Setting: Just after the AC-195 war. Possibly AU, but it’s worked in so it doesn’t warp the TV storyline.

Pairings: 3x4, 1+2, Kreigan+5, 13x6

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Violence, possible OOC? lemon, angst. No NCS - you’ll see why I had to point that out. Several OCs but they don’t necessarily play a big part.

Disclaimers: The only characters here that I own are any alter egos, Kazimiriel, Machiavel, Sarrow and Malvad and a few other characters that’ll pop up. Characters I don’t own include: Heero, Duo, Trowa, Quatre, Wufei, Zechs, Treize and any other good ones in fact.

Also, I would like to note that I am not Christian - anybody that wants to know why can pick one of two courses of action, either accept the fact that I’m a Mahayanist or email me and prepare for a very complex credo - and I’d like to add that this is just a story. If anything in it offends anyone, I apologize very sincerely.

Rough Peace - Part 10

The journey to Enfero was less than half as long as the walk to Niravaana had been and Wufei had been out for most of the way, finally coming to when they reached the gates.

“Hey man, wake up!” Duo said cheerfully as Quatre sat Wufei up against the wall. “Doin’ okay?”

Wufei nodded and promptly sat up from his support. “Just warn me the next time you give me something like that, okay Winner?”

Quatre bit his lip and apologized before getting to his feet, sucking his wings back into himself and casting off his golden aura. He had to be in a human form when they traveled through this place if he had any chance of surviving. Even in his human body, Quatre knew there would something distinctly angelic about him that would get him suspected, but he had no way out of this mission now.

‘Mission,’ he thought bitterly, ‘good lord, I wish Heero and Trowa were here. I have to be strong, it’s not like I’m alone anyway. I know I can rely on Wufei and Duo to help me through this.’

Duo looked up at the huge, and surprisingly hospitable, silver gates and noticed something that looked like writing. But it wasn’t anything he could read. Heero had taught him Japanese and he knew he’d recognize Arabic. “Hey Quatre, what does that writing mean?” he said, nudging the now human Quatre on the arm.

“Oh that… that says Vardynne,” he replied, “Which reminds me, Vardynne is the native name for Enfero. Don’t *ever* use the name Enfero within earshot of any of the locals.”

Wufei frowned, “Why not? What’s so bad about it?”

Quatre blushed and suddenly felt very awkward. “Uh… well, Enfero sort of derives from a divine phrase for damnation,” he replied penitently, “It started off as political slander but the name stuck and the demons don’t appreciate it.”

They wandered in through the entryway cautiously, Quatre could hear the shrieks of the lemurays in the trees and knew they could sense the blood from his wing. Duo looked around at the unexpectedly friendly city, whilst keeping a watchful eye on Wufei who seemed to be lagging behind a little, the Altron pilot didn’t seem at all himself. But when Duo offered his arm to lean on, Wufei simply snapped at him and told him to stop being so soft.

“Ch fine, I was only trying to help. There’s no need for that,” Duo mumbled, leaving Wufei his four paces behind them and joining Quatre again who seemed to be looking for something. “Everything okay up here?”

The angel was obviously trying to avoid eye contact with the people they passed. Quatre could feel them looking at him sideways as the lemurays started to hop along the fences after the three of them. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said honestly. “But I think we need to take a more secluded route. People are getting suspicious and our little tag alongs aren’t helping,” he added, nodding towards the charcoal colored birds sat on the fencing.

“How about that alleyway, down there?” Duo asked, “Do you know the streets well enough?”

Quatre nodded eagerly. “I lived round here for a couple of months about three-hundred years ago. I remember pretty much everything about this place. That back street’s fairly safe, especially with three of us here. If I was on my own… well, I wouldn’t walk around this place on my own anyway but we can take that route for speed.”

“If I was you, I’d break it off,” Zechs finished, condescendingly shaking his head and opening his office door. “But if you insist on pursuing that human, on your head be it.”

Kreigan rolled his eyes and took his cue to exit. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you all keep telling me,” he sighed. “But you can’t honestly tell me you’ve never been at this kind of a crossroads before?”

Zechs shrugged and swept his wings back. “Not really. I’m just smart enough to stick to my own race. Now get out, I’ve got work to do,” he said stubbornly, shooing him out of the door adding, “but if Wufei ends up here with the rest of them, you know your duty.”

“Okay, okay,” Kreigan insisted. “I know. I also know you only want me out of here because Machiavel wants to screw you,” he put in smugly, folding his arms and leaning on the doorframe.

The taller demon tucked his long blond hair behind his ears and glared at his subordinate. “His highness wants to see me about affairs of state and you should be a little more careful about how much you assume.”

“Yeah sure,” Kreigan muttered as Zechs slammed the door shut. “I *assume* you can do away with all of that ‘highness’ and ‘affairs of state’ shit. Honest to god, they’re so obviously a couple. I don’t know why they hide it…” ‘If I was lucky enough to have a relationship like that with Wufei, I’d want the world to know.’

He put it to the back of his mind for now, settled on getting a decent night’s sleep for once and made his way back to his apartment, flying through the back alleys to save time and energy.

Kreigan touched down about five minutes later just around the back of his apartment block and immediately gasped in shock. “Wufei!?” he exclaimed, rushing across the path to the figure of the Altron pilot slumped against the wall.

