Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Road to Kindness ❯ Bringing Duo Home ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3: Bringing Duo Home

 

 

 

It was a pity that the buses didn't run this late, Duo thought. He didn't have the money to get from Brian Ave back to Park St where he lived, but it would still be nice to see some life so late at night. It was one in the morning and Duo considered himself officially `off duty.' He knew that, as a teenage whore, he could have things much worse. Still, his ass burned and he felt worn out. He had to get up for school in the morning and, in reality, four hours of sleep wasn't cutting it anymore. He felt his chest tighten and he coughed roughly into his hand, the loud, dry sound breaking the silence of the early morning.

“Hey, Duo!” someone called from behind him and snapped him out of his thoughts. Duo looked over his shoulder, startled, and grinned.

“Hey, Solo !” he cried and ran towards the prostitute that had called him, a tall boy only three years his senior wearing a pair of cut off shorts, a mesh blue top, and a red bandana that held his messy blonde hair out of his green eyes.

“You heddin' home?” Solo asked. Duo nodded

“Just got off.”

Solo frowned.

“When you gonna let go of that ass? A pretty little kid like you deserves better!” Solo caressed Duo's cheek. Duo snorted.

“Don't we all? Besides, what about you? At least I've got a roof over my head and an education!”

“At least I'm free!” Solo snapped, “I decide who I fuck! You may live in an apartment and get free education, but you do everything that sick bastard tells you to do! You even let him fuck you for no charge! If that isn't rape, I don't know what is!” Solo yelled.

“Just drop it, Sol',” Duo pleaded tiredly. It was too late in the day for such arguments. Solo backed down.

“Alright, but you know I love you, Duo, right? I just worry about you, that's all. I got a choice in this, but what happened to you… that's just wrong.”

Duo shrugged.

“Nothing in life is fair. If it was, I'd be livin' with a family, not with Wes, and working at some retail store so I could go to the movies with my friends, not whorin' myself. Life's not fair. Hell, Solo, you're the only friend I've got, but you're the best, better than any of the shits I go to school with. That's something, right?”

Solo pulled him into a tight hug and placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

“Damn right, kiddo, damn right. But I still want you to take care of yourself, you hear?”

“I promise, I'll try my best,” Duo said in Solo's ear and they parted. The two teenager said their goodbyes, only for Duo to walk right into a telephone poll, making Solo laugh. Duo glared at the telephone poll, realizing that walking this late at night without his glasses probably wasn't the best idea. He waved back at Solo's direction and left for home. It tore at his heart, knowing that he might not see his best friend ever again, but that was just a price that they all paid.

 

*****

 

Duo had met Solo four years after he had been taken in by Wes. He had been waiting on a street corner for his pick up when the blonde teenager had walked up to him. Duo had been twelve, Solo fifteen. At first Solo had thought that he was just some lost kid and had tried to help him, only to become outraged when he had discovered that he was a whore, too, and had been since he was seven. They had both lived their whole lives on the streets, the only difference was that Solo was the leader of a gang and had more protection than Duo ever had. Or at least, he had until a rival gang had killed all of them except for Solo, leaving him alone. Solo had fallen on hard times and had turned to prostitution to survive. They had been friends since that day, though their paths rarely intersected. Duo knew all about Solo's feelings for him and that they were more than just that of friendship, but Solo also knew that Duo didn't love him in that way. Duo had told him that he was his best friend and was willing to do anything for him. He couldn't love him, but he could give him what he wanted sexually. Solo had refused. He refused to be another Wes, forcing sex on someone just for his own needs. Despite the knowledge of Solo's feelings and Duo's proposition, their friendship had withstood for all those years. Before meeting Solo, he had never had a friend and it was still a strange concept for him, but he trusted Solo with his life, and his body, something that came hard for him. He would probably never find another friend like Solo, but one true friend out of the hundreds of assholes he knew wasn't so bad.

As he went on his way back home to Park Street, he ran into several things; a wall, two poles, and even a bench. He became frustrated with his lack of vision, but continued to walk. He wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with his sight. It had all started one day when he had finally gotten the courage to try to run away. Wes had caught him. He didn't remember much from that day, even before the escape attempt, he just remembered a lot of running, then Wes slamming his head into the floor. He remembered the pain well, the flaring heat shooting through his skull and the feeling of blood running through his hair and then… blackness. When he had woken up, his vision had been blurry and it had stayed that way for weeks until he had found a pair of discarded glasses in a dumpster. Even with the glasses, his vision wasn't what it had been, but it was slightly better than the blurry mess without them. Remembering what colors things were helped a lot. For example, he knew that all the park benches in this area were green, so he stayed away from any green that he happened to see. It wasn't like he was blind, he just saw colors more clearly than the actual objects themselves.

He made it home with only a few new bruises and immediately found his glasses and put them on. It was always a shock to him, suddenly being able to see more clearly after hours of blurriness. He felt a hand on his arm and flinched. He knew without looking that it was Wes. He could smell him, feel him, and he knew that it was him. His insides shudder, the feeling of that man… touching him filled him with revulsion, but he didn't move. He was his `father' after all. Or at least, that's what Duo's school records showed. If anyone dared to look close enough, though, they would find that Duo Maxwell and his father didn't exist. All of his school records were fakes, including the address, which gave a place on Baltic Street, next to Park Street, that didn't exist. Of course, Baltic Street did exist, so no one thought anything of it. The telephone number belonged to a cloned cell phone of Wes' which he could discard at anytime. If anyone had ever sat down and really thought about it, they would have realized that they had never met or spoken to Duo's father or visited his house, but they didn't. Sometimes it paid off, being unnoticed, though Khushrenada's perusing could be a bit bothersome, but Duo doubted anything would come out of it.

“Well?” Wes asked impatiently. Duo turned to meet him, schooling his expression to one of no expression, something that he knew that Wes hated. It was something of a small victory, knowing that he could upset the man. He loved to force Duo to show his emotions, to scream and cry, so making him wonder what Duo was feeling and knowing that he wasn't able to evoke those emotions without the use of force and pain was a pitiful sort of triumph, but he took what he could get. He reached into his jeans and pulled out a wad of bills, honestly won and handed them over to Wes who counted them. Duo waited for a frown to come over his face or an angry blow, but it never came and he relaxed. Wes, satisfied with Duo's earnings, still cast him a suspicious look. Wes never seemed to trust anyone but then again, Duo thought, when your business partners were pimps and drug dealers, it was probably good practice not to trust.

“This all of it?” he asked, his gray eyes narrowing. Duo resisted the urge to sigh and roll his eyes and instead turned out his pockets, which were both empty and rolled up the legs, taking off his boots and showing Wes that they were both empty. Wes' eyes roamed over Duo's form, his perusal turning from business to lust.

“On your knees,” he ordered. Duo's revulsion heightened. It wasn't all that strange for Wes to force him to do things like this, but it didn't mean that he had to get used to pleasuring his rapist.

“Wes, I'm tired,” he pleaded. Suddenly, Wes grabbed the back of his neck and squeezed, making Duo choke at the pain. Memories flooded him and phantom pain stirred in his chest.

“On your knees,” Wes demanded, releasing Duo only to let him fall to his knees, dazed. With automatic, numb hands, Duo unbuckled the man's pants and opened his boxers, taking out his hard dick. It always looked and felt different to him than the others and he told himself it was because it was the cock that had hurt him so badly the first time. He wrapped his hand around the base and lapped at the head. He hated how hot and heavy it felt. If he thought about it hard enough, he could still taste his blood on it. Wes groaned at the feeling of the hot tongue on him and grabbed the boy's head, thrusting all the way inside of his mouth. Duo choked, but was used to such treatment and continued to work him, sucking and wetting the organ to let Wes fuck his mouth easily. The blonde's nails dug into his scalp as he pressed Duo's head against him, making it hard for him to breathe. Duo balanced by putting his hands on Wes' thighs, feeling the muscles under the slacks tighten as he exploded inside of him. Thick seed filled his mouth and he felt nauseous at the taste, but Wes didn't let go of his head, keeping him there.

“Swallow it. All of it,” he ordered. With a wince, Duo complied, swallowing the heavy mass unpleasantly. Wes finally released him and Duo moved away, coughing.

“Open your mouth,” Wes demanded. Duo opened his mouth wide, showing that he had swallowed everything. Wes patted him on the cheek, pushing up his bangs to kiss his forehead.

“Good boy, now go to bed.”

Duo stood up and started to make a go for the false security of his small bedroom, only for Wes to grab the back of his shirt and pull him back.

“Here,” he said, putting a five dollar bill in Duo's hand and letting go of his shirt, “for lunch tomorrow. Don't ever say I didn't get you nothing, kid.”

Duo walked briskly to his room, not taking the chance that Wes might change his mind and not be satisfied with just a blow job, though he was sure that if he really wanted that, he would just wake him up anyway. It wouldn't be the first time Wes fucked him in his own bed while he was still half asleep. He made a quick journey to the bathroom to throw up and drink some water from the sink to get the taste of vomit and semen out of his mouth.

 

*****

 

Duo awoke with no sense of time. The only thing he knew was that he was in pain, both blood and semen cooling on the sheets between his still bare legs. He looked up at the ceiling with no desire to move or even scream. His throat was terribly raw and he could taste blood from both screaming and choking. He was, thankfully, alone, but the spot next to him was warm and he realized that the man had slept beside him. That fact made him shudder. He experimentally moved his legs and found that his muscles were sore from the drugs, but he was able to move and that was something. Now, he just needed to come up with a plan. The man was nowhere in sight and he didn't hear him moving around in the next room. But, he remembered what Wes had said about escaping. He had hurt him so badly last night, but if he didn't consider that pain, Duo didn't want to find out what the bastard could think of as a punishment.

He laid there silent, his thoughts buzzing uselessly in his head. Finally, he take no more as the black hole in his head started to grow. He knew that if he concentrated on it for too long, he would go insane, so he flexed his legs and rolled off the bed. As his feet hit the ground, a small noise of pain escaped from him and he felt more blood start to trickle down his tacky thighs. He ignored it for the time being and walked to the closet, finding his long white t-shirt inside and slipped it on. It fell, as always, to his knees and the back of it started to stain with his blood. He stank of sex and blood, but he walked aimlessly. He had no idea where he was going or what he was doing, all he could do was move and hope that his legs would take him somewhere, anywhere where things didn't hurt so much. Somewhere where he didn't have to think his dark thoughts anymore. He ended up at the door of the apartment. He could smell Chinese food from outside and his hunger tore at him, but just the thought of food made him ill. He had no intention of leaving, but the sudden urge to be out of here, to feel fresh air, was overwhelming and he stepped outside, making sure that the door was unlocked so he could go outside. He would make sure that Wes knew that he hadn't tried to escape, that he could be good and he didn't need to be punished. It was hard getting the heavy door open, but he managed and found himself in a back alley. He sat down on the step and a terrible pain shot up his lower back and he felt tears prickling his eyes. He sniffled and hugged his knees. He could feel blood pooling underneath him, but didn't care anymore.

