A War Worth Fighting Part 5
As November rolled in, the temperature made its usual drop. Sleeping on the floor, Duo felt every bit of the chill seeping up beneath him. With that, the nights were becoming challenging to sleep through once more as he shivered. No matter how tightly he curled in on himself, his own body heat was not enough to keep the cold away.
It also did not help that he knew Akio was waiting for a chance to make good on his threat. That bastard planted a seed that had Maxwell on edge. It made for a new routine at night.
Unable to calm himself enough to get a deep enough sleep, he would sit up instantly the moment he thought he heard something. Finding that he was alone, he would look over to the loose pipe lying on the bathroom floor as reassurance that it was still there if he needed it. Then, he would lie back down and fall into another light sleep.
Wishing every ill on Akio that he could think of, Duo also cursed himself for allowing the soldier to get under his skin. There was a chance that he would never follow through on his threat-that he simply wanted to plant the seed of fear in his prey that was growing and spreading by the evening.
Just another way to get to the prisoner that could not be harmed.
And yet... Duo had the strong feeling that Akio was not making an idle threat. He had seen the man promise many vile things to the original prisoners that they could not understand. It was never a question to whether he would follow through. The question was when.
When would he strike?
Over two weeks had passed since that threat was made. The lines on the wall that Duo had scratched into the white paint with his fingernails to mark each day spent in Muroran said as much.
More than two weeks. And here he was. Still waiting.
Heero seemed to be an honorable soldier. A man of his word. He said that he would handle the problem and Akio would 'not get close enough to get his way.' But at the end of every day, the sergeant gathered his belongings and headed out as he would prior to learning of Akio's breaking into his office.
That certainly did not reassure Duo that he could actually trust him.
So many nights of poor sleep caused dark circles under the private's dulling violet eyes. His braid was a little more disheveled than usual since he could not muster up the strength or patience to fight with the loose wisps he felt when rebraiding. All together, he looked like death warmed over.
Felt like it, too.
Losing sleep meant bigger problems than appearance. A tired mind had a way of playing tricks on a person. It also meant that logic played less and less of a role in the everyday thought process. That was what had Duo the most concerned.
How much longer was he going to be able to keep this up? What if he was attacked when he was too vulnerable to defend himself?
Just as the sun fully rose, the sound of a key entering the bolt locking the office door had Duo springing to his feet. Closing the bathroom door behind him as he flew into the small room, he moved quickly to secure the bowed pipe back into the fixture beneath the sink.
Sure to keep the bolts at either end loose, he flushed the toilet and ran the sink on a light stream. A few splashes of the water to his face later and he opened the door to find his captor seated behind his desk as he looked over a new batch of reports.
With a smile, the private greeted, "'Mornin', Blue Eyes." Like every other time he said that name, he noticed the slight flinch that anyone not really paying attention would have missed. Heero looked up with a heated glare before shaking his head and returning to his work.
God, but Duo loved getting on the guy's nerves.
That little dig was enough. Any more and he was afraid that he would be pressing his luck with his foe. For the remainder of the day, he would just hold his tongue like every other day.
Lowering himself to sit on the floor, the Duo prepared himself for yet another long day of looking out the windows. 'At least there are some clouds and planes going by today,' he thought to himself.
From his place across the room, Heero took a long appraisal of his charge. Maxwell's appearance was more haggard than he could remember. And somehow, he had a feeling that it was not only due to Akio's impending return.
A slight shiver that shook the American's frame as he sat staring blankly became a tip off.
Pushing his chair back, the sergeant bent down and placed a hand on the wood floor. Nearly hissing at the chill he felt coming up through the small cracks, he pulled his hand away. Straightening himself in his seat, he frowned.
Sleep deprivation and a chilled floor to sleep on would make his charge ill. If he was ill by the time Treize came to collect him, the man would not be pleased.
Quietly, Heero wondered, 'Am I really only concerned for another's wellbeing because of my duty and not because they desperately need my help?'
A chill ran through him at that thought. What would his mother think of him if she knew that he had lost his ability to care for another person?
Before he dwelt for too long on thoughts of the mother that he'd left behind, Heero forced himself to concentrate solely on his work. There were too many reports and updates in the war to look through. He would need to know what was going on should his services ever be needed elsewhere.
Then something else caught the officer's eye. Something that the American, in his exhausted daze, never caught.
Beneath the sink in the bathroom, he could see a tiny puddle collecting on the floor. Above the pool, droplets timed at a couple heartbeats between one another dropped from the link at the top bolt.
Cobalt eyes widening at the find, a sudden realization flooded Heero. Instantly recalling his morning routine, he remembered that Duo was in the bathroom every time he returned to his office. While he was uninterested in what his prisoner was doing, the First Sergeant did mentally note the pattern.
Now, a full picture came into view as the pieces of the puzzle came together.
