Into the Abyss
by Moonstone 04
Author's Notes: This fic contains XS2 spoilers as well as yaoi content, with Tony/chaos as the main focus. You've been warned.
This fic is a sequel to "From the Abyss." I'd like to take this moment to say, yes, I'm aware of episode 2's absolutely awesome minor npcs. A few of them will be present in this fic. XD Whomever catches what happens at the very end of this chapter before it's revealed next time, gets a cookie.
This is the R-rated edition (I guess that's M-rated now?) of this fic. The original, NC-17 version of this fic is only being posted at Xenoyaoi at yahoogroups.
Chapter 2 - Perceptions
It turned out that Tony didn't need to go all the way out to the UMN Center to find chaos. Just outside the spaceport, Tony was instantly drawn to the gleam of sunlight on silver hair. chaos was sitting back on a sidewalk bench, his arms resting over the backside. His eyes were closed, but his head was thrown back as if he were looking at the sky. chaos' brows were furrowed like something was bothering him, but it might have been nothing more than the sun beating down on them.
"If you were tired, you should've come back to the Elsa." Tony gave chaos' shoulder a squeeze. "How are you holding out?"
The eyes were always the first thing anyone noticed about chaos. Even after all this time, Tony was still taken by them. Dazzling blue, with depths that would be frightening if not for the gentleness they exuded. chaos looked up at him, his face relaxing into a smile. "I just wanted a little fresh air."
"Hmn. How's MOMO?" Tony sat next to him.
"She's still a little shaken, but she'll be okay. She certainly is stronger than she looks." Although he was smiling, a little of the weariness came back into chaos' eyes. "I'm glad she was able to pull through, but..."
"The Y-data. Yeah... Looks like we still have a long road ahead of us. The Little Master came by with new orders."
"I know, I talked to him this morning. I imagine the Captain must be frantic. The Elsa wasn't meant for missions like these. She was only designed to be a little yacht. We're using her like a battleship."
"She's always managed to pull through before."
"Yes, but I think she's reaching her limits." chaos trailed into a mumble, as if he was talking to himself.
Tony shrugged. "Not much we can do about it. The Captain wants us to go round up some cheap droids to help with the repairs. I was thinking we should head over to the Foundation. Things are way too expensive planetside."
"Sounds good." Leather creaked as chaos stood and stretched. In light of all the recent fighting, he had taken to wearing more durable clothing. But it was as tight-fitting and sexy as ever. If Tony didn't know chaos was near obsessed with covering up, he would think he was a sadistic tease.
From the spaceport, they boarded a ferryship to the Kukai Foundation. There was very little traffic at that time of day, so their ship was nearly deserted. Tony and chaos took the seats at the very back.
"I've been meaning to ask, when did you get a haircut?" Tony asked. Usually chaos' hair was uncontrollable, sticking up defiantly on top. Now it was calm and restrained, giving the silver-haired boy a more mature outward appearance.
"Haircut?" chaos looked genuinely confused. "I haven't had a haircut in a while... Not since last month. You cut it, remember?"
"Then are you using gel?" Tony patted the top of chaos' head. Soft as silk, but no sign of any suspicious haircare product.
"Tony, there's nothing different about my hair. I think I've always worn it this way."
There it was again. That feeling that something wasn't right. What bothered Tony was that he was sure that chaos wasn't lying to him. "chaos, you usually can't keep your hair down at all. You had to have done something."
There was an anxious light in chaos' eyes, but he just smiled and shook his head. "I've been thinking, maybe we should look into seriously upgrading the Elsa. I know someone on the Foundation who might be able to help us."
"Huh? Hold on, we're only supposed to get some droids. I don't know what you're thinking of, but we don't have the time or money for it!"
"If we have time to worry about my hair, we have time for this." chaos gave Tony a reassuring smile. "I just want to look into it first. Calm down, everything's okay."
"I'm calm." Tony said gruffly. "It's just that you've been gone the last few days... I was just trying to catch up a little. Did you even know about the new guys that came onboard today?"
Tony hadn't expected chaos to actually look surprised. "Jr didn't mention anything about that. Just that he was taking the Elsa into Old Miltia to recover the Zohar. I suppose he might want to take some of his personal crew..."
"Nah, no one I've ever seen before." Tony interrupted. "Two of Helmer's guys. One of them is Shion's brother, can you believe that? The other is some weird weapons-grade realian with orange hair."
