23-Jul-2000
Sorry to make you guys wait so long but this was not working for me.
Then I started a bunch of other weird fics, worked on a couple of more series and hit ShoujoCon. Great weekend!!!!
Am busily working on Une.Treize and Relena's little talk. Now if they'd coooperate, things would work out.
Disclaimers : I'll get the legal stuff out of the way. Gundam Wing property of Bandai, Sunrise and a host of other people I probably don't know about. Used for entertainment purposes and because the voices in my head tell me to write this stuff. Scary thought, eh? Not for profit.
Characters acting OCC, but in an Alternative Universe you should expect that.
#.# Thoughts/Thinking
%.% Arguments
Une was nervous, flying out to Siberia, in one of Winner Enterprise's private planes. It had been a while, since she had been to Russia. The last time had been when she had been leaving for space to a wait Treize-sama's return to power. Now she was flying out to see how Duo was after he had disappeared for the last few weeks.
Trowa hadn't said much, just asked her to come out to Siberia and bring Maria and Relena. Rashid would pick them up and he'd explain everything to her and Relena when he saw them, but for now he was all right. Une thought that he wasn't telling her the entire truth, but she could live with that. Duo was back. Trowa would have said if there was trouble, so his disappearance for the last few weeks, while being bad, had turned out mostly all right. He was alive.
She sighed and looked at Relena who was staring out the window. "I wonder what happened to Duo?"
"Nothing good." Was Relena's sad reply. "Duo bolted in the middle of the night, but they won't say why he did. If it was his nightmare or something else, just that they had let him down. He was gone for weeks, no one could find him. And then Trowa just calls from Siberia, asking us to come and see him. It isn't going to be good." #Why did he go to Quatre, why not just come home?#
Maria was dozing, with Rashid hovering over her, like a nursemaid. He hadn't really answered any of their questions, just quietly informed them that Duo was fine and that he had to talk to them, in person. Rashid then ignored the other two to spoil her. All the Maguanacs that were on the plane were more interested in Maria then Une or Relena. Duo had mentioned once that they loved kids, that they could never get enough of them at times. Maria stretched and woke up, smiling up at Rashid, but her tone was worried. "Is Duo okay?"
"He seems to be fine, but Duo was always good at hiding his feelings, I learned that when I first met him, at the beginning of the war. It was just for a short time in the desert." Rashid said sadly.
He had liked Duo the first time that he met him, in the desert. Even though they had just suffered the worst defeat of the war, he had been cheerful. The Duo that he saw after that, wasn't that cheerful.
The shadows had settled in his eyes, even though he had tried to hide it from the others. Quatre had never noticed, caught up in his own worries. When Rashid has found out why Duo had those shadows, it hurt him. They were only children, they shouldn't have had to function that much in the adult world. They had already traded their innocence to protect the colonies, they shouldn't have had to do more.
"He never mentions the war," Maria said, "Could you tell me about that. He was happy… right? I've never seen him happy, really." #Terrified out of his mind from a nightmare or a flashback, strung out from whatever medication that Mina the nut had him on and deadly serious, but never really cheerful and carefree. I don't know if I ever saw him happy, like the rest of you knew him. I'd like to though, he should be happy, he's a nice person. If he wasn't he wouldn't have tried to have stopped me instead of just killing me. And he wouldn't have helped me afterwards.#
Rashid hesitated, there were reasons why Duo didn't talk about the war. Not just the battles he had been in, but that assassinations that he had done, the way that he had been treated by those damned scientists. That, no one should have to hear about. But Maria was not a child, she had a right to hear about some of it. And he would only tell her about the good times. Such as they were. For a lot of people they hadn't been good, but compared to the rest of Duo's life, it wasn't bad. Bloody, but not bad.
"We had just been defeated at New Edwards and Master Quatre and the rest of us were hiding at the edge of the desert. We were waiting for a sand storm to cover our movements from OZ. Not that they were really paying too much attention to us, they were too busy trying to consolidate the power that your father had just seized." Rashid started.
Maria made a grimace at that, not comfortable with that part of the story. She had a hard time accepting some of the things that her father had done, with the stories that Duo told about him. Rashid smiled down at her, then grabbed her to sit on his lab. "If I'm telling a story, you should be on my lap. It's traditional."
