CoV fic - Bizarre Love Triangle
Title: Bizarre Love Triangle
Fandom: City of Villains
Characters: Vic, Staccata, Kuya, Caerulea, Darkfire
Wordcount: 4,800 approx.
Background: Staccata originally liked Vic, but decided that he was only after one thing and that Akera was nicer and represented better potential for a meaningful relationship. So she and Vic were essentially over before they even started, and there were some bad feelings flung around on team nights because of it. This is the story of why, and exactly how, Vic lost out on his chance with Kata.
Notes: This is a collaborative story, written by myself, laridian and seidoo_ryuu. The title comes from the song Bizarre Love Triangle, by New Order. I know I risk the chance of this story getting lost by posting it on the weekend, but I didn't want to let yet another redside team night go by without posting it, as I have been very slow in my editing duties. My apologies to lardian and seidoo_ryuu both.
Warnings: Profanity, allusions of prison sex, drinking, a little roughing-up.
Sitting on the roof, Vic dangled his legs over the edge, hunched forward with elbow rested on his knee and chin in his hand. Smoke curled from his cigarette, rising up to get lost in the brownish grunge of the twilight in Sharkshead. On the ledge beside him was an empty vodka bottle and countless snuffed out cigarettes and ashes.
Kuya approached and set the fresh vodka bottle he’d retrieved beside the blonde brute. Vic grabbed it up right away, yanked the top off with a vicious twist, and started in on it. Silently, Kuya sat beside him, also letting his legs dangle, looking out over the rooftops and toward the factories and refineries.
“Damnit,” Vic grumbled after a bit. He gazed morosely down into the alley below them. Kuya glanced sideways at him, sorry to see his Boss looking so down and depressed.
“Ya sure you sent t’flowers like I tol’ ya?” Vic asked.
Kuya nodded. “Yes, Vic-sama,” he replied simply and quietly. Actually, the flowers were currently somewhere in the Atlantic. Kuya had watched their shredded remains floating away after he tore them apart and threw them in the water.
Vic sighed heavily. He tried to do everything right. Tried being nice and complimenting her and even sending her gifts. It had to be someone else’s fault. Maybe Kuya had screwed something up. “An’ t’chocolates? Ya gave her those, right?”
Kuya nodded again. “Hai hai.” He’d dropped those down a sewer grate and was sure that the rats down there enjoyed them.
“Okay, what ‘bout t’ice?” Vic asked, taking another swig from the bottle. That had been the big gift, the one to say that he was really serious and not just playing around. Knocking over the jewelry store to get those diamonds hadn’t exactly been easy, after all. “Ya gave her that?”
“Hai, Vic-sama,” Kuya answered gently, because he didn’t like hurting Vic, not at all. It was a dangerous game Kuya was playing, he knew it was. But, he turned cold with jealousy and hate every time Vic paid attention to the girls on the team, or whistled after some broad on the street, or tried to letch around in bars after missions. Sometimes it made him so angry that he wanted to hurt the objects of Vic's attentions, reach out with his powers and just... just hurt them. Vic was Kuya’s Boss, and it was supposed to be his job to take care of his Boss’s needs. Vic didn’t need any girls for that, not when he had Kuya.
That was how it had been when Kuya was in prison anyway. When it was either submit or be beaten, he picked the option that kept him alive. Kuya did whatever stronger inmates wanted, he even liked it much of the time, and as a result he had almost always been the favored bitch in the cell block.
But Kuya’s survival strategies from his time in the Zig did not work on the outside. Vic didn’t like other guys that way, so Kuya couldn’t serve him the way he did best. The little empath had to come up with new tactics to be not just useful, but indispensable. He had to be the only one that Vic could depend on to always be there, to do everything he was told. Because it was a dangerous and terrifying world, and a weak thing like Kuya needed the protection of a strong Boss.
The diamonds had been pawned and part of the money was being used to keep Vic-sama supplied with vodka tonight. Kuya would carefully filter the rest of the jack into Vic’s funds over time so that it wouldn’t be noticed, or use it when he had to buy things for Vic like cigarettes.
“So, what’d she do?” Vic swung a drunken glare in Kuya’s direction.
The empath shifted his gaze and lowered his head. It was for the best. Kuya liked Kata-san a lot, but she was a distraction and she would never give Vic the respect and adoration that he deserved as a strong and demanding Boss. Kuya would, no matter what. He would do anything Vic required. He was better for Vic than Kata-san was.
“Kata-san smile, say thank you, put on table. Go out with Akera-san,” Kuya lied, and he tensed and inwardly flinched, waiting for the blow that might come if the lie was detected.
Vic was silent for a long time then, drinking his vodka and taking long terse drags on cigarette after cigarette. Kuya stayed where he was, beside Vic, as he was determined to be always. It was hard for him to pinpoint Vic’s emotions in the swirling mental sea of psychic noise that came from the city around them, but Kuya thought he could feel anger, sadness, disappointment… bitterness…
“Ah, t’hell with her,” Vic finally growled. He threw back his head and drained the last of the vodka, and then dropped the bottle down into the alley. They heard the crash as it hit the pavement, then Vic knocked the other empty bottle over as well, just to hear it smash too.
“Get me more o’that,” Vic demanded sullenly. “And move it, I dun wanna wait f’you all night.”
Kuya scrambled up. “Hai Vic-sama! I be right back!” As Kuya sprinted across the roof to the access door, he felt a chilling sense of victory grip him, and a definite thrill of cold satisfaction. Vic would get over Kata-san, and then it would all be better again. Kuya would be there, taking care of his Boss better than anyone else ever could, and always ready to do whatever Vic wanted. And in return, Vic-san would take care of him too and protect him. And Kuya would be his favored bitch. Just as it was supposed to be.
~~~
Vic got unsteadily to his feet, a decision made more dangerous by being on the roof. "Bitch can't do this t' me," he slurred.
Somehow he made his way downstairs to the base, and searched for a specific door. "Stacky!" he bawled, beating on the door with his fist. Given his ability to beat up robots, this meant the door would not last long. "Dammit, Stacky! If you gonna turn me down, you at least gimme back my diamonds!"
