18 Apr 2001
Pairings: Treize, Zechs and Wufei puddle!
Warnings: lemon, lemon and lemon -- and angst, o' course. ^__^ Not owned by us. ^_^ And violence. Sorry, folks! ^__^;;;;;
As it turned out it was nearly half an hour before the blond arrived, dropping into the seat that Relena had occupied and leaning forward towards Treize. "From the look on your beautiful face, dear one, I'd say that your meeting with Relena was not entirely pleasant." He reached out and ran the back of a long finger down the other man's cheek and added, "And that doesn't surprise me in the least."
"She insistently wants me to go back with her," he murmured.
"Does she?" Zechs replied. "Well, I'll just have to tell her that you can't. I won't let you." He smoothed back a few stray strands of hair from Treize's eyes and smiled at him.
Treize had a returning smile. "She seems convinced I'm not right in the head to want to stay with you."
"Haven't I been trying to tell you that as well?" Zechs said in a voice like velvet, his smile teasing and just a hint seductive.
"Hnh. Well, I'm sure I'm sane," he smiled slowly. "would you like some coffee? I've had enough to ballast a boat."
"No, thank you. I thought you might like to stretch your legs with a walk along the Vienne. There are some delightful bridges I'm told..."
Treize was already standing by the time Zechs had finished talking. "Could we?"
Zechs blinked up at him, startled by his eagerness. "Ye~s, by all means. Let's be off." He left a large bill on the table and motioned for Treize to lead the way out. They walked for two blocks and then came on a quaint stone bridge that was, given it was early autumn, blessedly free of summer tourists. Stepping onto it, Zechs took Treize's hand and lead him to the middle where they looked over and watched the Vienne flow by. "You're upset about something, Treize," Zechs murmured, watching the water, "and I'm going to bet that it's something my sister said to you. Can you tell me?"
He was silent for a moment, bfore answering, "She spent the entire time trying to shed doubt on everything I know about you," Treize murmured. "That you can care like I know you can."
Zechs sighed softly, resting his elbow on the wide stone ledge and dropping his chin to his hand. For several moments there was silence between then, azure eyes scanning the river below, and then Zechs spoke. "Well, damn. I thought it was going to be something I could refute. But I assume she told you just what I've told you before - that I'm not at all the sort of person to fall in love with anybody..."
"That you're just using me, that you're a heartless selfish bastard," Treize finished for him. "I don't believe any of it."
The blond head was lowered, a curtain of pale gold hair covering Zechs's face."I'd like to think that my pets get pleasure from what I do to them, and that I'm not cruel. But I *am* selfish, and I don't seem to have the capacity to love anyone. You can ask Wufei about that. He'll tell you..."
"That he's never had a better master, and that he loves you unconditionally," Treize murmured. "*You* may not think how you act is loving, but the sheer amount of concern you show to us is a type of love all by itself."
Zechs didn't move or speak, but on the ledge his hands clenched together, trembling.
"Why do I feel so frigthened when you say things like that?" he finally asked in a voice that was altogether different from the one he used every day. "Frigthened... and so very disappointed in myself."
"Why dissapointed?" Treize asked softly, placing his hands on his master; one around his back, grasping his arm, the other the opposite hand.
"I don't know... It just seems like a failure, somehow. My father-" He broke off for a moment, not wanting to go into it, wanting to drop it all and continue their walk, but he knew that Treize wouldn't let him. It wasn't even really a Master-Pet issue anymore. It was just a question of being honest.
"My father didn't believe that men should form attachments. The bond between them could be sexual and it could be one of power, but anything *more* than that was unnecessary or could even be harmful."
Absently, he stroked Treize's hand with his thumb, and then added, "He always told me, 'Pets may fall in love with you, but the moment you fall in love with a pet, you've lost everything.'"
The arms around Zechs tigthened gently. "What could you lose, Zechs?"
"My authority," came the quiet reply. "You can't be a good Master to someone you love."
"That's bullshit," Treize murmured softly, Hugging his owner close. "You *have* to feel something for your slaves, and the more you feel, the better you can connect to them."
"That's a different relationship!" Zechs said suddenly, turning to face Treize. "If you *feel* something special for a pet then you give him power over you - over your happiness, over your authority, even over the way you spend your time." He stared into the other man's eyes, searching them, and said in a softer voice, "Love makes people equal in every way... there's no place for someone like me in that..."
