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Disclaimer: Weiss and Schwarz do not belong to me. I'm borrowing them for my and (I hope) my readers' amusement only and have no intention of trying to make money off of them in any way, shape or form.

Author: The RCK
Website: http://www.therck.org


Pairing: Omi/Aya
Rating: R
Note: First part written for the Weiss Kreuz Anonymous Kink Meme. This is an R for themes. The sex is not explicit (weird for a kink meme inspired story, I know). Since I intend to keep writing this, I'm looking for a beta reader for it and will rewrite the first two sections later. Parts should be read as stories in an arc rather than as chapters. I believe they stand alone, and I might stop writing this at any point.
Prompt: Omi/anybody except Nagi. Slavery. Dubious consent or non-consensual fine. Bonus points for multiple slaves. Prefer a canon derived AU to a transplant AU.
Warnings: AU, dubious consent (Aya thinks he can consent. I'm not sure I agree), dark Kritiker, slavery, mind control, sort of a WIP, currently unbeta'd
Summary: Weiss is Aya's last chance, and it looks a lot better than any of the other Kritiker teams he's been on. He offers Omi the only thing he can think of that Omi can't get just by issuing orders.
Posted: 26 April 2008 - parts 1 and 2.

Thanks to those who tried to beta this for me. It's not your fault I couldn't handle the rewrite or that this one is squicky. Since I didn't end up taking your advice, I'm not going to name you, just apologize for wasting your time.

All mistakes and infelicities here are mine.

Destination Unknown
Torsion Part 1


Aya wasn't sure what to expect when he walked into the meeting room. Kritiker team leaders were, in his experience, a varied lot. He'd seen five already, the three from his previous teams and the two who'd rejected him already today. Nobody wants a three time loser. Especially not one who's broken conditioning once already. Just thinking about breaking conditioning made his head ache. He set his jaw. At least... They've promised I can visit this time. As long as I'm still useful.

He knocked on the door then closed his eyes. Last chance. I've got to convince him to keep me. What happens if he doesn't want me? What happens to her? He had no illusions about his own fate. Kritiker had labs in need of test subjects, classes in need of demonstrations and practice. I'm surprised they're giving me another chance. He didn't believe what the woman called Birman had told him. Compassion for my sister. Pull the other one.

"Come."

Aya opened the door with no visible hesitation. He stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind him. He blinked once, not quite trusting his eyes. The person on the other side of the table looked about twelve. That can't be the team leader. He had no illusions that Kritiker wouldn't recruit children, but he couldn't believe that Kritiker would put a child in charge of a team. Easier to start young, but--

"Sit."

The boy didn't sound twelve, and Aya revised his age estimate upward even as he sat in the indicated chair. He has the voice of command. Aya bowed his head.

"Aya-kun."

Aya looked up. He couldn't do otherwise. Yes. If he takes me, the conditioning will hold. He swallowed hard. "Sir."

The boy tapped a file folder on the table. "Do you prefer to be called-- something else?"

Aya couldn't help flinching. "No, sir." They took that name from me. As punishment.

The boy opened the folder. "You've killed before. Done infiltration." He flipped a page. "One sister, no other relatives."

Aya looked at a spot on the wall. Nothing there requiring response.

"You have quite a record. Commendations and reprimands. Look at me."

Aya looked.

"Weiss is a lethal unit. We kill who we're told to kill and whoever gets in our way. Can you do that?"

Aya nodded. Like I have a choice. If you tell me to do it, what I can or can't do won't matter. Not in the least.

The boy sighed. He set down the folder and stood. He extended a hand. "Welcome to Weiss, then. I'm Bombay. You'll be Abyssinian. You'll answer to me, to my voice, to my command, until I'm dead or I release you back to Kritiker."

Aya choked on a cry of pain as the vise of Kritiker conditioning clamped down, subordinating his will to Bombay's. Assuring the chain of command, they call it. When the pain passed, he stood and shook Bombay's hand. Then he waited. His first commander had made him sit, waiting, unmoving, through an entire day's business. The second had beaten the crap out of him then taken him home and done it again. The third-- The less I think about that, the better.

