Horisont: I'm glad everyone appreciates the research I put into the dates and events.
Misanagi: Well, just trying to keep you interested. We seem to have love/hate relationships with cliffhangers. They keep our interest yet we're dying to find out what will happen next.
Lionheart: Here to save your sanity, it's the next chapter.
Author's notes: 13x4 here and it's slight NCS, nothing graphic though. I can't really say much without giving it away. Wow, I've pushed some major luck here so far. Sensitive topics, graphic imagery, you guys are still unfazed. Okay, I'm about to push my luck again so I'm warning you again. If I hit a nerve, that's way too bad. I've already told you that you may be offended. Some of the characters share views or attitudes I have. I think I'm kind of like Heero in the last chapter. At best I'm indifferent to most organized religion, at worst I'm opposed to it. I hate any institution that demands blind obedience from its followers for reasons you'll soon see.
Chapter 3: A Pound of Flesh
I felt myself go completely numb as they said this. I couldn't have felt more shocked short of them saying "We know you are Jewish".
"Of course." I barely heard myself answer.
As they came inside, a dizzy, sick feeling washed over me. They didn't pay much attention to me. But I picked up on what they were saying to each other as they went upstairs.
"Major Treize's house? Why did they send us here?"
"Maybe we got the address mixed up."
"I checked it twice."
They carefully looked around the upper rooms for what seemed like an eternity. They worked their way slowly through each room, finally going into the basement. As they went in, I went over to the door and looked down the stairs. There was no sign of anyone down there and there were only a few places that they could have hidden; under the bed, in the closet or some old wooden chests. The two soldiers checked between the bookshelves and about the bedroom area quickly, poking their hands under the bed and not really looking around that hard. I slowly began to realize that they didn't really expect to find anything. Suddenly, one of them reached for the door of the closet. My heart skipped a beat as he opened it and quickly pushed old clothes aside, then slammed the door shut.
"There's nothing here."
As they came up the stairs, one of them stopped and looked at me closely, I wondered if he was going to say something like "I know who you are!" or some such thing. Instead he asked;
"Are you all right? What's the matter with you?"
"I don't feel very well."
That was no lie.
Suddenly, Major Treize came in through the door, glaring at the soldiers. He looked like he had been running all the way to the villa. I had never seen him so angry before.
"What's going on here? What do you think you're doing?" he demanded from them.
"Forgive us, Herr Major, we received a tip that there were spies at this address."
"We didn't find anything."
"I'm not surprised. Now get out of here."
The situation would have been laughable had it not been so serious, if that makes any sense. Imagine, a German Major being told that his house was being searched for spies. The Major was certainly not in a laughing mood. They quickly left. I promptly began to put everything back in order and clean up the dirt that had been tracked in, since they hadn't bothered to take off their boots. At least they would think twice before following up on any other tips about this house, I figured. I wondered if someone had taken notice of all the food I bought when I went into town, or a passerby had seen several figures in the window. But an enraged Major Treize had his own explanation for the search.
"Zechs was behind that somehow, I know it! He'll pay for this!"
Treize's mood had settled by dinner time after a few glasses of brandy. He had learned of the search just after the soldiers had been given the order and hurried to the villa. I felt concerned about the others down in the basement and wanted to see how they were doing, but I couldn't do it with Treize back early. My worry about them increased to the point where Treize suddenly asked if I was feeling all right. I assured him I was fine and kept on pouring him more brandy, hoping I could get him drunk just like I had back at the compound so I could check on the others.
"It's good that you're all right Thomas, I would have never forgiven myself if anything had happened to you. I haven't told anyone, it seems that this war is getting worse and worse for us, but I always look forward to seeing you to remind myself of goodness in this world. And stop filling my glass, I've had enough to drink."
