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damned_lounge2007-11-01 01:36 am
zalia.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_lounge2007-11-01 01:36 am
Entry tags:
Oktoberfest 2007 Entry, Gethsemane, by Zalia
Title: Gethsemane
Author: Zalia![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
zalia
Beta: No-one ^^;
Word Count: 4890
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): Renji, Cliff, Yohji, River, Daemon, Rukia, Reinforce, Alec Doyle and Gin, with mentions of Raine and Rangiku.
Pairing(s): Cliff/Yohji, maybe hinted at Daemon/River and Renji/Rukia
Summary: Not everyone who escaped the Institute is quite who they seem and treachery comes even from loved ones.
Notes: Finally got this finished! :D Yay!! And it worked out better than I thought it would after a bunch of angsting over it at con! Hope you like!
Needles. Needles in his skin and in his head and he had to wonder if this was how River had felt when they made her like she was.
Another needle, another drug that he had no hope of understanding although he could understand their intent well enough. The liquid was forced into his body and it burned in his veins, making him writhe in agony as he pulled against the cuffs holding him down.
“Temper temper. It is for everyone’s good.”
He snarled, not even sure if he could manage speech anymore, and pulled at the chains again, making the doctor laugh condescendingly. Another needle was brought into view, the doctor holding it tauntingly in front of his face before his hair was pushed back and the needle was jabbed into his neck.
Nothing happened for a few moments and then his vision flared brightly, almost too bright to bear. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, but it did nothing to dim it. He almost felt relief when his vision began to dim, fading at the edges and working its way towards the centre. Panic began to set in and he shook his head violently, but sharp fingers dug into his scalp, forcing him to be still as his vision faded.
The doctor laughed and everything went black.
----------
In the end, they hadn't been able to go home. The mix of technology and magic used by the Institute was near incomprehensible and as soon as the more scientifically minded among them had tried to use it, something had happened, a trap of some kind, and it had been unsalvageable. It had taken a long time to sink in, the first few months seeming like just an extension of the time in the Institute. It couldn't really be possible that they were trapped there. But the months passed, and while they never really gave up trying with people working on it near constantly, they couldn't keep waiting for a miracle to happen. Gradually they drifted away from the shattered remains of the Institute, finding places to hide. And as time passed, the lives they made became less temporary and more and more permanent.
Groups of them kept in contact of course. There was always the chance that something would change, that they'd find a way to get home. The threat of the Institute and the authorities still loomed darkly in all their minds. They had no doubt that things weren't over yet, they were just delayed with the destruction of the Institute. The shinigami especially seemed intent on staying until there was no chance of a repeat. But it was a moot point until they had any information and life went on. They couldn't spend every moment of every day fighting for their lives.
Doylestown was too close to the site of the Institute, too risky to stay there and wary of new people. So Cliff's group had travelled south, a couple of hundred miles across the country where he doubted anyone would recognise them. It was a nice city, big enough that lots of people moving into the area at once wasn't even noticed and people tended to keep their eyes down, ignoring the physical differences that many of them had. At least Cliff could pass his markings off as tattoos and the odd hair colours or strange appearances were less obvious than they would have been in a small town.
He nudged Yohji roughly, trying to get him to wake up. The scent of strong coffee was more effective though, making the blond assassin blink up at him blearily. "Afternoon," Cliff said wryly, ruffling the other man's hair and holding out a steaming mug. It had grown out in the months they been here until it was about shoulder length and currently tousled from sleep. Yohji gave him a sour look and reached for the coffee, holding the mug in his hands before taking a long sip of it. Cliff perched on the end of the bed, knowing that the other man would be less grumpy once he'd woken up some and got rid of some of the hangover.
"If you're going to be in my bed, you could at least be doing something useful," Yohji said a few minutes later, still looking slightly bedraggled but rather more cheerful.
Cliff chuckled, reached out to pull the other blond against him and kissed him softly before pulling away. "I'm not in your bed, I'm on top of it, kid."
"Technicalities," Yohji grumbled, letting the covers slip just a little bit further down his body, exposing the line of his hip to Cliff's eyes.
Oh, that just wasn't fair! Yohji always knew exactly what to show off to his best advantage. "Tease," Cliff said, a hint of a growl in his voice. Yohji just smirked, trailing one hand down his stomach and hip in an entirely innocent gesture. Totally unfair
"I'm not a tease," Yohji practically purred, giving Cliff a lascivious wink and sprawling back down on the bed. "I keep my promises."
"Oh really?" Cliff said, moving so he was on all fours over Yohji's body, a hungry smile on his lips. Sure, Yohji was a tease, but he much preferred this Yohji to the hurt, broken creature he'd first met at the institute. Sometimes it was like he was a completely different person. The worries and doubts were still there, but he was dealing with them and Cliff was glad to help.
Yohji chuckled and wrapped his arms around Cliff, pulling him down so they were pressed together and Yohji could steal another kiss. "Mmmhmmm."
After a few moments, they parted, Cliff smoothing his thumb over Yohji's jaw affectionately before sitting up. "If we're talking about promises, then you promised that you'd come with me to pick up some stuff downtown." He stood up with a smirk, stretching slowly. Hey, he could be provocative too. He could see Yohji's eyes fixed on him, running possessively across Cliff's chest and well muscled arms, easily visible in the tight sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing. The pout the other man was wearing made him grin. "I promise. I'll let you live up to all the promises you want when we're done."
"I'll hold you to that!" Yohji called after him as he walked out of the bedroom and when he glanced back, he could see the other man slipping out from beneath the covers, reaching for one of his ridiculously tight crop tops.
Cliff paused in the doorway, frowning slightly and then turning back to the half dressed man. “You got back pretty late last night,” he said, voice emotionless.
Yohji blinked at him, jeans halfway up his legs and he shrugged. “I suppose. I went out.” He smiled weakly, apologetically. “I guess I got pretty trashed.”
Cliff nodded and returned the smile. Typical Yohji, he was finding. He might have been getting better emotionally, but he still seemed determined to kill himself with drink and tobacco. “Just be careful.” There were still people out to get them after all, no matter how quiet it seemed at the moment.
