Expectations: Dream of You Part 4 of 5
Series: Expectations
Adventure Eight: Dream of You Part 4 of 5
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Angst, Adventure
Warnings: Rape, Torture
Length Chaptered
Beta: unicornsinger
A/N: Special thanks to dolphinchic for her endless support, and to unicornsinger for taking time out of her busy life to beta for me. Also a heartfelt thanks to all that take the time to comment.
Summary: While the rest of the ship races to rescue Commander Cho and Shindong, Jaejoong and Changmin are forced to deal with each other. Lord ZhouMi’s reputation for cruelty proves completely warranted. As Kyuhyun struggles to survive the unbearable, he dreams of his life spent with Ryeowook.
Prior Adventures
“Is there some reason you have Ensign Kim Junsu escorting the newly arrived bunch of rebels, or are you just trying to piss me off?” Commander Yoochun demanded as he stormed into the Captain’s Ready Room.
Yunho, who had been reading intently, looked up from his desk to stare at the red-faced commander. “I beg your pardon?”
Yoochun walked pass the conference table to Yunho’s desk and slammed his hands down on the desk, and explained angrily, “The new bunch of rebels are women….why is Junsu escorting them?”
“Sit,” Yunho ordered, with an edge in his voice that had Yoochun sitting immediately. “Let me get this straight, Commander. You are questioning something as minimal as this, while we are orchestrating a complicated rescue mission?”
Yoochun leaned back in his seat, his anger quickly dissipating, and swallowed guiltily before answering, “Yes, and I’m sorry. I was momentarily stupid.”
“Yes, you were,” Yunho coldly told him. “Dare I ask what brought on this outburst?”
“I have no idea,” Commander Yoochun lied. “You just tell me what you need me to do for you, and it is already done. I know how much stress you must be under, and I’m here to help.”
Yunho rolled his eyes at Commander Yoochun, and refused to be distracted. “Are you jealous that you are not with the women? Or are you jealous that Junsu is with them?”
“It’s been a long time since I have been with a woman…well, not counting my recent converted self, but I have never been a big fan of masturbation, not that I don’t enjoy it. I welcome all orgasms and the more-”
“Yoochun,” Yunho said a in a voice full of warning.
“I saw Junsu with all those rebel women, and I was just filled with jealousy. What if one of them takes a shine to him…and his precious virginity? I have dibs on his virginity, dammit! It shouldn’t be lost to some ugly rebel women that make Nausicaans look sexy,” Yoochun confessed.
Yunho just shook his head and waited a moment before responding, “Junsu is his own person. He can be with whoever he wants to be with, and we both know he doesn’t want to be with you. You have to accept this, Yoochun.”
Yoochun glanced away from Yunho, unable to look him in the eye. “There is a greater concern.”
“And what’s that?”
“All these women on a ship full of sexually deprived men…I just don’t think it’s very smart to have them wandering about,” Yoochun explained, forcing himself to face Yunho with a smile.
Yunho’s eyes narrowed and he said very carefully, “There is only one predator on this ship, and he’s on his best behavior. The women are not in any danger, and you know that.”
Yoochun let out a deep breath and agreed, “I do know that.”
“I don’t like this obsession you have with Junsu. I’ve never liked it. It can’t be good for you,” Yunho told his old friend, concerned.
“No, but I don’t seem to be able to help myself.”
Yunho studied Yoochun closely, and added, “We are in the middle of a rescue mission…but it’s like you forgot all that.”
“I am a little territorial,” Yoochun said with a sly grin. “I am better now, though,” Yoochun said clapping his hands together. “So how are we going to make ZhouMi miserable today?”
“When was the last time you had a full mental examination?” Yunho asked, refusing to be manipulated. “Have you had one since you were switched into the body of a woman? The switch could have undone-”
“Stop. I understand your concerns, and I had Dr. Cho do a full mental examination on me after I switched back into my male body; we did a few tweaks, but everything is intact.”
“You had to have tweaks, and nobody told me!” Yunho said, alarmed now.
Yoochun held up his hands to calm the captain. “Just minor tweaks; it wasn’t like I was planning a murderous rampage.”
Yunho did not even try to hide the worry on his face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Yoochun confirmed, trying his best to sound reassuring. “If you don’t believe me, ask Dr. Cho, or better yet, ask your beloved.”
“Jaejoong has never liked you.”
“Well, he can sense evil,” Yoochun tried to joke, but avoided Yunho’s gaze.
“You are not evil!” Yunho said resolutely as he stood up and reached across the desk and grabbed Yoochun by the shoulder. “Look at me,” Yunho demanded, “You were born with a sickness. You have been cured. You are not evil. Repeat it now.”
Yoochun forced himself to look up at Yunho, and said softly. “I’m not evil.”
“Now, say it and believe it.”
“I’m not evil,” Yoochun said more confidently, finding strength in the eyes of his old friend, whose gaze stared back at him unflinchingly.
“Now, that we have settled that, I must admit that I was surprised that you haven’t found time to bitch at me for getting kidnapped and keeping you away from your precious engines,” Yunho told him as he sat back down.
“Although I always hate it when you inconvenience me by leaving me in command of the ship, at least this time you didn’t have Ensign SungGyu wasting away in astrophysics instead of engineering, like you did when I was stuck as a woman,” Yoochun explained. “The engineering department is as perfect as always.”
Yunho leaned back in his chair, studying his old friend. “I thought Ensign Henry was your engineering genius.”
“Oh, he is. Henry…the kid is a master at engineering already,” Yoochun answered, beaming in pride when he spoke of his apprentice. “Henry has a natural ability for engineering that leaves me in awe, but he cannot command others. He’s too damn nice.”
“Isn’t there somebody else in-”
“No, you can’t have SungGyu!”
“Yoochun,” Yunho said, trying to fight his amusement. “His command ability scores rank off the-”
“I don’t care!” Yoochun interrupted, openly pouting. “He can use his command ability to keep my engineering department running perfectly.”
“I have moved that boy all over this ship, and he has excelled in every department. I have got to start promoting…some men are made to command others, and some are not. I have to start moving people up who have that skill, and I have to foster it,” Yunho explained calmly.
Yoochun heard something in Yunho’s voice he didn’t like, and asked gently, “In case we don’t get Kyuhyun back?”
Yunho stared down at his desk, and answered honestly, “I’m going to do everything I can to get him back, but we don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
“He is.”
“You don’t know that…we all are living on borrowed time,” Yunho explained, thinking of his own fate. In the future he would be dying, and before he died he would have Jaejoong send Changmin back in time to Earth. Yunho reminded himself he still had time. Changmin was two years old when he arrived on Earth. They still had time.
“Is there something…you want to tell me?” Yoochun asked, worried for his forlorn friend.
