Duo checked into the hotel, ignoring the stares that he and Maria were getting from the other people in the lobby. He expected them. It wasn't everyday that two kids, looking like refugees checked into the place. Most of the clothes that they had just picked up were stuffed into a backpack, which looked like the only luggage that they had. What they were wearing was too big, mismatched and smelled like gun powder and other odd things. But the credit card was good, it checked out that it was his, and was actually in his real name. The clerk hemmed and hawed a bit, but eventually gave in and they got a room. Duo sighed in relief, when they got to it and sat on the bed.
"Thanks Maria, for not making a scene, its just that we are going to have to talk about a few things. And I want a shower, food and a nap. I know that you are supposed to be under arrest right now, but Une and Relena need some time alone. That's actually why I didn't hit Une's place. They're probably gonna end up there for a while." And Noin was too stunned to stop me from getting you out of there. Relena's feet didn't hit the ground as she ran to 'Neesan. I slipped in after her, asked Maria to come with me, covered up the Boy Scout outfit with a uniform shirt from the shuttle and got out of there, before Noin could say yes, no or stop that. But I couldn't keep her safe there, not with the Barton troops still around, She could have caused a riot whether she wanted to or not. I needed someplace away from the troops. I couldn't handle that crowd, it was like Cologne, I just wanted to scream and not stop. But I couldn't leave her alone, its my fault that she was on that shuttle.
"Why?" Maria asked curiously, sitting down next to Duo.
"They're involved. I'd bet that after this they're gonna move in together somewhere. They wanted to, but were waiting until Relena's legal, just so there isn't a fuss." Duo explained.
"Oh." Maria quietly. She studied Duo, noticing that he seemed a lot calmer now that they were away from people. She knew she should be afraid of him, he did threaten to kill her, but she couldn't get enough energy up to do so. And he apologized afterwards about the threat. But she still couldn't figure out what attracted her father to this boy. He was beautiful, but.he was sad, fragile even now that he wasn't actively trying to save the colony. He was missing something inside of him.
"You okay Maria?" Duo asked softly. "If you want me to take you someplace else I will."
"Duo.I have no place else to go. My grandfather is dead. The colony is in turmoil and I doubt that I can recover anything, I expect the clan will disappear as fast as possible after destroying as much information as possible."
"You can stay with me. Besides after this night or two. I doubt that they're going to do anything to you. You're eight and Dekim fucking abandoned you! I don't know if I'll get custody, I'm a minor and really screwed in the head right now. My former activities as a terrorist don't look too good either. If not me, Trowa's your uncle, legally, he'll take you in, his sister Catherine will take care of you too, she's nice if you aren't dragging her little brother off to be a soldier. She always got pissed at that. Catherine can teach you to throw sharp pointy things at a person, that's their act at the circus. She throws knives at Trowa. If he doesn't go back with Quatre, you can live with the two of them in the circus. But I think Trowa will go back to Quatre, thank God, since you couldn't get a piece of paper between the two of them. They are good for each other. And Quatre's got a herd of sisters, nieces and nephews. If they do press charges, we can lose you in among them for a while." Duo said.
"But why? You don't know me, you threatened to kill me." Maria asked.
"Because you're a kid that got caught up in the adult world. I lived there when I was your age, I know that it's a scary place. I want to, I don't know, protect you, even though you need it as much as Une does. Because I loved your father and he took care of me." Duo answered softly. "Just think of your options while I take a shower, after you order room service, I haven't eaten in a while, you haven't either I bet."
"No," Maria admitted shyly, "But how can you afford this?" Money was something that she really didn't understand, but no seventeen year old should be able to afford this.
"OZ, my child, OZ. They nicely financed me for the next year or two." Duo answered, rummaging for his new clothes. He thought that he'd burn the other pair he was wearing, he could smell Shinigami on them, may be after they moved him. But he hoped that Quatre would take care of that little problem. That's why he was visiting him in the first place.
"How?" Maria asked.
"Money skimming, creative accounting, out and out theft. I was a street thief growing up." Duo answered. "Order what you want, just a hamburger and fries for me, with a soda."
"Okay" Maria said, moving over to the phone and ordering what he wanted, she just made it a double order, it was easier that way. When the food came she signed for it, glaring at the waiter until he backed down. She wasn't going to walk in on Duo in the shower. After about a half an hour, she was starting to get worried, it shouldn't take that long, even with that much hair. She knocked on the door, softly. After a few minutes, she knocked louder and called out Duo's name. She waited, not getting an answer, so she decided to just walk in. It would be embarrassing for the two of them, but she was worried.
"Duo," Maria called, when she opened the door. "You okay? The food's here. You should eat." She hesitated, not getting an answer or acknowledgement for Duo she walked into the steam filled bathroom. "Duo? You're not hurt or anything are you?"
She gasped when she saw Duo in the shower, just rocking back and forth, muttering to himself. She couldn't hear what he was saying, and she thought that he might be crying, but she wasn't sure. Steam swirled around him, blurring things and his hair covered most of him, but she wasn't getting closer unless she had to.
"Duo!" Maria shouted, hoping that would get him back. "It's okay."
"Maria?" Duo asked fuzzily, slowing down. "What are you doing in here?" Then he blushed. She shouldn't be seeing him like this, not trying to figure out if -this - covered him spacing out on her or the naked part.
"It's been a while. The food's here. We should eat. Are you okay?"
"Not really." Duo laughed bitterly. "Not for a while. I think I just wigged out on you. If you want to book I don't mind, but I'm more self destructive then anything. I won't get violent on you."
