Ch 07


Wufei stepped through the cell door and two guards were waiting. There was a sharp pinch of metal and a click as handcuffs were locked around his wrists immediately. Apparently they thought he was hostile. The guards turned and began escorting him back towards his cell block. Wufei was in no rush and walked slowly, stretching his under used legs from the last two months in solitary. They stopped him outside the double doors of his cell block and told him, "Your new cell assignment is on the second tier cell number seventy six." The guard then pressed the button that opened the doors and Wufei stepped through the first of the two doors.

"What time is it?" He asked quickly. There had been no true time for him at the end of all the darkness. He was able to keep track of the days, but not the hours.

"It's just after morning call. Breakfast in forty-two minutes." The guard replied unlocking his cuffs. He stepped out and shut the door behind Wufei.

The door in front of him opened and he stepped out into the cell block. He started heading towards the second set of stairs to lead to the top level. At first only the people closest to him were quiet and watching him. Then it slowly spread throughout the block.

Someone started clapping off to the right. Wufei was surprised as more inmates began to join in and the clapping grew to yelling and hollering till it echoed off the cement walls and the steel bars. Apparently Wufei was some kind of a hero. A strange turn of events. He simply shrugged it off. Right now he did not want to be a hero. Simply serve out the last three weeks before his trial and then he'd be free.

"QUIET DOWN." Echoed over the loud speaker and the crowd began to calm down and continue on their daily routine as Wufei moved up the stairs to the top tier.

Finding his cell was not that difficult. Just slightly past the half-way point on the right side, he entered the room and noticed the top bunk already had bedding and clothes on it. Apparently he now had a roommate. Whatever trial period the guards had been waiting for was over.

The first thing that Wufei decided to do was take a shower. Through the entire war of piloting Nataku he had never been this dirty. Two months of darkness and no shower within the holding cell left Wufei covered in grit and grime that he wanted to, quite literally, scratch off.

Heading to the shower room was easy enough. The other prisoners seemed to be giving him a wide berth. Whether it was out of fear or respect Wufei didn't know. Nor did he care at least they were finally leaving him in peace without whispering as he walked by. Maybe afterwards they did, but not while he was in transit.

Upon entering the restroom area he looked in the mirror and cringed slightly. The dirt covering his skin was thick and caused him to look ashen. His hair was greasy and a mess. He'd have to grab a rubber band when he went to the library today. Surprisingly, despite the once daily meals, he was not entirely too thin. In fact he seemed to have put on muscle during his stay in solitary. He had been getting more food in there then he had while he was in general population.

Wufei looked away and stepped into the shower room. There weren't any comments on being potential jail bait to him, which he appreciated. Apparently he should have acted on his feelings much earlier, and then they would have left him the fuck alone without the stay in solitary. He wouldn't have had the convictions he currently had, but still...

The hot shower was such a relief and he spent the entire time scratching off the dirt and washing his hair as thoroughly as possible.

An inmate called across the room at him, "Five minutes till breakfast" before leaving. Wufei frowned and shut the water off. They were actually being helpful. It made no sense. To go from the most antagonized person in the facility to the most respected? What kind of logic was that?

He exited the tiled shower room and headed back to his bunk where there was a clean set of prison standard uniforms waiting for him. His bunk mate was still not there; he must have slipped off to breakfast already.

Shrugging his tank top over his head he noticed it stretched a little more than usual. Maybe he had gained more muscle then he initially thought. He left quickly following the crowd out into the hall towards the cafeteria.

There was an unusual buzz within the prison members in the cafeteria. Apparently there had been some messengers already spreading the news of his release. Wufei allowed the frown of disgust cross his face freely. Two people near him back up a couple of feet. He stepped forward into the line ignoring the strange behavior, to grab his food.

Breakfast in hand he turned and sat at an empty table like he had previously. Everyone was watching him openly. They apparently were slightly bolder then the group of men in his cell block. Either that or they were just as doubtful of his capabilities and simply didn't see the damage that Wufei could do in a couple of seconds.

The seats next to him were slowly being filled, instead of being treated like a person carrying the plague his cell mates were purposefully sitting near him. They still gave him a rather wide berth of a seat and a half, but they were sitting at his table, while there were still seats open elsewhere.

Wufei noticed that eyes still remained on him, but he ignored it. He wasn't interested in friends or enemies at that point. He had three weeks till his trial. That was his main concern right now. Nothing else. Not the people, nor the cell walls, nor the outside world. Just himself.

Out in the courtyard for exercise hour, not much was different. He stayed off on one side as the other inmates were playing basketball or lifting weights. He was reveling at the feeling of grass beneath him and fresh air around him. He always appreciated nature and earth, especially coming from the colonies…but now…It was glorious.

Still. He needed to focus. He had no contact with Quatre or his lawyers. He had declined a public defender and his military hearing was in three weeks. In fact… he had heard no news on his trial, which seemed strange. He needed to talk to the warden is what he needed. Alan.

As much as he hated depending on other people, he knew when he needed and being a prisoner had a limiting factor on his capabilities to get what he needed.

Lunch hour wasn't much different from breakfast. Someone from another cell block made a comment towards him, but was immediately punched in the face by a large man that had originally been in T's group. Wufei truly didn't understand that. He didn't let it concern him. That man was not his friend. No one was his friend. Everyone was evil; these men simply had indulged that side of them more.

