CHAPTER 34
A much more calm and rational Heero went out several hours later. Duo had been stewing long enough, it was time to bring him inside and make up with him. Heero asked around and the last place he'd been seen was the lake. Duo was always at the lake swimming around, talking to frogs and chasing fish. It had worried Heero for awhile, but Duo was a capable swimmer, so the worries were alleviated.
Sure enough, when he got to the tree, he could see Duo's shoes, socks, wallet and jacket all piled up next to a tree. Walking over to the man-made lake, Heero's eyes searched for Duo. He stopped dead in his tracks. The water was completely still, with no signs of life anywhere.
Heero's eyes swiftly scanned the entire area. If Duo had drowned. . . No, the mud. The mud on the other side of the tree had a gouge in it, with footprints nearby. Almost as if something had been . . . dragged.
"Damn." Heero took one last scan of the area and then took off running. If someone had taken Duo, he would follow them to the ends of the Earth until there lives were forever haunted with the thought of him finding them. Cursing again, Heero took off for Quatre's estate.
It smelled bad. It was hot and something was poking into his back. Duo's eyes opened wearily. His mind struggled to make sense of what was going on. The last thing he remembered was . . . the lake. He was swimming in the lake because he was angry at Heero. Had he drowned? Was this Hell? It felt miserable enough.
First things first, getting that lump out from under his back. Duo shifted to the side and realized with a rush of pain that the lump had been his hands that had fallen asleep from being lain upon. Duo moaned. Great, get rid of one pain and gain another. Life was just peachy.
"So, the bumpkin's awake is she?" A hand reached down and grabbed Duo's damp collar. "Hi sweetie, comfortable?" The hand pulled on the shirt, tightening it around Duo's throat. Duo glared at this man. If he could breath, he would tell him that he wasn't a she and definitely not a bumpkin, but the grip on his throat was a bit too strong at the moment.
"Let 'er go 'Erman, she's not the enemy." A mellow voice drawled out from the background.
"Isn't she?" His captor dropped Duo back to the ground. Duo painfully drew in air, debating whether or not to allow them to know he was a man. "She's the one that killed three of our men. THREE! And she burned my face to a crisp, you want me to let her live in peace and quiet!?"
Duo's eyes widened in realization. This was the fourth man, the one whose body they had never found. Duo decided that he would keep his mouth shut for now, maybe he would find something out that could help Heero.
"I tell ya what, this wench has caused almost as much trouble for us as that Minister and her bodyguard. And look! She's got the bodyguard's child, so lets settle it. A life for a life, cut the baby right out of her!" Duo's eyes widened and he scrambled to get himself in a sitting position, staring at them in horror. If they tried to right now, they could easily restrain him and do just that with his arms behind his back and the load he was carrying in the front, he was no match for them.
"Shut yer yap 'Erman. You've gone and scared the lass." A large man came into view, his face was scarred, and his body seemed sturdy. Duo couldn't take this guy on on a good day on a one on one fight. "Doncha worry gal, 'Erman's just a bit excitable, we won't 'arm ya as long as your man gives in to our demands."
"What are you talking about!?" Herman called out. "I want her dead just as much as the guard."
"'Erman!" The large man grabbed Herman by the arm and dragged him from the room. Duo could hear them talking, but couldn't understand a word they were saying.
So these were the assassins. Not very organized if they were staying in a shack like this. Then again, this could just be a dumping place for Duo, and their headquarters were elsewhere. Whatever he did, he couldn't talk, all he could do was wait for Heero.
A door slammed shut and after a moment of silence, Herman walked back into the room glowering. "That man, I swear sometimes-" Herman's eyes paused on Duo. A gleam came into them. "He said I couldn't harm the babe and I couldn't violate you, but he didn't say nothing about harming you. Maybe you would like to see something before I begin though." He looked at Duo with a nasty expression, then began unraveling a large bandage from the side of his face. As he did, shiny scar tissue was revealed stretched over a mangled cheek. Duo didn't react, just stared at him. "Like it? The burn is bad enough, but ya like the broken cheek bone? You did that, does it make you happy!?" His eyes bulged as they stared at Duo, unmoving. "Nothing? You heartless bitch!" His hand swung down and backhanded Duo, sending him flying into the wall. He felt blood trickle down the side of his chin. Nothing, he couldn't react. He ran that over in his mind again and again, telling himself to keep his expression blank.
However, Duo's blank expression seemed to anger the man even more. Duo's hands trembled behind his back, giving away his fear and helplessness. There was nothing he could right now, no way to defend himself. Herman charged him. In a desperate act of self-preservation, Duo kicked out and up with all his might, right where it counts.