"Well," Maria waffled, "Just get dressed. I'll give you five minutes, then I'm going to drag you out of here." She was scared, tired and Duo acting like this was just one more problem. She was too numb to actually deal with it. Dekim's death, even if he was rotten to her, shook her. She wanted to break down and cry, scream, do anything, but she didn't know if she could now, not with the one 'adult' that knew where she was acting like this.
"Okay," Duo agreed tiredly. He was worried, tired and strung out. He hadn't done that before. He didn't think he had, but he might not have remembered it and he didn't blame Maria for being a bit nervous. Her world just came crashing down on her and he was wigging out. He was supposed to take care of her, not the other way around. "I'll get it together and dressed because you shouldn't see me naked. It's not right for one thing and for another I'm a bit beat up. Which gave me some of the problems that I have. So I'll be out in a sec."
"Good. Or I'll come back here and turn the water on cold," she threatened.
Duo laughed again, happier this time. Maria was okay. And had the same sense of humor that T-chan had. He shut off the water as soon as she left the room grabbed a couple of towels to dry his hair and body with, then got dressed. He didn't bother brushing out his hair, he was more interested in eating, now he was kinda hungry. Maria had placed the tray on one of the beds and was sitting on it waiting for him. She smiled when he came out of the bathroom dressed and looking somewhat sane.
"Sorry about what happened Maria. I started getting flashbacks after I crawled into Shinigami again after a year of not fighting. I should be okay.hopefully I'm too tired for the nightmares, I usually have." Duo explained as he sat down. "Eat! Eat! You're too skinny!" Duo urged her with a big smile. He grabbed a couple of fries and was nibbling on them as he leaned over and picked up the phone.
"I should call Une, she actually might be wondering where the hell I am. Relena might too, but I doubt it. They still either caught in the crowd or are doing something else." Duo said, punching in Une's home number. He waited a few minutes, glad that it went into voice mail, that showed they weren't too worried about him. "Hey 'Neesan, me and the little one are at the Inn downtown, in room 425. Just so that you know where we are. We'll be here for a while.get some time for nice-nice with 'Jousan. You both deserve it, you can debrief me later."
Duo hung up the phone and attacked his hamburger, managing to eat about half of it before he was full. He was glad to see that Maria ate all of hers and was making inroads on his French fires because she was still hungry.
"You okay with things for now?" Duo asked, watching her eat. That she was hungry was a good sign.
"I'm scared." she said, wondering if her would hit her for that. She had been taught never to admit those feelings, it was wrong. But she was scared, everything changed on her and not for the better. Duo was the only person that seemed to care and he was not very sane, from that scene in the shower. So she might be able to say those things and not get hit.
"You should be. Everyone gets scared," Duo said, "You're falling faster into the unknown then the colony was into the atmosphere. It's scary. You have no idea what to do, the things that you were taught don't apply here. All you have to do is hope that you survive this experience and go on to the next one."
"How do you know that?" Maria asked curiously.
"A couple of ways, I was on the streets since I was about two. When I was older, about your age, I was doing anything to survive, so I know the scary adults and being alone. How evil the world can be. How hurtful. When I was fifteen, I was involved in Operation Meteor, modified, of course." Duo smiled at the memories, his tone getting softer, happier. "I had been on the PeaceMillion for about a year or so, before that I was living in the L2 colonies, then I'm hurling me and my mate, Shinigami to Earth, this big blue beautiful place. It had water, so much that you could take a shower for an hour, no problem. And it rained and snowed, and both tasted good, not recycled and metallic. I thought that the war would be over in a few months and I could lose myself on Earth, become a whole new person."
"What happened?" Maria asked.
"It was all going good for our side, then T-chan pulls the OZ take over of the Federation, by herding all the Federation leaders into one place and leaking that they are actually all biggies in OZ. So we pilots all run down and attack the place, hoping that this is the end of the war. At the same time he's got all his people taking over Fed bases. Then Wufei tells us it was a con and we fell like country bumpkins. T-chan also managed to trick Heero into blowing up the Feddie Doves over New Edwards. Heero thought he was ending the war, in a way he was.the Doves had to die, just wished he wasn't the one that did it."
"Oh." Maria said in a small tone. She hadn't thought of that. She had heard of the incident, but not that way. it wasn't the glorious plan that Dekim described. It was the actions of a desperate boy who thought that what he was doing was right.
"Heero got a little more screwed in the head after that and then self destructing himself and surviving didn't help. I think that falling for Wufei was the only thing that kept him alive during the war." Duo said, watching the shocked look on Maria's face. "But.he wasn't too tightly wound to begin with. None of us were, except maybe Quatre. We were a bunch of kids that were handed guns, and mucking big machines, then told to go out and kill everything or do whatever our orders told us to do, no questions. The men with the plan didn't care about us, we were tools to them. Dekim had a hand training Heero.he has so many broken bones and odd scars that I wonder how he survived his childhood."
"How could my father have done this?" Maria cried, confused. Was everything that she had been told about him a lie?
Duo sighed and moved the tray of food to the floor. "Come sit next to me, I'll try and answer your questions. But what I know might not be right either. We never really discussed the war, it was something that we both avoided, like my motives, my past or our future."
Maria crawled up to the head of the bed, surprised the sitting next to Duo made her feel better, that he put his arms around her and drew her onto his lap was surprising. No one had really hugged her before, not that she remembered. It felt.warm.
"T-chan, your father, told me once that he looked at the big picture, the whole thing. He tried to stop the war with the least amount of casualties on either side. If that meant pulling the crap that he did, well.neither one of us slept too good at night."
"But.."
"But what? You weren't there, neither was Dekim. He probably was in a backroom someplace trying to make crooked deals so his family was out on top. T-chan did what he thought was right, if he screwed it up, he paid for it by knowing that he got someone killed that shouldn't have died. Or he died himself.I am still trying to figure out stupidity that he was pulling with Wufei." Duo tried to keep his voice calm and level and not break down and do something embarrassing like cry.
