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Tapestry - Chapter 11
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I didn't realize it, but it actually took longer than five minutes for my hands and the rest of my body to stop shaking.
It took me at least that long to recognize I was lying on my bed, fully clothed, wearing boots, an outer jacket and gloves and staring at the ceiling. It took another five minutes for me to recall what else I had in my coat, reach inside the pockets and pull out Duo's phone number and Trowa's cellphone.
Gods ...
I lay on my back, staring numbly at both the phone and the slip of paper in my trembling hands, trying to reconcile what I saw in Treize' eyes with what was now in front of mine. For whatever reason, he didn't search me. He gave me a warning only a moron would ignore or misunderstand ... but he didn't search me. That meant one of two things; either he was totally unaware of some of the subtler manipulations that went on around him - which, really, was ridiculous - or, as I suspected and as Trowa had pointed out, he was leaving me in the game by giving me a 'pass.' Allowing me this mistake, so that I could continue on; but making sure that I realized who was in charge of the game.
Yep. Got that. Crystal clear. The person in charge of this game wasn't me.
I looked at Duo's phone number again. Obviously, the fewer things I carried, the better off I would be - so I memorized his number, swearing to shred the slip to bits at the first opportunity. Pleased that my mind had finally decided to work for me again, I looked at the cellphone and realized I needed to find a place for it, too.
Well ... that shouldn't be too hard, considering I wasn't his type. If that was true, then there were places on me he'd never want to touch.
I stowed the phone.
Sitting up took a little doing and some willpower on my part; my muscles and joints had started to stiffen and ache. Had I simply fallen from the horse, it would have been bad enough, but I had been thrown, and thrown with quite a bit of force. Everything hurt, especially my neck, shoulders and the muscles in my back - not to mention my backside, the place where all my weight hit the ground.
Rising stiffly from the bed, I walked over to the window and stood there, leaning on the sill. There was a chair next to the window, but frankly, I didn't want to sit. I wanted to think.
Treize must be bored if he's decided to leave me in his game; bored, because I couldn't think of another reason why he would leave me here after my abortive attempt at freedom. I certainly wouldn't have, had I been in his position. And if he's bored, then logically he's either going to up the ante or change the game soon, meaning that I'll have to figure out whatever it is that he's doing. Feh, feh, feh.
Glancing outside, I saw the general walking over to the barn, headed straight for Wufei. I watched in voyeuristic fascination, unable to tear my gaze away. He strode across the ground, a predator stalking its prey ... and his obvious prey was Wufei.
Wufei was brushing the colt down, his face set in its customary scowl, not even looking at him. Treize stayed well out of Wufei's 'personal space' range most of the time; he only moved close to him once, and that was to pet the yearling's neck, suddenly getting as close to Wufei as he possibly could without touching him.
And Wufei's reaction? Certainly nothing like mine - I could see that. Wufei turned his head and looked at Treize, scowled, and continued brushing the horse, unperturbed. Sudden insight flashed across my mind, and I was glad I was clutching the windowsill. That reaction - or rather, nonreaction - was damning Wufei to Treize's undivided attention. The more resistant he was toward Treize's advances, the higher the stakes of the game; meaning that Treize was going to do - what? Play until Wufei bends, or breaks?
My answer came almost immediately as I watched the pair. Treize was at the colt's head, holding him still, watching; Wufei had finished using the brush, had tossed it on the ground and was using a cloth to wipe the colt's legs and fetlocks. Apparently deciding that he needed to do a little more currying, Wufei moved to pick up the brush - and Treize was right there, the brush in hand, moving so quickly I was hard pressed to follow him. Both men were bent over at the waist, staring into each other's eyes; Treize had moved to within bare inches of Wufei's lips. Without warning, Wufei leaped back, as if bitten - and I could see Treize laughing as he straightened, taking the brush to the black's flank. Confusion was written plainly across Wufei's face as he watched Treize attend to the colt, as if he honestly didn't know what had just happened.
Treize was aware I was spying, I was sure of it. Even though he had his back to the house, he knew I was watching them; and I couldn't say why, except that I had this strange, shivery feeling moving down my spine. He finished brushing the colt, gave the animal a final pat and handed the lead to one of the stablehands. I squinted, trying to see if he gave it to Trowa, but I couldn't make out the other man's features.
Treize turned away from the stables and walked toward the mansion, the fading sunlight turning his hair bronze. Wufei stared for a moment then followed him to the back entrance, staying on that same path.
As soon as I saw Treize turn, I backed away from the window, unwilling to be caught staring. I still didn't want to sit down. Taking a long, hot shower would have been a good idea; allowing the steaming water to pound into my aching muscles would have relieved a lot of tension and released some of pain I was carrying with me. I wouldn't have been surprised to see huge bruises spreading out across my hip or my backside. It certainly felt as though something was going to be there, for all the throbbing that moved through my lower body.
The problem was, though, that I didn't want to miss seeing Wufei when he came upstairs. If I had the opportunity to speak and visit with him, I certainly didn't want that to slip out of my hands. There was too much at stake. Hopefully, Treize wouldn't follow him to his room and we would have some time alone.
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"Treize said you fell." Wufei peered at me, his hair in short wisps around his face, eyes dark and intense. "You look all right." I could almost hear 'you had better BE all right' in his tone; it was in his eyes as he regarded me from the opposite side of the bed.
We were in his room; as soon as I heard him walk through the hallway, I left my room for his, figuring he would be more willing to talk in his own surroundings. "I'm all right, Wufei. I did take a fall -but I landed on my - ah - 'dignity.' No broken bones, anyway." I gave a little rueful shrug in his direction as I carefully sat down in the chair by the window, wincing. "I'll be fine."
"Good." He continued to eye me for a few moments; I wasn't sure, but I thought he looked vaguely amused as he watched me lower myself into the chair. I felt a small twinge of annoyance at that; well, it hurt to sit - what else was I supposed to do?
He turned away and looked at himself in the vanity mirror, pulling the band from his hair and shaking his head, then tossed the band on the dresser and stared where it had landed on the wood, distracted. Wufei was a beautiful young man, I realized with a start. With his hair down, he looked like a painting from another time.
I shuddered; my instincts weren't allowing me to ignore them, and I certainly didn't appreciate it. Pulling myself together, I glanced at him, my face composed into a calm, unflappable mask, and said, "Wufei, you looked wonderful out there. I had no idea you knew how to ride."
He shrugged. "I never knew horses were so spirited until three weeks ago. I rather like them - and I think they like me, too."
"They certainly seem to - especially that black colt you were riding. He really seemed to take to you."
Wufei hadn't lost his distracted air. He nodded and looked down at his dresser, bewildered. " ... yes. He seemed to."
I frowned. "What's wrong? Have you misplaced something?" It looked as though he was trying, with very little success, to recall where he left his hairbrush.
"...no..." Wufei wasn't looking at me. In fact, it didn't look like Wufei was really looking at anything at all. "I ... I just don't understand him," he finished softly, shaking his head.
I was silent for a moment - even though I was expecting him to say something like this, I still wasn' t prepared for it. "What happened?" I asked. "What did he say to you?"
"Nothing that made sense," he replied, an edge to his voice. "Why does he say those things? He can be perfectly reasonable, and then come out with the most nonsensical things - "
"- such as?" I prompted with a sympathetic nod, watching him. His body was as expressive, if not more so, than his face - and now he was flushing and shifting in embarrassment, as if he knew he should be embarrassed, but wasn't quite sure why.
"Like now. Outside ..." He trailed off, scowling.
I nodded, trying to encourage him. "Yes, Wufei - please, go on. I'm listening."
"I was caring for the horse. Just doing what I do every day. And we were discussing Occam's Razor." He glanced at me. "You know Occam's Razor?"
"Yes, I do," I said with a small smile. "It's the principle that when you're presented with multiple solutions to a problem, the simplest one is usually correct."
"Right," he murmured, looking down again. "Well, we had just discussed that, when suddenly he leaned right into my face - took the brush from the ground so quickly I couldn't follow it, and said, 'Wufei ... you have wonderful hands.'" Wufei looked back at me, utterly lost. "What did that have to do with anything?"
Blinking, I stared back at him. "He said .. what?"
He sighed and rubbed his face. "He said - 'you have wonderful hands.' None of this makes any sense at all." He scowled and shook his head. "I'd better get ready for dinner. Maybe it's a debate technique...." He continued to mutter to himself as he walked toward his bathroom looking at his hands, inspecting them and shaking his head slightly again. "I just ... don't ... understand him ..."
I finally realized what he had said. "...dressing for dinner? You're going to eat with Treize and his guests?"
"I'm his showpiece, remember? His proof of the end of the war. A gundam pilot on a leash." He looked down, bitter lines drawn at the sides of his mouth, inspecting his hands again. He ran the fingers of his left hand over the fingers of his right, looking utterly confused.
I found my voice. "Do you have to do anything at these affairs except sit there -" and look pretty - but I didn't say that aloud.
"No. They ask me questions, and I'm expected to be polite. He ... disapproves if I am not."
"Oh - I see." I did see, too; for some reason, Treize's disapproval meant something to Wufei. It meant enough that he looked slightly uncomfortable and self conscious after making that small admission. "What kind of questions do they ask you? Who are 'they'?"
