Chapter 27

"Yuri...can I ask a favor of you?"

It was a few days after the time Nicolae had coerced Geoffry into helping. Since then,
Geoffry had been wheeled into the simulation room with her everyday, and wheeled back out,
more dead than alive. Nicolae purposely ignored Geoffry's injuries, and ordered that he
be subject to more rigorous trials than the ones Aelis went through. Her heart broke
every time she saw her brother, and she would go cold with fear whenever she saw Nicolae.
It had been over a week now, and she was tired of everything.

Yuri looked up. They were playing yet another game of chess, and he could tell that she
was not focused. She had not captured a single piece, while all her pieces, minus maybe
four, were neatly lined up on his side. "What is it?" he asked.

"Yuri...how old are you?"

"Um..around 29..." he said slowly, wondering where this was going as he moved his
queen. "Check," he said.

Aelis made no effort to save her king. "Have you..have you ever slept with another woman?"

Yuri almost burst out laughing. "Who, me?" he chuckled, smiling at her. "Oh no, if it's
that you want, you'll want to talk to Will. I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you of all
his conquests!"

"No, it's not that..." she said quietly, swallowing. Finally, she said, "Yuri,
take it."

Yuri was about to checkmate her king. He stopped, and frowned. "What? Take what? Your
king?" he said, confused.

"No no...not that. Yuri, I want you...to take my virginity."

"WHAT?!" he nearly shouted, leaping to his feet. Staring at her, he said, "Aelis!
Have you gone INSANE?"

Unfortunately, it was clear that she had not. Looking at him with a steady gaze, she
said, "Yuri, please. Just take me. Take my virginity before Nicolae can. I'd rather
that you take it." Yuri tried interrupting, but she held up her hand. "No, listen to me.
We both know that Nicolae's not going to keep up his end of the bargain. Sooner or later,
he's going to come after me. He undresses me with his eyes everytime I see him, and I'm
tired of being frightened of him."

"But your friends!" Yuri said desperately, trying to talk her out of it. "I'm
sure your friends will save you before he gets to you!"

Aelis laughed softly. "Maybe. Maybe not. But I'm tired of this. Yuri, please, it can't
be THAT hard of a favor to ask!"

"But...but..."

"Yuri..." she said softly, taking his hand. She forced his hand to close over his
queen and then checkmate her king. Looking deep into his eyes, she said, "Yuri...please..."

"Aelis...I-" and he was cut off as she sealed his lips with a deep, passionate,
kiss.

Aelis was nervous. Even at the age of 23, she did not have much experience with men.
Whenever she had seen her sister and Jerry making out, she had always cringed a little; she
really did not see what pleasure they could possibly be getting out of it. It had
always seemed so...messy. But now, as she kissed Yuri, she could kind of relate to what
they must have felt whenever they kissed.

Finally, she pulled away from him. Yuri looked a little dazed. Finally, he said, "Look,
Aelis, I'm going to be honest to you. I, well, my BODY would love to take you right now.
It wouldn't mind at all. But are you SURE you want to do this? There ARE other
alternatives, you know. And well, I don't know...I really respect you, Aelis. And it
just seems wrong that I have to do this to you."

"I respect you too Yuri. Consider...consider this as a thank-you present for
being so kind to me."

Yuri sighed, trying to keep his raging hormones in check. "I don't know..." he said
skeptically. Aelis smiled and cocked her head. "Really, Yuri!" she said playfully. "You
don't have to hide it!" When he looked at her with a puzzled expression, she blushed and
said, "Will's already filled me in on everything."

Yuri groaned and held in head in his hands. "Oh...no..." he moaned, blushing. "I'm
going to KILL him!"

Aelis laughed at his grousing. Finally, she said softly, "And I love you too," she
murmured in his ear. When he looked up in surprise, she took the opportunity to go in
for another long kiss. Finally, as he felt her body moving delightfully against his, he
slowly brought his arms up to embrace her. "O...kay..." he murmured, the last bit of his
resolve melting away.

later...

Yuri stumbled out of the cell, completely disoriented. He crashed into a wall, and all
the chess pieces went flying.

"My my, aren't we a mess!" a voice hooted.

"Shut...up..." was all Yuri managed, a goofy grin on his face.

Will smirked at his friend's euphoria. Squatting down to be on the same level as his
love-struck friend, he said, "Nice hickey."

No response.

Will shook his head in exasperation. "Someone's gone nuts," he muttered, then lifted his
boneless friend off the floor. "You know, I really should kill you for telling her,"
Yuri managed, trying to glare and failing miserably. Will laughed. "Actually, shouldn't
you be saying something more like, 'You owe me?' Because that's exactly how it is. You
owe me...BIG."

