12-Jun-2000
Imagine an AU (are you shocked or what ;) where just about everyone lives at an orphanage. I was thinking of making it a crossover. Basic plot: Duo and Ashi (surprise. Hey, if you can think of a girl in GW who would make a great sister for him LET ME KNOW and stop complaining.) end up in an orphanage. They hate it and decide to leave. Some people have other ideas. It will have angst, escapes, chases, lemon, yaoi, yuri, some dark stuff, the meaning of trust and friendship, and the happy ending. About Ashi, I'm thinking of cutting her out of it and leaving Duo alone, but that would make things far more complicated. You'll see if you read the teaser.
I don't own anything. I am so poor it's sad.
Duo hated the orphanage. He and his sister had been sent here little more than a month ago when their parents were killed by a rampaging dragon. While this was the most state-of-the-art orphanage in the country, it was no different than any other if you looked closely. The adults couldn't keep track of everything and the older kids really ran the place.
From what he and Ashi had learned, the place had seven major gangs. One run by a guy named Heero, a second run by an older teen named Treize, a third run by another older teen called Sephiroth. The other four were minor gangs with few members, but were viscous enough to maintain their independence. The leaders were called Squall, Lina, Seifer, and Ranma. Neither he nor his sister had any interest in these people; it would have been perfect if the gangs thought that way.
Duo and Ashi were rather attractive teens. At barely seventeen, they possessed a bright spirit, long silken hair, and enough stubbornness to attract attention. Attention they didn't want. Their first day at the orphanage had been marked by more than three fights as members from each gang tried to claim one or both of the pair. Over the next weeks, the attempts at claiming them escalated as each gang came to see them as a way to show up the others.
So far, they were able to watch each other's back, but next month they were going to be separated. Not willing to risk losing, Duo set a plan in motion. Ashi uploaded a virus into the orphanage's security system. Tonight, for fifteen minutes, the system would run a loop. Video, alarms, everything would run on old information long enough for them get away. Duo had loaded a virus into the memory of the system and it would erase all the records on all the students. It would be weeks before anyone even realized they were gone. Plenty of time to find a place to hide until they turned eighteen.
The twins spent the rest of the day packing what little they owned and mapping out their escape route. There was a ghost town about two hundred miles away. It would be the perfect place to hide for the next few months. When the doors closed and were locked as part of the nightly lock-up, Duo quickly picked the lock and sat down to wait. The loop would begin at exactly midnight.
Time seemed to drag, but eventually Midnight came. The rest was simple. Duo led his sister through the hall and out the back door. After that, all they had to do was open back-wall gate and walk away. Unfortunately, no sooner did they leave the building than they found themselves surrounded by all seven gangs. Before they could react, knives were pressed to their throats. Strong hands held them still as the leaders approached. In five minutes, the alarms would be active again and any chance of escape would be lost. Lavender eyes met violet.
"Shit." The twins chorused.
Duo and Ashi couldn't move and had no choice but to remain still as the seven leaders approached. Sephiroth, who easily towered over the pair, took the lead; perhaps the others thought he would look more threatening.
"You two have done better than any of us expected, but it looks like you were going to leave us behind," the older teen's deep voice purred.
"You mean everything you guys did was...was," Duo sputtered angrily.
"All designed to push you into this." Treize broke in.
"We saw your files." Seifer smiled. "The Principle has been screwing Zell for years and routinely leaves important things out around him."
Violet and lavender eyes flicked shocked gazes to the diminutive, tattooed blond. He wouldn't meet their eyes and Seifer tensed. Whatever had happened, it wasn't Zell's idea. Nausea twisted their stomachs. They had to get out of this place!
"After reading about your family and skills," Ranma continued, "we knew you could do what we couldn't."
"Enough explanations," Ashi hissed. "What do you want? Do have any idea how little time we have left?"
"All the more reason for you two to cooperate." Sephiroth stated. "Tell us how to get out of here. What was your plan?"
"And what's our guarantee you won't leave us behind?" Duo asked, fighting to keep panic out of his mind.
"None." The tall silver haired man laughed. "But you might want to take the chance. Zell overheard one of the VPs talking about how pretty Duo is. The man was wondering if he was still a virgin."
"Two minutes," Ashi whispered desperately to her brother. If they didn't get out of here soon, they wouldn't be leaving at all. Come tomorrow, someone could find the changes and then everything'd go to hell.
Duo ignored Sephiroth's attempt to rattle him. His thoughts ran down several possibilities and the only one that resulted in their escaping this place was cooperation. Nodding, the longhaired teen, shrugged off his captors. The others let go of his sister as they saw the pair were going to do as told.
