Reclamation Part 5
Once again storm clouds loomed in high banks to the east. Like everything else on the remote colony the Weather Control Systems were always out of sync. It wasn't unusual for the climate to go from chilly to hot and back again in a matter of hours. Rain showers sprang up without warning, lasted long enough to make everyone miserable then dissipated before dropping sufficient moisture to improve the water tables.
Wufei sat under a tree at the warehouse's corner watching the storm gather strength. A thin wisp of smoke curled from his cigarette. He was trying to stop smoking for his brother's sake and cutting back was a good start but quitting had been an uphill battle.
"You can beat the hell out of anyone you choose to oppose," he growled at the nasty habit, "yet you let a cigarette get the better of you."
Voices carried on the swelling wind. Heero and the "wild stray" as Wufei had nicknamed Duo were returning from the bath area.
Wufei had to admit with Duo's hygienic appearance he didn't seem as primitive, in fact he could just about pass for normal. However in Duo's case "normal" could be a relative term based on whether or not he felt cornered.
It was good to see Heero engaged in personal interaction and simple conversation; to have him so much at ease as he and Duo hurried ahead of the storm.
On the one hand Wufei was pleased that his brother had found a friend and he knew a confidant would do him a world of good but an outsider wasn't exactly what he'd had in mind.
The Chinese Cluster leader was not about to let his guard down. His doubts concerning Duo becoming a permanent resident had not been allayed. Also he knew the young man was still unstable and that fact made for unpredictable circumstances that were ripe for Heero to get hurt.
Wufei ebony eyes narrowed then he straightened sharply as the pair walked by. "What in the hell?" he muttered under his breath at the sight of the braid trailing along Duo's spine.
Since it was reasonable to believe Duo hadn't braided his hair, the irrefutable evidence left only one person responsible. "What was Heero thinking?"
Memories of Heero's inconsolable grief after their mother's death came flooding back. His younger brother had been torn apart by the loss. He'd blamed himself for not being able to save her. He'd cried, become despondent, even talked about dying so he could join her.
It had taken months before Wufei was comfortable leaving Heero alone and many more before Heero had settled into his present state of shaky acceptance.
"No! This has to stop now!" Wufei hissed, "I will not allow Heero to risk his sanity over his desire to rescue this stray. He can not transfer his loneliness, his separation anxiety to this stranger. Heero and I are going to have a serious talk." he promised as he stomped out the cigarette.
*********
Stomach full, Duo had burrowed under his thin blankets for an afternoon nap. Although food improved his delicate condition and bathing relieved some stress, the busy morning had used up the last of his reserves.
When Quatre inquired about Duo's state of health, Heero declared he had fallen asleep before his head hit the pillow.
"I hope Duo doesn't have that awful dream again" Quatre wished.
Heero nodded in agreement. He had settled his back against the wall and was now studying how the lamplight washed over Duo's alabaster skin. He contemplated every inch of perfection, high cheekbones and long eyelashes, how reddish highlights sparkled in the wisps of hair feathering about his face.
Bowed into a fetal curl Duo seemed helpless and Heero suddenly felt the overwhelming need to protect this young man who in his own way was just as insecure.
Wise for his years, Quatre caught the subtle smile quivering on Heero's lips. He covertly observed the contentment playing across Heero's normally hardened cobalt sight that seemed to be yielding in its stoic attitude.
Like Wufei, Quatre was also concerned that Heero might be tempted to lay bare his emotions and he knew all too well that if his heart was ever broken again it could never be repaired.
Quatre was about to suggest that he and Heero leave and shut the door so as not to disturb Duo's peaceful slumber when swift strides carried Wufei into the room. He took a long moment to do some studying of his own. Piercing black eyes stared at the sleeping newcomer. Agitated puffs punched through his chest as he struggled to keep calm.
Wufei knew his brother and his stubborn mind-set. If Heero believed he was right and someone challenged those beliefs, he would dig in his heels and no force on earth would move him.
Words would have to be chosen carefully and point-of-view stated in a non-challenging manner or Wufei would achieve the opposite of his intensions and quite probably drive his brother straight into the stray's arms.
