Chapter 2: Kat's Paw
Consciousness returned slowly, and Victor's mind felt sluggish and foggy as he began to wake. At first, he thought he must be in his and Yuuri's bed at home, but then he recalled the cancelled flight and alternate plans.
But, I'm lying down?
He tried to open his eyes, only to find that something seemed to have been wrapped snugly around his head and tied into place. He laid on one side, and his hands had been bound behind his back. His mouth, it seemed, had not been covered, and his first thought upon realizing his situation was to try to locate his lover.
"Y-yuuri?" he whispered, shivering though he could feel that he had been covered with a blanket.
Hearing no answer, he shifted, trying to feel the dimensions of the bed he laid in. He found the edge of the bed with his toes, then felt in the other direction and touched what seemed to be an unconscious person.
"Yuuri?" he called again.
He caught his lover's scent and felt a twinge of worry at getting no answer, so he moved closer, nudging the other body urgently.
"Yuuri!"
The sound of a footstep approaching the bed made him stiffen.
"Who is that?" he asked anxiously, "Where are we?"
"Settle down," a deep, unfamiliar voice warned him, "Keep quiet and don't cause any trouble, or you'll get a knock on the head, like your friend did."
"Someone hit Yuuri?" Victor exclaimed, "Is that why he won't answer?"
"I told you to settle down!" his captor said sternly.
"I…I will, just…is Yuuri all right? He's not answering. Did you hurt him?"
A little exclamation of pain escaped the Russian skater as thick fingers sank into his hair and yanked his head back roughly.
"You're not very smart, are you?" his captor growled, "I said shut up!"
He shoved Victor's face into the pillow, pressing down until the bound skater stiffened, struggling to breathe, then he let go, leaving the skater reeling. Victor heard the sound of a door opening, then more dainty steps, followed by a distinctly male, yet effeminate voice.
"Now, now, don't bruise that lovely face, you brute."
"He's being difficult," the other man complained.
"Well, of course he is, stupid. He's worried about his pretty lover."
More dainty steps sounded and a little weight touched the bed, then Victor felt another shiver go through him as cold fingers ran through his hair and tickled the side of his neck.
"Aren't you, dear?"
"Yes," Victor answered, trying to keep his voice calm, "Yuuri won't answer me. Please, is he all right? That man said someone hit Yuuri on the head, and he's not answering me!"
"Now, don't you worry about a thing, my sweet," the second captor said, caressing Victor's cheek tenderly, "Yuuri did get a rap on the head, poor thing. It was really unavoidable since the dear boy didn't drink his drink, so he wasn't knocked out more comfortably, like the rest of you. But I checked him out myself, and he seems to be all right."
"Are you sure? Please, could I look at him?" Victor pleaded cautiously.
"Hmm, you're a feisty one."
"I'm really not trying to be difficult," Victor assured the man, "Wouldn't you be worried if someone you loved was unconscious and you couldn't even see?"
"I suppose your worry is reasonable," his captor agreed, "so here's what I'll do."
Victor felt the man's fingers stroke the bindings in his hands.
"I'll move your hands so that you can touch him a little. Will that make you feel better, little ice prince?"
"Yes, thank you," Victor answered, keeping his voice calm and quiet.
"Don't try anything, now," the man warned him, "You've already got on Alek's nerves, and that's not a good thing if you want to avoid getting hurt."
Victor cooperated carefully as his hands were unbound, then tied in front of him and bound firmly to Yuuri's.
"There now. You can feel your little cherry blossom has a pulse, da?"
"Yes, I can. That is better."
"So sweet," the man said, patting his face, "You see now, Alek. No need to get rough with him. Our little ice prince is very reasonable, isn't he? He knows that if he wants his little cherry blossom to stay close to him and not get hurt, he will do exactly as he is told."
"You don't have to threaten Yuuri," Victor said, careful to keep his tone from sounding confrontational, "I understand you are in control. But, can you tell me, why are we here? Why did you abduct us? Are our friends all right? There were other skaters…"
"Now, now," said the more effeminate man, "don't become a nuisance."
"But, you understand I'm worried for my other friends too. I just want to know if they're all right. They haven't been harmed?"
"They're fine, honey," the man said, running his fingers through Victor's hair again, "And everyone will stay that way, as long as they are cooperative, and as long as our demands are met."
"Your demands?" Victor mused, "Is it money you are after, or something else?"
The fingers in his hair tightened warningly, though not enough to hurt.
"Don't push your luck, little ice prince," his captor warned him, "I said no more questions. Just be a good boy and you, your precious cherry blossom, and the rest of your friends will be alive and safely back home in a few days."
Victor flinched at feeling the man's lips touch the sensitive juncture between his neck and shoulder.
"This doesn't have to be all bad," the man chuckled, sliding a hand under the blanket and slipping it beneath Victor's clothing to caress his bare bottom.
Victor's breath caught, but he forced himself not to react.
