After picking up his third dead drop order, Lucien's Silencer is back at the Fort Farragut, determined to get some answers. One shot with a touch of Slash because I haven't seen one for a while.
Disclaimer: I do not own Oblivion and its characters.
Dead drop orders
This is ridiculous, plain ridiculous. Lucien mutters darkly to himself, watching his Silencer making himself comfortable in his bed. The boy seems to have no intention of leaving Lucien's private sanctum, despite the fact that he must have picked up the third dead drop order by now. This is clearly an act of defiance and rebellion since Lucien let it be known that they are not to speak again till he deems it necessary. The boy looked stunned and upset at the time, more so than when he was told to perform an act of purification against his new family. But he knew better than to disobey his Speaker. After all, he did swear that he would serve Lucien until time immemorial and no matter what. Never once, did he go against his Speaker's wishes. That is… until now.
"I know you are here, Speaker," says the raven haired young man in his early twenties, twirling strands of his hair lazily with his finger that wears the Black Band. "You will have to show yourself up, if you want your puppet back. There is no one else to carry out your contracts unless you have already recruited more murderers."
"Leonardo," Lucien roars, materialising several feet away from the bed and drawing his sword. He is not in the least pleased with the insolent behaviour of the youngster but nevertheless is curious about what caused the abrupt change. "You better explain yourself well. Otherwise, your act of insubordination would not go unpunished."
Leonardo jumps out of the bed, narrowing their distance with a smile that is undiluted joy. Lucien is relieved to see it. The boy may have lost his head but his loyalty seems still intact.
"But I am here for your answers," counters the young man, slowly unsheathing one of his blades, the one that is not enchanted. He does not wish to hurt his Speaker more than necessary by accident. But he will not let an opportunity for good combat slip by. "And I am not leaving until I have them."
Lucien lunges at Leonard with a series of lightening attacks. But the young man was ready for the move and responds with well-placed blocks of equal speed and fortitude. This of course doesn't worry the Speaker. He would not expect any less from his favourite assassin.
"Did you know they called me 'Lucien's golden boy'? And it wasn't meant to be a compliment," whispers Leonardo as their eyes lock and separate, closely following the movement of the other's blade.
"You still live and they do not," replies Lucien evenly, parrying a blow aimed at his side and placing a heavy counter attack, the force of which makes Leonardo's steps falter ever so slightly. It is barely noticeable but Lucien's sharp eyes detect the weakness. Although he regrets bringing an end to the adrenaline rush he has been rather enjoying, Lucien is never the one to miss an opportunity. Quickly moving a few steps backwards, he casts a Drain Fatigue spell before Leonardo manages to aim another attack.
The young man is not surprised when he finds himself leaning against the cold stone wall with his wrists tightly held with an iron grip and his weapon a few feet away from his grasp. He has allowed himself to fall victim to the spell he himself masters well for the second time and at the hands of the same man. He is not bitter, though he wishes their physical confrontation lasted a little longer.
"Now, are you going to tell me what this is all about?" Lucien asks coolly, contemplating the look on Leonardo's face. It is no longer defiant, but the silent pleading is too forceful to be brushed aside. "Why are you here?"
"Teinaava once told me you were like a father to him. You knew you had their unquestioning loyalty, yet you still ordered the purification." Leonardo's voice trembles, and he cares not to hide the emotion he tried so hard to bury in the inaccessible corner of his mind.
"They all loved you, too. Even M'raaj-Dar. That didn't deter you from carrying out my order," replies Lucien coldly. "I have already explained why it could not be avoided."
"We talked about the reason. You never told me what you felt about the treachery sanctioned by the Black Hand."
A sharp slap lands across Leonardo's face. It stings but there is no real damage to it.
"Never," hisses Lucien. "Never again will you speak against …"
Words die in mid sentence as the young man takes advantage of Lucien's slackened grip, reversing their position and pressing his lips hard against the other man. The sensation burns on their lips and spreads through their entire frames. Leonard thinks with a delirious smile that he can die happy at that moment. Only, he wants more because he is going to live. As for Lucien, it takes all of his steely self-discipline to pull away from the desire that he has managed to suppress so far. But pull away he does as he remembers the turmoil that the Black Hand is going through and how perilous his position has become.
Disappointed as he is with Lucien's self-control, Leonardo does not miss the look of regret in the deep Brown eyes that he adores so much. They were strangely warm when they met for the first time, and he had a hard time believing the black robed man was there to recruit him into a group of assassins. Lucien remembers that time well, too. He was expecting to see a heavily armored, fearsome-looking Imperial when he had been told that his newest recruit was an Arena Grand Champion. Sure, what he found was an Imperial. But everything else seemed wrong. It was hard to convince himself that he indeed got the right man while looking at the slender form with an unusually pretty face. If it wasn't for the distinctive eye brows and a shade of mustache Leonardo had neglected to shave, he could have passed for a girl. He had to check whether there was someone else sleeping nearby before waking his future Silencer.
"Why Lucien? Why did you have another Hand member write the order?" asks the young man with a pained look. "Your letters were all I had. The only connection I felt towards the trust and love that you claimed to have for me. You know damn well I care for nothing else but you."
"What are you talking about? Why would I …?" Lucien abandons his second question as a realization dawns on him.
"Leonardo," he says, lightly tracing the jaw line of his confused Silencer with his gloved hand. It seems that the traitor had faith in Leonardo's unquestioning obedience just as much as Lucien did. "Do you have the letter with you?"
With a broad grin, Leonardo searches his travel bag and hands the badly crumbled note that has tormented him for the past two days. He is now certain that his Speaker cared enough to keep his promise that Leonardo's orders would only come from him.
"No wonder you were upset," says Lucien smoothly, after carefully examining the sham order. He can picture his Silencer treasuring each and every communication he wrote, reading and re-reading the contents just to feel him closer. "It is badly forged. Our not-so-clever friend didn't take time to study my own handwriting. Nor did he disguise his own."
"Where would you like to send me?" asks Leonardo, his lips curling up in a sardonic smile. Whoever faked the dead drop order will pay and dearly.
"I am afraid the pleasure must be shared between us since it was I who had to bear the brunt of troubles caused by that little worm," Lucien concludes, planting a light kiss on the forehead of his Silencer.
The two men silently slip out of Fort Farragut for their first and probably last hunt together. Mounting his horse with elegant grace, Lucien smiles at his Silencer, who has dared to intrude his home without prior permission. The irony is that no amount of Leonardo's devotion and loyalty would have saved Lucien from the clutch of his slimy enemy. His defiance, fuelled by his inappropriate infatuation with his Speaker, did. Perhaps, it is time for Lucien to discard his firm resolve not to combine pleasure with business. But his Silencer will have to wait a while before he learns the change of heart on Lucien's part. After all, he cannot encourage his Silencer further in the belief that an act of insubordination has its own rewards.