His head shot up as he heard something moving in the alley. His violet eyes searched the dark in terror. He told himself that he didn't need to worry about monsters in the dark anymore, he had met the worst there was in broad daylight. Instead of some slimy monster, an adult black cat came prancing out of the shadows, her yellow eyes looking up at him with interest. She jumped up onto the step and rubbed against his bare legs. He blinked at her with wide eyes as though she were some alien life form. She purred and looked up at him. He heard tiny mews from in the shadows and realized what she wanted. He petted her head and she leaned into his touch.

“I'm sorry,” he murmured, “but I can't help you or your babies, I can't even take care of myself…”

The cat cocked her head as he shivered in the cold and licked his hand, rubbing her body against him. She covered his chest with her body, warming his chill. Tears broke from his eyes and trailed down his cheeks at the feel of her living warmth, soft fur, and attempts to comfort him. He wrapped his arms around her and laid down on the step, burying his face in her fur, listening to her beating heart. Tiny kittens wobbled from the shadows and followed their mother, all different colors, but all soft and playful and totally safe. He cried.

 

*****

 

The alarm sounded in Duo's ear and he awoke with a start. Before he was even fully awake, his body was moving, rolling off the bed and grabbing clothes and books, shoving them into his duffle bag. He didn't shower, he didn't have the money for it. Water and gas were expensive nowadays and Wes refused to let him take a shower unless he had a popular customer or if he had the money to pay for it, not counting the money he took from him every night, of course. He imagined that his classmates would be shocked if he came to school neat, tidy, and properly washed. Hell, he had almost forgotten what his natural hair color was. Most of his customers made him shower before sex, but by the time they were done with him, he was sweaty and smelled like sex anyway. He looked around the apartment and found that Wes wasn't there. That wasn't so unusual, though Duo never really cared where he went. He instantly went for the refrigerator. Food was expensive, too and Wes wasn't too keen on handouts unless it was absolutely necessary. It was like that night so many years ago, Wes would choke the life out of him, only to bring him back, always at the edge of death, but never actually dying…

He took out a package of old chicken. He doubted that Wes would miss it, but he vowed to by him some fresh stuff with the five dollars that he had given him last night. It wouldn't be the first day that he had gone without food. Living with a man who was stingy with his water and food was still better than living on the streets. He remembered the last time he had dared steal food from Wes. He hadn't been up to taking any jobs for several days after that. He slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and left the apartment, chicken in hand. The smell of old Chinese food hit him, a permanent scent in the alley.

“Alright, guys, breakfast time!” he called out. From a pile of boxes, a small head poked out and yellow eyes watched him. The cat mewed and suddenly, a pack of cats jumped out of the mess, swarming around Duo. He laughed gleefully and tore the chicken up into strips, making sure that there was enough for all of them. There were twelve of them, seven of them he knew well and five new comers that had shown up over the last couple of weeks, no doubt hearing that there was some fool human in this alley willing to give handouts to strays. Of the seven he had been feeding for many years, five of them were American Shorthairs, the offspring of the mother cat he had met nine years ago. The black cat had died four years ago, but she had been a great friend to him and so were her children. He had told Solo that he was his only friend, but that wasn't entirely true. Solo was his only human friend, but cats were always friendlier than humans. They weren't cruel or hurtful and they were great listeners. Only, he could never let Wes know that he was keeping stray pets, so they always stayed outside in the alley. The five `children' were all purebred shorthairs, but each were different colors and he had named all of them. The black was `Shiva', the tiger striped `Cassy', the pure white one with the pretty blue eyes was called `Angel', the gray tabby was `Cotton', and the calico was `Patches.' The other two cats were a streetwise Javanese with a scar on his back leg that he had named `Toby' and a young Bengal named `Sammy' that had a beautiful coat like a baby leopard. Duo was sure that Sammy, at the very least, was abandoned or lost since he was an obvious purebred and Bengals weren't exactly abundant as strays. He told himself that he would eventually get around to naming all of his little family. Duo didn't have much in life besides his cats, so he took good care of all of them, making sure they were healthy, free of parasites, and well fed, even if it meant going hungry himself. He knew that it was silly, but he also knew that it was the little things that got him through the day and his family was one of them. He worried what would happen to them when he died. It was a possibility with his job that one day a john would go too far or his own `guardian' would forget to keep him alive and that would be that.

The cats finished off the chicken and Sammy and Shiva rubbed against his legs. They were the youngest of the brood and the most affectionate. He rubbed at Shiva's fur. She looked just like her mother, who Duo missed dearly and, he was ashamed to say, he did spoil her a little.

“Sorry, baby, but I can't play right now, but I promise I'll get you something special after school.”

Ok, so maybe he wouldn't get Wes that chicken… after all, his babies came first.

 

*****

 

Name's older brother, Mizu, had once told her that the Yuy family ruled the world and on the eve of the new millennium, that was pretty much the truth. The Yuy Corporation had started off with a military background and had grown to a multi-national corporation in only ten years. The Yuy family had always been rich, going back more generations than any of them could count. During WWII the Yuy family had helped provide the faltering government with firearms and ammunition, a trade that only Heero's great grandfather was still proud of. After the war was over, they continued to sell weapons, as well as budding new technology, over seas with no prejudice to who they sold to. By the time his mother had been born, Yuy Corporation sold everything from apples to heat seeking missiles in almost every country. They had grown to such a huge corporation that no rival company dared take them over simply because they had bought out all of their rivals. In the past, only men had controlled the company, but Name had been first born and her mother had died before she had given birth to any other. Her father had had qualms about naming a woman as his heir, but Name told him that the Yuy Corporation had to change with the times, not against them and him not choosing his daughter would be seen as prejudice and weakness. Name had already had a job in the company and had proved herself able to lead as President. Shortly after that, her father had married a woman from a small village near Hokkaido and Name had gained an older step-brother named Mizu. However, her position in the company was never in danger as her father did not consider the boy a true `Yuy'. This was not out of cruelty, Mizu knew nothing about the company like Name did and had very little leadership abilities. Her step-mother had understood this and agreed with Heero's grandfather that Name was the better choice, though Mizu was bitter and his and Name's relationship had suffered for it. Heero knew very little about his uncle and he never visited.

Name felt bad about moving Heero from England to America, despite the fight that they had had. She had always tried to give her son a stable life, which was hard given his position. Forcing him to go to school as a freshman half way through the year wasn't the best decision she had made, but she had hoped to humble him a little. She had tried as hard as she could not to spoil him and to show him that he wasn't more important than others because of his status or money. She wasn't stupid. Despite the years that had passed since her husband's death, it was still affecting both of them, especially Heero. She had considered remarrying, but she knew that Heero would resent her for it. Besides, she just couldn't bear remarrying. She truly believed that some people only found one person that was perfect for them. For her, Alexei was that person. She didn't need another husband, anyway. The company was doing fine, though Alexei had never been involved with it to begin with. Heero could do with a positive male influence in the house, but Name believed that another marriage would do more harm than good. She and Alexei had met in Russia during a conference. While Alexei did come from a well standing family, the Czeleskys were nothing compared to the Yuy's. Her father had worried about him using her to get close to the company. However, Alexei had been upfront about his disinterest in leading the company and up until the moment of his death, he had been supportive, but never truly involved with the family politics. Alexei had been a great husband and a wonderful father. In Name's eyes, there was no one else. But, Heero's attitude made it difficult for her to balance her responsibilities as a president and her responsibilities as a mother. She just hoped that she could fix things.

She had left early that morning in order to get her meeting over with quickly. YC was taking over a large American Corporation that was in charge of Natural Fool Distribution. As the President, Name took her job very seriously and saw to almost everything personally, believing that just because she was in control didn't mean that she could treat those under her like slaves or that she didn't have to get her hands dirty. The biggest problem with take overs was the employee fear of change. Change meant loss of jobs. Name was stern and strict, but she was not cruel. She had spent the meeting calming those fears. She had explained that she was taking over the company, but only the name would change and no one would be laid off unless she found them incompetent. The manager had looked over the contracts and found that she was telling the truth. After that, the meeting had gone over quite smoothly and it had ended early.

Name arrived back home in Maine at one in the after noon, the car filled with groceries and other things that she and Heero needed. She had even bought the newest Silent Hill game as a peace offering. Buying things was sometimes difficult as her and Heero's faces were well known to the public and she outright refused to have bodyguards or any hired help simply because they didn't need any. With the family's resources, any potential kidnappers didn't dare anger the Yuys. Assassinations were no longer an issue after her grandfather had been shot, only to have his brother take his place. The press created rumors about the, as always, but nothing too nasty and they were, for the most part, left alone since the Yuy fortune made their offices keep running. However, when it came to her son and his friends and possible girlfriends, she constantly worried. The closest he had ever had to friends were through her own business connections, specifically the oil controlling Winner family of Saudi Arabia. He had, against her better judgment, been engaged a couple of times to the Peacecraft family and the Romefeller family, both ex-partners from Europe, but neither engagement had worked out. She was glad, she didn't like the idea of her son getting married for the company. She realized that, especially seeing what Heero was like now, she would be happy just to see him happy, married or not.

Name took her time putting everything away and went into Heero's bedroom, shaking her head when she saw that he hadn't unpacked or even made his bed. In the end, Heero was still a teenager. Sometimes it was just so hard, raising a child on her own. She certainly didn't feel like a good mother. She made his bed for him, deciding to cut him some slack since it was his first day in a new school. She started to prepare dinner and waited for her son to come home.

Name was ready for Heero to be in a bad mood when he came home, considering everything that she had done to him, but he wasn't. He came in with a triumphant smirk on his face that worried her. Surely the boy could stay out of trouble for one whole day?

“What are you smiling about?” she asked. Heero shrugged.

“I met someone,” he explained. Name's eyes narrowed, but on the inside, she was shocked. Heero had only made tow friends his entire life and now, on his first day in America, he had made another? The odds were too un-stacked for her not to be alarmed.

“Oh?”

“A boy. I think he could be a good friend. His name's Duo,” Heero said, dropping his bag to the floor and going to the refrigerator to dig out a soda. Name's brow furrowed in concern. She had done thorough research on St. Peter's and she knew that most of the families here were lower to middle class. She knew in that moment why it had taken her father so many years to trust Alexei. She wouldn't tell Heero that he couldn't be friends with the boy, that would be hypocritical of her and she wouldn't do it, not here, not now. Instead, if she ever met this `Duo', she would keep a close eye on him and if he ever hurt her son, she would show him what hell would be like.

 

*****

 

The school was empty so early in the morning, but that was a good thing, Duo thought. The door to both the school and the gym were unlocked for him. He entered the separate gymnastics room, sat on a pummel horse, and waited. He thought about how ridiculous this situation was, but reasoned it wasn't much different than what he did for Wes. He didn't have to wait long before the door opened and someone came in, locking the door behind them.

