"Wish I could prove I love you... But does that mean I have to walk on water? When we are older you'll understand... It's enough when I say so, And maybe some things are that simple..."
- "Simple And Clean" Utada Hikaru
Bound Part 13
Sweet Surrender
Mary couldn't move. She couldn't come down. Couldn't breathe. The only sounds in the barn were the soft, harsh breathing of Duo and Heero. Treize's face was craned up towards her, stern and soft somehow at the same time. There was no trace of a smile on his face or in his eyes.
For a moment, she could see the face of a man who had ordered the deaths of hundreds of rebels, and a chill went down her spine like a trickle of icewater.
"Come down here. Now." There was no room for protest in that voice. It was a voice used to command, a voice used to having those commands obeyed without hesitation. Moving slowly, heart pounding in her chest, Mary climbed back down the ladder. She was so scared she could feel her insides shaking.
She stood at the foot of the ladder.
"Come here."
Shaking, Mary moved forward, unable to meet the eyes of Treize. She stared into the straw at her feet, not daring to lift her head.
"How long have you had them hidden up there?" Treize said softly.
Mary swallowed, hard. "Just a night. And yesterday."
"You've had them up here all yesterday and last night and you told no one?"
Mary nodded.
Without answering, Treize went past her and climbed the ladder. Mary stood at the bottom, face flushed with shame, near tears.
There were some soft sounds from the hayloft. Sounds of struggle. Then silence again.
When Treize slowly came back down from the hayloft, he had Heero Yuy thrown over his shoulder, blood soaking the cuff of his dress shirt, staining his collar. His eyes were cool and unreadable. When he got to the bottom, he adjusted Heero, cradling the Wing pilot in his arms as carefully as if Heero were one of his own children. Mary didn't know what to say.
Treize did. "I wish you had told me, young Miss Thompson."
" I thought you'd kill them if you knew."
Treize's eyes narrowed, and he glared down at her. The angry gaze of the Invincible General was enough to quell the courage of the bravest man, and Mary bowed her head, tears streaking down her cheeks. His voice was softer when he spoke again.
"These rebels are not yours to protect."
"Your men hurt them!" Mary cried suddenly, meeting his eyes defiantly, small hands clenched into fists. "You don't care about them at all!"
"It is not your place to judge who is the antagonist in this war, Miss Thompson. You should not get involved in battles you do not understand." Treize looked down at her carefully, Heero Yuy's head tucked against the hollow of his shoulder, one hand beneath the boy's knees, the other arm curled around his back.
"Treize."
Treize turned towards the entrance to the barn. Zechs stood framed in light, a dark silhouette. His tank top stuck to him with sweat, and his hair was pulled back. A dark smear graced his forehead. He looked from Treize to Heero Yuy, to the girl, and then back again.
"Zechs. Duo Maxwell is in the hayloft and cannot walk of his own accord. Kindly bring him down. Don't allow him to struggle, he hasn't the strength for it." Treize turned his back on the girl and began to walk out of the barn with Heero in his arms.
Mary shouted at his back, furious tears glittering in her eyes. "What kind of leader are you to let your men hurt them!?"
Treize stopped a moment, as if absorbing her words, then simply walked out, disappearing into the brightness of the daylight.
Mary stood in front of the ladder, hands out at either side. "I won't let you touch him! I'll fight you before you'll touch him again! I mean it!"
Zechs took his pistol out of the holster, aiming it down at the girl. His voice was gentle. "Move."
She swallowed, never tearing her eyes away from his. "I won't. You'll have to kill me first."
Zechs scowled, speaking softly. "You don't know what you're saying, girl. You have no idea what you're getting into. This isn't a game. Now move."
"No."
"Tobias, come in here."
Tobias came into the barn, looking from Zechs down to Mary, who regarded him with disbelief as he walked up to her. She could tell just by the way he stood. She could tell by his eyes under the wisps of golden blond hair across his forehead.
She turned on him, tears drying on her cheeks, hands clenched at her sides.
"You told..." she whispered. He looked at her, expression torn, and he didn't answer her.
Tobias closed his eyes. "I had to."
There was a loud crack like the sound of a whip as she slapped him. He barely registered the sound of it over the sensation, which left his nose bleeding. He stared at her, gray eyes wide. He brought the back of his hand up beneath his nose and looked at the red stain there as if he had never seen blood before.
"I'm sorry, Mare."
Zechs looked down at him. "Hold her back."
Without warning, Tobias grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her away from the ladder. She screamed, clawing at him, crying and struggling at the same time. Tobias pinned her arms to her sides, his mouth close to the shell of her ear.
"I'm sorry, Mare, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I had to. I had to..."
"Why?" she whispered, sobs wracking her small frame. She still struggled, but it was half-hearted now. Zechs was already coming back down the ladder with Duo Maxwell carefully thrown over his shoulder, the Deathscythe pilot's arms dangling over Zechs's back, hands clenched in the fabric of the lieutenant's tank top.
