Summary: Cale and Akima didn't escape the Valkyrie after the discovery of Korso's true intentions for them and the Titan. Akima is hurt badly and Cale is forced to work with Korso if he doesn't want the young pilot to suffer anymore than she already has. The crew split up, feelings are strung tight to a breaking point between Cale and Korso...what will happen when the string breaks and all bottled up emotions are suddenly let out all at once? What will become of the Titan and the humans that have been caught up in her fate?
Disclaimer: I don't own it, what made you think I did to begin with?
::Warnings:: How do I put this lightly? ...this story, yes, this one you are reading right here, is a yaoi story. A homosexual male relationship will blossom and grow with the course of the tale and yes... the relationship will be obvious, it will not be simply hinted at. If you don't like this, don't read it, that's why God invented the 'Back' button.
Chapter One
Obsession is a bad thing. Everyone and anyone will tell you that... but at what point exactly does attraction and interest become obsession? Is there a mark of separation between them, or are they the same thing with different names? And if that's the case, then where does love fit into the picture?
Always thinking of that one person, always putting their best interest before your's. Watching them ,dreaming of them, wanting to protect them and to be their everything - everything that they will ever, could ever need. Loving them, wanting them... To hear and see them everywhere and in everything you do, wasn't that nothing short of obsession? Doesn't love fit the definition well? And yet, everyone will tell you that love is a good, healthy thing.
And at the same time, doesn't obsession fit the definition of love? When you really think about it, love IS obsession and obsession IS love.
It doesn't make sense.
For Cale Tucker this contradiction is a serious problem. Cale is in love with a girl. Cale is obsessed with a man. If the words differ in definition, and yet are the same in layman's terms, wouldn't that mean that Cale was so in love that he was obsessed with this girl, and so obsessed that he loved this man?
Cale shook his head roughly, head throbbing with frustration and confusion. He had been thinking of love and obsession all evening and it was really beginning to take a toll on his patience and energy levels...both already at their all-time lows before the notions had even entered his head. But even after many hours of thinking and rethinking everything through, it still didn't make any sense to Cale.
The girl he loves, well, her name is Akima Kunimoto. She's beautiful and smarter in mind and mouth then any other girl Cale had ever met before. She's passionate too, head strong and just as stubborn as he was... possibly even more so. She made him smile and he had fallen in love with her before he had even realized he was falling in the first place.
The man he was obsessed with, his name is Joseph Korso, captain of the Valkyrie and formerly an officer in the Earth Human Corps. He's a wise ass, plain and simple. He's also hands down, no questions asked, the most annoying person Cale had ever had the honor and misfortune to meet. He knew his father at one time, helped him with the 'Titan Project' and had been a close friend of the deceased professor before his disappearance. Korso just fascinates him, Cale doesn't know why, he just does.
Being so in love that he has become obsessed with Akima is fine. That doesn't bother Cale at all; he loves her, so who cares? But to be so obsessed with Korso that he loves the older man... that was a problem and Cale wasn't sure how he felt about it. He trusted Korso, of course, and respected him and actually kind of idolized him. He cared about Korso's well being just about as much as he cared about Akima's.
Wait...
Isn't all of that basically what the definition of love is? To trust and respect, care about and fell intense liking for something or someone?
Cale groaned and pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead. Way to go...he had successfully confused himself even more so then before.
"Cale?"
Cale looked up at the sound of his name, wide green eyes blinking in surprise to find Akima staring back at him with that quirky half smirk she always wears when he did something she didn't understand. Her dark brown eyes shining with amusement at him and purple strands of hair curving with the line of her jaw and cheek bones. She was as beautiful as he remembered her being the last time he had seen her earlier that day and currently, she was carrying a crate of their bottled beverages with a large brown paper sack balancing precariously on top of it.
"What are you doing?" She asked him, tone rising in pitch with good humor, "Lazing about like an old bum again?"
"No, I was just thinking." He smiled, mood having already lifted just at the sight of her.
"About what?"
"Nothing important..."
"Hmm, right." She quirked a brow at him, "Don't start thinking to hard though. You might hurt yourself."
"Oh, ha ha," Cale snorted, "How creative."
"Well, if you're all done here," Akima spoke slowly, thrusting the crate into his arms and taking the sack for herself, "why not make yourself useful and give me a hand?"
"Like you've given me a choice?" Cale gave a low chuckle, sneaking a peek into the girl's bag to see that it was full of food. "What's all this for anyway?"
"The basics." Akima smiled at him, "Drifter colonies are the best to pick up plasma packs, fuel cells. Frozen burritos. This stuff comes in handy when you're trading for Earth trinkets too."
"So..." Cale gave her an odd look as she led him through the Valkyrie, "were gonna barter this stuff for more of that Earth junk?"
