"Intelligence shows that Wolfram is still in the city, boss."

The older man fixed a scowl on his face as he looked at a grinning Yozak. An eyebrow was quirked in mock amazement. "Really? What's your I.Q again?"

Yozak twisted his face into an expression of injured pride. "Low blow, boss, you know I've got plenty of smarts! No, seriously. We've combed every single point of exit the city has at least four times with a picture of your boy with longer hair, shorter hair, a beard, a moustache, everything. Including an unfortunate tan. So he's still here, we think. The men started on the outskirts and are spiraling inwards. I asked Gun-Gun how long, and he says they should be able to get a definitive answer in... Two days."

"Does Conrad know?"

Yozak laughed good-naturedly, waving his hand dismissively. "Good old captain, he's been running around knocking menacingly on doors since yesterday afternoon, right after he got back from meeting Wolfram's roomie. Words cannot express how funny it was when they were in the mob hotspots, and he's holding big kiss-my-ring bosses against the wall with his toothpick-rapier thing. And no one shot him, because he kept glaring at everyone and growling asking for Wolfram. Didn't find him though, obviously."

Gwendal felt a headache coming. "Why was he even allowed to be so rash? Wolfram is already missing and you'd do well not to let Conrad kill himself."

Yozak winked benevolently. "Nah, we wouldn't have let anyone actually hurt him. We're professionals, you know. It was just entertainment, especially for my men who've been running around unstoppably these past few days". He scratched his chin in thought. "Never had you pegged as being such a family man, sir. Must say you never seemed to show much affection when the boy comes around here."

A vein throbbed painfully in Gwendal's temple, and he tried to massage it away (to no avail). "I am not like Conrad, I am unable to show emotion so... freely. It does not equate to me not caring, so in this situation, when I am better able to help Wolfram than Conrad, I will succeed. Now go away before I fire you for asking insolent questions."

Yozak ripped a jaunty salute and left with a knowing grin. Gwendal resisted the temptation to stab the man with his knitting needles, and was very proud of himself for it.

"Feeling better Wolfram?"

"Ngh."

Yuuri laughed nervously and turned so that his legs were at a right angle to Wolfram's, sitting up. He moved to stand, before collapsing. His legs were still asleep, and refused to be awoken to let him stand. Frowning slightly he began rubbing and kneading his legs, wincing when feeling rushed back into them as pins and needles.

Still, even with that handicap he almost jumped his height up when he felt another pair of hands massaging his legs.

"Wimp."

From his position sprawled uncomfortably, Yuuri looked up into Wolfram's slightly smiling face, weak morning sunlight from the window giving the dyed black hair a soft, love-sick-induced air of mystery. Wolfram seemed not to have noticed his own glory, working to get Yuuri's legs working again. It wasn't boyfriend-Wolfram lovingly tending to his Yuuri, it was good-ol' huffy Wolfram looking after the wimp after the latest (usually baseball-practice related) injury.

"Wolfram, you're not suffering from debilitating cramps too?"

The blond snorted.

"I don't have the blood circulation of a wimp. I'm fine, princess."

"Umm... Would it really scare you silly if I hugged you Wolf? I'm just really, really happy to see you better-"

Wolfram rolled his eyes, and brushed his hair back. "Even before this, the one who had a problem with physical contact was you, wimp. Now, well... As long as it's not something too radical, you don't have to ask-"

The blond couldn't complete what he wanted to say, lungs constricted by the arms of a Yuuri who had sat up again to reach him. Wolfram sat in stunned silence for a moment, Yuuri's face pressed he suspected somewhat uncomfortably into his shoulder, before sighing and returning the hug. "I'm fine, it's been chilly in hell since I've needed your help, but-"

He was cut off once again when Yuuri's hold tightened. "Don't even joke about that," Yuuri growled, voice muffled by the cloth of Wolfram's shirt. "Don't believe that it's something bad, being helped, Wolf. Please don't. Because I depend on you all the time, and I'm rescued by you all the time, and if needing help is a bad thing, Wolfram, then I'm the absolute worst."