"Wufei?" Maria was confused, Wufei had been a Gundam pilot. How did he know her father?
"Yeah, Wufei killed your father, which is why he was with you to begin with. You mentioned that he was nice to you, if he was, he meant it. He's big into the honor code, like T-chan was. They started dueling occasionally after New Edwards. Wufei was pissed at the death of the Doves and he chased after him with Trowa and then proceeded to get his ass kicked, by your father. Who then let him go and offered him a rematch in the future. Me and Quatre were fighting the remaining troops at New Edwards and Heero was defusing a nuke, because 'Neesan, excuse me, Une decided that blowing up the place around us was a good idea. That she was going to destroy a 300 kilometers radius circle around us too, well she thought it was a good idea at the time. From what I was told later, T-chan was royally pissed."
Maria giggled. She had a mental picture of her father kicking Wufei several times on his backside before Wufei scurried off. Duo smiled to hear her giggle, she was too solemn, like him. Maria stopped giggling after a while and looked up at Duo. And to hear Duo tell her that story, he made it sound not funny, but not as scary as it he could make it sound.
"Why do you call me father, T-chan?" she asked, switching the subject. Duo was starting to get some more shadows in his eyes and she didn't want to trigger another incident like she saw in the shower.
"Chan is a term of endearment in Japanese. That was about the only language we had in common, spoken. His English was better then my nonexistent German, but still not too fluent. Spanish we both knew a little of, he was more fluent then I was, but in a different dialect. I didn't speak Russian and he didn't speak Arabic. We both read a lot more languages then we spoke, but your father had an excellent education, while I was a street rat. I learned a dozen different words, in a dozen different languages to survive on L2, but not much more. So I started calling him T-chan the second night we were together. It was cutesy, I admit, but I didn't want to slip around the others, so a nickname was something that I needed. And.T-chan was a different person then the guy that was running the show. More relaxed, fun.easier to tease. So wasn't 'Neesan. She worked with me during the war, while Une was trying to kill me. It was confusing and heartbreaking and" Duo's voice caught, "one of the better years of my life. Better then the last one has been."
"Ah." Maria murmured, getting sleepy. She felt safe with Duo's arms around her and she had eaten and was so tired. She listened to his voice as he explained things to her, she should ask him more questions, just so she could hear it, he was very soothing. " Duo.why you? Why not one of the others? Or Une?"
"That's a tough one." Duo said, wondering what he should tell her. But he never lied to her father, he wasn't about to start lying to her, they had started out their relationship rocky enough. "I.I had been a whore, my controller knew it, I don't know how, but he did. So he told me to get in there and spread my legs for the glory of the colonies. I didn't really want to, I thought it was stupid and degrading. But he insisted, telling me that they could always get another pilot that knew his priorities. I really didn't want to do it, but I thought I was making a difference, doing something to stop things. So I went in to his bed, after his lover left."
"Who was that?" Maria asked almost inaudibly, Duo thought that she would be asleep in a few more minutes. She knew who he had been, but it would keep Duo talking. He was comforting, in a weird way. She wasn't forgetting that he had threatened to kill her and was most likely crazy, but if he was kept occupied, he might be okay.
"There's a price for that info," Duo teased her.
"What?"
"We crawl into the other bed, I tell you everything that you want to know, until you fall asleep, then I'm crawling back into my own bed, because we shouldn't be sleeping together."
"Bed's big enough and you feel nice. No one's ever bothered before to hug me, treat me like a child. I was supposed to be adult, tough, not need anyone."
"Fuck!" Duo cursed, then blushed. "Oops." The same crap that Heero was fed. I hope that you're able to overcome the conditioning because you need hugs. And I need to give them to you.
Maria giggled, she had heard the word before, you did around soldiers. Duo shook his head and slid out from underneath her. He did have to start watching his mouth.
"We'll see what happens." Duo said, turning down the covers on the other bed and stealing the pillows from the one they were on, the headboard was digging into his spine. "Take off your shoes,"
"Okay," Maria sleepily agreed, toeing them off, she stripped out of her uniform, then put on the oversized shirt that Duo had produced from the shuttle. She then crawled into the other bed, cuddling up to Duo.
"Thank you," she murmured, "You're nice."
"I try to be, but if management crashes in on us, I'm screwed." Duo complained, giving her a hug.
"Just say that I forced you."
"That's gonna go over real well." Duo said, chuckling himself. "Where were we? Are you sure you want to know all this now? It's a real stupid bedtime story. How about something nicer.like 'Hansel and Gretel'?"
"Never heard of that one.you can tell me tomorrow night." Maria said, "Besides.no one ever told me anything besides that Treize was my father. Not that he loved my mother, obviously he didn't or he would have stayed with her. Or what he really was like. I was fed a bunch of lies to do what they wanted. Not that I cared, if I obeyed Dekim.he didn't hit me. He paid attention to me. No one really paid attention to me, just the soldiers and that was because of my father. Wufei.he was nice to me, he'd tell me things. Not about my father but.little things. Stories about other wars, proverbs from Sun Tzu, stories about a female warrior named Natuku. Lessons really."
