Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Strangest Places ❯ Murderer ( Chapter 1 )

[Title] The Strangest Places
[Author] Lady Briony
[Pairings] 1x?, 3x?, 13x6, 1x4
[Warnings] yaoi, AU, sap, angst, lemons (in future)
[Summary] Love finds the strangest places to grow, so when a mysterious, beautiful murderer is brought to prison, where will love grow now?
[Notes] Inspired ages ago, reawakened on New Years eve. Love to Lauz for making us all watch the damned film that inspired this fic.

The Strangest Places
Chapter One - Murder

It was a cold night, and winter had begun in the chill, dark air. In the dark, stone prison block, a handsome young man sat, cap pulled down over his face, reading a cheap paperback book. The prisoners stirred restlessly in their cells and he looked up, barking a command for silence. Peace returned to his block.

The wooden door banged open and in came another man, rain following him until he slammed the door shut. He was remarkable in every way, his lanky body dressed from head to foot in black, a priest's collar heightening the strangeness of his outfit and a long, neat braid of chestnut hair flying out behind him. Deep purple eyes regarded the man on duty with some urgency, "There's been murder done in the town!"

The first man chuckled softly and looked up from his book, "In our little town? Duo, you must be imagining things." This man was unremarkable compared to the first, except for his deep emerald eyes, hidden behind a spray of dark brown hair that covered his face if he tilted it just so. He seemed to hide behind his hair usually, but this time he tilted his head up and looked into his friend's eyes.

"No, I am not, Trowa Barton!" He said hotly, brandishing a folded up newspaper at him, "Just look!"

Trowa took it, his movements deliberate as he unfolded the paper. Prisoners craned their necks to see their two young guards and find out what was going on. All remained silent, for fear of stirring the seated young man's wrath.

"'Rape and Murder; the Outrage against the Winners." He read softly. The prisoners remained quiet, eager to hear. "'A Japanese youth has been detained on the charges of rape and murder. Sixteen year old Heero Yuy is alleged to have raped and then murdered the boy who was in line to inherit the Winner family fortune. Quatre Raberba Winner has been missing for two days before Yuy was captured.' Quatre Winner? The young multimillionaire?"

"The very same!" The vivid, longhaired young man asserted, "And guess where the murderer is coming? To us!"

"We are the closest." Trowa said dryly, putting a stop to Duo's excitement. "We've had murderers before, anyway." He gestured at the cells, "They're all murderers, thieves and rapists. What's so different?"

"It was in our town," Duo repeated, waving a hand under Trowa's nose, "You just don't appreciate public interest, do you Tro?"

The brunette chuckled, "I hardly think a murder is very interesting. We hear about it all the time, each prisoner has a story to tell about it."

"But this one sounds so intriguing!" Duo explained. His father had trained the young, vibrant boy as a reporter before he volunteered as a guard at the prison where Trowa worked, and so he was always asking questions and trying to encourage Trowa to show some interest. It never worked, Trowa was always the quiet, dry, sensible soul he showed now.

Little did either of them know that the prisoner would bring with him a greater puzzle for both of them than they could ever think of now, sitting in their cold prison block. Trowa got up to make the rounds, Duo picked up the cheap paperback and discarded it instantly in disgust and then a third, slightly older guard brought in some coffee and they settled even further into their usual, well-practised routine.

~*~*~*~

"He's a murderer and a rapist." The dark-haired Chinese boy's words echoed slightly in the chill, dank air of the prison block. Trowa looked up to find his eyes meeting those of a sixteen year old boy, the same age as he and smaller, with unruly, chocolate brown hair, a well developed body and a chiselled face. His gaze returned to those eyes, dark blue, mysterious, captivating. He stood.

"Thank you, Wufei." He dismissed the other guard with a nod. He could always be trusted with prisoners alone, they never seemed to hurt him and if they tried, he was capable of dealing with them easily. "And you are?"

"Heero Yuy," The boy answered in a soft, toneless voice. There was a trace of an accent there, and his voice was deep and reassuringly sane. His voice seemed to have been broken a long time, and his body showed every sign of a young man a year or so over with puberty. But there was something different about him, an aura of mystery.

