Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction ❯ Middles ❯ Chapter 1

DarkHorse says: It would help you to understand Sage and Rowen's relationship thus far if you read "Beginnings", though I don't think it's absolutely essential. These are supposed to be "stand alones".

Middles

A few days after being ambushed in the basement by Rowen (with Kento's help), Sage was still trying to sort out his feelings for the archer. He was attractive, smart, funny, had an acid wit and a sharp tongue. Usually Sage tried to find some of those qualities in a girl, but that had never happened. At this rate, he didn't think it ever would.

Sage's family would probably not appreciate him falling for Rowen. They liked him, but Sage was going to be head of the family some day. He was supposed to have offspring to carry on the Date name.

~We could always adopt…~ the thought brought him up short. Was he seriously considering letting this go as far as it could? Should he try to stop it now, while it was still able to be stopped?

~Wait, wait, and wait. Let's take a step back. What am I most afraid of? ~ That was easy enough: the disappointment of his family. Would they still love him? Probably. Did he want to risk it? Was Rowen worth it?

Before Sage could get any further into his self-interrogation, the bedroom door and Cye poked his head in.

"Hello Sage. I just wanted to let you know that dinner's ready…"

"Okay. I'll be down in a minute."

Cye stood in there for a second, looking as if he wanted to say something.

"Sage, you're not still mad at me are you?" he asked timidly.

Sage smiled at him. "No, Cye. Not anymore, anyways."

Cye smiled in relief and went back downstairs.

***

The phone was ringing. Never mind that it was close to eleven at night. The time didn't bother Rowen, but he was sure the others would not be too thrilled. He grabbed it on the third ring.

"'lo?"

"Boy, is that you?"

Rowen stiffened, an angry frown crossing his face. "What do you want?"

"Don't get snippy, boy. Just letting you know that I'm moving out in two days, so if you've got any stuff left over here, you'd better come get it tomorrow."

"You couldn't have picked a better hour to tell me this?" Rowen snapped.

"Be happy I'm telling you at all, you little ingrate! Be here by noon, or I'm tossing whatever's left out onto the street!"

The line went dead and Rowen slammed the phone down.

"That bastard."

***

"Hey, have you guys seen Rowen anywhere?" Sage asked.

"He was down for breakfast at nine. Said he had somewhere to be," Kento said.

"He was awake at nine?" Sage asked incredulously.

"Before that even. He was showered and dressed."

"He didn't tell you where he went?"

"No, but I heard the phone last night at about eleven. Rowen got it. I assume it was for him and that's why he's not here now," Cye said, joining the conversation.

"Hmmmm…"

"He didn't say anything to you?"

"No. He must've gone while I was out meditating, because he was still in bed when I left at six."

"That's very odd, even for him," Cye said. "You don't think he's in trouble, do you?"

"No. He'd call if he were," Sage said, and then with a frown walked away.

***

"I knew that threat would get you here in a timely fashion."

"Yeah well…" Rowen said, and pushed past the man he used to call "father". He walked into what was once his room and started packing. There wasn't much left over from when he went to stay at the Koji manor; just some of his old books, his first telescope, and a few outdated computer games. He paused to check under his bed and found his photo album, a record of happier times. He threw it into the duffel bag he brought with him.

"So," he said, noticing that his father was still in the doorway, watching him, "Why are you leaving?"

"None of your business, boy."

"Is where you're going also none of my business, Dad?" It came out almost like a curse.

"Watch it, boy. If you must know, I'm going to be staying with Kyo until I get back on my feet."

Rowen's eyes narrowed. "Kyo's a drunk."

His father's face hardened into an angry mask.

Rowen continued to throw things into his duffel bag, keeping an eye on his father.

"He owes me money anyways," his father said.

"Hmph. Wait. You're not just leaving for the hell of it, are you? You've been kicked out. The landlord finally got fed up with all the late payments and damage done to this place by your drunken friends, didn't he? He evicted you, so now you have to go crawling to Kyo, because he lost a bet he couldn't pay. Am I right so far?"

His father's face was red with rage, and his fists were clenched at his sides.

Rowen turned to fully face him. ~This is it, ~ he thought. ~This is the last time I ever want to see him. ~ Rowen decided to push as hard as he could. He didn't care about what happened between them anymore.

"Keep talking, boy," his father hissed.

