Title: Inside the Fire [Censored Version]
Pairing: Ulrich Stern/William Dunbar, Yumi Ishiyama/Jeremie Belpois, Jeremie Belpois/Aelita Schaeffer (one-sided)
Tags: Romance, Eventual Romance, Angst, Drama, D/s, Power Exchange, light BDSM, Mind Control, Alternate Universe – Canon, Dubious Consent, Hurt/Comfort, Top Ulrich, Dominant Ulrich, Bottom William, Submissive William
Summary: None of the Lyoko Warriors were prepared for the chain of events that would follow the success of Aelita's devirtualization into the real world.
IMPORTANT: This is the (heavily) CENSORED version of the story and was edited to bring the rating down from Explicit/Mature to "T for Teen" so I could post it here. The dubious consent tag is due to the mind-control between Ulrich and William. The non-con tag is due to the mind-control between X.A.N.A. and William (as shown in the series). There is NO RAPE contained within.
This story does not contain (but is not limited to) the following: Heavy BDSM, Bloodplay, Whipping, Breathplay, Bondage.
If you want to read the Explicit/Mature version, head to my AO3 account and look for: Inside the Fire [Explicit Version]
Author Notes:
Unless I state otherwise, all D/s relationships (and general BDSM play) in my stories are—as the cliché goes, "safe, sane and consensual".
William (who was both possessed and subsequently freed) joined the team long before Jeremie was able to devirtualize Aelita into the real world.
BDSM 101: If you don't know what the terms 'subspace', 'aftercare' and 'sub-drop' are, read the article entitled "BDSM 101: Subspace, Aftercare, and Sub-drop (and sometimes Top-drop)" (i.e. Google it, should be the first result). They play an important role in the story, but I won't necessarily go into detail.
Mind-Control and BDSM: William (submissive) participates in heavy BDSM scenes with Ulrich (Dominant) while under the latter's mind-control. William's reactions while under Ulrich's mind control are similar to an extreme form of subspace.
Personally, I don't consider this dub-con because William has fully consented to this type of play (though not everyone would agree, since mind control is mind control). Ulrich vowed to respect his submissive's limits and will never play harder than William can (mentally and/or physically) cope with, because neither will be able to use their safewords to any effect.
BETA: TheSupernova
CHAPTER 1: Uncertain Beginnings
When Jeremie was finally able to devirtualize Aelita into the real world, Yumi was thrilled. Jeremie and Aelita would finally get to spend some time together, and Aelita—well, she was one of the best friends their group had. It wasn't fair for her to be stuck in the virtual world.
Yumi's relationship with Ulrich was going—well, she was positive Ulrich was finally working up the nerve to tell her his feelings. Yumi liked Ulrich, Ulrich liked Yumi, but neither would actually come out and say it.
Things were going well all around. Ulrich had wanted to speak to her about something, and Yumi couldn't help her excitement.
The day after Aelita came to Earth, Yumi set off to meet Ulrich behind the school.
Thus began what Yumi would forever call, "the worst and best day of her life."
A strange way to say it, to be sure, but Yumi couldn't think of anything else so appropriate.
Ulrich told her to meet him near the forest, in the area directly adjacent to the track. It was an area where they'd met before, so Yumi knew exactly where to go.
It had been 'their place'—private, yet no so far from school that they would be late to class or fail to hear someone call their names.
As Yumi got closer, her excitement faded to apprehension.
It sounded as if Ulrich was already there—and he wasn't alone.
William met Ulrich in the forest, a spot unfamiliar to him. He had been late because of it.
"If this place is so important to you, why haven't I been here before? I—" William stopped short when he saw what Ulrich was tossing casually in the air.
Ulrich caught it in his hand when he saw William's stunned face.
The smirk on Ulrich's face sent a chill down William's spine (and the bulge in his pants inexorably tightened).
A leather posture collar was presented to him in one hand; in Ulrich's other, the insanely expensive Sargent & Greenleaf 951C padlock. It's a padlock William knew well.
He gulped.
Whatever Ulrich was planning, he had no intention of letting William in on it.
Ulrich needed William physically present for whatever affair was about to happen—but Ulrich didn't need William mentally aware of the proceedings.
William stepped up to Ulrich slowly, his body guided by a will not his own.
Ulrich nodded at William, giving him the padlock to hold, then caressed the side of William's face.
"My sweet William," Ulrich began, "you are not to remember anything of this afternoon until I take this padlock off."
William unconsciously glanced to the side, tightening his grip. He would do as Ulrich asked, but he would be lying if he said he wasn't scared.
