Kracken
Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of them.
Warning:Male/Male sex, graphic, language, violence, attempted NCS
Soldier Boys
Sequel to Love and Rockets
NEED
Duo couldn't feel his body, but his body as still telling him that riding in a garbage container was still a bad idea. His head whirled and he couldn't do much more than loll where he had been dumped and listen to the wheels click along the floor as he was pushed to an unknown destination.
Duo drifted and then came back to himself hearing the sound of Zech's voice swearing in anger. "You won't get away with this," the man was saying. "We are in the midst of an attack! Men are dying! I cannot believe that you have so far forgotten yourself that you would take me out of the field."
"You threw me away," the commander bit out. "You're going to see the consequences of that action right now. Either get us out of here, or you will be found later with a bullet in your head. Your choice."
"They won't believe that I would leave now," Zechs argued hotly. "Someone will ask questions."
"Of Zechs Marquise?" The commander snorted derisively. "Highly unlikely. Get moving, or will that vaunted honor of yours make you choose death?"
There was a tense silence.
The commander made a sound of disgust. "I didn't think so. Move."
Duo felt himself moving again. He felt like he was short of air and the container was hot. He wanted to stay awake, afraid that he would miss some chance for escape, but his body gave up the fight early on and he passed out.
It was hard dragging himself back to wakefulness, but Duo felt that something was very wrong. He could feel his body again and it was seething pain. He couldn't stifle a whimper. Old habits made him bite down on his hand to keep himself quiet while his eyes opened and tried to adjust to the dappled light of the deep forest all around him. It was freezing, the ground he was lying on was wet, and Duo felt completely disoriented. He was used to the colonies, the hard streets, or the cold metal corridors of spaceships. To suddenly be surrounded by nature was out of his experience. To be wounded and helpless in such a place terrified him.
A blanket settled over his chill body. Duo took his bitten hand out of his mouth and clutched it to him. "His clothes will have to do," Zechs said and Duo's eyes snapped sideways and saw the very tall, blond lieutenant in his mask, finish pulling a shirt off of a limp body. "They are very large, but you will need the extra warmth they will give you."
"What..," Duo tried to say and then made the mistake of attempting to sit up. His side shot agony all through him and he fell back, hissing and panting.
The mask studied him. Duo could only give that piece of metal one expression and it was a cold, unfeeling one. "Commander Fremont has gone on reconnaissance. He left his second here to watch us. The man tried to take... liberties.... with you. I couldn't allow that."
Duo cringed. Liberties? He puzzled over that word, but he was almost sure what it meant. He was naked under he blanket and in so much pain that he couldn't tell.... "Did he...?" was all he could manage from his parched throat.
The mask turned as if to glare at the corpse. "No. I freed myself in time."
"I-I owe you one," Duo replied intensely and that simple statement carried a world of weight.
"When I return you to your prison, I doubt you will honor that," Zechs growled as he holstered a weapon, looked nervously about, and then began helping an embarrassed Duo dress in the dead man's clothes. "The commander took the vehicle," Zechs told him while he worked, "I'm afraid that I will have to carry you."
Duo thought about that only briefly and then said, "Won't be coming back."
The mask looked at him squarely as Zechs finished and straightened . "What are you saying?"
"He's run for it," Duo replied.
Zechs considered his words. "You may be right. I will not take any chances, though." He bent close to Duo. "I don't know what a Gundam pilot's word is worth, but I am asking for it now. If you kill me, you will lie here and rot. If you allow me to carry you back to what is left of my base, you will get treatment and perhaps yet another chance for escape."
Duo managed a snort of dark amusement. He wasn't used to people seeing situations that clearly or being that honest. "K," was his short reply and the mask gave a small nod.
When Zechs lifted him up, Duo had to wonder at Zech's fear of him. Duo didn't think that he could have battled a kitten and won, let alone a heavily muscled man in top condition like Zechs, and Zechs had to know it. Duo was panting in pain and trying to bite back cries as his wounded side was jostled and rubbed against. He felt light headed, as if he were going to pass out again. Zechs had to be seeing all of that. Then... why ask for a promise at all? Either the man had an overblown idea of a Gundam pilot's abilities or... Duo considered the thought for a long moment and then rasped out, "You- You were just being... polite, right?" The nod of the mask was his answer and Duo hurt himself by laughing.
"I don't get it," Duo said after awhile.
