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Cages	By : Ryoko21 Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 14164 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing/AC, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Zechs 189

Could it have ever ended any other way?

I wondered that to myself, following the brawny, ill-tempered guard down now-familiar halls to Treize’s quarters. My heart was pounding and I knew I should be coming up with some sort of plan – any sort of plan – but my mind was simply blank.

Numb.

Because in the end, I had lost. The previous year had been a gamble, and I had thought I had held all the cards. But in the end, all the aces had been under the table, in Treize’s hand. I should have known when he raised the ante that he was going to win, but I’d simply clung tighter to my hand.

I should have run from the proverbial table. Should have taken my boys and fled, hid somewhere that Treize would never find us. Should have thrown my cards in his face and run for the hills.

Should have.

Could have.

Didn’t.

And now… Now he held all the cards. Now I was powerless. Property. Was this how my boys felt? Like every corner held another monster waiting to attack? Like it was the fifth circle of hell, and you were never getting out? It made me sick to my stomach, thinking that they had endured years of this.

Thinking that my failure had condemned them to a lifetime more.

And I couldn’t even blame Wufei, really, even though the sting of his betrayal was sharp. He’d never agreed to be my pawn – a card in my hand, if you will. Out of all of them, he’d been the most fiercely devoted, and my most precious ally. It wasn’t his fault that he’d been too smart, too intuitive, for me to handle. It wasn’t his fault he’d seen just enough to mistrust me, but not enough to gain his trust back.

But if I’d had to do it again, I knew I wouldn’t change that. Especially now that I had lost.

Because I held information that Treize desperately wanted. Information that I would not give up easily, but that Treize would eventually take from me by force. I had kept my recent knowledge of the Preventer’s operation slim, but there were things you could not help but learn when working for an organization as powerful as I was. Treize had acted quickly, and there was no way for me to pass the information to my superiors that I had been compromised. It would take time, but eventually Treize would wear me down, and would pull the information he needed from me. And this information could potentially be used to take down my organization.

It was possible that I alone would be responsible for the end of the world as we knew it. I had not been able to stop him from rising to power, and I might very well give him the tactical advantage he needed to gain power over the rest of the known world. I would resist as long as I could… but Treize was very good at what he did. Eventually, I would not be able to deny him. But at least I had the knowledge that he would not be able to torment any information out of my slaves. Treize could tell instinctively when a person was lying, and contrarily could also know when they were telling the truth. Once my slaves had proven they held no information of value to him, he would leave them be for the most part. It was very likely that he would not even interrogate them for long, focusing most of his energies on me instead.

“Don’t look at me that way,” I heard Treize say softly as we entered the room, and I tore my eyes away from him and attempted to school my face into something a little less… horrified.

I found myself in a lavish bedroom, with a large four-post bed and dim lighting. It was opulent, as I had come to expect from Treize, and he was dressed in a formal military uniform. I wasn’t sure if that was for my benefit, or it was simply something that he had been wearing previously and he had not taken the time to change. Trieze had a taste for the dramatic; it wouldn’t be unheard of for him to dress up merely to see my reaction.

“His slaves gave me a bit of trouble,” the guard complained, and I felt heat rise to my face, tempered by just a hint of pride. Of course they gave you trouble, you moronic ass. Push my boys around and see what happens.

“You mean my newest acquisitions?” Treize said, and I felt myself deflate. Of course. They weren’t my slaves any longer.

“Yeah, they went back to their rooms to wait for further instructions.”

“Good. There’s no rush, but dispatch another guard to collect them in a few hours. I’ve set up a holding area for them until we transfer them to my permanent rooms planet-side. You are dismissed,” Treize said, waiving the guard away. The guard, who I had still not heard called by name, gave me one last parting sneer before exiting the rooms.

And then I was alone with my former lover, who I was beginning to think of as the devil.

“What are you going to do with them?” I found myself asking when we were alone. “My… The slaves.”

“Hm? Oh, nothing really. They’ll be safe enough, although I doubt they’ll be pleased by their confinement.”

“Will you… Can I see them?” I asked, and tried to keep my voice neutral, but I knew Treize would not be fooled. He simply stared at me for a moment, before eventually approaching me.

