Cannibals

By DragonMage

Notes: *V* Hey! Another chapter! Go me! I hope I pulled this off right and it explained some stuff...*laughs* Oy! And a big glomp out to Enigma who gave the longest and most ego-swelling review. Thanks a lot, E-sama. Made me feel really, really good about my writing.

And I'm really sorry it took so long to get this thing out. Life just started getting really busy and I just started stressing out and losing it completely. But I'm starting to pull everything together and I'm getting better.

"I presume you're mortal, and may err."

---James Shirley, The Lady of Pleasure (1635)

Chapter 8

Zechs winced as he looked at himself in front of the mirror in his bathroom. He had returned to the mansion to find that everything was going on as usual, except for one thing: Duo wasn't there. He had came to the decision it was better to get his wound cleaned, treated and bound before he approached any confusing and painful questions outside of the bathroom.

Laid out in front of him was the much used first aid kit, something he refilled and stocked very frequently. The servants never asked anything of it and of that he was relieved and grateful. They all knew he did something dangerous on the side of his day job but he honestly doubted they knew what it was exactly. Truthfully, what man in the right mind would actually risk his life to battle Cannibals?

Reaching out, he grabbed a swab and began to gingerly clean the knife wound in his shoulder. He cursed the hag that put that knife in there. He had pulled it out while getting onto his motorcycle and dropped the knife into one of the small compartments on the bike before driving off. He wanted to check it out, maybe it would give him a clue, a fingerprint. He could have Wufei run it up with his friends at the Corps and find out who's this 'Madame Une' and if she had any records. This was probably the closes he--or Wufei--had ever gotten to the insane woman behind the whole Cannibal and human war.

Wincing and grimacing in pain like a child, he finally got the clotted blood and other assorted nasties cleaned. He placed the red stained swab down on the counter of the sink and sighed. Now came the really painful part. He picked up a cloth soaked in antibiotic to fight infection and heal the shallow yet painful wound. He hissed softly and continued to do what had to be done. He suddenly wished he had the strength to ignore pain on many levels like Wufei. The Chinese man sure had an advantage when it came to healing.

Finally, the wound was cleaned and bound. He was still wincing when he made small movements, jarring the fresh wound and causing the bandages to rub. But other than that, he felt fine. He didn't need stitches--thankfully, he hated needles--but he was going to have to be careful with himself for the next few days, else he tore the wound back open and that was never any fun. That would result in stitches and stitches were *not* fun.

Slowly he pulled on a clean shirt--both his shirt and jacket were now ruined. The shirt went into the trash and the jacket was going to go to a leather smith in hopes it could be repaired. He buttoned up the dark blue shirt and started cleaning up the bloody--literally--mess he had made of his bathroom.

When everything was in the trash or down the sink, he replaced the first aid kit and walked out of the bathroom and into his room. He sighed wearily as he sat down on his bed and slowly laid down, thinking.

He had seen a glimpse of a chestnut colored braid down there. He hadn't been able to see the face of the other gunman down there because a basket with a child had been in the way. He had seen Une clearly, although he really didn't want to. That woman was scary! But he hadn't been able to see her other companion and that niggled at him. He knew only one other person with a braid that long and of that color. He was afraid, really, of what the truth might reveal to him.

<I can't believe it...If it's true, then I'd better make tracks for Wufei's place and see if he's still alive. Gods, we let our guard down and invited them in! It was like letting a helpful stranger into the house only to find he's a vampire intent on sucking your blood and inevitably killing you. What are we going to do?> Zechs closed his eyes in mental anguish. He had allowed Duo to get close to him. He liked Duo! But if Duo was what Zechs thought he was, they weren't going to get any closer or fonder of each other. In fact, the next time they met on the streets might be against each other. And he sincerely didn't want that. No matter how exasperating Duo played himself to be, he was a very intelligent young man with a very deep way of looking at things. And Zechs liked him! He didn't want to hurt him, no matter *what* he was.

