Just Another Job

---

The Time Agency was headquartered in its own private space station. The structure was in orbit around the planet of New Babylon. A less-than-ethical organization with field agents who all wore technology designed to manipulate time and space was, understandably, time-locked. That was why Jack was currently docking his small transport. He'd been summoned by Command, and old-fashioned physical transport travelling in linear time was the only way to get there.

The taps he'd applied to the heels of his shiny black boots clicked loudly on the cold walls of the corridor as Jack headed for the lift that would take him to the level he needed. The taps served a dual purpose. They loudly announced his passing and they effectively crushed metacarpals to dust.

Jack returned many greetings as he passed those he knew. He returned just as many flirtations from many he didn't know - yet. His ease with his surroundings and apparent pleasure at being summoned to command were a veneer that kept his true feelings well-hidden. Jack hated this place and everyone in it. He only ever wanted to be left alone to do his job, make his money, and take his pleasures where he found them. He despised the hypocrisy and corruption that practically oozed from the walls of the Agency.

When the doors of the lift parted, Jack swept through them and into the reception area of his Commander's office, the tails of his long coat swirling behind him. It looked like the woman had a new Admin Assistant. This one was a little pretty, at least. That would make it easier to stomach the several minutes he would have to spend flirting with her. Jack ran a hand through his dark hair, brushing it back from his forehead.

Her mouth had fallen open the moment she'd seen him step from the lift and her eyes followed his every step across the long floor. Jack's ego never got tired of that reaction to his looks alone. When he reached her desk, he flicked his coat behind himself and slid a hip onto the gleaming surface. He reached for the young woman's hand, which she surrendered bonelessly, and pressed his lips to the back of it. Jack watched her carefully for her reaction, and so heard her soft gasp and saw her pupils dilate. He delighted at how easily the trap sprung.

Jack continued to hold her hand as he spoke. "Hello there. I'm Jack. And you are?" he asked, smiling broadly.

She stared unblinkingly into his eyes. Jack knew his blue orbs were by no means exotic, but he'd been told they were a shade reminiscent of the skies of Earth, so they intrigued most people.

"Naomi," she breathed, just above a whisper.

"Naomi," he repeated. "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."

She giggled and he knew he had her. Jack would flirt and he would charm and he would imply that he desired to bed her, but he never would. He'd learned years ago to cultivate contacts anywhere he could. He'd gleaned that flirtation and charm would almost always get him what he needed, even if Jack wasn't strictly supposed to have access to it. He never followed through on his insinuations, though. He'd learned the hard way that, once he came across, jealousy, possessiveness and sometimes insanity would turn the whole thing pear-shaped.

A disembodied voice sounded from a console on Naomi's desk and caused her to startle violently.

"Is Jack here yet, Naomi?"

Naomi pulled her hands from his and hit a button on the console. "He just arrived, Commander," she said hastily. "I'll send him right in."

He slid from the desk and tugged his coat around him so the hem swirled around the tops of his boots as he walked. Jack gave Naomi one last wink and a smile before striding down the short corridor to his Commander's private office.

Because he was expected, the biometric sensor on the office door slid it open as Jack approached. His commander was sat at her desk on the far side of the office.

"Come get your new assignment," she said without preamble and held out a thin text panel for him to take.

He took the panel from her outstretched hand and threw himself into the guest chair, propping his feet on her desk to read the details of his new job. Jack ignored the annoyed look Commander threw his way and left his feet where they were. They might be able to use pain and fear to keep him in line, but he could wield casual disdain in quiet rebellion.

"This is pretty straightforward," he said as he reached the report's halfway point. "Hardly a use of my more specialized skills." That Jack may not get to exercise his specialty was particularly annoying to him. It was also usually not quite as profitable. If he had any doubt he was on thin ice with the Agency, this mission was all the proof he needed. A second-year Agent could handle this assignment. After his recent failures, Jack was going to have to earn his way back to the choice missions.

"I have no doubt you'll find a way to employ your more specialized skills, whether they're truly needed or not," his Commander replied without looking up from whatever she was working on.

Jack left that comment untouched because they both knew it to be true. "Cover identities all sorted," he mused. "Halfway decent names this time, but why am I not using 'Jack'?"

Each Agent had a common name by which they were known within the Agency. It was how they were addressed and how they received communications. His Commander had once gone by the name of Joan. Most often, cover identities utilized their Agency name, pairing it with a different surname.

"After the way your most recent assignments have gone," Commander said, pinning him with her hard, displeased gaze, "it was thought to keep you on your toes with a wholly unfamiliar name. Make sure you're not too complacent."

Jack didn't want to dwell on the status of his most recent missions. Their failures hadn't been entirely his fault, although the Agency forced him to shoulder all the blame. It didn't matter to any of those greedy bastards, who had long since corrupted a useful agency, that John had been the cause of all the problems Jack hadn't been able to overcome.

He continued to read his mission brief until he reached the part that outlined who he'd be working with.

"No, no, no," he said, his annoyance bordering on anger. He tossed the panel back onto Commander's desk. "You don't need me for this at all. You need me to control John." Jack hated playing babysitter and babysitting this particular brat had been the source of all that had gone wrong on his previous assignments.

"Looks like you'll be utilizing one of those specialized skills you're so proud off, after all," Commander said, sitting back with a smug sigh.

"Not one of the ones I was thinking of." He got up to pace her office. Jack ached to put his fist through something. Either that, or his cock into someone. For a moment he wondered if this entire mission wasn't a set-up. Had he finally pissed off the wrong person within the Agency?

"This assignment will be child's play for you," Commander began tiredly, "so the sooner you go get him and get started, the sooner you'll be done and can enjoy the benefits of all the credits you're going to be paid."

Jack leaned forward and grabbed the panel again. He scanned through until he came to the final lines of data that included what his payment for this job would be. His eyebrows rose and he whistled appreciatively. For that amount of credits Jack could handle babysitting. He'd no doubt find a way to employ his knives and his other toys. Maybe he wasn't quite so on the outs with the Agency after all.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" he said, tossing the panel aside one last time as he rose from his chair. "Where is he?"

"Vegas Galaxy. Where else?" Commander scoffed. "Naomi will give you the details on your way out."

"Identity documents, too?" Jack asked as he reached the door.

"Identity documents, too," she confirmed as he strode through the door that had opened silently for him.

---

The Agency's information about John's location was right, insofar as the planet he was currently terrorizing was concerned. Jack had to use his wrist strap to locate the actual brothel. It was a trashy place he himself had long since disdained of frequenting.

He stepped confidently into the darkened pub, letting his Agency uniform both identify him and establish the reason for his presence. When Jack's eyes adjusted to the dim interior, he caught the barman's gaze and demanded, "Where is he?"

The barman hesitantly gestured toward the door in the back that ostensibly led to the sex rooms. Jack walked slowly through the pub toward the indicated door, feeling the surreptitious looks of the patrons glance across him, and then fall away quickly.

He pushed through the door and started down a hallway that reeked of stale sweat and even staler sex. Jack could hear the vague sounds of moaning and the grunts of rutting pairs and trios as he stopped at each door and peered through the spy hole. He was nearly at the end of the hall and more than a little aroused himself when he spotted his quarry.

John was slouched in a softly stuffed chair, his trousers unfastened but still around his hips and a scantily- clad female straddling his lap. The rough tugging of clothing had begun, as had the grinding, but the fucking was still a few minutes off when Jack kicked in the door to the small sex room.

John and the whore both jumped at the sound of the door jamb splintering and the door itself slamming back against the wall. Their reactions were gratifying to Jack. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a desire to make John pay for the way he'd fucked up their recent missions and made Jack's life hell inside the Agency.

"What the bloody hell?" John shouted, automatically reaching for his weapons.

"Stand down!" Jack shouted to forestall the action. "If you point a weapon in my direction, I'll kill you without a second thought." On some level, he hoped John would keep reaching for a weapon.

John's hand stilled over the weaponry beside his chair as he obviously recognized both face and voice. Jack felt a sharp stab of disappointment.

"Well, hello there, Big Boy," John said with a sly grin. "Sorry I've only paid for the one whore, and she's only collected for one trick, so if you want to share you'll have to fork over."

Without a word Jack took three long strides across the room and grabbed the whore by her upper arms and threw her toward the door of the small room. She screamed at his rough treatment of her and unleashed a string of swear words when she hit the floor hard.

"Classy," he remarked before turning back to his smirking partner.

"Well, well, Blue Eyes," John cantillated. "If you were that anxious to fuck you should have just said so."

Jack was distracted from his own reply by a screaming banshee of a whore throwing herself onto his back. He wrenched her off and hauled her around so she faced him. He pulled back his curled fist and delivered two hard punches to her face before tossing her out of the door and into the hallway.

"Keep your filthy hands off of me, you sinkata," Jack spat the word from his home-world for a rather nasty form of gutter-dwelling prostitute. He had nothing against whores themselves; in fact, he regularly engaged them. He simply preferred the higher-quality version - the ones that cost a lot of credits, but felt and smelled worth every single one.

The whore lay slumped in the hallway where Jack had thrown her.

"Since you broke the perfectly good whore I had already paid for," John said, rising from the chair, "you either need to pay for another one or drop to your knees."

Jack turned back to John in disgust. "I don't owe you shit. I'm here to collect you for a job. You need to get your bony arse to my ship. Now."

"The fuck I do..."

He'd been ready for this. It was always this way when playtime was over. Jack landed his fist in John's face, sending him reeling backward into the chair. Then the fight was on.

Jack expected the body slam so he endured it with little more than a harsh exhale. His back hit the wall opposite and he brought his elbow down on John's back, immediately followed by a knee to his chest. Breath whooshed out of John but he recovered quickly, landing two hard gut punches.

Jack picked up the slighter man and tossed him completely through the door of the sex room where he tumbled over the limp body of the fallen whore. John tried to get to his feet but Jack was on him in an instant and delivered a powerful kick to his midsection, sending him flying down the hallway.

By the time Jack reached him, John was on his feet and managed to get in two solid punches. He felt himself smile. Whatever else John put him through, he was always good for a healthy brawl. He could certainly take a beating.

Silently, Jack admitted to himself that they always seemed to have fun together; whatever other problems John caused him. There had been that time on Praxalis when they'd caused that city-wide riot that had ended in a roof-top orgy. That had been one of their Agency success stories.

Jack rarely felt as alive as when he was crushing bone and sinew beneath his own fists. His cock always grew harder with each feel of crunching cartilage and every spray of arterial blood on a wall.

He threw John through the door into the pub, where he crashed over several tables, scattering drunks and whores. Before they were done, they had punched and kicked one another bloody. They had each thrown one another over tables and into walls. It didn't take long for the anger to give way to enjoyment, each of them grinning like an overgrown child with each blow landed and each chair broken.

This was the kind of shit for which Jack tolerated the Agency. The money they paid him to do things he loved to do anyway let him drink, fight and fuck his way across the universe with impunity. Money bought power and power coupled with money bought the only other thing that really mattered: sex. Sex with pretty boys, sex with pretty girls. Sex with the willing and enough money to cover it up when Jack decided to have sex with the unwilling. Sex with non-humans curious about how his bits worked was always good for a laugh. In the end, momentary pleasure was the only constant in the universe.

As much fun as it all was, Jack eventually grew tired of the game and decided to put an end to it. Besides, he'd just about maxed out the amount of damage he could get the Agency to pay for. He picked John up and chucked him over the bar where he crashed into the multiple rows of bottles stacked in front of the holographic mirror. The sound of shattering glass was deafening as dozens of bottles and the mirror itself fell onto the floor and covered his partner.

John gained his feet almost immediately and came up throwing bottles. Jack ducked a few and knocked others out of the way, ignoring the pain. He vaulted over the bar and came down directly in front of John, crowding him back and pinning him against the wall.

"Enough with these games. We have a job to do," Jack growled, looking down into a heated set of blue-grey eyes.

He'd been expecting a punch so the kiss surprised him. As he felt John's tongue plunge past his lips, Jack realized he should have seen it coming. This ongoing attraction to him was one of the tools he used to control John. He was just sliding his arms around John's waist when he felt himself shoved against the bar. Realizing he'd been played, Jack tossed John back over the bar and hopped over to land with a knee in his back.

"The games are over," Jack said forcefully, pinning John to the floor. "Go get your kit and meet me at my ship," he ordered. Before he released John, he pulled their identity documents from the pocket of his coat and tossed them down in front of his face. "From this moment on, you're Lieutenant Aaron Morrison. You have three days to get it memorized."

Jack released him and headed for the door of the pub. He paused only to toss down several credit markers to cover the damage they had caused. He didn't look back. He knew John would follow him, just like he always did.

---

"So, 'Aaron'," Jack said as he once again checked their course. It was out of habit more than anything; the autopilot had already been engaged. "How old are you?"

"Oh, who the fuck cares?" 'Aaron' cried impatiently. "How fucking old are you, Seth?"

"I'm Seth Tyler and I'm thirty standard years of age," Jack replied jovially. "And quit your bitching; these names are better than the last ones they gave us."

Aaron snorted derisively. "Oh yeah. Weren't you something idiotic like Cornell Waters?"

"Walker," 'Seth' corrected. "So I'm perfectly happy being Major Seth Tyler this go."

"Why do you always outrank me?" Aaron whined.

"Because I do outrank you," Seth shot back.

"We're partners."

"This is my mission; you're assigned to do what I need to you to do in order to accomplish my mission."

What he left unsaid was that Aaron was the weapon and the tool he'd been given by the Agency to do what they wanted him to do. At least they gave him pretty toys to play with.

He tried not to return them broken.

