AN: Just a quick note to thank those of you who are reviewing, its really appreciated!

Also, only just realised we have been going for a whole year. Crazy!

Thank you Doccoopper for your awesome support!

Anyhoo, lets see if we can wake Aro up...

RUDE AWAKENING

CRACK!

Basileus slapped Aro hard across the face. "Wake up," he bellowed at his boy.

Aro had been unconscious all night after Basileus had punched him in the face. He had chosen not to wake his boy until morning to give Aro time to sober up - he also need the time to calm down.

Atia had stayed with Sulpicia through the night and the vampire queen welcomed the support. It was odd, really, that something like Aro's idiocy had brought the two of them closer together, but Sulpicia had been at her weakest and it was Atia who had stepped in and helped her. She wasn't doing it for Basileus, not for Aro, either. Atia was supporting Sulpicia as she would her own daughter. It had been so very long since Sully hadn't felt like a pawn in men's games - Atia was there for her, as a woman and as a mother.

CRACK!

"God damn it, Dad!" Aro held his hands to his face to block another blow. His nose felt an odd shape.

"Do you remember last night?" Basileus growled.

Aro tried to get a look at his surroundings but between the light streaming through the window and blinding his vision, and Basileus straddling him, blocking his view, he wasn't totally sure where he was.

"Well?!" Basileus boomed, jerking Aro roughly from his thoughts.

"It's coming to me," Aro admitted, wishing he could go back to being in a dreamless unconscious state to save him from the memories of the night before.

Basileus removed Aro's hands from his face with one hand and slapped him again with the other.

Crack!

"Feeling ashamed yet?" he asked, venomously.

Crack!

Aro wiggled to free his hands, shoulders, anything! "Stop!" he begged, totally at Basileus' mercy.

"I have hardly begun!" Basileus ground out nose to broken nose with his son, venom escaping between his gritted teeth. Basileus got off his boy but continued to glower down at him.

"I'm sorry, okay! I was … "

"Stupid? Selfish? Downright vile? HIGH?!"

Aro cringed. "All of the above," he said quietly.

Basileus put his hand on Aro's stomach. It felt like a rock-hard ball. Dungeon blood took a while to dissolve in a vampire's stomach, even with the venom doing its job at breaking it down.

You are never going to be sober if that's still inside you, Basileus thought as he clicked his fingers for Aro to follow him, and left for the bathroom.

Aro felt his head pounding on his shoulders and standing only increased the pain. He shuffled along to follow his father, feeling like death.

Basileus offered him a cup and pointed to the water tap. "I believe you know the drill," he said gruffly.

Aro sighed. "Drink and purge," he whispered, snatching the cup from Basileus' hand.

Crack!

Basileus slapped Aro across the back of his head resulting in Aro head butting the mirror and it smashing to a thousand slithers of glass.

Squeezing the back of his neck, Basileus warned his son, "I am standing for none of your shit today, so I would be VERY careful about your conduct going forward, boy."

Aro suppressed the rumbling growl he felt building in his chest. He couldn't help the urge to growl - it's natural for a vampire under attack, he reasoned.

"Under attack, huh? You will be," Basileus said slyly, leaving Aro to clean out the contents of his stomach.

Regurgitating dungeon blood wasn't a pleasant experience; it was sticky and slimy and tasted foul coming back up. That wouldn't come first though, the lighter liquids, bloodwine and water… they came first.

As Aro retched over the sink he got an idea of just how much he had put down his throat the night before. Of course, it wasn't just the night before, he had been drinking dungeon blood for a month without much purging,(voluntarily at least, he had been sick plenty of times but those instances were beyond his control) so he knew this was going to take a while. Then it came. Black, rotting blood spewed forth from Aro's mouth and he kept it coming until he couldn't take the taste any longer.

Basileus had been listening to his boy's thoughts. Take it you will, son, he thought. "Finished?" he asked from the doorway.

Aro nodded and wiped at his mouth.

Basileus filled the cup up with water. "Drink it," he said forcefully.

Aro looked away, but catching sight of the shattered mirror and being reminded of Basileus' warning he quickly looked back and took the cup.

"I hope for your sake it comes up clear," Basileus said slyly.