"Don't you get it, Cale?" Akima asked in a voice that smiled as it strained to make him understand, "That 'junk' is all that's left of the place we came from. It...reminds us of all the things we miss."
"Mmm...miss." Cale rolled his eyes, "Like those frozen burritos you were talking about."
Akima laughed, the sound like a small twinkling bell in Cale's ear, broadening his smile.
"Who do you think you are?"
"At least they don't jump off your plate." Cale continued over another voice that was steadily growing louder as they made to pass by the captain's quarters, Akima laughed again agreeing with Cale.
"Do you think this is some kind of game?"
The smiles on Cale and Akima's faces washed away as swiftly as they had appeared, both sharing a questioning look with the other as they stopped just outside the captain's door. Concern washed over them both, neither having ever heard the man speak with such a tone to his voice before.
"Did you forget the plan? I bring you the Titan. I get rich!"
Cale frowned. Something was very wrong here, something was off and he didn't like it. It was Korso shouting on the other side of the door, that he knew for sure, but his voice... it just wasn't the voice of the Joseph Korso Cale knew. His Joseph Korso's voice was smooth and rich with wit and kindness, this voice was hard and dripped with an ice cold venom that should only accompany a horribly violent person. It sounded as though some stranger was talking through the older man and that thought, strangely, really hit Cale hard in the pit of his stomach. It upset him in a way he hadn't thought something like a change in tone could.
"We had a deal! Right?"
Cale peeked inside the dark room, curiosity and concern getting the better of him, and had to strain his eyes to accommodate for the lack of lighting. A strange and eerie blue, static-like glow was filling the room, providing just enough lighting for Cale to see Korso standing tensely at his holographic communications projector, his back to the door. The blond heard Akima gasp quietly beside him, following her gaze until he saw what had startled the girl... there, presented in all the intimidating glory that came with her, was the holographic image of the Drej leader and queen.
"How dare you try to cut me out like that!" Korso bellowed furiously, jabbing his finger towards the door to make a point.
Cale ducked his head back when the older man gestured towards the door, from his angle it looked as though he were pointing directly at him. But the moment passed and Korso returned to facing the Drej leader, glaring like Cale had never seen him glare before.
"We will do as we please to ensure the Titan's destruction." The Drej's static voice vibrated sharply in the ears of the humans, pulling a slight wince out of Cale.
"Yeah?" Korso growling voice drew Cale's attention back to his now angrily pacing form. "Do as you please, and guess what: you'll retrieve nothing!" His voice shifted into a mock that held on to its previous fury, "You don't have the whole map - the kid's got it. And I've got the kid!"
Cale's lips parted, his brows tightening into an irritated frown as he listened to the older man. Korso was talking about him, flaunting the fact that he had Cale onboard his ship. The blond felt his hand clenching into a fist around the lightly glowing map on the palm of his right hand. Korso was... using him. Cale closed his eyes for a moment, relaxing his hand and bowing his head ever so slightly. A jolt of pain had shot through him as realization of the situation sunk in... he had been used the entire time. Korso was using him, was with the Drej and was using him.
Cale opened his eyes as Korso's voice reached his ears again, the green orbs now hard with anger and betrayal.
"So you keep your drones off my back, or so help me..." Korso clenched a fist and held it up for the Drej to see, his face twisted into a vicious snarl, "I'll rip his heart out!"
Cale froze, suddenly horrified of the man he had come to trust so completely. He couldn't believe it... Korso had betrayed him, was threatening him, and the captain didn't seem to have any qualms about it at all. A touch to Cale's shoulder snapped him out of his daze and he glanced back at Akima.
"Cale, come on..." She pulled at his arm, moving to walk hurriedly away. The cock-ing of a gun stopped her and she dropped her bag in alarm as they both came face to face with the barrel of a plasma gun.
"Going somewhere?" Preed sneered nastily at the two, forcing them through the captain quarters door, "Look what I found." The akrennian announced loudly as he shoved his captives through the door, "Two little birdies itchy to fly."
Korso glared hotly, the holographic communicator shutting down and the lights of the room snapping on immediately. The older man crossed his arms, clearly on the defensive. "How long were they standing there?"
"Long enough." Akima glared, voice hard and accusing.
"You lied." Cal stepped forward towards the captain, his face torn and twisted with hurt and confusion and anger. He pressed a hand to his chest, voice having risen slightly in pitch. "Everything you said, everything you told me..."
"Not everything..." Korso smirked that smile of his, the lopsided one that Cale had always secretly enjoyed seeing. Now, Cale wanted nothing more than to just slap the look straight off the older man's face. "Your father hid a ship. Then the Drej killed him," His voice became harsh and he jabbed a threatening finger in Cale's face, "all because he couldn't face the truth."
