Fic: Red Petals [6/10]
Fic: Red Petals [6/10]
Previous: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Disclaimer: Sometimes I think this show was created just for me, but alas, still not mine. Definitely for the best, in this case.
Rating/warnings: NC-17. Sex pollen and sex slaves, dub-con and non-con (though mostly off screen), plus violence, cursing, lots of nudity, and forced druggings.
Pairings: (In order of apperance, not necessarily importance) James/Camille, Mercedes/Kendall, Kendall/Jo, Kendall/James, Mercedes/Kendall/James, James/Logan.
Notes: As always, enormous thanks to lielabell and her terrifying red pen of doom. This chapter is dedicated to garnetice.
Summary: Kendall and his crew are supposed to be on a rescue mission, searching for someone on a black market planet. But he's the one who ends up needing to be rescued...
Six.
Jo paced up and down the hallway outside Knight's room.
She wasn't stupid. She knew Knight would lie to her face, would say absolutely anything to try to get her help. Except, he was so drugged he should barely have known who he was, let alone been able to lie. Maybe that was reason enough to help him -- it would have been one thing if Mercedes had just had him killed, but this kind of torture was unnecessary.
On the other hand, there was obviously more to Knight than met the eye. Like the fact that he'd found a way to keep some control over his faculties, when the drug should have overwhelmed him entirely. And his whole escape attempt -- if Jo hadn't been such a good shot, he might even have succeeded. And, assuming Rebecca had been right when she'd called him a CivCorps captain, he was pretty young to have his own ship.
But if he was a CivCorps captain, why the hell was he wanted? What had he done to get his own people to put a bounty on him? That just didn't add up. And Jo may have been so disgusted by what Mercedes was doing to him that she wanted to help him out, but if he was just lying, she couldn't afford to. Mercedes owned half the planet, and if Jo double-crossed her, she'd need an escape plan first. Otherwise, she'd end up dead herself. Even if Knight was telling the truth, she wasn't going to sacrifice herself for him.
So how was she supposed to check on his story? She couldn't just duck out of the brothel while she was on duty, and since Mercedes monitored all transmissions in and out she couldn't look up the bounty that way without being caught. And it wasn't like she could just ask Mercedes.
So she couldn't verify that part of his story. But his mission, his search for Brooke Diamond's son, that was something else entirely. If it was true, then maybe it didn't matter if his claim about the bounty was a lie, anyway. The Diamond family was one of the biggest Syndicates in the universe, and Brooke Diamond would doubtlessly be willing to pay at least Knight's half-mil to get him back.
Knight claimed his friend was in Rebecca's custody. As Jo considered it, she ran through her habitual weapons check -- everything loaded, everything in working order. Rebecca and Mercedes had been doing business since before Jo had signed on six months ago, but Rebecca hadn't appeared in person until recently. When she'd shown up, she'd had that pretty boy test subject in tow, already mindwiped. Mercedes had put him in the brothel immediately, and within days he was her most popular worker, but Jo had always felt weird about it.
As far as Jo knew, he was the only one Rebecca had brought to the planet. So it stood to reason...
She paused in her facing, figuring out her next step. Mercedes' pretty boy had no idea who he was, so it wasn't as if she could go directly to him for answers. And she couldn't ask Mercedes, exactly. But that didn't mean Mercedes wouldn't spill something, if she approached it right. After all, Mercedes was running a business, and the Diamonds were definitely powerful enough to ruin her if they wanted. And for all Jo doubted Mercedes would agree to something that would bring the Diamond Syndicate's wrath down on her, it was the sort of thing a good underling reported to her boss.
And once Mercedes confirmed it -- or corrected it -- then Jo could plan her next move.
She headed towards the back lounge where Mercedes did business. Mercedes was there, sipping a cocktail with some of her pet politicians. She waved Jo over and asked, "Well? How's Captain Courageous?"
Jo forced a chuckle at the nickname and said, "Really, really... uh, excited."
Mercedes smirked. "Find out anything interesting?"
