© Copyright jvaughn, 2014, 2015. All rights reserved. Copyright violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Chapter Thirteen
Raeden woke up with a roar of anger coming from his throat. He was lying naked on a padded table. He also seemed to be completely paralyzed, except for his head.
What the fuck?
Even as he started to morf, he took in his surroundings.
The room looked like an operating room: clinical and sterile, mostly white, with a multitude of gleaming equipment and machines. It smelled of antiseptic. Raeden had been in similar rooms before, but this was not one he recognized.
There were a couple of men dressed in white coats, although they weren't wearing gloves or masks and didn't look like they were about to perform surgery. One was tall and thin with a wispy blonde moustache and balding pate. The other was shorter and stockier with red hair and pale, freckled skin. They were standing a few feet away, staring at him with interest.
He had various electrodes attached to his body, including a few that were attached to his forehead and the back of his neck at the base of his skull. He assumed that was what was making it so he couldn't move. The electrodes all fed into a machine that was suspended from the ceiling above his head.
All of this information he took in in a split second, even as his mind reached out for Kim and found ... nothing. He immediately went berserk.
Kim!
he screamed as loud as he could over the mindlink.
There was only silence. He couldn't feel Kim at all.
Panic gripped him. This was too much like when he lost Lyzel. Anguish overwhelmed him as he transformed into his lizard form. He had morfed when Lyzel died as well; that was the last time he'd been able to morf until he finally bonded with Kim. As his transformation completed, his mind switched to screaming,
Mate! Mate!
There was still no response. His lizard brain was in control and he thrashed futilely against the invisible bonds that held him, his limbs barely trembling as he tried to move them with all his might. His deafening roars rattled the equipment and the lab men cringed, the tall wispy one covering his ears. He fought hard for several minutes, straining and gasping and screaming the entire time, until finally the red-haired lab man stepped up to the machine over his head and punched a button. He lost consciousness immediately.
*****
When next he awoke, he was lying on the same table, still unable to move. Wispy and Red were still there. He became immediately aware of Kim's presence. He wasn't in the same room, but he was nearby. He also wasn't fully conscious, Raeden could tell, but he was cold. That thought came through to him loud and clear.
Raeden was flooded with relief that Kim was alive. At the same time, fury exploded within him that they were keeping him separated from his mate, and his mate was uncomfortably cold. He fought to keep control of himself. He didn't want to morf again and lose his higher brain functions. He wouldn't be able to get out of this situation with brawn. His captors, who he suspected were CorpSec goons, were obviously prepared to deal with mods. Although he was one of the biggest and strongest, he didn't think he'd be able to break out of the invisible bonds that held him. He needed his brain so he could analyze the situation and determine his best course of action.
He took deep breaths and willed his heart rate to slow down. Kim was not in pain, he told himself. He's just subdued and cold. His eyes sought the nearest lab technician, Wispy.
"Where is my mate and what have you done to him?" he asked, trying to keep the snarl out of voice.
The blonde paused for a second before answering and Raeden realized he must be wired. He was getting instructions from someone who wasn't in the room. There would be cameras too, of course. Raeden didn't even bother to look for them.
Raeden wasn't a person, he was a specimen. Incubated in a test tube and raised in an institution, he was less than human. He was property—valuable property, but property none-the-less. He belonged to the Corporation, there was no doubt about it. In spite of his contract, the façade of rights and liberty, he was no more than chattel.
All of his life he'd chaffed under this knowledge, angry that he had been created in a lab from spliced together genes that weren't even all human. He hadn't been born out of love, or even lust, between a man and woman. He had fought for years to come to terms with the circumstances of his creation, to accept himself as a mod and as a man. With Lyzel's help he had finally grown to understand that he was not a non-entity. He was a thinking, feeling, loving person. He was part of humanity even if they rejected him as such.
But he always resented reminders that he was considered less than human. And this—being held immobile on some sterile lab table while humans poked and prodded at him and recorded his every fart—this was irrefutable evidence that he was simply a lab rat. A genetically modified organism. A science experiment gone wrong.
"The man you were captured with is nearby," Wispy said, "but he is not your mate."
Raeden couldn't stop the low growl that came out of his mouth. The audacity of these men to assume they knew anything about his thoughts and feelings. He may be a created organism, but he was a very complex created organism. Kim most certainly was his mate. That was undeniable. And he needed his mate by his side.
