After Dark
Part VI
By Mieren
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Duo awoke when he felt Wufei shift underneath him, the Chinese pilot clinging to him protectively. He could almost feel the hatred emanating from the dark-haired boy. Wufei growled loudly.
"What do you want?" he snapped.
"You are to be interrogated now," a soldier responded calmly. The soft click of a cocked gun resounded loudly in the silence.
Wufei gently lowered Duo to the floor and cupped his cheek in one hand, rubbing his thumb apologetically over the American's cheekbone. Praying that the brunette would be safe from further torture, he left the room silently, not resisting.
Duo inhaled shakily as the door to the cell slammed shut. The guards didn't even bother to lock it.
Alone with his thoughts, Duo remained absolutely still for several minutes. He knew it was impossible, but he had heard them speaking. He had heard the door pushed shut. Barely daring to hope, he pulled his eyelids against the blood sealing them shut, forcing his eyes open.
Despair ran through him when only blackness met his searching eyes. Tears welled in his eyes and spilled over. He had been a fool to hope that he could still see just because the commander had failed to deafen him completely.
Tossing his head back in frustration shifted Duo's teary gaze towards the door and the thin stream of light peeking under it. The soft cry that had nearly escaped his throat stopped prematurely at his lips.
Duo shook his head. It couldn't be real. He was dreaming. That was the only possible explanation. To prove his theory, he carefully ran his tongue over his teeth, noting dully that the front half was no longer missing. He chuckled mirthlessly.
"Well, if this is a dream, why not go all the way?" he murmured.
Duo tensed his body and tried to push himself off the floor. He didn't move an inch. Growling softly, he tried again, wondering why his body felt like lead. Sluggishly, his arms wormed themselves across the floor enough to be in a position where he might be able to rise.
Grunting with the effort, he forced his trembling arms to push him upright. Several more lunges and jerks brought him to his hands and knees. Even with an almighty effort, he had to use the wall to steady himself as he struggled to get to his feet.
Panting softly from the exertion, Duo brushed his hair irritably out of his eyes, pausing when he noticed the length. It wasn't the former knee-length mass of silk he remembered nor was it the jagged shoulder-length hack job. Rather, it ran just past his shoulder blades. Baffled, he moved towards the steel door.
His hand had barely touched the handle when the door was jerked open. A loud, amused voice resounded through the cell as the guard entered.
"Come on, cripple. They want you to help convince your friend to talk…" The man trailed off when he found himself facing a set of burning violet eyes.
Fury swept through Duo's veins. Before he even realized what he was doing, he had grabbed the stunned soldier by the throat and slammed him into the nearest wall. He grabbed the guard's hands with one of his own before the larger man could even think about fighting back.
"Really?" Duo snarled. The guard only stared at him in shock. "Where is he?" When he didn't get a response, he slammed the soldier against the wall more forcefully. "Where is he?"
"West wing," the soldier said quickly. "Same interrogation room you were in."
"Thanks," Duo purred. He removed his grip from the man's throat and transferred it to the taller man's hair, yanking his head to the side.
Thought fled from his mind as he sank his teeth into the guard's neck, ripping out his carotid. Blood gushed into his mouth and down his throat. Realization of what he was doing struck almost instantly and he jumped back. For several seconds, he could only stare at the form on the floor, writhing in pain as he bled to death.
Blood ran from his lips as he watched the soldier crawl towards the door. Gritting his teeth, Duo reached down and quickly snapped the man's neck. Now was no time to be squeamish or confused. Wufei needed his help.
Duo raced down the halls, still remembering when he was dragged to the interrogation room for the first time. He knew where it was by heart.
Several soldiers appeared along the way, meeting their deaths at Duo's hands. A few managed to draw their guns before being overrun by the crazed American. Twice, he was shot in his mad charge, but he showed no pain and refused to be slowed down.
At this point, Duo didn't care if he was dreaming or not. He was out for blood. The door to the interrogation room was in view and nothing would stop him. He grabbed the handle, spitting out a string of vulgar language when he found it locked. Backing up a step, he snapped out a vicious kick similar to the ones he had seen Wufei perform so many times. The steel door was thrown off its hinges, the deadbolt snapping off under the force of the blow.