The door opened a bare crack, showing a sliver of pale face and one huge brown eye. "K-Kata isn't h-here." It was Caerulea, Kata's petite blonde roommate. Her voice quavered with fear as she regarded the brute in the doorway, obviously plastered, obviously very angry about something.
Vic drunkenly tried to think back. Yeah. She'd gone out. Hadn't she? With her shitty new boytoy. "Then just hand over the diamonds," he snarled.
"Diamonds?" Lea blinked, confused. She had already figured he was angry with Kata about something, but...what? She didn't remember Kata saying anything about any diamonds...and that was the sort of thing you mentioned, if someone gave you a gift like that. "I don't know what you're talking about--"
This chick, she had some fancy name, Vic couldn't remember it, but she looked about to piss herself. He slammed his hand on the door for emphasis, making it jump back against her.
~~~
Staccata had only planned on returning to her room briefly to pick up a few things before meeting up with Akera again, and had told him she'd be right back.
She turned the corner leading to her room, and stopped short a few feet away. Vic stood in the doorway, Lea cowering just behind the door. She didn't know why he was there, but it was obvious something was wrong, as Lea looked terrified.
~~~
Lea gasped in pain and terror as the door smacked into her shoulder, but somehow managed to stand her ground. She took a step backward, then looked up and past Vic, and gasped. "Kata!"
Vic growled. Was she playin' him for a fool, with the old "there's something behind you?" trick? He turned slightly to keep both the blond chick and whatever was behind him in the same field of vision.
Staccata stepped forward, furious over the assault on her roommate and the door. "What on earth is going on here?!"
"Whass goin' on here," Vic said, turning to face Kata, "is I want my goddam di'monds back. You wanna hook up with Whasisname, fine, but you gotta give back my di'monds!"
Staccata eyed Vic warily as he turned around. She braced herself, expecting him to say any number of things, but what he said caught her off-guard. "Diamonds?" she repeated, baffled. "What are you talking about? Why would I have your diamonds?"
"Th' diamonds I gave you," Vic slurred. "Gave you candy an' flowers an' diamonds, an' you wanna throw 'em away or share 'em with 'Keru, fine, whatever, but you give back th' goddamn diamonds!"
"Vic, you didn't give me any of those things." Staccata stared at him, incredulous. "Don't you think I would've at least said thank you, if you had?" She folded her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, you said thanks, an' you smiled and then went out with the Spider. Kuya said so, he tol' me."
“Kuya said... wait just a minute here." She frowned. "Vic, who did you ask to deliver this stuff to me? Obviously you didn't bring it to me personally, so you must've asked someone else to do it."
Caerulea still stood in the doorway, monitoring the exchange with wary caution. The brute was still in her way, but his attention was focused on her roommate, and he had stepped far enough back to leave a gap. She gathered her courage and ran, darting past him, bolting down the hallway.
"Kuya gave it," Vic snarled, ignoring Lea and getting up in Staccata's face. "I was busy, so I gave it to Kuya to give to you, the flowers, th' candy an' th' diamonds, and he said you took it all, put it on a table, smiled an' said thank you, an' then went out with the spider boy. You gonna take my presents, you gotta give somethin' back, or you don't take the presents at all, you unnerstan'?"
Staccata returned his glare, unflinching, refusing to take a step back or show any fear. "Kuya didn't give me anything," she replied. "No diamonds, no flowers, no chocolates. Not even a Hallmark card. If you gave him the stuff to deliver, it never reached me." She folded her arms across her chest. "And if it had? Trust my word, or don't, but I promise I would've come to you and given you my thanks. Personally."
~~
Lea pelted through the halls of the base, panting from the exertion, trying to rein in her fear and not panic. She needed to keep a clear head; this was too important to lose it. She tried to remember where the office was, hoping and praying that someone would be there. Finally, she found the right door, and burst through without knocking. A familiar green-haired figure sat at the desk, head bent over paperwork. "Darkfire...sir...! Oh, thank heaven!" she panted. "Vic...'s got Kata...he cornered her...really mad about something...help!"
Darkfire prided himself on Black Sunday's very open-door policy regarding new members. There were a few mandatory rules, like Pay your tithe so we can pay rent and utilities and Don't make a mess and that sort of thing.
One very important rule was don't cause trouble inside the base. If you had a grudge against a teammate, either settle it peaceably, or take it outside the base. Simaster and Shade's prank war had gotten them in a lot of trouble, and he and Snow had made an example out of the mastermind and stalker accordingly.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of new blood in the base these days. The old guard called them, half-jokingly, the Black Sunday Kids. The Kids were enthusiastic, generally not too bad, and they paid their dues. The downside was that they weren't as aware of the history of Black Sunday, or of the precedents set.
Vic was one of the wild cards. He had a bad case of short man's disease, combined with being a teenager and a gutter rat, so he had a trigger temper. He generally behaved, but Dark had been waiting for something to happen. Possibly against someone else in the base, possibly against Kuya, who always hung around Vic for reasons Darkfire couldn't fathom.
So when one of the new ones, Lea, burst into his office, stammering that Vic had Staccata cornered, Darkfire didn't waste time asking questions. Instead, he immediately asked Lea where this was taking place, and headed there.
Caerulea trailed after Darkfire as they ran back to Staccata's room. She was fast, but his legs were much longer, and it was a struggle to keep up. She tried her best to fill him in on the situation as they ran. "Vic came...to the room...banging on the door...he was really, really mad about something. Kept yelling about diamonds...that he wanted his diamonds back. But Kata never got any diamonds from anyone. He was scary...very scary. I think he was drunk. Oh, I hope she's okay..."
~~~
Staccata's words filtered slowly through the thick haze of cheap vodka smudging Vic's brain. "He didn't give any of it to you?" he asked. "G-ddamn him... gonna beat his ass if he's lyin' to me..." he muttered, looking down the hall as if Kuya might be in that direction.
"No, he didn't give any of it to me," Staccata repeated. She let her arms drop to her sides, relaxing slightly. "Look, I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this." She eyed the brute. He was obviously drunk, if the smell of cheap vodka and cigarette smoke was any indication. "It's pretty late. Why don't you go get some sleep, and you can tackle this problem in the morning?"
"I ain't tired!" Vic snarled, even if he was deeply drunk.