"Mostly generals. Politicians." He snorted slightly, his eyes narrowed in contempt. "Sometimes they ask mocking questions - am I 'happy' here; am I being 'taken care of;' idiocy like that. Sometimes they are serious - what am I doing to further my education; do I plan to atone for my ... sins."
"That's odious," I huffed, eyeing him.
Sighing, he leaned against the dresser. "They see me as some sort of criminal given a second chance I do not deserve, and they view Treize as my guardian angel. Treize, they believe, is much too kind for his own good. I have been warned more times than I can count not to betray his trust."
"That's exactly what Dr. White said to me," I said, incredulous. "She said something about my being given a 'second chance,' and how I shouldn't squander it. How Treize was much too trusting for his own good."
Wufei nodded. "Hai. It's part of the psychological warfare, but it's not only to beat us down. It's also to let us know just how the world will view us if we get away; they'd see us as double traitors."
Wearily, I looked at him and blinked. He certainly wasn't stupid; he was quite aware of what was going on, at least in that respect. He was simply innocent; and really, at this stage of his life, with everything he had been through, that innocence he carried was a quite a feat. "I'm sure you're right," I said, my shoulders slumping a little. "But that's an awful lot of effort for two insignificant people - "
"Insignificant?" Wufei looked at me, his gaze sparkling and angry. "Hardly. We nearly won the world from him. We are not insignificant. Given sufficient opportunity, we could do it again - correct our mistakes and win. We are dangerous to him."
He had no idea how his words encouraged me; I straightened my back, hope flaring. "Wufei," I said slowly, "would you be willing to do that? To risk that again?"
For a moment, his eyes shone with burning resolution; but he faltered, appearing to shrink into himself. "....... I - would," he said finally, staring down at the floor, ".... but ...."
"You are willing," I said gently, interrupting him. "That is all I could ask."
"I am bound here, Sally. Given that ... yes, I am still willing."
"Physically - yes, you are bound here," I agreed, thinking about his promise and consigning Treize to every hell imaginable for realizing the invisible chain that would keep Wufei by his side.
"There are things that I could do - things that I plan to do -" He stopped, bewildered. "Once I figure out ... what I am to do."
At least he knew there were things about this situation he did NOT understand. "You have to be extremely careful in what you do, Wufei. I will help you in every way possible, but you must be careful."
"You keep saying that. I AM careful, Sally." He stared back, a minor challenging look. "What am I doing that is not careful?"
"He is an implacable enemy, Wufei," I started, feeling my way along. "We are dancing attendance on him right now. Once we decide to - stop - there will be no mercy shown to either one of us. Before that time, we must be terribly careful not to show our hand."
Frowning slightly, Wufei sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at me. "What are you saying?"
Gads - I needed to state everything completely, didn't I? I looked away as color moved from my neck into my cheeks. "I fell from my horse today, Wufei, because a wolf spooked it."
He nodded. "Yes, that is what Treize said."
"That half-starved wolf attacked me."
"Rabies," Wufei said with a knowledgeable nod. "He said it was probably rabid. He assured me you were all right ..." Now he looked mildly concerned as he stared at me.
"I didn't see it closely - but it had no fear of me. And then, suddenly, it leaped at the horse - and at the same time, there was a gunshot that sounded very close to me. My horse threw me, and bolted." I winced, feeling myself hit
the ground yet again.
Wufei, though, frowned at me; I knew he had heard a version of this, and it looked as though he couldn't figure out where I was going with it.
"I - I wasn't supposed to be in the woods, Wufei. Treize never expressly forbade me to be there, but - I wasn't supposed to be there. The path I was following - it had another, fainter path next to it that led a different direction - OUT of the woods, to somewhere else. I was saved; but it was a warning, too."
"A ... warning?" he wondered, puzzled, tilting his head at me.
"Oh, yes - there's no question in my mind that it was a 'if you step out of line again, it'll be much worse for you' type of warning. He's said as much to me before."
Blinking slowly, Wufei shook his head. "Why?"
Ah, now he's interested. "Well ... if I believe what you said before, Wufei - it would be because I was dangerous. And should I have the opportunity to do something - like muster troops again - I could hurt him."
"Of course you could," he nodded. This was something he could understand. His bewilderment vanished, replaced with complete agreement. He sincerely believed that if I was free, I would raise an army against Treize and challenge him again.
I looked down into my lap. "He - he scares me to death, Wufei," I said quietly. "I'm surprised that I'm not dead right now."
It took a moment, but what I said did finally did penetrate Wufei's mind. Blinking again, he looked back at me, his eyes widening in shock. "What ...? How do you know? Did he threaten you? What are you saying?"
Apparently, Treize hadn't done anything like that to Wufei - no threats, subtle or overt - or else he wouldn't be reacting this way. Wufei was probably not even close to that "line" of Treize's, whatever that was. "Oh, no ... he didn't threaten me in so many words. But the intent was there. He would never be so crass as to threaten me directly." I gave him a wry shrug. "He would find a gentlemanly, genteel way to do it."
"But then ... what did he do?"
"What's his horse's name?" I asked. "You know ... the big roan he was riding today."
"Prometheus," he replied, giving me a weird, what-are-you-talking-about look.
"Do you know the story of Prometheus?"
"Of course. It is one of the oldest Greek myths, and supposedly how man acquired fire. The gods were angered, and Prometheus was punished - tied to a mountain upside down. Legend says that an eagle comes every day to rip out his liver and eat it, while each night the liver grows back, whole."
I nodded. "Have you ever thought of yourself in Prometheus' position, Wufei?"
"No," Wufei answered, completely mystified. "I have yet to take anything from the gods." He looked down, slumping just a little. "I am a shame to the gods."
He was in no shape to draw conclusions from obscure stories; I needed to be plain and forthright. "Wufei," I said, my voice gentle, "think a moment. Should I escape - what would I do, immediately? I would bring 'fire' - well, freedom - to the common man, ne? And from whom would I acquire this 'fire' - this freedom? I would be taking power from those who have it now, and giving it to those who are disenfranchised. Who holds all the power now, Wufei? Who holds the power today?"
He looked into my eyes, silent for a moment. "Treize."
"Correct."
"He will not hurt you," he said evenly.
"Only if I obey the rules, Wufei," I said with a small smile. I knew where I stood - I could still see Treize's eyes, his gaze boring into mine. Overwhelmed was too mild a word to describe what was still vibrating along my nerves.
"No, Sally - you don't understand. He gave me his word. He won't break that. He won't harm you."
How terribly strange - Wufei really did believe that. He really, truly believed that Treize wouldn't harm me. "Oh, come on, Wufei," I chided. "He'll make sure I don't step out of line, should I try to change or flaunt his rules again. He wouldn't have to harm me personally - there are PLENTY of natural disasters waiting to happen to me. Such as wolves...." I stopped speaking and looked at him.
Wufei looked back, not intimidated at all. "Yes. From which he saved you," he pointed out.
"This time," I rejoined immediately. "This time, Wufei. It was a warning."
He was silent for a moment. "Treize has not dealt treacherously with me, Sally. He has kept his word."
"Well - I haven't been invited to dinner, either, you know. I was told to stay in my room until I 'felt better,' and that dinner would be brought to me tonight. Why do you think that was?"
"I don't know," he said, his brow creased in thought. "Perhaps he doesn't trust you."
"Perhaps. And perhaps this is his way of sending that message to me - and to you. A warning, Wufei."
Wufei looked disturbed at the thought. "I will speak to him about it. Just ask him - what he means to do with you."
Gods - he was going to ask him about me? "No, no, Wufei," I said, rising painfully out of the chair. I shuffled over to his bed and sat down on the end. "Don't do that. I don't think that's a good idea. In fact - I would rather that we kept this between us. He is our 'host,' but I don't believe he has my welfare at heart, and I'd rather not give him any indication of what I'm thinking."
"Sally, he has never so much as lied to me once - not once." His eyes were bright and insistent. "Whatever else he is, he keeps his word."
This was going to be incredibly difficult. "Wufei," I replied, struggling with just how to phrase this, "there are all different ways a person can NOT tell you something -"
"Why would he threaten you and not me?" Wufei sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying to erase his confusion and bewilderment. "That makes no sense. He gets me to ... promise him things. That's it."
"I've never promised him a thing, Wufei. At least, not that I remember."
".....then - he must not trust you."
I shrugged. "Probably not. But again, he's not asked me to promise anything, either." Plus, I knew he had the good sense to understand I'd find a way around whatever I promised, or else would ignore it completely. Promises made under duress were no promises at all, as far as I was concerned. And if I had to promise my enemy something ... well, really. I did what I had to, whatever was expedient. All's fair as far as I was concerned, because this was war.
Wufei stared at me, concerned. "He's always asked me to promise him something, and has never threatened me. He won't harm you, Sally. I will ensure that."
I tilted my head and regarded him again, feeling strangely humbled at his reaction. Here we were, both prisoners of the most powerful man on Earth - and Wufei, younger than me by at least ten years, was essentially saying that he was going to protect me. "You honor me, Wufei. I - I have always had to fend for myself. It is a strange feeling to have someone look out for your welfare."
He flushed, his face suffused with color. "....it's nothing. Only what should be done for a woman."
I smiled broadly; oh, so that's why. "Ah. We must talk about that sometime. Many people have different ideas on that very topic." I neglected to add that usually I could take care of myself rather well.
"It is enough to keep you from dying," he snorted softly.
