22-September-2001
Title: An Honorable Enemy Part 2/8
Author: Enigma
Written: August - September, 2001
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: {wait and see}
Category: Angst, Mild Shonen Ai, Friendship, Morality, Squick, OOC
Enigma Story Category: G-Boys High Adventure!
Archive: GW Addiction, Sweet&Sweet
Warnings: Angst, very mild shonen ai, friendship, morality, squick, sermonizing on the treatment of prisoners of war, language, plot-related OOC, etc.
Reference Point: In case you don't recognize the OZ pilot, he appears in Episode 13 teamed with Lt. Alex and while he appears to be a real bastard there, I envision him differently here. The action in this fic fits into the series timeline between Episodes 10 and 12.
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the GW Universe. I'm not making any money off this story. It's written out of love, so please don't sue me.
Notes: When captured and badly beaten by OZ, Wufei's existence hangs in the balance. What could possibly motivate an enemy pilot to risk his own life to save him?
//thoughts//
Light from the hallway poured into the cell, illuminating the small youth within and bringing an ache to the older teen's heart.
//How can he plan to torture someone as young and defenseless as you are, kid? Just look at you, you're a mess.//
Mueller stepped in and crouched beside the bloodied face of someone that he wouldn't have hesitated to kill in battle before that moment but now that he'd seen him, he doubted he'd ever be able to do that in the future. Carefully, he reached out a hand and probed lightly at Wufei's face, seeking the source of the blood that was drying slowly, matting the black hair into a reddish tangle. He found a two-inch long gash running along Wufei's hairline and down towards his left ear, unawares that the injury had occurred when one of the arresting soldiers pistol-whipped the Chinese boy.
Glancing around the room in the hope of finding something to use as a bandage, Mueller got his first look at the barbaric conditions that surrounded him and he growled angrily, "What kind of hell hole is this?! Not even a fucking toilet in here, no wonder the floor is so disgusting! His Excellency has *got* to get these assholes straightened out! This is ridiculous!" In point of fact, the room had been excused away by the architect of the base as an ultra-secure room that offered no means of escape, but over time it had simply become a dumping spot for the worst offenders. [1]
The sound of Mueller's voice somehow penetrated the darkness that Wufei's consciousness had been floating in and with an agonized groan, he began to rouse.
"Where am I?" Coffee-dark eyes struggled to open and Wufei had to force back another wave of nausea as he rolled his head ever so slightly towards the man beside him.
Mueller turned his full attention to the boy he was ready to give up his career for and answered, "You've been captured, kid. Take it easy, though, you're hurt pretty bad, don't try to move too much."
Fear automatically claimed Wufei's befuddled mind and he asked, "Who are you?"
Looking more closely, Mueller spotted the tell-tale sign of concussion in the unmatched dilation of Wufei's pupils as he stared at him. Anger with his fellow OZ soldiers filled him and almost erased the question he needed to answer. "Huh? Who am I? You can call me Mueller. I'm nobody important, really. Think you can sit up, kid? I need to see how bad off you are."
Quiet confusion filled Wufei's mind, displacing his fear as he tried to do as he was told, easing upwards to his elbows, only to find that his stomach rebelled as his sense of balance reeled from the motion.
Gagging noises warned Mueller and he stood quickly and did his best to help Wufei through a bout of vomiting by keeping a steadying hand on his back and moving the injured youth so that he'd get as little of his own stomach contents on himself as possible. As the retching came to an end, the Aries pilot pulled out a handkerchief and used it to wipe at the other boy's mouth, a look of worry on his face.
"Man, you're really trashed! Oh geez, what're we gonna do?" Mueller ran a hand through his dark brown hair, ignoring the slight scratchy feeling of the shaved sides of his head, a style he wore mainly as a complaint against the homogenized hairstyles almost all the other OZ soldiers wore. "How am I going to get you outta here like this?"
Onyx eyes closed in an effort to keep the room from spinning as Wufei tried to make sense of things, then he moaned softly and asked, "get me out? why? i thought you said i'm a prisoner."
"You are," Mueller said with faint traces of his earlier anger in his voice, "but you're not staying. The people here are insane and I'm going to get you away from here before they get their hands on you, kid. It's my fault you were caught and I won't have what they want to do to you on my conscience."
