Gaslight

By Spunky0ne

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A confused Yuuri wakes up in a Russian hospital, suffering from paralysis. He is devastated to learn that the car he and Victor were driving struck a tree, killing Victor instantly…Meanwhile, in Saint Petersburg, Victor is rushed to the hospital after being discovered in his wrecked car on the side of a lonely highway, with Yuuri nowhere to be found…Victor/Yuuri, Daniil (Danya - OC)/Yuuri

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Chapter 1: Heavenly Bodies

Yuuri Katsuki finished a dazzling combination spin, then executed the ending moves of his newest planned program, then he struck a final pose and waited, panting, as his husband and coach, Victor Nikiforov smiled at him and nodded approvingly.

"That ending was perfect," he complimented Yuuri, "I still noticed you not building enough speed before your Quad Lutz. It looked really sloppy. Honey, I'm telling you, you need to do that jump in the first half."

"But I know I have the stamina to do it in the second half, where it's worth more points," Yuuri argued, "I just need more practice."

"Mmhmm," Victor agreed, "and you'll get that. But at least, in the early part of the skating season, you should move it to the first half. Remember, it's good to reduce the difficulty of your program in the beginning, and adjust it along the way to…"

"I know," Yuuri said irritably, "So, I reach my peak at the Grand Prix Final. I get it. I just don't necessarily think that's the best thing for me."

"Well, I know that it is," Victor said firmly, "You want my coaching advice, I'm giving it to you. You can, and probably will, ignore it, of course, but then you can't say that I didn't warn you."

"I never say that," Yuuri chuckled, "because you never hold back telling me how you see it."

Victor gave him a petulant look.

"Are you saying I'm nagging you?" he asked, pouting, "You do remember that is one of my jobs, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Yuuri assured him, "and I'm grateful to you for coaching me. But you said, yourself, that it is important for me to be the one to decide what I feel works best, and to trust my instincts."

"I did say that, but do you have to start listening to me now?" Victor complained.

Victor paused, blinking curiously as Yuuri's expression softened with genuine affection.

"What?" he asked, tilting his head and still frowning slightly, "What is that look?"

"I'm looking at you like this because I love you."

Victor gave him a piqued look.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better that you ask my opinion and then ignore it?" Victor complained, only half seriously.

Yuuri moved closer and slid his arms around Victor's slim, muscular body, then he kissed his husband on the now smiling lips.

"I love you, Victor," he whispered, kissing his silvery-haired husband again, "I love that you are my coach. I love that you ask a lot of me. I love that you nag me sometimes, and that you're demanding and that you argue with me, and that after all of that is done, the last thing we always do is dance together. I love our ice dances so much, Vitya," he said, shifting to using his more intimate nickname.

Victor's blue-green eyes softened, and he returned Yuuri's embrace and kissed him back several times.

"I suppose we are finished for the day," Victor sighed, nuzzling his cheek, "Should we go out to dinner tonight? We're both tired from all of the jumping today."

"I can cook something," Yuuri offered.

"Hmm, but there is a new club opening, not far from here. We could finish up here and go give it a try," Victor suggested.

"But I thought you were tired from jumping," Yuuri pointed out, "You're too tired to cook, but you want to dance more?"

Victor giggled into Yuuri's shoulder.

"I have a reserve of energy, just for dancing with you. On the ice or off, it's my favorite thing to do."

"Oh really," Yuuri said, his voice filling with seductiveness, "I thought there was something you liked even better than that."

Victor gave him a lusty grin.

"Well, I guess you're right about that, but you've said we can only do that at home. We can go home after our ice dance, if you want. I'll make you a pork cutlet bowl."

"Ooh! Now you're speaking my language, Coach Victor," Yuuri laughed, taking up a dance position and waiting as Victor started the music and returned to join him.

"God, I love dancing with you, Yuuri!" Victor sighed, holding Yuuri close as the two skated around the rink.

"I love this too," Yuuri said, leaving Victor's arms to execute a pretty spin before returning, "I'm so glad that you agreed to stay on as my coach, and that we got married."

"Me too," Victor giggled, pulling him in closer and kissing him fervently.

