Summary: The timer on Takeo's wrist would count to zero in under two minutes. He'd wondered what it would count down to for months, what would happen when it stopped, and now he would find out.

Contains blood.

Inspired by an anon asking, 'So for Tao and Takeo, did they have like a timer on one wrist for when they first meet, and one on the other wrist for M21? Or was it like after meeting each other, the timer kinda changed?'

I tweaked a couple things with M-21's first meeting with Takeo and Tao.

This part took longer than expected since I wasn't happy with it. …And was way longer than I expected it to be.

But yeah, this is more snippets of things, rather than a cohesive plot.

Countdown

By Dark Ice Dragon

The timer on Takeo's wrist would count to zero in under two minutes. It was something that had been with him since he'd opened his eyes in a Union lab, but the scientists couldn't see it. Takeo had watched their eyes pass over the black numbers, more interested in recording his blood pressure or collecting his data.

He'd wondered what it would count down to for months, what would happen when it stopped, and now he would find out. He followed Yuri through the Union lab's bright corridors, counting every second.

Unless something happened, the timer would stop when he met his new team.

"Here we are," Yuri said, stopping by a non-descript door and opening it as Takeo counted zero.

Takeo drew in a soft breath, seeing four men look up towards them and –

Nothing.

It was a normal meeting of new people, no different from the other times he'd been introduced to a new scientist.

Hiding his vague disappointment behind a smile, Takeo greeted his teammates.

He kept quiet, leaning on the back wall as Yuri explained their new tasks as a team, the exercises they would be doing so they could get used to each other.

He spotted movement out the corner of his eye and he shifted, keeping Yuri in focus while seeing who it was.

It was the hacker. Tao...? He was perched on top of a table, a small device in his hand. It was when Tao glanced down, turning his wrist over to peek at it that Takeo realised he'd found what he was looking for.

He couldn't bring it up then, not when Yuri's eyes were on him, when there were cameras watching his every move. But Yuri was talking about a training exercise they were going to do so they could figure out how to work together.

Maybe that was when he could try to talk with Tao.

xOx

Except the next time Takeo glanced at his wrist, the timer was gone. There was a new timer ticking down, lower than the first, and the numbers were grey rather than black. This one counted down…years. Over four years.

Was he going to keep getting a new, lighter timer until it melted into his skin tone?

Maybe he and Tao would be able to find out once they talked.

xOx

Their exercise was to destroy a small base, with no specific targets. Takeo was on one of the roofs as he stared down the scope, picking off people as they ran into his line of sight.

There was a lull in the radio chatter and targets, and Takeo started sweeping for the last place he saw Tao.

"Oi, Tao," Shark barked as Hammer blew up one of the buildings, "did you get shot already?"

There was a soft huff. "I have to watch your backs as well as keeping track of everyone on the base, or else you're the one who's going to end up with a bullet in the back."

Takeo found Tao squirrelled on the rooftop of a building, hunched over his laptop.

Shark laughed, the sound loud to Takeo's ears, and Takeo heard him twirling his blades. "They can try — it won't do anything. Make them piss themselves in fear, maybe!"

If Tao was watching their backs... Takeo lifted a hand and signed, "Was there something on your wrist before?" Tao didn't say anything, but Takeo didn't expect him to, not when the others could hear their conversation.

"There was on mine," Takeo continued signing. "It disappeared after we met."

"And a new one appeared after," Tao signed, lifting his head to look at Takeo.

"Grey."

"Yeah."

Takeo exhaled. So it was something they'd both had. Now they had to find out how to communicate together when other people weren't watching. He scanned the rooftops out of habit and then narrowed his eyes, seeing a guard on an opposite rooftop to Tao, pointing their gun at him.

One trigger pull later and the guard toppled over the edge.

Tao perked up and looked over his shoulder where the guard had been.

"You also need your back watched," Takeo signed, and saw Tao's lips twitch.