"Is that so?" chaos gave a soft sigh and closed his eyes. "I guess it can't be helped," he murmured. "We'll need all the help we can get." Leaning against Tony, he rested his head on his shoulder.
All of Tony's concerns flitted away instantly. He slipped his arm around chaos' waist and snuggled him closer. chaos clasped his hand over Tony's, as if seeking something to anchor himself with.
For a place that had been recently trashed by a gnosis invasion, the Kukai Foundation was looking better than ever. But that was the wonder of modern nanomachines for you. As they walked through, there were a lot of people who came running over to chaos, thanking him. Some of them were even crying. It was something else. chaos looked a little embarassed, but he just smiled and greeted them, asking how they were doing. This sort of thing slowed them down quite a bit.
"You've gotten pretty popular." Tony grinned.
"It wasn't much, the others helped during the evacuation more than I did." chaos seemed to be shrinking to one side of Tony.
"Uh huh..."
It took longer than expected, but they finally reached the far side of the foundation. This place was once roaring with activity, but unlike other areas, it wasn't recovering as quickly. There was still the sounds of metal echoing off of metal and machinery whirring as pilots fixed their mechs. But since the invasion, there were soberingly few left of those that had once docked there.
Tony and chaos walked down the dock, finding most of the old machine shops had closed down. Those that were left had little to sell. Some places could promise them something in a week, but they didn't have that kind of time. Tony was starting to worry, but chaos didn't seem bothered. In fact, he didn't seem very expectant at all when Tony stopped at any of the shops. Those blue eyes were always turning further down the street.
Tony came out of the last shop on the street, once again empty-handed. He noticed on the way out that chaos hadn't even come in with him this time. It was just an afterthought, he was more worried about where else they could go find cheap droids. If they were forced to go get something off of Second Miltia, they were screwed.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Tony looked up and down the street. There had to be something... He found chaos around a dark corner. It was a dead end, appropriately enough. "Still no luck," Tony griped. "I thought this would be the most likely place, but I guess we'll have to check out some of the other sectors." As he stepped closer, he realized that chaos was peering down a dark stairwell. "...Huh?"
"It's the Robot Academy." chaos glanced up through his silvery hair. "Or at least it was. Doesn't look like anyone's home."
"Is this what you were looking for?"
"Yeah. Strange place, but it had some really good equipment."
That long dark stairwell was kinda creepy, but Tony was desperate. If nothing else, maybe they could find some abandoned junk or something. "Well...guess it's worth a look." Taking the lead, he headed down the stairs.
The noise of the street above faded away as they descended into pitch black. Their footsteps were loud and echoing in the silence. The echoes gave Tony the impression that the place they were walking into was very large. Nearing the bottom, they were illuminated by dismal neon light. Still, it was better than being in the dark.
It was nearly impossible to make out anything around them, it just looked like collections of dark, looming shapes. If chaos hadn't been there, Tony would have been a lot more nervous. He tried to remind himself that all the gnosis in the foundation had been disposed of.
Suddenly, a red light flared to life in front of them. Before Tony could really figure out what he was seeing, chaos slammed into him, sending them both sliding across the floor. A high-pitched squeal and a flash went through the air where they had been.
"Professor, have you gone out of your mind? Give me that!" An unfamiliar voice yelled.
"Assistant Scott, give that back! You're too naive to understand what's going on here! We must defend the Robot Academy!" It sounded like an old guy.
Shaken, it took Tony a moment to be sure he was still in one piece. Then he carefully sat up, taking chaos with him. "You okay? Did someone just shoot at us?" He could see two dark figures nearby, apparently arguing with each other.
"Yes and yes." chaos' glowing blue eyes locked closely with his, and Tony felt the familiar ache in his gut. Having him this close and sitting on him was bringing up memories of the night before. Those same luminescent eyes burning as he... Maybe chaos realized what he was doing to him, because he quickly looked away and stood up, helping Tony as well. "Are you okay?"
"Thanks to you." Tony glared at the two figures. "Hey! What the hell was that all about? Who are you people?"
"Uh, Tony..."
The two figures turned to look at Tony. One was short and squat, and was wearing round reflective glasses that made him look like an animal caught in headlights. The other had a build that reminded Tony a little of chaos.
"Who are we?" The little old man was hopping up and down in a rage now. "Who are you? I thought you were a gnosis! What kind of person skulks around in the dark like that?"
"You mean like you were doing?" Tony fumed.
