CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

DORIAN & KLAUS

The Major's room was brighter then Eroica expected. He had assumed the lights would be down, as they had been in the ARGO. He looked at the Major's peacefully sleeping figure and was surprised when he saw the bruises on his face. He wondered why Jason had not covered them as he had with his own. Of course, the answer was obvious. Iron Klaus would never allow any kind of cosmetics.

Eroica moved silently across the room, finally coming to stand at the bedside. He looked up at the monitor and frowned. Surely, those readings should be higher. Then he remembered what Jason had said. Extremely critical. Was the Healer being generous in his assessment? Surely, the Major wasn't going to die.

Klaus stirred, changing position before settling back into sleep.

Eroica looked down as the Major shifted beneath his blankets, his long dark hair falling onto his bare shoulder--

Bare shoulder!

In an instant, all the promises the Earl had made to Jason evaporated.

Eroica's eyes grew wide, a hand going to his mouth. Major! Are you naked under those blankets? He suddenly found himself extremely jealous of Jason, hundreds of questions colliding into one another in his mind. He looked at the blankets covering the officer's battered form. They were only an arm's length away. Just a short arm's length away.

Eroica's heart started to pound, his breathing quickening. Then his hand started to reach out as one part of his mind started to argue with the other.

Before Eroica could decide which voice to listen to, his conscience or his lechery, his hand came in contact with the exclusion field. There was a sharp crackle of static and he let out an equally sharp startled cry.

What Jason had failed to mention was that, while Eroica could not reach into the exclusion field, the Major could reach out. The officer's eyes snapped open and before he realized what he was doing, he had a firm grip on the Earl's wrist. "You bloody pervert!"

Eroica let out another cry of alarm. "I wasn't gonna--"

"Don't fucking lie to me, Lord Gloria. I've known you too long."

"I just wanted to see you." Eroica regretted his choice of words the moment they were out of his mouth, the grip on his wrist tightened in response. "That's not what I meant!" he said defensively.

"Liar!"

"Major, let me go."

"Why? So you can rape me in my bed?"

"Stop saying that!" Eroica cried angrily. "Stop bloody saying that! It's not funny."

Klaus saw a terrified expression flashed across the Earl's face. The same one he had seen when... He blinked as he came to a horrifying realization. "It's true," he said quietly.

"What's true?" Eroica asked petulantly. He gave up trying to pull free of the iron grip and tried a different tactic. A direct appeal. "Major, you're hurting me. I'm still bruised under there." To his surprise, the officer released his hold on him.

"That creature...assaulted you," Klaus said in a disbelieving tone.

"You already know that!" Eroica said sourly, rubbing his wrist. Then he stopped and looked up. "Hang on, you said assaulted."

"Yes."

"Not attacked. You said..." Eroica suddenly realized what the Major meant and caught his breath. "You know! "

"Yes."

"Everything?"

"Yes."

"How? Jason promised--"

"Not Jason," the Major said sharply. "That...creature. I don't know how. But it...showed me everything it did to you."

"Oh, God!" Eroica closed his eyes, a trembling hand going to his mouth. He turned away, unable to face the Major's penetrating gaze. "Go on, tell me I was asking for it. That I deserved it."

The Major's reply was not what Eroica expected, nor was his tone. It was almost caring. "Do you think you deserved it?"

"Oh, bugger! Just say it and get it over with."

Klaus was watching Eroica's body language. He may have been turned away, but his posture spoke volumes. "Lord Gloria, you said no. Several times."

Eroica spun around, anger flashing in his eyes. "Did that surprise you, Major?" he spat bitterly. "That I actually said no."

"Yes."

"Bastard."

Klaus rolled his eyes, sighing heavily. "You expect me to lie to you?"

Eroica gave the officer a searching look. "No. I expect you to accuse me of lying."

"Is that why you didn't tell me everything to begin with?"

Eroica opened his mouth, only to close it again. After a long pause, he said, "Would it've made a difference?"