"I'll do what you need me to do by day, as long as you shag me stupid by night." Aaron never cared what their missions were as long as he was getting Seth's dick up his arse on a regular basis.

"Short road to travel, there," Seth muttered under his breath. "If you blow this assignment because you don't have your cover I.D. straight, I'm not going to be shagging you. I'm going to be killing you. There's too much at stake."

"Have I ever let you down?" Aaron asked.

Seth merely shot him a heated look.

"Have I ever let you down with regard to our cover story?" he amended.

"Not exactly," he conceded.

"Never fear," Aaron said, as if that ended the conversation. "I always have your back."

Seth raised a silent eyebrow. It was Aaron's conception of getting his back that could be the problem. Maybe it was already time to start re-teaching him his place in their little command structure. Aaron always needed reminding when they hadn't worked together for some time. After how badly Aaron had gone off the rails during their last mission together, Seth suspected he was going to have to rule him with an even firmer hand than usual. Seth's cock twitched as he contemplated his possible modes of 'training'. Finally, he settled on one.

He'd hung his long coat just behind his captain's chair when they'd embarked the ship, so now he sat in his tight-fitting uniform trousers and black t-shirt. He swivelled his chair to face Aaron's and propped a booted foot on the arm of it.

"I'm feeling a little jacked up from our fight and anticipation of our mission," he said languidly. "You need to get over here and take the edge off."

He lifted his hips to unfasten the fly of his trousers and slid his semi-hard erection out, waving it in Aaron's general direction.

"Anything you want, Blue Eyes," Aaron breathed as he slid immediately from his chair and onto his knees. He crawled across the short space until he was between Seth's thighs. He wrapped one hand around the burgeoning hard-on and immediately lowered his head to envelope the length.

Seth sucked in a breath sharply at the sudden heat. He always reacted that way to the first touch of a mouth, no matter whose it was. "Don't be pretty about it, just get it done," he growled.

Aaron sucked hard at his cock, swallowing the shaft deep and closing his throat on the head. Seth wrapped his hands around Aaron's head and forced him down just the little further. He heard the choking sound he wanted. He let Aaron pull back to breathe and felt him roll his tongue around the cock-head.

"I said no pretty tricks," Seth ground out through clenched teeth. "Just suck me off."

He emphasized his words with an upward thrust of his hips and a downward push of his hands. Aaron gagged around his cock, spittle running down onto the root. The hot feel and the choking sounds were what started to push Seth toward his climax.

"That's it," he urged. "That's the way to suck a cock."

Oh, the perks of command.

Hearing Aaron's harsh breathing as he struggled around the prick in his mouth finally sent him over. Seth came hard, with a loud grunt and a final shove of his hips. He held Aaron's head down over his cock, not letting him pull up reflexively.

"Take it all," Seth barked. "Swallow every drop."

Aaron didn't really have a choice with Seth shoving him down and forcing his mouth over the spurting cock. He swallowed convulsively. Seth loved having this kind of power over another person. He loved controlling the actions and emotions of others. He especially loved it when he could exert his control using his cock.

Aaron fell backward when Seth finally let him go. He swiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. Aaron settled back on his heels and looked up, grey eyes flashing.

"All right, Big Boy," he said, reaching for his own fly. "My turn."

Seth finished tucking his spent cock back into his trousers and spun his chair around to face the flight console. "Not today. I have things to do."

Aaron's first lesson in his re-education had been to follow an order without question. Now he was going to learn not to ever challenge Seth's decisions.

These kinds of lessons were almost as much fun as the first kind.

Seth was ready when Aaron reached for him, saying, "I got you off; it's only fair..."

Seth didn't let him finish. He spun his chair back around and landed his fist in Aaron's face. The sickening sound of the blow was music to Seth's ears.

"It's not about fair," he snapped. "It's about you doing what I tell you to do."

"First, you pull my whore out of my lap." Aaron put a hand gingerly to his split lip and spat blood onto the deck of the ship. "Then you make me suck you and you don't return the favour."

Seth slammed his fist in Aaron's face again, sending him crashing to the floor. "One more time," he spat. "Listen carefully; you're here to do what I tell you to, when I tell you to. Your pleasure is at my discretion."

"I fucking hate you," Aaron said in a harsh whisper, blood and spit dripping from his swollen lip.

Seth spun his chair back around to the console. "No, you don't." He compulsively checked their course again. "Now make sure you know your cover story before we reach the planet."

Aaron climbed back into his own chair and brooded silently.

Seth was disappointed when Aaron didn't put up more of a fight.

---

The holographic image of the target planet hovered between them. Seth and Aaron both had their feet propped on the console as they ate a hot meal and began to formulate their plan for gaining control of the central governing body.

"So the red zones are the mineral?" Aaron asked, gesturing toward the hologram.

"Yep," Seth confirmed. "Currently, the population mines it and sells it on the open market for the going rate."

"And the Agency wants a free exclusive?" Aaron's tone indicated he already knew the answer.

"That's about it." Seth consulted his mission file briefly. "But the governing body has to agree to the deal in order to keep the peace. Part of our job is to keep the planet placated and cut off from outside influences."

"Tell me, Blue Eyes," Aaron said with a smile. "Do you have a plan?"

"That's my job," Seth said dryly.

"Care to enlighten me?"

"We give them a reason to ask us for our help when we miraculously appear on the scene to save the day."

"We're going to attack them, then rescue them and reluctantly agree to stay and provide protection from future threats?"

"Think you're up for it?"

"Child's play."

Just then, the control console sounded the alert for an incoming communication. Seth hit several buttons and the hardened visage of a grizzled, middle-aged man appeared onscreen.

"Curran!" Seth greeted enthusiastically in between bites of food.

"Good to see you're still alive...uh..." Curran squinted at a panel in his hand. "Major Tyler."

"We're old friends. Call me Seth."

"So you have a job for me, Seth?" Curran scoffed.

"Sounds like you have your instructions already." Seth tilted his jaw toward the panel in Curran's hands.

"I see planet coordinates," Curran confirmed, glancing over the panel. "You need me to pretend to invade them and run like hell when you swoop in to save the day?"

"Yep," Seth said, still shoving food into his mouth. "Use the shuttles to destroy the targets I specified. Hover over their capital city with the Charmaine like you're preparing to invade."

"What's our cue to get the fuck out?" Curran asked.

"Bright lights in the sky," Seth said with joyful enthusiasm.

"Payment?" Curran asked, smiling at Seth's antics.

"Half now, half when I've got control of the planet."

"Is this Agency-sanctioned?" Curran asked sceptically.

"What does that matter to you?" Seth asked suspiciously.

"So I can get the rest of my payment if you get caught or killed," Curran said, as if it should be obvious.

Seth waved a hand impatiently. "Yeah, yeah. You've got what you need to get your credits out of the Agency if I can't make your final payment."

"All right then," Curran concluded. "I'll see you in battle in two days, Seth."

"See you in two days, Curran." Seth hit a button and the screen went dark.

"So what do we do tomorrow?" Aaron asked.

Seth tossed aside his empty food containers. "Tomorrow, you and I teleport to the planet's surface and place some Broussard Laser Charges."

Aaron was silent for a long moment. Then he replied, "A light show. You're going to trick a planet into thinking it's being invaded by putting on a light show."

"Yep," Seth said distractedly as he punched some buttons on the console beside his chair. When the martini glass appeared, he picked it up and took a long drink. He would begin to put his plan into action tomorrow. For tonight, there was nothing to do except find a distraction.

Seth hit a couple of buttons and threw a few switches and plunged the cockpit into the darkness of the ship in sleep mode.

"Hey," Aaron complained. "Am I some child to just be sent to bed when Daddy gets tired?"

Seth stood from his chair and moved to stand directly over the still-seated Aaron. "This mission means a big payday for me. I'm not inclined to have it fucked up 'cause you're hung over." He started toward the back of the ship where their bunks were positioned. "If you want to try to distract me tonight, I won't stop you."

"Well hell, Blue Eyes," Aaron said, jumping to follow him. "That's all the invitation I need."

Seth felt Aaron's hands come to rest on his hips as he followed closely. "When I'm done with you, you're going back to your own quarters," he said as he knocked back the last of his martini. "I have a lot to do tomorrow and I need my rest." He also didn't want to have to listen to Aaron's post-coital nattering.

Aaron pressed his lips to the back of Seth's neck as they waited for the door to his quarters to slide open. "What if you wake up in the night hungry for more?"

"If you do it right," Seth said as he stepped into his room, "I'll be too sated to wake up." Even if he did wake up wanting more there was always his own hand.

Aaron ran his hands up and down Seth's back. "When are you ever sated by just one go?"

Under ordinary circumstances, Aaron would have had a point. "When I have work to do the next day," he replied, stripping off his shirt and tossing it aside. "Now get your clothes off and get on the bunk."

"Oooh," Aaron teased, reaching for his own belt. "Impatient, aren't you, Big Boy?"

"I just don't want you thinking this is going to be a marathon session with lots of acrobatics and post-fuck cuddling," Seth said distractedly as he once again checked the status of the ship and scanned space several kilometres in all directions. Satisfied it seemed quiet; he turned back to the nearly naked Aaron. "You're going to get me off and go back to your own room."

"This is starting to be a habit, this is," Aaron said, his dissatisfaction obvious.

"The less you talk and the faster you get me off," Seth said impatiently, "the more likely I am to wank you before you have to go."

Aaron stopped in the middle of removing his clothing. "Don't do me any favours, Blue Eyes," he said derisively, "I can wank myself."

Seth turned down the linens on his bunk. "Fine with me," he said, gesturing toward the door. "I'm equally capable of taking care of myself." Always be willing to walk away from the negotiation, he thought to himself.

Aaron threw up his hands in frustration. "I'm half-naked here. I might as well finish it off."

Just as Seth predicted. He watched as Aaron stripped down until he was naked and went to sit on the edge of the bunk.

Seth unfastened his belt and fly as he slowly crossed the room. He pulled his half-hard cock from inside his trousers and let it hang as he took the final few steps that brought him to stand in front of Aaron. Seth straddled his knees and propped a foot up on the bunk so that his dick hung heavily just in front of Aaron's face.

He wrapped both hands around the back of Aaron's head and whispered, "You know what to do. Get me hard so I can fuck you."

Aaron swallowed down Seth's cock with practiced ease. Again, he hissed loudly at the sensation of wet heat enveloping his length. He would never get used to that first touch of lips and tongue. Seth used his hands to shove Aaron down onto his growing hard-on at the same time he snapped his hips forward.

He fucked Aaron's mouth vigorously and violently as he felt his cock grow to complete hardness. Seth closed his eyes and gave over to the sensation of wet lips sucking him and a hot tongue sliding against the sensitive underside. He felt himself reach full hardness, felt the ache he knew meant he was ready to fuck, and he pulled out of Aaron's mouth.

Seth's cock sliding free of the sucking mouth made a loud slurp in the quiet room. He stepped off his bunk and moved away from Aaron. "Face down on the bunk," he ordered as he toed off his boots.

"You're serious about getting right to the ole in-out-in-out," Aaron griped even as he crawled onto the bunk on all fours. "Can't a guy get a little slap and tickle?"

"I don't have time to woo you," Seth said as he threw a bottle of cheap lube onto the bunk. "I have an important job to start tomorrow."

"Uh, yeah, I thought that was why I was here, too."

"You're here to do what I tell you to do," Seth corrected as he knelt behind Aaron's naked arse. "You're one of my tools," he elaborated as he slicked up his cock. "Just like my gun or my knife or a computer or this ship."

"I'm so much more than that," Aaron protested, groaning loudly as Seth slid into him in a single hard thrust. "Your gun can't suck your dick and your ship won't let you fuck it."

"They also do what I want them to do without talking me to death," Seth said in between harsh thrusts of his hips. "They also don't fuck things up for me cause they're too busy thinking with their cocks."

On his last word, Seth rose up and shoved Aaron down onto the bunk with both hands pressed between his shoulder blades. He roughly kneed Aaron's legs further apart and pounded into him with the sole intent of coming quickly. Yes, he wanted to get off, but he also wanted to drive home the lesson to Aaron that he was nothing more than a tool. His only reason for being on this mission was to do as Seth told him, whatever it was Seth told him to do.

He felt the familiar tingle start at the base of his spine as warmth spread through his groin. Seth sat back and pulled Aaron's hips off the bed. He spread some of the cheap lube on his hand and reached for Aaron's cock. Seth stroked fast and rough, just like he knew Aaron liked it.

"Yeah, like that," he heard Aaron groan from where his face was pressed to the pillow. "I love the way your big, rough hand feels on me."

Seth ignored the quiet affection he heard. This was about the sex and not the pretty words. He kept up his fast pace as he stroked Aaron to completion.

As he felt the fountain of hot come cover his fist and spill onto his bed sheets, Seth realized he should have gone to Aaron's quarters. That way he could have left when he had what he wanted, crossed the hall and fallen right to sleep. Now he was going to have to change his linens first.

Seth wiped his hand on Aaron's back and grabbed his hips to resume his thrusts. He wanted to come and then go to sleep. Seth closed his eyes and focused on the sensation of a hot body clenching around his cock. He pumped against the body in front of him once, twice. He felt the heat building in his groin again and he sped up.

Seth hated having to work for a climax. He hated not being turned on enough for it to be effortless. When he'd conquered the planet he really needed to get find himself a sweet, docile girl that he could tie up and gagged.

That mental image finally had him coming. He gave a single, loud grunt and slammed himself once more into Aaron's body, releasing his orgasm. Seth felt a nearly overwhelming sense of relief that it was over.

