fall in on us."
"Well... I guess all I'm good for is to make sure things don't rain down on you."
"Pretty much. Now give me one of those cookies before I have to kill you."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lloyd Asplund was bored out of his mind, looking blankly out of the window as the bullet train sped past the landscape. Nothing interesting had caught his eye for hours. Just blur after blur of snow-covered fields and the occasional small town. It was boring how similar it all looked. He actually liked the color white; wore it more often than not, but this was just ridiculous. Everything was white! That is, until the train reached the outskirts of Orly.
White fields changed abruptly to dark broken stone and asphalt. Most buildings were reduced to rubble and those that were spared destruction weren't exactly in the best of conditions either. What Argeno had told him before was true. Actonia really was in a state of serious disarray. The last time the two scientists spoke, Argeno expressed to Lloyd how concerned he was about the job he now had as one of Ozzal's personal scientists. Apparently, he felt he was in over his head - something about how betraying those he cared about was not what he signed up for. Shortly after that, Lloyd had received word that Argeno had been killed during a raid on the Comdot Estate. But no matter how Lloyd manipulated the data, it didn't add up. Something was wrong with the way Van had died.
The train rolled on quickly to the middle of the city, which looked much more neatly groomed than the scenery that had just sped by. The area around the Comdot Estate looked more like what he was used to back in the Land of the Rising Big Red Dot. His thoughts of Argeno were stayed for a moment as the train slowed and finally pulled to a stop at the Orly station. He maneuvered around people grabbing for their bags and various things and quickly made for the exit. As he stepped down from the train, the soft chilling breeze blew his hair this way and that... just like it would for any handsome man stepping off a train in a dramatic fashion. Now that that was done and people standing idly by were gaping at his awesome dramatic effects, he left the station and headed to the Comdot Estate. He knew it was a dead end, but he figured that his investigation should start where it all took place. No matter what, he had to find out the truth about Van Argeno's death.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"It's so big!" Kaia said, amazed.
"I told you it would be, didn't I?" Sadar answered with a chuckle.
"Well yeah, but when you told me we were finally gonna do this, I imagined it would be pretty big. But not THIS big. It's huge."
"I told you how big it was before. You just didn't believe me."
"You did no such thing. Can I touch it?"
He grabbed her hand as it shot up. "I think we should wait. Just until a few of the others show up."
"Others? What have they got to do with this? It's always waiting with you. Let's just do it!"
A freaked-out Cowboy and April delicately made their presence known and everyone was silent for a moment.
"So..." Cowboy said with a grin on his face as he settled his cello case on the ground. "What were you two talking about?"
"Sex. Stupid perverts," April said under his... er, her? breath.
"I wanna go ahead and go into the bunker but the Father here wants to wait on everyone else," Kaia explained, pointing at the huge structure in front of them.
"You're always so impatient," Sadar sighed.
"And you're too slow."
"Ah, I see what the situation is now," Cowboy said. "Forgive me for interrupting this lovers' quarrel."
Kaia blushed and beamed at the same time. Excitedly, she linked her arm with Sadar's. "Really? You think we look like lovers!? Isn't that wonderful, John?"
Sadar facepalmed. "Oh dear god. You just had to go and say the L-word, didn't you?"
At that point, Raef, Cille, Cougar, Bruce Herman, Shunsui, Nanao, and Jean Pierrot all appeared on the edge of the woods, making their way down to the bunker entrance.
"Raef! We were waiting on you before going in," Cowboy greeted them.
"You guys could have just asked me for the code instead of waiting on me, you know," Raef answered as he punched the code into the keypad that Kaia had so eagerly wanted to touch before. The doors whirred to life and opened wide enough for the whole party to stand in the entrance.
"Whoa. You could fit the whole city in there!" Pierrot gawked.
Bruce smacked him good-naturedly on the back. "Yep, that's the idea, Pierrot."
"Sarcastic bastard," his friend muttered just loud enough for him to hear.
Bruce ignored him. "Alright everyone! Let's go to work. This bitch is huge, so just pick a spot and start cleaning."
"Shouldn't we work on the living areas first?" Kaia asked. "Since we're supposed to be practically living here now."
"But we do need to start stocking up on weapons. The armory needs to be cleaned first," Pierrot said.
A small uproar started up about which areas should be cleaned first. After a few seconds, Bruce's headache started to come back. He could only take so much at one time. He barked over the noise for everyone to quiet down. "This is why I said to pick any area, people! It's all gotta be cleaned. It doesn't matter what's first. Now let's go!"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Lloyd sighed as he walked around the uptown area. He'd been here for half a day and came up absolutely dry on leads. Investigative worked s.ucked unless he was manipulating data. Having no data at all was a real problem. In this situation, there were no tests he could run to come to a conclusion or even a guess. He had absolutely nothing to go on anymore. No one at the Comdot Estate would give him a second glance. Even his smooth talking had gotten him no real response. It was if no one knew what had happened, or if they did it was being covered up. He tried the city police next, hoping there was some report or autopsy or something to look at, but he was told that to access the files for his inquiry he would have to talk to the chief. It just so happened that the chief was out of the office and no one had any idea when she would be back.
Lloyd sighed again, even more melodramatically this time. Here, he couldn't use his status to get the information he needed. There was only one place left for him to look, and he doubted a small little rundown café would give him any more inkling as to what happened to Van any more than the authorities would. Though... something was better than nothing, and he wasn't going to be any worse off if it turned out to be another dead end.
He was almost to the corner when a most glorious smell hit him. Crepes, muffins, croissants, cakes and cookies - all the orgasmic smells filled his nose at once. Suddenly, his stomach gave a telling growl and he realized that he hadn't eaten since that morning before he had gotten on the train. He was about to go straight into the café when something made him look up at the name painted above the door. Café de l'Argeno. Now, Lloyd Asplund was not one to believe in fate, but this... this was probably as close as he was ever going to get to the truth. Even he had to admit that it was quite the coincidence. Why would the café that Argeno was said to be a regular of be named after him?
At that moment, Hikki Follet was taking the last batch of mini cheesecakes from the fridge and delicately placing them in their own individual boxes. How he could afford these little boxes when half the entrance was still haphazardly boarded up no one knew. But Hikki paid attention to presentation almost as much as he did the pastries themselves. "Zeese should be enough for ze meeting tonight. Zho... I wonder eef I should bring one for Trez. I've never zeen heem eat." He continued putting the delicious little cakes into boxes.
The entrance bell rang as someone entered the café. Hikki had put the last of the cakes in a box and turned to put them with the others. "I'm sorry, but we are clo-" He looked up at his new customer and nearly dropped his cakes. Purple-ish hair. White suit. Glasses. Not to mention a gorgeous face. For a moment, he swore that he saw Argeno. That is... before that sinking feeling in his chest told him it couldn't possibly be. He blinked a few times before he could focus on the man before him. It really wasn't Argeno... but this man wasn't far from his former love.
"Congratulations! This is the greatest little café I've ever set foot in!" Lloyd gushed.
"-zing."
"What was that?"
"Clozing. We are about to cloze for ze day."
Lloyd pouted, and his stomach rumbled again. "Couldn't you let me be the last customer of the day? Please? Your food smells so good, and I'm very hungry." He put on his best smile and waited for the other man to mercifully give him some food.
Hikki was still slightly slack-jawed. He could barely process anything Lloyd was saying. "Zat ees... I mean... we were going to close, but I zuppose I could spare a few meenutes to zerve someone as handsome as yourself." Hikki, back to his normal self, leaned across the counter and winked at him.
