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.
GURPS is copyrighted by Steve Jackson Games.
Characters acting OCC, but in an Alternative Universe you should expect that.
#...# Thoughts/Thinking
This was written for a very patiently waiting Andrew who was the 200,000 hit on Gundam Wing Addiction. Tyr wrote us all and asked that we could do a fic for him, in honor of the occasion. That was...a while ago...really loooong time ago. But I had a non anime project that took up most of my writing time and there were a couple of false starts that might see the light of the 'Net sometime...if I finish them...and everything else I am working on!!!
But Andrew, here is the fic that you deserve, that you waited for patiently...and I'm babbling now...but happy 200,000 visitor.
Heavily influenced by reading GURPS:Bio-tech by David Pulver one too many times, the term bioriod is taken from that.
Heero and his people took the base easily, it was a lightly armed science base, even though their briefing had listed it as a production plant for ships. The base, down to the last person had fought back, even knowing the fate of OZ supporters at the hands of the Sweepers. The Sweepers would parole the enlisted into custody of a neutral force and detain the officers in camps. A more humane solution then he expected for any one of his people if they got captured by OZ, especially any of the leaders. He was slightly disturbed that the all of the soldiers seemed to be happy to throw their lives away, he knew that there would be no survivors and it bothered him. He was listening to the reports with half an ear and gazing worried at his lover, Trowa when Quatre's report caught his notice.
"Heero...this was a research base...human experimentation, the scientists and lab techs were killing them off when I caught up to them. There are only three survivors out of a dozen. None of them survived." Quatre's voice was raw with horror and grief. He had been following the feelings of fear since they had gotten further into the base. Rashid and Abdul had had a hard time keeping up with him as he was tracking down the source of the terrified feelings that were radiating from part of this place. A lot of the soldiers was frightened, even as they were throwing their lives away but what he was tracking was more intense then the feelings that that they were radiating. The soldiers were either resigned about their deaths or ecstatic that they were dying in the service of OZ. Nothing like he was feeling now.
"Take care of them Quatre." Heero ordered, " We'll worry about cleaning up and explaining this mess to the boss. Take them some place safe, for now. Take them back to our base."
Heero signed off and shook his head. "We now know why they didn't want to be captured alive. They were doing human experimentation. I still can't understand how someone can do that to a fellow human being."
Trowa frowned and he hugged Heero roughly, saying. "Look at Quatre, the changes that he had done to him, all because his father wanted a viable heir that was male, ignoring all the girls that his wives had born him. And our parents ...I don't know what possessed mine to do this to me.... you know why they don't want us to capture them, what they are doing is disgusting and they know that they will be punished for their actions. This is not covered under the general amnesty that we have with the Alliance."
"Quatre manages to survive. Thank the gods for Rashid, he takes care of all of us. And you...did they think that it was worth it? The things that they did to us, what they thought their aims were. It has been an advantage in what we do, what changes they made to us, but still...I can't remember what it was like before, when we were normal. If we ever were." Heero finished pensively. He had doubts about that, from what little he had been able to piece together, his parents acted like he was their homegrown lab experiment since his conception. Trowa's were the same way...grown up but malicious children with their own personal lab rats.
"Still...I can't wait to get back to our home, away from all these people, from the stares and the whispers. The strangeness," Trowa sighed. "But we need to get the records and anything that we can salvage from this base. Nothing else is worth it. And then blow this place to hell because it is evil and unnatural. The smell of death and fear will never leave this place. And we should keep an eye on the survivors, they are going to need a lot of help." #Help that they aren't going to get from anyone that is with us here, they don't like us...they are afraid of what we can do...after being changed by OZ, they don't need the disgust that they are going to get from most of the Sweeper crews.#
"I agree." Heero said. "Just finish getting what we can off of this and report back to Jay and Howard. Then...a rest like I promised. Alone, away from everyone else." #Away from the hostility or the curiosity ...being treated like a side show freak because your parents wanted to test out their pet theories in biogenetics on you.#
Quatre stared at the survivors that he found in the lab, that were in one of inner rooms of the complex. They were gathered in a corner, staring back at him, surrounded by bodies of what he assumed to have been lab technicians. At least two of them were, the third was cradled in biggest one's arms, unconscious. It seemed that the only reason that they were alive is that they might have been the only ones alert when the slaughter started. Or that the techs had started in the main holding area, not this small isolated section that seemed to house only these three, it seemed. Quatre felt a mixture of hostility and curiosity from the little group. He blinked at them, stunned a little still by all the emotions that he had been experiencing, even after they stopped disturbing him and by what he was seeing.
These men were gorgeous. He couldn't see much of the boy that was cradled in he big blonde's arms, except he was pale and had the longest braid Quatre had ever seen. The darker man was about his height or a little bigger and built like a fighter, with a slender braid that fell to the middle of his back. The tall blonde had the face of an angel, the body of a Greek god and pale hair that fell to his waist, braided back also. Quatre wondered if this meant something or if it was just easier to take care of their long hair this way, so it wouldn't be cut on them.
"I'm not here to hurt you." Quatre tried to reassure them. The darker one snorted, indicating what he thought of that. Quatre smiled involuntarily. They were naked, unarmed and looked to be in poor physical condition from the fighting and whatever had been done to them, but they showed no real fear of them. #They must been through hell, this place looks like a combination of a Medieval torture chamber and a set from a Science Fiction movie , so one small man and two of his followers shouldn't worry them, Rashid is the only one of us that looks intimidating. And we did save them from being killed, not that they actually needed help, they seemed to be doing well on their own, fighting those that were trying to kill them. The dark one can fight and the big one looks like he is dangerous too. They were just handicapped because they were protecting the one that's unconscious, that tied them down to that corner.# "We want get you out of here. Unless you want to stay here, when we blow the base up?"
"I'd rather watch it burn, then burn with this damned place." the dark man said. Quatre was suddenly reminded of a statue that appeared to be made of wild honey, dark and luscious looking despite the odd tattoo pattern on his skin. He wondered idly if he tasted as sweet as honey. Quatre shook his head at that thought, coloring faintly. He usually didn't think like that. He thought that he was just effected by the fact that there were two naked, beautiful men in front of him. And it had been a while since his last lover. Stupid hormones. He hoped that they did not pick up on the surge of interest that he swore he radiated.
"You can do that if you come with me." Quatre said. "I'm Quatre. My companions are Rashid and Abdul. We are with the Sweepers group."
The tall blonde rose to his feet, swaying slightly, still cradling their companion. Rashid stepped forward to grab them both, worried that the blonde would collapse on them. He hesitated for a second, uneasy about approaching the man. He had an aura about him even naked, hurt and exhausted that announced that this was not someone that was to be taken lightly.
"The pyromaniac is called Wufei, My name is Zechs. Our friend is called Duo." The blonde informed them.
"Let Rashid take him, you look like you are going to collapse."
"It might be better if I keep him...the commander is...fond of him. There were rumors that he was going back to her, since she gave away the last pair of pets she was training, so they were keeping him sedated." Zechs explained.
"Pet?" Rashid asked, stepping up to support the younger man. Zechs flinched at the touch and then relaxed. They had helped them, he and Wufei had been getting tired when these three burst in on them, making short work of those that had been facing them. This new group had proved that they were here to help them, he just wondered if they were actually going to help them or just use them for their own interests, once they found out what they could do. What had been done to them. He had scoped Duo up in case they had to run from their saviors. He trusted no one now.
Zechs smiled faintly, putting that thought aside. He wasn't going to borrow trouble, they might actually be here to help them, he shouldn't think the worse all the time. "Pets... experimental animals...a lot of them ceased to believe that we were human after a while." He looked away for a second, his eyes dark. "And after a while, it was easy to become whatever they thought you were."
Wufei stroked his arm and leaned his head against his shoulder briefly, "But we always came back from that madness. Let Rashid take Duo, he shouldn't wake up for a while, they pumped him full of those sedatives."
"They had to...he knew that he was close to having another semi-permanent session with the commander, they didn't want a repeat of what happened that other time, when he tried to kill himself." Zechs said, gently handing Duo to Rashid. Rashid was amazed at how light he was, how frail looking, he didn't look like he could survive under these conditions, but he must be stronger then he looked to do so.
He could see the unspoken advantage that Wufei had seen. It tied up one of their fighters and left Zechs free to fight back if these saviors weren't as kind as they appeared to be. But Quatre had mentioned the Sweepers. No one took that group of pirates and rebels name in vain, so this must be a rescue by them. He hoped because if it wasn't, he didn't know what he would do, he had been holding on to the hope of a rescue for so long. But if this wasn't a rescue...well there were only three of them...they would make short work of them if this was not what it seemed. Quatre wasn't a fighter, he could tell that, but the two next to him made up for that, they seemed dangerous and devoted to the small man, a good combination to have on your side. But only human...they would be easy to take out if it had to be done. He carefully flexed his claws behind his back, out of sight of their saviors. He knew how much damage they could do to a human, modified or not, he could reduce someone into a pile of tiny scraps quickly, he had done that often enough, for the pleasure of the sick bitch that had run this place.
"We've been told to take you to a safe place, one where we can take care of you. And everyone is dead, so Duo doesn't have to worry about him any more. I've been told that most of them had died in the fighting." Quatre explained
"Her," Wufei corrected absently, "the base commander was female."
