~Chapter 8: Another Promise~
~Kaku's POV~
Kaku sat down when prompted by Lucci. He didn't want to anger him, especially when Kaku wasn't feeling very emotionally stable. Finally he relaxed slightly when Lucci showed no sign of getting angry or even slightly upset.
Lucci stepped forwards and put a glass on the table in front of him.
"Drink." Lucci demanded.
Kaku didn't dare disobey, but lifted the glass to his lips and gulped down its contents. Kaku let out a cry and began to cough. The drink burned his throat and he realized that it was alcohol. It was obviously something that was meant to be mixed with another drink, not shot back straight.
Lucci chuckled. "What? Your first taste of alcohol?" he asked.
Kaku could do little more than cough and nod as an answer.
Lucci laughed again and Kaku shivered. Was he drunk? His speech had seemed less clear than usual and his laughter didn't seem as cold or harsh. Kaku glanced at Hattori who too had a glass. Kaku sighed, wondering why a pigeon could drink the alcohol, but he couldn't. Kaku turned his attention back to Lucci and finally mustered the courage to speak.
"You've been avoiding me." Kaku stated.
"That I have." Lucci said, drinking another glass.
Kaku remained composed even though he was surprised that he had gotten an answer out of Lucci that easily.
"Why?"
"Why do you think?"
Kaku sighed. That was more like Lucci, though he thought that if Lucci had of been sober, he would have glared at Kaku.
Finally Kaku couldn't take the sight of Lucci drinking anymore and he got to his feet.
"Um... Goodnight." he said walking towards the door.
Lucci hardly glanced at him, instead he reached for another bottle.
As Kaku walked out into the hallway, he wondered how many nights Lucci sat in his room with only Hattori for company and drank until he forgot the events of the day. Kaku had no idea. His room was on a seperate floor, so he rarely saw Lucci late at night.
A crash made Kaku pause, followed by a few frantic coos from Hattori. Kaku turned around wearily and put his hand on the door to Lucci's room. The sound of another crash made Kaku interested enough to step inside. The sight inside, caught Kaku off guard.
Lucci's usually impecible room had turned into a war zone. The couch and the coffee table had been carelessly flung to the side, and Hattori was circling overhead, his flight unsteady. He was evidently drunk, so Kaku held out his hands and grabbed him, trying to comfort the stressed pigeon.
"Coo... cooo." Hattori finally calmed down and settled onto a bookcase close by.
Kaku barely had time to move out of the way as an identical bookcase flew towards him.
"Woah!" Kaku gasped.
"Kaku?" Lucci asked, stepping forwards. He had removed his shirt, and his sides were heaving as if he had just been in a fight. It was evident that he, like Hattori, was drunk. His eyes were blood-shot and he was shaking slightly, his hands unsteady. "Is something wrong? What happened?" Kaku asked. He cast his gaze around the room and let it fall on the group of four empty bottles on the floor, two of which were shattered. "How much did you have to drink?"
Lucci shrugged. "Does it matter?" he demanded, his voice harsh and slurred.
"Yes it does matter! Why are you wrecking your room?"
"I already said it doesn't matter!"
"But why?"
Lucci turned away from him, shoving his hands roughly into his black wavy hair, tearing at it in frustration.
"Why? Why what? Why do you even need to ask? You know why!"
Kaku blinked in surprise. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
Lucci cast his arms out, waving them at the furniture. "What do you see here?"
"A room..." Kaku said, fear rising inside of him. Was Lucci going crazy?
"No! NO!" Lucci snarled, throwing a chair at the wall, causing it to burst into splinters. Kaku whinced as wood slashed his cheeks.
"Lucci, please..."
Lucci turned back to face him, and Kaku saw that his arms had also gotten some damage from the chair. Hie eyes were glazed over with a look of rage that would make a lion run away with its tail between its legs.
"No, Kaku. This is not a room! Get that into your head now!" he turned away again and yanked on his hair in distress again. "It's a cell! A proson cell! A false sense of home! Why can't you see?"
