Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eyes Cold As Stone ❯ Chapter Twelve ( Chapter 12 )

Eyes Cold As Stone

Chapter 12

Duo walked into the bar. He had debated with himself for several hours, trying to decide if he was up to seeing Liam. He eventually decided to go. He walked in with his hands buried deep in his pockets, staring at the ground, so it probably hadn't been hard for Liam to figure out that something was wrong.

"Duo?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Losing Quatre."

"Quatre?" Duo could feel his eyes beginning to tear up again. He had looked at himself in the mirror earlier. He had looked like shit. His eyes were puffy and red from crying, his hair was escaping his normally perfect braid-and he didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. He forced himself to look at Liam.

"It was my fault." He sat down at the bar-his usual spot. He could feel the absence of Quatre from the next barstool. It was almost like the spirit of Quatre was sitting there. "I need to get drunk, Liam. I don't care with what, just as long as its alcohol." He could see Liam move to grab a bottle.

"Wanna talk?"

"No."

"Then take a long drink of this-it should calm you down." Duo sipped at the brownish liquid-Jack.

"Thanks, man. I need this." Liam grabbed a couple empty glasses from off of the bar and turned to put them in the washer. Duo calmly watched him.

"Mmm, look at that hot thing over there." A loud, drunkenly slurred voice could be heard over the subtle bar talk. Duo shook his head, he felt sorry for the poor girl the drunken men were hooting over. He felt a presense behind him, and hot breath on his ear. "Whatcha doin' hot thing?" Duo resisted the urge to puke. He picked up his glass and took another drink, trying to ignore the stinking breath behind him. He felt a large hand grab his shoulder. "Don't ignore me, sweet thing, it's rude."

"Look, fella, I'm a guy. Not a girl-a boy." Duo didn't even turn around to look at the man.

"I know-I like boys." Duo imagined a terrifying grin slowly spreading its way over the brute's face. It certainly followed the tightening of the man's hand. This time he did turn.

"Leave me alone. I don't want any."

"Oh, but I'm not offering-I'm giving."

"Don't care." The man leaned closer, rotting teeth visible behind putrid breath. Duo crinkled his nose.

"I think you should." Duo brushed the man's hand off of his shoulder.

"I said no. Now back off." He stared straight into the beady eyes. He could see the man flinch, but the brute backed away. Duo turned back to the bar. "Can I have another one, Liam?"

"Sure thing." Duo drained the rest of his drink and waited for his next.

The music steadily got louder and the lights brighter. Duo fumbled for his drink-he had left Jack behind after the fifth glass, he was now drinking shots of Tequila and chasing with Bourbon. He had lost count of how many shots he had taken, but if the way that the room was spinning was any indication, he had probably had too many. He pushed himself up from the bar and wobbled over to the bathroom.

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Liam raised his head to watch Duo stumbled toward the bathroom. He'd probably have to take the braided one home again. He watched as the drunken brute from before followed Duo into the bathroom. Shit. Hopefully Duo had told him off well enough before. He kept his ears open for any strange sounds from the bathroom. Liam looked at the empty seat usually reserved for Quatre. He and Duo hadn't let anyone sit there. It would be a mortal sin if anyone sat in Quatre's seat. Shit. Quatre. Duo hadn't said anything more than he lost Quatre. Now what the fuck was that supposed to mean. How do you lose someone?

He heard a loud crash and an even louder yelp come from the bathroom. Liam turned concerned in the direction. There was an uncomfortable silence and the he heard Duo scream. He vaulted himself over the bar and raced toward the men's bathroom, grabbing the baseball bat that was supposed to be for decoration off of the wall. He burst into the bathroom brandishing the bat.

The brute was on top of Duo, trying to get his fingers under Duo's waistband. Duo was lying on his stomach on the tile floor, weakly struggling. Blood trickled down his face from a cut on his temple.

"Jus' what te feck are ya doin' ta Duo, ya arse?" He raised the bat even further, just daring the brute to try something. "Ge' te feck off of `im, now." Liam took a step further, prepared for an attack. None came. The brute slowly got up, hands raised in surrender, and backed away from Duo. Liam moved quickly to Duo and hoisted him up to a sitting position before grabbing the brute's arm, and twisting it behind his back. He pushed the man roughly in front of him, through the bar, and shoved him out of the door. "Don' make trouble in my bar again." Liam then turned and rushed back to Duo, who was crying into his knees. He set the bat down and wrapped his arms around Duo's shaking body.

"My fault. All my fault."

"Shh, it's okay, Duo. The arsehole's gone."

