Title: Tainted Conviction - Part Eight

Author: Sita Seraph

Genre: Angst, Religious relatings

Pairing: 1x2 eventually.

Rated: R

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

It hadn't taken long for the ex-Gundam pilots to move out of the
house.  It seemed that all of them, nay one, found bad memories and a
creepy chill in the air that made the house loose all its color. 
Quatre seemed to be in the worst shape after discovering the bodies. 
His hands kept trembling hours after and he mostly hung out in the
kitchen with a mug of hot coffee in his hand.  Heero had watched his
friend from afar as Quatre kept rubbing his forehead with trembling
fingers, like he had a horrible headache that refused to depart.  The
whole group had stayed up that long night, except Duo, who slept on
the couch, curled up, and an innocent expression on his face.  Wufei,
Trowa, and Heero stayed up with their confusing companion, watching
him sleep like nothing had happened and his dreams were filled with
pleasant thoughts.  Wufei had barely moved from the seat he had taken
residence to, his knuckles glued to his lips, and staring off out the
window that gave vision to the creeping sunlight in the horizon. 
Trowa's eyes were fixed upon Duo's flickering closed eyelids,
watching the deep breathing pilot with the most intense, green eyes. 
And Heero plopped himself onto the floor, nestling in the carpet as
he tried to close his eyes for at least one minute.  But behind the
dark eyelids, he saw nothing but those dummy eyes of the corpses,
lifeless and innocent.  They had scarred him and he didn't know why. 
The war had brought more death and insanity then this night could
ever bring but the heavy stench of fatality closed in on them so hard
that it was like they were locked in separate boxes and oxygen was
slowly being sucked away.  Maybe it was the fact that none of them
had ever faced innocent death.  The kind of death that had no cause,
no reason behind it.  In the war, they had a reason for killing mass
hundreds.  They didn't feel pity for the soldiers that they killed. 
They didn't revolt back in sickness when they saw their rival
bleeding and sunken eyes staring at the ceiling.  But it had been a
single night that reminded them of the other innocents in a war of
power and hate.  A night that opened their eyes when Shinigami's hand
raised and slapped their faces.  Hard.  No, it came to a silent
agreement that they had to leave the house that twisted their guts
with disgust.  They had to depart from the house that showed them a
whole new terror.

So, after calling the Preventers about mysteriously finding three
corpses in their house, the pilots had packed up in quick haste and
drove far away from the once peaceful home.  It hadn't taken long to
find a suitable home for five men and close to their office.  The
only downfall it seemed was that it was a neighborhood instead of
some home in the wild country.

Duo sat silently in the backseat beside Quatre.  He was staring out
the window, watching houses and people go by in the busy
neighborhood.  He had been the only one who didn't want to leave the
house.  It was nice there.  He liked it.  He didn't feel the death
that suffocated the other four pilots.  He didn't smell the terror in
the air that now weaved itself into their skin.  He felt nothing but
a sense of comfort there.  That is, once he beat away all the demons
of the house…but now he had no idea where he was going.  Quatre
neglected to tell him.  He almost hoped for an apartment…there were
no ghosts in hotels, right?

Heero kept looking back through the mirror at Duo, finding the odd
silence in the car increasingly uncomfortable.  It seemed that Duo
was completely back to normal after getting a good night's rest.  The
happy pilot had appeared early that morning, a smile on his face, and
a wave in greeting.  But when he had learned that they were moving, a
frown emerged so long that lines had appeared in the corners of his
mouth.  Duo was not happy with the vote to move; he wanted to stay. 
But why?  Why would he want to stay with a place that just reminded
the rest of them of pain?  Especially when they never felt any of the
real damage?  It just didn't make sense…But then again, Duo never
did.  Heero returned his eyes to the road.  And they still hadn't
received any of the answers they were dying to hear…

"Duo, how are your wrists?" Quatre asked.

"Fine," came the meek reply.

"Are you angry with us?"

"No."

"Then why-?"

"I don't feel like talking, Q."

Heero clenched his jaw for a split moment.  Didn't feel like
talking, his ass.  They wanted the answers.  He felt like he was on a
wild roller coaster ride and nobody was at the control panels.  He
kept going through the loops and sharp turns that made his body ache
from twisting so fast.  They were just picking up pace and Heero kept
losing sight of the problem.  His mind was in a whirlwind; his eyes
kept dilating as the world spun around him.  And the lack of controls
that Heero was so fond of holding was driving the pilot mildly
insane.  It was like Duo held all Heero's questions and answers in
the pit of his hand and kept running away when Heero proceeded
forward with the tiniest step.  He would run towards the darkness and
disappear and when Heero pursued, the darkness would suddenly lash
out with a life of its own and cause destruction to the small world
the ex-Gundam pilots had made themselves in.  Anger began boiling up
from the pit of his stomach.  Why wouldn't Duo let him help?  Why
wouldn't he answer him, instead tilting his head to the side with
dismissal?  God Damnit, it was NOT fair.  They deserved an answer. 
Heero deserved one.