"Yes, I believe it is. And ... I've kept you from your shower." I gestured toward his bathroom. "You'll need to change for dinner soon."
Wufei nodded and bent to open a drawer in his dresser, pulling out several pieces of dark, silky clothing. I watched - and then remembered what else was going to happen to us. "We're supposed to leave tomorrow - to go to an island. Away from everything." I turned toward the windows, feeling apprehensive. "I don't want to leave."
"It will be a relief, in a way. Less to worry about."
"How so?" I asked, turning to frown at him.
"Fewer people to be injured, should something - large - happen," he said evenly. He was trying his best to keep his feelings hidden, but I could see the flash of interest, of terrible purpose in his eyes.
"Ah. Let's hope that ... doesn't happen." I felt the blood drain from my face as I recalled Trowa's words to me. We can't kill him ... it will release pathogens into the atmosphere ...
Sighing, Wufei picked up his clothes and walked toward the bathroom. "I don't know why he doesn't simply do away with me," he murmured, stopping at the door and looking back at me. "I ... I am weak. I don't understand him at all. It's like I amuse him and fascinate him - but that's not enough. He has to - to mold me, or something ..." He blinked, showing weariness older than his years, looking for an answer of sorts.
He wanted to know - gods, he wanted to know what Treize was doing, why he was playing with him - and I couldn't tell him outright. But I had to find a way to warn him, to at least let him know something about his predicament.
"Wufei, have you ever had pets?"
"No." Wufei continued to look at me, now dubious.
"Are you sure?" I asked, frowning. "No dogs, or cats, or birds ... or anything?"
"Not ... technically, no," he answered. "There were plenty of wild animals that became my friends - animals usually like me."
"Okay," I said, encouraged. "Now - when they like you - will they do what you ask them to?"
"Sometimes. They're wild," he said with a shrug.
"What did you do when they didn't do what you asked them to do? Did you try to find another way to ... er .. 'ask' them to perform? or just let them be?"
"Nothing," Wufei said. "If I did, they wouldn't come back. Birds, especially, were more submissive than the rest."
"So - the birds would return to you if you gave them complete freedom, but also offered them something else in return, wouldn't they?"
"Well - yes," he responded, puzzled. "I usually pet them - fed them
occasionally. It's how I became close to them in the first place.
I nodded. "Of course. That is the way to train animals to trust you - when you do that, they will return to you again and again."
"Hai," he agreed, still dubious.
"Now," I said, taking a deep breath and looking steadily at Wufei, "isn't Treize offering you something that's of value to you? Such as ... his death?"
"That's not the same!"
"Isn't it? Why not?" I pressed.
"Because I am no animal," he snapped. "I do not exist on instinct."
"True enough," I nodded. "You are human. However, there's enough evidence to show that humans can be trained in the same manner as that which you just described." I waved my hand dismissively. "Just look at the military."
"Idiots," Wufei snorted.
"Look at any organization with any type of hierarchy," I responded. "They offer just enough incentive to keep their subordinates coming back again and again ... ostensibly, of their own free will."
"I am no bird," he proclaimed, now more perturbed.
"No, you are not. But there is a pattern to what I've seen - I believe."
"What pattern?" he asked, staring right at me, sounding slightly defensive.
And now I had to work cautiously, because in spite of appearances, Wufei's ego was delicate and fragile. His arrogance and hauteur masked his true self, I knew. "Well - the way Treize addresses you, at times, feels almost - paternal; and there are other times when that feeling is completely absent."
He didn't say anything, but did look oddly guilty and unsure.
"Think about it," I urged. "You are a dangerous gundam pilot, captured in the war - and he's treating you as if you were eight years old. You are NOT eight years old."
"He's not treating me that way," he protested, frowning.
"Then why do you need to ask permission to leave his presence all the time?"
"Because I am his prisoner, not a guest, in spite of allowances - and it is good manners. He says." Wufei rubbed his hand across his face again. "To do otherwise is ... rude. He seems to care about rudeness. It lowers his estimation of people."
And there it was again - for some reason, Wufei cared what Treize thought about his actions. So very odd.
"He's your jailer, Wufei. Why do you care what he thinks?"
Either he deliberately ignored my question or he wasn't sure what I had asked. Continuing along his own peculiar train of thought, he murmured, "Except for some strange little quirks...... he has not treated me as he ought. I have not seen the inside of a prison in weeks; I have never been interrogated. He has treated me with - respect. I am not worthy of it, though."
That caught me off guard. "You're not worthy of respect? What do you mean?"
He refused to meet my gaze. "I told you. I am a shame to my ancestors. He knows this. He - he has gotten enough information out of me, and he - he seems to know everything else, whether I say it or not."
I almost groaned aloud. So - Wufei was willing to listen to Treize, and cared about what he thought, because Treize treated him with respect - and respect was the last thing that Wufei believed he deserved. The amount of psychological manipulation that man was doing to Wufei was absolutely incredible - Treize had him wrapped and tied so nicely that I couldn't even find the knot, much less try to unravel it.
Frustrated, I rose off the bed. "Wufei - listen. Everyone deserves respect-"
- when I was interrupted by a shrill, high pitched ringing coming from my room.
Uncomprehending, I stared at Wufei for a moment, then turned in the direction of the noise. "Is - is that...." I stopped speaking, walked over to the door and discreetly peered into my room, blinking. I recognized what it was, of course; but that sound should not have been coming from my room.
There was a telephone ringing in my room. But - I didn't have a telephone.
"He did it," I heard Wufei murmur. "He did install the phone. He wouldn't do that for me. He left me a computer, though."
Not only that, the phone - which was on the nightstand, right by my bed - kept ON ringing, becoming more insistent with every passing moment. I walked right over to the nightstand, picked up the handset and answered it. "He - hello?"
"Ah, wonderful! I'm so glad this works," Treize responded, sounding delighted. "Would you like your telephone number now, Ms. Po?"
A strange feeling of unreality crept around my mind; I blinked and shook my head, still not believing what was happening. "Um .. yes, all right. A moment, please, while I find a pen and paper..." Cradling the phone between my head and shoulder, I dipped down into the top nightstand drawer and found, of all things - paper, pencils and pens. I would have sworn that they weren't there this morning, when I left; I normally did a very thorough reconnaissance each time I left my room, and I didn't recall anything in that drawer.
"Ah ... please, go ahead. I'm ready." Still a little shocked, I obediently wrote down the number, then realized I hadn't said anything about the phone itself. "Oh. And - thank you, Treize, for the phone. This was quite - unexpected."
"Saaa, call it a test, ne?" He added, lightly, "Don't make me regret it."
My gaze flashed up from the paper to see Wufei leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed, mouth drawn in a slightly smug expression. "Oh, no, Treize .. I - I won't..."
"Now, of course, you'll have a different number later on - unless I am able to transfer it. We shall have to see."
Sweat started to bead on my brow. "Ah .. yes, yes, of course." Gads, this was nerve-wracking. He gave me a phone? After I tried to escape? What was wrong with that man? If anything, I should be chained to a wall somewhere under armed guard, not .. here.
And Treize sounded so incredibly cheery. "Don't forget to remind Wufei of dinner, please. I have selected an outfit for him that, hopefully, will make us both happy. Saaa, he does SO hate bright colors."
I stared at Wufei during that entire exchange, consternation in my look. "No ... no, Treize. I will remember to tell him."
"Thank you very much, Ms. Po. Now, if you require anything tonight in the way of entertainment - books and such - simply let me know. The television is in the library, as you know, and there are several good sound systems in other rooms should you wish to listen to music."
"Ah ... thank you," I said quickly. "I still have the book you loaned me this morning. I believe I'll simply read and go to bed early. I'm - rather tired."
"Of course, of course," he replied, solicitous. "This has been a trying day for you - your first full day awake since you were so grievously injured. I'm not surprised you're tired. Goodnight, my dear, if I do not see you before you retire." And I heard him say, as if to himself, "Saa ... Dr. White would simply kill me ..."
He hung up. I was left staring at the receiver in my hand, realizing that he had been in complete control of the conversation from beginning to end.
"Well?"
Startled, I looked up to see Wufei watching me, his eyebrows raised.
"...well...?" I echoed weakly, still eyeing the phone. "I don't understand this at all. It doesn't make sense. Why would he do this?"
Wufei said nothing, but raised his eyebrows a fraction higher and waited for me to say something.
"I - I can't use this, anyway," I stammered, still taken aback, looking at the phone, then over at Wufei. "Well, really - who would I call?"
He looked at me for a beat, then started to laugh a little. "Eh - I have no idea," he said, chuckling. "If you have family, perhaps you should call them."
Shrugging, he continued, "I have never had any."
There was something I hadn't considered; I could call my family, tell them I was alive and well, and –
I forced myself back to reality. What kind of fool are you, Sally Po, that you would even think to put your last remaining family members in danger? Do you really want him knowing where your aunt lives, or your cousin? Thank the gods the Pos were a small, insignificant clan in Beijing; otherwise ...
"No," I said, feeling the blood drain from my face as I thought about my aunt and cousin. They were safely anonymous now; there was no way in the world that I was going to change that. "I ... no. I would be placing them in harm's way. I have very few people left, at any rate. My parents died in an accident after I graduated from medical school, and our family was very small."
"At least you have some. My parents died when I was an infant. My grandmother lived, but she was invalid. Barely cognizant - very, very, old."