Lloyd let out a bubbling laugh. "Well well. I don't think I've ever met someone as bold as myself. Tell me, Mr. Baker, what is your name?"
"Hikki Follet. I am very pleased to meet you."
"Lloyd Asplund. Same to you. I was wondering if we could chat while I eat."
"Only chat?"
"Well... the rest can come later."
Only a few minutes had passed and Lloyd had already downed two croissants, a blackberry muffin, two small cakes, and half a cup of coffee. "Mmm. I must tell you, Mr. Follet -"
"S'il vous plaît, call me Hikki."
"Hikki. You have the finest pastries I think I've ever tasted. No wonder Van always came here."
Hikki nearly choked on the coffee he had been sipping on. "Van? You can’t mean..."
"Van Argeno."
"You knew heem?! How?"
"Yes, I knew him. More importantly... I'm wondering why this café is named after him? I was told its name was the Café de Lune."
"Eet ees my café now, and I chose to change ze name. Zees being my café, I zeenk eet would be better eef you first told me how you knew heem."
"But I asked you first."
Hikki just sat in silence. Waited for his answer. This man was handsome, but Hikki definitely wasn't going to give in on the matter if it was about Van.
Lloyd sighed. "Very well. I am beaten. Congratulations!" He took another sip of coffee. "Van Argeno is... or rather, he was... my cousin."
"You are related to heem?! Well, I zuppose zat would explain ze zeemeelarities."
"I traveled here from the Land of the Rising Big Red Dot to investigate his murder."
"Murder?" At that word, Hikki heard that voice in his head he could never forget. "Ozzal has no need for traitors." He could see Argeno lying in the floor in front of him. Moments ago he was moving, breathing, and then he just wasn't. Red stained his usually perfect white suit. Worst of all, he couldn't ever forget that shocked expression that was frozen on his lover's face. That image, accompanied by that malicious voice, had haunted him in his sleep many nights since then. The papers, which barely bothered reporting it, passed it off as another casualty of war. Hikki knew the truth, though. After reliving it all again and calming himself, he was finally able to say, "But ze reports said he died een service of ze Head Governor."
"I don't know for sure yet if it was murder, but there was something that doesn't add up about his death if it happened the way they say it did. Now, you haven't answered my question. Why does this café bear his name? What was he to you?"
Hikki thought about how to say it. It was hard enough just thinking about it. "I loved heem," he finally said. "Nozing has been ze same since he died. Because you are heez cousin and traveled so far for heem, I will tell you. Eet eez as you say. He was murdered.
"Ozzal keeled him."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Raef Compton finally decided to leave his adoptive mother's side and go home to his apartment to clean up and get some fresh air. He had never been so happy in his life, or so sad, or so completely filled with mixed emotions that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry or just do nothing at all. Today was a great day nonetheless. He had been reunited with his mother and he had been gladly welcomed back into the Syndicate. It was clear that everyone appreciated having him around to help with the cleanup and checking out the electrical and security systems in the bunker. Things were looking up a little for him and his friends.
Now, if only he could find some way to be with Starry. Then everything really would be great.
As he climbed the last few steps to his floor, he saw a figure standing by his door. Immediately, he was on guard.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he asked in a firm tone. No one was supposed to know about this apartment. Had he slipped up and led the enemy right to his door? What would they want with him anyway?
He warily drew closer to the figure and saw that he was sharply dressed in a white shirt, black vest, pinstriped slacks, and the best-looking dress shoes he'd probably ever seen. The only other noticeable traits were that his long hair was pulled back and... was that a monocle?
"Forgive me trespassing, Master Raef. My name is Walter C. Dornez. I was sent by Miss Starry to give you a very urgent message." Walter bowed and produced an envelope from out of nowhere.
Raef warily took the letter and scanned through it. The words he caught alarmed him and he had to read it again more carefully. He looked up afterward to ask Walter if the note was for real, but the monocled gentleman was already gone.
"I have... I have to warn everyone else. This is bad. This is really bad." He fumbled for his keys, quickly unlocked the door, packed a bag as fast as he could, and left just as quickly. Hikki needed to know about the note if a single word of it was true.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hikki had just spent the last few minutes telling Lloyd everything he thought he needed to know. He left vague the parts about him being so involved with the Syndicate and currently being its leader after Landon Blaken's death. But it was enough that Lloyd understood that even though Hikki and Argeno had become more than good friends, Argeno was ordered to execute a raid on the café and capture its employees under suspicion of terrorism. After fierce interrogation, their relationship led Argeno to let Hikki and his friends go, but also caused his own tragic death.
“So… it wasn’t actually Ozzal that killed him then?” Lloyd asked, a bit disappointed.
“Well… she did not pull ze trigger. But she might as well ‘ave. ‘e was keeled under ‘her direct orders.
"I thought as much," Lloyd said. He had a kind of sad tone to his voice. "You got me quite excited there for a while. Well… at least I know what happened." He forced a smile. "I got some real data, so it wasn't a wasted trip!"
Hikki, who had been doing quite well at not crying so far, started to sniffle a little, no doubt from the emotional stress of having to tell the story over again. "Eet... eet eez all my fault! Eef I hadn't been zere... eef we deedn't do what we deed... I made him a traitor! Zey killed heem because of me!"
"Hey, hey now," Lloyd said in a soothing tone, offering a fancy embroidered handkerchief. "If this Ozzal person is as bad as I've heard that she is, Van might have met the same fate eventually anyway. When he would visit or call, we always told him that this job of his, though worthy of his scientific 'genius,' was more than a little on the dangerous side. I really don't think it's your fault. I'm his family and not even I can blame a cute blond baker who is grieving just the same as we are."
Hikki took the offered handkerchief and dabbed lightly at his eyes under his glasses. "Well, eet's not really going to make me feel any better, but I guess I'm glad you don't hate me."
"On the contrary, I think I could begin to like you," Lloyd flirted.
At that, Hikki smiled. "Well zen! Let me pour you a cup of my special coffee."
"You mean there's a brew more lovely than this French roast?"
Before Hikki could brag about how he hand-picked these coffee beans, roasted them himself in his own particularly special secret recipe, and brewed it just right, a loud crash was heard from the front of the cafe. He ran into the dining area to find a giant hole right where he and his friends had just boarded up the damage made by Roy and Emiri. Some rather dangerous looking characters were now gathering right in the entrance.
"Is this Café Argeno? We've got some words to have with the owner!" a blue-haired tattooed man called from the head of the group. His cape was blowing gloriously behind him despite the fact that it was not windy at all that day.
Furious, Hikki nearly broke his cup and saucer as he very firmly set them down on the counter. He walked right over to the guy who seemed to be the leader and promptly slapped him across the face. The group of men behind him made a shuffling sound as they halfway drew their weapons, one of them grumbling "You gonna take that, Kamina?" But Kamina motioned to them that it was fine.
"Mon Dieu!! What eez wrong weez you?!" Hikki yelled. "Why do you brutes keep destroyeeng my poor eenozent café for no good reason? Not only have you rueened ze front of my café, AGAIN, but you have rudely eenterrupted a very eemportant conversation zat I am having weez a friend of mine. What could posseebly be so urgent zat you felt you had to destroy my property seemply to have a word weez me!? And ze name of zees estableeshment ees Café DE L'Argeno. Eet eez French and you should pronounce eet as such."
As if no yelling had taken place, Kamina replied, "Oh, so I take it you're the owner. We were told that you were the go-to person for all things having to do with this little revolution that's going on. We came to see what you're all about."
