The Chiss slid out of bed, glaring at the beeping chrono on the nightstand. He reached over and flipped the alarm off and ran his fingers through his short cropped hair before standing to get dressed. Behind him the sheets rustled and a still sleepy feminine voice caused him to turn his head.
"Cael... do you really have to be up at such a ridiculous hour?"
He chuckled, seeing the pout on her face as he turned back around while straightening his shirt. "Sorry, Desha, duty calls. I don't get paid to sleep."
She frowned, "I'm still not convinced you actually ever do. Why can't they just let you have some time off? Maybe you should find a new job."
His crimson eyes darkened briefly, and he shook his head. "Not an option. There's no vacations or retirement in Intelligence."
"Why not? Would it really be that horrible for you to have a few days to relax? It's bad enough I have to worry about you doing whatever it is you're off to do out there." She stood, pulling a loose robe around her slender frame, and walked over to put a hand on his shoulder.
A warm smile flickered across his face at the gentle touch. He sighed and fastened the last of his weapons in place before looking over at her.
"I'm sorry, sometimes I'm afraid you already know too much about what I do as it is. As for time off, it just doesn't work that way with Intelligence." He turned to face her, reaching up to ruffle her sleep tousled dark hair. "Guess we just have to enjoy the moments we do get," he offered with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
"Is that so?" She grinned as she leaned in and kissed him. "I guess you're right, I just wish they weren't so far apart." Desha stepped back and smoothed the collar of his jacket. "Be careful, will you?"
He nodded, "I'm always careful." The thoughts that came to his mind caused him to frown and turn away from her. "That goes for you too, Desha."
She tilted her head, regarding him closely, "Why? What's wrong Cael? You've been strangely tense lately."
Caelrath lowered his head, and shrugged, "Just the nature of the job I suppose. Maybe that's why they discourage relationships so much."
She frowned, "Wait... are you trying to say you regret being married? Is that it?"
His jaw tightened but he remained silent a long moment. He glanced up at her, seeing the flare of emotion burning in her deep green eyes. For once, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
Desha stormed over to him, forcing him to meet her furious gaze. "Answer me Cael. Are you starting to think this was just some mistake?"
He took a step back with a heavy sigh. Remembering only at the last second that he was armed, he shifted to lean against the arm of the sofa instead of sinking on to the cushion itself. "Damnit Deshara, don't start twisting things. I never said that."
His rare use of her full name made her pause, but then she shook her head, "No, you didn't but I'm beginning to get the idea you're sure as hell thinking it."
Caelrath took a deep breath and held out one hand to her. She remained stubbornly in place for several moments as she studied him. Finally she relented and stepped forward, taking his hand. He carefully pulled her to him and into his arms, avoiding the many deadly things secreted about his person.
"Desha, for you, yes, it probably was a mistake. You deserve better. As for me, the only regret I've ever had is that I can't spend as much time as I want with you. But I do worry that I might somehow be putting you at risk just because of our relationship. My job is a dangerous one, and frequently unforgiving. So please, just be careful too?"
Desha nodded, leaning her head against his chest. "I will be." She sighed softly and looked up to meet his ruby gaze. "I guess you need to get going, hm?"
He leaned in and kissed her softly before nodding, "I do, already late but they'll have to deal with it."
"Hope to see you soon, stay safe." She stepped back, reluctantly letting him go.
He paused long enough to gently squeeze her hand and flashed her one of his roguish smiles. "I'll be back before you can miss me."
Four months later
Caelrath's head snapped back against the wall as a hard fist slammed into his cheek again, nearly cracking bone. He forced his body to go limp, feigning unconsciousness. His assailant grunted displeasure and walked away. Voices drifted to him, muffled by the haze of pain in his mind and the ringing in his ears from the beating.
"This isn't getting us anywhere. I thought you said you had a solution for stubborn agents." One male voice growled, low and gravely.
"I do, but its untested, and I was hoping we could avoid it. However, his training appears too deeply ingrained." Another male voice responded, with strained calm.
"Then use it. If he won't cooperate willingly, we force the issue." the first man spoke again.
The sound of footsteps drew near, and Caelrath felt a sharp jab as something was injected into his upper arm. The second man's voice came to him, clearer now that he was closer.
"I know you're awake agent. The serum I just injected into you will be taking hold of your mind very soon. You will do as you're told, and will not be able to act against us."
Caelrath growled, lifting his head to lock the man with his crimson glare. But even as he started to form a retort, he felt his body go rigid. Felt himself shoved out of his own mind, conscious and aware, but no longer in control of anything.
The man laughed and nodded, seemingly satisfied. "Get him cleaned up and ready for the first test, if that works, then the serum is solid, and we can go ahead with the plan."
An hour later, Caelrath stood, still furiously raging inside his own mind, as his captors outlined the orders.
"We captured an imperial transport, these prisoners might be innocent, they might not but they are imperial. You will kill them, however you wish. I'll give you 30 seconds to comply. If you resist, or show any signs of breaking free of the serum's hold, then Garok there will do things his way while you watch, and then we will kill you. Understood?"
Caelrath's eyes slid over the hulking brute as he was named, and could only nod understanding in response to what he'd been told. Inside his mind he was seething, desperately searching for a way to regain control. When the 'prisoners' were brought into the room in front of him, he felt his heart stop.
