Title: Crime and Punishment
Content: shonen ai/yaoi, AU, probably angst, drama…yadda yadda…
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own these cute li'l puppets…
~Chapter Two: Talk To Me~
Heero looked down at his limp hands, which were folded in his lap. That very morning he'd known everything he was going to do and say, but now…nothing. His mind was a blank, which was not a good thing. On the other hand, Duo seemed to be enjoying his lapse in character very thoroughly, which made Heero that much more angry.
"So, Heero," he began in such a familiar tone that Heero began to wonder about his comfort in the whole situation. It struck him odd that Duo could be so calm. His violet eyes fell on Heero's neck. "You kept it," Heero blinked in surprise, and reached where Duo's eyes had settled on him. Reflexively, his hand curled around the chain. He'd forgotten to remove it that day. Heero nodded dumbly at Duo's inquiry.
"It is you," he whispered, gathering his shock and surprise, and replacing it with a passive appearance. Duo's cocky expression wavered slightly. He quickly recovered it with a carefree trickster's grin.
"Sure, don't you recognize me?" He leaned closer to Heero from behind the bars. "I'd know you anywhere," he admitted in a slightly softer voice. Heero shrugged, slipping back into his aloof personality.
"Would you like to tell me how you got here?" he began in a business-like manner. Duo frowned, raising an eyebrow.
"That's all?" he stated, unfulfilled expectation in his voice. "After all this time, that's all you have to say to me?" Heero shrugged his shoulders together and regarded Duo with cold blue eyes.
"I have a job, Duo. What else did you want me to say?" Duo recoiled slightly at the anger in Heero's tone. That hardly seemed necessary, but obviously, the boy had changed a great deal. Duo sighed in defeat, his head and shoulders slumping as he sat on the edge of the cot.
"Nothing, I guess," he replied soberly. He sighed again, raising his head. A smirk played across his face. "Don't suppose you could pull a few strings, get me outta here, huh?" he asked with a snicker. Heero glared at him, and Duo fell silent.
"That's not my job Duo. Now, what happened?" Heero pursued in annoyance. Duo gave him another cocky grin.
"Ha! Are you this blunt with everyone you talk to? Damn, how'd you get this job, anyway?" Duo laughed bitterly. Heero clenched his hand into a fist, glaring at Duo. "Aren't you supposed to talk fancy to me or something?"
"Do you want to get out of here? The only way you have a chance is by telling me your side of the story," Heero told him, keeping his tenuous voice as calm as possible. Aside from that fact, if Heero didn't get anything from him, this would all be a waste of his time.
Heero's style of mind infiltration had always been a blunt one. It's true that most fields of psychiatrics call for people with the skill of talking thoughts out of people, but Heero had succeeded in doing so by being out front. Not to mention his cold looks and glares were intimidating to all he'd come up against.
Until now.
Duo leaned back against the wall, propping his arms behind his head. A lazy grin once again found its way to his face. He opened one eye and looked at Heero.
"Well. I'll give you a little challenge. If you can talk it outta me, like the others do, then you win. I'll give you a week. And, by then, if you don't," Duo leaned forward, violet eyes becoming serious. "You lose. And you find a way to get me out without the information. I know you can." He smirked. "If you do win, and I do get out of here, I'll leave this city, and you won't have to see me again. I know that's what you want, right?" Heero narrowed his eyes at the boy.
"Fine. I accept that." Duo gave him a smile. Heero simply glared in his direction.
"So, I'm ready now. Start talkin'."
When a child reaches the stage of their teens, they begin to lose sight of the restrictions on themselves. The freedom they gain is not seen to be accompanied by responsibility. And that is why that at that stage of life, all parents worry when their child is out of their sight.
Heero was a responsible enough boy, but from time to time, would be out for hours. He never came home with the police or anything so drastic, but it still gave his parents right to wonder.
It was not different on one particular night, when Heero leapt out his bedroom window without so much a sound to alert his parents of his departure. He moved silently along the edges of building, wary of his surroundings as the city around him began to change, growing more desolate and unwelcome. He entered the neighborhood that he hadn't visited since a small child, though this time willingly. Every so often, he would whip his head about him to check if anyone was approaching him. He knew just how dark this place was, and night was its worst time of danger.
The dull sounds of boots on pavement moved towards him. Heero looked up, the hairs on the back of his neck rising. He relaxed when he recognized the approaching figure. Duo came to him, clothed in all black as usual, to prevent anyone from distinguishing him in the shadows. This time, he had gained himself a long black trench coat. Heero frowned. No doubt he had lifted it from some store. The violet-eyed boy gave Heero a lazy grin.