“As punctual as always, how cute,” Zechs jeered, gripping Duo's chin and crushed his lips against his. The kiss was brutal with Zechs nipping his lips and fucking his mouth with his tong ue, but Duo endured it.

“I want cash this time,” Duo said as they parted. Zechs frowned.

“Have you forgotten our deal? I don't send you to the hospital and you let me fuck you.”

Duo's eyes were intense as he stared at him.

“Do you want to fuck me?”

Zechs' eyes roamed over Duo's body and he knew that he had lost.

“You know I do, you little shit.”

“Then what's the difference? I'll still let you do what you want. Now do we have a deal?”

Zechs snorted.

“Fine. How much?”

“Forty and that's a bargain, for this morning only, understand? After today, our original deal is back on.”

Zechs didn't say anything, taking out his wallet and counting the money, shoving it into Duo's hand, who stuffed it into his jacket pocket.

“Ok, how do you want me?” Duo asked.

“On your knees, from behind,” Zechs said, licking his lips. Duo got on all fours, facing away from Zechs. He blushed as the silver-haired boy unzipped his jeans and shoved them down his legs. He had been whoring himself for eight terrible years but being naked in front of people still embarrassed him. He heard Zechs unzip his own pants and felt his large hands on his ass cheeks, spreading him wide. He closed his eyes as he felt the boy's cock start to push into him, wincing as the thickness stretched him and made him burn.

“Ah!” Zechs gasped as he slid inside the violet eyed boy. He gripped his ass and moved in and out.

“Hard to imagine, a little slut like you is still this tight!” Zechs gritted out,, feeling Duo's insides squeezing him. He thought that he could look forever and never find a more perfect lay and, best of all, he was all his…

Duo bit back a cry as Zechs' thrusts became more violent.

“I wonder what Yuy would do if he found out what a good little bitch you are? I wonder if he would want to join in?” Zechs sneered. Duo glared over his shoulder at him. Zechs putting Heero down to his level enraged him for some reason. Heero was stubborn and a bit obnoxious, but he wasn't nasty like Zechs.

“He has nothing to do with this!” Duo snapped. He winced as Zechs slapped his ass with a biting sting.

“Don't talk back, whore. You and he were acting really friendly yesterday.”

Duo looked at the ground.

“I'm just his latest project, that's all,” he murmured.

“Is that right?” Zechs whispered in Duo's ear, “Too bad for him, because you're my project!”

Duo cried out as Zechs intentionally hit his sweet spot, making his own cock harden and his toes curled pleasantly in his boots. He hated when he did that! If the bully was going to fuck him, he certainly didn't want his body to enjoy it! He felt Zechs wrap his hand around his newly erect dick and pump, the feeling making his legs shake.

Zechs pressed his lips to Duo's neck and licked his skin. He loved that taste… if Yuy thought that he was going to give this up, he was going to get a lesson in how the real world worked!

Duo gritted his teeth as he came into Zechs' hand and his legs became limp. Zechs slammed into him hard, crying out as he orgasmed and filled the smaller boy with his cum. He let go o him and watched as Duo fell limp to the floor, panting. He watched as his seed slid out from between the nicely shaped butt cheeks. It was amazing. If he had known that he could own the boy so easily, he would have done it the moment they had met.

 

*****

 

Zechs had moved to St. Peters three years ago when his parents had gone through a very bitter divorce and his sister had gone to live with their rich, nobleman father in England and he had gone to America with their now destitute mother. He had met Duo Maxwell, who was one year younger than him. Duo Maxwell, who was more beautiful than any boy had the right to be. Duo Maxwell, who had listened to Zechs Merquise tell him that he loved him and had told him that he would never love him. Duo had broken his heart so easily and so Zechs had decided that he would show him what pain really felt like. For two years, he had bullied him, called him names, beat him up, made him eat worms, and shoved him into mud until last summer when a wonderful thought came into his head: he would make a deal with the boy. He would stop bullying him if he would let him fuck him and, to his shock, Duo had agreed. In the end, he had won, Duo was his!

Zechs left Duo alone in the gymnasium and Duo quickly pulled himself together and cleaned himself off. He couldn't believe he had gotten into this situation. Was there something about him that screamed `whore'? Was all he was good for was a hole for men to fuck? Was that why Heero Yuy wanted to be his friend? For a no-guilt, easy lay? He sighed. He told Heero he would give him a chance, but it wasn't easy, especially when he honestly couldn't see why someone like Heero was interested in someone like him.

 

*****

 

Keeping to his word, Duo sat down with Heero at lunch, this time with no tray, which Heero noticed with alarm. His newly earned forty dollars burned in his pocket, but he had no intention of buying lunch with it. He had to buy presents for his cats, get food and beer for Wes, and buy some warmer clothes since the winter weather was getting colder and colder and everyone knew that Maine weather was legendary even for a town that wasn't on the coast. He was used to hunger from his childhood and if he got really hungry, getting some money wouldn't be too difficult, though Wes refused to let him go on a job without his consent.

“Are you not hungry?” Heero asked. It frustrated him. Here he was, having lunch with his new friend, but he still knew nothing about him beyond his name and odd maturity for a fifteen year old. Most boys his age were brimming with ego and energy, but Duo was so modest and subdued.

“No money,” Duo explained. Heero frowned. Surely, if his parents hadn't made a lunch for him, they would give him some money?

“It's alright,” Duo assured him, “I'm used to being hungry,” he said, not realizing that what he had said was odd, especially to someone like Heero. Heero wanted to say something, to demand that Duo tell him why he was used to being hungry, but one of the things he had learned from his mother was diplomacy and he was afraid of scaring Duo away now that he had gotten close to him. So, he stayed quiet and instead cut his hamburger in half, giving Duo one half and half of his fries, even giving him the pickle from his salad, all neatly laid out for him on one of Heero's napkins. Duo stared at the food and Heero could imagine him salivating.

“I can't take that,” Duo said.

“Yes, you can,” Heero said, stubbornly.

“I won't accept charity,” Duo protested.

“It's not charity,” Heero insisted, “I just don't want to hear your stomach growling during class.”

Duo snorted, but accepted the food, taking small bites and savoring the flavor of the beef, having not had any for weeks now.

“Why do you eat like that?” Heero asked, remembering how Duo had eaten his salad yesterday.

“To make it last,” Duo said. Heero worked his lip between his teeth, burning with questions that he couldn't ask. He had asked Duo to be his friend so he could figure out why he wasn't impressed with him and, in time, fool around with him, but things had changed. Why did Duo act like a kid trying to play grownup? Why did he eat every meal like it was his last? For the first time in his life, Heero found that he enjoyed someone's company without the need for anything in return. He was curious about the boy, but even now, wondering and questioning, he liked the silence, and he liked watching Duo enjoying his food. There was just something about him that made Heero want to analyze him, if only to figure out why he felt this way. A true friend… he had only had two before and it was ironic that he had found a third here in this boring place. Of course, it had been two years since he had last seen his other friends and it was likely he wouldn't for quite some time more. Duo reminded him of them both, with qualities of each, but there was something more… something else present in both those violet eyes and how he made Heero feel that hadn't been in the others. Watching Duo eat and finally realizing that Duo perhaps didn't have the means to get food three times a day, a luxury that Heero had thought would be in reach for someone like him. He also realized that he wanted to help him, even if he wasn't going to get anything for it.

“It's Friday,” Heero stated simply. Duo stared at him, a fry cutely poking out of his mouth. He chewed it down.

“Yes, Heero, I am aware of that,” he said as though he were talking to an idiot. Heero refrained from rolling his eyes.

“How would you like to spend the weekend at my house, that is, if your parents don't mind?”

Duo studied Heero's face, trying to figure out what Heero wasn't saying. It was one thing if the boy wanted to hang out with him at school, but at his house? THE Heero Yuy's house? Duo immediately pictured some huge, archaic monstrosity filled with gold and silver and hundreds of maids. Just the mental image was imposing to him. He had never slept in a room bigger than the size of one of the classrooms.

“What's the catch?” Duo asked.

“Nothing,” Heero asked, “you said you would give me a chance as your friend. Well, friends have sleep overs and, quite frankly, I know nothing about you. This is a way for us to get to know each other. Besides, my mom wants to meet you.”

Duo's eyes became wide and Heero almost got lost in the deep color of them.

“You… told your mom about me?” he asked incredulously.

Heero sighed.

“I told you, we're friends now, that's what friends do, isn't it?”

Duo was silent and Heero wondered how many friends Duo had. Perhaps he didn't have many decent friends that would have him over?

Duo was deep in thought. If he went over Heero's house for the weekend, Wes could kill him, possibly literally. He would not see his cats until Monday and he would be earning no money. There was also the threat that Heero's mother would find out about who he really was, not to mention the thought of him, a stupid, useless street rat whore meeting the infamous Name Yuy sent a serious chill down his spine. She had connections, which meant finding out that he didn't exist would be as easy to her as him finding a rat outside his apartment door was to him. Though, if she didn't try to find out about him and nothing bad happened during the weekend, he would be getting to live in some seriously posh settings for the first time in his miserable life, not to mention free food and access to some expensive stuff he could nick. Maybe if he stole enough, Wes would be too excited and greedy to care that he had been gone for so long. Then, there was that long forgotten part of himself that told him to do it, simply because he wanted to. He knew nothing about Heero. He was intimidating, stubborn, and had no business spending time with trash like him. But, he was also risking a lot to be friends for reasons that Duo didn't understand. He was also, Duo had to grudgingly admit, quite handsome and, in a strange way, almost kind, giving him his food and offering to bring him into his home and life. Even if Heero was doing it for some ulterior purpose, it took a lot of guts and quite a bit of heart. So, yes, he wanted to go home with him. He wanted to pretend, just for a little while, that he was a normal boy with a real house and a real family, just spending some time with a friend. He wondered what it was like to have a mother and if Heero realized how lucky he was, even if his mother happened to be the leader of a multi-national corporation. That deep part of himself yearned to know what that felt like. When he listened to that part of himself, he wondered about his own mother. Was she a brunette like him? Did she share his strange eye color? Did she even remember that he existed or was he just a dark memory to her? Perhaps she wasn't even alive.

“Alright,” Duo said in small voice that tore at Heero's heart. It was the voice of someone who had given up.

“Ok, then you'll spend until Sunday with us,” Heero said with a bright smile that made a strange heat spread in Duo's chest.

“I'll walk you home,” Heero said, “and you can tell your folks-,”

“That's not necessary!” Duo insisted with poorly hid nervousness that Heero picked up on quickly, “If you let me borrow your cell phone, I can call my dad right now!”

Heero gave him an odd look, but remained quiet. His mother wouldn't have settled with a phone call if he was going away for almost three days. She would have wanted to speak with his friend's mother or father and a complete agenda of his activities. But, perhaps compared to a normal boy's parents, she was overprotective, he just didn't know. He handed Duo his cell phone, wondering what sort of teenage boy didn't have a cell phone nowadays, though he supposed that if Duo's parents hadn't given him money for lunch, they would hardly be willing to give him a cell phone. Heero wondered if Duo's parents were… abusive. He had heard of such things on the news and thought it would be terrible if such a pretty, timid boy had neglectful parents. Someone like him should be taken care of, loved, not ignored.