"Do you have any things to collect or do we need to shop on the way home?" Bombay smiled at him.

Aya shook his head. "I don't have anything." Just a sister, and I can't take her with me. How can he look so sweet?

"Our cover's a flower shop. We share a kitchen and a bath and such, but you'll have your own room over the shop. There are two other members of the team. I'll introduce you." Bombay put a hand on Aya's arm and steered him towards the door. "Call me Omi-- Tsukiyono Omi-- when we're not on Kritiker business and when the cover needs to be maintained."

It took three weeks for Aya to decide that Omi's conditioning was either incomplete or broken. Having gone through full conditioning twice, Aya wasn't quite ready to call it in either direction. I still have some free will. Not much, but some. He's a commander. He needs more... space for judgment calls.

He studied his teammates and said as little as possible. He phrases his requests carefully enough that we have choice. Most of the time.

'Please don't smoke in the kitchen, Yohji-kun,' had made Yohji turn green and flee without his morning caffeine. He can't even pull out his cigarettes in there now. Yohji and Ken are fully conditioned, but he doesn't use it if he doesn't have to. That means they don't have defenses when he does. I do, but they don't. They haven't needed them. Is he stupid or weak or... simply a better man than Kritiker usually puts in charge?

After six missions, Aya was certain that Omi wasn't stupid. And 'weak' is a matter of definitions. I wonder how old he actually is? He's not a child. His papers-- which are probably forged-- say he's seventeen, and he can't be younger than that. He has too much experience. But he looks too young to be older than twenty, if he's even that old. Or have they altered him? They could change his appearance, have him go to school and claim to be seventeen just to obscure the fact that he's in command. Perhaps that's why he's so diffident in public. Except that he's like that when it's just the team. And that assumes an enemy watching us, an organized enemy that knows what we are.

After two months, Aya decided that he could trust Omi-- not with his life. That was a given and something he no longer had a choice about-- but with his sister and his revenge. But I have to offer something in return. That stopped him. Omi had given no sign of wanting anything but to serve Kritiker and to keep the flower shop running smoothly. Aya could disrupt both if he worked at it. But then he merely has to get rid of me. Would he? Probably. I wouldn't be worthy of help then.

Both Yohji and Ken surprised Aya. He was used to agents who'd been stripped to the bone, who were nothing but their cover, their function for Kritiker and the one or two pieces of themselves they'd sacrificed everything else to keep. Yohji and Ken weren't whole, but they still owned their own souls. Or think they do. He lets them. Why couldn't Weiss have been my first team? Or my second-- No. No point crying over the past.

Ken coached children's sports, a huge risk that Omi really shouldn't have allowed. Except that Ken needs it. Desperately. Yohji smoked and spent many of his evenings-- when there wasn't a mission-- out. Both habits that could kill him-- or one of us-- some day, but he needs that, too. They both joked with Omi, treated him like a friend, even teased him. It's like they don't know, but they do. They even joked about Omi's status as team leader, about the fact that he could give them orders they'd have to obey.

Aya simply bit his tongue and didn't tell them how foolish they were. As long as they had Omi, they didn't need to know. And they might wonder how I know.

In the end, Yohji gave him the key to what he could do for Omi. It was another joke in a tired series about sex. Yohji liked to talk about sex to see if he could get Omi and Ken to blush. He'd given up on getting Aya to blush after about three days of silent glares. Aya'd considered warning Yohji against tempting fate, but Omi seemed not to take offense. Maybe he's hoping that Omi will do something. I've heard of crazier things.

This particular evening, Yohji had stayed in because the team was on call. They had an elusive target and were waiting for word that he'd been located. They'd been waiting for four days, and Yohji's jokes had frayed at the edges.

Yohji came back into the kitchen after a cigarette break. "How much longer is the bastard going to manage to run?"

"He doesn't actually know we're coming," Omi replied mildly. He poured himself another cup of tea.

Yohji snorted.

"We're all getting frustrated." Ken sat on the counter and bounced his heels against the cabinet.

