After Dark
Part IV
By Mieren
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Heero stared in horror as he saw the gutted remains of their safe house in the distance. Without slowing down or giving any indication he had seen the ashes that a short time ago must have been a raging inferno, he continued down the road on the motorcycle he had hotwired. He felt Quatre stiffen behind him, but he refused to slow down to check the ashes. There was no point in wasting time before heading towards the new location they were to meet at in case of such an occurrence. This wouldn't be the first time their hiding place had been discovered and raided and he doubted it would be the last.
A good fifty miles down the road, he pulled off and skidded to a stop in front of an old battered cabin. Nothing as nice as where they had been before leaving on their mission, but unassuming. The first thing to meet his eyes was Wufei leaning against the front door, looking slightly ruffled but otherwise unharmed. Heero walked up to him stiffly, speaking tersely.
"What happened?"
"We were located," Wufei answered sullenly, sounding mortally insulted at being caught off guard. "Trowa and Duo were captured." When he saw Heero's jaw tighten dangerously, he stepped back, fearing for his health.
"Do you know where they are now?" Heero asked. Wufei could swear that he heard enamel cracking.
"Yes. Both were taken to the base three hours north of here."
"Do you know what rooms they're in?" Quatre asked, breaking in to the conversation for the first time.
"They're still being interrogated," Wufei admitted, refusing to look directly at Heero. He had the feeling that he was about to be decked.
Heero looked like he was about to respond but he paused, one eye twitching in concentration. Without giving any explanation, he spun quickly and leveled his gun towards the road, his aim steady. Wufei and Quatre looked at him quizzically, but both knew better than to distract him when he had that predatory expression. After a few moments they realized what he was aiming at. The sound of a rapidly approaching vehicle could be heard. Looking grim, the other two pilots raised their firearms as well.
An Oz jeep swerved wildly, falling into a tidy spin that ended a good twenty paces from the three pilots. Without waiting for the movement of the jeep to end, the driver vaulted out with hands raised. Wearing an Oz uniform smeared with blood stood a bruised and battered Trowa. Guns were lowered immediately.
"Where's Duo?" Heero demanded.
Trowa lowed his arms and shrugged weakly. "I have no idea. But if I'm correct in what I saw in my escape, he's not in the northernmost building."
"That means nothing," Heero snapped. "They could have moved him there."
"Unlikely, since I blew it up."
Heero glared at the European pilot, who only shrugged refused to give up his calm expression. Anyone who knew Trowa would also know that he wouldn't have done any damage to the base without being absolutely sure that none of the others would be in the range of his destruction. The glare directed at him was quickly replaced with a scowl and Heero stormed into the new safe house, pulling his laptop out of his backpack as he walked and preparing to hook it up. Quatre rolled his eyes and started towards the house to gather a few implements of mass destruction. The Japanese pilot would know Duo's location within minutes and when he did they would all be off on the self-appointed mission of reclaiming the braided pilot.
No one had the time to do more than locate their firearms and explosives before Heero flipped his laptop off and headed for the door.
"He's still being interrogated. That leaves us with seven compounds to search. Six, now that Trowa took out the northern building. Let's go."
Three pilots scrambled to follow him as he headed for the jeep Trowa had stolen, quickly hotwiring the vehicle again. Silence extended endlessly as the four pilots, possibly the most dangerous men in the world, sped towards an Oz base that would be in ashes before the sun rose again.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Duo sat, unwillingly, in a small interrogation room in the far west wing of the compound. Remaining silent through the questioning had gotten him punched several times, but he didn't care since he couldn't feel anything. Sensing that something was wrong, his interrogators pushed up the ante.
"What are you orders?" the man in charge of the questioning asked.
In the pattern he had set several hours prior, Duo simply offered an innocent look. He was backhanded immediately. He grinned widely until another officer spoke up.
"Sir, I think he's a quadriplegic."
Duo froze, eyes wide.
"Explain," the man in command ordered.
"He hasn't once moved anything other than his head and only shows expressions of pain when we hit him above the neck."
"Really?" the commander drawled. "I noticed that he was unresponsive, but I had assumed that it was merely part of his training." Duo put on his best smirk when the commander turned back to him. "Well, boy, what do you know?"
Duo simply smirked again, refusing to give the commander the satisfaction of an answer. What did it matter if they knew he was crippled? What could they do? Slap him around a bit?
A long knife glinted in the room's bright light and Duo flinched. Feeling no pain, he looked down, fully expecting to see the handle of the knife protruding from his ribs. There wasn't one. He almost began to wonder what they had done when loose strands of hair fell freely around his face, no longer than his jaw. Duo froze, the missing weight of his braid assaulting his mind. He scowled darkly when the commander held up the long rope of hair tauntingly.
"Missing something?" he asked.
Duo growled warningly but still said nothing. His silence only served to infuriate the man further. Expecting to be hit again, he was completely unprepared for what happened next.
The commander smiled back at him pleasantly, one hand slipping into his pocket. Without warning, he pulled out a fist with something clenched firmly within. Fingers opened and steel flashed, revealing a switchblade a mere moment before it was plunged into Duo's left eye. Training and resolution came to nothing in that moment. Duo screamed.
Tears streamed from his remaining eye when the commander pulled his blade back. The man inspected his small knife for a moment, trailing two fingers through the blood on the small blade.
"Now, boy, you will tell me what you know if you wish to keep your remaining eye."