"Zat ees all?"
"Yep. That's about it. Your door said you were closed, but I felt like I should make a dramatic entrance. The boys... and lady here agreed."
"I had nothing to do with that," Hilda grumbled.
"Zat eez why you destroyed half ze front entrance?"
"Well... I guess, yeah."
After a short break of silence, Hikki went off into a furious string of French that no one around him could make sense of. Though, they were all pretty sure it was laced with several curses and obscenities.
"Are we really thinking about joining this Syndicate thing when we could just join the fight on our own? If this is their supposed leader, how tough could they really be?" Mugen said, casually cleaning his ear with a pinky finger.
"I'm with him. I'm not sure what we're doing here," Champlan agreed.
"But it's about the romance, remember? Romance! How great would it be to lend our strength to the revolutionaries and help bring them to victory in the face of great opposition?!" Charles beamed.
Holland facepalmed.
"I think this guy's got the right kind of spirit," Kenpachi spoke up, a wide grin spreading across his face. "He may not look very strong, but he could have what it takes to make things happen. Just look at him go, and all we did was make a hole in the wall."
Zoro took this opportunity to prop himself against said wall and grab what nap he could.
"At any rate, it doesn't look like there's anyone here. Even if he is the leader, this isn't their HQ," Hilda observed.
"Yar. It do be lookin that'a way, don't it? If thar HQ not be the pub a'not this here place, where be it?" Yemman demanded. He was feeling quite good about himself since he and his sidekick had fallen in with the bigger group.
"Perhaps we should just wait for the little French guy to stop throwing a fit. Kamina sure seems to know how to handle him," Goose Maverick commented.
And so... they waited.
Once Hikki was done, he smoothed his hair and clothes back into place and delicately placed his glasses back atop his nose. "Pardon me. Eet has been a rough day. Now... eef you are here about ze Syndicate, I'm afraid zees eez no longer ze place for zat. However, you have just shown up out of ze blue. We can't exactly just lead you to our headquarters weezout knowing who you are and why you are eenterested een us."
"I guess that's understandable. So a meeting on neutral ground? You bring your guys and I'll bring mine? That fair?"
"I zuppose. Do you have a suggestion?"
"How about the park just down the way? That's pretty neutral and full of innocent people. That'll ensure that there won't be any fights breaking out between the two of us. We're not the kind to hurt innocent people just for the hell of it."
"I'll take on anyone who gets in our way," Mugen said firmly.
"Okay... most of us wouldn't harm just anyone."
"Well... eet will be a hassle to go all ze way to headquarters and back here, but we need ze manpower. And you bunch look like you have plenty of zat."
"You bet your a.ss we do."
"Zen eet ees zettled. We will meet you zere een a few hours."
Both parties went their separate ways, but before the members of the GAR Street Bar had completely vacated, Hikki yelled, "And board zees back up, you ruffians! I am tired of people rueening my café!"
When Hikki took his place back behind the counter, he saw Lloyd saunter into the doorway. "I am sorry about zat. How eencredibly rude of me to neglect you over zoze... people. I'll get zat cup of coffee for you."
"Could you make it to go? If you don't mind, I'd like to accompany you to this headquarters of yours. You've become quite an interesting person, Mr. Follet, if the things I couldn't help overhearing from your conversation are any indication."
"One coffee to go, zen."
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was early afternoon and Angel still could not keep her eyes off of one rather handsome ex-Colonel Roy Mustang. The few times she had seen him before, he was still wearing his blue military uniform, which was hot in its own right. But now... now that he had solved his ex-fiancée's death and laid her to rest, he was dressed in a simple white collared shirt and undershirt along with some gorgeous-looking blue jeans. She really could not tell whether she was mopping the her area of the bunker with water or her own drool. That man was so gorgeous!! It was making the talk she kept telling herself she had to have with him even more difficult to make a reality. How was she supposed to concentrate when he was wearing that? She had never had a problem talking to men before, yet now she was nervous. It didn't make sense.
At this particular moment, even though she didn't notice, he couldn't stop glancing at her either. He had just buried his ex-fiancée, the woman he loved, and he was already looking at other women. He was definitely going to hell for this.
Havoc, also out of his uniform and in casual clothes, came over with a dustpan full of waste to dump in the waste can they were sharing. "Dude... if you don't say something to her, I will."
"What makes you think I want to talk to her?"
"Well you two have only been trying to hide glances from each other all day."
"Shut up. Go... clean or something." Then, after Havoc had left, he went right back to throwing glances at Angel. There were a few times that their eyes met and they quickly looked away. Finally... Roy decided he was being stupid and acting like he was twelve. That had to stop, now.
"You remind me of her."
She turned, surprised that he even said anything. "I'm sorry?"
"Riza. Riza Yu-"
"Riza Yuy. I know who you're talking about. I knew her... before she died."
"You knew her?"
She couldn't exactly tell him that they had had hot wild lesbian sex or that Riza had killed herself shortly after said sex... in her apartment. But maybe she could give him some sort of comfort. "Yeah... she stayed with me for a few nights. That was... just before she died."
"Yeah... I thank for that, I guess. Seems like she was going through quite a lot before she died. Thank you for being kind to her."
"It was my pleasure. She was a great girl. I really liked her."
They stood silent for a while, as if they were holding a moment of silence for their mutual friend. "I was saying that you remind me of her, somehow."
Angel smiled. "Oh really?"
"I don't quite know what it is. Maybe it's your nose or your... face. Or they way you carry yourself. It's hard to place."
She stepped closer, enough to whisper in his ear, "Well perhaps we should meet later so you can study me properly. You know... until you figure out what exactly it is." Then she winked and returned to her mopping spot.
They continued hiding glances at each other for the rest of the day.
~*~*~*~*~*~
About mid afternoon, Sadar decided he needed a break from moving boxes around in one of the bunker's several storage rooms. As he stepped outside, he noticed he hadn't had to avoid Kaia or convince her to leave him alone since that morning. He breathed in deep, inhaling the nice cold air. After a few minutes, he noticed a strange presence.
"I was wondering where you went off to. Are you hiding again?" he asked into empty air.
"I'm masking my appearance, if that's what you mean. But I'm not hiding," Kaia answered. Sadar still couldn't see her even though her voice came from right in front of him.
"Could you put it down? I wanted to talk to you."
"I don't think you really want me to do that."
"C'mon, Kaia."
"Fine. But I warned you." A moment later, it was if she materialized in front of him. His heart nearly stopped when he saw that she was lying there on a lawn chair in a barely-there excuse for a swimsuit. Sadar quickly turned away and dabbed at his nose with a cloth, all the while blushing more than he ever had.
Kaia laughed and reached for her clothes.
"It's freezing out here! What the hell are you doing?!"
"I'm sunning," she said as she pulled a loose black shirt on over her head. "I found this chair tucked away while I was cleaning and realized how badly I needed a tan, so I got the sudden urge to sun. You know I can't feel the cold, and not even an advanced ki master can deteriorate my shield without physical contact. Besides, I needed a break. I'm just... stretching my ki, so to speak."
"Yes, well." He peeked just over his shoulder and was relieved that she was dressed now. He sighed and sat at the foot of her chair and she playfully propped her feet in his lap. That made him smile a little. If it was one thing he could count on in his life now, it was her flirting - whether it was welcome or not. Mostly, it wasn't.
"I never really thanked you for coming with me," he said in a serious tone.