The two skaters slowed and stopped in the middle of the ice rink, kissing passionately. Victor's hands slid down Yuuri's slim back, sliding into his pants and curving around his buttocks.

"Stop it!" Yuuri laughed, trying to escape, but only succeeding in making himself slip and fall onto the ice with Victor landing on top of him.

Victor ignored the fall completely and dove on Yuuri's objecting mouth again instantly.

"Mmph!" Yuuri complained, "Victor! Stop it. Someone could walk in on us!"

"Let them walk in. I don't care. You're so tasty, Yuuri! You've been teasing me all day, you beautiful little katsudon. I'm going to eat you right here, right now!"

"Victor!"

Victor pinned Yuuri against the ice, looking down into his widened brown eyes playfully.

"I'll tell you what. I'll get off of you and stop fondling you if you promise after I make you katsudon, you will make love to me…"

"Okay," Yuuri snickered.

"Three times!" Victor laughed.

"Wait, what?"

"I wasn't done before you agreed. You always give in too hastily," Victor teased, "Now, you promised me three times tonight!"

"I did not!"

"You did. I heard you say you would."

"You know I didn't."

The two continued their play argument as they left the ice rink and headed out to Victor's sleek, black convertible.

"Too bad it's raining," Victor sighed, pausing to stow their skates in the trunk of the car, "I'd love to put the top down."

"Why do you even have a convertible in Saint Petersburg?" Yuuri joked, "It's rained almost constantly since I got here."

"I like it, even with the top closed."

Yuuri smiled.

"I like it too," he chuckled.

"I think you especially like what we did in it," Victor giggled, "Do you want to find someplace private and…?"

"No!" Yuuri said emphatically, "We almost got caught with our clothes off last time!"

"We got away," Victor reminded him.

"Well, it was too close," Yuuri insisted, "So, if that's what you want, we'll go home and do it in our bed."

"Not even in the car in the garage, Yuuri?" Victor asked, smirking.

"Oh yeah, that would be romantic…" Yuuri huffed, "No."

"Oh, come on, I'm making katsudon for you."

"That doesn't mean I owe you sex in the garage," Yuuri laughed.

"The katsudon will be so good, you will owe me sex in the middle of our favorite nightclub!" Victor teased him.

"Nope. In our bed or nothing," Yuuri said firmly, crossing his arms.

"Ooh, you drive a hard bargain," Victor complained, "All right. Katsudon and three times in our bed."

"You're insatiable," Yuuri accused him, "But okay. Three times."

Victor laughed.

"Plus the three we talked about earlier, so that's six times you owe me tonight!"

"Six!" Yuuri said incredulously, "I don't think you have the stamina."

"I don't have the stamina? You underestimate me!" Victor objected, turning the key and starting the car.

The two men gasped in shock as some kind of gas hissed out of the air vents in the car.

"Don't breathe it in!" Victor warned him, "Get out, Yuuri!"

The two grabbed frantically at the door handles, only to find that the doors wouldn't unlock. Yuuri swiftly checked the glove box for something to break the window, but found only a set of the maintenance records for the convertible. Victor struck at the side window with the heel of his palm, but only succeeded in injuring his wrist.

"Damn it!"

"What do we do?" Yuri managed, his eyes rounding.

Victor quickly pushed the pad for the car horn, then made a little sound of dismay as he realized the horn made no sound at his touch.

"Oh god!" he whispered, grabbing Yuuri and holding him tightly.

"I'm starting to feel strange," Yuuri said, blinking, "Victor?"

"Here, put your face here and breathe through my clothing," he said, guiding Yuuri to his shoulder, "Maybe…"

He felt sudden dizziness and hugged Yuuri tighter.

"We can't get out," Yuuri sobbed softly, shivering as his body collapsed against Victor's.

"Yuuri, stay with me!" Victor pleaded, "Yuuri?"

"Wh-who would do this?" Yuuri whispered as his consciousness began to fade, "Why?"

"Y-yuu…ri," Victor gasped desperately, struggling with the car door until his body went limp and collapsed against Yuuri's slumped form.

