Stolen Moments

[Beaver Dude]

Day 0 : Snapshots

[It's an old picture. Dull and smudged by time. The color's fading, probably by being sun-kissed which isn't at all the same as being sun-bleached.

Two children stand there, squirming and uncomfortable in their own skins. An old nun has her arms wrapped around them, big as a momma bear and twice as strong. She's smiling cheerily, eyes all but disappearing into the wrinkles. The children have yet to earn their wrinkles or their smiles.

They couldn't be more different. One of them's charcoal black with eyes of fire. Another has skin so fair it's nearly porcelain and it's topped by a head of salt and pepper hair. It's not, surprisingly enough, the nun whose hair - though graying - is still some shade of red and orange. It matches well with the autumn leaves.]

"No Caption."

[It's something of a tradition for orphans left on the Church's doorfront. Children without birthdays get new ones. Most don't like to share. These two would be a sterling example of piety and brotherhood would it not be for the fact made obvious by the picture:

Old grayhead and lampeyes both, apparently, hate cake.

"Dee and Riku's first birthday."

[The picture's been torn into three pieces and then taped back together. It's a funeral. A sunny day - which is ironic because while it's what she would have wanted, it's also so not what she would have wanted. Solemn-faced priests and stone-eyed nuns look on impassively. There's a spot of color in the tide of white and black: purple and green mar perfect skin. He's got bruises everywhere and blood beneath his nails. He's wearing yellow.

The child with fire-eyes is missing altogether.]

"Good-bye."

[nothito]

Day 1: Lost Time

Biology was such a pain.

The handsome boy was pouting once again as he stared out the window of the school, wishing the class period ended sooner then it did. Perhaps he should go to the nurse and try to get sent out of school? Maybe that would work. But where would he go? His only real friend was still in school too. The boy's pout deepened as he glanced at the clock for the fifth time that period. Still twenty minutes left. Could the class go any slower? Instead of paying attention, the fourteen year old boy let his mind wander.

Who was he again? He was Riku. Or rather, a clone of Riku. The original Riku was the son of his 'father' Even. 'Father' was a cold hearted sort of man, completely devoted to his job as a scientist. It was a wonder how he even got a wife, let alone a child. But alas he had, and the cursed boy had been named Riku. The boy was fair skinned with odd gray hair, a bright smile, and piercing blue eyes that seemed to glare right into your soul. Everything had been normal for the boy until at the tender age of four, his parents found out their little boy was soon to die of a rare blood disease in one year. Distraught over the thought of his precious little boy dying, Even devoted a year of his life to finding a way for his boy to live on. The deadline drawing near and no cure in sight, Even was left with but one option: cloning.

The clone was fully formed, rather ironically, on the day that the original Riku passed away. Even had been devoted to real thing, but the carbon copy was one looked at with much disdain. In fact, the baby clone was ditched at an orphanage for the first years of his life. Only in the past few years had he and Dee been adopted.

Riku frowned. Dee. Something had been wrong with him recently. His friend had refused to tell him exactly what was up and even tried to hide that anything was wrong, but they had known each other far too long for Riku to not know Dee was troubled by something. Mayhaps he could try to coax answers out of his friend. He had time to spare, and he knew Dee was in a class he found useless as well.

As the clone reached for his phone, a memory gripped him. Dee. He could remember himself and Dee. But the memory itself was fuzzy, and something else. What was the word? Darkness crept at Riku's vision as he cradled his head in his hands and leaned forward on his desk. As the memory flooded his brain, the word Riku was looking for came to mind:

Overpowering.

WHACK!

Another blow and he was on the ground, coughing heavily. Riku tried to climb back onto his feet but quickly fell over at Dee's feet as a foot collided with his side.

Their only assistant was dead, and now no one was left to protect them.

Dee was soon on the floor besides his friend before the nuns and priests left the two defeated boys to contemplate their wrong-doings. Riku shakily turned his head to look at the boy next to him. Dee was probably just as bruised as he was, but it was more difficult to tell considering Dee's condition. Slowly, Riku moved a bruised arm to touch Dee's shoulder and get his attention. It took a minute but eventually the dark child turned to face him.

