Only 2 1/2 chapters before this story is mine! :)
CHAPTER TWENTY (Raliena? and Neph Champion and Kit)
The escape had not been without repercussions. Trowa had been fortunate among the OZ soldiers. He had neither been on duty at the time, nor in any location which was passed during the escape. Few others had had his luck. Though Trowa would not admit it, it had not been luck. He had made sure that he stayed as far away from the probable escape routes while off duty, not wanting to be forced to fight the others.
Thus it seemed Trowa had become responsible for the care of the most important prisoners on the base… Well, there was only one left now.
Trowa had never seen the mysterious 'Wolf' before. But the rumors had reached his ears. Apparently he had been part of a secret experiment, which General Trieze had stumbled across. The man refused to reveal any details, but the results had been obvious to see. The man had been a prisoner for nearly a year and a half.
What Trowa didn't know was what the experiment had been. The rumors were many and varied. One suggested telepathy, another that it had been to do with genetic manipulation of the body. There were many others, but those were the two that Trowa remembered the most clearly.
Very few people had ever seen the man. Only General Trieze or Lady Une could grant permission for someone to see him. Normally only those two, a few scientists and one guard, who primarily acted as food supplier, were allowed to see him.
Trowa opened the door to the cell, not entirely sure what he would find.
It wasn't a standard cell. There was a comfortable bed, a chair, a small table, a bookcase, a bathroom. The prisoner was lounging in the chair, reading a book.
"Chicken casserole, again." The man sighed, "Oh, well, better than nothing. You're new."
Trowa blinked in surprise, the man had not looked up from the book. He looked old. No… Not old… Worn out. Like an often handled and heavily abused book. His brown hair was limp. He was thin.
He looked like a man old before his time, and the feeling was echoed in his bonds, frayed and worn and filled with contradicting emotions.
An old man, smiling brightly - he had given the man something of great value, but he had also taken something of greater value away.
A young man whose image blended with that of a smiling black dog - so much trust and love that burned away into a wave of hatred and betrayal.
A laughing infant, clapping his hands and babbling happily - the man had loved him, but now the thoughts were filled with grief and loss.
"No one warned you about me." The man seemed to smirk, snapping Trowa from his silent study of the bonds, "Gives me a chance to show off… You're a pilot. But you do your own mechanical stuff. You use sandalwood soap to wash… You're either a really good shot or trying to improve. You had a bacon buttie for lunch, with tomato ketchup, in a white floury bap. Breakfast was scotch pancakes with maple flavored syrup… Couldn't you find the actual maple syrup? There's an open bar of chocolate on your person, one with fruit and biscuit in it, but not nuts. You've been near someone who's come from the desert. And… Cub."
The last word was whispered almost reverently. Trowa was slightly in shock from all the correct details that the prisoner had related, without even looking up from the book… At least until the last word. Now Trowa could see light brown and intent eyes staring at him, almost hungrily. But then softening in slight grief.
"Pardon?" Trowa asked when he recovered slightly.
"I am sorry," The prisoner smiled wanly, "I thought I smelt Cub."
"Who is Cub?" Trowa asked, setting down the tray on the small side-table.
"My best friend's son. I haven't seen him in nearly four years now. Not since James and Lily died."
"What happened to him?" Trowa's sharp mind started to connect the dots.
"Dumbledore sent little Harry somewhere safe. You can't have been near him. Dumbledore promised me that Harry would always be safe… And cared for… And loved… I'm not allowed to see him."
"Why not?"
"I'm… ill. I've had a… disease for a long time. It's what brought me to your General's attention. He wants to know who gave it to me… The disease means I'm dangerous once a month. Some people take that to mean I'm dangerous all the time. And I'm not allowed near children without their guardians' permission. James and Lily would let me… But not Harry's guardians. I'm allowed to send him a parcel twice a year. Christmas and his birthday. Nearly equally spaced."
"Born the end of June?"
"End of July… I doubt he can even read them yet. He's only about five. But I hope he liked the toys I sent. Nothing much. Just a toy wolf and some coloring books really… Dumbledore promised that when Harry's about eleven if he wants to meet me, he can. But it's his choice. Not mine. I can live with that."
"You trust someone else? With your best friend's son?"
"Dumbledore swore he'd be safe. At least I get to communicate with him. Some people wouldn't even allow me that."
"Who is Dumbledore?"
"My old Headmaster."
"Why have you not tried to escape? To see Harry? Even if only from a distance? You have a great deal of freedom for a prisoner."
"I don't know where he is. Only Dumbledore knows… And his guardians. And anyway… This," A hand rose to touch a collar around the prisoner's neck, "Keeps me here. If I leave my cell the alarms go off and it sedates me. The freedoms I have in here are concessions to get me to co-operate with the scientists that study my disease."
"What is the disease called?"
"I can't say."
"What is your name? I am Lieutenant Trowa Barton."
"They call me Wolf. I haven't told anyone my name… But I will show you something."
He put his book down and reached into a pocket. A small folded photograph was removed and handed to Trowa. Trowa noted that the picture had been folded and unfolded often, parts of the picture worn away by the repeated motion.
However the image was still visible. A young couple and a small baby - the baby in Wolf's bonds. Trowa was forced to use all his experience in keeping a straight face as he studied the couple. There were several distinct features in the man's face that he had noted in Green-eyes'. And the woman's eyes…
"Green-eyes." Trowa murmured in shock.
