Dark whimpered.
A sound so not Dark, a sound he only heard from the kaitou when he was making love to him it nearly cut into his heart. The sound came again, accompanied by trembling. Dark was dreaming and it didn't seem to be a nice one, so Krad reached over, carefully touching the other man. Dark's skin was sweaty and cool, and he could feel the tremors running over the slim body. Dark moaned and jerked, breath coming in ragged pants now, and it worried Krad a lot. Usually Dark wasn't the one to have nightmares.
He had never really had one before. Dreams, yes. Agitated dreams. Dreams that had him move. But never cry or whimper or moan.
"Dark," he whispered, touching his lover again and trying to rouse him, pull him out of whatever hell his subconscious was putting him into. No reaction at first, and he tried harder.
"Dark... wake up, koi."
Violet eyes flew open as Dark looked around frantically, still caught in his nightmare, before they settled on Krad.
Magic sizzled.
Damn.
Krad grabbed his lover's wrist, pressing it down onto the mattress in one swift move, breaking off the energy charge effectively.
"Stop it, damnit. It's me."
Dark blinked several times.
"Krad?" he whispered, and Krad's heart clenched at the small and lost tone in his lover's voice.
"Yes, koi. It's me. You're home, safe and sound."
"Krad..."
Now it sounded not only small and lost but also broken.
"Shhh... I'm here..."
Krad leaned over, wrapping his arms around the stiff form of his lover, worming himself through his defenses until he felt the slender body relax against his.
It was like a wall had been torn down and it probably had. The wall that had been around Dark's memories and emotions had crumbled and the flood was pouring in. And out. Hot tears ran down the pale cheeks and Dark gave a choked sob, clinging to Krad like he was his only real anchor. The words that came were barely understandable, but still... Krad heard them.
"You... it hurt and... I was alone. I couldn't feel you or Dai, and she... she... she was there... and she... she did..."
"Shh. I know what she did," Krad tried to soothe his lover.
"No, you don't," Dark almost yelled, pulling back abruptly.
His eyes were dilated from his distress, his breath coming in harsh pants, and his skin was pale. The black hair hung limply around the narrow face, only enhancing the pallor.
"I tried to talk to her but she wouldn't listen! She broke my wrist and she tied my arms back after that, and then she... she started to work on my wings."
A shudder ran through the kaitou, mentally echoed by Krad. He knew how sensitive their wings were, Dark's more than Krad's. For centuries he had relied on Whizz to supply him with the power to fly, not wanting to strain his hosts. Each materialization of the wings meant that the host was to supply the necessary energy. Krad had never had any scruples about using Satoshi, and he knew it had been extremely painful on the child's body. Now... now that they cooperated, now that Satoshi was so much stronger, the pain was no longer there.
"When I refused to scream she strangled me," Dark whispered, hands balled into fists, nails digging into the soft skin of his palms. "But she didn't allow me to fall unconscious, brought me back every time. She knew how to make me scream, Krad, every single way. And she knew about us. About Satoshi and Daisuke, about you... about the connection we have... about... our emotions. She even... even ... it hurt so much, Krad... and I couldn't feel you, I was alone... alone..."
When the tremors started this time, Krad just closed his arms tighter around his lover. He understood. Unfortunately he understood. And he listened as Dark interrupted by heavy sobs every now and then, making him unable to speakblurted out every gory detail of what that bitch had done to him. That creature had wanted his pain and gods, if she hadn't known how to get it, make this gentle soul scream until his vocal cords would have given out.
Holding his lover, Krad grew more and more pale, feeling the fury grow inside him and regretting that this beast was already deadhe would have been happy to rip out her black heart with his bare hands.
There was a little sound at the bedroom door, and Krad looked up, seeing a pair of very worried blue eyes regarding him, a question clearly written in then, and he shook his head.
Not now, Satoshi. He'll be fine, but not now.
His host nodded once and silently closed the door from the outside. They weren't telepathic and direct communication only worked when he was inside his Tamer, bur they still understood each other. He thanked the powers for that.
With infinite care, Krad materialized his wings and wrapped them around the mentally as well as physically exhausted man in his arms. Dark made a hiccupping sound, still clinging to him, and Krad emitted a soft, gentle aura. It cocooned them, surrounded Dark with all the safety and protection Krad could giveand it was a lot.
"You're safe," he whispered. "I've got you. She won't be back."
It took a long time for Dark to really fall asleep. He dozed off, but was easily woken by the simplest movement. When he finally surrendered to the need for rest, Krad just leaned back against the headboard with his precious charge in his arms. He felt so infinitely tired himself, but he knew his was only the beginning.