Maria giggled. She liked Rashid, the entire trip he was treating like a child and she loved it. He hadn't forgotten her part in the Barton Rebellion, but he forgave her for it, she thought. "You do this a lot?" she asked him, momentarily getting sidetracked.
"A lot. " Rashid answered, tickling her a little, wanting her to giggle again. She obliged him with a few giggles before settling down for the story. "Quatre has endless amounts of nieces and nephews, and we play with them a lot. I'm just disappointed that he and Trowa don't seem to be interested in children."
"Good God Rashid, they're only eighteen, let them have a little fun in their lives before you have them tied down with children." Une exclaimed. "They had to be adults for far too long, not to long ago. Let them have some time when they don't have to worry about anything else but themselves."
Rashid smiled at her, "And when are you thinking about having a few of your own? You've obviously done an excellent job with Maria, a few more would be good."
Une sighed and counted to ten. She had forgotten how traditional Rashid was. He had been momentarily nonplussed over the fact that she was in charge of the Earth's defense, he still thought that women should be in the support roles, rather then the front lines. And he thought that Quatre should have been in charge, as politically stupid as that would have been.
When she thought that she could talk to him without screaming, she said, "That is mostly Duo's work. He took care of Maria the most, Relena and I were too busy working." #So there you traditionalist! I had my fill of your kind at the Academy and with the Romafellers, who thought that women should not wield as much power as I did openly. The exception to that was Relena, but then they thought she was nothing more then a figurehead for them anyway. A doll to be fought over by the political factions that were prevalent among them.#
"Ah." Rashid said calmly, unaware as to how close to a slow painful death he was. "It is as Allah wills it. But I still think that any children that the two of you have will be outstanding."
"What about Duo, when you first met him?" Maria asked, trying to bring Rashid's attention back to the story. She did want to hear the story and she wouldn't if Une shot Rashid for acting like he was her older brother or father. That someone was telling Une that she should settle down and have babies was fascinating. Rashid must be either insane or fearless, but he was living with Heero, so it could be both. She'd have that carved on his tombstone if Une killed him, but Une was trying to be nice about Rashid's assumptions. And who did he think that was going to be the other parent to her children? Duo? Relena? Or did he think that Relena should have children too? Maria had a very scary mental image of a very pregnant Relena and an equally pregnant Une being fussed over by Duo. She mentally shuddered and vowed never to go there again.
"He agreed to come with us, to a safe place that we were going to. It was a small secured village in the middle of the desert. We often hid there. We had a huge underground bunker that were could store the Gundams and the mobile suits. We all went there, and the techs started repairs on Sandrock and Shinigami. While they were doing that the rest of the village threw us a party. Duo and Quatre joined us later after they had talked for about an hour. They had just met each other really, aside from the battles that they were in. They found out that while their goals in the war were the same, their controllers really weren't."
"I don't think that Quatre's controller would have treated like they did Duo." Relena said.
"He did." Une said quietly, "Quatre was the next one that they sent in to warm Treize-sama's bed."
"Master Quatre never mentioned that to us." Rashid said stiffly.
Une laughed. "What was there to mention? He sneaked in, embarrassed the entire time, his face was bright red. Had a drink and then barely escaped ahead of the Romafeller troops that were there to arrest Treize-sama. And the most danger he was in was from the fact that he might have tripped in the corridor I was leading him down and scrapped his toe. Treize wouldn't have touched him if he was the last person on Earth. Quatre was much too young for his tastes."
"But to think that Quatre would do such a thing…" Rashid sounded outraged. #Too young? Or too guileless? Duo hid himself behind masks and illusions. You were the same way, you gave the outward illusion of a fanatic that was willing to do anything to have the man's dreams come true, but you also had your own agenda. A puzzle attracted Treize more then beauty or power did. And Duo is a puzzle.#
"Duo did." Relena said sharply, "And I think it was more for the personalities involved, then they thought that Quatre was that kind of a person. But I don't think that they thought much beyond their own needs and wants." #Think about it, they were both the most outgoing of the bunch of them, it made sense to send them in to do that, aside from the fact that Duo had the most experience at sneaking about.#
"I didn't know that was what Duo was doing at the time, but it showed. We, the Maguanacs knew that he wasn't as happy as he pretended to be, but it wasn't our place to question him, even though we let him know that he was welcome with us, if he felt uncomfortable with the others, since they had all gotten together by then." Abdul said, coming up behind Rashid. He added "And we should be landing within a few minutes, so its time that you buckled in."