"Follow us and hurry." He said quickly. "We have less than ninety seconds." Then he took off running for the back gate.
With only a minute left before every system at the school came back on-line, Duo flung open the gate and motioned for the group to hurry through. There were so many of them, a fear of failure started to build in his heart. At thirty seconds, he began counting down out loud.
Finally the last member of the gangs ran through and the seven leaders followed, keeping Ashi in their midst. Just as Duo hit one, he got the gate closed and winced, expecting the alarm to sound any second. When nothing happened, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned around, only to find he'd relaxed way too soon.
Squall and Heero had Ashi on her knees and a knife cutting her throat just enough to bleed. The meaning was clear.
"What do you want now?" Duo growled. A burning sensation started to build in his stomach, but he pushed the feeling away. Now was not the time for that.
"Now you tell us the rest of your plan," the tall gang leader said, the smile never leaving his face.
Unable to see another way to help his sister, Duo told them.
"There's a small town about two hundred or so miles from here. It was recently abandoned due to goblin attacks. We were planning to stay there until we turned eighteen. Once we hit adulthood, no one gets to tell us what to do or where to go anymore."
The gang members looked at their captives with new respect. The pair were willing to risk goblins in order to remain free; while everyone knew goblins seldom stayed in one place for long, it was still a large chance to take. Each of the leaders went over all they had seen since these two had come to the school. Yes, something was different about them.
Sephiroth shook off the small shiver threatening to run down his spine. Courage and determination were great, especially if it let him protect his people. Beyond that, there was no reason to care about Duo and Ashi. Too bad he couldn't make himself believe that.
Shrugging off the uncomfortable feelings, Sephiroth motioned for one of his men, Reno, to tie Duo's hands behind his back. Ryoga, one of Ranma's gang, place a choker chain around the tied young man's neck and attached it a dog leash. During the whole humiliation, Duo kept his eyes locked on those of his sister. Twice she tired to help, but the men holding her were stronger and all she succeeded in doing was causing new cuts on her throat.
Once Duo was secured to Sephiroth's satisfaction, he made a second motion. This time two women stepped forward. One of his, Aeris, and one of Squall's, Rinoa. The leaders had discussed it and decided that having women tie Ashi would seem less threatening; they still needed the prisoners' cooperation and a misunderstand could ruin any chances of getting it without having to resort to less "civilized" methods.
Thus, none of them were expecting the reactions they got. Duo threw himself against the men holding him, cussing like a professional. Ashi shrank from the harmless looking women, an expression of pure terror crossing her features. She started struggling so hard, the men holding her had to remove the knife from her throat for fear she would accidentally cut it herself.
"We're not going to hurt you," Aeris said softly, trying to calm the frightened girl. The words had the complete opposite effect. Ashi's eyes went huge and with a terrified scream, she began thrashing in Heero and Squall's grasp. Finally, Lina Inverse, the only female gang leader, noticed her lips were moving.
The teen was whispering "Not again" over and over. Lina grabbed Ranma, told him what she knew, and he passed it on to the others. Surprisingly, it was Treize who took over.
"Ashi." The word, though spoken softly, was commanding and urgent. It brought the girl back from her private hell and focused her on the ginger haired leader. Without saying a word, he pointed to where Duo was struggling under a pile of fighters. When he knew she saw her brother's predicament he said, "You're going to get him hurt."
All the fight went out of Ashi. It happened so suddenly, Heero and Squall, who weren't ready for the absolute surrender, dropped her. The lavender eyed woman sat where she had fallen, head bowed with her hair shielding her expression, and slowly placed her arms behind her back, wrists crossed.
Rinoa and Aeris quickly tied the new captive, noting the tremors that shook her frame every time they touched her. A single crystalline drop fell off the prisoner's chin, but only Sephiroth saw it. Duo stopped struggling when the women stepped away from his sister having done nothing more than apply the rope, chain, and leash; the look in his violet eyes was murderous.
Sephiroth saw the look and decided later he and the others were going to have a long talk with the twins. A very long talk. Then he was personally going to go out and kill someone. Looking at the bruises the escapees had been given in the short fight, he corrected himself. Several someones. It would have taken more than one person to bring these two down.
Motioning for Duo to lead, he said softly, "Let's get the hell out of here."
So they marched into the night. Seven gangs and two captives, all heading for an uncertain future, hiding dark pasts, and hoping for freedom.
So what do you think?
Oh my. Past colliding with the present heading for the future. What will happen now? Your guide would like to point out that Lina Inverse is a charater from a show called Slayers. This is not your guide. I just love Lina and have been dying to write her into a fic.
Phoenix
Please send comments to: lina.inverse@verizon.net