A/N: Hello! CX It's Tylida again with yet another attempt at the absolute greatness that is Jr./Rubedo! Hooray! This story is a fanfic. It's a battle for Jr.! XD Who wouldn't fight over Jr. anways? Well lemme say this before I begin: This story really has no actual timeline in the series. I'll try to put pieces of the storyline into it, but I like the freedom of being able to put whoever I want whenever I want however I want at random intervals. So I'm sorry if it's a little AU. It starts around the beginning of the second game just to give the story a base. Blah blah blah. Yaoi is fantastic. On with the fic! CX

I am my own editor. I make mistakes I'm human. So don't be surprised at the overuseage or underuseage of commas or other grammatical tools as well as the new ways of spelling words. C:

I do no own Xenosaga or it's characters and that makes me dead inside.

To my sama. You inspire my every move and I hope you'll allow me to serve you always.
And also to Ellen. XD You won't understand a word, but you wanted it so here it is.

Conflicting Numbers
Chapter 1
The Game

Gaignun leaned back against the door. He was certain that no one would open this particular one. He didn't want to do this but Helmer had asked and he couldn't deny a man that had helped him so much before. Would reconnassiance really be that bad? He sighed. Better to get it over with now than standing and complaining to himself. He took another deep breath, closed his eyes and raised two fingers to his left temple. The spiritual link that he and his brothers used was a familiar tool, but he and Jr. used it more often than he and Albedo. His wavelength was unfamiliar as Gaignun searched for him.

"Now Albedo..." Gaignun said to himself. He eyes glowed a bright teal, "Where are you?"

The connection...his prescence...it's there and then...

"Nigredo!"

"Well hello there. Looks like you're doing well unfortunatley."

"And you're glib as ever. What's wrong? Are you lonley little baby?"

"Oh, I'm just doing a little information gathering." he stated in his calm voice. He paused only for a brief second before adding, "Of course...it still isn't too late for us to come to terms." What a ridiculous thing to say. He knew what Albedo's reaction would be.

"Oh, so now it's peace talks, huh? Didn't McCartney say that too? Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony?" Albedo laughed. It wasn't a delighted laugh, but a dark one. "But I know your true form. Executioner!"

Gaignun ignored his word attacks, trying to keep his emotions confined. "I shed that skin long ago." he replied cooly.

"Is that so?" Albedo asked, nonbelieving, "Are you sure you're not just hanging around Rubedo for a chance to carry out your mission?"

Gaignun ignored him. He was skilled in dealing with Albedo's madness. He wasn't going to let him manipulate him like Jr. Gaignun was control, he was sensibility, and he was maintaining and stable until Albedo said, "I'll be borrowing Rubedo soon. I don't need you though. Still, I look forward to your efforts nonetheless."

Nigredo pushed himself from the door, his eyes burning into the wall across from him.

"Wait, no!"

A sharp, powerful force, emanated from Gaignun's mind as his eyes flashed. There was a cry from Albedo as the force exploded in his arm, destroying the limb completely.

"Ach!" Albedo bent over in surprise, gripping his shoulder lightly.

"Ooo, scary, scary! You've always been two-faced, you know." he spoke as the arm began to reform itself. "Offering life in the one hand and delivering death in the other. Too bad I can't die!"

The sound of his madness echoed through Gaignun's mind. There was a loud metallic noise and the link was severed. Albedo was gone.

Gaignun gasped. His eyes opening onto the canopy of his bed. Mary and Shelley each had a head on his shoulder. Mary's arm wrapped around his neck and Shelley's around his waist. He sighed. This image just wouldn't leave him mind. Everytime he closed his eyes there it was. Albedo's insane laughter, his dark intention. Gaignun silently opened a small link in his anxious thoughts. Jr. was asleep, only his mind responded softly at the tugging on the wavelength. Gaignun shut it down before Jr. awoke. He didn't want to disturb him. His green eyes searched the canopy in the darkness for what he didn't know. He was so fortunate. He had everything. What man wouldn't want to be in his position right now? Two beautiful women, riches, power...but what he wouldn't give to trade it all for...