Aro cringed. The black watery slime that came out of his mouth wasn't going to help his ass one little bit.

Basileus looked at the state of his sink and bobbed his head to himself. Aro watched out the corner of his eye as Basileus removed the belt from around his waist. "Let's give you a little incentive, shall we?" he sang out, striking his son harshly across his lower back.

Aro gripped onto the marble sink to steady himself, gasping for breath.

Basileus filled another cup and gave it to his son.

Aro grimaced, he knew the next cup would be just as black on the rebound. And it was. More dungeon blood slime washed away with the water. Aro watched it slide around the sink until it plopped into the drain. Aro felt disgusted just seeing it.

Another blow to his back quickly brought him from his thoughts, and in his distracted state Aro hadn't prepared for the strike - he ended up roaring on his tip toes from the pain.

"We will do this all day long if that's what it takes, son," Basileus breezed, filling another cup of water.

Aro's eyes bulged as he gulped the water greedily, and when he finished he took another cupful down on top. When he brought it all back up, he pushed himself to keep being sick, clearing as much of his rotting stomach contents as he could.

His valiant efforts didn't impress Basileus, however, and he landed another stroke on his son's back with twice as much force as the first two.

"What the fuck!" Aro raged at the intensity of the blow.

"If you are doubling up, so will I," Basileus calmly replied, hitting him again and adding, " and quit your cursing."

Aro bit hard into his cheek to stop himself saying what he was thinking. It was dangerous enough to think Basileus was an insufferable cunt without verbalising the insult.

It took another three rounds for Aro to bring up a clear bout of water. With the deep tissue damage to his lower back he felt more sick by the end than he had at the start or during! They returned to the living chamber where Aro was grateful to be able to sit, though he certainly couldn't relax.

"I know I have failed you," he said quietly, focusing on the fire flickering beside him.

"Me? You've failed me, sure. But you've failed others, too; your mate, your children, the masters, the coven … yourself."

Aro's shoulders slunk. Laying it on a little thick, Dad, he thought.

"Do you not have anything supportive to offer?" Aro asked, daring a peek to his father.

He looked furious. Basileus hadn't taken a seat, he continued to pace around his living room like a caged animal, as he had done for most of the night while watching Aro sleep on the sofa. The only difference now is that he had someone to rage at and his belt hanging from his fist.

"What do you want me to say?" he asked. He considered ripping his son apart for the dungeon blood, but Basileus knew as soon as he started down that road the conversation would be short and he would be belting the little bastard bloody before long. No, there's other things to address first, he told himself. "Should I tell you that having an affair is not a sin if you happen to wear a crown?"

Aro screwed his face up - he hadn't expected a cosy chat about his sex life. "Since when is sex a sin." They weren't his father's words, Atia has said that I guarantee it, he thought.

"It's not a sin," Basileus agreed. "But you are mated with Sulpicia and after a rather heated argument last time she caught you, you gave her your word that you would not stray again. And you have broken your word to her. Again."

Aro shook his head, he wasn't talking to his dad about the rights and wrongs of his sex life, that was for damn sure!

"How many times do you expect her forgiveness, Aro?" Basileus probed. It was something he had been thinking on through the night.

"I don't want her forgiveness," Aro stated flatly. It wasn't for Sulpicia to forgive him, he wasn't doing anything all that wrong, in his mind.

"Good because you don't deserve it," Basileus told him.

"You're one to talk, anyway. What about Sasha?" Aro asked with a cocky grin, thinking he could turn Basileus' distaste around on himself.

"Sasha who?" Basileus asked coyly.

"Sasha who!" Aro repeated, laughing. "Sasha of the Denali coven … you can deny it all you like but you had clearly shacked up with her whilst you were seeing Atia."

Basileus waved away his son's accusation, "I told you that wasn't the case."

Aro folded his arms and smirked. "You forget I can read minds too, Dad. It most definitely was the case!"

Basileus flashed in front of Aro and grabbed his face in one hand. "We aren't talking about me, Aro. We are talking about you. You have two impressionable boys in your quarters with the morals of alley cats - what sort of example do you think you are setting to them?"

Basileus willed himself to release his son. They had a lot of ground to cover yet and he was in danger of knocking Aro out again before they really spoke.

