Forever Caged

Disclaimer: I don't own Ai No Kusabi nor do I make any money from this fanfic. However, I do own all the original peeps I've chosen to invade the AnK world.


Rating: NC-17


Pairings: Iason/Riki, Raoul/Katze, original characters and novel character pairings.


Parts: 98 of  ?



~~**Forever Caged**~~




On his knees, Niko glared up through his lashes at the grumbling Blondie pacing back and forth in front of him. After pulling him away from between V and the strange blond pet, Rio, Gabriel had dragged him back up to their apartment, with the girls mournfully trailing behind.





His face was hot and throbbed from Rio’s strike, and Niko restrained from touching his cheek, not wanting to risk drawing Gabriel’s attention to the wound. At first, when Gabriel hit the elevator button to take them upstairs, Niko had thought, grudgingly, that the angered Blondie hadn’t taken him to the infirmary as a form of punishment. Until Gabriel began ranting about how lucky he’d been not to have gotten hurt.





Niko had been amused, if not slightly irritated, that the Elite hadn’t noticed the swelling and discoloration on the right side of his face. And maybe because of Gabriel’s lack of attention to not see his injury, Niko had stayed silent about it.





However, what began as a stubborn pout slowly ended with fear in what Gabriel would do to him for not saying anything about being hurt, especially when his Blondie began recanting the days Niko spent in the hospital.





“What do you have to say for yourself?”





Behind him, Mimi and Lili nudged him, snapping his attention back to the conversation. With his head lowered, staring at the floor, Niko franticly tried to remember what Gabriel had been talking about.





“Niko!”





“T-that I should not get between two people fighting?” Niko winced when his answer come out as more of a question than a statement.





“Why are you so silent?” asked Gabriel. “And more importantly, why are you sitting and staring down at the floor?”





I’d been sitting on the carpet for the past twenty minutes. But, you were too busy yelling at me to notice, Niko grumbled silently. “I thought it appropriate,” he mumbled instead.





Strong fingers gripped his chin and before Niko could yank out of Gabriel’s hold, the Blondie lifted his face up. Gabriel inhaled sharply. Pulled to his feet, Niko suffered though Gabriel’s pokes and prods until the Blondie’s loving inspection hurt more than the punch he got to the face.





“You were hurt, and you said nothing?!” Gabriel hissed grabbing his shoulders and giving him a little shake.





“I was scared,” Niko said, squeezing a couple crocodile tears out for effect, and, if on queue, Mimi and Lili began to sob. “You were so mad, t-that I feared what you would do if you saw my injury.”





Niko gave himself a little pat on the back when Gabriel stared at his tear streaked face, and was struck speechless. However, his small victory lasted just seconds as Gabriel turned his anger toward the girls. “You’re responsible for his safety. Have you learned nothing from your training?!”





“Hey,” Niko said defensively. “They aren’t at fault, I—Wait. What do you mean by ‘training’? What have you done?” Niko looked at the girls, who looked innocently back up at him.





Gabriel stood tall; looking every inch of the majestic Blondie he was when he replied, “I have no use for them as pets. The only reason why I’ve kept them is because you enjoy their company—despite the questionable positions I’ve caught the three of you in, more than once.”





“So you did what?” Niko asked.





“Because I have no plans to make them perform or retire them, I thought of a solution in which they could be useful,” Gabriel said. “I hired a few private tutors to teach the girls a trade that did not require them to spread their legs, but to use their brain instead.”





“Okay,” Niko said slowly not liking what where this was going. “Why would you keep this a secret? And what does this have to do with me getting hurt?”





“I cannot be with you at all times, while the girls can. I’ve long since decided that they are to be your bodyguards. They would be responsible in protecting you and making sure you stay out of mischief, and come to no harm if you seek out trouble,” Gabriel calmly explained.





Niko blinked at Gabriel with disbelief. “You trained them to be my guard dogs?” As if being restricted as a Blondie’s pet weren’t enough.