"Then who took care of your needs, Wufei?" I asked, surprised.
"I was raised by elder Lon and Master O," he replied. "They taught me to take care of my own needs. I was perfectly capable."
"Master O..." I blinked and stared at him. "Master O - didn't he build your gundam?"
He nodded. "He had chosen our colony on which to hide, and built Shenlon."
"But I don't understand - he helped raise you? He was an outsider, a foreigner -"
"He was Chinese," Wufei shrugged, "with true respect for our lives, our culture. He sought us because we were warriors unparalleled. It was a chance at revenge - at justice."
Treize's words came back to me - and I realized the general had told me nothing but the truth. Wufei's people had been warriors on Earth, and were sought in space for that very talent. They must have been formidable enemies, indeed. "He wanted - justice - for your people?"
Wufei continued with his story, again not answering my question. "He tested us. I, of all that he tested, proved to be the most proficient physically and mentally - so he trained me to be his pilot. He wanted justice for all people,
and he knew we had been insulted terribly."
"How old were you, Wufei, when you were chosen to be a pilot?"
He tilted his head to the side as he thought. By this time, we had walked back into his room; I sank down in the comfortable chair in front of the window, and gestured for him to do the same in the chair across from me. He did, still thinking.
"Nine," he finally said. "I was nine when I was chosen."
I stared at him, nonplused. This boy had no childhood, I realized. "Nine, Wufei? Your body wasn't fully developed at all." He wasn't quite finished growing now, I knew, but he was certainly closer, and able to handle the physical demands of a gundam suit as opposed to a nine year old boy.
"It was developed enough for him to see what he wished to see. I could defeat any elder who fought me." Wufei gave a tiny shrug of his shoulders; this wasn't news to him, it was old news. He was so casual about abilities which, in any other culture, would have marked him as an unstoppable force. Here, though, he spoke about them as if they were nothing special - just something he needed to do, because he had been asked to do it.
"And your mind ..." I left the rest of that sentence unfinished.
"Hai," he replied, nodding a little. "I preferred reading to fighting, anyway."
"You - you don't like fighting? It's not enjoyable to you?" Another little piece clicked in place; I realized, once again, that Treize had told me the truth about Wufei.
"No, it's not. It seems useless to me." He paused for a moment. "I ... "
I looked over at him when he didn't continue. He was definitely hesitating now, looking at the arms of the chair. Without warning, he sighed and raised his head, and from his look, it appeared as though he decided to tell me something important about himself.
"I have never believed in justice," he confessed. "I read a lot about it. We had some books - philosophy books - which I studied. There seemed to be no true standard for justice, no objective definition or reason. The only reason I allowed Master O to prep me for piloting his gundam was that the leaders ordered it. I obey the elders - but I had no faith in his machines."
"You do not believe in justice," I said slowly, "but you believe in your society and elders enough that you will do whatever they say." And that ingrained obedience to authority figures is a huge problem. Gads, if he actually sees Treize as an authority figure to be obeyed ...
Feh. Just ... feh.
"Correct," he nodded. "My wife, on the other hand, was a fool." He meant to say that, too; he stared right at me as he said it, his expression very tight and closed.
"Why - why do you say that?"
"She believed in justice, although she could not define it to me. She was disgusted with me and my ways. I did not have to train to defeat her; and she had no answers for my challenges." He repeated himself, but his voice was not as strong this time. "She ... was a fool."
"What do you mean, you didn't have to train to defeat her? You fought your wife - physically? Why?"
"Because she challenged me," he shrugged. "She stated - and believed - that if she could defeat me, then her justice was proven. She believed that justice was 'the way of our people' - standing up for the rights of others, even at great personal risk - yet she could not define nor defend it." He gave another slight shrug. "I won. She was foolish and stubborn."
I stared at Wufei. "How - how old were you when you were married?" Because he was obviously a teenager himself, not past the age of fifteen, and that would mean that his wife ...
"We were wed just before I turned fourteen. She was the same age - old enough to bear children."
......gods. Children. "Wufei - did you have any children with your wife?"
"No, she did not conceive. We - we only consummated once." He actually looked a little guilty as he said that, as if he knew he should have done more.
I, on the other hand, was sitting across from him, trying to make sure that my mouth didn't hang open in complete and utter amazement. Here was Wufei, someone who didn't know me that well, unraveling his life right in front of me. It was unsettling in one way, but flattering in another. He trusted me enough to tell me something personal about himself.
"At least you had some time with her," I said gently.
"The elders allowed it, I suppose, because I was being trained for the gundam. We spent as little time as possible in one another's company, which they also allowed. Otherwise, I would have been dishonored yet again. Fortunately, though, I was not expected to produce children right away." He looked greatly relieved as he said, "I would not have wanted to repeat that."
"Repeat...." I echoed, a little puzzled. "Repeat what?"
Now he appeared to be embarrassed; but because the question was asked, or because he felt he needed to respond to me, he continued. "I ... was not ... really being a husband. I didn't even give her children. I didn't have anything to do with her at all. After the first night, we barely spoke, except when we fought. And she always lost."
I nodded a little, staying as serious as he. "Wufei - how many relationships had you had with women prior to your wife's?"
"None. My wife ... was the first." He was doing an admirable job of maintaining eye contact with me, given the subject. "Why?"
"Well ... because," I replied slowly. "Relationships take time to mature -"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Treize," he interrupted, intense.
I stopped. "What was that?"
"That it seemed to be a lot of work for a few seconds of pleasure and a large mess, and I didn't see the point. Neither did she. End of story." Wufei was now as red as some of the shirts in his drawer.
I took a deep breath, not believing what he had told me. He cut me off again, a little defensive. "He laughed at me. Don't you."
Embarrassment disappeared in an instant when I heard Treize had laughed at Wufei. "Of course not, Wufei," I said, angry at the general for being so incredibly insensitive. "We all have different experiences and see things differently."
"...it isn't funny at all," he snapped.
"Wufei. I would not ridicule you," I soothed. "Your experiences are as valid as anyone else's."
He nodded, somewhat mollified.
"But I will say this, at least, as a doctor, and you can take it for what it's worth. As people mature, the find that their attitudes toward many different things change -"
"But it hurt her," he blurted out, his face turning a brighter shade of red.
"Well, yes," I said with a small smile, "... it would, if it was her first time, too. Also - it's downright difficult to have two people 'get it right' when it's the first time for both of them." Shrugging, I said, "That's why some cultures try to ensure that the couple understands what each person will be doing long before they actually DO it."
"Well," Wufei said, watching me as if he still expected me to laugh, "it - it wasn't very interesting."
"As I said - give yourself time. It .. eh ... 'becomes' interesting. Sex is a part of life, as surely as breathing, sleeping and eating."
I felt odd - not only did I feel like the least qualified person to tell him this, but from the way he spoke to me, it appeared that he saw no difference in significance between telling me this information and telling Treize. That was disturbing.
"Thank you for sharing this with me, Wufei," I murmured, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. "You said you told Treize all of this ... when? Was it recently? Here?"
"No. It was on the island, when I was first captured." He thought for a moment. "At breakfast. I forget which day, but it was within the first week."
Well, there it was. No wonder he kept Wufei and threw the rest back. Who else would tell such a compelling, poignant story? Duo? Hardly. "Ah ... on the island..."
Nodding, Wufei responded, "..yes. I told you how he treated me. Not as a prisoner, but ..." He lapsed into silence for a moment, then continued, "..but - he'd already insisted I move out of the jail cell."
"Go on," I encouraged.
"I'm not sure what else there is to say," he said, looking down. "I - I just don't understand him."
Oh, I was tired - I was bone tired, and this information, on top of my weariness, left me feeling exhausted. "Neither do I, Wufei. Not entirely, anyway."
He sighed again, and rose from his chair. "I have to get ready for dinner. I have to go on stage again."
I was sympathetic. "It's only for a few hours, and those people will be gone."
Wufei wasn't listening to me, though - he was listening to his own internal voice. "Something ... feels so WRONG - somehow. But I don't know what, or how it's wrong."
He disappeared through the door into his bathroom. I took the opportunity to go back to my own room, rising stiffly from my chair and shuffling across the room to the door. I decided I would try and catch up with him after his dinner. I certainly wasn't going anywhere soon.
I walked into my room and immediately walked over to the chair in front of the window. Grateful, I sank down and leaned back, shifted my weight to my opposite hip, and thought about what I had seen and heard and experienced today.
Gads. So much was happening here.
I turned and stared at the telephone on my nightstand. He knew what I was doing, and he STILL gave me the phone. Tapped, of course, but he still gave me the phone. Almost as if he knew so much that being "caught" meant something much more direct and obvious than what had happened to date.
The shower noises from Wufei's room were soft and subtle, lulling me into a drowsy haze. I closed my eyes and saw Treize bent, face to face with Wufei; then heard his voice, low and sultry, purring, "..you have wonderful hands, Wufei..."
My eyes flew open as another small piece fell into place. Wufei was completely and utterly innocent. He had absolutely no idea what Treize was doing; and it was so blatant, so completely forward, I had a difficult time believing I didn't see it when it happened. And according to Wufei, it happened right after they had discussed Occam's Razor, too.
The simplest solution is usually the correct one. Gods. He's trying to seduce Wufei.