"But…it will be if you become troublesome, do you understand, little ice prince?"
"Y-yes," Victor answered, suppressing a shudder.
He heard a soft giggle as the man's hand slid very slowly out of his pants, and the graceful fingers tickled the naked flesh along his hip as they withdrew.
"You can call me Kat," the man informed him, "I'm in charge here, so if you cause any trouble, you'll deal with me. Alek, over there, is your handler. He will bring you food and make sure that your other needs are met. You are not to try to make deals with him, or try to escape him, or things will get very unpleasant for you. Do not ask him to remove your blindfold or any bindings. He will only undo them enough so that you can use the bathroom…and you will be watched there also, so don't get any ideas. Even if you escape this building, we are in an isolated area, and you don't have warm clothing or shoes. We've made sure of that. Just think of this as a little vacation. That's all it has to be, right little ice prince?"
"Yes, of course," Victor answered.
"Yes, of course…what?" Kat prompted him.
"Yes, of course, Kat," Victor corrected himself.
"Good boy."
Victor felt the bed move and Kat's footsteps sounded again, then stopped.
"Watch him closely," Kat warned their handler in a voice purposely loud enough for him to hear, "Victor is very obviously the alpha of the group. The others will take their cue from him. If he misbehaves, send him to me. If the cherry blossom misbehaves, just smack him around a little and threaten the ice prince. There is to be no permanent damage, understand? These pretty boys and Miss Mila are worth millions to us, but not if they are damaged, so for god's sake don't break anything!"
"Fine."
"I'll be on my way, then. We should be getting a call from Khipa soon."
More footsteps sounded and the door to the room opened and closed. Victor turned his attention to his unconscious partner. He maneuvered his hands within the bonds so that he could caress Yuuri's fingers. He moved to rest his head on his lover's shoulder and spoke softly into Yuuri's ear.
"Yuuri? Solnyshko, can you wake up for me?" he pleaded softly, rubbing his fingers against the Japanese skater's, "Yuuri?"
It took several minutes of coaxing, and Victor was on the edges of panic, but finally, Yuuri's fingers moved, and he groaned softly.
"Yuuri!" Victor whispered, his throat tightening, "You can hear me now?"
"Mmhmm," Yuuri mumbled, barely coherently, "Wh-when do we have to leave again?"
"We already left. We went to the airport," Victor reminded him, "Remember, we chartered a plane and we took off. You don't remember that?"
"Eh…uh…oh, oh yeah, I remember the plane," Yuuri answered, trying to roll over.
He made a sound of distress as he realized his situation.
"Victor!" he gasped.
"It's okay. Don't struggle. Just stay calm, Yuuri. We've been abducted. I think we're being held for ransom. The leader of their group does not want us hurt, but they will hurt us if we trouble them too much, so we have to stay calm, all right?"
Yuuri shivered under his hands.
"Okay."
"Now, are you hurt anywhere?" Victor asked, "Their leader told me that they hit you on the head. Does it hurt?"
"It aches pretty badly, and I think my wrist is hurt too, from when I fell."
"All right. Let's see what we can do about that."
Victor took a steadying breath.
"Alek, do you think you could bring a couple of ice packs for Yuuri's head and his wrist? They are hurting him."
The guard didn't say anything back to Victor, but the door to the room opened, and the two skaters heard their handler speak to someone outside the door, then they heard the door close again. A few minutes later, the door opened and someone approached the bed they laid on and sat down to apply the cold packs.
"I am Tasha," the woman told the two, "I am the medic here."
"You were one of the flight attendants," Victor remembered.
"Yes. I am trained to be a field doctor. Yuuri has a concussion from before and I will be watching it. He hasn't shown any signs that the injury is severe, but I'll keep watching to make sure. Do either of you have any other injuries?"
"Yuuri's wrist was also injured," Victor informed her.
"Okay. I am going to unbind your hands. Alek is watching, so do not do anything to anger him…like trying to attack me."
"We won't," Victor promised.
Victor was careful to keep his arms relaxed as their hands were unbound, and the medic handcuffed him to the rail at the head of the bed.
"Which wrist is it?" Tasha asked Yuuri, "Is it the left or the right?"
"The right," Yuuri answered quietly.
"Mmhmm, I do see some swelling there. You must have landed on it when you fell. This cold pack should help. Alek, I want you to remove the ice packs after ten minutes, wait another ten, then apply them. Keep doing this for the next few hours."
Their handler grunted, but gave no other reply.
"I'm going to have to leave you handcuffed to the bed, honey," Tasha said to Victor, "Alek will need to be able to work around Yuuri and you don't want to be in his way."
"It's fine," Victor answered, "Just take care of Yuuri."
"Kat's right," Tasha chuckled, ruffling Victor's hair, "You are a cutie."
Victor's lips tightened, but he gave no reply to the teasing.
"I have to go and check in with the others," Tasha said, rising.
"Was someone else injured?" Victor asked anxiously.
