Chapter 7: Comforts in Dark Places
A concerned Otabek sat with his arms around Yurio, who groaned and burrowed into his boyfriend's shoulder, his face scrunched up and unnaturally flushed.
"Oh god, I feel awful," Yurio managed, his fingers clenching the other skater's thin robe, "though it's not surprising with the way they keep us locked up and feed us garbage instead of food."
"It would be better if they at least let us move around," Otabek reflected, "It suggests that things are not going as our captors had expected."
"What?" Yurio grunted, "What do you mean by that? Things haven't gone how they expected? How do you mean?"
"I mean that if things were going as expected, we wouldn't need to be cooped up for long. Obviously, we are being held for ransom. They would give our families a time limit to provide money to pay our captors. Knowing that, the longer we are here, the more likely something will go wrong, they would want to get the transaction done fairly quickly."
Otabek felt a hard shiver go through his lover's slim body.
"Are you feeling worse?" he asked worriedly.
Yurio drew in a shuddering breath.
"I'm worried about Grandpa," he confessed softly, "He's pretty old now and his heart is weak. It gives him trouble, especially when he's stressed. I can imagine me being taken like this has him really anxious."
"Yeah," Otabek agreed, caressing the slighter man's hands, "but from what I know from the times I've met him, I think he's strong like you on the inside. He may be stressed out, but he knows that you are valuable to these people, being a top skater for Russia."
"At least he has access to my money," Yurio sighed, "I put him on my accounts so he could buy things easily when he needs them."
"You take good care of your grandpa," the elder man praised him, kissing him on the cheek, "Now, take good care of yourself so that you'll go home safely to him, okay?"
The two paused, looking up warily as the door to their room opened, then muted sounds of surprise escaped them as Mila entered the room. The guard at the door scowled at her, but gave her a little nod and walked out, leaving the three alone.
"Mila!" Yurio exclaimed.
"You're all right," Otabek sighed, "That's a relief."
"I'm fine," she assured them, sitting down on the bed and leaning towards Yurio to slip a thermometer into his mouth, "The medic needed an extra hand, so I'm helping her."
"I'm surprised they let you in here and that guard left," Yurio observed, "They've been watching us like hawks this whole time."
"Well, right now, they're focused on something else."
Otabek noticed the anxious look in their friend's eyes and slipped a hand into hers.
"What is it?" he asked, lowering his voice, "What's happened?"
"You know that man who was our pilot?"
"Yeah," the two men acknowledged.
"Khipa," Otabek added.
Mila nodded and leaned closer.
"When he left here, he set up something to make it look like there was a plane crash, and he had rescued Georgi from the wreckage."
"You know this for sure?" Otabek asked.
"Yes," Mila affirmed, "Some information, I got from listening carefully and some came from Tasha, the medic. She's a fan of mine and she's been kind of nice to me."
"You sure she's not messing with you?" Yurio asked skeptically, "She could be up to something."
"I know not to trust her," Mila insisted, "so I've been listening as I helped her too. Anyway, Khipa was supposed to report back here after setting up the crash story and helping their accomplices with the ransom demands."
"They really had this well thought out," Otabek observed.
"Except that after Khipa talked to the police, he disappeared with a lot of money that was being used to get certain police on their side. He didn't get far, though, before others from this group caught up with him."
Otabek and Yurio exchanged worried glances.
"What happened?" Yurio prompted her.
"Khipa was dragged back here…and Kat had him beaten badly. She was out of control, screaming at him because without the inside help, she won't know anymore what the police do, and what they are planning. I heard her say that we are one step away from another failure. One more problem and they would have to just kill all of us and make it look like we really died in a crash."
"Shit," Yurio breathed hoarsely.
"That's definitely not good."
"Then, Kat cut Khipa's throat and watched him bleed to death in front of her."
"You saw this?" Otabek asked.
Mila shivered.
"Tasha and I cleaned up the blood after, and I saw his body being dragged away. We have to be really careful not to get Kat angry. She's awfully dangerous."
"Mental," Yurio agreed.
Mila bit nervously at her lips and retrieved the thermometer.
"You're feverish, but it's not too bad," she told Yurio, "How is your stomach?"
