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Witching Hour	By : kracken Category: Gundam Wing/AC > Yaoi - Male/Male > Heero/Duo Views: 650 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own gundam Wing and I don't make any money off of this.

Chapter List
- 1-Witching Hour
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 1
- 2
- 3
"You're not a killer," Heero had assured him, before giving him over to the tender care of nurses. Not that killing them would have helped him, Duo thought, as he surveyed the endless blue ocean on all sides of the small island.

It was more of a sandbar, really, possessing very few palm trees and bushes, and dominated by a beach house on stilts. The upper deck of the wood house was open to the hot sun and a slight breeze that spoke of cooler climates elsewhere. If he had been strong enough, Duo might have considered tearing the house apart to construct a boat, but, the feel of that breeze and the position of the stars at night told him just how far he was away from any land. Supplies were brought in by a well guarded helicopter that barely touched land long enough to offload. That weren't taking any chances with him.

Heero wasn't taking chances either. He never dropped his guard, never left himself open to attack, and where he slept at night was still a mystery. Limping through the house, intent on murder, Duo hadn't discovered it yet. That the man had stranded himself in Duo's prison, however pleasant that prison, was another mystery that Duo had yet to solve.

They gave him soft, drawstring shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops for his feet. They gave him good food and many places to lounge, relax, and heal. They were all women, doctors and nurses alike, but they were as quiet and unobtrusive as the staff in a first class hotel. Duo never felt pressured to do anything. They made suggestions and he gave permission, or not, as he saw fit.

He supposed that they had chosen women because they knew Duo that well. In his madness to get free from his kidnappers, he hadn't felt the need to worry about his enemies sex, or their level of involvement. In the past, though, he had never liked killing them, had often gone out of his way, and risked his own life, to avoid it. Now, it was very hard to contemplate slitting the throats of any of the very friendly nurses and doctors tending him.

Duo felt a presence behind him and controlled a twitch. "Hm?" he wondered. Regaining control of his voice had been a relief, but he couldn't help the hesitation, the nervous part of his brain still recalling the beatings and the men who hadn't wanted him to voice even his pain.

"You never leave the house," Heero said.

Duo simply shrugged. The implants were gone. The compulsions were gone as well. Blame was still firmly in place, still burned into his psyche, though. He was unable to believe that every idle conversation, by even the janitors cleaning up his blood and refuse, during his kidnapping, had been lies. Heero's name had been prominent. Heero was the one who had come and demanded reports and results. Heero was the one had upped his training, upped his pain, making his kidnappers punish him when he hadn't met Heero's expectations.

"Duo? Stay with me." Heero urged.

The past had begun to play itself again, to impose itself on the here and now. Heero's voice brought Duo back sharply. He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at the horizon.

They sun and the relentless surf came back into focus. "I can swim?" Duo wanted to know, voice slow and almost a whisper. He could almost feel the hot sand between his toes and the cooling salt water on his skin.

"Yes," Heero replied, but he wasn't fooled. He didn't allow hope to make him drop his guard. When Duo turned he was poised, hands open and ready for any attack, and blue eyes wary. Dressed in casual shorts and shirt, a weapon wasn't apparent. He didn't need one. He was a weapon in himself, more than capable of taking Duo down... as long as he was aware of his danger.

There was a hospital smell that bothered Duo, that triggered memories, and there wasn't any escaping it in some portions of the house. He was there to heal, to allow doctors and nurses to treat him, and antibacterial cleansers went hand in hand with those rooms used for those activities. To go where even a whiff wouldn't intrude unexpectedly, was an enticement that was hard to resist. It seemed a concession, though, a defeat.

"Do you need help?" Heero asked.

"Alone?" Duo challenged.

A pause and then an uncertain, "If you like... If you think you're able. Watch the north side of the island. The current is strong around the point."

"You're getting me strong... so... so that you can..... work me over again, right?" Duo wanted to know, the sun suddenly not able to win over a sudden chill.