“No good enough, apparently” Gabriel replied looking at his bruised face. “I made this decision a few weeks after Raoul released you into my custody. They surprisingly are a quick study, so the fault surely falls to the instructors I hired. Their teachers will be replaced. I cannot have you being hurt again.” Gabriel glanced at the girls. “Can we?”





“No, Master Lazen,” the pets said in union.





Niko didn’t know what to say. He was happy Gabriel cared so much about him that he would do something as crazy as this, and he was relieved that the girls weren’t going to leave or perform in a sex show again…But Gabriel’s affection and concern was… suffocating. “So everything I do, they’ll be reporting it to you? I can’t go anywhere on my own? Not even if Riki asks me to go back out to help him in Midas?”





“The situation with Riki we’ll discuss when he requires your assistance,” Gabriel said, however, the Blondie’s tone suggested otherwise.





“But the girls will be following me around, keeping everyone away from me as well as telling you every single thing I do in the day?” Niko asked looking at the pets as he voiced his questions to Gabriel. Mimi and Lili glanced away from his gaze guiltily.





“Not everything you do,” Gabriel sighed. “This is for—“





“My own good, yeah,” Niko testily replied. “I get it.” Spinning on his heel, Niko stormed to the door.





“Where are you going?” Gabriel demanded.





“To the infirmary to heal my face and I don’t want anyone following me!” Niko shouted. He only wished they had a door he could slam to emphasize how angry he was, but the door open and slid closed silently without flare. Niko wasn’t angry at Gabriel, annoyed, yes, but not truly angry. He kinda knew something like this would happen, but had never expected it would involve the girls.





The fact that they had teachers was great. They were already smart, and seeing that Gabriel found potential in them to be something other than a sex doll was world shattering.  But, to know that all their knowledge and learned skills were just to spy on him? And that they hadn’t confided in him? Their betrayal hurt the most.





“Bodyguards,” Niko mumbled as he walked to the elevator. Why would he need bodyguards? He lived in an impenetrable palace filled with the most powerful beings on the planet, and the Syndicate was known and feared by many other worlds. It wasn’t as if he’d ever get the opportunity to leave Amoi, so why place guards at his back?





“I’m as safe as I can be in here,” Niko said, pressing the button to the lift, and stepping into the elevator the second it opened. The minor scrap he got into in the saloon probably would be the most action he’d ever see in Eos.

oOoOoOo




Riki massaged his aching temples, something he found himself doing a lot now days when in the company of his friends. “Would you two give it a rest already?” he growled at V and Fidget. Both mongrels hadn’t stopped fighting since they stepped out onto the balcony. Well, more like Fidget hadn’t stopped teasing V for announcing his claim on Orphe, and V it was who kept fighting against Sky’s hold to try and kill Fidget.





“Tell him to shut-up first,” V said pointing a finger at Fidget’s laughing face. “Make him stop!”





“Make him stop,” Fidget mimicked childishly in a high tone.





“Don’t be a cry baby, V,” Sky said shoving the mongrel in Riki’s direction. “You should have known this would happen by confessing your love in front of Fidget.”





“I didn’t confess my love!” V shouted. “I made a deal with Orphe, and as payment I had to tell everyone in that room that he was mine. It’s a business agreement, that’s all.”





Riki shared a glance with Lilly. The lovely pet shook his head with pity shining in his eyes. Riki, on the other hand, felt no pity for V. He had warned the guys numerously about being careful when dealing with their Blondie, so—Riki’s eyes narrowed as he saw a flash of something on V’s lower back.





“What is that, V?” Riki asked, motioning to Sky to lift V’s shirt so he could get a better look.





“What—“ V violently shoved Sky and backed away from the group. “Don’t be undressing me, dude,” V nervously said, both hands holding the back edges of his shirt down.





Riki wouldn’t have cared if V hadn’t reacted so aggressively, but the blush that spread from V’s face down to his neck peaked Riki’s interest. “What are you hiding?” Riki asked.





