Wow, long time no see, eh? But, after a bit of a wait, here it is, chapter 17. After this, we can move back to the fluffly goodness and resolution you've all been waiting for. Sorry for the delay, minna. I hope you're still with me.

Whisper

The Koneko Wars

Chapter 17: Rescue

When Kellen finished his dinner, he sent Hahn to pack their things then went to the garage for his Vespa. It was neon orange and, therefore, not the most stealthy of vehicles, but he wanted to be recognized. If his vision came true, and the two boys currently riding straight for their base actually arrived, all of Kellen's plans would be ruined. So, donning his helmet, he rode out to meet them, well away from the compound's front gates. When he saw their vehicle coming, he waved frantically. "Hoi! Weiß! Schwarz!" He'd wanted to come up with something better, but they would've passed him by if he didn't indicate that he knew exactly who they were. "C'mere!"

They stopped the bike but didn't approach. They probably thought it was a trap. They weren't altogether wrong. The blonde spoke first. "Who are you?"

"A Sturm affiliate planning a jailbreak. You can call me Kellen if it will be easier." He smiled his lady-killer smile and moved toward the two, hands held in the air. "See, no weapons. I've just got spooky precognitive powers, so you don't have to worry about that, either." The two boys weren't letting down their guard, but Kellen hadn't expected them to. From what he'd heard, Weiß and Schwarz were good. You weren't good if you ever let your guard down. "They're expecting you up at the big house, so I wouldn't try anything tonight. But, if you come back tomorrow morning at around 7:23am and brought a vehicle able to carry four people and some gear, you might have a better chance of rescuing your friends."

"What are you suggesting?" The dark haired boy spoke this time.

The backs of Kellen's eyes burned and, briefly, he saw himself being flung against a tree. "We're going to talk without violence tonight, or me helping you is a no-go." He turned to look at the dark haired boy. "That means no telekinesis. If you fling me into any trees, we're going to call the deal off and your friends can fry tomorrow. Got it?"

"He's lying," the dark haired one hissed to the blonde.

"We're going to have to chance it. I've seen him in the files," the blonde looked up to meet Kellen's eyes. "Brother to Hahn, a firestarter, but not officially part of Sturm."

Finally a sensible one. "I never had the privilege of being recruited by Estet and, as such, I never got to meet up with you and your fellow Schwarz. You would be?" Kellen held out a hand in friendship, or as close to it as two enemies could get under the circumstances, and it was promptly slapped away by the brunette.

"This is Prodigy and I'm Bombay. That should suffice for our dealings."

"Fine, fine. Business, then?" The two nodded. "My brother and I want out. We're willing to get you your teammates back if you'll arrange a little amnesty for us. We have information you might find handy, should you want to take the rest of Sturm down."

"We can do it on our own," Prodigy snarled, his fists tightening.

"No, you can't. You may outnumber Sturm, but they've been planning your demise for years now. They have contingency plans. They have resources. You're just not capable of handling that kind of organization, particularly since this is, what, your second week working as a team? I bet Schwarz and Weiß are biting eachother's heads off." There was no rebuttal, so he assumed he was correct. "You two seem to be getting cozy, though, a real hope for the future, I'll bet. So, do we have a deal?"

"Yes." Bombay said, holding out his hand.

"No." Prodigy contested, pulling Bombay's hand back.

Kellen laughed and rolled his shoulders. It was getting cold and he was tired of tensely waiting to be flung against things. "If we have a deal, go one mile more down the road and wait at the third road barrel. If we don't, then just try and infiltrate our base. Ciao."

"How do we send you our answer?" Bombay called, his voice barely audible over the humming of the Vespa.

"You won't have to." Kellen tapped his head and flashed them a quick "V" before driving off. They would come- he'd already seen it.

