The Five Times Valek KO'ed Yelena

Part 4:

Yay! A potato! Not really.

This idea goes to the wonderful and awesome Gwidlet.

Valek stared adoringly down at Yelena, guilt plaguing him. It had only been a few hours since the… incident at the library, but she still wasn't awake. Alarming thoughts raced through his head – what if he knocks her out again? What if she realises that he, Valek, has been knocking her out? What if he does something worse than knock her out?

Paranoia was clearly not for Valek, as demonstrated by the… second incident which involved a movie, Janco and some darts. He shuddered – clearly, he needed some cheering up.

Scores of soldiers had come to challenge him, and he had beaten them all. Whether they had a bow or knife, sword or hand-to-hand, they could never beat him – he was Valek, master assassin, winner of all challenges. The only person who could beat him would be the Commander – but why? All those years ago, they had been young – well, Valek had been young. He was an assassin, and only one person could beat him. This would have made any normal person happy, but Valek was not.

Valek wondered if he could beat the Commander now. After all, he had years of practising and learning. He was unbeatable now – maybe tomorrow he could challenge the Commander and–

His rambling thoughts stopped when he entered the suite, when he saw Yelena. On the floor.

Dead.

The world dissolved into a haze of pain and agony, all rational thoughts replaced by disbelief and horror. Worse than that time in Sitia, when she'd gone all Soulfinder-and-magician-y on him. So much worse.

The door slammed as he stumbled out, frantically trying to wipe tears of grief and horror away. How? How? How could his Yelena, his beloved, beautiful Yelena be dead?

Valek couldn't imagine living without her, couldn't imagine a world without Yelena – her beauty, her intelligence, her sarcasm – everything about her lit up his whole world to something enjoyable, something bright and light, and she was everything he lived for. He had once thought himself loyal to the Commander, but knew if he had to choose between them, Yelena would always be his choice.

He loved her so much it hurt – hurt so much when they were apart. How could it not? Yelena had his soul, his spirit, his love, his strength, his heart. He loved her so much, and it always, always amazed him that she loved him back.

But now she was gone.

The world was not worth living in if she wasn't there.

He could hear her sweet voice, calling his name. A delusion, a hallucination. Something his mind conjured up. Never again would he hear her voice, never see her radiant, glowing eyes, never smell that faint perfume of lavender. Never.

The unbearable pain-horror-grief-agony-disbelief slammed into the place where he assumed his heart would have been, had Yelena not stolen it.

Gone forever.

It had only been a minute or so, and already Valek had been driven mad with the longing to be with her again, to see her one last time, to tell her that he loved her so, so much. One minuted. Trying to imagine years – a lifetime, if he could survive for that long without her – was killing him.

Valek collapsed.

Ari sat patiently as Janco paced impatiently. "Damnit, when's he gonna wake up?"

"I don't know," Ari said calmly. "We don't even know why he was unconscious."

"Who cares? Ari! Just poke him or something," Janco commanded.

"No, he's awake," Ari said, watching as Valek's eyes flickered open. "Valek?"

"Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo–" Valek seemed a little loopy, Ari observed –"–"

Valek cut himself off, a combination of pain, heartbreak, agony and numerous other emotions on his face, lasting for a few seconds before the metal mask settled into place.

"Uh, hi, Valek," Janco said carefully. "Um, you okay there?" He made a vague gesture that encompassed Valek's face.

"Fine," was the curt reply. Valek climbed out of bed rather robotically, striding towards the showers.

"What's wrong with him?" Janco wondered.

Ari shrugged.

For the next few hours, Valek threw himself into whatever he could find: work for the Commander, beating the soldiers who challenged him and tidying his suite. He couldn't bear to start carving again – it was filled with memories of her, from when she was "investigating" as a food taster, or when he was carving the butterfly for her. Janco and Ari seemed oblivious about her death, but Valek was settled in a type of denial.

He refused to believe that Yelena, his heart-and-soul mate, was dead. Unfortunately, his career had taught him to look at the facts, and so a tiny, tiny part of him knew it was true. He refused to know why or how, or when. He stayed away – from everyone and everything.

Valek settled down at his table, concentrating fiercely on completing the paperwork. And once he'd finished that, he would clean the room. Again. Too many books, he supposed. The paperwork was boring and tedious, but Valek continued to force himself to work harder, do the best he can.

The familiar clicking sound of his locks being unlocked – or picked – reached Valek's ears; he stiffened, then grabbed a bow from nearby. He approached the door silently, waiting for that last click that signalled the opening of the door.

It swung open silently, the light from the hallway shielding the person's face from view. Valek stilled as the door closed, revealing glowing green eyes and the confused face of a woman who looked impossibly like Yelena.

"Valek?" the imposter asked. Her voice matched Yelena's perfectly – sweet and melodious. "Where have you been?"

Confusion exploded in Valek's body, thoughts bursting in his mind – Yelena was dead! But who was this? She looked like Yelena, sounded like Yelena. Was she Yelena? Who was she? Where is Yelena?

The fast thinking of Valek's mind occurred in a few seconds, and he came to the conclusion that this was not Yelena. Neutralise the target.

The bow swung towards the girl, hitting her squarely on the temple. Her knees buckled, and she crumpled on the floor. Valek refused to look at her – she reminded him too much of Yelena.

Janco burst through the door, Ari walking calmly behind. "Hey, Valek, have you seen–" Janco stopped, inspecting the body on the ground.

"Um, Valek?" Ari began. "Why did you…knock out Yelena?"

Again, confusion kaboomed in Valek, but he squashed it with logic. "That's not Yelena."

"Uh, yeah, it is," Janco disagreed. "We're talking about Yelena, your soul-mate, the scary… Soulfinder of Sitia, new Liaison of Ixia and Sitia? You know, that Yelena?"

Valek stood still, and thought again. That must be Yelena-but Yelena's dead-what the hell-if Yelena's dead, who's this-but Janco said-maybe she fell on the floor-still unconscious- are you sure-you didn't see her properly-you idiot!

Again, the thought processing took a few seconds. "Oops."

Hmmm.

I hoped you like that one. And just in case you didn't get it (which I'm sure you did – you're all so smart), Yelena was unconscious, she fell on the floor – rolling around? Does that even work? Meh.

Anyway, Valek assumed she was dead, and when he ran out, the door slamming woke her up, and she called his name. Then, he's working, Yelena comes in, he knocks her out because he assumes it's an imposter, and Janco and Ari are looking for her.

Anyway, 2 more chapters to go: 1 last time when Valek knocks her out, and the first and last one of Yelena waking up.

Anyway, Merry Christmas! I hope you all enjoyed your presents, because I got an awesome present!

Seriously. What could beat Ninja Cookie Cutters? That's what I got. In. Your. Faces.

Sorry. Merry Christmas, Happy Boxing Day/New Year,

smileysgoboing

Good fanfics:

Anything by Phoenix Fanatic, if you read Tamora Pierce and Maximum Ride books. I'd have to recommend Diary of a Lovesick Mutant– Max Ride

Anything by Rockstar with a Vendetta, if you read Tamora Pierce, and like strange pairings. Some of them are pretty random, in my opinion, but all her stories are well written, and awesome. Recommendation: We Live In Awkward Times, My Friend.