"I did. You might want to hear this alone."
"Really?" Mercedes cocked her head, then shrugged. She shooed the politicians away from her couch, telling them to go to the private suite and enjoy themselves, and let Jo sit down. "Well?"
"He's not an inspector. So you know why Rebecca actually wanted you to take out anyone who claimed to work for the Diamonds?" At Mercedes' headshake, she continued, "Because that guy she brought here? That's Brooke Diamond's son."
Mercedes stared at her. "You're fucking with me."
"That's what Captain Courageous says."
"The heir to the Diamond Syndicate? He's mindwiped and in my brothel?"
"So it seems." Jo shrugged. "And I thought you'd want to know, because from what I know of Brooke Diamond, she's not someone who'd ever, ever give up trying to find him. And if she finds him here..."
Mercedes' expression went grim. Brooke Diamond was technically bound by Civ laws, but Jo didn't doubt for a moment that she'd shoot first and smooth it over with Civ later, if it meant recovering her son. Apparently Mercedes didn't either, because she demanded, "You're sure?"
"Knight said he was looking for a friend Rebecca brought here, and that the friend is Brooke Diamond's son. So I assume... "
"I don't run on assumptions," Mercedes said, standing. "And I don't like being set up by my business partners, now matter how well they pay. Get Knight, bring him up to the private suite."
"What are you going to do to him?" Jo asked, feigning bored curiosity to cover for mild worry. She'd expected Mercedes to confirm Diamond's identity, or deny it. She hadn't considered that Mercedes herself might not know. That got Knight involved again, and if he was telling the truth about Diamond -- and especially if he was telling the truth about his bounty -- she wanted him in tact.
"Do to him? Aww, you like him." Mercedes chuckled. "He is hot. But don't worry. All I'm going to do is test this theory of yours."
Jo wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but she nodded. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes."
She found Knight sprawled on the bed in his room. He lay on his back, and since his wrist was still chained, his arm was pulled awkwardly off the mattress. His other hand... well, that was busy.
She cleared his throat and he looked over at her and moaned, but didn't stop. She turned away, blushing, but could tell from the noises he made when he came. As she looked back at him, he grabbed for the pillow and used it to shield himself. "Modesty," he gasped.
"Sure, you care about that now."
"For... like, four, five seconds, at least," he said.
"Gonna have to be longer than that." She held up the key to the cuffs. "You're coming with me."
"Seriously?" he breathed, and she could see the hope on his face. Even like this, clouded by lust, with his hand dripping, he wanted to get out. It made her ache a little bit, and she promised herself that if he was telling the truth, she'd help him.
"Don't... not that," she said. His face fell and he looked away. She forced herself to ignore it. One hand on a weapon in case he tried to surprise her again, she crossed the room and unlocked the cuff from the bedframe and told him to sit up. He stared up at her for a long moment, then pushed himself up slowly. The pillow fell away from him and she could see he was already half-hard again.
"If not that," he murmured at her, "will you at least... give me a hand? If you're gonna cuff me?"
She shook her head. "You don't want that."
He wrapped his hand around his dick, breathed hard, and said, "Yeah, I actually do."
"C'mon. Stand up." She offered him her hand, and he took it. She dragged him up, and he stumbled forward into her, wrapped his good arm around her waist, and kissed her.
Startled, she let him for a second before she recovered and pushed him away. She almost hated that she had to do it -- Knight was a very good kisser, it turned out -- but he was obviously out of control. She stepped away, and he was in no shape to fight her when she took his wrist and pulled it behind his back. Maybe she yanked it around more forcefully than she'd meant to, because he made a surprisingly happy noise and said, "I bet you like it rough. Mmm, if that's how you want it, that's fine with me. Maybe up against the wall?"
"Keep it together, Knight," she said. "Mercedes wants you."
