Diell Breaker (LGBT- Sci-Fi - Romance)

Chapter 25

Chapter 25 

Petrov burst into the room, his eyes going immediately from Nguyen to the figures writhing on the floor, widening in appalled disbelief. The two men he admired most in the world looked as if they were trying to kill each other. 

"What the fuck are you doing?"  

His heart froze in his chest. He could see Shehu was dangerously close to going over the edge, he had the Captain in a fierce grip and he was terrifyingly near to breaking his neck. What on Earth had happened here?  

He strode up to them, trying to suppress his own fear, tossing a quick order over his shoulder to Nguyen. "I'll handle this! Shut the door and keep everyone out!" 

He thought Shehu had frozen for a second at the sound of his voice but he wasn't sure. Shehu glared up at him for a long moment, the blaze of jealous fury in his eyes only thinly masking the misery behind, before he looked away. 

He moved closer, trying to get Shehu to look at him again. He squatted down as near as he could get to his face without crowding him, the last thing he wanted to do was tip him over the edge. 

"Leo? What are you doing? You need to let go!" His voice sounded too scared. He had to calm down, pretend he was in control even if he wasn't. He took a deep breath and started again. 

"Leo? Stop. Please." He spoke in a lower voice. "What ever happened, this isn't the way to deal with it. Please stop fighting and talk to me." 

"Fucking ... bastard!" the words hissed between Shehu's clenched teeth. Petrov thought he was addressing the Captain but he wasn't entirely sure.  

"Whatever Jake did it's not worth-" Instantly he realised he had said the wrong thing. Shehu flinched when he heard him use the Captain's first name, tightening his grip involuntarily. Petrov stopped immediately, his brain scrambling to work out what might have happened, what would cause Shehu to break all his training and attack his Captain. It had to be something to do with him, something to do with him and Jake. 

Hastily he changed his approach. 

"Leo, I'm sorry. Whatever I've done, or you think I've done, it's not worth anyone getting hurt over. It's not worth you going to prison, for god's sake!" 

He couldn't tell if Shehu was listening but at least he wasn't tightening his grip any further.  

"Let the Captain go and we'll sit down and talk about this, all of us together. We can work something out, between us." He tried to keep his voice low and reasonable, aware that he was fighting for all their lives. 

Shehu clenched his eyes. How could he say that? He'd betrayed him, slept with Farrell, what could they possibly 'work out'? He tried to hang on to his fury but just the sound of Alexei's voice was undermining him. He felt his blind rage draining away, to be replaced by angry grief.  

"We don't have to repeat history here. You know you'll never forgive yourself if you hurt the Captain." Petrov's voice trembled slightly with emotion, "And I won't forgive you if you leave me! I love you. Please listen to me, nothing has been done yet by anyone that we can't step back from, I promise." 

Shehu felt as if he was being shredded inside. How dared Alexei say he loved him now? His grief told him he couldn't believe anything Alexei said, but ... very, very slowly, he began to release his death grip on the Captain. One thing was true, his blind rage had been defused and he no longer had the desire to kill him. That outlet had been denied him. 

Petrov helped Jake to his feet and sat him in a chair. "Do you need a medic?" he asked softly, urgently. 

Farrell shook his head silently, massaging his strained neck and shoulders as he watched Petrov trying to offer his hand to Shehu. Shehu ignored it, he sat on the floor with his knees drawn up, resting his face on them. All he wanted to do was nurse his misery in private, but Petrov wouldn't let him. 

"No one leaves until we sort this out," he ordered. He brought both men a glass of water. Shehu refused to take it so he left it on the floor. Fighting the hurt he felt from Shehu's rejection, Petrov turned to Farrell, seeking an explanation, "What the hell happened?" 

The Captain cleared his throat, "I think I might have given Shehu the wrong impression." His voice sounded rusty. "I was trying to tell him about what happened last night and he jumped to the wrong conclusions." 

"Perhaps you'd explain now. Evidently he doesn't believe anything I say," Petrov added bitterly. 

Farrell turned to Shehu, who still had his face buried on his knees. "The night Rhys was kidnapped, Petrov and I, um, well we had an encounter in front of the Three Suns. It was just kissing!" he added hastily. "Anyway that was it until last night when I had a few drinks and I made another pass at him." 

Both men saw Shehu hunch down even tighter. He didn't want to hear this! 

Farrell took the comet by the tail and plunged on. "Petrov told me he didn't want to have sex, but I kept going. I almost raped him. I stopped in time but ..." 

Finally, Shehu looked up, staring at Farrell in shock. 

The Captain continued, his face flushed as his eyes met his First Lieutenant's. "The reason I asked to see you this morning, was to tell you I've decided to resign my commission. I'll be citing 'personal reasons' but the fact is, I behaved totally inappropriately and I thought ... I thought you should know the truth before I left." 

Shehu wasn't the only man staring at the Captain in shock. 

"Resign?" Petrov repeated. "There's no need for that Jake!" 

The Captain shook his head. "It's the right thing to do, better than a trial," he insisted. 

"There's no need for a trial either!" exclaimed Petrov, suddenly seized with a solution. "There's no need to make any of this official. No-one was raped. No-one was killed or badly injured. If we keep it personal, it's just a heavy pass and an argument, both of which we handled ourselves. I can't see any need to bring anyone else into it, right?" It could work, he thought, it could work, if they all agreed. 

It sounded so simple when Petrov put it that way thought Farrell, a heavy pass, an argument. Much better than attempted rape and mutiny! If Alexei was really prepared to forgive his own behaviour, then the least he could do was forgive Shehu, even though he wouldn't forget either event, for a very long time. 

Shehu nodded, once. Despite the agreement they had just made, he was pretty certain that neither he nor Farrell would forgive themselves that easily. He tried to catch Alexei's eye but he turned away from him.  

"We're agreed then," Petrov said as he started moving towards the door. "You two sort out whatever you need to, I'd better go out and relieve Nguyen."