CHAPTER THIRTEEN (Me and Raliena)

Duo lay on the cold floor of an OZ cell, struggling to stay awake. He had not been well treated - many of the men had known people he and the other pilots had taken out, and they had decided that he was the perfect outlet for their rage.

He knew that staying in their custody would mean his death sooner or later, and he couldn't help but wonder if Harry would survive it. The kid had just started to believe that Duo would not get rid of him.

His resolve hardened, and he gathered his remaining strength, pushing himself to a sitting position, determined to find a way out. It was as he was reaching for the various tools he kept in his braid that a loud pop sounded right above his head.

Startled, Duo froze, only to have a warm body fall into his lap. He held in a hiss of pain as the weight pressed down on his injured legs, even as he stared with wide eyes at the terror-stricken form of a small boy.

"Harry?"

Green eyes widened, filling with tears as Harry seemed to be torn between disgust that his 'freakishness' had once again manifested and joy that he was with his brother.

Joy won over, and the boy lunged forward, wrapping his small arms around Duo's torso. "Duo! They took you and I saw it and Wufei said they were going to ex'cute you! You can't go, I need you!"

This time Duo couldn't stifle the pain as his arms and ribs protested the sudden pressure. Harry jumped back as the braided boy stiffened and gasped for air, "Duo?"

"What are you doing here, Harry!" Duo couldn't believe that, after all his work to keep the younger boy safe, Harry had managed to just... pop himself right into OZ's hands. Images of the Church, Father Maxwell, Sister Helen, everything he had lost seemed to dance in front of his eyes. Harry being tortured to get answers from Duo! "You need to get back to Quatre. You can't stay here!" Frantic with fear, Duo's voice was loud, almost yelling.

"I just wanted to be with you!" Harry's eyes filled with tears, his voice shaking with emotion as he shrunk into himself, "I'm sorry! I don't know what happened. I just didn't want you to die and wished I was with you. I don't know how to go back. I'm sorry!

"Come here, Har'. It's okay." Duo gestured with his cuffed arms to the floor next to him, and Harry was quick to take a seat, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. "I didn't mean to yell, I'm just worried... Give me a sec..." He focused on his braid, finally emerging with the lock pick. Another moment, and the lock clicked, popping the arm-length cuffs open as Harry watched wide-eyed.

Shaking the numbness from his arms, Duo groaned in pain, waving off the younger boy's concerned gaze, "I'll live. But, we need to get out, now. Can you do that 'popping' thing again?"

"I- I don't know. I can try... if you think it would help."

Duo looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah. If you don't know how it works, it'd be best to wait until we're safe to experiment with it. I'll just have to sneak us out the old-fashioned way. You stay behind me and don't make a sound. If we get caught, you run and you hide. Wait for me to find you. 'kay?"

Harry nodded solemnly. Seeing the fear on his face, Duo pulled him close, ignoring the pain of his protesting muscles.

"You'll do good Harry. Just do exactly what I tell you and we'll have a chance." Harry was about to reply, when Duo straightened, his ears straining to hear the sound of footsteps that was growing louder with ever second. "Shit!" Moving quickly, he shoved Harry behind him as he moved to the furthest back corner. The cuffs went back on his arms, though he made sure not to lock them in place.

The footsteps came closer, and Harry whimpered softly. Absently, Duo patted his head, whispering "It'll be okay, kid. I won't let them touch you."

"So this is what a Gundam Pilot looks like." Treize stated as he entered with four accompanying guards, "Zechs said they were young, but I never imagined that they were mere children… I had believed that Mister Chang was the exception rather than the rule."

Duo shifted slightly, trying to block Harry a little more. If it had been one or two guards, he would have been tempted to try to fight his way past them and run for it. Even with Harry with him. But four? That was too many. Harry would be in too much risk.

"Bring him into the light so that I can see him more clearly." Treize ordered, "I like to know what sort of people I have been fighting."

Duo threw away the cuffs to fight as much as he could. He wasn't really trying to get free. But if OZ kept his attention on him… They would be less likely to notice Harry.

Luckily, diversions were part of Duo's specialties.

Unluckily, Treize had incredibly sharp eyes.

"Who else is here?" He demanded, moving towards the corner himself.

"Duo!" Harry panicked as Treize approached. Harry dashed to grab hold of Duo's legs.

For a fraction of a second Duo was torn between ignoring Harry, in an attempt to protect him, and comforting the distraught boy. One glance at Harry's face decided it for him.

Duo managed to tear himself free from the soldiers' grips, which had loosened slightly in shock.

"Shush, shush," Duo muttered as he knelt and pulled Harry into a slightly awkward hug, "It's going to be alright. Everything will be alright. Don't you worry."

Duo continued his comforting litany almost on auto-pilot, not knowing whether he was lying or not. His ears, however, were taking in the rest of the conversation around him.

"Would anyone care to explain?" Treize asked.

"I… I… I don't know, sir."

"We didn't pick up any intruders on the security cameras, sir."