Yunho looked up at his friend…his friend that had always depended on him. Instead of discussing his potential tragic future, he brought up another topic that was bothering him. “When I inherited this command, I got access to all the sealed records on the crew. Before you came in, I was reading Kyuhyun’s file.”
“Kyuhyun had a sealed record? What did it say? That he was the spoiled son of admirals, who had a sex addiction, before Dr. Cho got a firm hold on his balls? We already knew that.”
Yunho paled and shook his head. “I wish it said that. God, I wish that was all it said.”
“What did he do?”
“You mean what was done to him,” Yunho answered, looking ill.
Yoochun stared at Yunho, at a loss, and asked in a confused voice, “He is the son of two of the most powerful admirals in the fleet…what could have happened to him?”
“You don’t want to know. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I will just say this: even admirals have rules to follow, and a very young Kyuhyun was the collateral damage of them following those rules.”
“You are right, I don’t want to know; I already have too little respect for rules,” Yoochun replied, his sharp mind already surmising the cause of Yunho’s distress.
“Do the rules apply here?”
“You are the rule enforcer here…..why are you of all people asking me this?” Yoochun asked, shocked.
“I know the noninterference clause with primitive cultures doesn’t apply since the Warlords already hindered the natural development of the more primitive worlds by subjecting them to their technology, but I have - ” Yunho’s insignia chirped, interrupting him. Yunho tapped it, and answered, “Captain here.”
“Captain, I need you to come to sickbay,” Ryeowook’s worried voice told him.
Yunho got up from his chair and replied, “I’m on my way.”
“I’m coming with you,” Yoochun told him as he followed after Yunho.
*****************
Captain Yunho entered sickbay with Commander Yoochun at his side, to find Dr. Cho sitting on the side of a sickbay exam bed, rubbing his face with the back of his hands, looking lost, brokenhearted, and exhausted.
“Doctor,” Yunho said tentatively as he approached the younger man.
Ryeowook dropped his hands and looked at the captain with red eyes that had not known sleep in days, and pointed toward the room that housed the ambassador’s daughter.
Yunho inhaled a deep breath and walked toward the room, knowing that it would not be a welcome sight that greeted his eyes. He pushed the door open to find Sulli sitting on the bed with a very puzzled expression on her face as Heechul sat behind her braiding her hair.
“Heechul?” Yunho questioned softly.
Heechul’s bright, inquisitive eyes looked up over the girl’s shoulder, and he smiled at Yunho. “Yunho, isn’t her hair beautiful?”
“It’s very nice.”
Heechul hugged Sulli from behind, causing the girl to tense, and declared, “She’s adorable. I always wanted a little sister! Doesn’t she look like me? Don’t you think she looks like me?”
Yunho closed his eyes and nodded his head, knowing Doctor Kim Heechul was once again lost.
“We are the most beautiful girls in the entire universe…in all the universes. She was broken, but I fixed her all up,” Heechul said with satisfaction. “She’s so much nicer than…” Heechul paused to look at Yoochun who was standing beside Yoochun. “So much nicer than that nasty Yoochun. He made a terrible girl! Just terrible!”
“Well, all women pale in comparison to you,” Yoochun told Heechul, playing along with the insanity that ruled Heechul’s world once again.
Heechul’s smile brightened more, and he let go of Sulli to reach up and cup his own face.
“You flatter me, but you are absolutely correct. I guess I have to forgive you for being a horrible, whoring woman.”
Yunho fought the urge to lean against the door and just let all his burdens claim him. One of the bright spots in this ongoing nightmare had been the return of Heechul’s sanity. Heechul’s wonderful, clever sanity that never missed a thing, and never spared him from the harsh truths of life, he needed to hear. Yunho looked down at Sulli and asked kindly, “Did Dr. Cho explain what is going on to you?”
Sulli nodded her head. “He is like Commander Leeteuk was on the planet.”
“Yes, but it isn’t quite as bad with Heechul,” Yunho told the young girl.
“Oh, we must go visit Leeteuk!” Heechul exclaimed, jumping off the bed, suddenly excited. “Yunho keeps him tucked away out of sight just because he dislikes clothes…” Heechul paused to give Sulli a horrified look. “What am I thinking? Sulli, you can’t be allowed to see a nude man. Well, at least not until your wedding night!”
“My wedding night?” Sulli asked, even more confused.
Heechul plopped back on the bed and gave her a wink and told her, “I know you are secretly engaged, and I think it’s so romantic!”
Yunho turned away from the two of them, and walked away, unable endure it anymore. He couldn’t listen to Heechul go on about weddings to a girl who had suffered so much at the hands of men.
“Well, it was just a blessing he ever came back at all,” Yoochun said as he followed behind the captain. “I mean if he hadn’t then, Junsu, Ryeowook, and Sungmin would all be in stasis right now. It’s like he came back because he knew he was needed.”
Yunho came to abrupt stop, and turned around to look at Yoochun. “And he isn’t needed now?”
“That isn’t what I meant…I just meant it must have been hard for him to return from that…madness,” Yoochun explained.
“Yes, very hard,” Ryeowook, who was still sitting on the exam bed, agreed. “Very hard…but at least we know he isn’t completely lost. He’s still in there somewhere, beneath all the damage.”
Yunho clenched his fists, feeling suddenly so angry. “I don’t want anybody to be lost. Nobody.”
Ryeowook looked up at the captain, startled. “I know you don’t. I know you are doing everything you can.”
“It’s not enough, though,” Yunho confessed, attempting to reign in his frustration.
A tear slipped down the left side of Ryeowook’s cheek as he tried to sound comforting, “You are doing everything you can.”
Yunho exhaled and asked, “Do you know about Kyuhyun’s past…the incident involving the neutral zone when he was a child?”
Ryeowook looked down at his hands, and nodded his head. “Yes, I know.”
“They couldn’t save him then, and-”
“No,” Ryeowook interrupted, with hardened eyes and clenched fists, correcting the captain. “They chose to obey the terms of the treaty. They chose to leave him there.”
Yunho winced as if he alone carried the weight and responsibility of all the choices his forefathers had made so long ago. Yunho was about to apologize for the actions of others, when a warm hand reached out, clasping his. Yunho turned to his side, surprised to find Jaejoong standing there, looking up at him.
Yunho kept his eyes locked with his bondmate as the power of their bond filled him, replenishing his physical and mental strength. “I thought touch was forbidden. You are breaking your own rules.”
“I cannot ignore you, not when you are hurting…try as I might.”
Yunho closed his eyes taking in the sting of Jaejoong’s words. “Like I ignored you?”
“My world is you, but your world is so much more. It is filled with responsibility, loyalty, duty, and honor. This irritates me at times, but it’s also what draws me to you.”
“I won’t deny that those characteristics drive me, but also there is love. Love for you, love for Changmin, love for my friends, and love for this ship and all its crew.”