Yohji gave him an incredulous look and fingered the watch which hardly ever left his wrist since they’d managed to retrieve it. Some things like that, material things, they’d managed to recover. Other things, powers and strength were still lost. They might always be lost.
Cliff rolled his eyes and nodded before turning away, remembering the way Yohji had calmly killed a couple of pursuers when they’re left the Institute, wrapping the wire around their neck and pulling it taut until they stopped struggling, all without batting an eyelid. It was sometimes difficult to reconcile the killer with the man who stood in front of him. Yohji could take care of himself in that way at least.
----------
The safe house had been empty when she had returned.
Reinforce unscrewed the casing of her radio, fiddling with the inner pieces carefully. It was a composite thing, made from pieces of phones and computers and radios, something utterly untraceable. Or it had been.
She couldn’t trust to its anonymity now, but if she could fix it and get a message out then maybe they’d have time to move. Even if she only managed to reach one of the other groups, it might be enough. The fact that the door lock had been intact and the hinges undamaged was enough to worry her.
She tensed as she heard footsteps, going absolutely still and hunkering down in the gap beneath the stairs. She hoped that the shadows and the discarded furniture would be enough to conceal her for long enough. She reached for the gun which rested at her side, withdrawing it from the holster and pulling back the safety.
It made an audible click and the footsteps stopped for a moment before resuming, eerily familiar and heading straight towards her.
She raised the gun to point just above the chairs which were concealing her, her expression gone cold. She aimed it, ready to take down the enemy as the chairs were pulled aside.
Rein’s steady gaze met silver hair, blank blue eyes and her hand wavered, her eyes widening in shock and realisation. “I see…”
And then all went black.
----------
Radios which had been silent for months switched themselves on with an eerie crackle. Silence for several moments and then soft haunting jazz.
I apologise for my absence my friends and it may be a while before I speak again. Things are coming to a close, or maybe just starting again. It’s hard to tell with the smoke in your eyes, blinding you.
A pause and then a long weary sigh. He sounded older now, tired and worn. Maybe it was finally taking its toll on him.
A cold moon shines over Gethsemane and it nears the full. They don’t lack power even outside those terrible walls. They made their plans well and even I am fallible and all too human, otherwise, believe me, you would have known by now. I don’t lead you false but even I can be misled.
A shadow sleeps in the minds of those you hold dear and they don’t even know it themselves cats and kittens. Hunting dogs for the big bad doctor.
Exhale, and you could almost see the smoke drifting towards the ceiling, almost smell the tobacco.
That’s all for tonight my hip cats, my friends. No more from Jack, maybe for a while. But I’ll speak to you either way.
Luck.
The radios turned off as suddenly as they’d begun broadcasting, leaving an eerie silence behind them.
----------
“I can’t get through!” Renji snarled, slamming the communicator back down onto the makeshift table. He slumped back a little, gritting his teeth and rubbing at his temples to relieve the tension headache which had been building for the last few days, ever since that damn radio announcement in fact. Felt like someone had been sticking damn needles into his skull or something.
It left a bitter taste in Renji’s mouth when he thought about it. Sure, they’d had warning from the guy and maybe it had allowed them a little time to move and split up further, but it had been so damn convenient. It was too easy for the guy to say that he just hadn’t found out in time or hadn’t been able to warn them sooner when the Institute’s people were already breathing down their necks.
“No joy?” Cliff asked, frowning darkly.
Renji shook his head. “That’s two groups we’ve just not got any contact with. Just static. I couldn’t find any trace of Ran or Ichimaru and their group. They should have been there!” Not good, not good at all. He wished he could believe that it was just a bad signal, but they’d used the radios in the same spot before and they’d worked fine. Worked just great for someone standing just off beyond the trees too. And he couldn’t believe that both of the missing groups just happened to be in an area of bad signal.
“Great. Looks like we have a problem then,” Cliff replied, leaning back against the wall and tilting his head back against cool concrete.
“Someone sold us out,” Renji spat, glaring savagely down at the ground, as though it were the source of all their problems. “If it was just Ran’s group I bet I could guess who it was,” he added darkly, “but they had no idea where any of the other groups were.” And what he’d seen of Ichimaru when he’d checked their hiding place suggested that he hadn’t been the traitor for once.
Din’t know y’had it in ya.
Sarcastic bastard. Like hell Renji would have just left him to die if he was really helping them. He wasn’t that much of a cold hearted jerk, no matter what appearance he liked to put up.
Cliff nodded solemnly in agreement. It was the only explanation. They’d made sure it was near impossible for them to be stumbled upon by chance. Of course, the creatures which had come after them only confirmed the Klausian’s view that the whole damn world was corrupt. Even the people from places as far away as they could get were monsters when it came to it.
“Teapots,” River blurted out and everyone looked at her. Her words might have been cryptic, usually near impossible to understand, but always worth listening to.
“Huh?” Renji asked, his anger fading a little as he shot her a bemused look.
Daemon’s arms tightened around the girl’s shoulders reassuringly and he flicked a strand of hair away from her eyes.
“Teapots,” she repeated, fixing Renji with an intent, too knowledgeable stare for a moment before looking down at her bare feet, toes digging into the dirt. “Can’t have a party without a teapot and they’re filled up until there’s too much in them, half and half and half, until one step makes a spill.” She frowned, grasping Daemon’s arm tightly. “Full of needles and he doesn’t even know.”
“Who?” Renji asked, a little more sharply than he’d intended and an odd sense of panic running through him, although he wasn’t entirely sure why.
Rukia frowned, resting a hand against his forearm. “It isn’t her fault, Renji.”
River shook her head miserably, curling up further in Daemon’s arms. “It’s all dark now. The smoke gets in her eyes.”