"Because I have faith in him too," Tobias whispered back, arms tight around Mary as steel bands.
"Faith in who?"
"Treize."
~*~
When Heero came back into consciousness, he realized he was being carried. But he could tell even without opening his eyes that the person carrying him was not Duo. There was a different weight about his carrier, a different sense of strength, a fragrance...
Roses?
He opened his eyes slowly, and looked up to see sky blue eyes staring back down into his.
"Treize..." he whispered, his voice a hoarse croak.
"Do not try to talk, Heero Yuy," Treize said softly. The sunlight after being held in the darkness of the barn for three days was blinding, and instinctively, Heero buried his face against Treize's shirt, smelling his own blood and the soft scent of the laundry soap and roses, of course.
Always roses.
"Duo..." He swallowed, trying to speak again.
"Your partner is fine. Zechs is getting him."
"Hurt him... don't..."
"On my word," Treize said softly.
~*~
Duo awoke to find himself being picked up by none other than Zechs Marquis. He struggled weakly, half-asleep, caught in a nightmare of the prison guards back at Redstone. "Don't touch me... don't touch me... dammit..."
Zechs caught his wrists easily.
"Don't fight, Maxwell. We already have Yuy. We're not here to hurt you."
Duo opened his eyes, saw who was holding him, and let out a laugh that was as bitter as gall, but he couldn't find the strength to struggle any further. He sank against the wall, closing his eyes as Zechs' arms circled around him, lifting him from under the arms.
"Sure, Marquis. Whatever you say..." he whispered, lips moving against the bare skin of Zechs neck. The Lightning Count shuddered at the sensation, but did not answer him.
~*~
When Jeremiah Cale opened the door to his porch, the last thing he expected to see was the general and first lieutenant of OZ, each carrying one of the filthiest, gore-caked teenagers he had ever seen cradled in their arms. All he could do for a moment was hold the door open in awe as the two soldiers brought the boys in.
Trailing them were Tobias and Mary. Blood still trickled slowly from Tobias's nose, and Mary's face was flushed from crying. Both children were solemn.
"Your Excellency?" Dr. Cale asked, questioningly.
"I am very sorry to bother you, Dr. Cale, because I realize that you are no physician," Treize said quietly. "but this boy is hurt badly, and if you would look at him for me, see if his life can be saved, then I would be greatly in your debt. Also, if you would take a look at the other. I believe he's ill as well."
The gruff vet looked from one OZ soldier to the other, then to the children, then back again. "Well... I'm not a doctor, but... I'll see what I can do. Tobias, come hold the door open. Mary, get a truck tarp out of the garage. The clean one."
Dr. Cale cleared everything off his kitchen table and gathered his instruments. As soon as Mary brought the tarp back, he spread it across the table. Treize gently laid Heero Yuy over it. He put a stethoscope to Heero's chest, then removed the gauze from his arm and the splint from the other, probing at the infected wound. Heero twitched when the vet probed too deeply, but was otherwise silent.
"Tobias. Get me some of the Demerol out of my cabinet. The yellow bottle."
"Yessir."
The boy was gone, then quickly back when a bottle and a syringe. The vet filled it, then slipped the needle into the crook of Heero's arm. The Wing pilot startled a little when he felt the needle go in, eyes fluttering to show a line of blue, then he fell still again.
"Are these the pilots?"
"Yes."
Dr. Cale took in a deep breath, then let it out in a awe-struck sigh. "Damn." And then he went about his work. He worked quietly, humming a little under his breath, cleaning out the wounds, dressing them, and stitching them up, leaving a small tube in the gunshot wound to let it drain. He put Heero's fractured arm in a soft cast and a sling before helping Treize to move Heero aside, working on Duo, who needed a little less attention. He taped Duo's broken nose, then tended the Deathscythe pilot's scrapes and bruises.
It seemed they had been waiting for hours, Zechs leaning against the wall, arms folded, Tobias at his father's side, handing him tools and gauze and suture. Treize watched on carefully, and Mary stood in the corner, cheeks still wet with tears.
Finally, the vet leaned away and popped his back, washing his hands in the sink.
"So?" Treize asked.
"Well... we'll know better if 01 lives through the night. You can check with me tomorrow, we'll know if he'll live then. I'll keep him here for now, get some antibotics in him, try to keep his fever down." The doctor looked back up at Treize, gaze pleading. "He's delicate right now. He needs to recover. I would advise against taking him back to prison until then."
Treize looked at the doctor, then at Zechs. The two soldiers seemed to have a moment of silent communication, then Treize glanced back at the doctor, nodding. "That's fine."
Mary couldn't take it anymore. The pilots were captured again. All of it had been for nothing. She turned away sobbing, running out the door. The screen hit the doorframe loudly as she escaped into the day.
Tobias made as if to follow her, but Zechs put a hand firmly on the boy's shoulder.
"Let her go. You did the right thing."
Tobias followed her with his eyes.
// Mary... I'm sorry. //
TBC...
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