" I don't know about your mother. No one knows that but T-chan and her. But he wasn't into casual relationships and he told me he didn't sleep around. He was serious about that. He found out after the first person used sex to get ahead with him, it wasn't worth it. " Duo sighed and switched the subject. Maria really didn't need to know all that. "Wufei would make a good teacher. The stories about Natuku, might be about his wife. She was killed on the first attack on their colony. She was a kick ass fighter, he told me a little about her, not much, when I was trying to help him get his head together after watching his entire colony self destruct, because they were under another attack from Romafeller troops. They took a couple of dozen squads with them, but.Wufei had to watch it." Duo finished sadly. "It was before the last battle, what's been dubbed by some as the Eve Wars, it was the last time that we were all together before this morning. Heero and Quatre were zombies because of the Zero system. Trowa was frantic about Quatre and Wufei, both of who were a mess, not talking to anyone. Heero was just being.odder then usual. I was persona non grata, for the last couple of months because no one trusted me, I was sleeping with your father. Then Zechs blew up that island and things just came to a boil." Duo fell silent, unconsciously tightening his hold around Maria, lost in his own memories.
"Zechs.he was crazy. He was the lover that I was sent in to replace. It was joke really. He was tall, blonde, angelic looking guy. He grew up with T-chan. They had a lot in common. I was a street rat, minimal education, who only knew what he did because the nun at the orphanage he was at, tried to give me some sort of education, outside the crap that the Fed school was brainwashing us with. I was there for a couple years.then the troops leveled the orphanage, with everyone inside, because of the trouble that I caused, and the rebels that took the place over. I came back after jacking a mobile suit for the rebels to a hole in the ground. So I know, sort of what your going through. I'll try and help you, but I'm really screwed up."
"I'm sorry," Maria whispered. She really was. Dekim, no matter how bad it was, never really hurt her, after the first few hits he stopped. He didn't want the bruises to show. His punishments were more mental then physical abuse. But she was fed regularly and knew that she had some worth, even if it was as a tool. But Duo never had that he had the streets, he had security just for a short time and then it was gone, and he felt that it was his fault.
"Its okay, you were like one, may be. And it's not one person's fault. A lot of people had hand in destroying that place." Duo whispered back. "The rebels, the Feds and me. It's just one of those things that happen."
"But.." Maria started
"But what?" Duo asked, his voice getting stronger. "You life hasn't been to too good so far. Dekim used you. He was mean to you and your life just came crashing down. Don't start with the buts or the mights."
"What's going to happen now?" she asked in a small voice.
"What do you want?" Duo asked.
"I want to sleep. But.shouldn't.." Maria trailed off, yawning.
"Sleep. Something will come to you."
"Could you keep talking?" Maria asked, "It sounds nice, soothing."
Duo yawned himself, ready to crash. He knew that he wasn't making it back to his bed. "I'm telling you a bed time story then,"
"Okay.you'll tell me more though?"
"I promise," Duo said, "But once upon a time." his voice trailed of as he realized that Maria had fallen asleep. He thought that he should get up, but it was so comfy and he didn't want to disturb Maria, he'd just sit for a while. He fell asleep less then a minute after Maria.
Duo woke to the sound of the phone ringing. He sleepily groped for it, trying not to wake up Maria, who was half on his lap still. "Yeah?' he asked sleepily.
"Duo?" Une asked,
"Yeah, 'Neesan, what time is it?"
"About noon, you called me yesterday." Une said. Duo wasn't too coherent waking up anymore she noticed. If he ever had been.
"Everything okay?" he asked, shifting Maria onto the bed. They hadn't moved all night. And she looked adorable asleep.
"You have her?" Une asked sharply.
"Not a secure line?" Duo asked, waking up a bit more.
"No.there shouldn't be a problem, but.."
"We're together, should we move?" he asked, getting up and stretching a little. He was realizing how easy they were to trace, he even had used his real name on the credit card that was paying for this room.
"Yes. someone should be there to pick you up in twenty minutes, they'll move you to a secure location. Do you mind?"
"Just don't separate us.she's.it was nasty.not her fault." Duo asked. You do and I'm gonna book with her. She too young to be on trial and no one is just going to disappear her. I couldn't protect T-chan, I'm gonna protect his daughter.
"We can discuss that later. Twenty minutes." Une said. Duo hoped that she wasn't lying.
"Lobby.I have to check out." Duo said, stalling for time. He had to plan a couple of things.
"Okay.I'm sending a couple of Preventers."
"Recruits.young, green, no politics." he asked, they were less likely to have an agenda that he had to worry about.
"Okay. And Duo, thank you."
"Une.you're both family. You do for family." Duo said, his throat tightening. He meant it, just hoped that he didn't have to chose between Une and Maria, because Maria would win. She needed him more.
Maria opened her eyes, at the sound of the phone hanging up. "What's up?"
"We're being moved.I don't know where. Pick up down in the lobby in nineteen minutes. So shower, get dressed into what we bought yesterday, I comb out this mess and we check out."
"Sounds good.where to though?" Maria asked, in a worried tone.
"I can't even guess," Duo apologized. "it wasn't a secure line and you still might be grabbed by Pro-Treize people, if they're any around. I don't know how many people caught your little announcement. Or Dekim's people. Or another random nut besides myself,"
"You're not a nut." Maria said, grabbing her new clothes to change into after her shower. "You're a psycho."
"Thanks a lot.flattery is not getting you out of me taking care of you. If you want me too. I might be able to talk Wufei into it, but he's just gotten back with Heero, I hope. They didn't kill each other and they were also doing the PDA thing that was pissing off Mr. Jackass."
"I don't think the President's name is Jackass, Duo." Maria said amusedly. He was a nut, but harmless most of the time, yesterday with the President showed that. The shower incident, she'd worry about later. "And what's PDA?"
"Public Display of Affection. Both of them didn't do it in the past, they were so uptight. Actually there was one incident, but I'm not telling you about it because you're eight and I think I've corrupted you enough with my potty mouth and bad stories." Duo explained.
"You haven't. I can even conjugate the word fuck if you want, in three different languages. I've read Aristophanes in the original Greek. And I'm almost nine, just a couple of more days." Maria informed him, coming out of the bathroom to see Duo frantically brushing out his hair, it took a couple of minutes, but conditioner worked its usual magic and he managed to get it braided, the clothes into their pack and down into the lobby and checked out within the time allotted.