<Although...If he's a Cannibal, he must be a new species or something,> the platinum blonde thought, 'species' being the lack of a better word. <He doesn't look like those ugly things we fight almost every other night, that's for sure. He doesn't have claws, fangs, or deathly pale skin. He isn't ugly at all; in fact, he's too beautiful. So if he *is* a Cannibal, then Une must be improving on her Cannibal formula to make one so...perfect. Human-looking. And sane. He isn't a rabid killing machine like those I see all the time.>

But despite the fact the fact that he was human looking, Duo was still a Cannibal. Although, a part of Zechs was still disagreeing.

<He can't be a Cannibal! It's not like everyone has a different hair color and a braid like that can be grown...It's just not seen often, that's all. It could be another person!> Of course, Zechs was only playing with denial. <There could be dozens of explanations why he was down there. And even then, I can't be sure it was him! It could have been anyone...With long dark brown hair in a braid. Sure, Merquise.> Pause. <I'm a goner. How am I going to fight him when time comes? It's pretty obvious he and Heero are Cannibals if what I think is true. That means they're gonna turn on us and things are not going to be pretty.>

He was almost half way through another thought when he heard some heavy boots pad against the thick rug outside of his bedroom. The doorknob turned and slowly a chestnut colored head popped up.

"Zechsy?" Duo queired in his usual cheeky fashion.

Zechs sat up from his position on the bed and pasted an easy smile on his face, something he reserved for the people at the social functions he had been forced to attend out of 'politeness' once in a while.

"Hello, Duo. How was your day?" he asked calmly.

Duo grinned and slid into the room easily. "Pretty good. I thought you were asleep or something. It was pretty quiet in here."

"No," Zechs said, shaking his head. He winced when he jarred his injury a bit, the movement pulling certain muscles around his shoulder. "I was just thinking."

Duo nodded and kicked off his shoes before he jumped into bed, joining Zechs, who, painfully, had to suppress a hiss of intense discomfort. Duo jumping into the bed hadn't helped with his wound at *all*. But he tried not to reveal his pain. He couldn't let Duo know where he had gone. It wasn't that he didn't trust him--sorta--but he just didn't think it was appropriate to tell Duo everything now that he was starting to get doubts about him. Okay, so he lied. He didn't trust Duo but part of him *wanted* to. Didn't that count for *something*?

Duo frowned at Zechs' strange expression. "Is anything wrong?" As he asked that question, his heart started pounding painfully. Without making it seem like he was looking, he stole a glance at Zechs' broad shoulder, right where the knife had been embedded and saw nothing. The blue shirt was too thick.

"Everything's fine. Look. I have some more business to attend to in a few minutes. I'm sorry we can't do anything to do," Zechs said apologetically as he slid out of bed, struggling very hard not to reveal his pain although it was hell to do so. He wasn't Wufei, after all. He could admit to himself when he was in pain. It was just too bad he couldn't curl up and whine like a baby about it, that was all.

"Business, huh?" Duo murmured, wondering what kind of 'business' was Zechs going to attend to. <What if he tells Wufei? Shit. If he does that, there's going to be hell to pay.>

"Yes," came the simple answer.

"Can I come along?"

"I don't think that'll be a good idea." Zechs was already grabbing some papers off the table. "I mean, it's going to be very boring. All I'll be doing is sitting in front of a computer with an earpiece glued to my face while I talk with some business partners."

"I don't know," Duo said casually. "I think it'll be interesting to watch you work."

Zechs smiled and shook his head, silvery strands falling loose and framing his elegant face. "No need, Duo. I believe you'll entertain yourself without me being there, hmm?"

Grinning wickedly, Duo bounced out of bed and latched on to Zechs, almost unconsciously careful of the shoulder wound. There had been a brief flash of pain in Zechs' eyes but it disappeared as quickly as it came. For some strange reason, that flash of pain had twisted something inside of Duo and he almost felt...guilty. But that was stupid! He wasn't supposed to feel like that!