She expected that to sober him up, but he actually laughed. "Good, 'cause she'll do it for me. But I'd rather do it with you. However you want it, whatever you want to do..." She snapped the cuff on him and marched him out of the room, but he kept talking. "You seem like a girl who likes to be in charge and maybe that's just what I need. Maybe I need you to push me down and make me beg for it. Mmm, you want that?"
"Knock it off," she snapped.
He glanced over and smiled at her for a second, then went right back to talking. "Maybe I'm wrong, huh? Maybe you get so much roughness here, what you really want is, hmm, tender. Gentle. I can do that to. I can go so fucking slow it'll drive you crazy. Fuck, afterwards, I even like to cuddle."
She snorted. "Sure you do. But right now, afterwards, you'll be desperate again in four, five seconds."
"You don't want me desperate for you? I am. Right now -- oh god, I am. Right here in the hallway, I'd... please."
Thank god, they arrived at the private suite, where Mercedes sent her favorite customers. Some were groping and grinding and fucking right in the main room. Mercedes stood waiting, smirking.
Knight went silent when she approached. Jo had to wonder, even as drugged up as he was, how much of his rambling had been bravado. After all, if she'd stopped and pinned up against a wall like he'd wanted, he wouldn't be here, now, with Mercedes.
"Don't look so angry," Mercedes said, petting his cheek. "You're going to like this." She took his arm and pulled him towards one of the rooms. He stumbled, but that was all the rebellion he managed. Paused at the door, Mercedes said, "Jo, unlock these," and snagged a finger in the chain between his wrists.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jo asked. She wanted to help him, and if he tried to escape right here, right now, he'd just get himself killed.
"Trust me," Mercedes said, smirking. She was definitely up to something. Suspicious, Jo did as she was asked, and Mercedes opened the door to the private room. "Go on in, Captain. He's all yours."
She gave him a push, shut and locked the door behind him, then grabbed Jo's arm and dragged her to another room. This one was brighter -- it had a plush couch but obviously wasn't intended for clients, since it was small and the only other thing in it was a giant monitor. Mercedes adjusted the screen, then smiled, settling on the couch. Jo joined her tenuously, looked at the screen as the volume came to life, and... oh.
"Do your guests know you've got cameras in the rooms?"
"Some of them get off on it," Mercedes said, shrugging. "And the rest, what the don't know won't hurt them. Now shh. I'm listening."
Jo went quiet, fascinated, as on the screen, Knight stared down at the not-so-anonymous prostitute. Then he pressed his good hand to the bandage, flinched, breathed, "James," and fell to his knees in front of the couch.
--
Kendall stared at James, the sight making him dizzy. Everything else fell away and he barely knew where he was, had no idea how he'd gotten there. Because that was James. After ten months of searching, of thinking James was dead, of feeling so fucking guilty that the last things he'd said had been so angry, here James was. Right here.
He was so gorgeous. He smiled up at Kendall, his lashes long and thick above beautiful eyes, his body stretched out and perfect, and Kendall yearned. This wasn't Mercedes, cruel even when she laughed; and it wasn't Jo, hot and dangerous. It was James, and Kendall loved him so goddamn much.
He pressed his hand to where his wound still hurt and let the pain course through him, pulling him back to consciousness. He forced himself to focus, trying to plan. James was here, and they needed to get out together. So he had to make sure James was okay.
"James," he murmured, stepping forward. He knelt in front of the couch, grabbed James' hand, and was almost lost again. Only the fact that there was no flicker of recognition on James' face kept him focused. That hurt as much as the bullet wound. "James, look at me."
"Wouldn't want to look at anyone else," James said. "C'mon up here."
Kendall's body started to obey without consulting his mind, and it took all of his willpower to stay right where he was. "Look at me," he pled again. "Don't you know who I am? I've been searching for you for months."
"I've been waiting for you all my life," James said with an easy laugh, and it almost made Kendall melt. Even for all the searching he'd done, he'd never really believed he'd hear that laugh again. It was such a stupid, cheesy line -- but it was so very James, too.
"You've got to know me. James. You've known me your whole life," Kendall tried.
