Alliance in Blood

I jerked slightly in my sleep.

She was screaming again. Sound always came to me first.

I didn’t know who the woman was or where she had come from. All I knew was that the sound of her screams were wearing me down. I was tired of it. Her hoarse voice pulled me from my rest as well as chased me into my dreams. It was nearly nonstop, and grated on every last nerve I had. I didn’t understand how the others tolerated it.

The second sense to return to me was my sense of smell. Howard’s carafe has become a fixed part of the antechamber, along with my uncle. The smell of his coffee was a comfort to me when I fell asleep and it was my guide out of any nightmare. As I’ve done several times, I followed the scent as I reached that state where I was not quite awake. I didn’t want to be awake. My mind was completely empty for once and I was almost able to sleep. Her screams weren’t making that possible.

I could feel myself slowly moving around on my futon in agitation. A calloused hand rested on my forehead and I could hear Howard’s voice quietly shushing me. I settled for a moment, but then a particularly high shriek went through my head like a nail and I had had enough.

“Quiet,” I whispered.

Immediately, the noise stopped.

My ears felt like they sighed in relief. “No more noise,” I said, then fell back asleep.

She didn’t scream again.

***

I didn’t know how long I was out for. Time escaped me like money. I had periods of lucidity between pain pills where I was able to snatch tidbits of information or just clear the cobwebs from my head.

“Should he be sleeping so much?” was the whispered question.

I knew that voice. Hilde. She was almost at my side as much as Howard.

“Yes,” Howard told her without hesitation, voice also soft. “From what I understand, the healing was nearly as bad as the gunshot itself.”

“He should be in the hospital.” This sounded like an old argument.

“He’ll be killed in the hospital,” Howard snapped. Yep, definitely an old argument. “Those fuckin’ Hunters would be in and out of his room faster than a god damn bullet, and would probably kill some of the staff too! No. He is fine where he is. His color is much better, he’s breathing easier, he’s moving more, and now that that bitch is not hollering at all hours of the day and night, he’s sleeping peacefully.” I felt him brush my hair from my face. “I know you’re worried Hilde, but he’s fine now. Quinze has been watching him closely.”

“You trust that fucked up vampire?” Hilde’s voice was full of incredulity.

“Fuck no. If I wasn’t worried about Duo having a relapse I’d have already shot the pasty bastard.” I wanted to snort. Leave Howard to believe in someone’s abilities and trust them as far as he could throw them. “But Chang has made it very clear that if something happened to Duo, that little shit’s existence will end an instant later. His girlfriend will be destroyed as well.” Howard chuckled, but it didn’t sound nice. “That’s one hell of a motivation for a man, believe me.” I felt him shake his head. “He won’t fail Chang, therefore he won’t fail Duo.”

Hilde was silent a moment. “He should be in the hospital.”

As Howard lit into her again, I went back to sleep.

***

“This is all your fault.”

I jerked slightly. Howard sounded furious. I didn’t think capital letters would do this one justice. Even as he whispered the harsh words, his voice cracked. It would seem he would’ve been better off screaming his fury than restraining it.

“I know,” Heero said.

“There were fuckin’ Hunters walking up to my door. It was only a matter of time before they figured out he was here. Knowing this, you let my knuckle-headed nephew traipse the hell outside in full view of anyone to send the kid off to school?”

“He enjoys it. He loves the cub.”

“I don’t give a fuck what he enjoys! His safety should supersede everything! Everything!” My uncle’s breaths sounded of a pissed off bull. “That cub is better able to protect herself than my grown ass nephew! Fuck you and everyone else for thinking otherwise.”

“I am sorry.”

“I don’t want your apology. I want you to die.” He sighed. “I will never, ever, forgive you for this.”

“I know. I will never be able to forgive myself either.”

“Good. Now get out.”

Heero left.

***

As time passed I heard other snippets of conversation. Most were of Howard and Hilde having it out about my care, but I did have other visitors. Quinze and Trollé were there just as often as not, ensuring that I was healing as well as could be expected. Catherine, Trowa, Abdul and Auda came to see me, but Howard’s tongue was just as sharp with them as it was with Heero. They stayed long enough to see that I was improving before stepping out. Rashid stopped by, but his aura and size was enough to keep Howard’s mouth shut. This latest attack on me has put the biggest Maguanac in the foulest mood I had ever known him to be in. It turned out that he was beyond livid at the harm done to me, and was the most vicious torturer of my attacker. I guess that above all stilled my uncle’s tongue. Rashid was not in the mood for any shit. Even unconscious I could tell.

