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Kaeden's Commitment

by Draugr

Chapter XI: Search For Tomorrow

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This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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"You with us, Kaeden? Wake up."

Kaeden blinked groggily, then realized exactly where he was. Cold chair, restraints, dark room... and Rashid.

"Oh. It's_you_," he said, yawning.

"Don't be so excited," he said, laughing.

Kaeden furrowed his brows. The normal Rashid would have made some barb at him, not a joke. Something was up.

"I've been told you've made some impressive progress of late. I know you don't like me... but that's... well, I can explain that later. Maybe you'll even figure it out on your own."

"I'm confused."

The Rottweiler continued as though he'd said nothing. "This will be the last time we meet, but-"

"Oh, thank the heavens," Kaeden drawled, then he clamped his mouth shut as his eyes grew wide. If his paws weren't restrained, he would have brought them up to his muzzle - he hadn't meant to say that aloud.

Rashid only smiled. "We need to talk about your future with us."

"Ashleigh keeps saying there's an end point, and that it has something to do with me 'getting better,' but she hasn't said much else about it," he said, suspicion creeping into his tone.

Rashid nodded. "I'll tell you a bit more about it, and then you need to make a decision. You've been under the impression this entire time that we've just kidnapped you to raise you as a puppy again." he stated, matter-of-factly.

"That's... kind of what you did, isn't it?"

Rashid nodded. "But it's much more than that. Do you remember when you tried to call the police on Ashleigh?"

"Yeah. I got some sort of office receptionist - something about 'Chainbreakers Incorporated'"?

"That's who me and Ashleigh work for. We rehabilitate people like you, people who are broken due to some past event."

"Y'know, there's therapists and stuff for things like that. I'm not sure why it requires the... puppy stuff," Kaeden said, looking down at his diaper, realizing, to his dismay, that he was wet. He must have been carried off after his regular nighttime accident.

"You aren't? You seem to have bonded quite well, and learned more than a few things from your 'mommy'," he said, with a knowing smile.

"H-how... how do you know about that?" Kaeden asked, sharply.

"It's part of my job, Kaeden. I'm not your enemy, despite what you may think."

"You've been nothing but miserable to me. You steal me away from Ashleigh and, and... interrogate me, and then you sit there and make fun of me for being confused!"

Rashid shook his head. "Think, pup. There's a reason for all of it. Do you remember the first time you sought Ashleigh's protection? The first time you really trusted her for anything?"

Kaeden had to think, hard, but eventually it came to mind.

"You'd just given me a spanking. Ashleigh put a stop to it."

"Would you have needed to trust her if there was nobody for her to protect you against?"

Kaeden fell silent, starting to put the pieces together.

"Ah, now you get it, don't you?" Rashid said, seeing a look of knowing cross the German Shepherd's face.

"All this time... all the antagonizing... it was just an act? To draw me closer to her?"

Rashid nodded.

"I want to feel betrayed and angry, at both of you, but... I don't. At least not at Ashleigh."

"That's because Ashleigh is the real thing, Kaeden. My acting aside, she really does care about you. And so do I, though you may not yet believe it."

Kaeden didn't respond, deep in thought. Rashid let him think a moment before speaking up.

"Kaeden, you have a very important choice to make right now. You could be rid of all of this, back in your home, by this time tomorrow."

"What do you mean? How?"

"Don't be too eager, Kaeden. It's not as simple as that."

"With you, nothing ever is, is it?" the Shepherd responded.

"We don't intend to keep you captive here until we get the result we want. At some point, you need to agree to it. This needs to be your choice. You have to_want_to get better, or you never will. And you need to be willing to make some sacrifices to get there. Now, we have gotten where we are by pushing you along, but this is as far as we make you go. If you want, you can get off."

"What's the catch?" Kaeden asked, suspiciously.

"There is no catch. If you refuse to sign a form of consent, I take you home, and you never hear from us again. You can't ever re-enter this program, however, and your life_will_fall back into the same mess it was in before. I've seen that happen many times before. But it also means no more puppy stuff. No more diapers. All the adult freedoms you had before."

"And if I sign it?"

"Then you consent to remaining under Ashleigh's care. Your treatment continues as it has, until we decide you are ready to leave the program."

"What if I decide I want to leave after I sign?" Kaeden asked, before quickly correcting his slip, "If I sign?"

"Once you sign, you cannot leave the program. You're committing yourself to our care. We_will_make sure you get better, but once you sign, you're here until corporate decides you're healed." This wasn't entirely true, but given Kaeden's issues with commitment, Rashid didn't feel it was wise to mention the metaphorical back-door exit to the contract.

"Do I have to decide now?"

"Yes, Kaeden. You've got everything you need to make this decision. You can take a few moments, ask me questions - but you need to make a decision tonight."

"I assume if I sign, I'm still gonna be Ashleigh's puppy, right?"

"That's part of the rehabilitation, Kaeden. You'll be her puppy, and everything that goes along with it."

