#considering he threatened viktor that he’d do it if necessary

[krittec]

imagine if in season 3, Five tried to rewind to find out who killed Luther or try to save him but as his rewinds aren’t well practised so he can’t go too far, he rewinds to Sloane walking in as he’s stood near his brothers body, so his family thinks that he killed Luther.

[jbankai89]

Never Let Me Go [13/37]

A/N: POV switch for this chapter. Enjoy! :)

Chapter Twelve – Lessons Learned

“How is he?”

Otabek's tense demand was met with an exasperated look from the doctor, and he turned back to the unmoving form of the omega in the hospital bed of the manor's small infirmary to look over his patient as he spoke.

“Broken forearm, severe bruising to his back, chest, throat, and calves, deep cuts from the tiger's claws...honestly, it's a miracle he's alive at all, sir,” he said while he focused his attention on Yuri. He lifted the omega's eyelids, checked his vitals, and looked over his cast and various bandages before he finally turned back to Otabek.

“But will he be all right?” Otabek demanded as he took a step closer, and felt his heart break a little at the sight of Yuri, bandaged up and bedridden. This is all my fault.

“Given enough time, he should make a full recovery,” the doctor replied as he reached out to offer Otabek's arm a reassuring squeeze. “I've given him a rabies shot, just to be safe, and some morphine for the pain.” Otabek ignored the physical show of reassurance, his full focus still trained on Yuri's sleeping form. His fair skin was a pasty white, dark circles ringed his eyes, and he was propped up to take the pressure off the wounds on his back, and his legs had been elevated on soft pillow, both of them thick with gauzy bandage and strong-smelling ointment.

Otabek reached forward and brushed a strand of hair from Yuri's cheek; he felt a fresh surge of anguish rise in his chest.

“Mr Altin,” the doctor said, drawing Otabek from his thoughts, and he turned away from Yuri and to the squat man. “Get out of here.”

“Excuse me?” he demanded, his tone dangerous, and the little man's eyes widened with fright.

“I mean get out of this room for a little while, sir,” he explained quickly, a note of panic in his voice. “Go get some air, a drink of water, just clear your head. There is nothing you can do right now, and your omega will be unconscious from the sedatives we gave him for quite a while, up until tomorrow, at least. Give yourself some time, then come see him again this evening if you wish.”

“He's not my omega,” Otabek replied roughly as he nodded, and took a reluctant step back. “He never was.”

If the doctor was confused by this reply he did not comment on it, but continued to smile placidly at Otabek as he turned and slipped from the room. When it shut, Otabek glanced back at it one last time, then strode down the hall and up to the bedrooms.

Otabek slowed his quick stride when he reached Yuri's room, and he offered the space a single cursory glance before he began to make the rounds.

Television, bookcase, the vent in the ceiling, the curtains, the closet door, and in the corner above his bed. He took down every single micro camera, no larger than the head of a pin, and was in the midst of removing the three microphones when Davies stepped inside, and his eyes widened.

“Mr Altin, what are you doing?” he demanded, a note of alarm in his voice as he gazed at his employer.

“Taking down the surveillance equipment,” Otabek answered simply while he ignored Davies's continued expression of shock at his statement. “This is enough; I can't do this to him anymore. I want the motion sensors around his door disabled as well—permanently.”

“Are you sure that's wise?” Davies asked uncertainly, “how will you know what he's doing when you're not keeping an eye on him?”

“I won't, and that's the point,” Otabek said in a firm tone that all but dared Davies to protest. “I've treated him like anything but what I want. I've treated him like a child, a prisoner...a toy. I am going to do right by him, like I should have from the start. If I had, this never would have happened, and he wouldn't be almost dead right now.”

“But sir, he is an omega,” Davies protested, “he needs a strong, guiding hand. To leave him on his own—”

“He is not a child,” Otabek growled, making his paid muscle jump. “He is an eighteen-year-old young man who knows his own mind, and I was stupid enough to forget that. I almost lost him. I don't care anymore, do you understand? I don't care what I have to lose, or gain, or anything. I want Yuri healthy, happy, and safe. That's all I want anymore.”

Otabek stormed from the room, the surveillance devices in hand, and he made his way down to the parlour. He dropped the devices to the ground, and dug his heel into them, the glass and plastic breaking with a number of soft, satisfying pops. He scooped the pieces off the floor, and dropped the broken glass and plastic into his pocket. He then moved to his mini bar to fetch his bottle of good scotch while he pulled his phone out, unlocked it, and began to type out a message.