Gaignun gently and smoothly made his way out of his cage of limbs. He grabbed a robe hanging by the door to cover himself and made his way down the dark corridors of the Durandal. Every night since that encounter with Albedo he'd been worrying nonstop about his brother.

"My brother..." Gaignun muttered to himself bitterly, "My son."

Jr.'s room wasn't far way from Gaignun's so he didn't have to go far at all. He stopped before the door to listen, but there was no noise. He took another step and the door slid open. The room was dark, but Gaignun could hear Jr.'s snoring. The sound made him smile to himself. He took a step into the room. Jr. was such a heavy sleeper, almost nothing woke him up, but Gaignun still walked with caution. That was just him. Jr. slept, sprawled in his bed, the sheet wrapped crazily around his legs and waist as if someone had tied him up that way. His boxers and tank top were twisted along with the sheets and Gaignun wondered how he could sleep like that. His hair was mussed, mouth open, and an empty gun lie in his left hand. Jr. and his guns. Gaignun smiled and leaned down to run a hand through his hair, but stopped himself. No. That wasn't right. He wasn't supposed to touch Jr. He pulled back, but he wanted to touch him. To explore every inch of him. He bit his lip. He needed to go. He needed to leave, Albedo wasn't there, Jr. was fine. But something kept him there. Something held him in his place. His eyes watched the rise and fall of the red head's chest and the occassional frown that passed across his face. Finally, Gaignun tore himself away from Jr. and walked back to his room.

Gaignun never got enough sleep. Or at least that's what Jr. thought. And Jr. was always vocal about what he thought. "Jeez Gaignun, you look like someone punched you in the face."

"Thanks Jr." Gaignun said sarcastically, sipping at his cup of coffee.

Jr. walked farther into Gaignun's room. He jumped up onto Gaignun's desk and folded his arms. "You been sleeping like a hobo? Maybe Mary and Shelley should take a break from their um..." Jr. coughed, "duties. What do you say? You might actually get some rest."

Gaignun didn't think he should even dignify that statement with an answer and picked up a document that needed his signature. Jr. just shrugged at his brother's facade. "Hey, I'm just saying. You can live without sex one night, can't you?"

Gaignun choked on his coffee and shot a glare at Jr. who smirked and jumped down. "You know," Gaignun started, cleaning up his mess. "If you're going to disturb me this early in the morning you could at least put some clothes on."

Jr. looked down at his tank top and boxers and raised an eyebrow at his younger brother.

"You got a problem?"

"No, I just find it inappropriate for my son to be walking around without clothes. Who knows what might happen to him." Jr. growled and Gaignun smirked.

"Yes, father." Jr. spat before leaving to change.

"chaos!" Jr. shouted as greeting to his friend.

Gaignun heard chaos' smooth, hypnotic voice respond, "Oh, good morning Jr. I see you're still naked."

"Oh please, not you too!" Gaignun chuckled at his response. "I'm a man damnit!"

Gaignun, in his disbelief opened a link.

That is completely irrelevant, Jr.

Shut the fuck up, Gaignun! Jr. responded, walking toward his room. Why can't I just live!?

Gaignun shook his head and got started on his paperwork, leaving a substantial amount for Jr. seeing as how there was an agreeable amount of peace right now and Jr. could actually do some of it. He wouldn't like it, but Gaignun didn't care. In fact, he even got the brilliant idea to set the paperwork aside in a "special place" for Jr. on his desk and wondered if he should go as far as to wrap it up for him. He was in the process of opening drawers in search of ribbon he knew wasn't there when Mary came through the door of his room. He raised an eyebrow at her and straightened himself up. "Hello, Mary."

