Well stop good God let me tell the news
My head got wet in the midnight dew
I been down on bended knee
Talking to the man from galilee
Then my God spoke and he sound so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of angels' feet
Then He put one hand upon my head
Great God Almighty let me tell you what He said

Go tell that longtime liar
Go tell that midnight rider
Tell the gambler, the rambler, the backbiter
Tell them God Almighty gonna cut 'em down

You run on for a long time
Run on, for a long time
Run on, for a long time
Let me tell you God Almighty gonna cut you down

traditional gospel hymn, arranged by Five Blind Boys from Alabama

Three hundred dollars later, the car slowed down and Duo lifted his head with a disgusted look around him. The stop sign struck up a silent conversation with the tree lined street and murmured secrets that Duo would never be party to. Brush leaned away from the curb and toward houses sitting pompous and beautiful, their nose like balconies in the air and sightless windows staring inward at themselves. This was the valley of rest, men and women hiding their heads in their cash and their perfected displays of color and fabric and landscaped lawns. There were no backyard bar-b-ques here. Nor did men in wife beater tank tops mow lawns as their wives screamed at the kids to set the table, dammit. Duo didn't know this kind of world.

Hell, not like he knew the other. He'd grown up on the streets, born and bred in the inner city. He was twenty five and a devout member of the church of realism. He had a good five more years or maybe a bit more, before his looks failed him. Then he'd already chosen out his boozing corner. Well, it was that or get the twenty five cent answer in his brain. Either one might work for him, really.

The car murmured contentedly and accelerated away from the stop sign, heading half way down the street and turning left into a drive way, pausing before an imposing and bare brick wall with a heavy, black iron gate leading to a further tree lined drive. He couldn't see the house from here but apparently there was one. The gate had none of the beautiful scrolling of the others, rather it loomed high overhead and frowned down at the car, angry that someone would dare bring in something so soiled and disgusting as the night hawk sitting shotgun.

"So, this your place or are you just the delivery boy?" Duo snickered, thumbing his nose at the gate as it swung open.

"Do you like it?" the man said smoothly and Duo gritted his teeth. There was something wrong in that voice, false, hateful. It made Duo want to claw his ears off of his scalp.

"I don't care, just so long as I get paid," the braided man snorted, crossing his arms over his chest and staring out the side window at the shadowy private forest they passed. He wasn't playing the part, but hell, he'd just made three hundred just driving there. If the guy didn't want him, he'd still pay to see Duo leave and it would be three hundred which would pay for a taxi back and leave plenty over.

"You needn't concern yourself with that," the man replied. "I never break a promise when it is made."

"Tsch… yeah, and I never lie," Duo retorted with a sarcasm and anger he didn't understand. He only knew he wanted to lash out at this john, make him think twice before picking up a stray from the streets.

"You don't," the man said honestly. "You just don't tell the entire truth."

"And what makes you think you know me?" Duo snapped back.

"I don't think. I know."

Duo stared at him. "You're a real piece of work. Look, I'm not gonna do any funny stuff. I don't do orgies, I won't do someone else while you watch, I am not doing bondage for you, so if you think you can treat me like I'm something you can just use and throw away, then you'd better rethink it. I'm a professional, man. I do my job and I do it well. I sure as hell don't screw just anyone and I won't be part of some crazy, nutso freak fantasy you have to pretend you're gay or some thing or… " Duo was rambling, he could hear how his words shot into the darkness of supposition and hit nothing. The man next to him simply drove in silence, allowing for them to lob past him, comfortable that Duo couldn't touch him.

"Stop the fucking car," Duo finally managed in anger.

The car slowed, stopped. Duo sat in the chair, feeling the heat from the radiant heat seats and didn't want to get out. He breathed slowly and waited for his john to break the silence.

Silence stretched on and Duo broke it because he didn't have the patience to wait. "Here are my rules," and he turned slightly, taking note of the slight nod in the man's form. "I don't do nothing kinky. I'll let you top and when you're done, no cuddling, no kissing. I don't do bondage. I won't hug or pretend to be your baby girl or whatever. And I need to be paid now."

The man moved in the darkness of the car and that warm light slid around the interior like a great cat, predatory and made Duo shiver. He turned his body slightly, feeling how his back had gotten sweaty and stuck to the leather seat.

"And you have to tell me your name," he added. "I won't blackmail you or any of that shit. But I'm not gonna keep not knowing who you are. Besides, I know where you live."

The man nodded again as he rose up and searched for his wallet in his back pocket. Duo felt himself stir, watching the trim waist slide against the fine cotton of the man's shirt. The man's thighs strained against the well tailored pants and Duo could see the slight rise of fabric against a well toned flank and rear end. The sight was enough to leave him with an itch to crawl out of his skin.

"You may call me Heero," and because he was talking, Duo could look at his mouth. He had looked into those eyes once and he didn't dare do it again. "And I expect that with the drive back to your home and the hour, I should have you home by three and that will be twelve hundred?" At Duo's dumb nod, the man slipped finger and thumb into the wallet, drawing out bills and counting them.