"I never thanked you for asking me to come with you. You take on so much by yourself sometimes that you forget that you've got friends who'll support you. Anyway, where you go, I go... eventually."
"Well, I guess it worked out anyway. All of our friends are together on the same front now."
"And thank god, too. I know going up against Iron was how we started out, but all this passive play was getting to us warriors, right?" she joked.
"Right," he agreed. "This is what we should have done from the start."
"Well no use dwelling on the past," she said, nudging him in the stomach with her foot. "We need to worry about our future. Hikki will be here in a few minutes with orders. And -"
"Were you angry with me?"
Kaia suddenly became reserved. "What did I just say about dwelling?"
"Were you?"
She sat in silence for a while. He tickled the bottom of her foot to get her attention and she jerked it back.
"I wasn't... mad at you really. I was just..." She sighed. "Nevermind. It's stupid."
He grabbed her when she moved to get up and forced her to sit. "Look, Kaia. I know I push you away a lot and avoid you when you get all clingy, but that doesn't mean I don't care about you. I became a priest to make right all the regrettable things I've done. Lately, I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping people's trust and not hurting them. But whatever I was doing, I thought it was the best thing to do."
"Don't you think I know that? It wasn't anything you did. I was just... kinda jealous. You were thinking more about them than us. For some reason, I've always thought about all of us being two separate forces even though we were working for the same cause, because our methods were so different. You were the one that brought us all together. In the end, you made it right. I'm proud of you."
He laughed. "You're giving me too much credit. Samson and Hikki had a lot to do with it too."
"As far as I'm concerned, it was your idea and you made it happen. You're the reason why all of our friends are together instead of fighting each other."
The two sat silent for a while, smiling at each other. Kaia couldn't help herself after a while and leaned in toward him. But the balance of weight on the lawn chair shifted, and they both tumbled to the cold, snow-covered ground. Much to Kaia's delight, their faces were closer than they had ever been. This was her moment. He couldn't push her away at this point.
Sadar didn't know what to do exactly. He should push her away, but in this position he wasn't sure he could. Even with his skills, Kaia wasn't just any woman. She was about as strong as he was.
Then suddenly, she was off of him and searching the line of trees at the edge of the woods. "Something's wrong," she said. "Someone's coming pretty fast. Their energy is fluctuating like they're stressed or something. This definitely isn't good."
Soon, Raef came running out of the woods with a bag across his shoulder. "Kaia! Father Sadar! Where's Hikki!?" he asked once he got to them and caught his breath again.
"He's not here yet. What's wrong?"
"Comedia... planning an attack. Outside the limits. One month!"
"** rabble **! I'm so stupid!!" Kaia yelled more at herself than the other two men.
"What do you mean?" Sadar asked.
"We're not that far from the border now. I've felt a collection of energy signals a good distance away. I thought they were our guys from Comedia. I didn't realize... that it would be something like this. I'm so stupid!!"
"We haven't got time for this! We've got to tell Hikki so we can figure out what to do!"
"Calm down, Raef," Sadar said calmly. "If what you said is true, then we've got a month. Hikki should be here as soon as he's done at the café. We'll tell him then and figure something out. This doesn't change our situation. It just makes it more... severely more complicated.
"Our job is still the same. We have to overthrow Ozzal and take down anyone who gets in our way."
"I love it when he gets like this," Kaia said to Raef off to the side.
"By the way... why are you barefoot and wearing summer clothes?" he asked back.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Later, Hikki Follet smoothed his orange tie over his black shirt, wishing that there was a mirror somewhere in this bunker.
"Very nice," Lloyd complimented from the doorway. He leaned against the entryway as he admired his new friend. "I'm jealous."
"Of what?"
"My cousin. He has very good taste in men. I almost wish I got the research job instead of him." Hikki blushed and laughed nervously, but didn't know what to say. He just fooled needlessly with his tie and kept adjusting his glasses on his nose. He didn't really understand what was going on with himself. Where did all his confidence and playfulness go when he was around this man?
"Those pants too. Those white slacks make your a.ss look great."
Hikki turned and walked past him out the door. "Your a.ss doesn't look half bad een zat outfeet eezer," he shot over his shoulder, and followed the hall down to the main entrance where Samson was waiting for him.
"Well, mon petit gâteau de sucre, shall we go?"
"Not that again. Anyway, we're all ready on this end. I asked Sadar to come along to represent the Order and our new friends. Kaia has attached herself to him and wouldn't take no for an answer, so she's coming too. Should just be the four of us."
"Zounds good. Let's not keep our potential friends waiting."
When they opened the door, Emiri and Kira were staring them in the face.
"What up, bit.ches? Going somewhere without me?"
"Actually, we were. We'll see you when we get back," Samson said and tried to get past her.
"Not so fast, you. Why don't I get to come?"
"To tell you the truth, Emiri, we're going to check out a potential group of allies that might be able to help us out. We thought we should wait to introduce them to the rest of the group until after we decide they're okay."
"Well should I come along to check them out and see if they're man enough? We don't want some bit.ch a.ss punks getting in our way when the ** rabble ** hits the fan."
"Really, Emiri. I think we've got it. We'll see you when we get back. Have fun!" And with that, Samson brushed past her and escaped with the others before she could smack him in the back of the head with her weapon.
"Grrr! I never get to do anything!" she yelled and took her frustrations out on a bucket full of water, which went flying across the room and onto Angel's head. Despite her frustrations at having soapy water dumped on her, she did receive quite a few whistles.
"Miss Emiri," Kira suggested meekly, "perhaps we should find another place to clean before you actually hurt someone?"
"Maybe you're right."
~*~*~*~*~*~
The scene was silent at sunset as two small groups of people sat on opposite park benches. The sun had just set on the horizon and everyone present at the park was cast in a bight mixed hue of oranges and reds. Despite the cold, Kamina and Kittan were still basically shirtless, and an inexplicable wind continued to blow at the edges of Kamina's cloak. Behind them stood Hilda and Holland. They were calm and collected (by group standards, of course) compared to Kamina and Kittan's wild and emotional spirits. Their main objective was to keep the two "leaders" of their group in check while calmly reiterating any inspiring speeches in a more understandable manner, if need be.
Hikki and Samson sat on the opposite bench, their arms and legs crossed and their expressions wary. This was the first time for Samson, Sadar, and Kaia to meet these people, but Hikki had seen them all firsthand. Well... most of them anyway. And he wasn't at all pleased with the earlier scene in his café. Even though they did end up fixing the wall back to the way it was, he was still not pleased or amused. This already did not look good for this bunch of rough-looking people who only seemed to want a good fight. Why it had to be this fight, Hikki had no idea. Everything was going to be explained and out in the open before any decisions were made. That was for sure. That was why they were all there.
Both groups had been sitting and standing in silence for at least a few minutes, each one sizing up the other one. Out of the corner of Sadar's eye he thought he saw Kaia giving Kamina a particularly close look.
"Alright!!" Kamina suddenly burst out. "That's enough of that. You've got a good look at us. Are we in or not?!"
"It's not that simple," Samson answered. "But yeah, you guys look like you could be of some use. The real question is, how do you know about us and why do you want to help?"
This time, Kittan was the one to speak up. "Well after what happened at the manor the other night, we knew already that you guys were some pretty interesting characters. That was quite an uproar you caused."
"How do you know about zat?" Hikki asked.
"We have our ways. And you guys," he said nodding towards Kaia and Sadar. "You guys must be from the Order of Glass if those crosses are any indication."
