Date: Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:32:24 -0600
From: Katya_Dee <concertoind@gmail.com>
Subject: Debts, chapter 19

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction; all the resemblances are just
eerie coincidences. Everything in the story is owned by myself beloved,
everything is copyrighted. Contains descriptive sexual scenes between males
- don't read it if you shouldn't.

Note: This is a 3rd installment in the semi-series. The first story is
Specter's
Gamble </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/specters-gamble/> and
the second one is The Year of the
Salamander </nifty/gay/sf-fantasy/year-of-the-salamander/>

I would recommend reading those first (at least Specter's Gamble)
otherwise, some scenes and characters are not going to make much sense,
since you wouldn't be familiar with the background and I didn't describe
much of the previous events in this story. Other than that, enjoy! Feel
free to e-mail me.

****

- XIX -

When he woke up, the room was bathing in the sunlight. He blinked and
glanced around, thankful for the fact that the chills were gone and he
didn't shake as bad as before. He propped himself on one elbow and reached
for the water bottle. He drank some water, and then regretfully put the
bottle away, remembering Desmond's warning. He felt slightly nauseous, but
it was nothing compared to what he felt yesterday. "Was it yesterday?" he
thought with a small frown. "Yeah, probably... It was dark, and now it looks
like it's daytime... Hell, what's the date today...? Dammit, where am I?"

"Morning," he heard, and turned his head towards the door. "You slept for
fourteen hours straight," Desmond walked closer, a small bowl in his hands.

When he was close enough, Raven could smell chicken, and suddenly, his
stomach revolted, and his arm shot forward to grab the bucket while he was
desperately trying to hold all that gurgling behind his teeth.

"Oh, hell," Desmond sighed and put the bowl on top of the small dresser, not
too far from the bed. The smell was still very present, getting deeper into
Raven's throat, making him gag even more.

"Smell... Bowl...Nngh...!" was all Raven managed before he started producing
more bile.

Desmond blinked at that, and then there was `Oh, shit!' expression on his
face. He grabbed the bowl and left the room. Several minutes later, he came
back and swung the window open.

"Sorry about that," he muttered and looked at Raven when the dark-haired man
finally stopped convulsing. He waited for another minute, just to make sure,
then nodded, grabbed the bucket, and left the room again.

He came back with a wet towel and another bottle of water. He cleaned
Raven's face, looking quite thoughtful.

"Well, damn," he said finally after giving Raven some water. "You need to
eat something... Not chicken, obviously," he nodded.

"No... Food..." Raven said in what he thought was firm whisper.

"When was the last time you ate anything?" Desmond narrowed his eyes, and
Raven honestly tried to remember. He had no idea. "You need to eat
something," Desmond nodded. "Yeah, you probably *will *throw it all up right
after you finish it," he shrugged, answering Raven's silent, torturous
question. "But something will still stay there... Seriously, you need at
least something..."

"What..." Raven closed his eyes. Goddammit, he thought furiously. He hated
this! At least, he wasn't still with Magda's goons or Magda herself for that
matter... Yeah, that was very good indeed. He sighed and opened his eyes.
"What... date... is..."

"April eighth," Desmond nodded, and Raven just stared at him. April eighth?!
He was injected for the first time on Wednesday... What date was that? He
thought about it for a few seconds, and then remembered. March 27, he
thought numbly.

"Holy hell," he blinked silently. "They got me more than a week ago...?" He
remembered Magda telling him that one time that all she needed was a week.
"I guess it didn't go as smoothly as she thought it would..." he thought
with some weird dark satisfaction. He looked at Desmond again.

"What happened...?" He was impressed with himself being able to say two
words in a row.

"You don't remember?" Desmond narrowed his eyes slightly, and Raven slowly
shook his head. Desmond sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed. "I was
walking home yesterday afternoon," he said. "Heard some weird noise, went to
investigate... Saw two buffoons trying to shove you into the van, and you
were resisting like a man possessed even though you were higher than a
kite," he nodded.

Raven blinked at that. He was resisting? He remembered nothing. In fact, the
last thing he remembered was that guy ("What was his name...? Marcellus...?
Yeah, that's it...") injecting him after Magda left. They kept him under for
more than ten days? He felt cold, thinking that he was very lucky he didn't
get addicted to anything. Otherwise, he would be in very deep shit right
now; being on `dirty water' for three days in a row was bad enough – it
would guarantee someone at least four months of rehab. Being on it for
eleven days...

"Well, I tried to avoid violence," Desmond was saying meanwhile. "It didn't
work," he nodded. "Then, after you realized that you were safe, you passed
out," he finished.

"Thanks..." Raven whispered.

"Yeah," Desmond shrugged. "Anyway, I am going to make you some toast. It
doesn't smell like anything, it's dry and plain... Should be good," he got
up.

"I..." Raven said, and Desmond simply waved his hand at him in a `shut up'
gesture.

"I will also make you some tea with sugar in it," he said and left the room.

