Author: Tenshi-chan
Warnings: Adult language, angst, AU, shounen-ai, some sap, yaoi, lemon.
Pairings: 3x4, 1x2x5
Rating: NC-17
Disclaimer: Don't own them... wish I did.
Runaway Part 1
"COMMANDER! THERE'S AN EMERGENCY IN CELL QUADRANT V!!!!"
Commander Treize Khushrenada turned to the guard and sighed. "What is the emergency?"
The guard, who was nameless and faceless to Treize saluted. "Thief 8744-02 has escaped the main building and is heading for the wall!"
Treize sighed. "He won't get far. It's only about 10 degrees out there. His attire wouldn't shield him from the wind. Still... send a pack of dogs after him. If they bring him back alive, fine. If they bring him back dead, fine. If they don't bring him back, let me know and I'll find where he managed to go and bring him back myself. In any case... he dies once he sets foot back in this compound! No one escapes Oz prison."
*****
'Must get outside! Must see! If they catch me, I'm dead. It'd be stupid to think otherwise. So cold! Won't matter soon! I just want to be free for a minute at LEAST! Hands hurt! Feet hurt! Must keep moving!' The sound of a dog howling caught Thief 8744-02's attention. 'The dogs! Damn! Gotta get moving! Gotta climb!' He started the painful climb up the wall... nearly slipping several times due to how numb his hands were. 'Almost there! ALMOST!'
Thief 8744-02 paused at the top of the wall and stared at the world beyond Oz prison. 'Father Maxwell was right! It's HUGE! I hope he doesn't get into trouble for helping me!' With that, he hopped off the wall and landed in the snow with a thump and a dull crack. He had felt something break in his arm, but he was so numb from the cold that he couldn't feel any pain. Still... he kept it close to his chest and ran. 'Gotta get as far away as possible! I wanna die free!' That was his last true thought as he ran through the woods because his mind refused to function any longer.
The last thing he was even aware of was something stopping his headlong run and falling back into the snow. He tried to get up but his body refused to obey. 'I guess this ends it! Wish I could have seen the sun just once, though.' He closed his eyes and sighed.
*****
Catherine smiled at her brother while she knitted a sweater. Trowa was currently making a pot of cocoa in order to ward off the chill of the winter night.
Both siblings looked up when the sound of their wood pile being knocked over was heard.
Trowa frowned and draped a blanket over his shoulders. "I'll go see what that was! I'll wait until noon to straighten out the wood." With that, he stepped outside, shivering as the chill of the air swept over him even with the blanket. As he approached the wood pile, something out of place caught his attention. A bit of brown could be seen where there was only white snow before. Trowa walked closer, hoping he'd be able to help whatever creature had left it's den. He sped up his steps as he neared when he saw that the 'creature' was actually a little boy.
Trowa gasped in shock as he gathered the boy in his arms. The boy was lighter than anything and his skin had a blue tint. "CATHERINE! GET A MUG OF THAT COCOA READY!!!!" He ran to the wagon, and winced when he noticed that one of the boy's arms was broken. He decided to set that while the boy was unconscious. He entered the wagon and gently placed his burden on the bed. "Bandages, some wood, blanket... and some clothes." He bit his lip and yanked the broken arm into alignment, hating that the child didn't even wince. "We'll get you warmed up. Hang in there."
Catherine returned and handed the wood and bandages to Trowa while setting to the task of stripping the child of his sodden clothing. "He looks like he's four!" She handed one of her throwing knives to Trowa. "Cut his shirt off so you don't have to jar that arm of his! Be careful not to cut yourself as well." She got up and poured some of the warm cocoa into a mug. She returned to the side of the bed as Trowa was crawling into bed beside the boy to warm him up. She would join Trowa on the other side. They wouldn't sleep with him, but they would get him to the point where he could warm up on his own. She gently shook a bony shoulder and smiled a little as the boy's eyes blinked and opened a little to look at her. The first sound out of him was a frightened-sounding whimper, and Catherine had been expecting that, so she smiled soothingly. "Hello. I'm Catherine and that's my brother, Trowa. You're safe here, but you were nearly frozen in the snow. We'll help you warm up some and then leave you alone. All right?"
The boy studied her tiredly before closing his eyes. "M'kay."
Catherine held him up and gently pressed the mug to his lips. "What's your name?"
