Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Digimon Adventure 02
Title: Price of a Cure: Chapter 2: Attempt
Pair: Ken x Daisuke/Daisuke x Ken
Word Count: chapter: 1,832||story: 3,637
Genre: Romance, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Written for Diversity Writing, section H, #22, fic that is T rated; Written for the One Pairing Boot Camp, prompt #30, rose
Notes: This takes place sometime after they have all their Digimentals.
Summary: When the only way to save Daisuke's life is to give him to the Kaiser, the Chosen have no choice. He'll keep him until he gets bored with him, so the Kaiser says. But how long will that be, and what will happen before then?
"Daisuke!" V-mon launched himself forward and nearly knocked Daisuke back onto the bed, wrapping his small arms around his partner in a surprisingly strong hug. "You're all better again!"
"Of course! Nothing can keep me down!" Daisuke hugged his partner back, looking at him and instead of the Kaiser who stood in the doorway. He kind of thought he knew the Kaiser's expression anyway: that smug tilt of his lips that sort of was supposed to be a smile.
Daisuke knew smiles. That wasn't one.
He ignored it for now, though. He would much rather be with V-mon.
Something dropped onto the bed and Daisuke looked to see his D-Terminal there. "Your friends wanted to know when you were well again. Send them a message." The Kaiser moved forward, lips turning downward. "But before you send it, I'll approve of it."
Of course. Daisuke couldn't even bring himself to be surprised. He rolled his eyes as he picked up the D-Terminal. "Did you want to check for spelling and grammar?"
"You could probably use the help, but no." The Kaiser stood staring down at him. "And don't take forever. I have important work to do."
Daisuke flipped his D-Terminal open and stared at it. He wasn't surprised to see that he had messages waiting, all of them from the other Chosen. Most of them wanted to know as soon as possible that the Kaiser hadn't done anything horrible to him. Takeru's was full of apologies for it happening in the first place.
Yeah, thanks a lot for saving my life, Daisuke grumbled to himself. He still wasn't sure exactly how he felt about it, but there wasn't much he could do, either. He didn't even know what he would've done if he'd had to make the choice.
No, that wasn't true. He knew. He would've done anything that he had to in order to save someone else's life. He would've begged Ken on bended knee – again – if that was what it took. So he wasn't going to be upset at Takeru for this. It wasn't that bad. At least not yet.
He quickly typed up a reply, reassuring everyone that he was fine and Ken hadn't done anything at all to him and he'd see them again as soon as he could. He also promised to work extra hard to be amazingly boring so that Ken would send him home as soon as possible.
From above him, he heard the Kaiser laugh. "And yet, you trying to be boring would be just that much more interesting."
Daisuke threw his head back to glare up. "You think I'm just going to do whatever you say so you'll let me go?"
"I think that you can't decide what I find interesting, so whatever you do is just going to amuse me even more." The Kaiser took the D-Terminal and read over the reply, still with that annoying twitch to his lips. "It's acceptable. You may send it."
"Thank you," Daisuke snarled the answer out, yanking the D-Terminal back and hitting send before he scrambled to his feet. "You can stop treating me like a pet any time now."
"But that's what you are, Daisuke. That's exactly what you are right now. Something I keep around for my personal amusement. Something that owes me his life and needs to repay that debt before I'll even think about turning you back into the wild." The Kaiser stared into Daisuke's eyes, smug satisfaction written over every single word he spoke. "And what do you think you can do about it?"
Daisuke's fists clenched. He'd tackled the Kaiser once before and he wasn't at all afraid of doing so again. He'd barely begun to shift his weight before the Kaiser's hand rested on his chest, holding him back.
"Behave, Motomiya." Again those lips twitched up higher and Daisuke could almost hear it coming before the Kaiser said it. "Or should I say Daisuke now?"
"How about you say 'good-bye'? That sounds pretty good to me," Daisuke grumped. He absolutely did not want the Kaiser calling him by his name. The whole thought sent shudders through him. "You know, what about my parents? They're going to get really worried if I'm not home. Especially if I'm not home for a few days. And Jun. You know her, my sister?" Of course he didn't. If he knew Jun, he wouldn't have done this. "She's got this thing, the only person allowed to really mess with me is her. So if you start doing it, she's going to get mad at you. You don't want Jun mad at you."
"If she has any arguments about what I do, then she can take it up with some of my friends," the Kaiser replied, the fingers of one hand moving. Images of some of the more powerful Digimon appeared floating in the air, each one with an Evil Ring or Spiral around them. "She might find something else to do with her time."
"That doesn't mean they're not going to look for me." Daisuke grasped at any straw that he could that would mean he could get out of here and go home.