"Yeah?" Cale squared his shoulders, lifting his chin pridefully. He hardened his voice, green eyes having now become hard, sharpened pieces of jade glass. "What is the truth?"
"That the human race is outta gas." He took a step closer to Cale, making a spinning funnel motion with a finger, "It's circling the drain. It's finished!"
Cale's mouth hung open, eyes widening in alarm and stepping back from the man as he got closer. What was wrong with him? What had happened? Had Korso always been like this and he had just been too blind and stupid to notice?
"The only thing that matters is grabbing what you can before somebody else beats you to it!" Korso snarled into Cale's face, a crazed look in his dark eyes.
"No." Cale snapped, challenging Korso by stepping back towards the man, "I don't believe that."
"Then you're even more like your father then I thought..." Korso moved to turn his back on Cale, glancing back just long enough to shoot out one last comment. "...a fool."
That was enough to make Cale snap and he launched himself forward towards Korso, meaning to tackle him to the ground and beat some sense into the older man. But his attack was anticipated and Korso smoothly sidestepped the blond and slammed the young man back onto a table. He then grabbed Cale up by his shirt collar, slamming a fist down into his jaw twice before the teen slumped down to the floor.
An angry shout of pain caught Korso's attention and he looked back in time to see Akima bite into the arm Preed had wrapped around her neck to secure her. He glared angrily, looking back down to Cale as the teen began to move again. He reached for the blond, only to have a bottle of glowing green liquor smashed in his face. He stumbled, sputtering loudly as he tried to wipe the liquid from his angry eyes. Cale took this as the perfect opportunity to escape and pushed Akima out the door before Preed or Korso could regain their composure and stop them.
"Stop them..." Korso gritted out at Preed, pulling himself up off the floor as the akrennian bounded out the door. He hurried out too, turning to the control system near the room as he saw Cale and Akima bolt towards the stairs. "Stay on 'em. I'll lock it down."
Preed fired wildly at the two runaways, missing each time as he tried to keep up with them. They dashed throughout the Valkyrie, desperate to reach the dock door before the other. They soon came to the short hall where the door was located, and Cale could see it closing down as they sprinted as fast as they could.
A sudden burst of pain shot up from Cale's leg, making the young man cry out in shock before he fell over to the floor. Preed had finally hit him and he could hear the akrennian gaining on them swiftly. He looked up to Akima as the girl started to rush back towards him.
"Cale..!"
"No! Go!" Cale shoved her away as she attempted to kneel down beside him, "The door is closing, Akima! Hurry! Go!"
"But Cale-"
"Akima, go!" Cale all but screamed at the girl as Preed came thundering down the hall, the sound of Korso shouting close behind him also reaching his ears.
Akima looked torn, standing and looking between Cale and then the door several times before she bolted back towards the now more then half way closed door. She dropped down, rolling beneath it and then making a wild dash towards the door on the other end that would safely deliver her to the drifter colony of New Bangkok.
Preed jumped over the lame Cale, slamming into the door and glaring out the small window at the girl running for the colony door. He dropped down, firing the plasma gun twice through the steadily closing space between the door and the floor. The door closed and Cale stared in horror at Preed as the akrennian straightened up to glare out the window again - a pleased smile spread across Preed's face and Cale's heart practically stopped as he announced that he had hit Akima.
"Akima!" Cale cried out, pulling himself unsteadily to his feet only to be grabbed by the back of his neck and slammed into the wall. He winced, his head coming into contact with the unyielding steel, and looked up into the dark eyes of an enraged Korso.
"That was a stupid thing you pulled there, Cale." Korso snarled into Cale's face, holding the boy up against the wall by his shirt collar. "Did you think I'd just let you escape? Huh?"
Cale lifted his hand and pushed it forward into Korso's face, attempting and failing to dislodge the older man from him. His attempt only earned him a shift punch to his stomach and he doubled over with a winded gasp.
"Open the doors." Korso ordered to Preed, "Bring in the girl."
"You bastard!" Cale shouted angrily, struggling to break free again as Preed opened the doors and exited out onto the dock way to retrieve Akima's body. "You lying son of a bitch! You used me!"
"Alls fair in love and war, Cale. And we're in a war." Korso tossed Cale down to the floor again, "I'll do what I have to and step on whoever I need to to make sure I don't come out on the bottom when it's all said and through."
Cale landed roughly on all fours and stayed like that, the pain in his leg becoming nearly unbearable. He bowed his head down against the pain, biting down on his bottom lip so hard that the taste of his own copper blood filled his mouth. He fisted his hands, body ridged and shaking with anger and pain. So this is the thanks he got for trusting someone...
