Involution

Satoshi sat on the couch, wrapped up in his blanket, looking
miserable

and tired. Daisuke had changed out of his phantom thief clothes and
made

some tea. He now sat down next to his lover and held out a mug of the

steaming liquid. Satoshi took it gratefully.

"Dark will find him," Daisuke said softly.

"I was so stupid... sending him out in this weather."

"Sato... Krad’s a demon, a magical being. Like Dark he doesn’t have
the

same problems we would with this kind of weather. And if he had not

wanted to go, I doubt you could have made him."

Satoshi sipped at the green tea, expression tight. "I was irrational."

"Well, you’re only human." Daisuke leaned lightly against him. "Despite

your claims to the opposite."

That drew a little smile. "I never claimed to be anything else but

human."

"Could’ve fooled me in the past." He grinned, then grew serious.

"Satoshi, he’ll be fine. They’re both the most resilient beings I’ve

ever known. It’ll be okay."

Satoshi placed the tea on the low couch table and snuggled against
him.

Daisuke wrapped his arms around his lover and placed a little kiss
on

his brow. He understood Hikari’s worries. He would be worried too,
but

right now all they could do was speculate as to what the reason for

Krad’s continued absence was. Maybe in the end, it was something simple

and curious, maybe something funny.

Somewhere deep down inside though, Daisuke knew it was serious. He
just

hoped it wasn’t too bad. They needed a break. Satoshi and Krad needed
a

break. Too much had happened to them and the cold had added to the

stress.

"It’ll be okay," he murmured, stroking over his lover’s hair.

It’ll be okay.

Please.

* * *

Dark found his counterpart in the middle of the small forest, lying

between the tall trees, completely still. His wings were out, one almost

buried under him, the other semi-folded. Snow had started to cover
the

white-clad, blond form, making him close to invisible in the wintry

landscape. There was a lot of debris from his crash all around, twigs

and leaves and branches. Dark touched down and ran over to the silent

man.

"Krad!" he called, kneeling down.

There wasn’t a twitch.

With careful hands he cleaned away the snow, grimacing at the mudt
he

found underneath. Krad’s crash had disturbed the frosted ground,

probably because of his magic, melting it briefly, only to freeze again.

The mud was covering most of the white clothes. The long, blond hair
was

a mess, too.

"Damn, what happened to you?" he murmured.

A soft moan answered him and Dark carefully wiped dirt and snow away

from the pale face.

"Hey," he said softly as the golden eyes cracked open.

"Dark," Krad breathed, then coughed painfully. "Why...?"

"Been looking for you all over. You hid well."

Another cough and the inhuman eyes slid closed for a second. "Hurts,"
he

mumbled. "Voltage... got me..."

Dark grimaced and he looked up, seeing the top of the near-by tower.

Shit... If Krad had crashed into the power lines, it was the explanation

for the black-out, as well as for the burn-out of his magic. The small

amount he was emanating was worrisome and Dark laid a gentle hand on
the

cool chest, transfusing a little of his own.

Krad weakly batted at the helping hand. "No..."

"Don’t be childish. You need it."

"You... too..."

"Yeah, well, but I got some more."

There was a soft sigh. Dark ran a practiced eye over the injured man,

lingering on the obviously hurt wing.

"You’re pretty banged up."

"I... noticed."

"Can you get rid of the wings? It would help carry you out of here."

"Leave me... here."

"Are you crazy? Suicidal?"

Krad smiled dimly. "No, just a... realist. You can’t... carry me...

home. You’re out of power as well."

Dark glowered at him. "I can and I will. With your wings out or not!

It’ll be more painful for you if you don’t reduce them!"

Krad regarded him silently for a moment, then nodded briefly. Dark

braced himself because he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

And it wasn’t.

Fingers clenched into his forearms as Krad tried to hold back the scream

of pain, but he lost. It was muffled in Dark’s clothes as the demon

curled up, his whole body coiled so tight Dark was afraid he’d break

something else, and then the tremors started. Whimpering in agony,
Krad

held on to his other half, seeking strength and shelter in one as he

managed to reduce the wings and hide them back inside his body, broken

or not.

Finally he lay limp, breathing spasmodically, almost hyperventilating,

and Dark found himself stroking the wet, messy hair, talking softly
to

him.

But it wasn’t over yet. He still had to get him home, and that would
be

even worse.

"You ready?" he whispered into the closest ear.

"No," came the soft groan.

Dark smiled slightly. "We have to get you home and to Satoshi."

That roused him a little. Probably the name of his host.

"He’s worried, Krad. Almost ran out of the house with me."

"Sick," Krad mumbled.

"Yeah, he is. And so are you. You two make a great pair." He grinned
a

little. "C’mon, let’s go."

 

The way home was a blur to Dark as he balanced the injured man in his

arms, flying as fast as he dared. Krad had lost consciousness again
and

it didn’t look like he was coming around any time soon either.

What did you do to yourself? he thought sadly. Why? Why did you go
and

look for me when you knew I can take care of myself? Were you that

worried about me?

* * *

Dark walked into the room, carrying an unconscious and thoroughly wet

Krad in his arms. Daisuke was on his feet in a second, eyes wide.

"What happened?"

"Krad?" Satoshi croaked hoarsely, coming to stand on unstable legs.

"What...?"

"Got caught in the storm," Dark said briskly. "Hit some power cables.

He's pretty much out of it."

"We got to get him clean and dry," Daisuke decided and led his partner

and his unconscious other half over to the bathroom. "Get those clothes

off, Dark."

