07-Feb-2004
Title: Not Quite Human
Author: Christine
e-mail: Devilkitty@speakeasy.net
Pairings: 3x1, 6x5, OttoxWalker, RashidxAbdul, 13x2
Rating: R
Warnings: Violence, NSC, language
Otto frowned and then motioned to Heero for him to follow him. Heero shrugged and then decided that he could trust him. He glanced down the hallway to where Zechs and Relena were hugging, uncomfortable with such a display of raw emotion and knew that the two of them were going to need their privacy for a while. He followed Otto into the hallway of his apartment building and looked at him questioningly.
"I think that they need some time alone together," Otto told him. "They are... were close. She was so hurt when Mirialdo... um... died."
"Zechs needs this. He needs to be with family. I haven't been a good company for him," Heero told him softly. "Before that... it wasn't the best place for him to be at times. We were still waiting to see if the Sweepers would let them work with us. Zechs had found out the first night that they were with us that we hadn't really freed them. Something bad happened the first night and they found out that we didn't trust them... couldn't trust them, even though we had just rescued them from that lab. Now... I don't know if he would be willing to back and work with them and I don't blame Zechs for feeling that way. I don't even know what I am going to do."
Otto shrugged, "Why don't we get some coffee and give them an hour or so. It might take that long for Relena to talk him into letting her help him."
"He might not let her help us," Heero told him doubtfully as he followed him down the hallway into the elevator. "He doesn't want her to get hurt. She'll get hurt if OZ finds out that she helped us. They will do to her what they did to the rest of them. OZ will hurt her and change her, just because she helped us. What I found out about what happened at that base Zechs wouldn't want to happen to his little sister."
Otto laughed, "She had him wrapped around her finger when they were younger, from what I heard from both of them. She's going to do what she pleases in the end, so he might as well give into her. It will be easier if she just makes him think that it was his idea and not hers."
Heero shrugged and stopped arguing, not really understanding what that had to do with things. He knew that siblings usually were close and sometimes that clouded people's judgment, but he never understood how that worked in real life. His isolated upbringing and the indifference of his parents to his emotional needs made that one of the concepts of human behavior that he could never understand. Heero understood that he was a bit more simplistic about things, using only an 'us or them' concept, rather then deal with trying to understand humans. There weren't too many people that he considered part of his 'us' category. Trowa had been the only one for a long while. He loved Jay and would do almost anything for the old man, but there was too much guilt in the older man's love at times to make him feel comfortable with him for a long time, even if he was part of his 'us'. The Sweepers he had worked with still were a 'them' to him even if there were a few, like Sally and Howard, that he respected, but because of the attitude of the majority of them he still felt like an outsider with them. There were so many things that they talked about that he didn't understand. It had only gotten worse when the majority of them started to treat him like he was bad because he was different. He was what the Sweepers were fighting against and a majority thought of him as their worst nightmare.
They rode down the elevator in silence, which continued as they walked down the street, until Otto let him into a small coffee shop, a couple of blocks away from the apartment. Heero never understood the need for social chatter and he guessed that Otto didn't want to push him about talking to him when they were walking. They found a table and sat down and the waitress hurried over to greet them as soon as they chose a table.
"Otto, how are you doing?" she asked, "It's been too long since you stopped by. Are you too busy with this one to talk to an old friend?"
Otto looked uncomfortable, "Ah Allison... It's not like that. I've been busy but not with Heero. He's just in town for a little while."
"I see," Allison teased him as she poured coffee for the two of them. "Here's a menu, not that you need it Otto."
Heero ignored the menu and just held his coffee cup in his hands, not taking a sip yet, just enjoying the smell. It was so good not be moving. That they might actually have a chance of freeing the others, that they were close to getting them all back. It was good to see that there might be an end to this nightmare.
"If you want something else, then get it," Otto told him. "Coffee is what this place is known for, though, along with its desserts."
"I want it," Heero told him taking a sip of the coffee he was holding. "I was just... surprised that she thought that we together and didn't mind."
"You get shit for being gay too?" Otto asked in confusion. What kind of people did this kid hang out with if they didn't like who he was or what his sexual preferences were?
"I... " Heero shrugged. "I don't know really. It could be mostly because of what I am. People could be upset that Trowa and I are together, because of many reasons."
"That bunch sounds like they're real winners," Otto told him sourly.
Heero sighed, "It's made up of people. Mostly good people, like Sally and Howard, but there are enough people that are a part of that group that are uncomfortable with the thought that Trowa and I exist. Not that they are bad people, it's just that they have blind spots. They don't like that what they are fighting against is working with them. I think that they was more comfortable with the ideal then the reality."
"You're making excuses for them," Otto told him. The tough guy that had told him off in the apartment was hiding now. Heero was starting to relax it looked like that to him and it was probably for the first time in the long time he was willing to wager. He had seen it in himself and Walker after a long assignment. The tenseness that had been lived with for so long, that when you finally got a chance to relax, it took a long time to do so and it was a very visible process. He wondered how long Heero had been running because of this problem. He had thought that it had been a matter of days, but now he thought that it might be longer. Also, how many assignments had he done for the Sweepers before he had this happen to him?
Heero thought about that for a moment, before answering. "I might be because for a while, when I first joined up a lot of them were nice to me. I wasn't used to that and I liked it. It wasn't until it became known that I was 'different' that people started to act oddly towards me. But... I remember when they were nice to me and I want to make excuses for them. Maybe I am hoping that they will be nice again."
"What happened?" Otto asked, curious about Heero. He wanted to see what he was like before he made his judgment, meeting like they did hadn't helped either.
Heero sighed, not wanting to really explain it to Otto. "I had saved my team from an ambush by being stronger and faster then a human being should be. I think what really freaked them out was all the damage that I was able to take. I was shot a number of times and was still able to move... to fight and save my team. Accelerated healing is unnerving to some people. I know that Relena was disturbed by it."
"I think she was upset that you were willing to hurt yourself to make a point," Otto told him dryly. "Most of the time she's pretty understanding about certain things, which is why she's where she working where she is now, not staying with her parent's party. She preaches peace, but also realizes that not everyone believes in it and that to keep the peace you don't throw away all your weapons and leave yourself wide open for the bad guys to get you.
She was the only one in his family that would talk to Mirialdo after he made his choice about the military. His parents, they were angry and thought that they had failed somehow because their son had chosen to go against everything that they stood for by joining the military. Relena wasn't going to stop talking to him because of that and it was her letters to him that kept him going during basic training. It wasn't until a month before he got into his accident that his parents had started talking to him again. They had finally accepted that it wasn't a whim or some sort of teenage rebellion against their values. Mirialdo told me that he had decided to make a career in the military. He knew that peace was something that you guarded with guns because of the way that people were. His parents never got that at times. They... that they really don't live in the same world as the rest of us do, does describe their attitude pretty much. They think that they are going to keep world peace with gentler words and nice thoughts."
