Part Seventeen : The Escape
Treize lay there dazed. He was barely aware of what was going on
outside his own body. All he knew that if felt good and it hurt and
that he couldn't stand it any more. He was barely aware Kid's slender
weight on top of him, that he was crying registered vaguely. Howard
coming into the room was a blur, his reaction to the whole discussion,
the bits that he understood, the result was just an overwhelming
thankfulness that it would soon stop, that he could rest, that it
would be over soon. Before he started to beg, to scream. He just
whimpered in relief when Miri came over to him, dressed and a bag
packed and then took that damned thing out of him.
"You are a mess my love," Miri noted in an amused tone. Treize just looked at him with glazed eyes and nodded. Miri leaned down and kissed him brutally, bruising his lips. "I'll be back in a few days…and then we shall see."
Treize nodded again, not sure if he could speak. Miri sighed and unlocked him. "I do this because I love you." he said softly.
"I love you too Miri," Treize whispered softly. He did, even if Miri did these things to him, he still loved him. But…now he needed to know more, needed to know things that Miri wasn't going to tell him. Kid might though, he knew something. Treize watched as Mirialdo walked out the door, before turning over and falling asleep. He was so tired.
Treize woke up late the next day and took a shower. He then staggered back to bed and fell asleep again, still wiped out from the night before. After another night's sleep he felt almost human and ready to tackle the small challenge that he set for himself. He thought that he could wait, and leave with Kid and Howard, but while he was sleeping, he decided that Kid and himself leaving together, before the other two got back was a better idea. He realized that Kid might not be here voluntarily from the bits conversation that he thought he heard between Miri and Howard. You usually didn't have to drug people to make them stay put if they were here of their own free will. And how did Kid and Miri know each other? How did Kid and Howard know each other, they seemed to have a history that went back a few years, not a few weeks, from the tension that he was getting off the three of them.
Treize got up and ate breakfast, noticing for the first time how he was watched by the cook. Or maybe Miri hadn't bothered before, he hadn't felt threatened enough. But how did Miri and Howard know each other? They never said how they meet, and Treize never bothered to ask, knowing that Howard's business dealings were a bit on the shady side. He was finishing off his coffee, when he realized that the cook was talking to him, asking about lunch. Treize murmured something, mentally revising his plan. He'd get Kid out after lunch, it would leave a wider time for them to escape in. Not that he had given the plan much thought, he had no idea what to do after he got Kid awake. He had no where to go, hopefully Kid would have a plan. He spent the rest of the morning puttering around in the garden, regretting that he wouldn't be able to come back to this soon, if ever. He was afraid that once he walked away from Miri, he wouldn't be able to come back. Or might not want to come back. He did love him, but he was beginning not to like the little games that he played, the tests that Miri liked to do to him. He was sick of being hurt. Being used by his lover.
He was frightened at the thought of leaving Miri, leaving this place for the unknown. What he might be getting into could be worse then here and Miri's sick games. He was a wanted criminal, he thought. Or was that another lie that his lover might have told him? Was there ever a war? Or did something else happen, did Miri go too far one day with his sick games and he lost his memory because of that? And could Kid help him? He seemed as much a victim as he was, but…Kid knew him. And he most likely had a lot of answers to his questions.
Treize ate lunch and retired to the library. He wrote a note to Miri, explaining why he was doing this, even though it didn't sound too coherent. He sealed it in an envelope and hoped that Miri would understand, God knows he didn't himself. Treize quietly crept upstairs, trying to figure out which room Kid was in. He had checked out the room that Howard usually stayed in and it was empty. He went through a few more of them, until he found where Kid was staying. The door was locked, but Treize managed to find the key for it in Howard's room when he went back to search it, and went in.
