Viktor merely blinked at her, his mouth slowly falling open. He felt like a fish out of the water as he struggled to find the words to voice his bafflement.

"What?!" he tried to say, but could only mouth the word. His voice came out like a squeaky toy, wordless and shocked. No, no, no, no. This could not be happening. They weren't supposed to get adopted or bought or whatever! They were supposed to live in this large room with each other until they got rescued. That was the plan, not this!

Viktor had a sneaking suspicion, one that started to bloom into horror, that Aiko was right. The way the alien had immediately gone to the humans' room, been charmed by Viktor's insolence, it all slotted together. "You're kidding, Aiko, you're kidding."

Aiko's lips thinned, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but here, eyes full of pity. She shook her head, and Viktor's stomach lurched in fear. "He comes in, out of business hours, walks immediately over to this area, and seems smitten with you. I don't think Pink can deny him either."

He looked in her face, trying to find any trace of a lie. He couldn't find any.

"Hide me," he managed, standing up too quickly and nearly losing his footing. "I need to hide. I am not going with- with an alien! I can't, I can't go-" He was having trouble breathing, and he clawed desperately at his throat to unlatch the shock collar that laid heavy around it. His nails met skin, biting into it harshly. The scent of the other animals in the warehouse was too much. He didn't want to fight in the arena anymore. He didn't want to continue living like this.

He felt hands grab his wrists and he tugged hard, baring his teeth and lashing out with his legs. "No, no, no, please." he sobbed, feeling as though he was one good tug away from dislocating his shoulder. He didn't want to get beaten in front of everyone again. He didn't wanna writhe on the ground as shocks danced along his spine painfully. Someone wrapped their arms around him, effectively securing his arms to his side. Viktor struggled wildly, feeling as trapped as a feral animal in a cage.

He felt hands gripping his. Unable to move his arms, all he could do was dig his nails into them. They didn't move away. Instead, he felt something running across the back of his hand. That never happened in the arena. Breathing harshly through his mouth, Viktor's world slowly stitched itself back together. Pedro was in front of him, holding his hands tightly with his. Ezekiel's arms were wrapped around Viktor, nearly lifting him off his feet. Aiko wiped off the tears on his face.

"M'okay," he mumbled after a few moments of calming his breathing down. They didn't have time to waste. He squirmed out of Ezekiel's grasp, wiping his face with his hands roughly. "I gotta hide."

"Kid, I don't think you can," Pedro said hopelessly, looking around for just a moment before looking at Viktor intensely. He hadn't let go of his hands. "There's nowhere to hide, here."

Viktor gripped the older man's hands hard, trying to hide the trembling. "I don't want to go with an alien. Please, Pedro, I'm- I'm really scared. What if he's just as nasty as the ringmaster?"

"Then you'll be just as nasty back," Pedro said firmly, shaking their hands slightly. "Tear up his house, destroy whatever passes as furniture in this place, anything. Pink obviously doesn't want any of us to go just yet, but since he's some higher-up, she probably has no choice. Rescues usually have vetting processes. I have no doubt that Pink was going to try and 'break us in' to get us used to aliens. Maybe he's not even buying you." His voice was tremulous.

Viktor's gaze flickered around Pedro's face. The older man had been his rock in the arena. Always by his side, even if separated by bars. He never made him talk when he didn't want to, only reminding him to eat something. He comforted him when he woke up from nightmares. He splashed water on his face when he needed it.

He didn't know if he could do this without him. Without any of them.

Viktor let go of Pedro's hands to wrap his arms around the older man in a crushing hug. Strong arms wrapped around him, firmly rubbing his back. "It'll be okay, Viktor. I promise you. We'll get out of here one day, and we'll come find you." Viktor merely nodded into his shoulder, not trusting himself to speak. His throat felt tight with tears.

He felt more than heard the others approach him, especially when they decided to make the hug a group hug. Ezekiel, Aiko, and Nikolas gripped the pair tightly. There was some sniffling.