It took Davies less than two minutes to respond to the summons, and when he appeared in the doorway, he was flushed, not as though he'd been running, but more in a shamefaced sort of way.

“Sir?” he prompted nervously, and Otabek let him stew in his panic for a few more moments, taking the time to sip his drink before he waved the man forward, and he stepped nervously into the room.

“I want you to run something of an errand for me,” Otabek said as he dug into his pocket and fished out a little slip of paper from his pocket. “I need you to track this man down, and bring him back here. Do whatever it takes. If he wants money, food, cars, houses, I don't care. It is imperative that you get him here. However, do not force his hand—do not hurt him or threaten him in any way. Understand?”

Davies nodded as Otabek pressed the paper into his hands, and he glanced down at the name. He blinked several times, and glanced back up to Otabek.

“Who is...Nikolai Plisetsky?” he asked, “why does that name sound familiar?”

“Yuri's grandfather,” Otabek replied, and ignored the look of genuine surprise on Davies's face following the statement. “It's time I stop trying to make Yuri happy for me, but for him instead.”

Davies grunted, but did not form a real answer before he slipped out of the room, and was gone.

Despite the doctor's order that Otabek take a breather for a few hours, he only managed to get through one extra-long film (the director's cut of Titanic) before he was burning to see Yuri again, and headed back down to the infirmary.

The doctor pursed his lips when he saw Otabek, but didn't comment, as though he was wholly unsurprised to see him there

“How is he?” Otabek asked, and nodded his thanks as the doctor pushed a chair over to Yuri's bedside, and the alpha sat down. He certainly looked no better, still pale, and wrapped up in bandages, but it seemed as though some colour had returned to his cheeks.

“Stable,” the doctor replied simply as he moved to stand next to Otabek's chair. “he just needs to rest and allow his body to heal.”

“That'll be more difficult once he wakes up,” Otabek muttered, and reached out compulsively to brush his fingers across Yuri's fair cheek. “His knee-jerk reaction is still to run from this place as fast as he possibly can...not that I blame him, after what I've done.”

“He won't be walking, much less running anywhere for the next few weeks, at least,” he said in a firm, matter-of-fact tone of voice. “I'll be surprised if he has any leg strength at all with those injuries. I'd suggest adding more protein to his meals for the next little while to avoid muscle atrophy, and chain him to the bed if you have to, any stress on those wounds won't do him any favours.”

“I'll speak to the cook,” Otabek replied, though he did not tear his gaze from Yuri as he spoke. Otabek longed to see him wake up, but at the same time he feared what might happen, too. The last thing he wanted was to worsen Yuri's injuries in any way, but at the same time, he found himself at a loss for how to convince Yuri to stay put—at least until his injuries healed.

Otabek smoothed the blanket needlessly over Yuri's still form, and his hands trembled minutely. He jerked back, and took several slow breaths, but it did not calm his frantic heart. He leant back in his seat, his eyes still trained on the omega, and he thought back to the pivotal conversation he'd had with Leo and Viktor not a full week earlier—the conversation that had changed everything.

~*~

It seemed like such a strange gathering, and yet so completely necessary that at the same time that it wasn't strange at all.

Otabek sat next to Viktor, and across from them sat Leo de la Iglasia. His bright and sunny smile seemed so out of place, considering what they had planned to discuss.

“Would anyone care for a drink?” Leo asked cheerfully as he regarded his two guests.

“Yes,” both Otabek and Viktor said at the same time with mirrored emphasis. The young American laughed, and got up to wander over to the mini-bar, and poured a measure of Canadian Club into three glasses. He carried it back to them, and pressed the whisky into each of their hands.

“So,” Leo said as he eased back in his seat and sipped his drink. “You two have had a change of heart, and wish to fix things with your omegas, is that right?” both Viktor and Otabek nodded. Leo smiled a little, his expression cautious, but approving as he sipped his drink once more before replying.“Okay, tell me everything.”

“I rushed things,” Viktor said first, his trademark cheeriness dimming as he stared down into the glass, and frowned. “I marked him and had sex with him during his first heat before we'd even gotten to know each other properly, and I was so stupid and selfish, I didn't really think about it. Father always said an omega was as good as his alpha, meaning an alpha who knew how to control them and things like that. I don't want to control Yuuri. I don't want to hurt him any more, but I'm worried that I can't fix things, that too much damage has been done. And I think back on things I said and did to him and with him and...I feel sick. He is a person, and it's something of a miracle that I didn't completely destroy him with my own selfishness.”

