Captivity Part 6
"Duo?"
The voice sounded very far away, almost too hard to make out. Still it peeked Duo's curiosity and he forced himself back to the painful world of the living as he heard his name repeated over and over again in a very hushed and familiar voice. Moaning loudly he forced his eyes to blink open and immediately winced at the bright light in his eyes. He brought his hand up to shield his face and was started to find it wouldn't move that far, the clattering of chains giving him all the explanation he needed.
Blinking his eyes rapidly so they got used to the light he was finally able to make out the world around him. He was lying in the middle of a large cage-like structure, surrounded by many people who were huddled to themselves and chained to the ground just like him. Moving slowly he lifted his head and sat up, biting back the cry from the sharp pains all over his body. A quick glance down told him that no one had stopped the dogs from attacking him, small dirty cuts covered his body and he found his hands and arms were torn almost beyond recognition just like his pants, his shirt completely gone. Sitting up he turned toward the voice.
His eyes widened as he saw Quatre standing there, a very worried look in his eyes. Duo immediately looked away as he was filled with guilt. He'd left Heero out in the woods, no idea if the boy was alive or not, no idea how to live on his own out there. Heero was all by himself, and most likely wouldn't last the week. Shivering Duo pulled up his knees to his chest and hugged them tightly, slowly turning back to face the worried blond boy.
"Where's Heero?" Quatre whispered in soft fear, very scared of the actual answer to the question.
"Out there, he got away."
Light seemed to fill Quatre's eyes and a smile burst across his face. "He's ok?"
Duo nodded, ignoring the pain in his stiff neck. "I pushed him into the river before they could catch him. I'm sure he... survived." Duo forced himself to not mention the waterfall. He could tell how much it had hurt Quatre to know that his brother had run away, but it would hurt him even more if he knew there was a large possibility that Heero was dead. No, some things were better left not said. Better to let Quatre keep thinking his brother was alive.
"Thank you," Quatre whispered very softly. "For making sure he didn't get caught."
Duo winced at those words but managed to nod. Quatre's words stabbed straight into him, a pool of guilt growing. No, he hadn't saved Heero; he'd sentenced the poor boy to death, either by drowning or starvation. There was no way anyone raised in a blond household would be able to survive out there, no matter how many books he'd read. No, it was his fault that Heero was out there; he'd practically sentenced the boy to die.
"I'm gonna get you out of here." Quatre said quickly, interrupting Duo's moment of self-pity.
"You can't, you'll get in trouble." Duo said in a low voice. No! Absolutely not! He would not be responsible for another death! "I was caught running away, I'm going to be hung, I know it."
Quatre shook his head. "I'll bring father, he's got enough money he can convince them to let you go again. And then we'll keep you at the house until-"
Duo shook his head wildly, cutting the boy off with a sharp "No!" He was very aware of the eyes of those around them, all focusing on Quatre and him. If Quatre kept this up they would both be in trouble. He was about to tell Quatre to forget about it when he saw someone step up behind Quatre and cross her arms.
All seemed to fall silent and the tension in the air increased dramatically. Quatre noticed the look on Duo's face and swallowed hard, turning he found himself face to face with a smirking girl, Treize's daughter Dorothy.
"Good day, Quatre." She said softly.
"Morning." Quatre managed to choke out.
"How interesting that you seem to know that slave." She nodded once toward Duo, her eyes narrowing. "Could it be that your family owned him?"
Quatre bit his lip, not sure what to say. He knew that families that allowed their slaves to escape were not looked upon highly, but if Dorothy had heard what he'd said to Duo about setting him free... He shuddered slightly and took a step back, his voice freezing in his throat.
"Maybe I was hearing things, but" Dorothy's voice raised so it caught the attention of many of the people passing by on the street, blond and slave alike. "But it seemed to me that you were speaking of freeing this slave. Could it be that he escaped on purpose?"
"Run," Duo bit out, not caring about the punishment he would get for it. Jumping up he dove toward Dorothy, even though bars separated them and chains held him mostly back. His distraction served two purposes; it surprised Dorothy and broke Quatre out of his frightened daze. Quatre bolted out of the village square, heading straight back for his house as fast as he could to warn his family.
"Animal!" Dorothy yelled, kicking at Duo between the bars and hitting him in the face with her hard shoe. Duo rolled back onto the ground with a small cry, holding the side of his face as it stung. When he looked back up he found that she was walking away from the cage toward a group of three men which had blocked Quatre's path and were now doing their best to keep him from running, though he was putting up quite a struggle.