Duo bit the inside of his mouth until he tasted blood.

"Would you like to walk? I will meet you at the front door." The sounds of doors unlocking shocked Duo and he tore his eyes away from those lips. "If you would care to, that is," the man… Heero, added. "It seems to me that you are a tad apprehensive."

'More like scared shitless,' Duo thought ruefully and nodded, breaking out of the car with a gulp of the fragrant air. He watched the door slowly close and heard the purr leave. Only after the last blink of red had gone and the moon light spilled down onto the small lane, was he able to engage his brain once more.

Rubbing his eyes, Duo looked down at his empty hands and bent his head, pushing the palms of his hands into his eyeballs with a low groan. "What'm I doing?" he murmured to himself before he began the walk in the darkness toward the house.

He had to get that money, right?

The walk took a lot longer than he'd have expected. It was uphill and his boots hurt. An ache had begun in his lower back from having his hackles raised for so damn long and he began to wonder if maybe it wouldn't be a good idea just to go back the way he'd come.

It was strange, rounding that last corner and coming into view of a house so large he wouldn't be able to walk around the damn thing and make it back to the front door by morning light. He ought to have been able to see it before, actually. Maybe if it had been light outside. Just some things are really hard to notice in the dark.

The house had the same imposed upon attitude of the gate. As he approached the front door, he felt like a church mouse, tucking a ragged fur coat around itself. The silver car was nowhere to be seen and most of the house was in darkness. Strange, because Duo had been to a fancy house more than once and it always seemed the rich liked to show how little they cared for their electric bills, they left lights on in almost every room sometimes.

Still one window, low and to his right, had a small lamp on in the window. It was the same, rosy gold glow of the inside of the car and in its reach, he could make out a high backed chair of blood red and a while sleeved arm ending in a hand which clasped a small book. The rest of the person was lost to sight, but it was fairly obvious they were waiting up.

"Don't tell me I beat you, Mister Hero," Duo chuckled to himself as he mounted the stops and stared at the incensed door face. A heavy brass knocker waited him and he hesitated. It just seemed at that moment as if he was on the brink of something very surreal. He reached for it and hummed 'I need a Hero' to himself as he did so.

"Are you sure?" a whisper broke in from behind him.

With a yelp Duo spun around, clutching his hands to his chest and staring into the dark shadows of the front porch. A long legged figure leaned on a railing and moon touched up long silver hair. Duo could sense the oozing sexuality dripping off of it. Where his john made him feel disgusting, dirty, and afraid, this man was almost coming home.

"Sure of what?" Duo shot back, arching a brow and tilting his hips and smirked.

"If you want to enter. All you do it knock, you see. One knock and he'll open the door to you. In fact, you needn't even knock. You need only open it up. He's been waiting for you. But do you want to? Do you know what it will mean?"

Duo took another step back toward the first step and the railing. He could see the man's eyes glittering now, beautiful and very tame compared to the wild light in those blue oceanic orbs from before.

"Who are you?"

The silver haired man smirked. "Who do you want me to be, beautiful?"

Duo drew back. "That's my game."

"Mine too," the man laughed pleasantly. "So if you need a name. How about Zechs? I'm just one of his servants." He jerked his head toward the window and shrugged. "Fair enough?"

"You work for Heero?" Duo noticed how Zechs winced minutely at the speaking of Heero's name.

"Not exactly. I'm more of a free agent. But, well, he's got a lot of clout in my business. I don't do what he says then I am back on the streets again." The man's grin widened.

Duo stared at him. "Fuck me," he whispered. "So he's blackmailing you?"

The man shrugged. "I can't say anymore."

"What did you say? About if I know what it'll mean?"

"Ahh," Zechs smiled softly and pushed away from the railing, mounting the stairs and stopping just a few feet from Duo. His scent of expensive cologne and whiskey on his breath tangled with Duo's nose. Duo hadn't realized until that smell that he'd been missing something. The forest, the house, the car, Heero, nowhere had he smelled anything offensive. It had all been almost beautiful, fragrant, sickeningly sweet.

"You gonna tell me?" Duo growled in impatience.

"Well," Zechs gave a casual toss of his head, grinning. "You see, it's different for everybody. But it's the same. Nothing will ever be the same. You'll never be able to take the same road. He'll want to set you up in a whole new place, a new house, a new hair do. He'll ask you to change for him and he'll want you to love him more than anyone else in the world." Zechs laughed at Duo's look of horror. "Oh yes. Master and servant, that'll be you. And once you enter in, you can't get away. Not without a real struggle."

Duo shook his head. "That's sick."

Zechs reached out, tracing fingers, warm and soft against Duo's cheek. "He'll treat you like a child. He'll make you do things, go places you don't want to go. He'll make everything that you eat sour in your mouth and he'll turn you into a robot, like all the rest of them. A mindless drone. You'll do hellish things for him."

