Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Indifference ❯ 6 ( Chapter 6 )

6:

Sleep was hard coming, and Duo woke fitfully through the morning to nightmares of the whore begging him not to kill her, to help her get better instead, and just when he thought she would stop her face would change and Wufei would be begging him instead. He eventually gave up and sat on the bridge of the Reincarnation, reading through a history of Mettle Valley, trying to figure out why Wufei had ever thought he could just come out here and fix the problem. The worst part was that he had been so close to succeeding and if he'd just thought for even a moment that he could trust them, that they could do it as a team, it would have been a finished thing already.

But it was very clear that Wufei hadn't thought he could trust them. Hadn't even thought to trust Trowa, his own damn lover. Had instead, eventually, when everything seemed lost, trusted a teenage girl who was the very reason he was so screwed over to begin with. There was irony in there somewhere, but Duo found himself too swamped by the whole affair to try and find it.

He woke to a stale mouth and sweat cooled on his skin and sighed, because he couldn't afford a shower. He settled for dunking a bucket of cold water over himself and a change of clothes. Still dirty clothes, but at least they didn't smell as bad. It was mid afternoon everywhere else in the universe, and Duo stared out the bridge window at the stars beyond and wondered if it was possible to go mad from sun deprivation. He knew it was, but he was trying to figure out if it could happen to him. He missed it, and it was probably the last thing he really felt, deep in his bones. He'd reconciled himself to the loss of everything else, but the sun...to lose the sun would be something else.

He made a few quick alterations to his spare room, making sure there were clean linens on the bed, but ones he didn't mind tossing at the same time, because he had no doubts rehab wasn't going to be pretty for Wufei. But he put in some safeguards of his own; a secure cuff point on the headboard of the bed, a fresh first aid kit in the desk drawer, and he double checked that everything was securely fastened.

Then he did some research on exactly what he was in for. He'd been right. It wasn't pretty. Haze was fast, and effective. It was also pretty damn permanent, not that the traffickers cared. It did things to nerves Duo didn't want to think about, focussing instead on how to get someone clear of it. Twenty four hours of hell; screaming fire burning, itch maddening hell. Every description of it made his own skin itch and his stomach roil. Then the stuff literally bled from your pores and he was glad he had changed the sheets and hoped Howard didn't mind footing the bill for a new mattress. But the eyes and mind were the worst affected. There was a cream to be rubbed around the eyes, and then they were to be covered, bandaged in place so no light could get in. To regain sight, you had to lose it. For a while. The consolation was that most had been blind for so long they didn't notice. They sure as hell noticed their eyes bleeding as the chemicals were drawn out.

There was a disconnect necessary, where Duo had to concentrate on just getting ready to help a Haze-addict through rehab, but he couldn't let himself acknowledge who it was. He found himself slipping every now and then though, as he read through description after description and he kept getting flashbacks to the girl on her bed in the whore strip and the aching awareness that she had known, somewhere deep down, who she was and what had been done to her. He couldn't decide if he was hoping it was a sign Wufei would still remember who he was, or that it had been a fluke and Wufei would have no idea what had been done to him. He was leaning toward the latter, very much aware that either way Wufei was going to remember coming off Haze, and would know exactly who to blame for that Hell.

He gave up researching when it was just starting to repeat itself and he knew he had everything he was going to need. Then he locked the spare room and did his best to forget about it entirely, focussing on clearing the cargo bay and getting it ready to receive actual cargo. It didn't take a lot of work; he actually had to mess it up a bit to make it look like the trash dump he should have brought to Mettle Valley if he had really been as down and out on his luck as he was trying to make it seem. Howard kept damn clean and up to date ships, and the Reincarnation might have looked like it would fall apart if you tapped it hard from the outside, one look at the inside told you it was completely deception. So he dirtied it up, pouring grease and oil across the floor and then tossing in some sand for good measure. Even sloshed some paint around to give it a rusted, used effect, and then sealed it off from the rest of the ship.

It was a good job. He stood in the middle of it all and grinned because he was apparently an expert at making a mess, not that he hadn't known that but this took the cake. He even took a photo of it, so he could show Howard just what he'd had to do to his baby. The old man had no one to blame but himself, after all. He'd wanted Duo to take the Gig.

Now he just had to fill it with cargo. He didn't bother cleaning himself up, it all just added to the illusion and he locked the ship up and went to see Old Duke.