"He told me on the ride over here that his parents had been very upset about his entering the Self Defense Force but they had started talking to him again. He also told me that... that they wouldn't mind that he loved someone even if it wasn't a woman."
Otto shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the tone of the conversation. Did Heero know that he and Mirialdo had been involved at one time? How the hell had they got into that conversation? But, knowing that they had been on the road for a while, keeping awake was more important to the driver then the conversational material. He had gotten into some of the oddest discussions because of road trips. That was about the only reason that Mirialdo would be talking about that kind thing. He doubted, even with all that he had been through, that Mirialdo had gotten more open about such things. He had always been closed mouth about such things. It must be left over from his childhood, Otto thought.
Heero smiled sadly at his reaction, "This is how most of my conversations end up. Me keeping my mouth shut after I make a blunder about the topic or even not knowing or understanding something that was commonplace and the person with me feeling strange because of what I just said. They... they... other people don't understand that I am not trying to be rude or provoke them, it's just I never learned any different or better. I am trying to be more tactful, but it is hard at times and I forget to watch what I am saying to people. I can't remember everything that I'm supposed to not talk about."
Otto frowned at his explanation, confused, "I don't understand."
"I grew up in a lab, Otto. My parents were really the only people that I saw until I was fifteen. Occasionally social services would come by, but since I looked clean and well fed, they didn't ask too many questions. It wasn't their fault, since my caseworker had about twelve to twenty cases a day that she had to deal with. They didn't have time to look for anything but the obvious signs of abuse that was happening over a long period of time. We moved a couple times and it was always the same thing, a caseworker that just checked to see if I was being abused and didn't have time for much else. They were actually relieved that there wasn't something that they had to fill out paperwork on.
When I was fifteen, Jay came by. There was a big fight between him and my parents when he showed up and figured out what they had been doing. He just found out what they had been working on and what exactly they were doing out there. My parents showed him the tapes that they had made while I was growing up and all their notes. He was in their office for hours. I was curious about who exactly he was... I hoped that he was my grandfather or something. He had been in there for a while before the arguments started. He had been their advisor in Graduate School. He had had no idea what they had done to me, what they had been working on. He actually thought that they had decided to settle down and raise a family, not do illegal bio experiments."
"Shit... " Otto cursed, not wanting to say more until after the Allison left. He ordered sandwiches for the two of them when he realized that Heero hadn't bothered to even look at the menu. Otto ignored the look that Allison gave him for treating Heero like he was his date. From what he was hearing Heero had all the social skills of a ten year old. Not because he was stupid, but because he had been so isolated from what he just told him. Otto doubted that Heero and his boyfriend got out much from what he was telling him. He wondered that after this would they try to do the things that couples were supposed to do, going out to eat, the movies, date type things that they should try. He knew that they should do something like that because they both deserved it.
Heero shrugged, "They could because both of them had enough money not to worry about working like real people if they were careful. Also the big expense had been the in utero work, something that they had done at the University after hours. Technically, I belong to some University and am not really anything more then a rogue piece of equipment."
"What the fuck... " Otto started. Shit what had his parents done to screw him over if he could think that he was a piece of equipment? Shit no wonder he was willing to make excuses for people if he hoped that they were going to be nice to him again. That would explain that fact that he was willing to walk into OZ to rescue his lover. Heero seemed like the kind of person that gave his loyalty fiercely. Did the Sweepers know what they had thrown away with their stupidity?
"I told you that the Sweepers were the first people that were good to me. I grew up knowing that the only reason I was alive and being cared for was because I was a successful experiment that they could continue to work on. I never found out how many fetuses were aborted by those two because something didn't work out. Or the miscarriages because of the mutations, Jay won't tell me."
Otto stared at Heero, wondering what kind of sick fucks his parents had been. That they treated their own flesh and blood like a lab rat was disgusting. That he wasn't the first was even more so. What had gone through his mother's mind after all those losses? What had ever driven the two of them to try out their work on a human being?
"I disgust you," Heero told him flatly after a minute. Otto looked dazed at all the information that he had given him. He was waiting for that dazed look to turn into a revolted one and then have him walk out on him.
"Your parents, the poster children for 'psychopaths 'R us', disgust me," Otto told him. "You... you're just a guy I'm getting to know."
He had seen the wary look in the kid's eyes. He had been hurt too many times because of what he was. He didn't want to be added to that list of assholes if he could help it. In a way it was easier to deal with Heero because he didn't know him. There were too many memories that he shared with Mirialdo... Zechs for it to be easy with him. He should just chuck the past and learn who Zechs was. He doubted that it would get beyond friendship, but he should be willing to try. Hell, these people needed friends more then anything right now.
Heero relaxed. "I... I apologize for making that assumption."
Otto shook his head, "You just got too used to people being assholes. Tell me about your guy, how did you meet?"
Heero looked surprised at the question, before telling him quietly, "It's not pleasant."
Otto shrugged. It sounded like not much in Heero's life had been pretty. He decided to break the ice by telling him how he had gotten together with Mirialdo. "I met Mirialdo in basic training. We got frisky with each other and then with Walker. It wasn't anything more then friends fucking around, but it turned special with me and Walker after Mirialdo's death. You can't get that too often. Since you're willing to walk into the lion's den to get your boyfriend back, it's something more then special between you two also. I want to hear about it if you don't mind."
Heero started talking in a soft tone, because he really didn't want this to be overheard. There weren't that many people around because it was between lunch and supper, but he had trained too well to forget that letting someone know that you were different was a bad thing. His parents had used that as he had gotten older to keep him in line and the reactions that he had gotten from people in the Sweepers had only emphasized it. Different was bad.
"My parents had been gone for about a year, killed in a car accident. They were killed instantly. Jay got me out of where we had been living and into the Sweepers. He was the only one that knew where I was. He had been listed as their next of kin, so he was the one that had been notified of their death. I wasn't listed anywhere.
I was seventeen. The Sweepers made a place for me and were nice for me. I went on a couple of raids for them and things weren't too bad. I... it was comfortable for me. I was starting to like some of the people that I was working with. They treated me good and taught me a lot about being human. They put up with all the stuff that I didn't know about. Some people, like Quinze, who's a computer programmer and support staff, had been difficult, but on the whole it was nice.
Jay had gotten information about Trowa, my lover, when he decided to see if there were anymore of his students that had gone rogue on him and he didn't know about it. Jay, he's a scientist but he also knows that you aren't supposed to do certain things. He thought that he failed because he didn't manage to make his students believe that. I keep telling him that there wasn't any way that he could have known that this would happen, but he doesn't believe me. He thinks that he failed somehow because this happened and Trowa and I were created, so he feels guilty.