Duo dialed the number for Wes' cloned cell phone. He knew that Wes never actually answered the number, he only checked his messages.

“Hey, dad,” he said when the voice mail answered. He felt nauseous calling Wes `dad', “just calling to tell you I won't be home until Sunday. I'm staying at a friend's house, but I'll be sure to pick up some groceries on my way back. See ya,” he clicked the phone shut and handed it back to Heero. The mention of groceries wouldn't be enough to subdue Wes' anger, but it was the least he could do. He just hoped that he wouldn't end up in the hospital after all of this ended.

“Are you sure that that's enough?” Heero asked, concerned that Duo's father hadn't picked up. For a brief moment, he felt a spark of jealousy that Duo had a father. In his mind, an image of his father's dying blue eyes flashed, but he discarded it. It wasn't fair to Duo, being envious for him for something so small. He mused that, in a fairytale, Duo would only have a father and he would fall in love with his mother and their families would be whole and rich and happy together. Of course, in a fairytale, the brothers wouldn't lust after each other. Or at least, he hoped that one day Duo would.

“It's fine,” Duo said, “my dad's not very strict,” he almost choked on his lie. He was pretty sure that most dad's wouldn't rape and beat their children to death for sleeping over a friend's house. That was Wes' threat if he ever put anything over his job. Specifically, he would treat him like he did his other whores. Pump him full of drugs until he so fucked up he couldn't stand, then chain him to the bed and let men fuck him all day and all night until he bled to death. If anyone else had said that, he would have called them on their bluff, but when Wes made a threat, he meant it. Duo mentally shuddered at the thought of that happening. What was he thinking, going to Heero's house when he should be working? But… he wanted to do this so badly… hell, if it really came to that, he would just kill himself and save Wes the trouble, it wasn't like thoughts of suicide were new to him, he just never saw the point. If he died, Solo would be the only one to mourn him and it wouldn't be for very long as his best friend had better things to do.

“Are you sure you don't want to ask him in person? Or your mom? I could swing by your house-,”

“No!” Duo nearly shouted, paling at the thought of Heero going to that place. “It's fine, Heero, really.”

“Ok,” Heero said, letting it drop, but not forgetting Duo's reaction. Was he ashamed of where he lived or who he lived with? It was plausible considering who Heero was, but he wished it wasn't true. It was strange, he had only met Duo yesterday, but was already feeling close to him and wanted to impress him. Wasn't that what he had said yesterday? That he wanted to know what it would take to impress Duo? Heero liked challenges and he especially liked people who made him work for their friendship. People who worked for his friendship were a dime a dozen, but the other way around… that was more than rare. The wanted to assure Duo that he shouldn't be ashamed of where he lived, but he also didn't want Duo thinking that Heero was assuming to know what he was thinking. He had the distinct feeling, however, that Duo wouldn't be taking him to his home anytime soon, but that was ok. He would just have to earn that right in the future, assuming there was a future for the two of them. He just hoped that his mother would behave herself.

 

*****

 

Duo and Heero's classes converged in Math, Science, Gym, and English, but they separated for Art, History, and Music. For these classes, Heero had an idea to get to know parts of Duo that he wasn't comfortable with talking about. He simply asked other people what they knew about him. For all three classes, Heero only learned one thing: no one knew anything about him. They didn't notice him, it was like Duo never existed. The strange thing was that they all knew about him, but had never talked to him or cared to know him. All they did know was that he was an easy target for bullying and in middle school almost all of them had joined in on Zechs Merquise's torment of the boy. The scariest part of this interrogation was when Heero asked the teachers. They had similar answers; he was a good student, but unnoticed and, the most shocking of all, none of them had met his parents. During parent teacher conferences, they didn't show up, but they didn't think anything of it. All of the teachers wearing shocked expressions on their faces when they said this, as though the thought had never occurred to them. It was as though Duo Maxwell lived in a fog or he was a ghost. In actuality, it was only Une who knew anything new when he asked her in between classes in the hall.

“He's a good kid. I used to teach in the middle school and I had him for a student, then, too. He staid low, never made much noise and never made trouble. It was as though he didn't want to get noticed. Everyone knew that he was being bullied and I tried to get the principal to at least expel Zechs for it, but, obviously, that never came to pass. He has a problem with attendance, but he always makes up his work. He's very smart, though you wouldn't know it since he never talks in class. He only has a father, I don't know what happened to his mother, but I have been unable to talk to his dad, he seems to always be busy with something. Why the questions, Heero?” she asked, her brown eyes narrowing behind her glasses.

“He's just…” Heero struggled with a way to put to words why he liked Duo.

“Interesting?” she asked with a strange, knowing smile.

“Yes,” he admitted. She pushed her glasses up her nose and studied him.

“I suggest you tread very carefully, Mr. Yuy. Some mysteries are fun to solve, others can break your heart,” she said cryptically as she walked away. Heero watched her go with a confused gaze. It was strange, she actually sounded like she cared about Duo, and she probably did. Une Khushrenada seemed like the sort of teacher that genuinely cared about her students and she had had much more to say about Duo than anyone else so far, but even she didn't know much.

 

*****

 

“You drive this?” Duo asked in amazement as they got into Heero's Jaguar. The only time that he gotten into a car this nice was on a job. He noticed there were no stickers, no mess, not even some fuzzy dice or a pile of CDs. The car was perfect, clean and tidy, odd for a teenager.

“Do you like cars?” Heero asked. As people passed by, they gave the two of them odd looks, but Duo was too interested in the car to notice and Heero simply ignored them.

“Not really, I've never driven one and my dad never lets me near his,” Duo said, not liking where this conversation was going. He didn't want to have to explain that cars reminded him of unpleasant things like what some people did in the back of them or places they could take you or even the sort of people who drove certain cars. But, this car of Heero's was different, it didn't remind him of sex and it didn't smell like those other cars did. Perhaps that smell was all in his head, but he smelled it regardless.

“Would you like to drive this one?” Heero asked. Duo stared at him with wide eyes.

“Um, Heero, I don't have a driver's license.”

Heero blushed a little bit at his blunder. For a moment, he had completely forgotten that Duo was younger than him.

“Sorry,” he said.

“It's ok.”

 

*****

 

The image of a monstrous mansion remained in Duo's mind as they drove and his heart started to pound. What if Heero's mother threw him out? What if she found him out? He was suddenly more subconscious of himself than he had ever been in his life. He was skinny, he smelled like sex and sweat, his hair was filthy, his eyes were strange, his glasses were broken, his hair was too long… the list went on and on until Heero announced that they were there and Duo forced himself to look at the window. What he saw was not at all what he had expected.

Heero's house looked… normal. It was a large house and easily the most expensive in the town, but it wasn't a huge structure spanning over miles like he had pictured. It was white and as perfect as Heero's car, everything neat and whole and new from the stone walkway to the neatly cut grass and garden to the black door and clean windows. There was only one driveway with one garage and no servant's quarters. The yard was large, though Duo didn't see any signs of a dog. He imagined his cats playing on that wide space and felt a stab of depression realizing that the alley was all that they had ever known and ever would know. Even his scarred, graceful Toby would seem terrible out of place on the manicured lawn. They pulled into the spacious garage and Duo saw a large, state of the art SUV that probably belonged to Heero's mother, two motorcycles, and a sports car convertible. Duo blinked dumbly as Heero opened the car door for him, already holding his duffle bag. Duo was too deep in his shock to try to get it from Heero as the other boy led him to the front door.

This couldn't be real, Duo decided. He felt like he had stumbled into another dimension. Surely this incredible place and this boy had no place in his dark and twisted world. This place was too perfect and he was too ugly… he didn't belong here anymore than a weed belonged on that perfect grass. He realized that he never should have agreed to this and bile rose in his throat at the thought of going into that neat house with his stink and grime and ratty old duffle bag. He should just run, he thought, run back to the blood and semen and violence and chaos that he was familiar with, but his legs refused to cooperate.

Heero looked back as he realized Duo had stopped walking and was standing in the driveway looking lost and very much alone. He took Duo's hand in his, for the first time realizing just how thin and small he was as his larger hand gripped Duo's. His friend's eyes were wide and he seemed shell shocked. It made Heero want to shelter him, to try to fix things. He didn't want that expression on his face. He had much preferred the wonder that Duo had had to the car than the fear he had for his home.

“Come one,” he gently urged and pulled Duo towards the house.

 

*****

 

The inside of the Yuy home was much like the outside, everything neat, tidy, and in its place, but no gold or silver and opulence. The house was quite large and expensive looking, but not the palace that Duo had thought it would be. His knowledge of who this house belonged to clashed with how it looked. Of course, he reasoned, the only houses he had been in had been condemned or the houses of johns, so he was in no position to judge. Still, he thought that a family like the Yuys would have something… bigger.

“Mom doesn't believe in vanity,” Heero explained, catching Duo's look, “this is as posh as she's willing to go without feeling like she's wasting money on something she doesn't need. She says that this is all we need, it's functional, so it's perfect. She mostly got it for the security system,” he joked. Heero's words seemed to reach Duo and that wide eyed look started to vanish little by little.

“But, it still looks incredible,” Duo said in a light voice, his eyes looking over framed pictures and oriental rugs. Heero placed a hand on Duo's shoulder and led him to the kitchen.

“You'll be sleeping in my room, if that's ok?” Heero asked. Duo nodded. He thought that he would agree to just about anything in this situation. He didn't have the heart to tell Heero that he had never slept over someone's house before.

“Hey, mom,” Duo heard Heero say as they entered the kitchen and he froze, making Heero drag him the rest of the way inside. He had no thought this through, he realized. He, a street whore, was going to meet the Name Yuy, the president of the biggest corporation in the world. There was something terribly wrong with that.

He didn't know what he was expecting when he envisioned Heero's mother, but for whatever image he had had in his head, the reality was perfect. She wasn't the stereotypical short Asian woman, but she wasn't quite as still as Heero, but still taller than Duo, her eyes narrow and black, her neat, straight hair jet black. Heero's face was just like hers, he realized and couldn't help but blush. Name's gaze was like a shark as she looked at him. He couldn't tell if she wanted to disembowel him to see what his insides looked like or if she was simply curious, but it didn't make him feel comfortable.

“Heero,” she said and Duo was expecting a too-sweet, fake voice, not the clipped, all-business voice she had, clearly she wouldn't be using any mind tricks on him, she would just gut him and be done with the games, “I would like it if you would tell me if you're having a friend over.”

Duo listened for a trace of a Japanese accent, but much like her son, her English was perfect. His manners finally kicked in and he abandoned his sanctuary from behind Heero's arm.