Aro rubbed out the ache in his face. "The leading by example only counts when it comes to me and my sons … you can set any example you like for your own without question." He said it quietly, but naturally, Basileus heard him.

"So what? You want me to tell you I have been stupid so it's okay for you to be stupid too?" Basileus brought his belt down on his own palm.

That had Aro sitting up straight.

"I could start beating you again at any point, you do know that, yes?"

Aro ducked his head, resisting the urge to cry out in a childlike fashion about how unfair it all was.

"What do you want, I wonder? My acceptance? Sulpicia's acceptance?" Basileus posed, as though either were a possibility.

"It would make my life easier," Aro agreed with a smile. "I could always exchange Sulpicia for Ashanti, or Heidi perhaps. Either of them would be grateful for the position, not bitching at me for taking pleasure where I can find it!"

"You are a bloody idiot!" Basileus roared.

Aro squashed himself into his seat, even the burn in his back was worth it to increase the distance between him and his father.

"Come on, Dad. I'm not doing anything wrong … "

"Really? Do you really think that?" Basileus questioned. He couldn't believe his own son could be so callous.

"Even human kings have mistresses," Aro said with a shrug.

Basileus looked him up and down with distaste. "So, you are playing human now, are you? Is that it?"

"No! I'm just saying that there is a precedent for this sort of thing, it's hardly unusual."

Basileus took a seat opposite his son and left his belt on the chair next to him. You really think you have done no wrong, my good god! He was genuinely surprised to see Aro so remorseless, and he correctly assumed that his son had damaged his good sense with months, no years of lying to cover his tracks. He knew he could bring his boy back, but it was going to take awhile. Luckily, being vampires, time was something Basileus had at his disposal.

He continued their conversation. "Humans get divorced too son, how do you feel about that?"

"That's preposterous, we're vampires, vampires mate for life."

Basileus chuckled. "So now you are a vampire again."

Aro's whole argument was falling to shreds in front of him. Speaking to his father was the first time, he had used his excuses out loud - up until now, all his reasoning had been to himself in his own head and remained unquestioned, and therefore Aro had justified his actions. His annoyance towards Basileus for breaking down his defence so simply, and exposing Aro to his own self-doubt for his actions resulted in Aro growling. It was primal. It was the same primal growl that had preceded Aro's attempted attack on Atia the night before.

Basileus snarled. "If you want to fight me, bring it on, son. I think maybe you are growling because you have run out of ways to excuse yourself? Very mature."

Aro got his growl under control - fighting Basileus would only end badly for him and the other reason his father had offered made him sound so damn pathetic!

"Every coven leader across the globe acts as I do, I expect to a greater degree as they surely have less holds on their time than me."

Basileus shook his head, he wasn't letting that stand. "Marcus doesn't, never has either. Nor can I see Magnus going down that road. It's just you and Caius." Basileus stopped himself. "Actually, I have curbed Caius mostly, so now it's just you."

Aro scowled. "We have been having the same women, at the same time, so you can put Caius back on the list, thank you."

Basileus shook his head again. "Caius has had consensual sex with two other women, with his mate's knowledge and agreement. He hasn't forced himself on either Ashanti or Heidi, and he hasn't broken their bones from fucking them too roughly either."

Aro sat listening with his mouth hanging open.

Basileus continued. "I should, perhaps, let you know that whilst you slept I went through every minor and major event in of your life over the last two years. I KNOW EVERYTHING!"

Aro didn't say a word … out loud, that is. If you know everything there's no need for this fucking conversation, is there?

Basileus narrowed his eyes to his son. "How did you end up like this, Aro?" Basileus asked, voice thick with concern.

"I have been fine on dungeon blood for the last two years, it's just that I hit it hard whilst you were away. That's all. I will be okay in a couple of days, Dad."

"Two years?" Basileus repeated. Thinking back through Aro's memories he had accessed, Basileus found yet another note of concern. "You have been really hard on Felix in that time … did he know?" he asked.

Aro flinched.

Basileus was pleased to see something finally eliciting some guilt in his son. "Did. He. Know?"

Aro scrubbed a hand down his face thinking about what a cunt he had been to his kids, particularly Felix. "Yes. He knew."