He finally stopped his slurred speech and clumsily put his hand over his glass. This comment by itself didn't seem too odd to me, but for some strange reason it made me think of all the other times I had interacted with him. The affectionate way he had stroked my hair back at the compound, how he usually preferred no one else's company except mine when he ate, how he would give me things that were rationed or hard to find like tea and the occasional sweet, the way that he always trusted me enough to leave me in his house during the day with no one else around or how he hadn't hesitated to use his influence to protect my sister from Otto when I had asked for his help. I suddenly wondered what he thought of me as; a loyal servant, a friend, an adopted son?
I helped him up the stairs and into his room. The moment he fell asleep I wondered what my thoughts meant before I finally decided that I wasn't puzzling over anything of major importance and hurried into the basement. The others had all found rather cramped hiding places, so it took a while for me to help them out and stretch a bit. Heero had somehow fit himself into a medium size wooden chest, that the soldiers hadn't even bothered to open, probably figuring no human could ever fit in there. Wufei had tucked away under the bed that Iria had once slept on. Remember how I had seen one of the soldiers poking his hand around in the closet? Imagine my shock to find Duo and Trowa huddled in there, hiding under a pile of old clothes on the floor. They would have come face-to-face with the soldier had he removed one more layer of clothes.
"I think my guardian angel works overtime." Duo commented. For some reason we all found this comment really funny and laughed quietly to ourselves, enjoying our small victory.
Sometime after this string of good luck, I made a foolish mistake that cost me dearly. It was now early 1944 and the Soviet troops were pushing the Germans further and further back, approaching Ternopol. People were beginning to leave town and Treize was growing distracted as his problems grew. As for us, Duo and I didn't trust the Russians any more then we trusted the Germans and we began hatching an escape plan to avoid the fighting. Duo's father had been friends with members of several resistance groups, so we agreed to travel west and go join them. The thought of being able to help fight back rather then simply hiding and waiting for things to get better, combined with the faint hope of finding my family, whom I had lost contact with for quite some time, helped me feel renewed and gave me a sense of purpose. I did my best to hide my good mood and figured that Treize still didn't suspect anything.
One morning, during breakfast, Treize said to me "Thomas, I have a lot to take care of today and I won't be back until late tonight."
"Yes, Herr Major." I answered. This wasn't unusual; he had been coming back very late in the night quite often lately.
I waited a half hour and let my friends out of the basement like I always did. Duo jumped out and twirled as happily as a bird being released from its cage as he went to look out at the kitchen window. We laughed at his antics and for the first time in while, we all felt happy and confident that the war would be over and that we would find our families soon. Suddenly, Trowa, who was standing in the hallway, turned to the back door.
"Wait! Be quiet!" he cried out.
We all stopped laughing as the rest of us heard it too. Someone was unlocking the back door!
Heero, Trowa and Wufei raced to the basement, with Duo trailing behind them from the kitchen. In his panic, Duo tripped and fell, right as Treize flung the back door open. My heart stopped. There was dead silence as they stared at each other for a moment. Then Treize made the first move. He walked over, shoved Duo into the basement, locked the door with an old brass key, then grabbed me by the shoulder.
"After all I've done for you? How dare you betray me like this Thomas!" he shouted as he shook me. I thought he was going to hit me but before he could do anything there was frantic banging on the basement door.
"Quatre!" Duo screamed over and over.
"What?" Treize answered in confusion, as he let go of me.
"His name's Quatre! If you're going to kill him, at least call him by his real name!" Duo screamed back.
"If you value his life, then stay in there and be quiet." He called back and the banging stopped.
In sheer desperation, I threw myself on my knees at the Major's feet. Treize grabbed me and roughly dragged me into the kitchen. I knelt on the floor, trembling. I had failed them, we had been found. What could I do, run into the woods? I wouldn't have gotten far and even if I did escape with my life, how could I live with myself, knowing I had left four people I cared about deeply to a horrible fate? I hoped that maybe the Major would be merciful, but that seemed to me like a mouse hoping for mercy from a snake.
I suddenly heard a clinking sound and I flinched, too scared to look up. Treize was surely loading his gun, at least he might just kill us all quickly and be done with it, I figured. When I did get the courage to look up, I realized that he had grabbed his brandy, not his gun. He poured it and gulped it down as he looked at me.