"It's hurting pretty bad," the young man admitted, "but I'm managing."
"Okay, Tasha gave me some medicine you can take," Mila said, fishing around in the medical bag she'd been carrying.
"Have you been able to see Chris, or Victor and Yuuri?" asked Otabek.
"Not yet," Mila answered.
A little smile came to her lips and a tiny laugh escaped her.
"Although, I did hear that Chris tried to seduce his guard before he knew that Kat was observing him."
"Oh my god," Yurio groaned, "What happened to the fool? Did he get a cold dunking like Victor did?"
"No," Mila snickered, "he got a spanking."
The door opened and their guard returned to the room, taking up a position inside and focusing on Mila.
"Tasha wants your help bandaging some chafing wounds on the Swiss skater's wrists and ankles."
Mila stood and turned back to give her friends an encouraging smile.
"Be good, okay?" she sighed, "Stay out of trouble so that we can all go home soon."
"Right," Yurio answered, glancing at the guard.
"You be careful," Otabek warned her.
"I will," Mila promised before heading out the door.
Yurio laid down with Otabek curled protectively around him.
"This could get really bad," Yurio whispered.
"It'll be okay," Otabek whispered back, lacing their fingers together, "We're going to get out of this alive and go home to our families."
"Yeah," Yurio agreed, his heart thumping painfully in his chest, "we will."
XXXXXXXXXX
Victor hugged Yuuri tightly, running shaky fingers through his lover's hair and placing gentle kisses on his sweaty forehead and flushed cheeks.
"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, solnyshko! I wanted to stop her, but to do anything would only have made her angry and she would have hurt you more."
Yuuri shivered under Victor's hands and managed a little nod.
"I-It's okay. I know. I just…hate how it felt, having someone else besides you touch me that way," he confessed softly, "It was more than just embarrassing. It was humiliating!"
"Shh," Victor soothed him, tracing light kisses along his partner's neck, "she's gone for now. Try not to think about it."
Yuuri shivered again and burrowed deeper into Victor's arms.
"She's going to come back."
"I know. Try not to think about that right now. We need to make the most of the time we have alone."
Yuuri's already intense scowl deepened.
"Victor!" he hissed, keeping his voice lowered as he expected the room was being monitored, "This really isn't the time for…!"
"That's not what I meant, solnyshko, I promise," Victor reassured him.
He paused and gave his lover a cheeky little smirk.
"Although, I'll be glad to take you up on that when we're safe at home, of course."
"Oh my god, can you stop?"
Yuuri went quiet, leaning into Victor's calming embrace and breathing in his lover's familiar scent.
"I'm sorry," Victor sighed, nuzzling against his cheek, "I hate that she touched you too."
"Well, it must not have been easy to watch either," Yuuri sympathized.
"Don't you dare feel sorry for me," Victor chided him, lacing their fingers together.
"Why not?" Yuuri whispered sadly, "She almost killed you, Victor. More than once. She had you nearly drowned and let you get so sick, then she held a gun to your head when I freaked out."
"She did do all of those things," Victor agreed, "and I think you know it's more than just that she is being cruel."
Yuuri's unhappy expression roiled with instant confusion.
"You're not actually sympathizing with her?" he mused, "Victor, Kat is a monster!"
"True. Kat is a monster now. She wasn't always."
"I don't think it matters what she used to be or what happened!" Yuuri snapped, "Tell me you're not going and making excuses for her!"
"No," Victor assured him, nuzzling his earlobe, "not excuses. I am as angry as you are about the cruelty that Kat has shown to us, but don't you see that if we become distracted with our anger, our desire for revenge, we will only be making the same mistake Kat did. With every step we take over that line, we will become more and more like her. Worse than that, if we are focused on revenge, we could mess up our only chance to get out of this place and go home!"
Yuuri went quiet for a time, just resting in his lover's arms and thinking. Victor continued to stroke his hair and face tenderly, kissing him on the earlobe and cheek.
"You're right," he said finally, somberly accepting a warm kiss on the mouth, "I'll be careful, but I'm still angry."