The man was waiting for him, standing lazily against the crates as if he were just watching the world go by instead of getting ready to start a deal. Duo schooled his whole demeanor into the old familiar game. It was a fine line between being nervously competent and competently nervous. He didn't want Duke to see the latter; that would get the Gig called off faster than Duo could exhale, and would likely see him dead to boot. But he'd played the game long enough to pull it off sleepwalking and Old Duke shook his hand readily enough.

“You sure you want to do this?” It was nice, really, that he was bothering to double check but Duo just nodded vehemently and endured being scrutinized for a full three minutes before Old Duke sighed and shrugged as if to say `what can I do'. Give the kid a chance.

In the Valley, no one wanted anyone else to know what business they were doing, so they all used identical crates. They were everywhere, standard military issue and available at every outdoor store on every colony, even if it looked like Mettle Valley had bought out the universe's supply. They were huge, ungainly things that had to be carried by two men or more if they were heavier, or could just be shoved on a trolley. Or a forklift, which was what Old Duke had piled them on.

“The top crate has your destination and drop information,” Old Duke made sure he understood, speaking slow and clear as if trying to calm Duo's nerves. It was sort of cute, in a very, very strange way. Duo just nodded, deliberately wide eyed as he got on the forklift and listened to Duke's instructions for that as well. Heavy pedal, don't push it too hard, faulty gasket. Right.

“And remember...if you don't come back with the money, I'll come find you and take it from your bones.” Because skin had value in the Valley. Duo didn't need to fake the wide eyes, because while he'd heard such threats before, he'd never really thought the bastard dishing them out would go through with it. This time he believed it wholeheartedly. He wouldn't have been surprised if Old Duke had taken him out back to show him his wall mounted skins collection, but was grateful the man abstained.

He made reassurances, though he couldn't have reiterated what came out of his mouth to anyone else. He took a convoluted, deliberately worthless route back to his ship, enjoying the hell out of just puttering around on the forklift, crashing into a few random things for no better reason than he could. It wasn't like anyone would notice a few extra scratches, the thing looked like it was a hundred years old, and likely was.

When he finally got to his ship he just stood in the cargo bay and sighed, because he had a forklift of crates to stow that he couldn't actually lift. He had no idea how long he stood there before Heero stepped up and grabbed the handle on one side, waiting patiently.

“Shut up, I would've got it figured out.”

“Of course you would.” But having help was definitely much easier. They got it all unpacked and stowed away in under an hour, which was saying something because Old Duke had certainly packed the damn things. Duo hated to think just how much money he would be lining the man's pockets with, and just reminded himself it wasn't as much as was already in his own. He just didn't make a habit of using his income to ensure the misery of others.

“The crates are pretty heavy...”

“No shit,” Duo snapped but something about the way Heero said it made him pause and he found himself staring at one for a while before he figured it out.

“Empty crate with a person in it shouldn't be too hard to handle between you and Marie. I'll tail you, just in case you can't manage it.”

“Thanks,” Heero approved. Duo had no idea why that approval made his chest ache, it just did and he didn't give it any more thought than that. He was too distracted anyway, thinking of Wufei shoved in a crate, because he was merchandise now. Had been, by all accounts, for a while.

“How's Marie?”

“She's fine, raiding her wardrobe for something presentable and having a shower, moaning a lot about how good it feels...” Heero shrugged, looking uncomfortable. Duo suspected Mariemaia wasn't big on bothering with modesty and had traipsed around the ship half naked all morning `getting ready'. It made him grin and Heero actually blushed. Duo wished he'd had his camera handy.

“Alright. We're good here, temporary access code is 258766.”

“Altron?” He hadn't even needed a minute to puzzle it out, which rankled but wasn't all that surprising so Duo just nodded and went about locking up. Making sure all his security protocols were in place because the last thing he needed was someone stealing his cargo before he even left the Valley.

They separated just past the clock tower and Duo didn't bother trying to keep up with Heero, just left him to it, because it wasn't part of his job to do the actual meat market anyway. He just had to carry the meat, and pray he wasn't the butcher.

Heero was waiting impatiently in the hallway when he did finally catch up and Duo raised a questioning brow but only got a shrug in reply. Curious, Duo looked at the closed door and carefully knocked, wondering if Heero had even bothered.

“Yuy, I told you I was nearly done and I meant nearly, in the way girls mean nearly, which translates to when I'm fucking ready!”