Jaejoong tightened his grip on Yunho’s hand. “I do know this, but if Kyuhyun and Shindong are lost…it is no fault of yours.”
“It’s my duty to save them, and I fear time is running out.”
“Yunho, if they are not saved…it is the blame of others. Others that lack any goodness…or even the tiniest of scruples.”
A powerful memory was jogged at Jaejoong’s words, and Yunho repeated aloud the words that ZhouMi’s minion had spoken to him, “A man with scruples will never easily defeat one with none.”
“What are you saying, Yunho?” Yoochun asked from Yunho’s other side, as something in his old friend’s tone made him suddenly hopeful.
“I have to scare him…I have to make others scared to side with him. I have to make him give Kyuhyun and Shindong back to us. I have to do whatever it takes.”
“And what will that entail?” Jaejoong asked worriedly. Jaejoong knew there were things that Yunho could never live with…a line he must never cross.
“Jae, I need you to go get Changmin, and bring him to the bridge. I want the both of you at my side,” Yunho told Jaejoong, ignoring his question, as the plan to rescue his lost crew members took root in his mind.
“Yunho, I think-”
“No, Jae…it’s alright. I know what I have to do now,” Yunho told Jaejoong, letting go of his lover’s hand and turning toward Ryeowook. “I am going to get him back.”
Before Ryeowook could respond, Yunho strolled from the room with his head held high, confident in what he must do.
********************
Lord ZhouMi sat in his chair in the middle of the bridge of his flagship in serious thought. Shindong sat at ZhouMi’s feet on the floor, naked except for the black collar he wore. The crew around ZhouMi did not dare make a noise. It was obvious to all the warlord was in deep concentration. He had finally gotten a Joong, but at what price, the whole crew wondered? The Joong’s father had gone on a rampage, seizing the warlord’s ships and liberating planets from the warlords hold. This ship, the Expectations, was far greater than anything any of them had ever known.
“My Lord,” Seung-hyun whispered, interrupting the warlord from his thoughts.
Much to the surprise of all on the bridge crew, the warlord just tilted his head up to look at his highest ranking officer and asked calmly, “What is it, Seung-hyun?”
“My Lord, the Expectations is sending out a message to everyone with the capability to intercept messages from space,” Seung-hyun explained.
ZhouMi sat up straighter in his chair, immediately on alert. “A message?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then let’s hear it,” the warlord said pointing to the screen in front of him.
The screen instantly came alive, and in the center of the screen sat a tall, handsome, young man in red. Beside him sat a beautiful, darker haired man, and on his other side sat a tall, young man with the beauty only those of Joong blood could ever possess, and around his neck was a pink necklace that ZhouMi instantly recognized.
ZhouMi stood up and stared at the screen, at a loss. The man in the center of the screen just grinned as if he could see the warlord’s reaction, and began to speak, “I am Captain Jung Yunho of the Star Ship Expectations.”
ZhouMi watched as the captain turned to his right and smiled at the darker-haired man and said, “This is Jaejoong, my bondmate.” Then the captain turned to his left and smiled at the tall, blonde, young man and introduced him. “And this is our son, Changmin.”
Nobody aboard the warlord’s ship even dared to breathe as they watched the warlord pale. The warlord’s eyes never left the screen, as the captain of the Expectations stood up and walked up closer. His handsome face was firm, and his voice unwavering as he spoke to all in the galaxy receiving his message. “The scum of this galaxy known as the Warlord ZhouMi has taken two of my crew members. He has wrongfully assumed he has my son, but due to the courageous actions of my most trusted officer, Commander Cho, he was denied my son.”
“The rest of this message is directed to the tyrant, ZhouMi, and all those who foolishly support him should listen carefully. ZhouMi, you will return my men to me, and if you don’t, I will continue to seize every ship of yours I come in contact with. I will then give those ships over to the Rebellion. I will continue to liberate all of the worlds under your vicious control. I will not stop there, though; the Warlords Hangeng and Boa, who align themselves with you will also be my enemies. I will do to them as I have done to you. In less than three days, I have seized sixty-six of your ships, and I have liberated three worlds from your malicious control…..imagine what I can do in a month…in a year. The children on my home world play with toys that are more advanced than your technology. I will crush you and all who associate with you if you do not return my men!”
“If you do not return my men, then I will find your hiding place, and when I do, I will evaporate your ship into nothingness like I have every hideous monument to you I have encountered. You will be the only one aboard your ship that I will spare. Yes, everybody aboard your ship will die, unless they rise up against you and bring me my men. If they do not bring me my men, then they will find a quick death at my hands, but you will not be so lucky.”
“No, you will not be rewarded such a merciful death; not you. I made a promise to my bondmate Jaejoong that he could do with you as he wished,” the captain said these words with delight. ZhouMi watched as Jaejoong suddenly appeared beside the captain.
“Oh, and what horrific things I have planned for you. I shall make sure you experience every ounce of pain you have ever inflicted on others, multiplied by ten. Then I will make you experience it all over again…and maybe someday, if you are good…I will melt your brain into a pile of mush,” Jaejoong seethed with pure hatred.
“Enough! End it!” ZhouMi screamed.
***************
“Kyuhyun, wake up!” the concerned voice of his roommate pulled Kyuhyun from the dark depths of memories that sleep has landed him in. He opened his eyes to a brightly lit room, to find Ryeowook staring down at him, full of worry, as he clutched Kyuhyun’s arm.
Kyuhyun pulled free of Ryeowook’s touch and reached up and wiped his face that was covered in a cold, clammy sweat. “Did I hit you?”
“No, I’m getting better at ducking,” Ryeowook answered as he sat down on the bed beside Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun concentrated on breathing, trying to calm his racing heart. “I just fight so hard in my…nightmares. I’d never hit you on purpose.”
“I know.” Ryeowook clasped his hands together tightly, avoiding the urge to reach up and brush Kyuhyun’s sweaty hair off his brow. Ryeowook had learned the hard way how jumpy Kyuhyun was after his nightmares, how the slightest touch could send him reeling.
Kyuhyun made himself sit up and criss-cross his legs, sitting in the center of the bed. His body still slightly trembled, but Ryeowook was having his usual calming effect on him. When they had first become roommates, Kyuhyun had detested his new roommate. He had hated it even more when the secret of his nightmares had been made known to the med student. Kyuhyun hated to show any kind of weakness, but strangely…or maybe perhaps because Ryeowook was a healer, he found that his roommate’s presence could calm him in a way that no others ever had.
“I am going to go back to bed.”
“No!” Kyuhyun replied, startled. Ryeowook had never asked to leave before; he wasn’t a fool…he knew the calming affect he had on Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun did not delude himself into thinking this had escaped Ryeowook’s notice. Ryeowook could be totally innocent and clueless about many things, but he knew the human body, and he knew what distressed Kyuhyun and what didn’t. If Ryeowook wanted to leave, it wasn’t for Kyuhyun’s sake.
