Authors Note: Thanks to Gex-1539 for proofing this.
Disclaimer: Halo, Sangheili, Rtas, Thel/Arbiter and other canon characters belong to Bungie Studios/343 Industries. However, Original Characters, like Zeno, belong to me.
Chapter 16: Rescue
Finally the meeting was over and Zeno was grateful more than ever to be leaving. For most of the meeting he had this nagging feeling in the back of his mind, a feeling that something was wrong. He realized what it was when he stepped out of the conference room: he hadn't heard a word from Sani since he left this morning.
It wasn't like him: Sani usually kept him updated on what was going on when they weren't together. He got a bad feeling about this. "Sesai," he called out. "Has there been any sign of Sani lately?"
"Aide Sani was last seen walking into his former residence at approximately 0805, Ambassador," Sesai replied. "He has not been observed walking out again."
Must be a really long discussion, he thought, he hoped. However, his instincts were telling him this could not be the case. This was especially so when he spotted Quartermaster Brown himself passing by.
"Quartermaster!" Zeno called out. "Have you seen Sani?"
"Good day, Ambassador," the Quartermaster said. "No, I have not. Is there a problem?"
Zeno's hearts started to sink. "Did you send Sani a message about needing to see him at his old apartment today?"
"Heavens no, there was no need. That boy left the place in better condition than most of my tenants."
Zeno was starting to panic now. "The message was traced back to your office…was there any sign of tampering on your equipment?"
"No…though there was an Elite that came in late last night that was asking about Sani. Big one, about your height, Ambassador, and wearing stealth armor." There was a brief pause as the man's eyes went wide. "Gods! It had to have been him! I had leave him alone in the office for a few minutes to receive a shipment…and he left almost immediately after I returned. But why would he…."
"It was Runi…," Zeno said, a mix of anger and fear in his voice. "Has to be…have you changed the code on the door to that apartment yet?"
"Not yet, though I was planning to do that today."
"Come with me," Zeno said grabbing the man's wrist before taking off in a full sprint. "I may need you to unlock the door."
"Whoa...whoa…whoa Ambassador! I can't run as fast as you!"
"Then give me the damn code!" Zeno growled. "The more time we waste…."
"Alright, alright!" The man rattled off the code which Zeno quickly committed to memory.
"Sesai! Scranble the security and medical teams and send them to Sani's old apartment!" he cried as released the quartermaster and took off at full speed. If he was right, Runi has had hours to do whatever he wanted to Sani. Zeno prayed Sani still lived….
Meanwhile…
Sani groaned as he regained consciousness once more. A part of him held the vain hope that what he had been through was nothing more than a bad dream, but as his senses fed him information, he realized his hope was vain indeed. He was still handcuffed to the bed nude, though now his whole body ached from the beating and he could smell blood from a few wounds Runi had opened up on his hide.
How long was I out this time? he wondered. Apparently long enough for Runi to redress himself and leave, for he saw no sign of him or his armor. But he could be cloaked…waiting for me to wake up again…, he thought with a shiver.
He had been knocked out this time due to frustration on Runi's part he suspected. All because he refused to give in to Runi's demands, refused to allow him to condition him to love only him. It had been hard though…so hard. Sani had to keep telling himself why he had to keep resisting, reminding himself that he had someone that really cared about him, whom may be looking for him by now. Someone that will kick Runi's ass from one end of the station to the other once he found out about this.
But will he still want me? he thought, doubt creeping into his mind. I did fall for this…after all. No! Only way Zeno may reject me is if I give in completely.
Sani had no idea though how long he had been enduring this torture: Zeno may still be stuck in that meeting for all he knew. Runi obviously wasn't here, otherwise he likely would have pounced on him again by now: still he could come back at any moment. Come back, to start the process all over again. No, I must…I must find a way to escape, he decided. He studied the chains of the cuffs, trying to determine what type of metal they were made from and if there was any weak links. A couple of the links on the one on his right hand did look poorly welded, so maybe he can pull himself free. So he maneuvered his hand so he could grip the cuff around that wrist and started to pull.
He did not have much leverage working for him here, however, having to rely more on brute strength. He thought he saw one of the links start to give, but he didn't have enough force to break it completely. Thinking a moment, he remembered that his legs were not tied down, though it hurt so much to move them due to how badly Runi ravaged his ass. With a lot of effort he was able to bring them forward and brace his feet against the headboard. Even with the strength in his legs, it took all his strength to break the chain. Blood now seeped from under the part of the cuff that was still clamped around his wrist, where the metal had bit into his hide during the effort, but he didn't care: he was one step closer to freedom.
Sani paused for a moment to catch his breath, but not for too long. He started pulling on the other chain. But even with both arms and legs, this one would not give. Getting desperate, he started looking around for anything he could use to weaken it, for the headboard itself he could tell was too strong for him to break in his current state. Then he spotted something on the dresser next to the bed: a plasma pistol. It had to be Runi's and Sani shuddered at the thought of what Runi intended to do to him with that. He had to stretch a bit to reach it, but after a moment he just barely managed to grab it. Good, there was plenty of charge in it, so he turned it on the remaining chain and fired.
The metal chain was no match for the hot plasma, the plasma severing the chain with only a couple of shots. He was free of his bonds, now he had to get out of this place. Sani got off the bed and onto his feet, finding his legs a bit shaky.
A sound at the door made him stop in his tracks, fear and dread filling his hearts. Runi…it had to be Runi coming back. But wait…He still had the plasma pistol. No…no not again, never again…. Sani thought as he pointed the weapon at the door. I will kill you before you hurt me again!