&-&

"You have two minutes to explain yourselves, starting now." To say that Brad was angry with the two young runaways would be putting it mildly. Brad was, if you were to ask him and he were to tell you the truth instead of the usual, casually constructed lie, livid. He had, at several points in the night, thought of many nasty, painful ways to convince the two boys that running off into danger was a bad idea. Abyssinian had been the one to spot the two coming into the drive and, as such, Crawford was unable to enact any of his planned discipline.

"We found Ken and Yohji and have arranged for a way to get them free." Omi stepped forward from where he and Nagi stood. When the duo arrived, they were rushed into Abyssinian's apartment, which was where they were now. Brad was sitting in the good chair, forcing Abyssinian to stand near the wall. Schuldich was in another chair, across the room, refusing to say anything to Crawford, which was fine as far as the American was concerned.

Crawford, adjusted his glasses. "Explain."

"We ran into a member of Sturm, Kellen. He's the precognitive brother of the firestarter Hahn. He expressed a desire for a trade. We give Hahn and Kellen amnesty and they deliver Ken and Yohji to us." As he spoke, Nagi's expression betrayed his distrust of the deal, though he seemed resigned to its necessity.

"And what makes you think this isn't a trap?" To Crawford's surprise, it was Abyssinian who spoke as the voice of reason.

Omi balled his fists at his sides and took a deep breath. "We don't have a choice, Aya-kun. Even if it is a trap, we're running out of time. If they're torturing Ken-kun and Yohji-kun, we need to act now, before they are killed or…" Omi trailed off, looking anywhere but at the redhead.

"Or before they crack," Nagi supplied.

"I have not envisioned the later, though the former is a high possibility," Crawford admitted. He didn't like the idea, but he was aware that it was a viable option and a good sight better than anything they'd managed to come up with on their own.

"When's the meeting?" Schuldich asked. There was probably never a doubt in his mind as to whether or not they'd be following through with the plan. Even if the group didn't agree to it, Schuldich would still go. He was stupid like that, sometimes.

"7:23 tomorrow morning. We'll be meeting at a rendezvous point about three miles out from where we suspect the Sturm compound to be. We will require a vehicle large enough for four passengers plus the rescue team." Omi fished into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled map. "We can set snipers along the side for emergencies, but they'll probably be prepared. Our best move would be a straight on approach. We come in the van, we take Ken and Yohji, if everything seems on the level, we take the two Sturm."

"Sounds good to me. I'll be in my room taking a nap. Meet here at four to begin the mission?" Schuldich asked, stretching. He looked calm and collected, but Crawford knew better. He saw the subtle twitch of the eyebrow, the slow clenching of the fist. Schuldich wouldn't be napping tonight.

"Roger that," Omi replied, his eyes distant.

&-&

Ken wondered why anyone bothered to knock, much less say "excuse me" upon entering. Ken lifted his head just enough to see who it was; the girl again. She had a glass of water and some bandages.

"Kellen told me to bandage you up. He's going to take you away from here, where you'll be safe." Birgit petted Ken's head, her fingers stinging his burned scalp. "I won't get to see you anymore, but Kellen says he'll take care of you. Here, drink."

As Birgit applied cool ointment to Ken's wounds, he wondered how much longer it would be until his next torture began.

&-&

"Come on hot stuff, we're outta here." Hahn sauntered into Yohji's cell, a knapsack on his shoulder. "I'm going to get you out of these chains, so don't go attacking me when I do."

Yohji had enough presence of mind to laugh. Yeah, he'd attack with a broken leg and two dislocated shoulders. "Just go away."

"Sorry beautiful, no can do. We're meeting your friends in an hour and Birgit can only distract Stefan for so long before he remembers he's supposed to be working. We need to get you and Siberian out of here before that happens." Hahn looked at Yohji's leg. "Nothing we can do about that," he sighed, gesturing to the mangled limb. "You're just gonna have to deal with the pain a bit longer. Think you can do that?"

"Do I have a choice?"

Hahn smiled. "Of course you do. You can come with me and live, or you can stay here and deal with Lenka. Which would you prefer?" Hahn released the first chain then quickly stepped back.

