Passion Play Part 3

Heero peeked in the suite cautiously, hoping a certain long-haired baka wasn't hiding in the closet preparing to glomp him again. Seeing no tell-tale braid or fold of black cloth, he gave a small sigh and sauntered in the door.

An unconscious maid was laying on the floor, a nasty bruise on the side of her face. The room was a wreck.

A sinking feeling settled in Heero's gut. Biting down panic, he systematically searched the suite for his lover.

"Duo...Duo!"

He cursed; not a trace. He dug through the maid's uniform and came up with a hotel card. No help there. Wait... There was something on the floor near the woman. Picking it up, Heero saw that it was a sheet of metal. Unintelligent characters were carved on the back. The front had the large initials J.M. His jaw firmed. He should've known that scoundrel was behind it all!

The maid stirred. Heero shook her hard, demanding answers which she was too frightened to give.

"I--I don't know!"

Heero gave her a cold look.

Tears were streaming down the distressed maid's plump cheeks. "I really don't know where he is sir!"

He forced himself to breathe slowly. This woman certainly hadn't the brains to pull anything off other than pushing around food carts. "Alright, tell me exactly what happened."

She told him.

He nodded and shoved her out of the room. The cart too.

For the next fifteen minutes, Heero studied his strange finding, especially the markings. They were clear, obviously machine made. But what did they mean?

He remembered for the first time one of the documents on codes he'd read. There had been a section on written coding and a short sentence remaking that the bottoms of English letters were especially hard to decipher.[1]

His heart began pounding a little faster. Could that be it? Could that be what these strange little markings mean?

Without further ado, he set off trying to fit the tops of letters to the scribbling on the sheet. Half hour later, he'd figured out the message.

"WAREHOUSE," it read simply.

But there were so many warehouses in the area, which one did this point to?

The doorbell rang. Heero was wary when he opened the door. A tall man stood grinning and handed him a package.

"This was left at the front desk for you Mr. Yuy, sir."

Heero studied the nearly flat bundle. It seemed alright, but then again, they always did. He kicked closed the door and unwrapped it. It was a stack of paper.

He saw that they too had funny markings on them. Unlike the sheet metal, these had only one or two characters on each piece.

At first, Heero tried to do what he'd done to decipher the other message, but soon realized that wouldn't work. And Duo MUST be found and fast.

At the thought of his missing koi, his heart sank to his toes. But he forced himself to think. When Heero flopped onto the couch, half of the papers fell to the floor. He sighed. As he picked them up, he noticed something. One piece had somehow fallen on top the other.

They fit!

Where one line ended the one below it picked up.[1]

Heero immediately took a closer look. The picture these two pieces formed looked like some sort of a chimney--the paper was too thick to tell exactly. What's more, it had a wooden plaque pinned on it, though the inscription was too blurry to read.

Going by the chanced clue, Heero picked up the phone and rang the front desk.

"Tracing paper. Penthouse, 1st suite. Now."

"Yes sir, at once."

The items came three minutes later, and Heero traced each of the markings onto the tracing paper.

The image this gave was of an ordinary-looking home, complete with a picket fence, though there was an arrow pointing to the shed.

Heero blinked. The two messages had nothing to do with each other! A warehouse and a-- Wait. What if...what if... He once again dialed front desk.

"I want you to search for the Wares."

"One moment please." There was the sound of typing. "Got it sir. 4379 Lake Ave. You'll recognize the Ware house by the plaque on their chimney."

~*~

Duo was dreaming.

He was floating in an empty void where nothing existed. There was no time, no pain, no tears.

//I wish I could stay here forever...//

"Duo, koi."

//Hee-chan.// He tried to open his eyes and look at Heero, but his body was much too content to do anything just yet.

Heero's hands were on his body, caressing. Only they felt...wrong somehow. Too large, too cold.

"Heero."

"No, Duo, it's me--the one that loves you."

He forced his eyes open, and froze. Joseph stood over him, expression tender. Was he the one that was behind this?

"Where am I?" Duo asked weakly. His head throbbed and his entire body was numb, but he still tried to take in his surroundings. It was beautiful and elegant, though somehow still carried the essence of the devil. Foreboding and imposing.

McKinley smiled. "You're at my base." He sat down next to the American on the king-sized bed and brushed aside the long bangs. "This is for your own good, Duo. You have to realize he's not the one for you...I am. That much was proved every time we made love."

//"He's not the one for you". That sounds like something Relena would say...// "We never made love," Duo ground out bitterly. "You always used me, though I didn't know until Heero came along and showed me what it's really like to 'make love'."

A ringed hand came hard down on his face, and he spat out blood. "C'mon, my ex-girlfriend's hit me harder than that."

"You won't be so cocky once I get through with you."

"Bring it on." Duo was practically digging his own grave, but he knew Heero would be able to find him. He never failed him, and Duo was certain he wouldn't start now.

Joseph's hands tightened into fists, as if he was trying to avoid hitting the loud-mouthed American. "You'll regret that." And with those three words, he stalked out of the room, slamming the oak door behind him.

Duo's breathing had just begun to slow down when it opened again.

"My pet," Joseph leered and disappeared once more, this time locking the door from the outside loud enough to be heard by his captive.

Pet. A human pet, someTHING to be used anytime the Master wanted. Duo felt sick. And tired, hungry, his brain fuzzy--he must've been drugged. He closed his eyes and fell into troubled slumber.

TBC...

I have a feeling the next chapter's gonna be fairly long, so I'm stopping here to prevent it from going overboard.

[1] *bouncebounce* Anyone recognize where that's from?

 

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