The same commander than had tortured him stood speechless in the center of the room, hovering over Wufei with a small knife. Duo exploded, lunging at the shocked man and hauling him into the air by his throat. In an act of desperation, the commander slammed the knife in his hands into Duo's chest.
Duo hissed in a mixture of pain and irritation, baring his teeth. Behind him, he felt his hair slither down his back to its prior knee-length glory. With his free hand, he grasped the commander's head and jerked his arm.
The commander went suddenly lax in Duo's grip as his head pulled free. Following through with the motion, Duo slung the bloodied head away from him. It ricocheted off the wall and rolled to a stop near Wufei's feet. Duo dropped the limp body still in his grasp and started towards Wufei, unaware that he was covered from head to foot in blood.
Trapped firmly in a berserker rage, Duo couldn't see Wufei's terrified expression or his uncontrollable trembling. Duo slipped one hand under the Chinese boy's chin and pulled his head up, peering carefully at the pallid face and wide eyes. Violet eyes flickered towards the deep cut running the length of Wufei's left cheekbone.
Wufei could only stare in shock at the blood soaked figure standing over him. His onyx eyes met violet. He choked on his own breath when he saw the slender, elongated pupils in the intense gaze. What scared him ever more than the gaze, more than the vision of lengthening hair, was the shape of the face before him. He knew that heart-shaped visage.
Duo lowered his face toward Wufei's, pressing his lips over the long slash on his cheek. Wufei tried to pull away but found himself paralyzed by the gentle tongue pushing into the slash. Instead of the pain he expected from the action, a soothing numbness spread through the wound.
"Duo," he ground out. "Stop."
Hearing his name, Duo pulled back, licking the blood from his lips. The stark fear he saw in Wufei's eyes pulled him out of his blinding rage. He took a moment to orient himself, blinking several times to clear the blood from his eyes.
"Are you okay?" Duo asked slowly, still dizzy.
Wufei eyed his friend nervously. "I am for the moment, but we need to get out of here."
Duo nodded and pulled at the straps holding Wufei's arms and legs tight to the chair. He was almost finished when three soldiers burst into the room with guns drawn. Two shots resounded deafeningly in the small room.
Wufei trembled violently, eyes wide in a mixture of mortification and unadulterated terror. Both shots had connected perfectly with the back of Duo's head, twinned holes exiting his forehead. Covered with his friend's blood, Wufei could only watch, horrified, as Duo's vacant eyes slowly came back into focus. The bullet holes closed and vanished before his disbelieving eyes.
Snarling, Duo rounded on the three gaping soldiers, taking two out with his bare hands before the third could even raise his gun. Duo ignored the impact as four more shots thudded into his chest. Calmly gripping the gun with one hand, Duo turned the barrel towards the gun's owner and pulled the trigger for him.
Wufei scrambled frantically with the restraint still holding his ankles to the chair. Duo calmly pushed his hands out of the way and slipped two fingers into the thick leather strap, snapping it as easily as he would a hair band. He turned to the door and peered out as the Chinese pilot jumped nervously to his feet.
"Come on," Duo called over his shoulder. Wufei edged closer to him warily.
"What's going on, Maxwell?" he asked thickly. Violet eyes flickered towards him for a moment.
"I don't know, but I'll work on it when we're out of here," he grumbled. "For now, I need you to tell me the fastest way to get off this base. I know you studied the layout before coming here."
"At the end of this hall, there's a fire escape on the left. After a little over a mile of open grounds, there will be a security fence we'll have to scale."
"Good enough," Duo answered. A smirk appeared on his crimson-streaked features. Without warning, he ducked into the hall, sprinting for the exit and punching out a hapless guard in his way.
He was shocked to find the fire escape locked and barred. Duo moved back a few paces and ran at the door, slamming into the steel monstrosity foot first. Not designed for blows that powerful, the door crumpled and flew off of the frame. Duo ran onto the small platform, cursing loudly into the night when he saw why the door had been barred. The escape route was still under construction.
"Kisama," Wufei growled, peering over the guardrail to the daunting distance to the pavement below.
"We would have to be on the sixth floor," Duo grumbled darkly. "So be it."