He pulled himself out abruptly, causing Aaron to grunt in discomfort. Seth slapped his hip roughly. "Get your clothes and get out." He stood and crossed to the cupboard that held his bed linens.

"I don't expect to cuddle but maybe share a drink with me," Aaron complained as he eased from the bunk and reached for his trousers.

"No time. Need my sleep. Work to do."

"Fine," Aaron sighed and he headed for the door. "But when we're done, you and I are going to have us a proper party."

"Sure. Whatever," Seth said to the closing door, relieved to finally be alone.

---

When Seth's surroundings came into focus, he knew he'd gotten the coordinates right. Not that he'd gotten coordinates wrong in years; it had been a decade, at least. Still, if something was going to go wrong, it would likely be his sudden appearance in the middle of a crowd.

Not today, though. Seth materialized in a disused storage room, just as he'd planned. If he'd landed in the right spot, Aaron must have as well, since Seth had calculated his coordinates for him.

He cracked the door of the storage room open and checked the hallway. It was deserted. Seth eased out into the corridor, slung his carryall over his shoulder, and casually made his way to the roof of the building. He loved this part of the job. His heart raced with the excitement of the challenge that came with outsmarting his marks, of passing undetected as he moved among them. Even if he were detected, he'd escape easily. Still, he enjoyed the thrill that ran up his spine.

No one looked twice at him as he strolled the halls. Well, some of them looked twice, but it was with appreciation rather than suspicion. Seth returned a few of the appreciative looks with brief smiles and flirtatious winks, but he didn't allow himself to be distracted from his task.

Easing the door open to the building's rooftop, he walked directly to the giant temperature regulation unit. Seth dropped his carryall at his feet and opened it. He withdrew an egg-shaped object about the size of a man's head and flattened on one side. Climbing atop the regulation unit, Seth affixed the object near the opening of an exhaust vent. Tomorrow, when Curran's shuttles pretended to invade the planet, he'd trigger all of the Broussard Laser Charges he and Aaron were planting in several cities. The resulting laser show would look like a counterattack, from which Curran and his crew would 'flee'. It was all nothing more than an extravagant display of lights.

Satisfied with his work, Seth hopped down from the regulation unit. He slung his carryall over his shoulder and headed back into the building and the storage room. Once there, he'd teleport to another deserted room in another city somewhere on the planet. Aaron would do the same until they had all the charges planted.

Then tomorrow, the fun would begin.

---

Curran and his crew made their move right on time. Seth and Aaron watched from aboard their ship as dozens of shuttles swooped down without warning, firing very real weapons at Seth's pre-determined strategic targets. When Curran's crew was done, the planet would be defenceless. It would be left without the critical facilities to quickly assemble a protective force, much less mount any sort of resistance.

Seth had the ship's viewscreen split into several sections as they watched Curran and his crew execute their surgical strike. Seth whooped and laughed as he watched each target that he had identified crumble and fall. The people scrambled in the chaos, helpless to stop the attack. Seth monitored the planet's communications, listening to the growing panic as city after city fell to an unstoppable foe.

When the central government barricaded themselves inside their command centre, Curran swooped down over the capital city in the Charmaine and hovered. It appeared as though the planet was conquered and at Curran's mercy.

Seth hit some buttons and Curran's smiling face flashed up on the screen.

"How are you enjoying the show?" Curran asked.

"Fantastic work as always, Curran," Seth said. "The light show is about to begin and when it does, have the shuttle crews bug out and rendezvous in orbit."

"Will do," Curran agreed.

"And I don't have to tell you that when I contact you from planet-side, pretend we've never met," Seth said with a smile.

Curran's smile dimmed slightly. "You're not going to hurt my ship?"

Seth made a scoffing sound in reply. "Would I do anything to harm the Charmaine?"

"You'd better not," Curran didn't seem convinced.

"Just another light show," Seth reassured him. "Trust me."

"I've known you too long to trust you entirely, Seth," Curran said, only half-joking.

"Nothing to worry about this go," Seth concluded. "Talk to you again in a few."

Closing communication with Curran, Seth flipped open his wrist strap. He turned to Aaron and asked, "Ready for phase two?"

"I can hardly wait," Aaron replied with mock enthusiasm.

Seth pressed commands into his wrist strap and together they watched the view screen as, all over the planet, the Broussard Laser Charges began to fire off random light patterns. Suddenly, it looked as though the citizenry were fighting back with a barrage of laser weapons.

Right on cue, the crews of Charmaine's shuttles began to leave the planet's atmosphere. It appeared they were making a strategic withdrawal.

When the last of the shuttles had left the planet, Seth stood up. He turned and faced Aaron, who was also standing. They both reached for their wrist straps.

"Ready for phase three?" Seth asked.

"Now's when the fun starts," Aaron replied, and together they teleported to the capital city of the planet below.

Just as Seth calculated, they arrived in a brush-shrouded area just a few clicks away from the Chancellor's mansion, which also housed the command bunker. They were close enough to the heart of the action that they wouldn't have to walk far, but people on the ground at this location were sparse enough that their arrival went unnoticed.

Seth peered through the hedges and determined they were clear to emerge. Aaron followed him through the foliage and they began to jog toward their destination. The Charmaine hovered just above the mansion and Seth was reminded of just how large a ship she was. The shadow she cast over the city couldn't be walked from end to end in a reasonable amount of time. The panic this caused was exactly the reaction Seth needed to bring his takeover of this planet and its resources to a conclusion. He was just minutes away from his completed goal.

As he and Aaron made their way through virtually deserted streets of a usually teeming city, he wondered about the variety of distractions he'd be able to find once he had control. The men and women he'd seen the day before while setting the laser charges indicated they were pretty enough. He wondered how physically and mentally resilient they all were. How far could he push them? How hard could he play before they broke?

Seth was sure he'd get his chance to find out and it excited him.

Aaron spotted the Executive Guard first and led the way to where the man stood, scared out of his mind and weapon drawn. He and Seth both approached slowly, hands opened and extended in the universal display of unarmed and mostly harmless.

"I'm Major Seth Tyler of the Time Agency." Seth spoke with authority. "I believe I can intervene on your behalf, but you have to take me to your Chancellor."

The Guard took in both Seth's and Aaron's uniforms, complete with insignia and epaulettes equivalent to their supposed ranks. Civilians didn't know the Agency didn't have ranks. You were either an Agent or Command. You had a mission or a command. It was that simple.

Seth looked at the Guard expectantly, but all he received in return was a blank stare.

"Can you communicate with your government's command?" he asked impatiently.

The Guard nodded mutely.

"Tell them what I just told you," he ordered.

The Guard reached to his belt and seemed to press a button. A light illuminated in an earpiece he wore. Such archaic technology, Seth mused.

When the Guard had raised someone on his communications net, he repeated Seth's words. He communicated his understanding of the reply, and then turned back to Seth.

"Do you have identification?" he asked tremulously.

Seth and Aaron both produced a set of credentials that bore the ranks and names of their cover identities. No psychic paper was needed for this operation; they had Time Agency-created fake documents that would stand up to any scrutiny.

To his credit, the Guard scrutinised their credentials closely. Apparently satisfied his arse wouldn't be in a sling if this all went tits up, he keyed his mike again and told someone on the other end that they appeared to be legitimate Time Agents.

Again, confirming his understanding of the order issued, the Guard addressed them. "I've been instructed to lead you to the bunker. Please follow me closely."

Aaron had been right; this was child's play.

The Guard took them on route that wound its way between several stately buildings. At the gate to the mansion, he was challenged, to which he replied with the correct response. He told the armed guards he was escorting two Time Agents to the bunker, but the guards had been forewarned and passed them through readily.

Their escort led them to a seemingly innocuous patch of grass on the mansion grounds. Knowing what to look for, he easily activated some sort of latch and, suddenly, an underground entrance was revealed. Seth and Aaron followed their escort down the ladder into the subterranean depths. They had barely covered any length down the tunnel when a small cart appeared in the distance and headed toward them. When it drew close, a man dressed in what appeared to be a military uniform alighted from it, hand extended.

"Gentlemen," he said brusquely. "I'm General Fraser." The man shook hands with both Seth and Aaron while Seth provided their names and ranks. "You have no idea how glad we are that you're here," Fraser continued, with great sincerity.

"It's pure luck, General," Seth said as he and Aaron climbed onto the cart at Fraser's direction. "We were just passing by when we picked up some suspicious chatter on the open frequencies."

Some part of Seth always wondered that he never felt the smallest amount of shame or regret when he set out to cheat, steal or kill, because he didn't; he never dwelt on it for long at all.

"I don't care about the reason; I'm just grateful," Fraser replied. "Were you responsible for the weapons that drove them out of our other cities?"

"Yes, General," Seth said, straight-faced as always. "The attack vessels were easy to deal with, but my ship doesn't have the capabilities of taking on their mother ship. We'll need to try to bluff them into thinking my presence here means you have Agency protection."

"Will that work?" the General asked sceptically.

"Depends on how convincing I can be," Seth replied cryptically. He was carefully laying the trap and baiting it temptingly.

They reached the bunker proper and they all sprang from the cart. Fraser introduced them both around the command centre, seemingly in order of ascending rank. That left the Chancellor for last.

"Major Tyler," Fraser said. "May I present the Right Honourable Carlotta Marchand, Chancellor of Aramita IV."

The handsome older woman shook Seth's hand firmly. "My staff tells me you think you can help us," she stated, getting right to the point.

"I hope so," Seth said, aiming for confident and reassuring even as he took the measure of all the people around him. "I need an open channel to all the common frequencies and then I'm going to put the fear of the Time Agency into them."

As the Chancellor's staff bustled to open the frequencies for him, Seth continued to take stock of them all, as well as surreptitiously assessing their technology. He gathered it was largely standard weapons and communications systems thousands of years behind most of the rest of the Galaxy. These people were going to be as easy to keep enslaved as they were to conquer and they were going to thank him every day for his help, even as he robbed them blind on behalf of the Time Agency.

They waited several minutes in near-silence as the hailing pulse cycled through the frequencies. Without warning, Curran's face filled the screens before them.

"Calling to surrender?" he asked, playing his part to the hilt.

"I am Major Tyler of the Time Agency, and you've attempted to invade a planet under Agency protection," Seth announced, confident that Curran would follow his lead.

"Nope," Curran responded. "Not on the list of protected planets."

"And yet," Seth continued, feigning happiness, "here I am. Protection begins the moment agreement is reached and negotiations close."

Seth spoke the truth of how Agency protection was extended, but he never actually stated that this planet was protected. Not that any of that mattered for their purposes here. Curran knew the truth of the situation, but it wasn't like truth actually mattered, given what they were all up to. Seth had to bite back a smile at that thought.

"I'm supposed to take your word for the fact that an agreement has been reached?" Curran asked distrustfully, but Seth recognized it as the groundwork for his retreat.

"You could take a chance and risk angering the Agency." That suggestion would be enough to strike fear into the heart of any pirate, if Curran weren't in on the ruse.

"I couldn't be expected to know this."

"No, which is why I haven't blown you out of the sky. I'm giving you a chance to leave peacefully."

Curran gave a lengthy pause. He timed his reply perfectly. "If the Agency is extending its protection to the planet, we will withdraw immediately."

"I'll expect you out of the atmosphere within the hour," Seth confirmed.

"Understood."

He watched the screens go blank as Curran terminated their connection. The room was silent for several long moments as everyone processed what had just happened. Seth waited patiently to see if the scam had worked.

All at once, they unanimously burst into cries and shouts of joy. Hands were shaken, backs were slapped, and some even hugged enthusiastically. Aaron caught Seth's eye and they exchanged a brief look of triumph before they themselves were caught up in the revelry.

Seth put on his best expression of modesty and began to extricate himself and Aaron. He allowed himself to be glad-handed, as did Aaron, as they both slowly made their way toward the exit tunnel.

Right on cue, a voice demanded attention. "What happens if they come back?"

The dark mood of earlier descended upon the room once again.

"Major?" The Chancellor asked, eyes darting between Seth and Aaron.

Seth pretended to consider his answer carefully before he spoke. "If they come back, you'll be back in the same position you were when we arrived, only it might become worse."

"How could it be worse?" General Fraser demanded.

"If they come back and find you weren't really under Time Agency protection after all, they might take revenge on your populace," Seth said with feigned reluctance.

"How would we go about getting authentic protection from the Time Agency?" Chancellor Marchand asked.

"You petition for it," Seth explained truthfully, "and if the Agency finds you're both worthy of their protection and able to pay for the service, they extend their protection and station an Administrator here."

"We can more than pay for our protection, Major," the Chancellor said with a pride bordering on arrogance. Just what Seth had counted on.

"And with a population of families and a standing army only large enough for self-protection, you most likely wouldn't have a problem." Seth gave a brief nod and made as if to leave the room once again, Aaron close on his heels.

"What would it take to get you and your crew to stay with us while we petition for protection?" Desperation began to seep into Chancellor Marchand's strained voice, so Seth started to reel her in.

"Oh, I'm sorry, mum," he gave her a wide, charming smile, "but my crew absolutely must return to Agency Headquarters."

"Major?" Aaron said quietly from behind Seth, right on cue.

"Yes, Lieutenant?" Seth replied.

"You and I could obtain permission to stay behind to oversee the petition while the crew goes on ahead." Aaron's delivery of the suggestion was spot-on.

"No, I really can't do that," Seth feigned modesty.

"You've got the discretion to change your own mission parameters, sir," Aaron replied.

"You and I just got off of several years of Administrative duties," Seth supplied. "Why would you want to go back to that now that we've finally returned action?"

