Perfect Prey.

Name: Natea <natea2x1@hotmail.com>
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!

I just want to say a huge thank you to Asaroth for helping me out with this chapter. I would never have got past the huge writers block otherwise! THANKS Asaroth :D

Perfect Prey.

Chapter 6.
The Morning After The Night Before.

Duo woke the next morning to a deep sense of deja vu. The room was bright with the sunlight, the mosquito net wafting gently in the breeze from the open window, the bird song filtering in through said window was filled with the joys of a new day...and Heero was nowhere to be seen.

...Just like yesterday...

Except for one thing of course, he thought laconically, the icy sense of foreboding that had taken up permanent residence in the pit of his stomach.

Yawning widely, he stretched out his limbs in the bed and sighed. He was still tired, it had taken him a long time to fall asleep the night before, and once he had, his dreams had been bad... filled with visions of sightless eyes that glittered yellow and stared at him accusingly; cool, paper like skin that was frozen in position over limbs and facial features, would never stretch over the play of muscle again or crinkle with a smile.

It had reached a peak at one point, he could remember, but then something had tickled the edges of his consciousness, something warm and soothing, calming and protective, and he had settled back no longer afraid. The dreams had vanished soon after.

Now, in the logical light of day it seemed he could think about their situation in clear, defined terms. No longer feeling the instinctive desire to run that had almost overpowered him last night. The sleep had done him good, he thought. He felt more prepared.

More distanced.

Throwing back the covers, he stood up swiftly and stretched the kinks out of his back, noticing that he was still fully dressed. Tilting his head to one side and then the other to shake off the cobwebs of sleep he made his way across to the window seat and pulled back the mosquito net.

“Good weather.” The voice came from the doorway and Duo turned to see Heero leaning against the doorframe drying off his hair with a towel after obviously taking a shower. His chest was bare, for some reason he had washed his tank top at the same time and it now hung over his left forearm in a damp, wrinkled mass.

“Hmm.” he agreed, looking back at the scene outside. “What time is it?”

“Nearly seven.”

“Hour and a half ‘till breakfast.” His tone was thoughtful and he lapsed into silence for a while before continuing, “Do you think she got him last night?”

“I‘m not sure.” Heero pushed away from the door and strode into the room. Placing the damp towel on the bed he grabbed a clothes hanger and draped his tank top over it before standing on the seat and balancing the wire device over the top plinth of the window frame. The weather was already heating up, the top would be dry by the time they had to go for breakfast. Climbing down from the precarious position Heero sat down on the very edge of the window seat next to Duo and focused his gaze on the view. “There was only one shot. It could mean that she had no need of a further one,” he shrugged, “or it could mean he got away and she was unable to find him to attempt another.”

Duo nodded his head a little, both arguments made sense. “Guess we’ll find out one way or another at breakfast.” He turned then, for the first time that morning looking at Heero properly. What he saw made him frown in concern. Heero’s eyes were bloodshot and obviously under-shadowed and his face had a drawn look to it, weary.

“Did you sleep at all?”

“A little.”

“Define ‘a li.’” .’” Duo’s eyes narrowed at the evasive answer.

“Enough.” Heero said, avoiding the question again to Duo‘s annoyance. He took in a deep breath of the fresh morning air. “I was thinking.”

Duo nodded, “Can’t blame you for that,” he said, “I was just doing something similar. Any ideas?”

“Not really.” Heero admitted, “As far as I can see we have three options available. The first is we leave the house and attempt to live rough for a week until the boat comes--”

Duo shook his head. “Wouldn’t work,” he murmured, “As much as I want to do that, you were right last night, it’s just not possible. We don’t have food enough to last that long, plus Ivana will be out nightly popping at anything that moves. If we left then that could include us.”

Heero nodded in agreement, “Hai. If we leave then we admit that we know something is wrong. She’s eccentric but she’s not a fool. Even if we did somehow survive out there for eight days she would certainly not allow us to leave on the boat.”

Duo shook his head, dismissing that plan out of hand. “Doesn’t do it for me ‘Ro. What’s option two?”