Yohji grinned. "That's what you should do, Omi-- Order us to relieve some tension. We'd all be mellower if we got off."

Ken turned red and punched Yohji, so they both missed the fact that Omi looked just faintly interested before he blushed and stammered a protest.

Three nights after their target finally breathed his last, Aya broke into Omi's room. It wasn't particularly hard. Omi was out, and they all had access to the master key that would open all the rooms. When they're not locked from the inside. But if one of us is inside, we'll open the door for Omi. If we can hear him.

Omi's room was nearly as empty as Aya's own. There were a few school books and CDs stacked neatly on the desk next to the laptop Omi used for his homework. Aya looked at the laptop for several seconds, wishing he dared open it to see what was on it, but offending Omi wasn't part of his intention. And I can't believe that he doesn't have security on it. Maybe not Kritiker security, but... He kept his hands at his sides and studied the spines of the books and the covers of the CDs. No. This isn't going to tell me anything.

He allowed himself a moment of terror, gulping air. Then he steadied himself by force of will and knelt in the middle of the room. He set the master key on the floor next to his right knee. If I guessed wrong-- It's too late. My shoes are by the door, and I'm here. He studied the bland, brown carpet. Even if I'm wrong and he's not interested, he won't punish me too badly.

He didn't look up when the door opened, not even when he heard Omi inhale sharply.

"If you wanted to visit my room, Aya-kun, you could have asked." Omi didn't sound entirely surprised.

Is he unhappy? Aya risked a look up at Omi's face. "I wanted to talk to you." He looked down again. "Sir."

Omi slipped off his shoes and walked over to the chair by his desk. "Business, then?" His voice became just a little harder, losing the cheerful veneer he maintained in public.

"Sort of." Aya bit his lip. He sighed. "You've read my file." He studied Omi's face. "Do you know how much isn't in there because it doesn't matter?" His voice cracked a little, and he turned his face away.

"I have some guesses." Omi didn't move. "Do I need to know?"

"You're the only team leader I've had who... who isn't fucking someone on the team. Sometimes, everyone on the team."

"Do you think I have to?" Omi's voice was harder than Aya'd heard it before.

Aya shook his head. He licked his lips. "I just thought... If you want to, I don't mind."

"I don't want sex if it requires orders." Omi gave the word 'orders' a contemptuous twist.

Aya nodded. "If you did..." He took a steadying breath. "If you did, I'd be praying that you wouldn't notice me." He dug his fingers into the fabric of his jeans. "There isn't much I could give you that you couldn't get just by ordering me, but you couldn't get that. You could make me act like I wanted it, make me say yes, but the conditioning couldn't make me mean it. I'm offering."

"Ah." Omi said nothing more for several seconds. "What do you expect in return?"

That's not 'no.' Aya felt himself relax a little. He thought about lying. He could. Omi'd never ordered him to be truthful. But honest fealty can't come from lies. "I don't know if you can give me either of the things I want."

Omi touched Aya's shoulder. "Your freedom? I can't. Not without betraying the others."

Aya blinked. Which implies that he could. He shook his head. "My sister," he said. "I can't protect her."

"I'll try, Aya-kun. No promises, but... I'd try anyway."

Aya nodded. He'd expected that. "The other thing... Did my file talk about my parents? About how they died?"

"It's mentioned. Several times. They couldn't break your obsession with revenge on..." Omi hesitated as if calling the name to mind. "Takatori Reiji?"

"He framed my father then murdered him and my mother and nearly killed my sister. I joined Kritiker because they promised me--" Aya's face twisted, and he fought to smooth his expression. "She needs treatments that I couldn't afford. Even then her chances aren't... There are no guarantees." He felt naked under Omi's eyes. I've never... given this to anybody. Nobody cared. He inched over so that he could lean against Omi's leg. "I even talked to Persia. Once. He promised me Takatori." He lied. He didn't tell me-- So much he didn't tell me. "Do you know who Persia is? Who he really is?" He choked a little on the question. That bit of knowledge was a Kritiker secret, something they'd tried to take from him. They couldn't. It's too important.