"What don't you 'get', pilot 02?" Zechs wondered. His voice sounded tired. His mask gave nothing away.
"Well, shouldn't you be putting a bullet hole in my head?" Duo wondered. "We just trashed your base and killed your men. Don't you even care?"
There was a long silence. "It's war," Zechs said finally, "and you will have your uses."
"I wouldn't count on that," Duo replied and groaned as Zechs stumbled and squeezed him tight until he regained his balance. The world went red and then never quite came back into focus. "I'm not going to talk. I'm not going to help you no matter what you do," Duo said defiantly to the blurry mask above him.
"Why tell me this?" Zechs wondered. "Do you want me to kill you?"
There was the click of a gun getting ready to be fired. Zechs stopped walking as that gun was pressed to his ear.
"He's just trying to distract you while I sneak up on you," Quatre said, his blue eyes steel hard. "Now, put my friend down slowly and step away."
Zechs sighed. "Since I am your prisoner, and, unless you intend to shoot me now, it would be wiser for me to continue carrying the boy."
"I outweigh you, Quatre," Duo agreed reluctantly, "and I owe him one, so you can't shoot him. You might as well let him carry me to your transport."
Quatre looked embarrassed. "I... I don't have one. It ran out of gas not too far away. I grabbed the first vehicle I saw when I followed after you. They had a smaller vehicle and they were able to keep ahead of me. It took me some time to find a way through the dense forest."
"So..." Duo grimaced. "What you're saying is that we're still on foot?"
Quatre replied in a small voice, "Yes, and we can't go back to the base. It's gone. Once I radioed Heero and told him that you weren't there any longer, he decided to make sure that it couldn't be used for military purposes any longer."
Duo went pale, wondering at Heero's state of mind. Had he destroyed the base
for him? "Guess he was mad..." was all Duo could find to say.
Quatre replied. "We were all angry, Duo. But I don't think Heero was reacting
out of a need for revenge. His actions were sensible."
"Very sensible," Zechs agreed.
"Just which side are you on?" Duo wondered sharply.
"My own," Zechs replied simply, "and, for now, yours, since we all need to get out of this forest."
"Duo," Quatre said, ignoring Zechs, but not lowering his guard or the gun pointed at Zech's head. "How bad are you? When I saw them load you onto that vehicle, you were unconscious."
"At least they took me out of the garbage can," Duo sighed. "I'm pretty bad, Quatre. I know I won't be able to walk out of here. It hurts like hell, too, even like this."
Quatre looked distressed. "I'll radio our positions, but they can't get a Gundam in here. The forest is too dense. I could hardly get my vehicle between the trees."
"How far?" Zechs asked, refusing to be excluded. When Quatre looked suspicious, reluctant to give Zechs any advantage by imparting information, Zechs snapped impatiently, "If I must carry him, then I need to know whether it is within my ability. How far is it?" he demanded again.
"Ten miles," Quatre replied reluctantly, "In rough terrain and with a cold front moving in. There may be snow."
Duo groaned and shivered as if he could feel it already.
"Supplies?" Zechs wondered.
"None," Quatre replied guiltily. "There wasn't anything in the vehicle."
"We have to keep moving then," Zechs said thoughtfully. "We won't be able to rest long in the cold. Ten miles in rough terrain," he calculated in his head and then looked down at Duo in his arms, "I'm glad that you don't weigh very much."
Quatre looked Zechs up and down and then he said carefully, "I've heard that you are an honorable man. If you give me your word that we will have a truce until we reach the edge of the forest-"
"Quatre!" Duo snapped. "Stop with that 'honor' crap! If you're tired of holding the gun on him, give it to me."
Duo's hands were shaking. Zechs saw it and said, "I would rather you didn't do that. I do give you my word, if you will accept it. It will not benefit me to try and harm you or escape at this time."
"And once that truce is off?" Quatre wondered.
Zechs made a shrugging motion and it seemed to the young men that he was amused, "This is war," he said simply.
"Yeah, it's war," Duo growled, "and you're our prisoner. Get walking."
Quatre looked uncomfortable at Duo's anger, but he agreed. "We do need to start walking. Once the sun sets, we won't be able to see our way."
Zechs nodded and began walking, shifting Duo to a more comfortable position. Duo whimpered in pain and tried to bite it back.
"Duo," Quatre asked in concern as he tried to keep up with Zech's longer stride. "What are your injuries?"
