May 24, 2001
Title: Not Quite Human III
Author: Christine
Pairing: 13x2, 1x3, 6x5
Rating: R/NC-17
Warnings: Language, violence
Sorry that it's been so long. RL taking up too much of my time!!
Wufei silently snarled and hefted the tray that he held in his hands a bit higher. He would be angrier about the fact that he was expected to be a servant for this bastard, except it gave him a chance to see Duo. But he was worried that there was only one plate on the tray. Surely they would feed Duo or, this thought was nauseating to him, did Khushrenada expect to feed Duo his scraps from breakfast, like a pet?
He knocked like that 'Lady' Une, waiting for the faint 'Enter' before he opened the door and walked in, as she had instructed him to. He wrinkled his nose at the faint smell of sex in the room. Khushrenada had abused Duo, ignoring the advice that they had given him, which had been to leave Duo alone for a little while. Was the man a complete fool or did he think that they had been lying? He placed the tray in his hands on the desk and waited for his next order, playing the perfect servant like he had been told to.
He looked discreetly looked around, wondering if Duo was all right, trying to see where he was. He almost snorted at the thought, since Duo wouldn't be 'all right' after being raped again. And Wufei wondered if the ass that had them would realize that Duo wasn't going to just put all the abuse that he was subjected to behind him and be what he wanted and that continuing that abuse wasn't going to help Duo get over what had happened to him. Duo was a very vulnerable young man that barely had a taste of freedom after two years of hell. He would have to be cared for gently if Khushrenada didn't want to have his throat slit one night, if Duo thought that it would be worth death to escape the abuse. And Wufei would cheer Duo on if it came down to that, no matter what happened to him if he allowed the smaller man to do that to Khushrenada.
"You can serve me breakfast right now," a bored voice interrupted Wufei's thoughts.
Wufei bit his tongue so that he wouldn't say something scathing to Khushrenada and started to take the covers off the plates that he had been sent up with. He quickly and deftly arranged the plate on the mat that was on the desk and set up the coffee and juice that went with the breakfast. After that he scanned the room for Duo, ignoring Khushrenada as the man sat down to eat. There was a door that was slightly ajar that led to the bedroom, he thought that Duo might be in there, he strained his ears to hear something from his friend, breathing would be nice. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that Duo wasn't in the other room, that this callous bastard got rid of him after he had used him.
Treize frowned when he saw that Wufei was ignoring him to check on Duo. He was annoyed, but he realized that he wasn't going to get any work out of him unless he knew that his little friend was fine. He made a mental note that he was going to have to have all three of his pets trained in the art of service.
"He's asleep," Treize drawled, sipping at his juice. He frowned, the way the oranges tasted a little off, they might have served him canned orange juice. What was the world coming to!
Wufei glanced over at him and frowned, then he took a deep breath and asked in a humble voice, "May I check on him?"
Treize looked sharply at him for a second before dismissing him with a chuckle, "Check away, he was a little uncomfortable still this morning...but I enjoyed him anyway."
Duo hadn't cried when he had him this morning, which might be an improvement with his feeling about being his pleasure pet. He just had kept his eyes shut and buried his head in a pillow while he taken him from behind, Duo seemed a little more relaxed in that position, there was no blood this time. Or he was just used to being taken like that, so he was able to ignore whoever was with him. The next time he was going to demand that Duo be a little more attentive in his duties. He wasn't going to allow his toy to block him out when he was playing with him, he was going to make the boy cry with pleasure someday.
Treize knew that he should leave the boy alone, but he was just so appealing this morning he couldn't help himself, and he had been made for him to enjoy. Duo said he wasn't hungry so he didn't bother with ordering him breakfast. He hadn't eaten last night either, he had been asleep when he had gotten back to his apartment. He'd eventually eat, Treize wasn't worried about his continuous refusal to eat. If not, he would force a tube down his throat and make sure that his pet wasn't trying to starve himself to death. But he'd let him get a way with this bit of sullenness this morning, his pet should have a little leeway when he was settling in. He could take care of any disciple problems later.
Wufei tightened his jaw and stalked into the bedroom, reigning in the impulse that he had to smash Khushrenada to bits. Gods, the man was an ass and Duo did not deserve to be tormented like he was going to be with that man. He stopped when he saw Duo curled up on a window seat, staring out at the garden.
"Can I do anything?" he asked softly.
He spoke Chinese to him, he knew that Duo was fluent in the language due to the tutoring that he had given him. It wasn't like they had much to do in the labs. And he wanted to hang on to something of his past, teaching Chinese to Duo let him hear his native tongue once in awhile, it was soothing. And none of the techs knew Chinese, they had been able to talk privately because of that. His best memories of that hellhole had been Duo talking to him quietly in Chinese, soothing him while he was recovering from shedding his skin. He hoped that it would work the same way here.
"Slit my throat." Duo replied in the same language, not bothering to turn around.
"If it comes down to that I promise that I will," Wufei told him, "but wait for a while ...rescue is still a hope."
"I'll hold you to that." Duo replied woodenly, turning around to look at him. Wufei almost cried Duo's eyes had returned to the same dead orbs that he had when he saw him that first time with Hilde.
Wufei walked closer, close enough for Duo to hug him if he wanted. He knew that he wouldn't be able to touch Duo, but he had hoped that he'd never see him like this again. Even with Quatre scaring him the way that he had, Duo had still been alive. Not now though. Treize was killing him, killing his emotions and making him into a zombie again. He had fought so hard to let Duo feel that he was normal, no matter what those bitches told him. And now this ass was slowly destroying Duo for whatever sick pleasure he wanted because Duo looked like he was a kid.
"It doesn't matter though," Duo continued, "I don't care anymore. But he won't hurt you, I hope."
Wufei shrugged, not caring if he was beaten or raped, it had happened to him a couple of times before. It would hurt, but he might have a chance to kill the bastard when he was that close to him. And he would kill Khushrenada if he were foolish enough to give him a chance, over his anger at seeing Duo so lifeless. "He might just for the amusement value. He is arrogant enough to believe that you are harmless. And that we will put up with his abuse because he thinks that he owns us."
Duo stood up, swaying a little. Wufei impulsively reached out to steady him, before stopping short of touching him. Duo didn't want any physical contact right now, no matter how harmless. He never did right after someone had hurt him. "I'll shower...I don't want you to get into trouble by spending too much time with me."
"Duo..." Wufei sighed and gave into the impulse that he had, touched Duo on the cheek, surprised that he didn't flinch. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad, trying to get him back from wherever he was hiding in his mind so that he could endure Khushrenada doing that to his body. "I can't tell you that it's worth holding on. If it gets too much for you...take him with you. That would be worth it to Trowa and myself."
"Trowa gonna be okay?" Duo asked in concern, "He's more antsy then me about...this."
"I think that so long as no one bothers him, he should be fine. I will try and make sure that he will cope with captivity, but...I don't think that he has ever had to deal with being confined." Wufei was glad that Duo had shown some interest in Trowa, maybe he would not lose any of the caring that he had when he was shutting himself down.
"He looked really shocked when I told him that I was in her rooms for a year and hadn't seen the sun all that time. I know that he's used to running free. This...this is gonna be bad for him." Duo said, apparently more worried about Trowa then himself.
"Worry about yourself, " Wufei said gruffly, touched that Duo still cared, no matter how he acted, "I'll take care of him."
Duo shrugged, dismissing Wufei's concern. "He...he says that he wants it to be good for me, that it can be. But he keeps touching me..." He shivered and hugged himself. "I hate it! It hurts...I just want to scream ...not stop and he thinks that I should just want him...I don't... don't want it. But he told me that..."
"Duo!" Treize called from the outer room, "Do come out now."
Duo sighed and shuffled out to the other room, Wufei following him silently. He didn't want to see what was going to happen, but he would. Khushrenada must be peeved that he was paying too much attention to his 'pet'. Couldn't Duo have the freedom to talk to someone no matter what this bastard did to his body? Something that could comfort him, show him that there was hope?
"Ah Duo...I was wondering what you had to talk about with my dragon, you are usually so silent with me." Treize purred. Now was the time for Duo and Wufei to start learning the rules of living with him. And the first one was that they had no secrets from him. And talking to each other in a language that he didn't understand was keeping a secret from him.