They were waiting in the lobby, when a couple of Preventers walked into the lobby. Duo eyed them for a second, before approaching them. Young and nervous, but trying to hide it. The taller of the two was scanning the area like he was looking for them, but he was still nervous. Was Une starting to chew through Preventer recruits like she had the OZ newbies? That was what got her the reputation as the most dreaded woman in OZ, not her intelligence skills. She had mellowed, but meeting Treize-sama's daughter might have put her on edge. But Duo was suspicious, why would they be nervous? It was a simple pick up them up and drive them to someplace else assignment.
"Maria, if I say run, just do it. Out the back. I'll follow if I can, but if not, get out any way that you can. Here's money for a cab, the address is printed on the note. If that looks bad, and I trust your instincts on this one, there are a couple of other places listed. You should have enough money to get to a couple of them. I learned early that cash was a kid's best friend. Most of the other addresses are Quatre's holdings in the area. Just tell them that Shinigami sent you. They should let you in. most of them are a soft touch for a kid any how. Just stay out of sight until I check these two out. I maybe crazy, but it kept me alive during the war."
"I trust you Duo." Maria said, falling back to hide behind a pillar and some fake plants.
Duo strolled out into the Lobby, pasting a big smile on his face and walking up to the Preventers, swinging the pack by his side. "Hi. I think that I'm the guy you're looking for."
"Where's the girl?"
Duo shrugged, "She might be in the bathroom. I remember my first few days on Earth, my body was a little off." Nothing friendly, just the facts, it thought Une would have people that would know me at least. Have a description.
"You let her go alone?" one of them asked.
"She's a girl. I'm a guy. That means we don't use the same facilities. And she's old enough to be by herself. And how about you know, those silly things called introductions? I'm Duo Maxwell. And you are?" Not friendlies, are you even the people that you should be? I don't trust you.
The taller one looked down his nose at Duo. Duo pegged him to be twenty at the most, so he probably hadn't really followed the war, he may have actually enjoyed his high school years. "I am Jackson and my partner's name is Gramm. We're here just for the girl, not the two of you."
Gramm nodded absently, he looked to be the older of the two. But Jackson, who was in charge, was acting like he was a terrorist again and that was not good. Okay so he looked like hell, was pegged as a pervert because he was with Maria in the first place and his hair was too long for them because they were both had theirs in a military buzz cut, while his was hanging below his ass. But he's wager that he was a better shot then either of them and had seen more action by the time he was ten then these two had seen in their entire life.
"'Friad not, my intel says the two of us for a pick up, so we'll wander over to Preventers headquarters without you two." Duo said, edging out of the way. Gramm moved to cut Duo off and Duo dodged around him and swung the pack at Jackson, screaming "Run!"
Duo hoped that this worked that it wasn't some stupid screw up on his part, like with Heero and their Gundams the first time that they had meet. But that had ended up all right, so may be this would. He kept that thought in his head as he was buying time for Maria fighting these two. He was oddly proud of the fact that he managed to keep them occupied long enough for Maria to book it. He would have done better, but it had been a while since he had done any real fighting and he was rusty. And he didn't really want to hurt either one of them. They had no compunctions though and Jackson had managed to wrestle him to the ground, while Gramm put the cuffs on him.
After that was done Gramm booked it out the back, leaving Jackson sitting on him, but returned in a couple of minutes without Maria. Duo was happy, even though his chuckles at the look on their faces earned him a boot to the ribs. He was still vaguely satisfied with himself, when they dragged him out to their patrol car and delivered him to Preventer Headquarters.
Maria ran. Duo said run and she did, he maybe insane, but he knew what he was doing it seemed most of the time. She made her way out the back, wondering how she was going to find a cab, would they take her where she wanted to go and did she really have enough money. Once she hit the street, she slowed down, running she remembered reading somewhere was a sign of guilt and people would stop you on principle. She couldn't afford that. When she was a couple of blocks away from the hotel she started to look for a cab.
She realized that she stood out in the crowd of business people and tourists. She appeared to be a lost little girl. She was a lost little girl. Her family was dead, the only person that had showed any interest in her well being was a mentally deranged teenager, that had carried on a clandestine affair with her father, a man who never even knew that she was alive. From the looks that she was getting, a lot of people didn't like the fact that she was alone. In fact one of them was approaching her now. It was an elderly woman, about her grandfather's age.
"Little girl are you lost?" she asked.
Maria waited a second before replying, translating the words into a language that she was more familiar with. The woman was speaking English. She knew that one, but was more comfortable with German. Duo had been switching between English and Japanese all night, she thought that he probably hadn't realized that he was doing that. She understood him well enough, she had often been praised for her ability to learn languages, but speaking it was another matter.
"Yes," she answered slowly, knowing that her accent was horrible. "I need a cab, please. I have been separated from my brother and he told me to get cab if happen."
"Are you sure that you lost him?" the woman persisted.
"Yes.gone a time that is long he has been." Maria said, knowing that her syntax was shot too, with her accent. But she was scared, still tired after a night's sleep and her fairy godmother want to be made her want to scream.
"I get one, do you know where you are going?"
"Note, address on note." Maria said.
"Then I can drive you there," the woman offered kindly. "It will be no trouble."
Maria shook her head, "Cab. No stranger. Brother say cab."
She was stupid enough to try and be part of a hostile takeover of the world government, but there was no way that she was stupid enough to get into a car with a total stranger, kindly old lady or not. Duo looked harmless too. She looked harmless, but was a crack shot.
"My dear, why waste the effort? And I'm not a stranger. My name is Mrs. Peele. What's your name?"
