The Fatima Curse

"What do you want, Marco?" Uri\'s voice was absent and uninterested as he studied an open book before him, pausing for a moment to take a sip of hot tea that rested on his nightstand. Marco Freemont stood in the assassin\'s doorway, his dark brown face oddly serious and pinched. Uri drifted his eyes up to the man, who was licking his lips to stall for time. The light blue orbs of the elder assassin silently demanded an answer.



"Master wants to see you," Marco said, with trepidation. "He wants to know how your mission went."



"Why doesn\'t he ask Shuuichi?," Uri asked, still with uncaring deliverance, eyes tipping back to his book, open on his crossed legs.



"He doesn\'t want Shu," Marco continued, "He asked for you directly, Uri."



Uri sighed, closing his book and taking one last relishing sip of his steaming tea. "Fine. Tell him I\'ll be there shortly."



Marco turned to leave; but before he could, he cocked his head back over his shoulder and placed his dark brown eyes on Uri\'s stoic face. "You\'d better be prepared," he whispered, "Master isn\'t pleased with you."



Uri\'s mocha face went ashen with fear and dread. His tea was suddenly rocking uneasily in his stomach, leaning heavily from port to starboard. Marco left quickly when he saw the man\'s face drain of color and go a drab shade of gray.



When Uriel Fatima was scared, the world was ending.

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"You wanted to see me, Master?"



"Come in and close the door." He could not see his Master at all. His voice seemed to come from all edges of the open office. Bouncing around in the corners and swooping down onto the tall assassin.



Uri obeyed, stepping further in and closing the door behind him, his ice blue eyes zipping around the room, looking much like a cornered animal that can smell its predator all around it.



"I want you to explain something to me."



Uri moaned when he felt hot breath on his neck. It was a moan of terror.



"This."



Uri\'s vision was filled with a glossy photograph of himself and Leon entrangled together in the unaptly titled Champagne Room. He felt his knees go watery. "I---"



"Keep in mind that, Uriel," Abel whispered on Uri\'s neck. "That I could kill you in a manner of seconds. And who would mourn you, who would even care? Not a single person in this world gives a shit about you but me. So take that into consideration when you answer me."



Uri was surprised to feel hot tears strike his eyes. Burning behind the orbs maddeningly. He swallowed. "I\'m sorry, Master," he whispered in a bare breath, "It happened so suddenly. I---"



There was pain flaring in his kidneys suddenly. Uri could not offer even a scream with the totality of the agony. He collapsed to one knee, squeaking out a breath of misery as his chestnut locks hung around his trembling face.



Abel kneeled down next to Uri, grabbing a fistful of the man\'s hair and jerking his face up. This time, Uri offered a short and rather piercing scream, his face twisting with pain as his eyes turned widely to Abel\'s face. The age of his Master was still as indiscernible. He looked young and rather passionate in his rage. The lines on his face smoothed. "You know the rules better than anyone, Uri. All I ask is that you do your job. This boy wasn\'t a part of your mission." With his free hand, Abel shook the photo beneath Uri\'s nose. "You had no business even speaking three words to him. But you went a step further than that, didn\'t you? What did you do?"



"I--"



"You fucked him. I expect such behavior from Shuuichi, or even Marco. They\'re nothing but incompetent children. But from you? This is a disappointment."



Uri surprised himself. "Sh-Shuuichi isn\'t incompetent. He handled the mission on his own."



"I didn\'t ask Shuuichi to handle it on his own, did I!?," Abel bellowed against Uri\'s quivering features. "No. Shuuichi is sent with you because he\'s too idiotic to do anything on his own. I don\'t trust that boy to do my laundry."



Uri fell into silence.



"You\'ve been with me for years," Abel said, his voice deceptively soft and lamenting, "It pains me to punish you after so many loyal years of service. But you broke a rule, Uriel. I can\'t let you get off with merely a verbal warning."



"Master, please," Uri began.



"You shut your mouth," Abel spat. "You know better than to plead on my mercy. It is thin. And it is not extended towards orphan scum like you." Abel was grinning devilishly, his hand releasing Uri\'s hair to slip down the man\'s dark cheek and turn his face to lock their eyes. The emerald stare of his Master was almost too much to bare. Uri felt as though he were staring into the flames of Hell. He could feel the hot weight eating at the edges of his soul.



