Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction ❯ It's All Relative ❯ Chapter 29 ( Chapter 29 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: LilyMoonsAlias 
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Psychological / Hentai | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.23.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 585 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Weiss Kreuz Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Angst / Psychological / Hentai | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 10.23.2006 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 585 | Status: Work In Progress
"You bastard!" Aya snarled more viciously. "You drugged me. You had no right!"
Still in Aya's grip, Crawford replied calmly, "I had every right as your team leader to make sure you didn't injure yourself more in blind vengeance."
Crawford pried Aya's hands loose from his collar and tried to hold them. Aya wrenched away from him with a growl. Crawford set his jaw and let him go. He wouldn't force his touch on his lover when it was so obviously not wanted. God damn Pollock! Aya watched Crawford warily from beneath his fall of bangs. Pained emotions and uncertainty flickered over his face.
"My sister?" Aya asked.
"Still waiting to hear from Japan. You will be the first person to know after me."
"Hmm." Aya mumbled skeptically.
"Aya, you do remember the plan to infiltrate Pollock's compound, don't you?"
"Using me for bait."
"Yes."
"I don't see how I could have agreed to that with everything else I remember."
"Most of your memories of me, Schuldig and Yohji have been tampered with. They were used as a means to break you."
Aya shivered in memory of the pitch black concrete cell he had been left in. Crawford wanted to gather him close but knew he wouldn't be welcomed.
"How long were we there?"
"Three days."
Aya nodded. He suddenly felt the need to be clean and away from Crawford. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand. Still weak, his legs immediately buckled. Crawford caught him neatly. For an instant something, a sense of deja vu perhaps, flickered through Aya's mind and he relaxed in Crawford's hold before shoving him away and standing on his own.
"You need assistance, Aya, whether you admit it or not. If you won't accept my help maybe Yohji or Schuldig would be more acceptable."
Aya stood, confused, but mention of Schuldig's name prompted a glimmer of trust.
"Schuldig," Aya whispered.
Crawford let out a slow breath, bitterly disappointed. "At least let me help you to the bath and I'll get him."
Aya nodded guarded assent and made his way to his adjoining bath, borrowing Crawford's strength as little as possible. Every touch of the precog's hands threatened to drown him in a hundred memories that were nightmares. He didn't understand why he would have allowed such treatment of himself nor why he hadn't killed Crawford instead of following into a stronghold of evil. A light touch on his lower back made him gasp and shiver in lustful reaction that confused him. Did his traitorous body actually want the other man? Aya stepped away from Crawford and hid his face until the precog left.
"Kitten?" Schuldig's light, nasal tenor echoed off the tile. "Come, kitten, let's get you more comfortable and I'm sure you'll feel better afterwards. You must be stiff from being in a bed for a couple of days."
Aya made no comment as the telepath ran hot water in the large oval tub, adding a generous shake of some bath salts that prompted the raising of an elegant red eyebrow.
"One of your few indulgences, Kitten." Schuldig explained.
"I know that!" Aya snapped, "It just seem totally incongruous with what I remember. I don't remember having any freedom to choose a luxury or having a place of my own. I remember that Crawford kept me as a...as a," Aya faltered.
"Nein, Nein Kitten! He took you to bed, yes, but you were lovers. Crawford never used you. It's just more of Pollock's dirty work. He attempted to spoil every memory you had of your time with us."
"You all betrayed me and handed me to that monster," Aya accused. The pain and shock was still evident in his voice.
"You know it was part of the plan. You had to believe it or we wouldn't have succeeded."
"I don't know what to believe anymore," Aya mumbled.
"Believe this, Aya. We did everything we could and would have sacrificed even more to get you back with us."
"Why?" Aya's voice cracked with strain and hurt.
Schuldig dared to frame his face with his hands and stroke his cheeks lightly.
"Because, kitten, you matter to us. You are one of us, and I made you a promise to bring you back. I never go back on a promise."
Aya's confusion and pain resonated through Schuldig's mind and made his eyes sting. It pained him to see his friend so torn with doubt. He swallowed nervously.
"Come, into the bath with you."
Suiting action to words, he helped Aya slip off the robe and step naked into the tub. Aya gasped again and ran questing fingers over the stitched cross on his chest and abdomen. The prickly feel of the stitches and the gruesome carving made him nauseous. He remembered the searing pain and being unable to move until finally his soul had howled in denial and lent him the strength to grasp Pollock by the throat. He remembered the feel of the man's blood flowing over his hand and arm until he ripped the throat apart.