“Just how many times did you knock?” Duo asked politely, amused as all hell when Heero just looked uncomfortable. Enough, was the answer, though neither of them needed to say it. So they stood there, feeling rather useless and waited until she was ready. Duo was sure she sat on her bed a few more extra minutes just to make them sweat.

When she did open the door all Duo could do was stare.

“Hot damn, kiddo!”

She was in a skin tight black cocktail dress that did something strangely slutty around the shoulders, giving way to straps upon straps down the low cut back. It barely covered her ass before long dark stocking-clad legs led down to...military black polished combat boots. She had a necklace on that looked damn expensive and her hair was loose but styled, looking like she'd just climbed out of bed after a good lay in the hay, so to speak.

“One of these days you'll remember I'm not a child any more,” she sniffed haughtily and Duo just kept looking her up and down and wondering if Wufei hadn't been seducing her after all. Only, she really had been a child back then, but he had to agree she certainly wasn't one now. She was also...tall. Not quite his height, but still leggy for a woman.

“You can shut your mouths now,” she noted, rolling her eyes. She'd done something with her face. It was clean, for starters, only not because her eyes had a smokey blend around them and there was a touch of orange shadow that matched her hair sticking to the ends of otherwise long, dark lashes. She looked filthy rich and yet the boots added a touch of the Valley. Of street smarts. If he'd been straight Duo would have been shoving her back into the room and not letting her out again. He was tempted to do it anyway, to see if he could get a rise out of Yuy.

“I need your card and the code,” she demanded, holding out her hand and Duo scowled, because he'd almost forgotten how they were paying for all this. It was a little too easy, sometimes, to distract himself until the last possible minute. Which was apparently now. He fished the card out of his pocket and put it in her hand, but glared at her sternly.

“It is for the purchase of one thing only. If it doesn't end up costing that much, the change is not for...lip gloss or new shoes.” He looked her up and down again and then smirked. “Not that you couldn't use some new ones.”

“Excuse me? These are vintage, I'd have you know!”

“And should've stayed that way,” Duo agreed, but he was enjoying the banter, letting it distract him as she tucked the card away. In her bra. He sighed and wondered just who the hell had raised the kid, because it sure as hell hadn't been Relena. Maybe Wufei'd had the right idea, fleeing to the other side of the known universe, where no one was supposed to be able to find you.

“We need to go. We're going to be fashionably late as it is,” Heero noted grimly and Duo looked over at him and realised Heero...wasn't looking the part. Or not how Duo would have expected. He was still dirty, still dressed in jeans and a shirt, though he'd added a jacket. It was a far cry from the nonsense suit he wore while being Hero of the World and Relena's bodyguard, but that suit would have been far too recognisable. Neither of them looked anything like their public images, and if Duo had walked in on them in a room of strangers a week ago looking like they did now he couldn't be certain he would have recognised them. Which meant their disguises were pretty damn good.

Weird, since he really liked Heero's new bodyguard getup. It might have had something to do with the leather jacket, or the way too expensive `vintage', as Marie would have put it, jeans or it might really have just come down to the fact he had a soft spot for combat boots. The really dirty, beat up kind and not the plastic overly shined variety, though he had to admit those suited Kushrenada damn well.

“Kisses for luck,” Mariemaia protested and before Duo had any time to react at all she had leaned in and planted one on his lips. Maybe he'd had a little time to react, but the first thought he'd had was `huh?', followed quickly by `she must be talking to Heero, but she's leaning this way,' followed closely by `holy fuck she was talking to me!' The kiss was light and chaste, but it was not something he had expected or wanted and she seemed very aware of that, smirking and blowing a kiss to Heero where he was fuming.

“Hey, her fault, I had nothing to do with it!” The grunt he got in reply was still unimpressed and Duo had to wonder just what Heero was upset about. It was just a peck on the lips, nothing fancy and he really hadn't instigated it at all. Heero had been right there to witness it himself. But maybe that had been the problem?

He was still puzzling it out as Heero took point, letting Mariemaia follow a little more regally at his heels. Duo disappeared, trusting them to secure their own ship upon departure, and tailing them as best he could, trying to make sure no one realised who they were or suspected anything, and if they did to take care of it. But the way was clear and he soon found himself staring at a reasonably intact building. There was gold lettering over the double doors but Duo had no idea what it said so in his mind he read it as `Pig Market'.

