A/N: First things first, I've wanted to write a Rosenkruez based fic for a while, ever since I started reading Yanagi-sen's. So I feel due credit goes to her for coming up with the idea of basing a fic at Rosenkruez. I doubt she's the only one to do it, but she was the one who inspired me to do it. Hopefully, this will bear no resemblance in plot to Yanagi-sen's, and will be considerably shorter (I like long fics, but having written one that hit 30 parts already I don't want to bore you all to death again).
Basically, this is the story of how Schwarz came together, based around Brad. It ties in with New Rules, in several areas, but if you haven't read New Rules, most things will be self-explanatory. This could be seen as a prequel (yes, I know I promised a sequel, and this ties in to that as well).
Disclaimers: I don't own Schwarz, Rosenkruez or the rest of it and I can't be bothered to think up a witty way of saying that.
Dedication: for today's birthday girl, who knows who she is and probably won't read this for at least a month, but anyway…
Warnings: Um, sap, shounen ai, angst, yaoi, no doubt lots of references to torture and rape and nasty things done to children. We'll see as it goes along. I'll put warnings up on any parts that are particularly bad, but we'll rate this R now, rather than wait for later. Expect references to child prostitution (Schu), sexual abuse (Nagi) and some torture scenes (Farf). I don't know what I'm going to do to poor Brad yet. …
Prologue
Crawford stretched out on his bed, a box file balancing beside him. Nagi was on a school trip and Farfarello and Schuldig were on a mission. He hadn't seen the need to join them, and he didn't particularly feel like getting messy tonight.
There was a crack of thunder outside. The window showed a sky pregnant with storm clouds, huge drops of rain beginning to plunge out of the sky. Against the white wall the darkly bruised sky was ominous. The lights flickered as a bolt of lighting split into thirteen jagged shafts to attack the city.
Crawford slid his hand into the box and pulled out a handful of miscellaneous bit of paper. He kept most paperwork in his room, which was currently doubling as an office. Never relating to missions though. There was perfectionist, and there was stupid. It was just things like the weapon licenses (forged, but still useful), taking up three box files alone; Farfarello's medication records; Nagi's school records; Schuldig's criminal record… insurance and bills and tax details and mortgage information and every bit of paper most people are supposed to have but mislay were kept on two shelves in box file after box file in neat, stark grey.
The file he held was practically empty. A check, a letter and an adoption certificate were all it contained.
He studied the check with nostalgic bitterness. The handwriting was childish bordering on infantile, huge rounded letters that looked like they'd been copied off of a blackboard. It was signed by one Schuldig Schwarz. Schuldig could read signs and sign his own name, and that was as educated as he cared to be. Instead of money, the cheque was for the order of 'mein seele', 'my soul'.
Then the letter. Written in blood, it was a thank you letter from Farfarello. Written in Farfarello's own blood. Crawford wasn't a particularly religious person, but it made him think of signing a pact with the devil. This idea coolly amused him. The letter thanked him, and, more as a polite gesture than actually meaning it, it asked if there was anything Farfarello could do for Crawford to return the favour. When you save a man's life, you own that man's soul.
The adoption certificate was real, created by a young Nagi conscious of the fact he still had a legal existence in Japan. He was the only one of them who legally existed anywhere in the world. He'd hacked into Japan's Social Service's network and found himself, listed as still living with his parents. He'd changed that, putting himself in an orphanage and having Crawford adopt him. It was a lot of paperwork for the pre-teen to do, and the result was a small rectangle of paper declaring Crawford as his legal father.
Crawford smiled. Schwarz were all he had, and he had them. He owned them.
But they owned him, too. Not in paper, not in writing, not even in words. It was just known. Crawford had taken them on, made them his responsibility, and he couldn't abandon them. Co-dependency. They couldn't leave, he couldn't throw them out. Thank you, Rosenkruez, for your brainwashing. The mere idea of life without Schwarz was unimaginable for any of them.
Rosenkruez… He spent most of his time trying not to think of that place. It had been a nightmare, even for teacher's pet Bradley Crawford. But it seemed appropriate, now. They weren't here, and once, a long time ago, there had been a time when they weren't there at all. Lightning flashed again and the room was plunged into darkness. Well, it wasn't as though there was anything else for him to do that evening…
I know, that's a really bad lead in for a flashback. Crawford just randomly decides to have a flashback, rather than check the fuses. Ah well. I'd ask if anyone thought it was worth writing the rest, but I'm going to do it anyway. I write for my pleasure, and the fact people get pleasure from reading what I write is an added bonus. If it starts to suck, you're welcome to stop reading and flame me instead. I'll still keep writing. Of course, reviews are wonderful… hinthint