The Mexican (Part 4)

yue kato

220501

Duo stared at his open "The Official Gay Guide to Touring America", reading the same line for the twentieth time in five minutes. Cursing, he slammed the book shut, brought the steaming cup of coffee on the table in front of him to his lips, and choked, almost spitting out the scalding liquid. Controlling himself, he forced himself to swallow, although he could feel the tingling burn all the way to his stomach. He cursed again.

/You have to stop this,/ he told himself. /He's gone, remember? You threw him out yourself. And you can't let an asshole ruin your well-earned holiday. Besides, God knows when you'll ever get the chance to come down Earthside again? Might as well enjoy it while it lasts./

Perfectly reasonable, in his head, that was. His still-bleeding heart informed him otherwise. For one thing, he wouldn't even BE on Earth if Quatre had not suggested it, but once the idea had been planted in his head, it had metamorphosised and mutated into his fantasy trip of a lifetime. He'd had the feeling that this would have been something special - it seemed like Quatre was preparing to take their relationship to a deeper level. Which was most likely to be true: he vaguely recalled Quatre saying something about them getting married during the fight.

/Well, Duo no baka, it's all over now,/ he released a long, despondent sigh, violet eyes blinking rapidly in an effort to stem the tears from flowing. Leaving the coffee virtually untouched, he stuffed the book back into his bag and headed to the washroom of the diner he had stopped to take a rest at.

Looking up at the mirror after splashing his face with cold water, he grimaced. His eyes were still ringed with red, and his cheeks slightly puffy after his bout of crying once Quatre had left the room. Staring at his own image, he let his vision blur, morphing into blond hair and smiling blue eyes. /Maybe he really means it this time.../ His hand reached out to touch the image, only to be stopped by cold glass. The sudden jerk back to reality almost made him want to cry again. /Yeah, and all that wasted hope will only make it hurt even more. Get that into your head, Duo Maxwell!/

He washed his face one more time and was turning to leave when the door to the washroom opened, and a bespectacled woman, her hair done up in two weird buns on either side of her head, stepped in.

After the initial shock, Duo glanced at the sign on the closing door, heaving a mental sigh of relief that he was still in the right place. "Hey, lady, I think you're in the wrong-- whoa!!" He swiftly stumbled back when she whipped out a gun and aimed it at him, all the while bearing down on him irrevocably. "Uh... Can't we talk this over? Like without that gun pointed at me?" His backward trajectory was halted by the door to one of the cubicles. Leaning back, he fell backwards, his head grazing the side of the toilet bowl. "Shit!"

Shaking his head to clear it, he looked up to see the gun still trained on him. Then the woman bent down to grab his arm, roughly pulling him to his feet. "Look, you can have all of my money, it's in the bag. I don't have anything else on me." The gun clicked. He wisely decided not to say anything more for the moment.

But he couldn't help himself when he was being dragged towards the door. "Hey! Where're you taking me? We haven't even met before, why are you trying to kidnap me? I don't have no rich relatives or anything. I just own a junk shop. I don't have anything valuable. Just junk - junk, you hear me?" All the while trying to jerk out of her iron grip. For a woman, she sure was strong.

She paused, and turned, raising the gun to his forehead. Duo gulped, and scrunched his eyes shut. This was it, definitely it. Oh, why didn't he just keep his mouth shut? /Dear Lord above, please forgive me for all the sins I've committed in this very short life of mine. Oh, god, this is not fair! I don't even have the chance to tell Quatre one last time that I love him--/

The sound of the gun going off next to his ear deafened him, and he nearly screamed, stopping short only when he belatedly realised that he wasn't feeling any pain. Stunned, his eyes snapped open to come face to face with smoking end of the barrel of another gun. /God, why me? What did I ever do that was so bad?/

Raising his head, he looked straight into onyx depths that gazed steadily back. The Chinese man holding the gun had his black hair pulled into a ponytail and was dressed like any typical office worker in a pristine white shirt and dark-coloured pants. The only thing out of the ordinary was the weapon he was carrying like it was an extension of himself.

Grasping Duo as well, he pulled the stupefied American half in front of him, digging the gun into his side. Duo gave an undignified squeak. "Keep quiet and don't try to run." The quiet voice brooked no disagreements. Duo knew better than to object this time.

They made their way out of the diner and into his car. "Drive." Duo quickly started the engine and backed out of the parking lot. Soon they were speeding along the highway.

After around twenty minutes, the other man put away his gun, but the warning glance he received prior to that told him not to try anything funny. He decided that now would be a safer time to say something. "Um, where are we going?"

"Where you wanted to go. Vegas." The reply came in calm, measured tones.

"Did you just kill that woman back there?" A swift glimpse in the rear-view mirror registered the small smear of blood on his right cheek, and he looked down for a moment, but the black of his clothes masked any bloodstains that might have splashed on him. He was coming down from his adrenaline high, and had to grip the steering wheel tightly to keep his hands from trembling.

"Yes, I believe I did."

/Oh god, he sounds like I asked him if he enjoyed his lunch or something! What does he want with me?/ He decided to just come straight out and ask. If the guy wanted to kill him, he would have done it a while ago. "Why are you doing this?"

"I want to know Winner's location."

"Huh?!"

"Quatre Raberba Winner. He is your boyfriend, is he not? I want to know where he is." He could feel the dark gaze boring into him steadily.

He kept his own eyes on the road. /That IDIOT!!! What has he gotten into now?? And why did he have to drag me into it? Can't we even have a clean break? God, what on earth did I ever do ohgodwhatifhe'shurtanddyingoutthere--/ "You mean my EX-boyfriend. And I have no idea where he is." He forced his tone to remain indifferent.

"What do you mean?" A measure of agitation entered the previously calm voice.

"That is exactly what I meant. Quatre is no longer my boyfriend. We broke up."

"But h-- That does not matter," although Duo could practically feel his curiosity eating him, "I just need to know where he is."

Frustrated, Duo's head whipped around to stare at him. "Look, man, which part of broke up did you not understand? Me and Quat, we split, okay? No longer together. I have no fucking idea where he is!"

"Damnit! Keep your eyes on the road!" The Chinese man reached out to grab the steering wheel, trying to keep it steady. Duo took it as an opportunity to try and punch him and escape. Which failed miserably.

The car skidded to a stop at the roadside during their struggle, which ended with the end of the gun pressed against Duo's temple. "I will not hesitate to pull the trigger, I assure you."

Duo nodded slightly, eyes glued to the gun.

"So will you promise to behave, so I do not have to carry out this threat?"

Another slight nod.

"I did not want to do this initially, but you leave me no choice." There was a sudden flash of silver and the next instant a pair of cuffs had clicked around his wrists. He decided he did not even want to try and figure out where the man had got them from. The Chinese man stepped out of the car. "Move over."

Awkwardly, Duo shifted into the passenger seat, while the other man got out and came around to settle in the driver's seat, starting the engine and pulling out onto the highway again. Defeated, Duo slumped back into the seat. "What do you want with Quatre anyway?"

The other man gave him a sidelong glance, and after he seemed satisfied that Duo was up to no more mischief. "He split halfway through a deal he was negotiating with my... contact. We thought you might know where he is. But it appears that you don't."

"Yeah, that's right. So why don't you just let me go and leave me alone?"

"I'm afraid I can't do that. You see, even if you can't tell me where Mr Winner is, you still have one more use." He left it at that, he was sure the braided man could figure it out, he seemed quick enough.

The wheels turned in Duo's head. "You... You mean, I'm a hostage??"

End part 4