It seemed that more of his former students were trying to make a difference in the human race with gene-splicing. They were going for a human/feline hybrid. Human genes that had been modified and some structural changes like claws, sight, hearing and the glands also. Jay hit the roof when he found out about it and demanded that he know what the hell they had been thinking. After a huge argument he got Trowa's parents to promise that if anything happened to them that they let him take care of Trowa for them. They wanted him to make sure that their experiment continued after their death, that Jay would continue their work. If Jay didn't agree to that, they wouldn't talk to him again. He did, because it wasn't like either of Trowa's parents' families even knew that he was alive. If something happened to them, there was no one to take care of Trowa. They had cut all ties with them, like my parents had done. That was the only reason that they agreed to let Jay look after him." Heero paused as the Allison dropped off their food. She took one look at their faces and decided that Otto was not up to more teasing. He and the nice young man that he was with seemed to be having a very serious conversation and she shouldn't interrupt it.
"So how did you get involved?" Otto asked curiously He was thankful for Allison's tact and reminded himself to leave her an extra large tip.
Heero frowned, "It seems that OZ found out about the lab after Jay did. They raided the lab, managing to kill Trowa's parents in the process. Either that or his parents didn't want to be taken alive. What was left of the lab was a huge hole in the ground and all the research was destroyed. I'm thinking that his parents suicided and destroyed their research with them. OZ never knew that Trowa existed they had botched the raid so badly. Trowa fled in to the wilderness. Jay sent me after him because he knew that I was about the only person that could keep up with him, with the work that had been done to him. He didn't even know that for certain, but he had to try. He had to save him. Trowa had been in the woods for about three months before I was sent after him. It was another month before I caught up to him. Jay didn't know that he had survived, but there were rumors of something strange in the woods after that explosion. Jay didn't know if he was sending me on a wild goose chase, but he wanted to give Trowa a choice if he had survived. If he wanted to live with humans at least part of the time or live in the woods, but it had to be someplace safer then where he was."
"Then what happened?" Otto asked.
Heero shrugged, "It was hard. Trowa had been out there for a long time. He didn't trust anyone. He'd been more isolated then I had been growing up. Can you imagine what it had been like for him?"
Otto shook his head. "I can't because my parents were normal. But... shit I know that this sounds crass, but he probably was like a feral animal. Scared because he didn't know what was going on and he didn't know who to trust. He had just lost his home and anything that was familiar to him. I don't blame him for loosing it for a little while."
Heero nodded. He ignored his sandwich to cradle his cup of coffee again, "He went feral. That is the only way that I can describe it. In the beginning he might have been better, but after a month in the woods, he was running on his instincts more then anything. It helped that his parents had equipped him so that he could do that. The weather where he was hiding out was warm, so that wasn't a problem for him. He was killing small game and wild animals, staying as far away as he could from people, but there weren't a lot of places that he could hide. That helped a lot... trying to stay out of the way of the hum... locals," Heero corrected himself. "If he had gone after the goats and the sheep in the area, then there would have been a hunting party out after him. Farmers do not take kindly to someone eating their livestock.
I think that some of that might have been hard wired into him somehow. His parents were as though about things that they had changed as mine were. Having their experiment killed because of that stupidity would be something that they wanted to avoid. I don't know the details of what had been done to him because all the records had been destroyed. Sally did some basic workups on him, but not a lot because Trowa isn't really cooperative about those things. Too much of it as he was growing up."
"So you camped out in the backwoods until you ran across Trowa?" Otto asked Heero. He really didn't want know what had happened to Heero and Trowa at the hands of their parents.
"I would have been discouraged, except I kept finding small traces that he was around and that I was on the right track. Nothing that a normal human would have found... " Heero suddenly blushed, feeling awkward again. "I'm boasting aren't I?"
Otto smiled. "You aren't. Fact isn't boasting. You picked up on traces that other people couldn't find. That isn't being boastful. It's interesting to hear about it." He's shy. The assholes that he seemed to be working with didn't help either. That he's different and had been raised badly makes it more uncomfortable for him, because he doesn't know the difference between chest pounding and simple fact. I think that what makes him attractive, that he's just a touch insecure and you want reassure him that its okay. His lover is a lucky guy.
Heero nodded, "Just little stuff. Things that didn't seem right. People were being to think that there was a big cat in that area by the time that I made contact with him. But the biggest thing that tipped me off was that his spoor was wrong, no matter what he was eating. He couldn't disguise the fact that he walked on two legs, instead of four, even if he was leaving tracks that looked like a cat's, among other things that I... uh... found."
Otto laughed. Trust Heero to be delicate enough to not say the word shit. That would be one of the things that would stand out, that it didn't look an animal's no matter what Trowa had been eating. "So you're out in the woods, Trowa's out in the woods. Did your eyes meet across a clear glade and he decide to chuck being Tarzan?"
Heero smiled. Otto was being so understanding about things. It was nice because for that last couple of weeks, he didn't know if he could like people again. Not with all that had been happening. "Not that easy. Actually, it was raining. I felt like crap because three weeks in the woods was more that I could stand. I wanted to take a hot shower in the worst way. I figured that Trowa was avoiding me because I smelled so bad. I had stripped down just to get somewhat clean and then I saw him. I didn't realize it at first, but a flash of lightening gave his hiding spot away and I just started running towards him. He was across a small clearing in the woods and he probably didn't know that I could see him."
Otto chuckled. "That must of went over like a lead balloon. I know that no one wants to be charged like that, it freaks 'em out."
Heero shrugged, "I was not in my right mind at the moment or I wouldn't have done that. All I could think of was getting back to civilization and getting a hot meal I didn't cook and standing under the shower until the hot water ran out. If I had been thinking at the moment, chasing after a strange man naked wouldn't have been my first reaction."
Otto laughed out loud at that. He knew of no one that would explain that a successful completion of his mission happened because he wanted a hot meal and a shower. There was more to the story then he was telling. He was willing to bet that this Trowa had gotten very friendly, very fast with Heero if they were both running around in their birthday suits.
Heero blushed, thinking about what had happened next, amusing Otto that he had done so. Otto hadn't seen anyone blush this much in ages. Trowa was happy to see someone else, someone that he knew wasn't one of the local farmers, someone that he thought was a mate. I was able to keep up with him that meant to him that we were alike, because his parents and the soldiers hadn't been able to do that. I pursued him into the words and he led me on a wild chase, testing me. I caught up to him though and it changed. He... feral does cover a lot. He dragged me into his lair and took me. Not that I was unwilling, there was something about him... that place. I was able to get my stuff after I was able to walk straight again. He didn't mean to hurt me, but neither of us had a clue. We did figure it out eventually. I spent the rest of the month teaching him how to pass with the humans, how to act and what to expect among them. Not to treat them like prey, as much as he thought they were weak. I didn't want to leave, but we both knew that we had to. He might have been able to live out there, but I needed civilization. It also wasn't safe anymore. Two of us in the woods had stripped it of small game and the locals were getting close.
