Boot Camp Part 16
Suspicious Minds
The next morning, Captain Chang stood surveying the wreckage of the wall on the obstacle course, with Warden Kushrenada at his side.
"The only logical explanation," he was saying, "is that someone loosened the bolts." The MSC officer looked at the warden with a piercing gaze. "I don't believe the inmates have the tools for such a task."
"What are you suggesting, Chang?"
"I'm suggesting that someone here at your prison has either a grudge against the inmates, or wants to see the Peacecraft Initiative fail." Wonder who that could be...
The warden drew himself to his full height, looking down his aristocratic nose at the officer. "For your information, Chang, the Peacecraft Initiative will fail all by itself. It doesn't need any help. It's a flawed plan from the start." He narrowed his tawny eyes. "And I resent the implication that any of my people would tamper with your silly little obstacle course." He gestured towards the barracks. "You should look to your little delinquents for that kind of vandalism...and believe me, the lack of tools wouldn't faze them a bit." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe they wanted a break from the daily monotony."
"Or perhaps someone resented the progress they were making," came Wufei's barely veiled accusation.
"You're out of line, Chang." Kushrenada glared down at him. "One more suggestion that my guards or I had anything to do with this, and I'll contact the Prison Commission and tell them your juvenile delinquents are out of hand and need to be removed to a real prison where they can be properly supervised."
"Perhaps in a 'real' prison, the guards will at least be able to keep their attack dogs 'properly supervised,' instead of having them running loose after innocent hikers," snarled the Chinese officer, onyx eyes narrowed.
"This conversation is over," snapped the warden, turning on a heel and stalking away.
Captain Chang sighed, turning as Lieutenant Li walked up.
"Well he looked like he could chew nails," murmured the martial arts instructor, giving his superior officer a grin.
"...or loosen them," muttered Wufei. "What's the rest of the course look like?"
"Nothing else seems to be faulty in any way, but it wouldn't hurt to do a complete re-fit."
"Very well. We'll keep the obstacle course shut down for the rest of this week, while we rebuild it. I'll have the liaison soldiers take the boys through some 'natural' obstacles. There's plenty of rugged terrain for hiking and climbing that ought to provide an adequate challenge. I'll make the announcement at lunch."
~*~
"Yessss!" Duo crowed victoriously after Wufei had left the commissary. "No obstacles the rest of the week."
"Did you not hear him, Maxwell?" Heero asked scornfully. "He wasn't talking about pretty little nature walks...he was talking about forced-march hikes up the side of a mountain." The team leader shook his head. "You'll be begging for obstacles by tomorrow."
"Ha!" Duo retorted. "Betcha five bucks I'm not."
Heero eyed him calculatingly. "You shouldn't make wagers, Maxwell. You aren't that lucky."
Duo met the blue eyes for a moment, and then dropped his gaze, suddenly reminded of the gamble he'd taken and lost when he tried snooping in the foot lockers. And the look he'd just received from his team leader suggested he might be calling in payment fairly soon. The braided boy turned his attention elsewhere, eager to avoid that confrontation. "Hey, Trowa...are you going to get to see the dogs today?"
The green-eyed boy gave him a surprised look. "Yeah, why?"
"I...I like Nanashi," Duo said quietly, almost shyly.
"Really?"
He looked up at Trowa with a shrug. "Really. Just 'cause I didn't grow up in a circus doesn't mean I don't like animals."
"--and their food," Quatre interjected with a grin.
"Okay...that was just desperation," Duo said flatly. "If you'd ever had to eat out of garbage cans, you'd eat almost anything, too."
Quatre looked at him with a genuinely distressed expression. "Did you really?" he asked quietly.
Duo nodded, running a finger along the edge of his plate. "Yeah, I s'pose you think that's pretty revolting." He glanced at Heero, who was scowling deeply. "Right, Yuy?"
"I think it's sad," Heero said quietly, standing up and gathering his dishes to take up to the counter.
Duo stared after him, wondering if that had been pity he heard in the Japanese boy's voice. And for some reason that irritated him more than scorn would have. "What's sad, Yuy, is your inability to lighten up!" he called after him. "I might've grown up on the streets, but at least I have a sense of humor about it!"
