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: 100 of  ?



~~**Forever Caged**~~




Four hours and six bottles of pricy wine later, Riki carried his alcohol induced son back into the penthouse with V’s stupid ass flirting with Lilly, and Sky piggy-backing his singing twin, trailing behind him. Kicking the glass doors, Riki glared at Cal when the boy took his time opening the sliding glass. And when Gideon looked at him with anger and disgust, Riki’s annoyance got the better of him, and he thoughtlessly said, “What? Don’t like me? And here I thought you did since you’re essentially fucking a part of me every night.”





It might have been the booze talking, because when the room grew quiet enough to hear a pin drop, and all eyes turned to Iason, Riki didn’t care. He had had to listen to Jade’s drunken chatter about Gideon’s ‘skills’ for an ungodly long five minutes before the boy passed out. It had been five minutes too long for Riki’s comfort, and while he’d been happy that Gideon’s affection was of the love kind, seeing the Elite sneering at him pissed him off.





“That is interesting,” Iason softly said making more than just Riki flinch at how deadly calm his Blondie appeared to be. “Tell us, Gideon. Do you picture Riki while you are with his son? Or, pray chance, is it you, Riki, who thinks of Gideon while with me?”





—“No!”





— “Fuck no.” Riki and Gideon said as one. Shuddering in disgust, Riki walked over to the outraged Blondie and shoved Jade into Gideon’s arms. “But if he keeps on looking at me like I’m a piece of shit, then I’m gonna make damn sure he’ll never have any kind of happily-ever-fucking- after with my kid.”





“Way da go with not pissing anyone off,” V slurred, giving Riki two thumbs up.





“I couldn’t have done it better myself,” Fidget said sleepily as he crawled into Marcus’s lap like a well feed cat.





Glowering at the mongrels, Riki made his way to Iason and sat next to the deceptively amused Blondie. “So,” Riki said. “You come to an agreement with them?”





A pale brow arched. “As to if your gang will be allowed to damage more of my city?”





Riki grinned. “It’s not like you all can’t afford the repair—“ Loud banging at the front door cut Riki off and he watched Cal rush away. He heard Cal talking to someone, but when Riki began to stand to find out to who was at the door, Iason suddenly stood, shoved him down, and stepped in front of him to prevent him from getting back up.





“What the hell, Iason—“ Riki growled, until he looked around Iason’s long legs and saw Gabriel charging up. Never had Riki ever seen the Blondie as pissed before, not even when the Elite was in the same room as Raoul.





This doesn’t look good, Riki sighed.





“You,” Gabriel growled, pointing at V.





Me? V mouthed, pointing innocently at himself.





“I’m going to rip your little head off.”





Riki moved around Iason and stood. “Hold up—“





“Silence!” Iason hissed, the violence in Iason’s eyes stopping Riki from snapping back. “You will not involve yourself in this, Riki. You may have strength, but not against a Blondie and not when in the state he is in. He could literally tear you to pieces.”





Riki thought back to what Iason had done to Guy, and wisely nodded his head that he would not get in-between them, but still moved to stand at Iason’s side instead of behind his Blondie like Iason wanted him to do. Ignoring Iason’s annoyed glare, Riki watched the drama unfold, and while there was a sense of emergency, it was like watching a car wreck. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the sight of Orphe going head on to face Gabriel, but it was his gang’s reaction that Riki worried about the most.





Gone were any pretenses of drunkenness, and although he and his friends were pretty damn sauced, no one would have suspected otherwise. Riki tensed when Sky moved ever so slightly to take a better defensive stance next to Aisha’s side, or worryingly revealing glass-like blades from behind his back. Fidget, Lilly, and even his awakened son moved protectively around their Blondies too, while the Elites actually kept V from rushing forward to help Orphe.





“Get out of my way, Orphe!” Gabriel growled. “That mongrel of yours needs to be taught a lesson.”





“Any lessons Violet needs to learn, he will learn them from me,” Orphe tightly replied. “Now we will discuss this civilly. What do you believe Violet has done, to warrant your anger?”





Riki frowned as Gabriel tossed a clump of twisted metal at V’s feet. “He removed Niko’s pet ring, and has hidden him away!”