"I know, but…"
Victor broke off, stiffening and pulling Yuuri close as the door opened and Kat stepped into the room. Ice filled his veins at the smoky fury in her narrowed eyes. She paused at the door, closing her eyes for a second and taking a hissing breath. Victor started to speak, then froze, staring at a splash of blood on their captor's hand.
Oh god!
Whose?
His heart began to pound in his chest and he heard Yuuri's voice sounding garbled and distant.
"Victor. Victor, don't freak out, okay? I've got you."
He clung to Yuuri's arms, shaking all over as Kat turned and walked into the bathroom. The sound of running water began, then ended a few second later, and Kat returned to the room and stood in front of the bed, glaring down at them. Victor's jaw clenched and tears filled the corners of his eyes.
"Wh-who?" he managed in a rough whisper.
"Don't worry about it," Kat answered in an eerily calm voice, "Just behave and you won't be next."
A tear broke free and rolled down the Russian skater's face.
"You…you're not even going to tell us…are you?" he stammered brokenly.
Kat's expression shifted suddenly to one of complete fascination and she reached down to capture the tear as it clung to Victor's fine jaw.
"So," she whispered, "the ice prince melts. You really do care, don't you?"
Victor paled and shrank back against Yuuri as their captor curved a palm around his damp cheek and pressed her lips to his for a moment.
"Sorry. I have to keep the advantage."
"How can you be so cruel?" Yuuri asked in a low, angry voice, holding Victor tightly against his naked chest, "I know that people have been cruel to you in the past, but you know Victor well enough to know he's not like that."
"Yuuri," Victor said in a shaking voice, "be quiet."
"Yes," Kat purred, petting Victor' hair gently, "if you want to live and you don't want there to be any more needless deaths, you'll help me keep them quiet, won't you, little ice prince?"
"Just please, tell me who you…" Victor pleaded, keeping his wet eyes lowered.
Kat brought sneering lips close to Victor's ear, but whispered her answer just loud enough for Yuuri to hear too.
"The Swiss skater, Chris. He tried to escape, so I gave him a permanent escape…from living."
She stepped back out of range as Victor's blue-green eyes blazed and he tore himself from Yuuri's arms and launched himself at her with a feral howl. The ankle cuff stopped him short of reaching her and left him collapsed over the edge of the bed, tearing at the floor with his hands as he worked to recover himself.
"Victor!" Yuuri exclaimed, helping him back onto the bed and hugging him as the Russian dissolved into hard, silent sobs.
Kat glared icily at the two and stalked out the door, shutting it loudly behind her. Yuuri sighed in relief and rubbed his distraught partner's back soothingly.
"It's gonna be okay, all right?" he said reassuringly, "She was probably just saying that to upset you."
"Wh-why would she lie about that?" Victor managed softly, "Sh-she…"
"Shh, she was obviously angry when she came in here. She took it out on you. I'm sure Chris is fine."
"But what if he's…not?"
Yuuri took a steadying breath.
"Whether he is or not, we have to stay calm. If he's…if he's gone, then we can't help him, and if he's still alive, then we have to keep our heads and not get into any more trouble with these people. Kat is deranged and it seems like things aren't going well. After all, killing hostages is a last resort, and even if it was one of their own people she killed, it's not good if she's slaughtering her own partners."
"R-right," Victor agreed, loosing an unsteady breath and resting against Yuuri, "Sorry, Yuuri. I just…Chris and I have been friends for a really long time."
"I know you're very worried about him."
"But, you're right that we need to stay focused."
"Still, I know that if someone threatened my friend, Phichit, like that, I'd probably react the way you did. You have a really good heart, Victor. That's why I love you so much."
"I love you too," Victor sighed, looking up into Yuuri's eyes.
A moment later, his breath caught at what he saw there. Yuuri leaned in close, whispering into his ear.
"Don't say anything."
"I won't," Victor promised, "Just…don't do anything dangerous, okay?"
"I won't. I'm still not seeing perfectly, but I am seeing well enough to maybe learn something we're not supposed to know. We just have to find a way to use that to our advantage."
The two men stiffened and silenced as the door opened and Mila walked into the room alongside Tasha. Mila took one look at the two men on the bed and her eyes filled with concern.