"Hey there, Master Gaignun!" the cheery blonde said happily, waving to him. He gave her the sly smile he knew she wanted to see.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He asked, closing his open drawers and checking paperwork. She shrugged and jumped into his lap. "I was bored and Shelley's got nothing for me to do. Is there anything here I can do?" She leaned down to kiss his cheek, her curly hair brushing against him.

He sighed and patted her waist. "Nothing like that, Mary. I do appreciate the offer though." She giggled and straightened herself up. "Well then, how 'bout that paperwork over there? Ya'll always have so much to do. I wouldn't mind trying to help you finish that myself." Gaignun grinned to himself and shook his head. "Oh," Mary said, smiling, "You're saving that for the Little Master, aren't 'cha?"

"Perhaps you know me too well."

Mary giggled and jumped up. "Say, where is the Little Master anyways? I haven't seen him all day."

Gaignun's demeanor quickly changed from relaxed to alert. His green eyes tightened. "He hasn't come to the bridge?" Jr. always went to the bridge. He was practically captain. Gaignun almost never gave orders. It was Jr.'s responsibility to oversee things, make decisions. The worried U.R.T.V. checked his watch. It had been almost five hours since Jr. had waltzed in to announce he had awoken. Plenty of time for something...something bad. Mary shook her head, not realizing the frightened look on Gaignun's face. "I figured he was with you or maybe with Canaan, but I say Canaan today and he wasn't with him so I looked on the Elsa and then thought maybe he was sick or somethin'."

Nigredo only nodded, "Thank you, Mary. Go back to the bridge. I'll...I'll find Jr."

Jr. changed in the usual dramatic fashion he did whenever he wanted to waste time and he was doing a good job of it. chaos had followed Jr. and was standing in the room watching as the tempermental redhead threw clothes this way and that. "Jr., you don't have to throw these clothes around you know? It's just making a big mess for you to clean up." Jr. didn't listen and continued to ignore his friend in his search for clothes. He finally settled on a maroon sweater and a long red cape with black designs on the neck and shoulder. He pulled on some light brown pants and boots and smiled up at chaos. "Done."

chaos shook his head, "You're something else, Jr."

"I'll just take that as a compliment". Jr said, waving a hand. chaos laughed. "So, where to Jr.? The bridge?"

Jr. tilted his head to one side. "Nah, if I head that way Gaignun's sure to have some paperwork ready for me. I'm kinda hungry. How 'bout we skip the morning and go hang around Miltia for a while?"

"I don't know, Jr. Gaignun might get upset. Shouldn't we at least tell him?"

Jr. made a noise and elbowed his friend. "Hey, I'm the brains behind the Foundation here. Why do you think I go on all the adventures and he sits and does paperwork?"

chaos smiled, "You do paperwork too, Jr."

Jr. rolled his eyes and put a hand on chaos' shoulder, "And that's why we're avoiding him. So that I don't have to do it. Get it?"

chaos didn't want to give in that easily, but he reluctantly agreed and together, the left for the dock where they could take the shuttle from the Durandal to Second Miltia. "chaos! How long has it been since we were here? It feels like forever."

chaos shrugged, "I'm not sure. It's been almost a year at least."

"They've upgraded. Let's see what's new."

Jr. took his time wandering aroudn the white, metalliclike plastic that covered the planet. But Jr. had never been one for paths and he eventually found themselves on the outskirts of the city. "Jr...."chaos said, looking around at the trees and tall grasses, "I think...we're lost."

Jr. only waved a hand to dismiss chaos' words. "We're not lost. We're exploring."

chaos sweatdropped at his small friend, "Well, we've explored ourselves right off the road."

"And you've talked me right into the most boring conversation I've ever had."

chaos was about to respond when Jr. raised a hand to silence him. "chaos! Look at this place!!" Jr. exclaimed. He took off running for a small, old wooden Japanesse fashoined house. chaos shook his head and followed him. Jr. stopped in front of the house and pointed to a black and white sign. "chaos! Check this out! It's a bookstore! And it's made entirely out of wood! Aw, Gaignun's got to see this!"

