Dark Light, Silent Scream
by KatiKat
Heero raced on his bike through the unmoving cars on the highway. The people, who
got out of their cars to see what was going on, scattered quickly out of his
way, shouting at him, their fists raised. He didn´t pay any attention to them.
There were more important things to worry about right now...
His eyes caught a glimpse of the ambulance and police cars, their blue and red
lights flashing. He revved the engine and his bike shot forward, the back wheel
almost slipping on the wet road. He needed to go faster!
When he finally reached the wall of gawkers, squashed behind the yellow "do-not-cross"
line of tape, he honked loudly. The cops, seeing his Preventer jacket, pushed
the onlookers to the side and lifted the tape, opening a narrow corridor,
through which he raced at top speed, lifting his hand to thank them.
There, just a couple of meters in front of him, the ambulance and a couple of police
cars stood, strategically placed in such a manner, that nobody would be able to
see what was going on in the middle of the circle they made.
Heero stopped his bike with squealing tires, the smell of burnt rubber hanging
in the air. The cops and the ambulance staff turned to look at him, some with a
curious expression, some with a dark scowl on their faces. They had been told
not to do anything before he arrived. He jumped from the bike, taking off his
helmet and laying it down on the leather seat.
He took a deep breath. He had rushed over so quickly but now he felt unsure. Slowly
he moved closer, his steps hesitant. He didn´t know what to expect. When Une
called to tell him what happened, he didn´t believe her at first. This was...
impossible. She didn´t know all the details. The only thing she knew for sure
was, that it was bad. Really, really bad.
Finally he reached the ambulance, and moving around it, he stepped into the circle
the vehicles created. And his breath caught in his throat.
On the wet ground in the middle of the circle,
a lone figure sat on the ground. Long honey brown tresses, matted with blood
and dirt, hung loose around his almost naked figure. The young man´s face was
pale, cheeks hollow, the beautiful violet eyes sunken, wide open and unfocused.
His lips were chapped and bloody. There were scrapes, bruises and dried blood
on the dirty skin. The longhaired man was dressed in the tattered remnants of
an orange jump suit. His clothes were dirty and bloody. He looked emaciated,
sharp bones pressing against his too thin skin. His feet were bare, torn and bleeding.
He sat there, legs tucked to his chest, hugging them tightly with his overly
thin arms. He was rocking back and forth slightly, his breathing incredibly
loud and wheezy.
Heero´s hands balled into fists, fingernails digging into his palms deep enough
to draw blood. It was Duo. But that was impossible... Duo was on L2, with Hilde
and the scrapyard. Duo should be living a happy life now, not sitting here in
the middle of the highway on Earth. It was impossible... But still, he was
here.
Heero pulled his badge out of the inner pocket of his Preventer jacket, and flashed
it at the doctor and the police captain. "Preventer Heero Yuy. Can you
tell me what´s going on here?" he asked, his voice quiet.
"Captain Montoya," the elderly cop introduced himself, then
continued, his voice soft and sad, "I wish I knew. Some driver called the
police to tell us that there was some man on the highway. He said that the man
looked in pretty bad shape, warned us that there could be drugs involved."
Heero´s eyes narrowed, hearing the assumption, that his ex-partner could be a junkie,
but he bit his tongue.
"When we arrived, he was stumbling between the cars. They tried to avoid
him, but I suspect that he got hit a couple of times." Montoya shook his
head. "He´s lucky that he isn´t dead. When we tried to come near him, he
didn´t seem to notice us at first. When we touched him though, he started to
scream and fight. We had to let him go before he hurt himself more. We stopped
the traffic and called the ambulance." He pointed at the yellow car and
the stern looking doctor.
The doc, a tall, greying man with glasses and the name "Richards"
written on his ID tag, nodded and picked up, his voice sympathetic: "The
patient is completely unresponsive to voice or light. The only thing that
caused a reaction was touch. And it was a quite violent reaction too. It would
be best to give him something to calm him down, but as long as we are unsure about
his blood work, we can´t risk giving him anything. It may just worsen the
situation."
Heero looked back at the huddled figure. "Why did you call the
Preventers?" he asked.
"This man," Montoya pointed at one of the cops standing around
helplessly, "recognized the victim."