"Oh." Quatre said in a small voice. He hadn't paid much attention to the fighting, he was in too much of a hurry to get in here, to find out where all those frightened feelings had been coming from. But he had been too late to save most of the humans that had been held here. He was still a little out of it, he hadn't really paid attention to what Zechs had been saying. He was confused, it seemed like the fear had stopped as soon as the last of the crew was killed, could it be that they were afraid of the people in front of him? They looked harmless, but you never knew what could have been done to them. Had the techs been afraid of this group or afraid that they would survive to be held by the Sweepers? And face the punishment that deserved.
Wufei stared at the other man, astonished. "You believe that the female of the species is kinder and gentler then the male? All of the scientific staff was female. They were crueler then the men in their treatment of us. Duo...Duo was abused by that sick bitch and her officers until he retreated into his own mind for protection. So that they would stop toying with him. I'm glad that they are all dead." His tone was bitter and he laughed harshly. "There was a time that I thought that women needed to be protected because they were weak. I lost that illusion after my first week here."
Quatre stared at Wufei for a second and then shrugged. More vinegar then honey in his attitude, but then he had been imprisoned, that did leave one bitter. And he had no idea what the other man had been through, what OZ had done to any of them. "Duo should be happy then, we are talking you to one of my homesteads, it's quiet and there aren't too many people there. When he wakes, that should reassure him that he is in friendly hands. We can get you some clothing when we get you out of here."
"Clothes..." Zechs sighed and continued in a wistful voice. "I would be forever grateful if I was allowed to wear them again." They had been told continuously that animals do not wear clothes. And that they were animals now because they were no longer purely human. Humans do not have claws, humans do not have scales, humans didn't heal like they did. That they did not deserve clothes, they hadn't earned them yet. Clothes would have been allowed or not, by whatever OZ officer that took them after they were let loose by these people.
"We will find you something to wear, then when we get back, we'll see what happens." Quatre said, leading them out of the hell that they had been kept in.
The journey back to the retreat was quiet. They had stayed long enough to watch the base explode, Wufei staring at it with clenched fists until there was nothing left to watch as the vehicle they were in pulled out of sight of the ruins. Zechs sat quietly near him, softly stroking his shoulders, hugging Wufei to comfort him, talking to him quietly. Duo slept through all of it, curled up next to Zechs and Wufei on the seats that they claimed, bundled up in a blanket.
Quatre noted that those two had spent most of the journey touching each other, looking at each other, not disguising the fact that they were lovers. Or at least fond of one another. That curbed any interest that he had, Wufei was involved with someone. But he was tired of being alone, being the odd one out.
They had found clothing for Wufei and Zechs, they hadn't had much with them, they hadn't expected to have survivors returning with them that needed clothing, not if their intelligence had been correct and the base had been a military instead of scientific objective. Duo, since he was still asleep, they just kept wrapped in the blanket. It was also difficult finding something that was small that would fit him, so they didn't bother. He would probably fit into all the clothes that Quatre had outgrown, that were stored at the house. The other two they could find something for them out of all those that were living there, until they could buy some clothes for them.
Quatre cleared his throat softly. "I hate to interrupt this, but we should be at our destination in a few minutes." He then moved towards the front of the van to give them some privacy. He didn't want to disturb Duo more then he would be when he woke up, if what Zechs said was true, strangers would frighten him. He didn't want to have to deal with the emotions of a frightened boy, overwhelmed by everything that happened to him while he was asleep.
"Thank you." Zechs said softly, watching Quatre walk away, before leaning over to gather up Duo in his lap. Duo made a small sound and opened his eyes. Zechs smiled down at him and stroked his hair. Duo was still asleep enough so that he wouldn't protest this small gesture of comfort. "We are safe, #for now# but the others are dead and the base was destroyed. The Sweepers rescued us."
"Howard?" Duo asked in a soft, sleepy voice, nuzzling Zechs's chest.
Zechs frowned, Duo was still very drugged if he was this affectionate. When he was wide awake you couldn't touch him, the things that had been done to him insured that. He had been one of his tormentors long enough to know that. "Quatre is the name of the one that saved us, I'll ask about someone named Howard if you want."
Duo shook his head. "Eventually, just want to sleep still."
"How about a bath, wash your hair, get clean...get some clothes?" Wufei coaxed him, trying to get some reaction out of him. Duo had been sleeping for far too long in his opinion. It would be too easy for the boy to decide not to wake up sometime. And Duo was someone that he wanted around him, now that they could have a life once more. He knew that he could never go home again, but he was very willing to build a home with Zechs and Duo. Duo was the little brother that he had always wanted. Even if he had done things to him that he shouldn't have done to his worst enemy, never mind a boy that he liked.
Duo forced his eyes open again and smiled faintly. "I'll wake up for that, but for now, I just want to sleep still, I'm so sleepy. I'm sorry about the others."
"We tried which is all that we can do." Zechs said softly. "But they didn't fight back, didn't believe that this was a rescue. They thought that it might be a raid by another faction of OZ, by the Specials." #Or they didn't want to survive knowing what they had become.#
Duo snuggled down further into the blanket, not wanting to wake up yet. Zechs stroked his cheek softly, glad that Duo apparently had fallen back to sleep, it might be easier for all of them if Duo slept a little while longer. He looked up into Wufei's concerned gaze and shrugged. "He's still under the influence of whatever they gave him. I think she didn't want to take any chances this time. Not after what had happened the last time. He's been out of it for days."
"Those bitches were rougher on him then the rest of us." Wufei commented, after looking around to see if anyone was near them, asked quietly. "How much do you think they have seen?"
"The light was bad enough that all the saw was two men fighting. They didn't really examine the bodies, so they don't know how much any of us have been changed, how we killed all those people. They destroyed the evidence afterwards when they blew that place up. And the clothes they gave us do help cover the other changes, now that the light is better." Zechs said.
Wufei snorted. "They will find out, we can't hide it forever. We are the only survivors of that place. We all are different now. And I have no idea what they are going to think about us. How they are going to react to the fact that we're not quite human any more. They didn't destroy the records, just the base. We are not going to have much time before they find out. I hope that they don't though."
"Duo has it the easiest. His changes were radical, but it is something that they will never think off. So they will never find out unless they start looking for it." Zechs paused and stroked Duo's head again, enjoying the feel of Duo's hair underneath his fingers. "And...he's harmless, nothing was done to make him a threat. They won't hurt him because of what he might do, like with us."
"And I hope that they never know what those bitches did to you..." Wufei looked over at Zechs with concern.
Zechs smiled and leaned over to kiss Wufei. "It isn't entirely unpleasant, I just have to be careful with anyone that I am with, just as you are. That they gave me a weapon like that...a lot of people wouldn't be upset about it. And the healing factor isn't anything to argue about either. But they wanted assassins. What they did to you, that was criminal. And we are not going to be able to hide it...you know that."
"The modifications weren't too dissimilar. Just I got...changed in a different direction. But they wanted killers and they got them in us." Wufei said cynically. "That will get us the protection we need, one way or another. Either from the Sweepers or from someone that is willing to pay for our new talents."
Duo woke up a little more and curled around Zechs and Wufei, snuggling with them. He wanted to reassure them that he was fine, this usually made them happy, even if he didn't like touching them. Most of the time he didn't mind, but sometimes it just freaked him out if anyone, even those two got too close to him. "I don't want protection. I want to be treated like a person again."
"They might, Duo...they might treat us like people." Zechs said kindly, stroking his back, hoping that he didn't upset Duo doing that . He just wanted to reassure himself that Duo was fine. "Can you walk or do you want to be carried? They didn't really have anything extra in the way of clothing, so the Sweepers don't have anything for you to wear. Nothing really seemed to fit you, so they didn't want to wake you to try things on."
Duo smiled faintly. "I'm just happy to be out of their hands. I can be naked some more. I haven't worn anything since I was taken."
They all looked up at the knock on the wall, Rashid announcing his presence to them. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but we have arrived. The others have to make reports to those in charge and Quatre has certain obligations, but I have been assigned to take care of you." Rashid said softly. He frowned at the blanket wrapped around Duo and shook his head. "You can not walk around like that. I have an extra shirt for you that we just found." Rashid handed it to Duo. "Please put that on. I do not wish to cause you any embarrassment."
Duo laughed and slipped the shirt on over his head. It fell to about his knees and made him look more like a lost waif then the blanket had. "Thank you. I haven't worn clothes for..." he frowned for a second, thinking. "What's the date?" he asked softly.
"New reckoning 30 August AC 195." Rashid said softly. He didn't want to frighten him, he seemed very happy just to be out of the hands of those people. Maybe he wasn't as bad as the other two thought that he was.
"Then I haven't worn a stitch of clothing for over two years." Duo informed him, with a slight smile. "I am very used to prancing around in the all together. I lost any embarrassment about it ages ago." #Being seen naked is the least of my worries, I want to know what's going to happen to me...to us...when you find out all the changes that happened. We didn't want them, but that doesn't matter right now, we can't go back to what we were before OZ did this to us. What are you going to do to us? To me?#
"It's been that long," Zechs said softly. "They had me for about a year."
"A year and a half..." Wufei mused. "I can't believe that we lost so much time."
"I have been asked to take you inside and get you settled." Rashid said. "The baths are quite extensive here and I will try to supply you with every comfort. Rooms are being readied for you, whatever sleeping arrangements you desire with be honored."
Wufei blushed at this announcement, while Duo went over to hug Rashid, he had to act normal for a while, at least. And this made people think that you were normal, acting like a little boy without a care in the world. "Thank you again for the clothes. And looking out for us. I know that probably isn't something that you have to do a lot."