"I figured as much."

Kaeden fell silent, battling with an internal struggle. He wanted to bail out now. He didn't want to commit to this, and then wind up failing later on. It would be just yet one more thing in his life he was unable to complete. But he remembered Ashleigh's words to him - that if he wanted to be a real man, he couldn't run from the possibility of failure. And bailing out now, wouldn't that be a failure in and of itself? Ashleigh had shown him that he needed help, and not only that, but that under her care, he was improving. And how would she feel if he gave up now? Would he ever even see her again? Despite everything that had happened to him, he kind of liked her.

Kaeden decided that he could not run from this. "Give me the form. I'll sign it."

"Are you sure? This is a big commitment. Remember, once you sign, you can't leave."

"I'm sure. If... if I ever want to be a real man... I can't keep running away from failure. I still don't think I can make it through this and change, but... if I bail out now, I definitely won't. I have to be free. Free to face the life ahead of me, and I can't do that unless something changes. This is the first time I've felt like that might be possible. I'll try to carry on."

"No trying, puppy. This is do or don't." Rashid went around back and unlocked something behind Kaeden's back - freeing him from the chair restraints. He handed him a pen, and unrolled a form in front of him.

"No legal trickery, I promise. Everything I told you just now is what you're signing up for."

Kaeden hesitated briefly, seemingly having some last-minute doubts, but he put his signature on the paper with only little delay. Rashid smiled, then moved to stash the form away in a file cabinet in the form of the room.

"I'm glad you chose this, Kaeden. Ashleigh has had charges decide to leave the program before, but I think she'd be real heartbroken if you, in particular left."

Kaeden blushed and looked down. Maybe all of this was for_his_benefit, but he hadn't even thought once of what leaving would do to Ashleigh. This was all a very strange arrangement, but his 'mommy' really did seem to care for him like she would her own puppy.

Rashid moved to pick up Kaeden to carry him off, but the Shepherd put his paw up and stopped in.

"Can... can I at least walk out? I know I just agreed to be a puppy for... well, a long time, but... "

"That's fine, as long as you take my paw, little one," he said, extending his own. Kaeden rolled his eyes, but for now, agreed. They walked toward the exit of the dark room, and entered into a hallway. A very familiar hallway - one Kaeden had grown quite used to over the past few weeks.

"Wait... so you haven't been stealing me away from Ashleigh all these times?"

Rashid laughed.

"No, of course not. Even if I could, Ashleigh's a Great Pyrenees. She's fiercely protective of her own, and I assure you, she considers you one of hers. I wouldn't want to cross her," he said, with a smile.

Kaeden wasn't quite sure how to take that: he couldn't imagine Ashleigh in that context. Was Rashid joking? Or not? Or something in between?

"Well, good," he finally said, tail wagging - though he abruptly stopped as he heard his diaper crinkle. Evidently Rashid noticed.

"What's the matter, little one?" he said, laughing. "First time you've wagged your tail since you got here?"

"I... I guess I haven't had any reason to for so long."

"I'm glad you're happy, but it's time to get you back to bed," he said. As they walked into the nursery, Rashid glanced over to his changing table, and then down at Kaeden.

"Do you want me to change your diaper before I put you to bed? You're pretty wet."

Kaeden shook his head. He wouldn't normally be changed until morning anyway, and he was sleepy enough not to really notice it. Plus, Rashid had only_just_been revealed to him as a decent guy, and he wasn't entirely yet comfortable enough to consent to a diaper change, no matter how much he needed it.

"Hmm, well, if you're sure," Rashid said, lifting Kaeden up beneath his arms. He placed the soggy Shepherd in his crib, and pulled his blanket up over him. "Don't stay up too late, now, or Ashleigh will have my head."

"Wait... Rashid?" he said, as the Rottweiler began to leave.

"Are... are you going to be nice to me, from now on? I... I like you like this."

"I have no reason to play the role I was before, so yes, unless you start acting like a hellion again."

Kaeden laughed. "I have no plans to go through any of that again. So... this is the real you?"

"Yes, it is. I don't like having to be mean, but I hope you understand it was for your own good."

Kaeden nodded. "I do. So are you and Ashleigh going to be taking care of me now?"

"No. I'm not a caregiver. I play another role in the program. Besides, I don't think I'd be a very good 'daddy'," he laughed.

Kaeden blushed, and looked away. "I'm not really sure I'd be comfortable with that anyway."

Rashid smiled. "I understand. That isn't the role I've played. But, if you ever need to talk, and you don't feel like you can talk to Ashleigh, just let her know, and she'll call me over. I hope you can say anything you want to her, but I know there's some stuff that guys can only talk to other guys about."

Kaeden nodded, yawning.

"Now, no more questions, pup. Get some sleep."

"Mmmhmm... " Kaeden said, rolling over, and pulling Ikici into his arms. In a few minutes, he was fast asleep.