Kracken
Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of them.
Warning:Male/Male sex, graphic, violence, language, dark and strong content.
Break Point
Sequel to
Return
It hadn't been easy. Heero had made himself the spider at the center of a web where it pertained to his business. Everything funneled through him and nothing was done or decided on without his express orders. Moving that center to another location, and choosing people trustworthy enough to make sure that everything was routed there, had been unpleasant and nerve wracking. Wondering about Duo the entire time, had been close to torture.
Returning back to his apartment at last, Heero hadn't been surprised to find that Duo had foiled all of his efforts to keep him secured in the bedroom. That he hadn't taken the next step and left the apartment entirely was a small miracle.
Heero was beginning to find names for Duo's different personalities. This one Duo was exhibiting now he had begun to think of as, ' Wild Duo': skittish, driven by instinct, and reacting to random stimulus and not any coherent thought. When Heero opened his apartment door, Wild Duo had bolted for the bedroom with whatever he had stolen from the kitchen. Tossing aside satchel and coat before following, Heero eyed the jimmied hinges on the doorway and the door itself hanging from the several makeshift locks Heero had placed there.
Heero found Duo perched on the bed, arms and legs pulled in close and eyes wide and fearful as he clutched at some sort of packaged food. Heero recognized it and grimaced. It was a sheet of freeze dried seaweed he had purchased for soup and forgotten about. His mind calculated age and viability.
It seemed that Duo had marked the bed as 'home'. There were several other discarded, empty packages and the pillows were gathered close almost like a nest. The impression on the bed told Heero that Duo had been resting there.
"I'll get you something better to eat," Heero offered as if Duo understood perfectly what he was saying. Duo clutched tighter at his package of sea weed and twitched nervously.
Heero turned on his heel and went into the kitchen after first picking up his satchel. He pulled out a wrapped sandwich from the leather case. Ham salad. He had remembered it as something Duo had eaten during the war with relish. Putting the sandwich aside on a counter, Heero next took out a small bottle of pills. He narrowed eyes at the instructions. Quatre's psychologist had sent them to Heero's office via courier with no questions asked, knowing, even without an examination, how dangerous an unbalanced Gundam Pilot could be.
Heero crushed the prescribed dosage very fine and then added it to the ham salad sandwich. He hoped they didn't have a taste. Duo trusted him at the moment, as difficult as that was to understand, and now was not the time to break that trust.
Taking the sandwich in to Duo, Heero simply placed it on the floor and then backed far away. Far enough that he wasn't making himself a threat, but close enough so that he could still see Duo through the doorway. Duo must have still been very hungry. He pounced on the sandwich and then retreated to his 'nest'. He devoured the sandwich in mere moments and then licked his fingers clean. That done, he blinked and then looked as if his only motivation to deal with the world had been removed. His face went blank and his eyelids drooped as if all his thoughts had turned inward.
It didn't take long for the pills to take effect. The doctor must have erred on the side of caution. Duo suddenly slumped and then sprawled on the bed, unconscious. Heero approached slowly, every nerve on edge as he came close enough to see that Duo was indeed unconscious. He saw something else as well. One of Duo's hands was thrown wide, the sleeve of his sweatshirt pulled up. On his wrist, there was a small, plastic band.
Winston Memorial Health Institute, Heero read. Patient: Duo Maxwell. There was a string of numbers, presumably his patient code. The band was made to stay on, the ends clamped in place by a small device that needed a special tool to open. Heero memorized the number and then turned to gather up a suitcase that he had packed before leaving that morning. He then picked up the phone and dialed the desk down stairs.
"Sanders," he said to the man who answered. "Have the wheelchair brought up to my apartment, please."
He didn't wait for the acknowledgement, but hung up the phone, wanting to stay alert to Duo's condition. There was a part of his mind that was more than made up pertaining to his course of action, but there was another part that was damning him. He had spent so much of his new life building up his company and making a place for himself in the business world. It had filled a gaping hole in his psyche and had given him a new purpose. It had also become his security, his peace, and his world. That part of him that didn't want that compromised, under any circumstance, was almost loud enough to drown out the side of him that whispered to him about memories of his past, a duty that he owed a fellow war comrade, and a deeper, painful feeling that he couldn't keep from resurfacing no matter how much he tried.
Taking Duo to one of Quatre's estates, and having him safe, secure, and under the best care Winner's money could buy, was a win win situation, he told the recalcitrant part of himself, but that part wasn't fooled. It knew what Heero was trying to avoid thinking about, that leaving Duo and returning to his business wasn't part of the plan.
"No...," Duo murmured and squirmed, but the drugs had him deeply under and he wasn't likely to fully wake up. "Warsss overrrr," he slurred. "Don't do that... Not fair... Not fair at all... bastards..."
Heero frowned, wondering who the 'bastards' were that Duo was dreaming about. Heero cleaned up and pulled a coat onto Duo's body. Duo felt thin, too thin, his bones prominent. It was much more severe than could have occurred in the short time that he had gone missing. It made Heero suspicious. Something wasn't right, his soldier instincts told him.