"What's going on here?"
Vic turned to face Darkfire, the leader of Black Sunday. Vic was not a team player by nature, but he did recognize hierarchies and learned his place in them. Even drunk, Darkfire was not one to be crossed. That much got through Vic's booze-soaked brain.
"Nothin'," he sulked. "Stacky an' me were just havin' a talk."
~~~
Kuya went down to the Deathtrap to buy another bottle of vodka for Vic. Luckily the bar had a good supply of the stuff, otherwise he might have had to find an actual liquor store, and Kuya didn't know where one of those was. Trying to find one would probably end him up lost, and he definitely didn't want that, as it was one of his big fears.
He took a little longer getting back this time, because he got distracted by a wad of tin foil on the sidewalk on the way back to the base. He smoothed it out carefully, making a big shiny square that was pretty, which he folded methodically and put in his pocket. Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Kuya didn't have a very good sense of time, but he figured he was probably taking longer than he should be, so hurried back to the base, and up the back stairs to the roof.
Vic was no longer there, which Kuya thought meant he probably had taken longer than he should have, if Vic had left before getting his vodka. That also meant Kuya was probably in trouble. It was his fault, he would accept whatever punishment Vic doled out, but maybe the teen brute was drunk enough that he'd either overlook Kuya's slowness, or maybe he was already passed out in his room, and wouldn't know that Kuya had been slow.
So Kuya headed back downstairs and in the direction of Vic's room, carrying the bottle, chewing his lower lip nervously.
But Vic-sama wasn’t in his room, which worried Kuya. For Vic’s safety, yes, because if he’d wandered off into the city, who knew what kind of trouble he could get into, and Kuya would not be there to heal him. But it also worried Kuya for his own sake. He got nervous when his Boss wasn’t close by because it would be easy for bad things to happen to Kuya too.
Standing uncertainly in the hall outside Vic’s door, Kuya chewed on his lower lip and tried to think through the usual noise in his head. No, not usual. There was more anger, confusion and conflict than normal, very close by. Right here in the base. Kuya squinted in the general direction it was coming from, feeling outward and trying to filter out all the other crap stomping constantly through his head.
Oh yes… there was Vic-sama. His viciousness penetrated sharply through the rest of the empathic feedback.
Kuya went to see what was going on. Outside Kata-san’s door, there was a little group. Kata-san, Vic-sama… the plant girl… and, and, and! Darkfire-sama! Kuya drew in a small breath as he edged alongside the group, getting sort of behind Vic as usual, gazing up at the tall green-haired leader in respectful fear and awe. He clutched the bottle of vodka close to his chest, heart pounding. Darkfire-sama! Whatever was going on had to be serious if he were here.
~~~
Staccata took a deep breath and relaxed somewhat now that Darkfire had arrived. She figured she could hold her own against Vic, if things took a turn for the worse, but she felt better now that the boss was here.
"Yes. A talk. Vic seems to think that I have something of his, but I don't--" She paused, eyes widening slightly as Kuya skulked into view, hiding behind Vic, who hadn't yet noticed the little corruptor. "Actually..." She frowned. "Vic said he gave some diamonds and other things to Kuya to give to me, but I never got any of them." She nodded slightly in Kuya's direction, hoping Darkfire would catch on to her hint that he pull him aside, and out of Vic's reach. She hated putting Kuya on the spot like that, but if it would prevent--or at least forestall--any potential beating he'd receive at Vic's hand, it was worth it. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this," she added.
If it was possible to look any paler than he already did, Kuya managed it. This was about the things he was supposed to give to Kata-san? Shimatta…
“I see,” Darkfire acknowledged Staccata’s hint with a nod of his own. “Vic, back to your room and sleep it off. Staccata, I’ll let you know if I need any more information from you. Kuya, come with me.”
Kuya cringed. Still clutching the bottle of vodka as tightly to his chest as he could, he ducked and slipped behind Vic to join Darkfire. The drunken brute saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and finally realized that Kuya was there. With a bit of a snarl, he nabbed Kuya by the back of his coat before the little empath could get out of his reach.
Reaction in the hallway was immediate. Sparking energy crackled around Staccata’s hands and she took a step forward, ready to stop Vic from hurting Kuya. Flames erupted in Darkfire’s hands as well, but he prevented what could have been a bad situation with a firm loud command.
“Vic! I said, back to your room!” Darkfire’s stern tone left no room for argument, though naturally Vic had to try anyway, even facing fire and sparks and, slightly belated, the threat of strangling vines.
“But this little bastard - - !” he started to protest, giving Kuya a shake by his coat.
“Back to your room, or I’ll put you out of the base for a week.” Darkfire was calm, but clearly angry and it was obvious he meant his threat.
With a growl, Vic reluctantly let go of Kuya, giving him a shove in Darkfire’s direction. Kuya stumbled, turning to look back at him pleadingly, but Vic didn’t give a damn. Muttering curses under his breath, the blonde teen backed off and wove a meandering course back up the hallway, in the direction of his room. Kuya watched after him plaintively, hating to see his Boss like that.
“Thank you, sir,” Staccata breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Darkfire.
“It’s getting late. You ladies get some rest,” Darkfire nodded to both Staccatta and Caerulea, then rested his hand on Kuya’s shoulder. “Come with me, Kuya.”
His gaze after Vic broken by the weight of Darkfire’s hand, Kuya bowed his head and trailed in the shadow of Black Sunday’s leader.
“Oh, it is getting late!” Staccata gasped, remembering that she’d only intended to be a moment running back to her room for a few things. “Akera’s waiting for me! Lea, help me find my good heels. You know, the four inch ones…” She shooed her roommate back into their room. She didn’t want Akera to start wondering what had happened to her.
~~~
Inwardly, Kuya felt like he was shaking apart, his nerves were so frazzled. His Boss was angry with him, that was bad enough. But now, the highest Boss was probably going to dole out punishment and that was even worse. If Darkfire was capable of putting Vic out of the base for a week just for being angry, what would he do to Kuya when his crime was revealed? The empath felt like he might be sick. He couldn’t survive outside the base, without the team, without Vic! He knew he couldn’t.