Heero didn't look back, but placed his dishes on the counter and walked out the door.
"He was trying to be sympathetic," Quatre pointed out.
Duo scowled at him then. "Do you think I want his fucking sympathy, Winner? Well, I don't! Okay?"
"Nice sense of humor, Maxwell," Trowa said with a suggestion of a sneer.
"Fuck you, too," Duo retorted.
Quatre was frowning, sensing an assortment of conflicting feelings from Duo. Ever since Sunday, the boy had been a roller coaster of emotions. There were moments he was his normal, cheerful self...but then in an instant, he'd turn defensive and angry. The empathic Arab was a little frustrated with the constant turmoil. "Hey, Trowa--Duo--let's not argue. Nobody meant to make you feel pitied, Duo. Okay?" He put a hand on the braided boy's arm, and Duo flinched slightly, giving him a wary look. "I don't think Heero's ever thought about what it'd be like to grow up homeless. He just doesn't know the right thing to say about it."
Duo grimaced. "He doesn't know the right thing to say about anything," he muttered, his anger ebbing slightly.
"Why don't you come see Nanashi with Trowa and me," Quatre urged.
Trowa gave Duo a vaguely resentful look, and it occurred to the boy from L2 that the auburn-haired kid didn't want to share Quatre's company. So he grinned cheekily. "Why, Quat, I'd love to." He stood up, casually dropping an arm across Quatre's shoulders as he often did.
Trowa just gathered up his and Quatre's plates and carried them up to the counter, not looking back at the braided boy's antics. He knew exactly what Maxwell was doing. He just didn't know if it was a game to Quatre as well, or if the blonde boy really had feelings for Duo beyond friendship. And that bothered the green-eyed boy more than he'd admit.
When the three boys arrived at the kennel, a handler was working with Nanashi, trying to get the big pup to attack a man dressed in a training suit.
"C'mon, you stupid hound!" taunted the man, waving a club as if he were attacking the handler.
Nanashi merely circled him warily, tail wagging, and tongue lolling.
"Get him, No-Name!" ordered the handler. "Go on! Defend!"
The dog sat back, cocking its head to one side and barking once as if to ask why.
Trowa groaned.
"I take it that's not what he's supposed to be doing," Quatre sighed.
"It's as far from it as you can get," Trowa said unhappily.
"Not working out too well, is he?" asked Kushrenada, walking up behind the boys.
Duo stepped back warily, indigo eyes glittering with hate.
But the warden seemed oblivious to the boy from L2, stepping up alongside Trowa and setting a companionable hand on his shoulder. "He's a lovely dog, isn't he, Barton?"
"He sure is," agreed the boy, shaking his head.
"It's a shame he's so friendly." He glanced aside at Trowa. "Perhaps you could work with him a bit. You did train lions, didn't you?"
"Yes, sir."
"So, having experience with dangerous animals, perhaps you could find a way to bring out his protective nature."
Duo rolled his eyes, catching Quatre's glance.
"I'd love to try," Trowa was saying, green eyes alight as he looked at the beautiful dog.
The warden nodded. "Great. I'll make sure the handlers give you all the tools you need...and I'll try to get Chang to let you have some free time." He gave a wry smile. "But I don't think the good Captain is very fond of me."
"That makes two of us," Duo blurted out, unable to hold it back.
"Maxwell," crooned Kushrenada, turning to face him. "Just because you're jealous of Barton's skill with animals, don't try to ruin this for him."
Duo's eyes widened at the accusation. "Ruin this? How does my hating your guts have anything to do with Trowa?"
"I don't want him to have to choose between us," shrugged the man.
"There's no contest," Duo shot back. "You're a lying sack of shit and I'm not."
"Duo, shut up!" Trowa said sharply. He didn't want the warden to change his mind about letting him help with Nanashi just because Maxwell had a big mouth.
Stung by the curt tone, Duo glared at his teammate. "Fuck you, Barton! I'll say what I want." His eyes narrowed. "For that matter, I'll go where I want. You and Quat have fun...I'll be at the barracks with Yuy." He turned on his heel and stalked away.
