Author's Note: This fits with chapters thirty eight and thirty nine of Witness. It's slightly shorter than recent chapters, but has to end where it does to lead into the next part.

Diary of a Protected Witness Part 29
Slumming

Dear Diary:

What an eventful trip we had getting to Cathy's little ocean side hideaway!

First off, the cat's out of the bag about Heero an' me. Chang finally got a clue!

Hell--he should've gotten about a million clues by that time--but maybe he's a slow learner.

At any rate, guess I should back up and explain a bit. I'd managed to convince my babysitters to let me handle our accommodations for a night. They seemed to be having a debate about whether our appearance was a bit too--suspicious--for us to show up at a legitimate hotel. Rather than explain to them that the dives on the cheap side of town wouldn't give a shit what we looked like, I coaxed them into letting me take the lead.

I'll say it here. I really hate being mistaken for a hooker. It's happened so many times in my life, that it's become a serious trigger for pissing me off. I know the long hair throws people--and I could probably handle them thinkin' I'm a chick, from behind--but to have them assume that because I'm male, long-haired, and hotter than Hell, I must sell my body in order to eat--well, that just seriously ticks me off!

I suppose stripping isn't too far removed from hooking. I mean, both occupations require the use of your body. But beyond that, there's no comparison.

When I worked at the Jungle, nobody touched me if I didn't want to be touched. And while I might've paraded around naked while guys whistled, cheered, and jerked themselves off--I never, ever, traded sex for money. Even I had my standards.

Those standards had been drilled into me at a very early age. First by a couple of abusive cops, and later by Solo; he'd been damned insistent that no one in the gang resorted to turning tricks. And after my experience in a dark alley, I wasn't too keen on the whole concept anyway.

I suppose I owed Solo big-time for teaching me that there were pleasant aspects to sex. Not that we ever went beyond touching, kissing and blowjobs--but I found out how very good it could feel. And I learned that the best part was who you were with.

Maybe that's why having a hot, blue-eyed cop call me a hooker stung so very much. Even as I was kicking and flailing between two flat-footed assholes, I could see how truly drool-worthy he was. And the contempt in those dark eyes of his was like a slap in the face.

Or maybe a punch--since that's what I goaded him into. Heh, heh. Yeah, Heero's and my first meeting was seriously fucked up.

But those eyes stuck in my memory, and the echo of his voice saying something about the "hookers getting more ornery all the time" rang in my ears every time I thought about stooping.

I went hungry more than once because I wasn't willing to bend over for money.

And yeah, I'll admit that I might've had money for food if I hadn't been using it to buy drugs.

Past history.

In the "here and now," and in the interest of procuring a safe hideout for the night, I actually dressed, and acted, the part of a streetwalker. Hey, it got Chang, Yuy and me into a seedy little dive where we at least had hot showers and a decent night's sleep.

Odd as it might sound, that's where I found out Chang was onto 'Ro and me. I guess while I showered, they talked. When I came out and sat down so Heero could re-bandage my bullet wound, he fried my circuits with a very hot and thorough kiss.

I started to say, "Chang--"

And Heero finished with, "--knows."

Well, if that didn't just about make my heart stop, as I envisioned the Chinese man's scorn and ire directed at my lover.

"Aside from reminding me of departmental regulations concerning fraternization with a witness, he took it well."

"Well" indeed.

Ya coulda knocked me over with a feather when Wuffers actually allowed me to sleep in the middle of the one bed we had to share--knowing full well that I'd be snuggled up against Heero first chance I got.

Yeah, he took it well.

I could tell he was still a bit uncomfortable about it--but, fuck! The guy had been a raving homophobe from day one, and here he was tolerating being stuck with two gay guys who were in love. You couldn't ask more than that from him.

I think that's the point in our journey where I really began to respect Chang as more than just a competent police officer. I started to see the human being in there--maybe even someone I'd like to call a friend some day.

Ah hell--may as well just admit it--he had me back when he offered to finish reading "The Three Musketeers" to the kids at the orphanage for me.

But when I realized he wouldn't turn his back on Heero just because he was gay, I wanted to fuckin' hug the guy! I settled for trying to be on my best behavior--keeping the public displays of affection to a minimum in front of the poor man. And he responded by actually letting down his guard and teasing both Heero and me as we left that seedy hotel and got back on our way.

The trip was actually becoming kind of fun by that time. Or it would have been, if I hadn't been worried sick about what had become of Trowa and Quatre.

Yeah, with a good night's sleep under my belt, I'd moved on to obsessing about whether our decoys had escaped pursuit as cleanly as we had. Though Heero tried putting a call through for me, we didn't get any kind of answer, which did nothing to calm my fears.

Maybe that's why Chang and I had a last little sniping match as we arrived at the ocean. (And as an aside--the ocean is truly awesome! All blue and sparkling and moving!)

I took a cheap shot--he took a cheap shot--and I once again started wondering exactly what his problem was with me. I knew I'd never met him before. So it was for sure I didn't run over his dog or cut in line in front of him somewhere.

So what did I ever do to make him hate my guts?

Heero tried to explain it--at least enough so I knew it wasn't "personal." But that left just as many questions unanswered--and I really wanted to push the issue. I mean, I'd just started to really like Chang. I didn't want to go back to hating him.

And in all honesty, I couldn't. I knew that behind the sharp and sometimes cruel barbs, there was a guy with a sense of honor and justice that wouldn't quit. He was capable of great kindness--like he'd shown when I freaked out over the newscast of the orphanage explosion.

And he could be tolerant--like he was when he put the pieces together and realized Heero was gay and in love with me.

So why did he so often resort to harshness and just plain meanness with me?

I meant to find out, if it took the whole rest of the time I was stuck in hiding with him.

OWARI

 

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