AN: CHAPTER TWO HERE, NOTHING MORE TO SAY EXCEPT THAT I STILL DON'T OWN ANYTHING

Chapter Two

Wufei was awoken by a boot colliding with his gut. Well, awoken from being knocked unconscious, that is. Winded, he gasped for breath that didn't come as the steel-toed boot once again found its way to Wufei's abdomen. He retched and attempted to curl in on himself, but the boot found its way to his gut once again and he collapsed.

Abstractedly he recognised the hard concrete underneath him as being probable indication that he was in an Oz cell. That would explain the steel-capped boots occupying his somewhat hazy vision. Turning his vision from the blurry boots, he saw the three other pilots were also in the small cell. Trowa and Quatre were close to each as they always were and Heero sat alone, as he always did.

A second pair of steel-toed boots entered his field of vision, distinguished from the first pair by the fact that they were slightly scuffed. A calloused hand grabbed him by the collar and he found that his movements were lethargic, too lethargic; enough to suggest that he'd been drugged at some point.

He looked into Scuffed-boots sneering face and looked away, the other man was standing just behind him, his hair, Wufei nodded abstractedly, was very greasy. Scuffed-boots sneered at him as Greasy pulled a switchblade from the pocket of his khaki uniform.

He felt rather than saw the vicious blade being pressed against his neck and wondered uselessly where his katana was. Scuffed-boots spoke then, his voice nasal,

"He's pretty for a Gundam Pilot."

Greasy sneered and spoke, his voice twice as greasy as his hair,

"He may be a Gundam Pilot, but I bet he's still a good fuck."

Scuffed-boots snickered,

"You wanna find out?"

Greasy leered in Wufei's face,

"Gonna fuck you, pretty boy."

"That's really not a good idea."

Wufei felt Greasy and Scuffed-boots freeze and heard Quatre's muted gasp behind him. He knew he recognised the voice, but with the drugs in his system, he couldn't work out who it belonged to. The voice continued,

"Now I suggest that you put Pilot 05 down and sign yourself on for Punishment Duty until I say otherwise."

Scuffed-boots dropped him to the ground with a thud, but Greasy complained,

"But sir…"

The voice was much less amiable now, not that it had been to begin with.

"That wasn't a suggestion. And if you're not out of my sight within the next ten seconds, I'll have you both thrown in the neighbouring cell. Now get out of my sight, and thank whatever deity you believe in that I found you, not His Excellency. Now."

Greasy and Scuffed-boots practically ran from the cell. Wufei felt himself being lifted again, but much more carefully and then the blurred face and concerned violet eyes of Major Duo Maxwell filled his vision. Duo spoke softly now,

"Are you okay, Chang?"

Wufei tried to find his voice, but he couldn't and merely settled for shaking his head numbly. He felt his legs wavering and Duo's arm came around him, supporting him gently.

"If they hurt you badly, Treize'll flip."

Wufei managed to find his voice then,

"Don't tell him…"

Duo sighed slightly,

"I'm afraid that's not your choice."

Heero spoke up then, his voice icy,

"What does Khushrenada have to do with this?"

Duo smirked,

"Everything, gorgeous."

Wufei knew that if he were more awake, he would be gaping right now. There was no mistake that Duo was flirting with Heero. Nobody flirted with Heero, except that deranged Peacecraft onna, but that was her idiocy showing through. Wufei would have commented on this, except for the fact that his legs were giving out on him, as was his consciousness.

Happily in the oblivion of unconsciousness, he didn't hear Duo cursing a blue streak that left Quatre flushed scarlet. Nor did he hear Duo yelling for two Oz soldiers to come running. As such, he did not feel himself being lifted and carried from the cell.

Wufei awoke once again in the familiar comfortable luxury of Treize's bed. For a moment he wondered why he was alone in the silken expanse of sheets, then the pain in his head and his gut registered the events of the previous day. He opened his eyes a crack and then groaned as the sunlight penetrated his vision. He heard someone cross the room away from him and within moments the curtains had been drawn, plunging the room into a comfortable darkness.