"Hmm, seems that the little tomcat gave his handler some trouble and got punched in the face a couple of times."
"Is he all right?" Victor persisted, trying to sit up, then falling back down as the handcuffs inhibited him, "Did they hurt him badly?"
"Easy there. Don't get so excited. I'm going to check him out now. I'll fix him up."
"Look, just keep him tied up well and don't…"
"Shut up!" Alek snapped.
"But I know Yurio. He won't stop…" Victor began.
"You really don't listen well, do you?" Alek said, drawing back, then backhanding the Russian skater.
Victor gasped in distress and collapsed onto the bed, his head spinning.
"Victor!" Yuuri cried.
"Oh, don't you start too," Tasha complained.
"Kat warned you not to cause trouble," Alek growled, unlocking Victor's handcuffs and throwing the semiconscious man over his shoulder, "Watch that one. He's going to the boss."
"What? Where are you taking Victor?" Yuuri called out anxiously.
"None of your goddamned business!" Alek scolded him, "Be quiet and don't give Tasha any trouble while I'm gone."
"Better do what he says, sweetie," Tasha warned Yuuri.
"But, where's he going with Victor? What are they going to do with him? Will he bring Victor back?"
"Well, the deal is, Victor is the alpha of the group of you. Everyone kind of looks up to him, so if he gets punished, then the others will behave better. Kat will be rough with him, but she won't do anything permanently damaging. She just needs to show the rest of you that she's the leader now. Sit tight. Do what you're told. She's not going to kill him. She just needs to make clear he's not the boss."
"V-victor wasn't trying to…"
"I know, but he pissed off Alek. He's got to learn to be more careful not to do that. Quiet now. Victor will be back soon."
XXXXXXXXXX
Victor laid limply over his captor's shoulder as he was hauled out of the room and carried into the hallway. He realized quickly that his blindfold had shifted, and he was able to see other doors, some of them guarded, as he was carried down the hall. Alek carried him to a larger room, that seemed like a living area. As they entered, he heard Kat make a little sound of surprise, then one of disapproval.
"Causing more trouble already, little ice prince?" the boss said unhappily, "I thought we had an understanding."
"We do," Victor assured Kat, "It's just that I heard Yurio was giving his handler trouble, and he was hurt. I wanted to tell him that all you need to do is to keep him bound and tell everyone not to answer him at all if he shouts at them. He won't mean to cause trouble, but he can't help himself. I was just trying to suggest that, when Alek hit me and practically knocked me out."
"Hmm, looks like he also knocked your blindfold out of position," Kat noted.
Victor's breath caught as the leader of their captors tore his blindfold away, and he came face-to-face with Kat. He was stricken with the leader's face that seemed to have been medically altered to look more catlike and the golden eyes that blinked slowly as they looked back at him.
"I'll bet you already know way more than we wanted you to, don't you, you feisty little thing."
"I don't," Victor said, paling, "I don't know anything."
"I'm not sure if you're telling me the truth or if you're lying," Kat mused, "But, lets hash this out right now, so we don't have any more problems, little ice prince."
Kat nodded to Alek.
"Bring him to the bathroom."
The bigger man dragged the Russian skater to the bathroom and forced him to sit on the closed toilet as Kat partially filled the tub with cold water.
"Oh, I don't think I like this," Victor whispered paling further.
"Nope," Kat snickered, "It sucks sometimes to be top dog. Am I right?"
"You don't have to do this," Victor assured them, "I wasn't trying to make trouble. I was trying to keep it form happening."
"Oh, I get it," Kat assured him, "It's just that this kind of had to happen, so that we can make sure that the others take a lesson from what happens to you. It'd be better if they saw in person, perhaps, but I'm sure word will get around we roughed you up a little, and everyone will know we mean business."
Kat turned off the water and nodded to Victor's handler, who dragged him to the tub and dropped him in, then shoved his head down under the surface. Victor stiffened under his hands, struggling wildly until Kat nodded and the handler lifted him and allowed him a single gasping breath before shoving him down again. He repeated the action several times, until the skater's chest heaved and he was coughing too hard to get a proper breath anymore. Alek dragged Victor out of the tub and dropped him onto the floor at Kat's feet. The leader glared down at him and nudged him with the pointed toe of a stylish ladies boot. Victor laid on the floor, shivering and still struggling to catch his breath.
"Now, I think we understand each other," Kat said approvingly, "You stay quiet and don't show your teeth, and no one gets hurt. Try to assert yourself for any reason, and you will get treated more harshly with each offense. Now, let's get you out of those wet clothes. Unfortunately, I don't have anything else for you to wear, so…until your clothes dry, you'll just have to be naked."
Victor heard a nasty little giggle, then Kat's voice sounded again.
"Go and put him back. Make sure the cherry blossom knows what we did."
"Yes, boss."
"What was that?" Kat asked sharply.
"Yes…Miss Kat."