“Option two,” Heero muttered, “is to stay in the house and feign ignorance. We refuse to accompany Ivana on her hunts and, at the end of the eight days, we board the ship as mere castaways going home.”

Duo thought for a moment before shaking his head again. The idea had merit but it still wouldn’t be practical. “You’re banking on the assumption that she is going to let us leave,” he argued. “The people on the boat have to be in on this whole thing. They bring her the damn people she‘s shooting. If they realize we know what’s going on here we’d never make it to Borneo. It would be a pretty simple thing to chuck us overboard halfway there.” He took in a deep breath and sat up a little straighter, “What’s option three?”

Heero frowned a little. “Option three is the most difficult. We obtain a weapon, announce our status as Preventers, and place the members of the household under lock and key. We wait out the time until the boat arrives and...” he trailed off with a shrug. They couldn’t really plan any further, not knowing how many people would be arriving on the boat or how long they would leave the ship unattended for...if at all. That would have to be dealt with at the time.

Duo was looking thoughtful, “We’d need to get a gun.” he murmured eventually.

“Ivana will have them somewhere secure. We‘d have to find them.”

“Hmm.” There was a moment of quiet as they both thought over the situation. “Do we actually know how many members of staff she has here?” Duo asked eventually.

“She hasn’t mentioned a definite number so far,” Heero said, tilting his head to one side so that his still damp bangs fell away from his eyes. “We’ve met Chantelle.”

Duo snorted, “The housekeeper cum cook cum nurse cum dog trainer.”

“Hai.” Heero smirked a little at Duo’s tone. “Ivana mentioned having one member of staff trained in first aid and another trained in homeopathic care. If Chantelle is one of those two then there must be at least one other person in this house that we haven’t seen yet. Possibly more.”

“It’s dangerous.” Duo said, “But then again, all of the options are dangerous.” He reached for the end of his braid idly as he thought and began finger combing the small tuft. “If we did it we’d need to feed them daily...feed, water and allow them regular toilet breaks. Every time we opened the door it would give them a chance to get free. Do you really think we could keep it up for eight days?”

“Honestly?” Heero said, “No. I don’t.”

Duo laughed. “Yeah that sounds about right,” he murmured, “And on top of all of that we’d still have an unknown number of people arriving with the boat. If they caught us unaware we’d be done for.“ He sighed, “So what do you think?”

“We have to stay.” Heero said, his face a mask of deep thought. “We can’t leave as we give Ivana reason to doubt our integrity.”

“What if we just went for a walk in the forest and ‘got lost’?” Duo countered, a thoughtful look crossing his face. “She did warn us it would be very easy to do.”

“We’d still have the problems of food and shelter to think of.” Heero said with a curt head shake, “And Ivana can track. If she came after us and we simply said we’d got lost then there would be no excuse for us not to return to the house. We’d be back to the beginning again.”

“That’s assuming she finds us.” Duo muttered.

“I think she would.”

Duo was silent for a while, contemplative. “Yeah, I think she would too,” he admitted eventually. “She’s certainly had no difficulty in ’finding’ the other people who’ve been out wandering the forest, that’s for sure.”

“So we’re agreed?” Heero asked, “The forest is out.” Duo nodded and Heero continued, running a hand through his hair to separate the slowly drying strands as they waved in the early morning breeze from the open window. “Neither can we conceivably keep the members of the house contained for eight days. As you said, we’d need to release them for bathroom breaks, give them food and water. Sooner or later they would attempt to break free, anyone would.”

“It’s not only we we need to think about.” Duo said suddenly. “It’s eight days until the next boat arrives and she hunts nightly... she must have more people hidden away somewhere for hunting stock.”

Heero blinked.

He hadn’t thought of that.

“If we imprison Ivana and are unable to locate them...” he began.

“...they could die.” Duo finished, his face more serious than Heero had ever seen it. “It takes what, three, four days to die from dehydration. Probably less in heat like this. But if we could find them it’s highly likely they would help us.”

“Shimatta.“ Heero sat back against the wall and sighed wearily. His eyes felt sore and gritty from lack of sleep and the sheer stress of the past few days had taken its toll on his energy levels. It seemed that the longer they discussed the problem, the further away they were to discovering the answer...indeed they were only succeeding in finding new problems.

