Botched

"Thank you…bye…" Mila ended her call and looked up. "That was Mari. She said she had felt it on the plane…but it's odd."

"What is?" Phichit asked.

"She…didn't seem all that upset." Mila looked to the grandfather clock in the office where they had all remained to brainstorm and visit with the exception for one or two business meetings - one could imagine those didn't go very smoothly- Victor couldn't miss. "She said she's not in Japan yet…must've been a delay at the connecting flight too, she's late."

"Can't help that." Georgi figured as he shrugged. "That said, maybe after hours of not being able to do anything, the initial shock left her system?"

Mila turned towards the group. "Y-Yeah…I guess but-"

Dressed entirely in black and blue, matching the group who had donned similar colors and had prepared to move out at soon as possible, Victor stood up from his desk. "Where is he?"

Mila straightened up as she put her cell into one of her pockets of black utility belt. "Your assumptions were correct, Victor. The Doctor has him and, frustratingly, right under our nose."

"Gr~aaargh~!"

"D-Doctor, I don't know how long these straps will last!"

"Ah ha! There they are, little beauties!" The hoarse voice declared in delight. "Quick sedation! I don't care what combinations you use!"

Feral golden eyes rolled back as a few needles were slammed into his shoulders.

Bam! A door was kicked in.

Not there.

Bam!

Not there either.

Mila and Georgi took East and West, Yurio and Otabek took North and South, meanwhile Victor, Chris and Phichit headed down to comb through the expansive basement.

"Any Gods, could this be more cliché?"

"Stuff it, Phichit!" Christophe barked as he kicked another hallway door down that just-so-happened to be locked. "You get to kick ass so quit yar bitchin'."

It was still not easy as each member fought to take down one thug after another which swarmed the Stem-Cell Therapy Research clinic that night.

However, to get in, fight, and get him out was the only plan they had.

Phichit pulled off a black knit mask. "They're human!"

Chris knocked out two at once. "No shit, I feel I'm kicking sandbags! Probably had paid these loons off!" He turned around. "Oi, Victor! Go on ahead! Leave this mess to us!"

Phichit disarmed another and punched him in the face. "Yeah! It's not like we have cameras to deal with-" he ducked, spun around close to the floor, shot up and slammed another against a wall of the hallway with his shoulder, "-they'd be recording these guys as trespassers too!"

After one last punch, the silver pakhan gave a nod and ran for all he was worth, listening for anything, looking for any light or indication of movement within the rooms.

Bam!

Not there either.

"North clear!" Yurio reported via radio.

"South clear," Otabek reported.

Mila and Georgi did the same.

'He's got to be here!' Victor rushed. 'Hang on Yuri!'

Drip…drip…dr-

"Doctor Feltsman! Intruders!"

The referred individual, however, remained calm, collected, and proceeded his work professionally. "Mr. Takeshi Nishigori? Answer please."

The doctor's guard picked up the radio with his left, thick, hand as he continued to hand tools over with his right. "Keep 'em at bay, end them if you must!" He shouted into the receiver.

"Roger! Over!"

Old eyes continued to keep steady alongside a steady hand, unconcerned. "Never fear, I'll soon have what I want..."

Takeshi lowered the radio onto a table and stepped forward. "Efficient as always, sir."

"Yes, well, we will have to thank this young one when he wakes up."

Bam!

"Y-Yuri!" Victor cried.

Yakov held up his hand to stop Nishigori in his place. "Leave him be. I want him to admire my work," he ordered firmly as he continued, unphased.

Victor rushed over to Yuri's side as he pressed the radio button. "Phichit. Chris. Found Yuri," he shouted into his receiver. "Basement. Room 3-B437!" He clicked it off before he moved to hold the sides of Yuri's head and inspect his face. 'He's clammy…and flushed with a fever…'

"What have you done?" Nikiforov barked.

Yakov continued to tinker at his table with his back turned. "I wish to live, what else?"

"It was one thing to ruin my property and be a competitor, you've truly become a monster! You had your millennia!" The silver boss spat.

"Don't accuse me of such material damages." Dr. Feltsman continued to mix, still unphased and cool as ever. "I have no idea what you're on about."

"Oh?! Then enlighten me, bastard!"