Tapestry - Chapter 11
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I didn't realize it, but it actually took longer than five minutes for my hands and the rest of my body to stop shaking.
It took me at least that long to recognize I was lying on my bed, fully clothed, wearing boots, an outer jacket and gloves and staring at the ceiling. It took another five minutes for me to recall what else I had in my coat, reach inside the pockets and pull out Duo's phone number and Trowa's cellphone.
Gods ...
I lay on my back, staring numbly at both the phone and the slip of paper in my trembling hands, trying to reconcile what I saw in Treize' eyes with what was now in front of mine. For whatever reason, he didn't search me. He gave me a warning only a moron would ignore or misunderstand ... but he didn't search me. That meant one of two things; either he was totally unaware of some of the subtler manipulations that went on around him - which, really, was ridiculous - or, as I suspected and as Trowa had pointed out, he was leaving me in the game by giving me a 'pass.' Allowing me this mistake, so that I could continue on; but making sure that I realized who was in charge of the game.
Yep. Got that. Crystal clear. The person in charge of this game wasn't me.
I looked at Duo's phone number again. Obviously, the fewer things I carried, the better off I would be - so I memorized his number, swearing to shred the slip to bits at the first opportunity. Pleased that my mind had finally decided to work for me again, I looked at the cellphone and realized I needed to find a place for it, too.
Well ... that shouldn't be too hard, considering I wasn't his type. If that was true, then there were places on me he'd never want to touch.
I stowed the phone.
Sitting up took a little doing and some willpower on my part; my muscles and joints had started to stiffen and ache. Had I simply fallen from the horse, it would have been bad enough, but I had been thrown, and thrown with quite a bit of force. Everything hurt, especially my neck, shoulders and the muscles in my back - not to mention my backside, the place where all my weight hit the ground.
Rising stiffly from the bed, I walked over to the window and stood there, leaning on the sill. There was a chair next to the window, but frankly, I didn't want to sit. I wanted to think.
Treize must be bored if he's decided to leave me in his game; bored, because I couldn't think of another reason why he would leave me here after my abortive attempt at freedom. I certainly wouldn't have, had I been in his position. And if he's bored, then logically he's either going to up the ante or change the game soon, meaning that I'll have to figure out whatever it is that he's doing. Feh, feh, feh.
Glancing outside, I saw the general walking over to the barn, headed straight for Wufei. I watched in voyeuristic fascination, unable to tear my gaze away. He strode across the ground, a predator stalking its prey ... and his obvious prey was Wufei.
Wufei was brushing the colt down, his face set in its customary scowl, not even looking at him. Treize stayed well out of Wufei's 'personal space' range most of the time; he only moved close to him once, and that was to pet the yearling's neck, suddenly getting as close to Wufei as he possibly could without touching him.
And Wufei's reaction? Certainly nothing like mine - I could see that. Wufei turned his head and looked at Treize, scowled, and continued brushing the horse, unperturbed. Sudden insight flashed across my mind, and I was glad I was clutching the windowsill. That reaction - or rather, nonreaction - was damning Wufei to Treize's undivided attention. The more resistant he was toward Treize's advances, the higher the stakes of the game; meaning that Treize was going to do - what? Play until Wufei bends, or breaks?
My answer came almost immediately as I watched the pair. Treize was at the colt's head, holding him still, watching; Wufei had finished using the brush, had tossed it on the ground and was using a cloth to wipe the colt's legs and fetlocks. Apparently deciding that he needed to do a little more currying, Wufei moved to pick up the brush - and Treize was right there, the brush in hand, moving so quickly I was hard pressed to follow him. Both men were bent over at the waist, staring into each other's eyes; Treize had moved to within bare inches of Wufei's lips. Without warning, Wufei leaped back, as if bitten - and I could see Treize laughing as he straightened, taking the brush to the black's flank. Confusion was written plainly across Wufei's face as he watched Treize attend to the colt, as if he honestly didn't know what had just happened.
Treize was aware I was spying, I was sure of it. Even though he had his back to the house, he knew I was watching them; and I couldn't say why, except that I had this strange, shivery feeling moving down my spine. He finished brushing the colt, gave the animal a final pat and handed the lead to one of the stablehands. I squinted, trying to see if he gave it to Trowa, but I couldn't make out the other man's features.
Treize turned away from the stables and walked toward the mansion, the fading sunlight turning his hair bronze. Wufei stared for a moment then followed him to the back entrance, staying on that same path.
As soon as I saw Treize turn, I backed away from the window, unwilling to be caught staring. I still didn't want to sit down. Taking a long, hot shower would have been a good idea; allowing the steaming water to pound into my aching muscles would have relieved a lot of tension and released some of pain I was carrying with me. I wouldn't have been surprised to see huge bruises spreading out across my hip or my backside. It certainly felt as though something was going to be there, for all the throbbing that moved through my lower body.
The problem was, though, that I didn't want to miss seeing Wufei when he came upstairs. If I had the opportunity to speak and visit with him, I certainly didn't want that to slip out of my hands. There was too much at stake. Hopefully, Treize wouldn't follow him to his room and we would have some time alone.
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"Treize said you fell." Wufei peered at me, his hair in short wisps around his face, eyes dark and intense. "You look all right." I could almost hear 'you had better BE all right' in his tone; it was in his eyes as he regarded me from the opposite side of the bed.
We were in his room; as soon as I heard him walk through the hallway, I left my room for his, figuring he would be more willing to talk in his own surroundings. "I'm all right, Wufei. I did take a fall -but I landed on my - ah - 'dignity.' No broken bones, anyway." I gave a little rueful shrug in his direction as I carefully sat down in the chair by the window, wincing. "I'll be fine."
"Good." He continued to eye me for a few moments; I wasn't sure, but I thought he looked vaguely amused as he watched me lower myself into the chair. I felt a small twinge of annoyance at that; well, it hurt to sit - what else was I supposed to do?
He turned away and looked at himself in the vanity mirror, pulling the band from his hair and shaking his head, then tossed the band on the dresser and stared where it had landed on the wood, distracted. Wufei was a beautiful young man, I realized with a start. With his hair down, he looked like a painting from another time.
I shuddered; my instincts weren't allowing me to ignore them, and I certainly didn't appreciate it. Pulling myself together, I glanced at him, my face composed into a calm, unflappable mask, and said, "Wufei, you looked wonderful out there. I had no idea you knew how to ride."
He shrugged. "I never knew horses were so spirited until three weeks ago. I rather like them - and I think they like me, too."
"They certainly seem to - especially that black colt you were riding. He really seemed to take to you."
Wufei hadn't lost his distracted air. He nodded and looked down at his dresser, bewildered. " ... yes. He seemed to."
I frowned. "What's wrong? Have you misplaced something?" It looked as though he was trying, with very little success, to recall where he left his hairbrush.
"...no..." Wufei wasn't looking at me. In fact, it didn't look like Wufei was really looking at anything at all. "I ... I just don't understand him," he finished softly, shaking his head.
I was silent for a moment - even though I was expecting him to say something like this, I still wasn' t prepared for it. "What happened?" I asked. "What did he say to you?"
"Nothing that made sense," he replied, an edge to his voice. "Why does he say those things? He can be perfectly reasonable, and then come out with the most nonsensical things - "
"- such as?" I prompted with a sympathetic nod, watching him. His body was as expressive, if not more so, than his face - and now he was flushing and shifting in embarrassment, as if he knew he should be embarrassed, but wasn't quite sure why.
"Like now. Outside ..." He trailed off, scowling.
I nodded, trying to encourage him. "Yes, Wufei - please, go on. I'm listening."
"I was caring for the horse. Just doing what I do every day. And we were discussing Occam's Razor." He glanced at me. "You know Occam's Razor?"
"Yes, I do," I said with a small smile. "It's the principle that when you're presented with multiple solutions to a problem, the simplest one is usually correct."
"Right," he murmured, looking down again. "Well, we had just discussed that, when suddenly he leaned right into my face - took the brush from the ground so quickly I couldn't follow it, and said, 'Wufei ... you have wonderful hands.'" Wufei looked back at me, utterly lost. "What did that have to do with anything?"
Blinking, I stared back at him. "He said .. what?"
He sighed and rubbed his face. "He said - 'you have wonderful hands.' None of this makes any sense at all." He scowled and shook his head. "I'd better get ready for dinner. Maybe it's a debate technique...." He continued to mutter to himself as he walked toward his bathroom looking at his hands, inspecting them and shaking his head slightly again. "I just ... don't ... understand him ..."
I finally realized what he had said. "...dressing for dinner? You're going to eat with Treize and his guests?"
"I'm his showpiece, remember? His proof of the end of the war. A gundam pilot on a leash." He looked down, bitter lines drawn at the sides of his mouth, inspecting his hands again. He ran the fingers of his left hand over the fingers of his right, looking utterly confused.
I found my voice. "Do you have to do anything at these affairs except sit there -" and look pretty - but I didn't say that aloud.
"No. They ask me questions, and I'm expected to be polite. He ... disapproves if I am not."
"Oh - I see." I did see, too; for some reason, Treize's disapproval meant something to Wufei. It meant enough that he looked slightly uncomfortable and self conscious after making that small admission. "What kind of questions do they ask you? Who are 'they'?"