"Victor! Yuuri!" she exclaimed, "What happened? Are you hurt?"
"We're okay," Yuuri answered, squeezing Victor's hand, "but we need to know, is…everyone else still all right?"
Mila exchanged glances with Tasha, who nodded briefly and sat down on the bed, beginning to examine fresh bruises on Victor's shoulder and side.
"Everyone's all right. Georgi is home safe."
"He is?" Yuuri exclaimed, "That's good."
"Yes. He was knocked out so the pilot could use him to fake the plane crash, but he's fine. I just checked on Otabek and Yuri and they are fine except Yuri has a stomach ache. It's not serious. I saw Chris too, and…"
"You saw Chris? Is he okay?" Victor asked urgently, "Kat told us that she killed him."
"Chris is fine," Mila assured him, glancing at Tasha again.
Tasha drew in a tight breath.
"Kat is very angry right now," she reasoned, "If she was being deliberately cruel when you were behaving, then she is probably reacting to that anger. She may not have killed your friend, but she did kill someone, which means all of you have to be extremely cautious. The next few hours are going to be critical. You need to be quiet and obey your guards to the letter."
"We will," Yuuri promised, resting his head on Victor's shoulder, "We just want for all of us to get home safely."
"I want that too," Tasha confessed more softly, glancing at Mila, "I'm sorry that you had to be endangered. I truly hope that after this is over, I can convince Kat to leave the country and we can go somewhere and not live this kind of life anymore."
"Well, I hope you understand if I want for all of you to go to prison, where criminals like you belong," Yuuri said bitterly.
Tasha gave him a look of amusement, then glanced at Victor, whose hands had tightened on his angry partner's.
"I won't take it personally," she chuckled, "but I wouldn't be so eager to share that thought with Kat. She is more dangerous while things are in transition. You should keep those thoughts to yourself while she is around."
"Right," Yuuri said more calmly.
The four looked up at the door as Kat entered, wearing a calmer expression. She met Tasha's eyes appraisingly.
"Are all of the hostages all right?" she asked, giving Victor a meaningful look.
The Russian man looked back at her silently, his expression carefully controlled.
"They are fine," Tasha assured her, "Mila has been helpful in looking after them."
"Good, bring her and come, then. One of the lookouts has some signs of frostbite."
"Ah, the storm got pretty bad," Tasha acknowledged, "Come now, Miss Mila."
She glanced back at Victor and Yuuri.
"You two stay out of trouble."
"I think we've had all of the trouble we can handle," Yuuri sighed, stroking Victor's hair, "Don't worry, we won't cause any trouble. We just want to go home."
"Good boy," Tasha said approvingly, following Mila and Kat out of the room.
When they were alone again, Yuuri turned his head away from the recording device in the room and kissed Victor on the cheek.
"Are you okay now? Now that we know Chris is really all right?"
"Yes," Victor sighed wearily, "I'm okay. Thank you, Yuuri. I really lost it there for a minute when I thought he was dead."
"It was a cruel thing to do," Yuuri acknowledged, "but it's okay now. Try to rest. It sounds like our families are trying to cooperate. We're cooperating. If we just don't give them a reason to hurt us, we'll all get home safely."
"Oh Yuuri," Victor answered in a shaky voice, "I hope that's true."
In a nearby room, Tasha and Kat left Mila at the side of the resting lookout and they stood in the hallway outside the door.
"Did word come from our eyes in Saint Petersburg?" Tasha asked, slipping her arms around her partner in crime and kissing her, "Have they agreed to our terms?"
Kat nodded.
"We have agreement with all but the authorities in Japan. It's taking a bit longer there, but I'm sure it will get worked out. Yuuri Katsuki's family was willing to sell their inn and pay us directly if the authorities refused to allow the Japanese Skating Federation to pay."
"Well, they'd better pay soon," Tasha said, her eyes darkening, "or we'll probably have to kill Victor too, seeing as losing his sweet lover would probably be too much for him to take. It would be a mercy killing, da?"
Kat giggled and met her for another steamy kiss.
"You'd better be careful," she warned Tasha, "or someone may realize who's really in control here."
"Not to worry," Tasha laughed, "I have that well in hand."
"I'm sure you do."