Not even realizing what he was doing, Duo turned to Wufei, who had already started to go back inside. Snagging his shoulder, Duo turned the Chinese boy around and pulled him over his shoulders. Wufei made a shocked noise in the back of his throat and struggled to be set down. His efforts increased exponentially when Duo turned to face the drop.
As gracefully as any feline, Duo leapt onto the rail, balancing for a few seconds before leaping off. Wufei cried out and clung to the form holding him, certain that they were both about to turn into the world's largest grease spot on the pavement below.
Duo landed with enough force that he unintentionally knocked the breath out of his unwilling cargo. Winded and scared, Wufei began thrashing again. This time, Duo obeyed and set him on his feet.
"Any direction work from here?" Duo asked. Wufei cursed and nodded.
Side by side, the two pilots sprinted across the open grounds, the shadow of a fence slowly becoming visible in the dim moonlight.
"Hey, Fei," Duo called as they ran. The Chinese pilot glanced at him questioningly. "Isn't it a bit late for an interrogation? I mean, like, what time is it anyways?"
"Around ten," Wufei snapped out testily, slightly winded. "The interrogation would have been sooner, but Heero tried to break in again. They just barely managed to chase him off."
"I see," Duo commented wryly. "Question you tonight before someone has a chance to get you out."
Wufei nodded, not commenting further.
Being highly trained, the two managed to run the full mile to the fence in a little under four minutes. Duo skidded to a halt, jaw hanging open in shock when he saw the 'fence' closely. Scowling, he turned to Wufei, who had also stumbled to a halt.
"What kind of fence is that?" Duo yelled, fuming openly at the obstacle in their path. The 'fence' was a thirty-foot high, steel enforced concrete wall.
"I snuck inside by clinging to the bottom of a supply truck! I didn't have a chance to see it," Wufei snapped defensively.
Their argument was broken up abruptly by the sound of a gunshot. Wufei started to charge in a new direction but was stopped by a hand snaking around his waist. Shocked, he turned to yell at Duo but was thwarted in that effort as well when Duo ran towards the wall, giving him no choice but to run on fall on his face.
Wufei opened his mouth to command that Duo release him. His order dissolved into a hoarse shout when the arm tightened and they left the ground. Not wanting to face the gunfire, Duo had run towards the wall and made an almighty leap.
The top of the wall appeared to be just out of reach. Horrified, Wufei froze, believing that he was about to fall back to the ground. Duo, however, had no intention of giving up and snaked his free arm out, his fingertips hooking over the top edge. Their momentum caused them to slam chest first into the stone wall. Somehow, Duo managed to maintain his grip.
Kicking his legs, Duo managed to propel himself upwards about a foot. That was more than enough distance to obtain a firm grip. He immediately dragged himself to the top, Wufei hanging from one arm. Grinning maniacally, he launched himself off the other side with the cursing Chinese pilot in tow.
In mid fall, Duo pulled Wufei into his arms so he wouldn't get hurt when they landed. Duo dropped lightly to the ground, Wufei cradled in his arms. Before the Chinese pilot could yell at him for the humiliating position he was in, Duo was already running.
Wufei was set to protest when he noticed the speed Duo was running at. It was easily three or four times faster than he could move unhindered. The fact that Duo was carrying is own weight in cargo caused a chill to run down his spine.
When Duo finally came to a stop over ten miles but only fifteen minutes later, Wufei finally vocalized his demand.
"Kisama! Put me down!"
Duo shrugged and released his hold, promptly dropping the Chinese pilot on his butt. Bristling indignantly, Wufei prepared to launch into one of his legendary rants on injustice. His lecture turned to ashes in his mouth when he saw Duo's hair, streaked with blood, extending to his knees.
Wufei's stomach rolled over and played dead. Not even a few hours ago, he had run his fingers gently through Duo's shoulder length hair, striving to comfort him. Less than an hour ago, he had seen that same ragged cut lengthen itself instantly to the current knee-length glory it was at now.
Wanting nothing more than to leave, quickly, Wufei began studying his longhaired companion. An hour ago, he had been a deaf, blind, mute quadriplegic. Now, he appeared healthier than all of them combined.
"Maxwell," he called. Duo turned to look at him immediately. Wufei froze.
