Choices of the Heart - Part 16 by Keara
Standard disclaimers apply
Duo sighed as he watched over Trowa’s sleeping
form. He hated this feeling of uselessness, hated seeing the hopelessness
in Trowa’s eyes and the pain in Catherine’s. These people
were good to him, even though they had taken him off the street. They
had given him a home, food, and even their love. He cared about them
as one would care about a family. He knew that he loved Trowa like
a brother and Catherine was the protective older sister he’d
never had.
“Duo, I’m ready.” Catherine said as she stepped
into the room. Her hair was still damp, but her clothes were clean.
She smiled fondly at Duo. “Come on, or you’ll be late
for work.”
Duo nodded and stood. He took a brief moment to smooth out the covers
over Trowa’s body, sighing as he watched Trowa shift minutely
in his sleep. Duo knew that he had to help these wonderful people.
He would give Trowa hope and Catherine joy, just as they had given
him a home. ‘And then maybe . . . just maybe . . . I’ll
be able to stop taking those damn pills.’ He dug his hand into
his pocket, sliding his fingers over the bottle, frowning as he turned
away from Trowa’s bed.
He followed as Catherine led the way out of the bedroom. He was ready
to head off to work, to earn the money that would help pay for Trowa’s
desperately needed heart operation. However, he was quite confused
when Catherine turned and went into the kitchen instead of heading
out the door. “What’s up, Cathy . . . you hungry?”
Duo asked, keeping a cheerful smile on his face as he leaned against
the doorframe.
Catherine smiled and shook her head as she opened the door of the
refrigerator. “This isn’t for me. It’s for you,
Duo.” She said. Then he looked over at him. “And don’t
argue. I know you, Duo. You probably didn’t have breakfast or
lunch . . . I’m not going to let you go without dinner too.”
Duo sighed, but decided not to press the issue. There really would
be no point in arguing. As kind as Catherine was, she was also very
stubborn. It was near to impossible to get her to change her mind
once she had it set on something.
She closed the door of the fridge, apparently not finding anything
suitable in there. Moments later, she grabbed the bread out of the
breadbox and quickly fixed him a sandwich, then left the house. Duo
grabbed a couple napkins then followed her. He ate his sandwich while
she drove him to Angelo’s. It was delicious of course, Catherine
made great sandwiches, even if it was only peanut butter and jelly.
Nothing spectacular happened during work that night. Catherine dropped
him off, he got himself a drink of water and popped a few pills, then
he started waiting on the customers like he usually did, taking orders
during the time that he was handling the counter.
Duo waited until his break to ask Howard about getting an advance
on his pay. Luckily, it was a good night. Howard was always in an
exceptional mood when business was good, his Duo had high hopes of
getting some money from him. Plus there was the undeniable fact that
Howard was a damn decent guy . . . he’d been helping Duo out
ever since he had been on the street, before that even. Duo had gotten
a job working for Howard when he was still living with those awful
people . . . he’d been hoping to get enough money to run away
from home. Things happened differently though . . . still Duo was
happy now, the past was the past and couldn’t be changed. However,
as much as he told himself that, it still hurt looking back on his
life.
Howard was more than happy to oblige Duo’s request. Duo could
hardly keep the grin off of his face as Howard said he’d give
him as much as he needed. Still, he wouldn’t take more than
his fair share . . . it wouldn’t be right to take anything more.
As soon as Duo’s shift was over that night, Howard handed him
a wad of cash, grinning as he slapped Duo on the back. He let Duo
out of the restaurant, locking it behind him and continuing to close
the restaurant. Duo was always the last to leave, with the exception
of Howard . . . but that was only because he had no idea how to do
all that boring paperwork that Howard did.
Duo quickly headed to the cemetery, having reason to visit one of
the many graves at this late hour of the night. He had no need to
look where he was going. He had been here countless times before and
knew his way by heart. All that he had to do was get past the fence
and watch out for open graves. After several minutes of walking around
the dark grounds, Duo fell to his knees in front of the all-too-familiar
headstone.
“Hey, Solo.” He smiled, lovingly running his fingers
over the letters of his deceased elder brother’s name.
He didn’t expect an answer, nor did he wait for one. With a
sad smile fixed on his face, he lifted the pot of flowers he had left
there a few days ago. He always made sure there were flowers on his
brother’s grave, even if he picked them himself most of the
time. Setting the plastic pot to one side, Duo used his hands to dig
in the earth just below where it had once sat. It took him a while,
but he eventually found what he was looking for . . . a simple plastic
bag.
Duo yanked the bag out of the ground. He shoved the dirt back into
the hole that he had made, then put the flowers back. “Thanks
for keeping this for me, Solo.” Duo said, opening the plastic
bag and smiling at the roll of money.