Kid was lying on his stomach, asleep. An IV Drip was running into his arm, and Treize was surprised to see that Kid was sleeping with his shirt. The bag looked like it was full, so Treize thought that no one would be checking on Kid for a while, they had plenty of time. He walked over to the bed and carefully started to unhook the IV. He had no idea how long it would take Kid to wake up, so after he did that, he searched the room for some clothes. He only found the outfit that he had been wearing that night and nothing else. The top was ruined, there was blood and semen on it, but the pants seemed to be in good shape. No shoes either, hopefully he didn't mind barefoot, or they were in trouble.
After a few minutes Kid stirred and lifted his head, confused. "Howard? Doesn't seem like a week, but it didn't last time, if you were telling me the truth." The voice was sleepy and confused sounding and Treize got another one of those déjà vu feelings that he should know him.
Treize stepped into his line of sight, and stooped down to talk to him. "Kid, Howard's not back yet. It's only been about a day, day and a half. I just woke you up to ask you a question. You want to get out of here?"
Duo looked at T-chan and blinked sleepily. Must be a dream, but he'd play along, reality sucked still. But his dreams were never this nice, so it could be true. T-chan didn't talk to him in his dreams. "Thought you liked it here?" he asked.
"I do, but…I want to know if Miri's telling me the truth about how things were." Treize said quietly. He wondered why he thought he recognized Kid blinking at his sleepily, looking like a lost kitten. He didn't know the boy, but why was he getting these flashes of familiarity? If he knew him, why didn't he ever see him in his dreams, like the others?
"It's getting to you?" Duo asked softly, waking up more, fighting the drugs. Mentioning Mirialdo Peacecraft usually got his adrenal glands going, "The weirdness…the other stuff. Howard mentioned it to me…after."
"A little. I just want to know why he does what he does." Treize said, looking into Duo's eyes. You look so angry. Why? Why do you care what is happening here?
"Do you have a plan?" Duo asked, thinking that this was too good to be true. This was a dream, nothing would go this good for him.
"No. I was hoping that you would." Treize admitted, fiddling with sheets. "I know where we are, but other then that…"
"You have no place to go. And if you are taking me out…Howard won't help you." Duo stated flatly. "So you you're hoping that I have someplace to go and can get there. And if I don't?"
"Then I don't know, keep you here until Howard and Miri come back and hope that I can leave with you and Howard." I doubt it though…Miri doesn't let me out of his sight after he comes back, he doesn't think that I'll stay…and now his oddness has driven me away when I was very content just to be here for him.
"And that I don't mention this offer." Duo smiled at him. "I have someplace to go. Just have to know where the hell we are, I know it's not on a colony, doesn't feel right. Besides, even Howard would have trouble getting someone off Earth, now."
"What do you mean now?" Treize asked.
"I'll explain it later," Duo said, "Right now, clothes?"
"All I found was what you wore that night." Treize said. "The top's ruined…" his voice trailed off as Duo sat up and grimaced at the pain.
"I'll search Howard's room, see if the clothes that I was wearing in there. But I woke up naked a couple of times, so he might have tossed them." Duo said, putting on the shirt that he had in his hand, he felt very uncomfortable naked. Treize smiled, it did look ridiculous on him, far too big, but helped Kid out of bed. Why was he sleeping with his shirt? "Then we find a public phone around here and I make a call and we might have someplace to run to."
"And if we can't?" Treize asked.
"Then we figure something out. I can't plan in a vacuum. Where the hell are we?" Duo asked, resisting the urge just to crawl back to bed and cuddle with T-chan. It wouldn't do any good. He loved Mirialdo, even if the guy was working him over. Duo wanted just to go back to sleep right now, Howard was pumping him full of some really good stuff. It was slowing him down a lot.
"Northern England. The closest public phone…I don't know. But there is a village a couple of kilometers away, I just haven't been to it before now." I was afraid too…that I might actually like it out there, so I never left. I understood that I was in a cage after a while, so I just ignored it and made myself comfortable. Stupid, but oh so safe. And the known is always better then the unknown, and there were too many unknowns in my own mind to see what else was there out there.