"Such a beautiful face," Abel cooed, and mood swings were ripping Uriel apart. Forcing him to remain silent and allow his pleas to hold dominance in the wide circle of his eyes. "It was only a matter of time, wasn\'t it? Only a matter of time before someone saw your beauty. Before someone wanted you have you inside of them. It\'s natural, isn\'t it? Is that what you\'re trying to tell me, Uriel? It\'s natural that a pretty boy like that would want to be with such a virile Adonis such as yourself?"



Uri gave no answer.



"You\'re wrong." Abel sighed, taking a stand and letting Uri remain there on his knees. "When I built this place I had one dream. One simple dream. To punish all those that take it upon themselves to ruin this world with their evil and wicked lust. The fact that one of my own men is contributing to this evil saddens me greatly. Do you honestly think that boy couldn\'t resist you, Uri? Please, spare me. He used you as a sexual object, and he\'s tossed you aside worthlessly. I can understand it, you see. I can see why he\'s done this. Look at you, Uri. You\'re a beautiful, strong, noble work of art. But I see deeper than your smooth flesh and pretty eyes. You\'re a wasted relic of a dying age. You\'re nothing but an gorgeous, empty vase."



Uri closed his eyes. Twin streaks of tears moved down his dark cheeks.



"You think I\'m being unfair."



Uri gave no answer.



"You think that I am treating you with more disdain than I would the others. Shuuichi even."



Uri remained silent.



"But you see, that is because I expect better from you, Uriel. I expect you to abide by these rules that I have erected. You alone understand my dreams, and you alone should thusly see them realized."



"I did not mean to defy your orders," Uri said softly. His voice trembled with tears he struggled valiantly against. "It was so sudden. He... captivated me."



"You are supposed to be above such things."



"I am only human."



"You are not human," Abel spat, "You were nothing but a worthless dog when I brought you into this place. And that is what you remain. Nothing but a sniveling little animal that will never learn what he is good for."



Uri dropped his head.



"The only thing you are good for is murder."



Uri\'s head raised slowly. His blue eyes were leaking steady tears, but his chin was turned up pridefully, though it shook and tremored. "I am not a soulless creature that knows only how to kill," Uri defended, "I..."



"You have no idea what you are," Abel contradicted, "Nor do you have any idea what you are capable of. Stand up, Uriel Fatima."



Uri found his feet. He did not lower his head again. His eyes were kept on the ageless visage of his Master.



"Come closer to me."



Uri walked forward.



"Perhaps you are good for more than murder," Abel considered, tracing one finger down Uri\'s cheek, slipping it beneath the open collar of the taller man\'s cotton shirt. "Take this off," Abel commanded.



Uri began to unbutton his shirt. Moving mechanically.



Abel growled and gripped Uri\'s shirt in two hands, tearing it open and popping the buttons down to his navel. "That picture showed me much about you," Abel roared, "You\'re not a man who wrestles with foreplay. Take your clothes off. I can fuck you the way you fucked that little boy."



Uri shrugged the shirt from his brown, smooth shoulders. Abel watched the sight of the man\'s muscles bunching and relaxing beneath his mocha flesh.



Abel lightly flicked a slender finger across the hoop that was pierced through Uri\'s left nipple. "This is called due punishment," Abel explained, "A justifiable punishment in accordance with the severity of your crime." Abel grabbed Uri by his bicep, throwing the man atop his desk, Uri\'s backside sweeping the papers that littered its surface to the ground.



The man was upon him at once, unsnapping the buckle of his belt as his jade eyes stared deeply into ice blue, blazing and wild. "You\'re nothing but a little whore. That\'s all you are, Uriel. Isn\'t that right?"



"N-no, Master."



A hand pistoned across Uri\'s cheek, a red welt throbbing on the flesh in the shape of Abel\'s palm. "What?"



"Yes," Uri said in a wasted breath, "Yes. I\'m nothing but a whore, Master."



Abel tossed Uri\'s belt aside, working with brute and unceremonious aggression at the man\'s fly. The button tore off, and Abel discarded the metallic disc over his shoulder while sliding the zipper down on Uri\'s jeans. He pulled them low on the dark man\'s hips, watching the muscles there twitch as Uri raised his bottom and allowed his Master to slide them down his long legs. He understood on some level that he could best this man physically; but where would that lead him? His Master had been right when he had called him an orphan. He had no home to go to, other than the one he resided in now. It was not so much an agreement between them with the removal of his jeans, as an unspoken acceptance. And painful though it was, it was also inevitable. And Uri understood this.



