“Ah, so this is the famous Schuldig. Master Telepath at age twelve. Or, are we sure it’s twelve? Can’t really tell can we? Heard you lost some of your identity while your telepathy was emerging. That’s a shame, isn’t it?”

Schuldig wanted to scream, ‘who the fuck do you think you are?’ at the patronizing asshole. His name was Rourke. He was a telepath in his early thirties with field experience and awful teeth. Brad had mentioned him about a year ago. He’d retired from field work when a target had injured his right leg, and he’d been left with a limp. Now he trained people. Part of playing the game was controlling the urge to swear at his superiors, although Schuldig still refused to think of them as his betters.

“I’m pretty sure I’m twelve.” Schuldig responded in an even tone.

“Well I’m not sure I like the look of you. Runty, I think. You’re not going to be much of a fighter, I can tell. We’ll have to put you to work with long range weapons. You’re going to be a pretty one though. Maybe that can be of some use.” Rourke said. He’d taken Schuldig’s chin in his hand and was turning his face from side to side, inspecting him.

“Pretty?” Schuldig repeated, as he recoiled from Rourke’s grip. His roommate, who was watching the exchange from her bunk, giggled. Brad would have stood there and taken it, but Schuldig’s instincts still popped up every now and then. “I’m a boy, I am not pretty.”

Rourke laughed. “Well you might be handsome some day, but at twelve you’re still awfully pretty for a lad. It’s not a bad thing, comes in dead useful with some of the targets we have to go after. And you’d pass fairly easy for a girl if you let that hair grow and the target was drunk enough. I think you’ll make an excellent assassin. Still, I’ve got to interview that precog today too. I’ve heard you’ve worked with Brad Crawford some already?”

“Yeah, we’ve met.” Schuldig answered.

“Good, good. Well if I accept him too then we’ll be on the plane together tomorrow morning. You, me, Sylvia Lin and Blanca Wagner. Training’s going to start in Quebec City, of all places. I did my training in Montreal. Wonderful country, Canada. I’ll see you tomorrow Schuldig.”

“Good night Mr. Rourke.” Schuldig said politely. Rourke nodded as he left the small room.

Schuldig’s roommate, Yasmine, looked at him incredulously. “You’re going to train to be an assassin already? Wow. I bet you’ll be at Esset or something in like a year. Remember me when you’re all professional Schuldig, won’t you?”

Schuldig rolled his eyes. “I’m probably never going to see you again Yasmine. You know, since you’re so dumb they’re probably gonna kill you within a year.”

“They are not!” Yasmine whined. She sat down on Schuldig’s bunk next to him, a little closer than he would have liked. His last roommate had been a boy, and he’d liked that better. Yasmine was almost the same age as him, had a crush on him, and he found her infuriatingly annoying. Something about girls just pissed him off.

“Are too. My best friend’s a precog.” Schuldig reminded her.

“Yeah, but you’re not.” She shot back. “Schuldig…”

“What?”

“Since you’re going to leave tomorrow and all…and I’m never going to see you again, could you…could you be my first kiss?” She asked in a small voice.

“Ew, no! Get away from me.” He stood up and walked the two feet away from her the tiny room would allow. He wondered if his room in Canada would be bigger.

“Fine, you don’t have to be so mean about it. I hope my next roommate’s nicer. You’re cute and all, but you’re a jerk.” She snapped.

“M’not cute. Or pretty.” He said with a scowl.

“Pretty boy.” Yasmine teased. “And it’s not just me who thinks so. Even Rourke thinks so. I heard him."

“Of course you heard him, he was here two minutes ago. If I kiss you will you shut up for the rest of the night?”

“Cross my heart.”

“Fine. It’ll be worth it.” He decided. Yasmine giggled, then stood before him with her eyes closed, waiting. He screwed his eyes shut, leaned forward and gave her a quick peck on the lips. It lasted a fraction of a second, but he still wiped his mouth with the back of his hand afterwards. “Ew.”

“That was quick.” Yasmine noted.

“You said you wouldn’t talk.”

“A kiss that short’s only worth about five seconds silence.” She pouted.

“Well I’m not gonna make out with you!” He yelled.

“Fine.” Yasmine sniffed. She sat down on her bunk and calmly smoothed the wrinkles in the pants of her jumpsuit. “I guess I’ll just sing for the rest of the night.”

“I hope your next roommate is a leper.” Schuldig growled, as she launched into a shrill rendition of 99 bottles of non-alcoholic beverage on the wall.

