Got away, and trying to keep away. CHAPTER SEVEN: RUNNING.

SHOUT OUTS!!! Even if I only get one review a chapter, I'm happy. I know someone's reading this!!

Sarcastic Pessimist: Thanks for the review again! And thanks for the info, so I'm just going to assume it's wrongly-pronounced with "Trees" and just roll with it. (Since no one else bothered to help me . . . Fumes quietly) Oh, and I think "Quatre" is based off the French "4". Also, if you really dislike Treize, then I am doing my job. Want to know something funny? In my computer's spelling thing, it believes "Treize" should be "Trees". Maybe that's where I thought it was pronounced that way.

Okay, Quickedit hates me. I'm trying another thing. Whenever you see a triple quote ("""), you have a change. Let's see if Quickedit will say no to that!

MUAHAHAHAHAHA! I own it! J/K. I write FANfiction. I do not own Gundam Wing.

"""

Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength. -Eric Hoffer

"""

Duo felt the blow through that mysterious link with the enchanter, and for the first time, he wished he did not have it. He had been walking down the corridors of the castle when the blow had burst through his link, throwing him into the wall. It sent seizures up his body, causing his head to snap against the wall several times.

But the mental pain was terrible. He could only imagine what the boy was feeling, and suddenly, he felt the first pity he had ever experienced for the boy. Ever since the attack, he had only pity for the father, whose broken heart had broken even more. They had found him dead in his bed, poison putting a quiet and yet terrible end to him. Yet now, he felt pity for the boy. Who would do this?

So that was what he had been feeling before. Mental torture. Duo felt rage fill his being. Mental torture had to be the most terrible thing anyone ever did to someone. And here they were attacking this boy.

Using his physical pain as a grounder, he once again threw himself down that link and found the mind completely open, helpless and broken. Duo quickly gathered what was left of it and put it into a readable pattern. Happiness. For what? For helping a friend. The blow had been meant for someone else. And he had chosen to give himself to protect him. And there was love. Love to his brother, that warrior. The open mind brought his name easily. Wufei. And this enchanter? Quatre.

'Who did this to you?'

He did not expect a response, considering the mind was torn asunder by the torture and then the blow. Yet a picture quickly formed in the mind, and Duo felt his throat clench, or it would have if he had a physical body. The king, the one who treasured this boy. He had attacked him. 'Why?'

The mind stirred itself and tried to put walls around him. 'Stop it. I'm trying to help.' The mind stopped and wearily rested.

'I failed.'

Duo held all his mental processes, hoping that maybe he had heard right. 'I failed to kill your king.' He had been right.

'Well, it doesn't matter now. You need to rest. I'll watch your body for you.'

Wariness. 'Why do you care for me?'

'Brother Enchanter, we have our own kind, and I would put my kind about my king.' There was a bolt of surprise before it faded to acceptance. Slowly, it faded into being and then was silent. Duo quietly put a bit of his being in the body that would return when the mind was strengthened again and he drew out of the mind. (1)

Four anxious faces watched him and he smiled back up at Helen, Trowa, Darlian, and the kitchen wench Hildi. "I think we have a new ally."

"""

Wufei awoke to find Quatre sleeping quietly beside him. He nearly brushed it off as a dream right away, but he paused when he saw the weakened glow around Quatre, as if he was falling away. Besides, the dungeons were not a typical place for him to wake up.

He brought out a hand to touch Quatre's face and Quatre's eyes opened sleepily. Wufei felt a wave of relief flow over him and he could not help but chuckle. Suddenly, he felt giddy and he sat up, though he paused when he felt his wound pound.

"We need to get out of here."

Quatre nodded and closed his eyes. "And I know where to go."

"Where? I couldn't get across the Deserts at all."

Quatre's eyes opened slowly. "Perdition of course."

Wufei felt a small bit of surprise as he stared at the boy. Surely he had lost his mind. "They'd kill you."

"No. Their enchanter will protect me."

Wufei stared at Quatre openly, disgust at his obviously crazy mind showing. "There is no way under the sun or in the river that they would let you stay with them, especially after what you did. And I doubt that the enchanter would even remember you in a good sense."

Quatre smiled and flicked Wufei's nose playfully. "Yes, but he promised me that he would put his kind above his king."

"Impossible."