Wimp, wimp, wimp, you do think too much.

Wolfram sighed again.

"I like being asked for help from you, Yuuri. It makes me feel... useful. But this is new, wimp, so you're going to have to... wait if you want me to be... more normal. You know how stupid I've been about my family. Get used to me being stupid about this too until I get smarter. Okay?"

And Yuuri was about to ask if a little kiss would be considered 'radical', because he didn't so much think he would lustily enjoy the contact as he believed it would be a show of acceptance and adoration (Jennifer's impressive collection of romance novels forced onto Yuuri had more than a little something to do with it) before there was a knock on the door and he thought his heart had exploded from smashing so hard into his ribs.

"Good morning Yuuri! I'm here to give you an update about Wolfram! I even brought muffins!"

Both boys looked at each other and blanched. "Wolfram," Yuuri whispered, voice wobbling. "Take off all your clothes."

Yuuri got punched for the suggestion, Wolfram glowing red. "The hell, wimp?" he hissed, holding the collar of his shirt defensively. Yuuri was vibrating with anxiety by then, and explained his idea as quickly and quietly as he could.

"You still have dark hair, so you're 'Murata', but if he sees your face and hears your voice, game's over, and there's no way you can leave now without passing him! So if you're topless and bottomless and under covers and you look like you're sleeping and he can only see your hair, then, then, then...." Yuuri looked at Wolfram imploringly. "Then we'll be okay, right?"

Wolfram wondered if getting him to undress was as spur-of-the-moment as Yuuri insisted it was, but couldn't bring himself to care, standing and dragging Yuuri up with him.

"Take your shirt off and ruffle your hair. If we want him to think we were sleeping together-" he conceded his embarrassment by blushing, and eased his pride by ignoring the tint of his cheeks "- and explain why he had to wait so long to get the door answered, might as well make it realistic."

Yuuri shouted a slurred "Gimme a minute!" as he tugged off his shirt, staring longingly as Wolfram ran on light feet and arms laden with their blankets of the night before, toeing off his socks. Yuuri went to answer the door when he could see only Wolfram's feet and dyed-black hair through the mostly closed bedroom door.

My bedroom door!

"Sorry, sorry Conrad! I was a bit... occupied."

"Oh?" A brown head poked in curiously. "Am I interrupting? Should I leave?" Dark eyes glinted merrily when he took in Yuuri's disheveled appearance, a knowing smile blooming on his face. "I presume it was a preoccupation with your Murata?"

Yuuri's blush exploded in his cheeks, and traveled hotly down his neck. He had no doubt Conrad was thinking what they wanted him to think, but that didn't stop it from being utterly mortifying.

Getting caught with my shirt off in front of Wolfram's brother... I really want to laugh nervously right now.

Conrad walked in when Yuuri moved aside, holding a large basket of muffins and holding one out to Yuuri. "I have excellent news! Oh, is Murata still here?" He dropped his voice to a whisper, looking around.

"He's asleep, you can see him from here." Yuuri nodded at his bedroom door and died a little inside when Conrad's eyebrow shot up with a little "Oh!"

Yuuri looked too, and gulped when he saw a flash of calf where the cover had ridden up. From the sound of the slight, occasional snores, Yuuri realised that Wolfram had actually fallen asleep again. And a sleeping Wolfram moved only slightly less than one awake.

Please don't tug the sheet down please don't tug the sheet down please-

Conrad's grin grew wider. "Ah, to be young and in love again! Wore him down and out, eh?"

Yuuri nodded, wondering if it was healthy for his extremities that all the blood was concentrated in his face.

"You must think I'm terrible to be in such a light mood when Wolfram's still missing, but-" Conrad began.

Yuuri gladly jumped on the opportunity for a distraction, and impatiently shoved Conrad into the chair by the dining table. "You found something to help with Wolfram's case?" It was the only thing he could imagine that would make Conrad so jovial currently.

The older man barely restrained himself from punching the air in victory.

