Rated R for: language, violence, sexual references, Yaoi, cross-dressing, prostitution, sex, and rape. You have been warned!

I own these characters, just so you know. Most likely, this story will contain Yaoi eventually, so if that bothers you stop reading now, because my writing is sooo good, once you start reading, you just cant stop! Yeah... whatever... :/ okay, sooo... Yeah, I guess I should start now... Just FYI this whole chapter is just sort of a prologue thing, and you don't have to read it, unless you want to know why the main character is so emotionally traumatized. The story begins with an abridged version of the main characters life, told in brief little clips of his memory. You might end up having to put two and two together... Okay, I should really start now... Oh, just FYI (again), this story is set in an AU version of this world... Yep. Kay. Bye.

Broken Promises

It was a cold, gray Sunday. A single mother sat on an old dusty couch in the living room of a small one-story house. On her left, among many mismatched pillows, was her four-year old daughter, and to her right, was her five-year old son. Her daughter slept, but her son sat quietly with her, watching the fire.

"Mommy?" he whispered, looking away from the fire and up to the mantle where a single photo hung. "Is he ever coming back?"

She looked up at the photo, too. It was a photo of her and her to children two years ago. In the photo was also a black haired, green eyed, male--- Her husband. He had left when her son was three, and her daughter two.

"No, honey," she stroked her sons hair. "I don't think so..." Her son looked down to the fire again, and it pained her to see the look in his eyes. He was sad because... He understood. His sister might never understand, but at five years old, he understood.

She couldn't really blame him for leaving. They had grown up together. But she couldn't really say ‘grown up'.

She was twenty now, and he would be too, if he was even still alive. Alexander, their son, had been born when they were both fifteen. She had married pregnant, so Alexander would not be born illegitimate.

"Was... I a mistake?" he asked quietly. Alexander didn't even look up this time.

"Oh! No, honey! He loved you very much. I love you very much! We were just so young..." she pulled him into an embrace. "We loved each other, you, and Helena very much. It just... Didn't work out, that's all..."

"Mommy?"

"Yes, dearest?"

"Please, don't ever leave me."

"I won't... Promise..."

*~*~*

It was late evening at an American military compound in France. The job of the compounds personal was do demilitarize the border between France and Luxembourg, who were on the verge of war with one another. France had agreed to join the UN if a military force other than their own would demilitarize their border with Luxembourg.

A job like this required twenty-four hour surveillance of the hostile country by the military force, so the officers and their families lived in small houses in the compound. One of those houses belonged to Alexander's family.

"Alexander, I need you to sign this. Your mother is very sick, and when I married her four and a half years ago, I didn't legally adopt you and your sister. You won't be Alexander Rhyse II any more. You're my son now. Alexander Rhyse-Grey. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir, Mister Grey, sir," a ten year old Alexander answered quietly.

"You call me father, boy. Understand?"

"Yes sir, Mister Father, sir," he spoke softly, taking the pen that was handed to him.

"Hmm. Good boy," he patted the dark-blue haired boy on the head awkwardly.

From the doorway of the room, a fifteen year old boy leaned against the wall smirking as his father rolled up the documents Alexander and his sister had just signed and slid them into his jacket pocket.

"I'll be back in about twelve hours. I'm driving your sister to the hospital to see your mother. They don't want a lot of visitors so I have to take you next weekend, okay?"

Alexander nodded quietly. "Okay..."

His stepfather kneeled down and awkwardly hugged Alexander. He spoke lovingly, but his words seemed alien to his own ears. "Listen, son. I know I'm not the best father in the world, but things will get better. I promise." His stepfather let go of him and stood up.

"You two stay out of trouble, and don't go outside. It's getting late. Be good, Alexander," he said as he opened the front door.

"Yes, sir."

"You too, Dekan," his father called as he walked out the door and closed it behind him.

"Yeah, whatever," Dekan mumbled as he walked into the room over to Alexander.

"You know, you look like a girl with your hair that long," Dekan said, grabbing a fist full of Alexander's hair.

Alexander's dark blue hair had grown past his waste already at the age of ten. He had never cut it, only gotten it trimmed. "Ow! Dekan, you're hurting me! Please, let go!"

"I'm just going to cut your hair, it won't hurt," the older boy said, as he advanced on the younger one.

"No! You can't cut it! Please, don't cut my hair!"

"Why not? It's just hair."

"Because," Alexander answered, close to tears. "It's tradition. I have to grow my hair until I'm fifteen and then leave it that long forever! If you cut it, you'll break tradition!"

The brunet let go of Alexander's hair and pushed him over onto the floor. "Whose tradition? Not this family's tradition."

"M-my father's family," he said, choking back tears.

Dekan frowned but held a hand out to help Alexander up. "Fine." Suddenly a grin spread across Dekan's face. "I know..."

"What?" Alexander shakily took his stepbrother's hand. "Dekan... you're scaring me!"

Dekan just grinned and pulled Alexander into an embrace, locking his arms around him. He leaned forward and began to whisper into his younger brother's ear.