"Did he know about the other women, too?" Basileus pushed.

"He found out about Ashanti recently … I think he guessed about another one." Aro neglected to mention Corin by name.

Basileus rolled his tongue around his cheek and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms behind his head and linking his fingers. He looked relaxed, like they were having a calm chat over something innocuous … it was all false, of course.

"You told me he was giving you mouth since you had us all tan his hide in the guard hall. That was two years ago. Were you on it then? I didn't question your motives at the time, son, but if you had me go along with you whilst you were on dungeon blood … "

"I wasn't on in then, Dad. That was all me," Aro said. He was unsure whether that made his actions more shameful or not. He thought he'd done the right thing at the time, but now he wondered if his desire to get Felix under control was fuelled by his desire to get down to the dungeons and tanked up on dungeon blood.

"I sense a 'but'," Basileus pushed, sensing his boy wavering about telling him the truth.

Aro sighed and fixed his eyes to his hands in his lap. "That night I took Felix down to the dungeons to break into Caius' playroom for me. Caius had refused to give me the keys."

He chanced a look to his father, who looked like steam was going to come out of his ears! Oh fuck it, I might as well tell him, he will find out anyway. "And that wasn't the first time since Atia caught me a few months before … I haven't really stopped since then."

Basileus took off around the room again. Aro was pleased his father was choosing to walk rather than belt him.

As Basileus stalked around the living chamber, Aro started to brood. "I've been a bit of a cock, huh?" he said full of self-pity.

"I can think of a much stronger word for what you have been, son."

Basileus' reply had Aro ducking again. Still, it was more for annoyance than true shame.

"Have you spoken with Sulpicia?" Aro asked, hoping for a heads-up on how much groveling he would have to do.

"No. Atia has."

Aro tutted, he still blamed Atia for interfering and telling Sulpicia about his goings on. "Was there any blood shed?" he asked.

"I believe they have kissed and made up," Basileus replied with a delighted smile.

Aro felt flooded with betrayal all over again. "Seriously?" he spat in disgust. "What poison has my so-called mother been dripping in my mate's ear, then?"

Basileus raised his eyebrows to Aro's disparaging tone referring to Atia.

Aro totally ignored the gesture, he could feel his agitation rising - what I wouldn't do for a cup of dungeon blood right now! he thought. Then he caught his father's smile … why are you smiling?

"Atia suggested to Sully that she could play you at your own game."

"What game?" Aro asked, I'm not paying any games … oh fuck! "She told my mate to go and fuck someone else!"

Basileus continued to smile at his son, enjoying seeing Aro stress a little.

"WHO?!" Aro demanded. "I will take their fucking heads!" he called over his shoulder as he headed to the door.

Basileus flashed in front of him and cut him off. "You aren't going anywhere," he told his son, chuckling to himself at the very idea of Aro getting past him.

Aro tried to pry Basileus from the doorway. "Like hell I'm not!" In his efforts, Aro tore his father's shirt. His eyes simultaneously paled and widened seeing the fabric fall from his hand. He watched it float to the ground in slow motion.

"SIT DOWN!" Basileus thundered, taking hold of his son.

Before Aro could blink he was back in his chair with his father looming over him.

"I am perfectly happy to knock you out again if I have to, son," he warned with a fist raised high. Aro nodded rapidly without taking his eyes off Basileus. Once he was sure his son would stay put, the creator retook his seat.

Aro ruminated over his mate's infidelity. He had never considered Sulpicia could do such a thing. Tit for tat wasn't their way.

"Who has Sulpicia been with? I need to know who," he asked solemnly.

"Why do you need to know?" Basileus asked simply, watching Aro squirm.

Aro scowled. So I can crucify the traitorous cunt, obviously, he thought, but went with, "For the good of the coven."

"You can quit that well-rehearsed line. The coven has nothing to do with this. Your pride, that's your only concern."

Aro continued to scowl. "That bitch, that fucking two faced bitch!" he erupted as visions of his mate fucking random guards flashed through his mind.

"Watch your mouth, boy!" Basileus warned.

Aro tutted. "I don't mean Atia, for a change."