"I don't know...It's kind of hard to find certain entertainments alone..."

"You'll improvise, I believe. You can do that, can't you?" Zechs asked, amused. He couldn't help but fall into the playful mood that Duo always seem to put on him. There was just *something* about the hyper young man that made Zechs want to act four years younger as well. Maybe it was just the enthusiasm Duo seemed to have for everything.

"Of course I can," Duo drawled as one slim finger traced Zechs' collarbone. He brushed over the shoulder wound delicately, enough to be playful and not inspective. His curiosity was quickly quenched when he felt the stiff band-aid material under his sensitive fingertips. <Did he lose a lot of blood?> he wondered absently.

"Then why don't you?"

"Because nothing's fun unless you have another person to do it with..."

"Whatever, Duo. I've got work to do," Zechs said, brushing off the younger man. He was heading for the door when a few words uttered from Duo's lips stopped him.

"There's going to be an attack tonight." There was a soft pause. "I just thought you'd like to know and inform Wufei and Heero as well."

Zechs turned and nodded at Duo. "Then get prepared for tonight." He shoved down the panicky feeling welling up inside of him and left the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

~*~

Wufei woke up feeling very warm and utterly satisfied in that really, really nice way. He smiled slightly, his eyes still closed, even as his mind slowly woke itself up. He stretched, making a little contented sound from the back of his throat, and opened his eyes. His smile blossomed into a full blooming one when he met a pair of wonderfully familiar Prussian blue eyes looking down at him.

"You're awake. Finally. I thought I was going to have to pour cold water over you," Heero greeted, amusement warming his voice.

"And why would you want to wake me up?" Wufei asked cheekily as he turned to check the digital clock beside the bed. It was barely twelve o'clock. "It's still pretty early."

"Well, I thought you'd just like to get ready and look sensible by the time Mariemeia comes home from school," Heero replied easily as he slid out of bed. Modesty didn't seem to be a big thing for him since he didn't have a single stitch of clothing on him as he padded across the room and headed for the door.

"I need three hours to 'look sensible?' " Wufei asked, chuckling. He pulled himself up to a sitting position, wincing only slightly as a strange soreness made itself known in his pelvis and behind. He suppressed a deep blush, knowing exactly what the origins of the soreness was.

"Yes." Heero smirked. "You still have that 'I've just been ravished' look on your face."

Wufei flushed even deeper and threw a pillow at Heero, who laughed and easily ducked it.

"Do you want to join me in the shower?" the older man asked, smiling slyly.

Eyes widening, Wufei bit his lower lip for a moment before nodding shyly. Heero walked over to him and pulled him out of bed. Tripping on the blankets and sheets wrapped around his slim legs, Wufei fell forward and right into Heero's arms. He smiled, recoveringly quickly, and wrapped his arms around Heero's neck.

"Kiss?" the Chinese man asked, his expression soft with affection.

"Kiss," Heero consented. He leaned down slightly and captured Wufei's soft, swollen lips for his own, tasting the sweetness of the younger man again. His hand slid to cup the base of Wufei's head, bringing the Chinese man closer as they deepened the kiss, expressing their affection and care for each other.

After a while, they parted, lips moist and their breath faster. Heero smiled warmly and reached up with his other hand to brush away loose strands of hair that had fallen into Wufei's hair. He released the younger man after a moment but grabbed his hand the minute his own was free. He then threw a mischievous smile at Wufei before pulling him into the bathroom where a warm shower awaited both of them.

~*~

Riiiing!!!

Riiiing!!!

"Always when you're in the shower..."

"Argh--! I thought that only happened in the movies?"

"Obviously not. Do we want to go get it?"