***

The next morning Schuldig met a girl who improved his opinion of the gender a little. Sylvia Lin turned out to be a particularly talented telekinetic who also had the attention of many of the Rosenkreuz administrators. She was closer to Brad’s age, with a pale heart shaped face, plump pink lips and silky black hair grown to her waist. She was beautiful and sensual and Schuldig made an idiot of himself staring at her. He got the impression she didn’t find him terribly bright, and it made him wonder if he was as annoying to her as Yasmine had been to him.

By the end of their flight to Canada Sylvia was irritable, but Rourke seemed in a good mood. He’d sat next to Miss Wagner, the senior precog that had come along to help with Brad’s advanced training. Brad would also be working with Rourke on team dynamics. Schuldig wasn’t supposed to know anything about this yet, but Rosenkreuz was in the negotiating stages with Esset to transfer Brad as the team leader of an assassin group that would hopefully include Schuldig. Rosenkreuz was pushing for Sylvia to be the team’s telepath, despite that being her secondary talent, but Brad was anxious to avoid her for reasons a love struck Schuldig could not fathom.

A particularly roomy car met the small group at the airport terminal exit for the drive to their quarters. Schuldig and Brad were stunned to silence, staring at the first bit of luxury they’d seen since entering Rosenkreuz, and in Schuldig’s case the first bit he could remember. Sylvia was quiet too, but that was probably more due to her reticent nature.

Rourke chuckled upon seeing the boys’ expressions. “Now, now…don’t get too cozy with this. Blanca and I, we’re top dogs in this organization, and as you can see they treat the top dogs well enough. It’s something to aspire to. But after your training’s done with, the three of you go right back to the bottom and have to work your way back up to this level. And the bottom’s pretty low.”

“Yeah I think we’ve all seen the bottom. There are outhouses nicer than the rooms at the Telepath Barracks.” Schuldig pointed out. Blanca snorted, but Rourke didn’t seem to find it funny.

“I see we’re going to have to work on the proper tone and etiquette one uses when speaking to their betters.” Rourke muttered, grey eyes narrowed. Blanca rolled her eyes.

“Now Rourke, there’s something to be said for an open relationship with your pupils.” Blanca Wagner was a short woman with a kind face, light blond hair and a small smattering of freckles over her nose. Schuldig couldn’t work out whether he trusted her or not yet, but he did decide he was jealous of Brad. There seemed to be a lot more nice precogs than telepaths.

Blanca winked at him. (spoken in German, a language the author does not know) <I like to see a little humor in my kids, but Rourke here’s got a stick in an inappropriate place. Let me know if he gives you too much trouble.>

“What was that?” Rourke snapped.

“She said you have a stick up your ass.” Schuldig deadpanned. Rourke glanced at Blanca with a raised eyebrow, but she only chuckled and shrugged.

“I may have. Consider that an impetus to brush up on your German. Honestly Rourke, you’ve spent the last thirty years of your life either living in or traveling profusely to Deutchland. Did you always rely on translators?” Blanca asked.

“Thoughts are universal.” Rourke snapped back.

“Well I have taken the courtesy of learning your language, you might do the same since we will be working together for the next year and a half.” Blanca said.

Sylvia, who had been staring out the car window, turned suddenly to face the adults. “I thought this training was to take at least three years.”

Blanca chuckled again and cast an endearing glance at Brad. “Well let’s just say I have a feeling we might get things accomplished quicker than that.”

<Brad knows German.> Schuldig said to Blanca. She grinned.

<He’ll speak it like a native by the time I’m done with him. And Sylvia here knows six languages already, German included. So we can have a good time irking Rourke here with it. Look at him now, did you notice he gets really red when he’s annoyed, even when he’s trying not to show it?>

<He looks like a tomato.> Schuldig agreed. Sylvia rolled her eyes and turned back to the window, but Brad was smiling too.

The house Rosenkreuz had provided for their training while abroad was at least as nice as the car. It was older, and located in the Old City portion of Quebec City, which happened to overlook a hill that was more like a cliff. Schuldig liked standing on their porch railing, because if he looked straight down he could almost forget he was even on a building. Rourke, showing his character again, complained loudly of how inadequate the quarters were for someone of his and Blanca’s status. It irked him that there weren’t enough rooms for them all to have their own.

“Honestly Rourke, us girls can room together.” Blanca said soothingly. Sylvia looked a little put out. She’d been standing close to Brad with a hopeful expression on her face. “And I’m sure the boys won’t mind sharing a room. I’ve heard they’re already friends.”

“But the indignity that we’d have to!” Rourke exclaimed.