Alexander's eyes widened. "No! I don't want to do that! Please, just let me go!" He pulled back.

"I'm your big brother, now, Alexander. You have to listen to me. Besides, you want me to be happy, don't you? Don't you, Alexander?"

"I... But I don't..."

"Of course you want to make me happy. It won't hurt. I promise."

*~*~*

"Why wont she wake up? Why won't she open her eyes!" Crying, Alexander leaned over the hospital bed to shake the pale, thin figure of his mother. "Wake up! Please, wake up! You promised me! You promised me you wouldn't leave me! You promised!"

Devan Grey slumped into a chair in the corner of the white hospital room, and mourned the loss of his wife of six years. "Elena..."

"You promised me! You promised me!" Alexander fell to the floor in his grief and broke into sobs. "You promised you wouldn't leave me..." he whispered to himself. "You promised..."

His sister, Helena, buried her face in the sheets, and cried. "I miss you, mommy..."

A doctor walked in, followed by a sixteen year old Dekan. Dekan walked over to his stepmother and kissed her on the forehead. "You were the best, mom."

"I'm sorry sir, but you can't all stay here," the doctor spoke to Devan quietly.

"Please!" Alexander's father spoke loudly. "She was their mother! My wife! Let us stay! Please!"

"I'm sorry, sir. As much as I'd love to let you all stay, it's against regulations."

Alexander's stepfather stood up and was about to give the doctor a piece of his mind, but Dekan interrupted.

"I'll take Alexander home, dad. Don't worry about it. We'll be okay. Right, Alexander?" Dekan asked as he looked down at the floor at his stepbrother's shaking figure.

"I... don't know..." his father answered. "Alexander?" Alexander just sobbed into the floor.

"She promised me... She promised..."

"Maybe you're right, son. Maybe you should take him..." he sighed, and walked over to his stepdaughter. He began to stroke his wife and his daughter's hair.

"Yeah, okay... We'll get a room at a local hotel and be back in the morning." Dekan kneeled on the floor and took Alexander into his arms and out the door. It wasn't until they got out of the hospital's front doors and into the cool night air that Alexander realized what was happening.

He began to struggle in the older boy's arms. "No! Let me go!"

"Be quiet, Alexander," he said quietly as he put Alexander in the passenger's seat of the beat-up family car.

As Dekan sat down in the driver's seat and started the car, Alexander struggled with the door handle. "Stop it, Alexander. I put the child safety lock on. You can't get out that way." As Alexander gave up the door handle and reached to open the window, Dekan spoke again. "The windows are locked, too."

Alexander began to bang on the windows. "Help me! Somebody, help me! Let me out! Please-!" Alexander was cut off as Dekan grabbed him and kissed him roughly.

"Now, be quiet, or I'll do you right here, got it?" he scowled, letting go of Alexander. He pulled out of his parking space. "Put your seat belt on, okay? You might get hurt."

*~*~*

Only a few people were left at the house after the funeral. One of them was one of Devan Grey's work associates and close friends, known to Alexander only as Lt. Marks.

"He was a good man, sonny. You should grow up to be like him."

A thirteen year old Alexander nodded quietly to the Lt. "Yes, sir. He was a great father."

"He died so young, too. Early forties, was it? Heart complications... How sad... Anyhow, good luck, kid," Lt. Marks saluted Alexander. Alexander just nodded and bowed his head.

Dekan saw the Lt. out the door, and the last of the guests was gone. Dekan walked into the living room and sat on the couch next to Alexander. "Where's Helena?"

"She fell asleep about half an hour ago. I put her in her room," he replied monotonously.

Dekan sighed, and pulled Alexander close to him. "I'm so sorry things turned out this way. But, since I'm eighteen now, I'm yours and Helena's legal guardian. So we don't have to be separated. " He absentmindedly ran his fingers through Alexander's hair.

"Dekan... Do you... Do you love me?" Alexander asked quietly.

"Of course I love you," he replied, kissing Alexander's hair, and then moving down to kiss his neck. "You're my brother. I'm supposed to love you."

"No," Alexander pulled away. "Are you in love with me? We've... ‘Done it' so many times I can't even count... What am I to you?"

"To be perfectly honest, I'm not in love with you," he spoke softly, pulling Alexander closer and kissing his neck again, this time letting his hands slide under Alexander's shirt. "You're more like... A stress reliever. Speaking of which," he said as he stood up and stretched. "We can clean up later. Right now, I'm in need of some ‘stress relieving'. I'll be in the bedroom." He walked down the hall and into a bedroom, their parent's old bedroom.

"You promised things would get better... They didn't. He promised me it wouldn't hurt but..." Alexander's words trailed off.

"Alexander, you coming?" Dekan called from down the hall.

"It hurts..." Alexander stood up and wandered into the bedroom. Dekan was on the bed, waiting for him. He sat down on the bed and Dekan pulled him over and climbed on top of him.

"Dekan? Can you promise me something?" Alexander stared at the ceiling.

"Mmmhmm," Dekan answered pulling off Alexander's shirt.

"Please, don't ever go after Helena. Okay?"