He snuck in through a back entrance, getting to know the guy on the door, and from there it wasn't hard to get one L2 immigrant to let another in to just have a quiet peek around, though the guy promised to make his life in the Valley a living hell if Duo caused any trouble. It was an agreement Duo was happy to make, since unless everything went pear shaped with Heero and Mariemaia he'd just be standing in a corner, watching. Like they agreed.

Stepping in to the Pig Market was like stepping out of the Valley and into a Gentleman's Club of old. Or maybe something Quatre would find squirreled away in the labyrinth of the business zone of L4. There were small round tables in a large den-like arena, each with a stripper pole at its heart and a dancer entertaining whoever had taken up residence. But the lights were dim on the mainstage, a long runway with a circle at the end and a ring of booths surrounding it, each closed off and concealing those within. The waitresses were naked with a simple chain belt at the waist, an account scanner attached if anyone chose to tip them. They moved through the room as if through water, smooth and near invisible.

The room reeked of money, and of filth. Duo roamed it with senses sharpened, the memory of Sahar's name giver fresh in the forefront of his mind. He wanted to strip the place down to it's bare bones and burn it to the ground before stomping on its ashes with Deathscythe. He had to continuously remind himself that there would not be many more Sales. They just had to find Trowa and figure out what the hell was going on, and then all of this would be a distant memory until they found a new place to make it happen.

Duo was determined to get there first from now on. To make sure this didn't happen again. He wasn't sure why he'd been conned into sitting on the sidelines of the issue for as long as he had, but indifference had a way of seeping into your soul and stealing off with it while no one was looking. Leaving you none the wiser until you finally died and neither heaven or hell would have you, because there was nothing there left to fight over.

“Drink, Sir?”

He took it without really looking at it, knowing he wasn't going to drink it anyway, but needing the prop to keep his hands busy and give him a reason for just standing there gawping. He found an empty table and sat heavily in the velvet lounge, sinking into the plush material and sighing because if nothing else, the seats were paradise. Nothing wet sank through his clothes, no dirt moulded itself to his skin. The couch was far cleaner than he was. It was a nice change.

A dancer appeared and he made a habit of topping up her tips card every fifteen minutes or so and she seemed grateful to be able to just dance, not caring that he wasn't really paying her any attention. He had found Heero and Mariemaia, in a booth to his right, near the edge of the stage, shadowed but visible to him because he'd known to look for that crazy orange hair. They seemed at ease, talking softly between themselves and Duo relaxed, ignoring them and focussing on those around them instead, because if there was going to be trouble it wouldn't come from inside the booth.

The lights went out and the Sale began. A man in a tuxedo came out and Duo had to give the guy points; you wouldn't catch him dead in white in the Valley. But the clothes were flawlessly pure and starched and his hair was combed back and gelled, just so. He looked expensive and he wasn't even for sale.

The first piece of merchandise was announced and Duo forced himself not to stare at the girl who didn't have to be dragged out. Tall and lanky, malnourished and high, she sauntered where she was asked and showed what she was told to flaunt and men laughed softly in their booths and the bidding began. It didn't go high and she didn't care, led offstage when it was done to be crated up and collected at the back door.

The second piece of merchandise was younger, not as addicted and had enough sense to try to cover herself. Duo looked up at his stripper, at her hazed eyes and forced back the wetness in his own gaze, blaming it on the brightness of the stage lights and the smoke in the air.

The third and fourth were to be sold as a pair, a set of twins, beautiful and well trained the man assured the audience. Duo wanted to take the microphone and shove it down the host's throat and see what his sultry voice sounded like then because right then it was the last thing he wanted to hear over the girl's wails and her brother's anguished pleas. New slaves, not yet blinded and bound with Haze. Fresh meat. They went for millions.

On it went until Duo couldn't say how many had passed through the runway, and gone just as quickly with a new price tag. He wondered if they ever fetched less than their masters had hoped, and what final present their masters left them with as a result, to ensure their displeasure was remembered long after a new patron took ownership.

It was the description that eventually gave him away, not the visage, because when Wufei slipped out from the curtains Duo was certain he would never have recognised him at all.