"It must have been wild," Otto remarked gently. "You look happy and embarrassed at the same time."
Heero nodded, "We haven't really been apart since then. Trowa would go into the woods wherever we were staying when people got too much for him and I'd usually join him, but nothing more then a night or two. I also always knew where he was. This... this is killing me. He doesn't understand a lot. Its not that he's stupid, but he just doesn't realize or care that sometimes you aren't supposed to do or say things. I get it when I fuck up by saying or doing the wrong thing, but he never does. Also he's with people that think that he's an animal because he's different. I don't know if he's ever going to want to leave the woods again."
Otto shrugged, playing with his coffee because he was embarrassed almost from the raw fear that he heard in the kid's voice. Heero was young and knew that the world was a bad place, he was just hoping that the badness didn't destroy the one good thing in his life. "I can't tell you anything, because I don't want to lie to you about shit. But... from what you are and aren't telling me, he will come back to you. It might not be right away though. I'd recommend that you go back to where you started out if he needs to get away from it all."
Heero nodded, hoping that Otto was right. There was something about the guy that made you want to believe him. "Duo... he's going to be the worst. I don't know what we are going to be able to do to help him. He doesn't have anyone. Not that he might want someone like that after all the crap that was done to him. He was messed up before he was recaptured, now... "
"What about Duo?" Otto asked curiously.
Heero shrugged, "He wasn't friendly with any of us. I know why, but it still was odd. We weren't going to hurt him, but he couldn't believe that yet. Oddly enough, he trusted Trowa, even though he had hurt him by accident, the first night. There was a misunderstanding and Trowa thought that Duo was a threat to me... it was bad. Duo panicked and that was when we found out how bad it had been for all of them, but him especially.
It was then that we found out that the base was Hell on Earth to them. Wufei and Zechs, they had ways of protecting themselves with their mods in the fights that they were subjected to. They were supposed to be fighters and tough guys. Duo... Duo is a fighter, but he's too light to do much damage and he didn't have anything like that mod'd into him. He can take a lot of damage, but that was considered a 'good' thing by the scientists.
Trowa watched out after him when he found out how hurt he had been in that place. He thought of him as someone to protect. That's why they were together when Duo and Wufei were snatched. He wanted to show him someplace that he could have fun at. Wufei went with them; I think it was to make Duo feel safe. He didn't really like being alone with anyone but the cook for any length of time. That's why they're all gone. That's why I have to get them back. Wufei because he was becoming a friend, Duo to show him that the world isn't made up of bad people because he believes that now, I know. Trowa... Trowa because he's my life and I know that even if OZ doesn't hurt him, being trapped is going to be slowly killing him."
Relena stopped crying after a few minutes. Her breakdown had been because she was overjoyed to see her brother more then anything. She wiped her eyes and sniffed delicately, trying to be a grownup again. "I'm sorry. I didn't think that I would do that... "
Zechs smiled and stroked back her hair before finding a tissue for her to blow her nose in. "It was unexpected. I don't blame you. I just want ask you not to tell our parents. I don't want them to know yet. I don't think that they could be strong enough to hide it." Or smart enough to keep their mouths shut about it. It just takes them telling the wrong person and I can't even imagine what would happen.
Relena nodded. "I don't think that they could keep quiet about it. And if they start to talk about all that you just told me before you rescue your friends, it will be their death sentence. OZ seems ruthless enough to get rid of any evidence. It would not only be their deaths, but probably the deaths of at least hundreds of more people if what your friend tells me is true."
Zechs sighed, "Heero doesn't have the skill to lie. It was one of the many social skills that his parents never taught him."
Relena laughed shakily, "Unlike ours... politics is the art of turning the truth into a lie at times. Your resurrection should come later, when your friends are safe and when it can... "
" ...be turned into their political advantage?" Zechs finished for her.
Relena looked guilty. "That is my thinking, not theirs. But your death has changed our parents, they are a little less trusting."
"Things have changed a lot over the past year," Zechs told her, looking down at his hands. "I... I do not know if I can talk to them again. There... there has been so much blood spilled. Mine. My friends. My enemies, so much blood spilled that I feel dirty."
Relena sighed and shook her head. "You told me that there were always things that were worth fighting for. Your life is one of them. I want to find out who you are now. I want to meet your friends. I want to be part of your life again."
"I don't know if I can do that again," Zechs told her gently. Relena was still enough of an idealist to hope that there was a happily ever after. He didn't want that to be taken from her. "I don't know if I can be the big brother that you remember."
"You'll be my friend though?" Relena asked him in a small voice. "I know that something bad happened to you... a lot of bad, but I want to get to know you again."
Zechs smiled, "Friends. I can't say that everyone that I know will want that though. Duo is very shy. Wufei... he isn't very comfortable around people either. Once you get to know Wufei, he's very smart, just shy. But I will try."
"Is Wufei your lover?" Relena asked.
She had never really figured out that relationship that Walker and Otto had had with her brother, but she had seen how they had acted with each other and she knew that they were lovers. She didn't know if they had had the same kind of relationship with her brother. Otto blushed when she asked him about it and always changed the subject. The only other time that she had seen him that embarrassed was when he had asked her whether or not she was having sex with Senator Darlian. He was indecently relieved to find out that she wasn't and never asked her that question again. However, she had a sneaking suspicion that her brother was gay and that he had been more then friends with the other two, but they would never talk about it. She didn't know if they were trying to protect her or were being gentlemen about the relationship that they had had with Mirialdo and just not talking about it.
Zechs nodded, "Wufei and I are lovers. It... it is the one good thing that has happened to me in the past year."
"What is he like?" Relena asked.
"Strong and passionate," Zechs smiled. "He once told me that he never expected to be loved by another man. That I loved him was amazing to him. Duo... he's timid, but you would not believe how strong his is mentally. He had to be to stay sane in that place. Giving also, no matter how bad it got for him, in the end he tried to be there for us. He had forgiven both Wufei and I for things that we can't forgive ourselves for."
"What about the other one, Heero's lover?" Relena asked, not wanting to hear more. The pain in her brother's voice was to be expected, but she didn't have to like it. She knew that it was from remembering how it had been like with his friends when they were trapped in that place.
"Quiet," Zechs started. "Gentle. But he doesn't like being around people. He had been out with the other two hiking in the woods when they were captured. I think that he won't be willing to make new friends after this."