Darkfire shut his office door behind the obviously frightened mutant empath and instructed him to sit down in one of the two chairs in front of Dark’s desk. Rather than put the desk between them, Dark sat in the other chair and leaned forward a bit so that he could talk to Kuya directly.
“Staccata says that Vic gave you some things to give to her,” he began. “Is that true?”
Kuya kept his head down, still hugging around the bottle of vodka. He nodded.
“But you didn’t deliver those things? What happened to them?”
Kuya didn’t move, but his thoughts were spinning wildly in his head against all the emotional and energy background noise. Though a great deal of the time, Kuya had no idea what was going on thanks to not being able to control his empathic abilities and having so much in his head constantly, in this case he was acutely aware of what he had done. And he wasn’t sorry he’d done it in the least. His fear and regret came from getting caught, from worrying about how he was going to be punished, and from angering the people stronger than him. If he admitted what he did, Kuya knew Vic would never let Kuya hang around him again. Kata-san would be upset with him. Darkfire might put him out of the base and the team.
In spite of outward appearances, Kuya could be clever if he put his mind to it, and the instinct to survive, to stay safe and within the good graces of those who could protect him, was perfect motivation. He glanced up to meet Darkfire’s eyes, green and steady behind his glasses. Darkfire was the Boss, higher and more important than Vic according to the way that Kuya saw the world. He wished he could be Darkfire’s minion, rather than just a marginal member of his team, but Darkfire didn’t seem to be that kind of Boss, unfortunately. It didn’t make sense to Kuya, but then, so much of everything didn’t. Kuya had to preserve what he did know and understand. He had to keep his place with Vic. He had to lie.
Kuya began to shake visibly, whined a bit in the back of his throat. “I… I not… I not know… I not know!” he wailed softly, curling down over the bottle of vodka miserably. “Sorry, sorry!”
Darkfire leaned forward some more, trying to see Kuya’s face, concerned over how upset the teen seemed. “Calm down, Kuya,” he said kindly but firmly. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Look up at me.”
Kuya reluctantly did so. “Vic-sama give me things, but… I not remembering where they is… I… I… “ He shook his head in confusion, breath coming hard as he apparently tried to remember what had happened. “Vic-sama will be mad at Kuya! Sorry Darkfire-sama, sorry!” He lifted a hand and pressed it to the plate on the right side of his face, looking pained. “My bad head, I not think, not remember…”
Darkfire sat back, considering Kuya for a moment. Clearly the kid was confused about what had happened and, from what Dark understood, he had ongoing problems due to being an untrained empath. Black Sunday’s leader briefly wondered if the kindest thing to do might not be turning Kuya over to the RIP. The Isles were a very difficult place for even well trained empaths, which was why there weren’t a lot there. If he was in custody, Kuya might have a chance of getting some help.
Then again, how was being an untrained empath any different than being a newbie corruptor or a stalker just starting out? Darkfire knew that people on his team were fond of Kuya, they took care of him. And there were certainly people in Black Sunday’s roster who might be able to help him get a better handle on his empathic abilities. He’d have a word with some of them and see about steering Kuya their way.
“Okay Kuya, calm down,” Darkfire said again, patting the teen’s knee. “I understand you have some problems with your powers. We’ll see what we can do about that. In the meantime, you’re going to apologize to both Vic and Staccata. And you’re going to pay Vic back the price of the gifts out of your earnings. And I’ll have some tasks around the base for you to do. Alright?”
Doing tasks around the base for The Boss wasn’t punishment in the least as far as Kuya was concerned. He was eager to prove himself to Darkfire. He nodded. “Hai hai, I can do. Darkfire-sama not throw me out?”
“Of course not, Kuya. You’re part of the family,” Darkfire gave him a smile and unknowingly skyrocketed the amount of respect, devotion and awe Kuya had for him. “Now, let’s go talk to Vic.”
~~~
“And Kuya is going to pay you back the value of the items that he lost,” Darkfire explained the situation to Vic, who was using the jamb of the doorway to his room for support. He listened to what Black Sunday’s leader was saying, but was giving Kuya a smothering glare. The empath edged behind Darkfire a little more, nervously.
“Lost?” Vic snorted. The stupid retard. Flowers, candy and diamonds, lost! He ground his teeth at Kuya. “You are in so much trouble, you little - - “
“Vic.” Darkfire was back to using his stern commanding voice. “I told you, it was just an unfortunate accident. In the future, maybe you should consider doing your important tasks yourself, instead of foisting them off on someone else,” he admonished, causing Vic to wince. “Kuya is going to pay you back and that’s good enough. You’re not to hit him, do I make myself clear?”
Vic grumbled reluctantly but wasn’t stupid. He gave Darkfire a sullen look, but nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”
“If I hear about any more trouble over this incident, I’ll be coming to you about it,” Darkfire warned, then turned to Kuya. “Now you, don’t forget to apologize and then get to your own room. It’s late. Oh and…” Darkfire deftly plucked the bottle of vodka that Kuya was still clutching out of the empath’s arms and tucked it under one of his own. “I don’t think Vic needs any more of this. Good night, gentlemen.”
Kuya watched Darkfire leaving, sighing inwardly with a definite expression of admiration on his face for the leader of Black Sunday. But when he looked back, Kuya jumped a bit, because Vic had moved closer and was glaring at him fiercely. The empath was immediately wary and trembled.
“I… I sorry, Vic-sama…” he stuttered, apologizing as he’d been told to do. He hoped for forgiveness, but wasn't so stupid as to expect it. It was all for the best. He was what Vic needed, not Kata-san, and he would get back into the blonde's good graces by proving himself devoted and willing to do anything.
“Yeah, you will be,” Vic got close, right in Kuya’s face. It only pissed him off more that he had to stand on his toes just a bit in order to do so. “Darkfire says I can’t hit ya, but I’m still gonna t’punish you, ya little pisser.” He jabbed a finger hard against Kuya’s chest. “Now get the hell away from me.”
With a little yelp, Kuya scrambled backwards, then up the hall toward his own room. He could feel Vic’s furious glare against his back the entire way. He was going to be punished... but it was okay, it was. He knew he deserved it, so Kuya would endure whatever Vic did to him.