Aya hunched forward to wrap his arms around himself. Schuldig slipped into the bath behind him without him noticing and started massaging his shoulders.
"What?"
"Shhh, Aya. Just let me take care of you, or I can go get Brad for you."
"No!"
"Then let me help, but he is very worried for you. I never thought anyone could touch the icy Oracle's heart, but you did."
"I don't remember anything like that." Aya swished the water in agitation. "Why do I trust you? You betrayed me, too."
"Part of the plan, Aya. Keep that in mind, please. I didn't want to do it at all, so I left a suggestion of hope and recovery in your subconscious. You're reacting to that."
Aya leaned back against the telepath's chest weakly. "Help me," he whispered. "Can you fix what was done to me?"
"Nein," Schuldig said sadly. "I can't fix the memories that I wasn't directly a part of, but I can give you awareness that the false ones are false. If you are aware then you can begin anew."
"Can't you just take away the false memories?"
"That would leave you with a hole in your being that you would always be aware of, Kitten. That wouldn't help you and would only make the situation worse."
Aya brooded and washed while Schuldig took care of his hair. He felt odd letting another man wash his hair like a child, but in a way it was comforting and calmed him somewhat. He allowed the telepath to help him from the tub and, after drying, get settled in comfortable loose pants and tunic.
A discreet knock on his door revealed Crawford holding a phone, a grim expression on his face. Trembling with trepidation, Aya took the phone. Crawford and Schuldig quietly moved to stand on either side of him unnoticed.
"Hai." Aya said into the phone.
"Aya-kun."
"Persia? Omi?"
"Hai, Aya-kun, Persia. Aya-kun it is my sad duty to inform you..."
.
The phone slipped from nerveless fingers and Aya fell to his knees, throwing his head back. He made no other sounds than hyperventilating gasps for air. He was dimly aware of Crawford picking up the phone and talking, getting details and information.
Schuldig all but wrapped around him like a living blanket and Yohji crouched in front him, gripping his forearms. The helped him to his feet and he turned to face Crawford as the man closed the phone with a snap.
"I'm very sorry, Aya," Crawford said.
Aya grabbed him by the collar again to bring his burning, violet eyes level with Crawford's.
"I should have been there to protect her," he gasped.
"Then you would both be dead. Instead, you avenged her death."
Aya dropped his head to Crawford's chest in despair and shook violently. Crawford cautiously brought up his arms to encircle the grieving man until he held him tightly.
"What do I do now?" Aya asked of no one in particular.
"You live. She would want you to live."
"Live for what?" Aya asked bitterly.
"Live for us, Aya. Live for me. You're strong and you have us with you always. You have me. Somehow, if you'll let me, we'll make new memories to replace what Pollock destroyed."
Aya didn't say anything, but he allowed himself to be held. Something buried deep within himself was reacting to Crawford's voice, soothing him and keeping him in the embrace. For the first time in years, he let go of his self control enough to allow tears and enable him to grieve for his sister. He never saw Schuldig and Yohji leave, nor did he notice when Crawford moved them to the bed and just held him until he slept.
When Aya woke his eyes felt swollen and his face sticky with dried tears. Memory bludgeoned him with renewed knowledge of his sister's death. He tried to curl into a fetal position but a strong arm held him in place against a broad and warm chest. Aya turned to look at Crawford's sleeping face. He squelched his first instinct to draw away. He thought about everything that Schuldig had told him about Crawford and he being lovers. As promised, the telepath had given him awareness that the nightmarish memories were false, but he truly couldn't remember any warm or passionate times with Crawford.
Aya acknowledged that the man was very attractive. Even with his silver hair, in his sleep Crawford looked younger and less forbidding. The arms that held Aya were tight with possessiveness but gentle. He wasn't being restrained in any way. He could get away if he wanted to. Aya's brow furrowed. Did he want to? He wasn't sure any more. He knew that Crawford had held him all night, stroking his back and pressing light kisses over his face while he keened his grief. He couldn't imagine the cool and reserved Oracle doing something like that unless they had really been in a relationship.
He must have made some slight sound because Crawford's eyes slowly opened and regarded him warily. Aya gazed back, his grief and his confusion shining clearly in his eyes. Crawford carefully raised a hand to gently wipe away the salty moisture. Aya found himself turning into the touch, closing his eyes and drawing a shuddering breath. Yes, his body definitely remembered Crawford's touch. With his eyes closed Aya could let himself float on sensations and concentrate only on the soothing touch and the feel of the other man's heartbeat beneath his palm.