In the darkness of the evening, he had expected to see either shadowed regions of his face or the faint reflection of the moon in Duo's eyes. Instead, he was faced with a golden sheen that he had only seen before in large predators. Wufei fell silent, throat tight.
"Yes?" Duo asked when Wufei remained silent.
"What… how… why can you move?" he finally cried out in frustration. Duo frowned.
"I don't know. I already told you that," he responded softly, still peering back towards the Oz base. "And before you ask, I don't know how I kicked in the doors, jumped off a sixth floor clearing or leapt over that wall. I'm as lost as you are."
"Why are your eyes glowing?" Wufei asked stiffly. He immediately wished he could retract his question when Duo rounded on him.
"What did you say?" Duo demanded, looking slightly frantic. Wufei swallowed uneasily.
"Your eyes," he said slowly, afraid to answer. "Why are they glowing gold?"
Duo raised one hand slowly, running his fingers gently across one eyelid. Looking utterly lost, he stood absolutely still, eyes unfocused. Several moments passed in silence before he answered.
"I don't know," he whispered. His voice firmed. "We'll figure this out later. We need to leave."
Without waiting for Wufei to answer, and honestly not wanting to hear any more of his comments on the situation, Duo started moving again. This time he kept his pace slow enough that the Chinese pilot could keep up. Upon reaching the road, Duo frowned and decided to hitchhike. Naturally without the knowledge of the driver.
For the third time that evening, Wufei found himself being carried by the braided idiot. Held over Duo's left shoulder, he waited for the inevitable: Duo scaring the shit out of him.
Sure enough, the moment an eighteen-wheeler barreled by, Duo tore out of the shadows and leapt into the air. Kicking, squirming and lurching, Duo managed to drag them both onto the top of the large truck, heedless of Wufei's nerves.
Relatively safe, the two pilots hunkered down to protect themselves from both the wind and being seen. At the first sign of a city, Duo snagged Wufei, who had resigned himself to his fate, and leapt off the truck. Once they were safely back on the ground, Wufei promptly hotwired a car.
Not knowing what safe house their friends were at, the two made their way to a college campus and walked calmly into the dorms. Duo walked up to the nearest door and knocked loudly.
Bleary-eyed and more than slightly drunk, a young man answered the door. Duo and Wufei pushed him inside and closed the door behind them. The Chinese pilot promptly knocked out the startled student while Duo accessed his computer. After a few minutes of furious typing, he nodded.
"Okay. Let's go."
Wufei grunted and followed him back into the parking lot to their stolen car.
"Which way?" Wufei asked.
"Head north," Duo responded immediately. "I found them at the leaky little farmhouse about fifty miles from here." He fell silent, grinning vaguely.
"What did you do, Maxwell?" Wufei asked, not really wanting an answer.
"I uploaded a few of the nastier computer viruses I know of to Oz. I also informed Heero that we were coming so he wouldn't attack the base needlessly. Oh, and I had twenty pizzas delivered to Zechs." Wufei grunted. "And a hooker to Treize." The Chinese pilot groaned. Only the baka would take the time to annoy those two men for no better reason than he could, especially when they had much more pressing matters to attend to.
Trusting Wufei to find the way to the newest safe house, Duo reclined his chair slightly and fell asleep. The raven-haired pilot glanced at him once, but remained silent, allowing him to sleep the entire distance. With Wufei's driving tendencies, they covered the fifty miles in thirty minutes.
Duo immediately woke up when the car's engine died. Seeing the presence of two other vehicles in the driveway, Duo frowned.
"Go in," he said, stretching slightly. "Three cars at a beat up place like this will attract attention. I'll ditch this one."
Wufei nodded, allowing Duo to leave with the car. He wasn't as concerned with letting Duo leave as he was about talking to the other about what was going on. He wasn't surprised in the least to see three guns pointed at him when he walked through the door.
"Where's Duo?" Heero asked immediately, mindless of formalities.
"He's getting rid of the car we hotwired," Wufei responded wearily.
"Duo is getting rid of the car?" Heero repeated, sounding tense. Quatre and Trowa just stared, looking dumbfounded when Wufei nodded.
