misura
in
springkink
Office Work (Weiss Kreuz, Crawford/Schuldich, PG-13)
Title: Office Work
Author: misura
Rating: PG-13 for contemplated murder in an office (oh, and wildly attractive redheads, if they do say so themselves)
Warnings: none, really.
Summary: Early days (but Crawford likes to plan well in advance).
A/N: Quite possibly a great deal fluffier than it might have been.
The way their supposed new leader had been acting thus far, Schuldich had begun to think the man was more machine than man - a Rosenkreuz experiment, perhaps, to create the perfect soldier, who always knew what to do and never asked questions, or made small talk, or noticed when a wildly attractive redhead was flirting with him.
Schuldich still wasn't sure about those last two things, but he was fairly sure that whatever else Brad Crawford might be or do, he did ask questions and he thought, too, even if Schuldich's gift didn't give him so much as a hint as to what about.
"I thought we were going to kill him."
Farfarello's mind, on the other hand, Schuldich was able to read like a proverbial book. With extra large letters and a narrator with a really annoying voice reading the words out loud, in case Schuldich wasn't paying attention. Reading Farfarello's mind reminded Schuldich of his schooldays; even if you tried really hard to look out of the window or do something interesting, the teacher's voice would still yank you back to what was written on the blackboard.
"Our mission was to eliminate his corporation's influence in this region of the world." Crawford turned to the man who was cowering behind his desk, staring at Farfarello. Not understanding a word of what Crawford was saying, to judge by his thoughts, although he seemed to understand Farfarello well enough. The knife probably helped there, Schuldich judged. "We don't need to kill him for that."
"We don't need to not kill him for that, either," Schuldich pointed out.
Farfarello glanced at Crawford, then at Schuldich. Schuldich was the one he'd known longest - close to a year - but Crawford was the one Estet had told him to obey. On the other hand, Crawford was the one telling him he was not allowed to kill the target.
It might, Schuldich thought, be interesting to see how the conflict between Farfarello's conditioning to obey and his desire to kill played out - and more interesting still to see how Crawford would react when Farfarello refused to follow his orders. The man was skilled enough as a fighter and a tactician, yet nothing Schuldich had seen so far hinted at any ability to keep Farfarello under control.
Crawford offered Schuldich a dark look, as if aware of his thoughts.
"If we allow him his life, he will in exchange provide us with certain ... assets, that might well be useful to us in the future."
Schuldich didn't make for a moment the mistake of thinking that that 'us' refered to Estet, or even Rosenkreuz. Crawford was saying that it would benefit them, personally - implying that at some point, he intended to be more than the obedient puppet Rosenkreuz expected him (and all of its members) to be.
Implying that he expected Schuldich and Farfarello to feel the same - which they did, of course, or at least Schuldich did, but there was no real way for Crawford to know that, unless he was a far better mind-reader than Schuldich was, and Schuldich knew quite well that he was the best Rosenkreuz had.
"You're - " Schuldich started.
"I trust you," Crawford said simply, with a hint of what might have been amusement, although Schuldich failed to see anything funny about the situation.
"Then you're insane. There's no way you can know we - "
"I trust you," Crawford repeated. "You can do what you want." And just like that, he walked out of the office, leaving Farfarello and Schuldich alone with the target.
Schuldich briefly wondered if the offer of 'doing what he wanted' included doing Crawford. At a guess, he'd say it didn't, but then, what did he really know about the man, except that he liked ties and had mental shielding of some sort?
Oh, and that he was probably insane. Nobody in Rosenkreuz trusted anyone. It simply wasn't healthy.
"Can I kill him now?"
For a moment, Schuldich thought Farfarello was talking about Crawford.
"I don't think so."
Farfarello's expression turned disappointed, but only for a few moments.
"So, we're going to do as Crawford says?"
"For now." Schuldich decided it was a bit of a turn-on, actually, to be trusted. He liked being in control of those around him, and with an accusation of treason hanging over his head, Crawford ought to be very controllable. Estet had assigned him as team-leader, after all; Schuldich and Farfarello would always be able to claim they'd simply been following orders.
"All right." Of course, after this, Crawford would be team-leader in name only. Farfarello obeyed Schuldich blindly, and Schuldich intended to see to it that was the way it stayed. He'd be able to overrule Crawford any time it suited him - and Crawford would be the one held accountable for it.
"Let's get out of here. You - " Schuldich turned to their target and switched to Korean, " - wait until it's been five minutes since we've left, then scram."
The man nodded and babbled something, but Schuldich didn't bother listening.
*
"Is he still alive?"
Crawford hadn't gone far, standing just far enough to give the impression he had been waiting for them to come out, rather than waiting to rush in and prevent Farfarello from gutting their target.
"Naturally."
He wouldn't have succeeded, Schuldich knew. Even Schuldich, with his supernatural speed that seemed unconnected to his telepathic ability, wasn't able to stop Farfarello from killing someone he wanted to kill. Happily, when he was on his medication, Farfarello mostly wanted to kill people Schuldich told him to kill.
"Good. And ... thank you."
Schuldich grinned at Crawford. "Why don't you show me just exactly how grateful you are to me later, when we're back at the hotel?"