They all moved to buckle themselves in and Une was starting to feel restless. She wanted to know what had happened to Duo to make him run like that. And where would he have been for the last few weeks. Une was surprise to hear in the back of her mind long forgotten prays to a God she stopped believing in, in hope that Duo was fine, that he hadn't been hurt by this last bit of trouble that life had thrown at him.
Relena leaned over and caught her hand, "He's talking to us and he looks fine, whatever happened we can help with. He has a family in us."
Une nodded slowly, "I'm worried though, there are too many unanswered questions about what happened."
"We'll get the answers soon." Relena comforted her, "we may not like them, but we will get them." #If I have to hang Heero and Wufei by their thumbs to get them I will, because Duo is too important to me to not get those answers. I think I know what they tried, and if it wasn't what set him off I would have thanked them.#
Duo met them at the door of the Winner holding. He was pale. But other wise looked fine. Une gave him a hug, trying to ignore the slight flinch that he made. She had thought he had gotten beyond that the last few months.
"Une, Relena, you better sit down. I got some news for you." Duo said softly, leading her inside and into a room. Relena followed them, not really noticing that Rashid had drawn Maria aside and was taking her some place else. Une went without an argument, knowing that Duo wouldn't have acted the way he did without a cause. As he settled the two of them down on a couch he started pacing in front of them.
Relena and Une looked at each other seriously before focusing their attention on Duo. This was…unusual, he looked better, his eyes were serene, but he was scared also.
Duo for his part was terrified. He didn't want to tell Relena what he had found out, that was the bad part. And for her, the good part would not be outweighed by the fact that he had found T-chan again. She had been hurt by so many people in her life that had claimed to love her and should have protected her and all that they did was use her. And her was going to hurt her some more, just like everyone else did. It was really pitiful that before Une the best relationship she had had in her life was with her chauffeur Pargon. Her foster mother had been useless, her foster father abusive and her so called friends at school were mindless followers that she didn't know where any of them were two years after she had left school.
"Relena, I got really odd news…" Duo started, stopping his pacing long enough to stand in front of her. Looking into her eyes he took a deep breath and announced. "Mirialdo is alive."
He waited for her reaction and wasn't surprised to see that just closed her eyes and shuddered. "I thought so. I knew that it was him that you saw. Did he have you for the last few weeks?"
Duo shook his head and continued to wander around the room. "Sorry about this," he apologized. "Iria gave me some stuff, but it makes me hyper, which is really strange because its supposed to be some sort of pain killer that is supposed to make you sleepy. I was sleepy for a while and now I'm just hyper."
"Why would you need a pain killer?" Une asked, while slowly stroking Relena's back to comfort her. Relena would do her crying in private, like she usually did. But the news wasn't really that much of a surprise to her, not with what Duo had told them the night he disappeared.
"Because me, Mirialdo and pain are things that always go together, when we meet." Duo replied. "But it wasn't all Mirialdo. Howard, he was one of the guys that used to work with G." Duo stopped for a second and started to fidget with one of his earrings. "This is weird and really bizarre for me. So just don't ask any questions until I finish and I'll tell you what…I remember." Duo took a deep breath and deliberately stopped fiddling with his earring. That was one habit that he shouldn't get into, even though it looked like he would have these for a while.
"I woke up that night screaming because I had a nightmare about Ze- Mirialdo." he started. "Then I decided to go for a walk…after I woke up a second time."
Duo decided to leave out how he woke up, he thought that they really didn't have to know that, he knew that Heero and Wufei wouldn't tell them that. They didn't want Une or Relena to know how they had spooked him. That they had was enough. He felt that one of the two women would nail them for it sometime in the future.
"I walked out of the hotel and felt that someone was watching me. I turned to look and the next thing that I knew was that someone knocked me out with something. One of the hot products on the market that gets the victim out of it fast. I woke up again fully a week or so later." Duo's voice dropped off to a whisper. "I didn't know where I was. I keep remembering that I was so sleepy…and I didn't want to wake up really, even though I kept thinking that I should make Maria's breakfast. And I kept hearing these voices, but that's what happened in my nightmares most of the time, so I really didn't pay attention to them." Duo paced some more before he continued, unconsciously fiddling with a different earring.