"You're a liar." Cale forced out, not moving from his position. "You're a frig'n liar and I believed you."
Korso chuckled bitterly, mockingly even. "You'll see Cale. You come to see things my way soon enough."
Cale shot up on his feet, hands still fisted, ignoring the pain it shot through his body from his leg. He opened his mouth to snarl out a response, green eyes blazing with anger and betrayal but was cut off as Preed came wandering back through the door with Akima now hanging over his shoulder. Cale's eyes immediately fell on the badly bleeding wound at her left shoulder, the hole from the plasma blast positioned just below her collar bone and just above where her heart would beat.
"Akima!" Cale tried to approach Preed and Akima, feeling nauseous at th sight of all the blood on the wounded girl, but was caught by the upper arm bu Korso.
"Ah ah..." Korso chided the blond, pulling him aside as Preed passed by with Akima's body. "Unless you'd rather she die, I suggest not going anywhere near her and just obeying what I'm fixing to tell you, Cale."
"Why the hell should I listen to anything more you have to say?" Cale snarled angrily, tearing out of Korso's hold and then wincing painfully at the jolt it caused his leg.
"Because I'm sure you'll find it Akima's best interest to do so." Korso threatened coldly, grabbing Cale by the arm and carelessly dragging him further back inside the ship.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cale grimaced painfully as he was forced to follow the captain, struggling to free his arm as he went and failing to do so miserably.
Korso didn't respond and simply shoved Cale through the door as they came to the medical room. He shoved Cale again, towards the operation table. "Take off your pants."
"Excuse me?" Cale turned to look the older man up and down incredulously.
Korso smirked, crossing his arms. "Would you rather have your wound go untreated and take a chance with getting it infected and having to have it removed?"
"No..." Cale regarded Korso uncomfortably.
Korso rolled his eyes coming up to the blond and pressing down on his shoulders to get him to sit down on the table. "Fine. Just sit down, Cale." He squatted down in front of Cale, rolling up the blond's pant leg with the most care and gentleness he had shown so far the entire evening. He chuckled softly, looking up at Cale as he carefully probed at the bleeding wound. "He got you pretty good. It isn't so bad as it could have been, but you'll be in pain for a good while. It still isn't deep enough though for me to use the prob to heal it though."
"What's your point then." Cale snapped, angry and bitter about the whole thing. He was confused too - it was as though Korso had suddenly had a memory lapse and his entire personality was shifted back to the old captain Cale had thought he'd known so well. Talk about a mood swing.
"My point is that you'll live, kid." Korso stood back up, moving over to the nearby sink and taking a rag from one of the cabinets and soaking it. He rang it out and turned to come back and squat in front of Cale, "Which is good news for me since you're the only one that can find the Titan for me."
"Hey! What makes you think I'm going to help you? After all this? I don't fucking thinks so you back stabbing son of a -!" He bellowed angrily, but was cut off as Korso applied pressure to the wound on his leg with the wet rag. He jerked violently, hands coming down to grip the sides of the table as a pained gasp escaped his lips.
"See... I figured you'd say something like that, but I afraid you really don't have a choice anymore but to help me, Cale." Korso let off on the pressure he was putting down onto the wound, returning to carefully cleaning it out. "That is, so long as you value Akima and the rest of the crew's lives."
Cale peeled his tightly clamped eyes open, glaring down at Korso in confusion, "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you either come with me, leave New Bangkok on another ship that's waiting just down the flight dock, and show me the way to the Titan..." Korso explained Cale's options slowly, "or something unfortunate just might happen to Akima, Stith, and Gune."
Cale stared down at Korso as everything sank in. "Are you saying that you'll... kill them if I refuse?"
"Kill is such a nasty word, but... ya. That's more or less what I'm saying."
Cale stared down at Korso unseeingly. Nothing made sense anymore... where had Korso, the Joseph Korso he had been so obsessed with that he had loved, gone to? Where was the man that had often sat and laughed with him? Who had let him race with WakeAngels and talked with him about a father he had never really known? Had he ever really existed to begin with or was this back stabbing, black mailing Korso crouched down before him really the true Joseph Korso all along - who had just been pretending to be someone else to gain his trust long enough to find what he wanted and then betray him in the worst possibly way?
Korso smirked as he straightened himself up, clapping Cale on the shoulder, taking his silence as a good thing. "I knew you'd see things my way, kid."
Cale seemed to snap somewhat out of his daze as Korso patted his shoulder firmly, he turned his eyes to follow the older man's back as he returned to the sink to wash out the blood streaked rag. How could he have been so blind to the truth?
"Now come on. You're leg'll be fine." Korso ordered as he turned back around, flinging the rag against the sink and leaving it there. "We've got business to take care of, goodbyes to say, and another ship to board."