Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Angel in the Flames ❯ Chapter 3 ( Chapter 3 )

Title: "Angel in the Flames"

Author: Desdomonda (Blackmoon2101@Aol.com)

Archive: Currently Not Anywhere

Category: Yaoi/ Shonen-Ai, Angst, Lemon

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 5+S, OCS x 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, Bandai does.

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Yaoi, Lemon, Violence, Angst, NCS, OC

Spoilers: Not really

Notes: Duo is abducted by a gang. NCS, Angst, and confusion ensues. Will Heero rescue Duo in time?

Feedback: Of course!!!

Chapter 3

Duo shifted uncomfortably on the bed. Raven may have left, but the promise of what was to come filled his mind with terror as he could only wait for the imposing threat of the future. Left to his own devices, his traitorous mind began to drift. And where else would it drift but to Heero?

The reason for him to drown himself in his past, in days where he still had hope that the person beneath Heero's training would break free after the war was over. Memories; Duo's mind was full of them, the good the bad, the horrifying. Memories of the day when he had gotten Heero to smile. Memories of prostitution, rape, torture. Memories; that was all that he was good for, a living looking glass into the past.

He heard the door opening, Duo strained his neck to view his new visitor, hoping, pleading, that it would be Heero. That he could be once again carried off by the perfect soldier, only to return to the most mundane, painful life possible. But no, it was not Heero, it was not the unattainable zenith, it was the beginning of pain. Standing there, framed by the doorway, the brightness behind him burning, stinging his retinas.

The man had very short hair, his face was riddled with ugly scars. He moved, more like a bear than a human. He was huge and lumbering. The way he fingered the whip at his side made it look like a treasured pet snake, but the weapon was unsuited to him; he appeared to be more likely to carry an ax, huge and unwieldy. He walked, or more appropriately lumbered across the small cell, to look down on Duo as if he were a cockroach, a disgusting, loathsome creature, fit only to scour the floors in search of sustenance.

Duo sighed mentally. He was tired. He didn't know whether to use the old façade or not. To use the smile, the jeers, the teasing, or he could play along; play the helpless captive, the pathetic victim. He might receive fewer injuries that way. Quickly summing up the issue with his near-dead soldier's efficiency, he decided to play along. Who could tell him how long he'd be there, how long rescue, or escape would be in coming. Besides, it tired him to act as if he had a spirit left to be broken.

The bear man reached down his large, callused hands to tease at the opening of Duo's delicate silk shirt. His ragged fingernails nipping at the faded scars at Duo's throat. The man's eyes closed, his mouth twisting into a perversion of a smile, his own scars riddling his lips with deep pockmarks.

The man fingered the top button on Duo's black shirt, which he had buttoned to hide the particularly jagged scar, just below his collarbone, evidence of a long ago piece of shrapnel. With a sharp tug from the man's meaty fingers the threads released and the button came away in his hand. Duo closed his eyes, he had been through it all before, it was power play, an exhibition of strength, a pull here, a punch there, all designed and long practiced to make him feel helpless. It had ceased to work for him after three years of suffering it, night after night as large, strong customers tore of his clothing, tore him open and rutted between his legs. His face pushed hard against everything from brick to the occasional smelly pillow in a grimy motel.

This one was no different, it didn't take long for the bear to rip Duo's shirt and throw it into a heap across the room. The tight, form fitting jeans were an exception, they required the help of a small, but sharp dagger, pulling up from his bound ankles. The sharp tip of it tearing into his skin, causing shallow, stinging wounds from calf, to thigh, to hip, until finally breaking through the hem of the low-riding pants at his waist. The other leg was quickly pushed down to bunch around his thigh.

This was followed by a lull in activity, in which Duo slowly opened his eyes, to see the hulking man pulling out of his loose jeans and tugging down his plain grey boxer shorts. At the sight, Duo's eyes widened, and quickly shut again. `Dear God, his dick's as big as the rest of him' without any lubrication, this man would tear him open for sure. Shit.

The sound of a few experimental flicks of the whip into the air rent Duo's chest in two, his breath just coming faster. Out of all the weapons, why did it have to be a whip? He shuddered, pulling vainly on his bonds, wishing without any real hope for a weak link somewhere. Oh God he hated whips.