Dorothy sauntered over to him and narrowed her eyes. "I knew your family was scum, especially after the incident between your father and that slave bitch."
Quatre's eyes narrowed dangerously at that comment but he struggled to keep his mouth shut.
"You should have all been executed together." Glancing up at the guards she nodded and they pulled Quatre over to the cells by Duo where they grabbed a set of chains and fastened them tightly around his wrists.
Duo fought back his blinding rage as he watched the young blond boy being pulled away toward a larger building which served as a holding area for slaves to be sold or to be executed. He closed his eyes and angrily shook away the tears, which formed and slipped down his cheeks. Curling up tightly into a ball, or at least as much as the chains attached to his feet and wrists would let him he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
The anger and rage all melted away, almost instantly, leaving Duo in a child-like state of mourning. He sobbed once as he thought about what would happen to Quatre's whole family because of his running away. He sobbed once more and scolded himself silently for being such an idiot, then just laid there. Afraid to move.
Everything he did resulted in someone's death. He was better off dead now, at least if he was hung and buried he wouldn't be responsible for killing off anyone else.
~*~
Trowa sat silently in his room, curled up against the wall in deep thought. Even though his eyes were open he was staring at the blank wall with a glazed over look. Before his eyes he could see the various images of his past, running and fleeing with his family. Watching his father get caught as he was just a very small child, seeing the older man being beaten and attacked by dogs as they kept running, his mother holding Duo tightly in her arms.
He remembered his mother telling them to stay where they were and not come out of the hiding spot, and then she left. She never came back. And now Duo had run away and left him alone in the middle of a blond town.
Still, this wasn't the same. Duo had left him, knowing that he would be safe in the house and still be able to survive with little to no risk. Trowa understood why Duo had left him at the house without telling him before hand, but he still didn't quite understand what he was supposed to do now. After living a life of running for so long actually getting used to the idea of being safe was hard. And even though he now trusted Milliardo and Quatre he didn't feel safe. He was still in a blond town and the situation had the potential of blowing up in his face at any time.
Almost as if on cue Milliardo stepped into the room, a worried look on his face. Trowa blinked himself out of his memories and looked up at him.
"Something's wrong," Trowa murmured, taking note of the blond man's expression.
Milliardo nodded. "Quatre went into town a while ago and hasn't returned. Also we have guests at the front door."
Trowa's eyes widened slightly and he stood up.
"Nothing to worry about, yet. But just to be on the safe side you better stay out of site and possibly sneak out the back. I don't trust the men outside the front door, there are too many of them."
Trowa stood slightly in shock as he realized what Milliardo was saying. "You know they have come to take us away and you're not escaping?"
The man shook his head. "My first concern is for my son, and you. Take food and clothing and get away from the house."
Trowa opened his mouth to protest when he heard the sound of splintering wood from somewhere near the front door.
"Go." Milliardo said in a completely flat tone. Trowa didn't protest, instead he just nodded and turned away, racing on quiet feet for the kitchen to put together a small bag and then racing for the back door. Behind him he heard the men yelling at Milliardo responding calmly, letting them take him away.
He reached the back door only to find it surrounded by a group of men trying to force their way in. What had happened? How had they found out unless... He hid quickly by ducking into a side room and climbing out the window into an area hidden by thick flowered bushes.
Sneaking around to the front of the house Trowa watched as Milliardo was led out of the house, his arms in chains, and pushed into a waiting cart. Minutes later men came out of the house reporting that no one else was inside. Milliardo didn't reply.
Trowa stayed crouched in the bushes until the men left the yard, heading back for the main part of town. How had they found out? How had this all gone wrong? Unless... unless something happened to Quatre... or unless they'd found Duo and Heero!
Forcing away his panic Trowa took a deep breath. He had to do something. He had to find out what had happened to Quatre and if Duo had been caught. Closing his eyes he forced himself to think before acting and carefully laid out a plan. Then, after taking another deep breath, he began to weave his way toward the main part of town. Staying behind buildings and out of site the moving was slow and tedious, but he kept his mind on the goal. He had just begun to trust this family and he wasn't about to let them die because of their kindness, not if he had could do something about it.
He'd lost his entire family to slavery save his brother. He was not about to lose his current family without a fight.
~*~
Duo opened his eyes and moved once more as he heard the door to his cage being opened. Glancing up he found two men standing there with weapons and a set of keys. They glared angrily at him, just daring him to try anything.
He didn't.
He remained completely silent and still as they grabbed him by his tangled braid and unlocked his chains from the ground. Re-chaining his hands together they used his braid like a lease to lead him out of the cage and toward the large holding structure Quatre had disappeared into. Duo blinked in confusion. They were moving him? They weren't leading him to be executed? Why bother moving him?