Leaving from lunch he paused next to a guard and stated, "I need to speak to the warden about my trial." The guard nodded in an indication that he would probably speak to him and then motioned for him to move on. He had a break, while everyone else would be working for the first hour. Wufei decided to spend it in the shower again.

Heading back to his cell he noted that he still had not met his roommate. He was probably avoiding him; the question was why though. Wufei had never noted who was in the cells specifically. If the man had not been read as a threat before, he probably hadn't bothered to note their exact location in the cell block.

Grabbing his towel again he headed to the shower to relax. As good as the shower felt this morning, it felt even better now. He was able to take his time and actually reach below the grime level and scald fresh skin on the hot water. His hair was still lacking a hair tie, which was mildly irritating when he finally got out of the shower. A guard was waiting in the middle of the cell block to escort him to his job in the library.

Once there he started exercising for the first hour, but then stopped…he had a sinking feeling inside that something was going to go wrong. Going around the books he paused in front of the large law section…. Wufei had been a scholar once, and it was probably time to start again. He was going to do the best that he could. So Wufei sat unloading all the law section in front of him. Specifically the military law section. The books were old; especially since this was the now a military trial in the ESUN courts, but what was in the books was still most likely applicable to the court.

He was undisturbed for the entire work period before he was shuffled back to his cell block. He decided to go to his cell and leave the rest of the inmates to their…socializing amongst each other.

Wufei was alone in his bunk when the call for line up before lights out echoed over the speakers. He got up and went to the walkway out in front of his cell looking over the jail from his new vantage point. He was now in the middle of cell block and on the second of two floors. Strategically it was an excellent location for observation. People were moving slowly towards their cells. Wufei still had yet to meet his new cell-mate. Either the man was skittish because of Wufei's actions before or simply busy.

There was a younger thinly built man approaching him down the tier. Man was kind of the wrong term for him as he appeared to be sort of young. Wufei guessed less than twenty five. Older then nineteen though. Then again Wufei himself was only sixteen as he was definitely the youngest person in the jail. He should have been in a juvenile detention facility except that they tried him as an adult because it was considered war crimes. They judged him in control of his actions.

The man had stopped standing next to him in front of the same cell. He was about as tall as Trowa, so taller than Wufei by a bit. He didn't look at Wufei at all, didn't try to initiate verbal or visual contact. He was standing about a foot away actually. Very standoffish. That was fine. It wasn't like he was here to make friends. He would be out of here in three weeks as it was.

-Alright, everybody in.- Echoed into over the PA system again. The boy…man…whatever next to him turned and entered first, very quickly. Moving towards the back of the cell towards the sink area. Wufei entered in slower, trying to figure out if this behavior might be a threat to him in some way. The cell doors clanged shut behind him for the night. His cell mate still had not turned away from the wall. Wufei was choosing to ignore him at this point. It was time for bed. He would have to change his routine again if he could no longer do pushups in his cell.

-Lights out- The cells went dark, except for some fluorescent emergency lights out in the main halls.

Wufei decided to stay in his prison uniform for the night. Just the pants and the shirt, which wasn't too bad as far as comfortable sleeping close. He still did not know about this person and quite frankly he didn't want to get to know him.

Wufei lay down on his bed for the night in the lower bunk. It squealed in protest. Very old with actual springs apparently. He did not think he would be sleeping that much tonight, but resting was a priority. After he settled into his bed, he noticed that the guy turned around and it looked like he was tense and a little high strung from his posture, he couldn't see his face.

Wufei was recalling every way to possibly defend himself in case the man attacked him. Wufei didn't think he had offended him in any way. He had seen the guy's face throughout the population and actually mingling in some of the other cell block populations in the yard.

Wufei watched as the man relaxed slowly and actually stepped towards the bed. He whispered, almost disbelieving, "That's it?"

Wufei leaned out to look the man in the face raising an eyebrow at him, but refusing to speak. The man looked away before looking back, "I thought maybe… because you took out T, you would be... stepping in to take his place completely."

Wufei leaned back not bothering to answer that suggestion. As much as he was all for himself he would not be taking anyone by force. Let alone his cell mate. Obviously T was not of the same morals.

The old Wufei would have thought about the injustice of this world, to be raped. The penalties that people should pay, but this Wufei rolled over onto his back and stared at the springs above him and the striped mattress above it. It was not his problem. This person was not his problem.

The guy moved again and propelled himself up to the top bunk. Wufei watched the springs stretch slightly and listen to the squeal as they dipped. Wufei waited for the even breathing of sleep from his cellmate, but it wasn't coming. In fact it seemed as if he was holding his breath.

Finally there was a sharp exhale and a whisper of "Thank you." Wufei paused his thoughts…Thank you? What did he do to deserve a thank you. He hadn't even talked to the guy. He hadn't made a move on him. Maybe that was why…

"Thank you for killing T."

Huh. That was the first time he had been thanked for killing someone. He had been thanked for his 'services' during the war. The peaceful government acknowledging his actions without referring to the actual events that he caused and the death toll that he raised. But now he was actually thanked for something he truly did. And though it was for killing someone…It felt both like a strong confirmation towards his recent give into emotions and slightly….liberating.

He should have given in long ago.


TBC...