“Nothin’, man,” V mumbled. “How about we start talkin’ about our game plan to get out of this place, and back out on the street.”





“Are you seriously going to try and hide it from me?” Riki grinned, enjoying himself. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he did anything that didn’t have an endgame. “So you can either show us your back or Fidget and Sky will hold you down, while I strip you.”





V growled at him. “You’re just as bad as they are, you fucking know that?”





“Don’t cry because you know he’s got you bested,” replied Fidget. “Just show us the goods so we can get back to scheming.”





“Are you two going to sit there and let them do this to me?” V asked accusingly to Jade and Lilly. The two men looked surprised at the anger directed at them, and guiltily glanced away. “So you fucking are.”





Riki snorted. “Don’t try using them to get out of it, V. And, seriously, do you really want to involve them? What if you piss them off? Think deeply about all the things the both of them could make you do.”





“Don’t be a pussy, V,” Sky said. “What’s the harm in giving in? Sure, you’ll lose a bit of our respect, it’ll take a chip out of your pride, and a large deal—if not all—of your dignity, but we’ll all have a great laugh. And isn’t laughter important?”





“Thanks, Sky,” Riki said dryly. “I’m sure with that kind of encouragement he’ll be more than happy to show us.”





“Don’t be mean, Keito,” Fidget said, surprising Riki at how serious the mongrel’s tone was. “It doesn’t matter how much we laugh or poke fun at V. He knows he won’t really lose face with us. He’ll still be the same slutty thief we all know and love.”





Riki didn’t like how focused Fidget was, and would had brushed it off as a strange personality flip if Sky didn’t stand in attention and drape his arm around his brother’s shoulders saying, “This is getting boring. Why don’t we get back on subject, and listen to what Riki has to say before—“





“I wanna see what V’s hiding,” Fidget said softy.





V coughed. “I’m not showing you because I know you’ll tease me.” Scratching the back of his neck sheepishly, V sighed and turned as he lifted the back of his shirt. “First, let me just say that I know it’s a little flashy and I may not have been honest about how close the Blondie and I have actually become.”





“You did this?” Fidget asked.





“Yeah,” V said, giving them all a lopsided grin. “I really like that son of a bitch.”





Riki wasn’t sure exactly what Fidget would have done if V’s answer was anything other than what he said, but he was glad V knew how to lie so well. And lie is exactly what V did. From everything Riki heard, saw, and knew about Blondies. Orphe more than likely tagged V so dramatically to make it clear to the mongrel that he belonged to him. Riki wondered if V knew how amazing the tattoo really was. To mar a pet’s skin was the same as leaving the milk on the counter to spoil. Riki didn’t think V even understood that Orphe was stating how much he didn’t care what the mongrel looked like, because he knew V only believed people who ‘loved’ him only truly loved his face. He was thankful Fidget still had enough innocence left in him to believe—





“You’re lying to me,” Fidget accused sadly. “You would have told me if you were going to do something this stupid.”





“Not something this fucking stupid,” V huffed. “I willingly tattooed a guy’s initials on my back. You know how I feel about outward signs of romantic commitment. I didn’t want to hear any of your commentary about how I was getting soft.”





“Really?” Fidget asked.





“Yeah, dude,” V said softly, reaching out to squeeze Fidget’s shoulder under Sky’s arm. “You’re my bud. I didn’t tell you because I knew I’d punch you in the face if you opened your mouth.”





“Good.” Fidget grinned. “I like Orphe, and it would have been a shame if I had to slit his throat.”





Whoa! Riki’s eyes shot over to Sky who grimly gave him a curt nod. So much for his views about Fidget having some innocence left. Well, whatever psycho switch he almost flipped, Riki was only glad V shelved his embarrassment to keep Fidget from going nuts.





“Don’t ask,” Sky whispered, coming up to him. “We don’t ask you questions about your past, and it’s wise not to ask Fidget about his. Everyone has secrets, Riki. Keita’s secrets are best left in the dark.”