Fandom: City of Villains
Characters: Vic, Staccata, Kuya, Caerulea, Darkfire
Wordcount: 4,800 approx.
Background: Staccata originally liked Vic, but decided that he was only after one thing and that Akera was nicer and represented better potential for a meaningful relationship. So she and Vic were essentially over before they even started, and there were some bad feelings flung around on team nights because of it. This is the story of why, and exactly how, Vic lost out on his chance with Kata.
Notes: This is a collaborative story, written by myself, laridian and seidoo_ryuu. The title comes from the song Bizarre Love Triangle, by New Order. I know I risk the chance of this story getting lost by posting it on the weekend, but I didn't want to let yet another redside team night go by without posting it, as I have been very slow in my editing duties. My apologies to lardian and seidoo_ryuu both.
Warnings: Profanity, allusions of prison sex, drinking, a little roughing-up.
Sitting on the roof, Vic dangled his legs over the edge, hunched forward with elbow rested on his knee and chin in his hand. Smoke curled from his cigarette, rising up to get lost in the brownish grunge of the twilight in Sharkshead. On the ledge beside him was an empty vodka bottle and countless snuffed out cigarettes and ashes.
Kuya approached and set the fresh vodka bottle he’d retrieved beside the blonde brute. Vic grabbed it up right away, yanked the top off with a vicious twist, and started in on it. Silently, Kuya sat beside him, also letting his legs dangle, looking out over the rooftops and toward the factories and refineries.
“Damnit,” Vic grumbled after a bit. He gazed morosely down into the alley below them. Kuya glanced sideways at him, sorry to see his Boss looking so down and depressed.
“Ya sure you sent t’flowers like I tol’ ya?” Vic asked.
Kuya nodded. “Yes, Vic-sama,” he replied simply and quietly. Actually, the flowers were currently somewhere in the Atlantic. Kuya had watched their shredded remains floating away after he tore them apart and threw them in the water.
Vic sighed heavily. He tried to do everything right. Tried being nice and complimenting her and even sending her gifts. It had to be someone else’s fault. Maybe Kuya had screwed something up. “An’ t’chocolates? Ya gave her those, right?”
Kuya nodded again. “Hai hai.” He’d dropped those down a sewer grate and was sure that the rats down there enjoyed them.
“Okay, what ‘bout t’ice?” Vic asked, taking another swig from the bottle. That had been the big gift, the one to say that he was really serious and not just playing around. Knocking over the jewelry store to get those diamonds hadn’t exactly been easy, after all. “Ya gave her that?”
“Hai, Vic-sama,” Kuya answered gently, because he didn’t like hurting Vic, not at all. It was a dangerous game Kuya was playing, he knew it was. But, he turned cold with jealousy and hate every time Vic paid attention to the girls on the team, or whistled after some broad on the street, or tried to letch around in bars after missions. Sometimes it made him so angry that he wanted to hurt the objects of Vic's attentions, reach out with his powers and just... just hurt them. Vic was Kuya’s Boss, and it was supposed to be his job to take care of his Boss’s needs. Vic didn’t need any girls for that, not when he had Kuya.
That was how it had been when Kuya was in prison anyway. When it was either submit or be beaten, he picked the option that kept him alive. Kuya did whatever stronger inmates wanted, he even liked it much of the time, and as a result he had almost always been the favored bitch in the cell block.
But Kuya’s survival strategies from his time in the Zig did not work on the outside. Vic didn’t like other guys that way, so Kuya couldn’t serve him the way he did best. The little empath had to come up with new tactics to be not just useful, but indispensable. He had to be the only one that Vic could depend on to always be there, to do everything he was told. Because it was a dangerous and terrifying world, and a weak thing like Kuya needed the protection of a strong Boss.
The diamonds had been pawned and part of the money was being used to keep Vic-sama supplied with vodka tonight. Kuya would carefully filter the rest of the jack into Vic’s funds over time so that it wouldn’t be noticed, or use it when he had to buy things for Vic like cigarettes.
“So, what’d she do?” Vic swung a drunken glare in Kuya’s direction.
The empath shifted his gaze and lowered his head. It was for the best. Kuya liked Kata-san a lot, but she was a distraction and she would never give Vic the respect and adoration that he deserved as a strong and demanding Boss. Kuya would, no matter what. He would do anything Vic required. He was better for Vic than Kata-san was.
“Kata-san smile, say thank you, put on table. Go out with Akera-san,” Kuya lied, and he tensed and inwardly flinched, waiting for the blow that might come if the lie was detected.
Vic was silent for a long time then, drinking his vodka and taking long terse drags on cigarette after cigarette. Kuya stayed where he was, beside Vic, as he was determined to be always. It was hard for him to pinpoint Vic’s emotions in the swirling mental sea of psychic noise that came from the city around them, but Kuya thought he could feel anger, sadness, disappointment… bitterness…
“Ah, t’hell with her,” Vic finally growled. He threw back his head and drained the last of the vodka, and then dropped the bottle down into the alley. They heard the crash as it hit the pavement, then Vic knocked the other empty bottle over as well, just to hear it smash too.
“Get me more o’that,” Vic demanded sullenly. “And move it, I dun wanna wait f’you all night.”
Kuya scrambled up. “Hai Vic-sama! I be right back!” As Kuya sprinted across the roof to the access door, he felt a chilling sense of victory grip him, and a definite thrill of cold satisfaction. Vic would get over Kata-san, and then it would all be better again. Kuya would be there, taking care of his Boss better than anyone else ever could, and always ready to do whatever Vic wanted. And in return, Vic-san would take care of him too and protect him. And Kuya would be his favored bitch. Just as it was supposed to be.
~~~
Vic got unsteadily to his feet, a decision made more dangerous by being on the roof. "Bitch can't do this t' me," he slurred.
Somehow he made his way downstairs to the base, and searched for a specific door. "Stacky!" he bawled, beating on the door with his fist. Given his ability to beat up robots, this meant the door would not last long. "Dammit, Stacky! If you gonna turn me down, you at least gimme back my diamonds!"
The door opened a bare crack, showing a sliver of pale face and one huge brown eye. "K-Kata isn't h-here." It was Caerulea, Kata's petite blonde roommate. Her voice quavered with fear as she regarded the brute in the doorway, obviously plastered, obviously very angry about something.
