Crying Soul – part 10

Crying Soul – part 10

Heero was sitting in one of those uncomfortable orange plastic chairs you can find in every waiting room. His elbows were lying on his knees and he was staring at his blood stained hands. So much blood… But he couldn’t force himself to wash it off. It would be as if he tried to wash Duo’s life essence away.

He’s used to killing, seeing people die. But seeing the one you care for slipping away from you, seeing every drop of blood leave his body… An unknown emotion gripped his insides – the desire to take revenge. He had never felt anything like that before. Killing was a job for him. Nothing more. He knew that if the victim had been anybody else he would look at the shooting as if it was a puzzle to be solved. Who and why would be the only question he would be interested in. The victim wouldn’t matter.

But this was Duo. He had known him for just a couple of hours, but in that short time the longhaired boy managed to turn his world upside down. He had some feelings for him. He didn’t know how to identify them, but they were strong enough for him to not listen to his orders. Heero didn’t know if he should be angry or confused by that.

“Heero?”

Heero looked up. In front of him stood a young man with thick blond hair and big blue eyes, dressed in a light grey pants and pink shirt. His looks screamed money.

“Quatre?”

The blond man smiled slightly and sat down beside Heero. “You looked so lost.”

Heero almost smiled. Lost… Yeah, that was how he felt right now. As if someone was pulling the steady ground from underneath him. Quatre always knew what to say, how the others felt. He had this talent to know everything about you after the first glance.

“Don’t worry, Quatre.”

“You really like the boy, don’t you?”

Heero looked at him sharply. But seeing the worried expression on Quatre’s face his look softened. The other man didn’t mean anything by it. He should remember by now that there were no malicious reasons behind Quatre’s action. He always meant what he was saying. Heero couldn’t understand how he could do any business with a man like Treize.

“I don’t know, Quatre. He just seems to grow on you fairly quickly. Oh, and he is no boy. He is only a year younger than you!”

Quatre looked surprised. “Really? When you brought him in he looked younger…”

Heero didn’t know what to say. He remembered Quatre’s surprised expression when he stopped in front of the employee entrance of the hospital with screeching tires and Duo up and out of the car. He called Quatre from his cell phone giving him the “medical emergency” password. That meant that Quatre should bring the Team together as soon as possible. The Team was a group of 6 people – doctors and nurses – that were paid for doing their job and asking no questions. The clan used them when one of the members sustained a… work related injury. When he arrived they were already there, waiting for him with a gurney. They took Duo away from his and laying him down on the gurney, they rushed away with him.

And now the only thing Heero could do was to wait.

“Quatre?”

“Yes, Heero?”

“Could you… uhm, could you ask if there is any new information about Duo’s condition?” Heero asked, feeling uncomfortably. He wasn’t used to showing his feelings. Even if it was impatience. Your enemies could use it against you. But this was Quatre. A man he could call a friend.

Quatre smiled, understanding for his impatience filling his eyes. “Of course. I will do what I can,” he promised, patting Heero lightly on his shoulder.

He stood up and walked over to the door leading out of the small waiting room. He opened the door and Heero got a glimpse of Trowa, Quatre’s bodyguard standing in front of door, watching his charge like a hawk. Their eyes met and they nodded simultaneously, understanding passing between them. One nod between the two of them was more than an hour-long conversation between other people.

‘Should this endanger Quatre…’ said Trowa’s eyes.

‘I wouldn’t do anything to put your charge in danger, you have my word’ answered Heero with his look.

Quatre was of course totally oblivious to it as he passed by Trowa and headed to the nurse station. Trowa followed him closely keeping him safe. The door closed itself silently.

Heero leaned back and closed his eyes. He thought about the time when Trowa had been the one doing the killing job for the clan. When Heero was just an unimportant boy, who heard fascinating things about the Dragon from the men at the dojo where he had been training. And then one day his sensei came to the dojo bringing this important looking man with him. He stood at the wall watching Heero the whole time he was there. Later he found out that it was Cameo Kushrenada, the leader of the clan. And Heero didn’t understand why the sudden interest in him…

He didn’t understand until the night when the men attacked him while he was leaving the dojo. He took five of them down before he felt the dart hitting him in the neck.

*Flashback*

His head was pounding when he finally woke up. He didn’t know what happened. Heero cracked his eyes open and looked around trying not to alarm anybody that he was awake. He was in a bare room with painfully bright overhead lights. He laying on his stomach, tied to the gurney he was laying on. He was naked, a simple piece of tape keeping his mouth shut. He felt the cold seeping into his bones.

A door somewhere behind him opened and some men came in. They were talking in Japanese. It seemed as if they were arguing, but his head was killing him and he wasn’t able to decipher what they were arguing about.

Then someone ordered them to shut up. Heero heard steps to the right of him, but his head was turned to the left, so he was unable to see who it was. He froze as he felt a hand on his shoulder. It moved down his back, massaging the small of his back for a while. Then it caressed his buttocks, his thighs and calves before vanishing again.

“I know you are awake, Heero. Don’t play games with me.” The voice was harsh and its owner moved around the table to step in Heero’s visual angle.

Heero gave up the pretending and his eyes opened moving up the black clad body. Oh god, it was Cameo Kushrenada!

He chuckled. “I see you recognize me. Good. Do you know why we brought you here, Heero?” he asked and when Heero shook his head he explained: “We are in need of your services, boy. Our Dragon has been injured and now we need a new one. I saw you fight. You are good, maybe even better than our last Dragon. You will be the best man for the job.”

The hand was on his back again. “Such beautiful skin, unmarked as of yet. No tattoos. But you are only 14. And besides – it will change pretty quickly.” There was this evil chuckle again and Heero shivered.

He heard the other men step closer to the gurney. Cameo stepped back and crossing his arms on his chest he leaned back against the wall to watch. The devious smirk on his face sent chills up Heero’s spine. Then there was this buzzing sound in the background, but his mind was still muddy and he couldn’t place it. But when the first pain radiated from the skin on his back he understood – they were tattooing his skin. His eyes opened wide and he started to struggle. He never wanted this. He wasn’t even a real member of this clan. He had been at the dojo only because the sensei took him in after his father had thrown him out. He never wanted this. Never…

“If I would be you I would stop struggling boy. The men can cause you a lot pain if you don’t let them do their job,” Cameo warned him.

But he couldn’t give up like that. He just couldn’t. But then he felt one of the men hit one of the pressure points on his neck and his whole body went rigid. The pain didn’t disappear, but now he couldn’t move at all. He was terrified.

The evil chuckle was back. “See? I told you, boy. You should relax, this will take some time. It’s only a reminder of who you belong to, boy.”

He didn’t belong to anybody. Oh god…

“Relax, boy. You’ll see, you *will* get used to that. Everybody gets it in the end.”

He could feel a single tear run down his cheek. The last tears he ever shed…

*End flashback*

After that his life had been full of dead people, killing and blood. He didn’t even remember how it felt to be clean of the death he had caused. But with Duo he got the first glimpse of how it was, how it could be when someone wasn’t looking at him as if he was death incarnated. And that’s why he couldn’t let him die. Duo might be the last chance for him to win his humanity back. His very soul…

His focus snapped back as he heard steps approach the small waiting room. He pulled out his gun but kept it hidden in his hand between the two plastic chairs. Then the door opened and Treize, Zechs and Wufei stepped in. He didn’t relax, just the opposite. His body went even more rigid as he saw the cold smile touch Treize’s lips.

“Well, Heero, it seems that we have a problem here, don’t we? Care to explain me why you didn’t follow through with your orders?”

Tbc