“I just thought-”
“I told you I was sorry,” Kyuhyun interrupted, suddenly understanding the reason behind Ryeowook’s awkwardness. “I told you it meant nothing, and I won’t try it again.”
“Good!” Ryeowook said stiffly, letting Kyuhyun know he had guessed right.
Kyuhyun sighed, knowing his roommate was still angry with him. “Do you want it written in my blood that I will never try to kiss you again?”
“I might require just that!” Ryeowook snapped.
“I kiss lots of people; I wish you would stop acting so offended,” Kyuhyun grumbled as he stretched out his legs and scooted back against the wall. He still felt shaky, and Ryeowook’s mood was not helping him to calm down.
“Do you even know why I’m mad, Kyuhyun?”
“No,” Kyuhyun admitted.
“Kyuhyun, you are a big man whore,” Ryeowook bluntly told his roommate. “You sleep with more men than any hundred people should. You sleep with them, and then you are done with them. You don’t care about them. They don’t mean anything to you. I will not be grouped with those people that you use and toss away. I’m your friend, and dammit, I expect better from you.”
Kyuhyun closed his eyes, remembering the feelings that had made him grab Ryeowook and try to pull him into a kiss in the first place. “You are right…I’m sorry.”
“Well, good,” Ryeowook replied, feeling more satisfied. Ryeowook turned around to find Kyuhyun with his eyes closed, and his observant eyes did not miss Kyuhyun’s trembling, or the way he still struggled to control his breathing.
Kyuhyun felt the bed move when Ryeowook got up, and his eyes flew open and he asked full of panic, “Where are you going?”
“Calm down, I am just getting the book,” Ryeowook answered as he moved over to Kyuhyun’s desk and picked up a book. Ryeowook had discovered months ago that reading to Kyuhyun after a nightmare calmed him.
“I am trying to calm down, but you are being mean to me,” Kyuhyun answered as he watched Ryeowook walk back to the bed.
Ryeowook got on the bed and sat down bedside Kyuhyun, careful to not touch the jumpy cadet. “I won’t be mean anymore. I shouldn’t have brought it up at a time like this…it was wrong of me. I’m sorry.”
“I won’t ever try to kiss you again,” Kyuhyun told Ryeowook then added mischievously, “Unless you ask.”
Ryeowook snorted. “I won’t ask.”
“What if we get stranded on a deserted planet, and we are the only two people there…men have needs. Well, most men do,” Kyuhyun said, trying to force the effects of the nightmare far away by jesting with his prudish roommate.
Ryeowook rolled his eyes. “I am never going to ask you to kiss me, and you better never try to kiss me again…well, unless you really mean it.”
“Mean it?” Kyuhyun asked, immediately curious.
“I mean care. I meant unless you care. I won’t be used by you. It would ruin our friendship, and I wouldn’t want to do that.”
Ryeowook’s words made Kyuhyun feel instantly uncomfortable. “I won’t ruin our friendship,” was all Kyuhyun could manage to say as he wrapped his arms tightly together, hugging his chest.
“Good, because I would miss you,” Ryeowook said as he opened the book. “Lay down, Kyuhyun. We both have early classes in the morning.”
Kyuhyun instantly followed Ryeowook’s instructions, resting his head down beside where Ryeowook sat, his hair just barely brushing Ryeowook’s thigh. He knew that Ryeowook’s soothing voice reading over the familiar words would soon have him sleeping again. “I’d miss you, too,” Kyuhyun whispered.
Ryeowook smiled as he laid the book across his lap and began to read.
****************
“Baby Star Fleet, it’s time to wake up. Wake up, Baby Star Fleet,” a soft, cruel voice whispered, piercing his unconscious mind with the old taunts that brought with them crippling fear. Kyuhyun awoke, alarmed, with his heart immediately beginning to race. A machine in the background beeped with every thump of his pounding heart. He found the courage to open his eyes, and found the Warlord ZhouMi staring down at him with a guarded expression. “Tell me, Commander, why would someone who has obviously suffered such cruelties as you, offer yourself up to me in the place of the Joong hybrid?”
More panic set in as he realized the ruse was over, and ZhouMi was on to him. He struggled to move his arms, only to find all his extremities restrained, and the pain from the torture he had received at ZhouMi’s hands earlier spreading throughout his body, almost blinding him to everything but the pain. “He’s my friend,” Kyuhyun barely managed to get out of his parched lips.
“Your friend?” ZhouMi repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. “No friend…no one is worth what I’ve put you through.”
“He is,” Kyuhyun insisted.
The warlord bent down to smile down at Kyuhyun. “No, he isn’t, and-”
“My Lord, I am sorry to interrupt you, but Mistress Boa and Master Hangeng are both demanding an audience with you,” a tall, slim man that Kyuhyun remembered seeing earlier announced, as he stepped into view.
Kyuhyun watched as the warlord turned his attention on the man. “Seung-hyun, did you say they are demanding? They are demanding,” the warlord asked icily.
“Yes, My Lord…and they are both on a course to intercept us,” Seung-hyun explained to his master.
“They know our location?”
“Yes, My Lord; it appears the traitor is still aboard the ship,” Kyuhyun watched as the man named Seung-hyun proclaimed with a bowed head, as if he expected a blow from the temperamental warlord.
“Leave us! I want that traitor found,” ZhouMi seethed as he turned back around to face Kyuhyun.
“Yes, My Lord,” Seung-hyun answered and quickly left the room.
“Commander, you have brought nothing but misfortune upon me. And it was all in vain, because your precious Changmin never survived. He died on Belara and all your suffering was in vain. Do you hear me, Kyuhyun? It was in vain. He died. You didn’t save anybody. And even if he hadn’t died on that planet, it still wouldn’t have been worth it.”
“No!” Kyuhyun somehow managed to scream. “No, No, No!” It couldn’t be true. Kyuhyun refused to believe Changmin was dead. It couldn’t have all been in vain. He did not allow this to happen all over again for nothing. Changmin…Changmin dead…no it couldn’t be true.
ZhouMi reached down and grabbed Kyuhyun by the shoulder and shook him. “Yes, this was all for nothing. I will promise you this, commander, though. This is the last time I will willingly hurt you, though. The last time,” ZhouMi promised Kyuhyun, with guarded eyes, and then turned to look at somebody who was standing behind Kyuhyun, out of sight. “Doctor, it’s time.”
Kyuhyun tilted his head back, as a great fear consumed him, as the doctor that had kept him drugged and at ZhouMi’s mercy, stepped into view with a big syringe. “No,” Kyuhyun screamed as the doctor plunged the syringe into him.