"Mostly generals. Politicians." He snorted slightly, his eyes narrowed in contempt. "Sometimes they ask mocking questions - am I 'happy' here; am I being 'taken care of;' idiocy like that. Sometimes they are serious - what am I doing to further my education; do I plan to atone for my ... sins."
"That's odious," I huffed, eyeing him.
Sighing, he leaned against the dresser. "They see me as some sort of criminal given a second chance I do not deserve, and they view Treize as my guardian angel. Treize, they believe, is much too kind for his own good. I have been warned more times than I can count not to betray his trust."
"That's exactly what Dr. White said to me," I said, incredulous. "She said something about my being given a 'second chance,' and how I shouldn't squander it. How Treize was much too trusting for his own good."
Wufei nodded. "Hai. It's part of the psychological warfare, but it's not only to beat us down. It's also to let us know just how the world will view us if we get away; they'd see us as double traitors."
Wearily, I looked at him and blinked. He certainly wasn't stupid; he was quite aware of what was going on, at least in that respect. He was simply innocent; and really, at this stage of his life, with everything he had been through, that innocence he carried was a quite a feat. "I'm sure you're right," I said, my shoulders slumping a little. "But that's an awful lot of effort for two insignificant people - "
"Insignificant?" Wufei looked at me, his gaze sparkling and angry. "Hardly. We nearly won the world from him. We are not insignificant. Given sufficient opportunity, we could do it again - correct our mistakes and win. We are dangerous to him."
He had no idea how his words encouraged me; I straightened my back, hope flaring. "Wufei," I said slowly, "would you be willing to do that? To risk that again?"
For a moment, his eyes shone with burning resolution; but he faltered, appearing to shrink into himself. "....... I - would," he said finally, staring down at the floor, ".... but ...."
"You are willing," I said gently, interrupting him. "That is all I could ask."
"I am bound here, Sally. Given that ... yes, I am still willing."
"Physically - yes, you are bound here," I agreed, thinking about his promise and consigning Treize to every hell imaginable for realizing the invisible chain that would keep Wufei by his side.
"There are things that I could do - things that I plan to do -" He stopped, bewildered. "Once I figure out ... what I am to do."
At least he knew there were things about this situation he did NOT understand. "You have to be extremely careful in what you do, Wufei. I will help you in every way possible, but you must be careful."
"You keep saying that. I AM careful, Sally." He stared back, a minor challenging look. "What am I doing that is not careful?"
"He is an implacable enemy, Wufei," I started, feeling my way along. "We are dancing attendance on him right now. Once we decide to - stop - there will be no mercy shown to either one of us. Before that time, we must be terribly careful not to show our hand."
Frowning slightly, Wufei sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at me. "What are you saying?"
Gads - I needed to state everything completely, didn't I? I looked away as color moved from my neck into my cheeks. "I fell from my horse today, Wufei, because a wolf spooked it."
He nodded. "Yes, that is what Treize said."
"That half-starved wolf attacked me."
"Rabies," Wufei said with a knowledgeable nod. "He said it was probably rabid. He assured me you were all right ..." Now he looked mildly concerned as he stared at me.
"I didn't see it closely - but it had no fear of me. And then, suddenly, it leaped at the horse - and at the same time, there was a gunshot that sounded very close to me. My horse threw me, and bolted." I winced, feeling myself hit
the ground yet again.
Wufei, though, frowned at me; I knew he had heard a version of this, and it looked as though he couldn't figure out where I was going with it.
"I - I wasn't supposed to be in the woods, Wufei. Treize never expressly forbade me to be there, but - I wasn't supposed to be there. The path I was following - it had another, fainter path next to it that led a different direction - OUT of the woods, to somewhere else. I was saved; but it was a warning, too."
"A ... warning?" he wondered, puzzled, tilting his head at me.
"Oh, yes - there's no question in my mind that it was a 'if you step out of line again, it'll be much worse for you' type of warning. He's said as much to me before."
Blinking slowly, Wufei shook his head. "Why?"
Ah, now he's interested. "Well ... if I believe what you said before, Wufei - it would be because I was dangerous. And should I have the opportunity to do something - like muster troops again - I could hurt him."
"Of course you could," he nodded. This was something he could understand. His bewilderment vanished, replaced with complete agreement. He sincerely believed that if I was free, I would raise an army against Treize and challenge him again.
I looked down into my lap. "He - he scares me to death, Wufei," I said quietly. "I'm surprised that I'm not dead right now."
It took a moment, but what I said did finally did penetrate Wufei's mind. Blinking again, he looked back at me, his eyes widening in shock. "What ...? How do you know? Did he threaten you? What are you saying?"
Apparently, Treize hadn't done anything like that to Wufei - no threats, subtle or overt - or else he wouldn't be reacting this way. Wufei was probably not even close to that "line" of Treize's, whatever that was. "Oh, no ... he didn't threaten me in so many words. But the intent was there. He would never be so crass as to threaten me directly." I gave him a wry shrug. "He would find a gentlemanly, genteel way to do it."
"But then ... what did he do?"
"What's his horse's name?" I asked. "You know ... the big roan he was riding today."
"Prometheus," he replied, giving me a weird, what-are-you-talking-about look.
"Do you know the story of Prometheus?"
"Of course. It is one of the oldest Greek myths, and supposedly how man acquired fire. The gods were angered, and Prometheus was punished - tied to a mountain upside down. Legend says that an eagle comes every day to rip out his liver and eat it, while each night the liver grows back, whole."
I nodded. "Have you ever thought of yourself in Prometheus' position, Wufei?"
"No," Wufei answered, completely mystified. "I have yet to take anything from the gods." He looked down, slumping just a little. "I am a shame to the gods."
He was in no shape to draw conclusions from obscure stories; I needed to be plain and forthright. "Wufei," I said, my voice gentle, "think a moment. Should I escape - what would I do, immediately? I would bring 'fire' - well, freedom - to the common man, ne? And from whom would I acquire this 'fire' - this freedom? I would be taking power from those who have it now, and giving it to those who are disenfranchised. Who holds all the power now, Wufei? Who holds the power today?"
He looked into my eyes, silent for a moment. "Treize."
"Correct."
"He will not hurt you," he said evenly.
"Only if I obey the rules, Wufei," I said with a small smile. I knew where I stood - I could still see Treize's eyes, his gaze boring into mine. Overwhelmed was too mild a word to describe what was still vibrating along my nerves.
"No, Sally - you don't understand. He gave me his word. He won't break that. He won't harm you."
How terribly strange - Wufei really did believe that. He really, truly believed that Treize wouldn't harm me. "Oh, come on, Wufei," I chided. "He'll make sure I don't step out of line, should I try to change or flaunt his rules again. He wouldn't have to harm me personally - there are PLENTY of natural disasters waiting to happen to me. Such as wolves...." I stopped speaking and looked at him.
Wufei looked back, not intimidated at all. "Yes. From which he saved you," he pointed out.
"This time," I rejoined immediately. "This time, Wufei. It was a warning."
He was silent for a moment. "Treize has not dealt treacherously with me, Sally. He has kept his word."
"Well - I haven't been invited to dinner, either, you know. I was told to stay in my room until I 'felt better,' and that dinner would be brought to me tonight. Why do you think that was?"
"I don't know," he said, his brow creased in thought. "Perhaps he doesn't trust you."
"Perhaps. And perhaps this is his way of sending that message to me - and to you. A warning, Wufei."
Wufei looked disturbed at the thought. "I will speak to him about it. Just ask him - what he means to do with you."
Gods - he was going to ask him about me? "No, no, Wufei," I said, rising painfully out of the chair. I shuffled over to his bed and sat down on the end. "Don't do that. I don't think that's a good idea. In fact - I would rather that we kept this between us. He is our 'host,' but I don't believe he has my welfare at heart, and I'd rather not give him any indication of what I'm thinking."
"Sally, he has never so much as lied to me once - not once." His eyes were bright and insistent. "Whatever else he is, he keeps his word."
This was going to be incredibly difficult. "Wufei," I replied, struggling with just how to phrase this, "there are all different ways a person can NOT tell you something -"
"Why would he threaten you and not me?" Wufei sighed and rubbed his forehead, trying to erase his confusion and bewilderment. "That makes no sense. He gets me to ... promise him things. That's it."
"I've never promised him a thing, Wufei. At least, not that I remember."
".....then - he must not trust you."
I shrugged. "Probably not. But again, he's not asked me to promise anything, either." Plus, I knew he had the good sense to understand I'd find a way around whatever I promised, or else would ignore it completely. Promises made under duress were no promises at all, as far as I was concerned. And if I had to promise my enemy something ... well, really. I did what I had to, whatever was expedient. All's fair as far as I was concerned, because this was war.
Wufei stared at me, concerned. "He's always asked me to promise him something, and has never threatened me. He won't harm you, Sally. I will ensure that."
I tilted my head and regarded him again, feeling strangely humbled at his reaction. Here we were, both prisoners of the most powerful man on Earth - and Wufei, younger than me by at least ten years, was essentially saying that he was going to protect me. "You honor me, Wufei. I - I have always had to fend for myself. It is a strange feeling to have someone look out for your welfare."
He flushed, his face suffused with color. "....it's nothing. Only what should be done for a woman."
I smiled broadly; oh, so that's why. "Ah. We must talk about that sometime. Many people have different ideas on that very topic." I neglected to add that usually I could take care of myself rather well.
"It is enough to keep you from dying," he snorted softly.