“H-hi, Mrs. Yuy,” he said shakily, wondering if that was how one greeted the president of a conglomerate. Name studied him carefully. Her son's `friend' had a soft, pretty face that seemed rather innocent, but she knew that looks were deceptive. His eyes were strange, a pigment she had never seen before, but they were real as he was wearing glasses and not contacts. He seemed small and dirty and utterly terrified of her. She had been expecting a boy in a suit perhaps, ready to do anything to make an impression on a powerful and wealthy family, not someone that looked like he had been taken off of the street. Then there was his obvious fear. Either this boy was an idiot, a very bad actor, a very good actor, or he was for real. She ruled out idiocy. Heero wasn't the sort of boy to befriend morons and he had said that Duo was a good student. His fear also appeared to be natural, so she ruled out that he was acting, at least with the fear. However, his appearance brought home to her that this boy was not wealthy and probably would jump at the chance for some quick cash. Her instinct told her to bite his head off now before he could do their family any damage, but her diplomacy told her the danger of making assumptions so early on.

“This is Duo, Mom,” Heero said, trying to break the ice. Watching Duo's fear and his mother's perusal was painful. Name shook Duo's hand, making the boy flinch. She was startled at the sudden move, realizing that just how petrified this boy was. She tried to see things through his eyes, if he was for real, that is. She thought about if some boy that she had recently befriended brought her home to a place she wasn't used to and introduced her to his mother who had the ability to cause some trouble for her. She would be feeling a little afraid as well. Just because she wasn't willing to trust this boy didn't mean that she should be outright rude to him.

“My name is Name, Duo, and for now you may call me that, not Mrs. Yuy.”

Duo nodded.

“Heero, why don't you get the air mattress out of the closet?” she asked. Heero glared at her, seeing through her misdirection.

“Mother…” he warned, his eyes warning her not to start anything. She just smiled at him and he left, rolling his eyes at her tactics. God help her if she scared Duo off…

Duo, his safety net having abandoned him, panicked.

“You should feel very lucky,” Name said in a cold voice, “you're the first person that Heero has ever brought home. Just what about you is so special?”

Duo didn't know why, but the woman talking about, not only him, but also her own son in that tone of voice angered him.

“Look, I don't know what Heero told you about me, but I didn't go out looking for his friendship, he found me. Hell, he stalked me all day until he finally relented!”

Name chuckled and Duo felt himself relax a little at the human reaction.

“Yes, that does sound like my son. He can be painfully single minded when he wants something.”

“I don't know what I want out of this friendship,” Duo admitted, knowing that honesty was the best policy in a situation like this, “but I do like Heero. To tell you the truth, the two of you scare me a little, but in the two days that I've known him, I've found that he's a decent person, or at least he pretends to be.”

Name looked Duo in the eye and black clashed with violet.

“Alright, if we're to be frank with each other, I will have my say. I don't like the idea of some boy I don't know getting close to my son. The last thing I want is for the first thing he learns here to be that the world is cruel. If I hear that you hurt him in anyway-,”

“There is absolutely nothing I can say that will convince you that I have no intention of that,” Duo snapped, “I could tell you that I just want to be friends with him, but you have every right to think that I'm lying. All I can say is that, if Heero ends up hurt, it won't be by my hand. It's true, I'm not wealthy, but I'm pretty sure pissing off a family like yours isn't the safest way to make some money,” Duo said. He blinked after his rant was finished as he finally seemed to realize that he was arguing with Heero's mother and he paled. However, Name seemed a little bit impressed with his performance.

“Fine, then. I'm just glad to see that Heero's friend isn't a pushover. I have no tolerance for people who can't even stand up for themselves. Go,” she dismissed him with an amused smile, “Heero's probably waiting for you by the stairs, just turn right and keep going straight, you'll see it. And, Duo,” she gave him a warmer look, “if either of you need anything, just ask, I'll be here all weekend.”

Duo shuffled out of the kitchen, amazed that he had gotten out of there alive. He was even more amazed that he found himself liking the rational, but protective mother. Heero was indeed waiting for him at the steps, sheets, pillows, and a deflated air mattress in his arms.

“Well?” Heero asked nervously.

“Your mom's kind of cool,” Duo said with a small smile. Heero's expression dissolved into one of intense relief.

“Yeah, I guess she is.”

 

*****

 

“Why don't you take a shower while I do this?” Heero asked, unfolding the air mattress and starting to inflate it.

“Are you sure you don't want any help?” Duo asked, not wanting to be a leech. Heero nodded.

“You're my guest.”

“But, I don't want to use up your hot water,” Duo insisted. It had never even occurred to him that he would be allowed to take a shower. Heero snorted.

“You're staying here for two days, you'll have to take a shower sooner or later,” Heero said, brushing Duo's worries off, but inside he was the one who was worried. He took in Duo's greasy hair and remembered how he had originally thought that Duo was just not concerned with his hygiene, but maybe that wasn't the case. What if his house didn't have hot water or there was something wrong with their plumbing and his dad hadn't gotten around to fixing it? He wondered, not for the first time, where Duo's mother was.

Duo dug out a t-shirt and shorts from his duffle and Heero gave him a look that went unnoticed. It suddenly came to Heero that Duo hadn't gone home to get anything. Was he caring his whole life in that duffle bag? How odd. He had the sudden urge to look through the bag to see what else was in there, but didn't. What was in there was Duo's business and not his. He heard Duo close the door to his adjoined bathroom and got an image of Duo stripping in there. That image made him blush, especially when he realized that Duo hadn't locked the door.

“That door locks,” he called out, despite himself. He had decided last night that he wouldn't take advantage of his new friend unless he knew that Duo was actually interested.

 

*****

 

Duo blushed as he locked the bathroom door. He had never locked the door when washing before since Wes and his johns sometimes liked to fuck him in the shower. Wes had told him a long time ago that locked doors weren't for whores like him. If Heero really wanted, he could easily break into the bathroom, but that lock still made him feel safe for some reason. Actually, it wasn't just the bathroom. Heero's bedroom, hell, the whole house, even with his mother in it, made him feel oddly safe. In this place, he felt like nothing could touch him, not even Wes. It was a stupid feeling, but it was there. He let his hair down from the braid and walked into the shower. He shuddered as hot water hit his skin. It felt so good and Heero hadn't said that he had to hurry… Duo felt temptation strike him and for once, he listened. For a good ten minutes, he just stood there and let the water wash over him, soaking into his muscles and washing the grime and dirt away. After his chill was finally gone, he used some of Heero's shampoo and went to work on his hair.

 

*****

 

After forty minutes, the bed was made and Heero was waiting for Duo to finish. He would have been worried, but he could hear Duo humming and let him take as long as he wanted. It was one of the many luxuries that they had, an endless hot water supply. And even if that wasn't true, the relaxed, almost blissful expression on Duo's face as he left the bathroom was well worth it. Heero was immediately hit with the realization of how much hair Duo had. Out of the braid, it fell in silken waves around him down to his thighs. The color was dark from the water, but Heero could tell that when it dried it would be much lighter, not a dark brown like his own hair, but a chestnut and he could now see some red and gold highlights in the clean mass. He swallowed as he realized that Duo had taken off his glasses for the shower and his skin, now clean, glowed like a light cream. He was gorgeous, not just pretty or cute like he had first thought, but actually gorgeous. Heero's libido flared, but he refused to listen to it. The illusion was broken minutely when Duo pumped into the dresser and swore. Heero realized dumbly that Duo's glasses really weren't for show and he did have vision problems. He grabbed the boy's thin elbow and navigated him to Heero's bed. A perverted part of him told him that he know had a beautiful, sexy boy on his bed and said boy was vulnerable without his glasses and only a pair of short and a thin t-shirt on, it would be so easy… but he didn't listen to those thoughts.

“What's wrong with your eyes?” he asked. Duo shrugged, brush in hand and started to comb through his hair. He had combed it in the shower, letting the water help with the snarls, but with hair as long as his, he had to do it twice to make sure it didn't snarl again when it dried.

“I hit my head when I was a kid and now my right eye doesn't work so well, but it's not that bad,” he explained, dropping the brush to weave his hair back into a braid. Heero watched, transfixed, as those slim, long fingers adjusted his silky hair. He handed Duo his glasses, but felt a bit sad at the sight of the broken frames on Duo's pretty face.

“Hey, want to play video games?” Heero asked, sitting on the bed next to Duo and picking up one of his game controllers. Duo stared at him with bright, happy eyes.

“Really?! I've never played before!”

With that comment, Heero was lost.

 

*****

 

“You're a liar!” Heero grumbled as he and Duo played one of his racing games and Duo managed to beat him by a whole minute.

“Nu-uh!” Duo protested with a cheeky grin, “It's not my fault you're so slow!” he teased, realizing that for the first time in his long life, he was actually having fun! He was already dreading Sunday…

With a playful growl, Heero tackled Duo and wrestled with him. Duo gave out a shock sound that was somewhere between a squeak and laughter and the two of them rolled around on the floor like two puppies until Duo ended up in Heero's arms, his face pressed against his chest and the both of them blushed, but didn't pull away.

 

Duo closed his eyes and realized that he could hear the other boy's heart beating, feeling his strong arms wrapped around his body, smell him and felt his own heart beating wildly. He had been pressed naked like this to hundreds of men but this… this feeling was so strange… so strong… He felt safe, he felt happy… and he had no right to feel that way, but he didn't want to leave. Instead of pulling away from the strange, wonderful embrace he had found himself in, he melted deeper into it and so did Heero.

What was this? Duo wondered. He kept his eyes closed and just listened to Heero's heart.

“I've never had any friends before,” Duo admitted, “no one's ever cared enough about me to want to be my friend.”

Heero's grip tightened around the other boy.

“So, I just want to say thank you,” Duo murmured, “thank you for asking me to stay over, you didn't have to. I don't even know why you want to be friends with me.”

 

Was this love? Duo wanted to scoff at that, but he couldn't. He didn't fall in love… he just, didn't. If he had to fall in love, why not with Solo, why with this boy he didn't even know! But, somewhere deep inside, he knew the truth.

“Don't say stuff like that,” Heero sighed, “can't you just accept that I want to be your friend because I like you? You don't have to thank me for something so small…”

Duo chuckled, but there was something dark about it.

“It's nothing so small, Heero. You just don't understand…”

Heero let go of Duo, the moment over.

“Then you'll have to make me understand, it doesn't matter anyway, I'm going to keep telling you you're my friend until you start to believe it, too.”

 

*****

 

All through Friday and Saturday, Heero made sure that he didn't get into such an intimate position with Duo again, but he did keep his promise to try to convince Duo that his friendship didn't have any kind of motive. He tried to analyze his feelings and how he had come to feel all of those strange things for Duo. Lust was easy to figure out. Personality wise, Duo was Heero's type. He was mature, modest, smart, and strong willed. Physically, he was gorgeous, catering to Heero's love for long hair and best of all, he was male. The first day he had met Duo, he had wanted to have sex with him and learn more about him so he could find out why he was so adamant on ignoring him. What had changed in the last forty eight hours? Well, he knew why Duo had ignored him, but there was still interest there. Plenty of people had told Heero that they didn't care that he was rich, but Duo genuinely wasn't impressed, but he still let Heero be his friend, that said something, didn't it? If you felt this way for a person, didn't you call it love? Or maybe he was just overanalyzing his lust for him. Either way, he had never had a friend quite like Duo before. He had, somewhere along the way, abandoned his original attentions with him. He felt like something was changing, but he wasn't scared.