Dark had started to deal what had happened to himand from his own past he knew it would take time. Time and friends and the help of Daisuke. Krad hadn't had any help at the time he had gone through this abuse, but he had survived. Jaded beyond recognition, but he had survived. He wouldn't let Dark go through the same if he could help it.
Never.
° ° °
Dark had slept for a long time and Krad hadn't left him alone for a moment, though his own body was by now demanding rest and a possible recharge. But he couldn't let his other half wake up to an empty bed. The uneasy sleep and the two nightmares from which he had never truly woken had shown Krad just how upset Dark's mind still was.
What didn't surprise him either was the fact that somewhere in the morning hours, just around sunrise, Satoshi quietly slipped into the bedroom. The blue eyes sent a question and Krad answered it just as silently. He needed Satoshi but he couldn't let Dark alone just yet.
Satoshi walked over to him and looked at Dark, a worry line appearing on his forehead.
"It won't be easy," Krad said softly.
"That bad?"
A nod and Krad caressed the black head. "That bad and worse."
"Does Dai know?"
"I doubt it. Dark has bottled it up. He told me last night... Sato, he needs us all. As friends. As support."
"He has us as friends and he has the support. You know he can count on all of us."
"Yes," was the soft answer. "Thank you."
Satoshi reached out and ran gentle fingers through Krad's hair, and the demon rested his head against his host's hip. A sigh escaped his lips.
"You'll have to rest," Hikari murmured, never stopping his caress. "And Dark has to recharge as well."
"When he wakes," Krad answered.
"Okay."
For a while they stayed together, then Satoshi gave him a little smile and left. Krad continued his silent vigil over his lover.
° ° °
"You killed her," Dark murmured.
Krad met the violet gaze calmly. "Yes. There was no other way."
"You killed her... Why?"
"She took you away from me, she hurt you, and badly," Krad answered.
"But... why kill her?" Dark insisted. "She was already defeated, you could have sealed her."
"Sealed her in what? She has destroyed every portal she has used in the past. I could only have condemned her to a life of eternal imprisonment, eternal chains. And sooner or later she would have broken free, she was that strong. Would you want to have her unleashed then, starving and furious?"
Dark was silent for a moment, then murmured, "I saw it. I saw how you killed her."
Krad inhaled deeply. So that's where his was all coming from.
"I don't know what you saw, but yes, I set her free. She didn't ask to be born; she didn't ask to live a life like that."
Violet eyes showed a myriad of emotions. "Neither did we. Would you have wanted somebody to 'set you free'?"
Krad's voice was serious... even... so very clear. "In the pastyes, sometimes. Dark, you know what I am. Like you I have been trained, like you I can't change what I am."
"She would have continued," Dark whispered.
A nod. "She was a slave of her instincts. She no longer possessed a soul. Hers was a mismatched conglomeration of different souls, all dead, all patched together because of a stupid artist. If I hadn't terminated her existence, she would have come after us again and again."
Dark gazed out into the distance and sighed softly. He had woken in the late afternoon, with Krad at his side. They had gone out onto the roof, sitting in the sun, looking out over the city. Their hosts were at home, Daisuke taking it easy by Satoshi's insistence, an Satoshi was working from his home office.
"I understand that, Krad, but it's hard to hear... to see... to know. She was a piece of art, like us. She lived once."
"And she died a long time before we ever met her."
The kaitou closed his eyes and suddenly let himself sink against his lover. "I'm sorry it had to be you, that you had to kill her."
Krad wrapped an arm around him, stroking him gently. "Don't be."
Dark relaxed against the familiar form, memories still haunting him. Not of Hel's death but of his pain, his helplessness, and her cruelty. He wasn't human, but his soul shared a human souland it suffered. He had nightmares, thankfully none too bad, and he had moments when he would jump at his own shadow. Daisuke was there for him; always there for him. His host, while injured, still protected the kaitou, wrapped himself around the recovering presence, soothing and stabilizing him. Krad gave him the necessary strength to face his fears, to understand and comprehend, and to put it all behind him.
Dark raised his head from where he had rested it against Krad's chest, and touched his lover's lips with his own. Krad answered the tentative kiss and Dark deepened it, wanting and needing more. Strong arms held him flush against the slender blond as Krad followed his lead, his hands stroking over the lithe form in his arms.
"Thank you for everything," he whispered. "Thank you so much."
Krad just held him.
tbc...