Duo winced. He wasn't going to cry and writhe for the guy telling him how great he was. He just was going to keep quiet and hope that the guy either let him go or killed him. Neither one of which looked like it was going to happen soon. After Treize had gotten back to bed last night, he fell asleep next to Duo, not bothering to check to see if he was really asleep or faking it. Duo had been faking it, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do to put up with this person. The rules weren't too clear and he decided that just going numb was the best thing that he could do, it had gotten him through Hilde and her attentions. Maybe this one would get bored too and he could be left alone. This morning's session between the sheets had proved him wrong, but Treize hadn't said anything about how he had acted when he was finished with him. He might have been waiting for an audience to punish him. Or make Wufei do it to punish the both of them or because of some weird power trip.
"I had nothing to say this morning," he replied, his voice cool.
Wufei winced and noted the anger that flared in Khushrenada's eyes for a second. Duo sounded bad again and that ass was pissed that he wasn't welcoming his attentions with a smile. Hell it took weeks before Duo would let him hug or touch him after Hilde had let him out of her rooms, if they weren't fighting each other. And this fool thought that Duo would let him do something that personal with him, Duo who hated being touched by anyone, because he thought he 'owned' them!
"But you discussed a lot of things with my dragon this morning, in a language that I didn't know. That is rude and you should be punished for it."
Duo stayed quiet. He wasn't going to point to him that this whole thing was punishment to him, if the guy hadn't figured it out after his crying jag with him last night, he was never going to.
"Still nothing to say?" Treize mocked him.
"Just get it over with," Duo told him tonelessly, obviously indifferent to whatever punishment he was going to get, he knew that he was never going to give this man the right answer, even if he had one that he wanted to give. "Show me how much you think you own me by hitting me. Not that this morning wasn't an example of that sorry fact."
Wufei winced again at the dark look on Khushrenada's face. Duo had angered him with that imprudent, but truthful remark. Khushrenada stood up and walked over to Duo, striking him across the face. "Don't talk back."
Duo rocked with the blow and stared at him resentfully, "You asked my opinion. I gave it to you. Get what ever you want to do out of your system and leave me ALONE!"
He couldn't help screeching the last request. He wanted to either be killed by this guy or ignored. The freedom that he had had for the last few weeks had shown him hope, he didn't want to go back to being a pet. He might be able to get some sort of life for himself if people just left him alone. He didn't want people following him around, panting after him, thinking that he wanted their attentions, having them stick it in him.
Treize unbuckled his belt and snarled at Wufei, "Hold him."
Wufei hesitated before Duo went over to him and put his arms around him in a hug, whispering, "It's okay."
"No it's not." Wufei replied, as the belt 'swish'd through the air to land on Duo's back. They both jerked at the sound and Duo let out his breath in a little 'huff' as the pain hit him. He was silent the entire time that Treize beat him, just letting out little 'huff' sounds when the belt hit his body. It hurt and tears started to involuntarily stream down his face after a while, but he didn't give into the impulse to cry hysterically in Wufei's arms, like he wanted to. It was just pain, he was used to that by now, his entire life it seemed had just been pain. He sagged with relief when he thought it was over and dived into the darkness that had beckoned to him for a while. It was the only thing that he could think of that would let him have some time alone.
Treize frowned at his actions, since he couldn't believe that he had lost his temper so completely. That his pet was yelling at him infuriated him on some level. What right did he have to be angry with him? Duo was going to have to learn that he was meant to be in his bed, that Treize was going to be the best thing that happened to him in his entire life. That all he had to do was follow his orders and enjoy him in bed. That wasn't so difficult was it? But no, he had to be sullen and his temper shattered because of that. Treize was appalled that Duo's back and legs were a mass of bleeding welts and bruises by the time that he had snapped back to his senses. And the look of disgust that his dragon had on his face wasn't helping his temper any.
"He's unconscious." Wufei commented expressionlessly.
"And what do you mean by that?" Treize snapped.
"I want to know if you are going to continue to hit him or can I take him back into the bedroom to heal?" Wufei asked snidely. He was upset that Duo had managed to provoke Khushrenada this badly. What had happened last night? Or was Duo hoping that he was going to be beaten to death? He had never managed that in the past, how was a regular human going succeed when so many augmented bioroids had failed to do that for him in the past.
"I'll call the infirmary." Treize muttered numbly, dropping the belt that he had used. The leather had been ruined by Duo's blood, so he couldn't wear that again. He couldn't believe that he had just done that. He intended to strike Duo a few times, just enough to show him that such a sullen and uncooperative attitude was not in his best interests. Once started beating Duo he found that couldn't stop though. Thankfully Duo passed out when he paused or he might have beaten him to death.
"He'll heal on his own." Wufei told him bitterly. "You just might want to have someone deliver some food. He'll want to eat a lot to help with his recovery. And fast, he shouldn't be out for more then five or ten minutes."
"I...I don't believe..."
Treize's voice trailed off at Wufei's snarled comment, "He's been beaten worse. I've seen him dragged onto our holding area, barely alive and he bounces back after a few hours, just needs some food and rest. But if you make a habit of this...I will kill you."
Wufei turned around and carried Duo into the bedroom, laying him facedown on the bed. He would have rather had a cleaner place to take him, but this would have to do. He held his hand as he listened to Treize order another food tray to be delivered to his apartment. He buried his face in his other hand, wondering what the hell was he going to do. He couldn't believe the fury that he had seen on Khushenada's face when he was whipping Duo. And he was ashamed that he had done nothing to stop this. He had seen Duo near death more times then he cared to remember, all because of the sick games that had been played in that place. And now he wasn't doing anything to stop this ass from abusing Duo. Gods he felt so weak and all he wanted now was to get them all out of this place, back to the freedom that they had briefly tasted. He wanted Zechs to hug him and tell him that it was going to be fine, that no one was ever going to think they were a toy or a pet ever again.
"I don't believe that you just threatened me." Treize said coolly. He had straightened out his clothes and took a few minutes to regain control over himself.
Wufei looked up. "It was a threat, it was a promise."
"I own you..."
"Duo is my friend. He doesn't deserve this. Pain, rape, being a prisoner. All these things shouldn't be happening to him. Shouldn't happen to anyone."
Both men just stared at each other, until a low moan broke the tension in the room. Treize was amazed that the welts were fading and the bruises looked like they had had several days to heal, not just minutes.
"Hungry," Duo muttered.
Wufei let go of his hand and told him in a comforting tone. "Food should be here in a little while."
"Okay."
Wufei frowned. Duo was sounding dead again. Whatever possessed this idiot to beat Duo? If he knew anything, he should have realized that pain meant nothing to Duo.
Treize walked over to the bed and stared down at Duo. He was so appealing fragile looking. But he took a beating that would have had a grown man crying for mercy without a sound. Was it because he was strong or had he learned that begging didn't help? How often had he been beaten because of someone's bad temper? Was that the reason that he was the way that he was now, that to quote his own words he had been, 'everyone's favorite punching bag', in that place. That all he knew was pain and that Duo stopped thinking that he could have pleasure with anyone?
Treize jumped at the knock on the door. "Answer that," he ordered Wufei.
Duo waited until Wufei walked out the door before saying what he had to his tormentor, "You make him watch you beat me again and I will kill you. He doesn't need to see you on whatever power trip you're taking."
Treize chuckled mirthlessly, another one of his pets was threatening him, "You are all so protective of each other...it is amusing to watch."
"You stupid or just unable to comprehend a basic fact of life? We are all we have, of course we are going to try and protect each other." Duo asked tiredly. He was hungry, had missed a few meals and his body was screaming at him with pain while he healed and for food because it needed food to fuel his recovery. If Treize beat him again, he'd be unconscious and he wanted that. He wouldn't hurt then.
"I can beat you again," Trieze warned him, as if he had been reading his mind. He would ignore his pet's rudeness for now, it was worth it to see how he and Wufei jumped to each other's defense. He realized that they had been together for a long time, he just hadn't realized how close they had gotten, even with the fact that Wufei had been one Duo's of his tormentors.
"I don't care about me, but I care about those two. If you make them watch anything that you want to do to hurt me, they will kill you. You may have never experienced it, but there comes a time that its worth taking someone with you when you want to die." Duo had experienced it a few times, he just never managed to succeed in either goal. He might make it this time if he tried it again.