Before chaos could see what Jr. had pointed at, he had run through the open door. "Wow!!" came an excited voice from inside. chaos hurried to see an overly excited Jr. grabbing books off shelves and loading them into his arms. "Oh man I can't believe they have this! Oh I've got to get this one! And that one above your head! Yeah that one! A-and this one! I can't leave without that one!"

"Jr., no one's here. Maybe we should at least wait until someone comes out." chaos said, his soothing voice had no affect on the U.R.T.V though and he continued to pile novels upon novels into his small arms. When he ran out of arm space he he recruited chaos and soon the poor seraph had a stack as tall and almost as heavy as Jr. Nothing could stop the tornado that was Jr. "Jr. how are we going to get all of these back to the Durandal?" chaos asked from his sea of literature.

"We're going to carry them, of course." Jr. responded. His own stack was higher than his head when a voice from behind him said, "Well hello there. I see you're really enthusiastic about reading material, aren't you?"

Jr. could see through a small hole surrounding his face under his stack of books as a tall man in a black kimono helped relieve chaos of his armload. "Thank you." chaos said, his eyes sparking with gratitude and his voice filled with relief. "Well," the man laughed. "I never thought I'd find chaos under all those books."

"Jin Uzuki!" chaos said, happily, "It's been a long time."

"It certainly has. And who's hiding under this stack?"

"Gaignun Kukai Jr." Jr. said, holding his books protectively.

"Jr.?"

chaos and Jr. turned in time to see Shion come through a door behind a small desk that Jr. had thought was most likely the resgister.

"Shion! What are you doing here?"

She rolled her pretty green eyes and pulled at her Vector uniform. "I'm visiting Jin. He's my...my brother." she admitted.

"Oh, why didn't I catch that before?" chaos asked, smiling politely at the two of them.

"You're both friends of Shion?" Jin asked. "Hm..would you two care to stay? I'm sure Shion would like that."

"I don't know..."chaos started, "We shouldn't intrude on a family reunion..." he started, feeling a bit awkward, but he saw Shion in the background, waving her arms and begging them to stay.

"But of course, we could take you up on your offer."

Jr., who had been polite and quiet until now, suddenly spoke up when chaos went to take his books. "Come on, Jr. let's go."

"Aw, come on! What-what about these!?"

"You can buy all the books you want later, let's go."

Jr. walked slowly back to the Durandal. After spending time with Shion and her brother, he suddenly felt sick. All they'd done was fight and Jr. really didn't like it when siblings fought. chaos had stayed behind as a sort of medium between the two. Jr. walked back a little slower than usual, his hand on his right chest. Albedo...

When he finally made it back to the Durandal he felt worse than he had before. "Maybe I'll sleep a little before I start my torture with Gaignun." he said to himself. He walked down the corridors, making sure to go a way that Gaignun wouldn't see him. The farther and farther he walked, the worse and worse he began to feel. He placed a hand on his head and tried to shake his fogging vision clear. The walls of the Durandal began to shift and spin in slow spirals around him. Jr. shook his head. What was happening to him? He stumbled against a wall, slamming into it hard when he'd only meant to rest there for a moment. He shook his head harder and struggled his way into his room. The door slid open and shut behind him. The minute the door closed, the room began to fade into darkness. He fell to the floor, coughing violently. He desperatley tried to open a link, to call for Gaignun, but his spritual link wouldn't even spark up. It was darkened by this abyss. This deep blackness that was dragging him down into nothing. Where...where had he felt this before...? There! That sadistic laugh. The voice that was covered in madness...the waves of...of...

"Yo, Rubedo."

And then he fainted.

A/N: Yay! CX First chapter up. I'm very excited about this story. I've been wanting to write a yaoi. I hope this one works out. Reviews are my muse so inspire it up, people!