Adventure Eight: Dream of You Part 4 of 5
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Angst, Adventure
Warnings: Rape, Torture
Length Chaptered
Beta: unicornsinger
A/N: Special thanks to dolphinchic for her endless support, and to unicornsinger for taking time out of her busy life to beta for me. Also a heartfelt thanks to all that take the time to comment.
Summary: While the rest of the ship races to rescue Commander Cho and Shindong, Jaejoong and Changmin are forced to deal with each other. Lord ZhouMi’s reputation for cruelty proves completely warranted. As Kyuhyun struggles to survive the unbearable, he dreams of his life spent with Ryeowook.
Prior Adventures
“Is there some reason you have Ensign Kim Junsu escorting the newly arrived bunch of rebels, or are you just trying to piss me off?” Commander Yoochun demanded as he stormed into the Captain’s Ready Room.
Yunho, who had been reading intently, looked up from his desk to stare at the red-faced commander. “I beg your pardon?”
Yoochun walked pass the conference table to Yunho’s desk and slammed his hands down on the desk, and explained angrily, “The new bunch of rebels are women….why is Junsu escorting them?”
“Sit,” Yunho ordered, with an edge in his voice that had Yoochun sitting immediately. “Let me get this straight, Commander. You are questioning something as minimal as this, while we are orchestrating a complicated rescue mission?”
Yoochun leaned back in his seat, his anger quickly dissipating, and swallowed guiltily before answering, “Yes, and I’m sorry. I was momentarily stupid.”
“Yes, you were,” Yunho coldly told him. “Dare I ask what brought on this outburst?”
“I have no idea,” Commander Yoochun lied. “You just tell me what you need me to do for you, and it is already done. I know how much stress you must be under, and I’m here to help.”
Yunho rolled his eyes at Commander Yoochun, and refused to be distracted. “Are you jealous that you are not with the women? Or are you jealous that Junsu is with them?”
“It’s been a long time since I have been with a woman…well, not counting my recent converted self, but I have never been a big fan of masturbation, not that I don’t enjoy it. I welcome all orgasms and the more-”
“Yoochun,” Yunho said a in a voice full of warning.
“I saw Junsu with all those rebel women, and I was just filled with jealousy. What if one of them takes a shine to him…and his precious virginity? I have dibs on his virginity, dammit! It shouldn’t be lost to some ugly rebel women that make Nausicaans look sexy,” Yoochun confessed.
Yunho just shook his head and waited a moment before responding, “Junsu is his own person. He can be with whoever he wants to be with, and we both know he doesn’t want to be with you. You have to accept this, Yoochun.”
Yoochun glanced away from Yunho, unable to look him in the eye. “There is a greater concern.”
“And what’s that?”
“All these women on a ship full of sexually deprived men…I just don’t think it’s very smart to have them wandering about,” Yoochun explained, forcing himself to face Yunho with a smile.
Yunho’s eyes narrowed and he said very carefully, “There is only one predator on this ship, and he’s on his best behavior. The women are not in any danger, and you know that.”
Yoochun let out a deep breath and agreed, “I do know that.”
“I don’t like this obsession you have with Junsu. I’ve never liked it. It can’t be good for you,” Yunho told his old friend, concerned.
“No, but I don’t seem to be able to help myself.”
Yunho studied Yoochun closely, and added, “We are in the middle of a rescue mission…but it’s like you forgot all that.”
“I am a little territorial,” Yoochun said with a sly grin. “I am better now, though,” Yoochun said clapping his hands together. “So how are we going to make ZhouMi miserable today?”
“When was the last time you had a full mental examination?” Yunho asked, refusing to be manipulated. “Have you had one since you were switched into the body of a woman? The switch could have undone-”
“Stop. I understand your concerns, and I had Dr. Cho do a full mental examination on me after I switched back into my male body; we did a few tweaks, but everything is intact.”
“You had to have tweaks, and nobody told me!” Yunho said, alarmed now.
Yoochun held up his hands to calm the captain. “Just minor tweaks; it wasn’t like I was planning a murderous rampage.”
Yunho did not even try to hide the worry on his face. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” Yoochun confirmed, trying his best to sound reassuring. “If you don’t believe me, ask Dr. Cho, or better yet, ask your beloved.”
“Jaejoong has never liked you.”
“Well, he can sense evil,” Yoochun tried to joke, but avoided Yunho’s gaze.
“You are not evil!” Yunho said resolutely as he stood up and reached across the desk and grabbed Yoochun by the shoulder. “Look at me,” Yunho demanded, “You were born with a sickness. You have been cured. You are not evil. Repeat it now.”
Yoochun forced himself to look up at Yunho, and said softly. “I’m not evil.”
“Now, say it and believe it.”
“I’m not evil,” Yoochun said more confidently, finding strength in the eyes of his old friend, whose gaze stared back at him unflinchingly.
“Now, that we have settled that, I must admit that I was surprised that you haven’t found time to bitch at me for getting kidnapped and keeping you away from your precious engines,” Yunho told him as he sat back down.
“Although I always hate it when you inconvenience me by leaving me in command of the ship, at least this time you didn’t have Ensign SungGyu wasting away in astrophysics instead of engineering, like you did when I was stuck as a woman,” Yoochun explained. “The engineering department is as perfect as always.”
Yunho leaned back in his chair, studying his old friend. “I thought Ensign Henry was your engineering genius.”
“Oh, he is. Henry…the kid is a master at engineering already,” Yoochun answered, beaming in pride when he spoke of his apprentice. “Henry has a natural ability for engineering that leaves me in awe, but he cannot command others. He’s too damn nice.”
“Isn’t there somebody else in-”
“No, you can’t have SungGyu!”
“Yoochun,” Yunho said, trying to fight his amusement. “His command ability scores rank off the-”
“I don’t care!” Yoochun interrupted, openly pouting. “He can use his command ability to keep my engineering department running perfectly.”
“I have moved that boy all over this ship, and he has excelled in every department. I have got to start promoting…some men are made to command others, and some are not. I have to start moving people up who have that skill, and I have to foster it,” Yunho explained calmly.
Yoochun heard something in Yunho’s voice he didn’t like, and asked gently, “In case we don’t get Kyuhyun back?”
Yunho stared down at his desk, and answered honestly, “I’m going to do everything I can to get him back, but we don’t even know if he’s still alive.”
“He is.”
“You don’t know that…we all are living on borrowed time,” Yunho explained, thinking of his own fate. In the future he would be dying, and before he died he would have Jaejoong send Changmin back in time to Earth. Yunho reminded himself he still had time. Changmin was two years old when he arrived on Earth. They still had time.
“Is there something…you want to tell me?” Yoochun asked, worried for his forlorn friend.
