Wufei opened the door slowly and quietly, and then shut it behind him quickly so that the light from the other room wouldn't disturb the sleeper on the bed. He approached the slumbering form with quiet steps, his eyes adjusting quickly to the lack of light. He could make out the shape of the body on the bed, but the figures were indistinct in the darkness of the room.
Everything was dark. Duo felt the sensation of walking, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly where he was. It could have been outside, but there was no noise, either of traffic or wilderness. He could have been in his apartment, but he couldn't detect the presence of another person…
Wait! There –was- someone else in the darkness. He stepped forward, hands in front of him to stop his body from running into anything. After a short moment of moving forward, he stopped, feeling the presence move around behind him, almost as if it were circling him. "Who's there?" he asked the darkness.
A light flashed and his eyes closed instinctively. When he opened them again, he was standing in the middle of a deserted road, just on the edge of a ring of light given off by a nearby lamppost. He looked up at the light and followed the pole to the figure standing at the base. Onyx eyes stared back at him, their depths as unreadable as the face they were set in.
"Chang?"
"You're weak," Wufei stated coldly.
"So?"
"You don't belong in this war."
"What war?" Duo asked, perplexed.
He sat down on the bed gently, careful not to disturb Duo too much. The braided man mumbled something in his sleep, and curled closer, one hand reaching out and resting against Wufei's leg. The detective reached out with his hand and gently smoothed the bangs back from Duo's face.
The detective looked away from him, black eyes sweeping up and down the road. Duo felt another presence approaching, and looked around wildly. The sense he had received from Wufei shortly before he saw him had been almost soothing. The new feeling was black, like the oncoming of doom. The feeling you get when you know that you've pissed off the biggest man in the bar by insulting his mother.
"The war between Life and Death," Odin said, stepping into the shadows. Where he came from, Duo didn't know, but the chill the man carried with him was already making Duo shiver.
"What war?" Duo asked again, this time with more force. Odin approached him, eyes hard and cold. –Lifeless- Duo realized. Odin's eyes were like the waitress's at the café. Devoid of feeling and humanity.
Duo wanted to back away; he could feel the fear clutching at him, begging him to hurry away. Odin was reaching out for him, his arms extended and his fingers curled. Duo knew that the other man wanted to strangle him, but he couldn't force his legs to move him back.
Suddenly, Wufei stepped between them. Odin disappeared as black eyes looked down into violet. Wufei reached a hand up, and gently cupped the side of Duo's face. "You don't belong here. I can't protect you."
"Protect me from what?"
Wufei sighed and spoke quietly the man sleeping so quietly before him. "You shouldn't be involved. We have no way of keeping you safe." He paused, his hand gently resting on the side of Duo's face, his thumb tracing a soothing pattern on one smooth cheek. "I have no way of protecting you," he amended.
"From everything. You're vulnerable. You're a weakness that we can not afford and if the agency finds out, you will be exploited."
"I'll learn to protect myself. I'm involved now, and there's no way out for me, so just accept things as they are. You can't get rid of me."
"I know." Wufei's face softened, and he leaned closer, their similar heights to his advantage as his breath wafted over Duo's lips. Duo could almost taste him, could nearly feel the press of their lips together.
Duo jerked into a sitting position, his heart beating hard in his chest, his eyes wide in the dark. He reached a hand out blindly, and met with air for several seconds before he found the switch for the light beside his bed. He turned it on and light revealed the room to his eyes. He was alone. The door was shut, the windows still keeping out the light of day. He drew in a shuddery breath, closing his eyes as he remember the anticipation of his dream.
"That was interesting," he muttered to the empty air, filling the silence with his ragged breathing. He looked down at his lap and grimaced. He had more problems to deal with than odd dreams; the after effects of said dream being one of them.
Go to Chapter 17 to resume reading the story, or return to 11 and choose another couple.