Viktor didn't feel any better after the hug ended. He wanted to stay there forever.

Aiko grabbed the sides of his face, directing his red-rimmed eyes into her steely gray ones. She looked fiercely determined, as always. "We will see each other again," she promised. He could only nod.

Ezekiel clapped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it tightly. "What Aiko said," his voice seemed oddly strained. Viktor couldn't bear to look at him lest he started tearing up again, so he just wrapped his arms around the man's middle in a quick squeeze.

Nikolas drew him into another bear hug, nearly squeezing the life out of him. "Use what we taught you if you are in danger," he ordered, patting down Viktor's clothing roughly as if trying to clean him of the dirt and things that had accumulated over their half-year-long stay here. Viktor nodded again.

They heard the gate click open, and Viktor squeezed his eyes shut, pressing the heels of his palms to them hard. He took a shuddery breath in through parted lips. He turned around to see Pink and Vok'Rul at the entrance. Like Aiko had predicted, Vok'Rul had one of the large carriers on the ground in the room. He seemed pretty content to wait around because he was chatting with Pink instead of trying to nab Viktor.

Viktor watched as, after a lengthy chat with Pink, who looked like she was trying her hardest to dissuade him without being disrespectful, Vok'Rul turned to him. His yellow eyes met Viktor's own brown. The teen watched as Vok'Rul settled onto the ground near the gate, carrier wide open. There was jerky in a bowl in there. Viktor wrinkled his nose, trying to force down the panic he felt at leaving the only stability he had left in his life.

"I wonder how long he'll stay there," he heard Ezekiel say, still sounding a bit congested.

"I better just go, or I'll never leave. They'll have to drug me or something. I don't wanna wake up somewhere I don't know," Viktor said, the words coming out of him as if voiced by someone else. Despite his words, he felt rooted to the spot. As if his feet had grown into the floor beneath him.

"Kohgrash," Vok'Rul called, saying another word that probably meant 'come here and leave everyone you love and know behind in a pet store you'll never come back to.' He didn't do the normal gesture that the ringmaster and his staff always did when beckoning him over, though.

Viktor needed to stop thinking. He felt a hand fall onto his shoulder, pulling him into the side of a warm body. Pedro shook him lightly, prompting him to walk alongside the older man. They were walking towards Vok'Rul.

"Come on, kid," Pedro said quietly, holding onto Viktor tightly. Viktor dragged his feet sullenly.

They stopped out of arm's reach from Vok'Rul, eyeing him distrustfully. He was within reach of the carrier, obviously set on shutting it behind Viktor whenever he climbed in. Viktor extracted himself from Pedro, hopelessness filling his entire body. There was no way that this alien was going to give up on getting him in that carrier. Viktor had no idea why he had decided to come into a closed pet store and buy him of all people.

Vok'Rul gestured. And there it was. The same way that the ringmaster or the other employees would when they wanted him to come to the front of the cage. Viktor looked away briefly, repulsed. He started shaking his head, turning towards Pedro, gripping the older man's arm tightly. "I can't, Pedro, I-"

"You have to," Pedro said, a bit desperately. "Look, Pink is gone." Viktor looked over to the gate to find that yes, Pink was nowhere in sight. "She's probably gone to get some tranq or drugged food or something. You'll fall asleep and wake up somewhere else. Do you want that?"

Viktor was already shaking his head, but he couldn't help the words coming out, "I don't want any of this! I don't want to be on this fucking alien planet. I didn't want to fight all kinds of monsters. I didn't want to be taken away from my dad and everyone else I know. I don't want to be in this fucking store. I don't want to be some rich entitled bastard's pet!"

He had started out with a croaky whisper but ended up yelling right into Pedro's face. To the man's credit, all he did was grip Viktor by the shoulders. "I'm sorry, kid. If I could get in that cage instead, I would in a heartbeat. But Pink is going to be coming back in a few seconds and force-feed you some drugs, so you better get in that cage out of your own free will. We won't be here to protect you anymore, so you're gonna need to do it yourself until we see each other again. Understand?" He shook the teen a little at the end, wide-eyed and fearful.