Victor's nearly closed eyes took in the sight of a darkly dressed person, who unlocked the door and opened it as he finally passed out. The man waited as the gas cleared, then he pushed Victor aside and slid into the driver's seat. He started the car and drove away into the darkness.

XXXXXXXXXX

Otabek Altin sat on the sofa in the apartment he shared with fellow skater, Yuri Plisetsky, his arms around the blonde as they watched a movie together. He noted the tension in the younger man's body and the scowl on his face that seemed to be gradually intensifying.

"Is something bothering you, Yuri?" Altin asked finally, "You look like you're about to take a bite out of that pillow you're holding. What's up with you?"

Yuri sighed discontentedly and shifted in his dark-haired boyfriend's embrace.

"Oh, I guess it's nothing," he answered in a piqued tone, "It's just that Victor said that he'd come by on his way home from his and pork cutlet bowl's extended practice session tonight so that we could finish the plans for the exhibition that's coming up. We have some time left, but I just want to get it out of the way, you know? So I can focus on my plans for the season."

"Right," Otabek acknowledged, "I see. Well, you know that Victor gets busy and he's easily distracted. He probably forgot."

"He probably did," Yuri agreed, "the idiot. He's so annoying! All pork cutlet bowl has to do is wiggle his ass on accident and Victor can't think of anything else. I'm surprised he can still win his own medals, the way he spends all of his time kissing Katsuki's ass. It's embarrassing. It's like he's forgotten who he is."

"Oh, I don't think it's like that," Otabek said, giving his more fiery partner an amused smirk, "Victor is just a man who very much enjoys a good challenge, and there is no one who has pushed him as hard as a skater as Yuuri Katsuki…"

"Hey!" Yuri objected.

"…and you have," Otabek added.

"But the bastard never takes his eyes off pork cutlet bowl long enough to notice I exist. How can I push him?"

"You've beaten him on individual skates plenty of times," Otabek pointed out, "and that's made him refine his strategies for competing with you. I think it's a sign of deep respect for you that he works hard to challenge you. He sees you as his equal on the ice."

"He's not my equal," Yuri huffed, "I can skate circles around him, and he knows it."

"And yet," the Kazakhstani skater said quietly, "Victor continues to take the higher medal in all of your competitions because he is the more strategic skater. He not only knows his own abilities and shortcomings, he knows yours, and he knows how to play both to his advantage. He's also aware that your emotions are a force to be reckoned with, and he gets on your nerves on purpose sometimes to motivate you. I think he is a good friend."

"What are you talking about?" Yuri snapped, his scowl intensifying, "Victor's not my fr…"

"But he is," Otabek insisted solemnly, "Otherwise, why would you be worried that he hasn't come by or called as expected. After all, you don't doubt that you have plenty of time to complete the prep for that exhibition. And you know Victor is forgetful sometimes. It's clear enough to me that you're worried about him not calling for other reasons. Why don't you just call him?"

Yuri blinked and went silent for a moment.

"Why should I call him? He was supposed to call me, the inconsiderate dumbass," Yuri scoffed.

But there was no force to the words, and he was already looking at his cell phone that laid on the end table.

"Give him a call," Otabek persisted, "I'm sure Victor isn't meaning to neglect his promise to come by or call. He's simply forgetful, and as bothersome as that is, he doesn't do it on purpose to make you angry…or worry you."

"I'm not worried," Yuri said, his tone again betraying the lie as he said the words, "I'm just pissed he always does this."

"Give him a call," Otabek chuckled, "Otherwise, you and I are not going to be able to enjoy the rest of this movie."

"Fine," Yuri sighed unhappily, picking up his phone.

He dialed Victor's phone number and waited as the connection was made and the phone began to ring. Almost immediately, the call went to voice mail. Yuri groaned and rolled his eyes and he dropped his phone back onto the end table.

"The jerk's not even answering," he sighed.

He shook his head and started to turn back to watch the movie, but a moment later, his eyes narrowed and he picked up his phone again. Otabek watched curiously as he began tapping furiously on the phone screen.

"What are you doing?"