Fuck… Riki was more than happy to let sleeping dogs lie. The very thought of a bloodthirsty Fidget was something Riki didn’t want to think about. It was…depressing to think someone as fun loving as Fidget as a cold-hearted killer.





“Okay, enough messing around,” Riki called out. “By now Iason’s probably already manipulated all your Blondies into allowing you to leave Eos, and go hunting in Midas. The fucker we’d been searching for in Ceres is now swiping Midasians off the street.”





“Isn’t this better?” Sky asked. “If this lunatic is kidnapping rich people, doesn’t this solve our problem?”





“No, because he hasn’t stopped taking mongrels,” Riki said. “He’s just skipping over to weaker prey because we’ve put all the gang leaders on alert, and he can’t get as many mongrels as he had before.”





“So what do we do?” Jade asked, worried. “I honestly do not believe Gideon will let me leave Eos.”





Riki honestly didn’t want Jade leaving the safety of Eos either. “What if you ‘convince’ him to let you out?” he forced himself to say.





Jade shook his head. “My gift only works on Gideon if he wants it to.” The blush that painted across the youth’s face distastefully told Riki exactly what commands of Jade’s, Gideon followed.





“Mikhale is not happy, but I have gotten his agreement to allow me to journey out with you when the time comes,” Lilly said with a stubborn upward lift of his chin. Whatever deal Lilly made with Mikhale, Riki was only glad the lovely pet had been brave enough to make it, because if he didn’t have Jade at his side he was happy to have Lilly’s.





“What about the three of you?” Riki asked his gang. “You think you can get your Elites to back off, and let you come out to play?”





“How much time we got?” V asked concentrating more on smacking Fidget’s hands from lifting his shirt, then on Riki.





“I’d say we got a few days before Iason gets another missing persons report,” Riki said. “This guy would steal a mongrel every couple days. If this prick is taking mongrels and Midasians, then he won’t be showing his face anytime soon.”





“If I got a few days to work on my Blondie—“Sky grinned wickedly—“then I’ll have more than enough time.”





“I’ll talk to Katze and Niko. Hopefully we’ll get some help from them.” Riki doubted Katze would be of any help on the streets, not after finding those books in Guardian, but maybe the redhead could keep an ear out for anyone strange walking around.





“Lastly, we gotta talk about Rio,” Riki sighed. “Don’t tell the Blondies you know who he really is—“





“That he’s a bastard prince who is the future king of two powerful planets, and how his father is trying to assassinate him and steal his crown for Rio’s half-brother, and because of all the attempts on his life his mother sent him over to be trained as an assassin so he’d be able to protect himself, and spot a professional killer should one he on his trail?” Fidget asked.





Riki blinked at Fidget. “How the—“





“—Fuck do you know all this?!” V asked, finishing Riki’s sentence.





Fidget shrugged. “I like Rio. We had a lot of heart-to-heart alcohol induced conversations on Hell.”





Riki shook his head. “Whatever. I just don’t want any of you going off and picking a fight with him like this asshole did,” Riki said, jerking his thumb in V’s direction.





“He deserved it!” V hissed.





“I thought it was a brilliant plan,” Sky said. “Being sold sucked, but he never planned on us being taken by Riki’s obsessed stalker. It’s clear he was only in on it for the money, and made sure our Blondies came to rescue us.”





Riki gapped at Sky. “How the fuck do you know all this? Did you already see Rio?”





“Nah.” Sky grinned. “I’m smart. Rio’s greedy and I’ve never known you to not have a stalker. I figured that was the likeliest scenario.”





“You wouldn’t be so calm if Fidget had been with us,” said V.





“But he wasn’t,” Sky calmly replied. “Trying to make me angry by thinking that way only beings attention at how jealous you are of Rio’s ability.”