Aaron shrugged. "For the same reason we got into Administration in the first place."

Seth let that comment hang in the air as he pretended to consider it. He and Aaron never worked Administration, but no one in the room knew that. After what he gauged to be the perfect length of time, he sighed.

"I suppose we could stay long enough to oversee the petition," Seth mused aloud, appearing to capitulate.

"We would be ever so grateful, Major," The Chancellor supplied hopefully.

Seth gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement, and then added, "I need to return to my ship to contact the Agency and secure their agreement. If they concur, I need to turn my ship over to my third-in-command and send them on their way."

"Yes, yes, of course, Major." Chancellor Marchand turned to General Fraser. "Escort the Agents to the surface and stand by for their communication or their return."

"Yes, Chancellor."

---

Seth materialised on the command deck of Curran's ship and immediately found himself enveloped in strong, rough hug.

"We did it, didn't we?" Curran said, pulling back, a wide smile on his face. "We should do this more often! We could rule the universe!" Seth found his back pounded enthusiastically.

If Seth were going to rule the universe he was going to do it alone so he didn't have to share the wealth and he didn't have keep an eye on less-than-trustworthy cohorts. "That's the Agency's job; I'm just conquering it for them, one planet at a time."

Curran was oblivious to anything other than his own joy at their success. "When you decide to freelance, you let me know," he said, and turned back to his command console.

Seth flipped the cover on his wrist strap and hit a few buttons. "Your credits are in your account."

Curran punched a few buttons of his own and watched the screen for several long moments. His face once again split with a grin and he stuck his hand out to Seth. "Nice doing business with you, Major."

"Likewise, Curran," Seth shook his hand and stepped back to teleport so he could return to the planet's surface. "Now get the hell out of this sector."

"Understood."

---

Seth and Aaron found themselves escorted back to the bunker and face-to-face with Chancellor Marchand.

"Madame Chancellor," Seth said with all feigned seriousness. "The Agency has accepted your petition to negotiate for protection."

A murmur of relief rippled through the room and the Chancellor herself looked foolishly relieved. "I've been given permission to handle negotiations before returning to headquarters, so I've sent my crew on ahead."

Seth knew he had them eating out of his hand now. Like happy pets, they just kept handing him what he wanted in their bid to gain his approval. He was so close to achieving his goal he could taste it. He felt awash in that familiar, euphoric sense of a victory close at hand.

"Thank you, Major." He tolerated the handshakes and back slaps from Chancellor Marchand and General Fraser.

"Once I've got you under Agency protection, the Lieutenant and I will return to our original mission and you'll have to make do without Agency staff until an Administrator is assigned and arrives to take up the post."

Seth was deliberately withholding his approval in order to encourage his new little pets to bring him what he wanted.

"Why would you need to leave when negotiations are concluded?" Chancellor Marchand asked, precisely as Seth wanted her to.

"I just got back onto active duty after several years of Administrative assignments." Seth carefully delivered his faux argument, implying that it was a duty he wouldn't want to take on again.

"But you're already here, Major," General Fraser said. "We'll be vulnerable again when you leave."

Seth pretended to consider this argument. Then he spoke again. "May I have a moment to confer with my fellow officer?"

Everyone was quick to agree and back away across the room, leaving him with sufficient privacy to speak with Aaron.

"Almost too easy, isn't it?" Aaron said when they were alone.

"Yes," Seth said, his mind not on the conversation they didn't really need to have, but instead racing ahead to decide how best to implement his next step. "So next I get the good Chancellor to abdicate her house to us."

"I love living in the lap of luxury," Aaron said in quick agreement.

"As soon as we get in there, you start to fortify it," Seth ordered. "If this thing turns around and fucks us, I don't want to be trapped in that fucking thing when they come for our heads."

"You got it, boss."

Seth crossed the room to the Chancellor and the General. "Alright, Chancellor," he said, trying to sound as reluctant as he could. "We'll stay until the Agency can send a suitable Administrator."

---

Seth wandered around the expansive, sprawling mansion he and Aaron now occupied. The Chancellor had given it up without a fight. Her former Personal Guard ringed the mansion, ostensibly as Seth's protection detail. He didn't need them, although he'd never admit to that. He was cognisant of the image he needed to uphold.

He had all the protection he needed in the form of Aaron and the creative booby-traps and security monitoring devices he'd planted all around the property.

Really, this place was a party palace. They were going to have so much fun while they ran this scam. People were going to come from far and wide to seek his favour. Pretty boys and girls were going to fall all over themselves to get into his bed. And he wasn't going to have to share all of them with Aaron. Seth had long since lost interest in every sexual encounter needing to include Aaron's participation.

Seth explored the upper floor of the mansion, both gauging the lay of the land and deciding where he wanted to take up residence. At the far end of the landing on the third floor he found the largest, most luxurious suite in the house. While opening doors and drawers, he found Aaron had already been there and tried to claim it as his own. Either that, or he assumed he and Seth were going to be sharing the room for the duration. Seth was having none of that. At least not this go.

Neither of them travelled with many possessions, but they did need space for their weaponry, uniforms, and various changes of clothes for social activities. Seth collected all of Aaron's belongings and carried them down a flight of stairs to the lower floor and found a bedroom on the opposite end of the landing from his own. He left Aaron's things there, conspicuously piled on the bed.

With the push of a few buttons on his wrist strap, he was back in the master suite, and all of his own possessions were swiftly put away. This was his mission, his plan; his sleeping arrangements.

Seth had just made his way down to the ground floor and was contemplating where he might find some entertainment for the night when the front door swung open to admit Aaron with a young woman in tow.

"There he is now," Aaron said boisterously. "The groupies are already lining up." He unceremoniously shoved the girl at Seth. "This pretty little thing wanted to meet the Agency Administrator who saved the planet today."

Seth grasped the woman's wrists where they connected with his chest. She was young and pretty. He felt his cock stir as he took in her full lips and wondered what they'd feel like wrapped around him.

Aaron walked closer to them and grabbed the woman roughly by the hair, jerking her head backward and making her gasp in pain. "I told her we're a package deal, you and I. Partners."

Seth allowed them to be partners when it suited his own needs and wants. He had to admit that Aaron could be counted on for a lively and creative good time. They'd fucked and killed their way through several systems, riding a high of hedonism. Sometimes they even killed what they fucked and that was always good for an extra thrill.

The day had gone well and Aaron had done just what he'd been told, and he'd done it well. That he had brought the woman to Seth to share indicated he was still working to please. Seth felt suddenly very magnanimous.

"We are when I'm in a mood to share," Seth stated flatly. "Since you procured her, tonight I'll share."

"Damn right, you will," Aaron growled, and then took the woman's mouth in a hard, punishing kiss.

---

She tried to chatter and ask questions as they dragged her up the stairs to Seth's recently-appropriated room. She wanted to tell them her name and express her appreciation for the help they'd given her home planet today, but they didn't care and they didn't listen and after a short period of time, Seth just told her that conversation wasn't what they wanted from her at all.

Together they stripped her quickly. They overrode any protests she thought about raising. She seemed to cope with the situation by focusing almost entirely on Seth. He was who she had sought out, and if she had to tolerate Aaron to be with him, it seemed she was going to do it.

There were times he liked a little humour with his sex and would take his time and share a laugh with a girl or a boy. However, tonight it didn't take the two of them long to shatter any illusions this woman might have had about meeting a dashing, romantic hero. Seth was all hungry male and he was going to make a meal of this girl.

When she was naked they laid her out crosswise on the very large bed that dominated the room. Neither Seth nor Aaron ever needed much time to shed their own clothing. They both willingly got naked at the merest suggestion.

Seth watched Aaron eagerly slide his way onto the bed and between the woman's naked thighs. He was equal parts challenging Seth's authority and dominance as well as trying to take for himself what had been offered willingly to Seth. He reminded himself that he was sharing his unexpected treat with Aaron because he'd behaved himself today. Seth realized he'd be happy to use the woman's mouth, kick them both out of his room, and then get some sleep. Tomorrow wasn't going to prove to be a much easier day.

Seth moved to the side of the bed where the woman's head rested. He realized she really was very pretty; soft green eyes, smooth creamy skin and very ample tits. Her lips were plump and full and she kept them parted as she breathed heavily through them. He paused for a moment to consider what that pale flesh would look like, abraded by ropes holding her to the bed. He imagined what those lips would look like, crying out in pain he inflicted.

Someday. But not tonight.

The woman looked up at Seth, hungry and longing, still seeming to just tolerate Aaron's presence in order to get close to him. Seth stood over her and reached down to smooth her long hair out beneath her head. He ran a hand over her cheek and smiled down at her. She gave him a hesitant answering smile. The foolish woman actually seemed to trust him.

Seth spread his legs slightly so that his ball sac hung heavily over her face. He dipped slightly and dragged his balls over her face and she responded to the prompt with hands and tongue. He felt one of her hands land softly on his thigh to steady him and the other wrapped around his growing hard-on. The woman licked at the underside of his sac, dragging her tongue along his skin until it circled his puckered opening.

He shifted his hips so that his balls dragged over her face again and he felt the wet heat of her tongue graze over his sac again. The woman flattened her tongue and licked the entire length of his now-hard cock until she reached the head. As nice as this was, he ached to shove himself down her throat and watch her full lips stretch tight around his width.

As Seth sank his cock deep into the woman's mouth, feeling her struggle to fit him in, he watched as Aaron slid down further to bury his face in her pussy. He felt the woman react with throat and tongue when Aaron licked at her. He felt her pleased moan around him as he shoved himself deep. Aaron's head shifted rapidly as he worked the soft, fragrant flesh between her thighs. Seth took a moment to admire Aaron's shapely arse. It was pert and firm and he'd buried himself between those cheeks many a time.

Seth slid himself roughly in and out the woman's mouth as her head hung from the edge of the bed. He wrapped one hand around a full tit and the other slid down her sweat-slick belly until he could bury his fingers in Aaron's hair. He might be sharing his toy for the night with Aaron, but he was still in charge around here. It wouldn't do to let him forget that. Seth held Aaron's head down against the woman's cunt, inhibiting his movements, forcing his face deep into the heated snatch and preventing him from lifting his head for air. When he finally released Aaron, he sat up, gulping deep breaths. Seth liked the look of the woman's wetness glistening on Aaron's face. He caught her scent as it wafted around them, warm and musky.

"Wanna take a turn eating her or can I fuck her now?" Aaron asked. Seth noted he was asking permission, acknowledging who was in charge.

Never let it be said Seth didn't reward good behaviour.

"Knock yourself out," Seth smiled.

He watched as Aaron slid his hard cock into the woman's cunt. He heard the slick, wet sound of her pussy giving as Aaron slid in. The smell of her grew around them and Seth pounded against her mouth just a little harder. She moaned around his erection, choking slightly as Aaron bottomed out and slammed hard into her body.

Seth liked to watch Aaron fuck. As badly as the man could get on his nerves, he was a glorious sight when he fucked. He was all lean, hard muscle, flexing and contracting with each motion of his hips, each tight grip of his hands. Aaron sat back on his heels, threw back his head and worked himself in and out of the nameless woman's pussy. Seth watched a single bead of sweat roll down the centre of Aaron's chest. He leaned forward until he could rest his hands on the bed which caused his dick to slide deeply down the woman's throat. He felt her struggle and choke around him as she still worked to accommodate Aaron's cock in her pussy. When he was close enough, Seth snaked out his tongue and licked the rivulet of sweat from Aaron's heaving chest. He watched eyelids snap open and gray-blue eyes met his in lust and triumph.

Aaron's hips sped up, snapping quickly against the abused woman's arse and he leaned forward to capture Seth's mouth in a searing kiss. He could taste the woman on Aaron. She tasted good. Maybe he should have eaten her out. Still, beneath the flavour of her essence he could taste Aaron. He tasted of sweat, maleness, and some sort of fermented drink he'd had earlier that evening. Whatever other problems Aaron caused him, he made up for it by being a tasty fuck. He felt Aaron go over just seconds before he sank himself one last time down the woman's throat and pumped his seed into her. She choked harshly, spitting out more than she swallowed, but he knew that when she told the story to her friends she'd claim to have swallowed him all down.

She had her conquest and he'd had his orgasm. Time for sleep.

Aaron pulled himself from the woman's well-used body and sat back tiredly. Rousing himself, he pulled her unceremoniously from the bed and pushed her toward the centre of the room where her clothes lay. "Thanks for a nice time, sweetheart. I trust you know your way out?" he said to her with disdain as he reached for his own trousers.

"Wait. What? That's it? That's all you guys have got?" the woman protested, even as she reached for her clothing.

"You expected dinner and drinks, darling?" Aaron chided, "I told you I'd get you to the Administrator so you could fuck him. I did that. Time to go."

"I didn't get to fuck him," she protested hotly, half-dressed now. "You got to fuck me. I just got his load shot down my throat."

"And a good time was had by all," Aaron finished dismissively. "Bye bye now."

The woman left in a huff and Seth had to work to suppress his laughter at her indignant reaction and Aaron's impatience with her reluctance to leave. His humour turned to annoyance when Aaron started to stretch out on Seth's bed.

"I moved your stuff down a floor and to the opposite end of the hall," Seth told him without emotion as he ran water to wash away all signs and scents of sex.

There was a long pause and Seth could feel Aaron's eyes burning through him. "I thought we'd be sharing, lover."

"You assumed. You didn't ask, and you thought wrong," he corrected him, turning to gesture for Aaron to vacate the large bed.

"I brought you the evening's entertainment," Aaron argued petulantly.

"And you got your taste," Seth countered. "Now, we have a long day tomorrow and I need some sleep, so get out."