"Someday then," Relena promised. She smiled again and then changed the topic of conversation. "I can get the information that you need. I will have it for you tomorrow night. After that, please just come back to me. Not right away, but some day. I want to meet your new family. Then we can discuss whether to not you want to tell the world what OZ had done to you. No matter what you tell me, I would like it if you kept in touch. I don't want to lose you again. I missed you so much. As nice as they are, Otto and Walker aren't you."
"I can't promise that, not right away. Also it's not just my decision," Zechs told her. "Wufei and Duo... they have to know if they want that kind of attention. I doubt that either one of them would, for different reasons. Duo... what has been to him was obscene. He shouldn't have to be dissected again because of the things that had been done to him against his will. Wufei... he's married. He should discuss something like this with his wife, because it will affect her."
"Your lover is married?" Relena asked, shocked. Her brother would have never done that. He had thought that marriage was sacred and had nothing but contempt for those that wouldn't keep their vows. They had seen too many people that had had affairs because they were bored or wanted to hurt their partner. But then, she didn't know what his life had been like for the last year. But she doubted that either man had thought that they would escape that place and grasped whatever happiness that they could find.
"In the labs, Wufei and I found out that outward appearance didn't matter and we had been cut off from our old lives. We fell in love as strange as it seems. He... he was able to keep my spirits up, no matter what was happening. Even when he was molting, he managed to keep mine and Duo's mood positive, even with the pain and itching that he was being subjected to. I could admire a man that faced what was happening to him without flinching. You see all his skin was sloughing off because they made him grow scales as a joke," Zechs told his sister gently, before adding, "Wufei was a member of the Dragon Clan. This would affect many more people then just him if he went public with what had to him."
"Dragon Clan?" Relena asked. She blinked in shock and thought for a second. "I am willing to talk to his wife, whether or not he goes public. I think that it would be better if this was something that you all agreed on before it happened though." She was quiet for a second before asking him, "Molting? They could make someone molt?"
"Don't think that it would be that easy. Not with the Clan's record on eugenics," Zechs warned her, ignoring her last question. He sighed, deciding that answering it would give her some idea about what she was getting herself into. "Wufei... the people that ran that place were sadistic. That goes without saying, really. But they decide that they wanted a real dragon and gave Wufei scales and claws. The initial process was a little like the old time skin grafts and some of it sloughed off because it didn't take. Later when he went through unexpected growth spurts, the scales didn't grow. So like on a snake, his skin peeled off and then scales grew underneath the old skin filling in the raw areas."
Relena shuddered. She couldn't even imagine the discomfort that would cause. It would be like being sunburned all over and then peeling. The pain must have been unbelievable.
Zechs watched her and saw the look in her eyes, "It was... intense at times. They didn't want to give him anything for the pain, because they wanted data that was uncompromised by pain killers. Duo and I spent a lot of time with him. He was glad about that, because he didn't have to worry about us in the arena as entertainment. He said the pain was worth it then. We were all used to pain by then."
Relena stared at him. "How did you know what I was thinking?"
Zechs smiled, "It's your eyes. They tell me more about what you are thinking then anything else. You haven't learned to hide you thoughts behind blank eyes. I hope that you never do."
Relena sighed. "What was it like when you were out of that place?" She wanted to change the subject for now. Politics and planning made up too much of her time now. She wanted to hear about something good.
Zechs smiled, he knew what she doing. He didn't blame her. From what little Otto had told him, she had no personal life. "It was nice. Peaceful. They didn't trust us in the beginning and it was a cage for a while, but it was good to be out of the place that we had been in. Duo was beginning to be able to trust people and let others touch him. He was reading and acting like a boy, something that I don't think that he had been allowed to so before. Wufei and I, it was nice that we finally had some privacy."
"Privacy?" Relena asked in a mischievous tone of voice.
Hs laughed, it sounded so strange now. But the labs did hold some bittersweet memories for him. Trying to hide that he and Wufei liked each other in a manner that the staff might not approve of had been hard. He of course had broken before Wufei had, letting their captors know that they were in love with each other. Their punishment had been that they had become an additional source of entertainment for those perverts. It had been a huge slip that he had made and thankfully Wufei had never held it against him. But then the ones that were in charge had known of his feelings for Duo at the time as well. For all he knew that had been something that had been programmed into him and Wufei, but he doubted it. Duo was too lovable to too many other people for that. "Well lab rats don't get privacy," he started.
Relena winced at that statement. She didn't like the fact that Mirialdo... Zechs thought that he was a lab rat.
"We were called much worse," Zechs told her gently, seeing her wince. "It was one of the ways that they made us feel less then human. After a while, it was just another insult. But we didn't have any privacy, Duo was there with us when he was in the labs. It made him uncomfortable if we made love near him because of his experiences, so we didn't get to all that often. So when we finally got out of there, having our own room was something that we treasured. Silly isn't it?"
"It is the little things that make up a relationship I've been told," Relena said softly. "Someday I'll find out."
"You shouldn't be married to you work," Zechs told her seriously. "You never know when you are going to need something more then that. I know that I wouldn't have made it through training without either Walker or Otto. Your letters helped, but sometimes you need a human being to reassure you that you made the right choice."
"They also helped me," Relena told him. "They took your place as my big brother. I wasn't as lost as I could have been because of them. Otto, it was cute at times and damned embarrassing at others, but it was what I needed."
"I'm glad. In the beginning I was worried about you, after I was adjusted to the place and then... then I tried to forget," Zechs told her sadly. "I built something for myself in that place that I didn't know when I was going to be taken away from me. I didn't want to remember what I had been like before all the blood and the killing, before I started to hurt a boy that just wanted to be left alone because if it wasn't me, the bastard that he was matched with actually might kill him."
"Duo?" Relena asked shocked.
Zechs nodded. "Think of how many places they might have like that. I know that I should because of all the Duos that might be trapped in there, but I can't. Coming out now will not help anything, I want them out of OZ's hands and then I will think about saving the rest of the world."
Quatre punched the desk in frustration and leaned back in his chair, "Nothing. None of the databases that I have access to seem to be able to tell me if an OZ official has picked up three new traveling companions recently. I know that OZ's news sources are state run and heavily censored, bur this is outrageous."
Rashid shrugged and started rubbing his shoulders, trying to relax him. They had gotten back together when they all three of them realized that it was better for them to work together. OZ seemed to be ignoring them for the moment and Quatre was grateful for that. While he adored his family, it wasn't like they could help him with his research. He preferred that they never realize how ruthless that government was. "You know that outside OZ, no one knows about their dirty little secret. They managed to keep it that way, by a combination of censorship and not leaving any records that people can find. You know that until you saw what was going on at the Lovecraft base, you would have thought from the data searches that it was just a medical base that did some harmless research. That was what it was reported as when OZ finally reported our raid a week later, when they had time to clean up the site before letting loose their tame reporters to see the damage. Even with the resources that your family has, there is very little that we can do."