When the door opened, he fired….
Nearly there, hold on Sani! Zeno thought, ignoring the burning feeling in his lungs as he ran. Please hang on!
-Ambassador, my sensors detected sounds of weapons fire in the vicinity of Sani's apartment,- Sesai informed him via his ear piece.
No, no, no! Zeno thought, thinking the worse. "Where is that security team!"
-It will take several minutes more before they arrive, Ambassador,- Sesai said regretfully. –The same applies to the medical team.-
"Dammit! Those lazy asses need to work on their response times!"
-Shall I file an official complaint to the appropriate offices on your behalf, Ambassador?-
"No, I will do that myself when this is over," Zeno snarled as he skidded around a corner. A few seconds later he was at the right apartment door and he hastily typed in the access code, only for it to not work. Come on…come on! he thought, praying he just fat fingered it and not that Runi somehow changed the code. After the third attempt the door finally opened. Before he could rush in though, he saw the familiar glow of a plasma pistol aimed right at him. Shit! Zeno dived to one side as the weapon fired, grazing his upper right arm.
"You're not going to hurt me anymore! You hear me!" Sani's voice screamed from within the apartment.
Zeno immediately felt relief that Sani was alive, but that relief was short lived when he realized Sani must have been pushed to his breaking point to react like this. "Sani! It is me, Zeno!" Zeno called back, hoping his voice would be enough to snap Sani out of it.
There was silence and Zeno risked peeking inside, but he did not like what he saw. Sani was standing in the middle of the room, shaking badly. He was covered in bruises and had a number of open wounds and around his wrists were the remains of handcuffs. Sani was still aiming the plasma pistol toward the door, but it looked like all the will to fire it had drained from him.
"Sani…," Zeno cautiously stepped into the room, his hands up. "It is alright…it is me…."
"Z-Zen-Zeno…?" Sani said, the weapon finally falling out of his hands. "Oh gods…Oh gods I shot you!"
"It is OK," Zeno said, quickly closing the distance between them before wrapping his arms around him in an embrace. "I understand…It is not your fault…."
"But it is!" Sani protested as he sobbed into Zeno's chest. "I feel for it! I…."
Zeno silenced him with a kiss. "The only one to blame here is Runi," Zeno told him, anger starting to build up. "And he will pay for this, dearly. But first, let us get you to the infirm to check you over, the medical team should be here at any…."
"He is not going anywhere," a new voice growled.
Zeno whipped around to see a stealth armored Sangheili in the threshold, the voice telling him it was Runi. "I do not believe you have clearance to use that kind of armor," Zeno growled lowly, piecing together how Runi managed to pull this off. "Let me guess: Ruro gave you the access codes to the armory before Rtas managed to change them all." He only got a dark chuckle in response, which was enough to confirm his suspicions. "I will not let you touch Sani again…."
"If I were you, ambassador, I would step aside so I can claim what is mine," Runi snarled.
"The only one Sani belongs to is himself," Zeno retorted.
"And you think you can protect him? You have done a poor job at protecting him so far." Runi nodded toward Sani, whom shrank away. "Let me take the burden of taking care of this worthless worm for you."
"I care for him more than you ever did," Zeno growled, his anger rising. "I will give my life to protect him if I must."
"You do not deserve him!" Runi snapped. "And if I have to kill you to take what is mine, then so be it!" Runi then added in coy tone. "And do not worry about Sani when you are dead, I will take good care of him. He will be a like a perfect little slave…."
Zeno's mind darkened. He recalled everything Sani told him what Runi did to him and what he obviously recently just did to him. Behind him, he could feel Sani shaking in fear, both memory to what he had been through and what he would continue to go through should Runi get his hands on him again. This only served to darken his mind even more, his vision narrowing more and more until he only saw Runi in a purple haze….
Though Zeno was right here beside him, Sani only felt fear, not confidence. From what he could see, Runi had the advantage: not only was the ambassador armor not designed for combat, but Runi had active camo, not to mention the possibility that armor having a wrist blade. If that was the case, there was a chance Zeno may lose this confrontation, possibility even his life and Runi could do anything he wanted.
Rrrr-whump-clik
Everything seemed to stop at that sound. Sani had never personally heard such a sound before, but he knew what it was on an instinctual level: if you value your life, leave now. Runi knew it as well, for he had stopped in his approach, even took a step back as if intimidated, so it couldn't have been him to create the sound and Sani knew he didn't produce it. He looked up at the only other person in the room that could have made it and his hearts froze.
Zeno was on the brink of pure rage. His mandibles hung open, completely exposed, his head was low, and his back and shoulders arched. The most telling sign though was his eyes: the pupils were barely visible as they were nothing more than razor thin slits. There was even a bit of drool starting to trickle down one of his mandibles. He was a frightening sight to behold.
Runi looked hesitant, though it was hard to tell due to the air tight helmet he was wearing. Then, he seemed to get some resolve and started to approach again, his own posture aggressive. Sani heard a deep growl deep within Zeno's chest, followed by the low bass of a large amount of air being expelled at once, concluded by a sharp click from the lower mandibles clicking together. A second warning: Zeno was being very generous, for it is unusual for someone to get two warnings of this nature.
The second warning though seem to have even less effect on Runi, whom did a poor imitation of the warning himself before pressing forward. Sani watched as Zeno's eyes narrowed to slits…
…then Zeno exploded.
A/N: *passes around popcorn*