James stared down at him, frowning just a little. "I... I have a hard time remembering things lately... I'm sorry. But I bet I can make it up to you." He leered.
"No, no, you have to know me. No, wait, look at... look." Kendall leaned forward and grabbed James' arm, twisted it lightly, and pointed at the scar on his elbow. "See that? Remember how I gave you that? Playing hockey when we were kids?"
"Playing..." James stared at it and blinked rapidly. "It seems so -- feels so close, but I can't -- I don't know!" He snatched his arm out of Kendall's grip and pulled away. "I just -- it's so hard. I didn't care at all, and everything was fun, but then that -- that girl, she asked me questions and I didn't know, and now I don't know anything. I don't even know my own name. How can I -- how am I supposed to -- I don't know anything."
James sounded so broken, and Kendall couldn't stand it. He moved up to the couch and took James' hand again. "I know. I know who you are. Your name is James Diamond and all you ever wanted was to join the CivCorps. All you wanted was your own ship, and when they made me a captain instead, you were so pissed me. But you accepted the post on my ship anyway, don't you remember? So they wouldn't split the four of us up. You, me, Logan, and Carlos. Remember?"
James stared at him.
He let more pour out: "You always wanted to join the Corps, be a hero. Logan signed up for the science training, and Carlos wanted to make his dad proud, so I had to come. To keep you three out of trouble. But then you disappeared and... James, you were so mad at me. Do you remember screaming at me?"
James blinked. "The Wild. There was a ship, the Wild, right? We were fighting about it..."
"Yes," Kendall breathed. "My ship -- our ship."
"Our ship," James repeated. "CivCorps... James." It sounded like he was trying the name out, letting it roll around inside his perfect, perfect mouth. He repeated it again, drawing it out: "Jah-mez." He laughed. "It feels right. I don't -- I don't remember, but it feels right."
"Because it is right. Your name is James Diamond and you're my first lieutenant, and we serve on the Wild. We've always done everything together, we grew up together, we went to the academy together. We're best friends, best fucking friends, you and me and Carlos and Logan."
James stared at him, and for a moment there was a flicker of... something on his face. Recognition. But it vanished after a moment, and Kendall hated that he knew exactly what happened, because Kendall had seen James do it so many times. When James really wanted something, he went after it with his whole heart, but when there was something that spooked him, he would go for what was easy instead. Like he had a thousand times with his mom, unable to stand up to her.
As the look of recognition left James' eyes, the look that replaced it... whoa. Kendall had seen that a million times, too, but never fixed on him. It was always for some girl, and minutes later, James always had a hand on the small of her back, guiding her off to the nearest room with a little privacy. He swallowed, throat gone dry, because he'd also seen the look James got afterwards. The messed up hair, the smug expression, the satisfied swagger.
And... oh, god. James was gorgeous. Kendall had always known that in the back of his mind, but like this, naked and smirking... Kendall's skin got that too-tight feeling again, and James crooked a finger at him.
"You look so intense," James said. "God, that's so hot. I bet when you fuck it's even more -- I want to feel it."
Kendall shook his head, heartbeat echoing through his entire body. That wasn't why he'd been searching for James -- but --
"I want to feel you inside me," James moaned. He sat up, twined a hand in Kendall's hair. "You finally found me, don't you want me?"
"We weren't -- like -- that," Kendall managed, but barely. He reached for his arm, needing the spike of pain to get himself focused, but James intercepted his hand, brought it up to his lips, and slowly sucked Kendall's thumb into his mouth.
Kendall whimpered. He had to plan -- they had to get out --
James kissed him, a hand trailing down to the small of his back. "So intense," James mumbled against his jaw. "Gonna get you all worked up. Gonna make you fall apart." He pressed Kendall down on to his back and shifted on top of him, straddling him. Kendall whimpered, desperately craving more, wanting James' body pressed against his head-to-toe, wanting to feel James inside and out, wanting everything, absolutely everything, but he shouldn't --
As James kissed his way down Kendall's chest, Kendall fell apart.