Vic drunkenly tried to think back. Yeah. She'd gone out. Hadn't she? With her shitty new boytoy. "Then just hand over the diamonds," he snarled.
"Diamonds?" Lea blinked, confused. She had already figured he was angry with Kata about something, but...what? She didn't remember Kata saying anything about any diamonds...and that was the sort of thing you mentioned, if someone gave you a gift like that. "I don't know what you're talking about--"
This chick, she had some fancy name, Vic couldn't remember it, but she looked about to piss herself. He slammed his hand on the door for emphasis, making it jump back against her.
~~~
Staccata had only planned on returning to her room briefly to pick up a few things before meeting up with Akera again, and had told him she'd be right back.
She turned the corner leading to her room, and stopped short a few feet away. Vic stood in the doorway, Lea cowering just behind the door. She didn't know why he was there, but it was obvious something was wrong, as Lea looked terrified.
~~~
Lea gasped in pain and terror as the door smacked into her shoulder, but somehow managed to stand her ground. She took a step backward, then looked up and past Vic, and gasped. "Kata!"
Vic growled. Was she playin' him for a fool, with the old "there's something behind you?" trick? He turned slightly to keep both the blond chick and whatever was behind him in the same field of vision.
Staccata stepped forward, furious over the assault on her roommate and the door. "What on earth is going on here?!"
"Whass goin' on here," Vic said, turning to face Kata, "is I want my goddam di'monds back. You wanna hook up with Whasisname, fine, but you gotta give back my di'monds!"
Staccata eyed Vic warily as he turned around. She braced herself, expecting him to say any number of things, but what he said caught her off-guard. "Diamonds?" she repeated, baffled. "What are you talking about? Why would I have your diamonds?"
"Th' diamonds I gave you," Vic slurred. "Gave you candy an' flowers an' diamonds, an' you wanna throw 'em away or share 'em with 'Keru, fine, whatever, but you give back th' goddamn diamonds!"
"Vic, you didn't give me any of those things." Staccata stared at him, incredulous. "Don't you think I would've at least said thank you, if you had?" She folded her arms across her chest.
"Yeah, you said thanks, an' you smiled and then went out with the Spider. Kuya said so, he tol' me."
“Kuya said... wait just a minute here." She frowned. "Vic, who did you ask to deliver this stuff to me? Obviously you didn't bring it to me personally, so you must've asked someone else to do it."
Caerulea still stood in the doorway, monitoring the exchange with wary caution. The brute was still in her way, but his attention was focused on her roommate, and he had stepped far enough back to leave a gap. She gathered her courage and ran, darting past him, bolting down the hallway.
"Kuya gave it," Vic snarled, ignoring Lea and getting up in Staccata's face. "I was busy, so I gave it to Kuya to give to you, the flowers, th' candy an' th' diamonds, and he said you took it all, put it on a table, smiled an' said thank you, an' then went out with the spider boy. You gonna take my presents, you gotta give somethin' back, or you don't take the presents at all, you unnerstan'?"
Staccata returned his glare, unflinching, refusing to take a step back or show any fear. "Kuya didn't give me anything," she replied. "No diamonds, no flowers, no chocolates. Not even a Hallmark card. If you gave him the stuff to deliver, it never reached me." She folded her arms across her chest. "And if it had? Trust my word, or don't, but I promise I would've come to you and given you my thanks. Personally."
~~
Lea pelted through the halls of the base, panting from the exertion, trying to rein in her fear and not panic. She needed to keep a clear head; this was too important to lose it. She tried to remember where the office was, hoping and praying that someone would be there. Finally, she found the right door, and burst through without knocking. A familiar green-haired figure sat at the desk, head bent over paperwork. "Darkfire...sir...! Oh, thank heaven!" she panted. "Vic...'s got Kata...he cornered her...really mad about something...help!"
Darkfire prided himself on Black Sunday's very open-door policy regarding new members. There were a few mandatory rules, like Pay your tithe so we can pay rent and utilities and Don't make a mess and that sort of thing.
One very important rule was don't cause trouble inside the base. If you had a grudge against a teammate, either settle it peaceably, or take it outside the base. Simaster and Shade's prank war had gotten them in a lot of trouble, and he and Snow had made an example out of the mastermind and stalker accordingly.
Unfortunately, there was a lot of new blood in the base these days. The old guard called them, half-jokingly, the Black Sunday Kids. The Kids were enthusiastic, generally not too bad, and they paid their dues. The downside was that they weren't as aware of the history of Black Sunday, or of the precedents set.
Vic was one of the wild cards. He had a bad case of short man's disease, combined with being a teenager and a gutter rat, so he had a trigger temper. He generally behaved, but Dark had been waiting for something to happen. Possibly against someone else in the base, possibly against Kuya, who always hung around Vic for reasons Darkfire couldn't fathom.
So when one of the new ones, Lea, burst into his office, stammering that Vic had Staccata cornered, Darkfire didn't waste time asking questions. Instead, he immediately asked Lea where this was taking place, and headed there.
Caerulea trailed after Darkfire as they ran back to Staccata's room. She was fast, but his legs were much longer, and it was a struggle to keep up. She tried her best to fill him in on the situation as they ran. "Vic came...to the room...banging on the door...he was really, really mad about something. Kept yelling about diamonds...that he wanted his diamonds back. But Kata never got any diamonds from anyone. He was scary...very scary. I think he was drunk. Oh, I hope she's okay..."
~~~
Staccata's words filtered slowly through the thick haze of cheap vodka smudging Vic's brain. "He didn't give any of it to you?" he asked. "G-ddamn him... gonna beat his ass if he's lyin' to me..." he muttered, looking down the hall as if Kuya might be in that direction.
"No, he didn't give any of it to me," Staccata repeated. She let her arms drop to her sides, relaxing slightly. "Look, I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this." She eyed the brute. He was obviously drunk, if the smell of cheap vodka and cigarette smoke was any indication. "It's pretty late. Why don't you go get some sleep, and you can tackle this problem in the morning?"
"I ain't tired!" Vic snarled, even if he was deeply drunk.
"What's going on here?"
