Unconditionally Conditional

"Ambrose?" Cain was shouting the man's name as he burst in through the doors of the Medic's laboratory, face flushed from running, his heart thundering in his chest from where he had come all the way from the other side of the Medical Sector.

He froze in shock at what he discovered.

Ambrose was sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the room, knees pulled up to his chest. Cain could see that he was half undressed, jacket hanging open. His hair was tousled from rough handling. Knowing that Zero had been here to visit, that did not phase Cain very much.

What surprised him was seeing Zero lying half on Ambrose's operating table, the man's head twisted to an uncomfortable angle, eyes unseeing. Dead.

Cain quickly secured the doors behind him, staring at the corpse in amazement as he hurried past it to where Ambrose was. He knelt down beside his lover, though Ambrose had yet to acknowledge him, staring ahead in that way which Cain had always hated. "Ambrose? Sweetheart?"

The man blinked up at him, barely surfacing from his daze. "Wyatt? Oh.. I didn't expect that you'd come here. I told them to tell you to wait for me at the suite."

"They tried." Cain said softly, hands hovering at his sides, not sure what to do for the other man. He finally settled for reaching to Ambrose's jacket, starting to latch it back up. "I came here instead when I found out that Zero wanted to meet with you in private."

"He knew. About me being in the Resistance. He was going to tell the Queen if I didn't.. If I wouldn't.." Ambrose trailed off, shaking his head. "I didn't have a choice. I had to do it."

It sounded like he had been trying to convince himself of that for some time now. Cain nodded in understanding, trying to offer him support. "That's right. He would have hurt you. He would have used you, and then he probably would have told the Queen anyway. Zero worked that way."

Ambrose nodded, silent. He didn't fight it when Cain took hold of his hands, pulling the Medic up to his feet. Cain slid an arm around the man, in order to give him that extra physical support, as he looked over at Zero's body. "What do we do with him?"

"I don't know." The Medic murmured. "We'll have to get rid of the body. Hide all the evidence. I might be able to think up a cover story. Everyone knows that Zero has been bitter about being demoted. I could convince them that he came for a last fling and then left the Palace. It's plausible."

Cain thought that it sounded believable. "Just tell me what to do."

Trying to shake himself out of his state, the Medic murmured absently. "Help me move him over to the sinks. They should be big enough." Ambrose went to where Zero's body lay, taking hold of the man's legs. Cain followed, taking hold of the top of the Trainer, carrying the brunt of the weight as they brought the corpse over to the sinks. They dropped it over the twin basins, Zero's limbs hanging limply into them. The blond looked curiously to Ambrose. "What exactly are you planning to do?"

But Ambrose wouldn't answer him, the Medic already wandering away from Cain's side. He heard the man muttering under his breath, as he went to one of the cabinets, opening up a door. Ambrose removed some large bottles from inside, tucking them under his arms to transport them, before returning to the sink. Cain watched all of this without any understanding, wondering what was in those bottles that Ambrose thought he needed.

"Stand back." The Medic told him quietly. Cain did as he was told, putting some distance between him and those bottles. Ambrose removed the stopper to one of them, holding it far away from his face as he did so. He overturned it, pouring the contents down onto Zero's body. Cain's jaw dropped when he saw that liquid hit the dead man's flesh and begin to dissolve it with a burning hiss, the potent acid eating through the tissue matter with ease. Ambrose's voice was lifeless. "It won't work on the bones, but it will destroy the rest. The bones won't be hard to get rid of. Once I've washed them off, they can be tossed into the Beam. That will erase the last trace of Zero.."

Cain looked back over to his lover, seeing that Ambrose was tormented. Not from having killed Zero, but from having killed. The blond stepped up behind him, pressing a kiss to the side of Ambrose's head as he whispered, "Good riddance, sweetheart. You did the right thing today."