The old man shrugged. "If you insist, it grew hard. First, it hard to walk, then hard to hunt, and then any sexual discourse went drier than a desert so loneliness was only but assured." Yakov paused only to gesture to himself. "Heh, I mean look at me." He kept tinkering. "Left and right I was just falling apart," he sighed as he held up the funnel, watching the contents dispense. "Eventually, those of my kind turned away, leaving me out of the loop of where they lived so I couldn't visit. Nobody wanted me around, who was a reminder we don't live as long as we thought. Ignorance was bliss apparently." He started to chuckle at the irony. "At least humans show their seniors consideration."

Victor held Yuri's hand as he half listened, looking between the two. 'Please…please, Yuri…'

"I grew frustrated," Yakov continued. "Angry and- are you going to stop staring holes into the back of my head now?' Dr. Feltsman turned around. "Young ones like you should be paying their respects."

"I don't care. Your nothing but a fraud," Nikiforov sneered. "A mad croon. How dare you do this to one of our own?"

"Hmph. One?" Yakov returned to his work. "Progress is never made after one try."

Blue eyes blinked as horror soon fell across his elegant features while the pieces, the stories of hunters, fell into place, and blanched at how much power Feltsman must've had.

'Or could have…they didn't leave you out, they had to leave you out!'

"H-How...dare you..." Victor choked out while squeezing Yuri's hand harder, the only thing keeping him from bolting over there and tearing the old man apart in vengeance for his kind. 'But I still have questions…I need to know…' His vengeance for Yuri screamed at him even louder.

"How did you even know he was one of us?"

Yakov paused and looked over his shoulder. "D'ros? Really?" He deadpanned.

'That can't be all of it…'

"And you." Victor looked at Takaeshi incredulously. "How is a Japanese like you fit into all of this?"

"Ohohoh, racist much, young one?" Dr. Feltsman chuckled before he set his collection of tubes into place on his rotary shaker. "Never mind him, he's no threat to you if you remain none to me."

Blue eyes narrowed. 'It's at least strange-'

"Yuri!"

Dull brown eyes blinked open, grabbing Victor's attention, but immediately tears started to fall.

Victor started to pet his love's hair "Yuri! It's okay, I've got you!"

'It hurts…I've never…' Yuri winced as tears rolled. 'It's unbearable...' He looked up into blue eyes. 'V-Vitya…it hurts!' But he couldn't utter a word.

The practitioner stepped to the side to reveal the device proceeding to shake the tubes in preparation of the formula. "Regenerative DNA…after centuries and rounding up enough subjects I was finally able to perfect my medicine with the right properties to extend my life pain free. This young one was offered to me as a final step."

'Offered?' Nikiforov thought.

Victor shivered when it finally dawned on him. Nothing else looked cut into, nothing else appeared bruised. Slowly, he parted Yuri's lips with two shaky fingers.

He clapped a hand over his mouth when he saw an upper retainer of gauze had been fixed to Yuri's upper teeth.

If looks could kill. Yakov would've been ashes.

To Yuri, what exactly was transpiring was but a blur, he felt increasingly numb upon that table as he felt each of his nerves continued to be seared one by one. He was spent, beyond starving, could barely move while the pain from the remaining nerve ends was growing at the same time. He opened his mouth to scream.

But all Yuri could manage was whimper and wince.

Victor looked back down, framed Yuri's face with his gloved hands to wipe those never ending tears with his thumbs before kissing Yuri's forehead and turning his silver head to the side, towards the madman once more. "You butchered him…" he growled.

"Sir, we should go," Nishigori reminded. "The other intruders…I'll send word to haul out once we've escaped."

Dr. Feltsman nodded and turned back around. "Right, right, of course."

"You're a thieving coward," Victor spat, rising back to stand tall.

Yakov started to pack away the dosages for later testing. "Hmph. He should be proud to be the few to not die immediately on the operating table. They say go in with an empty stomach before surgery," he mused darkly.

Victor pushed the bright light above Yuri away so hard it broke off its hinges and crashed onto the ground. "Arrogant bastard! You took his fangs!"

Yakov had put the tubes in a briefcase. "I don't see you coming to tear my head off. Has loving him turned you soft or…?"

Victor didn't move save for clenching his jaw tightly.

