CH 5

Day 6

The weekends were not much more different than the weekdays. That could be fortunately or unfortunately really. What little if any peace that Quatre's visit had offered him meant nothing now and it had only been a day. Wufei's patience had been tried and pushed to the limit. And while he was still being harassed by the giant oaf T, he at least found a place to practice his martial training away from prying eyes.

The library proved to be his safe haven. He worked on a different schedule then the other prisoners. He had his work time and free time switched so right after lunch he had an hour of free time and then three hours of work, so that the other inmates would have access to the library during their own free time.

The library, being small, and Wufei, being an efficient worker, had been easy to reorganize, clean up and maintain during the first four days. There was no guard posted inside with him, but rather outside in the hall to watch over his door and other inmates in charge of mopping the halls. So during the two hours he had free in the library without other inmates he cleared out the desks from the center of the room and moved through his katas.

They took him back to his center, to his peace, if only for the moment. If only to leave the rage at his friends and the situation, at the thugs, at T, and at being totally alone in the world, it was worth it. He knew he could not control this forever without some sort of place to reset.

So for two hours a day he could do that; he could relax completely. He could drop his constant edge and tight grip on his emotions to replace it with a different type of control. A control made of nothingness. To keep his body fit and give his mind a break.

At night he could do nothing like this. The cell was too small other than for pushups and sit ups. Meditation had been tried. Sometimes it was successful. Sometimes it was not. It depended on whether his mind would quite down from thinking of every detail on the pilots face as they came to capture him, or hunting down every path of his mind for some form of reason to this madness. A why to it all.

The noises at night between cellmates were slightly disconcerting as well. They interrupted his thoughts and Wufei somehow doubted he would be avoiding that aspect of the jail forever. It was not that he was opposed to male on male relations, but rather that some of the noises were definitely not of desire. That was something he could not wipe from his mind. Even though these men were scum bags, no person deserved to be...

Wufei shook his head to clear his thoughts once more and pushed the last desk out of the way. He had two hours to refocus; now was not the time to be thinking.

Stepping into the center of the room he inhaled deeply, cleared his mind, and began.

Day 7

Wufei had learned to start eating while retrieving the rest of his meal from the lunch line. He didn't do it with urgency as it would tip off the rest of the prison mates, but instead he did it with a relaxed demeanor of someone strolling in a park with an apple; the stained cement walls were not exactly a park unless you were on L2, but the idea was the same.

Then when T would challenge him for his food, which was becoming an every meal occurrence, he could easily give it up and not worry about going entirely hungry. He had already noticed that he was losing weight, mostly what little fat he had on him was starting to go. Duo's cookies were becoming an excellent source of fats and carbohydrates, even if they were not packed with nutrients. He was limiting himself to two a night that way it would last until the visit coming up on Friday. Hopefully, though he hated to depend on them, there would be more cookies forth coming.

Predictably a shadow fell over his tray and Wufei casually got up and moved leaving the tray. No words were uttered really and T was obviously irritated. It was interesting that the lack of reaction seemed to goad the man further. He had no way to react to passive acceptance. Wufei liked that. Internally he tallied a point for himself on a mental checklist. He won this battle. Even as T's lackeys were chuckling at his departure, the tension in T's stance and the glare he was sending at Wufei's back had an obvious meaning.

He knew Wufei won that battle as well.

Day 8

Wufei walked into the fully tiled shower room and started stripping down slowly. He had just come from lunch where once again T completed his usual food intimidation tactics that he had consistently been doing every meal. Now it was Wufei's free time while everyone else worked and he was going to take it relaxing in the hot spray of the empty shower facilities.

Walking around the half wall tiled barrier to the shower area, Wufei quickly set the shower on high and hot letting the spray blast over him, washing away tension and aggravation. He closed his eyes and leaned into the tiles.

An annoying squeak started echoing through the shower halls, it was of an under-greased wheel. He chose to ignore it until the footsteps started getting louder with each step. There was a pause, so the owner was at the door. The footsteps started again without the wheel noise added and Wufei felt the man's presence coming closer.

He pushed his hair slick back against his scalp and glanced over to see who it was.

An inmate. Brown hair single tattoo on lower arm. Wufei had never bothered with the man; he didn't seem to be of much importance within the hierarchy of the cell block and mainly seemed to attempt to stay under the radar. That didn't mean he wasn't a threat, after all Wufei was the smallest person in the cell block and the man had to have at least eight inches on him. Wufei turned back to his shower washing himself under the spray with the dispenser soap.

"Hey there." Wufei ignored the man's call and started rinsing off, "You're very pretty you know that?"

Wufei chose not to answer. "Hey, I'm talking to you." A hand grabbed Wufei's elbow. He reacted instantly driving it back into the man's gut.

"Touch me again and see what happens." He threatened. He turned back remembering his promise to himself. He would not get involved in the jails politics. He would not get involved with these mongrels; he would keep his dignity, his pride.