“Just take the master room with the huge private bath, how different could that be from your expectations?” Blanca asked.

“Could be worse, I could be rooming with Schuldig.” Sylvia muttered as she dragged her suitcase away. She was so quiet Schuldig almost missed it, but he was still stung. He decided to try to improve her opinion of him.

“Do you want me to get that for you?” He asked, reaching for her suitcase. She looked at him as though he were vermin.

“No.”

“Oh. Okay then. What?” Schuldig asked, noticing Brad grinning at him.

“This is a new side of you. If it makes you feel better you can take my suitcase.” He offered.

“Yeah, bite me.” Schuldig snapped.

“Isn’t she a little old for you?” Brad asked as the two entered the room Blanca had designated for them.

Schuldig shrugged. “Four years isn’t really that much. Some women prefer the company of younger men.”

“I don’t know if I’d call you a man yet Schuldig. Runt, maybe.” Brad teased. He emphasized his point by using Schuldig’s head as en elbow rest, one of his favorite ways to bait him. Schuldig shrugged away with a scowl on his face.

“I’m due for a growth spurt, you’ll see. Someday I’ll be taller than you.”

“No you won’t.” Brad said calmly.

“How do you know?” Schuldig snapped, and Brad only answered with a grin. “Yeah, yeah, but nothing you See is certain. I could be!”

“No, no I’m sure on this one. You really won’t be.”

Schuldig flopped onto his bed angrily, and Brad wondered if he’d taken it too far. “You’ll be taller than Sylvia.” He added. Taking the dazed smile on Schuldig’s face for a good sign, he decided to leave it there and went in search of Blanca.

He found her in their empty kitchen, with a pad of paper and a pen in her hand. “Oh, hello Brad. I was just making a shopping list. Do you like Brad, or would you prefer Bradley or something else I don’t know about?”

“Brad’s fine. Actually I got a little used to people snapping Crawford at me.” He admitted.

“Mm. After my training was through I was determined no one would ever yell Ms. Wagner to get my attention ever again. Is there anything in particular you’d like me to get for you at the grocery store?” She asked.

“Not really. This freedom of diet thing’s going to take some getting used to after four years without it.” He said.

She laughed. “That it will. Is there something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yes…I was wondering about Rourke. Since we’re going to be living with him for the next year and a half…have you worked with him before?” He asked carefully.

“If there’s something you want to know Brad, you really should just say it. I know you’re good with coaxing people, I’ve seen you at it. It’s an admirable trait. But so am I, so let’s save time and be direct with each other.” Blanca put the pad and pen on the counter and sat down at the table. She pulled out a chair for him and he sat down.

He hesitated before speaking. “I’ve Seen some mixed things about him…I’m not really sure how to feel about it, but I have this nasty feeling about him…that he might do something…”

“To you?” She asked. “Do you not feel safe around him?”

“No, it’s not me. I…I feel like he’s going to do something to Schuldig. And if I don’t protect him…It’s going to be serious.”

“I see. Did you mention anything to the Administrators?” Blanca asked seriously. Brad shook his head.

“I was worried they wouldn’t let Schuldig and I work together. And I intend to stay with Schuldig as long as I can. Our strengths complement each other and we trust each other. That’s important, and it normally takes longer to cultivate. I don’t want to have to start from scratch again with a new partner.”

“Too true.” Blanca said. “My field partner and I had a wonderful relationship. If you’re going to make it in this work you need to know your partner has your back, I certainly won’t fault you for trying to keep Schuldig safe. Just keep me informed, I guess. Let me know if you See anything…sketchy, and I’ll return the favor.”

“Alright.”

“As for your first question, I’ve only worked with Rourke a couple of times.” Blanca admitted, but there was something in her tone that made it clear she’d formed a pretty solid opinion on him regardless. “I will say this though, when he’s had troubles, and he has, it usually comes down to his being overly fond of luxuries-“

“Like the rooms?” Brad asked.

“That, yes, and pretty young boys.” She said, watching his expression, which turned fearful. “I think we’re on the same page then. He likes the little dear’s hair, something about blonds…anyway, that’s something we can have a measure of control over.”

“But if he notices, won’t he-“

“There’s a public pool in a hotel down the road a little ways. They use far too much chlorine. Why don’t you kids make use of it sometime? Hair as fair as that might attract a greenish tinge, but then it might not, and you’d hardly be expected to have Seen something that mundane in advance.” Blanca said innocently.

“Right. Thank you for your help Miss-“

“Please dear, call me Blanca.”

“Right. Thank you Blanca.”

“You’re welcome Brad.”