“Whatever we do will need time to organise.” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, releasing it slowly, “We can’t afford to go off half-cocked on this Duo.”

“I know, I know.” Duo agreed, watching his partner closely. “If we decide to leave then we’ll need provisions. If we stay then we’ll need a gun, one at least, although I’d prefer two.” They thought in silence for a while.

“How about a compromise?”

“Nani?” Heero opened his eyes at the comment and looked at Duo askance.

“A compromise between options,” Duo expanded. “We combine two and three.”

“Explain.”

“We continue feigning innocence; we decline any offers of going on the hunt with Ivana and stick it out as long as we can. Meanwhile we case the house of a night while she’s ‘otherwise engaged’,” Duo pulled a face at the thought, “We locate the weapon store and requisition a couple of guns for our own use. Once we have those we’ll have a more equal stance. If we can find the hunting stock as well then so much better, the more the merrier in my opinion. It‘s basically just option three with a time delay mechanism attached...we need the time to case out the situation fully.”

Heero thought for a while, pulling one of his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on it as he did so. “It’s risky.” He looked doubtful.

“No riskier than trying to overpower an unknown number of people while we’re unarmed.” Duo argued with a grin. “At least we’ll have more of an idea of what we’re up agains
“
“Hn.” Heero closed his eyes again. Duo’s idea had merit, he knew, but it still involved very high risks. “If Ivana does a weapons check daily then she would notice the missing guns.”

Duo shrugged, “If we kept our wits about us we’d hopefully notice any behavioural changes. It’d be a more even fight if we all had guns wouldn’t it. Better than getting caught out unarmed, ne?”

“If we take the guns then we admit we’re not innocents and Ivana will be on her guard against us.” Heero sighed, sitting up straighter and running a hand through his bangs again, finger combing the damp strands and pushing them away from his forehead, “But if we remain unarmed then we’re at a disadvantage anyway.“ He glanced over at Duo. “Ivana will not have an easily accessible weapon store you know, there’s no guarantee we will be able to even find the guns.”

A heavy sigh. “I know.”

They fell into silence for a while, thinking. It seemed that no matter what they did they were still stuck with almost overwhelming odds. There had to be a way out of the conundrum, they knew, and it was more than likely blindingly obvious, but right then and there, on the window seat the morning after the night before, they couldn’t seem to find it.

Emptying his mind of the troubles for a second Duo found his eyes drawn to Heero’s tank top on its precarious position hanging from the window plinth. He watched idly as it grew visibly lighter in colour, the morning heat drying out the fabric effortlessly. It swayed slightly in the breeze, the clothes hanger twisting a little on the wooden plinth, threatening to fall but not actually doing so. “You know,” he said slowly, “there is another option we haven’t considered yet.”

Heero glanced over at Duo in veiled curiosity and tilted an eyebrow slightly. “What?”

“It‘s only a thought.” Duo continued, closing his eyes. “I’m not saying it’s feasible or anything - but - how about we actually go on the hunt with Ivana?”

“What?” Heero sat forward abruptly, almost forgetting their situation enough to raise his voice.

“Now just think about it.” Duo placated, holding up a hand to forestall Heero‘s arguments, “We go out into the jungle with her. We’re alone with her in the dark--”

“She’ll have a gun.” Heero pointed out.

“So will we.” Duo shrugged, “Two against one, we could subdue her far morsilysily out there than we could in the house and we won’t have to search for the weapons store as she’ll give us the guns herself to use in the hunt.” He watched Heero’s face closely, his own eyes gleaming in sudden anticipation.

Heero thought carefully for a while. In a twisted way it did make more sense, rather than waiting around for Ivan sli slip up and give them an advantage they would be taking charge of the situation. He looked up and caught Duo’s gaze with his own.

“Hai.”

Duo beamed. “Great! When?“

“Tonight...if she asks us.“ Heero said, reaching to scratch at a raised mosquito bite on his left forearm idly. “There’s no sense in wasting time and the sooner we act the more people we can save from this slaughter.“

“Tonight then.“ Duo stood up and stretched, popping the vertebrae in his back at the same time. He gave Heero an appraising look before lowering his arms. “Now if you don’t mind Heero, I still need to shower and get changed before breakfast. Why don’t you try and catch forty winks while I’m gone, I’ll wake you when I get back; half an hour of sleep is better than none at all.”