"It's never the right thing." Ambrose responded. Then, Cain watched his eyes fill up with tears, before the Medic choked on a sob. He was crying even as he unstopped the next bottle to pour onto Zero's dissolving corpse. Cain, not knowing what else to do, could only slide his arms around Ambrose's waist from behind, trying to convey with his warm presence what his words could not.

~~~~~~~~~

They stood together against the protective railing which lined the edge of the platform around the Beam, a few levels below the Slave Quarter. Ambrose tossed the last tied bag across the gap, both he and Cain watching as the energy of that green light dissolved it instantly. It was done, as easily as that. Zero was now just a figment of their darkest imaginings.

Ambrose stared towards the Beam, still not completely recovered from what had happened. Cain didn't want to add to the man's pain, but there were things about the situation that he did not understand. His hand rested against Ambrose's back as he spoke to the man. "You were a slave here for over a decade. Do you really think the Queen would be upset to find it out now, after so long?"

"No." The Medic whispered. "It wouldn't matter to her, if she believed that I used to be in the Resistance. My fear was that it would come out that I am in the Resistance."

"What do you mean?"

With a sigh, Ambrose swiveled around, leaning back against the railing as he looked up to Cain. "I'm still in the Resistance, Wyatt. Actively involved, in fact, as a spy."

Cain stared at the other man in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not kidding. My capture was deliberate. I was supposed to infiltrate the Palace, and try to manuever myself into a position close to the Monarchy. That was my mission. How do you think I know what the Resistance is doing? I've been keeping in secret communications with them since I arrived here."

"I thought you might have just been hearing rumors.." The blond confessed, shaking his head, still unable to believe what Ambrose was telling him. "That doesn't make any sense. The Resistance sent you here on purpose, knowing what you'd have to go through, in order to get information about the Monarchy?"

Ambrose shrugged lightly, before looking back towards the Beam. "I volunteered. I'm not a fighter, Wyatt. But this was something that I could do. Use my brain to help the Resistance."

"And your body." Cain added darkly.

The Medic's jaw clenched. He looked up at the blond, frowning. "I was prepared to use that, too, if needed. I'm no fool, Wyatt. I always knew what I was getting myself into. My mission was the only thing which has helped me to get this far without having a mental breakdown. For success, I would sacrifice what I had to, no matter the cost."

"So Zero knew that you were a spy?"

"Yes. He implied that to me when he came to my laboratory. Which is why I.." Ambrose trailed off, looking down at his hands, the gloves having been placed back on them.

Cain placed a hand on the Medic's shoulder, squeezing gently. "Don't think badly of yourself for it. You did the realm a favor, Ambrose. You did the Resistance a favor. One less madman roaming free."

"I never killed anybody before." Ambrose whispered down to his hands. "I didn't think I'd ever be able to do it."

"Sometimes, it's a neccessary evil. Put it out of your head, sweetheart." Cain wrapped an arm around behind the Medic, pulling him away from the rail as he began to guide Ambrose towards the elevator. "Let's go up to the suite. You've had one hell of a day, Doc."

"One hell of a life, is more like it." Ambrose mumbled darkly, giving himself over into Cain's care, since he knew that the man would get things settled back onto some course of sanity.

~~~~~~~~~

Zero's disappearance became the talk of the Palace for the next month, as speculations circulated as to where the infamous Trainer might have vanished to. An investigation was launched as a standard practice by the Queen, so that slaves and owners could be interviewed to see if they had any information on the matter.

When they came to Ambrose's laboratory, Cain was present. The blond looked up from where he was seated, one of the Medic's medical books opened in front of him on the counter. A pair of Palace Guards entered through the doors, followed by a man dressed in similar attire, but with more insignia to indicate his superior rank. He bowed respectfully at Ambrose, ignoring Cain as if the man were not in the room. "Master Ambrose. Might I have a word with you?"

"Of course." Ambrose's smile was faint, but polite. He shifted away from where he'd been studying blood samples at a work station, gloved hands clasping together in front of him. "What can I do for you gentlemen?"

"We're here on the matter of Trainer Zero's disappearance. I am sure that you have heard by now that he is missing?"