It was one thing to follow orders, and William definitely trusted Ulrich with his life; after all, their time fighting X.A.N.A. in Lyoko had more than proven that. Although short of falling into the Digital Sea, "death" on Lyoko merely resulted into being devirtualized back into the real world.
"William?" Ulrich prodded. After a beat, he continued, noticeably worried.
"Hey, look at me." Ulrich asked gently. It wasn't a command; he wasn't asking to be in control. This was Ulrich, the man, and William's lover.
William looked up.
"You've never asked this of me before," he said, crossing his left hand over his body to grab at his right arm. His grip was so tight, that it took Ulrich's hand placed over his to make William let go.
"I'm just reminded of my time with X.A.N.A., and it scares me," he admitted.
William felt his mind start to kick back into reality.
"No," Ulrich commanded.
His mind fell back into Ulrich's hands, but his fear remained.
"I'm not X.A.N.A. and I will never use you against your will." Ulrich waited for William to catch his gaze. "Know that I love you, William. Before collars, control and your submissive behavior.
"It's only you, always, and I realized today that maybe its time I let the others know about us." Ulrich exhaled slowly. "When Aelita and Jeremie were finally able to meet, after all this time… they looked so happy to finally be able to hold each other in the physical world. I thought about who mattered most to me, you or Yumi."
William gave a short smile. "I'm not making you choose. A submissive doesn't require their Dominant to be their lover."
"But I would be blind if I didn't see how much attention you paid to my relationship with Yumi." Ulrich tilted his head. "The hopeless look you get in your eyes when you think I'm not looking, when you think you'll never be able to compare."
William shook his head again. This half-in half-out of Ulrich's control was slowing his response times, it seemed.
"I like Yumi, as a friend," William said. "And maybe to occasionally antagonize you." He shrugged. "You are cute when your jealous."
Ulrich sighed. "You're deflecting."
Without warning, Ulrich placed the leather posture collar around William's neck.
"You trust me more than X.A.N.A," Ulrich said, his voice taking on a soothing, melodic tone. "I don't love Yumi, I know that now."
William closed his eyes. The soft, inner lining of the collar and Ulrich's hands brushing against his neck felt so familiar. Safe.
Memories of Ulrich saving his life flooded his mind. This man would do anything to keep his friends and loved ones safe—William felt Ulrich's fingers reaching for the buckles on the back of his collar.
Ulrich hesitated.
"Maybe… maybe I—"
"I never loved X.A.N.A," William interrupted.
Ulrich stroked the base of his submissive's skull, and William released a low, purring noise from his throat.
The final buckle wrapped around to the front, interlocking with a D-ring; all that was missing was the padlock.
"I'll see you tonight, my sweet William." Ulrich said, kissing him on the lips.
When the padlock clicked into place, William's consciousness faded.
William closed his eyes and let the darkness—and the safety of Ulrich's presence, overtake him.
His body was now under Ulrich's control.
Now, Ulrich has trained and held many submissives over the years, but William was the only one who could suppress his mental functions so completely so as to (what seemed to Ulrich) disable his short-term memory but leave all William's other functions intact.
Ulrich lived on control and while he disapproved of X.A.N.A. forcibly taking control of William's body, he had to admit, somewhere inside of him Ulrich had been jealous. Because whatever feelings Ulrich held towards William personally, he had sensed William's submissive side soon after they met.
Call it a third sense, but Ulrich lived for control over submissives. Normally he wouldn't have been able to tell, but lifestyle submissives, those he could spot a mile away. Because they were different from the rest. They lived for people like Ulrich, for Dominants to control their every move, to live and breathe the D/s lifestyle.
So damn it all that X.A.N.A. had gotten to William first.
Once William was freed from X.A.N.A.'s control, Ulrich had been done waiting. X.A.N.A. had gotten to William before Ulrich had been able to begin operation "Control William".
Yeah, it was a stupid title, but it's not like anyone was going to find out.
But now William was free and Ulrich would make damn sure it didn't stay that way because Ulrich had plans, and his currently goal was making (and keeping) William as his submissive.
By any means necessary.
Ulrich was a bastard. He called Yumi to 'their spot' in the forest, because Aelita's appearance in the real world sparked a fire inside him. Ulrich saw how happy Aelita and Jeremie were to finally be able to touch each other, to know they are now standing in the same room instead of through a virtual screen.
Those emotions, the relief and happiness those two felt, had been contagious.