"Ah...Duo?" Rashid asked looking down at the slender boy, not sure of his name. At his nod of confirmation, Rashid continued what he was saying, "That is part of my job. Quatre and the rest of them, they do need someone to look out after them, I am glad that it is me."
Duo looked up at Rashid with big, curious eyes. "The rest of them?" he asked innocently, trying not to look like he was fishing for information. He wanted to know how many people he had to deal with. Who he had to worry about, would they be a threat? Or would they leave him alone, like he wanted. Or would this just be another place that he was kept as they poked and probed at him?
"Heero, Trowa and the occasionally some of the others, but mostly it is only Heero, Quatre, Trowa myself and Abdul. A few servants, but they don't talk to us much." #We are unclean, changed in their eyes, because we were modified. That it wasn't anything that radical on Abdul and myself, unlike the rest of them, but that is something that they don't consider. That makes them distrust us, so they won't talk to us. It hurts Quatre a little, those feelings, but he had gotten used to them. And the fact that most of them treat him like their little brother help, they don't think that he is threat, not like the rest of us. #
"Who are Heero and Trowa?" Duo asked, stepping back from the other man. He could only keep it up for so long, hopefully it fooled Rashid.
Rashid smiled, down and Duo and gestured for them to go ahead of him. "They were the men that also rescued you, part of one of the Sweepers' elite teams. They report only to their leaders."
"Who is that?" Duo asked, tilting his head to the side, wrinkling his nose. "I haven't heard anything about the outside world in years." He didn't move, he wasn't going to let Rashid out of his sight. He knew that the rest of the group that was with them had disappeared somewhere, but he didn't want someone that big, that he didn't know at his back. Rashid hesitated, then walked ahead of them, trying to cover the sudden awkwardness that he felt. He should have known that none of these people would like a stranger behind them.
"They are the leaders of the Sweepers, they organize the resistance against OZ, but other than that...we can't trust you with that information, we really don't know you." he called over his shoulder.
"Oh..." Duo said in a small voice, starting to follow the other man inside. "it's been so long since anyone talked about that kind of stuff, so I understand...kinda. They...the scientists..." his voice trailed off and he shuddered. Zechs and Wufei moved in to give him a hug, to reassure him that everything was fine now, then stopped when Duo froze when they got too close to him, he was getting nervous about being touched again, even by them. "they talked around us, but it was mostly about the things that they were doing to us but they never talked to us. Might have let them think that we actually human, had feelings..."
"We understand, a little." Rashid reassured them. "There were times that we were also cut off from the outside world, it was overwhelming when we came back to it."
"Thank you." Zechs said, releasing Duo and Wufei to get inside, the sun was rather intense after the cool darkness of the lab. He was thankful that they all went inside, he could feel the sunburn starting on his skin from the short time that he had been outside. Duo was probably in worse shape, being in the labs longer. Wufei was protected the modifications that had been done to him and his darker skin tone.
Rashid lead them to the bedrooms in the back of the house. "If two of you or all of you wants to share a room, that is acceptable. We...we understand same sex unions and that is not frowned upon among us."
Wufei blushed and Duo laughed, while Zechs quietly stated, "Wufei and I will be sharing a room. I don't know about Duo."
"I can stay on my own, now that you two finally get some privacy, I am not going to spoil it." Duo said with a smile.
"The baths are connected to all the bedrooms," Rashid informed them, "there should be anything that you need for a bath in there. There are private bathrooms for a quick shower in every room, but most of us prefer the baths. While you are bathing I will see what can be found, so that you have some additional clothing. We would like you to be welcome among our group. "
Wufei and Zechs disappeared into the room that they had chosen, Duo lingered outside his door for a second, looking at Rashid.
"Take your time." Duo assured him. "I don't want to get out of the water until I look like a giant raisin. Then I'm sleeping in a bed, so clothing isn't something that I need yet. I think the other two are just going enjoy doing it without an audience and on a bed."
"I beg your pardon?" Rashid asked, confused.
Duo shrugged, "I shouldn't be telling you this, but you're going to find out eventually ...we were the entertainment on that ship as well as the project that they were working on. And those people got off on our pain, so they'd either have you fight someone or fuck someone for their dinner jollies. Usually both most of the time. You got rotated through one or twice a week depending on how much they wanted to hurt you." #And how fast you healed and what they were in the mood for.#
"And you three were popular?" Rashid asked gently, seeing the pain in the boy's eyes. He wondered how Duo had survived two years of that, he was smaller then the others, and they must have hurt him a lot, even though there wasn't a mark on him. On any of them as far as he could see. It was safe to assume that they all must have been given a fast healing modification, along with any thing else that that had had done to him. To any of them.
Duo nodded slowly, "Yeah...they liked us seeing us hurt each other because we liked each other. They thought that it was amusing. And they also liked to tell us that as pets we shouldn't have any embarrassment about doing anything in front of them, we were animals, because they treated us like that. Like we had no more feelings or intelligence then a hamster. So we'd eventually give in, because...because we'd start to believe it. And...they did stop hurting you then."
"Enjoy the baths then, Duo." Rashid said gently, "I think that your companions will also enjoy their time in there, a good long soak is most relaxing. If you are still in there in a little while, I probably will join you. I just wish to make a few arrangements for you, so that you will be comfortable for your stay here."
"I'll see you then Rashid, because for most of the last two years, a shower was something that I saw rarely. I was damn lucky that I got to keep my hair, but they all thought that it was nice and could be useful to them...it was a couple of times." Duo said sadly. He shook of his sad mood and flashed a smile at Rashid before slipping into the room that he had picked out.
Duo looked at the room. He was surprised at the size of the bed, it looked like Zechs, Wufei and he could sleep in it no problem. The entire thing was done in shades of blue and looked very restful. He liked the murals on the wall, scenes of the desert in bloom and animals playing, so the colors were off on the animals, but the effect was nice. He could like it here, he just wondered how long he would get to enjoy this room before he was whisked off to a lab again, for them to figure out what had been done to him. He wandered out into the bathing room after grabbing a brush and towel from the closet that was in the room. He left the shirt that Rashid had given him in the bedroom, he was planning on sleeping in it when he was through in the baths.
He was surprised to find Zechs and Wufei in there already, he thought that they would be testing out the mattress in their room. He was happy that Zechs waved him over to wash his back before soaking in the huge pools that made up the place. He felt bad that he froze on them when all they wanted to do was reassure him that they were there for him. Most of the time, he didn't mind Zechs or Wufei touching him, he knew that they considered him to be their little brother. And they all were kind of grubbie with the blood and other stuff that was covering them.
"I am very impressed by all this." Zechs told Duo as he poured water over him and started shampooing his hair. "I was not expecting something this extensive when Rashid mentioned a bathing room."
"It's kinda decadent." Duo agreed.
Duo started scrubbing Wufei's back, scrubbing hard to get all the blood off of him. Wufei cleaned off Zechs, not even bothering to tickle and tease him as he scrubbed him clean. They all just wanted get clean, scrub the scent and the feel of that place off of them. But washing each other made short work of the chore and soon Duo found himself splashing in the water, glad that he was free and determined not to worry about the future. After a few minutes of splashing he swam over to where Zechs and Wufei were quietly sitting in the water.
"I told Rashid." Duo announced seriously, wanting to tell them before Rashid showed up in the bath. It wouldn't be nice just to have him tell them that Duo spilled the beans about what had been happening there. That wouldn't be good, but...it wasn't a secret that they could keep for too long, not if they took all the records.
"What did you tell him?" Wufei asked quietly.
"That we were the entertainment as well as their guinea pigs." Duo said. "They took the records, they'd be fools not to. And no one is a fool in a Sweeper group."
"How do you know?" Wufei asked. He didn't like that Duo had done that, but it would show their hosts that they were trying to be honest with them, it would help them in the future and might help them overlook a few other things.
"I was with one of them for a while, a kid that used to help around, run errands; little stuff. A guy named Howard was looking out for me. I just went out one night and didn't come back. They must have thought that I ran away on them." Duo said sadly.
"So they are going to figure out what we are very soon, as soon as they go over all that they got from that lab. And then they are going to treat us like experiments again." Wufei said gloomily.
"I don't know." Duo said quietly, "Rashid, he's been fiddled with. Not like us, but when I hugged him, I felt the difference, something about his muscles. They might actually not care."
"That might have happened. But how are they going to react to what we did?" Zechs asked, sinking down in the water a little more, hating himself a little for surviving. Was it worth the price? And that was why Duo touched the other man, to get information, show that he was normal? That he hadn't been abused and people made him want to scream without stopping sometime? Zechs had hoped that Duo was going to get over what had been done to him and enjoy people loving him, like he should. But he doubted it, Duo had been abused by all of them for too long for it to just go away as soon as he was free.
Duo shrugged. "It was do what they said or die. And it was fight or die in the end, I didn't want to die so...I might have though, if you guys didn't start to take care of me. I don't think that I would have survived, if you didn't care enough to make me take care of myself."
Wufei hugged Duo. "You just needed to know that there was hope."
#You looked so lost the first time that I saw you. Chained to the commander's chair and looking at everything with that dead eyed stare, as she played with your hair, petting you like you were a dog. She had had you in that room for months, doing all those mods to you, you weren't let out of her quarters until she was through with you. When that bitch replaced you with that Alex and Muller, I didn't know if I should have been glad or scared that you were in the same holding area that I was. The others ignored you, I was about the only one that made sure that you ate, paid some attention to you.