"Why wait?" Crawford replied, not waiting for Schuldich to answer that.
Author: misura
Rating: PG-13 for contemplated murder in an office (oh, and wildly attractive redheads, if they do say so themselves)
Warnings: none, really.
Summary: Early days (but Crawford likes to plan well in advance).
A/N: Quite possibly a great deal fluffier than it might have been.
The way their supposed new leader had been acting thus far, Schuldich had begun to think the man was more machine than man - a Rosenkreuz experiment, perhaps, to create the perfect soldier, who always knew what to do and never asked questions, or made small talk, or noticed when a wildly attractive redhead was flirting with him.
Schuldich still wasn't sure about those last two things, but he was fairly sure that whatever else Brad Crawford might be or do, he did ask questions and he thought, too, even if Schuldich's gift didn't give him so much as a hint as to what about.
"I thought we were going to kill him."
Farfarello's mind, on the other hand, Schuldich was able to read like a proverbial book. With extra large letters and a narrator with a really annoying voice reading the words out loud, in case Schuldich wasn't paying attention. Reading Farfarello's mind reminded Schuldich of his schooldays; even if you tried really hard to look out of the window or do something interesting, the teacher's voice would still yank you back to what was written on the blackboard.
"Our mission was to eliminate his corporation's influence in this region of the world." Crawford turned to the man who was cowering behind his desk, staring at Farfarello. Not understanding a word of what Crawford was saying, to judge by his thoughts, although he seemed to understand Farfarello well enough. The knife probably helped there, Schuldich judged. "We don't need to kill him for that."
"We don't need to not kill him for that, either," Schuldich pointed out.
Farfarello glanced at Crawford, then at Schuldich. Schuldich was the one he'd known longest - close to a year - but Crawford was the one Estet had told him to obey. On the other hand, Crawford was the one telling him he was not allowed to kill the target.
It might, Schuldich thought, be interesting to see how the conflict between Farfarello's conditioning to obey and his desire to kill played out - and more interesting still to see how Crawford would react when Farfarello refused to follow his orders. The man was skilled enough as a fighter and a tactician, yet nothing Schuldich had seen so far hinted at any ability to keep Farfarello under control.
Crawford offered Schuldich a dark look, as if aware of his thoughts.
"If we allow him his life, he will in exchange provide us with certain ... assets, that might well be useful to us in the future."
Schuldich didn't make for a moment the mistake of thinking that that 'us' refered to Estet, or even Rosenkreuz. Crawford was saying that it would benefit them, personally - implying that at some point, he intended to be more than the obedient puppet Rosenkreuz expected him (and all of its members) to be.
Implying that he expected Schuldich and Farfarello to feel the same - which they did, of course, or at least Schuldich did, but there was no real way for Crawford to know that, unless he was a far better mind-reader than Schuldich was, and Schuldich knew quite well that he was the best Rosenkreuz had.
"You're - " Schuldich started.
"I trust you," Crawford said simply, with a hint of what might have been amusement, although Schuldich failed to see anything funny about the situation.
"Then you're insane. There's no way you can know we - "
"I trust you," Crawford repeated. "You can do what you want." And just like that, he walked out of the office, leaving Farfarello and Schuldich alone with the target.
Schuldich briefly wondered if the offer of 'doing what he wanted' included doing Crawford. At a guess, he'd say it didn't, but then, what did he really know about the man, except that he liked ties and had mental shielding of some sort?
Oh, and that he was probably insane. Nobody in Rosenkreuz trusted anyone. It simply wasn't healthy.
"Can I kill him now?"
For a moment, Schuldich thought Farfarello was talking about Crawford.
"I don't think so."
Farfarello's expression turned disappointed, but only for a few moments.
"So, we're going to do as Crawford says?"
"For now." Schuldich decided it was a bit of a turn-on, actually, to be trusted. He liked being in control of those around him, and with an accusation of treason hanging over his head, Crawford ought to be very controllable. Estet had assigned him as team-leader, after all; Schuldich and Farfarello would always be able to claim they'd simply been following orders.
"All right." Of course, after this, Crawford would be team-leader in name only. Farfarello obeyed Schuldich blindly, and Schuldich intended to see to it that was the way it stayed. He'd be able to overrule Crawford any time it suited him - and Crawford would be the one held accountable for it.
"Let's get out of here. You - " Schuldich turned to their target and switched to Korean, " - wait until it's been five minutes since we've left, then scram."
The man nodded and babbled something, but Schuldich didn't bother listening.
*
"Is he still alive?"
Crawford hadn't gone far, standing just far enough to give the impression he had been waiting for them to come out, rather than waiting to rush in and prevent Farfarello from gutting their target.
"Naturally."
He wouldn't have succeeded, Schuldich knew. Even Schuldich, with his supernatural speed that seemed unconnected to his telepathic ability, wasn't able to stop Farfarello from killing someone he wanted to kill. Happily, when he was on his medication, Farfarello mostly wanted to kill people Schuldich told him to kill.
"Good. And ... thank you."
Schuldich grinned at Crawford. "Why don't you show me just exactly how grateful you are to me later, when we're back at the hotel?"
"Why wait?" Crawford replied, not waiting for Schuldich to answer that.