A Forgiving Touch

Summary: Elrond dreams of one of his particularly cruel sessions with Galahad in their shared past. When he wakes up, Pete takes care of him in a way the elf wouldn't have allowed him to do in Pete's previous life
Warning(s): Light notes of D/s; references to past abuse; discussion of past trauma; submission as a form of love; references to spanking
Author's Note: Yep, I've been pretty quiet recently - mostly because I've been caught up in this new world and the characters involved.
Background specific to this fic: Elrond, the son of the Ancient One (not to be confused with Elrond from Lord of the Rings), has been on a quest for redemption for centuries, after he killed the man who loved him and only realised what he'd done while Galahad lay bleeding and broken. Finally reunited with Galahad's reincarnation, Pete, Elrond is determined to make up for the cruelty and pain his past actions caused.
I hope you enjoy this!

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Elrond woke with Galahad's cries ringing in his mind.

Breathing in deeply, not surprised to find tears on his cheeks, Elrond took a few moments to ground himself in the here and now. He was not in his chambers in his own kingdom, his brave, faithful knight kneeling there with his back flayed by the whip. Nor was he alone in the darkness, whispering to Galahad's soul...pleading for forgiveness he knew he would never deserve.

Instead, Galahad...Pete...lay in his arms, head resting on Elrond's chest. His breathing was soft and even, gentle and deep. Elrond could feel the steady beating of his heart against his own chest, the sound a soothing, constant reminder that his long journey of redemption and atonement had finally brought him back to the man who had loved him so much and so deeply, no matter what cruelties Elrond had inflicted on him.

And yet, despite Pete's constant promises of forgiveness...of love...of never leaving him alone, Elrond was acutely aware of how little he deserved it. The dreams, the nightmares, only served to remind him of what a monster he had been.

A tiny whimper escaped Pete's lips and Elrond looked down at his beloved, stroking his fingers through Pete's dark hair. "Pete," he whispered, calling softly to him. "It is all right...you're dreaming. I am here...."

Slowly, Pete's eyes fluttered open and he looked up into Elrond's own. Despite the body he wore being still young, not much past his majority, his eyes were ancient...old. Galahad's memories had awoken fully inside of Pete, allowing him to remember everything. Now, he smiled as his eyes met Elrond's and he reached a hand up to caress his face, whispering in a voice heavy with sleep, "My Lord...."

Elrond twitched at the title. There was no pain or anguish in Pete's voice and yet....

"What's wrong?" Pete's eyes were shadowed in concern as he looked into Elrond's eyes.

Elrond swallowed, his hand coming to rest on the back of Pete's head. "I had a dream. A nightmare, really." He'd thought about keeping it secret; of keeping the pain inside. But he'd promised, in their shared dream, that he wouldn't hold anything back. He'd promised to be open and honest with his love, no longer hiding behind harsh words and cruelty.

Pete didn't say anything. He just looked at Elrond, his expression impossibly tender, and waited.

Maybe it would be better not to say any more...but Rick and Dwayne had both indicated that honesty was important. And he had promised.... "It was one of the nights before battle," he whispered, his voice low and haunted. "The first time you tried to reach out to me, seeking comfort...solace from the loneliness I allowed you to feel."

"Elrond...."

"Please." Elrond caressed his face, thumb stroking over his lower lip. "Let me finish."

Pete nodded, pressed a kiss to Elrond's thumb, and waited.

"I have so many regrets," Elrond whispered. "But there was one more I didn't voice. I regret that I made you suffer through loneliness and fear. I regret that I left you alone in that darkness." He took a deep breath, tears pooling in his eyes, and whispered, "My vow is that you will never be lonely again. I will be with you, always and forever. I will hold you when you're afraid and I will soothe any of your worries. I love you so much." His voice dropped even further.

Eyes soft, Pete pressed a kiss to Elrond's hand and then carefully stood up from the bed.