"Yeah...I know..."

Will laughed. "Yeah, well, THAT's more like it!" he said cheerfully, dragging his
friend down the hall.

a week later...

"Aelis?" Yuri murmured.

"Hmm?" she yawned sleepily, then snuggled deeper into his arms.

Yuri sighed in mild exasperation. Stroking her hair as they lay together in her cell, he
said seriously, "Aelis, we've got to figure out how to get you out of here."

"Mmm...can't we wait?" she murmured, still half-asleep. "It's cozy here..."

"Aelis!" he admonished. "Wake up!"

Aelis groaned, but forced her eyes open. "What is it? Is it time for you to leave
already?"

"No no. Aelis, it's been two weeks now. With both you and Geoffry, they've
almost got all the flight data they need. Your time's almost up."

Aelis nodded painfully. "I know..." she said quietly. "But...I don't know what to do,"
she said helplessly.

Yuri was silent for a moment. "Aelis...are your parents kind?"

"Yes, of course! Why do you ask?"

Yuri sighed. "I...I don't want to see you abused, so I'm going to bring you back before
anything happens. Geoffry too. I'm tired of seeing you two treated like this."

Aelis understood instantly. "Yuri," she said seriously. "I can speak for my parents, but
I can't promise anything else. You've heard stories about Heero-jiisan. I really don't
know what they'll do."

"Will they grant me one request?"

"What's that?"

"An audience with your aunt, Relena."

"With Relena-sama? Why?"

"I have my reasons. But will they allow me?"

Aelis slowly thought it through. "Does it matter if it's monitored, taped, and possibly
with Heero-jiisan holding a gun at your head?"

"Yes...that will do."

later that day...

"Shit! Yuri! Where the hell are you?!"

Will ran up and down the halls, searching for his friend. His green eyes were filled with
panic. "Oh...crap...Come on Yuri, where are you hiding?!"

Yuri stepped out of a room. "Will? What are you doing?"

Will didn't waste time. "It's going to be today!" he hissed, dragging Yuri into a
corner. "Nicolae's going after Aelis and Geoffry today!"

"Fuck!" Yuri swore under his breath. "Can we try interfering?"

Will shook his head. "Forget it," he said grimly. "His Excellency's got all the data he
needs; he's given Nicolae permission to do whatever he wants. We've got two hours before
he drags them up in front of everyone, rapes Aelis, then kills them both."

Yuri closed his eyes briefly. "Fine..." he said quietly. "Okay then, if that's how it's
going to work out..." and he turned to run down the hall. Will grabbed his arm, "Wait,
Yuri! What are you going to do?!"

"I'm going to override the cloaking system for a moment."

"What? Why?"

"Their friends have been searching for them relentlessly. I'll override the
system, send out a signal, and allow them to find it. They'll have to get here before
Nicolae makes his move."

"But Yuri, wait! Don't you see? The 'presentation' may be in two hours, but he's
going to get to them before that! Geoffry looks too healthy right now; he's going to
beat him up a little. And do you think he's going to just screw Aelis once? No, if he's
only got two hours, he's going to make the most out of it!" he hissed as they both
ran down the hall.

"Yeah...I know..."

"So what the heck are you-Oh...no..." he suddenly stopped, realizing what Yuri was
going to do. "You're turning yourself in?! Why?!" he said desperately.

Yuri kept walking. "For all these years, I've hated myself because I've been doing
something I haven't wanted to do. I joined this stupid army, I learned to kill and
manipulate people, all for my revenge. Well, I'm ending it now. I'll carry out my duty,
and then, I really don't care what happens to me."

"Yuri...No! Please reconsider!" he begged. Blocking his way, he said
frantically, "Yuri, buddy, we've known each other forever! Ever since you joined, we've
always been best friends. You can't just leave me now!"

Yuri placed his hands on Will's shoulders. "I'm sorry, Will," he said gently. "I have to
do this. Farewell, my friend," and he ran down the hall.

Will stared at his friend's disappearing form, then tucked his hand under his jacket to
feel the envelope he always carried with him. Grinning a lopsided grin, he said, "Well,
if that's the way it's gonna be..." and he ran off in another direction.

elsewhere...

"Hmm? What's this?"

Leaning forward, Wuli tapped in a few commands. A grin lit up on his face. Flipping on
the intercom, he bellowed, "JERRY! FOUND THEM!"

"WHAT?!" Jerry said, shocked. Locking onto the coordinates, he let out a
victorious yell. "All right!!! Let's go!"

"Roger that!" And the Deathscythe and the Phoenix blasted off towards the base in
a race against time.