"I am Trowa Barton." He said in the same tones. He couldn't figure this boy out at all. "I am head of this block and the one who is responsible for your life, death, waking, sleeping and everything else you will do in this place. If any other guard or prisoner gives you trouble, you will tell me. If anyone else gives you trouble, you will tell me. If you have any problems, you will tell me. This is your cell. You will sleep on that bunk there, and you will use that pot in the corner as a lavatory. One of the other wardens or myself will provide food at mealtimes. You will not communicate with the other prisoners. Is that clear?"

The boy nodded, slowly. He turned and stepped into his cell, then turned again to face Trowa, "I am not a murderer." The words were cold, dismissing. Then he turned back into the cell and sat on his bunk. Trowa had no reply to that statement and he turned away, walked his rounds then returned to his desk.

~*~*~*~

Trowa finished his rounds with the newcomer's cell. The boy appeared to be asleep; he lay on his back with his eyes closed. Trowa felt glad. The boy had beautiful eyes, that just heightened the mystery, and he hated his own helpless fascination with those eyes. A killer's eyes. This boy had killed a man with the child's hands that lay beside him, limp on the bed, and those beautiful eyes had seen the whole thing. He was not innocent, however he looked, lying there.

Trowa was glad the night shift was not his yet. He checked the lock on the boy's cage and returned to his desk to wait for Zechs to come and take over.

At last, the blonde came in. Trowa looked up and greeted him softly, "Where've you been?"

"With Trieze." The blond said softly. The relationship between Zechs and Trieze was a long going one, and everyone knew about it. It wasn't the kind of relationship that anyone dared to make a joke about because Trieze was the head of the whole prison. People said he favoured Zechs and the other members of his block, but the truth was he was probably harder on the one he loved because he expected more of him.

"The new prisoner is quiet. If he's awake now, I'd better introduce you." Trowa said, inclining his head to the usually empty cell.

"How is he?"

"He's supposed to be a murderer. I don't know. But he doesn't give anything away. You'll see." Trowa had reached the cell, and now he rattled the bars a little, "Yuy?"

The boy threw himself up, off the bed and into a defensive stance. Trowa stepped back calmly, pushing Zechs back a little. The prisoner slowly relaxed and bowed slightly. "Sorry."

"You Japanese?" Zechs asked in surprise.

"Hai - yes." The young man nodded.

Trowa looked at him, annoyed with himself inwardly for wanting to see those eyes. He couldn't believe those were the eyes of a killer… shaking himself free of the spell the boy seemed to cast on him, he turned to Zechs. "As I said, this is Heero Yuy, suspected murderer and rapist."

"I didn't do it." The boy said quickly, then he looked down, ashamed.

"Poor bastard." Zechs muttered and Trowa gave him a quick glare.

"Yuy… Heero, this is Zechs Merquise. He'll be watching you until Wufei - the one that brought you in - comes for the next shift. I'll be here again later tomorrow. Zechs, you'll introduce Wufei to Heero and make sure he knows to tell him who Duo is?" This was Trowa's one fault. He insisted on treating each prisoner with a bit of politeness. To his superiors, it held him back. But he wanted to treat them as fellow humans, and he did. Some he would even call by their first name and give them a little gentleness… even pity. It worked a charm on them that people didn't see. It made them like him, and see he was just making the best of a bad job too. That's what helped him control them so they would never hurt him. He had the same quality when handling animals.

"Alright." Zechs nodded to Trowa, nodded to the prisoner, then walked up to the desk. Trowa nodded to the young man, and smiled a little. Without saying another word, he followed Zechs, picked up his coat and left.

Zechs sat back in his chair, a faraway look in his eyes. "Strange. Trowa seemed really… jumpy tonight."

~*~*~*~

Trowa felt it. Out in the cold winter air, he felt like all he could think about was the eyes of that boy - that killer. Blue eyes. Dark eyes. More like the eyes of a young, innocent boy who has been through a lot than the eyes of someone who had raped and killed a young rich boy.

He had so many questions inside himself. Why was Heero there if he hadn't killed young Quatre Winner? Had Heero raped him, even if he hadn't murdered him? Was Heero innocent? If not, why did he say so certainly, 'I didn't do it'? What did he feel for that jumpy, mysterious Japanese boy already?

Reaching home, he found himself too mentally and physically exhausted to do much beyond stripping off his clothes and throwing himself into bed. The last thing he remembered before oblivion swept over him was a pair of dark, mysterious blue eyes.