“Jealous!” V shouted. “Did I think it was a cool plan? Yeah, I did. And I wouldn’t have been so pissed if that cocksucker hadn’t dug out the fucking microchip from my hip. It hurt, god dammit!”





“Did you cry this much when you got your tattoo?” Fidget asked, rolling his eyes. “I got stabbed and did I shed a tear? No.”





“Yes.” Sky’s eyes narrowed. “Who was it that hurt you? I’d like to meet him.”





“I don’t know.” Fidget smiled. “He was fun to play with. He didn’t want to hurt me, but I kinda made that impossible for him. He did know a lot about us, and seemed to have a real hard on for Riki.”





“Me?” Riki asked.





“Another stalker,” Sky mumbled.





“Nah,” Fidget said. “He didn’t have that kind of hard on for our Riki. He just seem freakishly royal to him. He’s tall, has brown hair, pretty brown eyes with cute copper flecks in them. Handsome as hell, and called himself Ghost.”





Riki shook his head. “Don’t know anyone by that name or that description.”





“Then I can only hope we’ll meet him on the streets, which means I’ll be real nice to Aisha so he’ll let me out,” Sky said.





“Who would have thought Aisha was into knots and whips,” V mumbled.





Sky smirked. “My Blondie loves to play dirty, but it’s my talented tongue that gets me what I want.”





“Mine too!” Fidget grinned. “Marcus loves when I twirl my tongue around his di—“





“We get the point,” Riki interrupted. “And as I said earlier. Iason is doing what he does best by ‘convincing’ your guys to lean towards letting you go. Just make sure you let the Blondies know you can be kept locked up if they want you to be happy.”





“And just saying shit like that is supposed to get Orphe to back off?” V snorted. “I don’t think so.”





“If you can’t get Orphe to agree with words, then talk to Sky and Fidget about how to use your tongue.” Riki couldn’t believe he was telling V to whore himself out like that, but with as many mongrel and Midasian disappearances reported, they didn’t have much time left. Iason was giving him only so much time to find the culprit. His Blondie had to insert his dominance over his Elite brethren—or some crap like that—first, but once he was done…





Ceres wouldn’t survive a cleansing, and that’s exactly what would happen if he didn’t find the asshole before Iason did. They kept the problem a secret, but if anymore Midasians disappeared it wouldn’t be for long, and the Syndicate would scream for blood, and that blood would come from the mongrel veins, unjust or not.





“We got a couple days,” Riki said soberly. “I can only pray nothing happens within that time.”    


 

oOoOoOo







My head hurts…Groaning, Niko smacked his dry lips wondering why his body hurt as bad as it did. Opening his eyes slowly, he frowned up at the strange black brick ceiling, and watched a low hanging light swung hypnotically as he tried to clear the cobwebs from his mind. “Where am I…? Trying to sit up, Niko gapped at the leather straps around his wrists and ankles preventing him from moving. “What is this?”


                                        

                                                   


“Well, well. Looks like I’ve been given something interesting to play with,” a sinister voice called out from the shadows.





Trembling, Niko stared in confusion at the man that appeared. “S-Sir Landon?”





“Hello, young Niko,” the Platinum said. “I heard you became of Sir Gabriel’s pet. Not surprising considering the amount of attention he lavished upon you when you belonged to Sir Am.”





Niko leaned away as much as he could when the Elite reached out to touch him. “Please, Sir Landon… Why am I here? What did I do? I don’t understand…”





With his hand still outstretched, the Platinum stared at him with a cold glint in his eyes. “It is easy enough to understand if you think about it carefully, Niko,” he said.


                                                                                             


“I don’t…” Niko whispered with a slight tremor in his voice. He didn’t understand. What could he have done to be sent to this place? How unfortunate for you. Niko grimaced in pain, his head feeling as if it was splitting in two. He remembered someone saying those words to him…but who?





He remembered being angry at Gabriel and the girls. He took the elevator down to the second floor, and walked into the infirmary… There hadn’t been anyone in the office, so he went snooping around, looking in all the examination rooms… Then what? What happen after that? He couldn’t remember.