Dark, who was just as wet as Krad, did as he was told. He removed the

soggy clothes, dumping them onto the floor, then he and Daisuke

proceeded to wash and dry the unresponsive form. Satoshi leaned against

the wall, pale as a sheet and feeling sick, but he doggedly remained

where he was. Wide blue eyes were on his partner.

"What happened to his back?" Daisuke asked quietly, carefully brushing

the towel over the dark bruise there.

"He must have tried to evade the hail coming in, went deeper and hit
the

power lines. He broke a wing when he crashed." Dark’s fingers brushed

through the wet strands of blond hair, carefully untangling it. It
was a

mess. The long strands were knotted. "He had to dematerialize the wings

or I couldn’t have carried him here, so the injury ends up as a bruise

on his back."

Satoshi came over, swallowing hard. He sank down shakily, touching
the

demon carefully. There was no reaction.

Dark made a noise of displeasure, unable to work with the blond hair.
It

was impossible to get it unknotted. In the end he reached for the

scissors and unceremoniously cut a good length of the pony tail off.

Daisuke stared at him and Satoshi made a strangled sound. The hair
was

still pretty long, now ending somewhere past his shoulder blades when

open, but it wasn't the inhuman length of before.

"What?" Dark asked, annoyed. "You want to untangle the mess? Be my

guest!"

"We’ve got to keep him warm," Daisuke decided, not answering the

question.

They carried Krad into the bedroom and Daisuke got out clothes; a

sweater, turtleneck and sweat pants. Socks followed.

They finally had the tall form under the covers, Satoshi remaining
at

his side, gazing at the pale face, lost in thought. Krad had started
to

shiver and there was an unhealthy addition to his breathing.

"It's your cold," Dark sighed. "He caught the bug, so to speak, through

you. Indirectly. I know I was feeling sick when Daisuke had one as
a

kid. With all his defenses down, weakened by the accident, the bug
could

even infect a magical being like us."

Satoshi took one lax hand, squeezing it. "I’m sorry," he murmured.

"C’mon." Daisuke touched one narrow shoulder and urged Satoshi to get

up. "You should be in bed, too."

"Can’t leave him," Satoshi argued stubbornly, trying to fight back.
He

was too shaky, though. It was a half-hearted fight.

"You’re just as sick as him," his lover answered, shooting a pleading

look at Dark, who had changed into dry clothes in the meantime. "Dark

can take care of him."

"He’s my partner," Satoshi tried again.

"Dai’s right, Satoshi. You need to get better," Dark told him firmly.

"Krad can't merge with you right now and he has to the moment he's

conscious enough to initiate it. His energy levels are abysmally low.
He

wouldn't even be able to power up a light bulb. That means you’ve got
to

be the healthier of the two of you. Now go, rest, sleep, whatever...

shoo!"

Satoshi looked like he wanted to argue again, but then he deflated.
He

shot a long look at the blond demon, then let himself be guided out
of

the room.

"Dark, you’ll be okay?" Daisuke asked.

The kaitou nodded. "Sure. I'm in much better shape. When he and Satoshi

merge, I'll come back, okay?"

"Okay."

The door closed and Dark was alone with a very sick Krad, who was

shivering uncontrollably by now, trying to bury in the mattress.

"You really are accident prone," Dark murmured and settled down on
the

bed.

Krad moaned softly and curled up.

The other sighed and stroked over the damp hair, carding his fingers

into the silky strands.

"So much for survival instinct, hm? You searched for us, knowing the

weather. It was hailing, you fool!"

Krad coughed a little, sounding raw and painful. Dark winced, noticing

that the shivers didn’t die down.

"Fool," he repeated. "Why did you do such a thing? Why didn’t you wait?

Satoshi was worried, hm?" He smiled tenderly. "So you did it to calm

him. You really do have a huge soft spot, my friend. You have changed
so

much."

Dark looked at his other half, his antithesis, the demon he shared
more

with than a common origin. So much more. But the last weeks hadn’t
been

the best between them.

All because of Unity. An innocent piece of art created by Satoshi that

had upset Dark more than anything else that had happened between them
in

the past. Everything else had deteriorated from there. Krad had pulled

away, refused to communicate with him through the common realm and

connection they shared, and the wariness had risen. It was as if the

demon saw an enemy in him all of a sudden.

It had hurt.

Well, in the beginning he had been as stubborn as Krad. He had refused

to take the first step, but the separation and silence had started
to

eat away at the kaitou.

When did I start to depend on you? he mused. When was it important
that

we talked? For three hundred years we fought, but for close to a year

now we’ve been allies and... friends?

Dark gazed at the unconscious man.

Friends, hm? I’d like to think we are. I want us to be.

He ran a hand over the damp, blond hair. So different from his own
black

mane. Everything about Krad was different – except for his soul.

You’re just as vulnerable. You’re just as sensitive. You have a soul
not >unl>unlike mine. But you’re more quiet, not so outgoing, not so... open.
My

opposite. My balance.

Dark smiled at that, resting his hand on the demon’s, interlacing their

fingers.

"I need you," he murmured. "I need you and I think you need me."

There was no answer, of course.

"I’m sorry about my reaction from before. I’d do anything to make it

disappear, to forget it all. I was unreasonable."

Krad murmured softly, seeking his presence, his warmth, or at least
Dark

hoped he did. Without conscious thought he lay down next to him.

"You changed," he repeated, voice a murmur. "We both did."

Krad couldn't stop shivering. Dark hesitated a moment, then threw

caution to the wind and slid under the covers. He curled himself around

the blond demon, holding him. Krad molded himself against the

dark-haired kaitou, sighing again, quieting down after a while. Dark

smiled tenderly and rested his head against one narrow shoulder.