Kracken
Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of this
Warning:Male/male sex. graphic, language, violence, Attempted NCS
Soldier Boys
Sequel to Broken Wing
Only For You
"He said you'd pay me," the man grumbled nervously, hands shoved into pockets as if he might have a weapon there. "He gave me some Gundanium clips, but all the trouble I went to is worth a hell of a lot more than that!"
"Clips?" Heero wondered, his face like stone, his empty apartment making the man look passed his shoulder curiously.
"Hair clips. What a little freak, right?" the man snorted. "The most expensive material in the known universe and he uses it to pin his dainty hair. I'm surprised the guards didn't take them, idiots probably didn't know what they were."
"Guards?" Heero frowned now.
"Money?" the man mocked and held out a grimy hand.
Heero dug out his wallet and gave the man whatever was in it without looking. He'd been using credit to order online and over the phone without leaving the shell of his home. He'd never looked to see what they'd given him for spending money. It must have been a great deal. The man's eyes went very wide and he grinned as he tossed Heero a small package.
"There you go. Enjoy," he said. "Everything you want to know is in there, I'm betting."
Heero watched the man walk away and then he closed and locked his apartment door. Turning the package over and over in his hands, he saw that the paper was pieced together forms. He turned it to the light and read:
Name: Duo Maxwell
Behavior: uncooperative.
Punishment: two days in confinement.
Attending warden: J.S. Peterson
Name: Duo Maxwell.
Duties: bathroom maintenance, floor cleaning in officer's mess, garbage detail.
Attending guards: K.Rudolph, H. Menendez
Infraction: Refusal to follow orders, violent.
Punishment: Permanent schedule of injections of 9847 Hycloridepesidol
Name: Duo Maxwell
Internment sentence: 4 years
Served: 3 years two, months
Parole decision: denied
Reason for decline: uncooperative, violent behavior.
Heero carefully put the papers aside and then looked at what had been inside them. It was Duo's cross, heavy, gold, and cold in his fingers. A small note was twisted around the cross section. Heero untwisted it and read:
'I've got no right, I know, but they aren't letting me out and I need you, buddy. Please..... Duo Maxwell.'
The address was a place Heero wasn't familiar with. It was on Mars colony. Looking at the forms again, Heero didn't find any organization, prison, or institute name. Sitting down at his laptop on the kitchen counter, he typed in the address. Nothing came back to him.
Heero and the other pilots had assumed that Duo had made his own way after the war, disappearing into the crowd and attaining the anonymity that they had craved, but had been unable to get. Heero had hoped that, since the war was over, that Duo would try to contact him and try to renew their relationship, but no message had come and no Duo Maxwell had appeared to apologize and set Heero's world to rights. It had been the last nail in the coffin of Heero's psyche and he hadn't recovered from that final blow to his heart.
Smoothing out the papers meticulously, Heero felt the dead weight in his chest, the thing that had been his heart, lurch and pulse. He dared to hope even while his soldier's training gave him a list of reasons why he shouldn't. If Duo was being held somewhere, if he had been prevented from coming to him, if all of his pain and suffering had a cause other than Duo abandoning him completely, then who ever was the cause of it would pay, Heero thought angrily. His hands crunched the papers up convulsively. After so long, after so very, very long, he began to think, to feel, to care.
Heero looked around his bare apartment and at what his life had become. Duo had left him during the war because he had to. Deep down, Heero had not really blamed him. The blame had come afterwards, when the parties and the awards ceremonies had been completed, when rebel factions had been suppressed, and when real peace had come to Space and Earth. Then, and only then, had Heero blamed Duo for not coming back to him.
'I've got no right.' The line on the note said everything. Duo expected anger, blame, even hate maybe, but he was desperate enough to ask anyway, to call on Heero to come for him.
Heero closed his laptop and tucked it under one arm, grabbed the keys to his car, and gave the apartment a cold eye.
"Duo," he said to that emptiness. " I'm coming."