Crawford leaned forward and touched their lips together in a light kiss. Aya's eyes flew open with a gasp and lifted his hand to his tingling lips. It had felt warm and electric and achingly familiar. Forgetting his other troubles for a while, Aya gazed into Crawford's soft, honey gold eyes and put a stranglehold on his uncertainty. He tentatively tilted his head for another kiss and was rewarded with one, hot and arousing, that felt so right it erased some of the ache in his soul. One kiss led to another and another, each one deeper and fanning desire.
With some effort Crawford pulled back from Aya. He wouldn't take advantage of the man in his grief and need for comfort. Aya's face was flushed and he was breathing heavily, his evident desire blatant between them. He made a noise of impatience and reached for Crawford who caught his hands and held them.
"I don't want you to do something you might regret later, Aya," Crawford said.
Aya shook his head wordlessly and tugged at his hands. Crawford let him go and Aya hesitantly pressed their bodies together. He dragged Crawford's head down into a scorching kiss and shifted until the man was lying overtop him. Oh yes, his body remembered this, the familiar weight and feel of Crawford, the hands that knew where to touch him to make him writhe and want more.
"Aya," Crawford tried one last time to do the right thing.
"Brad," the name slipped easily from Aya's lips. "Please, Brad. I just want to forget for a little while that she's gone and I want to remember you. You said we were lovers and that you would always be here for me. Give me this."
Crawford's eyes softened more and his touches grew more confident and purposeful. If Aya really wanted this, then he would give it to him and do his best to make it memorable. Sure hands helped Aya lose his clothes and efficiently took care of his own. He pulled the redhead back under him and settled between his thighs to kiss his way down that lovely, white curve of neck. Crawford took care not to put too much pressure on the stitched injuries. Aya arched into every kiss, a silent demand for more.
Sliding lower Crawford opened his mouth over the head of Aya's erection and tongued it lightly. Aya groaned and his hips jerked in reaction. Crawford took him in and worked him with swirling strokes of his tongue and small grazings of his teeth. Aya's breathing changed to gasps and he wrapped his hands in Crawford's silver hair to drag him back up his body to ravage his mouth. He could tasted himself on Crawford's lips and that, too, was familiar. Aya was so hard now it was almost pain and his kisses and touches became more demanding.
He broke away long enough to gasp, "I want you. Give me more."
Crawford drew a shuddering breath and leaned over to paw through the bedside table. After a moment's rummaging he came up with a partially used tube of lubricant. Aya's eyes darkened with knowledge and the significance that the tube was in his room. Crawford slicked his fingers and urged Aya to raise his thighs up and around his waist. Aya impatiently let Crawford stretch and prepare him gently, but his body was screaming for satisfaction.
"Enough," he grated.
"Aya," Crawford said in a stern voice. "Not even if you wanted it would I ever really hurt you. We might play, but I have never caused you undue pain. I won't start now."
Crawford lined himself up and pushed in smoothly. Aya arched up sharply and tightened his legs to take him in to the hilt with a strangled moan. Yessss. He wanted this. He needed this.
Crawford held him by the waist to control the pace and they struggled in a battle for dominance. Crawford's position gave him greater leverage and he distracted Aya with long, stroking pulls that made him pliant once more. He thrust in and out, gradually increasing in speed and intensity as the feeling subsumed them both. Aya came first with low moan and the rippling feel of his orgasm pushed Crawford after him. They stayed frozen in place, panting in recovery. Crawford's arms trembled and his damp hair hung around his face. A strangled sob brought his head up quickly.
Tears ran slowly down Aya's face and he didn't seem to care.
"I believed you betrayed me," he choked.
Crawford pulled out and rolled to the side to smooth Aya's hair from his eyes.
"I know. I'm sorry it was necessary. I'm sorry there wasn't a better way. I didn't know he would hurt you that way."
"Alright." Aya wiped away his tears irritably and made the final decision to try and trust in himself and his teammates again.
"I can arrange for us to leave for Japan as soon as possible. That is, if you want us to come with you."
Aya's heart squeezed painfully in his chest at the reminder of his duty to his sister. Crawford held him again and he leaned into the other man's strength.
"I think," he said, slowly. "that I would like you to come."
"Then we'll be there for you," Crawford murmured. "We all will."
"Thank you," Aya said and lay in Crawford's embrace, his body sated and his mind comforted.