Aaron vacated the room, muttering to himself the entire time.

---

A large group of especially self-important people showed up on Seth's doorstep very early. Some of them were officials of the government, others were executives in charge of various companies that contributed to the mining operations around the planet, and still others belonged to the military. Their behaviours ranged from openly curious, obviously relieved and appreciative, rudely resistant, and, in the case of one executive, downright hostile. Seth took one look into that young man's eyes and gave Aaron a silent order to keep a close eye on him.

"It's a simple operation, really," said one of the government officials, whose name Seth could no longer remember. "Once the raw ore is extracted by one of the mining corporations, it's transferred to a processing plant."

"Those are privately owned by corporations, too?" Seth confirmed as he scanned report after report that showed percentages of mineral actually refined from the raw ore.

"Correct," the official confirmed. "Then the mineral is transferred to one of our ports where contracted transport ships land. They load the mineral on board and take it to the market places. When our agents make the sales, the credits show up in our planetary accounts."

Seth felt a great sense of boredom wash over him. This was just another job on just another planet; one that was pretty much like any other. The things here and the people here were no different than on many, many other planets, and they offered him no great challenge at all.

"I suppose we're very provincial compared to what the Agency is used to." This was offered by the young executive who had already raised Seth's hackles.

He shot a quick look at Aaron to reinforce the silent message to watch this one closely, but otherwise he schooled his features. There was one like this in every bunch.

"Not provincial, no." Seth turned a bright smile on the man, one designed to disarm and reassure. "Mr. ...?" he prompted.

"Victor. Tobias Victor," the executive provided. "With Argosy Transport."

Seth nodded acknowledgment. "But certainly not as efficient as the Agency can make it." Seth tried to sound friendly, in spite of wanting to strangle the little prick.

"And now we can expect the Agency to provide us with the knowledge and technology to make our operations more efficient, I suppose." Sarcasm dripped from Victor's tongue, and Seth wondered if everyone in the room was oblivious to it.

Their expressions indicated they were indeed, ignorant of what he heard so plainly. "That is one of the benefits you receive now that you're under Agency protection."

"How magnanimous of them," Victor said. Seth could see from the corner of his eye that Aaron was growing annoyed now, too. His boredom was rapidly escalating to annoyance with this entire affair and the people around him.

"Indeed," the government official said. "Very generous of the Agency to share technology with us."

"It's a symbiotic relationship," Seth provided the company line without even thinking about it, knowing only that he needed to redirect this conversation.

Seth and Aaron were the only ones in the room that heard Victor's scoffing, and Aaron's answer was to step just a little bit closer. Seth had set him on task and he was not going to deviate unless, or until, Seth called him off.

Seth felt an unexpected sense of longing for a partner who could work with him, and not just do his bidding. He despaired of ever finding anyone so smart, capable and cooperative. He'd never had thoughts like this before. Where had these feelings so suddenly come from?

By the time the entourage returned to the Capital City, Seth had a clear picture of how to install Agency assets in the mining and processing operations. It didn't take him long to figure out how to not only improve efficiency and therefore profits, but also begin skimming those profits right off the top. The Agency's pockets would fill quietly and the planet's population, none the wiser.

He was suddenly impatient to be done with this job and off this planet, and to move on to more interesting distractions.

After he confirmed the exportation process and dug into the financials of the entire operation, Seth knew exactly how the Agency would take their 'public' cut. They would openly purchase everything Seth could suck out of the planet - at a greatly reduced price - provide all off-world transport to the markets, and sell the mineral at the going rate. A percentage of the profits would then be transferred back to the planet's accounts. Because they now had Agency protection, their mining and processing would become more efficient, and they would no longer have to worry about off-planet transport.

They would thank him for all of his help.

And not to be forgotten was the fee the planet would be charged to pay for Seth's administration of their operations.

He couldn't raise the smallest amount of guilt for what he was about to do to these people. He never felt guilt anymore, except for that one event, back home on Boeshane, many years ago.

"The Agency can do all of that for us?" Chancellor Marchand asked incredulously later that afternoon when Seth concluded his presentation of his proposed plans and improvements.

"They can and they will," Seth replied. He knew he had sold the concepts completely while at the same time he'd hidden the less-than-desirable features of the arrangement. He was suddenly itching to be done with this lot for the day. His mouth watered at the thought of several glasses of this planet's fermented drinks.

"All for just a small Administrative Fee?" the Chancellor clarified.

"Correct." What they didn't know wouldn't upset them.

"I think we're all going to sleep much better tonight," she sighed.

"I'm happy to hear that," Seth answered, suppressing his victory smile lest his relief at this day being over become too obvious.

---

"Oh, but these mopes are going to be so easy to control," Aaron crowed when they returned to the privacy of their mansion. "They're idiots!" he cried, pouring himself a rather large amount of a fermented drink. "Fucking idiots."

Seth couldn't help but agree. He was feeling relaxed and pleased at just how easy this job was turning out to be. He poured himself a drink equal in size to Aaron's and knocked it back quickly. "Did you learn anything about our suspicious friend, Tobias Victor?"

"Of course, I did." Aaron was indignant. Seth had given him an order and he'd die rather than disappoint him. Seth often counted on that fact, and no less so now. "Not much to use against him. We'll have to watch him, too. He's likely smart enough to catch on to what we're up to and I don't think he's one to be bought."

Seth nodded, understanding. "Keep an eye on him. If he starts to dig into our operation, we'll take him out sooner rather than later." He sighed to himself. He'd seen this guy's type on every planet and was surprised to find he was dreading the inevitable outcome.

"Yes, Sir," Aaron agreed with an enthusiasm that turned Seth's stomach.

They discussed what they'd learned that day and what to report to the Agency.

"Have you figured out yet where we'll take our cut?" Aaron asked when he was several drinks down.

"We're not taking a cut," Seth said as he stood, glass in hand, staring out one of the many large windows. How he longed to teleport up to his ship and just skip out of this system.

"What?" Aaron asked with palpable disbelief.

"You heard me." Seth just wanted to enjoy a drink and relax, but he feared he was going to have to spend some time bringing Aaron back in line.

"But I don't believe you. We always take our own cut. That's how we got to be so fucking rich. It certainly wasn't from taking the meagre Agency handouts."

"That last time nearly got us killed," Seth reminded him, trying to keep his brewing anger at Aaron under control.

"But the Agency gave us another assignment so they must have forgiven and forgotten."

"They've forgiven me, but not you," Seth replied. "And they've certainly not forgotten." Seth's heart was racing as his anger increased tenfold with Aaron's every word.

"Then what are we doing here, if we've not been forgiven?"

"Listen carefully." Seth enunciated slowly, his anger and frustration peaking. "I was given this assignment, with orders to bring you along and keep you on a tight leash and under control. We're doing this my way."

"Well, bloody hell."

"You can afford to work one assignment for the salary the Agency is paying you." Seth watched Aaron toss back one shot of alcohol after another, knowing where his temperament was going to lead him. "Show them you can follow orders and complete an assignment without annihilating a planet and they'll most likely go back to looking the other direction."

"Oh, but this is your mission," Aaron said derisively, "so they're paying you a bloody lot more than me. You can afford to be generous with your time."

"And since it's my mission, you'll follow my orders." Seth was antagonizing Aaron in spite of his growing drunken hostility. It was this drunken hostility that had gotten them into trouble time and time again. He found he was really growing to resent Aaron and the Agency that kept pairing them.

"Maybe it's time the Agency saw just how good a mission commander I can be," Aaron grumbled and Seth wondered if he was even meant to hear it.

"You can have command of this one if you think you can take it from me." The time had come and Seth joyfully issued his challenge - one he knew Aaron wouldn't back down from.

But Aaron was still just sober enough that he hesitated.

Seth was ready when Aaron lunged at him, unsteady and with knife in hand. Faced with a physical threat, he felt all of his emotions drain away. Finally, he had something worthwhile to focus on.

It didn't take much beyond the twist of a hip and near-cracking of a wrist to disarm Aaron and leave him lying flat on his back. Drunk and unsteady or not, he could still fight. Seth absorbed the kick aimed at his head, deflecting the blows that followed. Aaron gained his knees but Seth never let him reach his feet.

Seth took great pleasure in delivering a knee to Aaron's jaw that sent him sprawling backward to the floor, finally too dazed to fight back. Seth sank down onto Aaron's chest and hammered his fist into Aaron's face several times, ensuring his complete descent into unconsciousness.

When Aaron lay unresponsive beneath him, Seth rose to his feet. The pain in his hand was glorious and he sucked at one of his own bloodied knuckles. He crossed the room to a wide ottoman and gave it a fierce kick in Aaron's direction. Seth moved it to within a few feet of Aaron's limp form and then stepped over the motionless body once again.

Seth gripped Aaron's belt with both hands and heaved the dead weight onto the ottoman. He unfastened Aaron's belt and fly then flipped him over, face down. He did all of this clinically. He felt no emotion whatsoever about the actions he was about to take. It was all just part of the job.

Seth stepped back to the bar and knocked back one last shot of fermented drink. Seth pondered what he was about to do. It was distasteful, but really, he needed to 'talk' to Aaron in a language the man understood. He wondered that he didn't feel more regarding what he was going to do to Aaron. He stepped into the kitchen briefly to retrieve a bottle of cooking oil and filled a pitcher full of cold water. Then Seth went back to the still-unconscious Aaron. Seth stripped Aaron's trousers down to his knees and knelt between his limply-spread thighs. He took own flaccid penis out of his fly and reached for the oil. He used a little of the viscous fluid to stroke himself to hardness, needing the physical stimulation to take the place of his lack of desire. The oil was also to ease his own entry, not to provide Aaron with any comfort.

Just before he thrust himself deep inside Aaron's body, Seth picked up the pitcher of water and tossed it fully into Aaron's face.

Seth sank himself deeply into the body before him, pushing roughly and quickly past the resistant rings of muscle. Aaron shouted in surprise at the abruptly cold wake-up then roared in reaction to the harsh breach of his body. Seth buried himself inside Aaron and let his weight fall forward to pin him to the ottoman.

"Who's in charge now?" Seth growled into Aaron's ear as he kept him pinned to the ottoman and snapped his hips back and forth, hard and punishing.

"Fuck you," Aaron bit out between pained gasps.

"No, fuck you," Seth rejoined. "You've forgotten who's in charge of this mission, so I'm reminding you."

"Get the fuck off me."

"Say it first."

"The only way you can get your cock in a hole is to knock me out, yeah?"

"Who the fuck is commanding this mission?"

"If you wanted a quick shag you could have kissed me instead of punching me."

"You're lucky I don't fucking kill you."

"Fine, you're in command of the mission."

"And what are you to me?"

"Your weapon."

"My what?" Seth asked on a particularly hard thrust of his hips.

"Your weapon! You wield me however you want." Aaron's answer was breathless with pain.

Seth hitched their hips upward so he could get a hand beneath Aaron's body. He grasped his semi-flaccid cock and stroked.

"You get your orders from me, and I decide when, where, and how you can take your pleasure," he hissed against Aaron's ear, stroking his cock to hardness the entire time.

"That's going too far," Aaron gasped, his pleasure building.

"That's what you deserve."

"Fine, fine, whatever," Aaron groaned. "Just don't stop."

Seth knew he finally had him where he wanted him. Aaron was acknowledging his authority and begging for pleasure. He stroked Aaron's cock until he made him come.

He grunted his own release into Aaron's abused arse, pulling out almost immediately. This had been about power, not pleasure. Seth had no intention of lingering over it.

"Clean yourself up," Seth ordered. "And you're staying in tonight. We have a busy day tomorrow and I don't need you hung over."

He didn't wait to see if Aaron followed his instructions. Instead, Seth tucked himself back into his trousers and took himself off to his bed.

---

Seth was cleaning his gun. He sat on the edge of his bed wiping down his laser pistol with a soft cloth. He'd already replaced the power source and reassembled it. He lifted it to sight down the barrel when Aaron came bursting through the door of his rooms with a young man, or an older boy - Seth wasn't sure - struggling against the bonds on his wrists. Aaron had gagged the kid, which likely meant he hadn't come to the mansion willingly.

Not that that mattered in the least.

The boy was pretty. He was tall and lean with pale skin, dark hair and light blue eyes that blazed above the gag Aaron had tied around his head. Seth felt a stab of desire twist his gut.

"Look what I've found," Aaron said triumphantly, shoving the kid to his knees in the centre of the room.

"Is that supposed to be for me?" Seth asked, standing to secure his weapon where their visitor couldn't reach it. His cock was already swelling but he didn't dare let Aaron know how interested he was in this present.

"You like it, don't you?" Aaron was eager to curry his favour after having pissed Seth off so badly.

"I do." Seth feared that if Aaron thought he hadn't pleased him, he'd go off the deep end and do something truly crazy.

"He's the type you like, right? Young, fresh faced, blue-eyed, tall, lean." Aaron's need for Seth's approval was growing comical.

"Yep." Oh yes.

"You don't even have to share him with me," Aaron said, as if Seth ever shared when he didn't choose to.

He circled the boy, taking in his strong features and fiery eyes. He wasn't really a boy. He was a youthful-looking man. Good enough. Seth felt his pulse kick up in anticipation even as his cock continued to swell.

He knew this was Aaron's version of a peace offering. He'd been temporarily cowed by Seth's beat down. He feared losing Seth's approval. It was not unlike a housecat bringing its owner a half-eaten mouse. It could be endearing, but ultimately it wasn't pretty.

"I'm feeling generous," Seth said as he ran a hand through the boy's hair and laughed when he pulled away sharply. "I'll share."