"Okay, Howard's room, hope that he has money, because I don't and I know that you probably don't either." Duo said. Stumbling towards the door, things just weren't really coordinating, the drugs were still screwing him up. Treize helped him out the door, and led him down the corridor, praying that they wouldn't meet anyone. He heaved a sigh of relief when they got there, unseen.
"You're nervous," Duo observed as he hurriedly searched Howard's room. He found a pair of pants that might fit him and some money, but nothing of his. He cursed and shrugged. Not like there was anything to find. He had run out of that hotel with no ID or anything. So unless he could get in contact with Quatre and have him take them to one of his estates, they were screwed.
"I just realized how watched I was around this place when Miri was gone." Treize said. "I told the cook that I'd be taking a walk until supper. I usually do that, so they won't look for me until then."
"Hope that I can arrange pick up or we're gonna have to hide someplace. I look like hell and neither one of us have ID. Getting arrested wouldn't be bad, but it would drag people in that I would like to leave out of this until I can cover where we went, because I don't want them hurt." Duo said, hurriedly putting on the pants and pocketing what money he found. I get in contact with Une and he finds out…too many innocents get hurt, Relena, your daughter…anyone else that might get caught in the crossfire. If I hit Quatre's place, I know that almost everyone there can take care of themselves, if it gets messy.
He grimaced at the pain in his back and knew that sitting down comfortably was going to be a challenge. A couple klicks of walking wasn't going to help things. He grabbed Howard's shoes, and couple of pairs of socks, the shoes were too big and he would only wear them when they hit town, or he'd have blisters after a couple of feet of walking.
"Let's go," he announced, wondering if he could make it. Or if this was another trip and he was just dreaming this. That T-chan was going to melt into one of the guys he killed or the kids from the gang and try and kill him, it had happened a few times before. They crept out of the house and were across the moors before Duo started to breathe easier. They slowly made their way into town, Duo fretted at the pace, but he couldn't go any faster. He was just happy that nothing tore open. Blood would be a definite tip off too the civies.
They made it to the pub, Duo telling Treize to grab a corner booth, while he headed for the public phones. He fiddled with it, glad that he was able to convince the blasted thing that he had fed it a card. Some skills you never forget, he smirked to himself. As he closed the door, he shivered. This had gone too easy. As he punched in the number, he hoped that he got Quatre or Trowa. And that they would help him. He snorted softly, Quatre would help him no matter what, he felt that he owed him for not helping him earlier. He fiddled with one of the bracelets as he heard the soft clicks that announce the call had been connected and someone picked up. As Quatre's image came on the scream, Duo smiled in relief.
"Quatre. This is going to be fast I don't know how long the line is going to last. I'm in a little place in Northern England, small town called Sheepshead. Could you pick me up. I have someone with me…neither one of us has ID. I'd like it not to be traced. I'll explain later, I know that 'Neesan is frantic. Just send a car, a boat, something." Duo said in rush.
"Duo…where have you been! We've looked everywhere after you disappeared. I thought that…" Quatre said.
"I'll explain later…it's bad and good. We're going to be at the pub, in the middle of town." Duo interrupted him.
"Rashid can be there within a couple of hours. Just stay where you are." Quatre said.
"Okay…and thanks. I…" Duo took a deep breath. "How long have I been gone?"
"A couple of weeks…Heero and Wufei…" Quatre blushed. "They are sorry."
"I know…I freaked. I got to go, but don't tell 'Neesan." Duo said. "I'll tell her later." With that he cut off the line, worried about pushing his luck. He wandered back to where Treize was, glad that they were about the only two people in the pub. He slid into the booth, tired from the walk there. It hurt to sit, but he could live with that.
"My contact says that it'll be couple of hours. And I'm not telling you who in case we get caught. You can't tell what you don't know." Duo said firmly.
Treize frowned and shook his head. "You thing that I'd tell Miri that?"
