Captivity Part 4
"Take me with you."
Duo froze. Glancing over his shoulder he regarded the boy standing behind him, watching him with soft and pleading eyes. Duo swallowed and turned around to face him. "Take you with?" he repeated softly in wonder.
Heero nodded.
"But your family... you have a place to live here, where you're safe. Why would you want to come with me? Why would you give up this for a life where you would be hiding all the time, running day in and day out? Never staying in one place..." Duo's sentence dropped off as he realized he wasn't really just asking Heero those questions, he was asking them of himself as well. Why would he leave this house? He was safe here. But he knew he couldn't stay, not after what he'd seen.
"Please," was all Heero said, pleading in a soft voice.
"I..." Duo faltered, not sure what to say.
Heero stepped forward and locked eyes with Duo. "You can't go alone, you aren't well enough. I can't live here alone. I want to get out of here, where I'm not locked in this room. I'm only endangering them; if I leave they can look like a normal family and be safe. You said you'd stay with me, and if you can't stay here then the only solution is for me to go with you."
Duo blinked. Heero had a very good point, in fact he had a lot of really good points and Duo couldn't see a single flaw in his logic. He couldn't come up with any reason for Heero not to come. Not to mention that he wanted Heero to come with him since the boy had suggested it. It solved his own fear of running alone and having no one to hold or hold him at night while they shivered in fear of being found.
Stepping forward and taking a deep breath Duo placed a hand on Heero's shoulder. "All right. Then we leave tonight, after the guests in the dining room leave. Can you be ready to go then?"
Heero nodded.
"Meet me in my room after they leave. I... I'll make sure Trowa is gone."
Heero raised an eyebrow in question but didn't say anything. He had no idea what had happened between the two brothers but now was not the time to ask. Whatever it was it wasn't his business and beside that fact he'd noticed that his brother, Quatre, had taken to liking the emerald eyed boy. Whatever Trowa decided to do after Duo left was his decision. Though, he decided he would leave a note on his bed, explaining they had both left together and make sure the others didn't come looking for them.
Heero nodded and the two boys parted to prepare for the night. Turning back to his room Heero regarded his surroundings with a critical eye. Deciding what he might need he changed the clothes he was wearing and began packing a few things in a small bag.
~*~
Trowa did a pretty good job of keeping himself together throughout the rest of the dinner. He hadn't even lost his temper when Treize's daughter, Dorothy, had deliberately tripped him and laughed as he stumbled to the ground and dropped his tray. He'd remained silent as Treize and Dorothy treated him with absolutely no respect, and he'd kept his head down, avoiding eye contact with all of those at the table.
But after the dinner ended and Dorothy and Treize left Trowa began to fall apart. Carrying one of the last trays from the kitchen full of dirty dishes to be washed he found his hands starting to shake. The trembling flowed through his body in a thick wave and the tray fell out of his hands, shattering across the floor in a loud crash. His entire body shook and he hugged himself, silent tears leaking from his eyes. As Quatre raced into the kitchen behind him Trowa's knees buckled and he collapsed to the ground, just shaking and hugging himself.
"Trowa?!" Quatre raced over to him in a panic and quickly wrapped his arms around the boy. Pulling him up he held the trembling boy to his chest, trying to calm him down as his mind flew. What had made Trowa fall apart like this? He'd seemed fine during the dinner, so what went wrong? Quatre bit his lip and held the boy tightly as Trowa wrapped his arms around him, crying into his shoulder with soft hick-upping sobs.
Milliardo stepped into the kitchen a second later and his eyes widened.
"Quatre? What happened?"
"I don't know. I was standing outside in the dinning room and I heard a crash and I found him like this. I don't know what happened." Quatre's voice was high with panic and worry as he held the boy.
Milliardo knelt next to Trowa and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder while Quatre ran his fingers through Trowa's hair in a soothing gesture.
"Trowa," Quatre spoke softly in his ear. "Trowa, please, tell us what happened. Trowa, please."
Milliardo's fingers reached forward and he quickly undid the collar from Trowa's neck, tossing it angrily across the room. He was going to apologize for making Trowa feel like it had been something he needed to agree to but he was stopped as Trowa choked out a few words.
"Duo... he saw..." Trowa's body shook as he tried to swallow his sobs. "Said I was... traitor..."
Quatre's jaw dropped open and his eyes widened. "Oh stars," he whispered.
"He saw you wearing the collar and called you a traitor?" Milliardo asked.
Trowa nodded but didn't let go of Quatre; he actually clutched the boy tighter, desperate for comfort from the small blond boy.
