Manu manum lavat 7
before
7.
Omi´s mind was swirling with thoughts about Weiss´ new houseguests. Finally deciding that he might as well give up on sleep he decided to get up and went down to the kitchen discovering that Nagi had already made coffee.
"You look very thoughtful, Omikun, " Nagi said, offering him a cup.
"Yeah, I have been thinking a lot about this situation with you and Schuldig."
"It must be difficult to have us here." Nagi answered taking a seat at the table.
"Not as difficult, as I would have imagined. I guess I´m beginning to see the human beings behind Schwarz. I am beginning to wonder if you guys are really my enemies."
"I´m very glad about that," Nagi said solemnly," I´d like to be your friend. I´ve never really had friends before. I was always different from everyone else. Schwarz was the first time that I didn’t feel like a monster. All I ever wanted was a normal life, with a normal job, a girlfriend, and friends. Do you think that sounds silly?"
"Not at all. I know the feeling. Maybe we´ll find it someday. I could accept to trust you. But Schuldig - he may have saved my life during the last mission and I know that sometimes he can be an all right guy. But there´s still Ouka and all the others he has hurt in the past. It´s going to take a lot for me to be able to get over that and trust him."
Nagi nodded: "Here´s my advice: Schuldig won’t betray you, as long as this deal lasts but in the end he is very different from you. Different doesn´t mean bad, just - different."
"I think I´ll go talk to him and try to get some things cleared up, if you´ll excuse me." Omi said rising room the table.
"He´s not in our room. But you might find him in Yohji's quarters." Nagi motioned toward the upstairs.
"Yohji has seemed more stable these last few days," Omi mused, as he moved up the steps Schuldig seemed to be good for its friend. Even if he didn´t understand why. He tiptoed into Yohji's room and found them sleeping. Yohji had his face hidden in Schuldig's neck and their hands were intertwined.
"Yohji, Schuldig, good morning," Omi whispered, waking them both.
"Omi! " a flustered Yohji grabbed his bathrobe and disappeared into the bathroom.
Schuldig just looked up calmly at the teenager: "You needed something?"
"Yes, I´ve spent the last few days doing a lot of thinking. Nagi and I have come to an understanding of sorts, and I want to trust you. But there is one thing I have to know. "
"Ouka." Schuldig sighed, leaning back in his seat.
"Ouka. Why did you kill her?"
"It was fun to play with you and her," Schuldig calmly met his eyes, "but it shouldn´t have gone that far. I apologize for putting her in a situation that I couldn´t control anymore. A person in my position can never afford to lose control," Schuldig´s eyes seemed to focus on something in the distance.
"Why is it so amusing for you to play with people and their emotions?"
"That´s what I am." Schuldig answered with a wave of his hand.
"You can be different, I´ve seen it, Yojhi´s seen it! Why do you want to remain a villain to us?" Omi wished he could see behind the mental shields Schuldig had built up so carefully.
"You wouldn´t understand what you found if you could," Schuldig told him, answering his thoughts, "I´m different."
"Yes, but different doesn´t necessarily mean bad," Omi smirked parroting Nagi´s earlier statement. "You don´t exactly encourage it, but I´ll try to trust you."
With the help of Kritiker it wasn´t too difficult to interpret the information, they had gotten during the last mission, and the next afternoon Aya held a meeting.
"We think we may have discovered the location of one of the central bases for SZ, " Omi started.
"I think it might be the Millennium base," Nagi added.
"The what?" Ken asked.
"The Millennium base is a location so secret, that only about dozen other people know about it. None of them are here in Japan. However in the heart of SZ there were rumors about powerful psychic artifacts." Schuldig explained.
"What should we do?" Nagi asked.
"You must somehow get in their computer system," Aya answered, "as always, we need more information about the security and any other hidden dangers. And you have to be quick. They might guess what we´re planning."
Schuldig shook his head: "I don´t think so, SZ has only one weakness and that is their arrogance. They are so arrogant, that they never took you guys seriously, and that may be their downfall. We should go as soon as possible. Straight in to use the surprise effect."
"Really?" Ken looked to Aya for some rebuttal for Schuldig´s idea, but Aya nodded. If there was one similarity between the redheads, it was that they both hated to tiptoe around an enemy.
"Omi, Nagi, hurry." Aya said before leaving the room.
Working nonstop over the next couple of days Omi and Nagi managed to compile several pages of information about guard changes and the security system for SZ. The mission started two days later at midnight.
At exactly twelve o´clock Schuldig and Nagi entered the building. The guards at the door were easily knocked out. The pair went into a great hallway where they met their first real resistance for SZ.
"Hello Schuldig, how nice to see you again." a man with violet hair greeted him, "I have to say I am surprised you are indeed still alive. Even so, I would have thought you had enough sense in that tiny brain of yours to run away. But don’t worry, I’ll make sure coming here will be the last mistake you ever make"
With this the man turned to a small army of SZ soldiers who had arrived with him."Kill them."
A barrage of psychic power was pointed on the two Schwarz, who sank to the floor in agony. Their suffering was short lived however. Their attackers suddenly began dropping like flies. Several dropped to the floor with Omi´s tiny darts protruding from their necks. The others were killed quickly dispelled of by Aya and Ken. Schuldig climbed to his feet just in time to see the violet head rolling down the hall, Yohj´s wire had apparently met its mark.
"So much for brains, " he murmured.
"This floor is cleared," Aya announced, "Yohji, Ken, Schuldig up to the next one. Omi, Nagi, you two come along to the cellar. You know what to do."
Ken went up the stairs first. "Two people coming from the right," he heard in his head and turned in time to surprise them, for Ken it was still strange to rely on the abilities of a telepath, but he had to admit that it was handy at times.
Yohji and Schuldig took care of rest of the guards. "Are there still other people on that floor?" Yohji asked. Schuldig concentrated and shook his head negatively. "Good. "
The majority of the rooms were empty but the last one opened into a hall, which had a strange assembly of items. For Ken and Yohji the room seemed to have a strange aura, but Schuldig's brain was instantly filled with the psychic waves, coming from the artifacts. It was too much power to bear. He sank to the floor, clutching his head desperately. Strong hands helped him up and he was moved outside. There he collapsed again, but was finally able to shut out the waves.
“You okay?" with some effort he managed to focus on Ken and Yohji, who were kneeling before him.
"Yeah, just a bit shaky," with Ken´s support he managed to stand.
"Drink that," Yohji came back with a bottle of water from the car.
"Thanks."
"You better stay outside," Ken told him, "just tell us how we burn this place to the ground."
"In the middle of the room stands something that looks like a big piano" Schuldig sighed, "if you light that up the rest will burn like a house of matches."
"Good," Ken turned on the microphone, "Siberian here. Are we ready to start the campfire?" He paused to listen to Ayas response, "they´re almost ready."
Aya had lead Nagi and Omi downstairs. stopping only long enough to finish off the two guards at the entrance with his katana. They went through a long dark corridor, without any doors. At end was a steel door. Omi opened it quickly and Nagi telekinetically threw the guards behind it to the next wall. Other men rushed forward only to be silenced by darts and Aya´s katana.
"I think that’s all of them, take a look around and see if anything looks like it might be important," Aya told them.
Nagi´s eyes roamed to some machines near the center of the room. He knew what these machines were. Truthfinder were they called. They weren´t used for torture, oh no; they sucked the information directly from the brains of their victims. A groan took his interest.
Nagi began to run and there he was, lying in the middle of the machines. His glasses were gone and the black hair was dirty and far too long for the meticulous man, but he was alive.
TBC