Perfect Prey.

Natea
Title: Perfect Prey
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: AU, sap, angst, squick, shounen-ai, possible yaoi and citrus content.
Pairings: Focusing mainly on 1+2+1 leading to 1x2x1, other pairings 3x4, 5xS.
Summary: After being washed up on an island following a crash, Heero and Duo find themselves in the company of a woman who is not all she claims to be.
Disclaimer: None of the boys belong to me and I\'m not making a single penny from the writing of this fic (shame)...the idea for the story is inspired in part by a published work by Richard Connell called \"The Most Dangerous Game.\" Excellent story!

Perfect Prey.

Chapter 5.

A Trip to Tussaud’s.

It did rain.

They had to cut the beach reconnaissance short when, shortly after two fifteen in the afternoon, despite Duo’s assurances to the contrary, the heavens opened. The resulting deluge couldn’t really be called rain though… it was more like a solid wall of water falling straight down. They ran for cover, making it back to the house in record time but still managing to arrive thoroughly soaked through and shivering. After drying off quickly they spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering through the house...exploring and cataloguing.

Finding the library on the first floor fairly quickly Duo opted to stay behind and do a little research while Heero - true to form - vanished without a word to do his own thing. Pulling out the various atlases the braided boy made himself comfortable in front of an empty fireplace and spent a good few hours pouring over the yellowing pages, searching; to little avail.

Ivana had been right about their island not appearing in the books. It seemed the lump of land was just too small to be deemed worthy of catalogue and only a faded blue expanse existed in the area she had claimed they were. After trawling through the third and final book with no success Duo turned his attention to the other island that bore the name Sakhalin. Much further north then they were, it bordered Japan and Russia and was roughly six hundred miles long, ranging in width from sixteen to one hundred and twenty five miles. Two mountain ranges ran the full length of the island from north to south but that was the extent of the information.

There was no area of written detail to accompany the pictures and so Duo was forced to admit defeat on the search. Still, he mused, there was something behind Ivana’s choice of name for her own island…something more than the fact that the original strip of land was Russian owned. He’d just have to keep his ears and eyes open and his powder dry, as Heero had said earlier. Ivana was bound to let something slip soon.

Closing the book with a sigh he leant back in his chair and closed his eyes. The rain was still falling steadily and the only noise breaking the silence of the room came from the slow ‘drip drip’ of the guttering outside. Despite the weather the temperature was climbing steadily, far past the realms of comfort now when combined with the humidity of the evaporating rainwater.

The others were going to be so worried about them right now, he thought. Quatre would be able to tell they were still alive…that Uchuu no Kokoro of his really came in useful sometimes…but they had no way of getting in contact with them and no way of knowing where in the World they were.

WuFei and Sally were probably arriving in Singapore now, Duo reasoned with a grin. ‘Fei would charge into headquarters demanding to know what was going on and why the hell they hadn’t been found by now. There would be curses on the ancestors of every person in the search party before the day was out.

It was right about then that Duo’s thoughts became a bit more jumbled, WuFei’s rants became mixed with the faint but ever present sound of the ocean and the ‘drip drip’ from the pipe, and soon he was dozing, making up for the broken sleep last night.

A couple of hours later the click of the door handle woke him and he sat up in the seat, turning to face the doorway.

\"Hey \'Ro.\"

Heero nodded in greeting, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Duo\'s eyes narrowed slightly as he took in his partner\'s appearance and he glanced swiftly out of the window at the rain still pouring down outside.

\"Have you been out again?\" He asked, sotto voce.

\"Hai.\" Heero shucked off his jacket and draped it over the back of Duo\'s chair. The rain had soaked through the flimsy material reaching his shirt underneath and drenching it. Water dripped steadily from his hair, which was rucked up bizarrely in the front where he had obviously pushed it away from his eyes. The absence of Heero\'s shock of hair over his forehead laid bare the cut he had received yesterday during the crash. At some point he had obviously come across a first aid kit of some kind as the line of black stitches had been removed and replaced with three butterfly strips.