"Not him. Quatre." Liam stayed silent; letting Duo set his own pace. "We were on a mission, and we got caught. Quat, he was injured." Duo's words were choked with sobs, and his voice was just a whisper. Liam knew that he was hearing information that only the top officials at Preventer HQ had heard. He rubbed Duo's back. "We had the chance to escape, so we took it, but there were too many soldiers after us, and Quatre couldn't keep up with his injuries. I tried to carry him, but I couldn't move fast enough either. He told me to leave him, and I did." Duo looked up. "What kind of friend, what kind of man does that make me? I left him to die."

"Did you go back for him?"

"Of course. But he wasn't there. Either he's dead, or they took him somewhere else."

"How long did you wait to return?"

"I was back within the half-hour."

"Then it makes you a damned fine friend, and a damned fine man."

"How the fuck do you get that? I fucking left him!" Duo tried to raise his voice, but the tears kept his voice low. Liam winced at the raspiness of it, as though he had been crying for days. It was highly possible that Duo had been crying for days.

"Most men wouldn't return. Most men would go home and lie. You went back. Anyway, I've known you and Quatre for two years, now."

"So?"

"When he told you to go, you refused. And he forced you to go, didn't he."

"Well…he did put a gun to my head."

"So, there you go? How can you be held responsible?"

"Because I still had a choice! I could have stayed; he wouldn't have shot me. I could have continued to fight…"

"And both you and Quatre would be dead." Liam knew the story; he had lost a brother in the war.

"I could've…"

"Done only what you did. Duo, its not your fault. You did only what you could, and a bad thing happened."

"I killed him."

"You don't know that he's dead."

"I saw the blood."

"Did you see his body?" Duo stayed silent, indicating that he hadn't. "Don't be so quick to assume. You didn't kill him, or get him caught. The soldiers did that. Quatre is smart, he knew what could happen, and he chose to sacrifice himself for you."

"But…"

"No. He is strong. Remember, my brother fought against you Gundam pilots. I remember how strong Sandrock was. He'll pull through this. But don't blame yourself. Blame only the enemy."

"Did you blame us for your brother?" Liam closed his eyes, remembering the day he had found out that his brother had died in a battle with Deathsythe and Sandrock.

"No. I blamed him. He was the one who left. He was the one who joined OZ, and he was the one who got himself killed fighting something that could never be defeated."

"Which battle? You never told us." Liam closed his eyes knowing the information would hurt Duo.

"He was in Siberia. He was part of the contingent that was protecting a train shipment." Duo's face began to lose color.

"That was…"

"I know. The Gundams 02 and 04 were the Gundams present at that battle."

"Do you…"

"I know that it was you and Quatre that were there fighting, but I have never blamed you. Ever. Not even when I first found out." Duo got quiet. "Nothing was your fault, Duo. Nothing." Liam surprised himself at his vehemence, but was pleased that it seemed to work. Duo brightened-not much, but a little. "Let's get back to the bar."

"'Kay." He helped Duo to his feet.

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Quatre blinked his eyes. He never realized, even with all of his training, that pain could hurt this badly. He shifted on the table that he was lying on, and looked around the room. It was the same room that he had been brought to after they had gotten to wherever the fuck they were. The Colonel was approaching him, but the girl, Jezebel, was nowhere in sight.

"Ah, my pet. I've been waiting for you to wake. I've missed you. That Truth Serum didn't go over very well with you, so we'll just try something new." Quatre tried to flinch as the Colonel's hands grabbed his hips. Quatre squeezed his eyes shut knowing what was coming. "I want to know if the Gundams are being rebuilt."

"No! They're not. I swear."

"Do you know what's coming, my pet?" Quatre nodded. "Don't worry, I'll make it feel so good. But only if you answer me the truth, my pet." Quatre kept his eyes squeezed shut. Stop calling me your pet. I'm no one's pet. I am me. I am Quatre. I am Trowa's Little One. I am a Gundam pilot. I am a Preventer. I am Duo's best friend. I am a regular at Nallen's and one of Liam's favorite customers. I am all of these things, but I am not your pet. He thought all of this, but kept silent. Don't give him anything to use.

"Do the Gundams exist?"

"No." Quatre felt his pants being savagely pulled off.

"Are the Preventers re-building the Gundams?"

"No." He felt clammy hands on his bare skin as he was roughly turned onto his stomach.

"Are they planning on building the Gundams?" Quatre tried not to scream.

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Wufei kissed Sally good-bye and climbed into Nataku. He settled on calling the new Gundam, Nataku since he couldn't think of a better name for it. It was painted the same green color as Altron was, only Nataku had golden highlights. He leaned out of the cockpit.

"Take care of Duo."