"I was hoping you'd say that." A wide grin split Aaron's face.

Seth buried his fingers in the hair of the boy and yanked him to his feet. His eyes threw daggers at Aaron and he couldn't help but smile at the kid's spirit. Spirited ones were harder to break; they lasted longer and put up more fight. This one just might go all night before they had to kill him.

"Do you know if he's taken cock before?" Seth asked Aaron without looking at him. The boy was entirely too pretty not to look at.

"Found him in a place where men seemed to be looking for men," Aaron answered smugly, very pleased that Seth liked the toy he'd brought. "He most likely knows what goes where."

"Doesn't matter," Seth murmured, mostly to himself, his eyes coursing over the young man. He leaned in and ran his tongue over the boy's lower lip. It was dry from the gag and quivered slightly at the contact. Seth dragged his tongue over the upper lip and this time the man pulled away slightly.

"He's got spirit, this one has," Aaron said, obviously seeking Seth's approval. "Just like you like them."

"Yes, he has. He'll put up a nice fight." He noted with no small amount of satisfaction that the kid seemed more hostile toward Aaron than toward Seth. As much as this pleased him, he knew Aaron had better never realize it.

Seth grabbed the kid's upper arms and tossed him unceremoniously onto the bed. He clambered up along with him, taking care to avoid any attempts to kick him in sensitive spots. No need to take him out of commission quite so early. He grabbed the boy's ankles and stilled his struggles, settling himself between the open legs. Seth leaned down, pressing his growing erection to the young man's groin.

"Get my knife," Seth growled at Aaron and was surprised at just how quickly his ornate dagger found its way into his hand.

He used the blade to cut away the boy's gag before pressing the tip of the sharpened metal to the tender underside of his throat. He felt the kid tense and still beneath him, just like Seth wanted. He watched, a silent thrill running along his spine, as the boy swallowed hard against the press of the knife.

"You have a very pretty mouth. I'd like to use it," he growled against the other side of the young man's throat, adding a swipe of his tongue for good measure. "I just can't have you using your teeth in a rude manner."

This earned him a low, strangled sound from the boy that shot right to his own cock.

"I also like to hear my lovers scream and cry freely, so don't feel you have to hold back," Seth whispered against the kid's cheek.

Seth adored the fear tracing across the boy's eyes just before he squeezed them shut.

"Oh, don't close those pretty eyes," Seth cooed and watched as the kid slowly opened his eyes but kept them fastened on the ceiling, refusing to meet his.

"Enough with the sweet-talk," Aaron said impatiently from beside the bed. "Get to the fucking, already."

"If you insist," Seth said, sitting up and abruptly flipping the boy over onto his belly. He reversed his grip on his knife and sliced through the young man's denims until he lay naked and quivering on top of the duvet. His hands were still bound behind his back and, with Seth once against between his spread thighs, the kid was helpless.

He spared himself a moment to run his hands over the smooth, firm flesh of the boy's arse and back. It felt nice under his hands. For a moment he was overwhelmed by the urge to take his time with the kid; take it slow and indulge in some kissing and caressing. His gut clenched when he realized Aaron would never let that happen without ridicule and a fight.

"Where's the slick?" Seth spat as he pressed the young man into the mattress with a hand in the middle of his sweaty back.

"Oh, no," Aaron protested. "Take him dry."

"I don't want to rip the skin off my dick. It's for me, not for him." Why, oh why, was he always explaining his orders to this mongrel?

A small synthetic packet was pressed into his hand and Seth gave it a squeeze, directing the cool gel over his now-straining cock. He spread it liberally with a few solid strokes then used both hands to spread the boy's arse cheeks wide.

Seth almost came at the just the sight of the young man spread open and inviting for him. His flesh was smooth and pink and the star-shaped opening to his body clenched in anxiety and, Seth fancied, anticipation.

Seth sank himself deep in the boy's puckered hole, revelling in the howl of pain it elicited. He pressed himself as far as he could in one thrust. With a second powerful snap of his hips, Seth slid in until his balls smacked against the kid's fleshy arse.

The heat and the pressure were intense and pleasurable. The slick let him slide in and out easily. He pulled back just to the head of his cock before slamming it back in roughly. Each thrust of his hips brought a cry from the boy. Some deeper part of Seth regretted that this encounter had to be so fast and rough. When would he ever be able to take the time to just be with another person?

For all his cries of pain and protest, the boy was rocking backward into each of Seth's thrusts. He clenched himself around Seth's cock, squeezing and milking and working to give him the most pleasure. Before long Seth was coming, pumping his seed deep into the tortured body of the kid.

He rolled off, pleasantly sated, and Aaron wasted no time in climbing up onto the bed and settling between the young man's open legs. Seth had a moment of regret that he'd agreed to share the boy, followed quickly by a desire speed things along and get the kid out of there safely before Aaron got other ideas into his head.

He hedged his bets and decided to take control of Aaron, to try to ensure the kid didn't hurt more than necessary.

Seth slid over behind Aaron as he positioned himself between the kid's legs and took himself out of his own trousers in preparation for taking his turn. He pushed his chest against Aaron's back and pressed the blade of the knife against his bare ribs.

"You're going to felch him before you get to fuck him," Seth growled into Aaron's ear. At the last moment he'd had a sudden urge to watch the kid enjoy himself, even just a little.

"You think so, huh?"

"I know so. It's my come and you love how I taste so get the kid's hips up and show me just how much."

Aaron complied slowly, acting as though he was reluctant, but his cock was still hard where it hung from his fly and had he really objected, he could have put up some sort of a fight.

Instead, he buried his face in the cleft of the young man's arse and licked the length of him with the flat of his tongue. The kid shivered in response, whether from arousal or revulsion was anyone's guess. Either way, it's what Seth had wanted.

Aaron spread the kid wide with his thumbs and paused a moment to admire the cherry-red pucker Seth had left behind. It glistened with slick and come and Aaron's spit. He didn't know if Aaron was aroused by the sight, but Seth certainly felt his own flaccid cock stirring back to life.

As he watched, Aaron ducked his head and delved into the opening with his tongue. He teased at it before spreading the kid open and plunging in, licking at the fluids he found there. As if knowing the effect it was having on Seth, Aaron made lewd sucking sounds. His noises were loud and wet and dirty and he loved it.

The boy was making his own lewd and protesting noises and Seth didn't think he'd ever heard anyone accomplish that before. He reached between the young man's legs and stroked at his semi-hard cock, bringing it to full hardness in short order. The dual sensation of Aaron's tongue and Seth's hand had the kid rocking backward into them with quick, sharp motions.

Aaron pressed his mouth fully to the boy's opening and hollowed his cheeks as he finally began to draw Seth's seed from where he'd deposited it. He watched closely as Aaron drank thirstily from the kid's body. As excess come leaked from the puckered hole, Aaron licked at it, holding himself so that Seth could see it all. He couldn't help but stroke the young man's cock just a little harder and faster in response to the sight.

"I think you've got most of it," he said finally. "Fuck him now if you want." He tossed the bottle of slick to Aaron and sat back to watch.

Aaron was never one to be gentle, and he unceremoniously shoved the kid face down into the mattress, climbed atop him and began to pound away. The young man let out a harsh yell when Aaron first penetrated him and continued to release quiet sobs as his body was abused.

Seth heard shouts like that in his dreams. He usually woke up hard as a rock and was able to rub one off in mere minutes. That fact never bothered him in the slightest.

Aaron came with a loud yell and a final, violent thrust of his hips before he fell to the side of the boy, his cock pulling free with a wet sound, come trickling onto the duvet. Seth felt a sharp spike of annoyance at the sight. He liked this duvet. He didn't want to toss it quite yet.

"You're not done, yet," Seth said lightly, knowing Aaron would try to cut the kid free and boot him out the door without a second thought. Ordinarily he wouldn't care but something dark and nasty in his head didn't want Aaron to have his way in anything right now.

"Oh, I'm very done," Aaron argued, "but if you give me a few minutes I'm sure I can give you a good ride."

"You need to look to your partner." Seth feigned disinterest. "How many times have I told you to look after your lover's pleasure?" This time he let his annoyance bleed through.

"A lover, sure," Aaron protested. "Not a toy."

"He gave you pleasure; you should return the favour." If Aaron was spoiling for a fight, Seth was ready to give him one.

"Oh, bloody hell," Aaron muttered, but he obeyed. He roughly turned the boy over and began to run his fist rapidly over his semi-hard cock. The kid responded immediately, growing in length and width and Seth had a moment to consider keeping him around for another go.

Aaron made quick work of the young man, bringing him off fast and hard. Seth rolled his eyes when Aaron wiped his soiled hand off on the duvet. He really was going to have to toss it in the rubbish now.

"I'm off to the loo," Aaron said, rolling off the bed.

"Bring a pair of my sleep pants back with you," Seth ordered, "so your toy has something to wear when you take him home."

"I was thinking of handing him a towel and bus fare."

"Just bring the pants." Seth's impatience was growing by the second.

He got up and poured himself a drink, knocking it back in one go. He considered offering something to the kid, but he didn't really want him to get too comfortable. For his own welfare, he needed to get the boy out the house.

"I wouldn't mind staying," came the soft voice from behind him.

Seth turned to regard the boy. "It's best if you go."

"I would have come with him willingly," the kid continued, "to meet you."

"I'm flattered," Seth sighed, "but he's insane and any attention he thinks I might pay to you instead of him could get you killed." He wondered how he'd come to find himself in this untenable situation. It made him angry at himself that he'd allowed it to happen.

"Why do you keep him around?"

"He's useful." The whole mess suddenly left him exhausted.

Aaron chose that moment to re-enter the room. He was humming. He threw the sleep pants at the boy and reached for his own trousers.

"Take him home, Aaron," Seth warned. "If he comes up on the reports, I'll take it out on you."

He watched tensely for the length of time it took Aaron to back down. For a long moment, he feared they were going to come to blows again. He saw the moment Aaron capitulated.

"Yes, sir," Aaron said with a mock salute, and dragged the boy from the room.

---

They stood watching the growing crowd. The miners were gathering in the yard outside the main mineshaft. Seth turned up the sound on the monitor. Mostly they heard sounds of a disgruntled crowd; mumbling, swearing and the occasional shout.

"What do they hope to accomplish?" Aaron asked no one in particular.

"If they were only up against my management, they might actually get somewhere, but the Agency?" As the face of the Agency on this planet, their rebellion was a direct challenge to Seth, and he didn't like it. In fact, he resented it completely.

"They don't know they're up against the Agency."

"No. No, they don't." Seth's anger grew at the milling crowd. Why didn't people ever know when they were beaten? Why did they push him into acting against them?

"What do we do?"

"We figure out who's riling them up. Who's talking them into assembling." Seth wasn't going to let this go unanswered.

"Then what? Kill them?"

"Kill them. Scare them. Bribe them. Whatever works. Whatever I feel like at the moment." At that moment he was leaning toward a whole lot of blood and violence.

"Oh, I know that bloke," Aaron said, indicating a rather large, unattractive man. "Hot wife. No idea how he landed her."

"Really?" A very dark thought began to form on the edges of his mind.

"And that one," he pointed at a second man, "gambles. He's lost an entire pay check to me. More than once."

"That's useful information." Just not as interesting to Seth at the hot wife.

"This one," Aaron placed a finger on the image of third man, "is dangerous. He's smart and educated and people look up to him."

"Is that so?" Seth felt an instant hatred for the man who thought to move a force of workers against the Agency. Against Seth.

"Whadya want to do?" He almost didn't hear Aaron's question.

"I'll take care of the first two," Seth said, already planning his moves. "You take him out." Seth's finger touched the image of the third man Aaron had identified.

"Won't you need a little help?"

"One of them is just a matter of some paperwork." Some creative computer hacking and the guy was going to find himself at the mercy of his own planet's legal system. "The other might be a little fun."

Aaron smiled at him, a very devious smile of understanding.

Seth's gut did a slow roll. He never liked it when he and Aaron thought alike.

---

The fat man sat cowering in the corner of the bedroom, bound and gagged and helpless to prevent his wife's violation. Seth sat back on his knees and watched the woman struggle beneath him. It was futile for her. He'd long since bound her hands and gagged her. She tried in vain to kick him, but he had tight hold of her legs. Her husband curled in on himself, unable to look away but at the same time repelled by what he knew was about to happen.

"Listen to me very carefully," he said to the defeated man in the corner of the room. "I'm going to enjoy your wife's pussy but I'm going to leave her alive."

The pretty woman beneath him screamed into her gag and her husband moaned impotently.

"Stir up the workers again, and I'll slit her throat as I come inside her."

The woman was crying now, still squirming and writhing, at once trying to protect her virtue and get away from him.

Holding the man's gaze, Seth reached down and took himself out of his trousers. He was hard. He'd been hard since he'd forced his way into the house. The harder the woman struggled, the more Seth wanted to sink his cock into her. He liked her fear. He thrived on her horror and helplessness. He wanted her to struggle. Just the thought of her fighting him made his erection throb painfully.

Seth fisted the woman's panties and gave a sharp, hard tug. They came away from her body with a harsh ripping sound, leaving behind red marks on her buttocks that he knew would be burns and bruises tomorrow. She'd remember him for a long time to come.

He lined himself up with her opening and shoved in. Her scream of pain and outrage was swallowed by her gag and she clenched tightly around him. Her intent was to prevent him from going deeper, even to kick him out if she could but instead it added to his pleasure. It made her tight around him. His next thrust was heaven.

Seth used the weight of his body to pin her to the bed. He rode her resisting body fast and hard. She screamed into her gag and he groaned heavily with each snap of his hips.

