Title: Touch
Author: lawless
LJ: http://lawless523.livejournal.com/
Pairing: Sanzo/Hakkai
(implied), appearances by Gojyo, Goku, and Ukoku
Rating/Warnings: PG-13 for violence,
bloodiness, and depictions of pain, some slashy bits, and profanity.
Spoilers for Reload 10; the setting is the controntation with Ukoku after the
rest of the ikkou shows up.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, this
is written for fun and not for profit, and no copyright or other
infringement is intended.
Summary: The touch
that changed everything
Word Count: ~1300 words(!)
This has been cleaned up and changed somewhat from the version I initially
posted. Not beta-reviewed; all mistakes are mine.
Touch
Hakkai had never seen Sanzo as bloodied or broken in body
and spirit as he was when they found him on that wooded mountain with Ukoku,
Hazel, and Gat for company. Sanzo tried to hide it, but one touch and a glimpse
of his chi were enough to tell Hakkai that the dark Sanzo priest who was
somehow wrapped up in Sanzo's past and their present had maimed him severely
and almost succeeded in erasing any trace of his existence. If they hadn't
shown up when they did...
Hakkai was going to have to proceed slowly and conserve his chi if he
were to have any hope of healing Sanzo's injuries enough to get him out of here
in one piece (more or less) without also wearing himself down to the nub. He
held his hands out, concentrating first on the neck that had been injured when
Goku pulled Sanzo away from Ukoku and tossed him down the slope.
Hakkai thought back to when they embarked on this quixotic quest and how Sanzo
had shied away from his touch then. As healing was difficult, if not
impossible, without direct contact, he'd had to lecture Sanzo about the need to
touch him if his healing powers were to work to their fullest extent.
Sanzo had finally begrudgingly let him touch him when the pain of his
cumulative injuries overcame even his strong and stubborn will. Hakkai knew
that permission to touch wasn't granted lightly and made sure he did so as
gently and sparingly as possible to accommodate the man's sensibilities.
Sanzo recalled him to the present by saying, "I wanna take another shot at
that fucking bastard when he least expects it," in a hoarse voice so quiet
only Hakkai could hear him, and then only by bending down and listening
intently. He could see how much forming each word hurt. "Heal me enough so
I can do that."
"I'll do my best," Hakkai promised him in a whisper.
"Whatcha talkin' about over there?" Gojyo asked. His voice sounded
somewhere between suspicious and amused. "Wanna share?"
"Ah ha, no, Gojyo, we're just discussing Sanzo's injuries. He doesn't want
to discuss the gory details with everyone."
"Aw, like I told that creep, we see each other pathetic all the time!"
Goku interjected.
Gojyo turned toward him. "I wasn't asking you, chibi monkey!"
Hakkai sighed. He wanted to spare Sanzo the need to tell these two to zip it,
so he had to take care of it himself. "That's enough!" he said
sharply. "We can't afford to quarrel now. Save your sniping for later."
Gojyo saluted him with his middle finger, but subsided. They heard a chuckle
coming from Ukoku's direction. "Marvelous teamwork you have going here,
little Genjyo," he smirked.
"Yeah, that's what makes us so fucking special," Sanzo muttered under
his breath. Hakkai turned to him and shushed him too. Life was difficult enough
without his patient adding to his difficulties.
Hakkai took Sanzo in his arms, propping him up so it looked like he was merely
holding him in place. He prayed that Ukoku wouldn't notice that behind the
shield of Sanzo's body, his hands were busy healing his broken arm and as many
of his other injuries as he could to enable Sanzo to fire back at Ukoku.
Sanzo's breath was coming out in short puffs, as if he were winded. Hakkai felt
the bones in his chest. Yes, some of his ribs were cracked again. He almost
chuckled at Sanzo's carelessness. He'd long since realized that Sanzo had a
reckless streak. He just didn't know if it was innate or if it was due to
pushing his limits to prove he could keep up with his three youkai companions.
Sanzo winced in pain and hissed at some of his touches, even though Hakkai was
being particularly careful to be gentle given the extent of his injuries and
his obvious bruises. So many yellow, black, and blue bruises blossomed on his
skin that less of his usual pink skin tone showed than did the bruises.
Nevertheless, the stoic so-and-so didn't say anything despite his evident pain.
As his hands roamed over Sanzo's broken body, Hakkai remembered the first time
Sanzo had touched him back. It only involved placing his fingertips under
Hakkai's chin, but it conveyed a world of meaning, considering who was doing
it. Other more intimate touches had succeeded it until it was no longer strange
to hold Sanzo in his arms like this when they were alone.
Hakkai felt a sudden longing to lean forward and kiss Sanzo, but refrained,
knowing it was inappropriate under the circumstances. Gojyo interrupted his train
of thought by walking over to observe what was going on, chuckling, and saying,
"You look pretty comfortable there, Princess."
"Tch," Sanzo said sharply, but with a weary quaver in his voice. He
tried to look up at Gojyo through his blood-streaked hair, not entirely
successfully.
"Rest up, Princess," Gojyo said, smirking. "Let me and the
monkey take care of things for now."
Sanzo grunted, but it wasn't clear whether it constituted assent or
disagreement. Not that it mattered; he was in no shape to continue to fight.
Gojyo and Goku soldiered on in the struggle against Ukoku with occasional help
from Hakkai. At one point, Sanzo and Hakkai taunted Hazel one after another to
get him to fight back after Ukoku revealed the source of his power and in his confusion,
the youkai that had been inside him all this time took over his body. Sanzo
didn't particularly like Hazel, but he didn't want Ukoku subjugating him
either. Whatever denied Ukoku power helped Sanzo's cause too.
When Gojyo and Goku tried to rattle Ukoku by taunting and provoking him, his
response was to destroy part of the mountain they were standing on. But as
Sanzo and Hakkai began to realize that Gojyo and Goku were determined to
persevere anyway, Sanzo muttered "Bring it on" under his breath so no
one but Hakkai could hear him.
Hakkai surreptitiously caressed him on hearing those words, so characteristic
of the man and his stubbornness. Gritting his teeth, he poured more chi
out over Sanzo's body, mending broken bones and healing ripped tendons and
muscles. He hoped that when the right moment arrived, Sanzo would be able to
retrieve his gun from wherever it was that he stored it when it wasn't being
used.
That thought became moot after Gat was mortally wounded trying to protect Hazel
from the effects of Ukoku's Muten Sutra. Hakkai covertly retrieved one of Gat's
weapons and slipped it to Sanzo. Immediately after Ukoku sent Hazel tumbling
over the cliff, Sanzo brought the gun up in both hands and fired, the recoil
making both his arms ache from fingertips to shoulders.
Shit. He'd aimed for Ukoku's temple but had missed. He'd scored a hit, though;
from the looks of it, the bullet might have hit an eye. The parallels to Hakkai
came to mind. The irony made him chuckle a little until he slumped to the
ground, exhausted.
He later awakened to find himself and his three companions sprawled face first
on the ground. After a rousing game of rock paper scissors to determine who
would carry him out (he won and crawled out on his own steam, body hurting beyond
belief but dignity intact), they located Jeep and went on their way, together
again.
Slumped over in his seat, Sanzo said to Hakkai, quietly, so the others couldn't
hear, "I wasn't able to kill that shitty raven this time, but things would
have been much worse without your touch and ability to heal."
Hakkai glanced over at him and smiled briefly. He knew exactly what Sanzo meant
by that, as well as what and how much he had left unsaid.
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