Part Seven
Previous: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
Disclaimer: Sometimes I think this show was created just for me, but alas, still not mine. Definitely for the best, in this case.
Rating/warnings: NC-17. Sex pollen and sex slaves, dub-con and non-con (though mostly off screen), plus violence, cursing, lots of nudity, and forced druggings.
Pairings: (In order of apperance, not necessarily importance) James/Camille, Mercedes/Kendall, Kendall/Jo, Kendall/James, Mercedes/Kendall/James, James/Logan.
Notes: As always, enormous thanks to lielabell and her terrifying red pen of doom. This chapter is dedicated to garnetice.
Summary: Kendall and his crew are supposed to be on a rescue mission, searching for someone on a black market planet. But he's the one who ends up needing to be rescued...
Six.
Jo paced up and down the hallway outside Knight's room.
She wasn't stupid. She knew Knight would lie to her face, would say absolutely anything to try to get her help. Except, he was so drugged he should barely have known who he was, let alone been able to lie. Maybe that was reason enough to help him -- it would have been one thing if Mercedes had just had him killed, but this kind of torture was unnecessary.
On the other hand, there was obviously more to Knight than met the eye. Like the fact that he'd found a way to keep some control over his faculties, when the drug should have overwhelmed him entirely. And his whole escape attempt -- if Jo hadn't been such a good shot, he might even have succeeded. And, assuming Rebecca had been right when she'd called him a CivCorps captain, he was pretty young to have his own ship.
But if he was a CivCorps captain, why the hell was he wanted? What had he done to get his own people to put a bounty on him? That just didn't add up. And Jo may have been so disgusted by what Mercedes was doing to him that she wanted to help him out, but if he was just lying, she couldn't afford to. Mercedes owned half the planet, and if Jo double-crossed her, she'd need an escape plan first. Otherwise, she'd end up dead herself. Even if Knight was telling the truth, she wasn't going to sacrifice herself for him.
So how was she supposed to check on his story? She couldn't just duck out of the brothel while she was on duty, and since Mercedes monitored all transmissions in and out she couldn't look up the bounty that way without being caught. And it wasn't like she could just ask Mercedes.
So she couldn't verify that part of his story. But his mission, his search for Brooke Diamond's son, that was something else entirely. If it was true, then maybe it didn't matter if his claim about the bounty was a lie, anyway. The Diamond family was one of the biggest Syndicates in the universe, and Brooke Diamond would doubtlessly be willing to pay at least Knight's half-mil to get him back.
Knight claimed his friend was in Rebecca's custody. As Jo considered it, she ran through her habitual weapons check -- everything loaded, everything in working order. Rebecca and Mercedes had been doing business since before Jo had signed on six months ago, but Rebecca hadn't appeared in person until recently. When she'd shown up, she'd had that pretty boy test subject in tow, already mindwiped. Mercedes had put him in the brothel immediately, and within days he was her most popular worker, but Jo had always felt weird about it.
As far as Jo knew, he was the only one Rebecca had brought to the planet. So it stood to reason...
She paused in her facing, figuring out her next step. Mercedes' pretty boy had no idea who he was, so it wasn't as if she could go directly to him for answers. And she couldn't ask Mercedes, exactly. But that didn't mean Mercedes wouldn't spill something, if she approached it right. After all, Mercedes was running a business, and the Diamonds were definitely powerful enough to ruin her if they wanted. And for all Jo doubted Mercedes would agree to something that would bring the Diamond Syndicate's wrath down on her, it was the sort of thing a good underling reported to her boss.
And once Mercedes confirmed it -- or corrected it -- then Jo could plan her next move.
She headed towards the back lounge where Mercedes did business. Mercedes was there, sipping a cocktail with some of her pet politicians. She waved Jo over and asked, "Well? How's Captain Courageous?"
Jo forced a chuckle at the nickname and said, "Really, really... uh, excited."
Mercedes smirked. "Find out anything interesting?"
"I did. You might want to hear this alone."