"I had heard that." Ambrose nodded, his smile fading as he looked convincingly concerned. "People have been flocking to ask me questions left and right, considering that I was the last person to see him."

The investigator nodded, pulling out a pad of paper. "That is what we had gathered from witness reports. Forgive me for having to be so formal about this, Sir, but I'm afraid that I will have to interview you as a suspect."

Ambrose fluttered a hand dismissively. "It's not an inconvenience. I don't have any appointments for at least another hour." Cain watched as the Medic walked around the table, before pushing up to sit on the edge closer to where the investigator stood. Ambrose regarded them curiously. "What did you want to know? Please, ask away."

"Thank you, Sir." The investigator looked relieved by the Medic's willingness to cooperate. Cain bet that other people did not take so kindly to being questioned by servants. "You admit, then, that you were the last to see Trainer Zero?"

"Yes. He visited me in my laboratory, ordering my staff to leave us alone since he wanted to have a private meeting." Ambrose explained.

"What was your meeting about, Master Ambrose?"

Cain watched as color bled into his lover's face, Ambrose demurely dropping his eyes to his lap as if uncomfortable to answer. "Trainer Zero and I .. ah .. have a history together. He was visiting me for a session of rekindling old .. activities."

That made the investigator blush as well, the man coughing awkwardly. "I see. And did Zero say anything to you about plans for leaving um .. before or ... after?"

Ambrose thought hard about it, trying to remember. "Hm. Not anything directly. He did speak about his recent demotion, and sounded rather displeased with it. Zero insinuated that he has been growing weary with the atmosphere of the Palace, since he felt that he was being too constricted from the things he wanted to do. But did he say that he was leaving? No, he didn't tell me anything about that."

"Was this the last place that you saw Trainer Zero?"

Ambrose blushed again. "Well, yes. Walking out the door with a sated smile. I don't know if you're familiar with his sexual reputation, but I wasn't in any sort of condition to follow him out the door, if you get my meaning."

"I.. understand, Sir. Thank you for your time. I'll let you get back to your work." The investigator said hurriedly, bowing formally. He looked like he wanted to get out of there quickly, before anything else about the Medic's intimate activities were brought into the conversation.

Watching them go, Ambrose kept that polite smile locked in place. Then, once sure that they were gone, he let out a quick breath with a glance towards Cain.

The blond quirked a smile, amused. "You'd make one hell of an actor, Ambrose."