“And you, Otabek?” Leo asked kindly, nothing in his tone implying judgment, and he continued to smile at them both warmly.

“I thought I was being noble,” Otabek mumbled, “that I was being good to him. I didn't mark him—I still haven't—and I haven't touched him sexually. But I microchipped and collared him to keep him on the grounds of my home, and at first I insisted he share my bed, but when he continued to be resistent to me, I gave him his own room, with surveillance devices implanted in it. I approached him only when I wanted to discuss his heats, or things like that, even when it was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it. Then when he did go into heat I tried approaching him, hoping he might have had a change of heart, but when I tried to help him, he just lurched away from me, like I would hurt him—he was terrified. He has a microphone in his collar, and I could hear how miserable he was, but I still didn't do anything about it. I figured it would get better with time, but it hasn't. He still hates me.”

“You also punished him, didn't you?” Leo asked, and Otabek nodded.

“After his first escape attempt I beat him—I spanked him with a paddle, thirty times. I didn't even think about it, like he was a person I was hurting, I just...” Otabek broke off when his voice caught, and bowed his head. He took several slow breaths in an effort to calm himself down, but it didn't feel like it helped very much. “I didn't see him like a person. I saw him as an object. I didn't really realize that until recently, but I don't want to do that anymore. I'm tired of hurting someone I care about. I want to help him get better, I don't want him to feel like my possession.”

Leo did not speak at first. He set aside his glass, and took a small breath. He pressed his palms into his knees, and regarded both alphas with a critical eye.

“First off, let me tell you a thing or two about your omegas—you are lucky that they haven't tried to kill themselves yet, the way you two have been treating them.” Leo paused to let the words sink in. Otabek felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, and Viktor blanched at the implication. “Viktor, you are extremely lucky that Yuuri has not tried to induce an abortion. Some of the methods omegas back home used to use...drinking bleach, stabbing themselves in the stomach, starving themselves to the point of death...it was awful. It's in all our history books, but below university level, they rarely teach that stuff, because kids are too delicate to know the whole truth, you know?

“In my country, well, we are far from perfect, we got a lot of problems, but in terms of how our omegas are treated, it looks like a paradise compared to here. I came here for work, because my dad thought it was time I struck out on my own, as he put it, and put me in charge of our Russian office. Believe me when I say it's the most boring job in the universe, but it did give me a pretty comfortable life, so I'm not really complaining much.”

Leo paused his monologue to sip his drink, a frown twitching at the corners of his mouth. It was a long moment before he spoke again.

“I didn't really go to the Omega House looking for anything, if I'm being honest. I was more curious. My secretary told me about them, and they sort of sounded like whore houses to me. I just wanted to go and see it, but I had no plans to take an omega home. It just seemed so...wrong.”

“But you did,” Otabek filled in for him, “you selected Guang-Hong.”

At this, Leo chuckled, but it was not a jocular or bitter sound, but warm. His eyes softened, and he stared off into space.

“Yeah,” he said, “I did.”

“If you were so against it, why choose him?” Viktor asked, bent forward in his seat as he hung on to Leo's every word.

“I went on the pretense of looking for an omega, I figured they'd never let me in otherwise,” Leo explained, “I was just...curious, like I said. But then I saw him, and as stupid as it sounds, it was like love at first sight. It was like the lights dimmed everywhere else, and all I saw was him. He was beautiful, shy and sweet, and I just wanted to wrap him in a blanket and protect him from everything. The idea of anything ever hurting him made me so sad, and I just couldn't turn around and leave him in that place.

“I took him home, and I felt so bad because he was just so nervous,” Leo continued, a look of genuine heartbreak registering on his face as he spoke. “I hated that it was me scaring him so much, just by being there. I sat him down and explained that I wanted to get him out of there, and that I liked him, but that didn't mean anything. He was really confused by that, let me tell you.” Leo paused to laugh, but when neither Otabek nor Viktor reacted to it, he cleared his throat quickly and pressed on.

“I asked him out. Like a date-date. Because he wasn't marked yet there was only so much I could do without another alpha thinking they could just kidnap him for being out in public without that little bit of scar tissue, so I did what I could. We played video games together, and watched movies, and went swimming, and played one-a-side soccer...”

“—football,” Otabek and Viktor corrected simultaneously, and Leo snorted.