“I am amazed she’s taken one of her precious Blondie’s toys, and given it to me to play with.” Landon chuckled. “Even with the knowledge that you could die did not sway her.”





Die? Her? “Gabriel will find me,” Niko said confidently. “He’ll come—“





“Gabriel? You call your master by his given name? The Blondie has taken you as his lover, hasn’t he?” the Platinum leered.





Niko shook his head in denial, pursing his lips tightly closed; he became fearful of what his slipup could mean.





“So that is why she gave you to me?” Landon muttered. “I had been outraged, at first, when you were delivered to me. I thought she wanted me to ‘do away’ with you by means of a failed experiment because you found the secret entrance that would lead you down here. Now, however…”





The Elite suddenly leaned down and grabbed a fist full of Niko’s hair, yanking his head up until they were close enough to kiss. “You might be my first success, my dear sweet, Niko,” the Elite whispered. “You who have taken that Blondie into your body… I might actually find victory with you.”





Tears leaked from the corners of Niko’s eyes, as he felt the Platinum’s other hand tug forcefully at his shirt until the he heard the material rip, and he felt the chill in the room across his naked chest.





“I like you, Niko,” Landon whispered. “I always have. So, while I would love to tell you that what I have planned will not hurt, I will not. The pain you’ll experience will be above and beyond anything a pampered creature, like you, will have ever felt before. I’d give you something so you wouldn’t have to feel anything, but any pain medication might hamper the results of my experiment.”





Niko whimpered.





“But I did say I liked you, did I not?” Landon smiled. “And because of my affection for you, and your scampish ways, I won’t give you with a full dose. Instead, I’ll give you multiple injections to heighten your chance to survive.”





 Niko futilely strained against the leather restraints until they cut into his wrists. He’d gotten himself into a lot of scrapes before, and he didn’t know how he got into this one, but he’ never thought his curiosity would land him here.





“Yes,” Landon continued to coo, “You’ll survive, if the other rumors that have whispered down to me are to be believed.”





“Rumors?” Niko asked, the pain in his wrist faded and oddly became wet, and the warm dampness assisted in his attempt in freeing himself.





The Elite’s eyes filled with a sort of crazed light. “My ‘helpers’ tell me you spend a great deal of time with Riki. Is this true?”





Niko shook his head. “No… I-I don’t know him p-personally. Master A-Am occasionally had me a-attend to him when he visited Sir Mink, a-and I would see the dark mongrel. B-But that is the only time I’d see him…”





Landon coldly stared down at him, and, to his relief, the Elite released him and took a step back. But, Niko’s silent exhale of ease was short lived as the Platinum motioned to someone he could not see. A plain-faced boy walked forward pushing a metal cart. Snapping on a pair of surgical gloves, Landon’s hand hovered above terrifyingly sharp instruments.





“I don’t like being lied to, Niko,” the Elite said, his hand setting on a metal syringe. “And I know you’re lying to me.”





With morbid fascination, Niko watched as Landon filled the needle half way with golden liquid from a vial on the cart. “You can’t fault me for telling you a small fib, Sir” he said trying to salvage the disturbing sentiment the Elite felt for him. “B-Because, if my admission were to harm Riki in anyway… Sir Iason would… To me, he would…”





The look of cold indifference faded just a tad from Landon’s face at Niko’s admission, and the Platinum in turn returned a quarter of the serum back into the vial. “Well, I can’t fault you for your fear. Being Jupiter’s favorite pet, Iason has been given everything! Power, money, status, he has never had anything that he’s had to work hard to obtain.”





The amount of hatred in the Platinum’s voice and twisted expression was frightening. And while Niko had complete faith that Gabriel would find him, it was obvious as the needle descend to pierce his flesh, and the plunger slowly depressed the golden liquid into his veins that it wouldn’t be before the Platinum did whatever he wanted to him…





TBC…