Renji cursed and shook his head again, trying to relieve the pressure building in his head. Needed some painkillers or something. They’d been getting more frequent the last few days, stress and all. He rounded on Cliff, ignoring the slightly shocked looks he was getting from Rukia and Daemon. All he cared about was finding the damn traitor! He’d been burned too many times, nearly had his whole damn life torn down around him, to allow this to go unpunished. He couldn’t let people he cared for be hurt again. “What about your damn boyfriend?” he spat, taking a step closer to the martial artist menacingly. “His history is hardly any secret.”
Cliff regarded him coolly. He could see how on edge Renji was and he sympathised, really he did, they were all on edge, but he put his foot down on having Yohji interrogated there and then. “I’m not having you accusing him without proof,” he replied sharply.
Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what the assassin could say. Their group had been sold out and Yohji had been away when the attack had happened. Cliff didn’t consider himself a particularly brilliant man, but he’d been in charge of a fairly major opposition group for several years and he could recognise the signs. If Renji was correct in his suspicions then he was going to feel pretty damn stupid. He knew Yohji’s past and with the abilities of the Institute at their disposal, how difficult would it have been to twist his thoughts into that mindset again?
“You did say that he wasn’t there when you were attacked,” Daemon replied, almost apologetically, although his expression was firm. “And we were all separated when searching for the other groups.”
Cliff clenched his fists and looked away, not wanting to hear this about someone he’d put so much trust in.
“The evidence does appear rather bad,” Rukia said softly. “It would be wise to isolate the most likely candidate first of all.”
Cliff stared the three of them down, his expression hard, until finally he had to bow and acknowledge that they were right, damn it all. He hated this! “Fine, I’ll go talk to him,” he replied. “But if it was him, it wasn’t his fault. Damn Institute did something to him,” he continued darkly. He wouldn’t believe that Yohji would willingly betray them after all of this.
Renji snorted, turning away from the other man and pulling away from Rukia to fool with the radio again as though it would do any good. “You better or I’ll be the one to talk to him.
----------
“Take it,” Yohji said flatly when Cliff approached him a few minutes later. He was holding out his watch by the strap and his expression was flat and hurt.
Cliff sighed and walked over to him, pulling the watch from his grasp and giving the assassin an apologetic look. “You heard,” he said, running his hands through his hair in a gesture of frustration and anger. Of all the people they could have fucked with, it had to have been Yohji.
“I heard,” Yohji agreed, his expression turning sour. “I did it again.”
“They made you do it again,” Cliff replied insistently as he slipped the watch into his pocket. It was just temporary, he told himself. They’d find out what the Institute had done and then they’d be able to reverse it. It was that simple.
“They obviously just built on what was there,” Yohji muttered angrily, fists clenching at his sides. He shook his head in frustration. “I didn’t even notice losing time,” he continued, his voice filling with dark humour. “I thought I was just too drunk and got some blank spots.” It hadn’t exactly been an uncommon occurrence, even in his early days with Weiss.
“Hey,” Cliff said, his voice softening a little as he laid his hands on Yohji’s shoulders. “You did some stupid stuff back then, sure. We all have. They took advantage of what you did, but you didn’t do it willingly. I trust that. Just like I don’t think any of the ones on Special Counselling did it willingly.”
Yohji gave him a disbelieving look and shook his head, not at all in the mood for reassurances. If he didn’t trust himself, why should anyone else trust him? “Tell that to the people who got hurt when the Institute attacked them,” he replied flatly.
Cliff sighed, recognising this mood all too well. “We got away, that’s the main thing. Our group are just fine, and while Renji couldn’t find any of Reinforce or Matsumoto’s group, he didn’t find any sign that they’d been killed or captured either.”
Yohji frowned, giving Cliff a confused look. “But I didn’t even know where that group was,” he said. “I knew where our's was, that’s all. I deliberately made sure not to know where the others were.” He didn’t trust himself, after all, and he wanted to keep himself as much in the dark as he could in case he was ever in a position where he could betray them.
Wait, what?
Cliff matched Yohji’s frown with one of his own, a horrible thought beginning to form in his head. They’d thought… no, they’d assumed, that Yohji was the one who’d betrayed them. Just the most likely candidate in all honesty, given his past and his rather damaged psyche. They’d just taken that as the whole truth instead of thinking for once. Who else had even known about that group?
Hunting dogs.
The only warning he got was the way Yohji’s eyes widened and then he felt the cool steel of a blade against his neck.
----------
He’d thought that he’d always be able to fight, always be able to resist, but eventually even he couldn’t hold out anymore. There were needles in his head, in his eyes and in his mind and he couldn’t stop them no matter how he tried. Every night, every night and he could never remember it in the morning; never remember that twilight time between night and day when everyone vanished.
The doctor swiped sweaty hair out of the subject’s face and administered the last of the drugs, smiling in satisfaction at a job well done. The patient lay still on the table, all the fight gone from him and his expression vacant. The perfect pliable mind for their experiment.
A light was shone into the patient’s face and then another voice spoke, a voice which was dreadfully familiar to all the patients of the Institute. “Now, this is what you’re going to do.”
----------
The crackle of their radios and the strangled sound of Reinforce’s voice had been the only warning.
Blood poured down Gin’s cheek from the nasty cut he’d sustained above his eye. He hastily wiped it away with his sleeve before it could trickle into his eyes and blind him, and his grip tightened on his sword. He twisted on the spot, cleaving the head off another one of the man-beasts which were trying to get past him and into the tunnel entrance which he was guarding. The bodies of many of them littered the floor already, their stench filling his nostrils. They seemed to be impeding the movement of the others though, so he couldn’t complain too much.
He winced when the claws of one of them raked across his shoulders but quickly removed the offending limb, spraying vile blood everywhere. The floor was getting slippery, but he couldn’t afford to fall back just yet. Not while he was being counted upon, especially by a certain person.
He didn’t even turn when he heard footsteps coming from the tunnel mouth, but a grim smile quirked his lips. He recognised the sound. “Ara~ Guess the locals weren’t so normal as we guessed. Lend a hand?”
The silence which followed his comment did unnerve him and he half turned only to feel the pulse of reiatsu which came with the usage of flash step. He gasped as the blade was slipped between his ribs, staring dumbly down at the protruding end of the katana, the sharp protruding spikes ripping through his flesh further as it was withdrawn.