"You seem to know a lot about us," Kaia said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other as if she were getting restless. "We don't know anything about you. It hardly seems fair."
"Like we said... we have our way of knowing these things."
Kaia smirked, but Sadar managed to show no emotion even though his brain was beginning to put together the pieces. "Well to know so much about both our organizations and the supposedly secret actions that happened at the manor, you have to work for some sort of authorized agency. The only trouble I'm having is figuring out which one."
"Oh ho!" Kamina said, surprised. He even clapped a few times in a genuinely congratulatory manner. "Someone has a brain. You live up to the Order's standard, monk."
"Priest."
"Same difference."
"You haven't answered our question."
"Which one? You've asked quite a few," Holland pointed out.
"Zees ees not going anywhere. We are here to ask you ze questions. Not ze ozzer way around."
"On the contrary," Hilda spoke up for the first time. "We're also here to decide if you guys are worth our time, effort and abilities. It's true that we all enjoy a good fight. It's what we live for. But we never fight for no reason, let alone the wrong reason. We have to be assured that you're not a whole bunch of immature children who are trying to get revenge on the pathetic bully that stole your lunch money."
Everyone on the receiving end of Hilda's words tensed, but it was Samson whose voice rang out. "They've stolen a hell of a lot more than just our money. We can't eat, breathe, or even ** rabble ** unless Ozzal says it's okay and that’s exactly the way she plans to keep it. We've watched our friends die right in front of us. We have fought and died and gotten nothing as a result. We are suffocating, and we can't live like this anymore. We will not be manipulated into submission. And we're not just doing this for us. We're doing it for our families, for the future generations that we'll never get to see. This has to end now, or this country... this world has no hope."
Kamina grinned. "Spoken like a true man. But do you really think you can do anything against Ozzal's army? Not to mention that Comedia's army is going to totally obliterate everything in less than a month?"
"We already know zat," Hikki said. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose. "Ze odds are against us. But we have to try, weez or weezout your help. Zat eez where we stand."
Kittan uncrossed and re-crossed his legs. "Well... after what your boy said, I think it's pretty clear that your cause is noble. There's no way we can deny that being the underdog is such a romantic story."
"We haven't said you're in yet. I wouldn't get ahead of yourselves if I were you," Kaia mentioned sternly.
"What about you?" Holland countered. "The Order of Glass has never been known for its bold actions. They have always manipulated things from behind the scenes to ensure that none of their members ever get involved. So... pardon us for being suspicious when a non-active party suddenly decides to jump in."
Sadar held up a hand for Kaia to let it go. "The Actonia Branch of the Order of Glass has been disbanded. Those who have always disagreed with the passive strategic policy have joined up with the Syndicate. At this point in the game, what matters most is that the people who have the same goals are working toward that goal. Which brings us to our main concern. What exactly is your goal? We're not here to entertain you with a good fight. We're doing this to achieve a better country for all those who live in it."
Kamina stood and, with him, so did the rest of the two parties. "Look, we lot have never been one to take sides. We mostly fight for the sheer enjoyment of it. But when we heard that Comedia planned on invading, we thought it could affect our futures as well, and we can't have that. Plus, as warriors, it is our job to be the heroes once in a while. The common link in all these is to lend a helping hand to this revolution you guys have got goin'. So whaddya say? Do we have an arrangement?"
"Just one more question," Samson interjected.
"And that is?"
"What about your prior commitments to your jobs? You work for some government force, right? Under Ozzal's command, no doubt."
"Well, that's sort of true," Kittan answered. "And so far, we love our jobs. But we're mostly there for the thrill of battle, which will completely disappear if Comedia wins the war. So if we don't help you, our jobs will be nearly nonexistent anyway. If we team up, it's win/win for everyone. Besides," he added with a grin, "you guys could probably use some friends on the inside."
Hikki, Samson, Kaia, and Sadar all quietly consulted with each other and decided on what to do. After a few moments, they all nodded their agreement. Samson and Hikki walked over to Kittan and Kamina, and - after a few moments - smiled and shook hands with them. The deal was made. The regulars of the GAR Street Bar would join the Syndicate and help them fight two armies at once. If they somehow managed to win, it would definitely be a victory for the history books.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, after the Syndicate's leaders had returned to the bunker with a whole group of less-than-reputable-looking characters and things were calming down, several of the revolutionary group's women sat in a circle of chairs sipping hot beverages and trying to relax after a trying day. Cille, Roxie, Kirara, Winry, Kaia, Angel, and Clarice alternated between talking in small groups and together as one. It looked a lot like a book club, only there were no books and a lot more talk about beating up their enemies.
Throughout much of it, Cille sat back and listened without saying much. Angel and Clarice, who knew more about her situation than the others did, tried to ease her into the conversation. "We heard from Cougar earlier that he's been training you?" Clarice began.
"Yeah. He's taught me some basic combat techniques and how to handle a firearm, but... there's really not anything I can do against an army," Cille said drolly.
"So you really don't have that much experience fighting? Aren't you afraid of dying?" Kirara asked.
"Aren't we all?" Kaia spoke up and took a sip of her coffee. "There's not one of us here that isn't afraid of dying, no matter how much experience or training we've had. There's not a man out there that's not afraid either. During war, all you can do is try to survive, and if you can't, take as many bast.ards as you can with you."
"Well, I guess that's a nice thought," Cille answered, getting a bit overwhelmed again, "but I try not to think about actually dying if I can help it. Except that I don't think it'll do anyone any good if I die as soon as I set foot on the field."
"Well at least you're worried about the right kind of thing," Kaia commended. "What you have to do, what all you girls that are new to fighting have to do is find the kind of combat that you'd be best at. For starters, decide if you think you'd like or be good at short, medium, or long range combat. Short range includes some sort of martial arts fighting skills. From what I know, that's what all of you except maybe you, Clarice and Angel, have been working on. Everyone needs those basic skills in case your enemy gets closer than expected. But now that we have a deadline, if you're going to choose short range fighting, I'm going to have to teach you some advanced techniques that you need to work on for the next four weeks, whether it's ki attacks or sword fighting. Though, I'm sure that our Soul Reaper friends would be better qualified than I would be for that.
"Middle range fighting would involve some weapon skills. There are a lot of guys out here who are going to be specialists in different kind of mid-ranged weapons. Guns, throwing weapons like grenades, and the sort. Archers can be a little bit of both. It really depends on how you're using it and if you're skilled enough to fire the long shot. I’m sure Uryuu Ishida will help anyone that asks for it, if you don’t mind some condescending comments along the way. Then there’s Snipers, bombers; the list goes on. We don't exactly know what we're going up against, so we can probably just cover all the bases to be sure."
She looked around and saw them all staring at her, many of them with blank or confused expressions. She immediately laughed it off. "Listen to me rambling on. There's gonna be a lot of strategy meetings from people like Mustang and Havoc who have gone up against the Comedian army before. A lot of us already know what to expect from Ozzal and her army of freaks." When she heard that, Kirara looked slightly uneasy.
Just then Kamina came sauntering into the kitchen, apparently looking for something to eat. He headed for the fridge and started rummaging around, oblivious to the fact that every single pair of female eyes in the room was glued to his back, or rather, his backside. He surfaced with a few plates of leftovers and a baggie of cookies clenched between his teeth. He nodded and mumbled a greeting to the ladies, and then ambled out again.
The room was silent for what seemed like an eternity. Some of the girls exchanged glances and tried to stifle giggles, and others simply tried to seem nonchalant.
"So um... what?" Winry said at last, looking quizzically at Kaia.