Hands still lingering on Zechs' arms, Treize murmured softly, "Zechs... Master... There is a place in you for that, and you know it."
"You're not listening to me," the blond man whispered. "You just keep saying that of course that kind of thing will work, of course I have those feelings, of course I have a place, but you're ignoring everything I'm saying about why it can't happen."
Treize closed his eyes for a moment, looking down, hands clutching tigther at Zechs for a moment. "I know I am -- I just don't see.... how it could change anything, really."
Zechs's arms went around Treize and he held him close for several moments, not saying a thing. He stroked his fingers through the golden-brown hair and pressed a kiss to Treize temple before speaking.
"We shouldn't be wasting our time together on this, Treize. Before we know it we'll be back in England again and it will be business as usual." He held Treize a little away from him and smiled softly. "My sister is wonderful at causing strife - even when she's not anywhere nearby. I suggest you just ignore everything she says, of course, because that's what I finally decided to do and my life became much more pleasant at that point. But right now... I want to kiss you on a bridge over a French river - and I won't take no for an answer..."
So saying, he leaned in gently and gave Treize a long, tender kiss.
For a flickering moment, Treize wondered why Zechs had even thought he'd say 'no', but that moment passed as the thought was swept away in the haze of heated press of lips to lips. Didn't Zechs know this was nearly business as usual... no, it wasn't. Back in England, the blonde man could deny and deny all he wanted, feel safer while Treize could only face the painful fact that Zechs couldn't -- or didn't want to -- love him.
But for the moment, he simply clung tightly, not caring how many of those who walked by looked.
"Bloody hell!"
A deep baritone voice drifted out of the bathroom of the hotel suite, where Zechs was trying to finish dressing. The merger talks themselves were over and to celebrate, the French company's CEO had invited Zechs and his "assistant" to Limoge's Bal de l'Automne, the city's official start to the fall season. It was a distinct honor, as invitations were said to be very hard to come by and attendance was mandatory if all the talks they had had with the company were to come to something. Zechs had even been told that the CEO would probably give him the final answer from the company and its current stockholders that evening.
"I've always assummed," the grouchy voice continued, "that men's formal wear was actually designed as an intelligence test and I just happen to be very, very dense."
"Is it the cuff-links, Master, or the dicky that isn't agreeing with you?" Treize called out as he was finishing with his own french-cuffs. A black tux with a rather untraditional mid-night blue silk shirt beneath -- very eye-catching and very Paris-acceptable.
"It's this bloody tie," Zechs complained, walking out of the bathroom. "I'll get my fingers stuck in it next." He stood in the middle of the room and tried his best to look pitiful. "Help?"
"Zechs, it's just a simple... ascot." Treize tilted his head a little quizzically as he neared the younger man. "Were you chewing on it, Master?" Fingers reached out automatically for it, to un-do the knot and dress his owner. "You look perfect."
Zechs's arms were around his waist before he finished with the knot. "So do you," he purred, nuzzling Treize's ear. "And I wasn't chewing on it," he added softly, "but I wouldn't mind chewing on you..."
A small shiver of pleasure attacked Treize, and he smiled, pressing himself closer to Zechs. "Do we have time...?"
With a couple of gentle bites to Treize's neck, Zechs murmured, "No, but I wish we did..." Then he lifted his head, pressed his lips to Treize's, a took a sweet, slow kiss.
"Mmmm," Treize moaned against his owner's lips, arms sliding around Zechs to shift just a little closer. When it was just him and the master it was always so pleasant...
"I promise you, delicious pet," Zechs husked, "that when this is all over we will come back here and I will push you down onto that bed over there and have my way with you for several *days.*"
"Sounds luxurious," Treize uttered in a low voice, nuzzling Zechs' neck for a moment before he pulled back. "Do you want me to wear my collar?"
"Tonight - no. When I'm ravishing you at least 18 hours per day... maybe..." Zechs smiled softly at the older man and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. "Shall we go down?"
"Lead on," he murmured, keeping an arm around Zechs' waist. "A pity, about the collar -- I'd rather gotten to like wearing it."