Yet, it also reminded Ulrich that he had been stringing along his relationship with Yumi. He liked her, and before William, he had been sure that "like" was close enough to "love" that Ulrich had confused the two.
See, submissives for Ulrich had always been that, not involved in his daily life outside of what use they could provide him. Finding a submissive to become a willingly helpless slave… it was a rare trait, and so far, not one had even come close to the wonders he found within William.
Ulrich kept William at a distance during their "training" period. Yet had underestimated just how submissive William was.
Somewhere along the way, the lines between submissive and William began to converge.
Ulrich shook his head, shrugging off the past. Now was no time to reminisce.
William stood before him, head tilted to the side, patiently waiting for Ulrich's instructions. He stared at Ulrich with void, empty eyes. Ulrich's submissive had been reduced to a lifeless automaton, without free will or self-awareness.
This was William at his most beautiful. And (according to Jeremie) this "soullessly receptive" state was an after affect of being under X.A.N.A.'s hold for so long. Apparently, it had something to do with William's submissive personality.
Jeremie had droned on and on about how because X.A.N.A. was able to manifest in the real world, it wasn't out of the question that William would be able to reenter that state if the right person came along.
"But not just any person," Jeremie had said. "Only those that have been to Lyoko would be able to tap into this unique ability."
Jeremie hadn't inquired further and promised to keep William's "condition" a secret from the others.
The point was, Ulrich was able to take control of William's body the same way X.A.N.A. could.
Ulrich pulled William in for a kiss, soft at first, but quickly turning hot and heavy, leaving William flushed and unbearably hard. In the front of William's pants emerged a growing wet spot.
Unlike X.A.N.A., Ulrich preferred to keep William's personality just below the surface (for easy access). Ulrich wanted his automaton's reaction to at least respond like the real William (because Ulrich didn't want to have to do all the work).
Ulrich reached inside William's head; he had to admit, it was addicting—fun, controlling someone without giving them verbal commands. He watched silently as William fell to his knees.
"Ulrich," William whispered softly.
Then again, there were times when William's subconscious managed to float to the surface. Within the confines of Ulrich's demands, of course.
"Please," his submissive added.
Ulrich wasn't sure what William had been asking for, but it didn't matter, because William would be subjected to Ulrich's whims.
And he had plans, because he had a few hours before Yumi was set to meet up with them and Ulrich wanted to play. Not just for fun, but because Ulrich had a purpose; as he mentioned earlier, Ulrich was a bastard but Yumi needed to understand first hand.
Because Ulrich cared too much for their friendship to hide the truth. He had never allowed anyone to see William the submissive (Ulrich had a possessive streak a mile wide). But…Yumi would never understand if she didn't see for herself.
Sure, Ulrich had told Jeremie a little about his interactions with William, and his friend had a vague notion of what his relationship with William was, but Jeremie hadn't asked too many questions. The man was content with knowing that Ulrich and William were together, never mind how.
Ulrich walked to his military green, high-grade duffle bag shuffling through the contents until he found a pair of scissors and three bundles of rope. Ulrich eyed William's shirt. It was one of his submissive's favorites, having dressed up for their mysterious meeting in the woods.
Ulrich snipped the scissors in the air and knelt down next to William, dropping the rope on the ground next to them. He lifted the bottom of William's shirt and began to cut it off.
See, the thing was, it was Ulrich who had given William this shirt in the first place. Ulrich would take his submissive clothes shopping later to make up for it.
He took his time, destroying the shirt by cutting it up into tiny, unrecoverable pieces. Ulrich took great pleasure in ruining one of William's favorite things. Sadistic, but William had known what he was getting into long ago.
That done, Ulrich cleaned up the mess, throwing the pieces into a small garbage container in his bag and putting away the scissors.
As he was about to stand up, Ulrich's new whip caught his eye and a grin spread across his face. He put the rope away and picked up the whip.
It had arrived in the mail just a few days ago, and Ulrich had yet to break in it. They've played with whips before, and there was nothing like a heavy pain session to really get William's body reactive.
Because even while William was under another's control, certain aspects of the man's personality showed through. His submissive was also a masochist and pain sluts were the best kind of submissive's, in Ulrich's opinion.
Ulrich laid William down on his back, stripping him of the rest of his clothes. Out of habit, Ulrich snapped the whip a few times before lightly striking William across the chest.
His submissive screamed in response.
"Now, now," Ulrich tutted. "Do you want to call over any strangers passing by? You know the rules."
He dropped to the ground, his knees on either side of William's chest. He set the whip down next to them.
"Now I'll have to punish you."