____________________________________
Heero had learned early on in his line of expertise, that looking official opened many doors without question. Acting confident and taking advantage of sudden opportunities was key. Showing up at the front doors of the mystery building, in a black, three piece business suit, holding a leather briefcase, and wearing dark sunglasses, might have seemed a recipe for disaster, but a simple, "I must have the wrong building.", could easily counter any challenge to his presence.
Heero stood at the glass doors and pushed a button. He then waited as if impatient, pulling on the cuff of one starched sleeve and looking at his watch. When a security guard opened the door and stared at him cautiously, hand on gun, Heero simply stared at him coldly.
"Damn!" the guard recognized him. "I know you! I recognize you from all the vids, standing next to Relena Peacecraft!"
Heero frowned, but he didn't say anything, waiting to see which way the guard's thought were going.
"She must want a personal report again," the guard said, "I'll tell the Commander that you're here."
Heero gave a single nod and the guard opened the door wide enough to let him pass inside. Cool air conditioning washed over Heero and he found himself standing in a marble walled foyer decorated with a few silk plants. There was nothing to tell him anything about the building. It could have been any office foyer.
The guard went to a phone and dialed a number. "Commander Havar? I have one of Peacecraft's men down here. Yes, ma'am... Yes, ma'am... right away."
The guard turned, hand still on his gun, but it was more of a nervous action than a threatening one. "Commander Havar would like to see you immediately."
"That would be wise," Heero said.
The guard looked even more nervous as he murmured, "Yes, sir, this way sir," and led the way to an elevator.
Heero felt his shoulders tense as the doors to the elevator closed and it began to rise. Commander Havar. He searched his large mental database and came up with a face to match the name. Commander Patricia Havar of Oz intelligence. Six years she had dedicated to the Romafellers and a she had been given a commendation for her service in maintaining Oz's prisons for dissidents. Heero had been given a taste of her style of 'maintenance' during the war after being captured. He had been left strapped on a table, in an operating room, as a veiled threat to talk or else, despite his injuries. Only Sally Po's interference, and concern for his welfare, had kept those threats from turning into a reality.
Relena knew about this place, Heero thought, and she was being kept updated. Updated about Duo? He had left her service early on, dissatisfied with following and being her shadow. Having attending a myriad of boring, televised, events as her guard, it wasn't surprising that the guard recognized him. How much Heero could use that, he wasn't sure. If Commander Havar was in contact with Relena, then it might be assumed that she knew that Heero wasn't part of her entourage any longer.
They left the elevator, Heero scanning for likely escape routes. He saw a fire exit and a roof access panel. He knew, more than anyone else, that a 'secure building' was never really secure.
They entered a plush office with a large, black, oak desk and a gray carpet. A picture of a forest scene, digitized to make it cold and machine like, hung above the chair behind it. A very tall woman, with gray hair pulled back in a sever bun, sat in the chair and regarded Heero with a very annoyed expression. She was in her early fifties and her face was lined deeply from stress and a war. She was wearing a very bland, black, pant suit. Her badges were numerous and her rank was obvious in the way the guard at Heero's side approached her. He looked as if he were going into a lion's den.
"Commander? Should I wait by the door?" The guard asked.
The woman waved him off impatiently. "Go. The day that I can't handle a boy..."
"But, he's a Gundam pilot, ma'am," the guard argued. "He's-"
"A boy," the woman stressed and glared. "You can go now Peters."
The guard looked defeated, but Heero was certain that he wouldn't be going very far away. He ignored the man and kept his eyes on the woman in front of him. Very slowly, he took off his sunglasses and placed his briefcase on the end of her desk as if he owned it, not her.
"I don't understand why Relena Peacecraft sent you," The woman growled. "The Oz council has been given complete autonomy in this matter. I didn't have to inform her of their decision, nor do I have to entertain her thugs either, Mr. Yuy."
In those few brief sentences, Heero had learned a great deal. He kept his expression flat. "I've been given my orders," he said simply.
The woman scowled. She punched several keys on her computer keyboard and then swiveled the screen to face Heero. It showed a security camera and a tall, thin, man, in jeans and a blue tshirt, pacing a small room. It was time stamped. It was live. It was all Heero could do not to show his sudden surge of emotions as he saw the very long braid swinging behind the lone figure as he walked.