"Yes, I believe it is. And ... I've kept you from your shower." I gestured toward his bathroom. "You'll need to change for dinner soon."
Wufei nodded and bent to open a drawer in his dresser, pulling out several pieces of dark, silky clothing. I watched - and then remembered what else was going to happen to us. "We're supposed to leave tomorrow - to go to an island. Away from everything." I turned toward the windows, feeling apprehensive. "I don't want to leave."
"It will be a relief, in a way. Less to worry about."
"How so?" I asked, turning to frown at him.
"Fewer people to be injured, should something - large - happen," he said evenly. He was trying his best to keep his feelings hidden, but I could see the flash of interest, of terrible purpose in his eyes.
"Ah. Let's hope that ... doesn't happen." I felt the blood drain from my face as I recalled Trowa's words to me. We can't kill him ... it will release pathogens into the atmosphere ...
Sighing, Wufei picked up his clothes and walked toward the bathroom. "I don't know why he doesn't simply do away with me," he murmured, stopping at the door and looking back at me. "I ... I am weak. I don't understand him at all. It's like I amuse him and fascinate him - but that's not enough. He has to - to mold me, or something ..." He blinked, showing weariness older than his years, looking for an answer of sorts.
He wanted to know - gods, he wanted to know what Treize was doing, why he was playing with him - and I couldn't tell him outright. But I had to find a way to warn him, to at least let him know something about his predicament.
"Wufei, have you ever had pets?"
"No." Wufei continued to look at me, now dubious.
"Are you sure?" I asked, frowning. "No dogs, or cats, or birds ... or anything?"
"Not ... technically, no," he answered. "There were plenty of wild animals that became my friends - animals usually like me."
"Okay," I said, encouraged. "Now - when they like you - will they do what you ask them to?"
"Sometimes. They're wild," he said with a shrug.
"What did you do when they didn't do what you asked them to do? Did you try to find another way to ... er .. 'ask' them to perform? or just let them be?"
"Nothing," Wufei said. "If I did, they wouldn't come back. Birds, especially, were more submissive than the rest."
"So - the birds would return to you if you gave them complete freedom, but also offered them something else in return, wouldn't they?"
"Well - yes," he responded, puzzled. "I usually pet them - fed them
occasionally. It's how I became close to them in the first place.
I nodded. "Of course. That is the way to train animals to trust you - when you do that, they will return to you again and again."
"Hai," he agreed, still dubious.
"Now," I said, taking a deep breath and looking steadily at Wufei, "isn't Treize offering you something that's of value to you? Such as ... his death?"
"That's not the same!"
"Isn't it? Why not?" I pressed.
"Because I am no animal," he snapped. "I do not exist on instinct."
"True enough," I nodded. "You are human. However, there's enough evidence to show that humans can be trained in the same manner as that which you just described." I waved my hand dismissively. "Just look at the military."
"Idiots," Wufei snorted.
"Look at any organization with any type of hierarchy," I responded. "They offer just enough incentive to keep their subordinates coming back again and again ... ostensibly, of their own free will."
"I am no bird," he proclaimed, now more perturbed.
"No, you are not. But there is a pattern to what I've seen - I believe."
"What pattern?" he asked, staring right at me, sounding slightly defensive.
And now I had to work cautiously, because in spite of appearances, Wufei's ego was delicate and fragile. His arrogance and hauteur masked his true self, I knew. "Well - the way Treize addresses you, at times, feels almost - paternal; and there are other times when that feeling is completely absent."
He didn't say anything, but did look oddly guilty and unsure.
"Think about it," I urged. "You are a dangerous gundam pilot, captured in the war - and he's treating you as if you were eight years old. You are NOT eight years old."
"He's not treating me that way," he protested, frowning.
"Then why do you need to ask permission to leave his presence all the time?"
"Because I am his prisoner, not a guest, in spite of allowances - and it is good manners. He says." Wufei rubbed his hand across his face again. "To do otherwise is ... rude. He seems to care about rudeness. It lowers his estimation of people."
And there it was again - for some reason, Wufei cared what Treize thought about his actions. So very odd.
"He's your jailer, Wufei. Why do you care what he thinks?"
Either he deliberately ignored my question or he wasn't sure what I had asked. Continuing along his own peculiar train of thought, he murmured, "Except for some strange little quirks...... he has not treated me as he ought. I have not seen the inside of a prison in weeks; I have never been interrogated. He has treated me with - respect. I am not worthy of it, though."
That caught me off guard. "You're not worthy of respect? What do you mean?"
He refused to meet my gaze. "I told you. I am a shame to my ancestors. He knows this. He - he has gotten enough information out of me, and he - he seems to know everything else, whether I say it or not."
I almost groaned aloud. So - Wufei was willing to listen to Treize, and cared about what he thought, because Treize treated him with respect - and respect was the last thing that Wufei believed he deserved. The amount of psychological manipulation that man was doing to Wufei was absolutely incredible - Treize had him wrapped and tied so nicely that I couldn't even find the knot, much less try to unravel it.
Frustrated, I rose off the bed. "Wufei - listen. Everyone deserves respect-"
- when I was interrupted by a shrill, high pitched ringing coming from my room.
Uncomprehending, I stared at Wufei for a moment, then turned in the direction of the noise. "Is - is that...." I stopped speaking, walked over to the door and discreetly peered into my room, blinking. I recognized what it was, of course; but that sound should not have been coming from my room.
There was a telephone ringing in my room. But - I didn't have a telephone.
"He did it," I heard Wufei murmur. "He did install the phone. He wouldn't do that for me. He left me a computer, though."
Not only that, the phone - which was on the nightstand, right by my bed - kept ON ringing, becoming more insistent with every passing moment. I walked right over to the nightstand, picked up the handset and answered it. "He - hello?"
"Ah, wonderful! I'm so glad this works," Treize responded, sounding delighted. "Would you like your telephone number now, Ms. Po?"
A strange feeling of unreality crept around my mind; I blinked and shook my head, still not believing what was happening. "Um .. yes, all right. A moment, please, while I find a pen and paper..." Cradling the phone between my head and shoulder, I dipped down into the top nightstand drawer and found, of all things - paper, pencils and pens. I would have sworn that they weren't there this morning, when I left; I normally did a very thorough reconnaissance each time I left my room, and I didn't recall anything in that drawer.
"Ah ... please, go ahead. I'm ready." Still a little shocked, I obediently wrote down the number, then realized I hadn't said anything about the phone itself. "Oh. And - thank you, Treize, for the phone. This was quite - unexpected."
"Saaa, call it a test, ne?" He added, lightly, "Don't make me regret it."
My gaze flashed up from the paper to see Wufei leaning in the doorway, his arms crossed, mouth drawn in a slightly smug expression. "Oh, no, Treize .. I - I won't..."
"Now, of course, you'll have a different number later on - unless I am able to transfer it. We shall have to see."
Sweat started to bead on my brow. "Ah .. yes, yes, of course." Gads, this was nerve-wracking. He gave me a phone? After I tried to escape? What was wrong with that man? If anything, I should be chained to a wall somewhere under armed guard, not .. here.
And Treize sounded so incredibly cheery. "Don't forget to remind Wufei of dinner, please. I have selected an outfit for him that, hopefully, will make us both happy. Saaa, he does SO hate bright colors."
I stared at Wufei during that entire exchange, consternation in my look. "No ... no, Treize. I will remember to tell him."
"Thank you very much, Ms. Po. Now, if you require anything tonight in the way of entertainment - books and such - simply let me know. The television is in the library, as you know, and there are several good sound systems in other rooms should you wish to listen to music."
"Ah ... thank you," I said quickly. "I still have the book you loaned me this morning. I believe I'll simply read and go to bed early. I'm - rather tired."
"Of course, of course," he replied, solicitous. "This has been a trying day for you - your first full day awake since you were so grievously injured. I'm not surprised you're tired. Goodnight, my dear, if I do not see you before you retire." And I heard him say, as if to himself, "Saa ... Dr. White would simply kill me ..."
He hung up. I was left staring at the receiver in my hand, realizing that he had been in complete control of the conversation from beginning to end.
"Well?"
Startled, I looked up to see Wufei watching me, his eyebrows raised.
"...well...?" I echoed weakly, still eyeing the phone. "I don't understand this at all. It doesn't make sense. Why would he do this?"
Wufei said nothing, but raised his eyebrows a fraction higher and waited for me to say something.
"I - I can't use this, anyway," I stammered, still taken aback, looking at the phone, then over at Wufei. "Well, really - who would I call?"
He looked at me for a beat, then started to laugh a little. "Eh - I have no idea," he said, chuckling. "If you have family, perhaps you should call them."
Shrugging, he continued, "I have never had any."
There was something I hadn't considered; I could call my family, tell them I was alive and well, and –
I forced myself back to reality. What kind of fool are you, Sally Po, that you would even think to put your last remaining family members in danger? Do you really want him knowing where your aunt lives, or your cousin? Thank the gods the Pos were a small, insignificant clan in Beijing; otherwise ...
"No," I said, feeling the blood drain from my face as I thought about my aunt and cousin. They were safely anonymous now; there was no way in the world that I was going to change that. "I ... no. I would be placing them in harm's way. I have very few people left, at any rate. My parents died in an accident after I graduated from medical school, and our family was very small."
"At least you have some. My parents died when I was an infant. My grandmother lived, but she was invalid. Barely cognizant - very, very, old."