"Ah, well - there's a danger in wearing it in public, you know, and it's not the one you're thinking of." They had left the room and were walking towards the elevators. "If there are other men there who are owners or want to be, they might take the collar as a sign that I could be persuaded to sell you." The elevator car came and they stepped inside. "And," Zechs continued, "given that there is nothing in hell that anyone could give me that would make me consider parting with you, I'd rather avoid the entire business." He smiled over at Treize. "Did that make *any* sense at all?"
The ginger-haired man gave a nod. "People would think that because I'm a slave, I'm fair game, in general."
"Yes," Zechs sighed, "much better put. And the only one allowed to bag *this* game is *me*," he added sliding his arms around Treize and taking a last kiss before they reached the lobby.
A kiss that only ended when the lobby doors opened, revealing that passion to all of those who waited for an elevator. Treize drew back a little sheepishly, but not by very much.
Zechs was the picture of confidence as the two of them stepped out of the car and through the small crowd in front of the elevator. He met every eye that seemed to question or challenge them with a steady, level gaze that seemed to melt all opposition to him. Keeping a firm hold on Treize's hand, he threaded them through the crowded lobby to the doors of the ballroom where they festivities were being held.
"So, what are we to do here? Simply mingle...?" Treize asked with a smile, holding onto his owner's hand as they entered the crowd and were assualted by the music, the smells -- perfumes and sweets -- and the people within -- so many!
"Mostly," Zechs answered, "that and just be seen, although I'll have to talk with one or two of the company executives. Their CFO asked for a few details that Wufei faxed to me this morning and I have to pay a duty call on the president. Other than that, we can enjoy ourselves."
"Wonderful," Treize smiled, not moving from Zechs' side. "Am I allowed to remain attached to your hip?"
Zechs looked down at him in surprise. "I suppose, although much of the conversation promises to be financial in nature and that might bore you to tears. I know it does me at times, even when it's my finances in question."
"You forget, Zechs, that I used to be a lawyer," Treize uttered, one eye-brow cocked in amusement. "I could feign interest at a phone book reading."
Zechs gave a laugh and then noticed the financial executive over by the bar. The man was waving his glass at them. "How extraordinary," Zechs said dryly as they headed in that direction. "There's the phonebook himself..."
"Hello, Monsiuer Marquise," the man smiled, "I'm glad you and your assitant could come!"
"Thank you, Monsieur Vallon." Zechs said with a gracious nod of his head. "We're very honored to be here. I understand that this event is very important to the Limoges season."
"Very important indeed- it's a very traditional harvest affair," Vallon began, before Treize broke in politely.
"Would either of you like a drink?"
"Oh - yes, thank you, Treize, very kind of you. I'll try the house white. Monsieur Vallon? Do you need a refill?"
"I could use one, yes," the man smiled, handing his glass to Treize. "House white, Sir."
"One moment," Treize uttered, before dissapaearing towards the table.
"Why, BROTHER!"
Zechs turned, a frown already on his face, to see his sister coming towards him out of the crowd of richly-clad guests. "Relena, what a surprise seeing you here," Zechs said, keeping careful control over his voice. "Monsieur Vallon, may I introduce Miss Relena Peacecraft, my sister. Relena, this is Monsieur Vallon, the Chief Financial Officer of Massif Central Electronics."
"A pleasure to meet you, sir," she smiled, bowing fractionally to the tense-looking man. "Would it be impossible for me to steal my brother away from you for a moment, sir...? It's urgent, I assure you."
"Oh, of course!" he replied. "Yes, I'll come back and look for you in a few minutes, Monsuier Marquise."
Zechs watched the man wander off into the crowd and then turned, very slowly, and gave his sister his iciest expression. "This had better be damned important, Relena."
"You've subverted Treize," she hissed darkly.
He almost laughed. "'Subverted'? You mean I've drawn him off to an enemy camp? Well, I suppose you can always look at it that way, especially if the enemy camp involved *you.*"
"*You've* ruined him, Zechs," Relena hissed softly. "He thinks you love him -- that's the only reason he's staying, because he thinks you *love* him."
"Ruined him for what?" Zechs asked coldly. "And I've been completely honest with Treize about how I feel and what he can expect from me. So I'm sorry, sister dear, but your accusations are meaningless."