My most frequent furry visitor was Mariemaia, and thankfully Howard was very cordial to the child. She stayed in the antechamber with me when not in school, and has taken to even sleeping there. Her worry for me was so great it was tangible. My family didn’t have the heart deny her anything, whether she sat next to me as she did her homework or as she applied makeup to my face while I slept. Her concern brought the hostility level down between my family and the Pack, otherwise who knew what would have been burned down… or who else would have been shot.

Unfortunately, who should have been the most frequent visitor has been the most absent. I wasn’t entirely sure what all Wufei was doing, but I didn’t think he was making great headway. From what I overheard, only half of the Hunters were in Comfort when Wufei arrived. The few allowed to live for the moment were tortured, but they truly did not know where the other half of their camp was. While Howard and Hilde froze in fear for me, I trembled from frustration. I knew without a doubt that I would not see sunlight until those bitches were dead.

I opened my eyes only to close them again. I didn’t know what happened to Marie’s nightlight, but whatever the case may be the room was pitch black. Listening instead, I could hear several breaths in different areas, the loudest being near my left ear. Howard. Hilde was probably also in here, but that was all I could guess. The werewolves breathed so quietly I had a hard time hearing them anyway, and Quinze didn’t breathe at all. I wasn’t sure if it was day or night, but as long as I wasn’t left alone in here I was okay.

I felt a gush of air blow against my face, and that was the only warning I had that someone had entered the room. This was confirmed a second later as I heard the almost-not-there snick of the door closing. I wasn’t afraid of whoever it was, as it could only be a member of the Pack. Despite my being shot, there was no way in hell any Hunters were getting inside the house. That just wasn’t happening.

The footsteps were silent. I waited patiently for whoever it was to do whatever they were going to do. I didn’t know what to expect, but I certainly didn’t expect someone to touch me. I jerked in surprise when I felt a hand on my face, but then I pressed my cheek into that palm when I realized who it was. Speak of the devil and he shall appear…

“Duo,” Wufei said quietly, warmth in his voice.

“Wufei,” I greeted, smiling. I knew he could see it. “Where have you been?”

He sighed. He wasn’t happy. “Making you safe,” he said.

I left it at that. Carefully rolling onto my side, I rolled into his crossed legs and hugged his knees. It wasn’t much but it felt wonderful just to hold him for a moment. The fact that he was naked made me wish for the nightlight even more, but I was too happy at the moment to whine about it.

The hand on my cheek was placed on my back as Wufei ran his other hand through my hair. We stayed that way for a while, just soaking up each other’s presences. When I thought about everything, I always came to the conclusion that it was worth it. I loved the hell out of this man, despite our problems. Being next to him like this was worth the pain; past, present and future.

“Duo,” he whispered, “lay back. I want to clean you up.”

“Okay,” I breathed, lying back. I didn’t think anything of it until he started… “cleaning” me.

First off, I didn’t think bathing involved tonguing the hell out of the person you’re bathing. Not complaining though, no no no. I’d never complain about that. In fact, if this was how it was supposed to go down, I was never going to bathe myself again. Wufei’s tongue was warm and wet and oh so possessive. I didn’t kiss him back so much as be devoured. The fact that there were others here, including my uncle and sister, turned me on viciously. I was so thankful the nightlight wasn’t here.

Pulling back from the kiss (and taking my lungs with him), Wufei placed something soft and wet on my face. I could immediately tell from the weight and texture that it was a washcloth. Starting at my forehead, he gently wiped away the sweat and grime. He carefully cleaned around my eyes and nose, and scrubbed my jaw. I had quite the stubble. Anymore growth and I’d have a full on beard. Cleaning my ears involved more kissing, this time slow and lazy and super noisy. Any werewolf in this room would be wide awake by now. That turned me on even more.

Pulling back, Wufei took the washcloth he was using and tossed it somewhere. I heard the quiet splat sound it made as it landed. Another washcloth was placed on my neck as the blanket that covered me was carefully peeled away, reveling me in my full glory. Wufei continued to clean me by moving down to my shoulders, but I had the feeling that he was eating me with his eyes. It was one hell of a heady feeling.

Next were my arms. He washed them carefully, as if they were made out of glass. He cleaned each finger individually before he placed each one into his mouth, sucking on them as if he was giving them head. I was so hard at this point that I wasn’t sure I was going to make it to the other arm.

“All right there?” he asked, voice throaty.

“Guh…”

“I see,” he said, and I heard the smirk in his voice. Bastard.