"Too bad," Heero barked out.  His eyes snapped to the mirror and he
saw that Duo was now watching him, the passing scenery no longer an
interest to him.  Confused lilac pools stared at him, at the mirror
where his image was reflected.  Do I have your attention now, Duo?
Heero thought.  Then don't turn away from me this time.  "Who did
that to your wrists?"

In one second, Duo's face grew considerably paler and the purple
eyes flicked back outside the window.  No answer breathed out of
Duo's lips and the silence reigned upon the Gundam pilots again. 
Quatre shifted nervously, Duo's body growing tense against his arm. 
Please don't push him, Heero…Quatre thought.

"Answer me," Heero ordered, his nasal tone voice cutting through the
silence like a blade.

"…No one," came Duo's weak answer and Quatre watched as his body
slumped heavily against the seat, head slowly lowering.

"Did you do it then?" Heero's voice was so incredibly cold…

"No…" Duo's answer came again.  Heero's mouth opened again, his eyes
burning with controlled anger.

"Look!" Quatre screamed suddenly deliberately taking the subject off
course.  With a trembling finger, the waves of intense emotions
crashing around them in the tiny jeep, he pointed out the window. 
"There's our new house, Duo!"

Duo, obviously thankful for the distraction, looked up and his body
relaxed like a rubber band being released.  He watched the two-story
light blue house get closer and closer, momentarily forgetting Heero
and his quarrel.  But the perfect pilot didn't.  He, instead, glared
even daggers at Quatre through the mirror, a firm frown pulling down
his lip.  But he said nothing more, pulling the dirty red jeep into
the driveway and came to a stop.  At the cue of the engine turning
off, all the pilots piled out of the car and stared up at their new
home.

"This seems like a nicer place," Wufei commented quietly.  Everyone
else seemed to agree and they eagerly moved forward to check out
their new house, leaving their clothes in the car to collect later. 
But it only took a second for them all to realize that they were one
pilot short and together they looked back to see Duo still by his car
door.  Again, it took only another second to see that Duo was not all
right.  Upon closer inspection, they noticed that Duo's fists were
closed tight and turning pale to white.  A trickle of blood dripped
down his left knuckle, his fresh bandages that was white a moment ago
now a deep nearly black crimson.  Duo stared, transfixed, at the
house before them.  The light had faded from his endless lilac pools
and replaced with wide, ghostly eyes that quivered in paralyzed fear.

Trowa followed Duo's gaze, looking up at the second floor and seeing
absolutely nothing but a few windows with long curtains peeking out
from the side.  When he looked back, Duo was shaking his head and
clawing at the car door handle while he stared endlessly at the
window of the second floor.

"No, no, I don't wanna live here," Duo said repeatedly, his hand
trembling so hard that he couldn't get his fingers to close in on the
handle.  He was blinking rapidly, as if trying to break the hold that
held his gaze, but could not.

"Duo," Quatre said, alarmed.  "What's wrong?  Duo?"

"No, no, I don't wanna live here…" Duo kept repeating and finally
the car door was opened.  Duo was crawling back into the car when
Heero ran over and grabbed his arm and pulled him roughly back
outside.  And then Duo did something no one would have expected…

He started screaming bloody murder and lashed out with all his
strength at Heero.

"NO, NO!" Duo screamed with all his might.  "DON'T MAKE ME LIVE
HERE!!!"

"Maxwell, stop!" Wufei screamed and started forward to catch Duo. 
Heero was grunting as he struggled to hold onto the screaming,
writhing, and clawing Duo Maxwell. The Shinigami maniac fighting
Heero like a madman.  Cuts had appeared on the perfectionist's arms
as Duo clawed him with his nails.  Heero stumbled as the ex-pilot
kicked him repeatedly in the legs.  He would just not hold still! 
Suddenly, Wufei was there and clasped onto the screaming Duo.  And
soon, that's all he was able to do but beg as his energy ran out and
his blood ran freely from the damp bandages on his wrists.

"Don't…" Duo whimpered.  His eyes were closed firmly.  "You don't
understand…"

"Hurry, get him into the house," Quatre ordered.  "We have to change
those things."

Wufei and Heero moved together and carried the whimpering Duo into
the house.  The door creaked as it opened and Duo made a faint gurgle
in his throat as he passed into the closed room of the entrance
hall.  It was a sound of defeat.

*****

Heero brushed his hand against the knob.

Cold, so cold.

"Duo!? DUO!!!"

He couldn't open it.