“Lethal Lotus Dragon,” the man was saying but Duo's whole world narrowed and all he could do was stare. True to his Chinese heritage, Wufei hadn't grown much taller than he had been at eighteen, the last time Duo had seen footage of him, but he'd had the strength in his wiry muscled form to hold Trowa down well enough. The gymnast-like sculpture of his body was gone, replaced with thin lines and curves. It made him seem taller, but when he stood by the host he reached the man's shoulder. His neck looked longer, slender and tall as he held his head high, looking out into the ocean beyond the lights. Beyond the silver haze clear in his vision, making his eyes seem to glow. His skin was pale and clearly hadn't seen the sun in years, like paper, making the slinky dark skirt they had dressed him in look like liquid shadow pooling on his heels. His hair was longer and had been adorned with fine braids and red and gold beads that sparkled in the light, held up in an elaborate gold frame so he looked like something out of a star wars film. There was a bright spiel of colour down his right shoulder and arm; a dragon, Duo realised but not the chinese one he might have expected. It was more like a honey eater, perched as it was among the cherry blossoms, looking ready to leap off skin and suckle anyone who came close.

He was the most androgynous thing Duo had ever seen, and judging by the gasps and movement in the shadowed alcoves around the stage, he wasn't the only one thrown for a loop. Duo looked across to see Heero's face, wondering if his own looked quite so drained, or quite so fascinated.  They had been expecting an addict, not something out of a twisted fairytale.

The host was still talking, trying to sell Wufei as if he needed anything more than to just walk out and stand there. But Duo forced himself to focus, to listen, because this was information a future owner was supposed to know.

“Blind, but not completely tamed. Can you tame the beast?” As if a Gundam pilot could be tamed. Duo seethed inside at the very idea, but pride swelled as well because Wufei was still in there somewhere. Still fighting, if his sales pitch was to be believed.

“Perfect pain slut,” the man was saying and it caught Duo's attention mainly because Wufei was being led closer by a second aide, placed neatly beside the salesman and Duo had to sit on his hands as he watched the bastard pull out a boken.

The man kept talking, but Duo heard nothing but the mad buzzing in his ears, his own consciousness telling him to act when he knew he couldn't. The devil and angel that argued for dominance deep inside both fell silent as the salesman took an overly exaggerated sword stance, lifted the wooden sword and brought it down hard on Wufei's outstretched arm.

The audible sound of bone breaking silenced the room. Wufei didn't so much as flinch.

The bidding started immediately, people screaming numbers from their booths despite it being unnecessary when bids were entered mechanically. Duo watched the lights flicker inside the booths and held his breath as the totals were tallied. They had taken the price on faith, that Trowa knew what was going on, but the salesman was grinning and Duo knew they had it.

“One billion dollars. A stunning bid, for a truly exceptional piece of art,” he was saying as Wufei walked in a straight line, not looking blind at all, from the stage and disappeared behind the curtain.

The Sales continued and Duo waited through the next four, gritting his teeth and holding back the need to leave until Heero and Mariemaia carefully extricated themselves from their booth and left through the acquisitions door. Where they went, Duo couldn't follow and he fled the den like satan himself were on his heels, thanking his stripper profusely and making a quick exit. By the time he was out of the immediate vicinity he was running, sprinting through dark alleys and just trying to burn off the excess energy. The horror and the blinding need to destroy.

When he was calmer, still raging with fury but able to hold his hands still, he checked his surroundings. Double checked. Triple, and only when he was certain that no one was following did he start trekking back to his berth, and even then he checked. Over and over again.

The Reincarnation was blessedly dark and Duo went straight to the bathroom, to the shower. He put the water on scalding and stepped in clothes and all, watching the dirt and slime pool around his feet and grabbing for the soap. The shampoo. The scrubber. He didn't have a lot of time but he took a good half hour to clean himself off and when he stepped out of the shower his skin was red, but visible. He tied his hair back up wet, having no time for it and went to watch the security screens for Heero and Mariemaia.

He had to remind himself constantly that Mariemaia wasn't a Gundam Pilot, and would need time to carry a crate that size, even with Heero on the other side. Every minute that ticked by made him colder, more convinced something had gone wrong.

Heero was standing in front of the camera, unblinking. Focussed. Duo went out to open the doors and found Mariemaia in the shadow of the ship's hull, hidden from any prying eyes. Together, they got the crate on board, strapped it hard against the cargo wall, triple checked it wasn't going anywhere and then it really was time to go.

Heero met his gaze and looked ready to say something. He opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again and then shook his head as if thinking better of it. He reached out instead and squeezed Duo's shoulder, and then he was gone, snatching up Mariemaia's hand and fleeing into the back streets of Mettle Valley. Shadows in a world without a sun.

The cargo bay doors creaked quietly as they closed and Duo stood there in the silence with the crate for company, and cried.