Heero looked pained. "No." He seemed to think carefully and then he asked, "Can't you see the lie, Duo? If you can tell me what they were trying to achieve, how you're any better than you were before....?"

Duo felt his head throb. He raised a hand to rub at it. "A lot... happened," he managed. "I... I don't know."

Heero pressed his advantage. "Think about it. Please. You're an intelligent man. I know you'll see the truth, eventually."

Duo shivered as he moved past Heero to reach the stairs back down into the house. Heero wisely didn't follow. The coolness out of the sun and that slight antiseptic smell, made Duo ache deep down in his psyche. He couldn't bear it. He couldn't win when freedom was through an open door and over a few sand dunes.

Flip flops were lost halfway to the water and the sand was a balm on bare feet. The shirt came off next, making a trail behind him, as the sun massaged bare shoulders and back with warmth. When his feet went into the surf and it rolled in and out over them, Duo spent a long time watching sea shells uncovered, and then swept away by the water.

Alone, but not free, Duo thought, but at least the alone part felt good. It soothed away his headache and he sat down in the sand and water and simply relaxed for a long while. When he took the time to consider a swim, he didn't feel capable. His leg was still weak in the upper muscles and he remembered Heero's warning of strong currents.

What were they trying to achieve? Duo wondered as he sank his hands into the sand and felt it slip between his fingers. A super soldier they could control? There had been drugs, exercises pushing him to his limits, and torments that had never seemed to have a purpose. The implants, he had been told, had driven his paranoia, his heightened sense of danger, and his anger. Control had never seemed the point where they were concerned, unless it was to incapacitate him when he tried to rebel.

Maybe a man might do as he was told to escape that level of pain, but Duo had never bent to their will because of it. He had endured, only, until that pain had taken away his strength and his consciousness. If they had attempted to make him their super soldier, they had failed. It was possible that they might try again when he was completely well.

Duo looked around him, finally, at the island paradise, owned by Quatre Winner, and given over to the care of one man's health. The fuel, ships, personnel, and equipment would be costing a small fortune, Duo was certain. Perhaps that was the sticking point in his total belief that they were using him, that they had plans to return him to 'training'. Duo remembered an office building, small rooms, shoddy equipment, doctors and attendants that had looked unprofessional. It hadn't spoken of this level of funding. The two didn't match.

Heero wanted him to think, to consider what the truth could be. Duo had thought that he had known, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that his life before had been the truth. He couldn't get beyond that betrayal to trust any truth that he might discover, now.

A seagull dipped over the waves and Duo felt a burn start on his skin. He rose, reluctantly, dripping with water, and walked back to his prison.

-------------------------------------------

Quatre wouldn't do that. It was a firm belief that rose to the surface one day. Duo considered that belief from all angles as he spent an afternoon walking the small island. All of the others were soldiers, men who could kill without a blink, and then go about their lives. Duo could doubt them, could see how the drive to achieve a goal could over ride their humanity and friendship. Quatre was different. He had apologized to men before he had killed them, during the war, his conscious always weighing heavily on him.

Heero had seemed hesitant, when Duo had asked to see Quatre. Standing under a palm tree, with a thoughtful frown on his face, he had taken a long time to decide. Duo didn't expect for him to say, sounding pained, "Why Quatre? Why trust him, and not me, after all we've been through together?"

"I've grabbed enemy soldiers by the hair and slit their throats, thinking that it was a good thing, that it was for the cause," Duo replied. "So have you. Quatre's always been different. If someone convinced him to betray me, then it was for a reason I could probably understand. Fuck! I might even have volunteered for it."

Heero laughed. Duo hadn't expected that. It spoke to the soldiers that they had been; the dark, hard, inner self that could do terrible things when called upon. It illustrated, perfectly, why Duo could believe terrible things of Heero Yuy, and even of himself, if it came down to that, but not Quatre. He lacked that cold blooded ID.