He tried to sit up in the bed to work out exactly who was in the room with him, but he found that lifting his head was an unbearable effort and he allowed his head to fall back to the satin pillows. Wufei heard the footsteps approaching the bed again and he managed to open his eyes enough to look into Duo's concerned face. The OZ officer helped him sit up and handed him a glass of water which he sipped at absently. When he was satisfied that Wufei was comfortable, he asked,

"How you feeling, Chang?"

Wufei ignored his question and asked one of his own,

"Where are the others?"

Duo smirked,

"Treize is driving back to the base as we speak, and the other pilots are sitting next door, plotting my downfall most likely."

Wufei frowned and ignored what was probably only half spoken in jest.

"Why are you helping us?"

The question could have referred to the Gundam Pilots, but both Duo and Wufei knew that it was not really,

"Because I care about Treize and I want to see him happy, and you can do that in a way no-one else can."

Wufei frowned, still not completely convinced,

"And you don't care that I'm your enemy?"

Duo smiled, a secret smile that suggested he knew something no-one else did, Wufei thought that if he wasn't aching from at least fifteen different places, he would find that smile very annoying.

"You are not my enemy Chang Wufei."

Wufei wanted to speak, to object, to ask who was his enemy is they were not. But Duo must have guessed this and continued speaking before he could frame any of his questions properly,

"As is, your friends out there are probably starting to think of as many different ways to kill me as possible, so I'll let them in to see you before they try to kill me with a drinks coaster."

However, before Duo could open the door, it was flung open from the outside. Wufei caught a brief glimpse of the three other pilots sitting in Treize's office, looking a variety of confused to annoyed. Even as he saw this, he saw Duo come to attention as a furious Treize Khushrenada half-ran into the room, the door slamming shut behind him.

Abstractly, Wufei noted that Treize was wearing his full dress uniform, meaning he must have run out of some formal dinner, reception or meeting to come to Wufei's side. Treize stopped just before the bed and turned his Artic glare on Duo,

"How did this happen?"

Duo seemed unaffected by the icy question and answered calmly, concentrating on a point somewhere to the left of Treize's left ear.

"We are not entirely sure yet, sir. They were captured by an unknown party some time last night and I discovered them at 0300 hours this morning while I was conducting a surprise inspection. They had been administered chloroform and I discovered two recruits attempting to rape pilot 05. I placed them on indefinite punishment duty and brought 05 here for medical attention for his six broken ribs. Colonel Merquise and Lieutenant Noin are conducting a further investigation as we speak. There is some suggestion of Romefeller involvement, but the only evidence that we have so far is entirely circumstantial."

Treize glowered darkly,

"I want that evidence, Major."

Duo smirked slightly, then regimented his expression once again,

"Permission to use creative information retrieval techniques, Sir?"

Treize rolled his eyes in resigned amusement,

"Granted. Just don't make such a mess this time."

Duo smirked, wider and showed a madness in his eyes,

"I couldn't help it, I just got lost in the moment."

Then Duo's eyes cleared, or a wall came up inside them. Whichever it was, the mad joy showing in the before was gone, and when he spoke, his voice was more level,

"Sir, might I advise speed as the better part of valour in these circumstances. Or at least the best way to keep your head attached to your body."

Treize arched an elegant eyebrow,

"Why so?"

Duo rolled his eyes,

"Because there are three Gundam Pilots in the other room plotting, if you're lucky, the best way to make you a head shorter."

Treize sighed and swore whole-heartedly in German for almost three solid minutes. Then he turned back to Duo and spoke calmly,

"Is there anything else, Major?"

Duo smirked,

"Your Great Aunt Dotty called, inviting you and those 'two nice young men you work with' to her hundredth birthday party."