“No, I don’t think so. Not at first. I did promise to let you keep them, which I will, in some respects, but you are too close to them. I have little interest in sharing your affections, and they take up far too much of your interest. I will keep you apart from them, while you adapt to your new circumstances, and once I am pleased with your progress I will allow you to return to them.”

A part of me knew that it was a ploy to gain my cooperation. Hell, he’d pretty much come out and said it. But a deeper part was devastated by the idea of going – how long? – without seeing my boys. And the thought of them in Treize’s hands, surrounded by guards like the one that had come today, was even worse.

“You said you would keep them safe,” I reminded, and it was only desperation that made me do that. I knew I was pushing my luck with him.

“My, you are high maintenance, aren’t you?” he chuckled, reaching out to tuck my hair behind my ear. I let him, neither encouraging nor shying away from the causal touch. It wouldn’t have really mattered, anyway. “Your precious slaves will be safe enough. I will not let anyone harm them unnecessarily, and I will provide adequate food and shelter, but it seems that your boys have become quit willful. I might need to instill some discipline in them before they can be trusted in your presence again.”

So that was the game. He would keep them away from me, and punish them as he saw fit, and I was powerless to stop it.

“Please,” I found myself begging him, moving close enough that I could feel the heat of his body, but I could not meet his eyes. “I just want them safe and happy.”

He took my chin in his hand, tilting my face to meet his eyes.

“I know you do, and I will give you ways to do that. I know how loyal you can be, when you want to be. I will give you plenty of opportunities to protect them,” he promised, and I couldn’t bring myself to take any comfort in those words.

“And me?” I asked, giving in to the desire to know what was in store for me now that I knew my slaves would not be harmed, at least for now. “What are you going to do with me?”

Treize laughed and pulled me into his embrace.

“You act as if I’m going to eat you, little pet,” he soothed, pushing my hair out of my face. “I have no interest in hurting you, nor do I want to harm your little concubines. What I want is for you to stop struggling against me and adjust to your new life here at my side. And to know that you have committed yourself to that, I need you to tell me who your Preventers contact is. I need you to feed them bad information for a little while, to throw them off my trail and to keep them from finding any more of my warehouses. In a few months, the technology for my army will be ready and I’ll be able to eliminate them- but until them, I need you to buy me some time.”

“Why?” I asked desperately, leaning my head against his shoulder, not daring to pull away as anger surged inside of me. “Why must you do this? Why must you make an entire world of this… this hell you’ve created here.”

“Oh Milliardo,” Treize sighed, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You can be so naïve, can’t you? Do you think any of this is new, love? Do you think anything that happens here doesn’t happen everywhere else? You can be so blind sometimes, and it’s only because I love your innocence that I don’t get aggravated by your blindness,” he said, then pulled back to look into my eyes. “But let me disillusion you just a bit- These men that are here? Almost all of them are old money, from families that have been rich and powerful almost as long as- well, almost as long as yours,” he said, and there was a hint of disapproval. I knew that he still blamed our breakup on our uneven status, and even though that hadn’t been the reason I had left him before, I didn’t dare disillusion him. His obsession with power and status had grown so intense since I had left him that I feared a violent reaction if I told him he had simply scared me off. “These men have grown up being taught that they have the power to do whatever they want. They have known power all their lives- the power to get whatever they want. They rig elections, they plant evidence, they give the press stories, and they always, always get what they want without retribution. Even now, the only reason they are here is because each and every one of them is absolutely certain that they will never be brought to justice for what they’re doing. I want to change that. I want to redistribute the power.”

I startled myself by laughing.

“So this is- what? Socialism? You’ve done all this – killed all these people – in the name of equality?” I scorned, but I knew Treize could hear the trace of panic in my voice.

“Not socialism. Nothing so idealistic. No, what I want is monarchy in the purist form of the word. I want all the power. I will decide who is guilty an innocent. I will decide what is right and wrong. I will decide how to mold society. Everything will be done to my will,” he said, and I was so horrified that I couldn’t even come up with a reply, and for several minutes the only sound I could hear was the pounding of my own heart. “And you, darling, will be my crown jewel, kneeling before my throne as I rule over earth and space. You will be radiant and untouchable to everyone except me. And I will let you help me make this dream a reality. Help me take down Preventers, and I will keep you and your boys safe forever. They can live out their lives in the lap of luxury with you,” he promised. But how could I trade the world for the lives of five boys?