Uri\'s boxers were next. He closed his eyes and remembered Leon, how his fingers had been soft against his flesh, butterfly kisses running across his neck and shoulder. That had not been anything animal, nor anything he should be punished for. It had been a tender meeting of two lonely people. Uri\'s wires seemed to become crossed, however, as the vision of Leon morphed to one of Shuuichi, straddling his powerful hips and rocking his small body to the dance of their sex.



Uri\'s eyes opened slowly as his underwear was jerked off. There was no tenderness here. His Master had large, hurting hands, made harsh by his lack of mercy. Uri looked up into his eyes as his naked cock was fondled. There was no pleasure in the touch. Uri moaned purely out of showmanship.



His cock was released. Uri looked down his own body and saw how it stiffly stood against the warm air. His face took on a confused and rather sour twist. Just remember the way his body glistened in the light. The way his sweat tasted, and how where ever you went, he eagerly followed. Remember the rise of his body against you, the magic of his touch. Uri bit his lip, concealing a deeper, more sincere moan, as pre-come pooled at the head of his cock and slowly slid down.



"Look at what a filthy whore you are," Abel boomed, his voice malicious and sniding, "Just a fucking piece of meat." He grabbed Uri\'s cock painfully, giving a sharp squeeze and milking the shaft of pre-come, which his thumb swirled and circled across Uri\'s head. "You like this."



Uri dropped his head back. "Nnh. Y-yes." The lie was easy to hear. Uri kept the picture of Leon in his mind. The way his graceful body moved. The way his flaxen hair shimmered, the way his curved, emerald eyes fluttered and burned with passionate fire. He bit back on softly murmuring the boy\'s name.



Uri listened to the sound of a zipper being lowered, and of material falling down his Master\'s legs. His chest tightened up, his breath catching as he prepared himself for the pain that was to come. "If you scream," Abel warned, in a vicious hiss, "I won\'t stop with you. I\'ll punish Shuuichi the same way. Is that what you want, Uriel?"



Uri thought of his friend. Thought of that moment where he had caught Shu in his arms and looked down into his wide, adoring eyes. And then the image changed to a little boy, all elbows and knees, clumsy and innocent. He shook his head vehemently. His throat was hot and cramped now with tears. "No," he whispered, "No, please. I won\'t scream."



There was no moment of breathless inquiry. No questions of his preparation, or lack thereof. There was a brutal shove, and then Uri\'s insides were ripped open with the insertion of Abel\'s cock. Uri\'s jaw twitched as he held in his screams, his eyes screwing shut tightly as his hands tightened on the desk, nails scrabbling on the smooth surface.



Abel pitched his body forward, slamming roughly in and out of his servant with little breaks in his pounding. He huffed his hot breath on Uri\'s face, lifting the dark man\'s legs up as his biceps rested beneath his thighs.



"Tell me you love it," Abel growled.



Uri felt that if he opened his mouth, his screams would be released. There was so much pain. His stomach cramped with it. He kept Shu in his mind, thinking of his friend in every scenario. Standing at his window in sunset, washed in the unnatural glow of his television, walking through the park during autumn as the dying leaves swirled around him. Uri opened his mouth, and forced out his words. "I love it. I love it, Master."



Uri winced, giving a small whimper as hot, slick blood leaked from his ravaged hole and across his backside. His mind began to drift away, a mercy during his excruciating punishment. He saw Shu turning to him with tears running down his cheeks, the hot red-orange fire of the setting sun resting on his brow and shoulders. He saw himself crossing to his friend and taking him into his arms, sealing their lips together in a hot, forbidden kiss. Uri moaned loudly, flexing his body on his Master\'s desk, curling his fingers at Abel\'s shoulders.



"Move on me you whore," Abel panted. "Move your body on me. This is the way you love it, isn\'t it? This is how you want me to fuck you!" Abel slammed brutally, their flesh clapping together in the silent office, Uri\'s back arching up as agony erupted up and down his spine, shockwaves spreading out from his ruined rear. He began to move, with no clear indication of how he possessed the strength to do so. His hips bucked, raising up and swaying in slow circles against Abel\'s thrusts. His throat vibrated with withheld screams.