"Then who took care of your needs, Wufei?" I asked, surprised.
"I was raised by elder Lon and Master O," he replied. "They taught me to take care of my own needs. I was perfectly capable."
"Master O..." I blinked and stared at him. "Master O - didn't he build your gundam?"
He nodded. "He had chosen our colony on which to hide, and built Shenlon."
"But I don't understand - he helped raise you? He was an outsider, a foreigner -"
"He was Chinese," Wufei shrugged, "with true respect for our lives, our culture. He sought us because we were warriors unparalleled. It was a chance at revenge - at justice."
Treize's words came back to me - and I realized the general had told me nothing but the truth. Wufei's people had been warriors on Earth, and were sought in space for that very talent. They must have been formidable enemies, indeed. "He wanted - justice - for your people?"
Wufei continued with his story, again not answering my question. "He tested us. I, of all that he tested, proved to be the most proficient physically and mentally - so he trained me to be his pilot. He wanted justice for all people,
and he knew we had been insulted terribly."
"How old were you, Wufei, when you were chosen to be a pilot?"
He tilted his head to the side as he thought. By this time, we had walked back into his room; I sank down in the comfortable chair in front of the window, and gestured for him to do the same in the chair across from me. He did, still thinking.
"Nine," he finally said. "I was nine when I was chosen."
I stared at him, nonplused. This boy had no childhood, I realized. "Nine, Wufei? Your body wasn't fully developed at all." He wasn't quite finished growing now, I knew, but he was certainly closer, and able to handle the physical demands of a gundam suit as opposed to a nine year old boy.
"It was developed enough for him to see what he wished to see. I could defeat any elder who fought me." Wufei gave a tiny shrug of his shoulders; this wasn't news to him, it was old news. He was so casual about abilities which, in any other culture, would have marked him as an unstoppable force. Here, though, he spoke about them as if they were nothing special - just something he needed to do, because he had been asked to do it.
"And your mind ..." I left the rest of that sentence unfinished.
"Hai," he replied, nodding a little. "I preferred reading to fighting, anyway."
"You - you don't like fighting? It's not enjoyable to you?" Another little piece clicked in place; I realized, once again, that Treize had told me the truth about Wufei.
"No, it's not. It seems useless to me." He paused for a moment. "I ... "
I looked over at him when he didn't continue. He was definitely hesitating now, looking at the arms of the chair. Without warning, he sighed and raised his head, and from his look, it appeared as though he decided to tell me something important about himself.
"I have never believed in justice," he confessed. "I read a lot about it. We had some books - philosophy books - which I studied. There seemed to be no true standard for justice, no objective definition or reason. The only reason I allowed Master O to prep me for piloting his gundam was that the leaders ordered it. I obey the elders - but I had no faith in his machines."
"You do not believe in justice," I said slowly, "but you believe in your society and elders enough that you will do whatever they say." And that ingrained obedience to authority figures is a huge problem. Gads, if he actually sees Treize as an authority figure to be obeyed ...
Feh. Just ... feh.
"Correct," he nodded. "My wife, on the other hand, was a fool." He meant to say that, too; he stared right at me as he said it, his expression very tight and closed.
"Why - why do you say that?"
"She believed in justice, although she could not define it to me. She was disgusted with me and my ways. I did not have to train to defeat her; and she had no answers for my challenges." He repeated himself, but his voice was not as strong this time. "She ... was a fool."
"What do you mean, you didn't have to train to defeat her? You fought your wife - physically? Why?"
"Because she challenged me," he shrugged. "She stated - and believed - that if she could defeat me, then her justice was proven. She believed that justice was 'the way of our people' - standing up for the rights of others, even at great personal risk - yet she could not define nor defend it." He gave another slight shrug. "I won. She was foolish and stubborn."
I stared at Wufei. "How - how old were you when you were married?" Because he was obviously a teenager himself, not past the age of fifteen, and that would mean that his wife ...
"We were wed just before I turned fourteen. She was the same age - old enough to bear children."
......gods. Children. "Wufei - did you have any children with your wife?"
"No, she did not conceive. We - we only consummated once." He actually looked a little guilty as he said that, as if he knew he should have done more.
I, on the other hand, was sitting across from him, trying to make sure that my mouth didn't hang open in complete and utter amazement. Here was Wufei, someone who didn't know me that well, unraveling his life right in front of me. It was unsettling in one way, but flattering in another. He trusted me enough to tell me something personal about himself.
"At least you had some time with her," I said gently.
"The elders allowed it, I suppose, because I was being trained for the gundam. We spent as little time as possible in one another's company, which they also allowed. Otherwise, I would have been dishonored yet again. Fortunately, though, I was not expected to produce children right away." He looked greatly relieved as he said, "I would not have wanted to repeat that."
"Repeat...." I echoed, a little puzzled. "Repeat what?"
Now he appeared to be embarrassed; but because the question was asked, or because he felt he needed to respond to me, he continued. "I ... was not ... really being a husband. I didn't even give her children. I didn't have anything to do with her at all. After the first night, we barely spoke, except when we fought. And she always lost."
I nodded a little, staying as serious as he. "Wufei - how many relationships had you had with women prior to your wife's?"
"None. My wife ... was the first." He was doing an admirable job of maintaining eye contact with me, given the subject. "Why?"
"Well ... because," I replied slowly. "Relationships take time to mature -"
"I'll tell you the same thing I told Treize," he interrupted, intense.
I stopped. "What was that?"
"That it seemed to be a lot of work for a few seconds of pleasure and a large mess, and I didn't see the point. Neither did she. End of story." Wufei was now as red as some of the shirts in his drawer.
I took a deep breath, not believing what he had told me. He cut me off again, a little defensive. "He laughed at me. Don't you."
Embarrassment disappeared in an instant when I heard Treize had laughed at Wufei. "Of course not, Wufei," I said, angry at the general for being so incredibly insensitive. "We all have different experiences and see things differently."
"...it isn't funny at all," he snapped.
"Wufei. I would not ridicule you," I soothed. "Your experiences are as valid as anyone else's."
He nodded, somewhat mollified.
"But I will say this, at least, as a doctor, and you can take it for what it's worth. As people mature, the find that their attitudes toward many different things change -"
"But it hurt her," he blurted out, his face turning a brighter shade of red.
"Well, yes," I said with a small smile, "... it would, if it was her first time, too. Also - it's downright difficult to have two people 'get it right' when it's the first time for both of them." Shrugging, I said, "That's why some cultures try to ensure that the couple understands what each person will be doing long before they actually DO it."
"Well," Wufei said, watching me as if he still expected me to laugh, "it - it wasn't very interesting."
"As I said - give yourself time. It .. eh ... 'becomes' interesting. Sex is a part of life, as surely as breathing, sleeping and eating."
I felt odd - not only did I feel like the least qualified person to tell him this, but from the way he spoke to me, it appeared that he saw no difference in significance between telling me this information and telling Treize. That was disturbing.
"Thank you for sharing this with me, Wufei," I murmured, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. "You said you told Treize all of this ... when? Was it recently? Here?"
"No. It was on the island, when I was first captured." He thought for a moment. "At breakfast. I forget which day, but it was within the first week."
Well, there it was. No wonder he kept Wufei and threw the rest back. Who else would tell such a compelling, poignant story? Duo? Hardly. "Ah ... on the island..."
Nodding, Wufei responded, "..yes. I told you how he treated me. Not as a prisoner, but ..." He lapsed into silence for a moment, then continued, "..but - he'd already insisted I move out of the jail cell."
"Go on," I encouraged.
"I'm not sure what else there is to say," he said, looking down. "I - I just don't understand him."
Oh, I was tired - I was bone tired, and this information, on top of my weariness, left me feeling exhausted. "Neither do I, Wufei. Not entirely, anyway."
He sighed again, and rose from his chair. "I have to get ready for dinner. I have to go on stage again."
I was sympathetic. "It's only for a few hours, and those people will be gone."
Wufei wasn't listening to me, though - he was listening to his own internal voice. "Something ... feels so WRONG - somehow. But I don't know what, or how it's wrong."
He disappeared through the door into his bathroom. I took the opportunity to go back to my own room, rising stiffly from my chair and shuffling across the room to the door. I decided I would try and catch up with him after his dinner. I certainly wasn't going anywhere soon.
I walked into my room and immediately walked over to the chair in front of the window. Grateful, I sank down and leaned back, shifted my weight to my opposite hip, and thought about what I had seen and heard and experienced today.
Gads. So much was happening here.
I turned and stared at the telephone on my nightstand. He knew what I was doing, and he STILL gave me the phone. Tapped, of course, but he still gave me the phone. Almost as if he knew so much that being "caught" meant something much more direct and obvious than what had happened to date.
The shower noises from Wufei's room were soft and subtle, lulling me into a drowsy haze. I closed my eyes and saw Treize bent, face to face with Wufei; then heard his voice, low and sultry, purring, "..you have wonderful hands, Wufei..."
My eyes flew open as another small piece fell into place. Wufei was completely and utterly innocent. He had absolutely no idea what Treize was doing; and it was so blatant, so completely forward, I had a difficult time believing I didn't see it when it happened. And according to Wufei, it happened right after they had discussed Occam's Razor, too.
The simplest solution is usually the correct one. Gods. He's trying to seduce Wufei.