The first strike stung like fire across his chest, raising a welt between his nipples and tearing a muffled whimper from his lips. His eyes opened with the force of the blow only long enough for him to see the strain of concentration upon the grizzly man's deformed face. Inside, he almost laughed with the irony of the situation. The man had no clue how to properly handle a whip! The man's strategy was all behind brute force, while a whip was a weapon to be used with a quick flick of the wrist. One could not merely swing a whip around with muscle. Duo smiled grimly to himself, this could be so much worse, and the scars across his back could attest for that.

The blows kept coming, he could feel blood begin to ooze from where the welts had overlapped. All at once, the beating stopped, and the man hovered over him, bearing his teeth in that twisted smile. He situated himself between Duo's chained and spread legs, quickly ripping off his silken underwear, the only thing left that gave his body any protection.

Duo began to breathe hard, trying desperately to get himself to relax. He bit his lip with the pain, as the invasion began, the pushing, the brief pause at the tightening of flesh, the one hard, flesh tearing thrust, as the man buried himself deep inside with a harsh, animalistic grunt. Duo groaned with the pain, tearing his lip open with a crunch of teeth against his own soft flesh. The man grimaced, the tightness around his dick painful until a few harsh thrusts began to loosen the way. Duo cried out then, holding back the tears that threatened to spill. The man grunted again and raised his foot to the cot to provide better leverage, thrusting deeper and harder than before.

Duo whimpered with the pain, it was not a new pain, he had felt it so many times before, but not in such a long time. He could feel every thrust that rocked his body, strong and painful. The hate welled up inside him mingling with the pain and the fear. It rose to boiling levels, allowing for tears of rage, and pain to spill from his eyes. He cried out as the man withdrew, only to thrust back in. The man pulled out one last time and spilled his foul, hot seed across Duo's stomach, before pulling himself back against a nearby wall to pant and pull his pants back on. The man languidly draped himself across the cross to stare down at him, smiling.

"Was it good for you too?" He taunted. Duo growled through his tears.

"I'll kill you, you stupid bastard! I'll kill you!" he collapsed into angry sobs as the man staggered from the room to find someplace to recover. "Heero, you'd better get here soon, I don't know how much of this I can take." He whimpered softly to the dark.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heero had searched everywhere he knew that Duo liked to be, besides the pubs that he had left to Wufei. He found no trace of his braided comrade. No word or sign that he had been partying at nightclubs, nothing. All he could do was wait impatiently at the apartment for Wufei to arrive. It was already past two, and Wufei was not the type to be fashionably late. He plopped himself on the couch and flipped channels impatiently, all he could do was hope that Wufei was taking a little extra time bailing Duo out of jail.

It was another half-hour before Wufei pulled into the driveway. Heero strode out to meet him, a customary scowl on his face. He was quick to notice that Duo was not with him.

"Did you find anything?" he asked as Wufei climbed out of his car.

The man tossed a heap of leather at Heero, and remarked inwardly at the speed in which he reached out and caught it with only one hand. Heero glared briefly at his companion before shaking out the garment. His eyes narrowed, and he sniffed the jacket, just to be sure.

"This is Duo's jacket!"

WuFei raised an eyebrow at the perfect soldier. "How do you know?"

Heero tossed the shirt back to his friend after quickly examining it. He looked the other pilot in the eye and said simply, "Nametag" and pointed at the sicker applied to the inside of the collar. Wufei looked at the curling sticker and read the name there, `Shinigami', and snorted. There was no doubt to the owner of the jacket, Duo still used the old war nickname as a poor attempt at a joke. After holding the jacket in his hands a few seconds the Chinese ex-pilot paled and looked at Heero.

"I was kinda hoping this wasn't Duo's jacket."

Heero took the leather jacket back from Wufei, examining a few ragged tears in the collar and sleeves.

"Why do you say that? Where exactly did you find it?"

"In a back alley near one of his regular spots, come on I'll show you."

WuFei sighed and climbed into the car. Heero climbed into the passenger's seat and held the jacket on his lap. It was confusing to him, he knew that it was Duo's just by the smell, his pilot's senses were finely attuned to smell, touch, sight, and his ears were nearly as sharp as a dog's. That wasn't what made him so confused, it was the fact that he was so familiar with what Duo smelled like, and the strange wrenching he got in his stomach when he smelled it.

He wasn't particularly close to the braided pilot. It was strange that he could call to mind exactly what his comrade smelled like. He sniffed the jacket he held, underneath the cigarette stench and the smell of liqueur was Duo. Duo's smell was pretty, a lavender smell with the deep musk of sweat and life. Wufei shook his head at Heero's actions and just kept his eyes on the road.