"Feisty, huh?" The man chuckled and snarled at the same time. "That's fine by me. T obviously hasn't gotten to you. I'll just have to break you in myself." The man lunged forward, pinning Wufei naked against the wall under the shower. Wufei forced his knee up and shoved off the wall ramming the man into the half wall barrier. The force broke the man's grip and Wufei turned out of the hold, hooked the man's legs and punched him in the jaw.

Instantly the man fell back, cracked his head on the wall and went limp. Blood was starting to pool and slowly spiral down the drain.

Wufei turned quickly away from the man lying in a heap at his feet; shutting the water off. He stepped over the man's limp form and grabbed his towel from the dry area wrapping it around his waist. Exiting he found the closest guard in the facility watching over the rest of the cleaning crew and stated, "An inmate slipped in the shower. He needs medical attention."

The other inmates around the common area cleaning looked up in interest at his statement. Wufei turned away heading towards his cell as the guard rushed off calling into his communicator for assistance. Wufei knew what the man was going to find had all the indicators of foul play. No one slips that badly in shoes and ends up with a bloody skull on one side and a fist shaped indent on their cheek.

Wufei just shook his head and started getting dressed again. There was no reason to worry about it. If they were going to blame him they would blame him eventually after an 'investigation'. No inmates saw him do it or knew the man's condition yet, so his reputation, or lack of one, would still be intact. There was no way to connect the dots and that was all there was to it.

Wufei started to head towards the library. He didn't have to start work for another half an hour, but he needed to get some meditation in. As much as he hated this place, as much as he didn't want to be involved, as much as he didn't want to associate with these low-lives, he had attacked an inmate. Sure it was out of defense and no one else had seen it; that wasn't the problem.

The problem was that he felt truly in control, for that short stint, he felt powerful, deadly, that everything was right.

And that was dangerous.

Day 9

Never, never, never, NEVER underestimate other's abilities of gathering intelligence. Even in a situation such as a tightly secured prison with several opposing sects that normally would not be within a mile of each other if they could help it. Wufei failed that. By dinner the day before only one or two prisoners must have known that an inmate was entered into the hospital ward with a bloody head and a fist print on his cheek. And a maximum of three prisoners knew that Wufei had reported someone 'slipping' in the shower.

This morning at breakfast, everyone knew. Everyone knew and it was back to day one, but was worse. Each prisoner was staring at him and whispering among their fellow inmates. It followed Wufei everywhere and he could feel himself tensing and coiling and wishing for it to be after lunch, to be alone in the library.

The situation was worse, because now they all knew he could take on someone that had at least a foot in height against him and come out on top. What they didn't know was whether the man had 'his way' with Wufei first or how well Wufei actually fought or even if Wufei was the aggressor or not. It didn't matter that he walked out of the showers with no visible damage to him what so ever, they like to speculate and it had him on edge.

Apparently the man was still unconscious. Either that or not talking.

The issue was that they were interested and it caused them to start attempting to goad him into reacting. To the point where they were actively approaching him and doing more than cat calling. And Wufei had yet to react.

Earlier an inmate in his cell block tried tripping him. Wufei didn't react, just side-stepped the idiot. The guards yelled at them to knock it off. He wanted to rip the man's head from his shoulders. And that had only been the first incident of the morning.

Three more days till Quatre. Just hold out.

Day 10

When waiting for time to pass slowly it is always helpful to stay occupied. That was not happening. Wufei lay on his bed for the night, staring up at the ceiling. He was not getting more food unfortunately and it was starting to become obvious. The cookies would last till the end to the week as long as he did not give in to the urge to eat them. Laying with no distraction did not exactly make the hunger pains any less ignorable.

What was worse than the physical was the mental tests. He had caught himself several times throughout the day briefly wishing one of the other pilots were with him. He was supposed to hate them. He was supposed to never want to be near them again. But he could help it. At least they were familiar and knew when to leave him alone and when to speak.

If Heero were here he would react by threatening everyone and it would stick. Duo would make friends with half the lowlifes in the place, just because he knew the value of an 'ally'. Trowa knew how to comfort him instantly; it was a strange talent that Wufei never had taken for granted. Quatre never belonged here, but at least it would have been a friendly presence.

Wufei was realizing that he needed them. Needed them to the point that it was starting to hurt. And that was killing him.

Quatre was two days away.

Day 11:

T and his pack of mongrels had taken to haunting the library despite the fact that he did not actually read. It was more to get under Wufei's skin. There was actually gathering quite the little crowd of not only T's crew, but various other inmates that were interested in Wufei.

The week was dragging on and all Wufei could think is how to reset himself. How to get by only two weeks into his three months of imprisonment. One more day. That was it. Just one more day.

Day 12

Wufei was alert and standing in front of the bars. He was ready for the lineup; ready to go see Quatre and feel the tension ooze out of him. He had already made up his mind earlier in the week to be courteous as much as possible to avoid the session ending soon. Plus he would be talking with his lawyers and would be that much closer to freedom.

And he only had three cookies left.

The bars slipped open quickly and several names were called out for visitors. Slowly down the list five...six...seven people called.

Wufei was not one of them.

