Perfect Part 8
"You like making money?" asked Tomas, eyeing Duo's naked body.
Duo shrugged. "Who doesn't?" He was in no hurry to get dressed. Tomas seemed to be just a touch distracted by his slender figure, and that gave him the power.
"How would you like to make some more, off your back?"
Duo kicked the swing into motion. He could get accustomed to this room, "X" frame, shackles, whips and all. "Depends on what I have to do for it. I've got rules."
Tomas snorted. "Sure you do."
"Hey!" snapped Duo, all playfulness gone. "Don't give me that holier-than-thou shit! If you weren't buyin', I wouldn' be sellin', you perv! Don't you come cruisin' for little kids to fuck and abuse and then laugh at MY rules! You get what you pay for, Tomas. You got a complaint, find another boy!" He hopped off the swing and began to dress. "I do just fine!" He spun around to point an accusing finger at the startled man. "I'm not always gonna be on the streets, ya know! Find yerself another toy!"
Duo was pulling on his boots when Tomas grabbed him and yanked him into his arms. "I wasn't laughing! I mean not AT you! Shit, kid, you've got more class than you know what to do with!" He relaxed slightly as Duo seemed to be calming down. "I'm sorry; I really wasn't laughing at you! I believe you; you are going to be somebody one day." He ran his hands lightly over Duo's bare shoulders and back. "You're not always going to be on the streets. I'm not always going to be able to... to be with you," he coaxed. Duo remained resolute, although he didn't try to pull away.
That's the boy.... Come on.... Coax me.... You can do it, fucker.... I'm just a kid; what do I know, huh? That's it.... Do your daddy act.... Fuck, I hope you're the one! I wanna see you get it right between the eyes....
"Come on, honey.... I said I was sorry. I just want to help you get where you're going. I can help you out, honey." His fingers slipped under the waistband of Duo's jeans. "And you'll be doing me a huge favor. So we both win. What do you say? Help me to help you?"
Yes!!! Gotcha!
Duo laid his hand on Tomas' arm. "I suppose I can do that," he allowed grudging, looking up at the taller man. "Just don' make fun of me again. I'm not stupid; I know what yer world is like."
Tomas smiled; like a shark, and congratulated himself on a terrific save. Business was business, but this kid was a hell of a fuck and he didn't want to let that go.
"Why don't I tell you about the deal and then you can decide," he murmured against Duo's neck, hands working on his zipper.
~*~
"Heero? Yeah, it's me. Well, I am looking at an anonymous computer disc right now. You wanna come get it and check it out? I'm supposed to pass it tomorrow. Nah, I'm going to bed. It'll be under my pillow. Okay. Yeah. If you're going to wake me up, you better bring food," he laughed and hung up the phone.
"One more day!" he said aloud, twirling across the floor. "I can deal!"
~*~
He heard the door open in his sleep, but didn't move. Someone closed the door softly and moved easily and soundlessly across the room. A tiny crinkle as a bag was set upon the table. More silent movement. A slow careful hand on the edge of the bed, fingers reaching cautiously for the disk, closing on the thin plastic to slide it slowly out of its hiding place.
Duo sat up, grabbing the muscular wrist in his own viselike fingers.
"Not exactly Mr. Stealth tonight, are ya?" he grinned, feeling Heero's muscles twitch.
"I didn't want to wake you," the pilot murmured coolly.
Duo released him and turned on the lamp. "You brought me food; of course you wanted to wake me. I can smell the turkey."
Heero turned away, frowning slightly, though his eyes held a faint twinkle. "Hn. I'll let Wufei know that."
Duo grinned at his back, sitting up in bed, his arms resting on his drawn-up knees. "You do that, Heero."
Heero set up his computer, keyed a few commands and inserted the disk. "Something called a California Club. Turkey, tomato, avocado and sprouts. A liter of Dr. Pepper and one of those broken chocolate chunks."
Duo's eyes widened and he hopped off the bed to rummage in the bag. "Oh, God... Heero, I love you!" He dropped some ice cubes into a plastic cup, poured the DP and then set about unwrapping the sub sandwich. He arranged his place across the table from Heero and sat down to eat.
Heero typed away, eyes fixed on the screen.