"I found out that the person that nabbed me was Howard. As I said before, he worked with G. In fact he was the guy that found me on the PeaceMillion the first time. Before I started my training. The sick bastard, you guys meet him real fast during the Eve War. He rammed his ship into the Libra to stop the cannon from hitting the Earth." Duo's voice trailed off again. He really didn't want to tell them this, but they would find out sooner or later.
"I call Howard a sick bastard…it seems he had the…hots for me. He knew what happened to me on the Libra, your brother told him, but he didn't care. He still wanted me, they, him and Mirialdo, had been looking for me on and off for a while, they didn't find me though. They ran into me in London by accident." Duo stopped fiddling with his earring and looked at Une and Relena for the first time.
"Howard wasn't too happy about that way I looked, not that scars, he was expecting that, but the fact I was so skinny. He thought that I didn't have anyone that was looking after me. That I was still a street brat. So he decided to claim me as his own…" Duo's voice broke, and he hiccuped a little, then controlled himself with a deep breath. "He…he… decided that I needed someone to look after me and he was it…" Duo fiddled with his shirt collar and then unbuttoned it. "The bastard put a fucking collar on me like I was going to be his god damned DOG!" Une and Relena gasped and then Une got up and hugged him. "Shh...shh… its fine now. You're away from him and we can get that off."
Duo gave a semi-hysterical sob and shook his head, trying to control himself. "Its Gundanium. At least that's what he told me and I believe that. Heero looked at the stuff and the was his best guess with what they have here for equipment. But is not just what you see… he was very busy with his little piercing gun. He went a little nuts, in places I'm so not going to mention and he gave me a nice set of matching bracelets and anklets. They also double as restraining devices." #We can't get any of it off. It's loose enough so that I can gain more than a few kilos, most of the weight loss was on my body, not my joints, so that isn't a problem. But my hands and feet are too big to slip them off. And I got used to the nipple rings, a baggy shirt is a godsend. But every time that I catch a glimpse of this crap on myself or in a stray reflection from something, all I can hear is Howard saying that he owns my ass. And I wonder if he's going to catch up with me or what.#
"Oh Duo," Relena got up and hugged him too. "I'm sorry. But …" Duo shook his head again, shrugging out of their hugs and started pacing some more. If that continued he was just going to breakdown and cry like a baby. He could do that later. Right now other things were more important. "There's more. Relena… Mirialdo was a little crazy. I think that it was his exposure to Epyon. He was living up in Northern England. He had threatened Howard to keep his silence on his status, not that it mattered. Who the hell was Howard going to tell? And then he started to work for him. Mirialdo's one of his enforcers, he's got the rest of Howard's people terrified of him, since he's a bit violent."
"But why didn't Howard protect you if he…" Une's voice trailed off.
She didn't want to say the word owned, but what else fit when someone was sick enough to put a collar, that couldn't be taken off another person. Her fists were clenched and she was trying very hard not to given in to her first impulse, which was kill Howard, She'd find him, she had the resources and he had done something unspeakable to her Duo. Then…she had a vivid imagination and no scruples, so Howard was going to be hurting a lot before she killed him. She remembered Howard now, an older man in a loud Hawaiian shirt. He had disappeared after the battle, like Duo had. Une focused her attention back on Duo, hoping that she hadn't missed anything important. She had to control herself, there wasn't anyone else really that could. Relena was not in any shape to reign her in if she lost control, like she had in the past with the New Edwards base and causing Heero to self destruct in that battle.
Duo smiled sickly, "It got odd. Howard gave me to your brother for one night because he was afraid that he didn't, he'd find me in pieces some place. And…he knew that after that one night, no matter how bad it got…it would be over because Mirialdo would have let go of one of his obsessions."
"Which was?" Relena asked. Her voice was steady, but her face was as pale as Duo's. She was still trying to assimilate the knowledge that her brother was alive and didn't die in the wreckage of the Libra. It really didn't matter, she had cut off the slender ties that she had with him, when she discovered how mad he really was, but that he didn't bother to tell her that he was still alive was… sad, but not unexpected. That he never told Noin either was sadder. The woman was devoted to him, had been most of her life.
"Your brother wasn't the only surprise survivor of that battle…" Duo smiled slightly. "Sit down Une, this actually is the mostly good part. T-chan is alive. But…he doesn't remember any of us. Only the people that he had met in the last two years…which were only Mirialdo and Howard. Plus a few flunkies of Howard's."
