To DarkestBeforeDawn: Yeah, I know what you mean XP. Thanks for the review!
To Digitaldreamer: wah! Don't facepalm yet! Maloof's emoing is all part of mah MASTAH PLAN! You'll see ;)
To Fireflyoflight: XD! I am da CLIFFIE QUEEN! MWA HAHAHAHAAAAA! Thanks for the review!
To Kodra: Don't worry, I'm going to develop Quentin and Phoebe a lot more in upcoming chapters. I appreciate your honesty in your analysis of my portrayal of them. As for the MikhailxMaloof thing…totally my fault! I'm sorry! I realize that I didn't elaborate NEARLY enough that Maloof wasn't just their sex toy; but their secret weapon. - - I didn't mean for him to come off just as a man-whore - - hopefully, this chapter will portray that just a little better. Thanks for the review!
To Lyn: How's the move going? YAY KINDEY MUSICAL CHAIRS! XD! I LOVE IT! as for the hospital scene (it's actually Dogen's house); I should have elaborated a little more… I meant for that to be happening a few days after the transplant - - sorry. Depression makes my writing suck. My trip to Russia got canceled that day, so I was ultra depressed, but now, the trip is back on and I've been officially accepted as a student ambassador on the 20 student delegation to Europe this summer, so SQUEE! Hopefully my happy will be an anti-suckie agent in this chapter!
To Zikka-chan: so you have wished it, so shall it be! (waves magic popsickle)
MAGIC!
Chapter 11
Mikhail stared at Maloof. Tears were streaming down the younger boy's face.
"What do you mean, you can't be with me?" Mikhail asked softly. After a moment, a look of realization dawned on him and a sudden meekness overcame his posture.
"Oh…stupid question…of course…I tried to kill you…" Mikhail muttered. "Maloof, I-I know I've done some terrible things…b-but…but please…I-I love you….let me make it up to you! please! Give me another chance, I beg of you…I swear I'll never try to hurt you a--"
"NO!" Maloof cried, turning to face Mikhail. His voice softened.
"No…no, Mikhail…it's not about that. I deserved all of that. It's me who should be begging you to forgive me and take me back…" Maloof said softly. Mikhail cupped Maloof's cheek, making Maloof look him in the eyes.
"You deserve better than me, Mikhail." Maloof whispered.
"Bullshit. You're the only one good enough for me." Mikhail answered softly. He peered deep into Maloof's eyes and began to stroke his cheek with his thumb.
"Beloved…" Mikhail whispered. "Tell me what it is that makes you think that you are so undeserving of my love."
Fresh tears streamed down Maloof's cheeks. He wouldn't meet Mikhail's eyes.
"I'm not the same person that I was back then, Mikhail." Maloof breathed.
"I don't believe that." Mikhail said gently. He leaned closer to Maloof.
"You're still short and scrawny and cute…you still have the same irresistible lips…that sweet voice…and the same beautiful eyes that contain the heavens themselves within their depths." Mikhail said. A light blush rose to Maloof's cheeks. Mikhail trailed his fingers down Maloof's cheek and continued down his neck.
"You are still the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on." Mikhail whispered, gently pressing his lips to Maloof's neck. He felt Maloof shudder and try to pull away as Mikhail's fingers passed down his collar bone.
"No, Mikhail…I'm not." Maloof whimpered. "You wouldn't be saying such things if you saw all of me…"
Mikhail paused.
"What do you mean?" Mikhail asked. Maloof wouldn't meet his eyes. He turned away from Mikhail.
"I-I'm damaged goods, Mikhail." Maloof whispered. "I've lost count of how many people have laid hands on me…"
"In what way?" Mikhail asked hesitantly.
"Whatever way that they wanted…" Maloof confessed with a soft sniffle. He finally looked up into Mikhail's eyes.
"I was their toy, Mikhail. I was their Barbie doll. They controlled everything I did right down to the way I dressed. They made me do their dirty work, they made me their punching bag, and they made me their bitch." Maloof sobbed.
Mikhail stared wide eyed at Maloof for a long moment. He put a hand on Maloof's shoulder.