"DUO!!!"

Screaming, screaming, endless screaming.

"You fucker!!! Whose in there?!  Stop it!!!!"

A creeping white flame licking at Heero's feet.

"Duo!!!! DUO!!!!"

It was so damn cold…

Click.  The door unlocked.

*****

Heero awoke with a start; eyes snapping open from his nightmare. 
His blanket had been tossed away from him in his dream and he
shivered violently.  The temperature had dropped considerably in his
room over the night and hastily, he brought the white sheets back up
around his nearly nude body.  Sighing, he rubbed his forehead.

Weird dream.  He could barely recall it now…But…

Heero sighed again and turned away from the wall to his other side,
curling up into a ball to keep warm.  It took him a moment to realize
until he noticed someone was standing in his doorway.

Heero jerked up, hand crawling under his pillow to get his gun
before he realized that he hadn't unpacked it yet and cursed.  The
dark form shifted uneasily for a moment before it stepped into the
room.  The shadows seemed to have melted off of it as the light of
the moon immediately caught the flowing locks and lit the silky
strands like a match to its flame.  Duo stood barefoot, nude besides
the low-rider boxers, and absolutely helpless looking in Heero's new
bedroom.  The moon kissed the Shinigami pilot with silvery lips as
his whole body seemed to glow in the eerie of the night.

Heero blinked frantically for two minutes.

Duo coughed, he seemed timid and scared as he stared at the floor
below him.  "H-Heero…Can I…Can I sleep with you tonight…?"

Heero's shock took over again and he stared at the pilot with a
blank face.  Duo glanced up then looked away quickly and turned away,
strands of brown flying behind him.  Before he could take a rapid
retreat from the room though, Heero called him back.

"Get in, baka," Heero ordered.  Duo looked over his shoulder to see
that Heero had pulled back the blankets to let in his comrade and he
smiled, a real, genuine happy smile.  Immediately, Duo rushed over
and leapt in under the covers as Heero settled back into the bed.

"Heero…?"

"Hmm…?"

"Can I get closer?"

Heero looked over slowly and nodded mutely.  Duo smiled yet again,
full and bright, and scooted closer.  Or, let's say, a lot closer
that their bare skin touched and rubbed together.  Heero held back
the urge to bite his bottom lip and his eyes slipped close.  Duo
Maxwell was in his bed and CUDDLING with him.  Dear God, he hoped Duo
believed he had his gun in bed or else Heero wouldn't be able to
explain what was poking him throughout the night.  Just the thought
that Duo's bare, strong and warm flesh was rubbing up - Wait a second.

"Duo…?

"Uh huh?"

"Why are you so cold…?"

Duo was silent for a long time, staring at the ceiling with glazed,
false eyes.  Then slowly, he looked over at Heero, his face a mask of
abandon.

"I was…standing out there a long time…" Duo answered quietly.  Heero
blinked at Duo before, without any thought, wrapped an arm around
Duo's shoulders and pulled him closer.  Freezing skin touched his
warm body and Heero shivered momentarily.

"Obviously," Heero said.  Duo sighed and rolled to his side, facing
Heero, and curled up to the warm blanket aka Heero Yuy with an arm
laying itself on his stomach and chest.  Duo's face became buried in
Heero's skin, cold nose burning into the hot flesh.  So, perhaps, it
wasn't one of Heero's best moments being a heater but at least he was
able to touch Duo…

Heero's hold suddenly tightened as he noticed that Duo was beginning
to shiver violently from time to time.  It wasn't the normal shiver
though…No, Heero knew this shiver.  It was like Quatre's hands that
kept shuddering, fear lancing and tensing his quivering digits.  It
was the tremor your body would get as you contained the tears that
fought to break your eyes and spill free.  It was the tremble in the
voice when you saw something so horrible, so mind and body numbing,
that your voice wouldn't quite corporate with you.  Heero knew these
feelings all too well.  He remembered how hard his fingers would
shake as he wrapped those dressings around Duo's wrist for the first
time.  He remembered how hard his body quivered against the cabinets,
curled up into a tight ball, with the steam choking his voice and
licking at the tears that ran down his face after he had found Duo. 
And how hard it was to maintain control again in front of his fellow
pilots, to stop his shaking, when all he wanted to do was be alone
and…die.

"Duo…?"

No answer.

"Duo…?"

He didn't reply.

"Duo…"

A violent shudder and still no answer.

"Duo…Why…Why wont you tell me what's wrong…?"

And yet again, Duo didn't answer him.  Heero's fingers dug into the
blanket and he closed his eyes so tight that he saw stars behind
them.  But it didn't keep back the salt water that slammed against
his shields and slowly leaked free.

TBC…  

07 <--- Previous Chapter - Next Chapter ---> 09

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