Rowen nodded nonchalantly. "Right, so you've been evicted because you didn't pay. How could that have happened? Maybe because you spend every penny on alcohol, gambling, and being indebted to half a million bookies? Naw, that couldn't be it. You're too good for that. Everyone else should be bowing to you, including your own son. Well, not anymore. You hear me? Not any-fucking-more!"

Rowen anticipated the fist that came at his face, but he didn't think his father would be agile enough to swing at his stomach, too. ~He's been boxing again~, Rowen thought detachedly, watching the fist coming for his midsection, in seemingly slow motion.

His father's fist impacted with a dull thud, the force of which brought the taste of blood into Rowen's throat. His father swung again, catching him in the chin. Blood seeped from his split lip.

His father stepped back, as if admiring his handy work. "Get out," he sneered.

Rowen grabbed the duffle bag and spat on the floor. "I hope you have to pay for that, too!" he shouted as he ran to his car. Throwing the bag inside, he jumped in and tore off.

***

A few miles down the road, Rowen pulled into a parking lot and checked his face in the rear view mirror. His lower lip was bruised and swollen, and blood still oozed from the cut. He sighed, and that brought his attention to his chest. His father's powerful right hook had hit just below the breastbone. There was already a nice bruise forming there as well. He coughed, and leaned out the car window to spit more blood.

"This is getting a bit redundant," he said to himself, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Probably just knocked out the remnants of what that drug did to me." He looked at the clock on the dashboard. "Man, only one o'clock? What am I going to do? I can't go back to the house like this. I'm not going to the hospital, and it's not as if I can go to the library or something like this, either." He sighed again. "I hate him." He pulled the release lever on the seat and leaned back. He was soon asleep.

***

Sage looked at his watch for what must have been the fiftieth time. Five-thirty.

"Sage, relax man, he's probably just fine," Kento said. The four of them were sitting in the living room watching the news.

"Yeah. Maybe he found a girl or something. Finally," Ryo said with a smirk.

Cye and Sage exchanged a look. "Look, why don't I try finding out who called him? We haven't had any calls all day, so maybe I can track down that last one," Cye said.

"Or, here's an idea, why don't you call him?"

Sage glared at Ryo. "I would have, except," he held up Rowen's midnight blue cell phone, "he doesn't have it on him."

"Oh."

"If we haven't heard from him by seven, I'm going…" Sage's eyes lost focus for a second. He frowned, and grabbed his keys off the coffee table.

"Sage?" Cye asked.

"I'm going to get him. I'll be right back," Sage said, and left.

"I hope everything's okay. We usually don't take advantage of the link," Cye said concernedly.

"Eh, he'll be fine. C'mon, I'll let you beat me at chess if it'll make you feel better," Kento said.

"'Let you beat me'? Kento, I always beat you!"

***

Rowen woke up with a start. "Ah, hell," he whispered, and levered the seat back up. Five o'clock. The guys were gonna kill him. He drove out of the parking lot and headed for the nearest bar, which took longer than he wanted it to. When he finally found one, he hopped out of the car and practically ran inside. He settled himself on a stool, and prepared to show his fake ID.

"Hey, kid, you okay? You look pretty banged up," the bartender said as he walked over.

"Uh, no, I'm fine, thanks."

"What can I get you, then?"

He opened his mouth, and then closed it again. ~I won't be like him. ~

"Well?"

"Just ice water for now."

"Sure."

The bartender came with his water a few seconds later. At first, Rowen did nothing but stare into the glass, hoping it would provide some answers. It didn't; it just reflected the light.

That's when it occurred to him. <Sage?> he mind-called tentatively.

The answer came quickly. <Rowen? Are you okay? Where are you?>

<I'm fine. I'm at the Doghouse Bar. Can you come get me?>

<I'm on my way.>

***

Sage appeared 10 minutes later, his face showing no emotion. He found Rowen in one corner of the bar, swirling his drink around with a straw.

"Rowen? Let's go."

"I don't want to leave yet."

Sage sighed. "If you're just going to crawl into a bottle-"

"It's water, Sage. Sit down. We need to talk."

Sage looked down at his friend. His head was bowed, and the blue forelock covered his eyes. He had been prepared for a drunken brawl with his friend, but this had him totally disarmed. Sage sat down with a sigh. "Are you sure you want to talk here? Why don't we go someplace quieter, hmm?" He took of Rowen's shaky hands and led him out of the bar. "We'll leave your car here for tonight. One of the guys can come get it in the morning," Sage said, and unlocked the car. They got in, and Rowen still wouldn't look at him. He kept his face turned to the window, and his hair over his eyes.