"Tell me everything." Mikhail said.
TEHGREATDIVIDER
Gloria and Edgar had gone to bed and Quentin had left. Boyd found Fred sitting alone in his office by the fire, fidgeting with a small black box. He appeared to be deep in thought.
Boyd approached him quietly and laid a hand on his shoulder. Fred jumped sharply, nearly dropping the little black box.
"Oh! Boyd!" He cried, blushing deeply and fumbling to hide the little black box. "I-I thought you were still chatting with Edgar…"
"He's tired from the long trip. He went to bed." Boyd said. The two sat in awkward silence for a long moment.
Fred let out a soft sigh.
"Today was supposed to be your big day…what a disaster." Fred said.
"What are you talking about? Today was a great day!" Boyd said.
"I wanted to make this evening all about you…but it didn't work out the way I'd planned, obviously." Fred chuckled.
"Don't worry about it, Fred. I had a great time tonight. Almost all my closest friends are here; and that's plenty for me." Boyd said. Fred smirked.
"Well, I got you a present anyway." He chuckled, handing Boyd the black box. "I was planning to give it to you at the café, but, well…you know how that turned out."
"Fred, you didn't have to get me anything." Boyd said.
"But I did, because you deserve it." Fred said.
"Just open the damn box, Boyd!" Fred snapped playfully before Boyd could speak again. Boyd chuckled and opened the box.
His jaw went slack and his eyes widened as he peered into the box.
"Fred…this is…" Boyd whispered.
Inside the box was a beautiful gold pocket watch with "Officer Boyd Cooper" inscribed on its cover.
"You had to have ordered this weeks in advance…" Boyd whispered. He looked up at Fred with a meaningful expression.
"I knew you'd pass the test, Boyd. I knew you'd become a police officer. I never had any doubts. None of us ever had any doubts." Fred said. Boyd was speechless for the longest time.
"Thank you, Fred." Boyd said softly at last. Fred smiled at Boyd. Their eyes met and Boyd couldn't help but smile too. After a long moment, they both looked away, blushing.
For a while, they sat in silence, listening to the crackle of the fireplace.
Boyd turned the gold watch over in his hands, examining its fine craftsmanship.
It touched Boyd to his soul knowing that his friends thought so highly in him. They had more confidence in him than he had in himself. Boyd didn't know what he did to deserve such friends, but he thanked his lucky stars that they were there.
Gloria; highly opinionated and a bit ignorant and big headed; but she could surprise you with her advice at times. Her words sometimes seemed to hold a deeper, hidden message that Boyd wasn't certain even she was aware of.
Edgar; calm, quiet, observant, and fiercely loyal; he seemed to know just what to say at just the right time.
Sheegor; Boyd missed her presence. She was sweet, motherly, and wise. Her innocence and cheerfulness could brighten any day.
Then, there was Fred.
Boyd couldn't imagine where he'd be without Fred. There were countless different words Boyd could think of to describe him; but not a single one good enough to do him justice.
After the escape from Thorny Towers, Sheegor found a home back at Whispering Rock working as Sasha's lab assistant. Gloria had a choice of one of her several mansions. Fred had the Bonaparte Estate that had been left to him after the deaths of his parents. Edgar and Boyd didn't really have a place to go.
When Fred heard about it, he insisted on taking Boyd and Edgar in without a moments hesitation.
With Edgar being an artist in France, his career took off like a bullet. He had a place of his own in less than six months.
Boyd, having considerably less talent, took a job as a postal worker. After a year and a half, he finally earned enough money to get an apartment.
Fred had told him that he was welcome to stay as long as he wished. There was plenty of room and he enjoyed Boyd's company.
Fred had a beautiful, spacious home and was very enjoyable to be around. Boyd loved living with Fred, but living with Fred made Boyd very depressed.
He felt like he couldn't take care of himself. Boyd knew that Fred honestly never saw Boyd as a burden, but Boyd saw himself as one.
Sheegor was earning her keep at Whispering Rock. When she wasn't helping Sasha in the lab, she was looking after the children. She even took some night classes as the Shaky Claim Community College and became a certified nurse; which was a real asset to Whispering Rock.