"Well, would you explain his presence here?" Treize pressed coldly, "Magic? If a child can get through this base's security, I would say that you have some serious issues that need to be dealt with. If you cannot keep a child out of the high security cells… How do you expect to keep a Gundam Pilot in them?"

Duo shifted his position, as Harry fell asleep on him. Not that this action surprised the braided Pilot, Harry had only just been hanging onto a state of consciousness ever since he had appeared. Harry seemed to be completely wiped out.

Though should he say teleported? … Maybe Treize had hit the nail on the head with the description of magic. Far too many strange events had occurred around Harry to be reasonably explained…

Duo shook his head. It was neither the time nor the place to think about Harry's odd events… He could deal with it later…

If he had a later. Treize had finally turned his attention back to Duo and his little brother.

Duo pulled Harry closer, partly to protect Harry and partially to engrave every little detail of him into his memory.

Treize knelt down to Duo's level.

"What's his name?"

"Harry." Duo supplied after a pause. It wasn't as if Harry wouldn't supply the information himself.

"What is he to you?"

"My brother."

"How did he get here?"

"I don't know."

"Come now," Treize smiled, "You expect me to believe that?"

"No," Duo shrugged, "But it's the truth."

"Sir," One of the soldiers interrupted, "We should use this opportunity. The Pilot seems to care for the boy… We could get some useful information…"

"Absolutely not!" Treize snapped, even as Duo pulled Harry closer.

Duo was holding Harry so tightly, he feared that the younger boy would be hurt or wake. But the child slept on, much to Duo's relief… Harry didn't need to hear what was going on.

"We are not barbarians." Treize continued.

"Could have fooled me." Duo snorted automatically.

"How dare you?" Another soldier went to hit Duo.

"No," Treize raised a hand to halt the blow, "Let him speak. I would not mind knowing why the Pilots fight us so fiercely."

"I can't speak for the others," Duo shrugged, "But I'm the Maxwell Massacre Survivor."

Duo knew he would not need to say any more than that. Everyone knew of the Massacre of Maxwell's Church and Orphanage by the Alliance and OZ.

"That was an unfortunate incident," Treize countered, "But there were Rebels involved. They had to be dealt with. It was they who endangered the Church."

"You killed nearly three hundred," Duo retorted, "Of those… Maybe fifteen… Twenty, tops, were rebels. Half of those killed were kids… and at the grand old age of eight, I was the oldest."

Treize had no answer for that.

"I don't suppose you would be willing to tell me where the other Pilots are?" Treize asked, trying to move the conversation away from the difficult topic.

"What makes you think that we talk?" Duo laughed quietly, "I've only really met Oh-One and Oh-Four. And Oh-One doesn't really talk much… Didn't talk much, I mean. He can't talk at all now… He's dead after all."

"Dead?" Treize frowned, "Are you sure?"

"He self-detonated, remember?" Duo snapped, "Because you threatened the Colonies."

"Not my orders," Treize shrugged, "I personally thought it was rather inelegant. And I heard that Oh-One survived."

"What?" Duo stared at the General.

"Well, Zechs Marquise keeps on sending challenges to him," Treize replied, "He thinks I don't know… But part of this job is knowing everything possible… Particularly when it comes to my Knights and other highly ranked pieces."

Duo was in shock. Heero was alive? Where? How hurt was he, if he was ignoring Zech's challenges?

Why hadn't he contacted… No, that was a silly question. Heero was the Perfect Soldier. He wouldn't go out of his way to talk to someone not important… But then why had he apologized to Harry?

Heero didn't make sense, Duo decided.

"Well if you can't or won't give us any information," Treize's voice snapped Duo back to the present, "There's no reason to keep you alive. The execution will continue as planned."

"What about Harry?" Duo demanded.

"He's just a child." Treize reminded, "What were your ambitions and dreams for him?"

"For myself and the others to be the last of the Child Soldiers," Duo replied, "For his life to be filled with Peace and Love. What he does is his choice."

"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my children may have peace." Treize stated calmly, "Thomas Paine. You have Noble Dreams. Tell me, is he a child of the Colonies?"

"Does it matter?" Duo retorted, "Look, living on the Streets is one of the worst places for a child to be. But for Harry, it was a step up. He saw it as an escape. It doesn't matter if he's a child of the Colonies or of Earth. He's an abused kid. That's all that I saw."

"It's an old tradition that a condemned man is allowed one last wish," Treize smiled slightly, "I will ensure that Harry receives a good education and is never returned to where he came from. He will have a good life… But I cannot promise he will never fight. If he chooses to join the armed services… Then that is his choice."

"I understand." Duo knew what Treize was saying. Harry would live. But it was likely that he would be raised in an OZ loyal family. Duo gently kissed Harry's forehead.

"But sir!" One of the guards protested.

"Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man." Treize countered, "The boy is only four, at most. We have three years."

Treize picked Harry up gently, and left the cell. The guards followed.

"I'll get you back, Kid." Duo swore, "They're not killing me. And they're not sending you anywhere. Just hold on... I'm coming."

TBC...