 

*****

 

Name watched her son and Duo carefully, but grudgingly admitted to herself that so far it seemed like Duo was the real deal. Then there was the fact that Heero had yet to pull anything at his new school. Her son wasn't a bully or a troublemaker in the traditional sense. She knew that he hadn't beat that boy up in England or do any of those other things because he liked making life miserable for other people. Simply, when Heero was bored, he acted out. When he felt useless, he made other people suffer for it. It was terrible behavior, but he had been doing it since he was little. When his father had died, this behavior had escalated to him paying the world back for taking something he loved from him. But now, this Duo was keeping Heero interested in things and he had yet to display that old temperamental behavior of his. She only hoped that the boy could keep her son out of trouble.

Saturday night, Duo lay awake, unable to sleep. Tomorrow, he would have to go home. Or, at least back to Wes' apartment. He didn't know when in the two days it had happened, but he felt more at home with Heero and his mother in this house than in the small space he had lived in for eight years. He had tried broccoli and salmon, which he had never had before and found that he liked both things. He had never seen movies before, except for the educational videos he had seen in school and found that he loved science fiction and horror but disliked romance as it was corny and unrealistic. He tried root beer, which was very good, and ate popcorn. He had had popcorn before, but it had been out of dumpsters behind the movie theater and he decided that he liked it much better fresh and warm. Heero also made him try something called `Pocky' which he had force himself not to moan as he ate. Of course, he kept all of these new experiences to himself as he thought that Heero's mother would be alarmed to know that he had never had a home cooked meal before. He'd only survived on school lunches, micro waved dinners and dumpster food. He didn't want to leave, but what choice did he have? Worst of all, he would have to face Wes' fury and he had nothing to show for it. Every time he had had an opportunity to take something under the Yuy's noses, he couldn't do it. It was so stupid, he thought, they were rich, they wouldn't miss some silverware, but the thought of stealing from the mother and son made him sick. He looked up the dresser near Heero's bed. Heero's leather wallet sat next to the clock. Duo snorted. He was so trusting… he wondered what Heero would think if he learned what Duo had been thinking when he wasn't around? He rolled off of the comfortable air mattress and, silently walked to the dresser.

He placed his hand on the wallet. Credit cards, cash… he knew that Heero had plenty and he wouldn't miss any of it… Hell, Heero was so naive, he probably wouldn't even think Duo had done it! It would be so easy… Duo bit his lip and his stomach clenched painfully. He had had such fun with Heero these days, eating home cooked meals, taking hot showers, playing video games and watching movies and just laying around, goofing off… Duo snatched his hand away from the wallet as though it had become searing hot. He couldn't do it! A tear escaped his eye. He couldn't steal from Heero or his mother, he would rather Wes beat him to death! He looked down at Heero's sleeping, peaceful face. He brushed the boy's bangs back and kissed his forehead. Heero murmured something in his sleep and smiled a little. With a heavy heart and a guilty conscience, Duo slipped back into bed but couldn't fall back to sleep.

 

*****

 

Sunday morning, Duo's goodbyes with Heero and Name were brief, but Heero could tell that there was something that Duo wanted to say to them. Name offered to drive Duo to his house, but Duo told her that he had some errands to do and he would call his dad to pick him up when he was done. With that, Duo left the Yuy house and walked back towards Park Street. It wasn't until later that Heero remembered that Duo didn't have a cell phone, but didn't think anything of it.

 

*****

 

On his way back to the apartment, Duo made a pit stop to Lane Avenue to one of the apartment complexes. He walked up to the third floor and knocked on the door to 3e. A tall, scruffy looking man in his thirties answered the door. Duo knew him only as Davis and he was one of his few johns that didn't know about Wes' `no permission, no fucking' rule.

“You!” Davis said, delighted. Duo had picked him, not only because Wes didn't do a lot of business with him but also because he lived by himself and the man escorted him into the small apartment without a second thought.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” Davis asked and Duo saw how he looked over his freshly showered body. Duo smiled coyly.

“Oh, I need some cash and I thought of you.”

Davis blushed and Duo could tell how eager he was.

“You don't mind, do you?” Duo put on his best `innocent and injured' look.

“Not at all!” Davis exclaimed and led Duo to the bedroom. It took Duo a moment to get into the right mindset. He let the last two days fade into the back of his mind, telling himself that it had all been a wonderful dream and this moment was reality. It wasn't easy. As he shed his clothes, he felt sick, but he got up onto the unmade bed on hands and knees and let the man prep him, his mind screaming at him as fingers thrust into him. It was too easy, he thought as the man grabbed his hips and slid into him, it was just too easy, it was sickening. He didn't want to be here… but then Davis was fucking him and he was there. He squeezed his muscles, with each hard thrust, making Davis come early. He laid on the bed, playing possum, feeling disgusting with the man's cum inside of him, but waited for him to leave for the shower and opened his eyes. He looked down at his naked body. Bruises decorated his wrists and hips, but that was ok, he wasn't really hurt. He looked over at the man's discarded jeans and went through his pockets. He smirked to himself as he pulled out his wallet. He had no qualms about stealing from this man.

Suddenly, the bathroom door, which had already been slightly ajar, swung open and Davis stood, angry at the sight.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

“Getting my fee,” Duo kept his calm even though he knew that he was fucked. Whores like him had gotten shot for much less. Davis was on him in a second, grabbing his belt from the floor and slamming Duo, face first, onto the bed on his stomach.

“Little shit, steal from me…” he grabbed Duo's wrists and secured them behind his back.

“Look, I'm sorry, ok!” Duo tried, but Davis just grabbed his neck.

“Shut the fuck up! I'm a good sport. You were good fuck, ok, kid? So, I'll tell you what, you take your medicine without screaming and maybe I won't tell your father!”

Duo paled. That thought had never entered his head, that Wes might find out about him stealing from customers. Then again, he hadn't exactly thought this through.

He nodded.

“Please don't kill me,” he pleaded. He cried out as Davis spanked him with his hand across his ass.

“I'm no killer, you little shit.”

Duo squeezed his eyes shut as the blows came across his ass, thighs and lower back. The man was much bigger than him and strong, each blow stung and burn and would probably bruise, but at least he was keeping to his lower body. He tried to fade away into his memories of Heero and how happy he had been yesterday, but found that he couldn't bear let this life intrude with his life with Heero. He cried out as Davis thrust back inside of him, each thrust accented by a slap or punch by his bare hand. His throbbed, inside and out, and his skin felt like it was on fire. As Davis exploded inside of him, he punched Duo's lower back and an intense pain shot up his spine, making him choke on his scream. Duo felt something in his back let go and he fell limp, the radiating pain making it impossible for him to move. Davis pulled out and rolled Duo onto his back.

`Not the ribs, not the ribs…' Duo thought, his back screaming at him. Instead, Davis pinched his nose shut and shoved his flaccid dick into Duo's mouth.

“Clean it,” the gruff voice ordered him. Duo lapped up the semen and sweat quickly and Davis released him. Feeling the man getting off the bed, Duo scrambled for his clothes, only to get a kick into the small of his back that sent him to the ground, curling into a ball of agony, gasping for breath.

“Get the fuck out. I won't tell your dad, but if you pull this shit again, I'll do a lot worse than a free fuck, understood?”

Duo nodded and pulled on his clothes, limping out of the apartment.

 

*****

 

As Duo walked back to the apartment, he entertained the idea of hiding in a hole somewhere until Monday came, but decided not to delay the inevitable. Besides, he was already hurt, it made no difference anymore. If he was lucky, he could talk Wes out of hurting him too badly or his ultimate threat. He had stopped at a pet store and gotten some little dollar toys for the cats and some turkey that they would like. He had also gotten beer and food for Wes and a warm jacket for himself, completely using up the forty-five dollars he had. He crept into the alley, dumping the turkey into a corner for the cats and entered the apartment.

Wes was his usual furious self when Duo entered.

“Where the fuck have you been?!” he snarled. Duo took a step back, making a show of putting the beer and food on the kitchen counter.

“A boy at school asked me to stay at his house for the weekend,” Duo explained. Wes' eyes got a shrewd look.

“Did you steal anything from him?” he asked eagerly.

“No,” Duo said. Wes slapped him across the face.

“What the fuck did I tell you I would do if you put that goddamn school before work?” Wes yelled.

“I had to go with him!” Duo lied, “I'm a teenager, if I said that I couldn't, but couldn't come up with a reason why, it'd be suspicious! That's why I didn't steal from him, he'd know it was me and come looking! I'm sorry, ok! I'll do whatever you want!”

Wes snorted.

“You do that for me anyway, boy. Alright, I'll give you another chance, but I'm going to have to punish you this time.”

Duo paled, caught somewhere between fear and relief. He wasn't going to be chained up anyway, but he didn't know how much punishment his body could take. Things took a turn for the worse when Wes turned from him and called out `Chris!'

Duo shook with fear. He hadn't expected that Wes wouldn't be alone. Chris was Wes' partner in crime and the biggest bully Duo had ever met. He made Zechs Merquise seem like a playful puppy. Chris was like every drug runner and pimp that Duo had come across, mean, greedy, and he loved to cause his whores pain and Duo was no exception. When he was over, Duo was expected to treat him like he treated Wes, if Chris wanted something, he got it, and that something was usually Duo's body. He still had the scars from previous encounters in the form of cigarette burns, long whip scars, and electrical burns.

Sure enough, a large man with dark hair and light green eyes entered the kitchen, staring at Duo with that strange mix of lust and perverse childlike glee that Duo hated. He subconsciously rubbed at a smattering of track marks on his left arm. He had only been given drugs a handful of times, but each time had been because of Chris, who loved seeing him fucked up and Duo had hated it each time.

“Hold him down,” Wes ordered. Chris grinned. Duo made a run for it, but had to get past Chris to do so and was no match for his much larger form. He struggled as Chris grabbed his arms and threw him onto his stomach on the kitchen table, but it was completely useless. Chris pulled his arms in front of him, keeping him still as Wes undid his belt. Duo felt him lifting up his shirt and pulling down his pants and knew what was coming.

“What the fuck is this?” Wes swore, looking at the bruises on Duo's back and ass. “What the hell have you and that boy been doing?!”

“Nothing!” Duo protested, “They're old!”

“Liar!” Wes snarled, “This'll just make it hurt more!”

Duo screamed as Wes hit him with the belt, the buckle raking over his back and tearing open his skin. Chris laughed as Duo started to cry at the pain of each powerful blow, the leather of the belt bruising his skin and the sharp buckle making him bleed. Duo's vision started to gray as his back became hot and slick with his blood. Ten minutes felt like an eternity as Wes' blows became harder, landing on his lower back, ass, and even his thighs, tearing open skin in long cuts. Finally, Wes dropped the belt and spread Duo's ass cheeks, thrusting into him. Duo's body jerked, but Chris held him down as his guardian raped him. Duo squeezed his eyes shut, praying that he would finish quickly.