"Rashid," Quatre started. "I know that. I also know that my family's honor has been gravely insulted because of the raid that happened when we were gone. I told Duo and the rest of them that they were safe there and OZ turned my words into a lie. Knowing Heero, he thinks that I might have betrayed them because of the timing. It doesn't look good that I wasn't there, because I was delayed in getting back home."
Rashid shrugged, "Heero thinks very clearly. He knows that you weren't involved in his heart, even if his head told him to stay as far away from you as possible. Something happened and I don't know what. Abdul and I have questioned the ones that were there. While they think that we are all unclean, with the exception of Duo, they would not betray us to OZ. I am grateful that it was Trowa that was taken and not Heero."
"Why is that?" Quatre asked, leaning into the massage. Allah, it felt good. He had been hunched over this blasted computer for hours. It seemed that Duo had been changed the most of them and because he looked so young and scared, none of the staff could think ill of him. The irony of the situation was not lost on him. The cook cooed over Duo and filled him with sweets while making signs against the evil eye at the rest of them because they looked and acted different was sadly funny to him.
"Trowa would have gutted you," Rashid told him simply. "Heero's disappearance would have caused him to lash out at the one that he thought had hurt his lover. All the evidence pointed to you. He would not believe that OZ had just gotten lucky and that you were innocent."
Quatre nodded, Trowa was very black and white in his thinking. He would have killed him without a second thought, because Trowa would have thought that he had betrayed by him. What he was worried about was getting Trowa and the rest of them back unhurt. He frowned. Duo... little Duo wouldn't be unhurt from what he had been told. Duo being a pleasure pet made some of the reactions that he had been having around him make sense now. Duo was supposed to have people attracted to him, even if he hated it. From the abuse that he had suffered at that base, he doubted that Duo was able to react like a pleasure pet was supposed to. That led him to the question, what else was going to be done to him so that he didn't shy away from people? Or had those things been done to him because his new 'owner' wanted him to be brutalized? Wufei and Zechs mentioned that they all had been subjected to almost the same treatment, it was that Duo had been there longer and that the camp commander had taken a personal interest in him. So... what had she done to him before the others had arrived? All he knew was that Duo had had a lot of work done on him about the same time he was being abused by the camp commander and a few others. He should try and figure that out because his research here was at a dead end. If he had the answers to some of those questions, then he might be able to help Duo and the others when they were found again. He refused to believe that they were never coming back again.
Heero dialed Quatre's cell phone number, knowing that it was the right thing to do, even if it wasn't the smartest thing to do, because Quatre still might be a leak and he didn't know it. However, Quatre would never forgive him if he didn't let him help in the rescue of his friends, suspicions or not. It had been weeks since the others had been kidnapped and there had been no more trouble. His heart was telling him that he could trust his friend, even though his mind was telling him that it might not be the smartest thing in the world. He knew that there wasn't anyone else that he could bring in on this. Otto and Relena wouldn't be connected with them, he hoped. No one could know how he and Zechs had gotten this information, even if he managed to successful rescue his friends. Heero didn't want to jeopardize either Otto or Relena, which would happen if someone in OZ or their government found out about Relena's help
She had been able to get the information that had been looking quite easily. Too easily he thought, but it had worked and he should be happy. All it had taken, in her words, was Darlian's security clearance and a guard that was dumb enough to buy her lost and cute act, when she had been caught after she had gotten the information that she was looking for on Treize. The guard couldn't believe that someone that sounded so confused and helpless would be looking up security information. He had bought her cute and helpless act.
Relena had insisted on cooking dinner at Otto's for them that night, before they left. Heero had enjoyed it and Zechs and Otto had spent the time reminiscing about basic training and other things. They all had made an effort to keep the talk light and not worry about the future and what they had to do to rescue Trowa, Wufei and Duo.
"Quatre," Heero started, when he heard him on the other end of the phone. "I need you, Rashid and Abdul. We... we got the information that we need." Heero took a deep breath, he was finding it hard to speak calmly he was so impatient to rescue Trowa and the rest of them.
"Where?" Quatre asked. He knew, actually hoped, that this was a secure line, but he wasn't going to take any chances. Heero should keep this short so that it wouldn't be traced. Heero might not be thinking clearly about these things right now so he had to.
"Where this all began... near there. There is a small town... we can plan there. I... I need your brain on this," Heero told him softly. Quatre would be able to figure out the meeting place from his clues.
Quatre nodded in agreement, before he realized that Heero couldn't see him. "I understand and we will all be there. ETA thirty-six to forty-eight hours due to traveling time. I want to go slow. Racing about might attract attention that we don't need."
Heero sighed, "We'll meet you there, both of us are too impatient to be sensible."
"Heero... " Quatre started and then sighed. He wondered if he would ever be able to feel that way about someone. "Until then," he told him awkwardly, wanting to say more, but knowing that this was neither the time nor the place for it.
As he shut off the cell phone, he called out to Abdul and Rashid, "Time to move out, they made contact and it's time to take back our friends."
Heero phoned Jay as soon as he had gotten off the phone with Quatre. His mentor deserved to know that there was something planned and reassure the person that he was with that her grandson was going to be rescued.
"I got the information that you were looking for," Heero stated as soon as he heard Jay on the other end. "I'm working with a friend on the details and then we're all going in."
"After that?" Jay asked.
"I... I don't know. I think that it will be better if we drop out of sight for while. I need sometime with... "
"Don't worry about it," Jay told him gently. "You know the first place that I took you after your parents' death? I think that will be a good place for the two of you."
Heero was silent for a moment. "That would be nice. I have good memories there."
Jay's voice was soft when he answered, "I'm glad that you feel that way. I want the others to feel like that too. None of you have a lot of those."
"Um... is there any messages? Heero asked, hoping that Jay knew what he was talking about. Wufei deserved to hear something from his relatives, even if they couldn't talk to one another for a while. He knew that hearing a kind word from home would do him the world of good. From the few things that Zechs had mentioned to over the last few weeks about Wufei, he had been really close to his family.
"Just tell Wufei that Merian and his grandmother send their love. They are glad that he is still alive and hope that he will be able to contact them in the future. Wufei will think that you are fooling him, but tell him that policy never gets in the way of love."
Quatre arrived at the assigned meeting point, wondering whatever possessed Heero to want to stay here. The town was small and the one hotel that was in it was disgusting, the housekeeping apparently was practically nonexistent in it. But it was good enough for a couple of days and they dealt with cash instead of credit, so he was happy.