"Yeah, what a fucking whore you married," he said, taunting her hapless husband, who couldn't look away from his wife's rape. "What a nice hot pussy. She likes my cock, you know. Why she's stayed with a tiny limp dick like you, I'll never know. She's obviously been aching for a big, hard cock to fill her cunt."

They were both crying now and Seth found himself laughing. They were both so very pathetic. Nothing but sheep. Easily lead, easily manipulated.

"You like my big cock, baby?" he cooed down at the woman beneath him, debasing her even further. "You've never had it so good, have you? Your husband can't satisfy a woman like you. Has he ever fucked you til you couldn't walk? No, I bet not. Has he ever left you raw and exhausted? Of course not. You've just been aching for a man like me, haven't you? You fucking bitch."

His words made the woman buck and thrash against him. He liked that. He liked her fear and desperation. He stopped moving for a moment.

Seth reached for her gag and spoke down to her. "I'm going to take off your gag and you're going to tell me how much you love cock. You're going to tell me how badly you've needed to be fucked by a real man. If you don't, I'm going to kill your husband."

He untied the woman's gag and propped himself on his elbows so he could watch her horrified face.

"Say it," he ordered harshly as he began to fuck himself in and out of her tense body and tight cunt. "Tell me how much you love my cock."

She choked out the words around her sobs. Her sentences were broken and hardly understandable but her humiliation and debasement were complete. She was shattered and her marriage most likely wouldn't survive. Seth couldn't help the self-satisfied smile. He grunted his pleasure at the tight, resistant feel of the woman's pussy and her shameful words.

He came hard inside of her, knowing it would add to the dirty feeling and the shame she would feel for the rest of her life. Let her feel his seed running down her thighs, mixing with her own blood. He came even harder at the thought that she would have to clean him off of her battered and bruised body.

When he was done, he buttoned himself back up. He left the fat man crying, still tied up in the corner of the room and his shattered wife still bleeding on the bed, her thighs splayed open and leaking his come.

---

Seth slid into his chair, pulled off his boots, and picked up his glass. He sipped at the high-end liquor that he hid from Aaron. The fact he'd not returned to the mansion meant his mission had been successful; he was out celebrating.

He retrieved the recorded CCTV footage from the house that Aaron had visited earlier. When the first frame solidified on the monitor, Seth leant back and watched his partner's work.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" The man jumped to his feet as Aaron stepped out of the shadows cast by the crackling fire inside his house.

"Cleaning up," Aaron drawled, his face appearing eerie and dangerous in the flickering light from the fireplace.

"Get out now before I call the constables."

"Oh, you'll find your primitive communication system isn't working right now." Aaron casually tapped his wrist strap.

"What do you want from me?"

"I told you, more than once, not to rile up the workers," Aaron explained calmly as he slowly pulled his knife from his boot.

"Your Agency is ripping off the workers and our own government is letting them do it."

"If you'd just done your job, kept your head down and your nose clean, you wouldn't have come to the Administrator's attention."

"So he sent you?"

"Oh yes."

"And just how does he think your killing me will throw suspicion off of him?"

"Oh, now you're just being insulting." Aaron sounded offended. "You're going to be found in the morning - the victim of a jealous husband."

"A jealous husband?" He sounded incredulous.

"Well, what else is everyone going to think when they find you cut up tomorrow, with your own balls stuffed down your throat?"

Aaron's victim was stricken speechless as the implications of those words sunk in. He tried to run but Aaron caught him quickly and easily. His shouts and cries were quickly snuffed with several of Aaron's well-placed blows.

Seth watched Aaron stand over his victim and viciously kick him in the ribs. He hauled the semi-conscious man over to a low table in the centre of the room and tossed him over it, face down. Aaron took his knife from his boot once again and cut away the man's trousers. Seth expected him to immediately cut away the man's balls but he didn't.

Instead, Aaron strolled over to the fireplace and took up the metal rod used to shift logs and vent the fire. He jammed it into the fireplace, between two burning logs and left it there. Seth knew what was coming. Hell, he'd taught this little trick to Aaron himself. He'd just never used it with the same enthusiasm with which Aaron had adopted it.

While the metal heated, Aaron wandered the room and found something suitable to bind his victim's hands behind his back. That done, he returned to the blazing fire and the now red-hot metal.

Aaron gripped the handle of the metal rod and moved to stand between the man's legs, kicking them further apart.

The man's agonized screams filled the room in which Seth sat. They were dampened by the speakers that carried the sound but the pain was obvious as Aaron rammed the heated metal rod into his victim's anus. Seth thought he could hear the flesh sizzling, but he also thought that might be his imagination.

Aaron paused to toss the rod into the fire, destroying what little evidence his gloved hands might have left behind. He took up his knife again, flipped the unconscious man onto his back, and then slid the blade behind the vulnerable ball sac.

Seth flinched when the flesh was cut. This trick Aaron had taught him. He watched just long enough to see Aaron open the man's mouth in order to stuff the amputated fleshy bundle past his lips.

He'd seen enough. Seth shut off the CCTV feed and took a deep draught of his drink. The anal violation and the castration would indeed lead authorities to think some sort of angry lover was responsible. Whether the culprit had been a jealous husband or jilted boyfriend didn't matter. The trail wouldn't lead to Aaron or to him.

It was effective, Seth had to acknowledge. The only real problem he had was with how much he knew Aaron had enjoyed it.

---

Seth tried not to show his surprise when someone suddenly teleported into his office. What wasn't surprising was the Time Agency uniform the person wore.

"Major Tyler, I presume?" the newly-arrived Agent asked.

"At the moment, yes," Seth acknowledged his cover identity. The Agency didn't usually check up on him. His recent failures must have changed that.

"You can call me Serena," the new Agent said, unsmiling. "The Commander sent me to check on your progress."

Seth was growing more uneasy with each passing moment. As far as he knew, this operation was moving along quietly. There should be no need for the Commander to send someone to check up on him. "It's going just fine." He was prepared to wait for Serena to show her hand.

"Why don't you walk me through your operation?" Her tone was mild but something about her set Seth's teeth on edge.

"What could you possibly gather from a tour that isn't obvious from all of my many and detailed reports?"

"Probably nothing." Again, Serena's answer was casual, but it did nothing to allay his concerns that something was amiss and Seth was overlooking an important piece to a puzzle. "But it might help me spot some inconsistencies that we can straighten out and make your operation more efficient."

Alarm bells sounded loudly in Seth's head. Serena was making this sound like a random or routine spot check, but they'd never felt the need to unexpectedly drop in and scrutinise his assignments before. "If the Agency has detected some inconsistencies between my reports and collections, then notify me." Seth stood and loomed over Serena. "I don't need a paper-pusher showing up on my doorstep thinking she can school me in how to do my job."

"Major Tyler," Serena began.

Seth fisted his hands on his hips for effect. "If you could work the field, you'd be in the field, so don't bother protesting. If you think your precious columns don't add up, send me a memo."

"The Commander..." she tried again.

"Copy the Commander in on your memo so she knows you're doing your job." Seth turned back to sit at his desk.

"In the meantime, you hide the evidence of your skimming." Serena tossed her final card on the table.

Seth stood again, slowly, and stalked toward Serena. She had the wisdom to take a step back.

"In the meantime, I'm going to smooth out the inconsistencies," Seth growled through gritted teeth. "If I were skimming, you wouldn't have been able to detect a thing. The corrections I make will be completely transparent."

"I'm very good at my job," Serena huffed, indignantly.

Seth granted her a cold smile before turning away once again, "Not that good, or you'd be more than the Commander's errand bitch."

He sat at his desk and began to bring up several screens on his monitor, effectively dismissing Serena.

"I've got my eye on you, Major," Serena said as she pressed buttons on her wrist strap.

"Get out of my office, Serena," was Seth's only reply.

When the Agent was gone, Seth hammered his fist into the top of his desk and swore. He had intended to run a clean operation this time. Aaron. Fucking Aaron had defied him and was skimming. The trouble was, Aaron wasn't smart enough to skim without alerting the Agency. He was also greedy, and that got more Agents caught than Seth could count.

He started his forward trace of the supply line and mineral refinement and distribution. An hour later he had his answer. He knew right where Aaron had been funnelling profits. A few code changes later and he stopped the skim.

He left his fingerprints all over his work, making it easy for Serena to see it all during her audit. His actions gave truth to his words.

Seth stood and activated his wrist strap. When the recording began, he spoke his message to the Commander.

"I'm sure your little pet went running back to you with stories of how big and mean and abusive I am. She's telling the truth." He allowed himself a smug smile before he continued. "She's filling your ears with all sorts of proof that funds were being deposited into a personal account and that I stopped it as soon as she left. Also true."

Seth hit some buttons on his wrist strap. "You and I both know," he said, just before stopping the recording, "that if I'd been up to anything, silly Serena would never have had a clue."

He sent the hologram and hoped that would placate the Agency enough to spare his life and buy him the time he needed to conclude this mission.

---

"Administrator Tyler."

Seth looked up at the address to see Tobias Victor standing in the open doorway of the office.

"Yes?" he said lightly, curious as to what brought the young executive to see him, even though he was sure he already knew.

Tobias shut the door behind him and crossed to Seth's desk.

"I know what you're up to," he said without preamble, and Seth's suspicions were confirmed.

"And what might that be?" he asked, still holding out for solid confirmation before he did what he knew he had to.

"You and that Agency of yours are taking advantage of us. You're stealing our mineral and you're stealing our money," Tobias accused emphatically.

Seth didn't care at that point if the man had proof of his allegations or not. He just knew the guy would never leave them alone now. He was an annoyance, to be sure, but more than that, he was a threat to the operation, and Seth had to stop him.

More precisely, Seth had to send Aaron to stop him.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Seth feigned innocence.

"I knew you'd say that, which is why I'm compiling the evidence to prove it. When I have it, they'll run you off of this planet." Victor sounded so sure of himself. Seth had to struggle not laugh. He was so out of his depth and so completely unaware of the fact.

"My partner and I saved your planet from invasion and we administer the mining and export of your mineral to keep it from being hijacked."

"You and your partner skim our meagre profits. Your Agency pays us a fraction of the going market price then turns around and sells our mineral at a profit."

Seth had to admit the guy had the scam all figured out. He was going to have to die and any evidence he had at this point needed to be found and destroyed. Aaron had his work cut out for him.

"Mr. Victor," Seth said conciliatorily. "I understand you might be a little unhappy with having an off-worlder running your planet, but your own government gave me control. The alternative is much less pleasant, I assure you." What Tobias didn't understand was the wrath of the Time Agency when a source of income was denied them.

"We'll see how cavalier you are about all of this when you're being run off-planet." Tobias was storming from the office, obviously dissatisfied with Seth's lack of defensiveness.

"Have a nice day!" Seth called after him, deliberately adding insult to injury.

---

"You have a job," Seth said over the noise of the crowd in the pub he had finally tracked Aaron to.

"Oh, goody for me." His reply was laced with sarcasm.

"Come with me," Seth ordered. "This can't wait." He turned and began to leave the pub.

"Oi, I was just starting to have fun", Aaron protested, tossing back his drink. Seth was aware that, in spite of the protest, Aaron didn't hesitate to follow.

"Remember that young executive with the mining company that likes to give us the evil eye and a hard time?" Seth asked as they strode down the street.

"Tobias Victor? Smart-mouthed little prick," Aaron muttered under his breath. "When are you going to let me take him out?"

"Right now."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Finally." Aaron sounded his usual cheerful self when being told he was getting to kill someone.

"When he's dead, locate and destroy any and all information you can find that he's collected on us, the Agency, and the mineral trade."

"Yes, sir," Aaron said with enthusiasm. "Any special way you want it done?"

"Cook's choice," Seth replied. "Just don't let it lead back to us."

"I'll meet you back at the mansion when I'm done and we'll celebrate." Aaron pressed a wet, hard kiss to Seth's mouth before he jogged off into the night.

---

Seth leaned forward in his chair to get a closer look at the CCTV feed on the screen in front of him. He was going to watch Aaron's every move to ensure this happened the way it needed to.

Aaron could be sly and stealthy when he wanted to be. Tonight he chose to be, as he picked the lock on the door of Tobias' spacious flat rather than just kicking it in. Aaron had been annoyed by Tobias almost the entire time they'd been planet-side and it didn't bode well for the executive. Seth knew Aaron was going to take his time with this, draw it out, and enjoy it. All the frustration he'd felt with Seth for not letting him loose to do this previously was going to rain down on Tobias' head.

Seth watched Aaron move quietly through the flat until he found his target sitting at a small desk, oblivious to his presence and reading from a softly glowing screen. He let Tobias see him, realize he was there, and grow afraid when the reason for the visit sank in.

"Well, hello there." Aaron's drawl came through clearly through the CCTV's audio feeds.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"Do you really have to ask? Do you really not know?"

Tobias' silence was telling to both Aaron and Seth.

"You can make it easier on yourself and tell me where I can find what little evidence you think you have on our...arrangement."

"I thought you were here to kill me."

"Oh, I am. But this can go fast or slow. Easy or painful. Your choice."

"If you're here to kill me, why would I give you anything?"

Seth watched as Aaron withdrew a rather large, wicked looking knife. "Oh, you like pain. This is my lucky day."

Tobias was an amateur and no match for Aaron when he finally launched himself at his target. Fists and feet flew as Aaron subdued Tobias.

There had been a time when the executive's screams and cries would have been exhilarating to Seth. He should have known extreme pleasure when Aaron finally knelt on the other man's chest and pressed the knife blade to his throat. Instead he felt disinterested, restless, and utterly ready for the entire affair to be finished.