"Father?" Quatre watched his father stand up and head out of the room.
"I'm going to find Duo, I have a bad feeling about how the boy reacted. Don't worry, I'll be back. Just stay here with him." Milliardo raced out of the room, and as he went out of sight they could hear him scolding himself for giving into Treize's constant pestering. If he hadn't given in this wouldn't have happened.
Quatre turned his attention back to Trowa; once again moving his finger's through Trowa's hair while his other hand rubbed Trowa's back. Slowly the boy in his arms began to calm down, the tears fading away and the sobbing dropping to small hick-ups. Trowa's almost choking grip around Quatre's waist loosened and finally he just let himself lay in Quatre's arms, silently taking comfort in the boy's soothing actions.
The room was filled with complete silence as the two boys sat there, holding each other. Trowa managed to gain back his rational mind and found he truly was taking comfort in Quatre's arms. He also made the remarkable discovery that he felt safe and protected in the blonde's arms. He knew he could trust Quatre, would trust Quatre with his life. He wasn't sure how he realized it or what it was based on, he just knew he could trust the boy.
But all moments of trust and comfort were shattered as Milliardo stepped back into the kitchen about half an hour later. He held in his hands a small sheet of paper and a solemn look upon his face. Both boys looked up in worry as he passed the note to Trowa.
Trowa squinted at the note and wiped the last moisture from his eyes. He frowned deeply at the symbols before him but they meant nothing to him. Carefully he handed the note to Quatre.
"I can't read it," he said softly, almost afraid to hear what the note said.
Quatre took a deep breath and read the note out loud.
"Quatre and Milliardo. Duo and I left. Please don't look for us. Don't endanger yourselves. This works out for the best. Heero."
Quatre's hand shook and he dropped the note. Biting his bottom lip he looked up at his father. "Tell me he didn't."
"I found the note on his bed. Duo is gone."
At those words Trowa bolted to his feet, racing out of the kitchen as fast as he could. Quatre scrambled to his feet and followed, his body trembling just slightly. It took him a while to catch up with the long legged emerald-eyed youth but when he did he found him in Duo's room, leaning out the window into the night. Trowa's hands clutched the windowsill so hard his knuckles were white.
Quatre stood frozen in the doorway, staring at Trowa's silhouette in the moonlight from the open window.
"Heero left?" Quatre whispered softly.
Milliardo came up behind him and wrapped his arms around his son.
"He'll die out there. They'll kill him. Why would he leave? Why?" Quatre's panicked voice dropped off as his body shook.
Trowa turned back from the window and saw Quatre shivering in his father's arms, the blond boy on the verge of breaking just as Trowa had. Taking careful steps Trowa walked over to them and wrapped his arms around Quatre, as Milliardo also held him.
"Don't worry," Trowa whispered softly into Quatre's ear. He recognized he needed to be strong. He could deal with this; he could pull himself together. He needed to. He needed to for Quatre. "Duo won't let anything happen to him. Duo will keep Heero safe."
The three men stood there silently in the moonlight, hugging each other for comfort and attempting to be strong for themselves and each other. Beyond them the night air pulled at the light curtains, ruffling them in the night. And somewhere far beyond. Somewhere far past the window, deep in the woods behind the house there was the sound of four feet, running deep into the night.
~*~
Duo and Heero raced through the trees, there eyes on nothing but the path ahead. Neither knew the way out of the city, but Duo was the most likely one to figure it out, so he took the lead. He was surprised that he actually didn't have much trouble running even after lying in that bed for so long. His body automatically adjusted and he set a fast pace that allowed them speed but didn't sap all of their energy in one shot.
He also found that Heero easily kept up with him, matching stride for stride. The boy behind him knew how to run, or at least how to keep silent. Together, if any had been listening on the edge of the trees, the two boys sounded simply like some four-legged animal fleeing a predator.
They dropped to a halt at the edge of the woods, which marked the edge of Milliardo's territory. Before them, crossing through a sharp cut in the trees, was a well lit road way surrounded by small houses, and just beyond those was a relatively tall stone wall. Well, it wasn't that tall, but it certainly wasn't short enough to jump over.
Duo dropped to a crouch behind one of the houses and motioned for Heero to stay hidden as he scanned the area. His well-trained eyes moved over the wall, looking for out cropping or area where they could climb the wall. Unfortunately he found nothing of any use, damn these people knew how to keep others in. Frowning deeply he concentrated on the surrounding houses, but none were built close enough to safely jump from. Backing away he sat down next to Heero and shook his head sadly, he couldn't find a way out.