Omi stroked Aya's hair. "Tell me."

Aya sighed as the command eased the compulsion to remain silent. "Takatori Shuichi. The murderer's younger brother."

Omi's hand stilled briefly then started moving again. "I'll look into the family. There must be public information, things I wouldn't need Kritiker resources for."

Yes! Aya closed his eyes. He really doesn't belong entirely to Kritiker. I was afraid-- He leaned a little harder. "Then I'm yours for anything."

"'Anything' is a lot."

"Everything but my sister." I'll even give up on revenge if you say it's necessary. He bit his lip. The mental admission cost less than he'd expected, but it still hurt. "I didn't think I'd find anyone worthy of service."

"I'm not a feudal lord, Aya-kun, and you're not a samurai." There was a current of warning in Omi's voice.

Warning against what? Aya shook his head. "I gave up on honor when I joined Kritiker. I knew what I was doing then." No. I didn't, but it doesn't matter now. I'm here, and I can't go back. "I can't offer you my honorable service, just my willing service." Does he understand the difference?

"For me and not for Kritiker?"

Is there a trap in that? Maybe, but... I decided to trust him. "I trust you."

"And if I hurt you?"

"That's part of service." Aya let his shoulders sag a little. "And you could hurt me any time you wanted to, anyway. It's... different, though." It's different if I say you can even if you always could. "I know I'm a slave. My other team leaders made sure I knew. You... Don't die, please. If you do... Make sure Ken and Yohji are already dead." Please. They don't deserve to learn that. He hadn't realized he cared that much about Ken and Yohji. Nobody deserves to learn that.

"You don't like Kritiker?" It sounded like a question, but Aya was fairly sure it wasn't.

"I couldn't say that." I'm not allowed to.

"I'm surprised you can think it." Omi sounded ever so slightly amused. "Has Kritiker ever sent you hunting someone who didn't deserve it?"

Aya shook his head slightly. "Not that I know." That doesn't mean they all did. I just don't know of any who weren't guilty of something. Of course, I also don't know that my parents weren't killed by Kritiker. I tried to find out, but... That had led to his expulsion from his second team. He could feel himself starting to shake a little. Stop talking, please, and just fuck me. Get it over with. No. The talking's important. It means he's serious. It means he's not going to just take and take and take. Even though he could. I can't forget that.

Omi sighed and wiggled his toes.

Aya could see them move even when he couldn't see other parts of Omi's body. Feeling daring, he lifted one of Omi's feet and started to massage it, gently, trying not to tickle.

Omi made no effort to move his foot away. "I am Kritiker, Aya-kun. I don't remember anything else." He continued stroking Aya's hair.

No. You're not. You just don't know it yet. Aya knew he might be deceiving himself, but he wasn't quite ready to give up on hope. I still hope my sister will wake up. Even now. Even with what she'll wake to. He continued the massage, finding and working out a small knot  in the arch of Omi's foot.

Omi hissed. "That's been bothering me all day. Thank you."

Aya turned his face to press it against Omi's leg. I'm not going to cry. 'Thank you' shouldn't hurt so much.

Omi didn't say anything for several minutes, just rubbed Aya's back. Finally, he said, "Think carefully, Aya-kun. I'm not really a kind man or a good one, and if we do this, you won't be able to change your mind. I don't think I could... let go of that and keep you on the team." He squeezed Aya's shoulder just a little too hard. "I don't know if I could let go of that at all. Ever."

A reminder of what he might do later... Aya laughed a little without much humor. "Do you think I didn't think of all of that, too? I know it's... irrevocable." Unless you get bored and start in on one of the others. I'm-- we're-- upsetting a balance here. One that works. He forced himself to look up, to meet Omi's eyes. "I--" He shook his head and tried to smile. "I can't give my will to Kritiker, but I can give it to you." Even if you change. Even if I'm wrong. Even if you hurt me. Even if...

Omi seemed to hold his breath for a moment. The he let it out in a rush. "Stand up. Take your clothes off. I want to see what I'm buying."

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