~I don't like this~ Sage thought darkly. A few minutes later, he pulled into a nature reserve's picnic area and got out. Rowen did the same. It was about seven in the evening, and getting darker. ~I really don't like this. ~

"What happened, Rowen?"

"He called last night," he said so quietly, Sage had to strain to hear him.

"Who?"

"My dad."

Sage felt his lip curl. "What did he want?"

"He's being evicted. He wanted me to come and pick up whatever stuff I still had there."

"What happened?" Sage asked again, moving closer to Rowen.

"We…got into an argument. I wanted to push him as far as I could."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to see him again. I wanted to get it out of my system," he said, and his breath hitched in his chest. "I hate him."

"What did he do to you, Rowen?" Sage ground out. If that man laid a hand on Rowen…

Rowen finally looked up at him. His bottom lip was an angry purple, swollen, and had a nasty split. Sage didn't even think. He pulled Rowen into a tight embrace and held him. Rowen wrapped his arms around Sage's waist and cried silently.

After a few minutes, Rowen pulled away and wiped his eyes. "Sorry. I seem to be doing that a lot."

"That's what I'm here for. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I dodged the first punch, if you can believe it. He got me with the other two."

"Two?" Sage echoed.

"He hit me in the stomach. Made me cough up blood again."

"Rowen!"

"I think he just loosened up whatever was left. I'm fine," Rowen said, and sat down on the hood of Sage's car. The stars were coming out. He leaned back.

"Let me see. Take your shirt off. And no," Sage protested as he saw an evil grin spread over Rowen's face, "I don't mean it like that."

Rowen shrugged and took his shirt off. Sage looked at the ugly bruise and shook his head in disgust.

"Tell me if I hurt you," he said, and closed his eyes and began to run his hands over the bruise.

Rowen felt a slow warmth creep through his chest. Sage was healing him. "Sage, you don't have to exert yourself for this. I'll be okay."

"I want to do this. Now shush, I need to concentrate."

Rowen let him work for a few more minutes. Suddenly, he moaned a little as Sage hit a particularly sensitive spot.

Sage opened his eyes. "Did I hurt you?"

"Ohhh, no," Rowen breathed.

Sage blushed.

Rowen gave him a quirky grin, and then winced as his lip started to bleed again.

Without hesitating, Sage put a finger over the cut and sealed it. Rowen kissed his finger as he pulled it away.

"Okay?" Sage asked, before he could do something else to that mouth.

Rowen pulled his shirt back on. "Yeah, actually. Thanks." He leaned forward and kissed Sage fully on the lips.

Time seemed to flow slowly for Sage. ~This is different than what he did in the basement. That was a peck. This…this I never want him to stop. ~

Rowen was the one to let go. He got back in the car and said, "Well? Are we going home or not?"

***

Rowen was sitting at his computer, again, trying to figure out what he'd been slipped weeks ago, again.

"Let's see. What's the name for that anyways? Pulmonary…pulmonary what? Embolism! Pulmonary embolism!" he exclaimed, and typed that into the search engine. A jillion pages came up and he frowned. "How can I narrow it down? `Drugs that cause pulmonary embolism?'" He typed in "Pulmonary embolism causes" and only half a jillion pages came up. He scrolled through a few pages, clicking on ones that seemed like they might help. Most didn't.

Sage walked in just as he was about to give up.

"What're you doing? Still looking for the mystery drug?"

"Yeah. This is ridiculous. Even if I figure out what it was, it's not like I'll be able to find the person who gave it to me. I'd almost rather not know."

"Well, I want to know. Keep looking, you'll find it."

"Yeah, right. Wait a minute…Holy shit!"

"See, I told you, you'd find it. What is it?"

"Rodenticide. Something called `warfarin'. It's used on mice and rats and such."

"What does that have to do with-"

"It's an anticoagulant. It doesn't let the blood clot, and apparently bleeding is a common side effect."

"That wasn't a side effect," Sage said wryly.

"I know. The reaction I had was compounded by the alcohol. I'm not saying that it was absolutely warfarin, but at least there is something out there that will do that to a person."

"Well, what else does it say?"

"Nothing, really. It's used to treat blood clots in the veins or arteries or whatever. Makes the blood thinner. Ew, it can even make the lining of the stomach bleed. That's gross. And, once again, made worse with alcohol. I am never drinking again."

Sage patted his shoulder. "Good." Sage let his hand rest on Rowen's shoulder a little longer than necessary, and it was at that somewhat awkward moment that Ryo strolled in.