Cold. I'm so cold.
Kim was waking up, but he was uncomfortable. His head also hurt like hell and he was nauseous, Raeden could tell. Taking in his own surroundings, he realized that the temperature in the room was a chilly ten degrees Celsius. He noticed both of his lab techs were wearing heavy sweaters under their coats. The cold didn't bother him, but if Kim were strapped down naked in similar conditions, he would be freezing.
The thought of Kim naked for all of these CorpSec goons to observe almost had him morfing again. He closed his eyes and sought to connect with Kim.
Kim! Are you alright?
Raeden! Where are you? I feel like shit and I'm freezing.
I'm in a different room. But nearby, I think. Are you immobilized?
I haven't opened my eyes yet, but I think ... Oh god, Raeden! I can't move.
Raeden felt terror clawing at Kim's throat. He was immediately ready to morf again.
What is it, Kim?
They've got me held down in some sort of operating room. Are they going to reform me? I can't ... I can't...
Raeden felt Kim's panic. He hadn't considered such a thing himself, because why would they want to reform a functioning mod pair?
Calm down, Little One. I'm pretty sure they are not
going to reform you. I think they're just trying to figure out how I can morf again. They don't think you're my mate, although as far as I'm concerned, you are.
He felt Kim's small burst of happiness amidst his pain and fear.
I'd like to be your mate,
he said. Raeden felt his shyness, his trepidation at admitting his desires.
You are already,
Raeden assured him.
I've bonded with you. I don't know how it happened, but because of you, I'm fully functional again. After I lost Lyzel, I thought my life was over. But you ... you made me care again. I cherish you, Kim. You're a miracle. I'm not letting you go.
*****
Raeden's words thrilled Kim. In spite of his current circumstances, which were frightening indeed, he was ecstatic that Raeden had bonded with him. That meant they could stay together ... they would take care of each other ... for the rest of their lives. Kim's joy was tempered when a stern voice spoke to him.
"Kim Takemoto, we know you're awake. We have some questions for you."
The rest of our lives might be pretty damn short and possibly pretty damn miserable,
Kim realized. He was already miserable. His body felt achy, his head felt like someone was pounding on it with an anvil, and judging by the amount of saliva pooling in his mouth, he was going to be sick to his stomach very soon.
He had already taken a quick peek, but now he opened his eyes and looked around. Ignoring the clinical coldness of the room and the scary-looking equipment, he focused on its two other occupants.
One was a short, wiry black man wearing 1950s-style fashion glasses, and the other was of average height but built like a tank. His head was shaved smooth and tattooed all over with an intricate geometric pattern. The black man was looking at the readout on one of the monitors and occasionally typing on a keyboard. The tattooed man was glaring at him with dark, unreadable eyes.
Kim glared right back.
Be careful what you say, Kim,
he heard Raeden speaking in his head. Apparently Raeden had heard the man's statement over their mindlink.
We need to convince them that we are a bonded pair. That will be very valuable to them. However, I'm not sure I want them to know about our mindlink. And especially don't tell them that you could hear what the quents were saying. They'll either think you're crazy or they'll keep you here forever to experiment on you.
Kim recoiled at his words, his nausea heightening. Pulling himself together, trying to appear calm and unafraid, he said simply. "I'm going to be sick."
The black man—
Gary
, the thought came to him—glanced over at him in sympathy and then his fingers began to fly on the keypad. A moment later he asked, "Is that better?"
Kim was amazed to feel his nausea abating. His head still hurt like hell though and his body felt odd, as if he were catching the flu. And he was starting to shiver. "My stomach feels better. Thank you. But it's freezing in here. Why is it so cold? And I feel like shit. What did you do to me?"
Poor kid. It's unfortunate that he was shot with Xenoprine. No wonder he feels like shit. He's lucky to be alive.
Those were Gary's thoughts. Kim looked at him in surprise and caught himself just before he replied. It sunk in that the man hadn't spoken aloud.
What the hell, Kim?
Raeden asked in alarm.
Who is that?
Kim felt Raeden's shock, mirroring his own.
It's one of these guys here—the black one. How can I hear his thoughts? Those are his thoughts aren't they? Maybe I'm just going mad.
You're not crazy,
Raeden affirmed.
And you are lucky to be alive.
Kim felt Raeden trying to rein in his temper.
