Damned, Cursed, and Loved

The Damned Meets An Angel



When she came to herself, the first thing she noticed were a pair of cold, hard prussian blue eyes. For the God knows how many time that day, Usagi screamed. He cringed slightly, then resumed his detached expression.

"Who are you and what the hell are you doing here?"

She blinked, staring at him. Tears started to smear her vision, and she whispered, "I... I'm Usagi and I was... was following... th-this girl, but she... she disappeared... and I... don't kn-know... where I am..." The salty droplets rose and fell from her eyes, trickling down her face. She started crying softly, the first time since Ami had died in the emergency room.

"Isn't that just like you, Heero, making a beautiful woman cry."

Her head snapped up and she noticed a tall lanky figure not too far away from her. He stopped walking towards her and leaned against a tree. His hair was long and chessnut brown, pulled back into a braid. He wore loose black jeans and a long sweatshirt that matched. It was hard to tell whether his eyes were indigo, violet, or cobalt blue.

"Oh, God," she whispered.

"Man, Heero, you scared the living fuck out of this girl," the other guy observed. Her eyes widened involuntarily at his choice of vocabulary. He noticed this and erupted with laughter. It rang out through the forest, light, deep, and arousing. She fought to keep a blush down.

"Moron," Heero muttered. She turned an got a good look at him. His hair was a very dark brown and messy, hanging in his eyes, shadowing them. He looked around the same age as his friend, at least eighteen, maybe twenty. His features seemed chisled in ice, and maybe they were, from the looks of his eyes. His figure was lazy, but muscled. In an odd way, he sort of looked like the vampire.

As if on cue, the dark-haired man stepped out. He took one look at the scene, and scowled. "What the hell is SHE doing here? Is she another one of them?"

Dispite her fear, Usagi found herself speaking. "Who's 'them'?"

"What are you doing here?" Heero cut in before anyone else could speak. "Answer the damn question or I'll do to you what I did to that kid." He nodded at the shredded body of the now-dead baby. Usagi's face paled immensely, and she tried to say she didn't know, but then she passed out again.

**

"Great going, Yuy."

"Shut the hell up, Wufei," Heero snapped in his monotone voice.

"If you keep scaring her like that it's unlikely we'll get any information."

They both continued to argue, Heero shouting threats of shoving a stake down the vampire's throat and Wufei screaming something about justice. Duo wasn't even paying attention to them. He was totaly focused on the object of beauty lying not to far from him.

Her hair was a shimmering golden color, soft and delicate. Her body was perfect in figure, if not a slight bit underdeveloped in the upper area. She looked frail, but he knew she had to be strong to survive the blow Heero had delivered her earlier. Her eyes, when she was awake, were a wonderful crystal blue, wide and kind, scared and a bit lonely.

The exact rare type he had been looking for.

Usagi. She had said her name was Usagi. He wondered what her last name was, but decided it didn't matter. It wouldn't make a difference in the end.

Because he would have her. Why? Because he wanted her.

It seemed so simple, but dimly, he wondered how difficult it would be to trick her.

**

Usagi was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming, but it felt so real, she dimissed the knowing and accepted the feeling.

She was sitting my her best friend, Ami, outside. It was lunch, and Usagi was still finishing hers while her friend read a book. She had no idea which one; she never really bothered to check what her friend was reading. Ami was her friend because she was understanding, plus they seemed to have some kind of telepathic bond.

Of course, Usagi mostly used it during school, which didn't make Ami too happy all the time.

She and Ami were walking home from school now. The streets were busy, as were the sidewalks.

That's when it happened.

Both girls heard a loud screeching sound of a horn. One car swerved around, the driver obviously disoriented or drunk. They turned, and Usagi knew what was going to happen.

She moved to grab her friend's arm, but the car reached her first. There were cracking sounds and blood sprayed in a few directions. Glass shattered, metal crumpled, screams rang through the air. Usagi realized it was her screaming, and she couldn't seem to stop as she stared at her unconscious friend. She closed her eyes...

**

Usagi opened her eyes. Sweat perspired on her forehead, and her breathing was uneven. She realized she wasn't lying on pine needles anymore, and the smell of drying blood was gone. The boy with violet eyes was watching her with a slightly intrigued look, and she remembered what was really going on.

"Oh, my God..." she whispered.

"Kind of a shock waking up in a new place, eh?" She slowly nodded, and he exploded with laughter. She didn't get what was so funny, and yet again, she had to stop herself from blushing.

She finally took in all her surroundings. She was by a river, thick with mud and littered badly. She was now sitting on a patch of grass, and a couple small flowers bloomed around her.

In the river was a boathouse. The sun had begun to set, and it gave off a reddish glow, making the scenery both peaceful, beautiful, and frightening at the same time.

"Where... exactly... am I...?" she asked slowly, struggling to make her tongue work.

The boy grinned widely. "You are... where we live."

"We?"