"You lead him on," Relena said, "because he *thinks* that you can care for him for reasons other than that he's probably a wonderful fuck -- how did you do it, brother? Wait until he'd been broken so badly by other masters, then took him in, sheltered and pampered him? Made him feel wanted, needed and useful again, flattered him until he felt human again?"
"You stupid girl," Zechs said, the first hint of edge in voice. "Why do you insist on arguing on something you know *nothing* about? And tell me, Relena, how I could have 'waited' for him to be broken? The first time I saw him was when the last bastard threw him on the block." He looked at her, the digust obvious on his face. She was just the same as she'd always been - small and grasping and wanting to get into everyone else's business, even though it didn't concern her one whit. "You *are* right about something, though. I *did* do all those things. I did shelter him and made him feel useful. And he *is* human again. If you're his *friend*, dear sister, why would that make you so angry?"
"Your *reasons* for doing it," she growled. "You've completely wiped out all vestiges of the very proud, *happy* man I once knew."
A slow smile crept over Zechs's face and he shook his head slightly. "Relena the expert in all she surveys," he said dryly. "What makes you think he was so happy when he was your *colleague*? Did he pour out his heart to you frequently about the state of his psyche? Did he confide in you about his innermost feelings on a daily basis?" He crossed his arms casually, and took an intimidating step closer. "Somehow I think not. What I think is more *likely* is that you worked with him and that, because of that somewhat superficial acquaintance, you now believe that you had some sort of amazing insight into what the man thought and felt." He gave her a look of contempt. "Did you even *bother* to ask *him* what he felt?"
Relena didn't back down. "Catherine was far closer to him than I was --but do *you* bother doing anymore than petting him until he's relaxed so you can fuck him, *brother*?" Her tone was sharp, accusatory. "Everything you do concerning him, Zechs, is so that you can keep him for a fuck-toy."
You didn't asnswer my question, Relena," the blond man said in a silky voice. "Did you ask Treize how he felt?"
"How *could* he have been unhappy? He had everything that he'd worked his whole life to acheive!"
Another step closer. "Are you being deliberately dense, Relena? Did you or did you not ask him how he felt *now.* With *me.* The horrid beast who is mistreating him and who has stripped him not only of his clothing but of all his happiness as well. Did you ask him *that*, Relena?"
"I asked -- he *swears* he's happy -- then again, so were the slaves that our father used to play with." Her lips were a thin, firmed line. "This experience has reduced and impaired his judgement."
"As I remember," Zechs said, tone becoming even more sultry, "you never actually *met* any of father's pets." He began walking forward a bit, forcing her to step backwards to avoid contact with him. "You were always in the west wing of the house... getting fucked by me." He smiled faintly and added, "And loving every minute of it if I recall..."
"But you were lying to me," she pointed out, "And I won't let you break Treize's *mind* when he finally realises that he's holding onto something that isn't there. His own make-believe version of you that can love back."
"Bodies don't lie, Relena. I never told you I was in love with you, or whatever else you thought you heard." She was pressed against a wall now and couldn't retreat any further. Zechs reached out and took a lock of her hair between his fingers, toying with it. "The only thing I ever did was fuck you until you screamed for more... you begged for it, sister dear, admit it. And the point is, you were happy with it. Father's pets were very happy - he was good to them, as I am to mine. Especially Treize, who knows perfectly well what I can give him."
Not the facade Relena held began to crack, just around the edges. "Brother... it isn't fair to let him *think* that you love him," she uttered, less firmly, but convinced, still. "You don't know what you do to people."
"People... like you?" the blond asked innocently, reaching up slightly to graze her nipple with his fingernail. "Because if you mean Treize, I'll say it one more time - he *knows*, Relena. He and I have talked about it, many times in fact. So why do you insist on begrudging him his happiness?"
"Because he was trying to tell me that you *did* love people," she murmured, gaze hard and flat on the ouside, but flourishing with lust underneath. "and that..." she trailed off, seeing Treize appraoch though the crowd, and gave a ragged, overeaggerated moan.
Zechs laughed. "What an atrocious actress, you are! Really, Relena, you'll have to do better than that to convince -" He turned around and followed the direction her gaze had taken, " - to convince *Treize* that I've abandoned my interest in him and have decided to take up with *you.*"
Treize had stopped walking, however, and was looking at Zechs quizzically, and Relena smirked, giving another moan.