Basileus leaned forward to fix Aro in his sights. "I won't have you talking about my daughter like that either, so calm yourself!"

Aro took to his feet and went to the window. His emotions were spiking left, right and centre and his lack of control was pissing him off. Everything was pissing him off! Looking out over the rear courtyard he spotted a bunch of guards talking easily. They were too far away for him to hear a single word spoke, but as he glowered at their lips, trying to read their chatter, he convinced himself that they were discussing fucking the queen - his queen!

"Tell me who it was, please."

He sounds crushed, Basileus thought. "Carlisle."

"Oh," Aro answered, with a sly smile.

Basileus hadn't expected that reaction, even less the laughter that followed. "What's so funny?"

Aro retook his seat near his father and stifled his laughter. "Sulpicia had no intention of fucking someone else," he stated confidently.

Basileus narrowed his eyes. "How do you figure that?"

Aro extended his arms wide and rested his left ankle on his right knee as he relaxed into the sofa. "Sully is the queen of Volterra - she could have had any guard she wanted and even though they know I would kill them for it, they wouldn't deny her a single request. She chose Carlisle. The only single male in this castle who is allowed to deny her request. She doesn't want to fuck anyone else." He started laughing again. Bless you Sully, nice try.

Basileus caught Aro's patronising call to his mate. You stupid cocky little shit. "I suppose that's one way of looking at it," he said, pretending to muse on his daughter-in-law's intentions.

"It's the only way," Aro said resolutely.

"Are you sure about that?" Basileus asked, looking deep into his son's eyes.

Aro felt like his soul was on display. "Y, yes … yes, it is," he replied, sounding a little less confident.

Basileus left his boy and went to fetch a very large glass of wine for himself. "Hmm, interesting," he mused.

Aro's eyes locked onto the glass in his father's hands, feeling quite desperate for a glass himself. "What is interesting?" he asked, a little absentmindedly.

Basileus rolled his goblet between his hands. He could see his son was literally enchanted by the action. That alone told him how far gone Aro was. He's always been a thirsty drinker, he thought, but this is on another level!

"Well, personally, I see it that Sulpicia was practising, trying on infidelity and seeing how it felt. Sulpicia, by nature, is a careful and considerate woman. She was testing the waters … but now she knows; she has played it over in her mind, she said it out loud … next time … "

Aro had followed his father's train of thought and damn it sounded plausible. "Oh fuck," he said, mainly to himself as once again the image of his wife fucking through the guards invaded his mind.

"Your language is quite atrocious," Basileus told his boy, taking a good few sips from his glass to hide his growing smile. He had lied faultlessly to his son and played his boy just as he knew he could. Atia had suggested no such thing and Sulpicia wouldn't have done it even if she had. Aro doesn't need to know that, he thought happily, and he needs to know he isn't invincible.

Aro sat contemplating his next move. He had to make things right in his home but be hardly knew where to start. Sully will want another argument and Felix will continue being a self-serving little shit. With a heavy heart - totally for himself - Aro heaved himself out of his seat and plodded to the door.

"Where do you think you are going?" Basileus asked, narrowing his eyes to his boy.

"To make peace with my wife and my children," Aro stated with a raised eyebrow. Where else would I be going now you have ended my fun? he thought sarcastically.

Basileus erupted into deep laughter as he strolled ahead of his son, closing the iron bolt on the door. "That dungeon blood really has addled your brain, son. They don't want you back."

Aro smirked. "They don't get a choice," he answered.

Basileus put a hand on Aro's chest and walked him back to their seats. "Oh, they do," he said menacingly. "You are staying here until I think you are in control again."

He pushed Aro into his chair, but the moment Basileus moved, Aro was back on his feet. I don't fucking think so! he thought, loudly.

Basileus had to fight to keep his cool.

"Just tell Caius to get rid of the bloody dungeon blood," Aro spat. He couldn't see the point in all this angst over something he had said he wouldn't do again - completely missing the fact that his word on the matter meant very little after his recent exploits.

"Caius has offered to do that already," Basileus answered easily from his seat. "I think he would be relieved to do so, in fact. You have put him under a huge amount of strain with your misuse." He looked relaxed, but he was watching Aro and listening carefully to his thoughts. Basileus was ready to grab Aro if he tried to make a break for it - Aro wasn't leaving his father's quarters for a good long while, whether he realised it or not.