Quatre was quite sure that the old man behind the counter thought that they all were sleeping together. He sighed. As much as he wanted that, he doubted that it would happen. Heero was here for a quick planning session before rescuing Trowa and the rest of them. Quatre was relieved that Heero and Zechs had found something, because all his work had been a dead end.
Quatre walked into the room, noting that Zechs and Heero both looked fairly relaxed.
"We have his schedule for the next two weeks. If he doesn't change it, then he should be here with in the next twenty four hours. It isn't worth it for us trying to learn the codes and infiltrate as soldiers," Zechs started. "We're going in over the wall, just a basic snatch and grab mission."
"The only challenge that we will have from any of the other bioriods that might be there. The regular soldiers we can take out without hurting them too much. We aren't there for a fight, but simply a snatch and grab," Heero continued. "We know which quarters he will be taking. He has fallen into a pattern of where he stays on these trips. That will let us find him easier."
"OZ bases have the same basic pattern in the officers' quarters. I know it and I can lead the way in. Getting in will be the biggest problem," Zechs started. "Getting out of there shouldn't be a challenge, unless we trip the rest of the base to what we are doing. Even then it might not matter, I doubt that any of OZ's infantry want to get in the way of a bioriod. Most of them are there for the benefits that a short term enlistment will get them and have no intention of fighting. They will be fighting each other to get out of our way."
"I am not getting the Sweepers involved in this action," Heero told Quatre. "I don't trust them anymore. I think that if we give them this information that they will tell us that it isn't worth the effort. They will tell us not to do it and we'll never get them out of there. I'm going to contact Howard and the rest of them after the job is done."
Quatre was shocked that Heero felt that way and wondered what had happened to make him feel that way. He knew that the Sweepers, most of them at least, weren't that fond of them, but they wouldn't abandon someone to OZ, he hoped. From the emotions that both Zechs and Heero were broadcasting, something had happened when they had gone there for help. That was something that he was going to have to talk to them about after they rescued their friends.
"Then we are going to need to find new places to retreat to," Rashid said softly. "If you have broken with the Sweepers... "
"Trowa and I will be going someplace else, no matter what," Heero said. "Trowa... Trowa isn't going to be able to deal with their attitude right now. I will be taking him someplace that the two of us can be alone."
Zechs shrugged, "From what little I have seen of the Sweepers, bioriods aren't their favorite people, I even doubt that they think of us as people. I am going to throw myself upon your mercy and ask for hospitality."
Quatre laughed uneasily, "I don't think that I showed you the best of it last time. It is my fault that Wufei is where he is now." The Sweepers or part of them must have angered one of them to make them both feel so bitter about the organization. I have long known that we were not well liked by the rank and file, but to make Zechs and Heero think that they would turn their back on us, someone or ones must have finally insulted them beyond what they were willing to take. Surely none of them would have been so crude or heartless to say what most of them think... that we aren't worth the effort of rescue because we aren't human. No matter how much we have done for them, many of them never forget that we are different, even if we don't want to be.
Zech shook his head, his long mane flying around his head. "That was never your fault and do not ever think that it was. What happened has nothing to do with you. I do not blame you for what has happened."
Heero went over and embraced Quatre. "I thought that you were guilty in the beginning. But... when I was able to think about it I knew that you were not responsible for the others being found by OZ. You would not be so stupid as to be this clumsy about it. If you were a spy for OZ, you would be much more subtle about it."
Quatre involuntarily laughed. Heero was quite sincere in his assessment of the situation. He had known that Quatre was too intelligent to be that obvious. For a man that had planned some of the most ingenious infiltration plans would be that crude as to have OZ stage a raid on his own estate. "I... there was times that I doubted myself and my people. It took me a long time to believe that it was just random chance. That OZ had gotten lucky."
"Then you will let Wufei and myself stay with you?" Zechs asked.
"I think that there is a small cottage that will suit you," Abdul commented. "It will be someplace that the two of you will enjoy. Rashid and I will be at the house that it belongs to so that you won't be alone. It will give you and your lover a place that you can heal."
"What about Duo?" Heero asked.
"If he wants to he can stay with us," Zechs said quickly.
"I think that it will be better if he returned to my home," Quatre said quietly. "It will be good for him to be in the sun again. I want him to be happy again. I know from what I found out that he... Duo... Treize, unless he is a saint, which he is not, will have been brutal on Duo."
"How much have you found out?" Zechs asked quietly.
Quatre sighed, "Nothing more then I was enchanted by him in the beginning because I was supposed to be. That Duo had been modified to be sexually attracted to anyone that met him. That he loathed the thought of anyone being near him was because he had been abused more then he could stand."
"Is that all?" Zechs asked softly, with a dangerous edge to his tone.
Quatre realized that he was treading on dangerous grounds with the information that he had revealed so far. That Zechs knew what had been done to Duo and was worried that he knew it too. Quatre couldn't even imagine the changes that had been done to Duo to make Zechs so hostile. "I think that there is a lot more to him then meets the eye. I think that he needs someone that can help him. I don't know if that person is me, but I am willing to try."
"Wufei and I are safe for him, because we are immune it seems to his 'charms'," Zechs commented quietly.
"Wufei will need you more," Quatre told him quietly. "I doubt that he escaped from Treize unscathed, even if it was just having to watch Duo being abused by Treize. Give him the support that he is going to need from you. If I have any trouble with Duo I will send for you."
"I think that now that we settled that, then can we finish planning on freeing them," Rashid said gruffly. He hoped that the plans that had been made would come to pass. There had been too little happiness in all of their lives lately.
Duo shivered, suddenly cold in Khushrenada's new quarters, wondering how long he could hold on, if he would be able to wait until rescue. He doubted it. He couldn't stand himself now, never mind think that he deserved to be free anymore. Freedom was something that he didn't even dream of any more. He didn't even want Trowa or Wufei to touch him. Wufei was getting worse now that Khushrenada had decided that they were both going to be his whores. At least Khushrenada hadn't done anything more then threaten him with forcing Trowa, but Khushrenada might be smart enough to know that he wasn't going to be able to use him like he did Wufei and him. Not that Wufei had been in Khushrenada's bed lately, thankfully.
The one night that Wufei had spent with Khushrenada in return for leaving him alone, had been enough for him. It had allowed him to realize that there was something worse then Khushrenada fucking him. Khushrenada fucking his friends because he had lost it ands couldn't handle something as stupid as being touched. Duo didn't remember much of what that night, but he knew how sick he felt when he saw Wufei walk out of Khushrenada's room, smelling of sex. Wufei claimed that it didn't matter, but he knew better. Wufei still believed that it was special. He still believed that there was a happily ever after. Duo knew that his time with Khushrenada had cost him more then he was willing to admit. Wufei felt that he had been unfaithful to his lover, even if he had had no choice in the matter.
