Series Title: Niko
Author: Obi the Kid
Rating: PG
Series Summary: Present-day Cal glances back to the past. A new series consisting of Cal POV flashback stories – moments from his past that center around Niko's influence on him.
Disclaimer: All hail Rob Thurman! No profit here, I'm just having fun.
He's the reason why. Why I am alive. Why I'm sane. Why I'm not a mass murdering killing machine. Why I haven't been torn to pieces by Wolves or shot dead by the Vigil.
He's why. Niko. My brother.
He raised me from birth. Taught me to crawl, walk, eat, talk. Kept me safe from the 'Mom from Worse than Any Hell Imaginable'. Saved me from lava red eyes peering into dirty windows and causing instant pant wetting until I was five. He went without food so that I could eat. Gave me his blanket in the winter when there was no heat. Lectured me on bullies; being beaten up by them and beating them up. Made sure I had clothes, shoes and a backpack for school. He made me go to school (I've forgiven him for that). Walked me to and from until I was big enough to ride the bus or walk there on my own.
He was my brother, father, mother every single day of my life. He taught me, corrected me, forced me to learn – mostly against my will – and made sure I wasn't a complete moron.
He saved me from the serial killing bastard Junior who would've skinned me alive.
He saved me from myself upon return from my own Hell where the Auphe had turned me against my will into what they'd bred me for.
He didn't turn away when that monster inside me changed me from black hair and gray eyes to silver-white and that same lava red he'd hidden me from for the first 5 years of my life.
Every single damned day of my life, he made sure- and still does - that I knew I was loved and not alone and that someone gave a shit about me.
There was never any praise for him No help from family or friends – not that we had any. No easy times. No days off. No rest. No outlet for his own emotions. He simply did what he had to do…because I was his brother.
It's why I won't live past his death, if he goes before me. It's why I'd blow up the entire world to save him. It's why I annoy him every day. His body-temple authoritarian exercise regimen. His inedible soy and seaweed food. His anal-assed self. I give him hell for it all. He's always made sure I knew I wasn't alone – it's how I make sure he knows the same. Because he's my brother. I would die for him. I would kill for him. I would go to Auphe Hell for him. I would do all these things and more because without him, I'm dead or insane or a madman-monster hybrid that knows only to slaughter and kill without thought or remorse.
Without him, I am nothing.
Without him, I am Caliban. Merciless. Monster. Auphe.
With him, I am everything he sees in me, even if I don't see it in myself.
With him, I am Cal. Human hybrid with a foul mouth, an unhealthy love for guns and the diet of a triple heart attack waiting to happen.
With him, I am a little brother; one with a big brother that loves the shit out of him.
With him, I am what he raised me to be, flaws and all.
Given this life to live all over again, I'd not hesitate.
Why?
I wouldn't leave Nik to do this alone. Never in a thousand lives.
Because he's my brother.
Niko.
The end of the intro story…other stories in the series coming soon and eventually!