He’d recognised the signs of betrayal, knew them better than most, but this…
A dry smirk crossed Gin’s lips and he took a breath, feeling it bubble in his lungs. “Ha. Din’t know y’had it in ya.” He coughed, tasting blood on his lips and could only hope that he’d bought enough time for Ran to get out with the others.
----------
"Turn around," and it wasn't Renji's voice, not really. It sounded like him, but there was an odd strained and disjointed quality to it, a hint of something that wasn't him showing through the cracks.
Cliff turned slowly, raising his hands into the air and keeping himself firmly between the shinigami and Yohji, cursing himself now for disarming the assassin. Cliff could still fight without a weapon of course, and he readied himself to attack if he got an opening.
The look in Renji's eyes was desperate, something that none of them were used to seeing from the shinigami, and it was in stark contrast to the odd, blank expression that he wore. Cliff regarded him coolly, mind racing to think of some kind of plan, a distraction, because even if he could possibly match Renji in strength, if this was anything like special counselling... well, he didn't rate his chances against a death god.
The katana pressed harder against Cliff’s neck, drawing blood so dark that it was nearly black; a result of an iron content high enough to deal with such an oxygen poor atmosphere. Cliff winced but otherwise remained still, not daring to move and make the wound any worse.
“So you’re the one,” he said smoothly. Behind him, he felt Yohji shift slightly, pressing against his back and trying to slide the watch out of the pocket of Cliff’s jeans. Renji growled and in an instant was behind Cliff, the katana flashing as it was thrust sharply through Yohji’s body and Cliff could feel the tip of the katana pressing against his back. Yohji gave a pained gasp and clutched at his side, blood welling beneath his fingers as he tried to staunch the bleeding ineffectively.
“He was the one you’d never expect,” came Renji’s voice again, the oddness of it only more pronounced now, and Cliff had the unnerving feeling that he’d heard it before. “Damn idiots. Never thought every fucking move could be seen.” Renji’s words and Renji’s intonation, but the sentiment behind it was definitely not him.
“So?” Cliff asked, voice deadly cold. “Think the others won’t realise when they come back to find the two of us full of holes? That’s a pretty damn recognisable sword.” His eyes flicked to Yohji, panic rising as he saw the amount of blood. Wasn’t in a vital place but it was bleeding enough to be very serious.
Laughter, and now Cliff was sure he knew who was speaking through Renji. It was too insane to be anyone else. “Landel…” he hissed, raising his fists to fight, consequences be damned.
“Who else?” The sword was placed against Yohji’s throat lightly, the threat clear and Cliff had to still himself before the assassin got killed.
But over Renji’s shoulder he caught a glimpse of movement and managed to keep his surprise from showing on his face. Keep him talking and maybe, just maybe, they’d manage something. Landel had always liked the sound of his own voice, it seemed like.
“You even believe you’ll be here when they get back?” Landel replied Renji’s mannerisms and accent falling away from his voice as he continued to speak. “You’ll be back where you belong as they will be soon. This was just an enjoyable diversion.”
Cliff could see the movement more clearly now, but he kept his eyes firmly on Renji’s face, a bored expression appearing on his features. “You always like playing stupid games. I’m starting to think mommy never spent any time with you when you were a kid.”
Renji’s face twisted into the sort of anger that would never have been seen on him under normal circumstances and Cliff smirked tauntingly, trying to buy a few more seconds of distraction. A few more feet, that was all.
“You think you understand what I’m doing, you miserable creature? You know nothing!”
“I recognise a nut job when I see one,” Cliff replied dismissively as the shovel was raised behind Renji’s head and brought down with a sharp crack. The shinigami’s eyes widened and then he crumpled to the floor, exposing River who dropped the shovel and caught him as he collapsed.
Cliff immediately knelt next to Yohji, starting to tear his shirt up to bandage the wounds. His gaze flicked up to River and then back down at the fallen man. “You have fucking amazing timing,” he said, pulling the makeshift bandages tight and cradling Yohji against his chest. Damn, this was gonna’ need some healing. And they needed to move as soon as they could.
“I thought he was a teacup,” River said, eyes wide and voice barely above a whisper. Renji remained limp in her arms, the girl holding him up with apparent ease despite his greater size. “A teacup or a silver spoon.”
She laid the shinigami down on the ground carefully, ignoring the discarded shovel that she’d used to knock him out. Didn’t look like Renji was in too bad a state. Maybe a concussion, but the other damage… he didn’t want to even think about it.
Footsteps could be heard approaching them through the trees and both Cliff and River looked up sharply, only relaxing when they recognised Daemon and Rukia.
“Renji!” Rukia shouted, sprinting the distance towards him and kneeling at his side.
“What happened?” Daemon asked, going over to River’s side and checking Renji over quickly. There was blood on the shinigami’s head, his face gone pale, but if River hadn’t hit him, Cliff was fairly sure that he and Yohji would both be dead by now.
River looked up at Daemon with sad eyes. “They put him back together so it made a wrong pattern and spilled the tea.”
Rukia tore her eyes away from Renji long enough to look at Cliff giving him a harsh questioning glance. “What happened?”
Cliff shook his head, looking back down at Yohji and stroking his pale cheek. “It was him. Landel had control of him and he sold us out,” he said, voice flat.
Rukia shook her head in disbelief, hands clenching on her knees. “No. It couldn’t be him!”
River took her hand and squeezed it. “They put needles in his head and made him a weapon like her so that even she couldn’t notice.”
In the distance, just beyond the tree line, they could hear the sound of footsteps and inhuman breathing.
Author: Zalia
zalia Beta: No-one ^^;
Word Count: 4890
Rating: PG-13
Character(s): Renji, Cliff, Yohji, River, Daemon, Rukia, Reinforce, Alec Doyle and Gin, with mentions of Raine and Rangiku.
Pairing(s): Cliff/Yohji, maybe hinted at Daemon/River and Renji/Rukia
Summary: Not everyone who escaped the Institute is quite who they seem and treachery comes even from loved ones.