Heero nodded and stood up also, crossing to the bed that Duo had left a bare thirty minutes earlier. He was asleep before Duo left the room.

***

Breakfast that morning was a quiet affair. They sat on the terrace, in the warmth of the morning sun, sipping at tall glasses of cool fruit j and and nibbling at freshly baked croissants. The sound of the ocean was faintly audible in the background, providing a soothing ‘swoosh’ of noise to the silence. Ivana was once again in her hunting khaki, mud stained and creased; the fingernails of the hand that held her crystal cut glass rimmed with half moons of dirt.

She looked weary but jubilant - obviously the hunt had gone well the night before - and yet she seemed curiously reticent to mention any details. Her left hand was constantly stroking behind the ear of one of her large bay coloured dogs which was lying beside her chair.

Heero didn’t like it.

He didn’t like it at all.

The presence of the dog worried him the most. Ivana had already mentioned that they weren’t pets and yet there she was, stroking it as if it was nothing more than a corgi or a poodle...some little lapdog that would perform tricks for biscuits.

He glanced across at Duo quickly. It seemed they were going to have to bring up the subject of the hunt themselves if they wanted to go that night.

“You haven’t mentioned your hunt today Ivana.” He started, “I take it things went well?”

The hand on the dog’s hand stilled for a second. “Aye...you could say that.” Ivana smiled, taking a small sip of her juice. The silence fell again.

“Did you make your catch?” Duo could see Heero struggling and jumped in to help.

“I did.” The hand began its stroking once again, the dog’s head leaning into the caresses, a look of bliss on it’s face. “I did indeed.” She stopped suddenly, placed her drink back on the table. “Would you like to join me tonight?”

“Are you sure we wouldn’t be in your way?” Duo asked, trying not to sound overly enthusiastic...it wouldn’t do to tip off their hostess after all by being too eager.

“Oh no. No of course you wouldn’t.” A slight smile crossed her face, “In fact I’d love you to be there. Do you feel up to it tonight?”

They pretended to think it over for a while before Duo spoke up. “I think we’ve rested enough. If you’d still like us there Ivana, we’d love to go.”

“Wonderful” She beamed, “In that case I’ll make sure to be extra refreshed for tonight. It’s bound to be a challenge for once.”

“Last night wasn’t a challenge?” Heero asked.

“No, not really. He was wounded remember? He left a trail that a blind man could follow.” She looked almost bitter, “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a decent hunt really, even with my new stock. Hopefully tonight will be different.”

“Hn.” He didn’t know what to say.

Ivana did though. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had anyone worth adding to my trophy room,” she murmured, lifting her glass to her lips once more to take a drink. Her eyes flickered over the two boys from head to toe and back again.

Duo started.

He’d heard the slip, Anyone...not anything but anyone. Next to him Heero had tightened his hold on his glass...the only sign that he had heard the slip too. Ivana wasn’t one to make such a mistake...which could only mean one thing.

...She knows...

Ivana’s eyes were glittering with amusement as she watched them over the rim of her glass. She finished her drink and dabbed at her lips with her napkin.

“You like my collection?”

Heero nodded, “You have an incredible selection of animal heads,” he conceded, more than a little wary of where the conversation was leading.

“Hmmm, they are nice, I admit.” She nodded. “...But I was talking about the heads in my trophy room.” There was silence. And then Ivana laughed. “Oh come now boys...don’t pretend you don’t know what I mean. I know you were in there last night, I know you saw my heads.”

Duo sat forward in his seat and placed his glass on the table. The light in his eyes had changed to a more deadly tone...that of Shinigami. “How?”

“Oh please.” She looked annoyed, “I’ve spent over a quarter of a century hunting, tracking quarry the size of rabbits through terrain that a diamond would be hard pressed to leave a mark on. Do you really think I wouldn’t be able to tell when two people were in my room? You left my curtains drawn for one thing, the tread of my carpet was disturbed...there were a million and one signs there for the experienced tracker.”