Vic turned to face Darkfire, the leader of Black Sunday. Vic was not a team player by nature, but he did recognize hierarchies and learned his place in them. Even drunk, Darkfire was not one to be crossed. That much got through Vic's booze-soaked brain.
"Nothin'," he sulked. "Stacky an' me were just havin' a talk."
~~~
Kuya went down to the Deathtrap to buy another bottle of vodka for Vic. Luckily the bar had a good supply of the stuff, otherwise he might have had to find an actual liquor store, and Kuya didn't know where one of those was. Trying to find one would probably end him up lost, and he definitely didn't want that, as it was one of his big fears.
He took a little longer getting back this time, because he got distracted by a wad of tin foil on the sidewalk on the way back to the base. He smoothed it out carefully, making a big shiny square that was pretty, which he folded methodically and put in his pocket. Then he remembered what he was supposed to be doing. Kuya didn't have a very good sense of time, but he figured he was probably taking longer than he should be, so hurried back to the base, and up the back stairs to the roof.
Vic was no longer there, which Kuya thought meant he probably had taken longer than he should have, if Vic had left before getting his vodka. That also meant Kuya was probably in trouble. It was his fault, he would accept whatever punishment Vic doled out, but maybe the teen brute was drunk enough that he'd either overlook Kuya's slowness, or maybe he was already passed out in his room, and wouldn't know that Kuya had been slow.
So Kuya headed back downstairs and in the direction of Vic's room, carrying the bottle, chewing his lower lip nervously.
But Vic-sama wasn’t in his room, which worried Kuya. For Vic’s safety, yes, because if he’d wandered off into the city, who knew what kind of trouble he could get into, and Kuya would not be there to heal him. But it also worried Kuya for his own sake. He got nervous when his Boss wasn’t close by because it would be easy for bad things to happen to Kuya too.
Standing uncertainly in the hall outside Vic’s door, Kuya chewed on his lower lip and tried to think through the usual noise in his head. No, not usual. There was more anger, confusion and conflict than normal, very close by. Right here in the base. Kuya squinted in the general direction it was coming from, feeling outward and trying to filter out all the other crap stomping constantly through his head.
Oh yes… there was Vic-sama. His viciousness penetrated sharply through the rest of the empathic feedback.
Kuya went to see what was going on. Outside Kata-san’s door, there was a little group. Kata-san, Vic-sama… the plant girl… and, and, and! Darkfire-sama! Kuya drew in a small breath as he edged alongside the group, getting sort of behind Vic as usual, gazing up at the tall green-haired leader in respectful fear and awe. He clutched the bottle of vodka close to his chest, heart pounding. Darkfire-sama! Whatever was going on had to be serious if he were here.
~~~
Staccata took a deep breath and relaxed somewhat now that Darkfire had arrived. She figured she could hold her own against Vic, if things took a turn for the worse, but she felt better now that the boss was here.
"Yes. A talk. Vic seems to think that I have something of his, but I don't--" She paused, eyes widening slightly as Kuya skulked into view, hiding behind Vic, who hadn't yet noticed the little corruptor. "Actually..." She frowned. "Vic said he gave some diamonds and other things to Kuya to give to me, but I never got any of them." She nodded slightly in Kuya's direction, hoping Darkfire would catch on to her hint that he pull him aside, and out of Vic's reach. She hated putting Kuya on the spot like that, but if it would prevent--or at least forestall--any potential beating he'd receive at Vic's hand, it was worth it. "I'm sure there's a good explanation for all of this," she added.
If it was possible to look any paler than he already did, Kuya managed it. This was about the things he was supposed to give to Kata-san? Shimatta…
“I see,” Darkfire acknowledged Staccata’s hint with a nod of his own. “Vic, back to your room and sleep it off. Staccata, I’ll let you know if I need any more information from you. Kuya, come with me.”
Kuya cringed. Still clutching the bottle of vodka as tightly to his chest as he could, he ducked and slipped behind Vic to join Darkfire. The drunken brute saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and finally realized that Kuya was there. With a bit of a snarl, he nabbed Kuya by the back of his coat before the little empath could get out of his reach.
Reaction in the hallway was immediate. Sparking energy crackled around Staccata’s hands and she took a step forward, ready to stop Vic from hurting Kuya. Flames erupted in Darkfire’s hands as well, but he prevented what could have been a bad situation with a firm loud command.
“Vic! I said, back to your room!” Darkfire’s stern tone left no room for argument, though naturally Vic had to try anyway, even facing fire and sparks and, slightly belated, the threat of strangling vines.
“But this little bastard - - !” he started to protest, giving Kuya a shake by his coat.
“Back to your room, or I’ll put you out of the base for a week.” Darkfire was calm, but clearly angry and it was obvious he meant his threat.
With a growl, Vic reluctantly let go of Kuya, giving him a shove in Darkfire’s direction. Kuya stumbled, turning to look back at him pleadingly, but Vic didn’t give a damn. Muttering curses under his breath, the blonde teen backed off and wove a meandering course back up the hallway, in the direction of his room. Kuya watched after him plaintively, hating to see his Boss like that.
“Thank you, sir,” Staccata breathed a sigh of relief, looking at Darkfire.
“It’s getting late. You ladies get some rest,” Darkfire nodded to both Staccatta and Caerulea, then rested his hand on Kuya’s shoulder. “Come with me, Kuya.”
His gaze after Vic broken by the weight of Darkfire’s hand, Kuya bowed his head and trailed in the shadow of Black Sunday’s leader.
“Oh, it is getting late!” Staccata gasped, remembering that she’d only intended to be a moment running back to her room for a few things. “Akera’s waiting for me! Lea, help me find my good heels. You know, the four inch ones…” She shooed her roommate back into their room. She didn’t want Akera to start wondering what had happened to her.
~~~
Inwardly, Kuya felt like he was shaking apart, his nerves were so frazzled. His Boss was angry with him, that was bad enough. But now, the highest Boss was probably going to dole out punishment and that was even worse. If Darkfire was capable of putting Vic out of the base for a week just for being angry, what would he do to Kuya when his crime was revealed? The empath felt like he might be sick. He couldn’t survive outside the base, without the team, without Vic! He knew he couldn’t.