"Is he the guy?" asked Duo after a few minutes. Please! No industrial shit! He's just GOT to be the one!
"Hn," said Heero. Duo stared at him. After a minute, Heero glanced up at him. "Three layers of code; this is it."
"Woohoo!" cried Duo, leaping from his chair to dance around the table, pausing to give Heero a quick hug. "Yes! Yesyesyes! All done!"
He stopped abruptly when Heero cleared his throat. That was a nervous gesture; Heero was never nervous. The guy didn't own a nerve. He turned to face his partner.
"What?"
Heero gazed back at him for a minute, before saying quietly, "I'm sorry. It's not only Tomas we have to deal with, remember? We have to clean house."
Duo sank down on the bed, shoulders slumping. "I forgot," he whispered. He looked up at Heero with a deep sigh. "Okay. Not quite all done, then."
"I'm sorry, Duo," he said again.
The auburn-haired youth lifted one hand negligently and let it drop. "Don' worry 'bout it. I'll manage. How long, do ya think?"
"Two days, three at the absolute most. We'll start with this one --" he held up the disk "- and work outwards. It's necessary to get them all."
"I know." He squared his shoulders and stood up. "Might as well finish my food. You were nice enough to bring it."
And Heero winced at the unspoken betrayal. I've -- WE"VE got to get him out of this!
Duo finished eating silently and went back to bed. Heero copied the disk and transmitted instructions to the other pilots waiting at the safe house. He shut down his notebook, cleaned up the table, turned off the light and lay down on the bed. Duo was asleep, thrumming softly.
I miss that, Heero realised. That quiet bit of white noise in the room at night...
He lay there in the darkness for some time, gazing at Duo and listening to his soft purr.
~*~
The smell of fresh coffee brought him back to consciousness. Eyes still closed, Duo inhaled that wonderful, invigorating smell and pushed himself upright.
"Heero?"
"Hn."
"You brought coffee?"
"Yes."
He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stretched, grinning happily, his eyes sparkling. "Thanks, Heero. I really need it."
That sparkle... I want that back in my world...
"Hn." Heero handed him a cup of coffee. "Duo, I think we can do this without you staying out there."
"I appreciate the thought," said Duo between sips of coffee. "But we're almost there, and I don't want to fuck it up at this stage." He looked up at Heero, smiling. "I'll handle it; don't worry, Heero."
Heero regarded him silently for a moment. "Hn. Okay. I'm going back to the house; call when you've done the pass."
"Sure thing, boss," he grinned.
Duo's smile vanished the moment the door closed behind Heero. He sprawled back on the bed. "Shit. Crap. FUCK!" He rolled over and buried his face in the pillow.
~*~
Snow was sitting on the cable box giggling. Rose was behind him, tickling him. Duo slipped up behind them and grabbed Rose's ass. Rose jumped a foot and let out a squawk. Duo brayed and leaped out of his reach.
"Ya little shit! I'll get ya!" He lunged for Duo and they were off, galloping around the parking lot laughing. Snow stood on the box and cheered for both of them. Finally, Rose managed to grab Duo's braid, yanking him around and into his arms.
"Gotcha!" He planted a kiss on Duo's forehead. "Damn yer quick!"
Duo laughed and kissed the hollow of his throat. "Ya big bully!"
"My turn! My turn!" cried Snow glomping both of them. "God, yer so funny!" Rose pulled him into the hug and kissed him, and Duo gradually slipped away from them.
Nice kids in a lousy situation...
A car horn honked and Duo looked around, but the driver called, "Hey cutie," to Snow. He broke away from Rose and went to lean on the car door, making his deal. As he slid into the car, he blew Rose a kiss. The older kid came to stand next to Duo as the car pulled away.
"Ya worry 'bout him?" Duo asked after a few minutes.
"Yeah. He's a kid; I don' want anyone to hurt 'im." He looked at Duo. "Yer a smart guy, I can tell. How come yer out here?"
Duo shrugged. "Survival. Gotta eat."
"Yeah." He was silent for a couple of minutes. "I don' hardly remember not bein' out here. Been peddlin' my ass since I was ten."
Duo nodded. "Seven."