"I'll call him," Heero promised, which wasn't a promise, really, just an offer. If, later, the man told him that Quatre had declined to come, it would be another belief issue, another reason not to trust.

"You don't have to keep checking on me," Duo said, switching the subject as he leaned against a palm tree and stared out at the sun drenched surf. "I haven't decided if I'm flattered that you think I can make a jump ship out of coconuts, or insulted that you think I might try it."

"You've been pushing yourself," Heero replied seriously. "I keep expecting you to go too far, too fast, and need help getting back."

Duo waved a necklace at Heero with a small, electronic device hanging from it. "My own, personal, call button. The doctors were worried too."

"The flashbacks..." Heero tried again. "You might not-"

Duo shook his head and limped away. "I don't want to talk about them."

Heero hesitated and then followed. "It's a form of PWS, Duo. You know that. It's not going to go away, because you won't talk about it with the doctors."

Duo stopped walking, jaw working, and then he replied in anguish. "I had a life before all of this, Heero, a future. Now, I don't have anything... just these... memories. If I talk about them, it only makes me want to kill you even more."

"Why?" Heero wanted to know and Duo felt a moment of cold anger, until he reminded himself that unless Heero truly had betrayed him, he wouldn't know his central role in all of it.

Duo gathered his strength, his own inner ID that was as strong as gundanium, and just as cold, and replied, "They had me spread out, shock plates everywhere, even in my mouth, even..." Duo grinned but it was a death head grin as he looked at Heero, the killer showing in his purple eyes. "I was bleeding and... everything...yeah, everything... and they took vid clips, laughing while they did it. They said... said they were for your collection."

Heero put hands over his face, his breath sucking in harshly. The veins and muscles stood out sharply on those strong hands, going almost bloodless with the pressure as they pressed down hard in anguish.

Duo studied Heero with a hard knot of pain in his gut, trying to see the lie, the bad acting, the overplayed hand. When Heero finally lowered his hands, his eyes were red and wet, and his lips were a tight, thin line.

"Nothing to say?" Duo whispered, his voice harsh.

"What good..." Heero tried, choked, and then tried again,"How did something like that... improve you?"

Duo shrugged but it was more of a flinch. "I'm not a scientist," he replied.

"They wanted you to hate us," Heero told him, pulling himself back together with an effort. "Everything they did was to make you a weapon against us. To win a war, you remove the most serious threats to your victory."

It had been their job to remove those threats during Operation Meteor.

"You make weapons, too," Duo countered, but it was an empty statement. They hadn't made their super soldier. They had failed. Duo had been a wreck when he had escaped. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility, though, that they might want to try again. As long as that was a valid possibility, he couldn't disbelieve the rest.

A seagull drifted by, eyed them, and then drifted away off shore on a warm breeze. Duo wished with all of his being to follow it.

"I need to be alone," Duo growled. "You make me remember... I told you, I don't want to."

"All right," Heero replied. He looked sad and at a loss.

"Bring Quatre here," Duo asked. "I'll believe him. I'll know, then."

"Did they... talk about Quatre?" Heero wondered.

Duo nodded tightly. "Not as much, but, yeah."

"I still don't...," Heero began, confused.

"It'll be in his eyes," Duo assured him, and knew he sounded unstable. "Windows to the soul, and all of that."

"Duo...," Heero looked even more confused.

Duo pulled down his bottom eyelid a little and sneered at Heero as he told him, "Our windows show the killer in us, the dead we've seen. It's all we've ever known. Quatre is different. If he's turned, he won't be able to hide that from me."

Heero raked a hand through his hair despondently. It was clear that he was doubting Duo's reasoning. "All right. I'll talk to him. I'll do anything you want to convince you that-"

"Not everything," Duo retorted. "I'd be free and back in civilization, if that that was true."

"You know why I can't do that," Heero replied with a sigh.

"Ultimate trust," Duo told him. "You can't ask for it and not give it."

Heero winced and then replied, "I understand, but, I have people to protect. As much as I want you to believe me, I won't risk them."