The first reaction I saw out of you was the night that they matched us in a duel. I was so afraid that I would hurt you, but you seemed to know how to fight. And then I saw how much they had changed in you. I barely beat you and I'm not sure that you didn't throw the fight because you knew that the looser was to be given to those two as their 'pet' for the night, as a reward for something that they did. I don't think that I would have survived that night. Because you barely crawled back in the holding area the next morning and you heal faster then anyone that they mod'd. I thought I was going to cry when you smiled at me and curled up next to me, telling me not to worry, that in a couple of hours, you'd be just fine. That was the first time that you had said anything to anyone, I swore. You were fine, like it never happened, you just ate enough for three men, and thankfully they knew that was going to happen, so I managed to get enough for you. But you still have the memories, they haven't left you yet. That the captain had gotten rid of those two, let their new 'owner' claim them and was thinking of taking you back again was the rumor floating around and that's why they kept you sedated most of the time.#
Duo hugged him back. "Hey, you gave it to me...you and Zechs 'cause watching the two of you fall in love was about the only thing that kept me going." #It was wonderful and magical, the one bright spot in my life...I wish that I could have it happen to me...before I was captured, so I know that it can be good.#
"Even after...after the fights and the other...things." Zechs' voice trailed off. #Bloodlust and pain...that was part of our time together, Duo. I hurt you so much, because I really couldn't control how much damage that I did with these claws, I was still learning to use them, then later...they wanted blood and we gave it to them, me and Wufei. You healed though, but Wufei...Wufei is so much safer to be with, he isn't the fragile waif that you are. You look like a child and I have no sexual desire for you because of that. But I want it to be good for you too, you look at us and I see something in your eyes that breaks my heart. You are so sad...so curious...because I don't think that you ever have been loved and you think that pain is all there is to love and sex. And if you look that young for the rest of your life, will you ever?#
Duo smiled at him and went over to give him a hug, Zechs needed it more then he needed not to be touched by anyone. "You didn't want to do it, you had to. And I'd rather it was you...not any of the others, because they wouldn't have tried to be gentle, even though the commander and her officers were all screaming for blood. I forgive you for whatever you've done to me, because I wasn't gentle with you either, even though it was stupid, I usually lost no matter what I did to you, just annoyed you more then anything.." #Pain...I'm well away from that now...I can't see how people enjoy it...sex... because it hurts so much...but I don't have to do it ever again...#
"Enough of this worrying," Wufei said quietly. "I want to enjoy myself as long as I can because I have no idea what the future is going to bring!" #Even though the quiet scholar that I was, died in those labs. I know that I am not human anymore, I just have to look in the mirror. My eyes, my skin...the talons that can rend flesh as easily as paper. I'm not human. And Duo...hopefully you'll find out that it isn't all pain. You seem to enjoy touching us, once in while. We just have to remember not to touch you. I am glad about that, it shows that you weren't too damaged by what was happening to you, but you need to be loved and I don't think that it will or can be either one of us...too much blood between us. We hurt you in ways that you should have never learned about, for the entertainment of a few twisted people.#
After a while, Zechs smiled and stretched. "I want to..."
"...get some rest?" Duo teased him. He had seen the small touches and frequent caresses that they had been giving each other, Duo knew that they wanted some time alone. And not to rest.
Wufei laughed and crawled out of the water, "We will rest, eventually." he leered at Zechs after smiling at Duo.
Duo laughed and shook his head. They had been in the same holding area for a long time and privacy had been non existent. He usually tried to sleep through whatever they were doing, he didn't want to see it, even though the noises that he had heard didn't sound like they were hurting each other, like he thought that they were doing, in the beginning. They were wonderful to him, but he wanted the same thing that he saw in their eyes when they looked at each other. He thought he did, he wasn't too sure, but ...he was lonely at times.
Zechs smiled and heaved himself out of the pool. "You will all right on your own?" he asked, looking down at Duo.
Duo smiled and waved them away, he didn't want to spoil their time together by making them worry about him when they should be enjoying themselves. He wasn't so sure that they would get this in the future, they should take advantage of the fact that they seemed to be allowed to run free here. "I'll be fine. Rashid said that he would be along soon. Do you want to be woken for supper?"
"No," Zechs growled, before sweeping up Wufei in his arms. "I found what I wanted to eat right here." They disappeared into their room, Duo shaking his head at their antics.
"It is...special to see something that silly and sweet in grown men." came a soft voice behind Duo.
Duo turned and frowned at the blonde that was in the bathing area, he hadn't heard him come in. That worried him, he didn't like people sneaking up on him.
The blonde smiled reassuringly, as if he knew of Duo's discomfort. "My name is Quatre," he said, walking towards the pool "you were asleep for most of the trip, so you didn't meet me."
"Oh," Duo replied, feeling foolish. "I...I didn't hear you come in...it..."
"I have learned to walk quietly, Trowa's hearing is very good. I didn't like it when he told me that I made more noise walking then a herd of pregnant water buffalo." Quatre commented, slowly sinking into the water. "Nice." he sighed.
And it wasn't the heat of the water he was talking about, but Duo. He was gorgeous, Quatre could see why the boy had been a pet of the commander and her people. Someone that beautiful, naturally, was to be prized in their world of biosculpted beauties. They may have done some tweaking, making the hair silkier or the skin smoother, but Quatre could tell the that changes that had been done to Duo weren't external. So why was he in that hellhole? Was all the work that had been done on him mental, like his? But shouldn't he be able to tell that? All of them were beautiful, was that why they were there? Being kept for someone or something that could afford the price on any of them?
Duo chuckled, the imagery was vivid. But Quatre was slender and graceful, he didn't lumber around like most of the scientists and the soldiers had in that place. He couldn't imagine anyone accusing him of being loud.
Quatre smiled and made his way closer to Duo. He was happy that Duo wasn't alarmed at how close he had gotten, he didn't view Quatre as a threat. But then, the small boy hadn't been alarmed by Rashid's size, either. And Quatre knew that no matter what he did, he wasn't going to be as threatening as the people that they had just escaped. Quatre concentrated on appearing as harmless as possible. Rashid had told him what Duo had said, it was going to be more difficult then he thought dealing with Duo and the others.
Duo noticed how close Quatre had gotten, but he wasn't worried, he hadn't tried to touch him. Quatre was bigger then he was, but Duo thought that he could take him in a fight if he had to. He may be small, but after all the duels that he had been in for that bitch, he was a pretty good fighter. He just lost because the other guy had weapons or a built in advantage that he couldn't overcome. Duo felt a small tinge of uneasiness at these memories, but fought it down. Wufei had told him that it was safe here and Wufei never lied to him. He was just feeling weird because he was alone for the first time in a while. And he knew that if he got into trouble, all he had to do was scream and he'd get help.
"I have a lot of old clothes here that you might fit into." Quatre said quietly, "If you don't mind my hand me downs."
Duo shrugged, "I don't care...I never really had anything new..." his voice trailed off, not wanting to give Quatre too much information. It wasn't hard, he had suppressed a lot of his memories from before he was taken, so that he wouldn't miss what he had been like before. They came back occasionally, in his dreams, shadow images that he refused to examine, to remember what life was before he had been turned into a play toy and science experiment.
Quatre frowned. Duo's face hadn't changed its expression, but he felt the sadness that swept through him. # It hurts remembering, it would for any of them. You should know that by now, dealing with Trowa and Heero. Jay has been a lot of help, he feels guilty that he never stopped any of what happened to us before it got out of hand, but no one ever wants to think that someone would experiment on their own children, like our parents did.#
Quatre smiled, trying to reassure Duo, "It would have been that way for me being the youngest, except I was a boy with a ton of older sisters."
Duo smiled uncertainly, he didn't know really what Quatre was driving at. Quatre sighed and put out his hand to touch Duo. "You're safe. And...well we aren't going to do anything bad to you. I can't understand what you went through, either physically or mentally, but we aren't going to judge you. We weren't there."
Duo reached out to touch Quatre's fingers, intercepting his attempt to touch him. It was a lot friendlier then the knocking his hand away, which was what he wanted to do. But since this was Quatre's place, he had to be nice to him. It was both common sense and polite. "I understand ...I think. But...it's been so long...and before, trust...trust was hard."
"I'll have to ask Howard about that." Quatre said lightly, trying to twine his fingers with Duo's.
Duo perked up at the mention of Howard's name, letting go of Quatre's fingers and moving out of touch range. He didn't want to encourage Quatre. But he didn't want to start screaming now either. "Howard...from the Sweepers?" He knew that it was a common name, be he hoped that it was the same person, he wanted to apologize and say that he hadn't run away from them, that he had liked it there.
Quatre nodded, trying not to let his disappointment show. He wanted to get to know Duo a lot better. Even if he thought it was odd, since Duo didn't look more then fourteen, much too young for him. And why was the boy so skittish about being touched? None of the others seemed that way. "We work with him, not a lot... some of his people aren't really open minded about bios. They...are rude at times, not deliberately, just out of ignorance. And...for me and Trowa, people get to us a lot faster then they do Heero. After a while, we just want to be here, home where there aren't a lot of strangers."
"Oh..."Duo said, thinking that he would have to leave soon, he didn't now where he would go, there wasn't much a future for a street kid with no education that had been a punching bag and whore for the last two years. And it wasn't like he had family, no one that he loved would want him now, he knew that both Zechs and Wufei probably had family, from the little things that he had found out, but even if they weren't going to go back to their families, they had each other and he was the odd one out. But if they didn't like people around here he wasn't going to stay were he wasn't wanted. Maybe Howard would take him on, let him run errands again. It would give him a couple of months breathing room to plan something to let him disappear before they figured out what was changed in him.