There were three women, one of whom was Deshara. Her cheek was stained by a dark bruise and her usually bright green eyes were dark with fear. Caelrath glanced over hearing Garok's lewd chuckle, and knew all too well that the brute hoped he would resist or fail in some way. Looking again at the women, and especially at his own wife, the thought of anything like that happening to her caused the already raging fires of his fury and hatred to reach a purely murderous pitch.
Yet, no matter how hard he struggled against the cage his mind had become, he couldn't free himself. He felt himself nod, as he walked forward. He knew without a doubt that his only option in this was to end it as quickly and painlessly for the women as possible, even though he knew what it would do to him personally.
His knife struck quick and true as the first two women died, and he felt his own heart dying inside him as he looked into his wife's eyes, seeing the fear and question in them, hearing her pleading as she stepped back from him. He took hold of her, his fingers brushing her hair as he pulled her closer. He wanted desperately to tell her something, anything that would help her understand, but he couldn't say a word.
Oh Desha, forgive me. I'm sorry. His silent words echoed through his mind as he fought furiously against the strange bonds that held him as surely as any durasteel bars would have held a caged beast.
Caelrath felt her blood on his hands as he ended her life, as his own world went dark. He felt something snap deep inside himself, or die, he wasn't certain which, but he did know one thing. If ever he got free of this damned serum's control, there would be a lot more blood spilled and the blood debt would never be paid.
He turned back, compelled again to obey these people, but the fury and rage seethed and he vowed he would break loose, somehow, some day.
Two months later
The doctor cowered behind a desk, chest aching from having run so hard. He was a man used to comfortable living, not heavy physical exertion. He struggled to keep his breathing quiet as he heard the measured, strangely calm footsteps entering the room.
"Doctor, or whatever you call yourself, do you really wish to continue this chase?"
The eerily modulated tone of the Chiss' voice made the man's skin crawl. He'd seen what the agent had done to the others, and could only imagine the slow agony they'd suffered before the blissful arms of death had embraced them. He swallowed hard, knowing he was next.
"Wh... why are you doing this?" he called out, though he already guessed the answer.
Caelrath stalked farther into the room, his movements slow, and deliberate, much like a hunting panther. His ruby eyes burned with an intense fury that seemed almost at odds with his otherwise calm, almost cold demeanor.
"You know perfectly well why. You knew my wife was on that transport, that's why it was attacked, and why she was brought in to be part of your... test." He spat the last word with a growl.
"I didn't know!" The doctor shrieked. "I had no idea who those people were."
"Your people did, whether you personally did or not is irrelevant." Caelrath's vibroknife gleamed in the light as he unsheathed it, skillfully twirling it in his hand before hurling it.
The blade sank deep, piercing through the thin plasteel desk the doctor hid behind. The sound and sudden appearance of a razor sharp length of steel near his face caused him to yelp and scramble backward. When he looked up, he found the Chiss crouched, perching on the top of the desk, another blade in his hand. His face held no expression, but his eyes, the doctor swallowed hard as he could literally feel the heat of the Chiss' rage in his eyes.
"I was given the... choice... of killing my wife myself or letting your filthy gundark of a thug do... whatever he wanted to. Not much of a choice even without the serum's control over me. Did you really think that control would last?"
The doctor struggled to scoot back further, but found himself against a wall. "I... I told them it hadn't been fully tested. I hoped it would last long enough..."
With the speed and grace of a striking viper Caelrath was off the top of the desk, and delivered a vicious kick to the doctor's head sending him sprawling.
"Long enough? For what? For me to forget what you forced me to do?" He snarled.
He reached down and hauled the man up by the front of his shirt, "Come on Doctor, I have a few lessons for you."
Caelrath stood, glaring at the medical droid. He had always disliked the synthetic things.
"Sir, we've prolonged his life for several days now, but the amount of trauma to his body is beginning to take its toll, and I can't guarantee how much longer he will survive."
Caelrath sighed, "Fine. You can go, I'll finish him off."
The droid nodded and left the room. Caelrath crossed the room to the far side where the doctor lay sprawled out on a cold durasteel table. Various tubes and wires dangled from the ceiling in an attempt to prolong his suffering for as long as possible. The doctor's eyes would have widened, if his eyelids had remained intact, as he saw the Chiss approach. He whimpered, a strangled, gurgling sound as his tongue had been removed.
"The droid tells me you won't last much longer. So before you go, I want to thank you for one thing."
The one eyebrow left on his face rose as the doctor took a ragged gasping breath.
Caelrath smiled coldly and leaned in closer, his voice icy. "Thanks to you and your people, I can guarantee I will never care about any one, or any thing ever again. You opened the door for me to truly be the dangerous, sadistic bastard I've so often been accused of being. You see, when you forced me to kill Deshara, you were dooming yourselves in more ways than one, but were too stupid to realize it. She was my conscience, she was the one thing in this galaxy that kept me sane. Without her... well, let's just say the galaxy just got a whole lot darker."
Slowly, he reached over and sank the blade into the doctor's chest, causing more strangled cries of pain as he sliced through the skin and flesh and then slipped one hand through the gaping wound to grasp the doctor's heart, and yanked it free of the body. With a grim nod of satisfaction, he shoved the still beating organ into the doctor's mouth as he gasped in shock and pain.
Turning, Caelrath wiped his knife and his hand on a cloth, and sheathed his weapon before tossing the cloth over his shoulder to land on the corpse.
"Clean this mess up." He snapped at the droids as he walked calmly out of the room. "I've got work to get back to."