This was the old Heero, the one Duo had fallen in love with, the one he had wanted to get serious with. This was the Heero who had been front and center in his dreams of a life. He sacrificed himself, and he sacrificed others, for the greater good, to protect and save those who couldn't do that for themselves.

"Did you sacrifice me?" Duo wanted to know, the pain making his voice raspy.

He could tell that Heero didn't understand.

"Don't ask me to justify something that I didn't do," Heero finally replied. He walked away, then, as if he couldn't deal with Duo's belief in his crime against him any longer.

Duo watched him go, watched that unprotected back walk away, and didn't realize his missed opportunity until the man had taken the boardwalk back to the house. There were any number of handy objects that he could have used as a weapon. Heero had been clearly distracted.

"Shit!" Duo swore, but it lacked heat and conviction. He wondered if he could have gone through with it, even if he had realized his opportunity. Doubt was taking hold and, if he wasn't careful, it was going to make him fall into the same trap that had cost him everything.

The barrel of a gun pressed hard against Duo's temple. He froze, eyes swiveling sideways, and saw a strange man standing there, looking as if he had just threatened a very dangerous animal.

"Move," the man ordered in a strained voice and used his free hand to motion towards the beach.

Duo complied, every sense alert for an opportunity to act, that he wouldn't ignore this time. He didn't bother wondering why or even who. That was a luxury for after he had the upper hand again. It came unexpectedly. The man slid in the sand, one leg going out and then his other struggling for a split second to compensate. His gun barrel left true and Duo was ducking and striking out.

There was an ugly crack as Duo first broke the man's arm, took his weapon second, and then lastly put him down into the sand with the gun barrel pressed against his forehead.

"Go ahead and shoot," a voice ordered.

Duo glanced up and saw two men training automatic weapons, with silencers, on him and looking grim. A third man was looking contemptuously at the man Duo had dropped and who was almost unconscious from pain.

"I don't take orders from you," Duo retorted and straightened, gun still in his hand.

A nod sent one of the gunmen over and he shot the downed man point blank. A splatter of blood covered Duo's bare leg. He refused to even flinch, his eyes still on the apparent leader of the group.

"I don't keep stupid men," the leader told him, "and I always tie up loose ends."

"I'm a loose end?" Duo asked with a snort.

"You didn't operate as planned," the man said in way of agreement. "Now I either collect you, and use you again, or plant you like Terrence, and call it a wasted effort. Either way, you won't be around to tell anyone my secrets."

Duo frowned, "I know your secrets?"

The man gave him a hard smile and replied, "You were a hard man to find and this trip was expensive, Agent Maxwell. Decide, now, whether I recoup some of my loses, or not."

"Not," Duo replied calmly and shot the man between the eyes.

Duo expected to be dead in the next instant. There wasn't any dodging or running from automatic weapons at that close range. The men hesitated, staring at their dead leader in shock, but it was only a split second before self preservation kicked in. Duo managed to get off another shot, taking a man in the neck, before they could take aim and fire their own weapons. The last man was going to end it and Duo braced for the impact of bullets.

When a gun fired, though, the bullets came from behind Duo, nipping his right ear and stinging the skin of that shoulder. The last man went down, jerking and crying out before he could squeeze the trigger.

Duo scrambled back and away, his gun nosing for targets and found one of the nurses, in cut offs and a bikini top, staring wide eyed at the dead and dying men, her gun held in both hands and still aiming.

"I-I've never killed anyone before," she blurted out in a frightened voice.

Duo approached her cautiously and put a hand on her wrist, making her lower her gun. She began trembling badly. "Do you always go around packing heat in your bathing suit?" he asked.

She looked at him, shock setting in, wisps of her blonde hair falling into her face, as she replied in a shaky voice, "I'm a Preventer medic. I've never seen action.... w-we're supposed to always be prepared, though... r-right?"

Duo nodded as he looked down at her small gun. It was almost a toy, but a toy that could kill. "Good thing for me that you took your training seriously."