 “Waah?” V gasped. “I know I’m talented, but how on Amoi do you think I could have ever—“





“Enough! Cease your lies!” Gabriel hissed. “I am well aware of your abilities, and the mayhem you caused the first weeks here, so do not lie to me!”





Dodging the restucting hands of the Elites, V charged up to the two Blondies and said, “Look, asshole, even if I wanted to play a little harmless prank with Niko, I. Didn’t. Do. It. And Orphe can vouch for me. I was wrapped around him like a fucking Band-Aid all god damn morning, and then—if you can’t tell by my messed up face—I got into a fight with another ‘pet’ before being dragged here. So, before you go accusing someone, get your fucking facts straight before getting all up in my grill, bitc—”





“Alright, enough,” Orphe said, yanking V behind him. “You are not helping this situation by angering Gabriel further.”





Riki sighed when V grinned at Orphe, and patted the Blondie lightly on the cheek as he said, “Why would I need to worry about him when I got you to shush him away?”





“If he did not remove Niko’s bracelet, then pray tell who did?!” Gabriel growled, his expression clearing stating that he did not believe V was not the culprit.





“Have you spoken to Raoul?” Iason calmly asked.





“Despite the differences we share,” Gabriel said tightly, “Raoul would have dragged Niko back to my side the moment he saw that the boy did not have his ‘collar’ on.”





The doubtful expressions on everyone’s face were laughable. “He clearly does not know how much Raoul adores Niko,” Riki muttered.





“I also confirmed, discreetly, that Raoul does not have any knowledge of Niko’s whereabouts before venturing here,” Gabriel said.





“Okay, maybe he does.” Riki smirked.





“Orphe,” Iason said softly.





Orphe tsked with irritation, but did as Iason silently ordered. Speaking a command in a language Riki never heard before, holographic images of the upper floors in Eossurrounded Orphe’s body. The Blondie’s gloved hands twisted in the air and images Niko storming out of Gabriel’s apartment appeared. Another motion from Orphe had the recording fasting forward, and he watched as Niko sped down the hall into the elevator. The footage shifted to show the Trickster’s decent, and—





Riki leaned forward. “What the hell,” he muttered. The second before Niko stepped out of the elevator the image had flickered, and Niko disappeared.





“Someone has tampered with the recording,” Orphe hissed. Sharply issuing another command, the room filled with smaller holographic screens until every hallway and every elevator of Eos was in full view. Time paused and reversed as Orphe tried to locate Niko, with no success.





“Where did he go?” Fidget asked.





“It is not just where he went,” Gabriel growled, “but who took him.”





“Who has access to fuck with the footage?” Riki asked.





“No one,” Orphe answered. “Since the time of your escape, I have tightened security, exponentially so.” Orphe glanced at V as he spoke. The mongrel gave the Blondie a cheeky grin in response. “Only I have the right of entry to view the coming and goings of all who is in Eos.”





Every eye turned to the purple-haired mongrel standing at Orphe’s side.





V gave everyone a tight smile. “Thanks for the credit, but I’d need full access in Orphe’s office, and weeks to break his codes to do something like this—and it wouldn’t be a pro job like this is.”





“Someone did,” Iason said. “The question is who.”





“Iason,” Mikhale quietly said.





“Did Raoul give you all of Niko’s termination papers?” Iason asked Gabriel.





Riki watched as the Blondie struggled to calm himself enough to answer. “He signed his ownership of Niko over to me, yes,” Gabriel replied.





“No,” Iason said. “I am not just speaking of his rights as Niko’s master. I am referring to Raoul’s ownership of Niko’s very life. His power to terminate Niko if he saw fit to extinguish the boy if he so wished. When you changed Niko’s residential status from Raoul’s servant to your pet, did Raoul also relinquish that claim as well?”





Gabriel paused and stared at Iason. “No, he did not.”





“Probably because he was hoping to get Niko back,” Riki said for Iason’s ears only.





Iason gave a slight nod. “Then we have a start. Knowing Raoul, he would have put a separate tracker on Niko.”