"It's fortunate that Gwendal has so many security men working for him. We've canvassed most of the city, and I believe I should tell you that the conservative estimate is that we'll know enough to find him in about two days"

Yuuri's jaw dropped. "Two days?! Wow... that's very fast, isn't it? How did you decide what places were completely impossible?"

Conrad munched happily on his muffin, suspected stress-induced tummy-ulcer having faded at the joyous prospect of his brother's safe return. "Some really intelligent things with computers, and the word algorithm was mentioned several times with much awe, I believe. Plus Gunter, Yozak and I tackled the criminal organisations, and we managed to... extract, on good authority, that nobody linked to them is holding Wolfram. I am sorry to disturb you in the morning, I know you aren't a morning person," Conrad looked meaningfully at disguised-Wolfram again, and added, "especially not this morning, but I knew you would be relieved. Gwendal only needed two caffeine tablets to keep him awake today after he heard the news, and mother has ceased putting pressure on Interpol to pursue this as a human-trafficking case. From what I understand, there's an area of only a few kilometers around the Grand Hall left to search. That means it's about from here to.... that park, can't remember the name, Yuuri, the one with the pretty blue-green fountain."

"I'm so... I don't know the words to say Conrad, hearing that. I even made up with Murata, yesterday, obviously huh?" Yuuri laughed nervously, trying to ignore the nauseating fluttering feeling in his gut, that refuse was about to hit the fan.

The fencer smiled and took another bite of his muffin. "We made most of the developments yesterday; right after I saw you I left to join Gwendal's personal search team. We were scouting until about three this morning, but the information we gathered made it possible for Gwendal to finalise where our last search effort should be." He dropped the wrapper, and reached for another chocolate muffin. They were much nicer than banana, no two ways about it.

And Yuuri was forced to concede that yes, despite everything that had occurred in the days that had preceded it, a startling amount of developments were made yesterday.

Up to and including Wolfram probably naked in his bed, but that didn't seem like the kind of thing to tell Conrad while they were having a makeshift breakfast, Yuuri having brewed them a pot of tea. So they talked about the weather instead, and what precisely Conrad would do to the kidnappers once he got his hands on them, while Yuuri just shuddered in personal terror, with an approving smile dancing on his face, because if the game was sure to be up soon, he would do his best to ensure that 'soon' wasn't right now.

Eventually Conrad took his leave, citing more people he had to scare the living daylights out of to get more Wolf-related information. At the door, perhaps feeling slightly high from the jubilation of an eventual conclusion for the current situation, perhaps because Conrad thought it was adorable that little Yuuri (who used to fall backwards like a tree being cut down when a fastball met his mitt) was all grown up and had a boyfriend and everything, but he chose to take a moment to share his observations.

"Yuuri" he said, voice calm and serious. "I believe it is my duty to inform you that you shouldn't leave your lover by himself... Poor Murata's curled up to face you on the bed. I wish you the very best of luck in all your romantic endeavours, Yuuri!"

And with a pat on his head and a smug chuckle, Conrad was away to try and look for a boy who had been within 20 feet of him a few minutes ago. Yuuri believed it to be poetic justice for the man making such an embarrassing comment, especially since now he had a rather disturbing image of Murata Ken snuggling with him, and that was an image he wouldn't pray on anyone.

Yuuri cracked his fingers, and went to put the kettle on again. Wolfram would appreciate being awoken with a cup of hot chocolate, and fresh in the first bloom of love, there wasn't much that Yuuri didn't want to do for Wolfram.

"I can't believe I actually fell asleep," said Wolfram, frowning into his mug full of steaming chocolate. He had been woken by the shrill whistle of the kettle, Yuuri away brushing his teeth and therefore unable to take it off the stove before Wolfram noticed.

"You were tired, nothing wrong with it. Plus don't you think it would have been hard to look convincingly asleep if you were awake and Conrad was so close by?"

"He's not exactly a paragon of attentiveness. I wanted to eavesdrop."

Yuuri hit Wolfram with a spoon.

"You know it's not nice to eavesdrop!"

Wolfram grinned.

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have minded me hearing in if I told him it was me afterwards."

"You're terrible!"

"Nope. I think charming was the word."