'You alright?'

'As I'll ever be...'

The silver haired boy grinned brightly, though it was clearly forced. 'Don't worry. Eventually we'll be adopted. You don't have to worry about it Dee.'

'Who would want two badly bruised boys? One who looks like a demon and one who fights like one?'

'Dunno, but you can't think like that Dee. We'll be adopted, and we'll still be best friends. I won't let you despair. I'll protect you, just like always.'

'Yeah...Just like always...'

The memories faded.

The next thing Riku knew, the bell was ringing. Jumping up, the boy shook his head. What just happened? One minute he was getting ready to text Dee, the next the period was over. He could have sworn there was another twenty minutes left...But no matter. The period was over at least. Pulling out his phone, the clone left the classroom and sent a text to Dee.

'Hey D. U've ben quiet recntly. Sumthin ^?'

---

Focus.

Golden eyes darted back and forth behind sunglasses. Always remain alert. The mission was simple: protect the principle at all costs. He would not fail. In fact, this particular man had NEVER failed a mission. Failure was not an option for him. Perhaps those such as Dilan could afford to fail, but not him. He was the perfect guardian. He was Saï.

Efficiency, power, and the utmost vigil-

"SAÏÏÏÏÏÏÏÏÏ!"

Interrupting the man's thoughts and scanning was his ever so bubbly principle choosing a particularly random moment to pounce on him and cling to him. It would have been particularly embarrassing if she had managed to knock him over, but thankfully she was a very lightweight girl. The man himself had light blue hair, piercing golden eyes, an x-shaped scar on his forehead, and a scowl on his face. Coupled with the formal black suit and jet black sunglasses he was wearing, he appeared considerably dangerous. The girl on the other hand looked nothing of the sort. The long brown haired, golden eyed, and creamy skinned girl was dressed in an obnoxious yellow t-shirt with a friendly looking orange duck on it, a flowing red skirt, and black boots. They were supposed to blend in. Neither of them got the memo.

Currently they were in the apartment building heading toward the apartment of one of their allies. Or rather, former ally. The woman in question had been discharged for her recent utter defeat at the hands of her target. Saï and the girl, Dorothy, were her replacements. Their goal here was supposed to be extracting all useful information from the woman and relieving her of her guardian, but Dorothy was only here to see how the woman was doing. After all, they were friends.

The guardian groaned as the younger girl clung to him. He didn't respond to her call however, instead choosing to drag her along as she clung to his arm. They were close. He could smell the other exorcist.

"You don't have to be so quiet you know. We're buds, aren't we? You could at least play along every now and then," the girl pouted as she looked up at Saï, allowing herself to be dragged.

"Focus. Lest we end up like Shera and Dilan."

Dorothy frowned and said nothing else. He could be such a downer on a mission. Course, he was always a spoil sport.

Soon enough, the odd pair reached the apartment door, which was left unlocked, and entered the domicile. Almost immediately Dorothy leapt off of Saï's arm and bounded further into the room, searching for a room that looked like a bedroom.

"Oh Sheraaaaa~! Have no fear, Dorothy is here!"

"Please. You CAUSE people fear."

"Shut up Saï-puppy!"

"..."

[/blockquote]

[Beaver Dude]

DAY ONE : LOSING TIME

*doot-doot-dee-doot*

Dee reached into his back pocket and flipped open his cell phone. Blinked. Snapped it shut and counted until four.

Opened it.

The picture was still there. As was the caption.

Two Days Left

Vertigo gripped him. Breathing shallowly, he closed his cell and clumsily pocketed it.

Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.

_______________________

Scenery shifted as the bus raced past the outskirts of town, heading towards the city center; treeline gradually being reduced to a horizon of steel and cement. Dee stared out of the window, carefully ignoring the disbelieving snorts and the curious stares. He was in high school now. If he kept on hiding in oversized hoodies, he'd never adjust.