Quatre smiled and reached out to stroke Duo's fingers lightly, ignoring the growing alarm and confusion that he was reading off the small boy. It wasn't like he was going to do anything improper to him while he was a guest in his house. "You can stay here...you are like us. We don't mind you here and you should know that there are others out there, people that have been changed, against their will. You shouldn't be ashamed of what they did to you."
Duo was wondering how he was supposed to respond to this when Rashid entered the room. Quatre looked up and waved at him, before moving back a little from Duo. He didn't want a lecture from the man about how inappropriate he was being, getting this friendly with Duo. That they had no idea who he was and getting involved would not be good for either one of them. That he was chasing a boy that was a lot younger then he was. A boy that didn't want to be chased from the fear that he sensed off of him just now at getting touched.
Rashid noticed Quatre's movement and frowned. He knew that the man was lonely, but getting involved with Duo was not the right thing. The boy had been abused for years, they knew nothing about him and Quatre didn't even know if Duo would welcome his attentions. And he was a boy, not an adult. They were sorry that their master felt left out, but this was not the answer. Abdul followed him in and they smiled at one another, knowing that scolding Quatre not going to help things either, he was lonely. He and Abdul had been lovers for years, since they first meet in one of OZ's early experimental camps. They had managed to escape before they had been changed too much, minor modifications to their strength and endurance. Nothing like the young men that were in their charge. They had been found by the Sweepers after drifting for a few years, trying to survive and hide what had been done to them. They had decided that taking care of the young men was their job after seeing how many of the others shied away from contact with them, and treated them with discourtesy. It had taken a while, but they were trusted by the three of them, which was something that they both thought was worth the suffering that had happened to them, they knew it was minuscule next to some of the things that their charges had been through.
Duo waved back, relieved that someone was here to shield him from Quatre's intense study and very disturbing touches. He just wanted to be left alone, to be able to learn to be some thing else besides a lab experiment. He just hoped that everyone else would let him do that. But Quatre was eying him like he was a new present that he wanted to open. Rashid and the rest treated him like the child that he appeared to be, but not Quatre, he wanted him...like Zechs wanted Wufei. And Duo didn't know if he could say no.
"I think that I soaked enough," Duo started to babble. "I'm going to get out now and I will see you later on tonight?"
Quatre nodded, wondering why Duo was afraid of him suddenly. Did he think that Quatre was going to do anything bad to him. He was a child and had just gotten out of the place that they had tortured him, he shouldn't be afraid of any of them. He was about to follow Duo and ask what was the matter when Rashid slide into the pool next to him.
"Don't Master Quatre, he is skittish, like Trowa was when he and Heero first came here. Just let him have some time to settle down and things will be better. I have managed to find clothing for him and the others. All we have to do is wait to see what Jay and Howard want to do."
Heero and Trowa waited at the Sweeper's designated headquarters, PeaceMillion. They had delivered the tapes and whatever records that they had found to the ones that they were looking for and was just waiting for permission to leave. As they waited, they tried to ignore the whispers and the stares that they were receiving from the other members of the crew. Heero almost sighed with relief when they were motioned at to go into the briefing room. He just wanted to make his report and get back home.
"Have you seen any of these reports?" Jay asked calmly.
Heero shook his head. "We didn't have time, they are encoded and it does take time even to break a simple code. I wanted to get the information here, let the experts look at it. I hope that it was something useful."
"It was and it wasn't, at first glance. Were there any survivors?" Howard asked.
"Quatre reported three survivors," Trowa reported. "We ordered him to take them back to the homestead instead of here because I don't think that they would enjoy the attention that they would be receiving from the crew." Trowa's mild tone almost hid the note of disgust in his voice.
They glanced at each other and shook their heads. "We are sorry about that." Jay apologized. "We have no idea that...."
"That people would still react negatively to what had done to us." Heero said softly. "It is something that we can live with, just it does get annoying after a while." #The whispers that stop when we get near them and there are too many people for Trowa to handle, sometimes all the smells just overload him, his parents didn't really think things through with his mods, humans weren't meant to process all that information, that way. He has headaches from that and they do not make the rudeness that we endure any better. #
"Back to the main reason that we wanted you here for. You haven't seen any of the reports, so we will show some of what we managed to get so far. Did you get then names of any of the survivors?"
"Quatre reported that the names were Zechs, Wufei and Duo." Heero reported. "Not known if they are they real names or designated names by the crew that was there."
"Most of the records are numbered, no names. But I think that the numbers match the names." Jay said. "Since those names are also numbers in other languages."
"Did you see any of the survivors?" Howard asked. "I think I might know one of them... we had a kid for a while called Duo, we were going to approach him about staying with us, but he disappeared before we could. Looks like OZ grabbed him, I thought that the kid just booked one night."
Heero shrugged, "I don't know. We can check on that later because as soon as we leave this place we are going back there. It is about the only place that we are comfortable at."
"That is all right Heero, I do understand that..." Jay started
"...after awhile you don't like people looking at you like you were a freak...that the smell of too many humans is nauseating." Trowa finished, "I am tired of it. I want to go back to our home to rest." #Too many people...too much noise...they don't like us and they won't tell you that, and sometimes I just wonder what my parents were thinking of, did they want a son...or a cat with the mods they did to me? The smells and my reactions to people. Or was it I just spent too much time alone, before you caught me?#
Jay shook his head. He had seen the way that the crew and others had reacted to Heero and Trowa. He had thought that the looks of disgust had been because of their relationship, not because they were now something other then human. He had raised Heero, since the death of his parents. He knew that it was immoral some of the modifications that had done to him, but he had responded so well to the changes, his parents had been encouraged to go further then was wise. And he didn't know enough about what they were doing to make them stop. Trowa had come to live with them later, his parents asked that he be taken care of by their oldest friend. What they had neglected to mention was that Trowa had also been changed, as a result of their experimentation with his genes. Jay wondered what was wrong with people who thought that their children were science experiments and did not treat them like the gift that they were.
While Heero's parents had been experimenting into turning Heero into a superior human, Trowa's parents had changed him so that he could survive in the wilderness, away from human contact. He had fled there after his parents death in an accident, not wanting to deal with the humans anymore. He had only been with his parents for most of his life and their treatment of him made Trowa distrust any unmoded human. So when OZ raided his parents illegal lab, he managed to escape and hide into the wilderness from everyone.
When Jay had found him, he had been more animal then human, from months of living in the woods and hiding from OZ or anyone that he didn't know. Heero had befriended him, shown him that there were some people that could be trusted. Jay didn't know when they had become lovers, he had just stumbled across them one morning after they had fallen asleep together and Jay walked into Heero's room, looking for something. Trowa growling at him when he saw Jay, scared the crap out of him. And Jay thought that Trowa was annoyed and confused when all he did was shake his head and tell him not to break Heero's heart, before backing out of the room cautiously. That they had found each other was wonderful, he had been worried that Heero was a bit too antisocial for his own good.
Quatre's changes were the result of tinkering by his father during his mother's pregnancy. Jay ended up with him when it became clear that he couldn't handle being around a large number of people, without training to handle all the emotions that he was being bombarded with. After a few years, Quatre could manage on his own, his empathy for other people was no longer crippling him, by overwhelming his sense of self. He renounced all ties to his family and joined the Sweeper group. Jay and Howard were old friends, Howard was just glad that he had access to these people some of the time, they were priceless to him.
Howard smiled and ruffled Heero's hair. "Take your time...you've both be going nonstop for months, we've been rushing you from one crisis to another. Relax and I'll get in touch with Rashid if we need you."
Heero sighed silently at Howard's attempt at playfulness, but at least he had learned not to touch Trowa. That had nearly resulted in Trowa ripping out his throat because he thought that Howard was trying to dominate him. Heero had realized early that Trowa had some problems with the others due to his modifications and hiding from OZ in the woods, he knew that Trowa was more feral than Jay suspected. It didn't bother him, it was refreshing to be with someone that was not playing any of the social and political games that were rampant in the Sweepers, he never understood half of them, he never learned to be social, his parents never wanted anyone to find out what they were doing to him. Trowa smoothed down Heero's hair with a glare at Howard and left the room, herding Heero out in front of him.
Jay shook his head, "You're damn lucky that he didn't take your head off for that."
Howard shrugged, confused at Trowa's reaction, he was just being friendly. "What is his problem?"
Jay laughed bitterly, "What isn't his problem? But don't touch Heero and you will live to see your next birthday. That's the one rule that you have to remember around Trowa and you will survive." #He can't help it most of the time, he just reacts to any threat to Heero, even though he knows that the boy can take care of himself And anyone interested in Heero threatens him..#
"I know that Trowa isn't into being touched, but Heero?"
Jay laughed helplessly, "Howard...they are involved or didn't you know that?"
"Shit." Howard cursed. "I didn't...so I should send Trowa a mouse or something in apology for touching Heero?"
"Howard," Jay said coldly, "you ignore it and not make tasteless jokes about what was done to him."
Howard gestured, "What I really want to do is kill their parents for creating this mess." #I am taking advantage of their abuse, but I don't have to like what happened to these kids.#
Jay was silent, knowing that he had the same urge far too often himself. And he hated himself at times for using them all like he did, but they were useful in the fight against OZ.
Trowa was silent on the way home. Heero almost laughed about worrying at that, Trowa spoke less then he did. But he knew that his lover was brooding about something. When they were almost at their destination, Trowa at last said what was bothering him.