"When I first saw him on base, they had cut off his braid, put out both of his eyes and eardrums and cut out his tongue." Heero surged to his feet, looking murderous. Wufei motioned for him to sit back down, understanding the feeling. "When I was moved to be interrogated, he barged in and killed everyone, looking perfectly healthy."
Heero stared at him hotly. "Then what?"
"Then," Wufei continued at the prompting, "he took off my restraints and we escaped."
"How?" Heero snapped. Wufei held up one hand and drew a deep breath.
"He picked me up and jumped off of a sixth floor fire escape. When we reached the wall at the perimeter, he picked me up, again, and jumped over it." Heero flopped back in his seat, looking upset. "We got into town by jumping onto a moving vehicle."
"Anything else out of the ordinary?" Heero asked slowly.
"A few things," Wufei sighed. "His hair grew back while I was watching. His eyes were glowing gold when we were outside. He didn't notice when he was shot several times, either. Oh, and he licked my cheek."
"Your cheek?" Heero insisted. Wufei looked shocked that he had picked the most minor of the incidences to make him elaborate on.
"Right before he broke the restraints holding me in the interrogation room. He was running his tongue through the cut I had picked up from the commander during my interrogation."
Heero frowned and shook his head. "That's not right. It's not in the right order."
"What's going on?" Quatre asked, pushing into the conversation for the first time. Heero ignored him.
The Japanese pilot suddenly walked over to Wufei and pushed his head to the side, staring at his neck. He scowled at the still open set of teeth marks at the junction of shoulder and neck.
"When did this happen?"
Wufei blinked. "When I first saw him. He couldn't tell who I was so he bit me when I picked him up. It's my fault for surprising him like that."
"You said he was shot?" Heero persisted, changing the conversation again.
"Several times in the chest and twice in the head."
Heero growled loudly and scrubbed one hand through his hair in frustration, glaring heatedly at the floor. The growl turned into a sigh and he closed his eyes.
"So be it," he murmured, throat tight. The sheer dejection on his face prevented any of the other pilots from saying anything. The silence extended for several minutes, broken only by the sound of the door opening.
"Hey guys!" Duo called, grinning from ear to ear. "You'll never believe…"
Five sequential gunshots silenced whatever he had been about to say. Blood flooded across Duo's already filthy face from five holes in his forehead. Eyes blank, he collapsed to the floor.
"Duo!" Quatre yelled, running to his side. Heero grabbed his arm and flung him back. The small blond glared. "Heero! What's wrong with you?"
Heero glared at his three stunned friends, his fingers still curled around his gun. Ignoring them once more, he stormed to the nearest chair and snapped off one of the legs. He was stalking back towards Duo when Trowa caught his arm. The normally expressionless pilot's face was twisted into a dark scowl.
"What's going on, Heero? Why did you shoot him?"
Heero didn't have a chance to answer. A flying tackle took him out of Trowa's grip and to the floor, Duo's fingers curled around his wrists. Heero snaked one foot between them and kicked Duo off.
Duo landed flat on his back. Seeing movement around him, he rolled to his feet, barely dodging Heero's lunge. Not to be deterred, the Japanese pilot threw the wooden chair leg at him. The jagged end of the wood embedded itself firmly in Duo's ribs.
Crying out sharply, Duo half collapsed, scrabbling to move away from Heero. He had to struggle to yank the chair leg out of his ribs. The distraction of removing the splintering wood earned him several more bullets to the head. Duo deterred Heero from continuing that line of action by throwing the wooden chair leg back at him.
Forced to dodge, Heero let up his attack for a mere moment. That was enough time for Duo to sprint out the door. A car engine roared to life and the sounds of squealing tires disappeared down the road. Heero swore loudly. He froze when he heard the sound of three guns being cocked.
"Now," Wufei said firmly, eyes glinting dangerously. "What is going on?" Trowa and Quatre stared at him demandingly as well. Heero stared out the door for a moment before answering. The response caused Wufei to pale and the other two pilots to gape.
"He's a vampire," Heero said softly, his voice hard. "And when I find out who turned him, there will be hell to pay."
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To Be Continued…
See! I promised that this section would be longer! I'll try to get the next section out fairly soon, but I don't know my schedule yet… or ever. Make me happy and R&R!