"We need to talk." Wufei announced then requested that he and Heero move into the adjoining room.
"I'll stay with Duo." Quatre stated, aware of the stormy cast in Wufei's eyes.
"No you might be needed."
*********
The kitchen door closed. Wufei sat down at a small table. Quatre took a seat on the opposite side.
Heero remained standing. He sensed the tension leaching from his older brother and reckoned from the inflection in Wufei's voice that before the conversation was over tempers were going to flare.
"Now what?" Heero snorted.
Wufei cut his eyes at Quatre then drew in a steadying breath. "We need to talk about the boy." he stated, seeing no need to mince words.
Heero titled his head to look down on the seated pair. "The boy's name is Duo."
First Wufei's tone, now his body language conveyed a certain displeasure and Heero didn't like the implications. "What about Duo?" he asked determined not to make the exchange easy for his clearly disgruntled brother.
Again Wufei decided the direct approach was the best route. "I don't think you should become too involved with Duo." he replied frankly, "In a few days he'll probably leave. People like him don't stay in one place too long." he added hoping Heero would follow his line of thought.
"People like him," Heero repeated, "and what sort of person is that?"
Wanting to avoid a confrontational situation Wufei leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. "You know Duo is a wanderer." He softened his tone. "Hell, he broke in here and would have snuck out with what he could steal if you hadn't caught him."
"We steal all the time." Heero reminded his elder sibling, "At least Duo doesn't stalk around trying to kill someone in their sleep."
Wufei choice to ignore the well aimed bard, "That's not the point. I don't want to see you put an emotional investment in Duo only to have him betray your trust. No, it's better to let him go before you get hurt."
"Are YOU going to make him leave?" Heero hissed putting his brother on notice that they shared the Cluster's leadership and that decisions were not his alone to make.
Wufei sighed and settled back in his seat. Mounting anxiety was the last thing he wanted. He didn't want to argue with Heero but he also couldn't keep silent when he feared for his brother's well being.
Heero's attachment to the newly arrived man had come on so quickly. It had been less than twenty-four hours since the Cluster rebels had stormed in on Heero, his arm marred with bloody teeth marks, standing over a wet, shaggy figure huddled against the wall.
It has been only a short time span since the stray had gone from gatecrasher to invited guest. And Quatre wasn't helping matters, as his mothering instincts were on high alert.
"No one is going to force Duo to leave." Wufei assured. Watching his brother pace in an impatient manner he added. "I believe he'll go on his own."
Heero pulled up in mid-pace, pivoted abruptly and centered an acidic glare squarely on his interfering brother.
"Damn you, I swear if you say anything," Heero's voiced raised in pitch. Finally losing his composure, he shook an anger-clenched fist at Wufei, "if you make any move towards Duo I won't be responsible for the consequences."
Now Quatre understood why Wufei had asked him to stay. Once more his role as peacemaker was being called into service. "Please both of you calm down." He urged the warring brothers not to let their tempers get the best of them.
"You stay out of this." Heero warned, refusing to lessen his incensed sight, "We have reached the end of this discussion." he firmly declared leaving no room for misinterpretation as thunder rumbled overhead.
"But Heero."
Heero stepped forward to emphasize the declared conclusion, "But nothing. Both of you may have good intensions but I keep my own council." he stated turning towards the door.
Wufei was immediately on his feet. His point was too important to be ignored. In three long strides he caught up with his exiting brother. "Heero wait." he urged as he reached out to grab Heero's arm.
The movement was picked in Heero's side vision. With cat-like reflexes the Japanese man shifted his weight and twirled about. A downward chop across Wufei's wrist redirected his hand.
Kinship or not Chang Wufei DID NOT take that kind of shit from anyone. When it came to physical altercations he never backed down. With expert proficiency he slid into a back stance preparing for a counterstrike.
Heero also never retreated from a fight. Leveling both fists he dared Wufei to make the first move. The equally obstinate siblings stood their ground; muscles flexed and glaring eyes never wavering from their opponent.