"Heero, you came," he stated, tone nearing surprise. Heero raised his head slightly, as if surprised he'd been doubted.
"Of course," he replied flatly. "Duo, I need to talk to you," Duo was now standing face to face with Heero, about two or so feet away. He cocked his head at the dark haired boy.
"About what?" he asked. He folded his arms across his chest and arched an eyebrow in Heero's direction. Heero looked into Duo's eyes with his own desperate blue ones.
"Duo, you can't stay here." He began in an even tone. Duo sighed, knowing this conversation all too well. The night he thought Heero would just talk instead of this…
"Heero, why can't you just accept this? This is who I am. I can't change," Heero reached out and grabbed Duo's arm.
"Yes, you can." He argued, his eyes pleading with Duo's. "Just let me convince my family, or something! We can find you someplace good to stay! I'd never have it any way else," Duo frowned.
"No, Heero. I'm not changing. I don't want to. This is where I belong." Heero glared at Duo, suddenly intensely angry with the longhaired boy.
"The longer you stay here, the worse you become," he countered harshly. Duo's violet eyes narrowed, and he wrenched his arm from Heero's grasp roughly.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" he exclaimed. "You don't think I'm good enough to be you friend, so you wanna change me?" Heero shook his head vehemently.
"No, Duo! That's not it!"
"Yes it is," Duo responded softly. He backed away from Heero. "That was it all along." He set his jaw hard against anything more he wanted to say as Heero reached out after him. "I thought that you were different," he ended disappointedly. Heero made a choked sound, trying to call out for him to stay, but Duo left him in the dark silence of the uncomforting night.
Heero stared blankly up at his bedroom ceiling. The room was slightly illuminated by the city lights outside his window. Movement outside caused eerie shadows to pass over the ceiling from time to time, though none phasing Heero in the least. Duo's words, which had been spoken hours prior to then, still hung in his mind. After they'd made the agreement, not a word was spoken between them, and in frustration, Heero had cut out of work early to gather his thoughts. He'd been lying in bed every since.
Meeting Duo had caused old, buried memories to resurface, and none were wanted. That's why he'd kept them out of his mind, after all.
He began to rack things in an orderly fashion in his mind. Duo was charged with murder, that's why he'd been sent to him. Had Duo actually killed a person? Heero frowned. With Duo acting the way he was now, he wouldn't be getting that information from him anytime soon. Of course, he could do things the way Duo had wanted him. But that would mean becoming more deeply involved with Duo's thoughts and feelings. Heero had never been one to be able to do that with anyone.
Maybe I'm not asking the right questions. Maybe if I try to confuse him, he'll slip up and tell me what I want to know without getting mixed up in his thought process. But what can I say? He's got me pegged. Plus he knows I don't want our past revealed. No, he simply knows too much about me. Maybe chief can reassign me…
That would be graceful. Heero would rather die than give up so easily. Doubtless, Duo would track him down and never give him a moment's peace if he did something like that. No, that was definitely out of the question.
Heero was backed into a corner now. What was it that Duo wanted him to say, or do? Heero didn't know how to go about the situation in this way. Suddenly, the answer came to him, though none too reassuring to him.
He wants to talk about our past. He wants me to remember, to feel the pain. Damn him.
The man stood off to the side in a crowded street, every person passing by him as if he wasn't even there. A twisted smirk played at his lips. How naïve and blind they were. Absently, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, which he removed and lit one, raising it to his lips.
And people wondered why they had such bad reputations.
He looked over dark shaded glasses, waiting for someone in particular. He smiled maliciously around the cigarette as he observed a young man walking in his direction.
The boy was no more than his mid-twenties in age, and was slightly above average height. He had messy light brown hair and grass green eyes, which wandered about him in an almost nervous fashion. He looked up sharply and noticed the other man standing there, watching him. A look of recognition, and fear, crossed his face, and he began changing direction.
The man stalked up to him and grabbed his arm. In defeat, the boy turned to meet the man's gaze.
"Solo?" the man asked, his breath heavy with the scent of smoke and nicotine that mingled with the cigarette hanging from his lips. The boy slowly nodded. The man grinned evilly at him, making Solo tense up.
"What-what do you want?" he asked, putting as much intimidation into his voice as he could. The man pulled him off to the side, still grinning in a cruel manner. Solo swallowed back his fear and ran a hand through his hair in a nervous reaction. "I'm not helping you," he stated sternly.
"I'm sure you will, if you value your life," the other man drawled, hand absently trailing along the inside of his long, heavy coat. Solo straightened.