His scalp prickled as he heard someone giggle. Yeah, keep on staring. S'not paint.

They called him a reverse albino. It had something to do with genetics, mutations in his melanin gene and so on. He took a preposterous number of Vitamin D pills - and instead of chocolate, brown, beige or any normal hue, his skin was a charcoal black and completely devoid of hair. Freakish.

It didn't help that he was a midget. His genetic parents were reportedly of average height, and it wasn't like he'd finished growing yet so there was still hope on that front. No one could explain why his eyes glowed in the dark. It was only a pale glow, but pretty noticeable when the lights were all off.

Like in the picture.

Dee's mind shied away. He didn't want to deal with that. Not now. Maybe not ever.

_______________________


"Carpe Diem!" Mrs. Connelly barked. "Means seize the day!"

Dee rolled his eyes. Lacking pupils, it wasn't particularly obvious so the teacher didn't call him on it. She had nodded approvingly at his change in attire, but besides that hadn't commented overly much on his change in appearance. Dee was thankful for the small favour.

Mrs. Connelly could be... enthusiastic. Dreadfully so.

She'd cried after one of her students had gotten detention and apparently joined her wayward student for punishment. That particular individual had been embarrassed enough that he absolutely refused to get into fights on school property anymore.

Dee tapped his fingers on his desk.

Sinking into the familiar educational atmosphere, he finally relaxed.

“Children? How will you seize the day? Your futures are bright and for the taking! Remember that!”

“Remember…”
_______________________

*doot-doot-dee-doot*

Surprisingly, it wasn't Mrs. Connelly that woke him. But rather the familiar, and now for him, blood-curdling whine of his cell phone.

Dee wasn’t sure whether or not to be glad that Mrs. Connelly confiscated it until after class. His conscience prickled when he got it back and realized who it was.

'Hey Ri. Been bz.'

He fired off another text.

'Got something weird 2 show. Meet me @ mall?'

==============================

Shera coughed.

Dilan was at her side in an instant, box of tissues in one hand, herbal remedies in the other. She waved them away and continued to hack, letting the dry cough run its course. Blood and spittle speckled the bedsheets and probably Dilan as well, though if he was uncomfortable with the phlegm and fluids, he didn’t show it.

He held out the box.

She accepted, wiping her mouth and then patting him down with another.

“I’m alright, Dilan.”

She was fine. For a lady of eighty give or take some odd years.

Her body was rebelling against the sudden aging though. Things that were working fine still wanted to work fine. The struggle was tearing her apart. She wasn’t bitter. He didn’t seem to believe her on that count, though. Guardians never seemed to understand that there were some things that couldn’t be avoided or fixed.

"Oh Sheraaaaa~! Have no fear, Dorothy is here!"

Like Dorothy.

Shera broke into a genuine smile. “Dors! Sai! Wh- the main office didn’t mention you were coming - ! I’d dress more appropriately for the occasion…”

It was nice to dither. Took her mind off things she’d rather not focus on too long. Once upon a time, she and Dorothy had nearly been sisters. Now they could have easily been grandmother and grandchild.

Dilan acknowledged their coming in with a curt nod. He didn’t even raise an eyebrow at the Sai-puppy comment.

“Team Seven. Are you…” he looked at Dorothy who’d already run over to talk to Shera, “ready for debriefing?”

[nothito]

Day 1: Lost Time

*BZZZZZZT*

Unlike Dee, Riku had the sense to put his phone on vibrate.

In Algebra, the boy checked his phone while Ms. Castleberry was turned toward the board, showing the class how to solve a particularly difficult problem. Riku scanned the text quickly and shut his phone. Something weird to show him? Riku mulled it over while staring blankly at Ms. Castleberry to make it look like he was paying attention. Why couldn't Dee just tell him what was up? What could he possibly have to show him that couldn't just be explained? Riku frowned and looked at the clock. Five minutes left until the end of the day. He supposed he'd soon find out what was up.