Quatre kept at measured margin outside the fuming combatants' range. He had no desire to incur either man's wrath but he could not in all good conscience allow the brothers to come to blows.
"Please." he begged afraid that Heero and Wufei would do something they'd regret later. "There is no need for fighting. Words can be just as effective as fists."
Heero shook his head, "If my bitchy brother will stop pulling rank on me there'll be no need for fighting."
"If that is the case may I suggest both of you act like you have some common sense." Quatre said hoping that cooler heads would prevail.
"I'm going to turn around and leave." Heero announced as he lowered his fists, "You should consider Quatre's suggestion" he informed his hotheaded brother. "There will be no more talking about Duo leaving. Is that clear?"
With an exasperated puff Wufei relaxed but maintained his readiness should Heero decide to throw a punch just for the hell of it. "All right," he conceded only for the moment. "but the subject is not closed."
*********
Storm-induced darkness swallowed up the afternoon sun casting eerie shadows over the room. Thunderous vibrations trembled through the wall prodding Duo from his sleep. The window's grimy panes flickered as lightening zigzag across the sky.
The momentary brightness stabbed behind his closed eyelids erupting into mass of white light. Catching breaths pounded in his lungs. Muscles flinched drawing his arms and legs closer to his body.
Again the lightning flashed seconds before a boom of thunder rattled the tin roof. With the deafening report every muscle recoiled like a taut spring. The solid convulsive jerk sent arms flinging out fighting against the sensorial assault.
"NO!" Duo screamed but his alarmed pleas were drowned out by another vicious boom.
Cold sweat beaded on his skin. Terror-widened eyes darted, searching the unnatural gloom for his unseen attacker. But all he could see was a flood of white capturing him in a glaring spotlight. All he could hear were voices screaming in panic, begging to be spared then falling silent in a hail of gunfire.
Again the malevolent sky spewed forth its fury. In the brief instant as the energy blaze illuminated the room, a trembling boy saw his father's bloody body, his chalky face and vacant eyes devoid of any life.
In the temporary clash of sight and sound he heard his mother's voice screaming. "RUN!"
His body quaked as he felt her final touch before she pushed him into the river. Struggling to breathe he remembered the heaviness of her bullet-ridden body as it tumbled from the bank pinning him beneath her death weight.
A queasy wave rolled through his stomach. Terror stricken, Duo clawed to get up on his hands and knees as he fought to keep the icy fingers of faintness at bay. Tangled in the blankets the imaginary white current turned red and the scarlet tide blinded him with bloody water.
Gaunt fingers snagged his thrashing body. Then abruptly he was free. The phantom liquid parted and he gulped in a deep desperate intake of air.
Faltering under the mauling memories that always triggered his recurring nightmares, his strength gave out and he pitched forward.
Entwined in the binding blankets, swamped by the waking confusion, Duo quivered. Chilled by cold sweat and pure fright that threatened to stop his heartbeat, he struggled to think.
"Heero." his mind whispered in its utter helplessness. "Find Heero." it ordered as it nudged his stunned senses back from the horrid night demon's grasp.
Dry heaves churned in his gut. Sucking in several hard breaths Duo managed to ward off the urge to regurgitate his last meager meal. With considerable effort he stood on quivering legs then braced a hand on the wall to steady his compromised balance.
Duo had to find his savior. Heero was the only one who could rescue him from the never ending dream state that trapped him in its repetitive purgatory.
Wind-whipped rain beat against the windowpanes rapping with ghostly persistence. Intermittent flickers of heavenly fire danced to the thunder's macabre music.
Guided by instinctual perception Duo inched towards the door. His sixth-sense showed him the way, moving his feet without his aide or the knowledge of where he was going.
"Heero." he whispered grabbing onto the doorframe to fend off a strong dose of vertigo.
Trembling fingers closes around the doorknob. A soft click was barely heard above the raging storm as the latch came undone and the door opened. Cautiously Duo peered around the edge.