"Really?" Mercedes cocked her head, then shrugged. She shooed the politicians away from her couch, telling them to go to the private suite and enjoy themselves, and let Jo sit down. "Well?"
"He's not an inspector. So you know why Rebecca actually wanted you to take out anyone who claimed to work for the Diamonds?" At Mercedes' headshake, she continued, "Because that guy she brought here? That's Brooke Diamond's son."
Mercedes stared at her. "You're fucking with me."
"That's what Captain Courageous says."
"The heir to the Diamond Syndicate? He's mindwiped and in my brothel?"
"So it seems." Jo shrugged. "And I thought you'd want to know, because from what I know of Brooke Diamond, she's not someone who'd ever, ever give up trying to find him. And if she finds him here..."
Mercedes' expression went grim. Brooke Diamond was technically bound by Civ laws, but Jo didn't doubt for a moment that she'd shoot first and smooth it over with Civ later, if it meant recovering her son. Apparently Mercedes didn't either, because she demanded, "You're sure?"
"Knight said he was looking for a friend Rebecca brought here, and that the friend is Brooke Diamond's son. So I assume... "
"I don't run on assumptions," Mercedes said, standing. "And I don't like being set up by my business partners, now matter how well they pay. Get Knight, bring him up to the private suite."
"What are you going to do to him?" Jo asked, feigning bored curiosity to cover for mild worry. She'd expected Mercedes to confirm Diamond's identity, or deny it. She hadn't considered that Mercedes herself might not know. That got Knight involved again, and if he was telling the truth about Diamond -- and especially if he was telling the truth about his bounty -- she wanted him in tact.
"Do to him? Aww, you like him." Mercedes chuckled. "He is hot. But don't worry. All I'm going to do is test this theory of yours."
Jo wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but she nodded. "I'll meet you there in a few minutes."
She found Knight sprawled on the bed in his room. He lay on his back, and since his wrist was still chained, his arm was pulled awkwardly off the mattress. His other hand... well, that was busy.
She cleared his throat and he looked over at her and moaned, but didn't stop. She turned away, blushing, but could tell from the noises he made when he came. As she looked back at him, he grabbed for the pillow and used it to shield himself. "Modesty," he gasped.
"Sure, you care about that now."
"For... like, four, five seconds, at least," he said.
"Gonna have to be longer than that." She held up the key to the cuffs. "You're coming with me."
"Seriously?" he breathed, and she could see the hope on his face. Even like this, clouded by lust, with his hand dripping, he wanted to get out. It made her ache a little bit, and she promised herself that if he was telling the truth, she'd help him.
"Don't... not that," she said. His face fell and he looked away. She forced herself to ignore it. One hand on a weapon in case he tried to surprise her again, she crossed the room and unlocked the cuff from the bedframe and told him to sit up. He stared up at her for a long moment, then pushed himself up slowly. The pillow fell away from him and she could see he was already half-hard again.
"If not that," he murmured at her, "will you at least... give me a hand? If you're gonna cuff me?"
She shook her head. "You don't want that."
He wrapped his hand around his dick, breathed hard, and said, "Yeah, I actually do."
"C'mon. Stand up." She offered him her hand, and he took it. She dragged him up, and he stumbled forward into her, wrapped his good arm around her waist, and kissed her.
Startled, she let him for a second before she recovered and pushed him away. She almost hated that she had to do it -- Knight was a very good kisser, it turned out -- but he was obviously out of control. She stepped away, and he was in no shape to fight her when she took his wrist and pulled it behind his back. Maybe she yanked it around more forcefully than she'd meant to, because he made a surprisingly happy noise and said, "I bet you like it rough. Mmm, if that's how you want it, that's fine with me. Maybe up against the wall?"
"Keep it together, Knight," she said. "Mercedes wants you."
She expected that to sober him up, but he actually laughed. "Good, 'cause she'll do it for me. But I'd rather do it with you. However you want it, whatever you want to do..." She snapped the cuff on him and marched him out of the room, but he kept talking. "You seem like a girl who likes to be in charge and maybe that's just what I need. Maybe I need you to push me down and make me beg for it. Mmm, you want that?"