"Am I human enough for you?" he asked wistfully.
Heero smiled, "Are you upset about your reaction to Howard touching me? I can assure you that possessiveness of your lover is an all too human trait. Look, but no touch is quite a common reaction."
"Most humans wouldn't have marked you afterwards with their scent, though." Trowa said bitterly.
"A much less messy way, scent markings are much better then if you left a trail of hickies down my neck, showing that you 'owned' me." Heero replied, leaning over to kiss Trowa. "Besides, the scent lasts longer, the hickies heal in an hour at the most."
He understood his problem, the constant need to think before you did anything, questioning if this was the 'right' or socially acceptable thing for him to do. Trowa had it harder, his modifications and the time he spent alone making him want to take a more instinctive path, like marking his lover with his scent, rubbing him with the glands that he possessed because he felt threatened by another man paying attention to Heero.
Trowa rubbed against Heero again, wondering why he was bothering to do that, it wasn't like any of the others, with their puny human noses could smell his marking on Heero, it was just something that he had to do. Heero kissed Trowa again and was relieved to see that he had gotten cheerier at least, reassured that Heero understood what he was doing and why.
"We are going to meet the ones that were rescued by Quatre," Heero said as they arrived, "I hope that they aren't too traumatized by what had been happening to them, they might be able to help us track down others."
Trowa shrugged, "The records...they have been through so much, from what little you managed to decode and read. I can't believe that someone would do that to a fellow human being."
"From what I can tell, most of those people that they worked on, they were changed to be OZ officers' pets and left after about six to nine months. But most of the time it was simple mods, bioscultping and some behavior modification. Extras, things that had been done to us, like weapons and strength modifications weren't done, most of these poor sods end up as pleasure toys. Why would they keep those three as long as they did? Were their mods much more extensive then we thought or were they being saved for something else?" Heero mused, pulling up to the homestead. It was late and most of the lights were off, there were a few left on by the staff because they had radioed ahead that they would be late and no one should stay up for them.
Trowa shrugged, "They aren't going to be happy. And...we were too young to really remember what happened to us and how it was before, they aren't so lucky."
"Just don't be ashamed of what we are." Heero asked, "They might react better, be more adjusted to what happened to them, it think that is why there is such a high failure rate in the experiments, they don't want to live with the changes afterwards." #Or could it be the fact that someone that would do that to a human being would do other things that would drive them to commit suicide if they were controlled by them? And no one that is changed really can go home again, if they had one. OZ seems to be limiting their experimentation on the lower classes and the homeless, people that aren't going to be missed.#
Trowa nodded his agreement and they walked into the homestead together. Heero enjoyed their time here. It was peaceful, far enough away from everything else so that Trowa wasn't overwhelmed by people there. And there was acreage for him to roam about on when he needed to be alone. It was a perfect place for the two of them and Trowa regretted that they couldn't stay here longer. But Heero thought that he owed Jay, so he willing ran into all sorts of danger for the man, Trowa blindly following him to protect Heero. Or was that something that his parents programmed into him, follow the alpha male, whixch was Jay? Trowa sighed, he didn't want to think about that right now. He wanted to eat and make love to Heero, mark him as his mate before facing the three that had been dumped on their laps. He grabbed Heero into a rough hug, before letting the smaller man go, he needed to reassure himself that Heero was fine, even though he knew that it would take a lot to hurt his lover.
Duo crept into the darken room and headed into a corner. He was tired, it had been a long day and he had overloaded on all the information that he had learned over supper, with Quatre, Rashid and Abdul. Later , they had all retired to the library to play a few card games. But Duo had begged off early on, to get some more sleep and to just get away from Quatre. Quatre was giving him a lot more attention then he wanted, even though Rashid seemed to be running interference for Duo, trying to attract Quatre's attention away from him. That was a couple of hours ago, he had fallen asleep and then had woken up, alarmed by the lack of people near him. Duo couldn't get back to sleep and after a while had decided to give into the impulse and go to sleep in Wufei and Zechs's room.
He thought that he was in Zechs and Wufei's room, he found that sleeping alone was difficult, he hadn't really been alone for the last few years, the quiet was deafening and he found it hard to relax. Duo hoped that he could get some sleep and then be out of the room in the morning, before the other two woke up. He didn't want them to worry about him, he'd just sleep a little in their room and then he'd be fine. It was silly that he couldn't sleep alone and he didn't want them laughing at him for that, after he said that he would be all right to sleep by himself.
Trowa woke up when he heard someone entering the room that he was in with Heero. They had just gotten to sleep after eating supper and then making love. Trowa glanced over at Heero, he was asleep, their missions took a lot out of him, and he slept heavily when he knew that he was in a safe place. Trowa sniffed, he didn't recognize the scent of the person in the room and it raised the hair on the back of his neck. Any unknown person was an enemy, someone that had to be dealt with before he harmed his mate. Trowa quietly slipped out of the bed, stalking the intruder in the room. He would be dealt with before he could wake up Heero or hurt anyone in the household. Trowa pounced on the small figure in the corner, trapping it with his superior size and weight. He flexed his claws a little to make sure that the intruder knew that he was someone that was not to be trifled with and that it had done something very wrong when he invaded his territory, but he wasn't going to hurt it...much. Trowa was unprepared for the scream of pure terror that the intruder let out and that it started fighting back. He didn't know why it was upset, he just wanted to talk after he showed this intruder its place!
Duo was almost asleep, comforted by the fact that there was someone near him, when he felt a body land on top of him. He panicked when he realized that it wasn't Zechs or Wufei. He would know them by their weight alone, he had been under them often enough in a fight or being fucked by them, after he lost. He didn't know who it was, but the person had claws that were pinning him down and he was naked and on top of him. Duo screamed and fought back, not caring if he was ripped by those claws, he'd heal. He thought that his reaction startled whoever was on top of him, because he managed to get out from underneath him, bleeding heavily from the scratches. They were deep, but they would heal in a few minutes, he just had to hide before the blood loss got to him and he was to weak to run away from this person. He didn't want to be hurt, to be raped again. Most of the rapes had started out this way, his bigger opponent pinning him down, hurting him because that's what they wanted; his blood, his pain, then his body. He had believed Quatre when he said that they were safe, but it was just another lie. He ran out of the room, sobbing a little, through the communal bath and into the hallway. He wanted to be out that place, he would hide and try to find some where that he could go and not be hurt. Duo made his way out the back and then ran out into the wilderness that surrounded the house, wanting to be far away from that place. He had room to run now, he was going to use it to get away from these people.
Zechs woke up to Duo's scream of terror and pain. He recognized it, he had heard it far too often, when they were fighting, when he had lost and Wufei or one of the others raped him. He was out of the bed in a flash, not bothering to get dressed. Wufei was close behind him.
"The room opposite ours." Wufei hissed, as they ran out the door, wanting to save Duo. It was dark and Zechs and Wufei slid around the edges of the large room, until they got into the room. They were surprised as they burst into the room, the lights went on. They both blinked, blinded for a second before they were able to see. Zechs noticed that Duo wasn't in the room, he would have sworn that he was in here, that his scream had come from this room. Wufei hissed again when he noticed the two strangers in the room. "Who are you!" he demanded.
"We should be asking that of you," the taller of the two asked. Zechs noticed that the tips of his fingers were covered in blood. The other man got out of bed and went to stand by his companion, putting an arm around him, to either restrain him or calm him down.
"We were rescued earlier today from an OZ science base. We had been told that it was a safe place for us, but we were just wakened by the screams of a friend of ours." Zechs explained.
"Trowa calm down...that wasn't someone that was going to attack us..." Heero informed him.
Wufei looked around, noting the blood trail that was going out the door, getting angry, hissing "He's hurt."
Trowa looked down at the blood on his hands. "I thought that there was a threat...so I pinned him down to ask him some questions, but...he fought back...he..."
"...didn't care about the damage, so long as he got away." Zechs finished calmly, seething inside. Duo did not need this right now! "Duo was probably confused about where he was and wandered into this room by accident. When you landed on top of him, he thought that you were going to rape him, so he fought back."
"So where is he? And my name is Heero and this is Trowa, we were part of the group that got you out of that lab." Heero added.
"The blood trail leads out the door, he'd get out as fast as he could and hide." Wufei said, ignoring Heero. He was worried about Duo, they were in the middle of no where and Duo hadn't been out of that damned place for two years. Duo had no idea what he could run into and get hurt by in those woods.
"He thought that I was going to rape him?" Trowa asked in confusion, "I...I thought that he was a threat." Trowa sniffed, underneath the blood, he smelled something else, something... reptilian? He studied the newcomers quickly, noting the strange pattern that was on the skin of the shorter of the two men that had burst into their room. Both were gorgeous, naked and very angry with him.
Zechs sighed and looked at Wufei, motioning him to find Duo while he explained things to these two, hopefully before they got a good look at his skin. He heard Wufei move out of the room and started to explain.
"No one's talked to you?" he asked, looking at the two of them cautiously. They would be hard to take in a fight, if it came down to it. If Rashid and Quatre lied about how they were going to be treated around here. And he wasn't too confident right now that they hadn't lied to them. Not with the way that Duo had screamed.
"We came in late," Heero said coolly, "No one else was awake, we had just manage to get to sleep when this incident happened."
Zechs shrugged. He smelled musk and sweat in the room, he was willing to wager that these two were lovers, especially the way the taller one was glaring at him. Zechs smiled reassuringly. "I'm not interested, Wufei and I are together."