He desperately attempted to shake him awake, “Wufei, are you alright? Wufei… please be okay. You’re breathing at least… my god, your pulse rate’s through the roof.” He noted the boy’s temperature and pulled off his long black coat to wrap around him. “Did they just abandon you here?” he asked disbelievingly. “Never mind, I’ll get you somewhere safe,” he added, picking the object of his desire up from the floor and into his arms.†

Once back inside his apartment, Kreigan lay Wufei down gently on his bed and grabbed a spare blanket to throw over him. He looked pityingly at him for a while before kneeling down beside the bed to stroke his face.

“You’re so misunderstood,” he said quietly, slipping Wufei’s hair out of it’s binding. “All anyone ever sees is that cold-hearted warrior façade, but you’ve got a heart of gold, you really have. I wish I could love you… but the best I can do for you is take care of you. Screw Zechs, I’m off duty.”

“This is the Sanhedrin?” Trowa whispered in astonishment as Kazimiriel lead them into the entrance hall of the divine court.

Heero shook his head, “This is incredible,” he added enthusiastically. “It’s more elaborate than the Peacecraft palace.”

And it was. The brilliant white walls were offset with light cream drapes, swathed across ivory columns decorated with amazingly intricate gold leaf designs, highlighting the accents of gold in between the panels of varnished mahogany across the floor.

Kazimiriel stopped and turned to them to give the two some words of wisdom. “Can I offer you some advice while you’re here?” he began quietly. “Be careful about how you act around these angels. Their rank puts them far above your station and, despite any achievements you think you have to your credit, they have supreme power over everything you do. Trust me when I say this is something my little brother has learnt the hard way.”

Trowa’s eyes widened in horror, “What do you mean?” he demanded. “What happened to him?”

“I daren’t say, Trowa,” Kazimiriel said gravely. “That is something he’ll tell you in his own time. Let me announce your visit and then I’ll leave.”

The gymnast went to step forward and speak out for his lover before Heero grabbed his arm. “Trowa don’t,” he advised. “It’ll have repercussions.”

“You’re right,” Trowa sighed dejectedly. “Thanks Heero.”

The angel declared their presence to the Seraphim behind the desk in front of them and left. The Seraphim seemed vaguely… amused? Something like that. Almost like a bizarre blend of amusement, disgust and recognition crossed the angel’s face before he stood and was joined by two others.

Emmanuel smiled and looked down his nose at the two Gundam pilots. “So,” he began slowly, with a voice as cool as Treize’s and twice as intimidating. “You’re Trowa Barton, are you?”

The Heavyarms pilot gulped, “Technically.”

Emmanuel sniggered and shook his head. “Hilarious, I’m sure,” he remarked off-handedly, waving a hand to the side. “So you’re the human so enthralling, that you have the right to desecrate an innocent angel. I must admit, I’m disappointed. I was expecting more.”

Trowa fought off the urge to rip his throat out. “With all due respect, sir, Quatre was the one that chose me. And I don’t see what’s so terrible about him loving me. I was always taught it was a magnificent emotion.”

The Seraphim raised an eyebrow, “Well, you’re respectful enough. I appreciate your reverence, Trowa, and you’re right. Love *is* a magnificent emotion. But like all emotions, it needs boundaries and limits,” he stated, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. “And would this be Heero Yuy? At least a man who has the sense to stay within his own race for love, just the way it should be.”

Heero gave a curt nod but made no effort to affirm Emmanuel’s statement. “Love shouldn’t be a case of race or creed. The relationship between Trowa and Quatre is something our world needs more of. You’ve got no right to tell people who they can or can’t care for.”

There was a deathly silence that swept through the halls before Emmanuel sighed. “I can’t be bothered with such petulance,” he said, snapping his fingers. “Gabrielle, Jibrille, I want these humans out of my sight. Remove them.”

The two stepped forward and grabbed a pilot each. Heero brought his elbow up and rammed it sharply into the archangel’s side and attempted to kick Jibrille’s feet out from under him. His captor barely even flinched. Jibrille barked a command and twisted Heero’s arms back behind him, pushing down on his back and forcing him to kneel on the floor.

Trowa struggled to grab Gabrielle’s arm and throw her over his shoulder. The angel took to the air and wrapped an arm around Trowa’s neck. The Heavyarms pilot choked and tried to fight back until he was knocked unconscious and thrown to the floor.

‘If I get put under too, we’ll both be useless,’ Heero thought to himself, ‘I’d better just keep quiet for now.’

Jibrille dragged Heero to his feet and the two Gundams were pulled down the corridor to a cellblock.

It was getting dark outside and the route Quatre and Duo had taken through Vardynne, despite being faster than the open streets, still wasn’t the quickest route in the world. Quatre dropped to the floor after having switched to his angel form and flown ahead to get a better view of the city.

Quatre frowned and looked around frantically. “Duo, where’s Wufei?” he asked anxiously.

Duo rolled his eyes, “Oh *him*. He’s being a pain in the ass and is insisting on walking a few feet…” he trailed off as he turned to look behind him. The alleyway that lead back out onto the main street was empty. “Shit… where the hell is he?” he exclaimed as the two of them ran back out to the open street.

They re-traced their steps and searched frenetically for more than an hour before a feeling of hopelessness began to set in. The two of them, still sick with worry, turned in for the night as it was ridiculously dark and there wasn’t a street lamp in sight.

Duo bit his lip and felt his heart thud in his chest. The idea of losing Wufei in a place like this wasn’t high on his list of favorite things at the moment. ‘This isn’t my fault,’ he told himself, ‘with the state he was in, he should have stuck close to me. I am not the one to blame, Quatre doesn’t think that and neither should I … so why do I feel so damn crappy? Wufei, please, please, *please* be alright. You owe me that much.’

TBC…

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