"Quatre, is that your real name?"
I nodded, holding back tears.
"How long have you hidden them?"
"Since last summer."
Treize finished his glass and refilled it before he continued, never taking his eyes off me.
"Quatre, you know that were they to be found, we would all be dead?"
"Please, they're innocent, this war will be over soon." I tried to keep my voice steady, but my words ended in a sob.
"I know you're a good person." I forced myself to add, even though I didn't think it was true.
I would have said anything at that moment if it helped me. Treize continued looking at me. He finally put his glass down and helped me up.
"I suppose we all have our secrets, now, don't we? Yes, there are a lot of secrets in this world. I had no idea what you were hiding when I took the day off and came back without telling you." He mumbled to himself. Then he kissed me gently on the lips.
"Quatre, I will not turn them in, I will help you, but I won't do it for free. When I first saw you, I only thought of you as a child. But you've grown so much, I see you as a young man now. I will keep your secret, but only if you keep mine." I nodded quietly.
"I will tell you something I have never told anyone and if anyone knew of it, I would be killed."
I nodded again.
"I am a homosexual."
"I don't know what that means." I answered.
I'd never heard that word before. All I knew was that Treize was expecting me to do something for him.
"It means that I love you and I want you willingly, that is my price." He said as he continued kissing me.
"I'm only 15."
"I was 14 when I first slept with someone, he was a family servant."
"So that makes it all right?"
"Quatre, you have nothing else that I want. One night and afterwards, I will never tell anyone that your friends exist or that I hid them in my house."
"I'm also Jewish." I added, hoping that he might see me as tainted.
He sighed and held me gently. His response shocked me.
"I know what they say isn't true."
"Then why are you helping them?"
"Because if I refuse I will be shot and so will my family. All my life I've obeyed orders, I know nothing but how to follow orders, be they from my father or my superiors. I've done unthinkable things, Quatre, we both know it. Before you ask why, I do unthinkable things because it's just easier to do them rather then try and think of ways to not do them."
I'd resolved not to cry in front of the Major but after hearing this, it was so easy I finally gave up and wept on his shoulder. So that was the reason for all this misery, why so many have died, I thought. One gave orders and others just obeyed. Just like I would have to now, these numbing thoughts filled my mind as he led me upstairs.
I lay on my side with my back to Treize. I felt too ashamed to face him, I didn't like him being so near to me at all. I'd never even kissed a girl, I didn't know anything about sex. All I knew was that Treize had just done something very painful to me. Treize put the key in my hand and went to the bathroom.
'It's your own fault, you know. Stupid boy, you should never have thought you would be smart enough to trick him.' I thought to myself as I quietly left Treize's room.
I washed and dressed before going downstairs. As I approached the basement, I heard Duo reciting a story I had once heard. He was talking about King David after he had slain Saul, his former friend until they had betrayed each other.
"Behold Saul is dead, thinking to have brought him good tidings, I took hold of him and slew him in Ziklag, who thought that I would have given him a reward for his tidings. How much more, when wicked men have slain a righteous person in his own bed? Shall I not therefore now require his blood of your hand and take you away from the earth?"
The irony of this passage struck me as I unlocked the basement door to find Duo reading the bible from the study out loud as the others knelt and prayed, even Heero.
I'd never seen anyone look so relieved before as they all rushed to greet me.
"What happened?"
"Are you hurt?"
"Is the Major still alive?"
"I'm all right, Treize says that we can stay for now." I answered. I couldn't bring myself to tell them how I had received his protection. We were safe for now, but my heart told me that this was only a final reprieve before the storm.
More notes: Okay, that was tough to write, but it wrestles a lot with good, evil, power, betrayal and all that other stuff. For those of you who actually read this, the bible I used passage is from the Old Testament, King James Version from the Book of Samuel II, Chapter 4:10-11. I plan to work on my other stories soon, so check those in the future too. Let's see anything else to add. Oh yeah, chapter title is from the Merchant of Venice, read it in Grade 9 English, found it okay.