Yunho looked up at his friend…his friend that had always depended on him. Instead of discussing his potential tragic future, he brought up another topic that was bothering him. “When I inherited this command, I got access to all the sealed records on the crew. Before you came in, I was reading Kyuhyun’s file.”
“Kyuhyun had a sealed record? What did it say? That he was the spoiled son of admirals, who had a sex addiction, before Dr. Cho got a firm hold on his balls? We already knew that.”
Yunho paled and shook his head. “I wish it said that. God, I wish that was all it said.”
“What did he do?”
“You mean what was done to him,” Yunho answered, looking ill.
Yoochun stared at Yunho, at a loss, and asked in a confused voice, “He is the son of two of the most powerful admirals in the fleet…what could have happened to him?”
“You don’t want to know. I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I will just say this: even admirals have rules to follow, and a very young Kyuhyun was the collateral damage of them following those rules.”
“You are right, I don’t want to know; I already have too little respect for rules,” Yoochun replied, his sharp mind already surmising the cause of Yunho’s distress.
“Do the rules apply here?”
“You are the rule enforcer here…..why are you of all people asking me this?” Yoochun asked, shocked.
“I know the noninterference clause with primitive cultures doesn’t apply since the Warlords already hindered the natural development of the more primitive worlds by subjecting them to their technology, but I have - ” Yunho’s insignia chirped, interrupting him. Yunho tapped it, and answered, “Captain here.”
“Captain, I need you to come to sickbay,” Ryeowook’s worried voice told him.
Yunho got up from his chair and replied, “I’m on my way.”
“I’m coming with you,” Yoochun told him as he followed after Yunho.
*****************
Captain Yunho entered sickbay with Commander Yoochun at his side, to find Dr. Cho sitting on the side of a sickbay exam bed, rubbing his face with the back of his hands, looking lost, brokenhearted, and exhausted.
“Doctor,” Yunho said tentatively as he approached the younger man.
Ryeowook dropped his hands and looked at the captain with red eyes that had not known sleep in days, and pointed toward the room that housed the ambassador’s daughter.
Yunho inhaled a deep breath and walked toward the room, knowing that it would not be a welcome sight that greeted his eyes. He pushed the door open to find Sulli sitting on the bed with a very puzzled expression on her face as Heechul sat behind her braiding her hair.
“Heechul?” Yunho questioned softly.
Heechul’s bright, inquisitive eyes looked up over the girl’s shoulder, and he smiled at Yunho. “Yunho, isn’t her hair beautiful?”
“It’s very nice.”
Heechul hugged Sulli from behind, causing the girl to tense, and declared, “She’s adorable. I always wanted a little sister! Doesn’t she look like me? Don’t you think she looks like me?”
Yunho closed his eyes and nodded his head, knowing Doctor Kim Heechul was once again lost.
“We are the most beautiful girls in the entire universe…in all the universes. She was broken, but I fixed her all up,” Heechul said with satisfaction. “She’s so much nicer than…” Heechul paused to look at Yoochun who was standing beside Yoochun. “So much nicer than that nasty Yoochun. He made a terrible girl! Just terrible!”
“Well, all women pale in comparison to you,” Yoochun told Heechul, playing along with the insanity that ruled Heechul’s world once again.
Heechul’s smile brightened more, and he let go of Sulli to reach up and cup his own face.
“You flatter me, but you are absolutely correct. I guess I have to forgive you for being a horrible, whoring woman.”
Yunho fought the urge to lean against the door and just let all his burdens claim him. One of the bright spots in this ongoing nightmare had been the return of Heechul’s sanity. Heechul’s wonderful, clever sanity that never missed a thing, and never spared him from the harsh truths of life, he needed to hear. Yunho looked down at Sulli and asked kindly, “Did Dr. Cho explain what is going on to you?”
Sulli nodded her head. “He is like Commander Leeteuk was on the planet.”
“Yes, but it isn’t quite as bad with Heechul,” Yunho told the young girl.
“Oh, we must go visit Leeteuk!” Heechul exclaimed, jumping off the bed, suddenly excited. “Yunho keeps him tucked away out of sight just because he dislikes clothes…” Heechul paused to give Sulli a horrified look. “What am I thinking? Sulli, you can’t be allowed to see a nude man. Well, at least not until your wedding night!”
“My wedding night?” Sulli asked, even more confused.
Heechul plopped back on the bed and gave her a wink and told her, “I know you are secretly engaged, and I think it’s so romantic!”
Yunho turned away from the two of them, and walked away, unable endure it anymore. He couldn’t listen to Heechul go on about weddings to a girl who had suffered so much at the hands of men.
“Well, it was just a blessing he ever came back at all,” Yoochun said as he followed behind the captain. “I mean if he hadn’t then, Junsu, Ryeowook, and Sungmin would all be in stasis right now. It’s like he came back because he knew he was needed.”
Yunho came to abrupt stop, and turned around to look at Yoochun. “And he isn’t needed now?”
“That isn’t what I meant…I just meant it must have been hard for him to return from that…madness,” Yoochun explained.
“Yes, very hard,” Ryeowook, who was still sitting on the exam bed, agreed. “Very hard…but at least we know he isn’t completely lost. He’s still in there somewhere, beneath all the damage.”
Yunho clenched his fists, feeling suddenly so angry. “I don’t want anybody to be lost. Nobody.”
Ryeowook looked up at the captain, startled. “I know you don’t. I know you are doing everything you can.”
“It’s not enough, though,” Yunho confessed, attempting to reign in his frustration.
A tear slipped down the left side of Ryeowook’s cheek as he tried to sound comforting, “You are doing everything you can.”
Yunho exhaled and asked, “Do you know about Kyuhyun’s past…the incident involving the neutral zone when he was a child?”
Ryeowook looked down at his hands, and nodded his head. “Yes, I know.”
“They couldn’t save him then, and-”
“No,” Ryeowook interrupted, with hardened eyes and clenched fists, correcting the captain. “They chose to obey the terms of the treaty. They chose to leave him there.”
Yunho winced as if he alone carried the weight and responsibility of all the choices his forefathers had made so long ago. Yunho was about to apologize for the actions of others, when a warm hand reached out, clasping his. Yunho turned to his side, surprised to find Jaejoong standing there, looking up at him.
Yunho kept his eyes locked with his bondmate as the power of their bond filled him, replenishing his physical and mental strength. “I thought touch was forbidden. You are breaking your own rules.”
“I cannot ignore you, not when you are hurting…try as I might.”
Yunho closed his eyes taking in the sting of Jaejoong’s words. “Like I ignored you?”
“My world is you, but your world is so much more. It is filled with responsibility, loyalty, duty, and honor. This irritates me at times, but it’s also what draws me to you.”
“I won’t deny that those characteristics drive me, but also there is love. Love for you, love for Changmin, love for my friends, and love for this ship and all its crew.”