"Splinter in my right thumb," Duo replied, seeing red again. The forest disappeared into that pulsing color and he knew that he was about to pass out again, "Paper cut on my elbow. Eyelash in my left eye..." he trailed off when his voice slurred. He made a tremendous effort to come back from the edge, and struggled to finish the thread of his conversation, "Nothing you can do anything about, Quatre, so don't ask."
"He's not bleeding, but he's borderline shock," Zechs explained. "His kidnapping didn't improve his condition."
"Like you care," Duo retorted and then his foggy brain remembered that Zechs had cared. "You just want a healthy gundam pilot, so you can pick my brain," he guessed.
"It's true that I had intended to use several methods to extract information from you," Zechs admitted, "But none of them would have violated war conventions. Afterward I would have had you incarcerated for the duration of the war. Children should not fight and kill in a conflict."
"We stopped being children a long time ago, Lt. Colonel Marquise," Quatre replied angrily. "We were not chosen to pilot Gundams because we were soft or innocent."
"No?" Zechs countered. "The young tend to become zealots more easily than adults and their penchant for believing that they are invulnerable, makes them excellent front line soldiers. Who better to strap into suits on a mission to destroy Oz when the only outcome is death?"
"Your death," Duo growled.
"Yours," Zechs replied knowingly. "You weren't meant to win a war. You were never meant to destroy us, only to do damage, cause chaos, and make Earth respect and fear the colonies. Surely the ones who sent you foresaw that you would be overwhelmed by our forces and destroyed? Surely you realized that as well?"
Duo grimaced. "If you only knew what they really intended..." he said softly, but didn't elaborate. He said instead, "I know I might die, I'm ready for that, but I didn't go into this expecting to. I think we can turn Oz into paste and get out alive if we stick together and stay strong."
"Duo," Quatre warned. "Try and rest. No more talk."
"He doesn't need to speak any longer," Zechs agreed. "He's already made my point. Children will give their loyalty beyond all reason and they won't expect it to be the death of them, even when all logic points to the contrary."
"Stop calling us that!" Duo snarled and then winced and shivered at the pain it caused him. "You don't know anything about us. You don't know what makes us want to fight against you or how much we are willing to die to take you out because of it! We didn't need anyone to brainwash us to get us in the pilot's seat."
They were quiet after that and Duo was glad. The fight had kept him conscious, but he didn't like the price. He didn't want to think about why he was fighting the war, just then. The memories were more painful than his wounds. It was definitely getting colder, but his shivering was from another cause besides the cold and the waves of pain coursing through him.
Zechs suddenly kneeled and put Duo down on a pile of dead leaves. They crunched loudly.
As Quatre pointed his gun unwaveringly at Zech's, he demanded, "What are you doing?"
Zechs shrugged out of his heavy uniform coat, wrapped it about Duo, and then lifted him up again. "I will stay warm as long as I walk," he announced.
"Guess you don't hear so well," Duo growled, enjoying the warmth of the thickly lined coat despite himself. "I was just talking about killing you."
"One of the marks of a good soldier," Zechs explained calmly, "is that he doesn't respond in kind, but follows the all rules of engagement."
"Meaning," Quatre said with unwilling amusement, "that you still consider us YOUR prisoners, so you are respecting the war time conventions."
Zechs gave one nod and began walking again.
"01? Do you read me 01?" Quatre was saying into his small radio. His tone was filled with exasperation and Duo guessed what was wrong instantly.
"The radio doesn't work?"
Quatre seemed unwilling to admit it, but then he said tightly, "It's all the trees and the hill between us and the base.... the satellite is being monitored, so I don't dare use that."
"Crap!" Duo swore and then simply went limp in Zech's arms, closing his eyes and wanting to pass out now to escape the grim reality of their situation. "No car. No radio. No equipment. This is one fucked up rescue Quatre."
"Duo," Quatre replied apologetically, "I was on foot, laying down explosives, when I saw them put you in their vehicle. They drove off very quickly. I didn't have time to prepare or to plan. I would have lost them... I would have lost you. I saw where my priority lay and acted."
Duo took a deep breath to steady himself. "Sorry," he said in a small voice. "Just seems like all the odds are stacked against me making it this time."
"You were given the best care our base could offer," Zechs assured him. "If we are careful not to aggravate your wounds further, I'm certain that you will be all right."
Duo refused to look at the metal mask of the man holding him. He replied sourly, "Guess the 'being a good soldier' handbook doesn't say anything about lying."