Duo frowned at the drowned rat Heero now resembled. He raised an eyebrow, asking silently for details on exactly why Heero had thought it necessary to go outside in a storm and where he had gone but Heero only shook his head, sending droplets of water flying in all directions as he did so. \"Did you find anything?\" He asked.

\"Nah, nothing of importance.\" Duo shrugged, turning back to the now closed book on the table. When Heero wanted to tell him he would, till then Duo could wait, he was used to it after all. \"The island is too small to be on any map in these atlases and the little information I could find on the real Sakhalin is only geographTherThere are no books on world history that have anything in them about it but then again I couldn\'t find any books here that deal with pre-colony history.\"

Heero nodded, sitting down, ramrod straight, in a comfy chair opposite Duo. His shirt moved against his back as he did so and he suppressed a grimace of discomfort at the cold, wet feeling. Glancing up at Duo he was just in time to catch what he suspected was a smirk on the other boy\'s face but it was gone so quickly he couldn\'t be sure. Heero glowered, daring Duo to say one word about his appearance. \"Ivana has one dining room, one kitchen, one bathroom and four reception rooms downstairs,\" he said, \"I didn\'t go into the eastern quarter of the house because of her request. Upstairs there are five guestrooms including our own, all of which sleep at least four. Our room is the only one in use so the servants quarters must either be in the eastern quarter or in a basement.\"

\"Is there semesement?\"

\"I\'m not sure. I didn\'t find any door leading to one but that doesn\'t mean one doesn\'t exist.\" Heero thought for a moment. \"The building is bigger downstairs than upstairs...considerably bigger...most of the extra space is in the eastern quarter.\"

\"Makes sense,\" Duo nodded, \"Ivana strikes me as the kind of person who\'d want a grand bedroom suite.\"

\"Hn, maybe.\" Heero murmured, \"but it\'s still a lot of space.\" He glanced over at Duo, his eyes resting on the nape of his neck and the brown braid that rested there. \"Do you still have your picks?\"

\"Surprisingly yes. In fact I don\'t know about losing them, I couldn\'t get the damn things out of my braid it was so matted with the salt.\" Duo nodded, grinning as he realized just what Heero had planned. \"You want to check it out sometime?\"

\"Aa. Tonight.\"

\"Deal.\" Duo agreed. He fell silent for a while, thinking over the information Heero had given him. He frowned. \"It seems like a helluva lot of guest rooms for a woman who just \'vants to be alone.\'\" He placed the back of his hand against his forehead and sighed melodramatically. Heero nodded, ignoring the humour.

\"I thought so too,\" he said, \"the number of seats in the reception rooms downstairs tallies with the number of beds in the guest quarters. They\'re worn so either Ivana bought her furniture second hand or they\'ve been used extensively.\" He raised a hand, stopping Duo\'s question dead. \"No, they\'re not antiques,\" he said, \"nothing in this house is older than twenty years...and that includes the house itself.\"

\"Are you sure?\"

Heero threw Duo an \'I\'m sure, I\'m so sure I\'d stake your life on it\' look and nodded. \"I am sure. I believe Ivana had this house custom built for her when she came here.\"

\"If that\'s true then why didn\'t she get the place fitted out with electricity?\" Duo asked, not entirely convinced. \"It\'s not like it would be expensive; all it\'d take would be a decent sized generator and a whole lot of fuel. She alrehas has a supply ship coming in...it would be so easy to get a couple of gallons of diesel sent over every so often.\"

\"That I don\'t know.\" Heero admitted. \"Although it could be a vain attempt at living in the past on her part. We know she likes the evening dresses of the Victorian era, back in the nineteenth century A.D.\"

Duo blinked. \"Okay. I actually didn\'t know that,\" he admitted, \" I guess you learn something new every day.\"