For years he had been saving up his pay from Howard, from the odd
jobs that he took around town during the summer, from just about everywhere
. . . he kept it here, adding to the bundle of cash every few weeks.
There was several thousand here now, give or take a couple hundred
bucks . . . hopefully it was enough to help Catherine pay for Trowa’s
surgery. Of course, there would be more if Duo wasn’t taking
those damn pills . . . but then he wouldn’t earn so much if
he didn’t take the pills to keep himself awake. It was a paradox
of sorts.
Duo sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He was exhausted, too long
since he had last taken some of his pills. He stood, pocketing his
money as he turned and headed off to home. Catherine would get worried
if he didn’t get home soon. He didn’t want to be the cause
of her worrying, not again anyway.
He was walking along the street, minding his own business when suddenly
his arm was grabbed and he was forcefully yanked into a dark alley.
“Well, lookie what we have here . . .” A sickeningly familiar
voice said, making Duo’s blood curdle. Duo’s other arm
was pulled back behind him, held at a painful angle, the other arm
still clutched by his unseen assailant. Someone grabbed his hair and
Duo was forced to look up, only to see Alex staring back at him with
a cruel smile on his lips.
“You fucking bastard!” Duo hissed, trying to wrench his
arm from Alex’s grip.
“Such language, Duo.” Alex laughed, pulling his arm back
and delivering a forceful blow to Duo’s stomach.
Duo collapsed around the fist, all the air knocked out of him. Mueller
pushed him to the ground, kicking him in the side as he fell. At least
Duo thought that it was Mueller, but since he couldn’t see the
other bully, he just had to guess. Duo was trying to regain his breath,
attempting to protect himself, while Alex and Mueller delivered strike
after strike to Duo’s body.
A blow to the head, a few kicks to his frame . . . he stayed on the
ground, trying to curl in on himself, attempting to keep his injuries
to a minimum. By the time they stopped, he was beaten and bloody.
The attack left Duo dazed, blood dribbling from broken lips as he
fought off a wave of nausea and the ominous darkness that teased the
edges of his vision.
Duo was barely aware as Alex dragged him to his feet, shoving him
hard against a wall. Mueller pinned him there while Alex ran his hands
over Duo’s body. Duo weakly tried to fight him off, but didn’t
think he was all that successful . . . things were just hazy. But
then, everything became clear as Alex’s hand went deep into
his pocket and pulled out his money.
“Woah, Mueller! Look at this!” Alex exclaimed, showing
the cash to his comrade. “Gotta be a few thousand at least!”
“Give that back!” Duo protested, trying to grab the money.
He missed by several inches, nearly falling over as the movement threw
his balance off. He could barely see straight, let alone make deliberate
movements.
“Maybe he’s got more on him. Perhaps we should check
him over more thoroughly.” Mueller suggested, his hands on Duo’s
shoulders.
“Yeah, I think you’re right.” Alex chuckled, his
voice grating on Duo’s nerves. “He’s probably hiding
more on him.”
Duo gasped, his eyes widening in fear as Alex grabbed the collar
of his shirt and forcefully ripped it off. “No! Don’t
you fucking touch me!” He yelled, pushing at Alex, trying to
kick him away.
Mueller grabbed his arms, holding them behind his body, keeping him
still as Alex worked on Duo’s pants. Duo’s mind screamed
at him to fight back, so he struggled, despite the fact that his body
angrily protested the movements he was making. He didn’t want
to end up like Quatre, didn’t want to be so afraid, to fear
contact. He didn’t want to be hurt by these bastards.
Just as Alex shoved his hand down the front of Duo’s pants,
Duo heard an angry shout echo in the night. “Hey!”
Duo shot his eyes over to the voice, blinking as he saw those two
friends on Quatre’s standing a few feet away. If Duo remembered
correctly, their names were Wufei and Meiran. He idly wondered what
they were doing here so late at night, but didn’t think much
of it. He had other more important matters on his mind.
Alex and Mueller took off without a word, shoving Duo down to the
ground. They fled into the night, taking Duo’s cash with him.
Right now, Duo wished that Alex and Mueller had just killed him. How
would he ever make that money back? How could he help pay for Trowa’s
surgery now? He buried his face in his arms, weeping for Trowa, for
the money that could have saved his life that was now gone.
Every hope that he had once had was dashed, crushed because of those
two bastards. He just wanted to curl up and die, wished that Wufei
and Meiran hadn’t stumbled on the scene . . . there was just
nothing left, no chance in Duo’s mind of saving his best friend’s
life.
*******
TBC
*******
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