She swallowed and nodded. Her chin motioned to the men. "We should disarm them... I'll call for backup."

She didn't say anything about treating the injured. They both knew where their shots had landed. The men were seconds from death, if they weren't dead already.

Duo disarmed them, letting her walk away to make her call and calm down. He could see where she had dropped her towel, sunglasses, and a folded beach chair, her day off at the beach ruined with blood shed.

Duo felt for pulses and found none. It made it easier to earch the bodies. His hands were quickly thick with gore as he pulled out whatever he could find from their pockets. The smell made him think of the old days and he shivered under the hot sun, not wanting visions of the war to cloud his thinking.

Cell phones, passports, business cards, even pictures of loved ones went on top of one man's chest as Duo made a pile of their effects. It didn't surprise him that he found nothing to explain their attack or identify them beyond their names and addresses.

"Duo!" Heero came slipping and sliding over the sand to reach him, armed women fanning out behind him to search the area for more danger. "You're bleeding," Heero exclaimed as he finally reached Duo and came to an uncertain halt. "What happened? Who are these men?"

Duo touched his nicked ear and shoulder. "Your medic over there could use some more target practice, but she saved my life. These men wanted to take me off the island." He motioned to the leader. "He said something about not liking loose ends."

"Do you recognize any of them?" Heero wondered.

Duo shook his head. "No."

"They could be from the group that kidnapped you," Heero said as he pulled out his cell and made a call, his eyes searching their surroundings for danger.

Duo looked at the dead men, frowning, as Heero talked to someone about being compromised and needing relocation.

Duo shook his head and said, "No, I'm not going anywhere."

Heero asked the person on the cell to wait and then asked Duo, "Why? There could be more of them out there. This island isn't secure any longer."

"For who?" Duo asked as he straightened and wondered what to do with his bloodied hands. "It's my cage, my prison. It's in the middle of nowhere, yet they somehow knew just where to look for this sandbar."

He could see Heero considering that, considering security leaks. He said something short to the cell phone and closed it. He gave Duo his attention as some of the women came to collect the bodies and the personal effects.

"What are you thinking?" Heero wanted to know.

"Bring more forces in and defend this place. Let them try again," Duo suggested.

"and be ready for them," Heero finished, but he was looking disturbed. He made his feelings clear when he added, "I don't like you to be in any danger. You've suffered enough."

Duo stared at him, trying to see through the lie, trying to see any glimmer in Heero's eyes that would tell him whether this had not been a set up to make him trust them.

Heero understood that close scrutiny. "They would kill their own men?" Heero asked, trying to make Duo see sense. "Would they go that far to trick you?"

Duo pointed to one of the men. "They killed him for being sloppy. What they did to me... I have my proof of how far they are willing to go."

"They, not me?" Heero jumped on that hopefully.

Duo refused to concede that slip. "I don't know."

Heero looked frustrated. He barked orders to the women and then motioned Duo to follow him. Heading back to the house, it was obvious that he was distracted, thinking, perhaps, of ways to secure the island.

"Do you want me to kill you?" Duo asked bluntly.

Heero looked sharply over his shoulder at Duo and almost walked into a pam tree. He moved around it and said, giving Duo his back, "You didn't take it earlier."

"I'm... troubled...," Duo admitted as he again didn't take advantage, as he followed Heero without looking at that delicate junction along Heero's neck that would snap if he struck it just right. "You shouldn't trust that, though."

Heero looked back again and then waited until Duo passed him. He asked, "Are you afraid that a compulsion might make you kill me?"

"I don't know," Duo replied, feeling strange that the sky was still blue, and the sun wonderfully warm on his skin when death lay behind him, when he had almost died. The world went on, though. It would always go on, as if tragedies didn't happen beneath that sun all of the time.

"I don't know what to think," Duo clarified,"except that I don't want to make a mistake."

"That's two of us," Heero replied.

TBC
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Witching Hour