Heero had to dismiss his suspicions, though, and concentrate on the moment as the doorbell rang. It was the man from downstairs with the wheelchair that Heero had acquired to take Duo to his new home. Heero checked his papers, a letter from the doctor explaining Duo's condition in case anyone questioned Heero, and the prescription for the pills, all necessary if he was to get Duo through customs and an airport.
Heero arranged Duo to make it easier for him to lift, lastly taking hold of his braid to lay on Duo's chest. He paused, feeling the newly washed silkiness of it and thinking about the fact that it was well combed out and tightly braided. Duo's skill with his hair hadn't been lost with his mental faculties, it seemed.
Heero stared at the cinnamon honey-fire of the hair and his fingers unconsciously rubbed at it, a small thrill of pleasure starting right at his spine. When the doorbell rang again, it woke him from the moment with an unpleasant start. Dropping the hair abruptly, and shutting his feelings off ruthlessly, Heero's face turned down in a harsh frown as he spun on his heel and stalked to the front door. Yanking it open, as he tried to get himself back under his iron control, he startled the man with the wheelchair outside.
"Leave it," Heero ordered and the man was only too happy to comply, not even caring about his tip.
Heero's mind was berating him for the cost of the private jet, but he ignored it firmly, knowing the scene taking an unconscious man on a public flight would cause. It was bad enough to have the pilot watch him settle Duo onto a leather interior couch of the Lear jet, waiting for orders. Heero tersely gave him his flight plan and was glad when the man went into the cockpit and closed the door. Heero hadn't given him any explanations.
The jet took it's time taking off, air traffic heavy, and Heero was able to extract anything breakable or capable of becoming a weapon in case Duo should wake up and panic in 'soldier mode'. Then he had to strap himself in as the jet took off. He kept one hand on the sleeping Duo, to steady him. The wrist with the identification bracelet was draped over Duo's chest.. Heero stared at it, trying to puzzle it out. Things simply did not make logical sense.
Hilde had talked about Duo over working himself. She led Heero to believe that she thought that Duo had been kidnapped. Quatre Winner had called, and his insinuations that he knew that Duo was with Heero, seemed less 'intuitive' and more suspicious. Heero thought of a scenario that he didn't like. If Duo had been in a medical establishment, and had, perhaps, escaped from there instead of his home, and Hilde and Quatre were privy to that fact, then... He tried to work it out to a conclusion, but he didn't know enough to formulate a motive. Why lie? Quatre, he was certain, knew Heero too well to believe that he wouldn't discover such a subterfuge. He had purposefully directed Heero to come to him with Duo. If he was operating with Hilde... Motive still eluded Heero. Quatre Winner and Duo were friends, closer than any of the other pilots, the prince and the pauper, Heero thought, remembering an old Earth story. A Prince of the Winner family and a street child of L2. It made sense that Quatre would be concerned for his best friend. Since Heero couldn't see the reason for that to have changed, he didn't consider changing his plans.
Duo began muttering something. Heero leaned close. It was algebra equations.School, work, and a stay in a medical institution. When had it all become too much for Duo? When had his mind snapped after everything that he had gone through? Heero couldn't imagine the full, yet mundane life, that Duo had led could cause anything that mind altering. That left the past becoming too much of a burden. Heero thought of his own cold and violent past. It wasn't something that could ever break him, he thought. It had made him strong and, though he had gone into his business as if it had been a 'new mission', there had never been a question in his mind that he would indeed. 'make it.'
"Heero!" Duo suddenly jerked and exclaimed without waking.
Heero squeezed Duo's shoulder and said the words that were this unbalanced man's security blanket, "You're safe, Duo. Safe."
Duo curled into a tight ball, fisting his thin pillow under his head. "Good," he muttered, almost unintelligible. "Call me when somethin' needs blowin' up."
"Of course," Heero told him and Duo slipped under the drugs again.
The plane descended. Heero braced himself as it touched down. When the pilot opened the cockpit door, Heero said everything that was required of him in short, sharp sentences as he prepared the wheelchair for Duo and put him into it. The pilot was looking very nervous and Heero imagined some sort of report being filed. He had to say something.
"My friend has been tranquilized by his physician, "Heero told the man. "I have all the proper paperwork to that effect. I'm taking him to a facility better prepared to help him."
The pilot seemed relieved, a weight off his mind. "You're those Gundam pilots, aren't you?" the man asked and there was a hint of wary awe in his voice. "You fought hard during the war. Is... is he suffering from..."
"Yes," Heero replied shortly and the man swallowed and nodded. Heero received the sympathy he had hoped for. He was confident that he had avoided a report and an inquiry by the way the pilot gave him a small, respectful bow and stood out of the way to let Heero exit the jet.
One of Quatre's drivers was waiting with a small sign. It had Quatre's pilot number on it, not Heero's name or his own. 04. Properly discrete. Heero was grateful. He was also glad when the driver took him off the tarmac to where he had parked an unassuming Mercedes away from the regular parking lots.