"One last chance," Seth heard Aaron say. "I have all night and an active imagination. Where are you hiding your information?"

The fool told Aaron everything. He stuttered and cried and gave up all his secrets. When Aaron started cutting him, Tobias began to beg for his life and by the end he begged for death.

Seth cut off the CCTV footage long before then.

---

Seth was perched on the desk of Chancellor Marchand's Executive Assistant. He was a pretty young man and Seth didn't mind flirting with him in the least. He had just tucked a blond curl behind the boy's ear when a disembodied voice sounded from an unknown source.

"Show him in, Marcus."

Marcus jumped away from Seth's touch at his boss' voice, a strident reminder that his time was not his own just then.

"If you'll follow me, Administrator." Seth happily followed Marcus down the short corridor, admiring his posterior the entire way.

As he passed Marcus in the doorway to the Chancellor's office, he gave the boy a discreet wink and was rewarded with the sight of him blushing delicately.

"Chancellor, what can I do for you?" Seth asked cheerfully, immediately taking control of the encounter.

"Major Tyler." Chancellor Marchand stayed seated behind her desk, trying to wrest control from Seth. "Do you know anything about the disappearance of Tobias Victor?"

"I'm not sure who that is," Seth said, seating himself across from the Chancellor and taking up a negligent, casual posture, "nor why you'd think I'd have information if he disappeared."

"Major, don't play games with me," the Chancellor snapped. "He notified several people he had proof that you are skimming the profits off your mineral sales and that he was going to confront you."

"Oh, the accusatory little weasel," Seth feigned sudden recognition. "Yeah, he came storming into my office tossing out threats with no facts to back anything up."

"His arguments were compelling, and now he's gone missing after having confronted you."

"His arguments were erroneous," Seth sighed, "so maybe when I pointed out the flaws in his logic, he was so embarrassed he ran off?"

"We're demanding an audit," The Chancellor stated flatly.

"By all means, have your Accountants comb through the financials," Seth said, standing to leave.

"We insist you open all your files to us, not just the ones you've been feeding us all along to keep us placated."

Seth turned back with his hand on the door knob, "You have the reports you need," he shot back over his shoulder and he stepped through the door. "If you think there's more, have someone hack my system."

If they could get past his security, they were entitled to all the reports they wanted.

---

Seth's wrist strap beeped to notify him he had a message. He cued it up and felt his blood boil as the Commander's words sank in.

"Seth, I'm disappointed in you," the blue-shaded hologram said. "I gave you autonomy and you repay me with greed. You've disrespected Serena. You can't control your partner. Worst of all is your stealing from the Agency."

Aaron. It had to be Aaron. Seth could only guess that he'd realized the regular deposits of credits had been stopped and he started them up again.

"Close up shop there and be ready to be taken into custody when the team of Agents arrive."

Seth had heard enough. He stopped and deleted the message before it finished.

---

Seth was going to kill Aaron. This time, he just might do it instead of just contemplate it. They were being threatened by an increasingly suspicious and disgruntled planet bureaucracy and the Agency was gunning for them because Aaron was greedy and selfish and stupid. Seth might not be able to get them out of it this time and he was going to get his pound of flesh from Aaron before the Agency got theirs from him.

He mentally kicked himself for letting this happen. He'd distrusted Aaron enough to set trackers on him and to surveill his movements during the time they'd been here. Still, he'd given him too long a leash and now it had come back to bit him in the arse. At least he knew the most likely locations to look for his errant 'partner'.

What this place was, Seth wasn't sure. It appeared to be a hospital of some sort. Something still seemed a little off with it, though.

Seth entered carefully. Almost immediately he was approached by a small woman in very drab clothing, devoid of any identifying marks.

"Are you visiting?" she asked softly.

He paused, surprised at not being recognized for once. He needed to use his position to gain access to whatever this facility was so he smiled broadly, turning on all the charm he was capable of, and shook the small woman's hand. "I'm the Agency Administrator."

"Oh. Oh!" the woman's eyes widened and he felt a tremble in her small hand. "I'm sorry, I should have recognized you."

"That's quite all right," he said, still smiling. "My associate has been spending a great deal of time here so I wanted to come see for myself." He began to walk in the vague direction of the depths of the facility.

The woman followed him quickly, speaking hastily as they walked, "He's been surprisingly attentive to a number of our patients. Especially Nadine."

"Nadine?" Seth questioned. A woman, of course. But why was she housed at such a facility and what was their function here? "How about the nickel tour?"

"Certainly, Administrator," the little woman said breathlessly.

"Please, call me Seth," he said gently. "And you are?"

"Faith," she replied quickly. "Certainly Aaron has told you all about us?"

"He has," Seth lied quickly and easily, "but it's all second-hand. I'd like to hear about everything firsthand."

Faith led him around a blind corner and the institutional feel of the facility fell away. The rooms they entered were warm and inviting. People of all ages and both genders were scattered through the various rooms.

"We are one of just several facilities set up to house and care for the victims of the virus that swept through the planet a few years back. We learned to contain and to prevent it but we've never been able to find a cure for those who were already infected."

"Tell me again what exactly the virus does," Seth requested gently.

"It damages brain tissue. Quite simply, it renders the victims childlike for the remainder of their very shortened lives."

"And by childlike you mean?"

"Most test out with a mental and emotional age ranging from eight to thirteen years old."

Some of the victims Seth saw were easily of an age to be parents and, in some cases, grandparents.

"It must be very hard for their families." He feigned compassion.

"Very difficult," Faith concurred, unaware that he could care less, except for his curiosity as to what brought Aaron here over and over again. "We had hoped the money we made from the selling of our mineral and contact with other worlds, most with more advanced technology, would yield some sort of cure."

"I can't think of one," Seth offered softy, speaking the truth. "In all my travels I've never come across a virus of this kind."

Faith seemed to actually diminish before his eyes.

"Oh. I hadn't considered that might even be a possibility."

"That doesn't mean one couldn't be easily found by a people with more advanced medical technology," Seth said as he continued walking. "I just haven't come across anything quite like this."

"I'll keep hoping, then," Faith murmured.

"So," Seth said, working to sound casual. "Nadine?"

Faith brightened slightly. "Right this way." Seth followed her down a corridor.

They reached a door that stood partially ajar. Faith pushed the door open a little further to reveal a small, comfortable room designed for sleeping, but also to be a personal haven.

"Nadine," Faith called softy. "You have a visitor."

Inside the room, a very young-looking blond woman sat on the side of a small bed brushing the hair of a doll.

"Nadine is almost thirty years old but she looks much younger."

"Yes, she does."

"She's tested out to mental age of about thirteen."

"How very sad." A dark suspicion began to form in the back of Seth's mind. "May I speak with her alone for a few minutes?"

"Certainly," Faith agreed readily. "Just come back the way we came in when you're done."

Seth sat on the edge of the bed beside the young woman. "Hello, Nadine," he said softly. "My name is Seth. I'm a friend of Aaron's."

"Aaron?"

"Yes."

As Seth watched, Nadine set aside her doll and reached instead for him. His mind froze as the innocent woman pressed her mouth to his and pushed her tongue passed his lips. It took him several seconds to recoil in horror and disgust as the implications of her actions sank into his brain.

His revulsion grew when Nadine reached for the buttons of her blouse. Seth grabbed her hands to stop her from removing her clothing. In that moment, he knew why Aaron had been making regular visits. Her youthful appearance and her artificially-induced mental age made her vulnerable. Seth was sure that somewhere in Aaron's mind, he'd convinced himself it was okay to take advantage of this woman because she wasn't really thirteen. It was just like fucking a thirteen year old without really doing anything wrong.

Seth felt ill at the same time he was outraged. Aaron would pay for this. He'd see to it.

---

Seth had a fermented drink ready for Aaron when he finally came sailing through the door of the mansion. It had a little extra ingredient this time. A little something to render Aaron less than able to consent, yet fully aware of what Seth had planned.

"Did you take care of it?" Seth asked, making sure Aaron had taken out their latest trouble maker. Business before pleasure.

"Of course I did." Aaron was indignant. "Didn't you watch on the CCTV?"

"Not today. I had business to take care of."

Aaron breezed in and took the glass Seth offered him, knocking it back without hesitation. He didn't even question that Seth might have spiked it. He chattered on inanely and Seth blocked out his words, paying attention only to the quality of his speech. He saw the moment the drug began to take effect. Aaron began to slur his words and he sat down heavily on a plush couch.

Seth watched Aaron run a palm over his forehead. Suddenly, he stared at the glass in his hand. Realization dawned on his face.

"You bastard," he hissed. "Why did you drug me?"

"Payback," Seth said without emotion. "And a lesson to teach."

"What did I supposedly do now?" Aaron shouted, tossing the empty glass against the opposite wall and shattering it.

"Nadine."

Seth watched the colour drain from Aaron's face.

"Exactly."

Aaron tried to stand but fell back down heavily as the drug coursed through his system. "Just a spot of fun," he mumbled.

"Then you should enjoy what comes next," Seth said, slowly approaching Aaron, who was beginning to slouch on the sofa. "The drug I gave you will paralyze you, but leave your brain wide awake and functioning."

"Why?" Aaron asked one last time before the drug took complete hold.

Seth pulled Aaron down so he was lying on the sofa. "So you'll know just how much fun Nadine had."

Aaron's eyes stayed on Seth the entire time. He pulled off Aaron's boots, then his trousers. He pulled himself out of his own trousers and took up a bottle of slick. Seth had to stroke himself to hardness. He was really getting tired of this type of thing.

He positioned himself between Aaron's naked thighs and bent his knees upward, pressing them to his chest. Seth didn't prepare Aaron at all before he slid himself into his exposed arse hole. Any sound Aaron might have made at the intrusion was suppressed by the effect of the drug.

"So, how much do you think Nadine enjoyed this?" Seth grunted as he fucked the unresisting Aaron. "Do you like being helpless while someone bigger and stronger than you uses your body?"

There was pain and anger in Aaron's eyes, so Seth drove his point home. "Do you like not being able to say no? Do you enjoy not being able to stop me? Does it hurt? How does it feel to not be able to stop the pain?"

With one final thrust, Seth came in Aaron's arse. He pulled out and cleaned up quickly, needing to get the hell out of the mansion before the effects of the drug wore off.

He'd find a whore to shack up with for the night. Or maybe some pretty little bar slut. Either way, it wasn't safe to stay at the mansion that night.

---

The monitors all showed scenes of chaos and upheaval. All across the planet, the workers' guilds were rising up. The populace had been informed of Aaron's skimming of profits. They were fighting to take back control of their planet.

The military was marching on Seth's offices. They needed to get out, and now.

"Your network is set to fry itself in forty-five seconds," Aaron said, punching a few last buttons on Seth's keyboard.

"This is your fault, you know." Seth was angry. Not only was the planet gunning for them, but they were now on the run from the Agency, too.

"I just wanted to put aside some extra credits for us, to be together and have some fun," Aaron protested.

"Just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you?" He was ready to kill Aaron.

"Nothing to be done now. Let's just get out of here and hide."

They moved to the centre of the room and stood back to back, both activating their wrist straps. Seth would wait until they were safely aboard his ship to kill Aaron.

---

"Agent," the captain of the pirates said as Seth was dragged unceremoniously into his cabin. "You are the most valuable captive I've had in a year."

"I'm not sure how you figure that." Seth tried to sound casual but he suspected he knew what was coming next.

The captain held up Seth's wrist strap that had been taken from him when he and Aaron had been captured. They'd taken Aaron's as well.

"The Agency values its field agents. They'll pay to get you back."

"They pay for Agents that have value. Something they need."

"And you don't?"

"No. I'm on the outs, actually."

"Agent, I know how much the Agency sinks into the training and maintenance of field personnel. They may be mad at you now, but they'll pay to get you back. A little behaviour modification and you'll be right as rain, as far as they're concerned."

"If you have this all figured out, why am I here? Take me back to my cell and put a call in to the Agency."

"I don't need the money."

The pirate's words sent a chill down Seth's spine. When anyone claimed they didn't need money, they always had something else in mind as payment. In Seth's experience, the two things that made the Universe run were money and sex.

"Have you gotten a good look at my crew?" the pirate asked after a long silence.

"Yes."

"Not very pretty, are they?"

"Not really," Seth had to agree.

"You know how pretty you are, though, don't you?"

Seth kept silent.

"Pretty mouth. Pretty eyes. I'd wager you know how to use them, too."

Here it came, Seth thought. If he had to do this to win his freedom, he would. It would keep him less indebted to the Agency. But he was only going to buy his own freedom. He wasn't going to suck a cock or take one up his arse to get Aaron out of this mess. He was on his own.

"What is it you want in exchange for my release? And only mine."

"To be honest, Agent, you are the only one I'm interested in, in any capacity."

"I'm not negotiating, or performing, for the other one's freedom."

"It's an all or nothing proposal, Agent," the pirate said, leaning back in his chair. "I get what I want from you and you both get turned loose. You refuse and I'll keep you locked up indefinitely, either until I decide what to do with you or get bored of you and shove you out an airlock."

"Fine," Seth capitulated. "What do you want in exchange for my release?"

"A night together, here in my quarters."

"No blood. No pain. No broken skin. Lube and condoms are required. You get four hours."

"Eight."

"Five."

"Seven."

"Five."

"Come on, Agent. Six hours for your freedom."

"Five and a half."

"Done." the pirate said triumphantly. He stood and began to remove his semi-hard cock from his trousers.

Seth could do this. He'd done it before for much less important reasons. In the end, it was only his body.

~end~