The Bar was dead yet, waiting for the night, when people would pour in and bring it to bright, neon life. Wufei and Heero walked up the sidewalk and through the swinging door.

"The bar won't be open yet but the bartender stays around during the day managing the restaurant." Wufei said, pushing open the door with a shoulder.

The two pilots strode in and stood impatiently by the `please wait to be seated' sign. A young waitress sauntered up and grabbed two menus.

"Table for two?" she asked eyeing the two men with a smile, batting her eyelashes seductively.

WuFei blushed a little and Heero rolled his eyes. "No thank you, we would like to talk to the manager though."

The girl nodded and motioned for the two to stay where they were as she walked into the back. Heero gave Wufei a foul look. The pilot simply shrugged and made a face right back. Wufei sighed, Heero must really have no hormone producing organs.

"I found the shirt in an alleyway near here and I figured that we should look here first."

Heero nodded, it seemed like days since Duo had gone missing although it was really only a few hours. He felt worn and tired and felt for once he might understand what Duo was going through. Duo was a person who thrived on attention and company, certainly sharing an apartment with two quiet and stoic individuals was certainly not riveting for him, so why had he dragged them there?

The manager strode from the back room. WuFei and Heero, both engrossed in private thoughts took a moment to notice his presence. Heero nodded at the middle-aged man.

"We were wondering if a friend of ours was here last night. He's gone missing and we thought it best to trace his steps from the start." The bartender inclined his head in a nod, understanding the seriousness of the situation.

"What does he look like? If you gave me a description it would be easier for me to help you."

Heero shifted his weight to his other foot. "He's twenty-two years old, has chestnut hair and blue eyes. He wears his hair in a braid down to his knees."

The bartender nodded his head vigorously. "Oh you must be Heero and Wufei then, Duo has mentioned you on occasion." He nodded with a glimmer in his eye. "I wouldn't worry too much about your friend, he can take care of himself quite well."

Wufei cocked his head. "What do you mean by that?" he asked. The bartender smiled knowingly.

"Let's just say he can more than hold his own in a brawl."

Heero stared at the man "I understand the limits of my friend, and he hasn't been well lately." The bartender did not seem to be incredibly surprised.

"Yes, I did notice a certain decline in him as well. He seemed particularly off when he was in last night."

Heero started, a victorious look in his eyes. "So, he was here last night then?"

The bartender looked surprised. "Yes, he was, I figured he would have let you know where he was headed." Heero stared at the chewing gum plastered to the bottom of the table nearest the door.

"We've grown apart over the last few years, and I think it is time that we fix that."

Wufei would not look the older man in the eye. "It is our fault Duo has become weak. He is like a little kid, we should have looked after him."

Heero looked at the Chinese man with a glare. "It is all of us who have been childish, We should have worked together to start again, instead we lived apart, even though we share the same damn apartment."

The bartender smiled. "Duo's been saying THAT the entire time, although with a considerable amount more swearing." The aging bartender caught Heero's gaze and held it, a stony look in his eye. "Duo cares very much for both of you, I hope that you can return that care as well." Heero shifted his feet again under the bartender's intense gaze, there was something in it that seemed to imply that more was involved with his simple statement than was let on.

With the words of the bartender weighing heavily on his mind, Heero left the pub with Wufei.

"The alley where I found the shirt is this way" Heero nodded and followed his friend to a dank alley.

Heero began to search the walls for secret passageways or hidden doors. Wufei shook his head at the other man.

"Do you think I just "forgot" to check the walls for doors myself?" Heero scowled but continued to search. Wufei pointed to a corner where two walls met. "That's where I found the shirt." Heero nodded and finished checking the walls. Wufei leaned against the wall and sighed. "Heero in all your rigorous searching of the walls you seemed to have overlooked this rather conspicuous brick right here on the ground."

"Huh? What brick?"

WuFei deftly slipped his foot under a large red brick lying on the ground at his feet. With a sharp jerk of his knee it flew straight for Heero's face. With a quick reflex reaction he snapped out his wrist and caught the projectile building piece, growled at Wufei, and opened his mouth to protest. Wufei interrupted him before he could speak. Heero quickly shut it; there was a look in Wufei's eyes that he didn't like, a sort of apprehensive, worried look Heero had never seen there before. The Chinese pilot pointed to the brick, lying innocently in Heero's hands. Heero gasped, clinging to the rough surface of the brick, was a single strand of hair, unremarkable except for its considerable length.