"Help me up?" Yohji asked, taking a deep breathe. He'd been in worse pain. What was a few hours more?'

&-&

"Does the medical kit have everything we'll need?" Abyssinian asked for the twelfth time in the last five minutes.

"Aya-kun, I already told you yes, please calm down." Ran was getting on Omi's nerves, which meant that Crawford would have been ready to disembowel the Weiß member. Luckily, Schuldich was keeping Crawford busy.

"Do we have enough for both Ken and Yohji?" Abyssinian asked, poking through the kit. The kit began to float up, out of his reach.

"Leave it alone," Nagi grumbled, though he was smiling, just a little. Nagi enjoyed the rare sight of Ran Fujimiya abandoning his composure. It made him a little more human.

Ran moved and began to fasten on his katana. "We leave in five minutes," he grumbled. "Where are Schuldich and Crawford?"

&-&

"You think this is okay?" Schuldich asked, sipping at a cup of coffee.

"The rescue operation will be successful. It will cause Sturm to retreat and regroup. We will buy at least half a year of time. Lenka is too careful to launch an attack when two of her members have defected. She'll establish a new base and re-fortify her team before attacking." Crawford poured himself a cup of coffee, black, unlike Schuldich's cream and sugar nightmare.

"She never did rush into anything." Schuldich moved closer. "What about those two refugees. Think they'll cause any problems?"

"I haven't foreseen any, but I'm putting that judgment in your hands. I expect you to carry out a full assessment when they arrive." Crawford looked down at his coffee. What did Fujimiya stock, store brand? This swill was a defilement to the name of coffee.

"Now you see why I used the sugar and cream?" Schuldich laughed, scooting closer still. He set his coffee down. "Are we gonna stick around when all of this is over?" It went without saying that Schuldich hoped the answer was yes.

"Nagi would remain behind without our consent and Farfarello would be upset if he didn't get to witness the close to Fujimiya, Hidaka, and Kudou's domestic venture." Crawford poured his coffee down the sink, in the process getting as far away from Schuldich as he could.

"Does that mean we're staying?"

"It means that I will not disallow it if you wish to stay. I have things that need tending to and will be leaving when we have finished this operation. I will return before I am needed." Brad wasn't expecting to be slapped in the face for his remark. It would seem that Schuldich was dissatisfied with his response. "I would ask you to refrain from such outbursts in the future, Schuldich."

"When were you planning to tell me that we were leaving, Brad? I have bags that need to be packed and goodbyes to say and souvenirs to buy." Schuldich turned away from his leader. His shoulders were shaking just slightly.

"Schuldich, are you crying?"

"No," Schuldich growled, turning around to reveal that his fists were clenched tight, his teeth; bared. "I'm trying to remind myself why I tolerate you. For all that I tell Ken he's crazy for loving Kudou and Fujimiya, you'd think I'd get the hint, myself." Schuldich advanced in three large, loud steps. "You," he dug a finger into Brad's chest, "are about as loveable as a rabid dog. You hide behind your glasses and this stupid macho attitude and you refuse to admit you give a damn about any of us." Schuldich grabbed two fistfuls of Brad's suit. "Despite that, if you leave without me, I'm going to hunt you down and handcuff you to my side, you understand?"

Crawford's eyes were gazing off at something only he could see. The heat of Schuldich's breath had fogged up Crawford's classes and the layer of moisture was slow in receding. It was a blessing, really, because Crawford didn't want to look as exposed as he felt. "Understood." He allowed a small smile to flash across his lips. He lowered his pride enough to pat Schuldich's hand, which was still gripping his suit. "You are wrinkling my jacket. Please unhand me." Schuldich let go and stalked toward the door. "Schuldich, I will expect your bags to be packed and in my car by the start of the mission. If they are not, you will not be bringing them."

Schuldich saluted and was gone.