Notes: Finally got this finished! :D Yay!! And it worked out better than I thought it would after a bunch of angsting over it at con! Hope you like!
Needles. Needles in his skin and in his head and he had to wonder if this was how River had felt when they made her like she was.
Another needle, another drug that he had no hope of understanding although he could understand their intent well enough. The liquid was forced into his body and it burned in his veins, making him writhe in agony as he pulled against the cuffs holding him down.
“Temper temper. It is for everyone’s good.”
He snarled, not even sure if he could manage speech anymore, and pulled at the chains again, making the doctor laugh condescendingly. Another needle was brought into view, the doctor holding it tauntingly in front of his face before his hair was pushed back and the needle was jabbed into his neck.
Nothing happened for a few moments and then his vision flared brightly, almost too bright to bear. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly, but it did nothing to dim it. He almost felt relief when his vision began to dim, fading at the edges and working its way towards the centre. Panic began to set in and he shook his head violently, but sharp fingers dug into his scalp, forcing him to be still as his vision faded.
The doctor laughed and everything went black.
----------
In the end, they hadn't been able to go home. The mix of technology and magic used by the Institute was near incomprehensible and as soon as the more scientifically minded among them had tried to use it, something had happened, a trap of some kind, and it had been unsalvageable. It had taken a long time to sink in, the first few months seeming like just an extension of the time in the Institute. It couldn't really be possible that they were trapped there. But the months passed, and while they never really gave up trying with people working on it near constantly, they couldn't keep waiting for a miracle to happen. Gradually they drifted away from the shattered remains of the Institute, finding places to hide. And as time passed, the lives they made became less temporary and more and more permanent.
Groups of them kept in contact of course. There was always the chance that something would change, that they'd find a way to get home. The threat of the Institute and the authorities still loomed darkly in all their minds. They had no doubt that things weren't over yet, they were just delayed with the destruction of the Institute. The shinigami especially seemed intent on staying until there was no chance of a repeat. But it was a moot point until they had any information and life went on. They couldn't spend every moment of every day fighting for their lives.
Doylestown was too close to the site of the Institute, too risky to stay there and wary of new people. So Cliff's group had travelled south, a couple of hundred miles across the country where he doubted anyone would recognise them. It was a nice city, big enough that lots of people moving into the area at once wasn't even noticed and people tended to keep their eyes down, ignoring the physical differences that many of them had. At least Cliff could pass his markings off as tattoos and the odd hair colours or strange appearances were less obvious than they would have been in a small town.
He nudged Yohji roughly, trying to get him to wake up. The scent of strong coffee was more effective though, making the blond assassin blink up at him blearily. "Afternoon," Cliff said wryly, ruffling the other man's hair and holding out a steaming mug. It had grown out in the months they been here until it was about shoulder length and currently tousled from sleep. Yohji gave him a sour look and reached for the coffee, holding the mug in his hands before taking a long sip of it. Cliff perched on the end of the bed, knowing that the other man would be less grumpy once he'd woken up some and got rid of some of the hangover.
"If you're going to be in my bed, you could at least be doing something useful," Yohji said a few minutes later, still looking slightly bedraggled but rather more cheerful.
Cliff chuckled, reached out to pull the other blond against him and kissed him softly before pulling away. "I'm not in your bed, I'm on top of it, kid."
"Technicalities," Yohji grumbled, letting the covers slip just a little bit further down his body, exposing the line of his hip to Cliff's eyes.
Oh, that just wasn't fair! Yohji always knew exactly what to show off to his best advantage. "Tease," Cliff said, a hint of a growl in his voice. Yohji just smirked, trailing one hand down his stomach and hip in an entirely innocent gesture. Totally unfair
"I'm not a tease," Yohji practically purred, giving Cliff a lascivious wink and sprawling back down on the bed. "I keep my promises."
"Oh really?" Cliff said, moving so he was on all fours over Yohji's body, a hungry smile on his lips. Sure, Yohji was a tease, but he much preferred this Yohji to the hurt, broken creature he'd first met at the institute. Sometimes it was like he was a completely different person. The worries and doubts were still there, but he was dealing with them and Cliff was glad to help.
Yohji chuckled and wrapped his arms around Cliff, pulling him down so they were pressed together and Yohji could steal another kiss. "Mmmhmmm."
After a few moments, they parted, Cliff smoothing his thumb over Yohji's jaw affectionately before sitting up. "If we're talking about promises, then you promised that you'd come with me to pick up some stuff downtown." He stood up with a smirk, stretching slowly. Hey, he could be provocative too. He could see Yohji's eyes fixed on him, running possessively across Cliff's chest and well muscled arms, easily visible in the tight sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing. The pout the other man was wearing made him grin. "I promise. I'll let you live up to all the promises you want when we're done."
"I'll hold you to that!" Yohji called after him as he walked out of the bedroom and when he glanced back, he could see the other man slipping out from beneath the covers, reaching for one of his ridiculously tight crop tops.
Cliff paused in the doorway, frowning slightly and then turning back to the half dressed man. “You got back pretty late last night,” he said, voice emotionless.
Yohji blinked at him, jeans halfway up his legs and he shrugged. “I suppose. I went out.” He smiled weakly, apologetically. “I guess I got pretty trashed.”
Cliff nodded and returned the smile. Typical Yohji, he was finding. He might have been getting better emotionally, but he still seemed determined to kill himself with drink and tobacco. “Just be careful.” There were still people out to get them after all, no matter how quiet it seemed at the moment.
Yohji gave him an incredulous look and fingered the watch which hardly ever left his wrist since they’d managed to retrieve it. Some things like that, material things, they’d managed to recover. Other things, powers and strength were still lost. They might always be lost.
Cliff rolled his eyes and nodded before turning away, remembering the way Yohji had calmly killed a couple of pursuers when they’re left the Institute, wrapping the wire around their neck and pulling it taut until they stopped struggling, all without batting an eyelid. It was sometimes difficult to reconcile the killer with the man who stood in front of him. Yohji could take care of himself in that way at least.