"Professor, I'm sorry for intruding, but we need your help again." chaos interjected. "Our ship needs heavy repairs in a very short amount of time, so we're looking for some droids."
"Cheap droids." Tony added with gruff emphasis. His blood was still boiling, but he wasn't about to pick a fight with an old guy and some kid.
"Cheap droids?" The Professor stepped closer. "You should know better than to look for something like that here! Here at the Robot Academy, we only produce the greatest quality robots the universe has ever seen! Isn't that right, Assistant Scott?"
"Well, we do have all those old droids in the back..." Assistant Scott scratched his head and looked back into the shadows.
"That's not what I asked!"
"Does it matter? We need the money, if we don't have it by tomor-"
"Quiet! Let me handle this!" Professor snapped.
"So does this mean you'll sell to us?" chaos asked.
"Of course!" Professor waved his hand as if brushing away Assistant Scott like an annoying bug. This just caused the young man to roll his head a bit as he turned his back to them. "But such fine Robot Academy grade droids come at a high price, as you might imagine, having seen my work."
Before chaos could say anything, Tony put a hand on his shoulder and pressed himself in front. "Don't rip us off, old man!"
The old guy jumped and cringed back a little. Then he puffed himself up as much as he could. "Well, I never! How dare you insult the pride of the Robot Academy! I have half a mind to send you away, even if your companion has helped me with my great miss-"
"Just sell, damn it!" Assistant Scott whirled around. "You stubborn old jackass, if you care about the future of the Academy, just this once...!"
Tony was surprised, the kid hadn't seemed like the assertive type.
"You owe it to them." In a more controlled tone, Assistant Scott went on. "You did nearly kill them a moment ago. Sometimes I wonder if you really are going senile, you know all the gnosis were driven off."
Professor made a sound almost like a hiss. Tony never thought he'd actually see someone who was literally hopping mad. "Fine!" The old man spat. "Bring them out! It's not like we'll be needing them anymore!"
"Thank you." chaos said quietly as Assistant Scott disappeared into the shadows. "I know they'll be worth the price."
"Wait a minute..." Tony started to break in, but chaos' hand on his chest effectively silenced further argument.
Despite nearly killing him, the Professor wasn't that bad a guy after all. In the end, there were far more droids than Tony expected. A good deal for the price, so it all worked out. It was agreed that the droids would be picked up tomorrow once transportation was arranged. Trying to ferry that many droids through the streets was just asking for trouble. In Tony's experience, droids could be as unpredictable as a meteor shower.
Before leaving, chaos had started talking to the Professor about upgrading the ship. He had to admit that some of the old guy's ideas sounded pretty good, but Tony had no choice but to put his foot down as far as that was concerned. The Captain would absolutely kill them.
"I hope they're alright. I've never seen the Robot Academy powered down like that before." chaos was perched on a street railing, overlooking one of the Foundation's artificial waterways.
"Hmph." Tony crossed his arms across the railing. "Well, that whole sector is looking pretty bad these days. At least we got the job done."
"Mm. I didn't hit you too hard, did I?"
"Nah, I'm fine." Tony closed his eyes as if relaxing. Truth was, he was still a little sore, but nothing to complain about. "Thanks again. I guess I have a bad habit of getting in front of those things.
chaos was very quiet, and Tony wondered if he shouldn't have put it that way. Several years ago, Tony had been shot during an invasion of the Elsa. It had been an extremely rough moment for all of them, but it seemed to shake chaos the most. That was when chaos had finally opened up to him, at least, as much as he ever did.
Finally, chaos chuckled softly. "Yeah, you do."
Tony opened his eyes to see chaos hop down from the railing. The pilot rubbed a hand back through his messy blond hair with a sigh. "So, want to get back to Second Miltia? Or do you want to hang around here some more?"
"Now that you mention it, there is one place I wanted to stop at."
The Foundation was already into its night cycle by the time Tony heard the muted roar of the waves. He had heard the Kukai private beach was completed, but he had been too busy when Jr had invited the crew and guests last time. It was really impressive for an artificial structure.
"So this is what you wanted to show me?" Tony looked out at the water. Starlight and artificial moonlight glimmered on the gentle waves.
"Among other things." chaos had a mischievious tone.
Looking away from the water, Tony saw chaos was stripping. "H-Hey! What are you doing, what if someone comes out here!"
"This is a private beach, no one else will come out here." chaos pulled off his heavy boots. "Everyone else with access is busy on Second Miltia right now. We're completely alone."