Five more minutes of mathematical mumbo jumbo and the replica was free from the clutches of school for the day. No, for the next two days. It was Friday after all. Two full days of no school, and surprisingly he had no homework over the weekend that he had to do. It also meant two days to get some answers out of Dee about what was going on with him.

As he left the building, the replica opened his phone once more and finally replied to Dee's text as he headed off to the mall:

'Rgr tht. On my wy.'

---

While Shera's smile was genuine, Dorothy's was slightly forced.

The girl was ENTIRELY excited to see Shera. There was no doubt about that at all. But with her friend in such a condition, how could she even be happy at all? The last time team seven had seen the woman, she had been about Dorothy's age. Now it looked like she was on death's door.

What had caused the failure of the mission? Well, the two members of the team were of very different opinions. Dorothy believed that the target had simply been too strong for Shera and Dilan to handle alone. Why else would the Organization assign Dilan to assist her alongside Saï? The blue haired guardian was of a different opinion. The guardian's job was to defend their principle at all costs to themselves. Dilan was still alive and well while Shera had aged quite considerably. The fault lay with the incompetent guardian as far as Saï was concerned.

Dorothy moved like lightning to get to Shera's side, wasting no time in wrapping her in a warm embrace. "I told the office not to tell you so me and Puppy could surprise you!" Dorothy grinned cheerily as she let go of Shera and sat on the edge of her bed. "You look nice Sher-bear. Really, you don't have to dress up for me and Saï," the girl commented simply, taking the older woman's hand gently.

Saï leaned against the doorway as he and his partner entered. Beneath his sunglasses, which he had yet to take off, Saï was glaring at the other guardian. Saï did not accept failure when you were on a mission with him. Not even Dorothy failed a mission while he was around. If Dilan was going to be working with them, he'd have to prove himself to the blue haired man.

Dilan's offer for debriefing spared a brief glance in Dorothy's direction. No way she was even remotely listening to what Dilan had to say at the moment. Too focused on Shera. As usual, it was up to him to take control of the mission. Removing his sunglasses, the golden eyed man locked gazes with Dilan.

"Anything Dorothy misses she will be informed of later by myself. Proceed with the debriefing III."

[/blockquote]

[Beaver Dude]

daY oNE : LOSing TiME[/b]

Dee was usually the first one in and the last to leave. Today though, when the bell rang to the accompanying dissonance of stampeding human young (they'd packed their bags ages ago) Dee was among them. Mrs. Connelly sighed theatrically - the effect was somewhat ruined by the perpetual grin plastered on her face - and waved the class out. At the door, she caught his eye and winked.

"Looking spiffy, kiddo."

Dee turned away and refused to blush. Normal. He was pretending to be normal.

Oh well. A perk of his reverse albinism was the inability for his blushes to be detected. He stammered a quick thankyou and rushed towards the bus stop.

*doot-doot-dee-doot*

'Rgr tht. On my wy.'

A cloud passed overhead. For a moment, as the shade deepened, Dee looked conflicted. Gaslamp eyes darted back towards the school entrance - there were still blackboards to erase. Tiles to mop. Fish to feed. Then the cloud passed and the moment was gone. Dee smiled. Coming from him, it was a rare expression. His eyes' glow intensified, ratcheting up their luminescence from gaslamp to flashlight. Dee shoved the phone back into his pocket and impatiently waited for the bus to arrive.

Now that he was finally ridding himself of this - this burdenDee couldn't quite contain his excitement and felt time, traitorous excuse of a fourth dimension that it was, pass by with agonizing slowness. Waiting at the bus stop was cruel and unusual; the trip was indignantly wasteful; his two feet carrying him to the entrance of the Centennial Mall pure torture.

His breath hitched as he finally made his way to the Centennial Mall. He'd run faster than he'd ever run before. His lungs, feet, chest, ears all hurt.

Dee took a deep breath. Entered. For old times sake he whispered 'Open Sesame' to the automatic sliding doors.

==============================

"Riku... I... I think we're being stalked."

==============================

Shera smiled warmly at the fledgling exorcist, grasping her hand. She tried not to shake. "I'm not quite as limber as I used to be."