"Knock it off," she snapped.
He glanced over and smiled at her for a second, then went right back to talking. "Maybe I'm wrong, huh? Maybe you get so much roughness here, what you really want is, hmm, tender. Gentle. I can do that to. I can go so fucking slow it'll drive you crazy. Fuck, afterwards, I even like to cuddle."
She snorted. "Sure you do. But right now, afterwards, you'll be desperate again in four, five seconds."
"You don't want me desperate for you? I am. Right now -- oh god, I am. Right here in the hallway, I'd... please."
Thank god, they arrived at the private suite, where Mercedes sent her favorite customers. Some were groping and grinding and fucking right in the main room. Mercedes stood waiting, smirking.
Knight went silent when she approached. Jo had to wonder, even as drugged up as he was, how much of his rambling had been bravado. After all, if she'd stopped and pinned up against a wall like he'd wanted, he wouldn't be here, now, with Mercedes.
"Don't look so angry," Mercedes said, petting his cheek. "You're going to like this." She took his arm and pulled him towards one of the rooms. He stumbled, but that was all the rebellion he managed. Paused at the door, Mercedes said, "Jo, unlock these," and snagged a finger in the chain between his wrists.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Jo asked. She wanted to help him, and if he tried to escape right here, right now, he'd just get himself killed.
"Trust me," Mercedes said, smirking. She was definitely up to something. Suspicious, Jo did as she was asked, and Mercedes opened the door to the private room. "Go on in, Captain. He's all yours."
She gave him a push, shut and locked the door behind him, then grabbed Jo's arm and dragged her to another room. This one was brighter -- it had a plush couch but obviously wasn't intended for clients, since it was small and the only other thing in it was a giant monitor. Mercedes adjusted the screen, then smiled, settling on the couch. Jo joined her tenuously, looked at the screen as the volume came to life, and... oh.
"Do your guests know you've got cameras in the rooms?"
"Some of them get off on it," Mercedes said, shrugging. "And the rest, what the don't know won't hurt them. Now shh. I'm listening."
Jo went quiet, fascinated, as on the screen, Knight stared down at the not-so-anonymous prostitute. Then he pressed his good hand to the bandage, flinched, breathed, "James," and fell to his knees in front of the couch.
--
Kendall stared at James, the sight making him dizzy. Everything else fell away and he barely knew where he was, had no idea how he'd gotten there. Because that was James. After ten months of searching, of thinking James was dead, of feeling so fucking guilty that the last things he'd said had been so angry, here James was. Right here.
He was so gorgeous. He smiled up at Kendall, his lashes long and thick above beautiful eyes, his body stretched out and perfect, and Kendall yearned. This wasn't Mercedes, cruel even when she laughed; and it wasn't Jo, hot and dangerous. It was James, and Kendall loved him so goddamn much.
He pressed his hand to where his wound still hurt and let the pain course through him, pulling him back to consciousness. He forced himself to focus, trying to plan. James was here, and they needed to get out together. So he had to make sure James was okay.
"James," he murmured, stepping forward. He knelt in front of the couch, grabbed James' hand, and was almost lost again. Only the fact that there was no flicker of recognition on James' face kept him focused. That hurt as much as the bullet wound. "James, look at me."
"Wouldn't want to look at anyone else," James said. "C'mon up here."
Kendall's body started to obey without consulting his mind, and it took all of his willpower to stay right where he was. "Look at me," he pled again. "Don't you know who I am? I've been searching for you for months."
"I've been waiting for you all my life," James said with an easy laugh, and it almost made Kendall melt. Even for all the searching he'd done, he'd never really believed he'd hear that laugh again. It was such a stupid, cheesy line -- but it was so very James, too.
"You've got to know me. James. You've known me your whole life," Kendall tried.