That was when the first 'crack' filled the air.
Zechs felt a stinging in his right shoulder, far worse than anything he'd ever felt before. /Shot? I think I've been shot - but... oh, *damn* there's some idiot in here with a gun! Where's Treize??/ He turned around to look behind him. Treize had been walking towards them just a moment ago, so Zechs assumed he'd be nearby and easily brought to safety. /Wait!! If *I'm* the target he should get away from me -/
Security was already entering through the far end of the hall, but now the assailent made himself known in the scattering crowd, for he was the source they ran from. Cocking the gun, pulling the trigger again...
Nearby Zechs, a shattering sound rang out, the dropping of crystal wineglasses before Zechs was shoved to the ground, the sound of the bullet audiable he'd been so near it. Relena could only press herself to the wall, watching as the surreal scene played out, Treize's body, upright where Zechs' had been, jerked backwards for a second before the ginger-haired man crumpled forward.
"Treize!!!" Zechs screamed, realizing a split-second too late who had pushed him to the ground. He got up on his hands and knees, crawling towards the fallen man through the glass shard and wine drops that had moments before been the glasses Treize had been carrying. "Treize!!! Treize, are you -" He turned the older man over gently and saw him bleeding badly from his chest. "Someone get an ambulance, *NOW*!!"
"Get help!" Relena echoed, calling it out in english and french. It would come, surely...
The gunman swore softly, cocking the gun again. There was an obscuring hood over the assailant's face, but the voice that spoke was feminine "You will *die*, Marquise, for the dishonours you've commited upon my broth--"
She didn't get any farther, as she slumped to the ground with a soft 'thump', tendrils of familiar looking black hair visable as the hood fell.
Heero stood where she had been standing, having cracked the girl on the back of the head with the butt of his gun.
Zechs hadn't had time to think, but apparently his body had acted anyway. When the girl fell, he found himself half-turned away from her, shielding Treize should anymore bullets fly. "Is there a doctor anywhere?" he called out in French, staring at the young woman on the floor. The silky, blue-black hair, beautiful Asian features, full lips... /Was she talking about Wufei? He never mentioned.../
His arms were wrapped around Treize and he could feel the blood flowing out of the wound. "Treize? Treize? Please talk to me. Open your eyes, Treize... look at me, love, *please*, look at me..."
Sapphire eyes cracked open for a moment, then fluttered shut, as Treize let out a softly voiced moan of pain.
"Sir -- sir?! You need to let go of him," came a woman's voice, forced calm, from beside him. Her English was heavily accented, but knowledgable. "I'm a Nurse -- help me keep his legs elevated above his head until the paramedics arrive."
Zechs looked up at her, face a mask of anguish and indecision. He wanted to do everything he could to help Treize, and yet he was terrified of letting go of him. What if the worst happened? What if someone took him away? He hesitated just a moment and then laid Treize's head carefully on the ground, then took off his jacket and covered the bleeding man with it. Sitting as close to him as possible, he put the other man's feet on his knees, as the nurse directed, and grasped his hand. "Please, Treize... hold on until we get some help here. They'll be here very soon, so you just hold on. You'll be fine, Treize... you'll be fine..." Zechs's voice cracked a bit on the last word and he leaned forward to stroke a bit of blood off of the man's cheek.
At that moment, nothing existed for Zechs but that soft skin. Not his own shoulder, blazing pain and dripping blood, nor the press of the crowd and their alarmed whisperings, not even Heero, kneeling by the unconscious girl, not five feet from where he sat, and going through her pockets for identification. It all seemed completely unreal, like the scenery for a play that he was acting in, and Treize... Treize would open his eyes and laugh and pretend to gripe at all the fake blood on him... Treize...
It stayed surreal, with the nurse keeping as much of an eye on Zechs' wound as she was on Treize's. The paramedics arrived in short order, two pulling a stretcher to put Treize on, one more trying to tug Zechs to his feet.
"We have two abulances, Sir -- you're hurt worse than you think."
Zechs looked up at the man speaking to him. He felt light-headed, but besides that, as far as he could tell, he was perfectly fine. "I'm *not* leaving him!" he told the man, sternly. "I'm going in the ambulance with him. Now let's get him in it and get to the hospital! I'm sure you can tell he's lost a lot of blood..."