"Uh..." Kaia could barely remember what they'd been talking about herself. She racked her brain to say something to pick things back up. But… after that handsome display, there was only one thing on her mind. "You've been spending a lot of time with Samson lately, Clarice." She grinned. "Why don't you give us the juicy details!"
Clarice blushed and flat out said, "No!"
Everyone was disappointed. "C'mon!" Angel said, nudging her in the side. "How far have you two gotten?"
"Oh, would you all stop it! We didn't even kiss until a few days ago! You guys are making a big deal out of nothing!"
"A kiss isn't nothing," one of them said under her breath.
"Look... I don't know what's happening with us, or what's going to happen. We just... got together, sort of, and now there's impending doom on the horizon... literally. It's not exactly the most romantic of situations."
"Are you kidding?! It's the most romantic of situations!" Roxie gushed, her hand clasped together in a melodramatic fashion. Then she cleared her throat and contained herself. "Two people who are attracted to each other are more likely to express their feelings somehow if the odds are stacked against them and either one of them could die. I mean, have you guys never seen action movies?"
The others exchanged amused glances and raised eyebrows. It was true that Roxie was the only one of them who was actually married, but she did seem to have some funny ideas about romance.
"Cougar seems to be a nice guy," Clarice offered, trying to shift the attention away from herself without being indelicate. She turned toward Cille. "You two make a good-looking couple. Maybe when this is all over and you get back on your feet a little -"
"I dunno," Cille said, looking slightly embarrassed but trying not to show it. "Cougar's great, and he's done more for me than anyone else I know, but..."
"Do you like him?" Angel asked.
Cille blushed. "Well... I mean, I guess. I haven't really thought about it." She looked down evasively.
"Don't think too hard about it," Kaia advised. "You've already got enough on your mind. Right now, all that really matters is if he makes you happy or not. From what little I've seen today, he obviously cares about you an awful lot. I bet we all wish we had a guy like that."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Cille seemed to appreciate the thought, but still didn't seem inclined to talk about it.
"What about you?" Cille asked in return. "My son was telling me that he thought he might have interrupted something between you and that nice priest."
This time, Kaia blushed.
"You mean Father Sadar?" Kirara asked, quite concerned.
"Yeah. He's the only priest we've got, right?"
"Oh... I didn't realize you two had actually gotten together," Kirara said quietly, suddenly very interested in her fingers.
"Look, John's a celibate priest who has made it quite clear that he has no interest in having a relationship with anyone outside a religious one. Believe me, I've been trying for years. So... if you're into him too, then I welcome the competition." Kaia winked and raised her mug in a sort of welcoming toast.
"What about you, Angel?" Winry asked.
"I'm not the relationship type, really."
"So all that talk with Roy Mustang didn't mean anything? I've known Roy for a long time, or of him, really. Despite being known as a ladies' man, he doesn't often talk to them like he did to you today," Winry said.
Angel slinked down casually in her chair. "He's probably too stuck on his old girlfriend to even notice anyone else. Besides, I have plenty of other guy friends. What about you, Winry? You're the only one we haven't heard anything from."
"Nah. There's not really any guy that I'm interested in right now."
"Any girl?" someone asked.
"No! I mean... I haven't found anyone I'm interested in around here. There was this one guy back home, but he left suddenly and I got a job here. So... that was that."
The conversation lapsed into silence, so Clarice stood and took her cup over to the sink. "Well, we should probably get ourselves some sleep. We'll have another hard day of work tomorrow." The rest of the girls agreed and began heading out of the room. But once everyone else had left, Kaia pulled Kirara over to the side.
"Hey, what's up with you lately?"
"What do you mean?" Kirara asked, feigning ignorance. Though, she knew exactly what Kaia was talking about. Ever since she was captured during her first mission invading the Comdot Estate, something had been happening to her body. She had a pretty good idea what it was, she just didn’t know what to do about it.
"I mean... I've heard that you've been acting kind of strange lately. Like you've been consistently more active at night and can't stand to go out in the sun. I'm not trying to pry or anything, but I and a few others are kinda worried about you. Did... something happen?"
"Look, I appreciate your concern, but I'm not sick or anything. I just don't like being out in the daytime. My eyes have always been sensitive to light and it's just bothersome unless I absolutely have to. Whatever you've heard is all being blown out of proportion, I think. I'm fine, really." She faked the best smile should could and started to walk toward the door.
Kaia didn't believe it for a minute. She hadn't known Kirara for very long, since the young woman had just joined the Order not too long ago, but even she had noticed a little bit of change in her over the last few weeks. Something was definitely wrong, and she knew if her friend kept ignoring it, it would spin way out of control.
"Kirara, if this is what it's sounding like, there's no reason to hide it. Just don't try to suppress it for much longer. A while ago, the Order received some inside intelligence that Ozzal's lab minions were experimenting with all kinds of different creatures to use as weapons. It's not that far of a stretch that you might have been exposed to them, with or without knowing it. Maybe you should think about when some things started to change and try to contact whoever might be responsible, if you know what I mean. Learning from them how to control these changes would be better than hiding it. Just something to think about."
Something to think about? It was entirely too much to be thinking about. Kirara knew exactly what was happening to her and had tried to deny it every step of the way. To think that anyone, especially one of her friends, would know what was going on was nothing less than shocking. "How... could you possibly be okay with this? Do you even know what you’re talking about? What exactly do you think is going on?"
Kaia decided the best thing was to just come out and say it if it was bothering her so much. “Kirara… I think… you’re turning into a vampire.”
She was dead on, but Kirara laughed anyways. “A vampire? That’s crazy.”
“You’re reaction says I’m right. Look, I wouldn’t go around telling everyone, but you can not ignore this. I don’t know everything there is to know, but I do know that if you deny your need for… “new nourishment” that you could die or even hurt your friends. Please, I’m not trying to call you out, but you should try to talk to whoever turned you. They would know more than anyone what you should do.”
Kirara stood there, still totally unsure about this. “Kaia… how can you not be freaking out? I thought the changes would go away, or I hoped they would. I still don’t know what to do, and the changes are getting worse.”
“What freaks me out is that you could be hurting yourself by trying to run away from this. When you first joined the Order, we had a lot of time to talk. We can still talk, whenever you want, especially if something is bothering you. So, what I’m going to do is talk to our guy on the inside that gave us the info and see if he can set something up. I personally think that if you embrace this, you could be one of our trump cards. I think it's kind of cool.
Kirara smiled and for the first time in a while, she felt relieved and less like a freak. “Thanks, Kaia. You’re a real friend. I don’t think anyone else would have been this calm over something like vampires.”
“It’s no problem, my Nosferatu friend."
~*~*~*~*~*~
Cille wandered the halls after she had left the rest of the girls in the kitchen. Despite the late hour and the fatigue in her body she didn't feel quite ready for sleep yet, especially with so much still on her mind. And so she decided to look around a little, figuring that either the time alone would let her think things through a little more, or whatever she found might help take her mind off her troubles altogether.
So she took the time to just wander and explore the vast space of the bunker, finding all kinds of different rooms: bedrooms, garages, storage, bathrooms, and even the armory. At one point she passed by Kamina, who was still munching on cookies while he kept the night watch. He nodded to her, and after he passed she found herself unable to resist following his impossibly buff and inexplicably shirtless figure with her eyes. It took a few moments for her to come back to her senses, and then she continued on, feeling slightly relieved that nobody else was around to see her moment of schmoopiness.