Raven sighed and closed his eyes, feeling exhausted. This last retching fit
made him feel beyond weak. "I guess he is right," he thought
melancholically. "I do need to eat something... Shit, I need to call
Julian...! If I was gone since last Wednesday and today is..." he frowned
without opening his eyes, counting quickly. "Holy shit! It's Monday! Crap, I
need to call him... Except, I can't talk right now... Goddammit...!" He
gritted his teeth helplessly. Finally, he sighed once again and thought that
he would try calling the blond tomorrow. He feverishly hoped that by
tomorrow he would feel a hell of a lot better. `Dirty water' or not, he
still should be able to recover fast.

Desmond came back fifteen or so minutes later, and this time, a tall,
brown-haired man, whose expression was quite curious, accompanied him.

"This is Gabriel," Desmond said and put a plate with one single toast on it
onto the dresser. Then he carefully sat a mug with steaming tea next to it.
"Give me your arm," he said and pulled a syringe and some capsule out of his
pocket. Raven immediately became wary. "This will help you with the nausea,"
Desmond said patiently after seeing the look on his face. "Plus, it will
help flushing all that crap out of your system quicker."

Raven frowned for several seconds, then bit his lip and gave Desmond a slow
nod, stretching his arm towards the green-eyed man.

"Interesting eye color," Gabriel said thoughtfully, and Raven managed to
grin weakly at that. Then he let out a small hiss and winced at the
sensation of the needle piercing his skin.

"Sorry," Desmond threw a quick glance at him and slowly emptied the syringe
into Raven's arm.

"Okay..." was all Raven managed.

Desmond got up and put the syringe on the dresser. He grabbed the plate with
the toast on it and sat down again.

"Well," Gabriel sighed. "I have to get back to work... I am glad you are
feeling better," he nodded at Raven. "Was curious as hell," he grinned at
the smaller man. "Had to see you in conscious condition..."

Raven gave him a weak smile, and Gabriel left. Desmond sat the plate in
front of the dark-haired man, balancing it on the blanket. Raven stared at
the toast with trapped desperation. He knew he had to eat at least some of
it, but he felt as if he wouldn't be able to swallow a single bite right
now. Finally, he sighed, broke a small piece of plain toast, and carefully
put it in his mouth. He was relieved when he was able to swallow it, and
even more relieved when there was no immediate nausea as he was afraid would
be the case. He ate a half of it, and finally, he couldn't eat any more.

"Done..." he muttered and looked at Desmond, feeling incredibly tired. At
least, he wasn't nauseous.

"All right," Desmond nodded and took the plate. "Here..." he said a few
seconds later and brought a mug with tea to Raven's mouth.

Raven didn't even try holding it himself; he was too damn tired, so he just
pressed his lips to the edge of the warm mug and drank some of the faintly
sweetened black tea.

"Sleep now," Desmond sighed after strange-eyed man dropped his head onto the
pillow, looking beyond exhausted. He got up, grabbed the plate and the
syringe off the dresser, and walked to the door. Right before he left the
room, he stopped and threw a brief glance at Raven. The smaller man was
asleep.

****

He woke up the next morning, and felt so much better, he almost cried with
relief. He was still weak, and there still was faint nausea splashing in the
pit of his stomach, but in overall, he felt a hell of a lot better. He
frowned when he realized that he needed to use the bathroom, and rather
soon. The bedroom had a bathroom in it, so he figured that he would be able
to shuffle there by himself. He was *not *going to throw that rubber ball
into the wall, wait for Desmond, and say something like, "Take me to the
bathroom, I need to take a piss..."

He sighed and carefully got off the bed. The trip to the bathroom turned out
to be not as bad as he thought at first. He had to hold onto the wall the
whole time, but other than that, it went fine. He made his way back to the
bed, still leaning on the wall, and sighed when he realized that right now,
he was as close to being an invalid as it could possibly get.

"Goddammit, Magda!" he fumed darkly while getting on the bed. "You are the
one who did this to me! Fuck...! Who would've thought that Julian would be a
hell of a better choice than Magda?"

Thinking of Julian immediately sent some serious waves all the way down to
his toes. He missed the blond so much right now that his heart started to
ache. He blinked when he realized that; he never missed him this much
before. "God..." he thought numbly. "I *do *love him..."

He was still musing about that fact when Desmond walked into the room.

"You look much better," the green-eyed man said with approval.

"I feel better too," Raven nodded.

"Holy hell, you can speak...!" Desmond's eyes widened a bit, and Raven
laughed.

"Yeah... Hey, I need to make a phone call, is that all right?"

"Sure," Desmond pulled a small phone out of his pocket and tossed it at the
smaller man. "I'm gonna go make breakfast... Toast?"

Raven's stomach growled at that, and he realized that he was starving.

"Two," he said quickly, and Desmond grinned.

"Okay," he nodded and headed out of the room. Right before he left, he
stopped and looked at the dark-haired thief. "Whom are you going to call?"
he asked with a hint of curiosity.