Even so, Tony looked up and down the beach nervously. "I don't know..."
Metal buttons snapped, and the sound pulled the blond's eyes back to his lover. chaos was wriggling out of his leather gear in a way that made him instantly break into a sweat. Arguing was falling further and further from his mind by the moment.
By the time chaos had pulled out of his bodysuit, leaving his smooth dark skin bared to the starlight, Tony had started pulling off his tanktop. Those glowing blue eyes gave him a rare, sultry look, before the lithe youth ran off into the surf.
"Wha... Wait up!" Tony kicked off his boots and gave chase.
Hopping as much as jogging after him, Tony threw his discarded clothes up onto the beach. chaos continued to lead him on, until they were nearly treading water.
Finally, Tony reached out and chaos embraced him. His breath caught at the almost painful electric sensation that surged through him, as their bare skin touched. Even when aroused, chaos' strange aura was usually painless under normal conditions, but the water seemed to enhance it somehow. Not that Tony minded; the extra kick was actually stimulating in a good way.
chaos' hands played back through wet, strawberry blond hair as he leaned in to bite on Tony's lower lip. In return, the pilot grabbed chaos' hips and thrust roughly against him. Silver hair whipped back as his angel arched in ecstacy. chaos' eyes were tightly closed as he fought for control.
With a soft moan, Tony kissed his trembling mouth, thrusting again and again with both tongue and hips. He wasn't going to give chaos a chance to recover, he wanted to drown him in pleasure. Sure enough, chaos' electric aura was biting at him, and the water around them was swirling with an unseen force.
Strong arms grasped desperately at Tony's back as chaos writhed and bucked against him. Even in the cold night water, he was hot to the touch. Tony liked to think he was the one in control, but he knew he was crushing into chaos as hard as chaos was crushing into him. They were quickly spiraling down into a singularity of desire and heat.
"Back to shore." chaos' normally soft voice was harsh with need. "Take me now."
"Anything, beautiful."
This prompted an amused smile from chaos that only made Tony want him even more. Tony and chaos swam back towards shore. They weren't even past the surf when chaos playfully pulled Tony down into the wet sand. It wasn't the most graceful of landings, but it put them into the position they wanted.
Wind and breath. The tide pulling him back, and chaos pulling him in... Was it sea spray or sweat that covered them now? He wasn't even sure if the gentle silver glow was really from the starlight or from the silver hair spread out on the sand. There didn't seem to be any difference at all...
Their fingers clenched together, straining in the dark sand.
Aquamarine eyes blazed into him...
It suddenly clicked in Tony's mind what had truly bothered him the night before. It was the same now. The look in chaos' eyes. His eyes were so intense, that it was almost too much to meet their gaze. But it wasn't just that they were intense. It was the unsettling feeling that even though they were looking straight into each others eyes, chaos wasn't seeing him...
Look at me...
Look at me like that...
Then chaos slowly arched and trembled...
Who do you see when you look at me like that...?
Feeling the strange surge of energy bursting through him, Tony closed his eyes and threw his head back. Shuddering, he let himself forget his worries for a few minutes, and just let the warm pleasure take him away.
The two of them were slow in returning to the Elsa. The way they stumbled along in each others arms, barely able to walk, no doubt they were mistaken for a pair of drunken sailors as they made their way up the Spaceport dock.
On Second Miltia, the sun was still high in the sky, but Tony was ready to call it a day. There was still work at hand, but there wasn't much they could do until they got the droids into order. Yeah. All he wanted to do right now was to hold chaos and sleep for a couple of hours.
Reaching the Elsa's airlock, they fell against the door, clinging to each other. He stroked chaos' damp hair, so much like flowing mercury. "So are you feeling better now?"
chaos made a soft contented sound. "For now. If we make it back to the cabin without being caught, I could be up for another round." His gloved hand etched its way down Tony's chest, before grabbing a handful of tanktop in his fist. Like magic, Tony felt the heat rush to his face and pool in his groin.
"How do you do that...?" Tony muttered.
While chaos opened up the airlock, the pilot suddenly became aware of another feeling. The feeling of being watched. Frowning, he turned his head around towards the dock. There weren't many other people around at the moment. It was mostly Durandal crew, judging from all the red uniforms. Probably loitering around between their duties here and the Kukai Foundation. Something he seemed to know a little too much about... But none of them seemed to be paying them any attention at the moment.
He put it out of his mind as chaos dragged him inside the Elsa.