Gloria and Fred, and, as soon as he could, Edgar were using their fame and fortune to fund hospitals and schools and charities. Fred was curing people of their insecurities and was one of the foremost powers in Sasha's rebellion.
Boyd wasn't doing anything important. He wasn't helping sick and injured children or helping to revolutionize the way that people think about the human mind. He wasn't acting as a role model to millions of people or creating a beautiful work of art. He wasn't saving people from themselves. Even in the rebellion, he didn't really do anything.
He just delivered the mail.
He felt so inferior. It just ate away at him. He was living off of Fred's hospitality. Getting his own place helped, but Boyd was still depressed.
Then, Razputin died.
The childs' death coveted the entire world in anguish. Such a promising, bright, exuberant young star; extinguished before its time.
Raz's death really hit Fred hard. He was constantly fussing over Boyd, making sure that Boyd's grief didn't cause him to neglect his health when Fred was the one neglecting HIS health. Fred had literally gotten sick from grief and Boyd ended up basically moving back in with him to take care of him for about a month.
It was just after Raz's death that Lerio really started coming into play. He was a young man with big ideas for the agency and was planning to run for Grand Head. When Raz died, he immediately put the blame on Truman Zanotto for allowing a child into the ranks in the first place.
He accused Sasha of being a dog who would do anything to please his master and called Milla weak for not opposing Raz's induction into the Psychonauts. He caused people to be suspicious of Milla and Sasha by pointing out Morry's past offence and the fact that they listened to an old kook like Ford Cruller.
That bastard even called Raz's father a glory hound who didn't really care for his child. He tried to press charges on them all for killing Raz!
It was not only a huge blow to the emotions of Truman, Ford, Morry, Sasha, Milla, and Raz's father; but an enormous blow to their careers as well.
Raz's father was attacked several times by Lerio's angry followers. Milla was nearly raped (thank god Sasha found her in time); there were several assassination attempts uncovered against Truman, Morry's car was vandalized, and a particularly nasty group of Lerio's supporters managed to corner Sasha and beat him to the brink of consciousness.
They were all so deeply depressed. They seemed so distant. They didn't fight back. That was why Sasha had gotten beaten up. He didn't fight back. Lerio had defeated him.
Fred had stood up for them. He had become pretty famous pretty fast helping the Psychonauts with their toughest mental patients and being close friends with the now late Agent Aquato; not to mention his rather interesting back story.
Fred's support got three of his windows shattered, a heap of threatening letters, his garden set on fire, and nearly got him hit by a car.
It was then that Boyd made his decision.
He may not have money or fame or brains or talent like his friends did; but Boyd had a strong sense of justice.
Boyd never told anyone about his real reason behind wanting to get back into law enforcement.
He did it because he wanted to make a difference like his friends were. He wanted to touch lives.
He wanted to protect his friends so that they could keep up their work.
"Boyd?" Fred inquired softly. Boyd's attention promptly snapped to Fred.
"You're brooding could give Sasha a run for his money." Fred teased gently. "What's on your mind?"
Boyd smiled slightly. Fred knew him too well.
"It's just…it scares the hell out of me that you were alone with Lerio today…" Boyd said. Fred raised an eyebrow at Boyd.
"Anything could have happened to you. Lerio is one sly, sneaky, powerful bastard. He could have easily hurt you or threatened you…" Boyd trailed off and went pale. He turned to face Fred quickly, taking Fred's hands in his own with a fearful expression.
"H-he didn't do anything like that to you, did he? Did he threaten you or get rough with you?" Boyd asked worriedly. Fred chuckled.
"No, Boyd. Lerio didn't manhandle me or threaten me." Fred said.
"You'd tell me if he did, right? Because you know, I would never let him hurt you…" Boyd said. He promptly shut his mouth and stared into Fred's eyes, blushing. Fred looked a little surprised and was blushing as well. After an awkward moment, they both looked away.
"Of course I'd tell you, Boyd. He doesn't scare me." Fred murmured.