"Not voluntarily." Duo said softly, glad that the booth hid them. They might not trace them to here. Duo was hoping that they thought that they headed back to London. Howard said, he thought it was really fuzzy right now, that they couldn't find him, that they had been looking for a while. He hoped that it was true and Howard wasn't messing with him or being messed with by his people.
He was silent as the barmaid came over and asked them their order. Treize order the house special for both of them with a beer for Treize and a cider for Duo. He was just glad that the barmaid wasn't giving him a hard time about his age. Maybe the darkness was a good thing. It did hide the bruises on his face.
"Mirialdo," Duo continued after they placed their orders, "Is ruthless and crazy. Take my word about it. And I don't want innocent bystanders involved, so I'm not telling you anything that you can hurt someone with. If there's a problem I want it to be mine. And before you protest, just think about the times that he stepped over the line…." He told me that you put up with the pain just so that he would love you. God we both are just so pathetic, if that's true. But I believe it, its so scary to be alone, without resources, that you grab onto anything, good or bad.
"I understand." Treize said quietly, "So what do you want to talk about until we get picked up?"
"Your garden," Duo said. "I want to hear about that. And how you've been and what you've read."
Treize was surprised at the request, but started to describe the troubles that he had with his roses, the books he read. The little things that made up his life. He didn't mention Miri. Duo talked about books he had read and mentioned that he had a garden one year, a vegetable one. They chatted for a couple of hours, Duo keeping an eye on the door, and Treize keeping the management happy, by ordering more beer. Duo switched to coffee and Treize was amazed at the amount of coffee that he drank. Duo didn't dare tell him that it was the only thing that was keeping him awake.
He let Treize continue to call him Kid, if they got caught, he wanted Treize to be as protected as possible. He still didn't remember him and Duo wanted to keep it that way. He caught sight of Rashid as the big man started to wander into the pub, Duo shook his head and Rashid backed out of the doorway. Duo nodded to Treize and signaled that it was time to go. He paid the bill and walked out, getting to Rashid a second before Treize had.
"Don't say anything, not even my name." he hissed. "I'll explain later. Right now we're just going to get out of here." Rashid nodded, his eye widening as he saw who Duo was with. Duo just shook his head and Rashid escorted to the car that was waiting.
"Master Quatre wants you to go to the compound in the Siberian sector. It's isolated. He will meet you there with the others." Rashid finished. Duo nodded and relaxed, curling up on his side in the back of the car. He let Treize take the front seat.
"It's just a little uncomfortable to sit now," Duo explained. "I got into something I couldn't handle, but that is normal." he smiled ruefully at Rashid.
During the war, Rashid had been his favorite shadow, during his night time wanderings when he was at one of Quatre's place for a refueling. Rashid shook his head and put the car in gear. Duo would explain to Master Quatre why he showed up after being missing for nearly three weeks with his allegedly dead lover. He had never meet Treize Khushrendra, but he was pretty sure that this man was him, even if he looked different. He had seen enough pictures. Duo dozed most of the drive, the one drink that he had mixing with the drugs that were still in his system, making him sleepy. The coffee long ago was only keeping him awake because he had to run to the bathroom a lot with the amount that he had been drinking. He looked up blearily when the car stopped in front of a plane.
"This is one of Master Quatre's cargo planes. It is making a scheduled run from here to Siberia. We managed to clear out a small section for you. It won't be comfortable as a regular flight, but no one will figure out where you have gone. There are also several other planes going other places." Rashid said.
Duo nodded sleepily, surprised when T-chan scooped him up in his arms. He protested, incoherently, causing him to laugh. "You are asleep on your feet. I'll carry you up, and you can sleep the rest of the trip. I'm just wondering how you managed to stay awake in the pub."
"Car rides make me sleepy." Duo protested. "And the not having anything to do, with the alcohol and the drugs doesn't help. Sorry that I'm rotten company. And the coffee kept me awake, but it was a losing proposition after a while."
"And I thought it was the way that I went on about the joys of mulching, that had put you to sleep." Treize teased him.