The boy didn't sip... he merely swallowed the small amounts that were poured into his mouth. At Catherine's question, he frowned. When he got a moment to answer, he did so. "Thief 8744-02."
Catherine and Trowa shared a look. They now knew he was from Oz prison. From the '02', they guessed he had been born in the prison. The troupe was only staying for the winter, but they had already heard the rumors about this land. The stories that said if someone committed a crime in this land, their blood was then believed to be tainted and any child that was descended from that person would tend towards a life of crime.
Catherine let the child finish the cocoa and curled up against him. "I just want to help warm you. I won't hurt you."
Thief 8744-02 closed his eyes as the pair's warmth started to seep through him. He felt safe and warm, so he let himself slip into sleep.
Trowa was the first to move. "I'll be back in a bit, Cathy. I'm going to the front wagon to tell the leader about our new family member."
Catherine smiled. "So you believe we should adopt him? I agree." She caressed the boy's pale skin. "He looks like a child, but we can't tell his age due to his current condition."
Trowa nodded. "So what do we call him? He needs a name." He leaned against a wall and gazed at the boy. "Duo... for the 02 so it's something familiar."
Catherine nodded in agreement. "Duo. A good name." She hugged the shivering boy close. "Hurry. He needs to stop shivering so I can strap his broken arm to his chest."
Trowa pushed himself away from the wall and ducked out of the trailer.
Catherine smiled fondly at the boy. "You'll be safe here, Duo. We'll protect you. You won't have to be locked up ever again."
*****
The next day found the troupe healer examining the boy while the leader asked him questions.
"How old are you, boy?"
Thief 8744-02, as he still considered himself, frowned in thought. "I don't know when I was born and time was meaningless at Oz since there were no windows."
Catherine paused in her work to bite her lip. "You never saw the sun before today?"
The leader asked the next question before the boy could answer Catherine's. "Last night, Catherine and Trowa came up with the name Duo for you. Are you comfortable with that name?"
"Duo? Why Duo?"
Catherine smiled at the bewildered and intrigued expression on the boy's face. "It means two. Since you have a two at the end of your designation, I guessed you might be more comfortable with a name that was a shift of something you've been calling yourself all along."
"Duo..." A small smile spread across his face and he nodded. "I like it." Inside, he felt like screaming with joy. He had a name.
The healer finished her work. "Duo is a FINE name. Well, lad... you are severely malnourished and underweight, you have a broken arm which Catherine did a fine job of immobilizing, and you had a close brush with freezing to death last night. Had Trowa found you three minutes later... we'd be burying you today. And from the length of your hair, I'd say you were about Seven. Have you ever cut it?"
Duo shook his head. "No."
The troupe leader left the wagon and addressed the assembled performers. "Today... we mourn the death of a little escaped thief who froze to death in the snow last night and celebrate the birth of Catherine and Trowa's new little brother, Duo!"
Duo frowned in bewilderment as a cheer went up. "Brother? Me? How can I be your brother if I'm dead?"
Catherine smiled and helped Duo settle down. "It's symbolic. You are no longer Thief 8744-02. HE is who died last night, and he is who will be buried. By agreeing to let Trowa and I care for you, you become our adopted brother, Duo. Today is your birthday because you are starting a new life." She caressed the hollow cheek. "Unless you don't wish to be our brother."
Duo beamed and threw his arm around Catherine... hoping she'd return the gesture. He'd always liked it when Father Maxwell's subordinate, Sister Helen, held him. It made him feel as if someone cared. He rested his head against Catherine's shoulder and sighed as she returned the hug.
A knock on the door caught Catherine's attention and she gently pulled away from her new brother. 'He needs to be loved.' She opened the door and smiled at the group. "Hold on a moment." She returned to Duo and wrapped him up in a blanket before picking him up and carrying him out to show the group. "It's okay, Duo... they just want to welcome you."
Duo blushed a little as, one at a time, the troupe members spoke to him with kind words and gave him small gifts. One girl looked at him and disappeared for a moment before returning with a hand mirror and a hair brush. It was obvious the whole group wanted to pepper him with questions, but Catherine would have none of it.
"Your questions can wait. Right now, he's very tired and he needs his rest." She returned to the warm interior of the wagon with one of the group behind her carrying Duo's gifts. She fixed a bowl of soup and helped Duo drink it before tucking him in and letting him sleep.
TBC...
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