Title: Tainted Conviction – Chapter Four

Author: Sita Seraph

Genre: Angst, Religious relatings

Pairing: 1x2, 3x4 eventually.

Rated: R

Warning: Gruesome treatment, stigmata, sixth sense, and a whole lot
of shit.

Duo slowly rose in half sleep, eyelids drooping in front of
beautiful hazy violet eyes. The boy rose soundlessly from his bed,
moving his nude body to the glass window that shone in the light of
the moon outside. Tilting his head to the heavens, Duo watched the
clear, star speckled sky with eyes void of emotion. But inside the
pool of purple were the reflection of bright stars and the beautiful
light of the moon. Tangles of brown hair fell around the slim body of
a mere boy, falling gracefully along his rear end in curls.With eyes
unclouded…

Duo slowly lowered his eyes to the ground outside from his position
on the second floor. Staring at the rocked gravel of the driveway to
their secluded home, the sleepy Duo gave a weary smile as he watched
two children kick an orange ball back and forth between each other.
The little red head girl laughed, hand upon her straw hat as she
kicked the bouncing ball with all her might, pink dress flying and
showing the white laced panties underneath. The older red head boy
raced and kicked the ball back, the round shape bouncing happily
against the grass and gravel and out of reach from the tiny girl.
Making a squeal, she chased after the ball, smiling with glee.

Duo gave a sad smile as they faded from his sight.

"Duo?"

Duo turned his head around to look over his shoulder and locked eyes
upon Heero Yuy as he sat up from the black covered bed. The
moonlight trailed across the dark room and seemed to have melted in
Heero's lap, radiating his face and bare chest with a pale glow. Duo
noted that Heero must have discarded his tank top when he decided to
rest with his troubled companion and unconsciously, Duo silently
sucked in his breath.

Oh god…he's so beautiful…Duo thought, a weakening feeling growing in
his knees and heart beginning to thump loudly in his chest. Many
times Duo had wanted to see Heero's perfect chest and go figure it
had been now…when he felt so weak…

"Duo? What are you doing up?" Heero questioned, eyebrow lifting up
half way. Duo bit back a smile, wondering how lucky he was going to
be to see this rare side of Heero before the mask returned. The poor
pilot sighed slowly. It wouldn't be long for the mask to appear,
though…but how much he was in love with the man inside.

No! He wasn't in love with him. Goddamn him, he wasn't gay. He
just felt close to the Gundam pilot and that was _all_. If it was
love, he would have all the tingles and jingles and he never ever had
those. No. No way. Totally straight.

"Duo," Heero warned, impatient at the ex-pilot's blank expression.

"I was…just watching the children, Heero," Duo said after another
moment's hesitation and slowly made his way to the bed. The happy
pilot had completely forgot his nude state and it was all that Heero
could do but to ignore the sway of his hair and hips. And
especially…other places.

Duo crawled back under the covers; the faint glow of the moon
captured in his hair and lay down. Heero watched him with intrigued
and perhaps worried eyes and Duo gave a happy grin.

"Children?"

"Night, Heero."

*****

One Week Later

Duo waved cheerfully at his friends as they drove down the dusty
road, red paint barely visible under the chunks of mud upon it. The
climb for the jeep was quite a steep one and it was impossible to
keep it clean after the nights of weary weather they had been having.
Quatre's blonde head stuck itself out of the window and the innocent
pilot waved good-bye.

"Have fun doing paperwork!" Duo called, grinning.

A slow smile spread across the boyish face. "Have fun doing chores!"

"WHAT!?"

But Quatre didn't answer, merely laughed and slipped back into the
muddy red jeep and disappeared beyond sight behind a large hill.

"No fair, Quatre Winner!" Duo called, shaking his fist into the air.
He hated chores. And homework. And Heero's laptop. And silence!

Duo sighed heavily, pale shoulders slumping and moved back into the
empty house. Might as well get the dustpan out.

*****

"Do you think he's going to be all right?" Quatre asked, turning his
head to Wufei as he drove down the highway to the Preventor head
quarters. Behind them, Heero and Trowa relaxed against the
comfortable leather seats, seeming content to going back to regular
schedule.

"That's the second time you've asked that," Wufei pointed out, eyes
on the road.

"He'll be fine," Trowa confirmed, eyes out the window to watch the
fast moving landscape. "We all need to get on with our lives,
especially Duo. You know he hates being taken cared of."

"Yes, but he needs it," Quatre urged, uncertainty clinging onto his
voice.

"No," Wufei said, taking his eyes off the road for a moment. "What
he needs is us to stop raising eyebrows when he goes into the
bathroom. Or look at him when he coughs. Or ask him constantly
about his pale skin. Or-."

"All right, but you know how much he lost that night!" Quatre said,
turning around in his seat.

"Yes, enough for him to be most certainly dead," Heero spoke up,
arms crossing over his chest. Lifting his eyes from the floor, he
met Quatre's eyes. "Lets just give him a day alone. This is a
chance to see if he can take care of himself."

"Agreed," Trowa said eyes never leaving the countryside and tilting
slightly in his seatbelt as Wufei met the sharp turns in the road.