Treize frowned down at his little pet. Maybe he should just have him put down if he didn't care enough to try and be pleasant to him. He was sullen and uncooperative. And he had made him lose his temper. Treize prided himself on being in control 99% of the time. And this little boy had made him lose that control and not in the way that he wanted!
Trowa walked in with the food that he had been told to deliver here. He knew that Wufei had been the lucky one to serve their 'owner' this morning, what had gone wrong? Wufei looked furious and he smelled blood and musk in the room. His nose twitched the blood, it was fresher scent then the smell of sex but both angered him, since he knew that the blood was Duo's. It smelled like his, he unfortunately knew that scent. The musk probably belonged to the officer that had them, he had ignored their advice and raped Duo. That officer was confident enough to think that Duo was harmless and would put up with whatever was done to him without a fight. Duo might endure it for a short time to protect them, but it wouldn't last long before he broke and killed the man.
"He hurt Duo." Trowa said flatly.
Wufei nodded, his eyes furious. "I...I had to hold him..." he let his voice trail off. After taking a calming breath, he continued. "I think that you better bring the food into Duo. He's hungry and he needs to eat."
"Why?" Trowa growled.
Wufei sighed, "Because Duo wasn't too cooperative with him, about a lot of things. "
"The man is a fool." Trowa said flatly. He knew that was part of the problem that Khushrenada didn't think that what he was doing was hurtful to Duo. He believed that since Duo was created for him, he would be overjoyed that Khushrenada wanted to play with him. He had had the same reactions out of his parents, when he protested anything that they did to him. They had created him, they had the right to do anything that they wanted to him.
"The fool that owns you." Treize reminded them in a silky purr, coming out of the bedroom. He didn't want to watch Duo heal it was a bit nauseating to him. And he was secretly thankful that he didn't find it interesting, that he wouldn't want to test the limits of his new toy's pain. He would have enough trouble taming the boy, training him to please him, without testing the limits of what his body could heal.
"The fool that has us," Trowa corrected him, tonelessly. He walked past the older man as if he didn't exist and went into the bedroom.
He growled softly when he saw the damage on Duo's back. He knew that it had been worse. Duo turned over and looked at him, nodding a greeting before shifting up to sit up so that he could eat. His hands were shaking and he knew that he needed food NOW. Trowa must have seen something in his eyes, because he just wordlessly put down the tray and backed off. Duo wondered for a second if he was being tactful or just knew that he shouldn't get between Duo and food right now.
Duo ate, just concentrating on getting something in his stomach. He only slowed down when everything but the coffee was gone. He didn't remember the taste of anything, but he knew that he needed to eat more then he needed to enjoy this meal. He sipped at his coffee slowly, he had gotten to like the taste of it when he started to drink it after he was freed.
"Was that enough?" Trowa asked softly, he hoped it was. He had brought two breakfasts up, sensing that Duo would need it, but he couldn't figure out why he thought that. Now he knew why and he was trying not to tear Khushrenada's throat out for hurting Duo.
Duo nodded. "Thanks...I...I should have had asked for breakfast, even if...I'd forgotten that not eating was bad."
Trowa frowned at that comment, "Why?"
Duo shrugged, "I don't know."
He really didn't. It could be from his messed up system by accident or it might have been something specially built in so that he would always need someone near him, someone caring for him. No one had really talked about it, it might have been something that Hilde had done to him on her own, she had specially tweaked a lot of his modifications, so that he was a one of a kind item. And he was sure that she didn't document everything that she had changed on him. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he thought about it, no matter how bad it got...he was fed. And if he didn't eat, he learned that he felt like crap for a short time and then started eyeing anything that looked vaguely edible, including his fellow experiments. That had scared him a lot. So he always made sure that he had enough to eat after he had gotten out, it had been almost an obsession for him.
Trowa frowned, thinking. A hungry predator was one of the most dangerous things to be around. He made a mental note to always carry something to eat with him if he was going to be with Duo. He thought had that the shy boy would be dangerous if he was pushed too far, just no one had managed to trigger it in him...yet. Treize might be the one that did it, that pushed him to his breaking point. Trowa filed this information away in the back of his mind, since it was something that he wanted to discuss with Wufei. Who had wanted them to be made? Khushrenada? Or someone on his staff? A someone that might stand to gain a lot of power if the man was killed by the toy that he was torturing.
Treize frowned as he watched the two of them. Trowa, like his dragon was protective of Duo. Why? He might believe that it was something that had programmed into Wufei, but Trowa? Trowa was a feral experiment, something that should not have been created. Why did he feel that way about Duo? It was nothing sexual that he could see, they hadn't even touched each other. But he thought that he could tell by the body language that the tall man was fond of and very protective of his little toy. He shook his head, he could speculate later, right now he had work for them to do, errands that would keep them away from his property, so that they weren't petting him for his rudeness.
"Trowa, you and Duo are to escort this afternoon's appointment to me. Be waiting for them in the front at one o'clock. Dragon," Wufei flushed at the nickname that he had been given. Treize ignored his reaction and continued his instructions, "you will be waiting with me. You will be the one to attend me during that meeting. I want one of you with me this morning, while the other learns the layout of the place. Duo will stay in my bedroom until I want him. Decide which one of you will stay with me and the other will learn how to serve me."
Trowa and Wufei stared at each other and then Wufei shrugged.
"I'll stay here," Trowa said tonelessly. If Wufei had to put up with this man all afternoon he would let him have the morning away from him and he wasn't too sure that he wanted to 'serve' this one better. He wanted Heero and he wanted to get out of this place.
"Thank you." Wufei muttered and started to gather up the dirty dishes to return them to the kitchen. He owed Trowa for this break he knew that if Khushrenada did anything else to anger him this morning, they would be prying his talons out of the man's neck.
Duo waited by the front of the building with Trowa, dressed in the outfit that Treize had told him to wear. It was a variation on the outfit that he had to wear last night, see through pants and a short vest. It made him feel very cheap and small with the guards eyeing him like he was a whore. Duo snorted to himself, he wasn't a whore, but he was lower than that -a pet, a plaything made for the great man and they all knew it. Trowa glanced down at him and smiled, he didn't look any happier in what he was wearing, which seemed to be some sort of odd uniform, loose pants and a tunic. Duo had noticed that Alex and Muller had been wearing the same thing. That must be what the dangerous bioriods got to wear.
"I'd trade outfits if I could," Trowa said quietly.
Duo shook his head, "You shouldn't...you never had to, you know. You...you..." he couldn't finish his sentence. He wondered what it was like to want someone to do that to you, but he shook that thought off, it was wishful thinking on his part that was not going to get him through this, shutting all his emotions off was how he was going to survive.
"Neither should you. That bastard should keep his hands to himself, since you don't want him." Trowa growled. #Why are humans this stupid, thinking that because someone changed us, that they have the right to control what we do? Wouldn't it have been better to find someone that bastard liked and liked him back and then change his body. But no, they tortured an innocent boy for some stupid human because he had money and power. I hope that you can hold on, that you survive this until Heero and Zechs come to rescue us. Or we escape!#
A glare from the guards shut up them up, along with the arrival of the representatives that they were supposed to escort to Khushrenada. Duo had no idea who these people were and how he was supposed to treat them, Khushrenada didn't think that it was worth telling him that information, the jerk. He hoped that he didn't screw this up and get Trowa punished. He knew that he was going to be punished, that bastard was making noises about a 'training' session with him tonight.
As the car came to a stop, Trowa stepped up to the back passenger side door and opened it, thankful that it was unlocked when he tried it. He had seen this in a movie once and hoped that he didn't look too silly doing opening the door for them, he felt really strange trying to act like he was one of the tin soldiers that were here watching them so that they couldn't escape.