"Great, no more dungeon blood, no more problem." Aro flashed to the door.

"I will snap any appendage that touches my chamber door," Basileus announced darkly.

Aro's hand hovered over the bolt. God he was tempted.

Basileus continued. "I told him to keep it. And I have ordered the doors to his dungeons be repaired. Only Caius and I will hold the keys."

Aro looked quizzically to his father, wondering if he was sanctioning his son's use of the drug in the future.

"Why have you told him to keep it?" he asked hopefully, turning his back to the door.

"Because you can't handle it," Basileus said with a smile. "There are very few things in your life that really challenge you, Aro. I think it will be good for you to struggle with something."

Aro's eyes widened and his hope turned to a snarl. With the hand hidden behind his back he slowly, and quietly undid the bolt. The very fact that he thought he would get away with such a thing was testament to the damage Aro had done to his thought processes.

"So you are locking me up in here until it's out of my system," he said, his tone giving away his actions, clearly trying to distract his father from his imminent escape.

Basileus, naturally, knew what he was doing. "Aro you are a vampire - one clean feed and it's out of your system. It's not the drug you are addicted to, you aren't human!"

That had Aro stopping for a moment. "It sure feels like the drug, what else would it be?"

Basileus smiled to his boy. "You have slipped into a pattern of behaviour as a way to escape reality. You have a very stressful job, son."

Aro rolled his eyes. That's the sort of woolly bullshit I would expect from Atia! he thought. "Get me that 'clean feed' you mentioned then and all will be well."

With his super vampiric speed, Basileus flashed to Aro's side the second he heard the bolt clunk into an open position.

Aro looked up to his father and smiled nervously.

Basileus returned the smile, though his looked threatening without a patch of the anxiety Aro's clearly conferred. Basileus took Aro's left hand and wrapped his own around it tightly, leaving his son's fingers vulnerable. "No blood for you, yet. You deserve to suffer first," Basileus told his son before smacking Aro's exposed fingers so hard that the bones shattered! Whilst Aro was distracted by the pain, Basileus dragged him to the seating area and deposited him on the rug.

"I have suffered plenty!" Aro roared, trying to mould his fingers back in shape.

Basileus shook his head. "I haven't punished you yet," he said flatly whilst removing his rings and setting them on the wooden mantle above the fire.

"You knocked me out cold last night!" Aro complained, feeling very hard done to.

Basileus waved away his son's complaints. "That was to get you under control, that wasn't punishment."

Aro watched as his father picked up the heavy leather belt from the sofa. He had forgotten it was there until he heard the jangle of the buckle. His stomach flipped over. If he hadn't been forced to empty his guts already he would have thrown up right there where he sat. The fear of his father's coming viciousness spurred Aro into action, and with his very Felix-like mentality taking a front seat, Aro told himself how unfair Basileus was being. Getting to his feet, he growled at his father. "You said yourself I was addicted to escaping reality - you can't punish me for something I wasn't in control of."

Basileus' head whipped around to face his son when he heard the growl, but his excuse sounded so pathetic to the creator's ears that Aro only managed to convince his father that a hard line had to be taken, no matter what Aro thought about it.

"You can't see ten foot in front of you - I am helping you but because I'm not doing exactly as you want you think I am the enemy," he said, glaring at his boy. "Grow up!"

Aro watched as Basileus made short work of rolling up his sleeves. His rising panic only fuelling his desperation to flee. But he had nowhere to run. FUCK! he roared inside his head. If I can't flee, I will fight! He told himself resolutely.

Basileus waited. He would fight Aro if he had to, but if they were going down that road Aro would have to make the first move. "Are you really going to argue with me about this?"

"Well I'm not going to submit to a beating for fucking nothing, am I?!" Aro was psyching himself up. He was ready to fight. Every inch of his body vibrated in rage.

"Aro, back down," Basileus told his boy sternly.

Aro continued to snarl and his stance spoke a thousand words – rocking lightly from foot to foot, slightly crouched, eyes locked on his target.

Basileus dropped his belt. "If you really want to do this, Aro, I'm taking no prisoners."