Jaejoong tightened his grip on Yunho’s hand. “I do know this, but if Kyuhyun and Shindong are lost…it is no fault of yours.”
“It’s my duty to save them, and I fear time is running out.”
“Yunho, if they are not saved…it is the blame of others. Others that lack any goodness…or even the tiniest of scruples.”
A powerful memory was jogged at Jaejoong’s words, and Yunho repeated aloud the words that ZhouMi’s minion had spoken to him, “A man with scruples will never easily defeat one with none.”
“What are you saying, Yunho?” Yoochun asked from Yunho’s other side, as something in his old friend’s tone made him suddenly hopeful.
“I have to scare him…I have to make others scared to side with him. I have to make him give Kyuhyun and Shindong back to us. I have to do whatever it takes.”
“And what will that entail?” Jaejoong asked worriedly. Jaejoong knew there were things that Yunho could never live with…a line he must never cross.
“Jae, I need you to go get Changmin, and bring him to the bridge. I want the both of you at my side,” Yunho told Jaejoong, ignoring his question, as the plan to rescue his lost crew members took root in his mind.
“Yunho, I think-”
“No, Jae…it’s alright. I know what I have to do now,” Yunho told Jaejoong, letting go of his lover’s hand and turning toward Ryeowook. “I am going to get him back.”
Before Ryeowook could respond, Yunho strolled from the room with his head held high, confident in what he must do.
********************
Lord ZhouMi sat in his chair in the middle of the bridge of his flagship in serious thought. Shindong sat at ZhouMi’s feet on the floor, naked except for the black collar he wore. The crew around ZhouMi did not dare make a noise. It was obvious to all the warlord was in deep concentration. He had finally gotten a Joong, but at what price, the whole crew wondered? The Joong’s father had gone on a rampage, seizing the warlord’s ships and liberating planets from the warlords hold. This ship, the Expectations, was far greater than anything any of them had ever known.
“My Lord,” Seung-hyun whispered, interrupting the warlord from his thoughts.
Much to the surprise of all on the bridge crew, the warlord just tilted his head up to look at his highest ranking officer and asked calmly, “What is it, Seung-hyun?”
“My Lord, the Expectations is sending out a message to everyone with the capability to intercept messages from space,” Seung-hyun explained.
ZhouMi sat up straighter in his chair, immediately on alert. “A message?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Then let’s hear it,” the warlord said pointing to the screen in front of him.
The screen instantly came alive, and in the center of the screen sat a tall, handsome, young man in red. Beside him sat a beautiful, darker haired man, and on his other side sat a tall, young man with the beauty only those of Joong blood could ever possess, and around his neck was a pink necklace that ZhouMi instantly recognized.
ZhouMi stood up and stared at the screen, at a loss. The man in the center of the screen just grinned as if he could see the warlord’s reaction, and began to speak, “I am Captain Jung Yunho of the Star Ship Expectations.”
ZhouMi watched as the captain turned to his right and smiled at the darker-haired man and said, “This is Jaejoong, my bondmate.” Then the captain turned to his left and smiled at the tall, blonde, young man and introduced him. “And this is our son, Changmin.”
Nobody aboard the warlord’s ship even dared to breathe as they watched the warlord pale. The warlord’s eyes never left the screen, as the captain of the Expectations stood up and walked up closer. His handsome face was firm, and his voice unwavering as he spoke to all in the galaxy receiving his message. “The scum of this galaxy known as the Warlord ZhouMi has taken two of my crew members. He has wrongfully assumed he has my son, but due to the courageous actions of my most trusted officer, Commander Cho, he was denied my son.”
“The rest of this message is directed to the tyrant, ZhouMi, and all those who foolishly support him should listen carefully. ZhouMi, you will return my men to me, and if you don’t, I will continue to seize every ship of yours I come in contact with. I will then give those ships over to the Rebellion. I will continue to liberate all of the worlds under your vicious control. I will not stop there, though; the Warlords Hangeng and Boa, who align themselves with you will also be my enemies. I will do to them as I have done to you. In less than three days, I have seized sixty-six of your ships, and I have liberated three worlds from your malicious control…..imagine what I can do in a month…in a year. The children on my home world play with toys that are more advanced than your technology. I will crush you and all who associate with you if you do not return my men!”
“If you do not return my men, then I will find your hiding place, and when I do, I will evaporate your ship into nothingness like I have every hideous monument to you I have encountered. You will be the only one aboard your ship that I will spare. Yes, everybody aboard your ship will die, unless they rise up against you and bring me my men. If they do not bring me my men, then they will find a quick death at my hands, but you will not be so lucky.”
“No, you will not be rewarded such a merciful death; not you. I made a promise to my bondmate Jaejoong that he could do with you as he wished,” the captain said these words with delight. ZhouMi watched as Jaejoong suddenly appeared beside the captain.
“Oh, and what horrific things I have planned for you. I shall make sure you experience every ounce of pain you have ever inflicted on others, multiplied by ten. Then I will make you experience it all over again…and maybe someday, if you are good…I will melt your brain into a pile of mush,” Jaejoong seethed with pure hatred.
“Enough! End it!” ZhouMi screamed.
***************
“Kyuhyun, wake up!” the concerned voice of his roommate pulled Kyuhyun from the dark depths of memories that sleep has landed him in. He opened his eyes to a brightly lit room, to find Ryeowook staring down at him, full of worry, as he clutched Kyuhyun’s arm.
Kyuhyun pulled free of Ryeowook’s touch and reached up and wiped his face that was covered in a cold, clammy sweat. “Did I hit you?”
“No, I’m getting better at ducking,” Ryeowook answered as he sat down on the bed beside Kyuhyun.
Kyuhyun concentrated on breathing, trying to calm his racing heart. “I just fight so hard in my…nightmares. I’d never hit you on purpose.”
“I know.” Ryeowook clasped his hands together tightly, avoiding the urge to reach up and brush Kyuhyun’s sweaty hair off his brow. Ryeowook had learned the hard way how jumpy Kyuhyun was after his nightmares, how the slightest touch could send him reeling.
Kyuhyun made himself sit up and criss-cross his legs, sitting in the center of the bed. His body still slightly trembled, but Ryeowook was having his usual calming effect on him. When they had first become roommates, Kyuhyun had detested his new roommate. He had hated it even more when the secret of his nightmares had been made known to the med student. Kyuhyun hated to show any kind of weakness, but strangely…or maybe perhaps because Ryeowook was a healer, he found that his roommate’s presence could calm him in a way that no others ever had.
“I am going to go back to bed.”
“No!” Kyuhyun replied, startled. Ryeowook had never asked to leave before; he wasn’t a fool…he knew the calming affect he had on Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun did not delude himself into thinking this had escaped Ryeowook’s notice. Ryeowook could be totally innocent and clueless about many things, but he knew the human body, and he knew what distressed Kyuhyun and what didn’t. If Ryeowook wanted to leave, it wasn’t for Kyuhyun’s sake.