"I'll pay you back later."

Takeo didn't doubt it.

xOx

There were more check-ups afterwards, to see how their bodies had handled the stress, and the scientists didn't find the new timer either.

Would he be able to see Tao's…? Maybe only the people with timers could see them.

When Takeo got out of the lab, Tao was waiting in the room he'd been ordered to. Tao tilted his eyebrows up at the sight of him, then glanced at the corner of the room. Cameras. They wouldn't be able to talk freely.

"Sooo," Tao said, crossing his arms and smirking, "did they find anything with you?"

"No." Takeo leaned on the wall. He tended to gravitate to them; that way he could see everything in front of him and not worry about someone coming up from behind. "Everything was normal. You?"

Tao shook his head and Takeo exhaled. They would have to wait for their next mission before they could talk more.

xOx

Takeo turned his head when he heard someone follow him up the tree — it was Tao, his cables carrying his equipment as he hopped from branch to branch. Takeo frowned at the hacker and Tao smirked.

"This way, you don't need to watch my back and I can keep an eye on both our backs."

It sounded like a reasonable excuse, and they could communicate without the others realising.

"All right."

"And I was built to multitask," Tao signed, bringing his computers closer.

Takeo smiled as he set his rifle up.

xOx

"Hammer, the target is going in your direction. Three O'clock."

Takeo continued to pick off more of the soldiers, making sure they didn't know where the shots were coming from. He narrowed his eyes when an explosion ripped through the base, his eyes adjusting to the brightness.

Shark moved into his line of sight, leaving a trail of blood behind him and Takeo sighed, changing his focus. It seemed he would have to get used to that.

He heard Tao chuckle next to him. "Leader, the target's down."

Leader-?

"The rest of the base still needs to be taken out, or did you forget?"

A brief pause. "Of course not, Leader. Just making sure you knew."

There was a small huff behind Takeo as he picked off more of the soldiers.

"Good to know our leader's the no-nonsense kind," Tao muttered.

Takeo nodded. Knowing that meant they knew how to react around him.

At the rate they were going through the base, it wouldn't be long until they wiped everyone out.

xOx

"I think that's everyone," Tao murmured. "Double-checking to make sure."

Takeo swept the area, but he couldn't see any movement; there had been more people than Takeo had expected, and he and Tao hadn't had a moment to talk.

Tao tapped on his computer, the clicking melding together. "The only heat signatures I'm seeing that aren't us are the fires, and I'm not catching any radio chatter either. We're done!"

Takeo nodded, lifting his rifle muzzle. It had seemed to go smoothly.

"Pack up and meet back at the rendezvous."

"Got it, Leader!" Tao said at the same Takeo said, "Understood."

Takeo had left his case at the base of the tree and he hopped down to it.

Tap landed after him a second after with a huff and Takeo started disassembling his rifle, the movements so engraved into his muscle memory he didn't have to think about what he was doing.

Tao had packed away his computers by the time Takeo was done, but he blinked down at Tao's offered hand. Tao had pulled his sleeve back, and Takeo could see the timer on Tao's arm ticking down. It was in the same place as Takeo's, with a small space where Tao's old timer must have been. It was the same shade of grey as Takeo's.

"Good job!" Tao said as he signed, "Noticed I could see yours. Want to see what happens if we touch them?"

Nothing should happen, but if they knew nothing about their timers rather than it marked when they met each other… Since their timers were tied to each other, maybe something would happen if they touched.

He nodded. Exhaling, Takeo pulled his own sleeve back and they grasped each others' wrist.

Warmth. Tao's wrist was warm, and Takeo could feel Tao's pulse beat under his palm.

Tao's hand on his own wrist... Takeo was hyper aware of Tao's touch there, like Tao wasn't just touching his skin, but something deeper.

They let go at the same time with a soft exhale and Takeo shared a brief wide-eyed with Tao. That was more intense than he what he had expected.