Shaking his head in amusement and wonder, Heero bit back the chuckle that nearly left him. 'Clever little bastard,' he thought to himself. 'He's a resourceful one.'
The fact that the American was going to use any and everything that he had to protect himself struck a cord of respect in the officer. Had he been in the other soldier's shoes, he would have done exactly the same.
In the end, a person could only count on themselves for protection. The word of another could not be trusted until it was proven. Until then, fight with everything you have.
A small smirk tugged the sergeant's lips as he quietly rose from his seat. Moving for the door, he announced, "I will be back with your morning rations." Not waiting for a response, he slipped into the hallway and closed the door behind him.
Duo never looked over to watch the officer leave. He was too occupied in watching one particular gray cloud morph from a turtle into a unicorn as it moved across the skies.
Closing his eyes, the private leaned against his cage and listened to the buzz of planes flying overhead. He listened to the occasional chirp of a flock of birds flying along with the occasional howl from a gust of wind. Then he heard the quiet drip and the splash of a drop of water falling into a tiny pool.
His violet eyes snapping wide open with a gasp, Duo shot up and looked to the bathroom. Right away, his gaze fell on the small puddle gathering on the floor beneath the sink. "Shit!" he all but cried as he scrambled to a crawl to stop the leak.
The bolt that was replaced too loosely was tightened a bit more, just enough to hold the water back without making it too difficult for a quick removal later that evening. Reaching for his meagre toilet paper rations, Duo mopped up the small pool and flushed the evidence away in a hurry.
"Ohshitohshitohshit," he muttered over and over again through his work. Running a hand through his long bangs, he wondered if there was any chance Heero had seen the puddle. No doubt the officer would be unhappy that his things were being tampered with by a prisoner.
Before he left, the sergeant gave no signs that he had seen anything. There was no change in his demeanor, there was not a hint of displeasure in his voice.
Wiping a line of beading sweat from his brow, Duo sat back in his cell once again. Heart racing, he worked on calming his panting breath before the other solider returned. Forcing a deep breath, he released it in a long sigh.
Heero returned to the office with a covered plate and something under his arm. Closing the door behind him with a kick from his foot, he approached the cell. His free hand fished out the key from his pocket to unlock the cage. Pushing the crude door open with his shoulder, the sergeant entered and dropped the items under his arm.
From his spot at the other side of the cell, Duo's eyes widened in taking in the thick, green blanket and white pillow on the floor. It had been some time since he had seen anything as simple and welcoming as those two items. Blinking his wide violet eyes, he looked up to his captor in disbelief.
Lifting the metal lid from the plate in his hand, Heero lowered it to reveal a plateful of food. Not the slop that was given to the prisoners with just enough substance to keep them alive... actual food.
There were a few slices of raw fish along with healthy helping of rice, vegetables and fruits. While raw fish was not exactly one of Duo's favorite cuisines, even that was a treat to behold compared to what he had been eating for almost a month.
Overwhelmed by the offerings, his eyes actually began to shimmer. Days of exhaustion and malnourishment had taken a toll on his mind and body that left him unable to hold back the surge of emotion flooding him.
Slowly raising his braided head to meet the cobalt eyes watching him, his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he breathed, "W-why?"
His own eyes widening at the first sign of a possible break in his prisoner's unshakable strength, Heero cleared his throat and regained his composure. "I cannot have you getting sick," he answered with a shrug. "You're cold, tired and hungry so you are likely to come down with something. If that happens, I will likely catch it as well."
It was a reasonable explanation. But there was a hint of something in the sergeant's voice that led Duo to believe that maybe... just maybe there was a bit of human compassion there.
For Heero's part, he told himself that the justification he gave was the only reason for his generosity. He told himself that it was only that, at least.
As the American soldier reached up for the plate with trembling hands, the sergeant suggested, "Do not force all of it down at once, or you'll bring it all back up. The food will keep all day, so take your time."
Nearly starved as he was, Duo nearly forgot to tell himself the same thing. It would not have done himself any good to finish off the whole plate in one sitting only to have it all heaved back up. Settling the plate in his crossed legs, he took up a small piece of fish and nibbled on it carefully. His stomach made loud churning sounds at the first few swallows then settled.
While Heero made his way from the cell and locked the door, the private watched him. No doubt the sergeant had taken grief over getting him such extravagances. Taking a few more bites from his meal, Duo took the time to savor every bit of it. No telling when he would be able to enjoy something like that again.
He took in as much as he could trust his stomach to keep down and covered his half-filled plate. Setting that aside next to his helmet on the floor, he crawled over to the pillow and blanket pooled on the other side of the cell.
Quietly unfolding the large, thick blanket, he had enough to lie atop it and curl the remainder tightly around the whole of his body.