There was silence for a moment before a heavy weight rested itself on my lap. Wufei had apparently straddled me. It was so unexpected that I nearly sat up with a scream, but Wufei had placed one hand against my chest and the other against my mouth. I glared into the dark as I heard his chuckling, then felt my eyes cross as I felt his cock slide against mine. My heart rate went from one hundred to five thousand when he replaced his hand with his lips and thrust against me at the same time. He released me from the kiss when I was just about to pass out, to begin cleaning the other arm.

‘Wufei,’ I mouthed as he sucked on my fingers. I raised my other hand to pull at my hair. Oh my god, I wanted to scream!

The washcloth went to my chest next and I nearly groaned. Wufei was going to have a field day, I could tell. He started innocently enough, just cleaning the area as if I needed a good wash, being careful around where I felt the exit wound to be. Then he leaned down and blew on my left nipple, making me gasp and jump. He waited a moment before blowing again on my right nipple. He continued to make a game of this. Being unable to see him, he would lean over me and hold his position, then surprise me with a blow to either nipple, or a bite, or a kiss, or all three. This went on for what felt like hours.

When that area of my body was sufficiently abused, Wufei retrieved another washcloth and cleaned my legs and feet without much preamble. I soon learned why. He had brought a bottle of lotion with him, and took great care to massage it into my skin. I was still turned on, but the immediate need to boil had dialed down to a waiting simmer. A groan did escape me every now and then as he worked on a particularly stubborn spot, but it wasn’t enough to wake Howard… if his snoring was anything to go by.

I was so relaxed at this point that I didn’t catch on right away to what Wufei was up to. All of a sudden I felt his legs pin my down and his forearm press down across my pelvis. Taking another washcloth, he started to clean my hardened member very, very slowly.

Cloth fisted around me, he pumped up to the head and down to the base, breathing over it all the while. I nearly let out a scream that would’ve woken the dead in China. Instead, my arms flailed around in surprise and need, and I accidentally backhanded the living shit out of Howard. Wufei and I stilled as my uncle woke with a shout, cursing anything and everything that came to his depraved mind. I covered my mouth with both hands, horrified that my uncle was lying right next to me, awake, while my boyfriend was giving me a handjob, and trying not to laugh my ass off at the same time. Weird, weird sensation.

"What the shit?!” he finally settled on, and I heard him toss open his sleeping bag. Uh oh.

“Uncle Howard?” I heard Hilde say as she moved around in her sleeping bag. Shit, shit, shit!

“Sorry Howie,” I said in a somewhat strangled voice. Wufei decided to squeeze right when I opened my mouth. “I had another nightmare.”

“Oh,” he said, audibly scratching his head. “Where’s the nightlight? I can’t see shit.”

“No! No no, no need,” I yelped, trying to hold it together. Wufei had stopped jerking me off, but was tracing my balls with his tongue… I think I might be permanently cross-eyed now. “Jussssst go back to, uh, sleep! Yes! Sleep! Sleep now!” I snapped at them.

“Okay, okay,” Hilde grumbled, settling back down in her sleeping bag. “Jeez Louise.”

Wufei starting pumping me slowly again. The bastard!

I heard Howard settle down, and closed my eyes in relief.

Wufei put his lips on the head, and stuck his tongue into the slit.

“You want to talk about it?”

I had never, ever, been so tempted to kill somebody as I was right then. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to kill Wufei or Howard. “Nnnnooooo.”

There was a pause. “Are you sure you’re okay? You sound funny.”

Wufei deep-throated me, and stayed like that. He made a swallowing motion with his throat and I came immediately. I gasped. Luckily, Howard didn’t hear it because he was too busy yammering.

“You sound like you’re being strangled. You sure it’s a nightmare? Could be a wet dream.”

“God damnit Howard!” I screamed, at my wit’s end. I could feel Wufei shaking in laughter. “Please, for the love of God, go to sleep!”

“Well it’s your fault I’m awake you fuckin’ princess! You’re the one who woke me up!”

“I’m sorry, okay?! I’m sorry! You can smack me like a bitch that owes you money when I’m up and about, okay? I promise. Just go. The hell. To sleep!”

“Fine,” he huffed. I heard him scooting his sleeping bag away from me. “Pain in my ass!”