Yeah, having William intentionally break the rules was an ungodly amount of fun. It was also not something William would do under his own power.
Ulrich cracked his knuckles before backhanding William across the face. William pleas for Ulrich to stop meant his submissive was reaching his limits.
"I'm sorry, Ulrich, I swear I didn't mean—"
Ulrich sat back.
"Don't defy me again," he said to William.
Not that William had a choice in the matter.
So, the thing about new whips was that they needed to be broken in. Lucky for Ulrich, he had just the person willing to be his whipping post.
He struck William's chest repeatedly, increasing in intensity each time until Ulrich found the perfect strike. He had been practicing with the whip for years; he wasn't a novice by any means—he was professional and precise.
CRACK. SNAP. CRACK.
Each time light red strike appeared on William's chest, blood continually rising to the surface but Ulrich was careful not to break the skin (just yet). He lashed out, the force of his emotions behind each powerful strike.
"I love you, my sweet William," Ulrich said. "More than my parents, more than Yumi and the others."
After a time, Ulrich placed the whip aside and unzipped his pants. They had been constricting the blood flow of his own cock for too long. He shifted his pants until his package hung free from their confines. Ulrich casually stroked it a few times, considering what to do next.
His original plan had been to tie William up, with decorative knots and rope-play, before his plans changed to breaking in his new whip. Yet, judging by the time on his watch, he had just spent an inordinately long amount of time on it and Yumi was due to meet them soon. This was not how he wanted Yumi to see William.
He looked around the scene then down at his cock and an idea struck him. Ulrich dug around his bag until he pulled out a padded leather blindfold and looked back at his submissive.
"Ulrich," William said softly.
Ulrich looked up in surprise. He hadn't commanded William to do that.
William hadn't made any other moves, but Ulrich had made up his mind.
"Are you ready for showtime, my sweet William?"
Ulrich had told Jeremie about his meeting with Yumi earlier in the week.
"I can't tell her what it is I…" Ulrich hesitated, searching for the right words. "Me and William… she needs to understand. She deserves to know the truth. I'm going to show her the truth."
Jeremie had argued against it, but in the end, Ulrich's reasoning won.
"I care about her too much and she won't understand if she doesn't see for herself…" Ulrich had shaken his head. "She won't believe me."
"She might not understand," Jeremie warned. "She might not speak to you again. What happens then? What happens to us? The Lyoko Warriors?"
Ulrich shrugged. "We have our duties to defeat X.A.N.A. but we can't let him stop us from living our lives. Whether this happens now or later… it'll hurt more if I keep dragging her along. These feelings. The truth."
"Why are you telling me?" Jeremie had asked. "I'm not the best person when it comes to helping others with their emotional problems. Why not Aelita or…"
Jeremie had almost said Odd then, but quickly stopped short. Because the notion of Odd being sensitive and caring was ridiculous. They were not exactly Odd's forte.
Or in Odd's vocabulary.
"It has to be you," Ulrich said, looking Jeremie in the eyes. "You may not have realized it but Yumi, she—"
When Ulrich didn't continue, Jeremie had prodded his friend.
"Yumi what?"
Ulrich had shaken his head. "Nothing. You'll see; you both will."
He had been told the time and place.
"She'll definitely be there," Ulrich told him. "It's one of Yumi's favorite places to go when she's upset or troubled."
Jeremie had briefly thought of following her to her meeting with Ulrich, but whatever Ulrich had planned, it was for her eyes only.
"And William?" Jeremie asked Ulrich.
Ulrich had given Jeremie a lopsided smile. "He won't be present either. It'll be just me and Yumi."
"Have you ever made him suppress his memory before?" Jeremie inquired.
With that, Ulrich laughed heartily. "You think I would spring this on William and expect him to be okay with it? Even he has limits, you know."
"And if you're wrong? What if she isn't there?" Jeremie said, changing to subject.
"She will be," Ulrich said.
"How do you know?"
After a beat of silence, Ulrich spoke up. "Because it's the place we first met."
"Wouldn't she want to avoid a place like that?"
"No," Was all Ulrich said, before turning heel and leaving the room.
Jeremie headed to the park, his laptop and school bag at his side. He had arrived extremely early, but he didn't want to miss Yumi.
He wished Ulrich had asked this of Aelita instead. She was a person who was kind, caring and easy to open up to. She would probably know what to say and what to do in times like this. He thought briefly about getting advice from Aelita, without giving away his reasons for asking but something stopped Jeremie from reaching for his phone.
Ulrich's warning bounced around his head.