&-&

Weiß and Schwarz arrived at the rendezvous point at 7am. By 7:20, they were planning for the worst. At 7:23, two figures rode up on two motorcycles whose sidecars were full. "Oi! Some help over here!" Kellen called, killing the engine to his bike. In the sidecar was Ken, surrounded by blankets.

Abyssinian rushed forward, Omi at his heels. "Get off the bike and stand by the tree," he barked. "If you try anything, we'll shoot you."

"Fine, fine." Kellen walked casually over to a tree, where Prodigy was standing guard. "Hey kid, how's it going?"

"Don't call me kid." Prodigy snapped, using his powers to shove Kellen into the tree. "And don't move."

Meanwhile, Hahn was standing perfectly still. This was because Crawford was pointing a gun at his head. "I am aware," Crawford said, "that you will not be trying anything this evening. Let me inform you that if this future changes at any point, you will be dead. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Hahn replied, his eyes moving to the body in his own sidecar. "You wanna take care of Balinese now? He had to walk through the house with a broken leg and his shoulders are dislocated."

"Nagi," Crawford called. "Come get Balinese. Schuldich, go keep our guest company."

"My pleasure," Schuldich chuckled. Schuldich waved at Nagi, who gave Kellen one more quick shove before leaving. "So, Kellen is it? How've you been?"

"I've been better." Kellen flexed his shoulders, trying to dislodge the larger pieces of bark from his skin. "You?"

"Oh, things are just wonderful, thanks. Are those bikes bugged?" The German moved to stand next to Kellen, back resting against the tree.

"To the gears. They were the fastest way to get here and the only way to transport Siberian and Balinese given their conditions. We planned to dump them off the side, unless you can do something with them?" Kellen felt a light prodding at the back of his mind. "You can't get in, so stop trying."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Schuldich laughed, pleased his plan was working.

"Stop trying to pry into my mind. You can't."

"Born in Munich, were you? Me, too." Schuldich grinned and laughed at Kellen's expression. "You know those books on telepathy you've read? I wrote them, kid. I'll do what I want with your mind, when I want to do it. Remember that." He patted Kellen on the head. "Don't wander too far, we're about ready to leave." With that, Schuldich went to find Crawford.

"Did you find anything?" Crawford asked when Schuldich stepped up beside him.

"They're clean. No trackers that I could find. They've got some neat defense mechanisms, but the two pronged mental assault never fails." He laughed, looking back to where Kellen was sulking under the tree. "Amateurs. Estet didn't get to fully train this last group. It's a shame the way they let themselves go near the end."

"Pay attention to the mission at hand, Schuldich." Crawford watched Nagi lift Yohji toward the van. Despite Bombay's assurance that there were plenty of medical supplies, Crawford doubted they had the tools to treat all of Siberian's burns and Balinese's broken bones. They would have to stop by a pharmacy on the way out of town. Farfarello was meeting the group at the first road outpost. He was driving Crawford's car and would have all their belongings as well as more supplies. As there was bound to be an excess of blood, Crawford thought it wise that the madman not come on the rescue journey. Blood tended to upset him.

"Those two could still have tracer implants, though." Bombay piped up from behind them. "We won't be able to remove them without a proper lab setup. We have a scrambler, but it doesn't have enough power to cover both of them." He looked to Crawford. "Abyssinian said to ask you which you thought was of higher threat value."

"Kellen will not be implanted. He's not an official team member. Hahn will be, though. Give him the scrambler."

Omi nodded and darted off to get the item.

"Excuse me," came a call from the motorcycle nearby. "They're going to notice we're gone soon. Don't you think we should get going?" Hahn cringed back at the look Crawford gave him. "It was just a question."

"An astute observation. We will leave as soon as Abyssinian's team neutralizes your tracer implant. Schuldich, take Kellen to the transport."

Schuldich saluted and turned to fetch Kellen, who was once again under Nagi's cold scrutiny. Come on chibi, we're heading out. Nagi floated Kellen to the car, only smacking the man into something once.