"Lily always did have the most amazing green eyes." The man agreed, "Harry inherited them."
"I will return with your breakfast." Trowa announced, as he moved to the door, leaving the tray of supper behind, "May I ask though, how you knew so much about me?"
"My disease has gifted me with an incredible sense of smell." Wolf smiled slightly.
*Well, Wolf,* Trowa thought to himself as he wandered the corridors, *You have entirely too much faith in this Dumbledore of yours. Your Cub and my Green-eyes are one and the same. And if I can help it… You will never meet. You placed his safety in someone else's hands, who in turn passed it to someone else… You have no right to claim it back, just because Nobody is doing the job that Somebody should have.*
xx
Trowa took the long way to get Wolf's breakfast. He had to figure out away to get this information to the others. He looked at the picture he had not given back. He could scan it into a terminal and play with it a bit if he wanted, use an aging program… create something to keep close. Keeping the image on a disk would be good.
But he was letting his mind wander, that wasn't good. "I have to be even more careful now…" With Wolf a prisoner here, and a tie to Green-eyes, his Green-eyes…
The best thing to do was to send the others a heavily encrypted message that only they would be able to crack. More than that though, he had the beginnings of that bad feeling one always got before something absolutely horrible happened.
He picked up Wolf's breakfast and made his way back to the cell. "I can recreate this photo for you if you would like." Trowa offered. It would give him the chance to play with the image while off duty…
Wolf nodded in acceptance. "Thank you very much. I just wish I could have seen Cub, if he had been here…"
Trowa bit his lip to keep from saying what he wanted to say. 'You don't deserve for Green-eyes to even remember you…' Green-eyes was 02's younger brother and all of the pilots were going to do the best they could to protect him from people like Wolf, those that would let another handle the safety of a child that… He had yet to decide what 02 reminded him of. A large cat of some kind definitely… His Quatre was a beautiful Dessert Cat, Heero was a Wolf, and Wufei was The Dragon… He hoped the others could figure out that code, simple and yet not.
He left Wolf to his breakfast and headed to his room to scan the photograph. He was glad for something to do.
xx
Duo yawned, getting up he carefully removed Harry from Wufei's lap. "Thank you for helping him fall back to sleep."
Wufei nodded. "Of course Maxwell."
Duo put Harry back to bed and returned to his own, not really aware of the eyes watching him. "Bed time for me too…"
Heero came out of the shadows silently a minute later, when he was sure that Duo was once again sound asleep. He ran his fingers through Duo's hair. The pilot of Deathscythe was beautiful. He often wished that this Angel of Death had found him on that beach and not Relena.
"I will guard you tonight, you and your brother, Duo, you need not worry for your own safety or about having nightmares." Somehow Duo and Harry had managed to worm their way into his heart and he didn't mind at all.
xx
Dumbledore wasn't sure what to do now. Harry was missing and he had no way of tracking the boy because those stupid trinkets were now useless! What should he do? He wasn't sure, but there was a massive man- no, boy hunt to plan for. Maybe he should call the old crowd and have them search for Harry… his appearance shouldn't have changed…
xx
Duo woke up to the sound of two other people breathing in close proximity to him. One of them was his little brother, Harry, but he didn't recognise the other person. Laying absolutely still and faking sleep, Duo opened his eyes a crack to get a picture of his surroundings. As expected, Harry was on the other cot opposite him, but what he didn't expect, was that Heero was sitting in a chair near the door, covered in a blanket, and watching over both of them. Blushing when he saw that Heero was looking at him, he began to sit up from his position on the bed. Suddenly, he hissed in pain. His ribs were still broken from when he was captured and were protesting the movement that he was demanding of his body.
Heero, seeing the difficulty of his movements, stalked over to the side of Duo's bed and sat down on the side of the bed to press his hand back firmly on his shoulder. "Careful, you are not healed yet. You will need rest until everything is healed…unless if Harry heals you, but we can ask him later. He has already done so for Quatre."
Nodding, Duo leaned back into the pillows, grateful for the confirmation that Quatre was still okay. Glancing up at Heero again, he remembered what it felt like to kiss Heero. The warmth, the security, fire spreading everywhere in his body…He wondered if Heero felt the same as he did.
'Well,' Duo thought slyly. 'There's nothing holding me back from finding out his reaction now, is there?'
And with that, Duo reached up slowly, touching Heero's face gently, seeing the flash of confusion in his eyes, he snaked his hand to the back of Heero's neck and pulled him down sharply, meeting Heero's lips with his. At first nothing happened, then Duo felt a shudder go through Heero's body and suddenly his lips were plundered by Heero's tongue.
Arms made their way around his waist and into his hair, holding him securely in place as desire shot through both of them, burning from the inside out. Letting out a moan, Duo surrendered to the sensations that Heero was evoking in him, arching up as Heero's hand went under his shirt and caressed his back. Breaking the kiss, Duo exposed his neck and Heero began kissing down one side, licking, tasting, then making his way back up to kiss him again, drawing Duo closer until he was almost on his lap. Hands wandering down, Heero's hand slipped under Duo's pants, caressing, until he suddenly stopped and pulled back. Duo opened his eyes, wondering why he had stopped, but then he remembered that Harry was still in the room, on the bunk opposite them.
Oh shit.
TBC...