"Wow," Tao mouthed.

Takeo nodded, exhaling. If that was what it felt like when the timer was touched by Tao, what would it feel like if he was touched by both people the timers were connected to? They could only wait to find out.

After making sure they hadn't left anything behind, they raced to the rendezvous.

xOx

Takeo couldn't sleep. He'd gotten used to the machines in the lab making noises as they monitored everything about him that it was strange when he couldn't hear them.

He could hear the rest of his team sleeping in their cots though.

He would get used to it, like the machinery always whirring, the lights being too bright when they were first turned on.

Takeo turned his head when he heard a light scraping along the walls. What was that...?

It was trailing over the others, but nothing else.

Heading for him.

Takeo turned over, peering into the darkness.

It was a cable. A cable was heading over, squeezing between the edges of the tiles to keep it above the others' heads.

Not trying to be seen...?

Takeo could hear the others' deep breathing and there was one person in the room he could guess that could remotely control cables. He'd never seen Tao fight, had he? They hadn't been told about each others' abilities, not that they needed to — they would see them while they were on a mission, and it was only Tao who really needed to know what the others did. He was the one that directed them.

Takeo turned around to face the wall even though that made his skin itch to keep his back exposed.

He watched the black cable slither down the corner of the room and it slowed when it touched his cot, the tip of it acting like it was a nose as it poked around Takeo's pillow.

If it was just a cable (and Takeo couldn't see anything else on the tip), then Tao probably couldn't see anything through it and was doing everything by feel. It had to give him some kind of feedback.

Takeo reached over and brushed his fingertips over the 'head'.

As soon as he touched it, the cable flicked in and wrapped itself around his fingers, twining in between them.

The cable dipped its head, pressing it to Takeo's skin. "It's Tao," it tapped out.

"I guessed as much," Takeo tapped back.

"I thought we could try communicating this way in between missions. The camera's only above the door." And that was placed in the centre of the room. If Takeo kept his back to it, the camera wouldn't see his fingers moving.

"It seems to work."

"Of course it does; I thought of it!"

Takeo smiled, trying to not make an obvious exhale, but he heard Tao's short huff a second later.

"Sooo, any theories?" the cable tapped.

"None. I had the timer ever since I woke up in a Union lab."

"Same. Least I guessed it was you when I saw you."

He had? "How?"

"Your hair colour, of course."

'Of course'? "How did you know it was me?"

Another huff from Tao. "Seeing how my timer was purple and then you walked in with all that hair..."

Takeo blinked. "My timer was black." And Tao's hair was black. So if both their timers were grey this time...?

"An old person? Prematurely greying?"

"I don't know." Takeo hadn't known what to expect with the first timer, but if both their timers were the same colour... "When does your timer run out?"

"Fifth of January, four years from now."

...Takeo hadn't calculated it that exactly. "I know mines is four years as well."

Tao shifted in his bed. "So we meet this new person at the same time?"

"Seems like it." From what little information they had.

"Hm... Sleep on it?"

"I don't think we'll get more information until we meet the new person."

"And that's far too long to wait. I'll see what I can find."

"All right."

Takeo watched the cable unwind itself from his fingers and slide back the same way it had came.

He waited until he couldn't hear the cable moving across the wall anymore and then relaxed, closing his eyes.

It didn't take him long to fall asleep.

xOx

Takeo turned his head towards Tao when he felt his hand on his shoulder, keeping his gaze down the scope.

"The main target's gone to ground," Tao said. "Currently trying to find them."

Tao guided Takeo's shoulder and Takeo let him, not resisting his touch. Tao pointed at one particular door and Takeo focused on it.

"Hammer, blow up the building to your right; that should force them out."

"Just tell us where he is so I can get him myself!" Shark snarled.

"Last time I did that, you let her get away, so no. This way is better."

An explosion rocked the base and Takeo watched the door.

Nothing happened for one second. Two. Three.