"Take it easy," Quatre cautioned before returning to the main
subject. "And if he can't? What if he is having one of his attacks
right now? He can die if-."

"If he was dead, he would be right now," Heero cut him off. "And he
isn't. He's bouncing around the house all the time, trying to show
us that he's fine."

"Which he is," Wufei cut in. "He changed my shampoo into honey this
morning, raving about revenge and hot water."

Trowa snickered from the backseat then suddenly stopped and looked
closer outside.

"Wufei," Trowa addressed.

"What?"

"Stop."

"Why?"

"Do it!"

Immediately, the jeep stopped and Quatre was thrown forward against
his seat belt. Huffing, the boy flew back harder into the seat.

Heero grumbled from the backseat. "Thanks for testing the brakes,
Wufei."

Trowa didn't bother to complain at the abrupt stop and threw open
the door, seat belt slamming against the seat as it was ripped off.
The older boy ran back a few feet from the jeep, and stopped at the
edge of the cliff, looking down.

"Trowa?" Quatre called, throwing open his door and stepping out of
the muddy car.

"Come here!" Trowa waved his friends over, eyes never leaving from
whatever he was looking at at the bottom of the cliff. The three
pilots crawled out of the jeep and walked over, curiosity peaked at
what had caught the silent pilot's interest.

"What-." Quatre started but stopped short as he looked down the
rocky terrain cliff and the jagged rocks below.

"What the hell?" Wufei finished the sentence, confused eyes lowered
upon the bright red metal beaming up at them.

Down below, bent and broken upon the crumbles of rocks, laid Duo's
once brand new motorcycle, red paint glinting in the sunlight with
dust and scratches upon the new metal. It was bent in an odd
position as the impact upon the carefully made machine broke its back
in more ways than one. The front wheel was tilted upwards to the
pilots, as if it begged for help and cried in pain.

Silence fell upon the pilots before Heero gently broke it, "I think
Duo has some explaining to do."

All three pilots nodded in silent agreement.

"Let's get back to the house."

*****

Duo laughed and narrowed his eyes upon the tiled kitchen floor
before him. Grinning manically, the boy moved forward and slid
across the floor gracefully. Behind him, music pounded from the
stereos, singing the old song 'Original Prankster' by the old band
Offspring.

"Noise, noise!" Duo sang as he skid upon his soaped lathered spongy
feet. Behind him, he left a trail of bubbling clean substance.
Dancing and sliding around the tiled floor, Duo moved his arms around
crazily, getting completely lost in the music blasting from the
stereo. No one was watching him so he got crazy with his dances,
butt shaking, arms waving and braid twisting around madly.

"Knock down the walls, it's alive in you!" Duo screamed, head
banging while he pretended that he was the drummer and started
murdering his instrument with crucial blows to the fake plates.

"You can do it!" Duo sang, added an Italian accent to his voice and
shaking his tush. He moved faster around the kitchen table and
stopped suddenly.

"You know, it smells like shit, god damn!" Duo screamed at the top
of his lungs, showing his love for his favorite line in the entire
song. He started dancing around again, pretending he had a
microphone in hand and singing along with the song once again.

When the song ended, Duo stood breathless in the middle of the
kitchen, soapsuds bubbling on the tiled floor. Smiling at his
accomplishment, the happy pilot went to change his sponges for watery
ones to wipe off the floor. Slipping off his footwear, Duo passed a
window in the living room…and stopped short. Double taking, the
Shinigami maniac looked outside as he watched a red jeep come into
view. Raising an eyebrow, Duo went to the window.

Did they forget something? Duo thought, tilting his head. They
would have been at the Preventors now. Why are they coming back?

Suddenly it hit him.

"God damn you, Quatre. Did you convince-."

Jerking, Duo's eyes grew wide and he dropped his sponges to the
floor, cowering over. Pain shot through his wrists and the boy cried
out in panic, in pain, and in horror. Duo collapsed to the floor,
his hands and knees breaking most of his fall.

"Oh God!" Duo cried out, violet eyes wide in horror then screamed as
he felt something break through his wrists forcefully. Blood filled
his vision as it splattered across the carpet as skin and bones broke.

"NOOO!!!" Duo screamed at the top of his lungs. " STOP! NO, STOP!"

Suddenly, Duo's hands flew up into the air and his body was pulled
taut. Arms spread out wide across from him and Duo screamed in
horror as he had lost complete control of his body…

Again.

Blood dripped noiselessly upon the carpet and Duo felt tears begin
to break to the surface. His arms were lacing with pain, starting
from the wrists that each had a hole going right through.

"HELP ME!!!" Duo screamed. He heard the roar of the jeep's engine
just outside. Duo screamed louder, harder, his voice cracking in
horror, in pain to be heard. The engine was cut off. Voices were
heard. Duo saw a glimpse of Heero's head from the window.

Arms suddenly falling heavily to his sides, the front door swung
open and Heero filled the doorway, gun at ready and pointed straight
at Duo's head.

"Duo…" Heero stared wide-eyed. Duo gave a sigh of relief…just
before he fell forward and blacked out.

03 <--- Previous Chapter - Next Chapter ---> 05

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