A small woman about his age stepped out of the back. Trowa studied her for a second as her glance swept over the 'Welcoming Committee', before she turned to help a much older and even shorter woman out of the car. Petite, dark hair and eyes, with skin the color of clove honey, she looked a lot like Wufei. Alike enough to be his sister and she smelled like him, like they were of the same family. The older woman looked like a bulldog, but Trowa sensed that she was someone important. He fleetingly wished that Heero was here with him, he understood all the politics and games that the humans played. These people were important and he felt that he and Duo meeting them was some sort of insult. He didn't understand why the humans played these power games, but he understood enough to perceive that Khushrenada was insulting them in some way by having them meet these obviously important representatives. That these people weren't good enough to have the humans greet them or they might be among the groups of humans that thought that bioriods were an insult to humanity. Either way, Khushrenada had insulted them and they hadn't even gotten in the front door yet, this afternoon was going to be long and uncomfortable for all those involved, except for Khushrenada, that hyena.
Duo felt a shock go through his system when he saw the woman get out of the car. She looked a lot like Wufei used to, before that bitch changed him. Her eyes and her skin tone, the way that she stood, she reminded him of the first glimpse that he had gotten of his friend, before Hilde had worked on him. He had had a lot of experience in remembering what people had been like before...before that bitch thought that she was God and created a new life for them. The older woman didn't inspire the same feeling of recognition, but Duo could tell by the care that the young woman had used, that she was used to catering to her older companion and that she loved her very much. Was she some sort of escort or guard? Or just a concerned relative watching out for her while she met with OZ?
Duo decided to take a chance when the younger one's hostile gaze landed on him, she was looking at him like he was a bug or some other sort of vermin. Duo had figured out from their attitude that he was doing the meeting and greeting to piss off these two, usually Une or Noin should be the one to greet important visitors like this. He thought that they were relatives of Wufei's, so he would try and make them feel a bit better by greeting them in their native tongue. The worst that could happen was that he insulted them more, but since the younger one was acting like she had a stick up her butt now, he couldn't sink any lower in her eyes. She apparently hated him because of what he was, he wondered if she would she be amused or horrified that he felt the same way about himself.
Duo stepped forward and bowed, hoping that he didn't overdue the formality and insult them that way, Wufei really didn't cover how you were supposed to act when meeting very important people. "Honored elder. Noble lady. I am pleased to welcome and escort you to General Khushrenada's presence."
The old woman said nothing, but the younger one sneered slightly before smoothing her face into neutrality. Duo kept his own face emotionless and continued talking, she hadn't told him to shut up...yet. "If you would be so humane to follow my sullied self, I will show you to the conference room."
The older woman's lips twitched for a second before she nodded and motioned for Duo to lead the way. Her escort wasn't so gracious and sneered at him, "You need to improve your knowledge of the dialect that you are using."
Duo shrugged and started walking, continuing the conversation in Chinese, it might piss her off, but he knew that the guards didn't understand it. "I learned your language when I was in OZ's labs, one of my fellow experiments was bored or desperate enough to teach me his language...it was better then sitting around and doing nothing. I apologize if I insulted you or used the wrong word. I was just hoping to try and be polite with you."
"Fellow captive?"
If Duo didn't know better, he would say that Miss High and Mighty was concerned about who taught him Chinese, he glanced over at her, meeting her eyes for a second before looking away. She was concerned and he said gently, "You'll see him soon, he's with the General."
She was silent for the rest of the short walk, Duo deliberately slowed his steps so that the women would have some time to think about what he just said, give them time to think about what was going to happen. As they came to the conference room that they were supposed to meet Khushrenada, Duo bowed again and knocked on the door. After a second he opened it and gestured for the two women to enter ahead of him. Trowa entered the room after them and Duo quietly closed the door behind the group, sinking to his knees to wait beside the door until he was summoned, as he had been instructed to this morning. He was just very glad that he didn't have to be in that room and hoped that Wufei managed to restrain himself from strangling Khushrenada when he realized that someone that knew his family or even him was going to see what he had been turned into.
Wufei waited in silence with Khushrenada trying a little to center himself and refrain from killing the man. He had been with him for only a few minutes and he wanted to smash his smug, over bred face into bits. All he could think of was the scene that he had witnessed this morning with Duo. He didn't think that Duo would survive until they were rescued if there were many more incidents like that. His body would, Hilde had seen to that, but his mind and soul was another matter.
Khushrenada for the most part ignored him, he was content that his Dragon was going to the instrument that would humble by his own clan. Their ambassadors were going to be in for a shock when they recognized their golden child as one of his own pets. That would show them that they were not immune from anything that OZ wanted to do to them, even if they had enough political power to rival Oz's. He wondered again how Hilde and Une had managed to capture his Dragon, he would have to ask the boy. Treize snorted, he wasn't a boy, but a trained killing animal for his pleasure. He wondered idly what it would be like to have him sexually and decided to train Wufei in that direction when he finally had Duo responding to his satisfaction.
Treize conveniently forgot that the object of his lust was equipped with talons and had showed no interest in him sexually or otherwise. He knew that would take a few months of work to train Duo to his liking and he looked forward to breaking down the boy's resistance until he was putty in his hands or at least on his cock. Treize cut off his daydreams when he heard the knock on the door, the Dragon Clan was here and he wanted to see what their reactions were to his new guard.
Merian waited patiently for their limo to be brought around. Actually to the casual observer Merian looked calm and composed, the dutiful granddaughter waiting with her beloved grandmother. It was a useful illusion, one that the clan encouraged. Very few knew that Merian was an expert in several martial art forms, was a crack shot and a decent medic. They looked at the surface, ignoring the deep currents that swirled in her. Her grandmother, Ron Shirin was one of the few people that knew the depths of her passion, hidden under the controlled mask that she showed the world. The other had been her scholarly, retiring husband, Wufei, presumed dead for the last eighteen months. She had just found out that it wasn't true this afternoon.
The two women waited patiently, ignoring the abominations that waited with them on Khushrenada's orders, the tall man and the boy toy that Khushrenada insisted on 'escorting' them to their transportation. Merian was proud of the hard won martial discipline that gave her the restraint not to kill Kuhsrenada for his actions. That rude, vulgar man wanted to show them the power that he had, thinking that it actually might matter to them! Power to change people, turn them into something disgusting and unnatural. Did that fool of so little breeding think that they were going to buckle and give into OZ's demands because he made this crude showing of their science? Even if, and this was the thing that had hurt her, even if her husband was one of his victims? The man was narrow and short sighted, all he accomplished with this crudeness was to anger her and insult the de facto leader of the Dragon Clan, her grandmother. And hurt her poor husband beyond belief which was foolish, if Wufei had felt any obligation to the man it had been canceled by his actions. Truly Treize Khushrenada was a man with no honor and no breeding, even for the 'nobility' that claimed to control OZ.
Ron Shirin glanced up at the small boy at her side. He was waiting patiently, ignoring both the chill wind that had sprung up and the leers of the guards. She inclined to leer at him herself. He was beautiful and you had to be an idiot not to know what Khushrenada had him for. She ignored the stab of sympathy that she felt for the boy, no one should be subjected to what he was going through.
"Pretty one," she cackled. It was an advantage that he understood their dialect, her grandson was wise to teach his friend their language. It gave them the illusion of privacy in a crowd and a way for them to pass messages back and forth if they needed a kind word. She had known that Khushrenada hadn't bothered to learn their language, very few Westerners did. And even if he had, theirs was a dialect that was almost abandoned by the clan, she would be safe to talk to him, give the poor child some hope.
Duo looked down at her, his eyes calm. She wondered if Wufei had taught this child anything else, he was much too controlled for his age. But then, control was one of the first things that he must have learned, so that he gave nothing away to his tormentors.
"Yes Honored Elder?"
"Many things change over time," she said with a chuckle. She had kept her tone light and was surprised to see that he blushed, why was he reacting that way to a message of hope? She wondered what that was about when she heard one of the guards addressing him crudely.
"What did she say?" the guard snarled, raising his hand to hit him.
Duo shook his head and managed to blush harder, Ron Shirin was fascinated by this display of feigned embarrassment.
"Boy!" was a warning growl that they both heard, with a sideways glance to his taller companion. Duo and Ron Shirin both received the message; talk or the other one will be hurt. Duo was about open his mouth, when Merian's harsh voice overrode what he was about to say.
"My grandmother is old, but not dead. What do you think she said to that pretty piece of fluff? I for one do not wish to hear it again!"
Duo looked like he hoped that the floor would open up and swallow him, while the guards just grinned nastily. Trowa watched them all impassively, while opening the back door of the limo that had driven up. He didn't understand what the problem was and he didn't care. He wanted Duo inside out of the wind because he must be freezing in that outfit. He didn't think that the older woman had said anything obscene, even watching the little act that Duo was putting on for the guards.