"Whattaya s'pose it is with those chicken hawks, they go fer kids, little kids, like ya were, like I was. I mean, what's so fuckin' great 'bout a seven-year-olds ass that they'll pay fer it?" He shook his head. "If it wasn' fer them I'da starved, but ya know... I wouldn' wanna fuck a little kid; would ya?"
"Nope." He shrugged again. "I dunno, Rose. I guess ev'rybody's got some kinda kink. Some a them are just weirder 'n others. Like the guys that'll pay to touch my hair. It's jus' hair, fer crissake, but they wanna pay... How old is Snow?" he asked idly.
"Fourteen. Why?"
A sigh. "Jus' wonderin'."
"I don' want him out here," said Rose suddenly, fiercely. "I wanna get him off the streets. Give him a real life." He looked at Duo. "I'm savin' money fer us. I want us to have a home." He looked down the block and sighed. "I want him to have better 'n this. He's smart, like you. I want him to go to school, so he doesn' have to do this anymore." He lifted his shoulders helplessly. "I wanna take care of him..."
"I understand, man," Duo agreed softly, laying his hand on Rose's shoulder. "Wish I had someone like you..."
~*~
Late in the afternoon, slack time between the day fuckers and the night crawlers, Duo and Snow sat on a parking bumper and watched the traffic. Rose had been gone a while.
"Ya wanna go into the bar an' shoot some pool?" Duo asked.
Snow thought about it. "Nah. It's relaxin' jus' watchin' the traffic go by. Light's green, light's red. Cars go, cars stop. The guy in the Jag is cute."
"Yeah," agreed Duo with a practiced glance. "But it ain't his. He's parkin'. Bow tie."
Snow sat up a little taller. "Oh, yeah, I see it now. You don' miss nothin', do ya?"
"Try not to. It's called bein' observant. Never know when it might save yer life."
Snow gazed at the longhaired boy with ill-concealed awe. "Rose makes me memorize plate numbers. He says it might save a life someday."
"He's right." Duo gestured over his shoulder to the parking lot. "Look at the first car in the row and count ta three, then look at me an' tell me ev'rything ya remember."
"Um... Black BMW, convertible... uh...Mexico plate?"
Duo grinned. "Black BMW convertible, two door, three micro-antennae, key mark on the driver's door, two door dings on the right front fender, two on the passenger door, a bunch on the left side, left rear hubcap is loose." He took a deep breath. "Mexico plate number 23X3854J5, pair of sunglasses hanging from driver's visor, six discs visible on the seat and the steering wheel has the ugliest damn fuzzy puke green cover ya ever saw in yer life."
Snow stared at him. "Wow..." he said faintly. "Ya didn' even look..."
Duo shrugged. "Saw it when we sat down. I got a great memory for details."
"Man..." Snow looked over his shoulder at the parking lot again. Suddenly he gasped and his whole body stiffened.
Duo glanced over just as Snow's fingers closed on his arm.
"That's the guy!" Snow whispered. "The guy who choked me."
Duo scanned the people coming and going from the shops. "Blue shirt?"
"Next to him, the stripes." He shrank against Duo. "Shit! He's comin' this way!"
Duo gave him a nudge. "Ya gotta make a head call, don' ya. All that soda?" he hissed at the blond boy's confused expression.
Hazel eyes widened as comprehension dawned. "Oh. Oh, yeah! Too much soda." He jumped up and loped toward the fuel station down the block.
A moment later, Duo felt a presence behind him. He leaned back to look up at the guy Snow had run from. "Well, hey there, dude. Can I help you?" he asked huskily.
"I sure hope so," the guy grinned.
~*~
Amazing what a little chloral hydrate will do, Duo thought as he ran the wet paper towel over his bare chest. He lifted his braid and dampened the back of his neck, then soaked the towel again and wiped the sweat from his face.
Bastard. Ya won't be pullin' THAT again. Creep.
He stripped off his jeans, rolled them up and stuffed them in his bag and stepped into a pair of indecently short shorts. He checked himself out in the mirror from several angles.
Man, Duo, you've got a great ass! Shame to waste it on these motherfuckers... Ah, business is business.
He slipped on a clean cut-off tee shirt and stepped into his sneakers. One last glance in the mirror. He blew his image a kiss. Yep, yer hot, all right.
He walked out of the restroom whistling a Strauss waltz.
TBC...
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