"Made a difference?" the Major repeated, wishing he had the strength to sit up. "That thing attacked you looking like me. "

"No, that thing raped me looking like you, Major!" Eroica countered forcefully. "Go on, say the word. You accuse me of wanting to do it often enough."

Klaus gave him a steady look. "Lord Gloria..."

"Dorian! My name is Dorian," Eroica snapped angrily.

"I know that."

"Then why don't you call me that?"

"Because I'm not your friend," came the matter of fact reply.

"That's not what you said in Heinburg," Eroica countered.

The Major's eyes narrowed. "When?"

"At the bridge. You told them you were a friend.* I foolishly believed it."
* Emperor Waltz

The Major closed his eyes as the incident returned to mind. Dammit, how did he find out about that? The Earl had been out of earshot when he'd said it. So, who the hell told him? "I don't remember saying that," he lied.

Eroica gave him a steady look and then held up his hands. "Fine. Just...fine, have it your way," he said coolly. "I didn't come in here to fight with you."

The Major met the other man's gaze with an almost bored look. "I'm gonna ignore the obvious," he said astringently. "What did you come in here for?"

"Why do you think? I was worried about you!" came the defensive reply.

The Major gave a derisive snort. "Worried."

"Yes, dammit, Major, worried. I love you!"

Eroica was not surprised when this declaration was met with a hostile look. He was, however, surprised by the reply.

"No, you don't. You don't know what that means any more than I do."

"Major!"

"You claim you love me," Klaus went on fiercely. "Then you steal from me. You involve yourself in my missions. You humiliate me at every opportunity. You betray me. And you still have the audacity to stand there and say you love me!"

"No...I...but..." Eroica sputtered.

"You see. You can't even defend yourself. You're not in love, Lord Gloria. You're in lust," the Major went on brutally. "You're still the same selfish, self-centered narcissist you were the day I met you."

The thunderstruck Eroica stood with his mouth open. No! He can't be right. I won't allow him to be right!

The Major continued to shock the Earl when he suddenly asked, "You want to see what that thing did to me?"

"Major, please..."

"No, that's what you want, isn't it? What you lust after," the Major said tauntingly.

"Damn you. Now you are sounding like that--" He broke off when the Major pulled the blankets down far enough to expose his bare chest and reveal the horrific burns covering it.

"Take a good look, Lord Gloria."

Eroica's enormous eyes grew even wider and he caught his breath. "Dear God, Major, what...?"

The Major quickly pulled the blankets up again. "Electricity. It used it to...cook me," he said coldly. He looked the Earl in the eyes and announced, "I'm dying."

"No! You can't--"

"Shut up!" the Major snapped impatiently.

Eroica stood staring, his mouth agape. How do you argue with a fatalist on death? His own death at that? "But...surely Jason..."

The Major gave a smile of irony that sent a chill down Eroica's spine. "Jason can do only so much. I think he's finally run out of miracles."

"Oh, fuck."

The Major gave a small grunt of agreement. "You said it. As soon as I got this mission, I knew I was gonna die in Moscow. Goddamn, bloody, fucking NATO."

Eroica found himself unable to meet the officer's intense gaze and turned away. What more could he say? It would all sound trite or cliché. He'd told the man he loved how he felt before he died. That was something, at least, even if he didn't believe it.

Klaus watched as the Earl struggled to accept what he was being told and was surprised when he realized he was actually impressed. He had expected some kind of emotional display, but instead the Earl was amazingly restrained. Is he actually attempting to be strong? That was so uncharacteristically selfless where Eroica was concerned. Damn you, Eroica. Don't start being selfless now.

Klaus returned to reality when he felt a pressure in his chest. He closed his eyes and waited for it to subside. It didn't. In fact, it started to intensify. Then he started to have difficulty breathing. His eyes snapped open and turned to Eroica, who still had his back to him. "Lord Gloria..." he said quietly.