It was a pathetic attempt at humor. Shera felt it grow flat the moment it exited her mouth. She tried to smile on anyway about the situation. "I needed... a vacation, anyway. Some R and R."

There was a short pause as she stared out the window. Her voice cracked, frail with the weight of unaccustomed years.

"Dorothy... I..."

Dilan stared silently at the exchange. He nodded : Shera, for now at least, was in better hands than his own. Not that there were many people that were worse than him, at this juncture. He motioned to Sai - there was a time and place for everything. The two exorcists deserved their time together.

When they had retreated some scant meters away (guardians were always within eyesight and earshot) he took off his own sunglasses. His right eye had a pupil in the shape of an hourglass. It was his mark of shame, his brand of failure.

A warning to Sai if the man chose to accept it.

"I assume you've familiarized yourself with the case profile of subject 32C." He said, softly. "There's a note missing from the reports."

Dilan hesitated, eyes darting around the room. He lowered his voice.

"We're dealing with a Mussorgsky-class Timeless. At the very least."

[nothito]

Day 1: Lost Time

Riku folded his arms behind his head and yawned lazily as he lay in the usual spot. Where the heck was Dee? Even though they went to different schools, Dee's school didn't let out THAT much after his.

In the Centennial Mall was a particularly abandoned area, caused by the closure of some of the businesses that operated within the confines of the mall. There were a few shops still open in that section of the mall, but by large there was less activity and more privacy in this area of the mall as compared to the other sectors. This was the perfect place for Dee and himself. The fake and the monster. They needed to be out of the public eye, if only for a little while.

Riku was currently sprawled out on a bench. Originally he had been standing around waiting for Dee, expecting his friend to show up relatively quickly. However, after about a half hour of waiting, Riku had decided that relaxing on a bench was the best way to pass the time as he waited for Dee.

When Dee eventually arrived, Riku cast an extremely curious glance in his direction. Dee was literally running when he arrived. That alone was enough for Riku to leap to his feet and sprint over to Dee. Clasping his hands to the shorter boy's shoulders, Riku bent down slightly to look him in the eyes. "What? What's wrong Dee?" was the first thing that came out of the silver haired boy's mouth as Dee caught his breath from his run.

"Riku... I... I think we're being stalked."

It took a minute for Riku's expression to arrange itself and when it finally did it took the form of a broad, sly grin toward his friend. The silver haired boy straightened and turned from Dee. He tried to hold it in, but he couldn't hold back a few wayward chuckles from escaping his lips. Surely Dee was joking, right? Who on earth would be stalking THEM? As far as he knew, few people even wanted to be around them, let alone stalk them!

When calm finally settled on the usually serious boy, he turned back around and looked down at Dee with a smirk playing on his lips. "Uh huh, suuuure we're being stalked Dee. Who would want to stalk US? We're rejects, remember?" Riku laughed, folding his arms across his chest.

"What proof do you even have buddy?"

---

Dorothy was silent in the face of Shera's joking attitude. The younger woman knew that this was just Shera's way of trying to lighten the situation, but it wasn't going to help. Things were different now. The two of them could no longer hang out like they used to, what with Shera not only being old and frail, but sickly to boot. Dorothy would do her best, but there was no way things could be like they used to.

When Shera paused, seemingly at a loss for words, the usually cheerful exorcist filled the gap for her. "Shera...you don't need to put on a brave face for me. We both know this sucks, unimaginably so. The costs of yours and Dilan's defeat can't be just wished away, but maybe me and Saï can fix it," Dorothy sighed, before the effect of her last sentence hit her. The trademark grin returned to the brunette's face as an idea hit her.

"Maybe, just maybe, if we defeat whatever timeless beat you guys, we can recover your lost time! Yeah! I mean, there's gotta be a way to get back stolen time! Don't you worry Sher-bear, me and Puppy will fix you!" Dorothy grinned cheerily, hope in her eyes as she locked gazes with Shera.

"I promise. We'll help you guys out."