Wufei sighed and quickly stepped underneath the shower of hot water and rinsed away the rest of the suds and bubbles Heero hadn't wiped away during his slow journey down Wufei's body with only his hands and a bar of soap.

"I take it you're going to answer the phone," Heero remarked as he watched Wufei work quickly.

"What if it's Zechs?" Wufei asked reasonably as he pushed open the glass door and stepped onto the dry mat laid outside. He grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped it around his waist before moving quickly out of the bathroom and into the living room where the phone continued to ring incessantly. He managed to pick it up before the machine did.

"Wufei?"

"Yes."

"What took you so long to answer the phone?"

"I was in the shower," the Chinese man answered sweetly.

Zechs, who was on the other line, rolled his eyes and tried not to smirk even though he knew Wufei couldn't see his expression. "Whatever, lover boy. We have another Cannibal attack arranged tonight. Duo just told me. We're going to come over and fill you all in on what's going to happen. Is that good with you?"

"Yes. I'll just have to call Sally and Noin and tell them to take Meia to their home instead of mine."

"Wonderful. We'll be over before five."

"All right. Bye."

"Bye."

*click*

"So it was Zechs?"

Wufei placed the receiver back down on the cradle and nodded, a soft sigh escaping from his soft lips. He turned and faced Heero was leaning against the bedroom doorframe. The only thing that covered the Japanese man was a towel wrapped loosely around his waist.

"Yeah. We have another Cannibal attack later tonight. They're going to come over and brief us on it before we head out," he said quietly, looking tired suddenly.

Heero moved forward and placed his hands on Wufei's drying arms. "You don't want to fight, do you?"

"No. Yes. I don't know, Heero. I mean, on one hand I'm ready to go out and fight...on another, I just want to spend time at home with Meia and...and you," the Chinese man uttered quietly.

"You can stay home. Zechs and Duo are probably more than enough to take care of them. Before we came around, you two were already working together and on your own and you never had any trouble," Heero reasoned as he rubbed his hands up and down Wufei's silky arms, trying to comfort the man.

Wufei shook his head. "No. It's okay. I'm going. I just need to get some rest. Then we'll get ready and start another night of Cannibal hunting."

"Are you sure?" Heero asked worriedly.

Wufei smiled. "I'm okay. That was just a moment of weakness." He pulled away from Heero and walked back to the bedroom.

~*~

A few hours later Zechs and Duo showed up, both of them dressed in their fighting gear with their weapons neatly hidden away in the many pockets and straps they were wearing. They went over the area that was being attacked and traced their path along the map on the kitchen table. Again, they had decided to split up into two teams and come at the Cannibals from different directions. It was just another shoot and run kind of thing, trying to take down as many Cannibals as possible without sustaining too many injuries at the same time. It was a simple plan and they only hoped it would be pulled off without a complication.

Wufei was pulling on his gloves when he noticed that Zechs looked a bit worried and uncomfortable. He also kept on throwing glances at Duo who seemed oblivious as he chatted with Heero about mindless things like he always did.

"Zechs?" the Chinese man asked quietly.

Zechs blinked and shifted his eyes away from Duo to look at Wufei. "Yes?"

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Wufei frowned and tightened his grip around his glove. "You're lying. What's wrong?"

Zechs sighed and ran his fingers through his bangs in a slightly nervous gesture. "I just have a really bad feeling about this attack, Wufei. That's all."

"What about the attack? It's standard," Wufei said, looking slightly confused. "I don't think there's much to worry about."

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid." Zechs paused. He lowered his voice. "I went after a nursery today."

Wufei's eyes widened. "Did you go alone?"

"Yes."

"Idiot! What were you doing that for? I know you're trained and totally capable but that's dangerous," Wufei hissed, his voice low enough so it didn't catch the attention of either Duo or Heero. At least he hoped. He had no idea Duo had been keeping a sharp ear on anything Zechs was saying and was currently paying more attention to what the two were talking about than bothering Heero.