"Treize-sama is alive?!" Une cried. She went over to the sofa and sat down, stunned at the news. Alive. Not dead. Not lost in space, she could be with him again. She loved Relena with all her heart and soul, but there was some part of her that needed Trieze, like he was a teddy bear for comfort or some sort of control device. He always kept her line, pulled her back from the edge, he understood the darkness that was in her. Relena sat down and hugged her, happy that Une was happy.
"Not Treize-sama Une. Or even T-chan. He doesn't remember anything." Duo said sadly. "All he knows about his position in OZ and the war, is what Mirialdo told him. Which was damn little. And what he's learned since he came here."
"How did you get here?" Relena asked, "My brother wouldn't have just let you go." #Not after all that he had done to you, he'd keep you near him just to torture you when he had the spare time, because you got everything that he wanted…after he threw it away.#
Duo shook his head and started wandering through the room again. "T- chan…Treize… wasn't really a prisoner there…but he had no reason to leave. And he had no where to go. But…this is bad…as I said… Mirialdo… he…he…liked to hurt him. Some twisted thing that he started, because… he said that he loved him…but…." Duo shuddered. "The only night that I remember really out of the weeks that I was there was the last one. Howard and I went to dinner with Mirialdo and T-chan. And I don't remember much of the meal, because I was in shock. I saw T-chan for the first time in years and he was kissing him." Duo's voice was filled with revulsion, but it softened when he continued. "But he's so sheltered, ya know. He didn't know about anything that he did during the war. I could live with that, but…Mirialdo arranged that I was going to be a present for T-chan, because," Duo stopped and shuddered a little, hugging himself. "I was a test for him to see if he remembered me. So they dragged me off to T-chan's room and Mirialdo watched while T-chan got to 'play' with me. I don't know what happened. I was so miserable. He was so happy and I shouldn't be selfish and want him to remember me, because I should be happy because he was alive.'" Duo trailed off again, thinking about what had happened. "T-chan and I…we…but he…didn't really remember me, but he just felt sorry for me and we…which got your brother so angry with us…and…and then he decided to hurt us both. He beat me pretty thoroughly, but I'm not telling you what he did to T-chan." Duo stopped and took another deep breath wishing that he was any place else but here. "That was the final straw for him. T-chan. Howard and Mirialdo got called away and so we were alone in that place. He came for me after a day or two, when he…and decided that we both had to get out of there. Howard didn't trust me, so he had me hooked up to a drip that would keep me asleep while he was gone, because he didn't want to leave me, but he really didn't just want to leave me awake and chained to the bed. He thought that I was crazy to begin with. Which is why he kept me stoned for the time I was with him, when I was awake and serious…you know how I am. And he didn't want to deal with that."
Duo stopped and looked at Une. "T-chan's not the same person that we've known because he doesn't know what he was like before Wufei tried to kill him. he doesn't have the self confidence or the mind set that he had, he's trusting and nice, like he wanted to be sometimes, but really naïve because he trusted Miri when he told him anything. That he was a wanted criminal and that he'd be thrown in jail for his crimes if anyone found out that he was alive. So it was a big thing that he tried to help me, to get me out of that place with him. He was totally controlled by Mirialdo, for almost everything. But something finally snapped and he decided to leave. He doesn't know that you are. He just remembers you from dreams, but Mirialdo wouldn't tell him anything that would let him remember us. T- chan thought you were missing. He dreamed of you though. You…" and Duo sounded so devastated when he continued. "You and Wufei. No one else really."
"He doesn't remember you?" Une asked, stunned. #Wufei and I, but not his lover. The main reason that Treize had for trying to end that horror as fast as he could. About the only thing that had made the war personal for him, not even Mirialdo could do that for him. He hated that people died for him and wanted to end it as soon as possible, but Duo's involvement made it a tragedy. #
Duo shook his head. "But…" Duo hiccuped again, "He is nice to me. That should count for something…" He tried smiling and couldn't. "But talk to him. Just be careful what you tell him, because he's managed to recover his innocence, his soul. Don't let him know…" #About how slimly he had to be. About the things that he did. That I did. #
"I'll try Duo, but he will find out sometime." Une said softly. #Still protecting him from the nastiness that you didn't want him to know about? He's going to find out eventually, he always did.#
"I think that Duo doesn't want to overload Treize with a lot of information, because that might be counter productive." Relena said, giving Une a hug. #He'll tell him eventually, because Duo is an honest person.# "But let's go talk to him together, because you are going to need the moral support when we explain to Treize that he is the father of a nine year old girl that no one knew about before last year."