Fear lanced through Elrond, as sharp and sudden as a knife through his chest, and he immediately pushed himself up off the bed.

"Elrond, stay there," Pete directed, a slightly firmer note creeping into his voice. "I'll be back."

Elrond forced himself to lay back down on the bed, listening to Pete moving around the room. A few moments later, his love was back, crawling onto the bed with him and kissing him tenderly.

"I thought you might leave," Elrond whispered, his voice raw with emotion.

Pete's eyes were soft and tender as he whispered, "I won't leave you, my love. I just needed to fetch something." He leaned in and kissed Elrond tenderly, then whispered, "My lord, my love...Elrond...remove your clothing for me."

Without a moment's hesitation, Elrond began to remove his nightclothes. It was an echo of the way he had stripped and knelt before Galahad in their shared dream. And it was a far cry from the person he had been, the arrogant elf lord who had put his brave, loyal knight through so much pain and suffering.

With Pete's help, Elrond managed to position himself face down on the bed, his body bare and vulnerable to the man who loved him. The man who'd forgiven the unforgiveable.

"Let me take care of you," Pete whispered in the silence that had descended between them.

Elrond nodded, his body slumping in submission to Pete's will.

The first touch of oil-slick hands on his bare skin caused tears to fill Elrond's eyes. As Pete's hands began to slowly rub and massage his bare back, working out the knots of tension born from long centuries of waiting and hoping, Elrond felt tears begin to slide down his face.

Pete's hands were gentle, even when he had to apply a bit of firmer pressure. But that wasn't unusual. One of the many things that had drawn Elrond to him, that he'd realised he loved about the knight only when it was too late, was his gentleness.

"Who hurt you?" Pete whispered the words as his fingers encountered the scars that were just barely visible on Elrond's back.

Elrond hesitated, but once again, he remembered his promise to be honest. And he was as relaxed and at peace as it was possible to be, without being fully asleep. "My father." The admittance was made in a voice barely above a whisper. In his mind's eye, he saw himself as a young elf, biting his own lip until it bled to stop himself from crying out, because any sign of emotion would be considered a weakness.

"Elrond," Pete whispered, his voice filled with emotion. "I'm so sorry."

Elrond closed his eyes as he felt a gentle, featherlight kiss brush against one of his scars. It was another sign of his knight's gentle, caring nature. No matter what Elrond had done to him in his past life, Pete continued to forgive him. Continued to love him. "Tell me," he whispered, the words a plea.

Pete pressed a kiss to his shoulder. "I love you. I forgive you. I will never leave you. I'm yours," he whispered.

More tears slid down Elrond's cheeks, a release of so much grief and pain that had haunted him since that fateful day he'd held Galahad's limp, still body in his arms and only then realised just what his own actions had caused him. "Thank you." His voice was hoarse with emotion.

"You are so welcome, my love. My heart. My brave, strong lord." With each word he spoke, Pete pressed another tender kiss to Elrond's back, even as his hands continued to rub and massage his bare back.

The touches were gentle and soothing and Elrond found himself relaxing into his love's gentle hands. "You've always been so gentle," he whispered. "Such a kind, loving soul. Even when I didn't deserve you," he whispered.

Pete kissed his shoulder. "You always deserved me, my love. The very fact you spent centuries making amends and seeking atonement is proof of that. You waited, your faith never wavering that I would return to you," he murmured.

"And my faith has been rewarded." The long centuries of waiting, hoping, of asking his knight for forgiveness every night had brought Galahad back to him. Elrond's body relaxed even more into his love's touch, feeling all of the centuries of pain and guilt slipping away in the tension Pete eased out of his back.

When Pete's hands finally slowed and then stopped, Elrond found himself slumped slightly over the bed. He stayed where he was as Pete carefully wiped the excess oil from his back and then stretched out alongside Elrond, wrapping him in a tight, warm embrace.

"Thank you." Elrond pressed a kiss to Pete's breast. "Thank you for taking care of me. For forgiving me. For loving me, in spite of everything I did to you."