After Khushrenada had used with the two of them for a couple of days, he had left Wufei alone. Duo was grateful for that, even if it meant that he never had a break from the man. Khushrenada didn't want to leave him alone at all. He took him to all his meetings, making him kneel on the floor next to him while he conducted business with the officers at the various military bases that they were at. Nothing that couldn't be handled over through other channels, which made Duo believe that Khushrenada was running from something, even if he couldn't figure out what that was. At night he played with him for hours before he was done with him and would let him sleep. The morning started out almost the same way, Khushrenada using him before breakfast, then feeding him like he was his prized bitch as the day began, like he did at all his meals.
Duo couldn't get up the energy to be angry that Khushrenada feed him by hand all the time now. He couldn't remember the last time that he had been allowed to eat normally, like a human being. He ate because he wouldn't get food unless he let Khushrenada feed him and he needed to eat because of his stupid metabolism demanded a lot of fuel. He tried to once and it didn't work. He had started to eat the plants in the room because he needed something in his stomach. He let Khushrenada feed him by hand after that. He felt Trowa and Wufei's pity while they watched him humiliate himself like that. It was something that he hated and needed to survive. He didn't know if he wanted to survive anymore, but knew that he had to for the other two.
"Another military base my pet. Will you behave here and be allowed outside?" Treize drawled, tearing Duo out of his thoughts.
Duo sighed. He never was going to be good enough for Khushrenada and he had given up on ever earning the reward of being able to go outside and see the gardens closer. "I will try," he murmured submissively.
"You always say that and I always find fault with how you behave," Treize murmured. He started to pet Duo, unable to resist touching him. He was pleased that Duo no longer flinched when he was touched. He had thought that he had damaged his little pet when he had beaten him, finding out that he had enjoyed it more then he could believe. He enjoyed beating Duo as much as taking him. Duo had been unwilling after that, but showing his interest in Wufei had brought Duo around to his way of thinking. Duo was his pleasure pet and he would enjoy all his duties that entitled. Duo would please him in and out of bed, as well as keeping his rooms neat and clean.
Wufei had been interesting for the short time that he had had him. His hairless body had given him the illusion of youth that he enjoyed. Also it had been amusing to break down his haughtiness to reducing him to a moaning, needy mess in his bed, begging for his touch and the release that he could give him. He had bored of him after a few days and sent him from his bed. He was also not happy about the way that Wufei had tried to comfort Duo when he was with him, which had annoyed him more then possible. Thankfully, Duo knew his place and didn't let the others talk to him anymore. Duo should only care about his needs and his wants and nothing more.
Duo said nothing, because there was really nothing for him to say. He couldn't please Khushrenada by either agreeing with him or disagreeing with him, so he stayed silent. He knew that Khushrenada only wanted to hear him in bed. All other times, his captor preferred him silent.
"I see that you finally have learned the value of silence," Treize commented. "But I do want to hear some noise from you. Into the bedroom now."
Duo nodded and went to the bed. Khushrenada was becoming insatiable, needing to fuck him more and more. Khushrenada needed to make him beg, to play with him until he sobbed with need for relief, hating that he made him feel this way. He shut down his feelings and let Khushrenada play with him, knowing that that was all he was good for.
Trowa frowned as he caught the scent of sex in Khushrenada's apartment again and the sounds of Khushrenada forcing Duo. It was a familiar scent, the man had been using Duo more and more frequently it seemed. He looked at Wufei, seeing his anger mirrored in his eyes. Duo had retreated further from them, not wanting to have Khushrenada angry with them or him. Wufei's punishment had taught him a lesson, that passivity and indifference was not what Khushrenada wanted from him. Duo showed him the passion that Khushrenada needed from him along with the isolation from his friends that he demanded.
"Duo... " Wufei sighed, hearing his strangled cry of pleasure along with Khushrenada's loud grunts.
"He is doing this to protect us," Trowa reminded him softly. "Do not let him think that it is being wasted."
"I doubt that Khushrenada is interested in either one of us now. He is obsessed with Duo. He will not let him alone and does not care who knows it," Wufei snarled. " Seeing how he drags him everywhere with him and will not let him alone."
"I know that Noin does the same with her two bioroids," Trowa observed.
He thought that Alex and Mueller were crude and more beast then human. They fawned upon Noin and were insanely loyal to the woman, like the dogs that she called them. Noin and Une had been their traveling companions since the beginning of their captivity.
He hated all of them and longed for time to be alone in the forest. He wanted Heero. He wanted to make love with his mate and just be able to be with him. He was about to go insane and the only thing that kept him from tearing this place apart was Duo. He doubted that the boy could be able to escape and he wouldn't hurt him more by having him punished for his escape attempt. Wufei was not much better, his time in Khushrenada's bed weighing upon him more then he would admit. Trowa was quite sure that Zechs would not be angry with Wufei semi-willingly sharing Khushrenada's bed, since it had saved Duo. Wufei however didn't see things that simply from the way that he was acting.
"Noin, thankfully is not fucking those things," Wufei growled. "If she is, they want her to. Duo... Duo doesn't want that."
She might be, there was no accounting for her taste or sanity. All of the OZ officers that he had met were insane in his opinion. Une was creepily devoted to Khushrenada, Noin was indulgent of those things that she had had created for her. It seemed that the whole of OZ and their noble court, the Romafellers, were infatuated with bioriods that had been created in their labs. Wufei was certain that there were more people that had been captured by these people, enslaved and changed then he could imagine. The Sweepers were about the only people that knew there was a danger from the Romafeller's new obsession. He wondered even if anyone else cared, so long as they weren't subjected to it.
"I know," Trowa said gently. "But he still thinks it is better then having one of us in Khushrenada's bed."
Wufei shuddered. He remembered the look of horror in Duo's eyes when he was with Khushrenada. Duo had felt that he had done something wrong because he was having sex with Duo and Khushrenada. Wufei would have done anything to banish that look from his eyes. It had been a sacrifice that he had willingly made. He would deal with its consequences later.
Trowa heard the scream of pleasure Duo made, signaling that Khushrenada was through with him. He called down to the kitchen for an afternoon snack for Khushrenada, knowing that he would want something to eat after he cleaned up.
Treize wandered out of his bedroom, pleased that his guards had anticipated his needs and gotten him afternoon tea. He was very delighted with life right now, sated from Duo and glad that his bioriods were at last coming into line. Duo was the perfect pet for him now. He poured himself a cup of tea and got a cookie for Duo, who had followed him out of his bedroom. He hadn't allowed his pet to clean up afterwards and he looked deliciously tousled as he knelt bedside him. Treize fed him his cookie carefully as a reward for his performance earlier. Duo carefully chewed and swallowed his reward, not looking at anyone while he did so. All he wanted was to be left alone.
End Part 5
Christine
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