Herman squawked, dropping to the ground in pain. He looked at Duo, first in disbelief and pain and secondly in anger. An anger that spoke of vengeance.
Duo groaned. He had just made things a lot worse for himself.
Heero buried his head in his hands. It had been three days since Duo had disappeared. Heero had called everywhere, everyone. No one had spoken to Duo recently. Heero had been the last one to speak to Duo.
They had people combing the lake, just in case, but Heero was certain Duo's body would've bobbed to the surface if- No, he wasn't going to think that way.
Wufei was helping Heero follow the lead of the assassins against Relena. Heero hadn't slept in three days, and every lead he followed had been a dead end so far. Nothing, no one, nowhere. Wufei was following up on some leads and Heero was waiting for the phone to ring. He was vainly hoping that Duo had run off in anger and was going to call any moment now to tell him where he was. That wouldn't make sense though, as his shoes and socks had been left behind and his wallet. Duo couldn't go anywhere without his wallet and nothing in Quatre's house had been touched. If Duo had been kidnapped, his kidnappers were professionals, it was near impossible to get into the Winner Estate, much harder than Heero's. That told Heero a bit about what they were getting into.
The phone rang, interrupting his thought process. Heero answered it quickly. "Hello?"
It was Duo's doctor, calling to ask what had been found out. Heero replied frankly, "Nothing, I'm sorry." Heero was about to hang up, to free the phone lines, but the doctor stopped him.
"Heero! Don't hang up! Theres something you need to be aware of about Duo."
Heero paused, "I'm listening."
"Duo needs to be found right away, the child that he is carrying could potentially come at anytime, because of his experimental state, and if I'm not around to help it will be disastrous." He rushed, trying to get his word in before Heero lost patience and hung up.
"Why?" Heero asked, clenching his hand around the phone."Because Duo can't give birth to the child, he doesn't have birth canal. We were planning on a cesarean that I would perform when the time came. If he's being held for ransom, as a hostage or whatever and he goes into labor, with no one around to help . . . he and the child will die."
At the sound of the door opening Duo opened the eye that was least swollen, but decided he didn't really want to look around anymore. He'd passed out at some point again last night, but he wasn't sure when yet. Herman was the only one around anymore and Herman had some serious psychological issues. Beating on Duo seemed to give him temporary relief, but the man would never be happy as long as he lived and couldn't learn to move on.
Duo's body had become numb to the pain. He didn't know how long he'd been there, but all he knew was that every time he opened his eyes it was another nightmare, and the only way to escape was to lose consciousness in a sea of pain.
For some reason Herman had taken to making Duo protect his child. He knew that Duo would curl up into a ball.
Duo hadn't eaten much. It had been at least two days since Herman had tossed him some food and laughed as Duo ate it like a dog, because his hands were still tied. His legs were tied too, after the whole kicking incident. Every day Duo hoped someone would come. He didn't care who came anymore, as long as they would stop this madman.
Today seemed to be his lucky day. He could hear someone out in the other room, talking to Herman, who seemed to be trying to keep whoever it was from coming into Duo's room. Another door slammed. The door to Duo's prison opened and the large man from the beginning walked in.
"Jesus Chris' what'd 'e do to ye?" Duo saw him squat down next to him. "Somethin' 'ill 'ave to be done about that boy." A gentle hand lifted Duo's chin and looked at Duo in the face. "First things first though, ye need to be cleaned up."
He stood and left the room, returning a moment later with a bowl of water and some cloths. Duo watched him warily. It seemed his torture was over for now. This large man seemed much more passive than Herman was.
The large man wiped Duo's blood-caked face gently. It hurt but Duo didn't react. As the man continued his cleaning, Duo began to feel tired again. He hadn't eaten in several days. As the cloth washed gently over his face, Duo allowed himself to fall into a peaceful slumber.
The large man stood, muttering about incompetent help. Wringing the cloth out and setting it to dry he knelt again. "Well, lets see the damage under the shirt. . ."
tsuzuku
dun Dun DUN!
Bwhaha! I'm on a roll! Wheee! I finished this on Monday, but decided to wait and post a couple days later. Good Annie, actually updated. Duo TORTURE! Wow! Okay, time for Annie to go to work. Later folks!
I started a new story too! So once this is done I'll post it... it's mostly finished too so... YATTA!
Thursday-
Thanks for all the incredible reviews! I really appreciate them! They are so.... inspiring and encouraging, i can't thank you enough! If you aren't emailed when i updated, feel free to ask to be put on the mailing list. However there aren't that many chappies left.
Annie
p.s. Also to "spelling nazi" from chap 32, I always do that thing with the "their" and "there" In my defense, i would just like to say i do know the difference Hehe, i just type to fast and don't edit it very well.. I'm sorry, i hope it was better in this one