Duo sighed and went to follow them out the door. He was so tired mentally and his stupid body was jumpier then if he had drank an ocean of coffee. Duo stopped when Maria darted into the room and gave him a hug. Duo hoped that she hadn't heard too much of his conversation with Une and Relena.
"I missed you!" she exclaimed. "What happened? Why didn't you go home? Why are you here? And why…"
Duo leaned over and buried his head in her hair. "I'm sorry Maria."
God she was growing, she seemed taller then the last time that he saw her. She'd be bigger then he was soon.
"Why?" Maria asked, curious.
"Because I'm not going to be able to go home for a while, to take care of you." Duo said sadly. "I know that I promised you that I'd take care of you, but something happened. Something good and something bad."
Maria sighed and hugged Duo back, putting her head on his shoulder. Duo shrunk again. It was so weird that she was growing and he wasn't. "Something that has to do with the fact that you're wearing a necklace and earrings? The necklace is pretty." she finished innocently.
Duo shuddered. "I know, but…its part of the bad." #It's beautiful, but it represents something that is ugly and disgusting.#
"You're not telling me something, Duo." Maria said sadly.
Duo released her and sat down on the couch, patting the seat beside him. "It's a long story and I'm not telling you all of it because… it's too adult. You're a nine year old girl, you should have a nice normal childhood now. That's all I wanted for you."
Maria smiled as she sat next to Duo and wiggled around until she was on his lap, like he was going to tell her a story. She liked the hugs and cuddles that Duo gave her, she found out the same thing that Duo had when he was younger, that hugs and open displays of affection were addictive. After not being hugged or cuddled for most of her life, she just adored the fact that Duo, Une and Relena were people that would hug her.
"You sound like my mother, Duo. In fact, you are the only person that has ever acted like my mother. Leia Barton, she died when I was really young, I don't remember her. You met Dakim. Une and Relena, I love them dearly, but neither one of them is maternal. You are in an odd sort of way." Maria said quietly.
"Which is why I feel really low telling you this. I got to leave for a while. I don't know where I'm going. I can't stick around, because it would be bad." Duo said softly, trying not to cry.
He was sad and he was pissed that Mirialdo and Howard were fucking up his life, T-chan's life and mostly Maria's life. They hadn't been together long and she should be able to enjoy Duo spoiling her, making her breakfast and feeding her cookies and pretending to help her with her homework. Maria was way ahead of him school wise. Hell he hadn't even gotten his high school diploma. So it was more keeping her company then giving her any actual help.
"How bad?" Maria asked calmly. She'd get all the information and then she'd pitch her temper tantrum. Duo had been the one stable thing in her life, even if he wasn't too stable. Une's and Relena's duties took them away sometimes, but until he disappeared, Duo had always been there for her, like he promised. But she heard the tears in his voice, he really didn't want to do this.
"It happened…" Duo stopped and took a deep breath. He was not going to give into the crying jag that he felt coming on. "It's really complicated."
"You want to say that it's something else." Maria teased him, trying to get him to smile. "And I know that word."
"I do," Duo admitted. #Fucked covers it so well.# "But remember the Libra, how…Mirialdo Peacecraft was supposed to have died in it?"
"Yes." Maria answered, wondering why Duo was starting there. That was ancient history. The man was dead.
"He didn't." Duo replied bluntly.
"And that means…?" Maria started, trying to figure out where this was leading. So he wasn't dead, what did that have to do with the fact that Duo was leaving her?
Duo sighed. "It means a couple of things. But for now, he might come after me. Actually I am very willing to say that he will come after me. Not only because he wants me, but because of the collar that I'm wearing. His employer 'claimed' me as his." #I don't want to tell you this, I should be telling you fairy tales, not the fact that there are people around that are sick enough to make someone else as there property, because they think that they want it or need it.#
"Does Relena know that her brother is alive? That he might be showing up at her doorstep?" Maria asked, ignoring the claiming thing. She'd ask Wufei about it later, but it sounded nasty.
"I told her and God did it hurt. Mirialdo spent a lot of time in Epyon. I spent a session in there and it was tough. I don't know how scrambled he got after being in it for a while. And Mirialdo doesn't like Une. And he really doesn't like me, so I have to leave, so that he won't find me. I don't care if he finds me, but you shouldn't get involved with this. You shouldn't have to worry about another crazy person in your life."