Viktor didn't get a chance to respond because Pedro let go of him and gave him a little shove in the alien's direction. The older man took a step away, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. He looked about as happy about this as Viktor was, but he was right. Viktor really didn't want to wake up in some strange place with no idea how he got there. He took a steady breath, stepping a bit closer to the alien.

Vok'Rul, who had watched the exchange with no small amount of concern, smiled slightly as Viktor's attention fell on him. No doubt, the alien had probably thought Pedro and Viktor were about to get into a fight. The alien said something before reaching into one of the pockets that lined his extravagant outfit. It was nowhere near his waist, which somewhat relaxed Viktor, even though he knew that he no longer had a shock collar on. He pulled out a small bag. Rummaging in it, Vok'Rul eventually pull out a small chunk of what looked like food. Viktor frowned. He had never seen that before.

"Kohgrash," he said softly, waving the treat before tossing it on the floor in front of him. He said something else, but Viktor just caught the word norish. Well, Viktor wasn't stupid. He knew exactly what this alien was trying to do. But he wasn't one to give up free food. He carefully picked his way forward, glancing back at the others. They were trying not to watch, but Viktor could tell they kept sneaking glances. Pedro was still rather close, openly watching. He gave a little 'get on with it' gesture.

Viktor sighed internally but crouched to pick up the small nugget of food. His hair stood on end as his instinct screamed at him to get away from this alien, but he stood his ground. He kept his eye on the bigger alien. He bit into the treat, surprised at the flavor. It tasted a bit like honey and pears. He ate it quickly, wincing a bit at the dry texture. It was a new flavor, though. Much better than stale bread the mush at the arena offered.

Viktor looked shrewdly at the alien. The bag was held loosely in his clawed hand. If Viktor ran at him quickly, he could probably snatch it. Vok'Rul was probably not expecting him to charge at him, which would give him more than enough time to get away before the alien could grab him. Probably.

Viktor quietly approached the alien, assured of his ability to get away should this turn sour. Vok'Rul stayed still, something unreadable written on his face. Viktor was so close to him that he could reach to and touch the alien's knee. As it was, Viktor slowly tensed his body, muscles contracting in his legs. In a blink, he launched forward to grab the bag of delicious food, stepping onto Vok'Rul's leg to get up to his hand. Vok'Rul gave a startled yell, leaning backward and losing his grip on the treat bag. Viktor retreated with his prize eagerly. He dug into the bag and popped a few treats into his mouth, humming delightedly.

He heard Pedro laugh behind him. Vok'Rul seemed a bit shocked about what had just happened, but he recovered fairly quickly, chuckling and settling himself into his normal position. He heard shuffling to his right and whirled around, seeing Pink at the gate with various foodstuffs in her hands. She asked Vok'Rul something, speaking his name to catch his attention and bowing. Vok'Rul waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, inclining his head towards Viktor.

Pink seemed to frown when she saw Viktor clutching the bag of food to his chest, and he bared his teeth in fright. He didn't want to let go of the food, but he was unsure if he was going to fight for it or not. Probably not. Vok'Rul said something that appeased her, though, because her face softened instead. He saw her put down the things she was holding.

Viktor turned his attention back to Vok'Rul as he pulled out another bag of treats. How big were these pockets? Granted, the bags were pretty small compared to the aliens. Viktor could easily hold it in one of his. He watched as Vok'Rul tossed a treat right outside the carrier. He felt his heart rate speed up.

It was now or never. Viktor carefully made his way to the carrier, feeling as though his legs were made of steel.

It was only a small consolation that the treat tasted like chicken. He stepped inside. He heard the cage door shut behind him with a defeating clink.

He tried not to think about how he kept getting shunted from cage to cage and merely hoped that this time, this cage would lead him to a better place. Surely, he deserved it this time.