Saï, just in the other room, heard his young associates words and sighed. It was impossible. Or rather, no way had been discovered thus far for getting stolen time back from the Timeless. The Timeless, in essence, were demons that had been plaguing mortals for ages. They were monsters that traded on people's 'time', generally trading a random wish in exchange for a portion of the person's 'time'. However, the monster they were dealing with was not exactly like the weaker Timeless. Powerful Timeless like their current target could essentially steal a person's time against their will. It was actually unknown where exactly the 'time' stolen by the Timeless went, but right now it was a generally accepted fact that once it was taken, one could not retrieve it.

The guardian however, had bigger fish to fry then quashing the dreams of the neophyte exorcist. She would see for herself when they defeated the target. There was no miracle cure. Just the destruction of the Timeless.

As Dilan removed his sunglasses, Saï couldn't help but notice his right pupil. The sign of failure in a guardian. There was a unique bond between an exorcist and a guardian once they were officially assigned to each other. The effect of 'time' being stolen from an exorcist, while not having a direct effect on the guardian, caused the hourglass shaped pupil to appear on guardians. One hourglass for some 'time' being stolen. Two hourglasses for all 'time' being stolen, AKA the exorcist dying. Saï shook his head.

Pathetic.

"Of course," Saï replied in response to Dilan's assumption that he read the file for subject 32C. What good guardian wouldn't check all details pertaining to their mission? Of course, he HADN'T been informed of any details being taken out. Saï scowled to himself. Why would the Organization leave out an important mission detail? Especially considering the power of a Mussorgsky-class Timeless.

Besides the scowl, Saï betrayed no emotion about the situation, lest Dorothy glance over and sense something was amiss. "I'm assuming deadly force has been authorized in light of your failure?" Saï questioned, keeping his voice down to keep Dorothy from hearing. The exorcist wouldn't like this. Any authorization of deadly force essentially meant that any civilian casualties would be overlooked. Usually any civilian deaths caused by the guardian or exorcists would be met with a tribunal to determine whether punishment should be enacted, but in the case of powerful Timeless, such penalties were removed.

"Dorothy won't like this," the guardian muttered softly.

[/blockquote]

[Beaver Dude]

d y o e : LOS n TimE[/b]

Dee gave Riku a look.

Ostensibly, it was supposed to represent the fact that Riku’s response to Dee’s proclamation was a little lacking. A dramatic statement like that needed a to be replied by with a little more faith and a trifle less good humour. Stalking was one of those things you didn’t take in stride so easily.

Dee’s eyes were a terrible tell.

Perhaps because of their shared experiences, it was only with Ri that Dee ever truly felt at ease. His eyes flared accordingly, bathing the entire area with a soft, gentle glow. They switched off to a more reasonable intensity almost immediately after as Dee sobered up.

He flipped open his cell phone.

“Take a look.”

___________________________

[The file’s corrupted. Half of the image is dead pixels, another quarter is blurred enough that nothing can be gleaned from it. The majority of what is decipherable is a raging inferno. What’s most prominently on display is an eviscerated torso. It’s wearing yellow. To the right and above, Dee’s eyes are visible though the rest of him is corrupted data. The smaller child looks Riku in the eye as he says: “Until yesterday, I thought it was just me that was being pranked...”]
“Three Days Left”

___________________________

Dee pushed the ‘forward’ button, skipping to today’s picture.

___________________________

[The file’s slightly less corrupted than the last. A quarter of the image is dead pixels as opposed to half, and the blurred section is slightly better : a sign with the words ‘Tony B’s Deli’ can be made out if you squint and look sideways. There’s a head of salt and pepper hair attached to the torso now. Beside him, Dee’s holding a bloody knife.]
“Two Days Left”

___________________________

“…”

Dilan put on his sunglasses again. Light reflected off the lenses, hiding his eyes behind the glare. Shera looked down into her lap. Started to tremble.

“The Office has yet to confirm Triple-A status for 32C. Rules of engagement still require that 32C and bystanders to be kept alive.”

[nothito]

Day 1: Lost Time

Riku gave Dee a look.