Blinking his eyes he squinted to readjust his vision. Three figures slowly materialized from the bright backwash. The kind blond stood by a table. The next form he recognized as the taller man with the black ponytail who had kept up a distant watchfulness since his arrival.
Then Duo's eyes focused on the nearest person. His bottom lip quivered. There was no doubt that the broad shoulders, the muscular physique and the chocolate crop of tousled hair belonged to the object of his quest.
Relief flooded through his waning fortitude. "Heero." he sighed, realizing that his salvation was just a few short steps away.
But something halted his advancement. There was an odd sense of conflict surging throughout the room and the raging storm was not responsible.
Heero and the older man were displaying defensive postures and it was obvious that the blond man was upset. Duo leaned closer. He had to know what was happening, why these two men were at odds with one another.
It was at that very moment the storm became peculiarly quiet. The mournful wind held its breath. The blinding brilliance flickered in fitful glimmers. Even the bellowing thunder lowered its voice as if to allow the Duo to hear the tense conversation.
"If my bitchy brother will stop trying to pull rank on me there will be no need for fighting." he heard Heero say.
The taller man is Heero's brother. Duo confirmed, allowing the new information ample time to sink in. Besieged by his rubbery legs Duo tried to concentrate on the heated exchange and not on his increasing feebleness.
The blond said something but he was too far away to be understood, though his words did cause Heero to lower his fists.
Once again the fickle wind changed its mind. Forceful gales battered the tin roof. Of course the whipping current's return interfered with the Duo's ability to hear the last of the dialogue. No bother, the rest wasn't important, he'd found Heero.
Stepping through the door Duo picked out a few scattered words that managed to rise above the howling winds. "Duo" and "leaving" lingered in the energy charged air to make sure that each syllable was heard and understood.
Duo's stomach twisted into knots as each division of sound and meaning hit him with full force.
"Heero wants me to leave."
The mistaken realization hit hard like a shot through the heart. "He wants."
Abandoned again.
First his mother and father, then months locked away in a hellhole Alliance prison and now the savor of his world was also deserting him.
Tears tracked down Duo's pale cheeks.
"I've been alone before. Yes, alone. Better it happened now. Not after I became a total fool for chasing after someone who couldn't or wouldn't return my commitment."
Spurred by pain that burned like a white hot poker, Duo pushed away from the door. "I'll leave and save the bastard the trouble of kicking me out." he hissed stumbling over the tangled blankets on the floor. "No one will ever hurt me again." he promised.
Throwing open the outside door rain pelted his face and mixed with his free flowing tears.
As Heero left the kitchen to be by himself and brood over his and Wufei's argument, a blast of chilled rain-scented air howled across the makeshift bedroom.
Glancing across the room he saw the end of a braid flop through the back door. "What the hell?"
Then Heero's heart sank as he noticed the empty mattress and realized Duo was gone. Rushing to the door he saw a figure shrouded over in sheets of rain running toward the surrounding woods.
Without thinking, with no question of should or shouldn't, Heero raced after Duo. "Hey. Wait." he shouted above the wind's wailing and the thunder's deep-throated rumbling.
Duo paused, turned to look back over his shoulder then took off like he was trying to outrun the lightning crisscrossing the livid sky.
Puzzlement momentarily held Heero in place. What could have prompted such a response? Why would Duo take off after all the kindness shone to him?
"Why?" The question kept demanding an answer. "Shit, he must have overheard the argument." The puzzle pieces slow fell into place. "Go after him you fool!" his mind demanded. "You can't lose him now." his heart took up the call for action.
Ignoring the stinging downpour and the dangerous elements Heero broke into a full run just before Duo reached the border about fifty yards ahead. If he got too far into the dense woods Heero might never pick up his trail.
Pushing harder, lungs sucking in frigid air and heart racing, Heero quickly closed the gap.
"Wait!" he shouted hoping Duo would heed his call to stop.
If Duo heard he gave no indication of stopping. He couldn't let the beguiling man with the haunting blue eyes capture his attention for it might he too hard to resist his lies.
Groping blindly as the rain soaked his clothing to bind his movements and his saturated bangs covered his eyes, adrenaline and pain drove the heartbroken young man further into the storm.