"Hey, Ro', you wanna join us for a game of two-on-two? Kento and Cye against me and you?" he asked, not noticing or not caring about the contact.

"Sure," he said, and shut down the computer. He followed Ryo outside.

As soon as they were gone, Sage went back to his thoughts of earlier in the week. ~Where did I leave off? Ah, yes. Whether or not Rowen was worth it. I'd like to think he is, but I don't want to delude myself and end up hurting us both. He's been so…good about keeping whatever his feelings are for me in check, waiting to see what I'll do. I don't want to disappoint him. I don't want disappoint myself, either. What do I want? I…I want to try. I want us to work. I want to lower my guard. I want to kiss him the way he kissed me. I want to do more than that.~ The last thought made him blush, even though no one else was in the room.

It was decided, then. Time to do a little seduction of his own.

***

Rowen came running up the stairs, breathless, shirtless, sweaty, and generally looking like a bum.

Sage looked up at him as he came flying in, doing a complete nose dive into the bed. "What the hell?"

"I'm dead, I'm dying, bleh."

"No, you just smell. Go to take a shower before you funk up the room."

"You smell. I stink. Grammar, Sage."

"Whatever. Fix it. Before someone else beats you to it."

"Slave driver," Rowen mumbled and dragged himself out of the room.

"That can be arranged," Sage called after him, causing Rowen to pop his head back in, his mouth open in an incredulous `o'.

"What?" Sage asked innocently, picking up a random magazine that was lying on the floor. He started to read it.

Rowen sauntered over to him and liberated the upside down magazine from Sage. He leaned over the blonde and planted his hands on either side of him.

"I never figured you for the kinky type, Sage," Rowen whispered, his breath tickling Sage's ear.

"You have no idea."

Rowen grinned and captured Sage's mouth. His tongue forced its way inside, and he felt Sage's surprise. It was quickly replaced with Sage's own tongue fighting for an entrance into his mouth.

They pulled away, breathless.

"I'm serious, Rowen," Sage said, willing his voice not to quaver, "Take a shower."

Rowen stood and sashayed out of the room.

Sage took a deep, calming breath, and rolled his eyes skyward.

He heard giggling. From the wide open bedroom door. Sage whirled, and caught Cye about to keel over from laughter.

"And what's so damn funny? Hmm?" Sage asked, towering over the other boy.

"Not funny, Sage. Cute! That was just too cute for words!" Cye chuckled some more before adding, "And a bit sexy, too."

"Rowen walked right past you, didn't he?" Sage asked, plopping down on his bed.

Cye followed him in. "Yep. Either he was so high from that fantastic kiss, or he just didn't care that I saw everything."

"Everything?"

"Heard everything, too. I can't wait to tell Kento about this, he's gonna die!"

"Not a word to anyone, Cye! I swear, if you-"

"Oh, posh. Who cares? Kento and I certainly don't. And Ryo's outnumbered. He's got no say in the matter."

"Cye…"

"Oh, I've gone and made you mad again, haven't I?"

"Again?" Rowen's voice came from the door. The towel he had wrapped around his hips was leaving very little to the imagination.

"When you started making your move on poor oblivious Sage here, he came to me for advice," Cye explained. Sage blushed.

"Ah, I see. That's the argument you didn't want to talk about. Well, look at it this way: if Cye wants to try to blackmail you with this, we can always blackmail him."

"Blackmail? I never said anything about blackmail! I just wanted to tell Kento because it was so cute-Wait a minute! Blackmail me? How?"

Rowen looked at Cye as if he was talking to a small child. "Please. Evidently, you think I'm as oblivious as `poor Sage'. I've heard you and Kento going at it like…like yaks in heat!"

"Yaks in heat? Rowen, that's quite possibly the most disgusting thing you've ever said!"

"You obviously haven't heard him talk much," Sage piped up. "He can get pretty foul."

Rowen snorted. "For instance?"

Sage thought for a minute. "The `orgy one' was pretty bad."

"The `orgy one'? Do I even want to hear this?"

"I'm sure you do, Cye, and considering the things I've heard you say in the heat of the moment, the `orgy one' would hardly make you blush."

Cye spluttered incoherently for a moment before declaring, "I do not have a dirty mouth!"

"Oh? Then you've never said, `oh, yeah, deeper, hit that spot!' And don't try to deny it either!"

Cye blushed and ducked his head. "Then I won't," he whispered, and fled the room.