We laid there in silence, Howard and I fuming quietly as Wufei shook with suppressed laughter. After a few minutes Howard settled down, and a few more after that his snores started up again. I could only lay there, worn out from that slight adventure, when I felt Wufei finish cleaning me. When he did, I had spread my legs in anticipation. Right when I did, I felt his finger gently ease in and move around slowly. He eased around some more, and some more… and some more. I reached out in an attempt to find an arm or leg to pinch in retribution, but he easily moved out of my reach.

When he pushed in a second finger, the discomfort was enough to get me to forget about pinching him and focus on relaxing. The third finger was tough, and I realized I was still too agitated. Breathing slowly for a few minutes calmed me down enough to where I was able to relax fully. By the time he deemed me prepared enough, I was hard again.

He carefully pushed himself in, and waited for me to adjust. Grabbing me by the ankles, he held my legs up in the air, making them in a ‘V’ shape. He pulled back and pushed forward slowly but steadily, forcing himself deep without the accompanying skin-smacking sound. He did this again and again and again.

I bit my lip. I pulled my hair. I stuck my fist in my mouth. I flailed my arms out again, but thankfully Howard was too far away for me to clock again. I held my breath. I grabbled on to the futon. I did everything I could to not scream out in pleasure. Taking away my sight just made everything more potent, and I was afraid that normal sex would never do it for me again.

I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I knew it was a while. Wufei was starting to go a bit faster, ready to reach the finish line. Grabbing a hold of myself, I matched my pace to his, the sound of jerking myself off tantalizing in my ear and making Wufei groan. With a few really hard thrusts Wufei came, and the feel of him coming inside of me made me come.

Our breathing was shaky as he laid down next to me, Wufei on the floor as it was too hot to share the futon. I kept my eyes closed as it actually hurt to keep them open, and was thinking about drifting off when Wufei spoke.

“How are you, Duo?”

I thought about my answer. How was I? “I’m okay.”

“Really?”

“Really.” I turned my head and smiled at him. “Honest. Heero got me here and got me situated. I didn’t even understand what was happening to me, and when I did I was going out like a light anyway. I had no time to be afraid or to have regrets.”

“Are you afraid now?”

“No.”

“Are you having regrets?”

“Just one, and it’s that I should have paid more attention to my surroundings. I should’ve known that she was out there. I mean, what if she had shot Mariemaia? I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself if the Hunter had shot her while I was next to her and didn’t protect her.”

“Hmm.” He ran a hand down my arm. “I am debating how to punish Heero.”

“What? Punish Heero? Why?”

“He failed to protect you.”

“He saved my life.”

“He didn’t. You were dead for twenty minutes before Quinze revived you.”

I froze. That was news to me. “Oh.”

“Yes. ‘Oh.’ ”

I found that strange. “That is the second time I died.”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.”

He paused. “You are not angry?”

I shrugged. “What’s done is done.” I patted around the floor until I found his hand, then held it. “I’m here now, and I’m sure that bitch died a horrible, painful death. That’s all that matters.”

“Yes, you are and yes, she did.” He chuckled. “I did not realize you had it in you.”

My eyebrows scrunched in confusion. “Had what in me?”

“Before your last breath, you instructed Heero to make her ‘beg for her end.’ ”

My eyebrows shot up. “I did?”

I heard the smile in his voice. “Yes, you did.”

I was surprised. I didn’t know how I felt about that. “Oh.”

“Yes, ‘oh.’ ”

“Well, please don’t punish Heero. I’m sure that whatever punishment he is putting himself through is worse than what you would have thought up for him anyway.”

“The Pack may not like that I have not punished him. They will say it is showing favoritism—”

“If the Pack doesn’t like it, they can take it up with me,” I snapped. I was sated and wanted to go to sleep. “I’m the one who doesn’t want him punished, and I was the victim. If anyone has the right to demand blood, it’s me. I want this squashed, and I don’t want to hear another word about it.”

I could tell Wufei’s eyebrows were up to his hairline when he said, “If you are sure…”

“Yes.” Carefully, I rolled to my side with my back to Wufei. It wasn’t meant to be taken that I was mad at him. Rather, it was easier to sleep on my left side as it put less pressure on my wound.

It didn’t seem Wufei took it that way either. His lotioned hands settled on my upper back and gently began to massage. I groaned, and he chuckled. Seemed like I was just full of entertainment for him tonight.

“Go to sleep, Duo. You are being a grouch.”

“ ‘Kay,” I yawned in agreement. I wasn’t sure whether I agreed to go to sleep or agreed to the grouch comment, but I didn’t care. I only sighed blissfully as he loosened the damaged muscles in my back, and allowed his large, warm hands to soothe me to sleep.

(tbc)