It slammed open, their target running in a straight line for the trucks.

Takeo was just about to shoot when Tao squeezed his shoulder. He furrowed his brow, but stayed his hand, trusting Tao's judgement. Why was Tao telling him to stop?

"Hm," Tao said. "Incapacitate him."

Takeo arched an eyebrow. That was going against orders. But with his bullets, even if he didn't kill his target straight away, they would die from blood loss anyway.

He fired. The target crumpled with a scream.

Takeo watched blood spread out from the wound, adjusting his grip.

"Door, Takeo."

Leave the target? Exhaling, Takeo lifted his gaze, focusing on the door again.

"What are you doing?" Shark demanded. "Kill-"

"We're doing our orders, so shut up."

Takeo narrowed his eyes when the door eased open, two soldiers slipping out and keeping close to the wall.

"Gotcha," Tao purred. "They switched uniforms inside; probably thought we would only aim for anyone in labcoats. Target's the one closest to the wall."

"Understood," Takeo murmured, watching the two move. It made sense their target was closest to the wall — they would be protected by the taller soldier that way.

Against a regular bullet.

Takeo shot, seeing the soldier slam into the target, blood splattering the wall.

There were no other sounds, but Takeo shot both to make sure. He checked on the decoy and their eyes were open, staring up at the sky. Bled out then.

"And that's a wrap," Tao said, squeezing Takeo's shoulder again. "Base is empty."

"Keh, that wasn't any faster than usual."

"I'm surprised you can tell the time."

Hearing Shark complaining down his earpiece was something Takeo was starting to get used to…

xOx

"You've been pretty chummy," Shark said, narrowing his eyes at Takeo and Tao as they waited for Kranz.

"Hey, what can we say?" Tao said with a shrug and a smirk. "At least Takeo listens to me."

Shark sneered, twirling his blades. "They died. That's all we had to do."

"After having to track them through half the mountain."

"Enough," Kranz said, emerging from the trees. "We're leaving."

"Understood."

xOx

Tao was grinning. Wide. It wasn't like his usual smirks while they did a mission but Takeo ignored it for the time being since they were surrounded by the others at the time.

Tao's grin continued as they set up for their new mission.

Takeo arched an eyebrow at him, smiling a little just in reaction to seeing Tao. "What is it?" he signed.

"You know what today's date is, right?"

Takeo shook his head. He didn't tend to keep track of what the date was apart from the vague time it had been since the last time he'd seen Teira. Other than that, the days blurred between one mission and the next, maintaining his guns in between them.

"It's the anniversary of the day we met!" Tao leaned in and wrapped an arm around Takeo's shoulder before letting go.

He stared at Tao in incomprehension for a second. Was it? He glanced back at his timer and it had gone down a year since the time he'd first seen it.

"And just think — we'll get another date when we meet the new person!"

If the unknown third reacted as well as they had together, but maybe they would. There had to be a reason why they had been connected by a timer in the first place.

Takeo smiled at him. "Yes, we will."

xOx

Tao wouldn't stop fidgeting, playing with his cable as he sat on the lone table in their safehouse in South Korea. He was making shapes with it, twisting and curling it, making it loop around over itself.

Takeo could see Tao was using that as an excuse to glance at his wrist every couple of seconds.

Takeo hadn't felt the need to go to the rooftops like was his usual habit when they went to a new place, but he kept his hands still, checking Tao's wrist instead when he saw it.

He kept his breathing even and steady as Tao prodded at the security system. "Shark, Hammer and Leader are bringing him in."

They had realised who they were supposed to meet as soon as Tao had brought up the picture of the agent tied to Crombell. And that had been strengthened when Kranz had ordered the others to capture him.

Takeo shared a smile with Tao, wiping it off his face as the door opened.

Now they just had to wait for a moment where they could talk with M-21.

Might come back to this to fill in more later scenes so the timeskips aren't so huge.