Trio Maxwell-Chang (trio) wrote in worldsapart, @ 2007-08-29 01:22:00 |
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Entry tags: | .50episodes, .logs, .writing challenge, jordan casca, kurugi akuchi |
Protection by Fire
Title: Protection by Fire
Author: oneforsorrow and trio
Fandom: Worlds Apart (Original - worldsapart)
Pairing: Jordan/Akuchi
Prompt: 003. Fire
Word Count: 1695
Disclaimer: Worlds Apart, Jordan, and Akuchi belong to the authors.
Rating: R
Warnings and Notes: violence, torture
It was all Jordan could do to keep from burning down the warehouse the moment he'd stepped into it. He was calm, alarmingly calm, the sort of blank silence that overlaid a burning fury. He made his way silently through the building, stepping carefully around objects he paid no real attentioin to otherwise. He had to find Akuchi.
Surprisingly, once he'd found out where the boy was being held, finding him inside wasn't that difficult. Off in a corner of the large room, mostly hidden from sight but for the occasional hints of light, was a section of warehouse floor left uncluttered by boxes, and now home to a cheap desk marred with groove marks to catch blood. Akuchi lay on the desk, bare and pale, thin lines of red at his temples and sides oozing blood down to the desk below, and from there into the grooves that delivered the blood to two containers on either side of the desk. He was bound there, arms and legs stretched out punishingly, and his eyes closed, tears pouring down his cheeks to mingle with the blood being harvested from him. Beyond him stood the blood mage, his back to Jordan as he stirred a large cauldron, adding ingredients too far away to be recognized. His hair was black, slicked straight down his back.
Snarling silently, Jordan stepped into the clearing and stretched out one hand, gesturing. Flame leaped forward in an arch, winding around the blood mage and squeezing before setting the man alight in a blaze of forest-fire strength. No one -- no one -- hurt Akuchi. He fed the fire with his rage, not even moving as the firestorm swept up a wind around them. He could feel the fire weakening a little as it came up against the blood mage's barriers, and growling, he poured more strength into the attack.
The mage turned, pain and fury in his eyes as he stared at Jordan for a long moment before turning to run, his body just fitting through a ragged, rusted hole in the wall, and leaving torn bits of smoking flesh behind.
Jordan was tempted to follow the man -- but Akuchi was more important. Turning away, the fire dying even as Jordan stepped through it, completely untouched by the blaze; reaching out, he started undoing the bindings that were keeping Akuchi stuck to the desk. He said not a word, working quickly.
Slowly, Akuchi began to notice, eyes mostly blank peering up at Jordan before he sagged back into the table, tired and shaken, and too weak to move much.
"I'm taking you home," Jordan whispered. Lifting Akuchi up, he carried the boy out of the warehouse, holding the mage close against his chest.
Shivering, freezing cold, Akuchi pressed closer, weak arms clinging to Jordan. He said nothing, couldn't find anything TO say, and hurt far too much for any protests.
Jordan carried Akuchi out to his car and settled the boy in the passenger seat, then draped a blanket over Akuchi to help warm him up and keep him covered. That done, he slid into the driver's seat and started off, silent as he drove. Once home, he carried Akuchi up into his apartment, taking the boy straight to the master bedroom and settling him down on the bed before pulling the covers over him.
Akuchi sagged into the bed, staring at Jordan through haunted eyes before nestling under the covers. "Why?" he finally whispered, watching his savior.
"I'll kill him next time I see him," Jordan murmured, stroking a hand through Akuchi's blood-mangled hair. "I won't let him hurt you again. I'm going to get bandages, hold on." He slipped away, returning quickly with gauze and bandages and a hot, damp towel.
Akuchi watched, quiet and hesitant for long moments before saying, very softly, "I'm sorry..."
Jordan blinked at Akuchi before pulling back the blankets and starting to very gently clean the blood off the boy. "Why are you apologizing?"
"The... the things I said," Akuchi murmured quietly, submitting to the cleaning without hesitation. "The way I acted."
"Shhhh..." Jordan kept up that gentle cleaning until all the blood was off Akuchi's skin. "Don't apologize. Can you sit up a little? I need to get the bandages around you."
Akuchi hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Gimme a second," he whispered, very slowly pushing himself up, wincing at each movement. "Did you burn the blood...?"
Jordan pressed gauze to the cuts, then held them in place by the bandaging he wound carefully around Akuchi's torso. "The blood in the cauldron? I'm not sure, but I think that got caught up in the fire... Should I go back and check?"
"He'll have come back for it by now," Akuchi whispered, reaching out one arm to settle against Jordan's shoulder, bracing himself. "Or sent one of his puppets."
"There... Easy now..." Jordan eased Akuchi back down against the bed once he was done, then got to work on the wounds on the mage's temples. "I'll remember that next time I see a blood mage."
