Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Strangest Places ❯ Haunting ( Chapter 2 )

[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 spawned this fic.

The Strangest Places
Chapter Two - Haunting

Morning arrived in the prison as Wufei did, and with dawn breakfast also came. Zechs quickly introduced Wufei to the prisoner and then left, disturbed by the intensity of the newest prisoner's dark-eyed gaze. He didn't even seem to know how uncomfortable it made people, Zechs mused as he left the building.

Nothing happened after that until Duo's watch, and once again, the changeover went smoothly and the prisoners remained quiet and obedient. It was when Trowa arrived that anything unusual happened, and the prisoners all looked up eagerly as the slender young boy entered the prison block. Several watched him with an almost animal ferocity as he unbuttoned his raincoat and hung it on the stand. His hair was damp and hung in his eyes a little more, and after a few minutes speaking to Duo, he began his rounds.

A dirty, toothless old man with a filthy vocabulary occupied the first cage he stopped at. But he obviously enjoyed talking to the young man, and he had something to say about every event of the day. Trowa listened, and nodded, and make appropriate responses, and smiled at the old man before moving on to the next cell. The newest prisoner, who had never been through this procedure, watched with hawk-like intensity, wondering at this strange boy.

Finally, he stopped at the cage where the beautiful Japanese killer sat, "Good evening." He said pleasantly.

Heero nodded and deigned to reply in a softly accented voice, "Good evening."

"Have they been treating you well? Any complaints?" Trowa asked, probably more out of habit than actually thinking any of his friends would have done anything wrong in his prison block. But the prisoners appreciated him asking, as most prison leaders were bullies who would always rather back their men than their charges.

"None, sir." He replied uncertainly. Dark cobalt eyes met jaded emerald, and they understood each other for a brief moment. Then the moment was gone and Trowa nodded, excused himself and walked away to his usual seat. The prisoners settled down. It was amazing how just the few moments talk and idle chatter with the young prison guard had quieted them. The other prison guards didn't understand how Trowa did it - but it was just a natural part of Trowa, as natural and expected and comfortable as breathing.

Heero watched the boy still, dark eyes trained on his slender, athletic form. He was surprised when he caught his gaze, put down his book and rose smoothly with the gracefulness of a big cat. "Is something wrong, Heero?" He asked, eyebrow raised.

"No… I was just thinking." The reticent boy said reluctantly.

Trowa smiled, "Thinking is what you're supposed to be doing. This is a punishment. They hope to drive you mad, I think, you and your kind… are you Japanese? I thought I recognised the accent but…"

"Yes, I am Japanese." He lifted his head, "I have been visiting England for some years, and I was about to go home when I was accused."

The tall brunette looked down at him carefully, "And you say you did not rape or kill Quatre Winner?"

Immediately, the tenuous connection was broken and Heero turned away. "I did not do anything against the law with Quatre… Winner." He hesitated before he spoke the last name, then seemed to shake something off with a jerk of his head. Trowa watched him for a moment, studying his tense profile and seeing an odd glitter in his eyes. There was something more to this case than there seemed; Heero himself believed he was innocent, whether he was or not Trowa had no idea. He was about to turn and walk away, but then Heero spoke quietly, "Quatre can't be dead. I didn't kill him, I didn't."

Trowa considered that for a moment and considered the possibilities of the 'murder' having been an accident. And then he walked away, leaving Heero alone with his disturbing thoughts and emotions.

//flashback//

"Can I come in?" Heero asked the other boy. It was dark, and his dark chocolate-brown hair fell forward messily into his eyes. Quatre stepped back a little.

"A-alright. But stay quiet please. My father… Just come in." The other boy seemed scared. Heero stepped in, following the slender boy through the hallway to his room. Once there and the door had shut behind them, Heero caught hold of him and pressed him against the door, kissing him harshly. The boy struggled.

"Heero! What - mmph!" He struggled a little more, "Let me go!" His voice sounded panicky. Heero pulled back a little, his eyes glittering. One hand was touching Quatre, and after a few moments, the blonde went limp in his arms and stopped struggling, indeed stopped moving altogether. Heero had a smirk on his face as he lifted him away from the door and laid him on the bed.

//end flashback//

He woke to the sound of whispering. Duo, the prison guard with the long braid and the curious purple eyes, was whispering to Trowa. Leaning casually against the bars, Heero listened in.

"The Winner boy's body still hasn't been found… but - look!" There was a rustle of paper. "The papers say that brown hair matching that of the suspected killer was found on the bed, and traces of, um, bodily fluids that suggests Heero went into the boy's room and… used him, before he was killed. How awful, don't you think, Trowa?"

The green-eyed guard sat up straight and said in a loud, clear voice. "Duo, please stop this gossiping. It's not our job to find out whether one of our prisoners is guilty or not, and I don't wish to. All we have to do is keep them alive and preferably sane. We are not expected to gossip over the details of their cases, especially as they aren't supposed to know."

Heero supposed he ought to feel thankful. But he didn't. He felt sick, sick to his stomach. Quatre couldn't be dead. He hadn't killed him, he had only…

~*~*~*~

"Are you alright?" Trowa was standing beside him, actually in his cell. He was even holding him, cradling him tightly in his arms. He found himself beginning to cry and felt ashamed of himself.

Trowa was worried. The boy had been shouting and crying in his sleep, and then he had gone silent. Thirty minutes later, he was doing his rounds, and found the boy laying against the bars of his cage, eyes only half closed and glazed, obviously having blacked out for some reason. The young prison manager wondered what it was really like to be a murderer and a rapist. He supposed that if it had been his crime, and he was locked up here, he would have nightmares and cry in his sleep too. He cradled the other boy very gently. He had had the fright of his life to see the boy laying there, eyes open and glassy.

So he had unlocked the door and taken the boy in his arms and tried to wake him up. And now he was clinging to him, crying his eyes out. He didn't know what to do. So tentatively, he stroked the boy's hair, and finally, he stopped crying.

"I'm alright." Heero said, even more ashamed of himself. How could he have cried like that? And to a stranger?

"Are you sure?" Trowa asked, but he was slowly realising he was still holding Heero. Slowly, he let go and stood up.

"I'm fine. Thank you." And Heero got onto his bed and lay on his back, staring at the ceiling. After a few seconds, he shut his eyes and Trowa felt as if he had been released from a spell. He turned and left the cell, locking the door behind him.

~*~*~*~

Duo greeted him as he came back up to the desk, "Is he alright now?"

"Yeah." Trowa nodded, "Don't know what happened."

"Hey - do you reckon he did kill that boy?"

Trowa thought about it. He thought about the boy crying and screaming in his sleep, he thought about his quiet insistence that he had not killed Quatre Winner, he thought about the dark blue eyes that captivated him so. And he didn't know. So he looked up and caught Duo's strange eyes, "I… I - I'm not exactly sure."

Duo nodded and looked at him with a strange expression, "Trowa?"

"Yes?"

"What do you do, other than work here?"

"Me? Well… I don't know. Nothing, really." He admitted. He wondered where the question had come from.

"No girlfriend?"

"No. I don't even - " he stopped, on the edge of admitting something aloud he had never even considered himself. Duo looked at him, and smiled,

"Okay. No boyfriend, either?" He asked. Trowa was slightly confused by now. Why was Duo so interested? Why did he have to ask such awkward questions? He shook his head, and reached for his book, hoping to give Duo the hint.

Duo muttered something under his breath, then he stood up, "Well, I'd better go, seeing as you aren't in a gossiping mood. I've got a date with some girl later, too. I'll see you tomorrow." Trowa nodded, and then the strange boy was gone.