Zel tightened his fingers at the hem of his shirt as he thought of what to do. He sunk his teeth into his lower lip harder the more he got lost in thought. Old habits died hard.

He couldn't bear it. Only the thought of it threatened to make him sick. He finally left his room to get to Pierre's.

"Hey Pierre," he spoke softly but audibly. "Could you please open the door?"

At first there was no answer and Zel thought he might have to try again. He'd try as many times as Pierre wanted.

He paused when he heard a movement, and then Pierre spoke. "You're not here to talk about that are you?"

"I..." Zel tried for an answer but was at a loss for words.

He'd come to the realization that Pierre wasn't actually eating anything. Not like he should have been.

He'd only realized it but it could have been going on for longer than he knew. When he tried to talk to Pierre, this was what happened. It sucked.

When he thought of it, there was only one explanation; Pierre never really got over what Linder had told him, even if they all knew by now that none of it was true.

Maybe he'd pretended to be okay, but this was proof he wasn't. Proof that it affected him more than he let on.

Zel's chest hurt. Everything did. He was in love with Pierre, he loved him with all his heart, so something like this threatened to break it into two.

"Just give me some time mon cherie," replied Pierre from the other side of the door. He didn't sound truthful to him.

Zel pursed his lips and looked up to blink a few tears away. He then looked back down and shook his head. "That's not fair... you can't call me that, then ask me such a thing."

The other side was quiet.

"Pierre please..." said Zel.

He'd run his fingers through his hair so much he didn't notice the band had come off. He'd hair had grown a little longer than it used to be, it danced a little below his waist when he moved according to how frustrated he felt.

"I– I can't," came the reply.

Zel's fingers ran through his hair as he turned from the door. He was under a lot of stress.

He saw Riley approach and breathed easier. The look on his face was a question.

Zel shook his head and Riley went to the door.

The blond haired man's face etched worry all over it. He still couldn't bring himself to turn around.

"Pierre..." he heard Riley speak behind him in a soothing voice.

The rest of what he said faded in the background as Zel found his way back to his room. He just couldn't do as Pierre asked.

He picked up the phone on his bed and called the only solution he could think of.

༻༺

The Master's meeting would start immediately he landed. He'd be there for three days and then he'd fly back to resume his life.

About two years ago, he'd visited and taken interest on an island a long distance off the coast and bought it on a whim. He still couldn't figure out what to do with it until now.

A quickly rising aeronautical company was working together with the government and they happened to take interest in it.

The area was perfect for testing out aircraft prototypes and as they mentioned, spacecrafts. They'd obviously asked to buy it, and he'd said no. Anyone with a brain would.

It was going to be worth more if they agreed to working together, and he was always hungry where an opportunity opened up. He wanted a part of it, the company, in exchange he'd let them use his property. But that would only be the beginning.

He shook his distracted thoughts off and looked back at his computer screen, absorbing every bit of information he could about the Beaumont and Fontaine families.

He'd been using his free time in the past couple of days to get everything he could. But his free time was limited, so he was grateful for a few moments in the air where he could do what he wanted.

The ghost tracker trying to find Pierre had disappeared off the grid, so Alexander had decided he'd have to change his strategy. He'd probably do the opposite of what he said, he'd take the fight to them.

The hostess walked up to him and offered to pour him a drink. Alexander dismissed her with a wave of his hand and she turned to Tadashi who smiled at her and took the drink.

Tadashi sipped when she'd left and set his glass down. "Do you plan to confront Fontaine by yourself?" He asked.

"I might," he replied. How quickly the times changed.

"And then what?"

Alexander looked up at him. "Don't overthink it, I just want to talk."

"Doesn't sound like it," said Tadashi. He got back to his own work without another word.

As soon as the jet landed, the Master and his assistant were chaperoned around the villa as their light luggage was taken care of. He was meeting Suzanne Butler. So far, he knew she didn't say too much, but she was no joke by the looks of it.

They were led straight to a huge room where the meeting was to take place. It was all formal greetings and light banter before the meeting started. It took nearly three hours.

They lingered to exchange a few ideas afterwards, then parted ways. Alexander and Tadashi were shown to their rooms; two doors almost but not quite opposite each other.

The first thing he did was go for the shower. It had been an exhausting day with the only break being when they were flying.

Alexander wasn't a fan of hot showers but then there were days like this where it felt like bliss.

He closed his eyes to run his fingers through his wet hair. It was unexpected, but he saw Riley, then quickly opened his eyes.

It felt like he wasn't in control of his body and his semi hard cock was all the evidence. What the fuck.

He reached down without thinking much about it and cupped his growing member in his hand.

Fuck, he missed them.

Alexander closed his eyes and stroked himself. It sent a ripple of chills down his back as images flooded his mind.

He kissed Zel and pounded into Riley at the same time. The man beneath him moaned and tightened his grip on Pierre's hair while he sucked him off.

Alexander stroked harder.

Right next to them was Jet kissing down Mason's neck as he fucked him in slow, sensual strokes. Then suddenly going faster with each thrust, making Mason scream.

They were all so beautiful it was obscenely hot.

He couldn't control his climax. He came way more than he expected from a jerk off session; they were never that intense. Alexander, powerless to the way his body reacted, panted and set the water to cold.