"Probably, but it--" The Medic's face turned swiftly paler, then sickly green. He slid down off the table, hurrying into the adjoining bathroom in his lab. Cain heard the sounds of the man retching through the door, the stress apparently too much for his delicate friend. With a sigh, the blond slid off his stool, heading towards the bathroom in order to come to his lover's rescue.

~~~~~~~~

By the end of the month the entire sensation caused by Zero's disappearance had faded. It was reported by the Investigative Unit that the Trainer must have left of his own accord. Despite initial concerns that his absence was going to cause difficulties in the Trainer Unit, it turned out that they were able to return to a semblance of order under new leadership. For Ambrose and Cain, the conclusion meant that they could finally relax again.

Their troubles seemed to be over.

Both of the men fell back into their daily routine, though Cain was not allowed to return to the building sites. Ambrose made sure to always have a list of tasks for the blond to perform for him, even though Cain suspected that half of them could easily have been done by the Medic himself. It did give him the opportunity to spend more time with his lover. In their spare time between Ambrose's patients, the Medic was even teaching him some basic first aid skills, telling Cain that the blond would never know when it might come in handy.

Sex was still on the menu for the evening hours, yet the insatiable hunger of their first weeks together had ebbed somewhat to include some nights that were reserved just for tender affection, as they lay beside each other in bed, or tangled up their limbs on the sofa, and Ambrose would press his ear down to Cain's chest to listen to his heart beating. Not that their passion had subsided in the least; a stray touch at just the right moment could quickly send them spiraling into lust, and their intentions for the evening would be delayed by another round of lovemaking.

Mostly, they spent their nights enjoying the companionship which they had shared before becoming lovers. Cain was getting better at reading out of Ambrose's books of poetry, not stammering nearly as much over the eloquent words. The Medic had purchase some novels more suited to Cain's tastes, featuring stories of battles and warriors and epic journeys. He would sit for hours reading to the blond, content just sitting at Cain's side.

One evening, while Ambrose was stretched across Cain's lap reading the next chapter from one of the blond's preferred titles, both of the men comfortable in their soft pajamas, there came a knock on the door to Ambrose's suite. The Medic lowered the book to his chest, frowning in that direction. "Who could that be?"

"Dunno." Cain murmured, fingers dropping from where they had been teasing through Ambrose's curls. "Were you expecting any visitors tonight?"

"Not at all." The knock sounded again, and the Medic climbed up to his feet. He handed the novel over to Cain so that the blond could hold their place before going to open the door. Ambrose opened it up a crack, and Cain looked hurriedly over to his lover as the man gasped out in surprise, "Your Majesty."

The Queen pushed the door open further, sauntering into the room with a glance around. Cain felt like he might have been a piece of furniture for all the attention she gave him. She was dressed in a diaphanous black robe, the blond able to see that there wasn't much under the material. Her eyes were locked on Ambrose, a small smile fixed on her painted lips. "Ambrose. You look surprised to see me. Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all." He hurriedly shook his head, bowing to her. "It's just unexpected that you would come to visit me here, is all. Had I known that you were coming, I would have been better prepared for your company. I'm afraid that I have nothing to offer as far as refreshme--"

"I didn't come here for a drink, darling." The Queen cut him off, placing a finger against the Medic's lips to silence him. "You have been putting me off for over two months now. I haven't been able to enjoy your company, busy as you have become. So I decided that I would come to you now, while you are available." Her mouth curved into a sensual smile, as she traced her finger along Ambrose's jawline. "I have missed you, dear Ambrose."

Cain closed the book with a dull thump, drawing the woman's attention in his direction. She quirked an eyebrow at the blond. "Your slave is here, I see. Why don't you send him on an errand for a few hours, Ambrose, so that we can be alone?"

Slipping closer, the woman slid her hands up over Ambrose's shoulders, kissing the corner of his mouth in a blatant hint of what she wanted to spend their time doing in Cain's absence. The Medic placed his hands on her sides, gentle. His eyes swung towards Cain, the blond able to see a smear of lipstick from the Queen's kiss on the edge of his lover's mouth.

"Cain? Would you kindly excuse us? I am sure that you can find something to occupy yourself down in my laboratory for a few hours."

The blond scowled. Ambrose was actually going to send him away so that the Queen could fuck his lover? Cain shook his head. "No, sorry."

In Ambrose's arms, the Queen paused in kissing over the Medic's face in order to fire an affronted look at Cain for his refusal. Ambrose scowled back at Cain, speaking more firmly. "Wyatt. Go down to the laboratory until I fetch you. Now."

Cain felt himself growing angry. Ambrose expected him to walk off and let this happen? He knew that his anger was showing on his face, but he didn't bother to hide it.

The Queen murmured, "Perhaps your pet needs to be sent down into the Pens to adjust this inappropriate behavior. Shall I call for the Guards, Ambrose?"

"No, please." Ambrose pleaded, before glaring at Cain. "Wyatt is going to leave, like I asked him to do. Get out of here, Cain."

Throwing the book down onto the sofa, Cain stalked over in the direction of the pair. The Queen was already focusing back on using her mouth to tease Ambrose's ear, as the Medic's dark eyes followed Cain's progress towards them. He saw the blond's eyes burning, jealousy, anger and betrayal in them, but Ambrose did not falter, repeating himself more quietly, "I will come fetch you in the laboratory later."

Cain broke eye contact with a disgusted shake of his head, yanking open the door to the suite. He heard the Queen begin to giggle with delight behind him, before the blond decided that he didn't want to hear anymore as he stalked away.