Duo wanted to draw back, to fight, to run. He was unable to do anything. Choking on his voice, he tried to protect himself with his voice alone.
"I d-don't know anything," he stammered. "You're right, I am crippled. I'm only kept around because I'm a friend. They don't tell me anything anymore. I'm only a liability."
"So, I assume you have no missions in your current state?"
"No. As I said, I'm only a liability. I'm useless now that I can't move."
"Do your friends tell you anything?" he asked.
"N-no" Duo stuttered, failing to keep his voice under control.
"I'm sure you've heard them talking," the commander insisted. "Discussing what they planned on doing."
"Nothing," Duo said firmly. "I would only be dangerous to them if I was captured otherwise."
"Anyone with information would be dangerous if captured," the commander said calmly. "Why should you be any different?"
"I'm not involved in operations. Why would they bother informing me of anything? All I know is information of things long past, nothing current."
The commander nodded and set the blade on a small table. He glanced at some of the other instruments on the table they had been prepared to torture Duo with. Frowning, he whispered something to a soldier near him. The man nodded and disappeared, returning only a moment later with a screwdriver in hand.
"Now," the commander said, smiling unpleasantly. "I don't believe all you've told me. A fully trained pilot such as yourself would be of great use in planning various tactics."
Duo shook his head frantically. "We plan nothing! Orders are sent to us directly. We never discuss them among ourselves. We do as we're told."
The commander stayed silent for several seconds. He shifted his grip on the screwdriver in his right hand and buried his left in Duo's shortened hair. Duo tried to pull away but could do nothing. He felt the tip of the screwdriver pressed into his left ear slightly, the chill of the metal causing Duo to shiver slightly.
"Wrong answer, boy."
With a quick snap of his arm, the commander in charge buried the metal into Duo's ear. Despite his efforts at remaining silent, Duo cried out a second time as pain exploded in his inner ear. The screwdriver was withdrawn. Duo choked on a sob, feeling the blood running from his ear mingling with the blood from his eye.
"You're running out of chances to answer," the commander said calmly, watching the blood drip from the screwdriver. "One more lie and you'll be blind." He tossed the screwdriver onto the table and picked up the bloodied switchblade. "Lie again after that and I'll deafen you completely as well. How would you like that? Unable to move, trapped forever in darkness and silence with only your lying tongue to keep you company. Or should I remove that as well since you won't be able to hear our questions once you're deaf?"
A young soldier ran into the room, skidding to a halt before the commander.
"Sir, several gundam pilots have infiltrated the base." Duo lifted his head slightly, hope creeping onto his pale features. His expression flashed into despair with the next pieces of information. "We captured one and shot two others. A fourth escaped with the two injured pilots."
"Really?" the commander said slowly. "Thank you, soldier. You are excused."
"Yes, sir," the young man said crisply, leaving the room at a run.
"So," the commander said, turning back to Duo. He placed the tip of the switchblade on Duo's right cheekbone. "You knew your friends would come for you here, but you said nothing."
"I didn't think they'd come!" Duo cried, trying to pull his head back. A hand wrapped itself in his hair again. Tears flooded from Duo's right eye. "I'm useless to them and I don't know anything! There's no reason for them to rescue me!"
"They were desperate to get to you," the commander continued. "That desperation made them sloppy in their work. You must know something very important for all of them to risk their lives to get to you."
"No," Duo whimpered. "Please. I don't know anything."
"And still you lie to me," the commander sighed in frustration.
Duo saw a glint of light reflecting off the small blade before a flash of brilliant white flooded his vision, accompanied by searing pain. Duo's scream echoed off the walls of the small room long after his vision faded to black. The hand in his hair tightened and wrenched his head back. The cold tip of the bloodied screwdriver was placed against his ear.
"Last chance, boy," a low voice hissed just beyond his ear.
Duo would have glared had he still had even one of his eyes. No matter what he answered, he knew the sick bastard above him would continue. He drew a shaking breath and tried to brace himself.
"I'll see you in hell, you sadistic fucker," he spat.
Even though he knew it was coming, Duo still cried out when the metal ruptured his eardrum and shattered his inner ear. He knew he had screamed, could feel the vibrations in his throat, but he could hear nothing.
A large hand spanned his delicate, crimson-streaked face and pinched viciously, trying to force his jaw open. Duo knew what was coming and desperately tried to clench his jaw shut. Dizzy from blood loss and pain, he slowly lost the battle and his jaw was forced open. Ice-cold metal pushed past his teeth, pliers gripping his tongue and pulling it out just beyond his teeth. The already sticky blade of the small knife rested against the underside of his tongue for a moment before jerking upwards sharply. Duo choked on a small cry as blood flooded his mouth and clogged his throat.
Movement weakly twinged his pain-dulled senses, telling Duo he was being moved. The floor rushed up to meet his face. Duo laid still, weary and nauseous from blood loss. Vibrations ran through the floor as a large door was slammed shut and locked. Duo vaguely wondered why they bothered. He wasn't exactly a threat. Consciousness slipped from him as his blood slowly pooled around him.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
To Be Continued…
*ducks inside bomb shelter to hide from pissed Duo fans* Gomen! I know I'm mean, but it had to be done! All will be well eventually. Promise, so R&R! Oh, and be warned, updates will be monstrously slow since I'm currently working weird hours. I know I've said it once, but R&R!