Heero looked at him before continuing. \"The house is filled with reproduction furniture of that same period,\" he said. \"There\'s nothing here to throw the aesthetic look out of place, no smoke alarms, no electricity, no CB radios or satellite phones.\"

\"So you\'re saying that you could pick this house up, stick it right in the middle of Victorian England and it would fit in.\"

\"Hn.\" Heero nodded. \"It would fit in and so would its owner.\"

\"Well,\" Duo stroked his chin thoughtfully, \"I guess there are worse eras to have a fixation about. Retro sixties for instance.\" At Heero\'s quizzical look he grinned, \"Then again, that might not be too bad. I\'d kill to see you in a pair of flares. Come on,\" he stood up and stretched, purposefully ignoring the glare Heero was throwing his way. \"It\'s nearly time for dinner and you look like you were only pulled out of the ocean five mis ags ago, let alone over twenty-four hours.\"


**

“You both seem to be feeling better now. How would you feel about accompanying me tonight? We can hunt together.” Ivraisraised her glass, looking at them almost coyly over the lip.

The meal tonight was more simple - to Duo\'s...and, yes, even Heero\'s...relief. Boiled potatoes and salted beef with gravy and vegetables. Even Ivana had relaxed a little, foregoing the evening gown and dressing instead in her khaki hunting gear. She was obviously very geared up for the hunt tonight; practically the entire dinner conversation had included her excitement over the upcoming chase.

Duo caught Heero’s eye across the dinner table and quirked a brow. It was a tempting offer - a chance to find out a little more about this woman and the elusive creature she hunted. But Heero’s eyes said ‘no’ and Duo had to agree. Any other time and they would have jumped at the chance...but tonight hey had other things on their agenda. He shook his head almost imperceptibly. “No thanks Ivana,” he said quickly, “We’re both still tired after what happened yesterday and we’ve had a long day.” Heero stifled a yawn, adding to the effect.

Ivana looked at them for a while, sizing them up in silent contemplation, before nodding, her expression falling in almost child-like disappointment. “You’re right. You\'re right, it’s still too soon. It’s only been one day after all.” She smiled a little and shook her finger at them in a mock stern gesture, “But I’m warning you now boys, tomorrow I won’t let you off so easily.”

“We’d love to Ivana.” Heero said, “I’m very interested in this animal you hunt.”

Ivana practically beamed at him, “You’re going to love it.” She said, “I know you are, both of you.” She glanced at the clock on the wall and stood up, downing her drink in one long swallow. “And now I’m late. You should both get to bed; you’ve got a long day ahead of you tomorrow.” She left.

Alone in the large room the two boys stared at each other. Duo took a final sip of his glass of water before standing up. “Come on buddy.” He said loudly, “Let’s get to bed before I decide to go to sleep right here. This table is beginning to look pretty damn comfy.”

“Hn.”

They shuffled out of the room slowly; making a show for anyone who could possibly be watching them. Reaching their own room shortly afterwards they wandered inside and closed the door. The silence of slumber fell over the household.



At a little after one AM two shadows flitted down the hall in the direction of the main staircase. They made no noise, in fact they could have been tricks of the light…if there had been any light to play tricks with. They floated down the stairs, even the creaky step fifth from the bottom made no indication that there was anything there more substantial than darkness.

They ghosted through the passageways silently, moving quickly and efficiently and always in the direction of the east wing.

Ivana’s quarters.

The door to the Russian woman’s rooms was locked, which was surprising considering that there was a grand total of six people living on the island…not counting the two interloping Preventer agents of course. Still, no deadlock was a match for Duo and his picks, which had managed to survive the shipwreck. In a matter of a few seconds he had the door open and they were inside.

Then, and only then, did they speak; Heero’s voice little more than an exhalation.

“Clthe the drapes.”

Duo complied immediately, the ‘ruche’ of the material the loudest sound in the room since they had entered. Then there was the sharp click of the lighter and a second later the yellow glow of the oil lamp filled the room. They separated, searching the room quickly and efficiently.