"You wouldn't," he whispered in disbelief as the man's hand met and wrapped around something hidden in his coat. "It's broad daylight. There's people everywhere," his green eyes flicked about. "You must be dumber than I thought,"
"Oh really?" the man chuckled dryly. "I'm the one that got away. It's your friend who's the dumb one here. Now," he removed an empty hand from his coat. "You're going to help me find him." Solo clenched his teeth together.
"What if I refuse?" The man shrugged carelessly, but flashed him another malicious grin.
"You know what happened last time, I take it?" Slowly, Solo nodded, reeling himself being roped in by the shadowy man. "We wouldn't want that happening again, would we?" Solo shook his head, not trusting himself enough to use his voice. Roughly, the man reached out and clasped Solo's shoulder, steering him off to where there were no people to see them or hear them.
"You're not…gonna kill him, are you?" Solo asked in a haltingly unsure tone, especially for himself. The man again chuckled dryly, a startling sound. Solo twitched at the grating sound of it.
"Just make sure they think he's the one who did it," he answered, beginning to absently fiddle with the fingers on one of his gloved hands. "There's just one problem that may give me away," he continued, slowly removing the glove from his hand. This exposed a dry, bony hand, with four long fingers and one index finger that was a stub. Solo winced inwardly. "They shot of my finger in the accident. But then they found the boy. So," he smirked, replacing the glove. "We have to make sure the boy fits the description."
"You want to cut off his finger?" Solo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Something like that," the man replied, tossing his used cigarette to the ground and stomping it with his boot. He slid his sunglasses down his knows to expose his cold gray eyes, which glinted evilly at Solo.
A sinking void feeling came to the pit of the younger man's stomach at that gaze.
As Heero returned to the office, he had the deep feeling that the day would be different than most other days. Probably because it undoubtedly would be, but that was expected.
He stood purposely before the thief's cell, this time, not bothering to pull himself a chair to sit on. This time he was going to use the intimidation factor, and the intelligence factor as well. In his usual unwelcoming manner, Heero folded his arms against his chest and leaned over Duo, who was lying carelessly across the small cot in his cell. Heero's form cast a shadow over Duo's face, causing the boy to groan sleepily.
"Heero…do you mind? You're standing in my light," he stated flatly. Heero glared down upon him.
"Duo, you're in a windowless cell. What light?" he informed the longhaired thief in an emotionless tone. Duo's grinned, winking up at Heero.
"Very perceptive of you, Heero. There's hope yet," he casually sat up, grinning at Heero, who continued to glare. Duo's sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "Physiatrists are usually nice. They give you lollipops and tell you nice things," he observed. Heero remained un-phased.
"That would be pediatricians, Duo," Duo grinned, rubbing the back of his neck in mock embarrassment.
"So it would. Heh," Now Heero realized what Duo was trying to do.
He's trying to loosen me up. But why? I thought he didn't want me to get to him…
Heero let his arms drop at his sides, expression becoming slightly more open, more so than an angry glare at any rate.
"Duo," he began, in a low voice, this one gentler. Duo looked up, surprised he'd gotten the effect he wanted. "Does this have something to do with what happened when we were younger?" he asked quietly. Duo returned the question with a confused look.
"Does what have something to do with that?" he inquired. Heero gave him a sober expression.
"Why you're closing yourself on me," he responded dully.
Duo walked forward quickly, not caring where he was going, or when he'd get there. All he wanted was to put as much distance between himself and Heero as humanly possible. And with him, that was quite a bit of distance.
Even this late at night, cars still roamed along the streets, even more heedless of pedestrians since it was late. Duo wandered aimlessly into the middle of the street. His mind would've picked up where he was headed if it had been focusing on anything other than Heero. Unfortunately, that's all he could think about.
His attention was yanked in another direction as a pair of bright headlights fell upon his form in the street. The car before him was no more than three feet away when he realized what was happening.
His body landed listlessly onto the ground with a thump, and a small pool of blood gathered underneath him. Somewhere, distantly, he could hear the murmur and the lurch of people taking notice of him.
Finally…
He promptly blacked out from the pain and shock.
Author's Notes: ^ ^ Merry Christmas, minna! An exclusive Christmas Eve installment of Crime and Punishment. Anyway, I know some of the scenes seem similar to Silence of the Lambs. Funny thing is I've never seen that movie. The though of people eating people's faces gives me the creeps… And I know, Solo is in this. I like Solo! Besides, I needed a character… So, for now, that's it. Merry Christmas again!