"*Youve* have lost a lot of blood," the man asured, kneeling to pull Zechs up standing. "Just come with me, you'll lay down and soon be at the hospital... You're both going to the same one."
"No!!" Zechs shouted, watching them put Treize on the stretcher and wondering why on earth the man was being so stupid. "I don't want to *leave* him!! If we're going to the same hospital let's just get into the ambulance and *GO*, damn it!"
"because you'll die of blood-loss, sir," the paramedic murmured, watching his two companions rush Treize out of the ballroom, to the waiting ambulance outside. He tugged gently, one arm around Zechs' waist, being very paitient.
"Go on, sir," Heero spoke, still kneeling beside the woman.
"Treize!!" Zechs cried, feeling more and more helpless, more and more bleak. "God damn you to hell, you fucking bastard!" he swore at the paramedic, trying to get out of the man's grip but finding himself too weak, watching as the stretcher with Treize on it disappeared around the door of the ballroom. "If he dies in that ambulance I will come for you personally and wring the life out of your pathetic *neck* for taking him away from me! Now get your hands off of me and get out to that ambulance and *drive*!!" He finally managed enough strength to pull his arm free, then stalked off in the direction of the door, trailing blood drops as he did.
There was uncooperative, and then there was what Zechs was -- an idiot in the face of death. But the paramedic followed closely behind him, outside of the room and out to the ambulance, opening the doors. "Get in, and lay down, sir..." he spoke over the wail of the siren of the one already leaving.
For the first time Zechs did what the man told him to do. He figured it was probably the only way to ensure that they left immediately. "I'm *in*, I'm *in* - just *drive*..." he muttered from his place in the odd stretcher bed. Then he closed his eyes and, for the first time in life, Zechs prayed.
/Please, God... please... don't let him die... If you want, take *me* and throw me into the deepest pit in hell and feed me to whatever demons you want. I'll go gladly, but *please* don't take Treize... He's such a good person, and he's come so far from that horrible place he was in when I bought him. He needs to be here... he could do so much with his intelligence and his passion... oh please, *please* let him live...
A thought came to him then. A thought that twenty minutes ago would have terrified him and that now he recognized to be the deepest truth in his life. /Please, God... he can't die... I have something important to tell him... something he has to hear.../
The driver started to drive as soon as the doors had closed, and the paramedic himself was carefully securing Zechs to the stretcher. "Are you breathing allright, sir? How much pain are you in?"
"None at all - I told you that back at the hotel. There's no reason why I had to come in here and lie down. I should be with him. I'm *fine.*"
"You've been shot, sir," the paramedic informed him.
"It's only a flesh wound," Zechs snapped, "nothing that couldn't have waited."
"It's more serious than you think," he murmured, moving to start an IV.
Zechs scowled and went back to his thoughts.
/He pushed me out of the way... he took that second bullet for me. Why would he do that unless... oh, Treize - *please* hold on for me. There's so much to say.../
In the other ambulance, the paramedic helping Treize had just finished his radio call to the hospital emergency room. He looked down at the pale man on the stretcher, then put on his stethoscope and listened to the man's heart beat. Looking up at his partner, who was changing the gauze pads under their patient as they filled with blood, he grimaced. "We've got to stop that bleeding or we're going to lose him. You take that side at the axillary point, I'll take this."
The paramedic put two fingers of one hand over a spot near Treize's groin and the other hand's fingers near the junction of his left underarm and shoulder. Pressing down as hard as he could, he tried to stop the man from fading into unconsciousness again. "Sir? Sir, can you hear me? I need you to talk to me, sir. Come on, keep those eyes open if you can and talk to me, sir. What's your name?"
Sapphire eyes seemed to be in a constant state of flickering, open, closed, fighting to stay open. "Treize," he spoke in a quiet, shaking voice, over-flowing with pain. "Treize Khushrenada..."
"My name is Gerrard, Monsieur Khushrenada. You are being taken to the hospital. I need you to stay awake for me, all right? Can you tell me what you remember of the shooting?"
"Someone shot Master," he uttered, straining through his tired, muddled mind. "I pushed him out of the way, fell.... he safe?"
"Who is he talking about?" the other paramedic asked Gerrard.