James stared down at him, frowning just a little. "I... I have a hard time remembering things lately... I'm sorry. But I bet I can make it up to you." He leered.
"No, no, you have to know me. No, wait, look at... look." Kendall leaned forward and grabbed James' arm, twisted it lightly, and pointed at the scar on his elbow. "See that? Remember how I gave you that? Playing hockey when we were kids?"
"Playing..." James stared at it and blinked rapidly. "It seems so -- feels so close, but I can't -- I don't know!" He snatched his arm out of Kendall's grip and pulled away. "I just -- it's so hard. I didn't care at all, and everything was fun, but then that -- that girl, she asked me questions and I didn't know, and now I don't know anything. I don't even know my own name. How can I -- how am I supposed to -- I don't know anything."
James sounded so broken, and Kendall couldn't stand it. He moved up to the couch and took James' hand again. "I know. I know who you are. Your name is James Diamond and all you ever wanted was to join the CivCorps. All you wanted was your own ship, and when they made me a captain instead, you were so pissed me. But you accepted the post on my ship anyway, don't you remember? So they wouldn't split the four of us up. You, me, Logan, and Carlos. Remember?"
James stared at him.
He let more pour out: "You always wanted to join the Corps, be a hero. Logan signed up for the science training, and Carlos wanted to make his dad proud, so I had to come. To keep you three out of trouble. But then you disappeared and... James, you were so mad at me. Do you remember screaming at me?"
James blinked. "The Wild. There was a ship, the Wild, right? We were fighting about it..."
"Yes," Kendall breathed. "My ship -- our ship."
"Our ship," James repeated. "CivCorps... James." It sounded like he was trying the name out, letting it roll around inside his perfect, perfect mouth. He repeated it again, drawing it out: "Jah-mez." He laughed. "It feels right. I don't -- I don't remember, but it feels right."
"Because it is right. Your name is James Diamond and you're my first lieutenant, and we serve on the Wild. We've always done everything together, we grew up together, we went to the academy together. We're best friends, best fucking friends, you and me and Carlos and Logan."
James stared at him, and for a moment there was a flicker of... something on his face. Recognition. But it vanished after a moment, and Kendall hated that he knew exactly what happened, because Kendall had seen James do it so many times. When James really wanted something, he went after it with his whole heart, but when there was something that spooked him, he would go for what was easy instead. Like he had a thousand times with his mom, unable to stand up to her.
As the look of recognition left James' eyes, the look that replaced it... whoa. Kendall had seen that a million times, too, but never fixed on him. It was always for some girl, and minutes later, James always had a hand on the small of her back, guiding her off to the nearest room with a little privacy. He swallowed, throat gone dry, because he'd also seen the look James got afterwards. The messed up hair, the smug expression, the satisfied swagger.
And... oh, god. James was gorgeous. Kendall had always known that in the back of his mind, but like this, naked and smirking... Kendall's skin got that too-tight feeling again, and James crooked a finger at him.
"You look so intense," James said. "God, that's so hot. I bet when you fuck it's even more -- I want to feel it."
Kendall shook his head, heartbeat echoing through his entire body. That wasn't why he'd been searching for James -- but --
"I want to feel you inside me," James moaned. He sat up, twined a hand in Kendall's hair. "You finally found me, don't you want me?"
"We weren't -- like -- that," Kendall managed, but barely. He reached for his arm, needing the spike of pain to get himself focused, but James intercepted his hand, brought it up to his lips, and slowly sucked Kendall's thumb into his mouth.
Kendall whimpered. He had to plan -- they had to get out --
James kissed him, a hand trailing down to the small of his back. "So intense," James mumbled against his jaw. "Gonna get you all worked up. Gonna make you fall apart." He pressed Kendall down on to his back and shifted on top of him, straddling him. Kendall whimpered, desperately craving more, wanting James' body pressed against his head-to-toe, wanting to feel James inside and out, wanting everything, absolutely everything, but he shouldn't --
As James kissed his way down Kendall's chest, Kendall fell apart.
Part Seven