Kaku blinked in recognition. Relief washed over him as he realized that Lucci was indeed as sane as he had been weeks ago (if you could call Rob Lucci sane). "I understand what you're trying to say, but..."
Lucci wasn't listening, he was walking around the room, glaring at the walls and furniture that surrounded him.
"Coo coooo." Hattori muttered.
Kaku shivered slightly. Lucci's eyes had rested on the swords that hung on the wall. If he decided to send them flying across the room...
"So you can see? Good... good." Lucci sighed and sunk to the floor, his back to the wall and his head in his hands. "After all... you're the one who showed me."
Kaku frowned and hesitantly stepped towards Lucci. He sat down next to him, and held out his arms. Lucci grabbed Kaku and buried his face in his shirt. An image of himself clinging to Lucci in a similar manner when they were children came into Kaku's head. The thought that Lucci was in a way no more than a child in need of comfort caused Kaku to force himself to be calm, even though his eyes were stinging, threatening him with tears.
"Lucci, it's going to be okay." Kaku whispered, risking stroking Lucci's now tangled hair.
"No..." Lucci mumbled, his voice muffled by Kaku's shirt. "It won't be okay... Not until all of this ends."
"All of what?" Kaku asked.
"CP9."
"I thought you liked being in CP9." Kaku frowned.
"Yes, but only for the killing..."
Kaku stifled a shudder, instead busying his fingers with Lucci's complex tangles.
"That's all we are... The Governments weapons."
"That's not-"
"Don't!" Lucci snapped. "Don't give me that crap! You know it's true!"
Kaku sighed because he knew that Lucci was right.
"That's what they call us. The Governments most valuable weapons, expendable, replaceable..."
"I know..." Kaku sighed.
"Will you let them do it to you?" Lucci asked.
"Do what?"
"Let them turn you into me..."
"What do you mean?"
"Heartless. A killer... a murderer."
"I'm an assassin! I've already killed."
"Not that part. The heartless part." Lucci looked up into Kaku's eyes and Kaku had to stifle a cry of terror. For in Lucci's eyes were tears.
"Lucci..."
"It's too late for me. I could never enjoy life the way you do... never... not unless I kill."
"But Lucci..."
"Promise me!" A tear slid down Lucci's cheek, but he didn't seem to notice. "Promise me that you won't change!"
Another promise, on another tearful night. This one the result of hopelessness, the former from fear and pain. A promise of men compared to children, but both were just as important. Lucci had kept his promise, now it was Kaku's turn.
"I promise, Lucci. I won't change." Kaku said gently, finally fixing the last of the knots in Lucci's hair.
Lucci seemed to relax then, and for a moment, Kaku thought he would go to asleep there, on the floor, clinging to Kaku like a child. Then Lucci lifted a hand to his eye and wiped away a tear, staring at it in surprise. He looked up at Kaku and seemed to see the scratches for the first time.
"Kaku... how...?" Lucci began.
"It doesn't matter." Kaku said. He slowly coaxed Lucci onto his unsteady feet and walked him to his bed.
"Goodnight." Kaku whispered, preparing to leave. He stopped when he felt a hand grip his feebly.
"Stay..." Lucci pleaded. Kaku could feel his heart breaking, looking at Rob Lucci, the man who he had always viewed as indestructable, lying there, barely able to keep his eyes open. Kaku swallowed hard and nodded.
He slowly lowered himself onto the bed and tucked himself and Lucci in. Kaku turned away from Lucci, trying to avert his eyes from the others shirtless body. He let out a muffled grunt as Lucci threw his arm across Kaku possessively.
"Goodnight." he whispered. Lucci pressed his lips against Kaku's. This time, Lucci tasted and smelled of alcohol, but Kaku didn't care. All he wanted to do was comfort the other man. Finally Lucci pulled away and settled down behind Kaku. The shaking Kaku had noticed earlier had stopped.
Across the room, Hattori cooed at Kaku, and somehow it sounded like a thank you.
"Goodnight." Kaku whispered to the dark room, before slipping into a content slumber.
~Another chapter done! Poor Lucci... Please R&R! Thank you! ~FoxEmpress