Heero´s stomach lurched, hearing the word "victim", but that summed
up exactly what Duo was. A victim. Of what, they would have to find out.
The young cop stepped closer. "My name´s Parker, Agent Yuy. I was a member
of the White Fang during the war." When Heero´s eyes narrowed again, he
continued quickly: "I remembered seeing him," he pointed at Duo over
his shoulder, "in the OZ database. Duo Maxwell, Gundam Pilot 02. When I recognized
him, I thought it would be better if we called Commander Une."
Heero nodded. "You did the right thing."
"So, this Une told us to wait here for you," Montoya said. "Can
you tell us why?"
Heero sighed and tucked his shield back into his pocket. "Because I was 01
in the wars, Captain. And Duo Maxwell was my partner."
Leaving the surprised men behind, Heero stepped further into the circle, moving
slowly towards his ex-partner.
"Duo? Do you hear me?" he asked softly as not to spook the other man.
"It´s me, Heero." When Duo didn´t react at all, he turned to the men
waiting by the cars. Recieving no advice from them, he moved closer, until he
crouched right in front of the longhaired man.
"Duo?" he said again. Slowly, he raised his hand and waved it in
front of Duo´s eyes. No reaction at all. Cold started to gnaw at Heero´s
stomach.
"Duo? It´s me, Heero. Do you remember me?" he whispered. Receiving no
reaction, he reached with his right hand and laid it on Duo´s shoulder.
Heero almost jumped back, startled by the violent jerk the longhaired man made.
A wailing scream rose from Duo´s half open mouth and he tried to scramble away
from the Japanese man. But Heero wouldn´t let him. Quickly, he caught Duo in
his arms, the battered back to his chest and held on tightly, when his
ex-partner started to struggle like a madman, his arms and legs hitting the
ground.
"It´s okay, it´s okay," Heero whispered, but the other young man
didn´t seem to hear him. Finally Duo slumped in Heero´s arms, defeated and
exhausted. Tears started to run down the wet cheeks and tiny sobs came out of
his throat.
"It's okay, everything will be fine now. I´m here," he repeated over
and over, caressing his hair and kissing the top of Duo´s head. The injured man
didn´t seem to hear him though, still sobbing quietly, shaking like a leaf.
Heero´s eyes narrowed in horrible suspicion. Lifting one hand, he brought it to
Duo´s right ear and snapped his fingers loudly. He did it again and again, but
the man in his arms didn´t react at all. He tried the same to the other ear
with the same result. Heero swallowed painfully and closed his eyes for a
moment. Then he turned to the waiting cops and ambulance staff.
"He is blind and deaf," he called out, his voice hollow. He didn´t
wait for their reaction, but lowered his eyes back to Duo. Noticing one
battered hand move in constant motion against his leg, his eyes slid in the
direction. After a moment, he noticed a pattern. It was a code, Morse code.
H-E-L-P
It repeated itself over and over and over, while Duo sobbed quietly, trying to
curl up in a tiny ball.
Heero breathed in sharply. Morse code! He caught Duo´s tapping hand in his, squeezing
it firmly, but gently. When the longhaired boy froze in his arms, falling
completely silent, Heero started to tap with his fingers against Duo´s hand.
H-E-E-R-O
He repeated it once, twice, three times, slowly losing hope of Duo understanding.
Maybe he was too far gone to understand anymore.
When Duo gripped his hand tightly, it took Heero completely by surprise. He looked
down at their joined hands, then at Duo´s tear stained face. The violet eyes
were closed now, his face drawn, eyebrows furrowed.
"H... Hee.. ro?" came the weak question, voice hoarse. It was so full
of hope that it tore at Heero´s heart.
´Y-E-S,´ he tapped.
"Really?" It was obvious that Duo wanted to believe it so much, but
wasn´t sure if it – he – was true.
´B-A-K-A,´ he tapped out.
Duo let out a short, painful laugh. When Heero brought him closer to his chest,
hugging him tightly from behind, the longhaired boy started to cry again,
hugging Heero´s arms back, pressing himself against the Japanese boy, as if
feeling the need to join with him completely.
"It´s okay, I´ll take care of you. Okay," Heero murmured into the
damp hair, even though the young man in his arms couldn´t hear it. But it was a
promise. He would take care of Duo.
And he would find out who did this to him - and kill them.
TBC? The End?