Gerrard shrugged and looked back down at the wounded man. "There was another man injured, Monsieur Khushrenada. Is that who you're speaking of? Tall, with blond hair? He is in the ambulance behind us." The man looked at the blood pressure monitor with concern and noted with no little relief that they were approaching the hospital.
"Alive?" he asked, not worrying at all for himself -- just his master, worried about the man he'd come to think of as friend and lover... "Will I see him...?" The words were starting to slur, and he had to fight more to keep his eyes open. "'s my master... can't leave his side."
Gerrard gave a doubtful look to his partner. "Might as well humor him," he mouthed, then looked down at Treize again. "Your employer, Monsieur Khushrenada? Well, maybe he'll give you some combat pay for this assignment." He smiled and patted his patient somewhat awkwardly on the arm.
They swung into the hospital turnaround for the Emergency Room and Gerrard gave his shoulder a quick squeeze. "Good work, Monsieur - we're here. They'll make you all better..." Soothing words, meant to hearten the sick... and sometimes, the dying.
His partner was already opening the door. "Come on -- let's get him in there, fast. Sir, do you know your blood-type?" Just to save time, which was already too short, from having to type him before they gave him the blood his looked like he badly needed. His face looked too pale, that hazy clammyness that signalled too much blood-lost to be recovered on your own.
"O neg..." he murmured, trailing off the rest of it into inchoherence.
Three medical personnel, one ER physician and two trauma nurses, ran out to meet the ambulance. "He needs O negative," Gerrard called, and one of the nurses ran back to the hospital. Treize was bundled onto the hospital's stretcher. As the physician and nurse began to wheel him away, Gerrard leaned down, close to his ear and squeezed his shoulder again. "You fight hard, Mr. Khushrenada. Make your employer proud of you."
Watching the wounded man disappear through the sliding doors of the emergency room, Gerrard wasn't sure why he'd said what he said, only that the man's employer seemed to mean a lot to him and sometimes being reminded of that could make all the difference to someone in a fight for their lives.
The ambulance with Zechs in it pulled up less than two minutes later and Zechs was fighting his restraints to get out. "Take this *off* of me! I need to get in there to see Treize!!"
"I'm sure he's in the ER by now, sir -- they wouldn't let you see him anyway," the paramedic assured gently,, as the abulance was opened up again, to be met by a nurse and a physician. "He's lost blood, but the wound seems superficial," the paramedic rattled off to the nurse and the doctor as the struggling man was lowered to the ground in the wheeled stretcher
The man's words were infuriating to Zechs. "Yes," he said through gritted teeth, "a superficial wound. I believe I said something to that effect when we were leaving the hotel. So why am I strapped down to a stretcher and not allowed to see my partner if this is only superficial??"
"because the sooner we can treat it sir, the better the chance of warding off infection," the doctor explained, as the stretcher was wheeled into the ER.
"Why don't you just keep talking," the paramedic suggested, pushing the stretcher forward. "The man who took the worse hit is your business partner?"
"Don't patronize me," Zechs snapped. "And no, he's not my business partner, he's my *lover* and I need to know how he's *doing.*" The word came out so easily and after it had he didn't feel mortified, or anxious, or anything but certain that he had to apologize to Treize - the man had been right after all... "Please," he said, forcing calm and fighting back tears, "can someone find out how he is?"
"We'll tell you as soon as possible, sir," the physician assured.
The emergency room team began the painful process of removing the bullet from Zechs's shoulder, but the silent tears that rolled down his cheeks weren't for the physical pain. That was muted, far away, as if it were happening through layers of gauze. The real agony was not knowing if Treize was all right.
A soft voice came from his left, along with a hand stroking his head. "Are you in a lot of pain, Monsieur Marquise? We can give you more painkiller if you need it."
Zechs shook his head in frustration, beginning to feel drowsy from the narcotics they'd given him. He managed to turn his head and stare hard into the woman's eyes. "I don't know how to get through to you, or anyone else here, how important it is to me to know that my partner is all right. Please, please, please - can you check on him and tell me if -" He broke off and the tears became constant, but he continued to stare at the woman, trying to get her to move with the sheer force of his will.
It worked.
"I'll go see right now, Monsieur. I'll be back in a moment."
End of Chapter 29
(:./kumiko/velvet29)