It didn’t take long to see everything of importance. A twin sized bed with silk and chenille comforters was positioned against the far wall, next to it was an old side cabinet containing a wind up alarm clock, set to three PM they both noticed. On the floor was a bearskin rug, and the mounted head of a leopard graced the wall above the bed\'s headboard. Apart from that the room was empty.

Heero knelt down beside the bed and began to go through the contents of the small cupboard. Toiletries with Japanese brand names for the most part but right at the back he came across a small bundle of letters. Settling down with his back against the frame of the bed he began to read.

Leaving Heero to his reading Duo began to investigate the doors that led out of the room. There were three, nncluncluding the one they had entered by. The first two led to nothing more interesting than a small bathroom and a walk in wardrobe…it was the third which caught his attention.

It was locked.

Hissing a call over to Heero he fished out his trusty picks again and began to work. Putting down the letters at Duo’s call, Heero padded silently over. He waited as Duo fiddled with the lock until suddenly, with a small click, it was open. Duo grasped the handle and was about to turn it when Heero’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Let me get the light first.” He waited impatiently while Heero turned off the lights in their room…the last thing they wanted to do was inform anyone that they were up and about…as soon as the room was dark again he turned the handle and stepped inside.

There were no windows to this room. That was the first thing they noticed. The blackness was complete. Heero lit the oil lamp again and held it up to better fill the room with light.

It was Ivana’s trophy room.

They\'d seen mounts before. They would have been blind not to see them; the house was practically filled with the things. Heads of tigers, leopards, jaguars, buffalo and even, in one case, a rhino were hung on practically every wall. But that was nothing compared to the sight that greeted them in this room.

Heads…huns ofs of them, filled every conceivable space in the windowless area. They covered the walls, hanging three deep in some pla Dis Display cabinets contained even more…these ones more detailed head and shoulder mounts, and in the centre of the floor there were even a few full body mounts. All had been expertly stuffed and displayed…

…and all of them were human.

\"Shit.\" Almost against his will Duo took a step into the room. “Shit.”

A myriad of fake eyes stared him down accusingly…surpassing even Heero’s Death glare easily. They glittered yellow in the light from the lamp, flickering as one with the small flame. Duo shivered suddenly, convulsively, and turned to Heero. “At least we know she’s not hunting anything endangered.” He said, feeling his back crawl with the weight of those dead eyes. Heero nodded and ‘hnned’, walking further into the room and disappearing behind a display case containing five head and shoulder mounts, each of them looking frighteningly like copies of the Greek busts you see in museums. He took the light with him and the moving shadows on the wall leant even more atmosphere to a room already fully charged with tension.

Stepping after him gingerly, Duo grasped hold of Heero’s arm and tugged on it gently. “Come on ‘Ro. I don\'t like this; we should get out of here.”

Heero reached out to touch one of the faces, running his fingers, ghostlike, up the ridge of a cheekbone and across a brow, tracing the line of a cut that would never bleed…never bruise…never heal. The skin was cool and dry benehis his touch, paper like. Besides him Duo shivered, his eyes moving up to the small cut on Heero’s own forehead. An almost overwhelming feeling of panic swept over him and he took in a deep breath. Mounts, he thought they’re not heads they’re just mounts, you’ve seen loads of them elsewhere and weren’t bothered by them…this is just the same. Unaware of his partner’s internal thoughts Heero pulled his hand back and stared at his fingers intently, sadly. Duo pulled again.

“Come ON ‘Ro.”

Heero pulled his arm free gently and turned to face Duo. “How long has she been doing this?” he murmured. “How many people has she murdered for sport?”

“I don’t know.” Duo said, staring round at the different displays. “We need to get away from here, Heero. We need to stop her.”