"Just shut up and eat."

Wolfram grinned and picked up a spoon. "Breakfast today is the table? I'd have preferred an omelette, but since this is what my boyfriend wants me to eat, far be it for me to say no."

And Yuuri realised with much horror that the omelette he had made was probably stuck to the bottom of the pan by then. He had clean forgotten to serve the blasted eggs, and black gunk was a terror to scrape off the bottom of a pan.

"Don't suffer yourself a heart attack Yuuri, just put the pan in the sink and let it soak. My strong baker's arms will scrub them out later. Wimp."

"A wire brush will work better than your machismo Wolf," said Yuuri distractedly as he ran water over the pan. Rainbows appeared in the water, oily residue over black gunk. He scrunched his nose at the burnt smell. "What cereal would you like then, Wolf?"

"Oreos!"

Yuuri snorted and hunted for the blue box. "That's tooth rot in a box, you know."

The blond toyed with a spoon between his thumb and forefinger, before tapping his nose with it. He smiled with his teeth showing, even though Yuuri had his back to him. "Never got a hole in my teeth, I don't think that'll change with one bowl!"

Wolfram's sweet tooth will be the death of him. The only reason he eats so much sugar is because he doesn't get pudgy. And he never gets zits. Which is completely unfair when I'm allergic to so many things that have me breaking out in a rash while he's chomping on deep-fried Mars bars!

Yuuri set the box on the table while Wolfram reached for a bowl in the drying rack next to the sink. The blond went back to his seat as Yuuri checked the refrigerator for milk.

He pulled a face at what he found.

"Wolf, there's only chocolate milk."

Wolfram whooped in delight.

Yuuri sighed and restrained the urge to demand Wolfram keep a better diet; there was no point in preaching to someone about the negative effects of consuming too much sugar when the person has been high on the sweet stuff for years and has not an ounce of fat to show for it (Wolfram could beat Yuuri to a pulp without a second thought, and has done so numerous times).

Instead he grabbed a banana and a seat opposite Wolfram (the second chair of their two-seat table), resting his head on the palm of his left hand. "I think we should start figuring out how to end this crisis, Wolf. Your brothers are starting to scare me, and my biggest worry is if by some miracle they don't find you with me, they'll assume you've been kidnapped and whisked away to foreign parts! Next thing you know we're at war with, with.... Sweden, because Gwendal suspects the whole country's populated with blonds to make finding you harder."

The banana was slapped out of his hand with a frown.

"I think the smell of the fruit itself's gone to your brain and made you hyper-paranoid, wimp. There's nothing to worry about."

"Swedes would disagree with you."

Wolfram snapped his fingers in front of Yuuri's face. "Stop obsessing with Sweden! Look, all we have to think about is where they should fine me. So long as it isn't here, there's no way anyone would even dream of suspecting the Mighty Wimp was involved."

Mighty Wimp was a much better pet name than princess, so Yuuri didn't bother getting riled. Instead he sighed and pulled his hair; it was his mother's folk remedy to alleviate a headache, and he needed all the alleviation he could get. It's not a simple situation! There'll be policemen involved, and maybe even tracker dogs and phone taps and helicopters and blood tests and bugs and things!

"Now Wolf," Yuuri said, trying to keep bursting anxiety to an absolute minimum. "Don't you think a lot of important people will want to know what happened these past few days? What do you tell them? And I'm scared that Conrad will stab your boss or something, because you disappeared on your way to work and neither of your brothers are very... sane right now."

Wolfram crunched little Oreos with a thoughtful look, before shifting to gnaw on his spoon. The blond had never quite grown out of his habit of teething; pen caps were mangled carcasses by the time he was done with them.

"I was just thinking that I won't say anything; PTSD or something, make big googly eyes at people, smile heroically. Then everyone will let it slide, so long as I'm okay."

"Wolfram, the police wouldn't stop an investigation just because you can lay the charm on thick!"

The blond returned to his breakfast after patting Yuuri's hand warmly.