“Yeah, whatever,” he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Anyway, at first Guang-Hong was really kind of hell bent on pleasing me. I'd be like, 'do you want to play Halo or Call of Duty?” and he'd just say, 'yes.'. When I would point out that that wasn't what I'd asked, he'd just panic. I felt so bad for him. I kept reminding him that this wasn't permanent, and that if he really wasn't happy here I could let him go, or send him somewhere safe, like to his family in Beijing, or whatever he wanted. But then he'd just freak out more. He was a bigger mess than I think even he realized.

“I googled some stuff on how to help him, like what sorts of things to ask him and stuff, and he was so stressed that he had no heat for the first two months at my house. He was just so confused and scared, I felt really bad for him. I just kept it up though. I didn't treat him like a servant, or a lover—I treated him like a friend. I told him things about me, and I asked him things about him. I always asked permission before I touched him, even if it was something as simple as touching the back of his hand. And slowly, he opened up to me. I could see that he started the like me how I liked him. He asked me to mark him when he went into heat, and then...well...when he did go into heat...” Leo trailed off with a bashful smile.

“So you just...acted like a friend, not an alpha?” Viktor asked uncertainly, and Leo smiled.

“That about sums it up, yeah.” Leo nodded. “I never went in looking for a partner, and I don't really care about having kids...not any time soon, anyway. What you two need to do I think is make sure that your partners know that they are more than what they can give you. Are they more to you than just a convenient lay, or a sentient baby-making machine? Omegas are people, they're not objects. They are not there for us to control. That said, here is what I think you should do: Viktor, you need to acknowledge your rape of Yuuri.”

“That's not—” Viktor began, but Leo cut in before he got very far.

“—yes it is,” Leo interrupted, his tone firm. “Yuuri was definitely not ready for kids, from what you've told me, and from what I've heard you say. But in his heat state, where it is difficult for an omega to think clearly, you took advantage of it, and used it as an opportunity to get what you wanted. He did not want this, and you've told me that he's petrified of being a mother. What mom goes: oh, yeah, I want to be a mom, but I'm absolutely terrified of everything that goes with it? He was not ready. You need to own up to that.”

Viktor's expression shifted to one of realization, then it crumbled as it was replaced by guilt. He bowed his head, and Otabek turned back to Leo, pretending he didn't see the Russian's tears of realization.

“Otabek, you need to acknowledge your abuse of Yuri,” Leo said firmly.

“It was only one time...” Otabek began, but trailed off when he saw Leo shaking his head.

“You put a collar on him and inserted a microchip in him to monitor his every move. You bugged the room you graciously gave to him. When he tried to run, you beat him. And every night, he was forced into your bed, and touched by someone who hurt him—brutally. You terrorized him, you touched him during his heat when he did not want you to—it doesn't matter if the touch was sexual or not, he still did not want you there,” Leo said, ticking the events off on his fingers as he went. “He's scared of you, and that's not something you fix easily. Yuri is more broken than he probably realizes, and that is all on you. You did this to him.”

“I didn't want this,” Otabek muttered, dropping his gaze from the judgmental eyes of the American. “I wanted a lover, not a...slave.”

“You were well on your way to totally destroying him,” Leo said seriously. “You should count yourself lucky that he's so stubborn, otherwise Yuri wouldn't be breaking, he'd be broken, and there may have been no way to reverse it.”

“What are we supposed to do now?” Viktor asked as he finally looked back up at Leo, his eyes still shining. “I don't want my—I don't want Yuuri to hurt, or be scared. He's precious to me, and I don't mean just as an omega to an alpha, I mean I care about him. If Yuuri were to be suddenly replaced with another omega, I feel like I would be distraught. I don't know if it's really love, but I know that I want him to be happy. I want him to smile, and for me to be the source of his happiness.”

“You can't decide that for him,” Leo said firmly, “only he can decide if you are to be the source of his happiness or not. You cannot force him to love you—either of you. Viktor, you need to give Yuuri space, and let him come to you. Treat him like a friend, not a husband. Let him decide whether you're worth loving or not. Otabek, you need to stop this obsessive-compulsive monitoring. He is eighteen, not eight. You need to treat him like a person, not a little kid who doesn't know to not shove a fork in a socket.”

“But my father always said that omegas—” Otabek began, and Leo frowned at him.

“—are you your father, or do you know better than him?” Leo asked, and Otabek blinked. “Yuri Plisetsky is an omega, but that is not all he is. I'd only spent about five minutes with him, and even I could see that. I saw a very strong young man who has had a hard life, someone passionate who does not let his social standing define him. What do you see, Otabek? Is he only an omega to you, a body to fuck and breed, or is he more than that?”