"I told to take cab!" Maria felt her control slipping and her voice cracking as she started to panic. No one was paying attention to them, so she started to slip away from the kindly but unknown Mrs. Peele. She knew that if she created a scene, they would believe Mrs. Peele just had a cranky grandchild that needed a swift crack for discipline. No one would believe her. And then she would be in trouble. She had no idea who this woman was and where she might end up, a victim of the woman's kindness. If she was dragged to the authorities she was in trouble, because technically she was an escaped prisoner.
"My dear, stop panicking."
Maria shook her head, then turned and ran, not caring what it looked like. She had to get out of this section, into someplace that wasn't a business center, where a child alone did not stick out so much. After a few minutes, she slowed down her flight and started to walk normally, hoping to find a park, a playground or something. She walked for a while, then heaved a sigh of relief when she ran across a playground. She stood watching the children play for a little while before looking to flag down a cab. She managed to have one actually stop for her after a while and handed him the carefully printed note with Une's address on it. All the addresses were on separate notes. Une's had a little smiley face on it, which cheered her up. The other notes were all wrapped around the money that she would have to use to get to them, if she had to.
But the cabbie wasn't interested in anything else, after she showed him the money. His English was worse then hers and after a couple of false starts, she found out that he spoke Russian, so switched to that she was more comfortable with that language. She chatted with him on the ride over in that language, seeing him relax as she prattled on about everything that she saw outside the window of the cab. She didn't realize that she could do that. But she charmed the cabbie and was happy to see that the apartment building that he dropped her off at, matched the address. She gave him the money, hoping that it was enough and was oddly pleased to see that she left him a good tip with all the money that Duo allotted for the trip. The cabbie had been nice.
Maria got out of the cab and was waving good bye when she felt someone calling to her from above. She was surprised to hear her name that she responded to the voice instinctively, looking up to see Relena and Une sitting on a balcony on the third floor, wondering why she was surprised when she heard Relena exclaim "Maria?!"
She turned and looked up and waved at the two of them. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called up to them "Could you let me in please?"
Relena got up to buzz her in, while Une leaned over and called. "Duo?"
Maria waved again, signaling that she would speak to them when she got up there, She was worried though. Where were they were supposed to be delivered if Une was surprised to see her? She trudged up the stairs, hoping that she wasn't walking into a trap. Relena met her at the top of the stairs and demanded "Where's Duo? What are you doing here?"
"We got separated. He didn't like the looks of the men that Une sent to escort us to where ever and he told me to run. I don't know what happened to him."
Relena took her into the apartment. Maria was amazed that she actually managed to get here in one piece. It had been scary, but she had made it. She sank into the sofa and automatically started to drink the glass that Une handed to her. She looked up at Une, amazed to see for the first time the woman that she thought had been sleeping with her father. Duo was prettier, there was no denying that, but Une had something about her that couldn't be denied. She wondered what idiot her father had been to ignore this beautiful woman. Then she saw Relena slip her arms around Une and look up at her and she realized that Treize might not have had a chance, not with the love she saw between the two of them.
"Duo took me to a hotel last night. He left you a message about that. You called him this morning and arranged for a pick up for us this morning. He didn't like the look of the Preventers and he told me to run. I did and it took me couple of hours to get here because I'm a child and no one takes me seriously. I had to run a few times."
"Then if Duo didn't meet you here, he should be at headquarters." Une said.
"Get dressed Relena. You, Maria and I get to retrive him. I wonder why I haven't gotten a phone call. Duo knows enough to mention my name to straighten things out."
"Because Duo might not be able to," Maria informed her. "He could be hurt. He fought them to give me time to run. They may be ignoring him. Or," she really didn't want to tell them this. "he might have lost it again and be in the infirmary, sedated. He said he had a flashback in the shower, I don't know what happened, but he was in the shower so long that I had to bring him out of it. I don't know how often that happened, but he said that it just started."
Relena sighed and Une shook her head. "Duo's probably all right, he might just be giving you time to get away. But he does have a problem and is most likely has 'lost' it. He doesn't seem to be able to function well around strangers."
"And Preventers are a bunch of strangers in uniforms. He must be catatonic by now because the Preventer uniform, vaguely looks like something that White Fang was wearing." Relena said tightly, eyes dark with worry. It was supposed to be a simple pick up. What went wrong? She didn't think that it was Duo's fault, he could smell trouble. If he thought that there was a problem with who they had assigned to pick them up, there probably was something wrong. And she hoped that they could collect him before something bad happened to him again.
Duo was rocking back and forth in his cell. He was still cuffed and they had taken his belt, shoes and anything else that they thought might be dangerous. As soon as he had started through the station he was slipping further into himself. It was too loud, too many people and the uniforms..
He had been pushed through the crowd and cursed at, by a lot of them. Jackson and Gramm looked like they had been in a fight and Duo was the suspect with them. He had been jostled a couple of times from edgy Preventers, angry at what had just happened with the coupe and thankful that they had something to focus that anger on. Duo had landed on his knees more then once. Jackson was not happy with him either, Duo's ribs told him that.
Gramm just shook his head and threw him into the holding cell. The kid would eventually tell them what they needed to know. They'd find the girl then and get her safely to Lady Une. He couldn't believe that the kid had tried to kidnap Lady Une's niece to blackmail her.
So now here he was and the it was just one gigantic flashback. Duo wasn't sure that he should care, they were going to flush him out the airlock ater they were done with him. The voices were overwhelming him and any moment he expected the door to open and Zechs walk in again and rape him. Or that squad of pilots, they couldn't have all died. So he just rocked and waited, if he was lucky Zechs was dead or he was dead. He could have died, they did hurt him badly. For Duo the longer that he stayed in that cell, the closer he slipped back to his torture session on the Libra in his mind.