Down the hall, Schuldig finally relaxed for the first time since the whole debacle began and decided to wake Yohji to celebrate a little. They still had more to deal with, but Schwarz had Aya back.
Still in Aya's grip, Crawford replied calmly, "I had every right as your team leader to make sure you didn't injure yourself more in blind vengeance."
Crawford pried Aya's hands loose from his collar and tried to hold them. Aya wrenched away from him with a growl. Crawford set his jaw and let him go. He wouldn't force his touch on his lover when it was so obviously not wanted. God damn Pollock! Aya watched Crawford warily from beneath his fall of bangs. Pained emotions and uncertainty flickered over his face.
"My sister?" Aya asked.
"Still waiting to hear from Japan. You will be the first person to know after me."
"Hmm." Aya mumbled skeptically.
"Aya, you do remember the plan to infiltrate Pollock's compound, don't you?"
"Using me for bait."
"Yes."
"I don't see how I could have agreed to that with everything else I remember."
"Most of your memories of me, Schuldig and Yohji have been tampered with. They were used as a means to break you."
Aya shivered in memory of the pitch black concrete cell he had been left in. Crawford wanted to gather him close but knew he wouldn't be welcomed.
"How long were we there?"
"Three days."
Aya nodded. He suddenly felt the need to be clean and away from Crawford. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and tried to stand. Still weak, his legs immediately buckled. Crawford caught him neatly. For an instant something, a sense of deja vu perhaps, flickered through Aya's mind and he relaxed in Crawford's hold before shoving him away and standing on his own.
"You need assistance, Aya, whether you admit it or not. If you won't accept my help maybe Yohji or Schuldig would be more acceptable."
Aya stood, confused, but mention of Schuldig's name prompted a glimmer of trust.
"Schuldig," Aya whispered.
Crawford let out a slow breath, bitterly disappointed. "At least let me help you to the bath and I'll get him."
Aya nodded guarded assent and made his way to his adjoining bath, borrowing Crawford's strength as little as possible. Every touch of the precog's hands threatened to drown him in a hundred memories that were nightmares. He didn't understand why he would have allowed such treatment of himself nor why he hadn't killed Crawford instead of following into a stronghold of evil. A light touch on his lower back made him gasp and shiver in lustful reaction that confused him. Did his traitorous body actually want the other man? Aya stepped away from Crawford and hid his face until the precog left.
"Kitten?" Schuldig's light, nasal tenor echoed off the tile. "Come, kitten, let's get you more comfortable and I'm sure you'll feel better afterwards. You must be stiff from being in a bed for a couple of days."
Aya made no comment as the telepath ran hot water in the large oval tub, adding a generous shake of some bath salts that prompted the raising of an elegant red eyebrow.
"One of your few indulgences, Kitten." Schuldig explained.
"I know that!" Aya snapped, "It just seem totally incongruous with what I remember. I don't remember having any freedom to choose a luxury or having a place of my own. I remember that Crawford kept me as a...as a," Aya faltered.
"Nein, Nein Kitten! He took you to bed, yes, but you were lovers. Crawford never used you. It's just more of Pollock's dirty work. He attempted to spoil every memory you had of your time with us."
"You all betrayed me and handed me to that monster," Aya accused. The pain and shock was still evident in his voice.
"You know it was part of the plan. You had to believe it or we wouldn't have succeeded."
"I don't know what to believe anymore," Aya mumbled.
"Believe this, Aya. We did everything we could and would have sacrificed even more to get you back with us."
"Why?" Aya's voice cracked with strain and hurt.
Schuldig dared to frame his face with his hands and stroke his cheeks lightly.
"Because, kitten, you matter to us. You are one of us, and I made you a promise to bring you back. I never go back on a promise."
Aya's confusion and pain resonated through Schuldig's mind and made his eyes sting. It pained him to see his friend so torn with doubt. He swallowed nervously.
"Come, into the bath with you."
Suiting action to words, he helped Aya slip off the robe and step naked into the tub. Aya gasped again and ran questing fingers over the stitched cross on his chest and abdomen. The prickly feel of the stitches and the gruesome carving made him nauseous. He remembered the searing pain and being unable to move until finally his soul had howled in denial and lent him the strength to grasp Pollock by the throat. He remembered the feel of the man's blood flowing over his hand and arm until he ripped the throat apart.
Aya hunched forward to wrap his arms around himself. Schuldig slipped into the bath behind him without him noticing and started massaging his shoulders.