"Always destroy the blood first," Akuchi whispered. "The mage second." His eyes flicked to one side, not able to meet Jordan's. "Forget the victim in the fight. If you have to, let him die."
"Not an option." Jordan stroked Akuchi's hair back, getting it out of the boy's face, then bandaged up the wounds on Akuchi's temples, fastening the bandages carefully. "There, done. Are you warming up at all?"
"A little." Akuchi laughed weakly. "You don't have spinach, do you? Or steak?"
Jordan offered Akuchi a bit of a smile. "Steak I have aplenty. Want it still mooing?"
"I don't care," Akuchi admitted, watching Jordan quietly. "I just... I need something, you know?"
"I know. I'll be back soon." Jordan hesitated, then leaned down and kissed Akuchi's cheek before heading for the door.
"Jordan?" Akuchi called out before Jordan could make it to the door.
Jordan paused, looking back curiously. "Yes?"
"Tell your friends he was making more puppets."
"...I will," Jordan whispered, and stepped out of the room. When he returned, it was with a steak cooked rare on a plate, along with a knife and a fork. "Here, try this."
Akuchi looked up, searching Jordan's face for a moment before sitting up and reaching for the plate. "Sorry to be trouble," he murmured.
Jordan offered the plate to Akuchi, then set about stripping his clothes off; when he was done, he pulled on a pair of pajama pants and slid into bed next to Akuchi, keeping close. "You're hardly trouble," he finally said, watching Akuchi with a soft smile, his voice low and gentle.
"How did you know where I was?" Akuchi asked, setting the plate in his lap and shivering a bit in the cool air as the blanket settled there, too.
"Tobi sent me," Jordan murmured. Tugging a quilt off the foot of the bed, he wound it around Akuchi's shoulders to warm his back. "He felt you and told me where you were."
"Felt me?" Akuchi blinked, reaching up to shift the blanket into a slightly better position before starting to eat.
Jordan shifted until he was up against Akuchi's side, keeping him warm that way too. "He's an empath."
"But I wasn't...," Akuchi started to say, then looked around sharply, staring at Jordan in horror. "You mean..."
"...What?" Jordan asked, confused. "What is it?"
Akuchi winced, tugging a little away from Jordan. "All I felt... He felt what I was feeling?"
Jordan reached out, an arm around Akuchi's waist. "Some of it," he murmured. "What's wrong...?"
Akuchi looked away. "All... I can remember feeling was... I want to die." He took another bite, chewing mechanically for several moments before adding, "Is he okay?"
There was silence for a few moments, then finally, Jordan nodded. "He's pretty drugged right now, so he must have needed one of his valium, but he's okay. He was scared out of his mind for you, though."
Akuchi nodded slowly, hesitantly leaning against Jordan just a little. "I wasn't sure how he'd be, after that."
Willingly, Jordan pulled Akuchi closer, stroking an uninjured part of the mage's side. "He's okay. He'll take a day to relax and be fine."
"Why did you come for me?" Akuchi whispered, his eyes sliding shut as he rested against Jordan, too weak and pained to bother fighting.
"Because I'm not about to let him hurt you," Jordan murmured. Shifting about, he settled back against the headboard, then pulled Akuchi against his chest. "Eat, then rest. I'm taking a few sick days so I can stay home with you."
"I thought...," Akuchi shivered, then reached out, taking a piece of the steak with his fingers and popping it into his mouth, fingers following immediately after to suck away all the juice he might've otherwise lost. "I thought this time, he'd kill me."
Jordan cradled Akuchi back against him and wound his arms around the boy's waist. "No," he said quietly. "There's no way in hell I'd let him kill you."
Mechanically, Akuchi ate, not really tasting the steak although it answered the need inside him. When he was finally done, the plate cleaned, he moved to pick it up and started to edge toward the other side of the bed, wanting it gone before he rested.
Reaching out, Jordan pulled the plate from Akuchi's hands and set it on the bedside table, then pulled Akuchi to him before settling down more comfortably on the bed. "Get some sleep," he whispered. "You need it."
Akuchi hesitated, staring at Jordan warily for a long moment before asking, very softly, "You won't... leave?"
"I won't leave," Jordan murmured, hugging Akuchi to him. "You're stuck with me."
"You'll regret that," Akuchi predicted quietly, even as he settled close to Jordan, his eyes sliding shut. "You know that."
Jordan pressed a soft kiss to the back of Akuchi's neck. "I highly doubt that..."
Shivering a little at the gentle touch, Akuchi shifted. "I'm going to sleep now," he announced, as though he needed to for some reason.
"Sleep well," Jordan whispered, his arm tightening just a little around Akuchi's waist.