~*~

Rustling drew Otabek from sleep, and he blinked bemusedly, his mind caught in a cloud of memory. Talking to Leo had been hard, and he had not quite realized just how badly he had been treating Yuri until he'd spoken to him. It forced him to see things clearly, but even now, Otabek wasn't certain whether it was too late or not.

Perhaps it already was, given how Yuri bolted the first chance he got.

It took far too long for Otabek's mind to wake up, and register what he was witnessing—what the doctor was doing right in front of him. When it clicked, Otabek jumped into action.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Otabek demanded as he leapt up, and the doctor jumped back from the bed in alarm, dropping the cloth cuff he'd been holding.

“I'm sorry, sir, but you said he was a flight risk, so restraining him is for his own good—” the doctor began, but quailed with fright when Otabek turned his infuriated glare on him.

“Release him, now.”

“But sir—!”

“Now. This is how I almost lost him. Release him, or I swear, you will regret it.”

With trembling hands, the doctor stepped up to Yuri's bedside, and quickly unbuckled the wrist that had been bound, and collected the other cuff off the floor.

“M-my apologies, Mr Altin,” the doctor said shakily, “I was only acting in Yuri's best interest. If he wakes and panics, he will do more harm to himself.”

“If he wakes up restrained, that is what will make him panic,” Otabek said firmly. “The morphine in his system will keep him calm, as you should know, given that you are a doctor of medicine.”

“It was a precaution,” the doctor tried to explain, “it is common with patients who are liable to flee...”

“He is not a prisoner,” Otabek replied firmly. “I won't have him treated like one.”

“I'm sorry, sir,” the doctor repeated, and bowed his head. “Of course, you know him better than I do.”

Otabek grimaced, uncertain how much of that was true. He sat back down next to Yuri, and rested one hand over his.

“How long was I asleep?” Otabek asked the doctor, who was still hovering uncertainly, as though he did not know whether his presence would be welcomed or not.

“Not long,” the doctor replied, “maybe two hours, at most. It should be a while before he wakes yet. Shall I speak to one of your people about bringing in a more comfortable chair for you, sir?”

“This is fine,” Otabek replied without taking his eyes off Yuri, and closed his other hand over the omega's, sandwiching the limb between them. Yuri's skin felt hot, but not burning. The doctor muttered something, but Otabek did not turn to him, and assumed that it was a salutatory remark of some kind as he saw the man slink out of the room in his peripheral vision.

Otabek held onto Yuri's hand like one might cling to the side of a life boat. He blinked, and tears streaked his cheeks. He did not bother to wipe them away.

“Please wake up, Yuri,” Otabek whispered hoarsely, “please give me a chance to change for you, and give you a life that you deserve. Please.”

Otabek shifted his chair a little closer to the bed, his face lined with worry. Save for the hand closed between his, he did not touch the omega, and ignored the burning need he felt in his desire to do more—to caress his face, or kiss his forehead. Not again, Otabek reminded himself, remembering his conversation with Leo. He would never touch Yuri without his permission ever again.

Otabek dozed, and night had given way to day as he slept. When he next woke, there was an unread text message from Davies on his phone.

Found him. Nikolai Plisetsky lives in a tiny fishing village in the middle of nowhere. Will take at least a day to drive back if all goes well.

Smiling to himself, Otabek went back to his contacts, and selected the names of two of the housemaids.

Please have a second bed brought up to Yuri's room, and space made in his closet for a guest.

Otabek paused to listen to the soft scurrying of the house's servants hastening to do what he'd asked, then focused his full attention on the sleeping omega once more.

He smiled, and squeezed Yuri's hand gently. The strangest part was not the act of fetching Yuri's grandfather, but more in how he felt about it. Otabek was excited, but strangely, not for the reason he had expected.

Otabek was excited to see Yuri's reaction, and not for the possibility that Yuri's feelings towards him might change. Otabek was rather surprised that he really, truly did not care if Yuri thanked him or not, or even began to like him after he was reunited with the old man.

Whether Yuri liked him or hated him for this small act was inconsequential.

True, Otabek liked to think that Yuri would at least begin to see that he meant what he said, and no longer wished to treat Yuri as a child, or an object, but Otabek felt that he did not deserve such a gift—not yet.

Otabek Altin had a lot to make up for, and this was only the beginning.

A/N: Next chapter will be up on HALLOWEEN! :D

If you like my work, please consider throwing a few bucks into my Digital Tip Jar. I am a starving artist, and I like not actually starving to death :P

NLMG Masterpost