"Thank you." Pete kissed his cheek. "Thank you for never wavering in your faith that I would come back to you."

Elrond kissed his neck. "I held to the promise you made me when I wept by your grave. That you would return. I knew I had to be worthy of you when you came back to me." His hands slowly ghosted over Pete's back, smooth and unmarked in this life. "I will never harm you again. I will never allow anyone else to harm you."

"I know." Pete lifted his head and met Elrond's lips with his own in a deep, searing kiss.

When Pete pulled back so that they could both breathe, Elrond continued to stroke his hands over his love's back. "I am sorry that, even in this life, you were affected by the Ancient One's power."

Pete took a deep breath and pressed in close to Elrond's chest. "It hurts me more that Rick was harmed so much," he admitted quietly. "What hurts the most is that I couldn't see how wrong it was. It was as if my mind was twisted so that I believed it was what I wanted to do."

"It's one of the ways he can control people," Elrond said. "If Rick was less kind, if he was less like you, he wouldn't have been able to forgive Dwayne. He wouldn't have been able to forgive you."

"And then we would be further behind in our fight against him, even assuming any of us would be able to break free." Pete lay quietly in Elrond's arms for a few more moments and then asked, quietly, "Master?"

The form of address made Elrond smile and he stroked his fingers through Pete's hair. "Yes, my love?"

"Will you help me train?" Pete asked. "We might not need to physically fight against the Ancient One. It might be that this battle is more about mental will than physical strength. But if I can train my skills to be what they once were, I'll be able to help protect everyone here."

Elrond took a few moments to respond. His immediate instinct was to say no. Galahad had been a truly skilled warrior, and there was no reason why Pete wouldn't be able to use those same skills. But no matter how skilled he was, there would always be someone better than him. It might have been Elrond who'd killed the man he loved during Pete's first life, but that just made him even more aware of just how easy it would be for him to lose the man he loved a second time.

"I know what you're afraid of," Pete whispered, kissing Elrond's shoulder.

"That doesn't surprise me," Elrond murmured back. "You've always been able to read me better than anyone else ever has before."

Kissing Elrond's chest, Pete murmured, "I'm not going to do anything foolish or dangerous. That's why I want you to help me train and regain my abilities. I trust you to help me be the best version of myself I can be."

"Thank you, my precious one," Elrond whispered. "Thank you for trusting me enough to help you." His voice shook with emotion.

"You are the only one I would trust to help me in that way." Pete leaned up and kissed him; a quick, fierce press of lips to his that seemed to carry centuries of longing behind it.

Elrond closed his eyes and moved one hand to the back of Pete's head, stroking his soft hair. "I will help you," he said. "But there will be some rules in place."

Pete's soft chuckle vibrated through Elrond's body, making the elf's lips curve up into a soft smile, before he whispered, "The same rules we discussed before?"

"Yes. But an additional one, too." Elrond stroked the side of Pete's face, encouraging his love to look into his eyes. "While we're training, you need to follow every order I give you," he said firmly. "I know how skilled you were in your last life, but you haven't trained since being reincarnated. Your body isn't going to respond in the same way you remember, which means that it will be all too easy for you to get hurt if you don't listen to me."

"You have nothing to worry about, my lord...my love," Pete whispered. "I trust you to help me train until I'm as good as I used to be. Better, even, because I know you will make sure I reach my full potential."

"Always," Elrond promised.

Pete yawned, raising his hands to place them against Elrond's chest.

"Sleep, my precious one," Elrond whispered, brushing a gentle kiss against his head. "I'm right here. I will protect you."

"I know you will. I love you." Pete closed his eyes and rested his head against Elrond's shoulder. Moments later, his breathing evened out into sleep.

Elrond closed his own eyes, feeling a wave of peace he'd never felt before in his long centuries of being alive. "I love you too. So much," he whispered to his brave knight, before he closed his eyes and slipped into sleep as well.

The End