Heero looked away, focussing on the wall hung heads closest to theme sie sightless, acrylic eyes stared back, through him and out the other side. It was a strange feeling to be the focus of so many and yet not be seen at all. A cold fist of ice settled down into his stomach as he passed his gaze around the walls, trying to ignore the stares. \"There\'s another door over there.\"

\"No!\" The strength of Duo\'s response surprised him and he turned to look at the braided boy. Duo\'s gaze was firmly locked on the head Heero had touched and his eyes seemed pained. Heero nodded.

\"Okay.\" He spoke softly. \"Okay.\"

They left. Quickly and quietly and very, very unnerved.

**

\"What are we going to do?\"

Duo Maxwell had very few clear, happy memories from his time in the Maxwell Orphanage but there was one thing he did remember, one thing that every child learns at a very early age, and that one thing he turned to now. \'When afraid, there is nothing more protective than bedcovers.\' Well he was definitely afraid right now. Sitting, fully dressed, he leant back against the headboard of the bed and pulled the silk covers up to his chin, gripping them tightly. His breathing was fast and irregular and he jumped at the sound of the lighter as Heero clicked it. He was officially freaked.

Heero, in contrast, looked as though walking into a room of stuffed human heads was an everyday occurrence for him. But there were signs, slight as they may be, of his own feelings of nervousness. His grip on the oil lamp as he walked back to the bed was white knuckled, his face was drawn and his lips tightly compressed. Without a word he placed the lamp down on the bedside table, turned it up as high as it would safely go, and burrowed down under the covers alongside Duo. Only he he was completely comfortable, lying on his back, his arms folded securely around his chest, did he answer the braided boy.

\"We do nothing.\" Duo opened his mouth to protest but Heero shook his head quickly, silencing him with a finger to the lips. \"Think about it, Duo,\" he mouthed. \"What can we do? We\'re alone, we\'re unarmed and we have no way of communicating with the outside world.\"

\"We could leave.\" Duo whispered back, his voice tinged with desperation. \"Live rough for a couple of days \'till the boat comes.\"

\"You know we can\'t.\" Heero replied, \"Ivana is going to suspect something if we do that. Plus...\" he grimaced, feeling a little sick; \"...she\'s still hunting. If she doesn\'t get the kill tonight she\'ll be back out tomorrow and again until she does eventually succeed. We can\'t afford to be caught in the crossfire.\"

Duo froze at his words, the reality of their situation now beginning to sink in fully. \"Shit. There\'s someone out there right now, running for their life, isn\'t there. She \'winged\' him last night.\" His face paled of the little colour that still remained. \"She even joked about it to us this morning....Jesus.\"

\"Are you all right?\"

\"No.\" Duo shook his head emphatically. \"I think I\'m gonna be sick.\"

\"Hn.\" Heero nodded in understanding. \"We have to stay. I know you don\'t want to, Duo. I don\'t want to either but if we act unaware and keep away from the hunt when Ivana invites us to join her then we should be all right. In the morning it will be eight days until the boat comes.\" He closed his eyes, eight days seemed like a lifetime away at the moment.

\"What do you think she\'d do if she found out we knew.\" Duo looked down at Heero, lying next to him. Deep down he already knew the answer but he was hoping that Heero would be able to convince him otherwise. His hopes were dashed when Heero spoke.

\"I don\'t think we\'d leave this island.\" came the pragmatic answer. \"One way or other she would silence us.\"

\"We need a gun of our own.\"

\"I haven\'t seen any.\" Heero sighed; \"They could be behind the door in the trophy room.\" He made as if to get up but Duo\'s hand on his arm stopped him. \"Nani?\"

\"You\'re not thinking of doing what I think you\'re thinking of doing are you?\"

\"It wouldn\'t take me long.\" Heero answered, \"I could at least look.\"

\"Don\'t. Just...Don\'t. Please.\" Turning to argue with the other boy Heero felt the words die on his tongue as he caught sight of the look in Duo\'s eyFearFear...but not for himself, for Heero. The knowledge both warmed and frightened him and he didn\'t react when Duo\'s grip on his arm tightened. \"Please Heero. Not tonight. Tomorrow we can do it, not tonight. Please.\"

Heero closed his eyes and nodded. He hadn\'t really been looking forward to going back into that room alone anyway. He slipped back into the bed and settled down again.