Ken shrugged, the slightest motion of his shoulders. "Then I would suggest that you do something so that they don't. I am not letting you go this soon." His lips thinned now. "I also would suggest that you figure it out fast. Because the longer you are here, wouldn't you say the more they'll worry about you?"
Daisuke hated it when someone else was right. Especially when that someone else was the Digimon Kaiser.
All right, what can I tell them? The quickest way was a lie. Daisuke wasn't good at lying. He screwed up his face, trying to think of something really good, and caught sight of the way the Kaiser watched him, that smug little smirk on his face once again. He's enjoying this!
Of course he was, realization crashed in on him a heartbeat later. Everything Daisuke was doing just entertained the Kaiser that much more. He'd never wanted to swear so much in his life. But what else could he do? He didn't want to worry his parents or Jun that much. For a little while he didn't care, and they likely wouldn't worry too much if he were gone for a night or two, as long as he had a good excuse. But for Ken to let him go that soon? Not going to happen. He was probably looking at least at a week here. Maybe more.
The thought of spending more than a week around the Kaiser, subject to whatever whims his enemy wanted to try out on him, sent swirls of icy fear all through him.
Hey, hold on. I don't have to stay here. Just because he said I had to doesn't mean I have to. I can escape! The idea took quick and solid root. He didn't let himself think about it too much. Instead, he surged upward, throwing himself at the Kaiser with all of his strength.
He thought he even caught the other off-guard, since the Kaiser fell backwards. Daisuke didn't wait to ask on if he had, but headed out the door as fast as he could get his legs to move. He knew what he'd been told; that he wasn't back at full strength, but he didn't care, either. The sooner he got out of here, he sooner he could recover in his own bed. Maybe he could even persuade Hikari-chan to bring him some miso soup.
Outside of the bedroom – he still didn't know if that was the Kaiser's or not – the corridors were long, gray metal and completely empty. That sent enough of a chill down his spine, but he ignored it. V-mon's clawed feet tapped on the floor behind him. He couldn't hear anything else, not like the Kaiser's boots.
That bothered him so much more than he wanted to think about. Thinking wasn't really what he wanted to do at the moment anyway. He just wanted to get out of there.
All right. I need a door to the outside. Or a computer. If I can find a computer and it has a Digital Gate on it, then I can get out of here.
That was all the planning that he wanted to do for the moment. It would do until he found the way out.
"Daisuke!" V-mon panted. "Where are we going?"
"Home!" Daisuke replied without a thought. "You think I'm going to stay here just because he says I should?"
V-mon didn't answer. Daisuke wasn't expecting one. Instead, he whipped around a corner, saw a Monochromon standing there staring at him with glowing scarlet eyes, and backed up, patting himself down for his D-3. Where is it? Where is it?
"Looking for this?"
Oh, no.
Daisuke froze at the voice from behind and slowly, ever so slowly, turned to look. There stood the Kaiser, tossing Daisuke's D-3 in his hands.
"That's mine!"
"For the moment, so are you. Which means no trying to run away." The Kaiser stepped forward, his footsteps echoing from the walls. "I have several ways I can keep you here, Daisuke. Would you like to be fitted with a collar and leash? I'm certain it would look magnificent on you, especially in my colors." Another step, another threatening echo. "Or we could find out if my Rings and Spirals work on humans. I have been curious. Wouldn't you like to test it out for me?"
"No and no!" Daisuke wanted to back up but he had two options, the Monochromon and the wall and neither one was all that appealing. His eyes darted this way and that, trying to figure out a way to go. He couldn't stay here. He just couldn't. He'd go crazy trying to entertain the Kaiser for more than five minutes.
The Kaiser's hand slammed into the wall next to Daisuke, pinning him in place. "You. Belong. To. Me." That smile spoke of nothing but raw, pure insanity and Daisuke reacted the way anyone would. He slammed one knee up into Ken and took off down the hall again, going back the way he'd come, V-mon fast on his heels. Maybe if he went the other way…
This time it was a Tyrannomon that blocked the way. Daisuke fell back a step, realizing unwillingly that he really only had one place to go right now: right back into the bedroom he'd come out of.
Yeah, not gonna happen. He measured the distance between the Tyrannomon and the floor. Was it enough so he could get through it? Maybe. Was he going to try? Absolutely. Would he probably get eaten if he failed? Almost certainly.
Oh, well. What was life without some kind of risk to it anyway? Better eaten than the Kaiser's prisoner any day of the week.
He started to run. He didn't get nearly as far as he hoped he would.
To Be Continued