Then the silver haired creature sighed heavily. "Look, I'm just trying to tell you for your own good. I think you should know. And I think you should hide. He knows who you are now. He'll search for you. You aren't safe any longer. I can hide you if you want. I can keep you safe from him."

Duo stared at the man in front of him, feeling drowsy from the heat off of the man's fingers. "I'm… not sure. Heero… he…" This was too strange. Was life like this? Was this even real? It was starting to feel more like a dream than anything now. "I… I just want to go home," he whispered, leaning into the touch on his skin.

"Of course," Zechs whispered and with a triumphant smile slipped his arm around Duo's waist. "Come with me."

Duo took a step, led and helped, then paused.

"But … the money?"

"Shh, don't worry. I'll give you everything you could ever want, my beauty," came the sibilant whisper and Duo smiled in relief.

Duo leaned his head on a broad shoulder in relief. He'd be kept safe. This man would keep him safe. Keep him safe from Heero.

They crossed the second stair and Duo watched his foot step into a small rectangle of light coming from that window at the side, the color flared against his boot, flashing back up into his eyes. With a sudden start, he glanced quickly to the window and found himself frozen by an electric blue gaze, flared with anger.

Duo shrank back from the look Heero was giving him, feeling less like the church mouse and more like a worm, stinky, disgusting, covered in slime. And he wanted nothing more than for Heero to not hate him. It was too frightening to be hated by those eyes. They held everything Duo was in them. He felt held in them even as he wanted nothing more than to cower. And he couldn't remain. With a cry he broke away from Zechs and ran down the drive, into the forest.

He couldn't hear Zechs behind him. He ran instead for the gate he knew would be at the bottom of the hill. A wind broke through the trees and suddenly the moonlight was gone. The drive washed in inky blackness and a scream of terror broke from him. A shadow cast over him, across the way before him, he stumbled, breaking out into a sob as his knee hit the asphalt, his palms stung when he scrambled back to his feet and kept on.

Above him, the wind roared and Duo looked up, trying to see the clouds. Yet to the edges the stars remained. Instead, over him shadows blocked out the lights, looming shadows with arms or wings or… or tentacles or…

Another scream and Duo fell to the ground, covering his head, scrambling for the edge of the road, for a tree, burying his head into the roots. Trembling he listened to the roaring overhead, like a storm and unlike any storm he'd ever heard. He dug fingers into the dirt around the base of the tree, crying out for help until the thought that there was no help here became clear at which time he merely dug and sobbed like a broken child.

Fingers ghosted over his bare back, cutting his skin and the storm came closer, he jerked away from the touches, like whips or flapping coat tails, but he could only get further into the tree roots. "No! no! no no nonononononooo!" his chant became a mantra and he closed his eyes tightly, waiting for darkness of a different kind to come over him.

No. no. no. no. no. no. God help me, no.
'Hush.'
No. not now. Not ever.
'Sleep, Duo. Just sleep.'
No. Can't sleep. They'll get me.
'No, Duo. No one will get you. Just sleep.'
I am asleep. Aren't I?
'Well now, maybe you are. Would you like to wake up?'
Yes. Please?
'Okay, my dearest one. Wake.'

Duo struggled up from the tangle of sheets, his body covered in sweat. Eyes wide and his fingers clutching his chest, he stared at the afternoon sun slanting across his bed and the one leg that had escaped from the sheets. He was nude, he was home, he was…

"A dream?" he rubbed his face, shuddering away from it. It had seemed so real. Everything had seemed so real. Turning, he looked around him, taking in his room, the sound of snoring came through his open doorway. Suzie was still asleep.

Standing, Duo reached for his pants folded neatly across the back of a chair. He never folded his pants. What was this? Was he that out of it last night? Fear struck him. Maybe it hadn't been a dream? Someone must have slipped him some acid or something. But wouldn't he still be tripping? Shit, it had taken a long time and he hadn't gotten any drinks from anyone. He hadn't put anything into his body.

With a groan, he fished into his pockets, pulling out the money he'd made last night with all of the hand jobs. Thumbing through, he counted. "Five, ten, twenty, twenty five, thirty, forty, forty one, two, three, four, jerk stiffed me, forty nine…" and stopped.

"One, two… three…." he stopped at three hundred, letting the money slip out of his hands. He already knew how much would be there.

Twelve hundred.

A/N: ((Well now! Thank you for those reading. And for those thinking about the other stories, I promise I'll get on them in January. I'm not home and this story hasn't any real plot or ending in sight, so I didn't feel badly getting it going. The others will take precedence… BOTS has half of the next chapter done, I only need to get home to finish it up! Yay!

Anon: I certainly hope it becomes interesting. This idea has been knocking around in my head for years now. I hope it proves not to be the general run-of-the-mill story.

Rebreiwien: Oh dear! I hope I don't disappoint you! It's not a retelling of Pretty Woman. Or maybe it is, on some level. Anh… you'll have to be the judge of that.))