Unlimited Psychic Squad....Bit different

Beginning

From the monitor in the surveillance booth, Andie watched the two sleeping forms in the dark infirmary room. Kaoru, the red-haired esper girl, was conked out on the second bed. Earlier, she had volunteered to give Hyoubu some of her blood.

That girl was still a mystery to Andie. Actually, everyone in the building was. Here were B.A.B.E.L.’s best and brightest, including their prized espers The Children, and the most powerful of them had just a few hours ago willingly bled for a known terrorist. There was also the fact that Hyoubu kept calling her “Princess”. Like the Princess Magi and Yoh had been talking about… the one the Catastrophe had been named after?

She could have broken her brain trying to figure that one out, but in all actuality she was giving it little thought. First and foremost in her mind was the fact that no one would tell her why the hell Hyoubu had needed that blood transfusion in the first place.

She clenched her fists. She could still feel the weight of Hyoubu’s body as he had collapsed against her.

That Hyoubu had lost consciousness after his incredible display out at sea was nothing unexpected, she supposed. It could have been simple exhaustion. But the relief with which he had reacted to Andie’s nullifying ability, the way everyone here treated him like glass, and that new fainting spell…

When had she started caring so much? Hyoubu had begun as a simple mean to an end. He was Yugiri’s guardian where Andie couldn’t be. They had an understanding, a deal. The girl was the only thing that brought them together.

But now… here she was, and her heart was ripping in two. Yugiri needed her. She had to go after her, to get her out of the USEI’s clutches. But her feet wouldn’t move. As long as she didn’t know that Hyoubu would be okay, she was rooted to the spot. Unable to sleep, she had slipped out of her “guest room” and sneaked in here just to check that Hyoubu was still breathing. The guy she had found watching the monitors lay on the ground, out cold.

Shaking her head to herself, she sighed and straightened. She might as well go back and try to catch a few hours of shut-eye. She wasn’t doing herself any favor fretting like this. If anyone at P.A.N.D.R.A. heard about it, they would have a field day.

She was about to turn away when she did a double-take at the screen. The form in Hyoubu’s bed was moving.

Hyoubu sat up and spent a long time looking at Kaoru. Hinomiya could only imagine what he was thinking, watching that girl barely older than Yugiri sleep. To someone like Hyoubu, they must all have seemed like children.

Hyoubu got up. Andy nodded to herself and silently let herself out.

*timeskip*

By the time Hyoubu teleported, fully dressed, to the tree-line in front of his window, Andie was waiting. She turned the key in the ignition. The headlights of her stolen car came on, pointed straight at that black uniform that would have otherwise blended in the night.

Hyoubu threw an arm in front of his face, grimacing. When he recovered enough to recognize who was at the wheel, he stared. His eyes were intense, even in the less than ideal lighting. Andie’s stomach twisted, just a little.

“Get in,” she said, aiming for bored nonchalance.

Instead of complying, Hyoubu stood his ground and sank his hands in his pockets. Looking at him, one would have thought they had all the time in the world.

The silence stretched, became uncomfortable. Despite herself, Andie fidgeted.

“You owe me the end of that story, I think.”

She scowled to hide her relief.

“Not my fault you fainted before I could finish.”

If she was expecting an explanation, she was disappointed.