Jackson walked in the cell, he couldn't believe that this little thing was a pilot. The finger prints finally came back, and that's what he was supposed to be. This long haired freak that was rocking back and forth, crying in his cell. How pathetic. He wasn't who the prints said he was, no pilot would act like that. It was a computer mix up with the new system. He'd beat the information out of the kid himself, it wasn't like he was anyone that someone would care about.
Duo sensed the movement and skittered further into the corner, making little whimpering noises. He was trying to hide, Zechs was back and he was going to burn him some more, hurt him and he wanted T-chan. He missed him and it was almost over and then they'd be together. In the cabin, by the lake. He was so lost in repeating this to himself, chanting his lover's name like a mantra to himself that he couldn't hear what Jackson was saying to him. But he thought that Jackson was Zechs, hiding his hair somehow to fool him and he was going to hurt him for not playing whatever sick thing he had planned.
Jackson stared down at his prisoner in disgust and a little worry. He had managed to hall the little brat out of the corner that he tried to hide in and manhandled him to the center of the room, but that's as far as he got. The brat wasn't responding to anything: talking, shouting and finally hitting him. He had a beautiful bruise along one cheek that he was going to have a hard time explaining to his superiors, but nothing was working. He was staring down at Duo in frustration when he heard the door open.
"Gramm," he said, "I told you not to bother me until I tell you. The wimp'll break and then we can save the kid, I don't have time for the kid gloves."
"Its not Gramm," informed a cool, female voice behind him. Jackson froze, trying to figure out who that was. It came to him the same time that his stomach hit his shoes and he realized that he just confessed to prisoner abuse to the head of the Preventers, Lady Une.
"And," she continued in the same cool tone, "do step back from Duo or I will be forced to hurt you."
"He's an accessory to kidnapping. That's what we were told," Jackson blurted out. Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit! She knows him. But if she knows him, why were we supposed to pick him up for kidnapping? Not that we found the kid. But he told someone to run, that probably was his accomplice. I hope, but I am just so screwed.
"I don't care. Do you lack the common sense to tell someone that your prisoner is having a psychotic episode? Or do you think that this is a good or normal thing?" sarcasm dripped off Une's tone and she was having a hard time restraining herself. Relena was upstairs with Maria, but Une was afraid to let the two of them see Duo like this. This was worse then Cologne and his nightmares.
"But.but.but." Jackson stammered too stunned to move, just staring into her furious eyes. I'm going to die. I can believe all the stories that I heard about her during the war I didn't before. If this was an airplane I would be going out the back of it.
Une lost her temper and shoved Jackson away from Duo. She was tired, frustrated and Sally had ordered her to take twelve hours off and the stupidity of these people dragged her back early. The mess that she was going to have to clean up was impressive enough already without having to piece Duo back together. She knelt down beside Duo and touched his face, disturbed to read his lips, seeing that he was calling for Treize-sama.
"Duo.its 'Neesan. Une. It's safe here. No one's going to harm you." she made her voice low and soothing, hoping that it would reach Duo. He continued to rock, ignoring her, trapped in whatever flashback he was reliving. Was it the Libra torture? An assassination attempt or one of the many battles that he had been in?
"Jackson." Une hissed at him. "Get Sally Po, now! Just her. And under no circumstances is the Vice Minster to come near here!"
Duo must of felt Jackson leave, because he was in a flash skittering back into the corner. Une crawled over to him and was relieved when Duo let her touch him and hold him while he rocked, humming an old tune at him. When Gramm and Jackson returned they were astonished to see that there tough commander was doing that to their prisoner.
"Lady Une, Dr. Po isn't available right now." Jackson said loudly.
"Get out!" she hissed at them, covering Duo's eyes with her hand. He finally calmed down, he had stop rocking back and forth and was resting in her arms. She was just trying to figure our how she was going to get him out of the station without having him start to lose it again. If he saw another uniform, he might. "Duo," she asked quietly, "do you want to leave. Go to my home?"
"I can't.I wasn't too good." Duo muttered.
"Don't worry about that, something got lost when I gave my orders. You were supposed to be delivered to a house in the country. I wish that Sally was here, she could give you something." Une said worriedly, she could not deal with a hysterical Duo.
"She's probably off yelling at Wufei for being an idiot." Duo whispered back. "And I don't like drugs."
"Considering some of the things that you did without the influence drugs.I can understand that." Une said wryly. "Just trust me. I'm going to walk you out the back, we'll get in the car and take you to my place. Maria's with us, me and Relena. We'll talk about what's going to happen to her."
"She's not going to get hurt, She's a kid. She was used!" Duo said vehemently, He was tired and disoriented, but he'd fight to save Maria. "Don't make me chose between the two of you. I'll book and you'll never find us again. Do you want that?"
Jackson was startled to hear his prisoner talk back to Lady Une like that.
"I was going to talk to the World President first, but this hasn't given be the breathing space to do that. You're in no condition to run, not with a child."
Duo snorted, "Maria's not that young, she's had to grow up. I don't know what she wants but I told her that I'd take care of her if she wants me to. And she does have other options. But let's discuss this someplace else besides the floor of a holding cell. I must be killing your legs."
Une laughed sadly at Duo's attempt to comfort her, "Duo I don't think that you weigh more then you did when we meet in Cologne. But Relena and Maria are upstairs, we'll meet them out at the car and leave. Maria mentioned that you had a flashback in the shower. Has that been happening often?"
Duo shook his head. "Started a when I crawled into Shinigami. It was a lot of things.but I was not too grounded in reality by the time that we were heading out to L3. I saw things while I was looking for Relena, people that I killed. Friends that had died. It was a little like a cross between an acid trip and a search and rescue. I wasn't too sure what was reality. Not that I had too good a grasp on it before."