Merian looked at the soldiers around her and coldly announced, "Grandmother, you should be out of this wind, so we are leaving. " she made that announcement for the soldiers around them, even they wouldn't be as stupid as to detain a diplomatic envoy of the Dragon Clan, but one never really knew how stupid one of Kushrenada's soldier's could be, look at whom they were following.
She helped her grandmother into the limo, acting like the woman was going to shatter if she moved in the wrong direction. She knew that Ron Shirin was tougher then she looked, she was just working off some of her anger with this display of protectiveness.
Ron Shirin settled back into the cushioned seat, getting comfortable for the long ride ahead. She nodded slightly when they hit the highway, listening idly to the scolding that Merian was giving her as a cover for her real activity of scanning their transportation for listening devices. It should be safe to talk but one would never know what these barbarians would do. After Merian signaled that it was all clear, Ron Shirin held up her hand, cutting off the steady stream of loving complaints that she had been subjected to.
"What do you think of Khushrenada's offer?" Ron Shirin asked harshly, business at hand before they discuss Merian's husband. The poor boy was supposed to be dead in a gas explosion, they had found most of a body, they had been so sure that it had been Wufei's body that they had found.
Merain sat back and frowned, switching topics easily. "It is one that we will not be able to abide, even with the short term gains to our power that he is offering. The alternative that he is offering us is the threat of invasion. He didn't come out and say it, but it was there. He was not subtle about the power that he is claiming."
"He thought he was." Ron Shirin remarked dryly.
That was the pitiful thing, that peacock actually thought that he was being subtle. He must have been so disappointed when all they had done was ignore his personal 'guard' after a quick glance. She thought that might give something away, but she already knew that Khushrenada knew who Wufei was or else he might have been the one that was meeting them, not his whore and the other guard. She sighed, the boy did not look at all happy to be there, in fact he looked miserable, so she shouldn't call him that. And the taller bioriod wasn't happy to be there either, they were not content with their master, unlike most of their kind that she had had the displeasure to meet. Everyone that wanted to rattle their sword at the Dragon Clan started out with the same ploy, throw a bioriod at their representative and watch them foam at the mouth. Most of them were so disappointed when it didn't work. The Clan might be fanatics about keeping their bloodlines 'pure', but they weren't so stupid as to be rattled by such crude tactics. She thought that the Westerners would have learned this by now! Or was Khushrenada hoping to throw them off with Wufei?
Merian felt tears sting her eyes, what had happened to her poor husband during the time that they had had him? She allowed herself to think about him now, if she had reacted the way that Khushrenada had wanted, there would have been war. She wanted to kill that smug, arrogant idiot for displaying her husband like he was his prize horse. She was thankful at least that he wasn't the one that was warming his bed, that poor boy that had been tricked out like a cheap dancing girl had that 'honor'.
The questions that needed answer now were what were they going to do about Wufei? How were they going to deal with OZ and whom could she rely on for help in this matter? She frowned, trying to figure out if anyone outside the clan could help her. She had little contact with those that weren't her people outside diplomatic channels. She didn't know where to start. Merian looked up, aware that her grandmother was looking at her and flushed. She had come to terms with Wufei's death, seeing him standing there had rattled her.
"You will do nothing, Granddaughter." Ron Shirin ordered her.
"Grandmother?" Merain asked in shock.
She was supposed to ignore the man that she had been married to, made love with, shared her secrets and her dreams with?! Their marriage had been arranged, but they had fallen, not exactly in love, but into friendship. He had encouraged her interests in meeting others outside the clan and gave his blessing her assignment of escorting Ron Shirin around, being her companion and bodyguard. He hung on her every word as she described the people that she had met and the places that she had seen. He had been content to stay in his musty libraries, no matter how much teasing he had gotten from others about Merian being the 'man' of the family. Wufei had built the life that he had wanted and let her build hers. The times apart had been made sweeter by the passion that they felt when they were together again.
"I said that you will do nothing. Return to the clan and start preparations for your wedding. Your time of mourning is over and you need to take a husband. One of your other cousins will do well enough. Find one that you can live with and marry him. I will take young Master O with me for the present when I am traveling."
"Grandmother!" Merian half shrieked.
Ron Shirin looked at her with cold eyes, "That peacock wanted to rattle us. I need to show him that whatever he had planned to do with your husband, he is dead to the clan. Therefore you will marry again. Pick someone with a sense of humor, because he is going to need it, this will be difficult for both of you since Wufei is not actually dead."
Merain bowed her head, her grandmother was right. She needed to marry again had have children for the good of the clan. "I will choose someone, Grandmother and ask for the blessings of our ancestors."
"That is good, child. It hurts but it must be done." Ron Shirin comforted her.
"And while I am attending to this matter, what will you and Master O be doing?" she asked bitterly.
Merain could not understand why her grandmother would be traveling with him. There had been rumors that she had been involved with the man years ago and Merian believed them. Her grandmother had never been a beauty, but she had had the ability to attract men in her younger years.
"What do a man and woman do when they are alone?" Ron Shirin asked of her, smirking slightly.
"Grandmother!" Merain was blushing furiously and she did not even want to think about that and her grandmother...it was somehow indecent.
"We will be cooing over each other, two ancient ones that do not have enough sense to act mature, but to play at being young lovers. And we will be getting in touch with some people that may be able to help Wufei." Ron Shirin leaned over her eyes bright and hard and her tone intense, "He is dead girl. I am doing this because it will annoy the peacock, not because I feel anything for that thing that was related to me!"
Merain stared at her grandmother and let the woman lie to her, to save face over how much it hurt to see Wufei turned into a thing. "I know."
Ron Shirin's face crumbled and tears started to slowly track down her face. "I will forget that he was once a child that played with me, brought me flowers and helped my faulting steps. I will pray for his soul Merian because that body that Khushrenada has was never your husband. What they have done to him and what he has probably had to do to survive killed his gentle soul."
Zechs looked around the compound that he had been taken to by Heero. Heero had decided that their safe house had been compromised, that they should get back to where the PeaceMillion was housed as soon as possible. Zechs didn't care, he just wanted to do something, be somewhere else and hope that he could rescue his lover before things got too bad for him. And he was worried about what was happening with Duo, he had known what was done to him had been to make him a pleasure slave, poor Duo must think that he was back in those hellish labs if that was happening to him. Or would it be better for him with only one man and no abuse? He doubted it, but he had to have hope or he would start tearing things apart.
He was uneasy though about meeting any of the Sweepers, especially the head of the organization. They didn't seem to like the people that they rescued from what he had heard from Heero, so why were they doing it? To get the technology and the information on those bases rather then the people? If that was the case, why did Quatre save them? Or was there something else going on and the Sweepers weren't as united as Heero lead them to believe? And why was Quatre absent that day? He claimed that he was visiting one of his sisters, but Zechs right now didn't believe in anyone but himself. Quatre might have left with his people so that they weren't nabbed if OZ decided to doublecross him and make a clean sweep of all the bios there. He was suspicious of Heero even.
Howard stared at Zechs, he couldn't believe that a man was that beautiful. Long pale blonde hair, pale blue eyes and the face of an angel, Zechs was gorgeous. Naturally so, unlike a lot of the ones that they had rescued. And add to the mix his long, lean and powerful body, Zechs was someone that turned heads no matter where he went. Dressed in the white loose pants and tight muscled red T-shirt, he was gathering stares from both the female and the male crewmembers. Howard was annoyed to see his chief medic making goo-goo eyes at Zechs like she was a junior at her first dance.
"Damn it Sally! It's a guy; you have a number of them that wander around the place. Get over it and get back to work!" Howard playfully growled at her. He wasn't annoyed that she wasn't paying that kind of attention to him, but he was worried that there was something about this blonde angel that would make a normally sensible woman lose her mind, some sort of strange pheromone thing that they had done to him? Or was she just lonely?