"Don't talk to me!" Eroica snapped. He was having enough trouble fighting back tears. The last thing he needed was to get into another fight. "Just don't bloody--"

"Dorian."

Eroica felt his heart miss a beat and he spun around. The Major's eyes were wide and he had a hand to his chest. "Klaus...?" he ventured tentatively.

"I...can't...breathe."

"Christ!" Eroica did not even think twice. He turned on his heel and bolted for the door, praying that Jason was still with Turlough.

* * *

The Doctor had been quiet a very long time. Jason sat watching as he mulled everything over in his head. The Alterran threw a quick glance in Turlough's direction and received a don't-look-at-me shrug. They could be there for hours.

"We don't seem any closer to an answer now than we were when we arrived," the Doctor said at last.

"I know," Jason replied darkly. "I'm really starting to get annoyed."

"I'm surprised you're not completely exhausted," Turlough observed. "We've all kept you rather busy."

Jason gave him a small smile. "Gave me a chance to brush up on my skills. It's been a while since I was in an operating room."

Turlough gave him a stricken look. "I'm glad I didn't know that before all this happened."

Jason grinned, turning back to the Doctor, who still had a very serious expression on his face.

"How about your other patients?" the Time Lord asked conversationally.

"Obviously, Turlough is well on his way to being back to normal."

"Thankfully," Turlough replied.

"And Dorian's trying to figure out how to steal the contents of the TARDIS wardrobe," Jason said aridly.

"And the Major?" The Doctor saw a dark cloud pass over the Alterran's face the moment he asked the question. That was not a good sign.

Jason met the Time Lord's inquiring gaze before saying bluntly, "He's going to die."

The Doctor blinked. "What?"

"I can't save him, Doctor. The life support equipment can only do so much. But his body will eventually give out."

"Oh, dear."

"And he knows it's going to happen."

"Did you tell him that?"

"No, actually. He told me."

The Doctor fell into another thoughtful silence.

Turlough drew a deep breath. "It's too bad the transmat doesn't work properly. You could've used the imprint patterns in the buffer," he said offhandedly.

The Doctor and Jason exchanged a look of mutual astonishment. Now, why hadn't they thought of that?

"The transmat!" Jason gasped. "Turlough, you're a genius!"

The young man's eyebrows went up. "I am?"

The Doctor was already on his feet. "Yes, you are," he said firmly. "That's brilliant."

"Doctor, I don't understand. I thought the transmat didn't work properly."

"The one in this time zone doesn't," Jason replied happily. "But the one in mine does. And the Major was perfectly healthy when he stepped into it."

The Doctor's face darkened briefly. "I say, Jason. This won't work if someone's used it since you left."

An enormous smile was threatening to take over Jason's face. "Doctor, that transmat is off limits until the time corridor is shut down. No one will've gone near it."

"Then what are we doing standing around here?"

"I don't know."

The Doctor gave a bright smile. "I think we'd be better served if I have the TARDIS tied into the transmat buffer."

Jason gave Turlough a quick sideways glance. "You think you're up to manning the TARDIS controls while the Doctor and I work on the transmat?"

Turlough threw off his blanket and swung his feet off the side of the bed. "Just give me my clothes back."

"Not a tad eager, are you?"

"If I stay in this bed another minute, I'll go mad."

Jason grinned, handing the boy his clothes. "I'm not going to let you overdo it, Turlough," he said warningly. "You're in no condition to be walking around, either. I'm taking you in a wheelchair."

"While you two get sorted out, I'll be in the console room." The Doctor pulled open the door just as Eroica burst from the Major's room, clearly in a panic. "Dorian?" he gasped. "What on Earth--?"

"Jason? Where's Jason?" Eroica asked breathlessly.

A bewildered Jason suddenly appeared in the doorway. "I'm right here. What's wrong?"

"He can't breathe," Eroica practically screamed. "Jason, he can't breathe!"

Jason threw a worried look in the Doctor's direction. "I think you'd better get us to my time zone as soon as possible," he said as he strode from the room.

* * *