Heero blinked at this odd statement and then noticed that Trowa relaxed at this strange non sequitor, "And your name is?" he asked.
"Zechs...and the one that you frightened, he's called Duo. Wufei is the one out in the hallway."
"Why would he think that I would hurt him?" Trowa asked, looking at the blood with distaste. He went out into the bathroom to rinse it off his hands.
"Because he's been abused and hurt for the last few years." Quatre said softly behind Zechs, he had woken up at the terror that Duo had broadcast. And the scream didn't hurt either, everyone probably woke up at that. "He told Rashid that you were the entertainment as well as the experiments. Is that true?"
"It is." Wufei announced from the other room, "The trail leads out the door, I will try and get to him before he runs too far, but...I don't think that he'd trust me either. And...I'm not sure if I want him to come back unless I have some reassurances that he isn't going to be hurt."
"Just get him back...that's a lot of blood that he's lost." Quatre ordered.
Zechs shrugged, "He'll heal. Just needs to replace the fluids when he calms down."
They all stared at Zechs for that cruel statement. He stared back and smiled coolly. "The semi-weekly 'entertainment' was a fight between two of the experiments. They didn't have to be evenly matched, but some spirit in the match was good. An easy victory was...boring. The winner, if he was if shape for it afterwards, usually 'topped' the loser, whether the loser wanted him or not. Basically, it was fight to avoid being raped, to be the rapist instead. Duo...he's quick and can fight, but his size is against him. He lost a lot." Zechs paused. "He was usually pitted against either Wufei, myself or another couple of the bigger experiments. Ones that could deal out a lot of damage."
Zechs flexed his fingers and let the others see the claws that had been implanted in them. Heero and Trowa exchanged a meaningful look, a lot of work had been done on Zechs for that. That explained the time the Zechs had spent in the base, such changed took more time then the simple things that had been done to the others. And the care that had been taken to make sure that those claws weren't noticeable. They were impressed with the skill of the surgeons that had worked on him. Trowa's parents hadn't been as successful. His claws occasionally got caught on things, no matter how careful he was, because he really couldn't retract them as far as he wanted.
Zechs continued, "I shredded his back to the bone more then once. He survived without a scar. But...as I said, he usually lost, he was hurt a lot. And that was after he was in the commander's quarters for months after all the things that were done to him."
"You mentioned that the commander...that she..." Quatre's voice trailed off. He wasn't innocent, but he couldn't say what had happened to Duo. Why Duo didn't want to be touched. He knew that, but there was just something about the boy that made him want to stroke all that smooth skin endlessly. Pheromones? Or the feeling that he could be his younger brother and he wanted to hug all his hurt away.
Zechs sighed. "That was before I was on that base, but Wufei saw him then...there would be games ...contests...things like, how much blood could he lose before he passed out. What hurt more? Sexual torture, things that made Duo into a zombie, almost. When he stopped reacting to her and the others playing with him, Duo was allowed to be with the rest of us. I think he thought that the fights were easier then living with her. Especially since she got rid of his replacements, she had given or sold them to another faction in OZ. They had been turned into heartless killers, so they were ready to go, but then we all have been. The time in that base was...numbing to your soul."
Trowa and Quatre looked ill. Heero shook his head. "That doesn't explain why he was in our room."
"Your room is directly opposite ours, he may have gotten confused. Duo might have just wanted to sleep near someone, he hadn't had any privacy for years, being alone might have frightened him." Zechs explained coolly, angry that this place was turning into a trap.
"I..." Trowa's went silent and he went out to search for Duo, he wouldn't be hard to find, not with all the blood that he was leaving behind. He had hurt him, he should help find Duo.
Zechs went to follow him, stopped by Quatre's hand on his arm. "He's going to search outside, why don't we check inside, he might be hiding in here." #I don't want you and Wufei out of my sight. You might keep on going outside that door and I don't want to lose you. Or have to hunt you down. You are my guests, but I don't trust you any more then you trust me and until we get the full story of what has been done to you, you are not leaving this place.#
Trowa caught up with Wufei. Wufei glared as he came up behind him, and was prepared to ignore him until he heard his softly voiced question. "What did they do to you?"
Wufei spun around, taking a fighting stance. He had no idea what was going on, but he trusted no one in this place, not now. Not with Duo's scream of terror echoing in his ears. "What do you mean?"
Trowel cocked his head, wrinkling his nose. "You smell...reptilian...is the best that I can say, I can translate."
"Smell?" Wufei asked suspiciously, he didn't think that it was that noticeable! He knew that he smelled different when his sweated, but he knew that was because of the mods that had been done to him, but no one else had ever commented on it before.
Trowa shrugged, Wufei noticed the smooth way that his muscles moved underneath his skin, the way that he moved. Trowa wasn't normal either, aside from the obvious claws. Heero and Quatre had been changed too, from what little he had seen, but he had gotten an eyeful when they were all standing around Trowa's room talking, while Duo ran from them. "Only if you tell me how you can smell me."
Trowa sniffed, he expected that much. It wasn't that Wufei smelled bad...just odd. Wufei also smelled of sex and Zechs, so the blonde hadn't lied to him, they were involved. "My parents ...they decided to test out a few of their theories on me."
Wufei stood still, shocked at that information. "Biological theories...modifications. You are a bioriod, like the rest of us." he stated flatly.
Trowa nodded. "Claws, scent glands, reflexes...a few other things. I sometimes wonder if they shouldn't have gotten a cat...that seems what they wanted."
Wufei winced inwardly at the bitter tone. That your parents had experimented on you. "They wanted someone that could pass among the humans, but had built in armor and a few other things, a killer in a neat package. Protection for someone high up. I think that is the latest fad, according to what little I found out."
Trowa stared, examining closely what he had thought was a tattoo, at first glance. "Those are scales."
Wufei nodded and clicked his fingernails together. "Talons, scales over the parts of my body that could be hidden; arms, legs, torso, built in armor. Improved vision."
"How...?" Trowa asked before thinking and then he blushed. And it wasn't because just realized that he and Wufei were naked, in the woods. Cloths were something that he wore to please the people that he was living with. To act more 'human'. He didn't think about nudity a lot, he wasn't embarrassed about his body. And he didn't think that Wufei had gotten back into the habit of wearing cloths again or he wouldn't be wandering out in the woods naked. Or he was really worried about Duo. But thinking about the feel of scales on skin was...intriguing, but not worth jeopardizing his relationship with Heero.
Wufei smiled involuntarily. The blush was a hint that Trowa's thoughts were and they weren't on how dangerous Wufei was. "It's strange. Still sensitive in the right places. But we've got to find Duo."
"What did they do to him?" Trowa asked as he sniffed the air. Duo was heading out into the woods, up wind of them, not too far away, but he was making good time even if he was hurt.
"I don't know. Aside from his healing and being very...flexible, I haven't asked," Wufei lied. A little. He hadn't asked, really, so it wasn't much of a lie. He just managed to find our through observing Duo for the last year and a half. And he wasn't going to voice those guesses unless he knew that they were accurate. And he didn't know. And he was hoping that he guessed was wrong. Because he had seen no physical changes in Duo for the year and half that they had been together, aside from the healing that he had undergone from all the fights and other things. He hadn't grown an inch, or looked any older then thirteen, even though he had once told Wufei that he was seventeen. He wasn't going to tell these people anything that he didn't have to, trust only went so far.
Trowa shrugged, not wanting to think about that problem now. Heero or Quatre could deal with it. "He's heading north, upwind."
"Then let's find him." Wufei snarled, sick of the questions. They had to find Duo before he hurt himself. And he didn't want to tell these people any more then he had to. And make sure that they all said the same thing.
"What is he to you?" Trowa asked as he started a distance eating lope into the woods. Duo was leaving a trail that a blind man could follow, but he didn't expect that it would be hard to find him, not with Duo being in a lab for the last few years, city folk forgot such things as wind direction and trails too easily.
Wufei followed, without bothering to answer Trowa aloud, # Someone that I have hurt far too much. And someone that I want to protect.#
Duo ran, stumbling over debris before slowing down, he could heal fast, but broken bones weren't something that he enjoyed. He stopped, thinking that he heard someone behind him, but couldn't tell over the beating of his heart and his harsh breathing. He was so out of shape, he used to be able to run for blocks if he wanted to. He should find someplace to hide, heal and then take stock of his situation when it was light out. He was looking for someplace that he could hide when a branch snapped behind him. Duo turned, ready to fight. He wasn't going down without one, even though he felt like shit from the blood loss. He was relieved that it was Wufei. He threw himself into his arms, crying.
"I'm sorry...it was the wrong room...I...not alone...he..." Duo sobbed as Wufei rocked him gently in his arms.
"You frighten him as much as he frightened you." Wufei said softly. That was true in a way, Trowa was horrified at what he had done. That Duo was willing to rip himself to shreds to get away from him. His parents may have treated him like their own personal lab rat, but he didn't think that they were as malicious to him as OZ had been to any of them. They hadn't cared enough.
Duo continued to cry, gradually winding down from exhaustion. "I want to run...can you say that you never found me..."
"Duo, you are naked, injured and have no idea where you are." Wufei began softly.
Trowa stepped out of the shadows, "I'm sorry, I thought that you were..." he began
Duo tried to throw himself out of Wufei's arms and run away again, but the taller man kept him in place, ignoring Duo's struggles to escape. "Don't panic...it was a mistake...we're safe...safe..." Wufei tried to explain and calm him down at the same time, without hurting Duo. Duo wasn't helping, his struggles were causing Wufei's talons to cut into his skin, spilling more blood. Wufei let go, afraid that he would really hurt Duo if he kept him there.