----------
The safe house had been empty when she had returned.
Reinforce unscrewed the casing of her radio, fiddling with the inner pieces carefully. It was a composite thing, made from pieces of phones and computers and radios, something utterly untraceable. Or it had been.
She couldn’t trust to its anonymity now, but if she could fix it and get a message out then maybe they’d have time to move. Even if she only managed to reach one of the other groups, it might be enough. The fact that the door lock had been intact and the hinges undamaged was enough to worry her.
She tensed as she heard footsteps, going absolutely still and hunkering down in the gap beneath the stairs. She hoped that the shadows and the discarded furniture would be enough to conceal her for long enough. She reached for the gun which rested at her side, withdrawing it from the holster and pulling back the safety.
It made an audible click and the footsteps stopped for a moment before resuming, eerily familiar and heading straight towards her.
She raised the gun to point just above the chairs which were concealing her, her expression gone cold. She aimed it, ready to take down the enemy as the chairs were pulled aside.
Rein’s steady gaze met silver hair, blank blue eyes and her hand wavered, her eyes widening in shock and realisation. “I see…”
And then all went black.
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Radios which had been silent for months switched themselves on with an eerie crackle. Silence for several moments and then soft haunting jazz.
I apologise for my absence my friends and it may be a while before I speak again. Things are coming to a close, or maybe just starting again. It’s hard to tell with the smoke in your eyes, blinding you.
A pause and then a long weary sigh. He sounded older now, tired and worn. Maybe it was finally taking its toll on him.
A cold moon shines over Gethsemane and it nears the full. They don’t lack power even outside those terrible walls. They made their plans well and even I am fallible and all too human, otherwise, believe me, you would have known by now. I don’t lead you false but even I can be misled.
A shadow sleeps in the minds of those you hold dear and they don’t even know it themselves cats and kittens. Hunting dogs for the big bad doctor.
Exhale, and you could almost see the smoke drifting towards the ceiling, almost smell the tobacco.
That’s all for tonight my hip cats, my friends. No more from Jack, maybe for a while. But I’ll speak to you either way.
Luck.
The radios turned off as suddenly as they’d begun broadcasting, leaving an eerie silence behind them.
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“I can’t get through!” Renji snarled, slamming the communicator back down onto the makeshift table. He slumped back a little, gritting his teeth and rubbing at his temples to relieve the tension headache which had been building for the last few days, ever since that damn radio announcement in fact. Felt like someone had been sticking damn needles into his skull or something.
It left a bitter taste in Renji’s mouth when he thought about it. Sure, they’d had warning from the guy and maybe it had allowed them a little time to move and split up further, but it had been so damn convenient. It was too easy for the guy to say that he just hadn’t found out in time or hadn’t been able to warn them sooner when the Institute’s people were already breathing down their necks.
“No joy?” Cliff asked, frowning darkly.
Renji shook his head. “That’s two groups we’ve just not got any contact with. Just static. I couldn’t find any trace of Ran or Ichimaru and their group. They should have been there!” Not good, not good at all. He wished he could believe that it was just a bad signal, but they’d used the radios in the same spot before and they’d worked fine. Worked just great for someone standing just off beyond the trees too. And he couldn’t believe that both of the missing groups just happened to be in an area of bad signal.
“Great. Looks like we have a problem then,” Cliff replied, leaning back against the wall and tilting his head back against cool concrete.
“Someone sold us out,” Renji spat, glaring savagely down at the ground, as though it were the source of all their problems. “If it was just Ran’s group I bet I could guess who it was,” he added darkly, “but they had no idea where any of the other groups were.” And what he’d seen of Ichimaru when he’d checked their hiding place suggested that he hadn’t been the traitor for once.
Din’t know y’had it in ya.
Sarcastic bastard. Like hell Renji would have just left him to die if he was really helping them. He wasn’t that much of a cold hearted jerk, no matter what appearance he liked to put up.
Cliff nodded solemnly in agreement. It was the only explanation. They’d made sure it was near impossible for them to be stumbled upon by chance. Of course, the creatures which had come after them only confirmed the Klausian’s view that the whole damn world was corrupt. Even the people from places as far away as they could get were monsters when it came to it.
“Teapots,” River blurted out and everyone looked at her. Her words might have been cryptic, usually near impossible to understand, but always worth listening to.
“Huh?” Renji asked, his anger fading a little as he shot her a bemused look.
Daemon’s arms tightened around the girl’s shoulders reassuringly and he flicked a strand of hair away from her eyes.
“Teapots,” she repeated, fixing Renji with an intent, too knowledgeable stare for a moment before looking down at her bare feet, toes digging into the dirt. “Can’t have a party without a teapot and they’re filled up until there’s too much in them, half and half and half, until one step makes a spill.” She frowned, grasping Daemon’s arm tightly. “Full of needles and he doesn’t even know.”
“Who?” Renji asked, a little more sharply than he’d intended and an odd sense of panic running through him, although he wasn’t entirely sure why.
Rukia frowned, resting a hand against his forearm. “It isn’t her fault, Renji.”
River shook her head miserably, curling up further in Daemon’s arms. “It’s all dark now. The smoke gets in her eyes.”
Renji cursed and shook his head again, trying to relieve the pressure building in his head. Needed some painkillers or something. They’d been getting more frequent the last few days, stress and all. He rounded on Cliff, ignoring the slightly shocked looks he was getting from Rukia and Daemon. All he cared about was finding the damn traitor! He’d been burned too many times, nearly had his whole damn life torn down around him, to allow this to go unpunished. He couldn’t let people he cared for be hurt again. “What about your damn boyfriend?” he spat, taking a step closer to the martial artist menacingly. “His history is hardly any secret.”
Cliff regarded him coolly. He could see how on edge Renji was and he sympathised, really he did, they were all on edge, but he put his foot down on having Yohji interrogated there and then. “I’m not having you accusing him without proof,” he replied sharply.