Those seven left for their visitor hours. And Wufei was not going. He didn't know what to feel and his mind was blank as the other prisoners started moving off to begin there morning routines before breakfast.

There had to be a mistake...a simple paper error. Something. Wufei moved through the crowd sitting around to the gate at the other end approaching the guard. He stopped a few feet away so as not to alarm the man, urging, "There has to be a mistake. I am supposed to have a visitor today. I'm supposed to see my lawyers."

The guard frowned at him, but reached for his communication unit any way. "Do we have anything for a prisoner by the name of Wufei Chang?"

-Give us five minutes.-

Wufei frowned at the time he would have to wait, but moved off anyways. The guard would find him, he went to brush his teeth in the bathroom. This made no sense. Quatre said he would come. There must have been an error. Wufei felt his muscles coiling further and tried his best to stay calm. How long was five minutes anyways? This was taking forever.

Eyes of other prisoners were on him as he entered the main bathroom area; they seemed to sense his tension even though Wufei could swear that he was not exposing any outside expression.

Moving back into the common area the guard called him out, "Chang! Let's go!"

He dropped his toiletries quickly onto the top bunk and left. "The warden wants to see you." the guard grinned at him, letting him pass through the corridor double doors. Not what he was expecting at all. He was supposed to be meeting Quatre, not the warden of the prison.

Wufei was taken down the hallway towards the cafeteria and led up a set of stairs just before it. There was another hallway that was shorter and smaller than the one downstairs at the end of it was a set of well-crafted wooden doors. The guard that had been escorting him this far knocked on the door sharply, and a male voice echoed, "Come in."

Wufei was ushered inside and saw the man before him. He was both young and old looking. He had slightly graying hair, but a full head of it. He seemed fit in the arms, but he had a distinctive belly beneath his button up shirt. "Hello Wufei. I am the warden here. My name is Alan Scott." He motioned for Wufei to sit in the seat across from him and for the guard to leave the room.

Alone with a war criminal. He was either very trusting or very confident. Maybe both. He could just be very stupid as well.

Wufei sat across from him not saying anything and not smiling either. Wufei was a little surprised that the man was not more unnerved as he joked, "I know I have two first names. Strange huh?"

Wufei didn't respond. Just waited to find out why the hell he was here.

"I have some bad news for you Wufei." Alan sighed, "I feel that you are here wrongfully and I truly do believe that, but that does not change the fact that you are here and, though we don't know how long, you will be here for a while. Agreed?"

Wufei nodded in acceptance. It was a statement more than anything else. "The reason I called you here is because I've received word that a Mr. Winner will be unavailable to visit today. I understand that your lawyers were supposed to meet you as well. They will not be able to attend. Would you like a public defender instead?"

Wufei was fuming. There would be no visit, there would be no lawyers, and there would be no Quatre or cookies or... He shook his head. It was not often that a public defender was assigned so quickly if the lawyers missed a single meeting.

"Well I'll give you time to think about it. I like you and I would like to keep things civil between us. There's a reason you got that library job so fast. I'm on your side. Okay?"

Wufei didn't move, and Alan shrugged, "Alright, well I guess I'll have you escorted back to you cell block before the first breakfast bell."

Wufei got up automatically to exit the room following the guard stiffly. There would be no contact as promised by Quatre. There would be no lawyers to confirm his innocence. There would be no time away from thugs and murderers. There would be no reprieve.

The coil in his muscles had not relaxed in any way and he could feel it tightening slowly. His fuming had turned to furry slowly and it would not be much longer before it was rage.

They turned the corner of the lower hallway and were ten paces to the doors back into the cell block. He had to calm down he could not give anything away not to these low lives, these criminals. He would keep his sanity and control.

Walking through Wufei stepped five feet out from the doors into the common area, before pausing and noticing the set up. In the center of the room on the ground tier was T sitting on a table smirking and staring right at him. "You've been holding out on me, Wufei." His cronies around him chuckled. Wufei felt a vein in his head throb. Everyone else was watching the exchange from both tier levels.

T stood up and stepped closer drawling, "While you were gone I had a look around your bunk." He leaned in closer, and held up the small package of cookies that he had placed under his pillow during the day for safe keeping. "Look what I found." he taunted.

Wufei saw red, something snapped in him. He back handed the man across the face, slammed his knee into T's gut and brought his elbow down on the back of T's neck as he doubled over in pain. There was a crunch and the body was twitching on the floor.

Another man charged him; Wufei grabbed his arm and kicked the man's torso away, the resounding pop of dislocation was satisfying along with his scream, while shoving him to the ground.

"Anyone else! Does anyone else want to mess with me?" He proclaimed loudly.

Wufei heard the ratcheting of several guns being cocked as every guard had there sidearm trained on him. "On the floor now!"

Wufei did as he was told and felt his arms pulled back and cuffed. He was hauled up and carried out, stunned silence in his wake.

It wasn't long till he was shoved into a square cement box and the door shut behind him, "Solitary! Two months." and the small grated door hatch was slid shut.

Everything was dark.

TBC…