Kracken
Disclaimer:I don't own them and I don't make any money off of them.
Warning: Male/male sex, graphic, language, violence, mention of past NCS.
Lock Up
With Teeth
Heero kicked out before he was fully awake. His foot slammed into Duo's gut as he violently shoved the man away from him. Duo's blade missed his throat and sliced into the chair he was sleeping in instead. Slivers of wood flew as the back of the chair exploded into pieces.
Heero was up and in a defensive posture in one smooth movement. Duo was gasping for breath, but not allowing it to make him vulnerable. He was on his feet as well and backing up, hand clutched to his middle and blade ready for another blow. His eyes were flat, the eyes of a killer.
"Coffee?" Heero asked with a rueful grimace.
Duo blinked. Morning sunlight was streaming through the kitchen window and making his hair appeared tipped with fire."I'm going to kill you," Duo promised.
Heero moved backwards, his guard still up, and saw that the coffee was done. Sometime, in between setting it to perc and Duo's attack, he had fallen asleep. Heero was angry at himself for his lapse. He wasn't intending to spend the entire assignment without sleep, but he should have realized his own state of weariness and placed himself in a more secure location.
"Coffee first?" Heero persisted as he poured two cups. He edged one steaming cup along the counter and then backed away with his own.
"You have the key," Duo growled.
"No," Heero told him and then took a cautious sip of his coffee."We're both prisoners here."
Duo straightened, his breathing easing. He tested the weight of his blade. "More reason for you to die."
Heero raised an eyebrow. Duo didn't explain. Heero said simply, "Attack me and I will kill you if I have to. You can't beat me. You must remember my strength, my skill?"
Duo looked ugly. "If you can kill me, then do it."
"Do you remember me?" Heero wondered.
Duo looked momentarily confused and then he was sure of himself again. "You die or I die. That's the way it is."
"Where you came from, yes," Heero told him. "I've seen the vids. Not here. You're free now."
Duo curled his lip. "You are a bad liar. I'm a prisoner. I'm free. There doesn't seem to be a difference."
"You're here because you attempted to kill your doctors," Heero told him. "You're here until you understand that you don't have to live like that anymore."
Duo sneered and backed towards the door. It was locked, Heero noticed as Duo reached back and unlocked it, his eyes never leaving Heero."I'm not stupid," Duo told him. "I know why I'm here."
Heero wondered if he really did know. "I don't understand why you are still trying to use survival tactics from your prison."
There was a hard twitch along Duo's face. He shivered and then showed Heero his teeth before he bolted out of the door and back into the tall grasses. Heero closed the door and locked it. He finished his coffee, analyzing their meeting. Duo still considered himself a prisoner. That was feeding his paranoia and his violence. Heero couldn't see an alternative, though. Duo was simply too dangerous to be given his freedom.
Coffee finished, Heero carefully washed the cup and put it away. He stared at Duo's untouched cup while he did it. There was an odd image generated by it, but Heero dismissed it as a byproduct of his lack of sleep. A friendly talk over coffee That was extremely unlikely.
Heero picked up a broom and began sweeping up the broken chair. The bits of wood made loud, skittering noises across the floor. Taking a dust pan, he bent to sweep the wood into it, and just missed being decapitated. He heard the whistle of Duo's blade as it passed over his head.
Heero thrust the end of his broom backward and caught Duo in the neck. It was a glancing blow , but Duo fell back. Heero whirled and held the broom between them defensively. Duo glared and rubbed at his throat. He edged past Heero, took his still hot coffee defiantly, and then slipped back out of the back door. 'I'm going to get you, sooner or later,' that arrogant gesture had said.
Heero left the kitchen , searching for the place where Duo had broken into the house. He found an open window. Duo's blade had dug into old caulk and pried out the lock. Heero turned and eyed the other windows. He would have to find one room and secure it, he decided. He couldn't hope to secure the entire old house.
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Duo sat in the tall grass and sipped at his coffee. It was good and it triggered
old memories. Huddling around the cup, he balanced his blade on his knee caps
and stayed alert, eyes never ceasing in their surveillance of his surroundings.
Sweepers. A grungy space ship. Sitting around a metal table spotted with grease and laughing with men older than himself. The coffee had been strong and the comradeship had been special to him. Quatre... the desert... waiting for the next attack... Hilde.... scrap yard... lull between storms...
Duo took a long, shuddering breath. It was all gone. All destroyed. He couldn't go back. That time was over and done with. The war had ended and he had been given a taste of hell. Hell was in his heart and soul and it wouldn't let him go. The drum beat of survival was very loud, and the past was an undercurrent that was barely audible.
A blade settled near Duo's jugular. Duo tensed in shock.
Heero was crouched behind him, smiling. "You need to understand," he said, "That you can't win this way. Once you calm down, once you break out of this mental state, you will be set free."
Duo dropped his coffee cup and then used his hand to knock the blade aside. Blood splattered them both as he twisted around and slammed his head into Heero's forehead. Heero was knocked off balance in his surprise and Duo used that opening to kick up with one foot, catching Heero under the chin. Heero dropped, unconscious.
Duo sneered as he grabbed Heero by the hair and rested his blade against the man's throat. "You talk too much," Duo muttered. A simple flex of muscles would relieve him of a very serious threat, Duo thought. He had done it many times before, and left many men in puddles of blood without a second thought. It should have been very easy.
Something about Heero's face made Duo pause, though. Relaxed in unconsciousness, dark eyelashes over fine, oriental skin, and messy, dark hair in a tangle around his face, Heero looked very vulnerable.... and pale. Had he hit him too hard? Duo checked the man's breathing and then shook his head, wondering why he was bothering. Dead was good, he thought, but then felt a tightness, a roil of emotions that confused him.
Despite what Heero had said, he might know how to defeat the perimeter system, Duo thought, giving himself an excuse to keep the man alive. He had the upper hand now. He could force Heero to tell him how to escape. Killing was good, but not when something could be gained from not killing.
Duo hooked hands under Heero's arms and dragged him to the house.
On to Chapter three
Back to Chapter One