Besides, he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what the assassin could say. Their group had been sold out and Yohji had been away when the attack had happened. Cliff didn’t consider himself a particularly brilliant man, but he’d been in charge of a fairly major opposition group for several years and he could recognise the signs. If Renji was correct in his suspicions then he was going to feel pretty damn stupid. He knew Yohji’s past and with the abilities of the Institute at their disposal, how difficult would it have been to twist his thoughts into that mindset again?
“You did say that he wasn’t there when you were attacked,” Daemon replied, almost apologetically, although his expression was firm. “And we were all separated when searching for the other groups.”
Cliff clenched his fists and looked away, not wanting to hear this about someone he’d put so much trust in.
“The evidence does appear rather bad,” Rukia said softly. “It would be wise to isolate the most likely candidate first of all.”
Cliff stared the three of them down, his expression hard, until finally he had to bow and acknowledge that they were right, damn it all. He hated this! “Fine, I’ll go talk to him,” he replied. “But if it was him, it wasn’t his fault. Damn Institute did something to him,” he continued darkly. He wouldn’t believe that Yohji would willingly betray them after all of this.
Renji snorted, turning away from the other man and pulling away from Rukia to fool with the radio again as though it would do any good. “You better or I’ll be the one to talk to him.
----------
“Take it,” Yohji said flatly when Cliff approached him a few minutes later. He was holding out his watch by the strap and his expression was flat and hurt.
Cliff sighed and walked over to him, pulling the watch from his grasp and giving the assassin an apologetic look. “You heard,” he said, running his hands through his hair in a gesture of frustration and anger. Of all the people they could have fucked with, it had to have been Yohji.
“I heard,” Yohji agreed, his expression turning sour. “I did it again.”
“They made you do it again,” Cliff replied insistently as he slipped the watch into his pocket. It was just temporary, he told himself. They’d find out what the Institute had done and then they’d be able to reverse it. It was that simple.
“They obviously just built on what was there,” Yohji muttered angrily, fists clenching at his sides. He shook his head in frustration. “I didn’t even notice losing time,” he continued, his voice filling with dark humour. “I thought I was just too drunk and got some blank spots.” It hadn’t exactly been an uncommon occurrence, even in his early days with Weiss.
“Hey,” Cliff said, his voice softening a little as he laid his hands on Yohji’s shoulders. “You did some stupid stuff back then, sure. We all have. They took advantage of what you did, but you didn’t do it willingly. I trust that. Just like I don’t think any of the ones on Special Counselling did it willingly.”
Yohji gave him a disbelieving look and shook his head, not at all in the mood for reassurances. If he didn’t trust himself, why should anyone else trust him? “Tell that to the people who got hurt when the Institute attacked them,” he replied flatly.
Cliff sighed, recognising this mood all too well. “We got away, that’s the main thing. Our group are just fine, and while Renji couldn’t find any of Reinforce or Matsumoto’s group, he didn’t find any sign that they’d been killed or captured either.”
Yohji frowned, giving Cliff a confused look. “But I didn’t even know where that group was,” he said. “I knew where our's was, that’s all. I deliberately made sure not to know where the others were.” He didn’t trust himself, after all, and he wanted to keep himself as much in the dark as he could in case he was ever in a position where he could betray them.
Wait, what?
Cliff matched Yohji’s frown with one of his own, a horrible thought beginning to form in his head. They’d thought… no, they’d assumed, that Yohji was the one who’d betrayed them. Just the most likely candidate in all honesty, given his past and his rather damaged psyche. They’d just taken that as the whole truth instead of thinking for once. Who else had even known about that group?
Hunting dogs.
The only warning he got was the way Yohji’s eyes widened and then he felt the cool steel of a blade against his neck.
----------
He’d thought that he’d always be able to fight, always be able to resist, but eventually even he couldn’t hold out anymore. There were needles in his head, in his eyes and in his mind and he couldn’t stop them no matter how he tried. Every night, every night and he could never remember it in the morning; never remember that twilight time between night and day when everyone vanished.
The doctor swiped sweaty hair out of the subject’s face and administered the last of the drugs, smiling in satisfaction at a job well done. The patient lay still on the table, all the fight gone from him and his expression vacant. The perfect pliable mind for their experiment.
A light was shone into the patient’s face and then another voice spoke, a voice which was dreadfully familiar to all the patients of the Institute. “Now, this is what you’re going to do.”
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The crackle of their radios and the strangled sound of Reinforce’s voice had been the only warning.
Blood poured down Gin’s cheek from the nasty cut he’d sustained above his eye. He hastily wiped it away with his sleeve before it could trickle into his eyes and blind him, and his grip tightened on his sword. He twisted on the spot, cleaving the head off another one of the man-beasts which were trying to get past him and into the tunnel entrance which he was guarding. The bodies of many of them littered the floor already, their stench filling his nostrils. They seemed to be impeding the movement of the others though, so he couldn’t complain too much.
He winced when the claws of one of them raked across his shoulders but quickly removed the offending limb, spraying vile blood everywhere. The floor was getting slippery, but he couldn’t afford to fall back just yet. Not while he was being counted upon, especially by a certain person.
He didn’t even turn when he heard footsteps coming from the tunnel mouth, but a grim smile quirked his lips. He recognised the sound. “Ara~ Guess the locals weren’t so normal as we guessed. Lend a hand?”
The silence which followed his comment did unnerve him and he half turned only to feel the pulse of reiatsu which came with the usage of flash step. He gasped as the blade was slipped between his ribs, staring dumbly down at the protruding end of the katana, the sharp protruding spikes ripping through his flesh further as it was withdrawn.
He’d recognised the signs of betrayal, knew them better than most, but this…
A dry smirk crossed Gin’s lips and he took a breath, feeling it bubble in his lungs. “Ha. Din’t know y’had it in ya.” He coughed, tasting blood on his lips and could only hope that he’d bought enough time for Ran to get out with the others.
----------
"Turn around," and it wasn't Renji's voice, not really. It sounded like him, but there was an odd strained and disjointed quality to it, a hint of something that wasn't him showing through the cracks.