"Liar." Boyd snorted with a smirk.
"What? I'm not!" Fred said. He sighed. "Okay, so he creeps me out a little."
"Who doesn't he creep out?" Boyd chuckled.
TEHGREATDIVIDER
Maloof was sobbing softly into his hands.
"Maloof…it does not matter to me that you are not a virgin. I love you." Mikhail said.
"I was their whore, Mikhail! You don't know what kind of diseases I might have!" Maloof sobbed. "You don't know how many horrible things I've done! You don't know how many innocent people I've hurt and killed! How many lives I've ruined! How many crimes I've commited!"
He looked up at Mikhail, his expression angry.
"How can you be like this?! How can you just want to take me back after everything I did to you!?" Maloof snapped. Mikhail caressed his cheek.
"The same way you still want me after all I've done to you." Mikhail whispered. He started stroking Maloof's cheek, gently wiping the smaller psychic's tears away.
"Besides…you didn't want to do all those things to me. You did them to protect me." Mikhail said. He smiled slightly. "Why won't you just admit that you want to be with me just as much as I want to be with you?"
"I'm not denying that, Mikhail." Maloof said softly. He reached up and caressed Mikhail's cheek.
"I just don't want to hurt you any more." Maloof said.
"Rejecting me is the biggest pain you could ever inflict upon me." Mikhail said. Maloof winced and looked away.
"Why won't you just leave me alone?" Maloof whispered.
"Because neither of us wants me to leave you alone." Mikhail said. "You're not going to hurt me, Maloof."
"Mikhail, I'm a sick, twisted, disease ridden piece of filth!" Maloof said. He turned away from Mikhail. "A-and…I'm addicted to morphine."
Mikhail froze.
"I will hurt you, Mikhail. All drug addicts end up hurting the people they care about." Maloof said.
He and Mikhail both jumped when they heard a loud, irritated growl from the next room. They heard the rustling of sheets and heavy footsteps coming into the room.
Benny stumbled into the room, his arm bleeding slightly from where he had ripped out his IV in rage. He stormed up to Maloof, never breaking eye contact. He seized Maloof's collar.
"Now you listen here: I already owe you a beating for lying to me about the drugs. Ever since I found you two years ago, I ain't done nothin' but try to help you." Benny hissed.
"Don't give me this bullshit about 'I can't be with you, Mikhail!'. Ever since I found out that he was trying to kill you, I've frankly though of Mikhail as a total bastard; but I know that you love him; so I gave him one of my fucking kidneys so that he'd live and you two could be happy!" Benny growled.
"So you are going to quit your bitching and just be happy with him if I have to beat it into your curly head, god damn it!" Benny roared.
Maloof stared at him wide eyed, his mouth open slightly. Benny gave him a stiff shake.
"And don't you try to argue with me, because if you do, injured or not, so help me god, I will punch your fucking lights out!" Benny bellowed. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!?!?!"
With tears streaming down his cheeks, Maloof gave a weak nod. Seconds later, he threw his arms around Benny's neck. Benny froze in shock.
The one thing he'd dreamed of for two years came true when he felt an impossibly soft moist warmth against his lips; only he'd dreamed of kissing Maloof; not Maloof kissing him.
Maloof drew back slowly, smiling like he used to.
"Thank you, Benny." He said softly.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Sorry it was short! I've been uber busy lately!
I've got 3 new pictures on my deviantart gallery if anyone wants to check them out.
One gawts chibi Maloof drawing a picture while chibi D'art watches and Chibi Mikhail wrestles a bear in the background, one of them is a picture of Raz in the forest on a foggy night lighting his path with his levitation ball, and the last one is a poorly colored but fairly funny picture of Sasha hauling Milla up into a helicopter by her belt with Raz slung over his shoulder while Sasha screams "GET IN TEH CHOPPAH!" and Milla and Raz have these totally "WTF!?!?!OMGTATERTOTS!ONE1#$I!?!?" expressions on their faces.
If you wanna check it out, my deviantart username is deserthaze.
That is all!
Oh wait…PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!
THAT is all XD!