"Then I'll just make teary eyes at Gwendal and say I don't want to talk to the nasty policemen. Then they'll be the ones with Conrad after them. Or worse yet," Wolfram's expression turned dark. "My mother."

Yuuri had a mental image of Conrad in full fencing gear racing after a patrol car shouting "Halt, in the name of the brother of Bielefeld!"

Celi would be right behind a sprinting Conrad, standing in an open-top jeep with Fan Fan at the wheel, hollering cheers of encouragement over a megaphone and smiling the way Wolfram smiled when he was in the mood for being a milder sort of evil.

He tried to hold his laughter, but it forced its way out as a strangled giggle. It would not be unthinkable for the two to behave that way. Gwendal was probably zooming up above in a micro-flyer, observing the chaos below with a grim smile.

"See? They're scary people!"

"Someone sounds very happy with his family suddenly," muttered Yuuri, smacking the side of his head in the hope of removing the look of terror on the pursued policemen from his mind.

Wolfram was done with his cereal and lifted the bowl to his lips, glugging down Oreo-flavoured milk and crunching the dregs of broken cereal.

"Hmmm, I do, don't I?" He smiled his brightest smile, and Yuuri barely managed to restrain himself from clutching his heart and weeping at the prettiness of it all. "Wow. So this is what it feels like to like your family." The blond rubbed his chin in contemplation. "It's... nice. Like I'm a super-spy who's gotten caught, through no fault of my own, of course, and a bunch of other spies that I thought didn't like me because of my super-ness actually really care about me and have come to rescue me from the clutches of the evil Mighty Wimp!"

"Sounds like the making of an action movie, Wolfram."

"I'll have my people call your people about story rights."

"I don't have people!"

The blond shrugged it off as though that was the most minor point in their slightly unhinged conversation. "Don't mind sharing, wimp. Basically, just have faith in me, alright? Whatever story I tell them, they had better believe it or I'll pretend to, like... go mute in shock, or something. We'll be fine."

Yuuri did his best impressions of a Hush Puppy, eyes drooping like the weight of the world hung from them. Over the years he had gotten better at telling when things would go horribly wrong; his sense of foreboding was so accurate that it sometimes felt like there was a little bird that would fly around in his mind shouting "Bad Omen!" a la a cuckoo announcing the hour.

There was a little blue bird squawking its voice box out in his head right now.

"I have a feeling all of this'll unravel and somehow, somehow hit me in the face!"

Wolfram waved it into unimportance.

"Like that's something to be worried about. If it hits you in the face, you can rest assured I'll be scarred right next to you, wimp. It's all my fault anyway, if Gwennie even tries to think of any funny business to do to you if we're found out, I'll shout at him constantly until he's too disorientated to do anything. You have my word on that."

Ha! I confess silly feelings to him and get accepted, and he thinks I'd let him get in any way hurt by any of this? I might be a wimp and mortally scared of Gwendal, but the least I could do is make sure he doesn't even get a slight concussion from the outcome of this craziness!

Yuuri smirked to himself with pride at how awesome he would be at defending Wolfram. The blond noticed and nearly groaned out loud.

Yuuri was a wonderful person, no doubt about that, sweet and kind and loving. But still he wouldn't trust the Oriental to set up an effective defense against invading butterflies, because every attempt Yuuri had made thus far in their long, long relationship to be the knight instead of the damsel in distress had resulted in Wolfram having to pull up his skirts and rush in to kick the dragon's head in before Yuuri lost a vital region.

I appreciate the wimp wanting to be a hero, it's a little cute even, but there is hopeless dreaming, and then there's Yuuri attempting to execute an effective rescue of any kind.

But credit deserved to be given where credit was due, and Wolfram appreciated the fact that you had to have a special kind of soul to always insist on helping despite a life-long track record of falling short of the mark.

So the blond smiled his brightest smile, the kind he had been told negated the purpose of having the flash setting on a camera, and cackled internally when Yuuri blinked (it was impossible to look directly at Wolfram's lips when he smiled like that. Even staring directly at the sun offered less risk, and this was a proven fact. Ask Yuuri).

