A shrill scream pierced the night, rippling through the heavy black curtain of air that had folded across Duo's head. //The children.... they're still in the church...// He wrenched his arm from Heero's grasp, glaring at him in fury. "You're murderin' innocents!"
Heero shrugged and looked away. "Tis no more than what you and your kind do to ours." His eyes met the other boys, and Duo was shocked by the cold blue hatred burning there alongside the church. "Go. Try an' save your people while ye can....I wasn't able to, so someone else may as well 'ave a chance..."
Duo stared at him for a moment, puzzling over what the strange statement had meant, then turned and ran towards the inferno. //Sister Helen... Father Maxwell... the children...those bastards... how can anyone kill an innocent child, yet feel no remorse? It isn't Christian...it isn't HUMAN...// His feet pounded against the rough ground, his thin coat flapping in the wind as he reached the church.
"Sister 'Ellen! Sister!" Duo flung open the doors, oblivious to the flames leaping towards him, singing the tips of his braid. He caught a small movement in his peripherary vision and moved towards it, blinking as smoke blew across his eyes. Gasping, he wiped the moisture from his eyes and shoved aside a pile of pile of collapsed wood to reveal a pair of small, scared eyes staring straight up at him.
"Duo!" A tiny figure launched itself at him, wrapping its arm's around the older boy's legs. "Sister 'Ellen...those guys..."
Duo reached down and lifted the boy into his arms. "'ey, tis all right. What 'appened?" He asked gently, ruffling the child's scruffy locks and glancing warily at the rapidly consuming flames. A particularly virulent one leapt out at them threateningly, and Duo set the boy down, pointing to the door. "Git out o' here, Sean... tisn't safe."
The boy started for the door, then stopped and turned back, confused. "But... what about ye, Duo?"
The teenager glared at the smaller boy and jabbed his finger at the small patch of daylight visible through the thickening smoke. "I thought I tol' ye t' git OUT!" He barked hoarsely, his voice rising to a shout on the last word.
Sean's eyes widened at the tone in Duo's voice; he'd never heard anything but kind words from the older boy. "Duo..."
"GO!"
The boy nodded once, and then ran for the door, disappearing into the night.
//Dear god, please let him get away...//
Duo averted his eyes. //Sorry, Sean, lad, but it was the only way t' get ye out...// he then turned and ran up a rickety flight of stairs, gasping for clean air as the smoke thickened around him. "Sister 'ellen! Sist--" A hacking cough shook his body. "Sister 'ellen!"
He whipped his head frantically from side to side, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of the woman. "Sister 'e-" Duo felt his face contort itself in a grimace as he inhaled a cloud of smoke. He could almost taste the heat searing though his throat, it was as if someone had boiled a large vat of water and was pouring it into his body.
//Heat rises...//
With that thought, he dropped to his knees and began to crawl through the narrow hallways of the living quarters, glancing in each room in turn as he searched for the Sister. //Not in the classroom... in the rectory downstairs, either... not in the sleeping quarters, either...where the hell is she?!// He took a deep breath, careful to keep his face downwards as he did so. "SISTER 'ELLEN!!!"
"Duo...?"
He spun around towards the voice, his eyes wide with relief, but his heart sank when he saw her lying at the end of the hallway, her skirts spread around her in a puddle of some sticky liquid. Duo rose to his feet and ran to her, not caring about the damage the heat and smoke were doing to his body.
Sister Helen looked up at the worried face above her, glaring fiercely at it. "What are ye doin' in here? Why, you--" She closed her eyes tightly as a wave of pain swept through her side.
Duo dipped his fingers in the liquid and rubbed them together. //Red... humans bleed red... humans...bleed.........// "No!" He choked back a sob and reached out, pulling her to him.
She smiled gently, once, at him, and squeezed his hand gently before gesturing weakly to a shard of glass from one of the windows lying nearby. "Hand me that..."
He thought it was a strange request, but he did it anyways, placing it in her hand.
She smiled once more at him and curled her fingers around the glass experimentally before she raised her hand, plunging the shard deep into her chest. As she fell back into his arms, her life seeping out of her, she gazed up at Duo's horrified face and smiled again. "It was the only way..."
Duo let go of her with numb arms and stood, backing away from her lifeless body. "No....no....no..." He whispered to himself, his feet carrying him around the corner, where he collapsed in a boneless heap. //She knew I would never leave her to die alone... so she...she...// Duo forced himself to stand, hot tears streaming down his face. "Sister 'ellen..." He walked towards the stairs in a daze, not noticing the burning flames that ate away at his clothing as he passed.
His foot caught against a newly fallen timber and he fell, not even caring enough to get up. He stared blindly at the flickering shadows on the walls as his mind involuntarily called up memories...
***
An impatient little boy tugged at the long black skirt beside him, staring up, up, up, at the kind face above him. "Sister...sister...can't I see watcha wanna show me?"
The woman knelt down until she was almost his height and drew a small pouch from her pockets, from which she pulled a small, shiny object dangling from a dainty chain. She fastened the chain around the boy's neck and he squinted at it, giggling with happiness when he recognized the object.
"Tis a cruci.. a cru..."
She smiled gently. "Tis a crucifix, Duo."
"A crucifix! Oh, thank ye, sister!" The small boy threw his arms around the Sister's legs and hugged them tightly.
***
Small black spots danced in front of Duo's eyes, appearing and then vanishing before he could focus completely on them. "Sister 'ellen...why..." He didn't realize that his voice was unable to rise any higher than a hoarse whisper. He let out a silent scream as he felt a pair of strong arms circle his body and pull him upward. "No...no... just...jus' leave me 'ere..."
***
Heero stared at the burning church, unable to place why his chest felt so heavy.
//Maybe I shouldn't have let him go in...//
//But he was so insistent... besides, what do I care?//
//I don't! Why would I care about some little catholic brat I barely even know?!//
//Yet I do... I don't understand this...//
He shook his head and watched the church intently, waiting for the braided teenager to come running out of the fire. A small figure bolted from the flames, and Heero snapped his gaze to it, but it was only a small boy who ran into one of the alleys when he saw the older boy.
//Where the hell is he...he should have gotten out by now...//
//He wasn't supposed to die...//
//He wasn't...//
//Supposed to...//
Heero lowered his head and stormed into the burning church. "Duo? Are ye still in 'ere?" //Now, where would he have gone?// He spied the stairs and headed to them, climbing them with ease.
"Duo?" He called again, unaware that he was repeating the other's actions and words, though the text was no exactly the same.
He almost missed the catholic teen when he stumbled over something large, warm, and unmoving. He cursed softly to himself, then looked down and saw Duo curled up at his feet, tear streaks running down his face. "Shite...'ey, can ye 'ear me?"
Duo moaned softly and shrunk into an even tighter ball.
"F*ck..." He bent down and scooped the smaller boy into his arms.
"No...no... just...jus' leave me 'ere..."
"There's no way in 'ell I'm leavin' ye 'ere to die!" He tightened his hold on the other boy as he struggled to get down. Heero found a pressure point and Duo collapsed into a dead weight in his arms. //Sorry... can't have you falling...//
*****************************
Zechs watched as Heero Yuy emerged from the burning church, a large bundle held in his arms, and his eyes narrowed. //I thought I taught him correctly...and I do believe that lesson number one was 'never feel sorry...' This is all in God's name...therefore, there is no guilt... Heero Yuy, when will you learn?//
~TBC~