"Wufei," The injured boy said, forcing his eyes open but focusing exclusively on the other man's face keeping better control on himself through sheer force of will. "My name is 'Wufei', Mueller. And you are the most confusing man I've ever met."
Mueller blinked in surprise and then laughed a little, the comment having been so unexpected that it struck him as humorous, "Oh really? Sorry about that, but I'll have to explain later, Wufei. We need to get you the hell away from here while we've got the chance. Can you stand up?"
Wufei tried to move his legs to the side of the bed, but the sudden flare of pain from his left ankle very nearly made him scream in pain. To his credit, he only grimaced and clenched his eyes shut tightly against another wave of nausea as the agony rolled through him.
Mueller caught the look and glanced down at the boy's feet. He immediately took note of the swelling above one foot and he wondered if there was other damage hiding beneath the loose white pants or even the dark blue tank-top Wufei was wearing beyond the numerous abrasions and the discolorations that would later become bruises.
With great care, he bent over the boy and placed gentle hands on either side of Wufei's face, holding it steady in the hopes of helping the injured boy focus on his words as he asked, "Where are you hurt, Wufei? I saw the cut on your head and it looks like you've got a concussion plus a banged up ankle. Is that it or is there more?"
Grateful for the warmth that distracted him from the pain, Wufei forced his eyes open and he stared directly into Mueller's chocolate-brown eyes and he asked, as sarcastically as his pain would allow, "Isn't that enough?" Sighing, he added, "I hurt all over, Mueller. Whoever caught me must have beaten me pretty badly, there might be broken ribs as much as my chest hurts. I can't stand, much less walk. I don't know how on Earth you think you're going to get me out of here, I'm no help at all." Defeated in body and spirit, Wufei let his eyes slide closed and he missed the look of resolution on Mueller's face.
"No worries," Mueller said with a smirk. "This way you can't get too pissed at me if I just carry you out of here, now can you?" Without waiting for an answer, he scooped the smaller boy into his arms and strode towards the doorway.
"Are you mad?!" Wufei hissed at him, anger and embarrassment forcing the vertigo away as he insisted quietly, "You're going to get us both killed doing this, you idiot! If I'm better off dead then use your revolver and go ahead and shoot me! Tell them I was trying to escape or something, but don't go getting yourself killed this way!"
Mueller laughed quietly and stepped out of the cell and into the hallway, saying, "No can do, Wufei. My mom always told me to clean up after myself and since I got you into this mess I'm getting you out! Now, lay still and look unconscious, I've got a plan."
The dark-skinned youth walked straight towards a storage closet he'd passed when he had entered the prison block and fished out a blanket that he quickly wrapped around the injured boy, keeping a tight grip on Wufei even as he wound it comfortingly around his body. Surprised that he'd not gotten any more argument from the smaller boy, he glanced at Wufei's face and realized that he really had passed out again, all of the handling of his badly damaged body having been too much for him.
"Just as well," Mueller sighed and rearranged the blanket to cover the fallen pilot's face loosely, planning to say he was removing a dead prisoner if he got stopped even if he himself thought that was an incredibly lame excuse in the first place.
The Aries pilot code-named the "Blue Angel" then proceeded to walk towards the exit with a look of confidence that defied the nervous racing of his heart. After slipping past the office that Tuberov had entered to take his phone call, the brown-eyed soldier glanced out the door and spotted a nearby light duty repair truck that he was certain would make an excellent getaway vehicle for the two of them.
Moving as quickly as he dared, Mueller strode from the building and yanked a door of the truck open, depositing Wufei in the passenger's side before sprinting to slide into the driver's seat. The keys were in the ignition and with a smirk of triumph he completed his act of treason by pulling away from the building and off the base as quickly as he could without attracting unwanted attention.
Ignoring the fact that there would most likely be roadblocks set up to recapture the escaped prisoner as soon as Tuberov realized what had happened, Mueller sped as far from Shanghai as he could get, driving deep into the Asian countryside.
End Part 2
Author's Notes:
1. The cell design is based on the one that poor Duo was thrown into on Barge in Episode 19, the key difference being that Duo's cell didn't even have a bench and he ended up in the middle of the floor.
Enigma
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