Curling up like a cocoon, Duo soaked up the warmth and rested his head on the soft pillow. His head sunk into the feathered case and instantly, his heavy violet eyes drifted closed.
Prior to that instant, the braided soldier would never have let his guard down to sleep with Heero in the room. Trust was still an issue between them, even with this latest display of kindness.
But he was tired. So damned tired.
Forcing himself for one more moment of alertness, Duo chewed on the inside of is cheek before all but whispering, "Arigato, Heero." The sergeant looked up with wide cobalt eyes. Swallowing past a rough patch in his throat, Heero nodded firmly, "Do itashi mashite." [1]
It was the last thing Duo heard before his eyes closed off the world as a dreamless sleep claimed him.
* * * * * *
When he woke again, it took a moment before he realized that he was not still asleep. It was dark all but for the light of the moon peering through the windows.
Blinking his violet eyes at Heero's vacant desk, Duo sighed and rolled onto his back.
A pair of black eyes and a dark smirk stared down at him from where he expected to find the ceiling above. Gasping, the private's mouth opened in a surprised scream that was cut off when a hand shot down to cover it.
"Not yet," Akio chuckled deeply in his tongue as he leaned down from his straddled position above the braided prisoner. "Screams are too distracting. I will hear your screams soon enough. Right now, I want to have a little fun first."
Frantic, Duo moved and shifted every way he could, only to be overpowered by the other soldier at every movement. Weakened as he was, he just could not get a good break away.
At the end of a long, loud and violent struggle, the American was pinned down with a sharp knife at his throat as the free hand worked away the buckle of his belt. Each rushed breath he pulled cut into the teeth of the blade against his larynx.
Panting from both from the fight and the excitement of what was to come, Akio grinned, "That's much better. I will break you yet, you little bastard."
Just as he reached the button at the top of the pant hem, the Japanese private froze at the feeling of something cold pressing into the back of his neck. "Don't. Move," a familiar voice growled darkly in their language.
Both Duo and Akio's eyes widened as even their breathing came to a halt. Slowly, Heero moved from behind the Japanese soldier while keeping his pistol at the back of his neck. Glaring heatedly at his intruder, the sergeant gritted in his native tongue, "Drop the knife and get off of him. Now."
Instantly opening his hands in submission, the broad-shouldered private let his knife fall to the ground and backed away from the prisoner. Scrambling, Duo crawled back until he came up against the cage wall behind him. Hands trembling, he secured his belt into place.
The gun pointing at his head, Akio moved until he was backed against the only plaster wall in the cell, just beside the bathroom door. He and Heero glared at one another for a long pause before the Japanese private spat at his commander and hissed. "You are not fit to wear that uniform, you half-breed."
Duo blinked in shock as in the next heartbeat his attacker was rolling on the floor, reeling from the swift and powerful blow to his gut. Red-faced, Heero stormed from the cell and threw his office door open. Stepping out into the hall, he pointed into his room and shouted to the stunned guards standing just feet away, "Get this son of a bitch into one of the holding cells! I'll deal with him myself later!"
Almost tripping in their rushed steps, the guards flew into the office and paused in shock for a moment in taking in Akio as he continued to writhe on the floor inside the cage. Their eyes narrowing, both armed men stormed in to roughly gather up the intruder and lead him to the other holding room.
Panting through clenched teeth, Heero glared at the office door as it was closed behind his men. Roughly wiping an arm across his damp right cheek, he turned and lowered his pistol onto his desk and moved into the cell.
Finally coming out of his grip of panic, Duo took in the dishevelled look of the sergeant. Dressed in a simple white T-shirt and simple blue boxers without so much as socks on his feet, Heero lowered himself to sit before him.
Easily falling back into speaking English, the officer asked quietly, "Are you all right?" Biting back a near sob, the private nodded his braided head a few times.
Sighing, Heero rose to his feet and walked out of the cell and from the office. Moments later, he returned with a cot, blanket and pillow that he set up beside the cage. "We'll talk more in the morning," he said simply as he lay on his side facing his stunned captive. "It's been a long night. Try and get some sleep."
With a rough swallow, Duo nodded. The fact that his cell was still open meant nothing. Now that he knew there really were guards standing in wait in the halls should he escape, he was not about to go anywhere.
His nerves finally calming, the American gathered up his own blanket and pillow to lie facing the officer. "T-thank you... 'Ro," Duo managed in little more than a whisper.
Surprised that he was not referred to as 'Blue Eyes', Heero stared at the other soldier for a moment before closing his eyes and replying, "You're welcome, Duo. Go to sleep now. We both could use it."
After weeks of restless slumber and finally knowing that Akio was no longer able to hurt him, it did not take much convincing for Duo to do as he was ordered.
The last view he had was of Heero lying on the other side of the metal crate wall... keeping watch even as he slept.
TBC...
[1] You're welcome.
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