"See, he's alive, well, and being given more opportunities than a murderer like him deserves, " the woman said angrily as she sat back in her chair and steepled her fingers. "Murderer," she said again as Heero looked at her with raised eyebrows. "It is murder, Mr. Yuy, when the end of a war is announced and a soldier decides to kill one last Oz soldier, knowing full well what he is doing. He is not contrite, sir, nor will he repent and acknowledge his crime. He insists that he would do it again. We insist that a man like that must be punished. His time here has been very far removed from what we would have wished as a sentence. Three years of living in a structured dorm, with a well groomed park, fully equipped gym, schooling, companions, and everything he wishes short of walking free, is hardly what a murderer deserves. That he should spite us, and show his ingratitude by attacking my guards, and attempting to escape at every opportunity, more than justifies my denying him his parole. The OZ council has sentenced him to two more years and he will be moving to a maximum security facility. Our kindness, our attempts to please the new government, has come to an end. Duo Maxwell will receive the very best treatment, but he will receive the treatment of a hard-line criminal, not an errant schoolboy as Relena Peacecraft would prefer. You have been given your orders, Mr. Yuy, and I have been given mine. I explained everything, in detail, to Relena Peacecraft in my last report. Sending her thug to intimidate me, will not change the Oz council's decision."
"I am not here to intimidate you," Heero told her. "I am merely here to verify that Duo Maxwell is still receiving proper treatment. Surely you can understand Relena Peacecrafts' concern that your new, hard-line decision, might mean that old quarrels from the war are dictating your actions? Her concern is that Duo, even while being committed to a new facility, will still be treated properly."
"You insult me and the OZ council," Havar snarled, her nostrils flaring angrily. "We have suffered the antics of that criminal for three years, sir. We do not intend to ignore the conventions for prisoners now. You may conduct inspections of the new facility at any time to confirm that."
Heero nodded. "I will tell Ms. Peacecraft that, but she has ordered that I personally meet with Duo Maxwell and ask him about his welfare."
Havar frowned, but she was swiveling her computer screen back to her and punching in more numbers on the keyboard. She scribbled on a name tag and then slid it through a slot. It was imprinted with a bar code. She handed it to Heero and warned, "You may visit him, but he is being fully monitored I warn you. He knows that and he may say things for our benefit, not yours. Once you walk through the secure door in that section, you are under OZ council jurisdiction. If Maxwell decides to try and escape by using you, I must warn you that we will use as much force as necessary to stop his escape. You may be caught in the crossfire."
"Understood," Heero said simply and she gave him a look.
"I've heard a great deal about Gundam Pilots," she said. "I don't believe half of it. I outweigh you and I certainly have more years of training and knowledge under my belt. Maxwell, while persistent in his attempts to escape, hasn't shown me any phenomenal abilities. Don't think I'm going to let my guard down, though, regardless. I do still retain a soldier's habit of planning for every eventuality, however unlikely."
Heero nodded. She glared and then called back in the guard. Peters entered nervously and she ordered, "Take him to Duo Maxwell. I'm allowing him a visit."
"Yes, Commander Havar," Peters replied and led Heero out of her office and into the elevator again.
They went to ground level and took a corridor that led to a double set of very thick and secure doors.
"This is The Compound," Peters told Heero. "It's guarded by men, electrical stun units, and a wall with a wreath of razor wire. Maxwell can wander the area as he likes, but one step inside a restricted area and, " he made a sound like someone getting fried by electricity. "The charge is strong enough to knock you off your feet and into tomorrow."
Heero came up with a dozen ways to defeat that system. He was sure Duo had as well. His mind found a way to defeat the razor wire as well... and the guards.
"Biolocks," The guards said as he used his thumb print to open the first door. "Anyone tries to use them who isn't authorized and he gets injected by a tranquilizer."
Heero grunted as if in appreciation, but was secretly thinking, 'too easy to defeat. There had to be something more.'
They passed through the doors and into a domed area that was landscaped beautifully. A walkway led out into the oddly colored sunshine of mars colony, a world blanketed in red dust. Captive birds sang and butterflies fluttered from flower to flower. It seemed peaceful, would have been if it weren't for the guards at every junction.