"Yeah," he spoke between gentle kisses on the younger boy's neck, and then moved down and began to kiss his chest. "Whatever..."

*~*~*

A fourteen-year old Alexander lay on his sister's bed. Dekan had gone of to work, and he pondered what he would be in for when his legal guardian got home.

"Alexander?" his sister crawled onto her bed next to him and rested her head on his chest. "What does Dekan do to you?"

"What?" he halfway sat up and looked at his sister. "What do you mean?"

"You have bruises all over you all the time, and sometimes I hear you screaming at night. You're so pale; he never lets you go outside. It's really easy to see your bruises. You should eat more, too. You're so skinny you weigh less than me, and I'm still shorter than you are."

"It's nothing... I have nightmares... And, I guess I should eat more. I don't mind staying inside..." he answered slowly making it up as he went along.

"Don't lie to me, Alexander. You're a horrible liar. I'm your sister! You shouldn't-" he cut her off.

"Helena," he spoke quickly and urgently. "Helena, don't..." he trailed off as he heard the sound of Dekan's car pulling into the driveway. "Don't let him touch you! Don't ever let him touch you, okay?"

"What? You're scaring me, Alexander!" she whimpered softly, noting how much paler her brother had just gotten.

They heard the front door open and close and they heard Dekan's footsteps on the carpet. "Alexander?" He called. "Alexander, come out here!"

"Promise me, Helena! Never let him touch you!" Alexander spoke softly but meaningfully as he stood and walked over to the bedroom door.

"I would never let him touch me, but I promise anyway," she grinned at him. He almost started crying. She reminded him so much of his mother. She had the same color hair and wore it short but feminine, just like his mother.

"Alexander!"

"I... I have to go. Stay in here." He ran out the door, down the hall, and straight into Dekan.

"Eager to see me, huh, Alexander?" Dekan laughed. He backed Alexander into a wall. "Sorry, but I can't play with you right now," he smiled, stroking Alexander's hair. "Maybe later."

He grabbed Alexander and shoved him into his bedroom. "Stay in here for a while, okay? I'll come for you later..." he grinned, and shut the door.

Alexander ran up to the door and fumbled with the knob. It was locked. He began to bang on the door. "No! Dekan! No! Heeleenaaa! Run, Helena!"

He could hear both Helena and Dekan yelling down the hall. He heard a bunch of loud noises, more yelling, and then... Nothing.

"Helena? Helena!" he began to bang on the door harder.

Suddenly, Dekan burst through the door with Helena unconscious in his arms. He was actually crying, and had blood all over his shirt.

Alexander just stood there staring at them.

Dekan began to stammer. "I- She wouldn't stop fighting me! So I hit her and... Oh, God! Her head is bleeding! I hit her too hard and... And she fell! She fell, and hit her head! She shouldn't have retaliated! I-"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Alexander screamed.

"I'm sorry, Alexander. It's all my fault. I'll never touch either of you again, I promise. I'll be a better person, and a better brother! I swear! I'm so sorry... I do love you... I just..."

"Don't just stand there! Take her to the hospital!"

"Right! Okay, okay, I'll come back for you later!" he ran out the room, into the hall and closed the door behind him. Alexander heard the front door slam, and reached for the doorknob. It had automatically locked when Dekan had closed it.

He heard the screeching tires of his brother's car, and fell to the floor sobbing, just like he had the day his mother died.

*~*~*

Alexander was shaken awake by Lt. Marks. He had fallen asleep sobbing on the floor of his room. "Wake up, sonny."

He sat up, wondering where Helena and Dekan were, and why Lt. Marks was at his house so early.

"Oh, good morning, Lt. I..." he stopped. Suddenly, everything flooded back to him. "No..." He looked over to the doorway and to the floor. It was stained with blood, confirming his worst fears. "No... No! Helena! Where is she? Where is my sister?"

"Listen to me. You're sister is in a coma. She's stable enough, don't worry about her. The doctors won't let her die." Lt. Marks told him softly.

"Where's... Dekan? He was supposed to come get me. Where is he?" Alexander's head hurt.

"He was in a car accident. He was on his way to get you, and he was driving too fast. He was also in a coma, but he woke up."

"Can... Can I see him?"

"He has amnesia. He won't remember you or Helena."

"Oh... I see. Can I be alone for a minute...?" Alexander asked quietly.

"Sure, sonny," he stood up and walked out of Alexander's room quietly closing the door. Alexander didn't even care that it had probably locked again.

"You promised me you wouldn't leave me... But you died of cancer. You promised things would get better, and they didn't. You promised me it wouldn't hurt, but it hurt. It still hurts. You promised you wouldn't go after her... You promised just having me would be enough... But you lied... You promised you wouldn't let him touch you... But... He hit you and now... And, you. You promised you'd be a better person but... You can't..."

Alexander closed his eyes and wished he would never have to open them again. Ever.

*~*~*

:/ Aww, it's so sad! But Alexander gets a happy ending! I think... Only after a bunch of more bad stuff happens to him... Yeah... Okay, so... bye.