“I just thought-”
“I told you I was sorry,” Kyuhyun interrupted, suddenly understanding the reason behind Ryeowook’s awkwardness. “I told you it meant nothing, and I won’t try it again.”
“Good!” Ryeowook said stiffly, letting Kyuhyun know he had guessed right.
Kyuhyun sighed, knowing his roommate was still angry with him. “Do you want it written in my blood that I will never try to kiss you again?”
“I might require just that!” Ryeowook snapped.
“I kiss lots of people; I wish you would stop acting so offended,” Kyuhyun grumbled as he stretched out his legs and scooted back against the wall. He still felt shaky, and Ryeowook’s mood was not helping him to calm down.
“Do you even know why I’m mad, Kyuhyun?”
“No,” Kyuhyun admitted.
“Kyuhyun, you are a big man whore,” Ryeowook bluntly told his roommate. “You sleep with more men than any hundred people should. You sleep with them, and then you are done with them. You don’t care about them. They don’t mean anything to you. I will not be grouped with those people that you use and toss away. I’m your friend, and dammit, I expect better from you.”
Kyuhyun closed his eyes, remembering the feelings that had made him grab Ryeowook and try to pull him into a kiss in the first place. “You are right…I’m sorry.”
“Well, good,” Ryeowook replied, feeling more satisfied. Ryeowook turned around to find Kyuhyun with his eyes closed, and his observant eyes did not miss Kyuhyun’s trembling, or the way he still struggled to control his breathing.
Kyuhyun felt the bed move when Ryeowook got up, and his eyes flew open and he asked full of panic, “Where are you going?”
“Calm down, I am just getting the book,” Ryeowook answered as he moved over to Kyuhyun’s desk and picked up a book. Ryeowook had discovered months ago that reading to Kyuhyun after a nightmare calmed him.
“I am trying to calm down, but you are being mean to me,” Kyuhyun answered as he watched Ryeowook walk back to the bed.
Ryeowook got on the bed and sat down bedside Kyuhyun, careful to not touch the jumpy cadet. “I won’t be mean anymore. I shouldn’t have brought it up at a time like this…it was wrong of me. I’m sorry.”
“I won’t ever try to kiss you again,” Kyuhyun told Ryeowook then added mischievously, “Unless you ask.”
Ryeowook snorted. “I won’t ask.”
“What if we get stranded on a deserted planet, and we are the only two people there…men have needs. Well, most men do,” Kyuhyun said, trying to force the effects of the nightmare far away by jesting with his prudish roommate.
Ryeowook rolled his eyes. “I am never going to ask you to kiss me, and you better never try to kiss me again…well, unless you really mean it.”
“Mean it?” Kyuhyun asked, immediately curious.
“I mean care. I meant unless you care. I won’t be used by you. It would ruin our friendship, and I wouldn’t want to do that.”
Ryeowook’s words made Kyuhyun feel instantly uncomfortable. “I won’t ruin our friendship,” was all Kyuhyun could manage to say as he wrapped his arms tightly together, hugging his chest.
“Good, because I would miss you,” Ryeowook said as he opened the book. “Lay down, Kyuhyun. We both have early classes in the morning.”
Kyuhyun instantly followed Ryeowook’s instructions, resting his head down beside where Ryeowook sat, his hair just barely brushing Ryeowook’s thigh. He knew that Ryeowook’s soothing voice reading over the familiar words would soon have him sleeping again. “I’d miss you, too,” Kyuhyun whispered.
Ryeowook smiled as he laid the book across his lap and began to read.
****************
“Baby Star Fleet, it’s time to wake up. Wake up, Baby Star Fleet,” a soft, cruel voice whispered, piercing his unconscious mind with the old taunts that brought with them crippling fear. Kyuhyun awoke, alarmed, with his heart immediately beginning to race. A machine in the background beeped with every thump of his pounding heart. He found the courage to open his eyes, and found the Warlord ZhouMi staring down at him with a guarded expression. “Tell me, Commander, why would someone who has obviously suffered such cruelties as you, offer yourself up to me in the place of the Joong hybrid?”
More panic set in as he realized the ruse was over, and ZhouMi was on to him. He struggled to move his arms, only to find all his extremities restrained, and the pain from the torture he had received at ZhouMi’s hands earlier spreading throughout his body, almost blinding him to everything but the pain. “He’s my friend,” Kyuhyun barely managed to get out of his parched lips.
“Your friend?” ZhouMi repeated, shaking his head in disbelief. “No friend…no one is worth what I’ve put you through.”
“He is,” Kyuhyun insisted.
The warlord bent down to smile down at Kyuhyun. “No, he isn’t, and-”
“My Lord, I am sorry to interrupt you, but Mistress Boa and Master Hangeng are both demanding an audience with you,” a tall, slim man that Kyuhyun remembered seeing earlier announced, as he stepped into view.
Kyuhyun watched as the warlord turned his attention on the man. “Seung-hyun, did you say they are demanding? They are demanding,” the warlord asked icily.
“Yes, My Lord…and they are both on a course to intercept us,” Seung-hyun explained to his master.
“They know our location?”
“Yes, My Lord; it appears the traitor is still aboard the ship,” Kyuhyun watched as the man named Seung-hyun proclaimed with a bowed head, as if he expected a blow from the temperamental warlord.
“Leave us! I want that traitor found,” ZhouMi seethed as he turned back around to face Kyuhyun.
“Yes, My Lord,” Seung-hyun answered and quickly left the room.
“Commander, you have brought nothing but misfortune upon me. And it was all in vain, because your precious Changmin never survived. He died on Belara and all your suffering was in vain. Do you hear me, Kyuhyun? It was in vain. He died. You didn’t save anybody. And even if he hadn’t died on that planet, it still wouldn’t have been worth it.”
“No!” Kyuhyun somehow managed to scream. “No, No, No!” It couldn’t be true. Kyuhyun refused to believe Changmin was dead. It couldn’t have all been in vain. He did not allow this to happen all over again for nothing. Changmin…Changmin dead…no it couldn’t be true.
ZhouMi reached down and grabbed Kyuhyun by the shoulder and shook him. “Yes, this was all for nothing. I will promise you this, commander, though. This is the last time I will willingly hurt you, though. The last time,” ZhouMi promised Kyuhyun, with guarded eyes, and then turned to look at somebody who was standing behind Kyuhyun, out of sight. “Doctor, it’s time.”
Kyuhyun tilted his head back, as a great fear consumed him, as the doctor that had kept him drugged and at ZhouMi’s mercy, stepped into view with a big syringe. “No,” Kyuhyun screamed as the doctor plunged the syringe into him.