"Get away." his frail body ordered even though he had no more strength to go on.
Chest seizing.
Legs aching.
Sight dimming.
A thorough feebleness was rapidly winning the battle between Duo's willingness to flee and his ability to do so. Branches snagged his braid, underbrush snarled under his boots. And somewhere close behind he could hear Heero's footsteps nearer and nearer.
At last Duo emerged into a clearing outside a deserted part of the city. Not much longer and he could become lost in the labyrinth of abandoned buildings.
Heero Yuy would never find him there among the dregs that used to be a thriving community.
Darting amidst the broken structure that had once been a church, Duo skirted around a heat-blistered steeple entombed in crumbling concrete. Leaded frames that long ago cradled stained glass were now vacant, the shattered shards littering the stony ground like a fractured rainbow.
As Duo groped through the forsaken remnants of refuge that offered mute testament to so many devastated lives confusion set in.
Which way to go?
Where to hide?
How to melt into the desolation?
Yet Duo was terrified of being alone. Cold and hunger and violence were all that awaited him, but death in the streets was preferred to life without trust and the sincerity of true feelings.
Rain beat down unmercifully.
It was as if the sky had torn open a torrent of tears for the lost and the lonely. A spillway of crushed hope and bitter memories had release a deluge of despair.
Falling to his knees Duo gave into the anguish piercing his body and his soul.
Weeping so hard the sobs shook his entire frail frame he surrendered. Lifting up a prayer he begged the demons to drive the spikes of lightning straight into his morally wounded heart and end his suffering forever.
A firm hold clasped onto his arm. Accented with confusion and concern another voice was also asking why.
With the last of his failing fortitude Duo lifted his heavy head. Bloodshot eyes gazed up into the face of a blue-eyed angel with wet, matted chocolate hair and tears clinging to bronzed cheekbones. He tried to pull away, to extract himself from fingertips that were hot on his skin despite the bone-chilling shiver that had claimed him completely.
"It's all right." Heero proclaimed as he dropped to his knees and guided Duo's back against his chest. "You don't have to explain anything just let me take you back." he continued mopping back stringy hair from the Duo's clammy face.
"Please, otherwise Quatre is definitely going to be pissed at me." Heero stated as he pictured large azure eyes glimmering with ire at his failure to keep his newly adopted friend safe.
Duo's energy was spent. He could do nothing but let strong arms enfold his quivering body.
Duo wanted to speak, wanted to scream, wanted to curse his fallen savor and extract a promise that everything would be right again. But all he could do as his teeth chattered and his body shivered uncontrollably was submit to the debilitating shock that was drowning his consciousness.
Like a limp rag doll, Duo collapsed, arm went limp, hands slopped in mucky puddles, head drooped to the side and heavily-lidded eyes had already begun to lose their inner light.
Heero slipped one arm under Duo's shoulders, the other under his knees and prepared to lift him. If he had to carry Duo every step of the way then that is what he'd do.
Time was running out. The accidental friend who had stirred something he believed was dead hadn't recovered from the previous night. Again Duo was soaked and chilled. The raspy wheezing had returned. Shallow respirations rattled in his chest. Adding to their problems Heero was beginning to shiver under the storm's watery harassment.
The pattern of sickness and recuperation was repeating itself. They both needed to get back to the Cluster's shelter. Back to dry clothing, dry hair and to share a warm bed.
"Let me take you home." Heero pleaded before it was too late.
"Home?" Duo whispered.
"Home with me."
"What's this? A couple of drowned street rats?" A disembodied voice wondered from the rain's misty concealment.
Heero jumped at the sudden sound. Gazing up into the pouring precipitation he could just make out two sets of knee-high boots several feet from him and Duo.
Steely eyes narrowed as they moved up legs encased in blue pants. A mixture of shock and anger surged through Heero's gut as a higher survey showed blue uniform jackets embossed with the scarlet Crossed-Swords OZ insignia.
TBC...
Back to Karen, The Huntress's Fanfictions Page