Rowen chuckled. "There. Problem solved."

"That was evil. Even for you."

"Yeah, but it was funny, wasn't it?"

"It was at that."

There was an awkward silence. Rowen cleared his throat and went to put some clothes on, since he was still in the towel. He got his boxers on, and was reaching into his closet for a shirt when Sage wrapped his arms around Rowen's chest in a tight embrace.

"Sage?"

"I want to thank you," he said, leaning his head on the archer's shoulder.

"For what?" Rowen asked, craning his around to try to get a look at the face behind the blonde puff of hair that currently clouded his vision.

"For being patient with me. I know this has got be as straining on you as it is on me."

Sage began to plant feather light kisses along Rowen's shoulders and neck, while his hands started to move of their own accord. They massaged Rowen's chest, admiring the sinuous muscles, and then traveled lower, to his abdomen, tracing the lithe form.

"You keep that up, and my patience will be non-existent," Rowen groaned.

Sage's chuckle rumbled through both of them. He pulled away. Rowen quickly put a shirt and some pants on before he threw Sage on the bed and had his way with the blonde.

***

The body was in its sub-armor, but it was doing little to stop him from feeling the pain that coursed through his limbs. He shook and sobbed uncontrollably as another wave of pure power tore through him. The wave passed, and he chanced a look up at his captor. The glowing red eyes radiated evil, and seemed to enjoy the agony the young man was in.

His friend watched, unable to help him. Dark blue stared into icy violet, each begging the other for some sort of release.

The captive screamed as another pulse slammed into him.

"Help me, please…" the captive moaned, and then arched as the final jolt hit him. The captive gasped once, and then was still, the eyes growing dull and lifeless.

Sage woke up all at once, covered in sweat and shaking violently. He quickly looked across the room and saw Rowen, still fast asleep. Sage breathed a little easier. He got up and got a cup of water from the bathroom. He didn't feel like he could go back to sleep. He needed some air.

He quietly made his way downstairs and outside. The night was clear and cool, not overly warm like it had been the past few nights, and certainly not cold. He sat on the patio swing, and looked out into the sky. He completely blanked his mind, settling himself into a meditation routine that was almost automatic.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting outside when he suddenly felt the swing rock. Sage looked up and met Rowen's clear, dark eyes.

"Are you all right, Sage?" the archer asked.

"I had a dream."

"Looks more like a nightmare to me. Wanna talk about it?"

"Shikaisen."

Rowen whistled. "Wow."

"I haven't dreamt of him in a long time. It…surprised me."

"Freaked you out, you mean."

"Yeah…"

Rowen wrapped an arm around Sage's shoulders. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. I just want to let you know that I'm here when you do want to talk."

Sage leaned into Rowen. "It was about you. Shikaisen had you, not me."

Rowen felt something wet hit his arm. "Sage?"

"He tortured you while I watched, helpless. He kept hurting you and I couldn't do anything about it. He…he killed you."

"Wrong. We smoked him. He's dead, not you, not me, not anyone. We'll always be here. Just like this, looking up into the sky, sitting on a patio swing in the middle of the night, crying on each other's shoulders…"

Sage sniffed, and laughed. "That's why I love you, Rowen. You always make me laugh." He paused, thinking about what he just said. He felt Rowen tense slightly, as if waiting for the denial.

"No," Sage amended, and felt Rowen sag against him, "that's not the reason I love you. I love you because you're you. I love everything about you. Well, except your dad. I hate your dad."

Rowen laughed outright, sounding a bit hysterical. "You are going to be the death of me, Sage Date."

"Yeah, and lovin' every minute of it, too."

DarkHorse says: Huzzah! I like all my fics relatively equally, but man; this one is pretty good even for me. They may be a little out of character, but too bad. My story, my characterizations, so meh.

About warfarin: it's a real drug. I did some research for this. I believe it was first developed as a rat poison type thing, and it gradually began to be used for pulmonary embolisms, which are blood clots in the lungs. Or used for blood clots in general. If you look up warfarin on yahoo, you should get a whole shiteload of information on it, just so you know I'm not making this up.

One of the reviews for "Beginnings" asked me who would drug Rowen with something like this. I actually have an idea roaming around in my head for that story, which will most likely be the last in this trilogy. That all depends on when I get around to writing it, of course. I mean, geez, it took me 2 years to get this one out. The last one will be called (so you can watch for it) "Climaxes" just because I'm complete nutball and it's appropriate. I will grind out a lemon if it kills me.