"I know it was but I didn't want to bother you all. Besides, it was just a quick job. Go in, set up the explosives and get out before you fry your ass. Unfortunately, I never even reached the bottom of the rope," Zechs said bitterly.

"What happened?" Wufei asked lowly.

"I got shot at. And a dagger thrown into my shoulder. I'll be fine as long as I don't pull something I'm not supposed to so don't you start yelling at me about not fighting tonight. I'm gonna do it. But anyway...I just saw something down there that totally unnerved me," Zechs said, shaking his head as the brief flash of that chestnut braid flitted through his mind.

"What was that?"

Zechs paused and looked thoughtful. Then he asked quietly, "Do you trust them, Wufei?"

For a moment Wufei looked startled and taken back. Then he nodded slowly. "Yes...Heero at least. I don't know Duo well enough to trust him totally."

"You might be right about Duo."

"I don't un--"

"Hey! Isn't it time to get going?" Duo suddenly asked cheerfully, grinning his devil-may-care grin. His head was cocked over to the side a bit and he was playing with the end of his braid.

"Eager to kick some Cannibal butt, I see," Heero remarked dryly as he moved to grab his weapons off the coffee table in the living room.

"Always," Duo answered, chuckling. Although he never took his eyes off Zechs for a moment.

Zechs stared back at him, his icy blue eyes betraying nothing.

"Why don't we get moving?" Heero asked, breaking the short, tense silence. He slid his gun into its holster and watched them all with a sharp eye.

"Yeah. We don't want to be late for the fun," Duo agreed, an eerie look in his violet eyes.

Wufei grabbed his sword and slid it into the sheath hanging around his waist. "Come on. Let's get this over with."

They all turned and headed out of the door.

~*~

The wind roared in Heero's ear as he sat behind Wufei, his arm wrapped loosely around the Chinese man's small waist while the other held a gun. Its safety was off, ready to be used when needed. They were quickly speeding down an empty street--but then all the streets in Tier were empty--taking a few turns occasionally before Wufei finally slowed and stopped at the area Duo had pointed out the attack was supposed to be.

Zechs and Duo pulled up beside them.

"This the place?" Wufei asked, looking over at the violet-eyed man.

Duo looked over at him and smiled. It seemed totally out of place at the moment. Suddenly, Wufei began to feel that apprehension Zechs had confessed to feeling. Why was Duo acting so strangely--or was this normal? There was just something very off about the older man right now and Wufei didn't like it. At all.

"This is the place. Me and Zechsy will just take our positions. Then all we have to do is wait for them to come out," Duo said casually.

Heero narrowed his eyes slightly, knowing that his brother had something up his sleeve even he didn't tell him. Sometimes Duo was so obvious. But this time there was something underlining whatever plan Duo had, something unknown to him. Heero didn't like surprises.

"All right," Wufei said, nodding shortly. "Let's get moving."

Zechs nodded, his blue eyes lingering on Wufei as if he was worried for the younger man. Wufei merely smiled and shook his head, telling Zechs that he was going to be fine. Zechs seemed to take that as a good enough answer since the next thing he did was zoom off with Duo wrapped tightly around him.

"Is it me or do you have a really bad feeling about everything?" Wufei asked quietly as he turned in his seat to look at Heero.

Reaching out, Heero touched Wufei's lips with his fingers and smiled, shaking his head. "Don't worry about anything. It's normal to feel like that when you're going into battle."

"Battle, huh?" Wufei smiled and kissed Heero's fingers before turning off the engine of the motorcycle. They got off and Wufei kicked the stand into place. He dragged the motorcycle over to a safe corner of the narrow street and they walked over to the walls, sliding into the shadows to wait.

"How do you feel? I mean, besides the nervousness," Heero asked quietly as he reached out to pull Wufei close.

Wufei, although feeling as if they shouldn't be intimate while waiting for a Cannibal attack, said nothing and leaned into Heero's arms. It felt nice even though it was a bit out of place.