“If Ni Ni’s been taken outside of Eos, then we’ll find him,” Fidget announced.





Outraged, Marcus growled, “No—“





Fidget kissed his Blondie loudly on the mouth to shut him up.





“Yes, we will—” Riki looked Iason in the eyes—“because you all have a fucking traitor in your house, and if he’s good enough to snatch someone from within Eos protective walls…”





“We will find him,” Iason answered. “No one escapes me.”





Riki knew that for a fact.





“You will call me the moment you learn anything,” Gabriel said, murder shinning clearly in the Blondie’s eyes. “And if you find the ones who took Niko, I do not have to say who you will bring them to, do I?”





“Gabriel,” Iason warned.





“No, Iason,” Gabriel growled dangerously. “It is my right as Niko’s pairing partner! They die by my hand, and no others.”





“And they will,” Iason calmly replied, “after they answer to me, and not a moment before. You will have your pound of flesh, my friend, when I say so.”





While Gabriel stared at Iason like he wanted nothing more than to kill his esteemed leader, Riki leaned close to Iason and whispered, “As much as I hate saying this, I gonna need Rio’s help.”





“Oh?” Iason asked in a tone that told Riki he didn’t have a chance in hell in getting close to the assassin.





“Rio’s people is hidden throughout Amoi—” It wouldn’t surprise Riki if one of the assassin’s people hadn’t already found a way inside Eos— “and we’ll need their help finding Niko before Gabriel burns they city down to find him.”





And from the fire burning in the Blondie’s eyes, the possibility of Gabriel destroying the city was more than a possibility, it was a fact… If they didn’t find their spunky mongrel friend, Gabriel would.


 

oOoOoOo




Lowering the blood stained sheet from slim hips, Landon looked down at his newest creation with pride. In less than four hours he’d experienced more success than the two weeks with the two mongrels chained to the stone walls of his pathetic containment room, he’d had to use as a result of losing Jupiter’s favor.





Caressing a tentacle of the young man’s newly grown long hair; Landon smiled as a curl hugged his finger.  “I knew you would not disappoint me, Niko,” Landon whispered and his smiled grew as his breath against the boy’s sensitive skin caused the ex-Furniture to flinch. “To think you were capable of so much… Makes me think what else you can do—what more can you give me.”





“Does this mean you’re not going to kill me?” Eyes that put sapphires to shame gazed up at him.





Landon glanced over his shoulder, and death glared back at him from the shadows. “I see my other two subjects have been talkative while I was away. And, yes, killing you is the sensible option. Gabriel may not be one of the Seven, but he is still a formidable foe and one I cannot afford crossing swords with. But I will not kill you yet, dear Niko. I still have much to learn from you.”





Unlocking the restraints around Niko’s raw and bleeding ankles and wrists, Landon gently moved his hands over the boy’s clammy sweat dewed skin; checking Niko’s lymph nodes for swelling. Niko’s ruined form was a distasteful sight. The skin samples he’d taken were healing at a lesser rate than the mongrels, which was slightly disappointing. It was a pity he had to destroy such beauty, but a necessary one. By administering the formula hourly, he had had to take as much flesh between injections to categorize his findings accurately to compare the data from all his other subjects, dead and still alive.





“How long?”





Pressing his fingers to the inside of the ex-Furniture’s wrist, Landon counted the rapid beats of Niko’s heart. Jotting down the number in his journal, Landon said, “How long before I kill you?” Smiling, Landon brushed Niko’s tangled locks from his forehead. “Unlike the trash chained in the corner, you will be missed. So, it will all depend on how much more you give me, dear Niko.”





“Sir?” a voice called from behind him. “You have been ordered to make an appearance.”





Landon frowned.  Glaring at Jupiter’s servant over his shoulder, he patted Niko on the shoulder—delighting in the boy’s gasp of pain—before following the servant out of the chamber.


 

oOoOoOo




“He’s not lying, Niko.”





Niko blinked back tears as he gasped for breath. The pain was bearable now, the air only a stinging reminder of what Landon had done to him. Hell, as long as no one touched him, he could pretend all he had was a bad case of sunburn…as long as no one touched him.