"Duo that's not a good enough reason to leave me," Maria complained. She wanted Duo to stay with her. She was lonely and he promised and it was only an outside chance that Mirialdo would hurt her. She pouted up at Duo.
Duo sighed and hugged her tightly. "Maria, I don't want to go. I don't want that person," Duo stressed the word oddly, Maria was impressed that he made such a simple word sound so obscene. "chasing me out of my home, away from my family. But Maria, I love you. And I have to protect you. And I only can protect you, by not going near you for a while. Mirialdo, he spent hours slicing me up, burning me and doing other things to me. He'd do them to you if he thought that it would hurt me." #Maria don't argue. Because this is breaking my heart, Mirialdo won because I have to run from him. But I wouldn't put it past him, to make me and Treize toe the line, to hurt you. Or he might do it anyway because you are something that will take his 'possession' away from him.#
"There's something else, something that you aren't telling me, because this is all bad stuff." Maria observed.
Duo nodded, even though she couldn't see the gesture. "T-chan's alive. I don't know how, but… Mirialdo had him. he doesn't remember anything before waking up about a year or so ago, after the battle. So he can't tell you about Leia, your mother, I'm sorry I know that was important to you."
That her father was alive was something was unreal to her. She'd at last meet the man that was her father. Find out about his relationship with her mother, what it was like. Why he left her. And hope that he was proud of her, that she was the daughter that he wanted. Duo's words finally sank into her head, after a few seconds. "He doesn't remember you." Maria said quietly. "Oh Duo. I'm sorry. You…"
"…can live with it." Duo finished for her. "But we are both running someplace, because, he needs to get away from Miri and I need to get away from Mirialdo too. But, we can't take you with us, you need to be someplace stable and that's not going to be with us. We're both a little messed in the head."
"I know why you're messed in the head, why is he?" Maria asked.
"T-chan doesn't remember a lot. His memory is totally wiped. He just knew what he was told or what he dreamed about. And I said that Mirialdo was a little scrambled in the head, he didn't want T-chan to remember anything about what his life was like before…before Wufei almost killed him."
"So is he here?" Maria asked quietly.
"Yeah. Une and Relena are going to talk to him. He…
"Damn well better take care of you since he's taking you away from me." Maria said fiercely.
"Don't hate him Maria." Duo begged "He may not even want to leave with me, but we have to do this. I don't know where my Gundam is. And I know that Epyon probably survived, because Mirialdo did. #And I still hear the damned thing in my head.# And I got to keep you safe."
"I don't hate him Or even resent him really. I don't know him, but I know you and I missed you. Our talks and the way that you kept me company and made my breakfast. And I'm scared about meeting him, I know that he's my father, but can he be my father? Or are the two of you going to be on the run for the rest of your life?"
Duo shrugged. "A year at the most. Can you be his friend? I know that might be hard, but he needs friends now." #A father is a little much right now, for T-chan.#
"I'll try," Maria promised grudgingly.
Duo moved Maria into a more comfortable position on his lap. She was calming him down so that he didn't feel that he was going to jump out of his skin. Maybe the junk was wearing off at last. "So tell me what you've been doing while I was in la-la land. How did that test go in Geography? Have you kept up with the language lessons? And I'll see if we can work something out about keeping in touch, I don't want to loose you."
Maria leaned back, snuggling "Well school's been kind of boring. I aced the math and science quizzes that we keep having. I've been eating the school lunch a lot and boy are they nasty!"
Duo laughed. "Hopefully Une and Relena get a cook, because neither of them can cook and it's not fair to expect them to do so on their schedules."
Maria laughed with him and then proceeded to prattle mindlessly about school, boys and anything that came into her head, because she had heard Duo's unspoken plea for reassurance that he was doing the right thing. That he was making the right choice.
Maria decided that it was better to do that right now, because Duo needed to know that more then she needed to throw her temper tantrum. That was the problem with being so smart and having dealt with a psychiatrist, she learned all the tricks that she needed to reassure them that she was sane, so she didn't have to waste her time telling them about stupid stuff. And she learned how to trick the grownups into thinking that they were doing the right thing. She didn't use the knowledge often, in her mind it was less useful to her right now then the Greek that she had learnt, but it was something that she could use.
To Be Continued ......
Christine
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