Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Long Time To Cry ❯ Long Time To Lie ( Chapter 8 )

Sorry I didn't post as often as I normally do… I try to do a chappie every twenty-four hours, but you have to understand, I had a horrible yicky migraine and just looking at the computer was the most painful experience… **shudders**

Oh, and if you're wondering what Releena is doing in Duo's cell, since he said no one visited… if she's in the cell, it's when he was first placed there. Um, read this chapter, and if you still don't understand, E me, and I'll try to clarify, kay? ^^;;

On with the show!!!

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Heero smacked the side of Releena's head roughly, and her eyes fluttered shut as she dropped unconscious. He needed to think, and he certainly couldn't do that with the bitch awake and kicking…

-flashback-

"Unnghh…" Duo rolled over, opened his eyes, and saw… prison walls.

"Well, fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck."

Releena appeared, smiling… why was he not surprised that she was behind his imprisonment…? She was holding something small and black, which he ignored. If it was a gun, he doubted she knew how to shoot it. She'd probably hold it backwards, or something, and end up ridding the world of herself.

"You know what? I don't know why the fuck-" He saw her press a button on the instrument twice, and then recognized it for what it was… a tape recorder. What did she expect to do? Turn it in as evidence that he wasn't afraid to use four-letter expletives around her precious pink highness? "I don't know why the fuck you're doing this. Sure, I tried to get Heero," again, she pressed the button on and off, "But you know what? I can't stand this. I don't want him in your custody anymore. You're really, really sick. And you know what? Once I would have felt guilty for telling you this…. But you can go to hell. You'd better. Fucking. Let. Him. Go. So yeah, I once would have felt guilty…. But trust me, the feeling is gone. In fact, you're one lucky bitch that I'm chained up right now, or-"

Releena motioned and one of the guards gagged Duo, who glared…

She pulled out the tape recorder, playing the few choice phrases she had chosen to record.

"You know what? I don't know why the fuck… I tried to get Heero… I just don't want him … anymore. The feeling is gone."

Duo's eyes widened… No… that was a twisted trick… she had spliced what he said. SPLICED it!

Damn her…

-end flashback-

Heero scowled. Releena was cruel, but she couldn't MAKE Duo say anything. If the recorded voice was Duo's… and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was… then…

He bit his lip, frustrated. He didn't want to believe it, but all the evidence he had pointed towards only one thing: Duo didn't care.

**Today I made the worst mistake.**

"I thought I knew you, Duo…" He whispered… "But I guess I didn't."

He left the unconscious Releena there on the floor. He sure as hell didn't feel like hauling her into a bed… and right now, he really wanted her to have a stiff neck when she woke up. No hard feelings, of course, but she had ruined his life.

**I put my trust into someone I don't know**

Releena had made his life hell in so many damned ways… But he had endured it. He had endured it out of pride and love; pride because he was the perfect soldier and conditioned to endure all things, and love because he knew that his compliance kept Duo safe.

**And now I know because you've done everything possible to me**

Heero saw a pink curtain flutter at the other end of the room, and his soldier instincts made him investigate. In two strides he had reached it, and pulled it aside.

A door. That was all it hid? A door? There had to be more to it than that. He knew Releena better; she wouldn't hide something if she didn't have a good reason to. He tried the knob, and it rattled uselessly. He cursed. If only Duo was here, with… no, he wouldn't think about Duo. The door. He had to think about the door…

With a sigh, he slammed his foot down on the door. As much as he hated damaging property… well, property damage sure hadn't stopped him from fighting in the war. As far as he was concerned, this was a war. A small, personal one. And he would win, so help him…

And destroying Releena's property in the process was just an added bonus.

His foot, of course, went straight through the door. He slid it back out, never once touching the splintered sides of the hole he had created, and slid his hand through, turning the knob from the inside. The lock gave a small `click' and the door opened.

A set of stairs went up… they weren't like the rest of Releena's `castle', trimmed with ivory and gold and expensive trinkets… instead, they were dull, gray stone. There were small arrow-slat windows periodically, too far up the wall to see out of. Heero shivered… the part of him that always needed an escape plan screamed in the back of his mind that this was not a good place to go… no one could climb out of those windows. He squelched that part of him down; Releena was stupid, but not stupid enough to try and corner him. Besides, she was currently unconscious… And couldn't even order her guards to come after him in her current state.

He took the first step with caution, and, when no hidden traps fell out of the wall to try and kill him, he took the next few four at a time.

Up, he thought, She said Duo was up… Maybe he's up here… It was as good a guess as any. In a supposedly hidden tower (how can she hide the tower from the outside? he wondered….)

His side hurt slightly by the four hundredth stair or so - he was counting, just to map out the area in his mind - and he, of course, ignored the pain, save for the fact that he resolved to train to strengthen his legs later. He was going soft…

Reaching another door, he was surprised to find this one was unlocked, and he opened it, stepping in.

The room was dark; for some reason, whoever had ordered the windows to be created to light the stairwell had neglected to install such lighting here. Heero cursed himself for not bringing standard equipment… a flashlight… Damn.

A soft, choking noise came from one of the corners.

"Aa… Please… have you brought my food…? I'm… I'm hungry…" A soft voice, hoarse with thirst and choked with pain, made its way to Heero's ears.

"I have no food." Heero replied simply, not wanting to lead the hungry person into hope for something that he could not give them…

The voice gave a strangled gasp, and then coughed. Heero shifted uneasily; was this some sort of quarantine? Was this person diseased…?

"Heero," The voice murmured, almost inaudibly, "It's you, isn't it?"

Heero tensed. He didn't know this voice… but a niggling feeling at the back of his mind told him that he should.

"Where is the light?" Heero demanded at last, "Answer me!"

"Nnn…" The voice gave a soft groan of pain, then answered at last, "I think it's towards the bars. If you step forward, you should reach them… hold your hands out, Heero, in front of you. Once you reach the bars, keep running your hand along them until you feel the wall on the left-hand side. There's a switch there… I'm pretty sure…"

Heero did as he was told, but felt uneasy… what if this was some weird sort of trap? What if there was a hole in the floor, or -…

His hands reached the light switch, and he flicked it on. For a moment, nothing happened.

"You gotta wait a minute, before it kicks in…." The voice informed him…

The person was true to their word; in a moment, the lights flickered on, dim at first, then brighter.

Heero looked at the person… and nearly screamed.