"Only you can help her, Jeremie," Ulrich had told him. "But I wonder… are you ready to know why?"
Apparently Jeremie wasn't privy to just why it had to be him.
Not that it mattered now. He sat on a shaded bench and took a deep breath, while staring up at the cloudless, blue sky.
Was he really someone important to Yumi beyond his geeky computer nerd persona? There was really nothing special about him.
He sent Aelita a quick text message saying he would be busy for the rest of the day.
Jeremie: I'll have to reschedule our lunch. Something important came up with my parents, and I can't get out of it.
Aelita: I understand, so don't worry about it. But is everything okay?
Jeremie: Everything is fine. I have to go, but I'll talk to you later, okay? I'll have to turn my phone off for a while.
Yeah, Jeremie was never that great of a liar but Aelita trusted him and really, he felt bad for taking advantage of it.
But if Yumi really needed him as much as Ulrich seemed to think so… it was for a worthy cause. Surely Aelita would understand.
Now, Ulrich was prepared for Yumi to intervene in his scene with William, possibly even Jeremie (despite not giving Jeremie the location of his meeting place with Yumi). But never had he seen this coming.
"You are one sick puppy," Odd said teasingly.
Ulrich wasn't sure if Odd was accusing or joking with him. Either way, he had been caught with his pants down—literally.
William was on his knees, blindfolded with Ulrich's monstrous cock down his throat. Ulrich left just enough space for William to breathe, barely. Ulrich had to keep calm. Yumi wasn't due for a while and no one was supposed to be here.
If Ulrich lost concentration over his control of William…
But Ulrich was a Dominant, still high on his power trip over his submissive. He closed his eyes, felt William's breath on his cock, the shallow breaths William was taking just to stay alive.
Being interrupted during his scene with William had always been the plan… but it was Odd. The problem with Odd was that Ulrich had no idea how his friend would react to finding out Ulrich's relationship in this manner.
This was supposed to be for Yumi's eyes only but now… what happens now?
"It's exactly what it looks like," Ulrich said, leaning heavily against the tree. He began fucking in and out of William's mouth slowly.
"I admit, this wasn't meant for your eyes," he added.
He peeked over at Odd but found his friend's expression unreadable. Odd was, well, being oddly serious; it was out of character, and it worried him.
Eventually he had William such his cock (because his submissive had a magic tongue that could do things to Ulrich that no one had even been able to do). God he loved William's tongue...
"Should I be surprised?" Odd said.
Ulrich looked over at Odd.
"Yes, I suppose so," he responded succinctly.
What kind of conversation was this?
"I may not understand what this is, but the Ulrich I know would never take advantage of another person." Odd's voice took on a serious tone. "What you chose to do with William isn't my business. I'm not laughing—I may make jokes, but I will always support you."
Just as Odd was about to turn away, he paused. "Don't feel you need to hide your relationship with William if you are afraid of what people might think. I just… I won't tell anyone, but don't feel pressured to hide because you are afraid, okay?"
Ulrich had underestimated Odd; he thought Odd would never understand, was too immature. His friend began to walk away.
"I may joke around a lot," Odd called back from a distance, "and there are many things I don't understand, but I would never laugh at my friends if I thought it would hurt them. Trust me a little, okay?
"Don't worry," Odd added. "I won't tell anyone what I've seen here! In fact, I'm pretty sure I never passed by this forest today."
Ulrich knew he'd be buying Odd lunch for a month after this.
It wasn't just that he wanted to keep his Dominant side a secret, he had been afraid to tell his friends, had been so sure none of them would understand. Yet, Jeremie knew, and Odd found out, and neither called him names or thought it was truly disgusting.
Jeremie may not fully understand his relationship with William, but Jeremie never stopped trusting Ulrich. Never.
Perhaps there was hope Yumi would understand.
Ulrich sensed William was reaching his limits; their scene had been more intense then Ulrich had planned and keeping him under control like this was dangerous. It seems nothing ever goes quite according to plan. Life isn't that accommodating.
Yumi would arrive any minute and Ulrich needed to bring William back; because mind-control or not, William's body would instinctively remember what happened and the last thing Ulrich wanted was for William to come back in the middle of a nasty sub-drop.
It'd happened before, when they first began practicing with mind-control and memory wipes and fuck all if Ulrich would let it happen today, of all times. It hadn't been pretty then, and William had been out of sorts for almost a day or two afterwards.
Ulrich had planned on Yumi catching them out. A direct method; to show her his secrets. And yet, maybe this was for the better. He only hoped Yumi would understand his intentions.