Duo stayed asleep as Heero loaded him into the backseat and put the wheelchair into the trunk of the car. When he slid in next to him and checked his cell phone, he wasn't surprised when it showed several calls waiting for him. As the driver took to the main road, Heero answered them and made several business decisions before they reached Quatre's estate.
Quatre was waiting outside when they arrived. Heero assumed that the driver had called and informed them of their arrival. The man at Quatre's elbow looked professional and anxious.
Heero didn't immediately get out of the car. He rolled down his window and said to Quatre, "Tell me everything that you know."
Quatre knew that tone from the war, hard and cold and not to be denied. Looking past Heero's shoulder, he saw Duo slumped against the other door of the car. Quatre was clearly worried, yet relieved at the same time.
"Duo's best interests are my only concern," Quatre told Heero. "Hilde is the one that we have to be careful of. She has been instrumental in creating Duo's present condition. I won't reveal anything more until I've talked to you and my physician has seen to Duo."
Heero grunted. Quatre didn't trust him either. Quatre was being just as cautious as Heero, trying to find out who enemy and friend were. Heero had walked into enemy hands before and had walked out again several times. His confidence that he could do it again would have seemed like arrogance to anyone who didn't know his skills.
Heero nodded and rolled up his window. By the time he opened the door and climbed out of the car, the driver had already set up the wheelchair and the physician was opening Duo's door and leaning in. Heero found himself, not scoping his surroundings and making mental notes for escape or attack, but hurrying around to Duo's side of the car and glaring at the doctor.
"I'll take him," Heero said warningly and the man stepped back as if a rattlesnake had appeared at his feet. He was wide eyed, not protesting as Heero put Duo into the chair and began wheeling him into Quatre's estate. He did ask questions though.
"Can you tell me about his present condition? Is he experiencing any hallucinations, flashbacks, or emotional upset?"
Heero glared at the top of Duo's head as he began to push, considering how much information he should divulge before he was sure of his ground. Since he didn't see any advantage the man could gain from such knowledge, he replied, "He seems to have difficulty knowing what year it is. ... where he's at. He has acted as if he were still in the war and he has spoken to me as if he were in the here and now and living with Hilde." Heero thought about revealing Duo's mimicking of playing with some sort of animal, perhaps his dog, but, for some reason, he kept that to himself. It seemed to personal, too private, though he couldn't explain to himself why he thought so.
The physician was scribbling notes and looking intrigued. "His dementia has increased then, " he said under his breath. That spoke of previous knowledge of Duo's condition. Heero felt his soldier's instinct kick into high gear. he wasn't liking the situation or his ignorance.
"You were his doctor?" Heero asked.
The man shook his head, no, as he looked over his notes. As they walked down a marbled hallway , Quatre gave brisk orders to the staff.
"No, he wasn't Duo's physician," Quatre answered for the doctor, coming up even with them as they paused in a foyer. "I had hoped to treat Duo, but he was voluntarily checked into another facility and I didn't have any legal right to interfere. It seems that he signed a paper giving Hilde the right to make all of his medical decisions."
Heero frowned, but he saw the logic in that. "He didn't have any family-"
Quatre cut him off with a fierce frown. "I was his family, Heero. We were best friends. I thought we shared everything. I could understand his wanting to go it alone and make his own life, but what I cannot fathom is that he would not come to me if he were having problems, why he would turn to Hilde..."
Heero could hear his hurt and his confusion.
Quatre said, "That damned woman, Hilde, wouldn't allow any of my calls to reach Duo and she wouldn't give me permission to see him. When she called and told me that Duo was gone, asking if he had come to me, I was livid and then I was frightened. I called you immediately. I confess, that I don't know why Duo would seek you out, since you had never been that close during the war, but, if he is suffering flashbacks, it would make sense that he would seek out his partner from the war if he were confused."
Heero felt a sharp pang somewhere in his chest and he was hard pressed to stop himself from flinching. Of course, he thought, as some small spark of something died inside of him. He and Duo had often worked together during the war. If Duo were confused and wandering, he would naturally seek out the familiar, the safety he knew Heero could give him. That was why he was calmed whenever Heero said the word, 'safe'.
Quatre felt something. He had always been sensitive to feelings. He said softly,reassuringly,"Heero, Duo kept your address long before he had this mental break, Heero."
Heero felt himself blush, not liking his sudden emotional vulnerability. He chose to glare at Quatre, trying to give lie to Quatre's insinuation that Heero needed such reassurance. Quatre smiled and wasn't fooled.
"This way," Quatre said, "We've made a room safe for Duo and my physician will attend to him while we talk."
"No," Heero replied strongly. "Before I go anywhere without Duo, I need a more detailed explanation."
Quatre nodded, easily giving in on that point, "Of course. I understand. " He gave an order to one of his servers for tea to be brought to them. "We will talk," Quatre promised, "and we will get to the bottom of all of this."
Back to Chapter three
On To Chapter 5