He followed them inside the building, doing his best to ignore the sharp pains from his aching body and them yanking his hair. Upon stepping into the holding building he found himself surrounded by the stench of unwashed bodies, which hadn't seen the light of day for a long time. He was led to one cage in particular, where they paused as one of the guards undid the lock. Without much warning they shoved Duo into the cell and slammed the door shut quickly before any of the other prisoners could rush them and escape. Duo stumbled to the ground with a cry, one of his many cut reopening as the dirt and sand covered ground rubbed against it. Hissing he sat up and held the cut, trying to stop the bleeding.
Behind him he heard whimpering in the corner. Duo turned around to see Quatre huddled there, hugging his knees tightly and eyeing everyone else in the cage with a scared look. His clothes were torn and he was already covered with dirt and sand, scratches covering what skin could be seen. Duo's eyes widened as the guards left the building and the other slaves turned to glare at Quatre.
"What did you do to him?" Duo whispered softly as he crawled toward the trembling blond boy. At first Quatre didn't seem to recognize him, he just tried to shrink back into his corner, but after a few kind words and a small pitying smile he recognized Duo and collapsed forward into his arms.
Duo held the boy tightly, glaring angrily at the others around him. He didn't care about their looks of hatred, no one deserved to be treated like this. No one deserved to be beaten up just because of their hair color or the house they grew up in. Leaning back into the corner he let Quatre crawl into his lap and curl up there in his embrace, crying softly. Meanwhile Duo held him and kept his eyes on the others in the cage.
"Just stay away," he warned in a low voice.
"You'd protect one of their kind?" One of the others spat in hatred.
Duo nodded. "Yes, I would. Just as his family protected me."
Silence filled the cell for a long moment as they pondered his words, then most turned away, ignoring him and Quatre and turning back to their own things.
"I'm sorry, Quatre." Duo whispered quietly. "This is my fault, I shouldn't have run off."
Quatre shook his head. "It's not your fault." He whispered back between sobs. "They were bound to find out eventually. We were only lucky to have kept the secret for this long."
Duo held the boy close and peered out the small window across the room. He was greeted with the sight of a tall pole of wood with a single rope hanging down to create a loop. Duo's eyes widened. No... they had a perfect view of the hangman's noose from here... a perfect view of their fate. He swallowed hard and looked away, not wanting to see the sign of his inevitable fate. Instead he concentrated on comforting Quatre in his arms. He wished he knew a way out of this situation, but he was completely lost.
~*~
Trowa watched from the shadows of a large estate as Milliardo was pulled out of the carriage and brought to stand before Treize, his daughter and a few other well-dressed blondes. He couldn't tell what they were talking about but he got the gist of it. They were accusing Milliardo of many things... and he wasn't denying it!
The conversation was ended rather abruptly and Milliardo was led back to the carriage, taking off for the center of time. Trowa had gotten the impression that Quatre had been caught and was being held in the Town Square where they kept all the slaves who were to be sold or executed.
Trowa bit his bottom lip, trying to decide what to do. Biting down harder he turned and raced for the walls of the city, ignoring all the people around him and those who did see him fleeing. His only thoughts were of Heero and Duo... perhaps, if he was lucky, he could find them. He didn't honestly think he would be able to find them in time to get them to help save Quatre or Milliardo but he didn't have much else of an option. He had to try something and currently finding his brother and Heero was all he could think of. He just prayed that they wouldn't be executed immediately.
~*~
Quatre glanced up from where he sat in Duo's arms and noticed the window's view. Moving slowly he pulled out of Duo's arms and walked to the barred window, his body still trembling. Duo stood up to follow him, but froze as he saw what Quatre was so intent on.
They were leading someone up to the hangman's noose.
"No," Quatre whispered softly.
It was Milliardo.
Duo and Quatre watched in petrified horror as the tall man was led up to the noose and his hands were lashed behind his back. The rope was fastened around his neck and the guards behind him gave a thumbs up sign. Duo stepped forward and grabbed Quatre, pulling him down to the ground where neither of them could see what was happening, but both heard the distinct sound of the trap door falling away and the rope snapping taunt. Quatre shook in Duo's arms and tears flowed down his face.
Duo joined in with Quatre's tears, the two holding each other as they lay below the window. Both forgot about the slaves surrounding them. All their thoughts were on the scene they had just witnessed, and what they themselves would soon have to face.
There was no way out.
Now only the agony of the wait remained before their deaths.
TBC...
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