"Fine. Just a little sore, I guess." He was grateful for the darkness as the warm flush spread up his curved cheekbones. But Heero seemed to suspect he was blushing since he heard a low chuckle from the Japanese man.

They remained like that for a while.

~*~

"What's wrong, Zechsy?" Duo asked, looking over at the older man. They were standing on the edge of a roof they had climbed up to in order to get a better view of the soon to be battle field. The wind was cold and biting although it didn't seem to affect either of them even though they weren't wearing much warm clothing. Bulky clothing made it more difficult to fight since there was less mobility so the only thing they had close to being warm was a tight shirt that was molded against their skin, no loose parts to block their sight or movement.

"Nothing," Zechs said, shaking his head.

"You look tense."

"Anyone would if they're going to do what we're going to do."

"But you do this all the time. I didn't think you'd feel nervous *now*," Duo pointed out.

Zechs threw Duo an annoyed look. "Why don't you get serious, Duo?"

"That's hard when the games are about to start," Duo said softly, a dark smile gracing his beautiful features.

"What are you talking about?"

That was when the first screams filled the air.

~*~

Wufei raised his sword and held it out, vertically at his side. He then rushed at the Cannibals that were starting to fill the streets, breaking into the buildings and terrorizing all the people living on that street. As well as killing them. Again blood soaked the dark concrete of the streets as Cannibal and human blood spilled, mixing together darkly and reflecting eerily in the moonlight. There was always so much blood.

Kicking a Cannibal square in the face, Wufei whirled around with his sword and sliced off its head. The head balanced on the stump of neck for a moment before it lolled off and rolled onto the floor, the gruesome face of the Cannibal still twisted in pain and fury.

Heero's gun went off and bullets were flying through the air, taking down target after target. He didn't feel a single bit of remorse of taking down his mother's own people, things he had grown up with and learned around. He felt a certain detachment as the mission made itself known: take down the Cannibals.

He moved quickly, his unnatural speed giving him a sweet advantage over the Cannibals flocking around him. They knew who he was and they were all willing to give up their life to him as long as the Purpose was met. Blood spattered against his clothing, soaking until the blood touched his skin. He ignored the warm wetness and continued to work with a strange mechanical feeling.

Wufei watched as Heero quickly killed and marveled at his speed and efficiency for a moment before he continued his own fight. He dodged a blow aimed at his head, pulling out some of those tiny bombs and shoving them into the mouths of the Cannibals. He ducked away just as the upper body exploded, body parts, flesh and blood flying in all directions. Veins slapped wetly on the ground, still pumping blood through a body that no longer existed.

Reaching up, Wufei wiped his face, smearing the blood along his smooth cheek. His hair had came loose somewhat, bangs falling around his face. He blew them out of his face. Without thinking, he suddenly spun around and held his sword out, impaling the Cannibal that had been running towards him. He pulled the sword out of the heart and moved away quickly, not even watching for the Cannibal to fall. He had more important things to do.

Bam!

Bam!

The bullets continued to fly as Heero shot and reloaded over and over again. His aim was very precise and there were only a few times he actually needed to load more than two bullets into a Cannibal to take it down. There wasn't as much blood on him than there was on Wufei, who liked fighting them face to face than shooting them.

Breath coming in only slightly hard, Wufei dodged a blow and slammed his fist into the Cannibal's stomach, knocking its breath out. He pulled out a small dagger from around his thigh and slammed it into the Cannibal's neck, moving over to the side slightly as the blood squirted into the face of a Cannibal who had tried to come up behind Wufei. The Cannibal growled, startled. A mistake since the next thing he knew he was on the ground, missing a few limbs. With another graceful slash, the head was missing and the body was left twitching, thinking it was still alive and with a head and arm.

More gunshots rang through the air, now coming from above.