"Wufei, Heero, and me. We live here." He paused. "And... well, you'll meet our new member soon."

She shook her head, tears springing to her eyes. "How is this happening to me? I just wanted to go home..." she whispered, then the tears fell. "I didn't want to get involved with anything!" she screamed.

He frantically gestured her to be quiet. "Please, please don't scream," he pleaded. "And don't cry. Please. We're trying to finish this little mission and then-"

"Mission? MISSION?! Was trying to KILL me part of this mission?!" Usagi knew she was hysterical, but she didn't care. She was too scared to care, too frightened. "Was trying to tear me up like you bastards did to that baby-"

"Hey, I didn't do a thing to that kid!" he yelled, losing his patience.

"Well, your little buddy did! WHY CAN'T YOU ALL JUST LEAVE ME THE HELL-"

"WILL YOU SHUT UP ALREADY?!"

"WHY DON'T YOU JUST KILL ME NOW AND GET IT OVER WITH?!"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO!" She was about to speak, but he cut her off. "Even if they told me to, I wouldn't! Why would I kill you?"

She tried moving her mouth, but words failed to come out. "I don't know," she finaly choked.

They both started to calm down, and he looked a little ashamed. "I'm sorry for yelling at you like that," he mumbled, kicking the dirt. This took her by surprise. Mainly because she'd rarely been appologized to. But this guy was with those freaks. The other two didn't look as... polite. Hardly even that. The vampire looked more like a player than anything, and the one with prussian blue eyes looked cold and detached.

"I'm rarely around girls," he admitted. "I mean, being with Wufei and Heero... they're cool, but MAN. They're no fun, you know? Girls are a lot more comfortable to be around. They're just so much fun, so happy all the time." He seemed to be talking to himself, but Usagi was paying rapt attention. No guy she had ever known talked about his feelings so openly, as if they were a brother or closer.

Then he focused again. "So, you're Usagi. You're kinda cute." He smirked, and this time she couldn't hide her blush. He chuckled. "I should introduce myself. I'm Duo."

**

Minako was frustrated. Again, Wufei had gotten her lost. Again, he had outrun her at the last second, hiding somewhere.

Again, she was ready to kill the next person that came up to her.

*That undead bastard. I am SO gonna kill him someday, and it'll be slow torturing hell,* she thought bitterly. She hated being defeated, and that's what it felt like every time he disappeared. Like she had been beaten. Again.

It was really starting to make her sick.

She heard some screaming, and her head snapped towards the south. Her hand instinctively went to her bokken, and she unsheathed it. Holding it at her side, she took off towards the screams. The colser she got, the louder they became.

Then they stopped.

*Damn,* she thought. Still, she continued forard cautiously. She really hoped it wasn't a werewolf. They had the most goddamn sensitive hearing...

It was him.

Her mind registered the fact quickly, and she dropped the bokken, flipping the silver dagger from her boot. "YOU GODDAMNED CURSED BEAST!" she screamed.

Duo Maxwell looked over at her, his eyes flashing both indigo and cobalt blue. One eyebrow raised, and he grinned good-naturedly. The girl behind him looked at Minako, her expression one of familiarity and wonder, also slight fear.

Idiot.

"Planning on killing another human, wolf-boy?" she hissed, and he took notice of the silver weapon. He frowned, slightly damaging his good features.

"You should put that down. You might hurt someone with that," he said lightly.

"Namely you?" she shot back.

He shrugged. "Well, me dying would kind of suck, you know?"

"Not really."

"What are you doing?"

Minako glanced sideways at the girl that had spoken. Her confusion and the expression on her face made it clear she was human, and that she didn't quite understand the situation.

"The question is, what are YOU doing?" she snapped at the girl. "Don't you know this guy is a flesh-eating parasite? A werewolf?"

The girl looked a little troubled. "I... well, he kinda... looks like one..."

That comment made Duo start laughing. It was slightly maniacal, but genuine. The girl blushed and looked down, causing Minako to wonder if she had a thing for this cursed being.

"Listen, I'm only telling you once," Minako began, but a new voice cut in.

"Minako, don't hurt him."

"QUATRE?"

~~

YES! Finally! New chapter done, and long and good, in all it's glory! ^-^ Heh. Right. Anyway, I did my best to make it long, and I know people are gonna wanna whack me for leaving off there, but all the more fun for me! *smirk*

So, please review. OH! I almost forgot. YOU HAVE TO READ THIS MESSAGE.

I know it looks like it's leaning towards Usagi/Duo, BUT IT COULD CHANGE. If you remember my explanation in the Author's Notes at the beginning of the story, then you'd know that Usagi is going to have to make a choice.

IOW (In Other Words), there's going to be a bit of a love triangle. OK, more like a love square. Maybe bigger. *lol* I don't know yet! But when the time comes, I'll choose who *I* think she should end up with. But if you have a special request, then say so!

Thanks!

~ D-chan