But she wasn't alone again for long. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, she felt warmth from behind her and a voice whispered in her ear, "Did you have fun with the girls?"
After recovering from her brief moment of shock, she turned around to see Straight Cougar grinning at her. "Yes... I guess I did," she said, smiling at him. "It was kind of nice to just sit and talk to people, especially after working all day. Although I didn't have all that much to say."
"So what did you talk about? Wait, let me guess... probably something girly, like makeup or how you'd like to decorate the bunker... or maybe what boys you like?"
"Well, um..." She felt more uneasy than she wanted to be, and hoped that he couldn't see the blush she felt coming to her cheeks.
Cougar let out a raucous laugh. "I was just joking, you know. I'm sure you weren't talking about silly things like that."
She laughed, a little bit nervously. "Yeah... Actually, that Kaia woman from the Order of Glass was telling us about different combat styles... I didn't catch all of what she said, but it sounded like she wants us to be trained in specialized methods of fighting or something. So I might have to choose what I want to do."
"Hmm. Do you have any ideas yet?"
"No, not really."
"Well, that's something we can talk about later if you'd like. I imagine you're pretty tired after the day we've had."
She nodded, as it suddenly hit her just how tired she was. Looking around, she also realized that she had no idea where she was - or even where she was supposed to sleep.
"Hey, do you... do you know where our bedrooms are?"
Cougar grinned at her, looking slightly mischievous. "As a matter of fact, I was just wondering if you wanted a lift to your room." And before she could respond, he had picked her up and sped her through the complex. In a few seconds they stopped outside a door that looked like the rest of the doors she had been passing all day.
He set her down, and oddly enough it was she who had to take a moment to catch her breath.
"Now if you wouldn't mind closing your eyes, Ms. Cillie, I have something I want to show you."
"Couga~ar," she groaned skeptically.
"Please? I promise that you'll love the surprise I have for you."
If it had been anyone else, except for maybe Raef, she would have felt wary about letting down her guard. After a moment, though, she decided to comply and closed her eyes. She already trusted him with her life, so walking into a room with him should be no big deal.
She felt him gently lead her by the arm as he opened the door. He led her inside and she could smell scented candles competing with the smell of dust and mold. She waited as he left her side to turn on the lights and close the door.
After a few seconds, she heard "Okay... you can open them."
She opened her eyes and was totally overwhelmed. The walls had been painted a cheerful light blue, her favorite color. There was a bed with a very familiar-looking quilt on it. On a small cabinet there was a vase filled with faux tiger lilies. There was even a small figurine that she had admired at the HOLY cabin, along with...
"This is... did this come from my apartment? I thought everything there was burned or trashed, or something! But not here. How did you...?"
He smiled, obviously satisfied by her reaction. "I still have a few friends in Comdot, thankfully. I figured they'd confiscated anything that had belonged to you, and sure enough it was all in one of the government's storage facilities. Once I found out just where it was, it wasn't too hard to swipe it."
"But... they could have caught you! If you'd been -" He grinned, and she remembered who she was talking to.
She looked around the room again. There were pictures of her family, a box of jewelry that had belonged to her mother, various family heirlooms, some of her clothes, even one of her old unfinished chainmaille projects. "Cougar, I... don't know how to thank you. I thought this was all lost forever." She quickly wiped away the tears that were welling up in her eyes.
"Don't mention it. I thought you could use a little cheering up, and I thought this might help you feel more settled in and comfortable here."
She just stood looking at everything in the room, still feeling overwhelmed and trying not to cry.
"I'll uh... just leave you to get some rest then," he said, feeling that it was time for him to go. "Let me know if you need anything." He excused himself and headed for the door.
"Cougar..."
He paused with his hand on the doorknob, waiting for her to continue. After a few moments of silence, he felt her arms slowly wrap around him from behind. He smiled and held one of the hands that rested on his stomach.
"I'm really glad you like it. It was the least I could do to try to help you feel better."
"You've done so much for me already, though... You really didn't have to, and... I haven't done anything for you... not like this..."
"Sure you have. You do plenty without realizing it. Those things make it worth it." He laughed.
She wasn't convinced, but she was too tired - and too grateful to him - to argue about it.
"So... I take it that this is going to be my room?" she said after a moment, loosening her hold on him and taking a step back.
He turned around to face her. "It's yours if you want it. Which... I'm guessing you do."
She smiled. "It'll be fine, yes. And... where are you staying?"
"Well... I started cleaning out the room next door, but I figured you'd want Raef there since he hasn't gone back to his apartment yet. But there's another room down the hall that I could take. I should probably actually get over there and see if I can get enough junk out of the way to find a place to sleep. You just get some rest, okay?"
She nodded, and he started to turn toward the door.
"Um..." she began impetuously, and then stopped when he turned back to her. "Would you... mind... staying here tonight?" she continued hesitantly. "I mean, I know there's only one bed, but... we could put the quilt down on the floor, as long as that's still okay for you... I mean, I don't want you to have to sleep on concrete or anything, but..."
He smiled. "I can think of worse places to sleep. And if you want me here, I can't think of any place better."
She blushed a little. "Okay. And... thanks." They smiled at each other, and then she took a deep breath and stretched out a little as if to break the tension of the moment.
"So, um, is there a bathroom around here anywhere?"
He laughed and turned to open the door.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Sometime in the middle of the night, Hikki collapsed on a bed somewhere with his clothes still on. He almost immediately fell asleep, but a voice brought him back to a state of consciousness.
"Today was quite a day, was it not? Such excitement." Lloyd said as he sat down in a chair next to the bed. He leaned over and removed Hikki's glasses for him, pausing to brush a blond strand of hair out of his face.
"Mmm hmmm" Hikki managed, almost drifting off to sleep again.
"You're exhausted."
"You really are ze genius, aren't you?" Hikki quipped.
"Well this genius thinks a certain baker is pushing himself a bit too hard. Waking up early to run your café, running a revolution by night, staying up to ungodly hours to do what didn't get done. There is only so much one person can do, my friend."
Lloyd looked over at the Frenchman only to find that he was already asleep. It was hopeless. He placed the glasses somewhere where they wouldn't get broken and came back to untie the silk piece of cloth that tied back his friend's hair. Once that was done, he looked at the snoozing figure and realized how easy it would be to take complete advantage of the opportunity. As much as he would like to, all that would have to wait. It had been a trying day for him as well.
He had solved the mystery of Argeno's death, made a rather pleasurable new acquaintance, and half-joined a revolution. There was no telling what the weeks to come would hold in store for him. He didn’t know if he should stay here or go back home. He had reason enough to understand their situation and want to help, but he didn’t really have a place here. The only real connection he had made was with Hikki, and despite the flirting and fun, he didn’t realistically think that would go anywhere. All this thinking wasn’t getting him anywhere either. For now, he needed sleep. He sat in the chair and fell asleep almost as quickly as Hikki had. The ribbon of black silk dangled from his hand.
There was still so much that needed to be said.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hill’s eyes opened slowly. He blinked so that the blur of colors and shapes turned out to be a nightstand and carpet and wallpaper. Apparently, he was lying on his stomach in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room, and he had no idea why. He groaned and attempted to move, but as soon as he did, everything in his body screamed in protest. Why was this happening? What did he do?
Then he heard someone enter the room and come into his line of sight. “You’re awake!” he heard a woman’s voice say. His vision focused long enough to concentrate on her face. It was the lovely police chief he had met the day before.