Feltsman's eyes widened to dramatize realization. "Ah, you're afraid you'll lose him the moment you come over." He shrugged. "Hmph. Goodbyes are such sweet sorrows."

'Bastard. I try to destroy the serum your buddy there would threaten to break Yuri's neck!'

Nikiforov dabbed Yuri's brow with his sleeve. "At least tell me who kidnapped him for you."

Yakov chuckled as he and his associate started to walk towards the exit, through another door, diagonal from where Victor had come in. "I prefer my connections alive my foolish grandson."

Victor bristled, his finer hairs could stand on end as his entire self shuddered with rage. "You. Are not. Family."

"It's a truth you can't avoid any longer, Vitya." Yakov stopped right in front of the door. "You can confirm with your mother at her grave if you like," he scoffed.

Victor frowned as his eyes remained ablaze. "Is that why?!" 'Why you sought Yuri?'

"A love for a love." Yakov pushed the door. "Dasvidaniya."

Cold and final, the door shut with a slam.

"V…V~ hic."

"Yuri!" Victor tore away from looking at the door and squeezed his love's shoulders when he saw the black head of hair droop and worked to yank off the straps. "Yuri…" He whispered kissed his damp forehead and held his trembling body close.

"Vitya, where are you?!"

"Chris! Over here!" Victor shouted.

"Sorry, boss! There were more thugs than we thought and we may need to break for it before the police might get here!"

"Yeah, sorry we didn't get here sooner!" Phichit added. "Mila and the others are rounding up outside, ready to run as soon as-!"

"I don't care!" Victor bellowed. "Destroy what you see! Yakov has crossed the line and stole from Yuri. We can't let his work be duplicated!"

The two froze when they heard the order, saw Yuri's ashen face, and immediately moved like machines, quickly and efficiently. Action now. Questions later.

Phichit and Christophe swept around the workbench to break, burn, rip everything and all research within the hidden lab.

Christophe threw open a pair of refrigerators doors and clapped a hand over his mouth. Top to bottom, blood samples, curating bacteria, and age-old fangs. Chris swallowed. "This is fucked up."

"See if there are any blood packets in one of those fridges!" Victor cried as he patted Yuri's black hair, by now his limp body was in his arms on the floor. He looked back down and caressed his clammy cheek. "Yuri…please…" Victor was nearly crying himself. "Please hang on…"

Phichit was a step ahead, already having checked, and scrambled over, sliding onto his knees. "H-Here!"

Yuri couldn't speak. By now, he couldn't even feel his legs while the heat felt it was boiling in his chest.

"W-What's happening to him?" Phichit frantically asked. "What did they do?"

Victor didn't answer. He reached in, pulled off the gauze inside Yuri's mouth, twitching to Yuri's yelp. He next tore the top off the packet with his teeth, poured some of the blood into his mouth, and brought it to Yuri's lips in a hurry.

Drip…drip…drip…

Victor tried again, thankful to hear Yuri trying to swallow, but a good portion was trickling over and down on either side of his face.

Chris knelt down with a grave expression. "I've never prayed before, but this…"

Phichit looked over his shoulder. "I found a bunch of notes before I shredded them. What did you find in that fridge, Chris?"

"From what I can tell?" The blonde ran a hand through his hair. "What we did won't matter as I'm sure that bastard has back up copies." Giacometti shook his head. "He took Yuri's fangs, didn't he, Victor."

The silver man gravely nodded.

Yuri reeled, turned his head and vomited.

Victor blanched as he lowered Yuri to the ground. "Blood is no longer food…"

"I-Is he...? I won't lose my friend like this…" But Phichit couldn't stop the tears either.

Yuri's whole self next convulsed into that of a great seizure on his side. Silent screams in which the surgeon was mute but his mouth was wide open while he held his head in agony.

"Yuri, no!" Victor rashly picked him back off the floor, not wanting to give up, and held that lithe body tightly, fully scared out of his mind.

From the briefest of moments Yuri's eyes were ever open, the others saw the once beautiful orbs were deteriorating, the whites already blackening, at the same time, spidery veins were popping out at alarming rate, framing his face.

"Victor!" Phichit cried. "Hollywood B movie this shite and fucking change him!" He demanded.

"What the fuck?!" Nikiforov snapped back, holding Yuri's head close to his chest.