"Hmm?" Yuri grunted, "Oh, Victor was looking for his phone a few days ago because he set it down somewhere and forgot it, stupid idiot, and I was showing him how to use another phone or a computer to find it."

Otabek chuckled and shook his head.

"So, you have his login information. Very crafty, aren't you?"

"I'm not being crafty," Yuri scoffed, "I can't help it if I just remember the password and he didn't update it. There. It says that his phone is…"

He paused and looked more closely.

"What the hell is he doing out there? What, did he forget how to get home now?"

Otabek leaned over his boyfriend's shoulder, squinting slightly.

"Or maybe he got fucking drunk and went the wrong way," Yuri said angrily.

"Victor doesn't drive if he's been drinking," Otabek pointed out, "Every bar he goes to around here knows that if he and Yuuri both drink too much, he leaves his car and calls for a ride. He would never put his and Yuuri's lives at risk like that. He's forgetful, but Victor isn't careless about things like that."

"Hmm, I guess you're right."

"Maybe he went to run an errand on the way home. Why don't we watch the end of the movie and you can try again?"

"What? Oh, okay, I guess," Yuri answered in a distracted voice.

He was barely able to enjoy the movie, and as soon as it ended, he picked up his phone and punched in the information again.

"Where is it now?" Otabek asked, leaning over to look.

"It's in the same place," Yuri said, now beginning to sound anxious, "Beka, there is nothing out there…nothing but trees and the road."

"Maybe their car broke down."

"Yeah, maybe…"

"You don't sound convinced," Otabek said, releasing Yuri and standing.

Yuri looked up at him questioningly.

"What are you doing?"

Otabek smiled patiently.

"I'm going to relieve your fears," he said, helping Yuri to his feet, "C'mon, we'll go out there and see if there's anything to be worried about."

"Huh? I don't need to…" Yuri began.

But he stopped as he spotted the genuine concern in his boyfriend's eyes.

"Come on. We both want to make sure that our friends are all right."

"Okay," Yuri agreed, "but if we see them, you don't tell them anything about this…about the locator or anything. You promise?"

"I cross my heart," Otabek said, giving his partner an affectionate look.

The two climbed left the apartment and climbed into Otabek's car. They headed out to the area noted in the locator app, slowing as they reached the road where Victor's phone had been.

"See, there's fucking nothing out here and no reason for him to be here," Yuri said, sounding even more worried, "Keep driving slow. It was around here somewhere."

The two young men peered out the windows of the car, into the darkness as Otabek drove down the remote road, then turned and drove back the other way.

"I don't even know why he would have come this way," Yuri complained, "It's not a convenient way to get to anywhere Victor would go!"

"Look more closely as we go back."

"Look for what?" Yuri asked in an agitated tone, "The car isn't here. Maybe someone stole his phone? But, why dump it here?"

"It'd be hard to find if it was a thief doing it. But…"

Otabek broke off and pulled the car suddenly to the side of the road.

"What are you doing?" Yuri asked, looking around, "Do you see them?"

"I see tire tracks leading off the road," Otabek said in a concerned tone.

The two young men left the car and followed the tracks off the road and into the brush and trees.

"Holy shit! There!" Yuri shouted, breaking into a run, "That's Victor's convertible!"

The two ran to the vehicle, their hearts in their throats as they spotted the damage to the front end of the vehicle. Otabek grabbed his phone and dialed emergency services, while the two hurried to the vehicle.

"Are they inside?" Otabek asked urgently, "Hello? Yes, I need to report a car accident."

He quickly passed on the location information.

"I don't know if there are injuries. Please hurry. I see someone in the car, but he's not getting out."

Yuri skidded to a stop, staring as he tore open the car door and found Victor collapsed against the steering wheel and no sign of Yuuri Katsuki.

"Be careful!" Otabek cautioned him, "He may have internal or head or neck injuries. I'll check him."

Yuri moved aside as Otabek swiftly examined the unconscious man.

"H-he's alive, right?" Yuri asked anxiously.

Otabek nodded, then he frowned and leaned closer, sniffing.

"What is it? What's wrong? Do you smell something?" Yuri asked quickly.

Otabek gave him a worried look.

"I smell alcohol."