"I will." Wufei sat back and secured his harness. Trowa had already left and Heero was currently in pre-flight checks. Wufei began his own. After satisfying Nataku and himself, Wufei left the hanger and took flight. Because Wing had its "bird-mode", Heero had taken two bases that were farther away, while he investigated two bases that were surprisingly close to HQ. Trowa had taken a cargo truck earlier and was headed for the two most plausible bases that Quatre could have been taken.

The plan was to attack a base as soon as was safely possible. And by safe, he meant with rested pilots, repaired and fueled suits, and current information. None of them, including Noin and Zechs cared about a mission being safe, but none of them were going to risk themselves stupidly. He and Heero were going to attack approximately three bases each within three or four days, depending on repairs. Trowa was only going to attack two in the same amount of time, since he didn't have the advantage of air travel. Heero and Wufei would each fly to their targets, while Trowa was restricted to road travel. Heero would take long range targets, while Wufei remained local. Any other attacks would be planned out after these initial attacks were completed.

He checked the readouts on his navigation system. He was about five minutes away from his first target. He would attack from Nataku, as infiltration would be too difficult. His next target, however, he would go in on foot. He double-checked all of his offensive and defensive systems-all was in order. He readied himself for the up-coming battle.

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Quatre whimpered in the corner of his cell. He had been taken out of the interrogation chamber after his last session with the Colonel. He turned over, huddling around himself. He could feel blood trickling from the many cuts and injuries he had sustained. He heard footsteps echoing demonically from the hall outside his cell. They were coming for him again. They wouldn't let him rest. Quatre had found his hell.

The door slammed open and several guards swarmed into the tiny cell. Quatre didn't resist.

They threw him into the interrogation room. The Colonel was already waiting for him. Quatre noticed the tray of needles and serums stacked neatly beside him. Not again.

"Hello, my pet." The Colonel glanced toward the tray. "I want to try the Serum again, my pet. It was fun to watch you seize." Quatre collapsed to the unforgiving floor.

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"I've destroyed the base. No luck in the search, though. I'm headed toward my next target. Godspeed Heero. May one of us have better luck." Wufei's image disappeared from Heero's screen. He rubbed a hand over his face. He hadn't found anything at his first target and was now heading toward his second. Wufei had the same story, while Trowa hadn't reached his first target yet. Heero checked all of his systems finding them in good order. Quatre had better be at this target, or Heero would flatten the base. He flew over a ridge and the base came into view.

"Mission accepted."

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Wufei touched down in a small clearing not far from his second target. He hopped out of Nataku and checked his weapons. The sun would set shortly and he could move out. In the meantime, he maintained a vigil on the rise overlooking the base.

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"Look at this." Noin gestured to the computer. She and Zechs sat in Lady Une's office researching Quatre's information on their laptops. The sun was setting and Zechs had spared a moment to watch its splendor. He returned to her side. "The emblem. What does it remind you of?"

"Pre-Colony Earth."

"One of the countries."

"Yeah."

"Do you think it means something?" Zechs leaned closer to her screen.

"How about this. Eagle Squadron." They looked at each other. "Wasn't that an elite fighting group from the US Air Force?"

"Yeah. It was the premiere squadron, if I remember right."

"What do you think it means?"

"I don't know, Zechs. I don't know."

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Heero stormed into his office at HQ, fuming that he hadn't found Quatre. He stopped. He had left the light off when he had left; yet he could see light pouring from under the door. He crept toward his office and gently pushed the door open. Duo sat on the windowsill gazing out over the city.

"Are you okay, Duo?" Duo didn't turn to face him, but spoke to his reflection.

"I miss him."

`We all do.'

"I was my fault." Heero moved closer to the American. "I'm sorry Heero."

"It wasn't your fault.' At this Duo did turn.

"I take it you didn't find him." Heero shook his head no. "Why are you here?"

"I'm going to try to hack into their systems and see if I can find Quatre that way."

"Isn't that what Zechs and Noin are doing?"

"No. They're analyzing the information the Quatre sent us. They're also analyzing any possible bases that Quatre might be."

"Oh." Heero remained where he was a moment debating as to whether or not to approach Duo. He sighed and moved to his computer instead. Chicken! He shook his head of the distracting thoughts and logged on. He sensed Duo come up around him to watch over his shoulder. The closeness of Duo made him feel calm.

He began hacking.

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Quatre had been returned to his cell, the Truth Serum raging violently in his veins. He sobbed between seizures. He lay in a pool of blood.

Oh, God, Trowa. I am so weak. I'm so sorry, my love. Will you ever forgive me for being so weak?

His body began tensing up in preparation of another seizure. Somebody, please, get me out of this hell.