"And if things get really out of hand, there is no doubt in my mind you would handle the situation so that the least number of people get hurt. You'd use your special Wimp power, Yuuri, and even back-dated bad karma can't defeat that."

Words, like performance-enhancing drugs, had an immediate effect on the physique when applied correctly. Yuuri's back had never been straighter, and his chest had never been as puffed up with pride as it was now under his pajamas. Words had power, and hearing a sort-of compliment from Wolfram's lips gave Yuuri what felt like enough energy to tackle a grizzly to the ground. An immediate, burning feeling that yes, I can do this! This will end well!

The situation felt… too perfect though, whispered the small, rational member of the consortium that made up Yuuri's conscious thoughts. Wolfram always insisted he could handle any situation, no matter how dire, by himself. To be included and praised as someone who could come to the rescue wasn't something that happened, because Wolfram did insist on tackling everything alone.

Yuuri eyed the blond with a thoughtful frown, and Wolfram cocked his head in confusion.

"What, wimp?"

Speaking slowly to make sure he had the words he wanted in the right order, Yuuri said, "Do you really mean that I could rescue us both if things went bad, or are you just being nice when really, you have no intention of getting me into trouble if it was your trouble and you don't want to share?"

Despite much thought, Yuuri suspected his message was a little garbled. It was a testament to how well they understood each other that Wolfram got the message perfectly clearly.

And even more surprisingly, with a little bit more thought Wolfram realised something he hadn't thought possible. This can't be true... God, I've been beaten by Wimp magic again.

The serious slant to those green eyes told Yuuri that Wolfram meant what he was about to say.

"Partly I said it to make you feel happy. It's what partners do for each other, wimp, so I wanted to do it. But really... I do believe that if things get too bad for me to handle by myself, well.... I'm surprised to say it, but I have this feeling that you really can save us all, when you really have to. I don't know Yuuri, maybe I've gone soft from not working so long, but I honestly mean it. If somehow the cops find out and things go very wrong, I know you'd be able to... fix everything."

Wolfram was frowning now too, though he wasn't angry. Just thoughtful.

"Because if there's one thing I learned from all this, wimp, it's that my family love me. But the second thing, and it's a really close second, the second thing is... You really can make things better. So yes wimp, I think it's actually possible that one day you'll be the one getting me out of trouble. And today might even be that day. Because you're Yuuri and I'm Wolfram and I love a lot more things now than I used to, and that's amazing too."

Oh my God, Wolfram's learned the art of delegation, and he's being so... Wolfram about it!

Yuuri could barely stop himself from lunging across the table and tackling Wolfram into a hug. Trust was no issue, but Wolfram was renowned for never depending on anyone for anything. He was the one who famously drove himself to the Emergency Room after breaking his hand rescuing a colleague from a falling granite mortar, even insisting on filling in the forms by himself with a throbbing hand.

Knowing that he figured in Wolfram's contingency plan, and that the blond had thought about what Yuuri could contribute to their little scheme... That's one giant leap for everyone involved.

The black-haired boy grinned crookedly in reply. It was a nice feeling, to have his favourite blond in the world figuratively leaning on him. The weight of that trust was reassuring, gave strength, even. Yuuri felt giddy with exhilaration he couldn't explain because despite being more human, Wolfram was still Wolfram and would not appreciate having the fact that he could not do it all repeated.

"You make me feel like a super-hero when you talk like that Wolf."

The blond snorted.

"I make myself feel like a wimp when I talk like this. You'd better not let word get out that I've become so... dependent, Yuuri, or I'm afraid I'll have to kill you, boyfriend or not."

Yuuri scowled.

"Of course I won't tell anyone!" Because if you need someone to depend on, I prefer for it to always be me. I'm a selfish wimp, but I think I'm allowed to be a little cunning for once!

"You better not".

A/N: For ryn, without whom I wouldn't have posted so fast. Uh, next chapter may be the last. I'm still writing it so I can't confirm anything, but it feels like there's maybe 2 chapters max, after which I doubt I'll write a long fic for KKM again. So, do enjoy everyone! I'd be delighted to finish this before the end of the year, guys.