That’s when he remembered. They were driving at top speed to where they had been informed the Order of Iron and the Cool Mexicanos had ultimately engaged themselves in battle. And then they saw the bombs begin to rain down from the sky.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
Q pulled up a chair and sat where he could see her. “I really should be asking you that. I don’t really remember what happened when the bombs started falling, but we were far away enough from them to not be seriously hurt. I think you stopped the car, dragged me out of it, and shielded me from the blast in a nearby building. That’s where I woke up, anyways. You were on top of me, and your back was covered with burns.”
“Ah. So that’s what that searing pain is,” he tried to joke.
“Here,” she said, carefully taking him by the arm and helping him to sit up. She opened a bottle on her nightstand and placed a pill in his hand, followed by a cup of water. “I’m no doctor, but I did what I could at first. Then I pulled some strings to get someone to come here and fix you up properly. It was easier than trying to move you again. Anyways, he gave me those and told me to give you one when you got up.”
He took it quickly, and drank all the water to wet his dry throat. “How long have I been out?”
“Not long. Two or three days. We didn’t get much of the blow from the bombs, but what little got to us, you took nearly all of it. You saved my life.”
“You’ve been here the whole time?”
“Well… it’s not like I dropped everything so I could take care of you or anything. Some of my job I can do from home, so that’s what I’ve been doing. All you did was sleep anyways.”
“This is your place?”
She was getting tired of these questions, but tolerated them because she would have been hurt a lot worse or could have been dead if he hadn’t done what he did. “Yep, my place was the closest place to take you.”
“So I’ve been imposing on you and sleeping on your bed?”
“Oh, it’s not as bad as all that. My couch folds out. I’ve been sleeping there since I can hear you from in there, in case you woke up.”
“Well that stops now. I’m going back to my hotel room. I’m sorry to have imposed on you for so long.”
Q hesitated, but protested all the same. “I really don’t think you should. I mean… it’s not like.. I want you to stay here or anything, but I don’t think you’re in any condition to get across town by yourself .”
He ignored her and indignantly stood up, only to have the room go blurry and start spinning around. He stumbled but managed to sit back down on the bed.
Q crossed her arms, but couldn’t look too smug since she really was concerned about him. “I told you, you idiot. You haven’t had food or water for three days. You have to walk before you can run. Or in your case, get your head on straight before you walk.”
“I’ll be fine. I just need a minute to rest and process all this. So… did you find out what happened with the Order of Iron?” he asked as he grabbed the shirt laid out for him on the end of the bed.
“Nothing much. Just that there’s no way that anyone lived to escape after that. The entire area was demolished and burned to ash. We were lucky enough to have been on the outskirts of the blasts. We have no idea who they really are or why they were fighting, or who dropped the bombs. It seems that the more we try to find answers, the more questions we come up with.”
“That’s the problem we’ve been having for years. With these secret organizations, you get more false information and empty leads than you do actual evidence. I thought I finally had something. This was a definite lead, and I guess I got too excited. I’m sorry I dragged you into it.”
He carefully eased the shirt over his head despite how the muscles in his back screamed. When his face came through the shirt hole, he suddenly felt her lips on his. But it was only for a second. A moment later, she was a respectable distance away and trying her best to scowl at him.
“Don’t read anything into that. That was a thanks for saving my life. Nothing more.”
Hill laughed. “Well thank you all the same. It’s always a pleasure to kiss a lovely lady.”
At that, Q was taken aback and couldn’t help but be a little embarrassed. Being the chief of a police for that mostly consisted of tough men, she didn’t exactly hear comments like that very often. After all, to command respect she had to be tough herself. She suddenly realized that he could probably use some more water and quickly went to get him some. She needed to be away from him for a little while, to not look at that handsome face or hear that irresistible accent of his.
He was waiting on her when she returned. A short thanks was given for the water and he quickly drank the whole glass down. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“You didn’t,” Q said quicker than she probably should have.
“I meant what I said. I won’t sleep in your bed anymore. I’m going back to my hotel room.”
“Are your buddies from your organization-”
“MI-6.”
“That. Are they going to change your bandages and stuff? Or aren they off working on their parts of the investigation? They haven’t exactly come by to look for you or anything. I was given strict instructions by the doctor on what to do. It’s a lot of work.”
“I can do it all myself. I’ll be fine.”
“Oh really? Try,” she said indignantly.
He didn’t try to remove the bandages though. He just slumped – which was now painful – and sighed. “Fine… since you’re so insistent, I’ll stay. But only until I stop tripping over my own feet, and I’m sleeping on the couch. A lady should sleep in her own bed.”
“How chivalrous of you.”
“Chivalry is not dead, Chief Holmes.”
“It is here,” she replied. “But you have a deal. And just so we’re clear, I’m only taking care of you because you saved my life, okay?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t think otherwise. I consider myself lucky to have had my life in your capable hands.”
“Yeah, so don’t ** rabble ** me off or I might just kill you.”
They both laughed.
“So what do we do now? I mean… with the investigation, when you get back on your feet,” Q asked.
“Start from square one again. Find other leads. I mean, Iron is pretty much gone, but we still need to know what was going on, and who would try to destroy both those groups at the same time.”
“I’ll go back to the station later and try to see what I can find out.”
“And I’ll meet up with November 11 and Miss Readman as soon as I can. Though, I feel like we’re not going to come up with much. We never have before.”
Q sat back down in the chair across from him, and thought for a minute. “I’m not so sure. I have a hunch that all this is building up to something else; something bigger. Maybe this time, someone left something for us to find. It’s just a feeling though.”
“Well… let’s hope your feeling’s right. Now… I really don’t want to seem ungrateful, but could I have something to eat? I’m starved.”
Q stood and shot him a stern look. “God, you’re so much trouble.” He smiled as soon as she wasn’t looking. They both knew she was joking.
~*~*~ END ~*~*~
Characters:
Starry Ozzal – starryjelly
Ozzal – Mike Lazzo
Dewey Novak – (Eureka Seven)
Goda – (GITS: 2nd GIG)
Straight Cougar – (s-CRY-ed)
Cille Compton – Cille
Hikki Follet – Kohikki
Raef Compton – Maenos
Landon Blacken – Blah_canbespanish
Kazuma – (s-CRY-ed)
Captain Yemman – myname
Watari – (Death Note)
Ryuho – (s-CRY-ed)
Bruce Herman – bherman
Jean Pierrot – pierrot_le_fou
Kaia – namek_kaia
John Sadar – FurionTassadar
Cowboy – CowboyCadenza
April – LirpaYamEnujYluj
Shunsui – (Bleach)
Nanao – (Bleach)
Kamina – (Tenga Toppen Gurren Lagann)
Hot-Ice Hilda – (Outlaw Star)
Mugen – (Samurai Champloo)
Champlan – Samurai_Champloo_Fan
Charles Beams – (Eureka Seven)
Holland Novak – (Eureka Seven)
Zaraki Kenpachi – (Bleach)
Zoro – (One Piece)
Goose Maverick – Top_Gun
Angel – mgangel1124
Roy Mustang – (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Havoc – (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Samson – Master_Samson
Emiri - _Boxers_
Kira Izuru – (Bleach)
Roxie Goldsmith – anime_goddess05
Kirara Amour – kiraralove
Winry – (Fullmetal Alchemist)
Clarice Rowe – QueenoftheDorks
Q Holmes – Q_chan
Hill – fool_on_the_hill
November 11 – (Darker than Black)
Yomiko Readman – (Read or Die)
New Characters:
Walter – (Hellsing)
Lloyd Asplund – (Code Geass)