Treize seemed greatly disturbed by this and paled rapidly,

"Dear God, tell me you did not say yes."

Duo rolled his eyes again,

"Do you take me for some kind of idiot? Every time that hellion of a woman sees me, she pinches my cheeks so hard that it stings, and she wears more perfume than you'd find in a bordello, not to mention the fact that she's positively caked in powder."

Treize seemed to calm slightly,

"So you said no?"

Duo nodded,

"I politely and sadly declined her kind invitation, as the war keeps us all from these more pleasant occupations."

At Treize's sceptical look, he defended himself,

"I didn't lie to her; I just refrained from mentioning that the more pleasant occupations I was referring to didn't include her torturous parties."

Treize rolled his eyes,

"Never tell a lie, indeed."

Duo smirked slightly,

"There is a difference between lying and avoiding the truth. I didn't say anything that wasn't true, I just happened not to mention some of the less palatable truths."

Treize sighed,

"Escaping on a technicality again, are you?"

Duo smirked wider,

"I prefer to think of it as self-preservation, unless you actually want to go to one of your Great Aunt's torture sessions."

Treize rolled his eyes,

"Funny, Maxwell, very funny."

Duo grinned, but then his eyes caught on the bruising purpling Wufei's cheek and his face grew more serious,

"Do you want me to begin the investigations immediately, sir, or would you like my assistance with our new guests?"

Treize considered this for a moment and then said,

"Colonel Merquise and Lieutenant Noin are competent enough to manage the investigation, even if they do not have your taste for creative information retrieval. No, Major, you will remain here for the moment, and help entertain our new guests."

The madness that had been in the Major's eyes previously returned for a second and Treize reconsidered his comment,

"By entertain, I mean keep out of trouble, and in one piece. Is that understood, Major?"

The insane gleam flickered for a moment, but then Duo's eyes cleared and he pouted slightly,

"You ruin all my fun."

Treize frowned,

"I most certainly do not. However, it would be rude to have your kind of fun with the guests."

Duo nodded and changed the subject,

"The Doc says Chang's not to leave the bed for another couple of days, so you have medical permission to keep him there by any means."

There was a wicked gleam of a different kind in the Major's eyes now, but it seemed safer, less wild. Treize quirked an elegant eyebrow, and asked,

"What does the Doctor know?"

Duo smirked,

"Nothing. I didn't tell him anything, and he knew better than to ask any questions."

Treize nodded,

"Aside from not getting up for another two days, what were the Doctor's other orders?"

Duo smirked and reeled off the answer, with his own little additions,

"Two more days bed rest, but unfortunately he's not allowed to undergo any strenuous physical activity during that time. He's not to be overfed, but he should try to eat as much as possible, as he's showing signs of slight malnutrition. No stress, and plenty of sleep are also recommended."

Treize nodded again and turned to Wufei,

"Bed rest. That means if you try to get out of that bed before the Doctor says you can, I'm chaining you to it."

Wufei scowled and Duo snickered,

"Chains, eh? I'm not sure that I should be listening to this conversation."

Treize frowned at Duo and said,

"No, you shouldn't. So go next door and keep our guests out of trouble, and that's an order Major."

Duo smirked, turned on his heel and sashayed out of the room with a jaunty little wave at the still-fuming Wufei. Treize turned his attention back to Wufei,

"How are you feeling?"

Wufei scowled,

"I am perfectly fine. Now, let me up."

Treize frowned,

"Most certainly not."

Wufei scowled even harder,

"I'm not some weak onna, I'm perfectly capable of getting out of this bed and talking to the others myself."

Treize's expression was resolute,

"Under no circumstances whatsoever. The Doctor said you are to stay in that bed and in that bed you will remain until he says otherwise. However, I will let the others in here, seeing as you cannot go out there. I feel they have been too long near my computers anyway."

And with that comment, Treize left a still scowling Wufei and went to the door, opening it to let in three irascible pilots and a grinning Duo.

TBC.