"He saved me, Wufei. He kept me from falling apart and letting me rest. He saved my life." Wufei was shaking his head now in disbelief. "He even told me that he owed much of his power to me. Remember that wave? He got hit too and it gave him some of my powers and linked us."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Quatre smiled and closed his eyes. There was a soft tug on his mind and Wufei gave his mind into Quatre's care. There he could see four links to other minds. Each glowed with their power. Wufei turned and saw his own link, black and strong. Rasid's was painted dark brown, and Treize's was still raw, but glowed in the evil-colored red Treize had. Yet in the corner he could see another. This one was strong, and yet was established by neither of the ones connected. It had just been connected. This glowed a violet blue that made Wufei shake. The blue was Quatre's. The violet was beyond a doubt the Perdition enchanter's power.

Wufei withdrew from Quatre's mind and gasped in disbelief. "I don't believe this."

Quatre frowned and sat up. "Do I need to show you again?"

"No, but it's just so hard to understand and see!"

"But he's been there for a while, why I do not know, but I'm glad that we're connected."

"So that's what that was when we saw that power trying to get into your mind. He was trying to open your mind because he wanted to know who it was that he was linked to."

Quatre shrugged. "Possibly. So, how are we getting out?"

Wufei screwed up his face in thought and stared at the door of their cell and fell silent. Quatre sat and watched him, curiosity filling him at what Wufei would think of. There was a soft brush against his mind and Quatre quickly answered it, gentle and soothing. There was a relieved and tear-stained feeling that crossed his mind and Quatre gently gave Rasid a mental hug. There was another brush and Rasid disappeared, fear left behind. (1)

It was not Treize as Rasid had obviously feared. 'You seem better.'

'I am. Thank you.'

'It was no problem at all.'

'I just realized that I do not know your name.'

'Duo, Quatre. Just call me Duo. What are you doing?'

'Trying to find a way out of this cell. Then we can come join you.'

'That might be dangerous. How could you get out of there without being seen? Maybe you could do that teleportation enchantment you did in my court.'

'Can't. It hurts too much.'

'Still exhausted?'

'What would you think?' He added a bit of resentment to his mind and Duo slid back, apology filtering in. 'It's okay, I guess. Do you have any ideas?'

There was a sharp bit of humor and Quatre waited. 'When I first felt you, I thought you had died, because of the sharpness of your blow. Send out a physical attack. Knock the door off its hinges.'

'Too much noise.'

"How about knocking the door out?" Wufei said, not turning to look at him.

"I just told you, too much noise."

Wufei turned to give Quatre a sharp look. "I heard not a word from you this whole time, and I don't remember speaking."

Quatre blushed as he realized his mistake. "Sorry Wufei. I just happened to be telling Duo the same thing."

"Duo?"

"The enchanter."

'Melt the lock.'

'I don't know how.'

'Let me help you.'

Wufei watched in a sort of awe as the blue eyes suddenly closed and then opened to show that their blueness turned violet-blue. "Just watch this, Warrior," Quatre said, his voice somewhat deeper. There was a soft murmur and then his power grew in his hands, into a small ball of pure power. He touched the lock of the door, and then the hinges and the metal on the bottom of the door.

Wufei quickly pushed the door open while it was hot and turned to stare at Quatre. His eyes were back to normal, and he was staring at his hands in shock. "How did he do it?"

"If I knew, I would have told you already," Wufei muttered angrily. "Come on."

"""

Helen glared at him as he came back to his body, a grin on his face. "What do you think you're doing, Duo? He's powerful and an enemy."

"Who suffered under that who he trusted. He's a child as well. He's easily influenced." Helen's face hardened even more.

"You sound just like Treize."

Duo stared at her in shock before he looked away in shame. "Feo. You're right, Helen. I'm sorry. It's just that he's got so much power that he could be the strongest enchanter I have ever encountered. I get a little carried away."

"And that was Treize's downfall. How powerful is he?"

Duo stared at his hands, as if willing them to have the power he had experienced for a moment. "Enough to be a strong Binder if trained right."

Helen was silent. "A binder," she murmured softly. "That's amazing. The last binder burned his power out of him."

Duo looked at her in curiosity. "Who is this binder?"

"A man. Supposedly, he was related to the royal bloodline of Loquacity, but once he was taken into the Loquacity court, his power just disappeared. Since it's never come back, I'm certain that he burned it out," Helen explained. Duo made an interested sound and leaned back in his bed. "I can feel that enchanter everyday, you know."

Duo opened an eye to peer at her. "Of course. You're more sensitive than me with the daily pulsing."

Helen gave him a sly grin. "That's the only way I know you don't kill yourself every night. So, are you feeling better?"

"It was just a snap against the wall. I'll be fine, Helen."

"Sally is still coming by to check on you. Being flung around like that is not good for your health."

"Yeah. Imagine the kid who actually got hit."