Wes' fingers dug into his cuts as he thrust in and out of the hot body, the boy's red ass burning against him. Duo, in pain, squeezed at him and made the blonde cum inside of him. When Wes regained his breath and slid out, Duo laid limp on the table and Chris let go of his arms, all of the fight gone. Chris disappeared behind him and Duo knew what was going to happen and wanted to run as fast as he could, but he didn't have the strength anymore.

Chris was big in a porn star kind of way and in any other situation, Duo would have joked about it, but there was nothing funny when Chris thrust into him and Duo screamed at the pain, blood dripping down his thighs as he was torn by the sheer size of the cock. Chris grunted in his ear, his weight keeping Duo pinned to the table, his thrusts bringing Duo almost all the way off the ground. Duo gritted his teeth at the terrible pain of each thrust. He felt like he was being torn in two and when the huge man came into him with a greater volume than Wes, his wounds stung, he felt as though Chris had reached his stomach somehow since even that hurt. He felt ripping pain in his abdomen, like the one he had felt when Wes had first raped him as a child. Then, Chris was gone and Duo fell to the ground in a spent heap, blood and semen dripping on the floor from his body.

Wes escorted his partner out the door and returned to his `son'. He took a sniff at the mess and wrinkled his nose in distaste.

“Take a shower, I don't want to be smelling that shit all day.”

Duo nodded weakly and got onto shaky feet, stumbling to the bathroom.

 

*****

 

After cleaning out his wounds and giving his hair as much as a washing as he could physically muster, he shuffled to his bedroom. He would have crawled to relieve the pain in his ass if his back didn't hurt so much as well. While in the shower, he heard Wes leave and knew that he wouldn't be back for awhile which always happened when he went out. He fell into bed and immediately fell into a dreamless sleep, too tired to so much as twitch. When he awoke, it was Monday morning and found that he had been sleeping in a pool of his own blood. He cleaned himself off again and looked at the clock. He didn't want to go to school, he just wanted to lay low and lick his wounds, but he remembered what Treize had said and left the apartment.

 

*****

 

Getting to school on foot felt like the hardest thing Duo had had to do in a good long time. It was even harder than that time a john had made him dress up like a Catholic school girl and made him lick his ass. Of course, he hadn't been beaten raw that time. Heero gave him a wave, but Duo didn't see him and simply sat in his chair, squirming and trying to keep from wincing or worse, screaming. He listened to Une speak, but nothing came through the haze that was clouding his mind.

Zechs stared at Duo in shock. Red… he had red in his hair… and gold, too, and that skin… he smelled so good, like cherries. He had never seen the boy clean before. How had he not seen the boy's potential? Sure, he had always knows how beautiful Duo was, but this was different. He had to ask him out, just one more time… sex was one thing, but the boy that had limped into the classroom was someone worthy of dating Zechs Merquise. There was no way that Duo would refuse him now.

 

*****

 

Science ended and by the time the bell rang, Duo started to come back to himself. He looked over at Heero worriedly, wondering what Heero thought was wrong with him, but Heero just smiled at him. Duo smiled weakly back. Things would be ok, as long as Heero still liked him, as long as he still had a friend, everything would fine.

 

*****

 

Duo got out his math book out of his locker and waited for Heero to join him in the hall. He felt someone behind him, but knew instinctively that it wasn't Heero he glared back at Zechs, who had him boxed in between his chest and the locker.

“What do you want?” he asked in an icy tone. Ever since he had shown up at school people had been looking at him differently. They were noticing him and for what? Just because he had taken a shower? Everything hurt… he just wanted to be left alone!

“Actually, on second thought,” Duo grumbled, turning back to his locker and hot pain flared up his back, “I don't care about what you want. Just go fuck off.”

Duo's words were harsh, but his tone was weary. He was so sick of being hurt by people. Was it too much to ask to just be left alone? Zechs grabbed Duo's shoulder, making him flinch despite having no wounds there.

“You might want to change your attitude, Maxwell, or have you forgotten all that I've done for you?”

“I remember all that you've done to me and I'm sick of your immature behavior.”

Zechs seethed. He thought that he had proven to the boy how mature he was!

“I'm trying to ask you out!”

Duo laughed bitterly.

“I thought we already went through this? I don't love you! So stop asking me!”

Zechs growled.

“Is this because of Yuy?” he demanded, his grip tightening.

“Heero has nothing to do with this!” Duo hissed.

“I want you, do you understand, you should be so grateful, you little whore!”

“You want?!!” Duo yelled shrilly, drawing the attention of everyone around them, “maybe I'm sick and tired of what everyone else wants!” Duo tried to move, but Zechs still blocked him. Duo swung the locker door into the tall boy's face. Zechs staggered back, swearing.

“You little bitch! I'm going to kill you!”

“Yeah, so you keep saying, why don't you actually do if for a change?!” Duo screamed, “Just get the fuck out of here, Zechs!”

Zechs made a grab for Duo, his icy blue eyes insane.

“Hey, Zechs!”

The silver haired boy turned, only to be punched in the face by Heero. He slipped to the ground. He stared up at Heero in shock.

“You…”

Heero glared at him.

“He said to leave him alone. I suggest you do it unless you want to be in a world of hurt.”

Zechs wanted more than anything to wipe that superior look off of Heero's face, but knew that even if he could over power him, he was still a Yuy. He picked himself off the ground and gave Duo a heated look.

“I will get what I want,” he promised and pushed past Heero.

“Do you always use force to get what you want?” Duo asked, effectively wiping the triumphant smirk off Heero's face.

“Mostly,” Heero said honestly. Duo snorted.

“Why didn't you use it to make me give what you wanted when you met me?”

Heero looked Duo in the eyes, sending shivers down his spine.

“You're different,” he said in a soft voice.

Duo closed and locked his locker.

“I don't need you fighting my battles for me, Heero,” he said.

“I know you don't. I didn't hit him because I thought you couldn't take care of himself.”

Duo looked back at him.

“Then why?” he asked, confused. Heero smirked.

“Because he was disrespecting someone I respect and he was pissing me off,” Heero said simply.

Duo's hands shook and a tear escaped from his eye, unnoticed by him.

`No, Heero, don't you know? There's nothing inside of me worthy of your respect or your protection,' he thought.

“Duo, what's wrong?” Heero asked, alarmed. Duo swiped at the tear.

“Nothing, I'm fine,” he lied.

 

*****

 

Duo tried to keep his limp from Heero, but it was hard. His abdomen burned and throbbed, his striped back was searing, his shirt sticking to the wounds, but he went on, as he always did. However, though he hadn't eaten anything since he had left Heero's house, his stomach was flat pit inside of him and the thought of eating disgusted him. And, though being around Heero all day had helped him a little, he desperately wanted some air, some time to himself. So, when the lunch bell rang, he took off before Heero could take him to the cafeteria, going were ever his feet took him and he ended up on the soccer field. He stood off to the side by the bleachers, after hours of sitting in a chair, his back and butt were stiff and it was impossible for him to sit, especially on the hard metal bleachers. He looked up at the gray sky. It was going to rain tonight, he realized. Gym was next block and they were playing basketball today. He just hoped that some of the pain would go away, but nothing had ebbed since he had left the apartment, so he doubted it would settle in the next half hour.

One second, he was standing on solid earth, looking up at the cloudy sky, and the next he was flying back into the bushes, landing on his aching back, and looking into angry, icy eyes. Duo went to knee his attacker in the groin, but Zechs was fast, using his knees to pin down his legs and grabbing Duo's wrists with one hand to keep him from striking him.

“You owe me for this, Maxwell,” Zechs hissed, a vivid bruise on his cheek where Duo had taken him out with the locker door.

“Get the fuck off of me or I'll do you worse!” Duo snarled, trying to fight out of his grip, but the pain in his back prevented him from twisting in any way. He cried out in pain as Zechs rolled him over onto his stomach in a jarring motion.

“One last chance, Maxwell. Be my boyfriend or I'll make your life a living hell.”

“Fuck you!” Duo snarled, “I'm never fucking you again, let alone be seen with you in public!”

Fury boiled through Zechs' body.

“Because of that blue-eyed Jap?! I've heard what people are saying about you two! About how you slept over his house… you're sleeping with him, now, aren't you?!” Zechs hissed. Duo glared at the ground, gravel digging into his cheek. His fingernails dug into Zechs hand in anger at his accusations about Heero.

“Why don't you just fuck off?” Duo growled, already growing tired of Zechs' never ending games. Zechs just smirked. He had never raped anyone before, but the thought of raping the longhaired boy excited him. Duo felt Zechs shift his weight off of him and start to pick at his shirt, yanking it up and his pants down. He heard Zechs' gasp and a deep blush started to burn on his face. He didn't know what was more humiliating; Zechs seeing his wound, or being felt up by a spoiled brat who didn't understand `no'. Of course, he was used to men not understanding that word, but Zechs was a boy, not a man and there was something about him that offended Duo personally.

“What the fuck is this?” Zechs demanded, shocked as he saw the bruises and stripes on Duo's back and ass. Duo used Zechs' shifted weight against him and freed one of his legs, kicking Zechs in the thigh and shakily rolling away from him.

“Asshole!” Duo snapped, trying to get to his feet, but Zechs pinned him onto his back.

“Why are you being so stubborn?” Zechs demanded.

“Because you disgust me!”

`How could I ever let a stupid boy like you fuck me for something over some small when I finally found something that I do love?!'

Zechs hit him in the stomach, making Duo give out a choked cry. His blows were nothing compared to Wes or Chris', but in his injured state, it was enough. He curled into as much of a ball as he could and rode it out. He gritted his teeth as his lungs clenched at the abuse to his ribs and blood started to flood his mouth with every breath. Zechs' blue eyes were furious chunks of ice and when the anger finally curbed over, he was panting, his fists aching. Duo kept his head low to the ground until he felt Zechs leaving the bushes, but he didn't move. He laid there, just focusing on breathing as his ribs and lungs and stomach burned from the blows. But, even the new bruises didn't hurt quite as much as the older ones. Fuck, had that really only been yesterday? Eventually, Zechs would come back, he knew that, they always did. He had gotten the last word in today, but he still hadn't gotten what he wanted from Duo. He supposed that was a small victory. He had gotten the crap beaten out of him, but he was alive and Zechs hadn't raped him. He wrapped a hand protectively around his throbbing stomach as he heard someone moving outside of the bushes. He was honestly glad he hadn't eaten anything or he would be throwing it up right now. It didn't matter who was prowling outside of his little hiding place, he wasn't up to fighting back anymore.

“Duo?!” a very familiar voice said in a panic. Duo blinked up at Heero's frantic blue eyes. They were so blue… bluer than the sky, even.