Chris blinked, stupefied for a moment himself at such an absurd suggestion. "Fuck. What do we have to lose?"

Tears were already streaming from those frantic blue eyes. "B-But!"

Phichit yanked at Victor's hair. "Just do it! This whole thing is messed up anyway!" He pushed Victor's head close to Yuri's neck. "Do something or I'll try and never forgive you!"

"Fine!" Nikiforov shook the copper toned hand off his head and brought Yuri's neck to his lips.

Drip…drip…drip…

Victor pinched his eyes shut as he felt his fangs sink into the flesh. 'Any Gods, use my Eternity if you must. Mother Earth, hear one of your darkest creatures in need of pity…Mother…I am so sorry…'

Yuri's convulsions slowed the longer Victor held fast into his neck, but all those in the room could do was take it as an indicator he was running out of time.

"Okay…so~ Victor can suck all he wants," Chris hissed in reason to Phichit, "but to remove what he had just put in…?"

"What properties did Yakov find out is the question," Phichit replied. "I briefly saw some of his notes and so I wondered why would Yakov take fangs in the first place. A set from one far younger sure, but its not like any of us needed doctor visits or created a biology class for our kind so consider it a gamble at this point."

'More like a twisted research project, but something had to be done.' Christophe rationalized with a sigh. "I see…"

Victor pulled back, but his tears didn't stop. "His eyes are nearly coals! He's not! What do-?!"

Instinctually, robotically, seemingly what could've been a spirit taking over Yuri's left arm, the limb sprung to life only to whip up and latch around Nikiforov's neck.

Victor didn't have time to scream.

He wouldn't have enough time to forget either. To see his love's face at its worst, horrifyingly ghoulish in appearance for longest two seconds of his life. He would never forget.

Victor fell back onto his rear end, weakly propping himself up with one arm as dull teeth crept up, transforming slowly, into those sharper than razors which eventually pierced into the side of his neck.

Chris got up in a rush. "What if he takes too much?"

Phichit held his friend back. "Just wait! Get extra blood packets from Fridge marked 289-A over there, okay?"

"Where are you losers!? Yuri better be okay!" Yurio shouted into the radio suddenly.

Giacometti threw open the fridge door and dove for the closest packets. "Fuck off kid! Yuri just happens to be down for the count so we need time. Hold off the cops if there are any."

"We'd be needing to kill said cops if there were! We're too obvious out here!"

Chris shut the fridge door with his foot. "Then bloody go! We can't leave!"

"We ain't leavin' We'll come in-"

Chris halted. "Listen to me you little prick. Scram. You don't want to see this. All of you got that?"

…Static…white noise… "Fine. We will see home," Yurio muttered.

"Good. I'll explain later."

Christophe knelt down and handed a packet to Phichit. "Here. You fought well tonight."

"Thanks, but I'm too tense to eat."

Giacometti tapped his shoulder with the packet anyway. "Eat or Yuri will haunt you."

Phichit shook his head. "Not funny, but fi- Victor!

The silver boss gave a weak shake of a dismissive hand, more or less swiping back and forth along the hard floor, as he gave into lying completely back, allowing Yuri to take what he needed.

"Whelp," Chris took a seat on the floor. "Some have popcorn, others have blood."

"Y-You're an ass," Phichit chuckled lightly despite himself as he tore back the plastic.

The blonde shrugged. "Non-saints u~sually are."

"Facetiousness? Really?" Phichit took a sip.

"Oi. I just knocked fifty or so guys' lights out. I'm tired. Give me a break."

"Pfft. Liar."

To Victor, the two bantering could've been in a whole 'nother room as his hearing dimmed along with his senses. Yuri was feeding and he felt more and more lightheaded but held every urge to show he was in pain. 'Whatever helps…just come back…' He finalized, determined.

"Yuri…" Victor whispered. 'I love you…'

Just before deep blue eyes rolled back for loosing so much blood at once, crimson orbs wondering why were staring back.

Chris blinked and blinked again, almost dropping his quarter-emptied packet as he watched Yuri pull away enough to hover over Victor's exhausted body. 'Well I'll be…'

Thank you for reading!

I argued with myself to have Yakov return as a character or not, I could've said he's old so the young ones kicked his rear end, but…I got my reasons.

No Spoilers Please! 3