"What?"
"Shhh, Aya. Just let me take care of you, or I can go get Brad for you."
"No!"
"Then let me help, but he is very worried for you. I never thought anyone could touch the icy Oracle's heart, but you did."
"I don't remember anything like that." Aya swished the water in agitation. "Why do I trust you? You betrayed me, too."
"Part of the plan, Aya. Keep that in mind, please. I didn't want to do it at all, so I left a suggestion of hope and recovery in your subconscious. You're reacting to that."
Aya leaned back against the telepath's chest weakly. "Help me," he whispered. "Can you fix what was done to me?"
"Nein," Schuldig said sadly. "I can't fix the memories that I wasn't directly a part of, but I can give you awareness that the false ones are false. If you are aware then you can begin anew."
"Can't you just take away the false memories?"
"That would leave you with a hole in your being that you would always be aware of, Kitten. That wouldn't help you and would only make the situation worse."
Aya brooded and washed while Schuldig took care of his hair. He felt odd letting another man wash his hair like a child, but in a way it was comforting and calmed him somewhat. He allowed the telepath to help him from the tub and, after drying, get settled in comfortable loose pants and tunic.
A discreet knock on his door revealed Crawford holding a phone, a grim expression on his face. Trembling with trepidation, Aya took the phone. Crawford and Schuldig quietly moved to stand on either side of him unnoticed.
"Hai." Aya said into the phone.
"Aya-kun."
"Persia? Omi?"
"Hai, Aya-kun, Persia. Aya-kun it is my sad duty to inform you..."
.
The phone slipped from nerveless fingers and Aya fell to his knees, throwing his head back. He made no other sounds than hyperventilating gasps for air. He was dimly aware of Crawford picking up the phone and talking, getting details and information.
Schuldig all but wrapped around him like a living blanket and Yohji crouched in front him, gripping his forearms. The helped him to his feet and he turned to face Crawford as the man closed the phone with a snap.
"I'm very sorry, Aya," Crawford said.
Aya grabbed him by the collar again to bring his burning, violet eyes level with Crawford's.
"I should have been there to protect her," he gasped.
"Then you would both be dead. Instead, you avenged her death."
Aya dropped his head to Crawford's chest in despair and shook violently. Crawford cautiously brought up his arms to encircle the grieving man until he held him tightly.
"What do I do now?" Aya asked of no one in particular.
"You live. She would want you to live."
"Live for what?" Aya asked bitterly.
"Live for us, Aya. Live for me. You're strong and you have us with you always. You have me. Somehow, if you'll let me, we'll make new memories to replace what Pollock destroyed."
Aya didn't say anything, but he allowed himself to be held. Something buried deep within himself was reacting to Crawford's voice, soothing him and keeping him in the embrace. For the first time in years, he let go of his self control enough to allow tears and enable him to grieve for his sister. He never saw Schuldig and Yohji leave, nor did he notice when Crawford moved them to the bed and just held him until he slept.
When Aya woke his eyes felt swollen and his face sticky with dried tears. Memory bludgeoned him with renewed knowledge of his sister's death. He tried to curl into a fetal position but a strong arm held him in place against a broad and warm chest. Aya turned to look at Crawford's sleeping face. He squelched his first instinct to draw away. He thought about everything that Schuldig had told him about Crawford and he being lovers. As promised, the telepath had given him awareness that the nightmarish memories were false, but he truly couldn't remember any warm or passionate times with Crawford.
Aya acknowledged that the man was very attractive. Even with his silver hair, in his sleep Crawford looked younger and less forbidding. The arms that held Aya were tight with possessiveness but gentle. He wasn't being restrained in any way. He could get away if he wanted to. Aya's brow furrowed. Did he want to? He wasn't sure any more. He knew that Crawford had held him all night, stroking his back and pressing light kisses over his face while he keened his grief. He couldn't imagine the cool and reserved Oracle doing something like that unless they had really been in a relationship.
He must have made some slight sound because Crawford's eyes slowly opened and regarded him warily. Aya gazed back, his grief and his confusion shining clearly in his eyes. Crawford carefully raised a hand to gently wipe away the salty moisture. Aya found himself turning into the touch, closing his eyes and drawing a shuddering breath. Yes, his body definitely remembered Crawford's touch. With his eyes closed Aya could let himself float on sensations and concentrate only on the soothing touch and the feel of the other man's heartbeat beneath his palm.