“Hn.” Heero gave up the pretence and nodded, his lips tight. “We were there.”

“Beautiful aren’t they?” The Russian breathed, her eyes alight with the memories of conquests past. “I don’t put the head of everyone I’ve shot into my collection. It’s not worth it, you have no idea of the effort that goes into preserving them.”

“So you‘ve killed more?” Duo asked.

“A lot more.” Ivana confirmed, “Most of them unfortunately lose their heads, if you’ll forgive the pun, when I release them in the morning, and leave a trail as obvious as a neon sign after them. I don’t consider those kills worthy of being preserved. My dogs get those. No,” she shook her head gently, “Every of tof the heads in my display belonged to a person who put up a fight above and beyond anything I’ve cocroscross with bigger game.” She looked at them, “They challenged my talents but I always prevail. I am able to think more clearly than they are in high pressure situations.”

“Aren’t you worried that one day someone will outsmart you?”

“No, not really.” Ivana smiled a little, “They are only animals with the power of reason after all. I am still more of a threat than they are as I am armed with a long range weapon.”

“If you kill an animal that can reason then you’re committing murder, Ivana.” Heero spoke up.

“Murder?” She laughed, “It’s nothing so crass as that, believe me boys. Everyone I’ve hunted has been there willingly. I never send them out unarmed...even tigers have teeth and claws after all, it’s no challenge when the prey can’t fight back. Besides, I only hunt the dregs of society, people who would be better off dead.”

“It’s murder.” Heero repeated firmly, “And I’m sure you’re aware of the consequences of murder.”

“Hmm.” She smiled, “Death...life imprisonment...all the wonders of the modern day judicial system. I’m a good hunter though.”

Duo blinked at the comment. “What does that have to do with anything?” he asked.

Ivana shrugged, “I live for the hunt boys. I haven’t failed in catching my quarry in over thirty years. Especially now, when failure has such high repercussions. If someone did manage to get away from me then there would be no point in hunting any longer anyway...I would go willingly. There is no place in this world for a has-been after all.”

Heero frowned, thinking quickly. Their plan was falling apart around them and try as he might he could see no way out. They were stuck...winging it, as Duo would say.

“You’re obviously not going to let us go,” he mused, “we know too much. So what is your plan Ivana?”

“My plans haven’t changed.” Ivana murmured slowly with a smile, “Tonight we will hunt, you and I.”

Duo blinked, that didn’t make sense...unless... “You’re not serious,” he said slowly, horror dawning in his eyes.

Ivana merely raised her drink once more in a mockery of a toast. “I’ll offer you a deal.” she said. “I’m not completely without morals. If you go willingly then I will act towards you in exactly the same way I do the others. You will be given both supplies and a weapon to protect yourselves with. I will only hunt at night...the daytime is safe for you. If you make it to three days then I will introduce Ruger here,” she indicated the dog, who had raised its head at the sound of its name, “to the hunt. If you manage to survive a further two days then the rest of my dogs will be set free during the night.

“In eight days the boat arrives from Borneo with my supplies. It docks at roughly ten o’clock in the morning, just off shore at the beach where you were washed up. If you are there when the boat arrives then I will concede defeat and you may go.”

“We can go? Just like that? You won’t try to stop us?” Duo muttered in disbelief, “You know we’ll notify the authorities as soon as we get back to civilisation.”

“If you are on that beach in eight days then I will have failed.” Ivana said seriously, “A hunter who cannot hunt is a worthless being. I will not resist arrest. It will have been an honour to have been defeated by soldiers like yourselves.”

Heero stiffened, his eyes narrowing in sudden understanding. “You know who we are, don’t you.”

She nodded, “I worked for Oz during the war. Pictures of 02 were widely distributed during his capture, there is no mistaking the braid...and you are 01 of course.”

He nodded, “I was once.” he confirmed. “Now we’re both Preventers.”

“I thought as much,” she said, “So what is your answer?”

“Do ave ave an alternative?”

“Well...you can refuse,” she nodded, “but I wouldn’t really recommend it. I have no need of game that won’t run you see. At least if you accept then you have a fighting chance. If you decline then...well...my dogs would have an early lunch.” She snapped her fingers and Ruger stood up immediately, growling deep in his throat. “No one has ever refused me before.” Ivana smiled.