Sally was a good woman, she was clever and one of the better people that he had. And more importantly she didn't care about who or what a person was, just so long as they got their job done. But Howard thought that she got that attitude because she was a doctor. Heero had picked her up in an early raid that he had done, she had just been assigned to the base and was checking in, she hadn't even known what kind of place she had been assigned to until he had told her. The look of fury on her face had been priceless. The only drawback she had was that she had a tendency to 'mother' Trowa and Heero even if neither one needed it. So Howard halfway expected her to show up and check to see how her two favorite boys were doing. She felt that since they saved her from working in what she referred to a 'chop shop', she should take care of them.
Sally grinned and ignored him, sauntering over to Heero with a small, teasing smile on her face. "Hey...don't tell me you dropped the sexy one for this? You told me a long time ago that you didn't do blondes." The teasing in her tone was evident and Zechs wondered briefly under what circumstances she had asked that question. She was blonde, her hair done in two twisted braids. She was a very attractive woman, but Zechs knew that really didn't matter much to his companion. Heero seemed to be very content with his relationship with Trowa.
Heero frowned and took a deep breath, trying not to snap at her, she didn't know what had happened. "Trowa was taken by OZ forces, we think. Along with the two other new bios that we rescued from camp Lovecraft."
"Shit!" Sally cursed, dropping all of her teasing. Trowa being nabbed by OZ forces was bad. He was someone that they would love to get their hands on and he was also someone that captivity would drive insane. "You all right? How long ago and what do you mean by think?"
"You running this show or my sick bay, doc?" Howard asked sourly. He was peeved that she managed to get that out before him.
Sally smiled and shrugged her apologies; "I know you asked those questions, but once an army medic, always in the army."
Zechs went still and stared at her, "You were in OZ?"
Sally shook her head no at his question, trying to explain how she had gotten mixed up with this band of misfits. "I was transferring from the Alliance military to an OZ base. I was assigned there because they needed a good doctor with a minor in chemistry, even if I was wearing the wrong uniform. Heero and Trowa bumped into me, my car was broken down a mile outside my assignment with a broken axel. They find out where I was going, forced me into their truck and used me to get by security. Then took me with them after they got a half dozen of the poor souls that were on their way to be processed. I ended up here."
"She's a good person." Heero said quietly. "And she didn't know what was going on there, unlike..."
"...Hilde Schbeiker," Zechs said softly, his eyes haunted as he remembered the harpy that ruined his life.
Sally stared at him, furrowing her brow if she was trying to remember something. She shook her head after a while and smiled, clearly putting whatever was bothering her in the back of her mind. "I heard about her work. She was a brilliant young biochemist that OZ got because her family was pro-Romafeller all the way. They enlisted her right after she finished her studies, she got her Master's at seventeen. Skipped doing a doctorate in favor of military research. In a couple of years she had gotten assigned to Lovecraft and was turning out some of OZ's best work."
Sally then blushed when she realized whom she was talking to. A survivor of the work that she was praising, someone that knew how evil that place could be. She had barely known what was happening when Heero and Trowa had intercepted her, but she had seen how they were treated by some of the people her. Like they were something dirty because they were stronger and faster then the others. It was those advantages that had saved their team's ass most of the time and people despised them for the things that they had no control over. It was wrong to punish them for the mistakes that their parents had made.
She should have known that Zechs was a survivor of one of those places when she saw him with Heero. Heero wasn't friendly with anyone that was normal, outside Jay and Howard. She knew that he barely tolerated her fussing, it wasn't personal, it was just no one had ever done that to him before and he had no idea how he was supposed to react. Trowa and Jay seemed to be the only people that had ever shown the young man any form of love. She had heard the rumor that they had whisked the few experiments that they had saved this time back to Quatre's home, so that they would avoid all the discomfort that Quatre and Trowa were usually subjected to. She was pulled from her thoughts by Heero's low voiced question as the group started moving towards one of the conference rooms where they could talk in private.
"Who knew where we were?" Heero asked calmly, but with an edge to his voice. He wasn't taking this apparent betrayal lightly; Sally wondered how many people were going to be hurt by this incident if he found out any of the Sweepers had given any information to those that had stolen his lover. How many of Howard's people, if any, were involved in it?
Howard frowned, since he didn't know where that question had come from, he was willing to swear that his people hated OZ and would not let them have anyone that had been rescued from an OZ lab, but Heero obviously didn't have the same faith that he had in people. He hated dealing with Heero when he was like this because he felt like the boy was interrogating him, even if he was just asking about the weather. He knew that it wasn't personal; Heero had that same graceless conversational technique with everyone except Trowa. And Howard felt that he was being questioned right now because of the two pairs of hard blue eyes that were staring at him. Howard squirmed for a second, feeling guilty, even if he didn't do anything. He wondered why none of this could have hit the fan while Jay was around, but Heero's mentor had to take off for some reason, muttering about old friends and research...and a hot date.
"Jay." Howard started, going over the list in his head. "And Quatre, that goes without saying. But anyone can find out where you guys go to get away from here, its common knowledge."
Heero nodded, Jay kept track of all of them, and his guilt was a wonderful motivator for caring about Trowa and himself. Not that Jay should feel guilty; their parents had kept him in the dark about a lot of their work because they knew how he would have protested what they were doing. But still the man felt that he should have known about the abuse that had been happening almost underneath his nose. And they did have the habit of retreating to that house when they weren't with the Sweepers, it would have been only matter of time before someone would have tracked them down to that place. They weren't popular with anyone in the Sweepers and if OZ would capture a Sweeper, that person might give them up in exchange for their own lives. It wasn't like any of them had friends among their fellow rebels, very few of them thought that they were human.
"Someone knew we were there. That same person might have told OZ were to find us, but they all were taken when they were going out on a picnic." Zechs told Howard and Sally. "And they ignored the fact that Heero and I were in a house a few miles away."
"Tracking device." Sally theorized, hearing that information. There was no reason for them to ignore the other two if OZ was doing a sweep of the area, catch all the bios would be the theory that they were working on and they would want to see how an 'illegal' bioriod had been put together. "They might have stuck something in you so that you could be found. If they had done a lot of work on you they would want to find you again."
"If it was that, then no one betrayed us." Heero stated, looking a little relieved at that news. They hadn't targeted them they must have thought that Trowa was Zechs because he was with Wufei and Duo. He still couldn't shake the visions that he had of his lover being slowly tortured to death as they tried to figure out the changes that his parents had done to him.
Zechs frowned, "To find that out, we'd have to get them back, there might still be someone that will be trouble to us, we still might have been sold out by one of these people."
"We will get them back!" Heero declared, his eyes dark and worried as he thought about how Trowa was going to react to his captivity. He didn't like being around a lot of people and spent most of his down time roaming the woods during his down time. Heero didn't know if Trowa was going to be able endure until he was rescued. He gave into the small nagging question that had been bothering him since he realized that his lover was in the hands of a group of people that didn't care about him.
"What are they going to do to him?" Heero asked at last in a tiny, soft voice.
Zechs didn't bother to answer that question, he just swept Heero into a rough hug and rocked him gently. Heero was intelligent enough to know what might be happening to his lover, Zechs didn't want to answer him because then he would have to give into the screaming fears that were in the back of his head about what was happening with Wufei and Duo. They rocked like that for a few minutes before Sally interrupted them, trying to ease the tension in the room.
Sally smiled at Zechs and fluttered her eyelashes, teasing him a little. "I get to see a whole lot more of you then, just in case they tagged you, so I better look for it. Which one of the others do you think was the one that got tagged? And I am going with that theory because it is better then having someone betray you. I can't see Quatre or any of the others doing that."
Zechs wondered if Sally knew how ridiculous she looked doing that, and then it dawned on him that she was trying to cheer Heero up with her silliness. He shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I had enough sidelong looks coming across the compound with Heero that someone might have tipped them off, either willingly or because they were threatened. If I had the 'tag' that you are talking about, I wouldn't be here today. But I will let you poke at me."
Sally shrugged, "Thank you. They might have just gotten the three of them because three of you escaped from that place and they weren't looking at blips. Snatching Trowa, while bad was just a mistake on their part. So which one do you think was the only one of you that could have had an implant?"
Heero and Zechs exchanged a long look before Zechs answered slowly, wondering what he should tell this overly cheery woman about Duo.
"Duo spent a long time in Hilde's quarters, she liked him and not in a good way."
That wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the entire truth either. He was in there because the bitch was twisting him into something strange for her own perverse pleasure and on someone else's orders. He remembered the nightmares that Duo had about his time there and the wistful way that he would stare at Wufei sleeping with him when they were alone at night. She had done more then changes to his body, Hilde had permanently scarred Duo's soul with her sick games.
"Check him out and then hopefully I can access the main computer databases and find out who has them. I don't think that they would have been split up. And once we find out who has them...we get them back." Heero said, his body tense.
He was physically restraining himself from running into the computer room now to start the search. He'd watch Zechs with Sally, not because he didn't trust the man, but because he wanted to make sure that their stories were straight. He was not going to let Duo's condition become knowledge of the rank and file if he could help it!
Zechs saw the tenseness and shook his head. Heero needed to search for Trowa more then he needed to watch Sally 'doctor' him. He didn't think that there was a transmitter in him, but it didn't pay to be careless. "Go talk to the techs, Sally should be fast, even if she has to dig it out of me."
Heero stared at Quinze, the head of the computer facilities, his hands clenched at his sides. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew that he was tolerated, barely by these people and mostly because of Jay, but he didn't think that as soon as the old man left they would be treating him like shit. Heero snorted silently, letting out his breath in one smooth stream. He should have known that this was going to happen, a lot of the Sweepers didn't like him and thought that he got the results that he did because Jay helped him. He wasn't about to tell this fool that he had been doing this since he was three because he wouldn't believe him. Zechs just stood quietly behind him, willing to have Heero talk to these people. He was still smarting from Sally's exam. She hadn't found anything in him, but they were both kind of rushed because Zechs wanted to get back to Heero before he lost his temper with any of these people.
"I can't get access to the computers to do a data search because I don't have the clearance. I built three quarters of your system!" he growled.
"But that was under the supervision of someone that was...more mature then you," was Quinze's sly comment. Quinze was the worst of the lot, jealous of anyone that was more competent then himself, unfortunately that included a lot of people that worked for the Sweepers. And since most of the modified ones were usually stronger and better then he was, he tried to make their lives miserable. Quatre and Trowa avoided him because of the feedback that they received from the man. Heero could never figure out why Quinze was here, it obviously wasn't because he liked his job or the people because he treated most of them badly..
Heero ground his teeth together and tried not to give into the violent rage that he was feeling. He swallowed his rage and his pride willing to do anything for Quinze to get Trowa back. He was startled to see a large, pale arm shoot past him and grab Quinze by the throat and lift him up so that his feet were dangling a foot off the floor.
"Are you always such an ass or did we catch you on a bad day?" Zechs growled.
Heero stared at Zechs, wondering what had set him off. The man that he had been living with was cool and collected reacting calmly to everything, outside the incident with Trowa and Duo. Even when he saw that OZ had taken his family again, he had kept up a cool façade, offering suggestions and making sure that they left the safehouse with everything that they needed. So what set him off? Quinze acting like an ass that was normal. Was it the semi-hidden sneers that they had received from most of the staff with since they came here? Combined with the openly lustful gazes that Zechs had been subjected to, that might put him on the edge, all three...unless the man was a saint, he was going to snap and Quinze was the fool that provoked him at last. Heero just watched. He would stop Zechs if he tried to kill the man, but other than that, he was sick of Quinze's petty attitude and this might teach the man to be civil to the rest of the world.
Quinze made strangled noises, clawing at the hard fingers that were slowly cutting off his air. Zechs chuckled lowly and flexed his fingers slightly, unsheathing his claws, letting them cut into his neck slightly. Quinze whimpered as he felt the blood trickle down his neck and Heero briefly wondered if he was going to wet his pants in fear, that wouldn't be good, almost as bad as killing the fool, actually worse because they would have to live with him afterwards.
"Zechs?" he asked cautiously. He had no idea where this was coming from, but he thought that he might be able to contain his companion. He had wanted to do this for a while, but now was not a good time to give into the anger that he was feeling, since he might not be able to stop if he did.
Zechs looked down at Heero and smiled slightly, "Given the attitude that I have been given by most of the people that I have seen here, I am not going to count on any of these people to help me get my family back. This fool," Zechs shook Quinze gently, listening to him whimper some more, "has been the worst of the lot. He is playing little power games just to see you suffer, wasting time because he doesn't like us."
Zechs dropped Quinze and turned to face Heero, "I want to do it my way now. It is time that you learned that there are more people out there that can help you than the Sweepers."
Heero looked down and Quinze whimpering at their feet and nodded. He was willing to see what Zechs was going to do. The worst thing that could happen was that they wasted time with Zechs's methods, but he didn't think so. The man radiated a confidence that came from being one of the world's golden children. He might actually find out who he had been with his sources, even if he hadn't spoken to these people in over a year.
"I just want to say good-bye to Howard and Sally, they were nice at least and will worry about us." Heero informed him.
Zechs nodded, "Sally was professional during her exam, which was something that I didn't expect. Up to the end when she pinched my butt on the way out."
Heero smiled, that sounded like the woman that he had recruited into the Sweepers, she had a sly sense of humor at times. "Did she find anything?"
Zechs shook his head, "Nothing, but I was expecting that."
Heero frowned, "You think that Duo was the target?"
"Hilde worked on him for a year, of course she would want to be able to find her little experiment." Zechs said bitterly. He stared at his hands for a second, grimacing a little. "I have to wash my hands...I've gotten more blood on them."
Heero looked up at Zechs, "Don't feel bad...we all have blood on our hands."
Duo stared out the window. He was watching the pretty flowers that were waving in the sunlight. He wondered for a second if it was worth whoring himself to Khushrenada to be able to leave this room and actually smell one of the plants that he had been staring at for the last couple of days. They all had moved from the base that the meeting with Wufei's clan had been at. In fact, they had moved a couple of times in the last few weeks, hopping all over the place checking out the troops and inspiring them for some unknown project. And all of Khushrenada's rooms faced beautiful gardens that he was forbidden to go in. Duo knew that if he broke that order, he wouldn't be the one to suffer, but Wufei and Trowa. So he stayed in his prison and watched the flowers that he wanted to touch so much. He should have never admitted to the bastard that had him that he liked flowers, the jerk was torturing him with the knowledge. So close, but yet so far, sunlight and freedom beckoned to him and it was worse then never seeing them at all. Duo reached out a hand to touch the glass wondering if he could break it, but decided against trying it. It was bullet proof and he wasn't ready to shred his hand for the chance that he might get a whiff of those lilacs.
If he didn't know better, Khushrenada was running, hoping that they couldn't be found by the Sweepers or anyone else that might want to liberate them from him? Or was it just normal moves, touring the bases with his staff and pets, and that in a few days they would leave this place and go to another nameless base that the soldiers stared at him and his friends as if they were part of a freak show, like had happened too many times in the last couple of weeks. Duo didn't know and frankly didn't care. All he wanted was to be someplace that no one bothered him, that Wufei was happy and that Trowa didn't have that trapped look in his eyes.
Trowa was getting worse and worse as he missed Heero and the freedom to wander around on his own. Trowa had numbed out faster then he had, and with a better success. All the people that were here, the clothes that he had had to wear, all of this was taking a toll on his spirit. He was snappish when someone talked to him, but most of the time, he just stared at you. Wufei was trying to help, but Duo thought that it was beyond what he could deal with because of his own problems. The fact that his clan had seen what he had become had thrown him into a depression that caused Duo to think that they'd find Wufei dead one morning. He only had come out of it recently and Duo was wondering if either of his friends would survive until they were rescued.
Duo heard the door open and he slid off the seat that he was sitting on to kneel, waiting the permission of his owner to move. He knew that he made a pleasing picture for the bastard, kneeling naked and submissive, waiting to serve him. Appearing to be the perfect pet for his Master.
Treize walked into his room and stared at Duo. His pet was waiting for him, kneeling like he had been instructed to, looking delicious and oh so sexy. And it was a pity that he wasn't as willing as he looked. Duo waited, hearing the footsteps come closer until he felt Treize looming above him. He didn't manage to hide the flinch that he had made when Treize touched his head, tilting it back so that he could stare down at him. Duo attempted to smile back and try to be appealing. If he was going to ask for a favor, he might as well look as if he liked the man, even if he still made his skin crawl. He had practiced that smile in the mirror and he thought that it almost reached his eyes. He knew that the flinch was bad, but he couldn't help it, he didn't like anyone touching him, especially Treize.