Duo leaned his head back against the headboard and chuckled softly, it was a dangerous sound. \"Look at us, two highly trained Gundam pilots...afraid of a middle aged woman with an evening gown fetish.\"

\"A middle aged woman with an evening gown fetish and a gun.\" Heero pointed out. \"And we\'re not Gundam pilots any more.\"

\"We\'re still supposed to be able to deal with this kind of situation.\"

Heero smirked softly, \"I don\'t think I\'ve ever come across this particular scenario in the training room.\" he murmured. Duo\'s response was another chuckle, this one less hysterical in tone.

\"Damn Heero.\" he whispered, his eyes glittering a little. \"How is it you always know just how to cheer me up?\"

\"Hn --\"

The sound of a gunshot pierced the air, cutting off Heero\'s reply, and the two boys looked at each other in silence; fully aware of what that sound meant. They waited for a while, ears straining, but there was no second shot. Duo heaved out a shaky sigh and moved down into the bed so that he was fully horizontal.

\"Another one bites the dust.\" he murmured, closing his eyes and making the sign of the cross across his chest. Heero remained silent; his eyes fixed firmly on the other boy. Eventually, when it became obvious that Duo was not going to reopen his eyes, Heero reached over to the lamp and turned it down but not off. They both needed the comfort of light that night. Settling back into the bed he lay in silence, eyes open and staring at the shadow filled ceiling. Thinking.

Time passed slowly.

“It was like that two-sword place.” Duo’s voice startled him, coming so suddenly in the quiet. Heero turned over in the bed, dark eyes glinting in the light cast from the oil lamp.

\"I thought you were asleep.\"

\"Nah, just thinking.\" Duo turned his head and opened his eyes. \"You know the place I\'m talking about right? The one with all the wax statues.\"

“Madame Tussauds?”

“That’s it.” Duo shivered at the memory of the room. “It was like they were alive.”

“They were…once.”

“I know…you know what I mean though.”

A pause. “Hai.”

“I kept expecting them to move, yanno; to blink or open their mouths and talk to us or something. Jesus.” He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes roughly. “This is seriously fucked up Man.”

Heero didn’t speak but a few seconds later Duo felt a warm arm slide tentatively across his waist. He turned his head to the side, staring into Heero’s eyes. Eyes that were bright and alive and so unlike the ones that had pierced his soul without even seeing him in that room.

“Go to sleep, Duo.”

Duo grinned sleepily, \"Always giving out orders hey Hee-chan.\" But he closed his eyes obediently and soon, comforted by the warm body next to him, his breathing had deepened as he relaxed into sleep.

Heero remained awake the rest of the night.

TBC.................

Author’s Note:

Thank you to everyone who reviewed this fic!!!

Dreamer: Thanks for your review. LOL I exaggerated a little with the dogs but they can jump extremely high. My Auntie owned one once, we still have the paw print of its hind leg above the lintle of the living room door when it jumped from a standstill. They’re like kangeroos but really scary too. I hope you enjoy this chapter...the action is getting closer now I promise.

Deadtoast: Hi, thanks for reviewing. You’re right this fic is based on another story - Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous . I’. I’ve had it in the disclaimer but I’ve also added it to the story summary now. I’m really glad you’re enjoying it and don’t worry, I’m not insulted at all. I hope you carry on enjoying the fic in the future.

Ita-chan: *Grins:* Thanks for the review. lol it made my eyes hurt at first, like one of those magic picture things that no one can do but they’re too scared to say so. I’m glad you’re enjoying the fic.

Blackbeauty: I’m updating, I’m updating. Thanks for the review :D