"Duo."
"Lets get out of here. Get Maria settled and then worry about me. I can wait," Duo said firmly, ignoring Une's worry.
"Damn it Duo.!" Une started, again. He was not brushing this off!
"What?" he asked tiredly. "It's okay. You're trying to take care of me, don't worry, he couldn't either. Never let him do as much as he wanted." Neither one of us would let the other help him with his penance. I never really had the things that you take for granted. I never had anyone that cared, anyone that would help.I'm not used to it.
"Jackson give me the keys to the 'cuffs and get out of here, If anyone, I don't care who, has a problem with that, they can talk to me about it." Une said coldly.
"One question before you book screaming," Duo said, "Who gave you the orders, 'cause this has been a major snafu, unless you actually happen to be a Barton supporter?"
"I was under the impression that it was a general order, no one that I knew" Jackson replied stiffly, absurbedly disturbed that Duo was looking at him with his eyes closed, while Une was getting the handcuffs off of him. And that he wanted to run away from his superior officer.
"Hey no harm, really." Duo said mildly.
"Duo!" Une scolded him, finding him huddled in the middle of the floor was not no 'harm'.
"Hey.I fought back what he thought was an resisting arrest thing. I'm not happy that he wapped me one, because it hurts a lot and I managed to get through a battle without a scratch and then he hits me. But I think I scared him more then he hurt me so, we're even. And I'm mellow, now. Not like it didn't happen before and stop making' those faces at me 'Neesan, because I know you're doin' it, even though I have my eyes closed because I am so not wanting to repeat what just happened."
"Duo!"
" 'Neesan! Can we just get out of here, please" Duo added in a soft tone, rubbing his wrists. "It's a lot worse then you want to know, but I want out."
"We'll get out," Une said quietly, "Just take my hand and I'll lead you."
"Thank you." Duo said, giving her a small hug, "If this can be kept quiet, I 'd like that. Don't want to mar an almost spotless record."
"And those times that OZ captured you?" Une asked lightly.
"I was a POW then, not a criminal," Duo said firmly, "So's off my record."
Une chuckled, more because she knew that he wanted her to, rather then a mirth that she felt with the joke.
Maria and Relena were waiting upstairs wondering why there was a couple of Preventers that were running around looking like they had just seen their worst nightmare. Tension was high in the station, she noticed that, but what had scared them?
"Duo" Maria observed quietly. "If he was doing the same thing that he had done last night, it was scary."
"What was he doing?" Relena asked.
"He was rocking back and forth, talking to himself. I was so scared to see him like that." Maria said, holding her breath when she admitted that she was scared.
"I bet." Relena replied. "Duo.he was always so hyper and cheerful, up until I think the second Fall of the Sank Kingdom. Then, the next time I saw him for more then getting me off the Libra was about a year later. He was so sad."
"I can't believe that. He's missing something inside him. What did T-chan see in him?"
Relena smiled down at Maria, she had been talking to Duo if she was calling her father T-chan. "As I said, Duo was happy and cheerful. He warmed him some how. Relaxed him. Even when I was doing my best to get killed by Heero, he was nice to me, in an offhanded way. Not that I let any of them that close, my own mask might have cracked."
"He said that he would take care of me." Maria said suddenly. "Will he?"
"Duo said that he would take care of you, he will. That might get something back into him. he likes kids." Relena said. "But.it would have to be around here. He does have access to a small estate here in the Sank Kingdom. It hasn't been used in a while, it needs some repairs, but it's nice I was told."
Maria thought for a moment. "But he mentioned that he was a minor. That he might have trouble."
"Quite frankly, he will have trouble. This incident shows that. But, would you mind if Une and I also lived there? The palace gives me the willies, I'm having it converted into a museum." Relena said.
"You thought about this." Maria said quietly.
"Une and I discussed it last night. She would be very willing to have you live with us. Une still will be working, as will I, but I have a few servants that would be there. And Duo most likely will be thrilled to have us living there with you two. He'll have a whole lot of people to cook for.
Duo adores cooking for people. He did that a lot for your father and Une. No visit was complete without him making something for them to eat, if there were the facilities for it."
"Oh.' Maria said, wondering why all these strangers were willing to be nice to her, nicer then her family had been.
Relena was about to say more when a Preventer officer respectfully nodded to her and said softly, "Lady Une will meet you at the car with the prisoner. If you will fallow me, I can escort you out."
Relena sighed. "That bad."
"Ah.yes," the officer said. "I was one of the arresting officers, my name is Gramm and I apologize about this."
"I'm not the one that is hurt here." Relena reminded him quietly, "Duo is. "
"He accepted my apologizes for the.snafu. as he put it."
"He would," Relena muttered, relieved when she saw Duo sitting in the car. He was sitting in the backseat, head resting against the window, staring at nothing.
"Lets get out of here,' Duo said tiredly as Relena and Maria got into the car.
"Duo." Maria said quietly, "Relena and I discussed it, you and I can live here with them, in the Sank Kingdom, on an estate that is here."
"Okay," Duo said numbly. He was tired, wanted a shower and to sleep, without dreams. He'd go along with anything that had been decided. Heero had been right, he should get out of the woods. He'd move in here. Get some help and maybe he's start to heal.
"And Duo," Relena added softly, "Quatre got in touch with us earlier. He will take Shinigami back to L4, with the rest of the Gundams, if you want. They're being stored there in case they are needed."
Duo nodded. "He's probably lonely.be good to be with the others for him."
Maria reached over and put her hand on top of his and gently squeezed it.
"It will be good that we're with people, you'll see."
End Part 11
Christine
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