"Treize-sama," he murmured, "Good Evening."
Treize stared down at Duo and wondered what he wanted. His pet hadn't improved his attitude towards his master, Duo was still unresponsive in bed and had gotten into the habit of provoking him so that he was beaten when he angered him. Treize wondered if Duo had been so damaged by Hilde that he had developed a taste for pain, if that was what he liked for his pleasure. Or did his little pet prefer his beatings to his caresses, because the only choice that he had in his life now was whether or not he felt pain or ecstasy with him. And Duo for some reason chose pain.
It annoyed Treize that Hilde had spoiled him so much that Duo didn't even want to try and enjoy his touch, to take a chance that sex might be pleasurable for him. But it also saddened him also that Duo had chosen to rebel in the direction that he had. Why couldn't he just accept that Treize owned him and would do whatever he wanted to him, either beat him bloody or caress him gently, he could do whatsoever he wanted to do with him and Duo had no say in the matter.
"Good Evening Duo," Treize replied, "And how was your day?"
He knew how it had been. He had taken his pet this morning and was pleased that he managed to get a subtle response out of him, a small sigh of pleasure, was what he thought he had heard. That victory had been ruined by Duo refusing to speak to him at breakfast, sullen about something, probably the fact that he had reacted to his attentions. Treize managed to restrain himself from punishing his pet until Duo made a pert remark about something at lunch that angered him so that he had taken a belt to his back, again. He did that every few days it seemed, Duo provoked him into losing his temper with a remark that he knew was going to anger him. It was happening more and more. Thankfully, neither of the other two had been present, so he thought that he had hid what he had done from them, not that it mattered, but he didn't want to deal with their surliness about his disciplining his pleasure pet. Duo probably had spent the rest of the day staring out the window. Treize had arranged it so that all his quarters faced gardens and then denied Duo the privilege of walking in them. He supposed it was petty, but he was not at all happy with the boy. When he was obedient was when he would be allowed to enjoy be in the sunshine that he liked.
Duo's dull eyes just stared back at him and his tone was indifferent, both things mocking the smile that he had plastered on his face. "It was the same as yesterday and it will be the same tomorrow. Not that it matters."
Treize tightened his jaw, trying not to snap at Duo, because unfortunately it was true. He wondered if Duo was looking to be beaten again with that remark. Until Duo behaved, his days were going to be the same endless round of nothingness, he wasn't going to get any privileges until he learned his place here. And it didn't look like Duo was going to behave any time in the future. He was wondering why anyone wanted more then one bioriod, because all three of them were driving him mad. Duo was turning into a psychotic pain freak, while the other two were just sullen and depressed. He was not enjoying this at all! It could be because the work on them was never finished more then anything, nothing that he was doing. But that feral one...he was getting difficult.
Duo continued in the same even tone, trying not to look too desperate while he asked this favor of Treize. "But...could you let Trowa loose for a little while. He'll come back because of us, me and Wufei are hostages for him, but he's got to get away from all these people or he's just going to freak and there'll be bodies everywhere. Not that I give fuck about your soldiers, but I don't want him hurt."
"And what will you do for me if I let him go?" Treize asked. So that was the problem with his guard, not very domesticated it seemed, he was starting to worry his at chain. Trowa would have to be handled carefully or he might become a problem. "Or should I ask that of Trowa, since he is the one that is going to benefit from my generosity."
Duo's smile faded at this news and his eyes became frightened, Treize shouldn't have threatened his friends and that sounded like a threat to him, he was frightened that Treize would hurt them too. "What do you want? From me only, not Trowa and not Wufei because they shouldn't have to, that's what you got me for."
Treize stared at the doe eyed waif kneeling submissively before him. He was amused that Duo thought he had something to bargain with. He owned him, like he owned his shoes and his car. Like he owned Trowa and Wufei. He didn't think that the others had realized that little fact either.
"If that is what you're good for, you should act it. I do admit that my quarters are clean and you do care for my uniforms wonderfully, freeing up the soldiers that used to do that. But the main reason that I have you is for my physical pleasure. And I am not enjoying the fact that you are causing me to hurt you the way that you do."
Duo swallowed, Treize was angry with him again it seemed. He didn't go out of his way to piss off Treize, but he always managed to anger the man somehow. Was it because he wasn't as responsive as he wanted him to be? Or the fact that anything was setting off the older man since they started this tour and he was taking out his frustrations on him, that he discovered that he had a whipping boy in his little pet and he liked the power that it gave him. Duo didn't know what the problem was. All he hoped for was the fact that he was his only target and Treize wasn't beating the other two the way that he was beating him. There was about a gap of a day or two before he managed to set off his captor. Duo was just grateful that he hadn't thought of combining the beatings with his rape. Or was it because Treize didn't think that he was raping him because he didn't fight back or scream. All he did was hold it in until Treize was gone for the day and then he cried in the shower. Half the time he didn't know why he was crying, he just started crying. He had never done that before and it scared him. He was falling apart and he didn't know how he was supposed to hold on.
"I'll be good," Duo whispered. He didn't know what else to say. He knew that it was angering Treize that he still flinched when he touched him and that he hadn't responded to all the tricks that the man knew to make him like what he was doing to his body. He was just so tired of it all, he thought that it would have been better that he had never been rescued, that the scientists had killed him like they wanted to. He had had known the freedom to say 'no' to someone and it hurt that it had been taken away from him.
Treize shook his head, and calmly said, "I hear that all the time from you and you never seem to mean it. The next time that you anger me, I will make Wufei hold you while I beat you again. You don't want that do you...you don't want them to know how much you've angered me."
"No," Duo whimpered, not wanting them to find out how much Treize was hitting him, that would drive them both ballistic. They had to survive their captivity since they had people that loved them on the outside, someone to live for. He had nothing but them and he wasn't going to let his friends get hurt because of his stupidity and squeamishness.
"Then behave." Treize said calmly, as if Duo was the one that was at fault all the time.
Duo nodded and just closed his eyes when Treize leaned down to kiss him, leisurely feeding on his mouth. Duo allowed him to do anything that he wanted, it seemed that Treize was in still a good mood and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn't fight when Treize guided his head to his groin. He had gotten very good at pleasing the older man with his mouth, he usually wanted a blowjob with lunch or when he was home for the night before his dinner. Duo opened the zipper with his teeth and nudged the cloth aside with his nose, breathing lightly on Treize's cock, teasing him a little. Treize might have thought that he was being playful, but he was just trying to postpone putting that thing in his mouth. He had gotten better at this, since the first time, he had managed to take more of Treize in his mouth, deep throating the general and letting half choke him while he fucked his face for an unbearable eternity. Duo was thankful for once when he tasted the bitter fluid that filled his stomach, he didn't know if he could have held his breath any longer. He swallowed automatically, knowing that he would be beaten if he spit it out. Treize didn't tolerate that bit of rebellion when he had tried it the first time, he thought that Duo should be treating him like he was God because Duo had been created for him in an OZ lab.
"That was nice Duo, let's see if you can behave for the rest of the night." Treize murmured. Duo stripped the rest of the clothing off his captor, not bothering to answer him. He was afraid that he would say the wrong thing and ruin Treize's rare good mood.
Treize chuckled and gathered Duo in his arms, kissing him deeply. He loved the taste of himself on his little toy's lips. Duo was so good at bringing him off this way. If the boy could just acknowledge the fact that he was going to be his for the rest of his life, he would be the perfect little pet. Treize chose to ignore the silence that Duo hid behind and the beatings that he had been giving Duo for the last couple of days, punishing him because he had done something wrong, even if Duo hadn't realized it at the time. He chose to believe that his pet was perfect until he had to discipline him.
Duo didn't struggle against Treize. He hoped that if he gave in to him, Trowa and Wufei would be safe and maybe that Treize would forget this conversation and that he had even thought about doing this disgusting thing with either one of the others. He just shut down his mind some more and let the general play with his body until the man was tired and satisfied.
A very sated Treize looked down at his sleeping pet, when he was through with him. Duo was beginning to understand his place here at last. He was almost responsive tonight and he thought that Duo might be ready for Treize to take his training to the next level.
End Part Three
Christine
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