“He will kill you, if you don’t get your sorry ass up and escape,” Julius whispered from the shadows.





Niko giggled hysterically. “I can hardly move, let alone attempt to run away from an Elite. I know my limitations.”





“Then you’ll die,” Bob said quietly. “Even he thinks so, if he didn’t bother putting your restraints back on.”





“Good,” Niko rasped forcing his crying body to sit up. “Maybe he’ll stay away longer.” Sliding off the metal table landing in a heap on the cold, wet, rocky floor threatened to pull him back under, but Niko fought through the pain, dizziness, and nausea to stay awake.





“What you up to, boy?” Julius asked.





Niko waited until the black bots faded from his sight before shakily getting on his hands and knees. “I can’t leave without you.”





“Your stupid sentiment will get you killed,” Bob hissed.





Niko laughed weakly. “It’s not sentiment. I said I know my limitations. I can’t get out of here by myself. I need the both of you to drag me out.”





Julius laughed. “And how do you plan on getting us free?”





Grinning, Niko held up the pen he’d pickpocketed from Landon’s lab coat. “If you’re any kind of mongrel,” Niko panted, “you’ll be able to pick the locks of your chains with this little pen, and we can all escape.”





“How would a little pet like you know anything about mongrels?” Bob asked.





 Because I am one? Instead of answering, Niko dragged his sorry ass to the closest mongrel and slid the pen in his direction before collapsing. Concentrating on taking in one breath at a time, Niko must have dozed off because he found himself being shaken awake by rough hands.





“Upsy-daisy, little pet.”





Niko bit his lip. The now too familiar taste of copper filling his mouth as he tried to muffle his cries as two pairs of hands lifted him to his feet.


“Who knows,” Bob panted, as Julius and he draped Niko’s arms around their shoulders— and for the first time Niko saw that both mongrels were just as messed up as he felt and looked—“maybe that Blondie master of yours doesn’t even know you’re gone. It’s only been a few hours.”





Only a few hours passed? Lies. Months have had to of already gone by, because all he could remember was the metal table and the cut of Landon’s scalpel biting into his flesh over and over again. Sweet Jupiter, when Gabriel saw him he was going to be pissed. He’d gotten himself in trouble before, but never to this extreme…





As the mongrels stumbled to the exit, Niko caught sight of the Platinum’s tablet sitting at the edge of his blood stained steel bed.





“Wait.”





Julius grunted. The mongrel’s face was pale with the strain of holding his body up. “Waiting is a bad thing for us, little pet.”





“I just need two shakes of a minute,” Niko replied. Removing his arms from around Julius and Bob’s shoulders, Niko leaned heavily on the table as he grabbed Landon’s electric tablet. As the result of Landon’s arrogance, for not locking his tablet the moment he’d used it, quick scan of the security told Niko he didn’t have the skills to crack the code. Communication capabilities were disabled so calling for help was pointless. However, wherever they were, Niko had enough of a signal to send a single harmless file to the one server no one knew about or had the ability to hack into. He knew enough about Katze’s ‘baby’ to know that any that attempted to access his black market server without proper authorization codes were deemed as hostile, and the hacker’s computer would be stripped of all usefulness before being flooded with software killing viruses.





So—Niko grinned—in the end he won. Whatever Landon had learned from whatever it was he’d been doing to Julius, Bob, and him, it would all be gone in a minute. The Platinum lost.





“You done?” Bob asked with understandable impatience.





“One last thing,” Niko said. With notable difficulty, Niko unknotted the sheet around his waist and angled the tablet behind him. A series of clicks echoed.





Deep chuckles rang.





Niko grinned as he took a look at his photos. Reprogramming the tablet, Niko made sure to lock the snapshots so that Landon couldn’t help but look at them and had no way of getting rid of them without corrupting files that were no longer there. “Now I’m all done.” Clutching the sheet to his waist, Niko stumbled back into the mongrels supporting arms.





“Time to really go, little pet,” Julius said gently.





“And I’m ready,” Niko said gladly, hoping that when he did see open sky, it would be over a towering form with sunshine kissed locks.





TBC…