Crawford leaned forward and touched their lips together in a light kiss. Aya's eyes flew open with a gasp and lifted his hand to his tingling lips. It had felt warm and electric and achingly familiar. Forgetting his other troubles for a while, Aya gazed into Crawford's soft, honey gold eyes and put a stranglehold on his uncertainty. He tentatively tilted his head for another kiss and was rewarded with one, hot and arousing, that felt so right it erased some of the ache in his soul. One kiss led to another and another, each one deeper and fanning desire.
With some effort Crawford pulled back from Aya. He wouldn't take advantage of the man in his grief and need for comfort. Aya's face was flushed and he was breathing heavily, his evident desire blatant between them. He made a noise of impatience and reached for Crawford who caught his hands and held them.
"I don't want you to do something you might regret later, Aya," Crawford said.
Aya shook his head wordlessly and tugged at his hands. Crawford let him go and Aya hesitantly pressed their bodies together. He dragged Crawford's head down into a scorching kiss and shifted until the man was lying overtop him. Oh yes, his body remembered this, the familiar weight and feel of Crawford, the hands that knew where to touch him to make him writhe and want more.
"Aya," Crawford tried one last time to do the right thing.
"Brad," the name slipped easily from Aya's lips. "Please, Brad. I just want to forget for a little while that she's gone and I want to remember you. You said we were lovers and that you would always be here for me. Give me this."
Crawford's eyes softened more and his touches grew more confident and purposeful. If Aya really wanted this, then he would give it to him and do his best to make it memorable. Sure hands helped Aya lose his clothes and efficiently took care of his own. He pulled the redhead back under him and settled between his thighs to kiss his way down that lovely, white curve of neck. Crawford took care not to put too much pressure on the stitched injuries. Aya arched into every kiss, a silent demand for more.
Sliding lower Crawford opened his mouth over the head of Aya's erection and tongued it lightly. Aya groaned and his hips jerked in reaction. Crawford took him in and worked him with swirling strokes of his tongue and small grazings of his teeth. Aya's breathing changed to gasps and he wrapped his hands in Crawford's silver hair to drag him back up his body to ravage his mouth. He could tasted himself on Crawford's lips and that, too, was familiar. Aya was so hard now it was almost pain and his kisses and touches became more demanding.
He broke away long enough to gasp, "I want you. Give me more."
Crawford drew a shuddering breath and leaned over to paw through the bedside table. After a moment's rummaging he came up with a partially used tube of lubricant. Aya's eyes darkened with knowledge and the significance that the tube was in his room. Crawford slicked his fingers and urged Aya to raise his thighs up and around his waist. Aya impatiently let Crawford stretch and prepare him gently, but his body was screaming for satisfaction.
"Enough," he grated.
"Aya," Crawford said in a stern voice. "Not even if you wanted it would I ever really hurt you. We might play, but I have never caused you undue pain. I won't start now."
Crawford lined himself up and pushed in smoothly. Aya arched up sharply and tightened his legs to take him in to the hilt with a strangled moan. Yessss. He wanted this. He needed this.
Crawford held him by the waist to control the pace and they struggled in a battle for dominance. Crawford's position gave him greater leverage and he distracted Aya with long, stroking pulls that made him pliant once more. He thrust in and out, gradually increasing in speed and intensity as the feeling subsumed them both. Aya came first with low moan and the rippling feel of his orgasm pushed Crawford after him. They stayed frozen in place, panting in recovery. Crawford's arms trembled and his damp hair hung around his face. A strangled sob brought his head up quickly.
Tears ran slowly down Aya's face and he didn't seem to care.
"I believed you betrayed me," he choked.
Crawford pulled out and rolled to the side to smooth Aya's hair from his eyes.
"I know. I'm sorry it was necessary. I'm sorry there wasn't a better way. I didn't know he would hurt you that way."
"Alright." Aya wiped away his tears irritably and made the final decision to try and trust in himself and his teammates again.
"I can arrange for us to leave for Japan as soon as possible. That is, if you want us to come with you."
Aya's heart squeezed painfully in his chest at the reminder of his duty to his sister. Crawford held him again and he leaned into the other man's strength.
"I think," he said, slowly. "that I would like you to come."
"Then we'll be there for you," Crawford murmured. "We all will."
"Thank you," Aya said and lay in Crawford's embrace, his body sated and his mind comforted.
Down the hall, Schuldig finally relaxed for the first time since the whole debacle began and decided to wake Yohji to celebrate a little. They still had more to deal with, but Schwarz had Aya back.