I couldn’t meet his eyes, and suddenly his grip on my arms tightened. I looked up to find him frowning. “Don’t oppose me, Milliardo. I don’t want to harm you, but I can be very… unpleasant if I am displeased.”

“Treize…”

The slap came, sharp and unexpected, making me fall back a step. It turned my head and I held it there, letting the pain flow through me, getting it ready for what was to come.

“You know better than to call me that, now,” he said gently. His voice was one of the ones that made you quieter when he spoke softly, because you knew better than not to listen. “Once, we could have been equals. But you were too good for me, and now we find our positions reversed. But I won’t leave you,” he promised, laying his hand over my bruised cheek and running his thumb across my lips. His other hand encircled my wrist and pulled me close again, until we were chest to chest. “I can keep you, protect you, love you. All you have to do is help me.”

“I don’t know anything,” I protested, and suddenly his grip on my wrist became painful and I winced.

“Don’t lie to me,” he growled, and the threat of violence was there, but I had known that it was coming.

“I have nothing to tell you,” I said, and it was closer to the truth, but Treize was not appeased.

“Why don’t you ever take my side?” he asked, and I could almost see the old wounds opening. “Why must you always assume that you know better, that I am doing the wrong thing? Even now, when you haven’t even the right to change your own clothes, still you struggle against me.” Treize was in a temper now, and as passionate as his love could be, I knew his anger could be cruel. “Perhaps I was too kind to you,” he said, staring into my eyes like he was trying to read the information there. “Perhaps I have promised too much, and exerted my power too little. I think it is time for a demonstration of just how unkind I can be.”

His hands came up to my collar then and began undoing the buttons. I let him, knowing that resistance would only make things worse. It was hard, in a way, to stay still and let him do these things to me, knowing that he would hurt me. It would have been easier to fight him until there was no strength left in my body, and then fade into oblivion. But Treize was not honorable, and I knew that he would use other methods on me if I chose that route. Methods that could easily include tormenting my slaves, and I simply couldn’t allow that.

The shirt came off and Treize folded it neatly, setting it aside. I had expected him to go for my pants next, but he didn’t. Instead, he led me to the center of the room. The shackles came down from the ceiling, nearly hidden by the ornate ceiling. I held my hands up, and he snapped them neatly around my wrists. I gave an experimental pull, but I had little hope of freeing myself. Beneath the appearance of wood in the lavish room, the shackles would be anchored by the gundanium girders of the ship. Funny, how steel was so prevalent in the ship, and yet almost all the members of Collar preferred the fake look of old-fashioned wood.

“I don’t like hurting you,” Treize admitted. “I know that there will be a period of… adjustment, while you reconcile yourself to your new situation. However, I am hoping you will make it easier on yourself. Tonight, I will give you ten lashes, and I will not ask you anything else. Think about how lenient I am being tonight, because tomorrow I will not be as merciful.”

The first strike came then, and I hissed with the sting of it. It would leave a welt, but there would be no permanent damage. Treize was using a riding crop, a slim black rod covered in leather. It was meant to hurt instead of harm, and Treize used it well, expertly placing strikes across my back that made me wince and pull in my restraints. But I knew Treize wasn’t hitting me as hard as he could. I knew Treize could lay me open with the crop, knew he could rend flesh with the tool he if truly felt like it. This wasn’t about harming me, or even making me feel pain, really. It was about showing me just how powerless I was.

I sagged when he finished. There was a light sheen of sweat on my skin, and it made me shiver in the cool room. Treize put the crop aside and stepped in front of me, the heat radiating from his body as he stepped in and kissed me. I allowed it, but didn’t participate.

"Come now, don’t be petulant,” he told me, taking my face in his hands. This time I kissed him back, unwilling to anger him and face another lashing. “After all, I’ve let you make us late, playing with you.”

“Late?” I wondered and he smiled, releasing me from my shackles and helping me lower my arms.

“I know you wanted to attend the celebration dinner for Collar. I suppose you had thought to attend as a master instead of a slave, but you will be attending.”
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Cages