Cliff turned slowly, raising his hands into the air and keeping himself firmly between the shinigami and Yohji, cursing himself now for disarming the assassin. Cliff could still fight without a weapon of course, and he readied himself to attack if he got an opening.
The look in Renji's eyes was desperate, something that none of them were used to seeing from the shinigami, and it was in stark contrast to the odd, blank expression that he wore. Cliff regarded him coolly, mind racing to think of some kind of plan, a distraction, because even if he could possibly match Renji in strength, if this was anything like special counselling... well, he didn't rate his chances against a death god.
The katana pressed harder against Cliff’s neck, drawing blood so dark that it was nearly black; a result of an iron content high enough to deal with such an oxygen poor atmosphere. Cliff winced but otherwise remained still, not daring to move and make the wound any worse.
“So you’re the one,” he said smoothly. Behind him, he felt Yohji shift slightly, pressing against his back and trying to slide the watch out of the pocket of Cliff’s jeans. Renji growled and in an instant was behind Cliff, the katana flashing as it was thrust sharply through Yohji’s body and Cliff could feel the tip of the katana pressing against his back. Yohji gave a pained gasp and clutched at his side, blood welling beneath his fingers as he tried to staunch the bleeding ineffectively.
“He was the one you’d never expect,” came Renji’s voice again, the oddness of it only more pronounced now, and Cliff had the unnerving feeling that he’d heard it before. “Damn idiots. Never thought every fucking move could be seen.” Renji’s words and Renji’s intonation, but the sentiment behind it was definitely not him.
“So?” Cliff asked, voice deadly cold. “Think the others won’t realise when they come back to find the two of us full of holes? That’s a pretty damn recognisable sword.” His eyes flicked to Yohji, panic rising as he saw the amount of blood. Wasn’t in a vital place but it was bleeding enough to be very serious.
Laughter, and now Cliff was sure he knew who was speaking through Renji. It was too insane to be anyone else. “Landel…” he hissed, raising his fists to fight, consequences be damned.
“Who else?” The sword was placed against Yohji’s throat lightly, the threat clear and Cliff had to still himself before the assassin got killed.
But over Renji’s shoulder he caught a glimpse of movement and managed to keep his surprise from showing on his face. Keep him talking and maybe, just maybe, they’d manage something. Landel had always liked the sound of his own voice, it seemed like.
“You even believe you’ll be here when they get back?” Landel replied Renji’s mannerisms and accent falling away from his voice as he continued to speak. “You’ll be back where you belong as they will be soon. This was just an enjoyable diversion.”
Cliff could see the movement more clearly now, but he kept his eyes firmly on Renji’s face, a bored expression appearing on his features. “You always like playing stupid games. I’m starting to think mommy never spent any time with you when you were a kid.”
Renji’s face twisted into the sort of anger that would never have been seen on him under normal circumstances and Cliff smirked tauntingly, trying to buy a few more seconds of distraction. A few more feet, that was all.
“You think you understand what I’m doing, you miserable creature? You know nothing!”
“I recognise a nut job when I see one,” Cliff replied dismissively as the shovel was raised behind Renji’s head and brought down with a sharp crack. The shinigami’s eyes widened and then he crumpled to the floor, exposing River who dropped the shovel and caught him as he collapsed.
Cliff immediately knelt next to Yohji, starting to tear his shirt up to bandage the wounds. His gaze flicked up to River and then back down at the fallen man. “You have fucking amazing timing,” he said, pulling the makeshift bandages tight and cradling Yohji against his chest. Damn, this was gonna’ need some healing. And they needed to move as soon as they could.
“I thought he was a teacup,” River said, eyes wide and voice barely above a whisper. Renji remained limp in her arms, the girl holding him up with apparent ease despite his greater size. “A teacup or a silver spoon.”
She laid the shinigami down on the ground carefully, ignoring the discarded shovel that she’d used to knock him out. Didn’t look like Renji was in too bad a state. Maybe a concussion, but the other damage… he didn’t want to even think about it.
Footsteps could be heard approaching them through the trees and both Cliff and River looked up sharply, only relaxing when they recognised Daemon and Rukia.
“Renji!” Rukia shouted, sprinting the distance towards him and kneeling at his side.
“What happened?” Daemon asked, going over to River’s side and checking Renji over quickly. There was blood on the shinigami’s head, his face gone pale, but if River hadn’t hit him, Cliff was fairly sure that he and Yohji would both be dead by now.
River looked up at Daemon with sad eyes. “They put him back together so it made a wrong pattern and spilled the tea.”
Rukia tore her eyes away from Renji long enough to look at Cliff giving him a harsh questioning glance. “What happened?”
Cliff shook his head, looking back down at Yohji and stroking his pale cheek. “It was him. Landel had control of him and he sold us out,” he said, voice flat.
Rukia shook her head in disbelief, hands clenching on her knees. “No. It couldn’t be him!”
River took her hand and squeezed it. “They put needles in his head and made him a weapon like her so that even she couldn’t notice.”
In the distance, just beyond the tree line, they could hear the sound of footsteps and inhuman breathing.
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IT WAS GOOD BUT MY HEAD JUST IMPLODED. ;_________________;
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Glad you liked it ^__^
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I have a large evil streak, I'm afraid ^^;
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Damn, you a nasty lady!
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Glad you liked it!
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Poor Gin!Hahaha... there's no escape *_*no subject
Yeah, I feel bad for Gin too ;_; At least he maybe bought Rangiku some time to escape? Maybe...
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Damn, that's a lot of head imploding ^^; Oooops... *goes to clean up*
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*hugs*
And I have a shiny thing for you >>
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*cling*
zomg. shiiiiiiiny. >>
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But we love Cliff's manwhoreishness!!! :D It's part of his charm!
At least, Yohji seems to think so ^^*clings back* I missed you!!!
Yup ^_^ Very shiny!
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Cliff loves you too baby. ;)
I missed you too!! How was the con?
*_________*
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*schmoozes with Cliff*
It was great ^_^ I had a lovely time and met some fantastic people. The dealers room was a bit poor this year, but I got a PS2 instead >>
*gringrin*