Ruger’s chops shivered, showing glimpof lof long, white teeth. Bizarrely his stump of a twas was wagging, Heero noticed.

Suddenly the reasoning behind the dog’s presence was clear. Ivana didn’t want a weapon present while she dealt her hand, she knew who they were and, sensibly, was taking precautions against them overpowering her and taking control. The dog was her way of ensuring protection.

He glanced at Duo who was also watching the huge dog’s display. Duo looked up and closed his eyes in something that was a fraction of a second longer than a blink; only once...then his eyes remained open, fixed on Heero’s. Heero nodded slightly and swallowed hard.

“We accept.” He looked up at Ivana.

“Wonderful...you’ll find provisions in two shoulder bags just outside the gates. Water, food, a knife...things like that. I can’t give you a gun for obvious reasons, you’ll have to make do.” She glanced at their clothes and nodded once in satisfaction. “Good. You’re both wearing long sleeves...you won’t be going back to your room for anything and the mosquitoes would be a problem otherwise.” She threw her head back, drinking the last of her juice, and stood up, stretching a little. “You should get going now, the longer you run the further you’ll be by the time I leave. One word of warning.” she smiled, “don’t just run in a straight line. One man tried that once, I caught him within half an hour of starting. It makes life incredibly dull...and short, if you understand me.” She laughed.

They didn’t.

There was nothing remotely funny about the situation after all.

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

Author’s Note.

I’m sorry it’s taken so long to get this chapter out. Writers block is a horrible thing.

Leslie: Thanks for your review!! I’m glad you’re enjoying the fic so far...it’s worrying doing a fic based on such a well known story lol but fingers crossed it’s not sounding too cliched at the moment. I hope you carry on enjoying it in the future!

Black Beauty: Aww thanks for reviewing so I can acknowledge your review :D I’m really glad you’re enjoying the fic.

Dreamer: Hey Dreamer! Thanks for reviewing....I’m sorry about Snapshots :(, hopefully though with the colder weather sneaking in around here I’ll have more time in the evenings to write it...I’m hoping to have a chapter of it up by my next reading week, which is in three weeks from now. :D Ak...you’ve pretty much got everything I hinted at in the previous chapter lol...the drapes, the other people being in on it...I’m glad you’re still enjoying the fic and thanks for taking the time to send me such a detailed review!!! You’re the best :D

ShinKazeKinyubi: Hey, thanks for reviewing....yeah I was trying to throw people off a little bit beforehand...try and make them think it was something like The Island of Dr Moreau or something lol. Hope you’re still enjoying it...I know it’s been a while since I updated.

SailorAuroraHelios: Hiya! Thanks for all the reviews!!. I’m really glad you enjoyed it...especially as you’ve just read TMDG! The story you read is actually the whole thing, I’m just expanding on it a bit. Yay, I’m glad you like the fluffy bits as well as the more active bits in it, I have a serious problem writing realistic fluff lol. I really hope you carry on reading in the future and enjoying :D

Simmysim: *blushes* Thanks so much! I’m really glad you’re enjoying it!

LW: LO’s t’s taken them six chapters but only two days to figure it out...I’m just a waffley writer I’m afraid. Thanks for the review!!! I didn’t realise just how popular this story is, so many people seem to be reading it at the moment. I hope you carry on enjoying the fic in the future.

Michelle: Hi, thanks for the review. Sorry it’s taken so long to update lol...sometimes I really do need a good kick up the ascii before I’ll get things sorted out and on electronic paper. I hyou you carry on reading! Thanks again.

Asaroth: Hiya....what can I say?? Thanks for the comment the other night lol, it smashed the writers block into the next century. I’m so glad you’re enjoying it and reacting well to it so far lol. The query about the shoulder mounts...In the vision of the room I have, I see the heads displayed mostly on cabinets. The shoulder mounts stop at the top part of the shoulder, just before the arm starts, and the mounts on the wall are displayed on wooden shelves so that they can still stand upright. I hope that helps. Thanks again for the review and the help the other night :D.