Yes, it was a serious topic and definitely different from any jokes Dee had attempted before, but surely the boy had to be kidding. The serious expression on the boy's face was surely an act. In a minute or two, his short friend would burst into a grin and let Riku in on the joke...Right?

It was Dee's eyes that wiped the smirk off the handsome boy's face.

The bemused expression on the silver haired boy's face vanished as his partner in crime's eyes brightened and subsequently dimmed. The white hot intensity contained in those eyes made Riku take more notice of the pictures Dee had just opened up on his phone.

Riku's expression darkened as he gazed upon the two pictures. Just...what the heck was all this? The silver haired boy took the cell phone from Dee and peered closely at the pictures for several minutes. After several moments silence, Riku shut the phone and looked down at Dee. The boy's face was unable to be deciphered as it tried to adjust itself to fully capture his emotions.

"So...I'm gonna die, eh?"

---

Dorothy's head tilted as Shera looked into her lap and trembled. The exorcist placed a gentle hand on the older woman's shoulder and leaned down to try to catch Shera's gaze. "Did I say something wrong?" the innocent girl questioned simply. The exorcist hoped that Shera would look at her again. Dorothy could always tell if Shera was lying to her based upon her eyes. It wasn't that Dorothy didn't trust Shera, it was more that the older woman generally tried to spare the younger girl's feelings.

Saï saved his sigh of relief. The guardian knew that the order would likely come eventually. The agency was able to see view virtually everything that went on during a mission. If things started looking grim, he would get authorization, and knowing his abilities, things would get blood fast. For now though, his young associate's innocence could be preserved. If only for a short while longer.

Standing, VII glared down at the long haired elder member. Despite the difference in number between himself and III, he knew that HE was the superior one. Not this fallen warrior. The less time he had to spend around him, the better, lest his failure rub off on VII.

"Anything else I need to be informed of? If not, I request that you return to your recon and report back to me via the communicators when you've found 32C. We'll wait here until we recieve your transmission."

[/blockquote]

[Beaver Dude]

d : los t[/u]

Dee breathed a silent sigh of relief as Riku’s expression turned from teasing to solemn. He’d been half expecting... well, nevermind. Riku still trusted him, and that was the important part.

Finally, Riku spoke, his face a mask of conflicting emotions.

Chewing on his lower lip, the smaller student shook his head violently, aghast at Riku’s statement. “No! I’m not going to... to let that happen to you!” He sputtered, at a sudden loss for words. “Never!”

His exclamation was louder and shriller than his usual voice and several heads turned to stare curiously, even in this part of the mall. Dee reflexively hunkered into himself before realizing that he hadn’t been wearing a hoody today. He blinked and straightened. He was going to do this. He was going to rescue his friend.

Still.

Having decided it, he still hadn’t the faintest clue how he was actually going to accomplish this task.

“...maybe we should stay home for the next few days?”

==============================

Shera shook her head, trying to say no but all that came out were muffled sobs that didn’t quite translate very well in any language and yet translated all too well in every.

Finally she stopped, sniffed. “Allergies.” She croaked, face an expression of serene seriousness. “Terrible things.”

She started to laugh, weak, hiccoughing things that racked her small frame almost like sobs. The waning sunlight filtered through the blinds, crisscrossing her torso with light and dark. What was illuminated looked old and wrinkled, but in the shade she could have almost been mistaken for young. It was very nearly poetic.

Xaldin stared at the scene, looking vaguely conflicted. Vaguely, because whatever a Guardian was, emotions could never be worn on their sleeves. It was part of the aura and the mystique that made them who they were. Professionalism was sacrosanct. Even at times like these.

He turned back to Seven, shaking his head indicating that he had more to say.

“About that. We do have a contact inside the local police department.” He took a datapad out of his breast pocket and handed it to the blue-haired guardian: it’d present him with a list of names and codewords. It’d be terribly small, but such was the usual in small towns such as this one.

“Arrangements can be made. I have nothing more to add. As the briefing is over, you now tactical control over the mission. Team three is at your disposal.”