"My..." Raven hesitated for several seconds. "...mate," he finished in a
softer voice, and Desmond nodded again.

Raven waited until the taller man left, and then flipped the phone open and
punched in the number he remembered by heart, his fingers trembling. He
listened to several excruciatingly long beeps, wondering if the blond didn't
have his phone, when something clicked, and there was a very familiar voice:

"Yeah!"

The voice wasn't anywhere near purring right now; it was sharp, tired, and
pissed off.

"Hey..." Raven said quietly and closed his eyes when there was nothing but
stunned silence.

"Raven..." the blond muttered finally, and he sounded like he wasn't sure
whether this was some sort of prank.

"Yeah," Raven said as quietly as before.

"Where are you?" the sharpness was back.

"Umm..." Raven opened his eyes and frowned. That was a very good question.
"I am not sure," he admitted. "I'll ask, hold on..." He slowly got off the
bed, making sure he is moving carefully enough not to trip and fall.

"Are you okay?" sharpness was diluted with impatience now.

"No," Raven said honestly. "But I am alive, and I am free, so it's all
good... I just feel like shit, that's all..."

"How did you get away from her?"

Raven blinked. He knows about Magda? Then he shrugged to himself. It's
Julian, he thought; he'd be surprised otherwise.

"Some guy helped me," he said, glad for the fact that he was almost by the
door now. "Saved my ass, took me home, flushed all that shit out of my
system... Yeah," he nodded energetically. "I owe him, all right...!"

"*I *owe him..." the blond muttered. "Ask him about the address."

"Working on it," Raven nodded again even though he knew that Julian couldn't
see him right now.

He made it into the kitchen in two minutes, give or take, and Desmond's
eyebrow flew up when he saw Raven's shuffling figure. Raven sat on the chair
and sighed with relief.

"Hold on," he said into the phone. "What is your address?" he asked Desmond.

"Oh, right..." Desmond muttered, and then told him. Raven blinked when he
heard the name of the city.

"Holy hell..." he muttered and pressed the phone against his ear. "It's..."

"I've heard," the blond said busily.

"You did...?" Raven blinked. "Good hearing you've got there..."

"Can't complain," Julian agreed. "No wonder not a single damn Locator could
find you! It's all the way across the bloody world...! Goddamn... All right,
I'll be there in a few hours."

"Yeah," Raven smiled, knowing that the blond was probably doing flight
arrangements right now while still talking on the phone.

"Shit, Raven..." Julian stopped talking and drew a deep breath. "I'll see
you in a few hours," he said finally and hung up the phone.

Raven sighed and closed the phone.

"Thanks," he handed it to Desmond, who simply nodded without saying
anything. "He'll be here in a few hours... Desmond, I just want to thank you
for everything you did... Seriously, you..."

"Don't sweat it," Desmond waved his hand and sat a plate with two slices of
toast in front of Raven. "Coffee or orange juice?"

"Coffee!" Raven said with so much hunger that Desmond just hemmed.

"All right..." He started working the coffeemaker. "So your mate is on his
way then?"

"Yeah," Raven couldn't believe how good the toast tasted. "He'll be flying
in..."

"Does he need a lift from the airport?"

"No," Raven shook his head. "He'll be fine..." He glanced at Desmond who was
waiting for the coffeemaker to stop huffing and puffing. "Believe me," he
said with a small smile. "He is the type who can handle himself pretty much
anywhere..."

"Good for him," Desmond nodded and handed Raven a full by now coffee mug.
"Well, if you are sure you'll be fine on your own, I'm gonna take off for an
hour or so."

"I will be fine," Raven nodded. "Thanks again!"

"Welcome," Desmond flashed him a quick grin. "See you later!"

...He came back home a couple of hours later, and glanced into the bedroom
on his way to the office. Raven was asleep again or so it seemed. Desmond
nodded to himself, wondering when the man's mate was going to show up. He
realized that he never asked Raven about what city he was from. Then he
shrugged. Probably somewhere rather far, since his mate was flying in here.

"Wonder how in bloody hell did he even get here?" he thought and turned on
his computer. He was in the middle of putting together the final exam for
his classes, when the doorbell rang. Desmond glanced at the clock. It was
2:45. That would be the mate, he thought melancholically and got up. He
glanced into the bedroom on his way to the door. Raven was awake, and it
seemed, he was about to get off the bed.

"I guess that's your mate," Desmond said, and Raven's expression became so
hungry all of a sudden, that Desmond blinked. "I'm gonna let him in," he
grinned, and Raven nodded quickly without saying anything.

Desmond made his way to the front door and took off the door chain. He swung
the door open, and then he froze in his spot, unable to blink or even
breathe.

"I received a phone call from..." the blond turned his head to look at him,
and then he became mute.


****

A little of shameless self-advertising. You can find all of my stories
(including
Debts) here <http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=3895328>