When the aftershocks were long gone and his body had calmed down, he stepped out of the shower and got dressed.

He was going crazy. He couldn't even stop thinking about them for one second. Not when he got a few contracts to read and examine. Not when he ditched those and contemplated calling Nicolas Fontaine. His mind didn't stop. He was fixated as fuck.

Right before he could call, Zel did, and it had him smiling like a fool.

He answered in a heartbeat. Damn it.

It didn't matter what time of the day it was when he called, he'd always want to hear his voice. He waited for it.

It didn't come.

"Princess?" He asked, a little worried.

"Please come home Daddy."

His tone, and the desperation in it... none of it did nice things to his insides.

He thought of the meeting he had today, it was the most important one. It eased any doubt in his associates' minds and showed he didn't take it lightly. But tomorrow's meeting was the most crucial one. It was the heart of the matter.

If the situation wasn't as dire, he'd have laughed at how quickly it lost importance to him. How anything Zel said would outweigh any reason why he was here.

"What's wrong?" He asked, already running a number of possibilities in his head.

"It's Pierre," he said. Two words, but he'd never heard such pain in his voice. "I'm scared."

When Zel had finished telling him, his mind was made up. He was leaving. At least he hadn't done any unpacking.

Alexander walked to the room closest to his. He found Tadashi sipping tea and clearly working.

All it took was one glance away from his computer to focus on the Master and he had him figured out.

"Go. I've got it covered," he said.

"How do you even–"

"It's been a long time Alexander, I know you."

He really did. There was no one he could ever trust with such a thing. With such an important meeting.

Only Tadashi. There was no assistant like him. Not here and not out there. Not even–

"Are you going to actually go or are you just going to keep standing there?"

Alexander pushed his thoughts away. "Right," he made to leave but stopped. "Thank you."

The lines of professionalism blurred day by day. He had no business thanking his assistant for what he was paying him for and yet here he was.

"I'll call you tomorrow to tell you how it goes," said Tadashi. "You should uh... It'll do you some good to get some rest."

Alexander sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

"I'm serious," said Tadashi. "If your health declines in the slightest, I'll be the one calling Jen. I won't hesitate."

The Master turned to go. "I'm cutting your salary."

Tadashi scoffed.

༻༺

Alexander couldn't relax the whole way back. All his thoughts were flooded with Pierre. It felt like forever before he landed. It was already getting dark.

The drive back to the house was another strain to his sanity but he was finally back.

The first person he saw was Mason. He sat by the stairs just staring into nothing. The man looked up at him and startled.

"Mason? Are you alright?" He asked, crouching to his level. "How's Pierre doing?"

"I don't know what to do," Mason answered. "I don't..."

"It's okay," said the Master. "You can leave it to me."

He nodded and the Master made his way to Pierre's room. The door wasn't open, Zel and Riley leaned against the wall.

Zel ran into his arms when he saw him. "You came," he said, relief pouring out of his voice.

The Master hugged him back. "I said I would."

He'd never seen Riley look the way he did. And he knew talking to him wouldn't ease his frustration. He went to him anyway.

"Where's Jet?" He asked.

"Making dinner." It was strange when Riley talked without even as much as a smile.

Alexander got to the white door. "Pierre?" He didn't notice how his heart pounded in his chest.

He really tried to be patient with him and the entire situation. It was so hard. And it really wasn't something he was good at.

"I'm not coming out," said Pierre. "Just ignore me, please. Why won't you all just go?"

Not a chance. "Not until you come out and eat something."

Pierre didn't answer for a long while. "You guys don't have to pretend–"

"Open the door Pierre. Don't make me break it down, because I promise you I will."

The Master was trying to reign it in. He wanted to have control over the situation. He needed to, so badly. But Pierre wasn't giving him any of it. It played with his mind.

How could he do it without hurting Pierre any further than he was already hurt?

"The rules don't say anything about eating," said the other man. "So leave me alone."

"They don't. But you will not disobey me. And right now I need you to eat something," said Alexander. His forehead rested against the door. "Please."

Pierre moved several steps within the room and finally answered. "Yes Daddy."

His stomach flipped over at the answer. He moved when he heard Pierre move towards the door. Finally, it was open.

He was held tight in the Master's arms before he could properly get out. "Pierre..."

The man in his arms sobbed and finally hugged back. "I just–"

"Shh. We can talk after dinner okay?"

Pierre nodded.

༻༺

No one, not even the Master touched his food. He crossed his fingers and rested them under his chin as his gaze locked onto Pierre.

He hadn't yet touched his food either. The entire table was one nervous ball just ready to burst.

He was pissed. But not at the beautiful man. He was pissed at himself for not knowing what to do in such a moment.

It pissed him off that he didn't even know what to say, and how to say it.

"This is the first real meal I've cooked, Pierre."

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as they diverted their attention to Jet. His voice sounded so raw. Even when things were still a little strained between him and Pierre.

The Master regarded him silently. Pierre too turned slowly to look at the person who had addressed him. Only to find that a forkful of lasagna was being extended to his mouth.

"It might be horrible, but it would really hurt my feelings if you didn't try any of it," said Jet.

He extended his fork closer, waiting for Pierre to decide what it was going to be.