“Hey, Heero,” Duo croaked.

“Shit,” Heero hissed as he took in Duo's position, “what happened?” Duo wasn't moving, which meant that he was hurt, but he couldn't see anything that wasn't under Duo's clothes.

“Zechs' revenge,” Duo said with a sarcastic grin. Heero swore under his breath and very carefully helped Duo to his feet.

“We have to get you to the nurse's office,” Heero kept a firm grip on Duo's arm in case he fell over. He noticed very quickly that there was something wrong with Duo's right leg, since he mostly dragged it behind him or limped badly. He also seemed to be favoring his lower back, so Heero was very careful with how fast they moved.

“No!” Duo protested and tried to move away, but Heero's grip was solid and he refused to let his friend try to walk on his own.

“Duo, stop it! You're injured and someone needs to know about Zechs. What's to stop him from doing this again?” Heero demanded.

“Heero, the day's half over and there's nothing that the nurse can do for me. Besides,” Duo murmured bitterly, “this isn't the first time Zechs has gone after me and nothing happened then and nothing will happen now.”

Heero thought back to his talk with Une and realized the problem. They could tell all the teachers and principal about what had happened, but it would still be Duo's word against Zechs and Heero didn't think he would be quite happy if Heero used his mother's name to get Zechs in trouble. He hated this. Before Duo, he wouldn't have hesitated to use dirty tactics to make Zechs pay, but he knew that Duo wasn't like that and he would do anything that he asked of him. He wanted to force him to go to the nurse's office, just so someone could tell him that Duo was ok, but he knew that that wouldn't go down very well. Duo wasn't bleeding, as far as he could tell, he just looked roughed up a little, though it seemed most of the wounds were out of sight underneath his clothes.

“Fine, no nurse's office, but you're not going to gym, deal?”

Duo nodded, but seemed distracted.

“Thank you, Heero.”

Heero just snorted in annoyance.

 

*****

 

Heero's annoyance quickly turned into anger as Zechs waltzed into the gym like he owned the place and, five minutes later, Duo also came in, dressed in his gym uniform and limping. Heero glared at him, but Duo just grinned sheepishly. Any chance Heero had to get him out of there was lost when their gym teacher, Hilde Schbeiker came in and gave them the rules and split them up into teams. To Heero's dismay, he was stuck on the same team as Zechs while Duo was on the other. Zechs was in the perfect position to cause Duo some harm, but Heero stuck to him like glue, not giving him a chance to do anything as Duo struggled through the game, anyone watching could tell that he was in serious pain.

“Heero, be more aggressive!” Hilde shouted, but kept her eyes on Duo and Zechs. Something was going on between the two of them. Every time Duo was alone, Zechs would go after him, and Heero would intervene. She hated not knowing things, and she hated, even more, when her students were planning things. They were like rats at times, or rather, more like a vicious pack of dogs. She had seen it a million times and she had no tolerance for bullying.

Suddenly, Duo was alone again and Zechs made a beeline for him as he limped after the rest of his team. Heero made a go for Zechs, only to be blocked by a member of Duo's team. Heero watched with furious, wide eyes as Zechs slammed Duo into the wall with his elbow. Heero shoved the boy guarding him to the floor and ran as Duo slid to the ground, curled into a protective ball and Zechs walked away from him with a satisfied smirk.

“Shit!” Schbeiker swore and ran after Heero towards Duo. Heero was torn. There was a part of him that wanted to go after Zechs and bash his head into the wall, and another part of him just wanted to protect Duo. He listened to the latter and was at Duo's side in seconds with their teacher at his heels.

“Duo!” he cried. Duo looked up at the familiar voice, dazed.

“Hee-,” Duo choked and coughed into his hand, staining it with blood. Both Heero and Hilde watched in alarm as Duo couldn't stop the coughing and blood speckled the waxed, wooden floor from his coughing.

“Merquise, principal office, now!” Schbeiker snarled. Zechs looked at her, stunned.

“I didn't do anything!” he protested.

“Shut the fuck up and get out of here!” she hissed coldly, making him pale and he fled, realizing that no amount of arguing was going to going to change her mind, but that didn't mean a damn thing in his mind.

“Yuy, get him to the nurse's office,” she ordered.

“No,” Duo pleaded, “Heero, I can't go there…”

Heero ignored him and carefully lifted him into his arms.

 

*****

 

“I've been waiting for this for a long time, Merquise,” Khushrenada said with a smirk, making the longhaired boy squirm.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” he said with an obvious fake innocence.

“Do you honestly think that your father's name can help you anymore? Maybe that was true when you were a kid, but this isn't a game, Zechs and daddy can't protect you anymore.”

Treize watched as Zechs' hands tightened on the chair.

“You're going to be suspended for five days.”

“What?!” Zechs exploded, “You can't do that! I didn't do anything, it was just gym class!”

“So, you used excessive force on a boy almost half your size who wasn't even near you? Is that the best excuse you can come up with? Five days, Merquise. If you go near that boy again, it'll be expulsion.”

Zechs stood, furious.

“This isn't happening, not without a fight! I didn't do anything to the little faggot!”

“You do that, Merquise,” Treize said with a dismissal of his hand, “but call Maxwell that again, and, since we're all alone in here, it'll be just be my word against yours.”

Zechs glared at him. Treize just grinned.

“How does it feel, Merquise?”

 

*****

 

Heero paced outside the nurse's office. Nurse Po had taken Duo inside and ushered him out, saying that she would tell him what was going on once she had made sure that her patient wouldn't need to go to the hospital. He hated not knowing things, but he respected her authority. There wasn't anything he could do in this situation, anyway. Finally, the door opened and the young blonde nurse peeked her head out.

“Heero? You can go home now, the school day's over.”

He gritted his teeth.

“How is he?!” he demanded. She sighed.

“Just a bit bruised up. He's sleeping now, I gave him some over the counter pain killers. I've called his father and he's going to pick him up,” she said with a sweet smile. Heero narrowed his eyes at her.

“You're sure he's ok?”

She nodded.

“His father will be here in a few hours. I'm sure he'll be in class tomorrow.”

Heero sighed.

“Fine, but tell him… tell him that I'm worried about him, so if he'd call, I'd be really grateful, ok?”

“Alright.”

 

*****

 

Sally Po waited for the Yuy boy to leave before she returned to her only patient. He was indeed sleeping, out of pure exhaustion and pain and she could see why. He was lying on his stomach, his shirt pushed up around his upper chest, his skin terribly pale in the bright lights of the infirmary. The bruises and stripes were livid, his breathing sounded all wrong. Zechs Merquise had sent many underclassmen her way and she knew how imposing he was, but not even a brute like Zechs could have made wounds this severe. It would have taken someone much larger and much stronger… Her pale blue eyes sadly followed each cut and bruise, even old scars and burns.

“Who did this to you?” she murmured, her heart clenching in a mix of sadness and anger that anyone could do something so cruel to a child. She had lied to the boy's friend. She had called the number in Maxwell's file, but no one had answered. A few years ago she had lived on Baltic and the boy's address bothered her. She needed to find his father. A while ago, she had met a boy that had been abused by his father, but nothing like this. She knew, somewhere deep inside, that this boy was being abused by someone he knew, and it was most likely his father. She watched him sleep, saying good night to the janitor when he came around, and waited for the school to close. Duo didn't awake.

“I'll be back in a little while, honey,” she whispered to his sleeping form and left the office, locking the door behind her.

 

*****

 

Duo's address didn't exist, Po quickly found out. She went door to door on Baltic, asking if anyone had seen a boy like Duo around. None of them had. Something terrible was going on and that knowledge gnawed at her. She knew that she should go back to the school, but she was persistent. She would find his elusive father and find out what was going on. She left Baltic and hit Park, the next street over, still asking around, but with the same result, only the people on the street were much less forthcoming with their information.

An hour after she had started her search on Park, she was approached by a tall blonde. He smiled pleasantly at her and her handsome face would have made her melt if not for his cold, gray eyes.

“Hey, I heard you were looking for a kid named Maxwell?” he asked. She nodded, cautious of this man.

“I think I know where he lives,” the man said and, despite herself, she felt excited that her search was finally providing fruit. So, she followed him, even when he led her back to Baltic, even when he led her down an alley. When she saw the alley, some part of her knew what was happening, but she was stubborn and the whole reason why she had decided to become a school nurse was to help students. So, she only had herself to blame when he led her to a dead end and took out a gun, pointing it at her face. She watched the muzzle, how steady it was, and felt her mind screaming. What was it about one freshman boy that was so secretive?

“I'm going to make you a deal, bitch,” the man said, all pretense of friendship gone, “you forget all about Duo Maxwell and I'll let you live. You put up a fight or come looking for him again, and I'll kill you and cut you're body up into so many pieces, they'll still be looking for all of you next year. Do you understand?”

Sally nodded frantically. What had she fallen into?

 

*****

 

Duo awoke in a strange place. As a whore and an ex-street kid, that wasn't so strange. While he had been homeless, he had woken up in strange places every day and afterwards, if things got too rough, he would be in the same situation. This, however, was different. He sat up with a sharp wince and pulled his shirt down. Where was Heero? That was the last thing he remembered, Heero carrying him to the nurse's office despite his attempts to get him to change his mind. What had happened after that? He was obviously still in the infirmary and Heero nor the nurse were anywhere in sight. Panic filled him. Had she seen his wounds and reported him or tried to contact Wes? Had she told Heero? He knew one thing: he had to get out of here and get home as soon as possible. He heard no noises, which meant that the school was closed, which meant that Wes was no doubt severely pissed off by now. After yesterday, he couldn't afford anymore injuries.

He checked the door and found it locked, but school doors weren't vaults and he unlocked it easily. He was still hurting and getting back home was a trial, but he made it in only a few hours. The apartment door was unlocked for him and Wes was in the kitchen, microwaving something for dinner and twirling an old baseball bat in his left hand.

“Are you done making trouble for me?” Wes asked coldly. Duo froze.

“What do you mean?”

Wes' gray eyes were furious as he turned to look at the boy.

“A woman was around looking for you. A woman from your school.”

Duo paled. Nurse Po, it had to be.

“That isn't my fucking fault!” Duo yelled, realizing his mistake only when the words left his mouth. Wes swung the bat and it connected to Duo's side, making him fall to the floor with a scream. Hot, wet pain radiated through his side. He felt something crack, then release, his vision becoming gray.

“How many times are we going to have to do this before you start learning your place?” Wes asked in annoyance, twirling the bat.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!” Duo pleaded, “I didn't know she was going to come looking. It really wasn't my fault. I got hurt in gym and I was taken to the nurse against my will! Please… please stop…”

Wes leaned the bat against the wall.

“I've fixed the problem,” he said coolly, “but I can't keep giving you more chances, kiddo. But, for now, there isn't a problem. Now, get out of here. I don't need you tonight.”

Duo dragged his leg behind him as he disappeared into his room. He prayed that tomorrow wouldn't be so… unlucky.

 

End Chapter 3