This seemed to silence her and she leaned back in her chair, exhausted. "You'll have to keep the guards from killing him. The last thing they remember of him is blowing them aside with his power."

Duo nodded solemnly. "I'll keep an eye on him. So, when's Sally coming in?"

"A couple hours."

Duo settled back for a nap when a sharp knock made both jump. "Wha?"

A pretty face peered in, her brown hair twisted into a different hairstyle. She smiled at Duo and slipped in. "Hello Duo. I had some free time and thought I'd drop by early. How are you feeling now?"

Duo snorted and sat up quickly without dizziness. "Just fine. Will you leave me alone now?" Sally smiled at him and exchanged looks with Helen. Without saying anything else, she moved over and started to examine him. Grudgingly, he let her poke and prod, listen and tap, until he was entirely sick of it. "Can you tell I'm fine now? Are you done?"

Sally smirked at him and packed up her things. "Only you can make a fuss over a scratch and dance around a dangerous wound." Duo thumped his chest and smiled back.

"That's me."

"""

The first time he had been in the city, he had been on a mission to kill a king. Now, he was running from one.

Getting out of the castle had been easy -too easy in his mind. Maybe Treize had given up on them and let them go. Maybe he had no clue of where they intended to go. Or maybe he was just biding his time to strike. As it was, they got over the border easily enough and were quite quickly in the capital of their enemy.

He was glad for Wufei's presence beside him. The closer he got to the castle, the more he feared he was walking into a trap. Was this enchanter truly willing to help him? Or was it another misplaced trust as he had done with Treize? He feared Treize like never before. The power behind that deathblow was terrible, and he could think that quite possibly Treize had more power than he let on.

Quatre slipped into his mind and examined the link he had with Treize. Established in their first contact and made to last. Even if he knew how to destroy links, he doubted that would be enough to break it.

Quatre paused in his walk and stared intently at his link. It burned, red and fiery, like it did just before he let loose his anger. He must know by now that they were gone. It would take little to catch them as well.

He was awoken from his thoughts by a shout. His head shot up to see Wufei being attacked by some big thugs. Yet he saw only a glimpse before the thugs disappeared into an alley, and the people of the market could only glance around wildly for the source.

Quatre did not wait a moment. His legs jumped to obey him as he dashed to the alley, anger and his power making his speed extraordinary. He slid to the entrance and called his power to answer him, to attack the minds of the men attacking his friend.

What answered him was a slap of pain, coming from the raw link connecting him to Treize. He cried out in shock and some ruffians jumped him. A fist connected with his abdomen and he stumbled under the blow. Another blow of mental pain hit him and he reeled, pain in both areas causing his mind to panic.

When he opened his eyes again, a big, brutish face was staring at him. Mental pain seeped into his mind from his link with Wufei and he struggled with his hyperventilating lungs. "So, thought you'd try to get away from your fate?"

Quatre struggled weakly, but it was ended by a strong blow to his head. He curled up against the wall, trying to get a hold of his body. It was impossible; his mind was too frantic to control anything. A kick came to his back as a mental blow came. He cried out one last time before he let his mind loose of its constraints and gave his body up for lost.

"""

Sorry, sorry, once again, a cliffhanger. The next chapter will be out soon. (One week)

(1) Okay, let's see if I can explain THIS one. So, powerful enchanters like Duo and Quatre can communicate with words, but with the less powerful, they need to use emotions to communicate. Duo probably could communicate with Helen (she was almost an enchanter, but did not have power enough to make the test, so is not an enchanter) with words, but it tires her. That's why Quatre answered Rasid with an emotion, and spoke to Duo in his mind. And before you even ask, yes, I know, this is contradicted by Wufei and Treize in the court scene, but Treize and Wufei have been linked for a very long time, and their link is extremely strong, so he can communicate short messages. When Wufei spoke then, it was really Treize speaking through him, using his body as a way to speak. That way, Wufei's voice would have sounded a little different. Did that make any sense or was I babbling?

Feo: Literally, ugly. Duo's using it as an oath here, calling his actions ugly. Desert Trader's tongue. (Or, it is here. Changing it eventually. . . )

Poor Quatre. I seem to be good at beating him up.

Teaser:

"""

He could not save the boy without getting rid of the link. The boy did not want the link to be broken. He would need to get down that link. That meant letting go of it all. Duo knew the danger of it. The danger of letting his mind out of his body without a grounder. He might not ever get back.

"""

I love reviews. They keep me going in the hard weeks. Need to go type my second story now. TATA!

==Kay Kylo