Darkfire shut his office door behind the obviously frightened mutant empath and instructed him to sit down in one of the two chairs in front of Dark’s desk. Rather than put the desk between them, Dark sat in the other chair and leaned forward a bit so that he could talk to Kuya directly.
“Staccata says that Vic gave you some things to give to her,” he began. “Is that true?”
Kuya kept his head down, still hugging around the bottle of vodka. He nodded.
“But you didn’t deliver those things? What happened to them?”
Kuya didn’t move, but his thoughts were spinning wildly in his head against all the emotional and energy background noise. Though a great deal of the time, Kuya had no idea what was going on thanks to not being able to control his empathic abilities and having so much in his head constantly, in this case he was acutely aware of what he had done. And he wasn’t sorry he’d done it in the least. His fear and regret came from getting caught, from worrying about how he was going to be punished, and from angering the people stronger than him. If he admitted what he did, Kuya knew Vic would never let Kuya hang around him again. Kata-san would be upset with him. Darkfire might put him out of the base and the team.
In spite of outward appearances, Kuya could be clever if he put his mind to it, and the instinct to survive, to stay safe and within the good graces of those who could protect him, was perfect motivation. He glanced up to meet Darkfire’s eyes, green and steady behind his glasses. Darkfire was the Boss, higher and more important than Vic according to the way that Kuya saw the world. He wished he could be Darkfire’s minion, rather than just a marginal member of his team, but Darkfire didn’t seem to be that kind of Boss, unfortunately. It didn’t make sense to Kuya, but then, so much of everything didn’t. Kuya had to preserve what he did know and understand. He had to keep his place with Vic. He had to lie.
Kuya began to shake visibly, whined a bit in the back of his throat. “I… I not… I not know… I not know!” he wailed softly, curling down over the bottle of vodka miserably. “Sorry, sorry!”
Darkfire leaned forward some more, trying to see Kuya’s face, concerned over how upset the teen seemed. “Calm down, Kuya,” he said kindly but firmly. “What do you mean, you don’t know? Look up at me.”
Kuya reluctantly did so. “Vic-sama give me things, but… I not remembering where they is… I… I… “ He shook his head in confusion, breath coming hard as he apparently tried to remember what had happened. “Vic-sama will be mad at Kuya! Sorry Darkfire-sama, sorry!” He lifted a hand and pressed it to the plate on the right side of his face, looking pained. “My bad head, I not think, not remember…”
Darkfire sat back, considering Kuya for a moment. Clearly the kid was confused about what had happened and, from what Dark understood, he had ongoing problems due to being an untrained empath. Black Sunday’s leader briefly wondered if the kindest thing to do might not be turning Kuya over to the RIP. The Isles were a very difficult place for even well trained empaths, which was why there weren’t a lot there. If he was in custody, Kuya might have a chance of getting some help.
Then again, how was being an untrained empath any different than being a newbie corruptor or a stalker just starting out? Darkfire knew that people on his team were fond of Kuya, they took care of him. And there were certainly people in Black Sunday’s roster who might be able to help him get a better handle on his empathic abilities. He’d have a word with some of them and see about steering Kuya their way.
“Okay Kuya, calm down,” Darkfire said again, patting the teen’s knee. “I understand you have some problems with your powers. We’ll see what we can do about that. In the meantime, you’re going to apologize to both Vic and Staccata. And you’re going to pay Vic back the price of the gifts out of your earnings. And I’ll have some tasks around the base for you to do. Alright?”
Doing tasks around the base for The Boss wasn’t punishment in the least as far as Kuya was concerned. He was eager to prove himself to Darkfire. He nodded. “Hai hai, I can do. Darkfire-sama not throw me out?”
“Of course not, Kuya. You’re part of the family,” Darkfire gave him a smile and unknowingly skyrocketed the amount of respect, devotion and awe Kuya had for him. “Now, let’s go talk to Vic.”
~~~
“And Kuya is going to pay you back the value of the items that he lost,” Darkfire explained the situation to Vic, who was using the jamb of the doorway to his room for support. He listened to what Black Sunday’s leader was saying, but was giving Kuya a smothering glare. The empath edged behind Darkfire a little more, nervously.
“Lost?” Vic snorted. The stupid retard. Flowers, candy and diamonds, lost! He ground his teeth at Kuya. “You are in so much trouble, you little - - “
“Vic.” Darkfire was back to using his stern commanding voice. “I told you, it was just an unfortunate accident. In the future, maybe you should consider doing your important tasks yourself, instead of foisting them off on someone else,” he admonished, causing Vic to wince. “Kuya is going to pay you back and that’s good enough. You’re not to hit him, do I make myself clear?”
Vic grumbled reluctantly but wasn’t stupid. He gave Darkfire a sullen look, but nodded. “Yeah, I got it.”
“If I hear about any more trouble over this incident, I’ll be coming to you about it,” Darkfire warned, then turned to Kuya. “Now you, don’t forget to apologize and then get to your own room. It’s late. Oh and…” Darkfire deftly plucked the bottle of vodka that Kuya was still clutching out of the empath’s arms and tucked it under one of his own. “I don’t think Vic needs any more of this. Good night, gentlemen.”
Kuya watched Darkfire leaving, sighing inwardly with a definite expression of admiration on his face for the leader of Black Sunday. But when he looked back, Kuya jumped a bit, because Vic had moved closer and was glaring at him fiercely. The empath was immediately wary and trembled.
“I… I sorry, Vic-sama…” he stuttered, apologizing as he’d been told to do. He hoped for forgiveness, but wasn't so stupid as to expect it. It was all for the best. He was what Vic needed, not Kata-san, and he would get back into the blonde's good graces by proving himself devoted and willing to do anything.
“Yeah, you will be,” Vic got close, right in Kuya’s face. It only pissed him off more that he had to stand on his toes just a bit in order to do so. “Darkfire says I can’t hit ya, but I’m still gonna t’punish you, ya little pisser.” He jabbed a finger hard against Kuya’s chest. “Now get the hell away from me.”
With a little yelp, Kuya scrambled backwards, then up the hall toward his own room. He could feel Vic’s furious glare against his back the entire way. He was going to be punished... but it was okay, it was. He knew he deserved it, so Kuya would endure whatever Vic did to him.