Duo started to run and stumbled, tripping over a tree root and falling. He realized that he couldn't out run either man, so he curled up in a ball and waited for them to hurt him, to drag him back to that place and play with him.
Wufei dropped to his knees besides Duo, holding him in his arms. "Shh...no one's going to hurt you, that's over..."
Duo shook his head, "No...it always hurts, its never good," he looked up at with sad eyes, "Why does it always hurt?"
"What does he mean?" Trowa asked curiously.
Duo shuddered and tried to bury himself further into Wufei's arms. He didn't do anything else because Trowa stayed out of reach and crouched down beside the two, relaxing his guard. Duo wasn't a threat. In fact, Duo was someone that needed to be cared for more, then Quatre it seemed. But why had he been on that base for so long?
Wufei rocked Duo a little while longer, before standing up with him in his arms. "He's asleep," he announced softly, "if you can guide me back to the house."
"You've decided that you can trust us?" Trowa asked wryly.
"We have no choice." Wufei said flatly. "I don't think that we can be by ourselves... someone will find out about what was done to us and then OZ will swoop down and take us. We need your protection, as much as I don't want to admit that."
"Surely you have family..." Trowa began.
"It is better that my family think that I am dead." Wufei said softly, "The scholar that they raised ...he died the first time that I had to kill, when I had to rape Duo because I beat him in a fight that was neither fair...or decent, and he understood why I was doing it. I am going to never let my family know what has happened to me."
"What about Zechs?"
Wufei shrugged, "We never discussed it, because we never thought that we would be in the position to be free, to worry about it."
Trowa cocked his head and stared at Duo, "Has he spoken of family?"
Wufei shook his head, "he mentioned that he knew someone named Howard in the Sweepers, that he was someone that had taken care of him, before he was taken, but other then that, no. On that base...you tried to forget your past. It was easier on you."
They were silent on the way back to the house. Rashid looked relieved when they appeared with Duo. "Master Quatre was worried," he started awkwardly.
Wufei looked up at Rashid and laughed bitterly, "He shouldn't. There isn't any place else that we can go. It's just more comfortable than the place that we left."
He walked inside, followed by Trowa going to Duo's room to put him to bed. He'd stay up and watch him, he had a lot of thinking to do. And he hoped that Duo could forgive him for hurting him again and bringing him back here, it hadn't really been his choice. But they really had no place else to go.
Une sighed as she made her way towards her superior's office. She knocked on the door politely, waiting for the faint, 'enter', before opening the door. She walked in to see Trezie-sama engrossed in his paperwork, as always. He really needed to get a life, someone that could distract him from all this.
"Treize-sama," she started, "I wish to report that the science base Lovecraft, has been lost. All those that were stationed there killed themselves, after destroying their work, per standing orders. If we can't use them, the enemy is not getting their work either. And since we had implanted that compulsion in them, they will sacrifice themselves so that the enemy will not get their work."
Treize looked up and sighed, he hated it when resources were lost. "I understand that base was under the command of your protégé, Hilde Schbeiker."
Une nodded, "She was working on a project for me...for you actually. I will miss her... she was someone that could get things done. She knew what was needed for the good of OZ."
"Noin was grateful for the work that Hilde did on her two...pets...Muller and Alex. They are a good addition to her household, in her opinion." Treize commented, wondering what those two sick and twisted women had been working on for him.
He admitted that he was as much as fault as they were for the atrocities that they committed in his name, since he didn't stop them. He knew that it took someone with a strong stomach and an iron will to work on one of the science bases. He couldn't do it, but he had some staff that actually enjoyed their time there, the power that they had...he was as guilty as they were because he didn't stop their brutality and the experimentation that went on in that place. But OZ needed that research and the end did justify the means. The few sacrificed for the many or however that quote went.
Une nodded, "They were something simple to create, Noin is...straightforward in her pleasures. What Hilde was working on for you...they were masterpieces of her art."
Treize winced inwardly, keeping a bland mask in place for Une. Art was not the destruction of flesh and humanity, art was something that was created. Nothing that happened in the Lovecraft labs was creative, it was a place of destruction. He was not sorry to see that lab destroyed, even though the research that it did was priceless, but inelegant.
"And what was she working on...?" he questioned delicately. He did not want the modifications that had been done on those creatures that had been created for Noin in his household. They were crude and disgusting, their only saving grace was the fact that they were devoted to Noin.
Une smiled, sensing Treize's distaste, she would not have saddled him with something as vulgar as what Noin had. What kind of woman did he think she was if she would do that to him!
"What Hilde was working on was a masterpiece. I know of your...tastes, Treize-sama. She had managed to stabilize a subject so that he had not apparently aged beyond the biological age of fourteen. For the last eighteen moths...she hadn't observed growth in the subject, he was 'frozen' on the edge of puberty, apparently. Hadn't changed since she had started her modifications on him."
Treize stared at Une. She knew of his Achilles' heel, a lust for beautiful, young boys. It was something that he had kept from the rest of his staff, but she had managed to find out and was willing to cater to his needs? He cocked an eyebrow at her. "And what would have been in it for you?"
She smiled serenely, "Peace of mind. And the subject was being conditioned, so that pain was something that he was used to...you could have abused him in any way...he would have been grateful for the attention, if you chose to give it to him. Or you could have been gentle...it didn't matter. And if you had a captive, attentive bedpartner...I would not have to worry about a scandal wrecking what we are doing here, if you were caught with someone that was to your usual taste. I know that one day one of your conquests are going to break their silence and ruin what we have built."
"Aside from arranging a bed warmer for me, what else was on that base?" Treize demanded dryly, wondering if he should be glad of her interest or her should tell her to go to hell. His personal life was his own!
"There were two more items for you," she said. "Both were being modified into killers and fighters. They had been biosculpted as weapons for your personal use, assassins and bodyguards. Since more and more OZ officers and the nobility are getting them, I wanted a pair built for you. Built in weapons, strength, speed. The three of them might have survived, they weren't as listless as the regular subjects. And they had been kept together. And...all were beautiful, I notice that beauty has a tendency to distract men."
"Could you check on that?" Treize asked, confused if he should be grateful or angry that she had been arranging this behind his back.
"I can" she said, "I want the team that was in charge of the attack, rumor has it that the Sweepers have managed to lay their hands on a few biological modifications of their own. Here are the files on the three that we were arranging for you." Une handed Treize the files in her hand. As she pushed her glasses further up on her nose she smiled regretfully, "I will miss Hilde. She did have a gift for inflicting pain that it hard to find. And she did turn out the most wonderful bioriods for us."
"I didn't know that pain was one of your interests, my lady." Treize said softly.
"Not mine, but I do appreciate talent in any form." Une replied, bowing again before leaving the room.
Treize grabbed the folders and looked through them. Une and Hilde had chosen well who they wanted for him. All were naturally beautiful, young and would appeal to him on many different levels. He spread the pictures out in front of him, devouring the subjects with his eyes, cursing the fact that he didn't have them in front of him. He deserved whatever little pleasures that he got from his position, he worked hard for the greater good.
The Chinese man, Wufei, was highly educated and from the powerful Dragon clan. How they had managed to get a hold of him, he was not going to question. But Hilde had managed to snatch the clan's rising scholar out from under their collective noses. And turn him into a killing machine that was to be feared. As a pun on his clan, his modifications were reptilian in nature. Scaled skin -- armor to protect him when he was attacked, defending his master. Talons to kill. His sight was modified so that he could see in the dark as well as daylight. He was a fearsome specimen and intelligent, someone that would be able to entertain him intellectually as well as protect him.
The street child, Duo, that was who they had wanted for his bed mate. Harmless...they didn't want a pleasure slave to be able to fight back and actually hurt him . Flexible, able to withstand a large amount of damage and forever young. They hadn't changed his looks, he was beautiful before they had gotten their hands on him. A fey elf that would have filled his hours with pleasure. A houri that would be the envy of anyone. He would find again him...control him...make him whimper in both pain and pleasure, teach him what he wanted from him.
And the blonde...he looked familiar, but the name wasn't, Zechs. A fallen angel. Blonde, tall...those eyes could capture anyone's soul, man or woman and led them into sin, breathtaking to behold and deadly as well. Claws instead of talons, catlike reflexes and increased strength. A killer that had no rivals in either looks or power, all his. They would be pets to control and fill his hours with pleasure. He would have had them both; a lovely, barely tamed dragon and a lion whose beauty rivaled that of an angel, devoted to his needs, willing to kill for him. Along with his houri, the lovely toy that they found for him to play with.
He cursed the Sweepers for stealing his prizes from him. He noted that Hilde managed to make a data dump of the information while her base was being attacked, by throwing her troops away to gain time, not that it mattered, they were dead as soon as they were assigned to that place. And she managed to get some information on the Sweepers that were leading the attack. From the pictures that he received ...they were also beautiful and something that he wanted. Unfortunately, the notes that he received did not allow him to figure our what the changes had been to the new ones, but he was willing to wager that it was also in the same direction that they had changed Zechs and Wufei. They were fighters, it showed in their eyes and the way that they moved. Treize clenched his fists in anger, the Sweepers had managed to steal all the hard work that Une and Hilde had done for him. Toys that he deserved! That he wanted! That better be found or heads will roll!
End Part One
Christine
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