Heero risked a glance up and saw Zechs and Duo raining bullets down on the Cannibals. They were pretty good since they didn't accidentally shoot either him or Wufei yet.

Wufei was about to slice open another Cannibal from the chest when a small dagger suddenly embedded itself in his shoulder. He cried out in pain and almost lost his grip on his sword, startled. But he quickly recovered and tightened his hold, finish off the Cannibal and ripping the dagger out of his right shoulder. He looked up the street to see a lone woman standing there, dressed in elaborate robes, her hair up in fancy buns.

Madame Une.

Adrenaline rushed through Wufei's veins as he saw his chance to finally come up against that insane woman and possibly kill her, ending all this pain that surrounded them every single day of their lives. He was about to move in and attack first when he noticed something strange. The Cannibals were all backing off instead of renewing their attack, encouraged by the sight of their mistress.

The screams of the humans were still vibrating off the walls but they were nothing to Wufei as he watched. Heero came up beside him, the smoking gun still clutched in his hand. He was very, very tense. Wufei could just *feel* it. In the distance he heard Duo and Zechs quickly move down the grips and holds of the building until they were standing beside Heero and himself. They all watched as the Cannibals gathered behind Une.

"Well, it looks like there was some fight here," Madame Une remarked easily, her casualty to all the gore around her causing Wufei to feel a bit of unease. He looked over at Duo who was staring at Une with a dark look on his pale features. Zechs had his fists clenched tightly and his gun hand was tightening around the piece of metal in it. Wufei knew that Zechs was just itching to unload a bullet into Une's head.

"It was your Cannibals who did it," Wufei replied, his voice firm.

"What are you talking about? We're only trying to survive," Une demurred as she stepped forward, her slippers sloshing through the blood puddles everywhere. Yet it didn't seem to make a difference to her as the bottom of the robes were soaked with dark blood. In fact, she seemed to revel in it.

"Survive? You call this survival?" Zechs demanded furiously, taking a step forward.

"Yes. It's nature. Survival of the fit and all that," Une said, smiling. Her smile was frightening familiar.

"Look, you bitch, I don't know what the fuck you're on but you're fucking insane," Wufei shouted, anger boiling inside of him. He raised his blood smeared blade. "Come and fight me. I challenge you. If you're talking about survival of the fit, let's see how well you fight against me."

"Are you so confident of your skill?" Une asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I know I can probably hold my own against you."

Une laughed. It bounced off the walls and a scream joined it before heavy sobbing drowned it out. From the corner of his eye, Zechs could see people peering out of their broken windows, watching the stand-off going on. They quickly disappeared, though, when they saw Wufei's sword and the guns.

"What do you know, boy? You *are* a boy after all," Une mocked. "Just a little boy...I was here long before you were here. Trust me. I can easily kill you."

"Then why don't you?" Wufei asked tightly, griping his sword more firmly.

"Why do all the work when you can get someone else to do it for you?" Une asked lightly. She turned her head slightly and looked at Duo. "Right?"

Duo smiled. "Right."

Before any of them could react, Zechs was on his knees and his gun was on the ground. The braided man had Zechs in a hold on his knees that was near impossible to break, his hand wound in Zechs' long, white-gold hair, jerking the man's head back painfully.

"Zechs!" Wufei shouted, startled. Fear lanced through his heart as he moved forward to help his friend.

"Heero!"

There was a brief second of hesitation before he, too, was grabbed, his body slamming against Heero's hard chest. He cried out, numbed. None of his strength or speed could help him then. He was paralysed by his own shock, fear, anger, and deep pain of betrayal. He dimly felt Heero's hands closed in an iron tight hold around his wrists, those same hands that had held him, loved him, only a handful of hours ago.

"Knock him out..." was the last thing he heard before a flash of pain exploded in the back of his head. Then he was falling into the terrifying darkness waiting for him.

~*Owari Chapter 8*~

Finally!! It's done! *dances happily* Comments!!