Heero stood up and crept around him, peering out toward the wall. After standing there for a moment he bolted toward the next house, taking refuge in the shadows surrounding it. Duo held his breath and prayed silently that no guards had seen him, what was he doing?! But a second later Heero waved him over.
Blinking in confusion Duo checked the guards' positions and moved to join Heero. He followed the boy's pointing and saw what he'd seen. Some poor fool had left their wagon out in the back yard near the wall. It wouldn't have worked for anyone else, but since Heero and Duo were so small, they would easily be able to lift each other up and over the wall, which was exactly what they planned to do.
Both boys crouched in silence as they watched the guards walk around on their shifts, patrolling back and forth. Unfortunately the wagon wasn't hidden from sight, but it was mostly shrouded in shadows so they doubted the guards had seen it. If they'd seen it they would have had it moved.
Counting softly under his breath Duo memorized their timing. Taking a deep breath he signaled to Heero and the two bolted for the wagon. They moved as quickly and as silently as they could, but didn't make it in time. They were spotted almost immediately and soon there were whistles and guards rushing toward them. Duo quickly pushed Heero up to the top of the wall, ignore the shouts and yells of the people getting close.
Locking hands and wrists with Heero he pulled himself up the wall as the guards came up behind them, just missing his ankle by a breath. Both boys turned and jumped down the other side, landing painfully on the rocky ground.
By now the area around them was completely lit up and they could hear dogs and people yelling. Both boys jumped up and sprinted for the area ahead of them. Running at full tilt they focused everything on just moving as fast as they could. Behind them they could hear the people chasing and the dogs barking and worse. Both gasped for air and Heero stumbled a few times. Realizing that his friend was tiring and wasn't used to running for this long at this speed Duo caught his hand and pulled him on, keeping him from falling to the ground.
They raced through trees, the branches and bushes tearing at their clothes and skin. Duo's long braid snagged on branches and scattered few bushes, but he'd made it loose so they either slid out or broke off and stuck. He'd take care of it later. Trees and heavy plant life grew up around them, enabling them to judge just how close their pursuers were from their crashing footsteps. Duo's legs ached and he was gasping air, his lungs burning, and he had no idea how Heero was holding up.
Luckily, in front of them, they spotted their salvation.
A river.
Without warning Duo pulled Heero with him into the river. "Swim!" He choked out between gasping for air as he let go of Heero's hand. He watched the boy struggle for a few minutes but Heero quickly figured how to keep his head above water as they moved down the river. Luckily the current was also on their side so they halfway swam and halfway let the river take them. Keeping their heads down and their splashing to a minimum the two boys soon left their pursuers and the city far behind.
It was well into the next morning when they finally climbed out of the water. And even then Duo wouldn't allow them to until he was absolutely sure there was no one around. Collapsing onto the bank the two boys lay across the rocks with their hands linked, gasping for air.
Duo coughed as his world spun around him, the adrenaline leaving his body to just feel exhausted. He could barely move but he forced himself to stand and walk to the trees surrounding them. With careful eyes he picked out a specific tree and found a branch they would be relatively well hidden in. Helping Heero to his feet he helped the boy up into the tree and followed behind him.
Once safely situated the two boys curled together and nestled in the branches, resting and watching the area around them.
Duo sighed softly with relief as Heero lay against his chest, already having drifted into a light sleep. They'd made it. He wanted to dance around in happiness but he knew his body wouldn't let him. He didn't think they would have made it out that quickly and the wagon was just pure lucky, but they'd done it! They had escaped the city.
Smiling he glanced down at the body cuddled in his arms. His heart twisted at the thought of the kind of life, which he and Heero had voluntarily stepped back into, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel relieved that he wasn't alone. He knew from experience that it was easier to live in pairs, easier to survive and watch out for each other. He was glad Heero came with, even if it would be a hard life from here on.
Glancing over the trees around them, the river below and the sky above he felt his eyes burn with left over tears. He knew he wouldn't see Trowa again, but at the same time his brother would be happy in that house. He shouldn't have called him a traitor, he realized now, it was probably the only solution that any could think of at the time. But he couldn't ignore how badly he'd felt when he saw that collar.
But things were better this way.
Trowa would be safe with Quatre's family and Duo would make sure nothing happened to Heero. Glancing down at the boy in his arms he nodded to himself.
"You're mine to protect Heero, and I won't let them catch you."
Drifting softly off to sleep, he could have sworn he'd heard his mother whisper those same words... the night before she disappeared forever.
TBC...
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