Why don\'t you just scream!? Make this end. Make him stop.



But Uri could do no such thing. He made no false assumptions of his own nobility and heroism. But he was sure that if he sacrificed Shuuichi in the name of his own comfort, he would never again be able to look at himself in the mirror. There were some things worth standing up for; and if Endo Shuuichi was not one of them, what else could there possibly be?



"Make me come in you, you filthy bitch," Abel commanded in a deep and roaring voice. "You want it, don\'t you!?" Abel slipped out of Uri\'s ripped, stretched rim, before thrusting back inside deeply, scratching at the backs of Uri\'s thighs.



"Yes," Uri whispered. Tears slid down his cheeks hotly. "Yes, Master."



Uri couldn\'t say how long the torture went on. Once or twice during the abuse, he was sure he lost consciousness. But the pain always brought him back, and his primal fear that he might scream if he didn\'t focus intently. Soon, the pain subsided to numbness. And Uri was grateful. After the numbness had set in, Abel began to quicken and roughen, barreling inside of him with no apology. Uri felt the pulse of his Master\'s cock inside of him, and felt new, more joyous tears flood down his cheeks. It was almost over.



"Tell me you want my come, Uriel."



"I want your come, Master," Uri said softly, his voice low and wasted. "Please give it to me."



A few more pumps of his hips, and Abel did just this. Uriel nearly sighed as the hot pump of come doused his insides. And he released this heavily as Abel collapsed across him, sweaty and heavy. Uri made no move to hold him as he would any other lover. His arms remained limp at his sides. He stared up at the ceiling as Abel panted on his neck.



The kisses came. And they were soft against him. But Uri did not mistake this tenderness with any sort of forgiveness. It was just an old man, playing his games.



Just an old man comforting the supposed ancient relic, that he alone had broken.

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Uriel laid on his side, staring at the wall. His backside was throbbing and on fire, and if he shifted even a small bit, pain was all over him. He did not lie in self pity. He laid there only to spare his body more outrage. His mind was a blank slate. He did not think.



There was the small click of his door being opened. And then a soft and rather worried voice reached his ears. "Uri?"



Uri said nothing.



"Uri." The voice was more hectic now. Filled with tears. Shuuichi, Uri thought, his first one in hours, Don\'t cry. But he couldn\'t force his throat to gather these words. He felt tender and rather soft hands on his naked back. Their touch was divine. Where they moved, the darkness and corruption of Abel\'s earlier abuse seemed to depart. "He..."



Uri gave no comfort, nor confirmation.



"Why...? Why didn\'t you just scream?" The words made Uri\'s eyes drift open. So Shu knew about that particular punishment. Uri\'s heart grew black and bloated with hatred for his Master. But it faded and left him feeling tired.



"He would have hurt you." Uri said this gently.



"So!?"



"So I couldn\'t. I didn\'t."



"You\'re an idiot," Shu said this indignantly, his voice shaking and jagged. "You\'re so fucking stupid." Uri felt the wetness of the boy\'s tears touch his skin as Shu rested his face on the gentle curve of his side. "You always think you have to protect me."



"I do."



"You don\'t," Shu argued, his voice lost in harsh tears, "I can take care of myself."



Uri tried to turn, but his face tightened in pain as the pins and needles in his rear grew into sharp, jagged knives. "You\'re my responsibility," Uri explained through his pain, "You don\'t have to come in here and thank me... in whatever way you might thank someone." He smiled grimly.



"You\'re such an idiot," Shu repeated.



"I know."



"Uri."



"Don\'t, Shuuichi," Uri said with exasperation. "I don\'t need your pity or your thanks."



"I love you," Shu wailed. He said this in the perfect innocence of a little boy, who hardly understands the words, but knows the feeling. Pure and uncomplicated. Uri\'s heart warmed with the friendly phrase. His smile became something less bitter, sweetening at the corners.



"I love you too, Shuuichi."



Neither of them knew the depth of the words they spoke. It was a natural thing, to express this love they felt. A friendly and rather platonic exchange that seemed to hint at deeper and warmer feelings.



Shu eventually fell asleep against him, his breath hot and steady against Uri\'s skin. Uri slipped an arm back, pressing his fingers against the curve of Shu\'s skull.



He soon joined his friend, and slept with no dreams.