"Mulching is important. I lived with a bunch of farmers once…they thought it was important. I don't think that the garden would have survived without that. It was pretty…the cabin and the lake… never got around to flowers." Duo murmured, glad that his back was still a bit numbish from the salve, it hurt, but it a distant thing and worth the joy of T-chan carrying him, even if he didn't remember who he was.
Treize carried him into the plane, surprised at the amount of space that had been cleared for them. He put Duo down and strapped him in, surprised that Rashid was joining them. His face must have shown it, because the larger man laughed. "Master Quatre said to escort you all the way and I will."
"This Master Quatre sounds like he wields a lot of power over you." Treize said.
Rashid laughed again. "He doesn't really, but I owe him a debt that can't be repaid from the war. And he asks for so little. There were times during the war…but enough. Let us strap in and in a few hours we'll be in Siberia."
"Does Master Quatre have a doctor on staff…Kid needs it, it got a little rough in there."
"Kid?" Rashid said, puzzled.
"I know that's not his real name. He never told me it, that's one of the things that he was called. The others…shouldn't be used in polite company." Treize said, wondering why Rashid thought that he should know Kid's real name.
"There will be someone there that can take care of him." Rashid said, wondering if he should mention that the someone was the man that allegedly had killed him. That wouldn't be good. Duo knew something about what was going on, but he wasn't telling him now, he really couldn't in front of Treize, even if he was awake.
The rest of the flight passed peacefully, Duo whimpered in his sleep once or twice, but Treize would whisper something to him and it would stop. Rashid smiled at his actions, he may not know Duo, but he was willing to be kind to him. He didn't say anything when Duo moved around to end up with his head on Treize's lap.
"He doesn't sleep well, none of them really do, but he is the worst," Rashid said after Treize looked at him in concern the first time Duos started to whimper.
"None of them?" Treize asked.
"The others that he worked with during the war." Rashid informed him.
"The war, there actually was a war, has been over for almost two years, he's too young to have been in it." Treize said, shaken. He remembered the conversation that he had had with Miri once, how the war had been fought by children, but Kid was too young even for that.
"How old do you believe him to be?" Rashid asked.
"Fourteen at the most, a little younger then that." Treize said, pushing Duo's bangs off his face. They sounded like they were ready to land, he should wake him up, but he did look so peaceful.
"He'll be seventeen or eighteen his next birthday." Rashid informed him, "He was fighting younger then that, they all were."
"Why? Why children?" Treize was confused. Children, always children that suffered. Not that he remembered, but there had been those dreams….
"Because for some that was all they knew, " Rashid said, thinking of Heero and Trowa. "For others, like Master Quatre and Wufei, it was a matter of honor, or for him, a sacrifice so someone else didn't have to fight."
Duo woke up then and shook his head, "I was having the strangest dream T-chan…" he murmured. He shut up after that when he realized that Treize was looking at him blankly. He smiled weakly and sat up hissing a little at the pain.
"Kid, take it easy. Rashid said that there should be a doctor to take care of you."
"Don't want one." Duo muttered. "Never had one before."
"Don't tell me that you didn't see a doctor about…." Treize let his voice trail off at Duo's glare.
"No. I didn't. I slept a lot. Took a lot of pain killers and that was it. After awhile, I just stopped the pain killers." Duo said firmly, dismissing his concerns. I was still trying to figure out whether I wanted to live without you. I didn't care enough. I was hiding. I might still go back there now if it wasn't for the fact that I more afraid of having Mirialdo find me again then I am of depending on Quatre for help.
Treize looked down at Kid and shook his head. Tough, he was tough and sad and needed someone to help him, even if he didn't want it.
"You know, I don't even know your name. I know its not Kid, Rashid hinted that it was something else, could you tell me it?"
"Duo." Duo said quietly, looking out the window. It looked cold out there. Matched what he felt inside. He hoped that Howard and Mirialdo never figured out where they went.
End Part 17
Christine
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