"How many people are imprisoned here?" Heero wondered.
The guard shrugged. "About sixteen hard liners. They aren't allowed to interact and they have a strict schedule of when they are allowed to leave their rooms, so that they never meet. We do have men training here as well and Maxwell can train with them, school with them, too, if he likes, to have company. He isn't isolated if he doesn't want to be." He paused and rubbed the back of his neck as he added, "So far, he hasn't taken advantage of that."
They stopped at a thick door in a long line of them. The man touched his finger to a lock and a thick bolt sounded as it slid open inside the door. The door opened and the man drew his gun.
Duo turned and stood impassively, even while his eyes fairly devoured Heero's face. "Heero," he said unnecessarily.
"I'll be outside," Peters told Heero. "He's drugged and very open to ... uh... suggestion, so watch what you say, sir. Ring the buzzer when you want me to let you out again."
Heero ignored him and Peters left and locked the door. Facing Duo, Heero noticed that Duo had indeed grown taller, though not much wider. His clothes hung on his slim frame and he had his long, narrow hands jammed into his pockets.
"Guess you want to know what's going on?" Duo said carefully, as if he were wary of Heero's temperament. "I'm really, really surprised that you're here."
"Did you kill a man after peace was declared?" Heero asked bluntly.
"Yes," Duo replied, just as blunt. "I executed a man who murdered a church full of rebels, children, a priest, and a nun. When I asked him why..." Duo faltered, taking a steadying breath before he went on, "He told me he thought that he was doing L2 a favor by getting rid of 'the trash'. He was pardoned, along with all the rest of Oz, after the war. He was walking away without any punishment, with all of those deaths on his head... I couldn't let that happen."
Heero digested that information and then he gave Duo a piercing look. Duo met it. Heero nodded. Duo looked almost shocked, but then his face went bland.
"They're putting me in a real prison in two days," Duo told Heero. "Guess I deserve it, huh?" His eyes said something else and Heero understood it. "I'm not sorry. I'm not going to be, ever."
"I'm not here to judge you," Heero told him. "I'm here to learn if you are being treated according to conventions for prisoners."
Duo nodded. "Yeah, the stinking place is better than I'm used to. Guards suck, but I handle them okay. After a few tries at making me 'pick up the soap' and 'kick the pilot' I taught them to keep their hands to themselves. Didn't win me any parole points though."
"What did you expect?" Heero asked, but he was really asking, 'What did he expect?'
"I expected to do my time and get out." Duo looked at Heero long and hard and then he said, "I don't lie. I'm not starting now. I won't say I'm sorry I killed that bastard even to save me some time in an Oz lock up. Do what you want about that. It's who I am. I'm sorry," he swallowed hard and stumbled on his words. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I AM sorry for all that crap I did, but I couldn't do the war unless I did it all the way. You know?"
Heero knew what crap he was referring to and it had nothing to do with killing an Oz soldier. He was asking Heero whether he was forgiven, whether there was still something between them, whether Heero was going to save him or not.
Heero searched his soul and found that he had committed himself, had decided to forgive Duo everything, as soon as he had walked out of his front door. Now he was faced with a decision again, whether he could accept Duo, the killer; a man who had broken a treaty's laws and finished his vendetta against Oz. For a man who had been trained to kill as soon as he could walk, Heero's decision was very easy to make.
"I will make sure that Relena Peacecraft is informed of your situation. She will certainly oppose your new sentencing."
Duo's shoulders relaxed noticeably, the only sign he gave that Heero's words meant something to him. "I'll be waiting," Duo replied, "but hurry. Being put in a real prison population is something I want to avoid."
Heero nodded his understanding and then went to press the buzzer. They couldn't say goodbye. Heero couldn't allow his emotions to show. Duo was holding himself tightly, arms crossed over his chest. He looked like a soldier that had been fighting too long, not like someone who had been relaxing in a minimal security retreat. He also looked as if he were memorizing every line of Heero's body, his amethyst eyes intense. Heero caught himself doing the same to him and made himself stop. There would be time, time when he broke Duo out of that place.