The warden shook his head ruefully. "There goes a very troubled young man," he sighed. "Barton...and you too, Winner...I want you both to watch each other's backs around him." He gave an indulgent smile, while Quatre fumed silently. "I know Winner likes to see the good in everyone, Barton. But I'm afraid he's a bit mistaken about Maxwell. Do look after him?"
"I will," Trowa agreed, not quite meeting the aquamarine eyes that were giving him an almost accusing look.
"Good."
~*~
Meanwhile, halfway to the barracks, Duo had recalled he didn't want to be alone with Heero any more than he wanted to be around Kushrenada. "Well, shit," he muttered, pausing near the commissary, and wondering where to go.
"Hey, Duo..."
"Jason!" The indigo-eyed boy smiled in relief. "Man, am I glad to see you!"
"Really?" The other boy gave him a heartfelt smile. "What's up?"
"Aw...Tro' and Quat are at the kennels, and Kushrenada's there...so I was gonna go back to the barracks, but Yuy's there..." Duo shrugged helplessly.
"Teammate problems?"
"Something like that."
"We've got martial arts in about a half hour. Want to take a walk until then?" Duo hesitated, and Jason laughed. "I promise to behave," he said reassuringly.
Duo mustered a grin in return. "Me, too." But seeing the warm look in the other boy's eyes, he was half-tempted to throw caution out the window and just go do what Yuy probably thought he was doing anyway. The only thing stopping him was that he knew Jason's feelings were genuine, and he didn't want to lead him on if there was nowhere to go. "Did I mention you're a good friend, Jase?"
"Yeah, I think you did," Jason said easily, heading for the track where they'd spent so many hours doing their two-mile morning runs. "You wanna talk about what's got you bothered with Yuy?"
Duo snorted wryly. "You've seen what he's like, Jase...snide, arrogant... impossible."
Jason chuckled, shaking his head. "He's got a lot to be arrogant about, Duo. He's smart, athletic, good-looking..." He shrugged slightly. "If I wasn't such a sucker for long hair, I'd ask you to fix me up with him."
Duo's jaw dropped, and he gave Jason a stunned look. "You only liked me for my braid?" he asked in a mock-offended tone.
"Like...as in, present tense, Duo," chided the other boy. "And no, it's not just the hair."
"Really?" Duo asked archly. "But I don't have Heero's dreamy blue eyes...or the athletic build..."
"Or the...charming personality?" drawled Jason sarcastically. He gave a short laugh. "I'd be downright afraid to approach Yuy. Good looks aside, he's a little scary."
Duo smirked at that. "I'd have said 'dangerous.'"
Jason eyed Duo suspiciously. "Why do I get the feeling I'm not the only one here who finds Heero Yuy attractive?"
"Well, hell, who wouldn't?" Duo replied vaguely. "But like you said, he can be...intimidating." He flashed a grin. "Who wants to risk life and limb just to get laid?"
"By Heero Yuy?" Jason said speculatively. "I might."
"You're fickle," Duo teased, shaking his head. "Two days ago it was me...now Heero..."
"It's still you," Jason said more seriously.
Duo blushed a little, looking down at the ground instead of at the other boy. "That's nice of you to say, Jase, but..."
"I know, Duo," Jason said quickly. "We both need to focus on this camp." He gave the braided boy a sidelong glance. "Just don't be surprised if I look you up if we ever get back to L2...outside of prison anyway."
Duo smirked at that. "Sure would be nice to be free again, wouldn't it?"
"You got that right."
They walked a couple of laps around the track and then had to head to martial arts class.
Duo knew the minute he walked in the door that he was in for it. Heero, Trowa, and Quatre were sitting in the bleachers waiting for him. He sighed as approached them, waiting for Heero's tirade. But the team leader didn't say a word.
Raising an eyebrow questioningly, Duo sat next to him, waiting. And after a couple of minutes passed, he shifted so he was facing him. "Go ahead, already, Yuy."
"Go ahead and what?"
"Yell at me for going off without telling you," Duo replied.
"I'm not a babysitter, Maxwell," Heero said calmly. "I told you the other day, if something happens to you, don't come crying to me."
"I won't," Duo retorted. He glanced past Heero to Trowa. "Have a nice visit with your close buddy the warden?"
"Fuck off, Maxwell."
~*~
In martial arts, they were again working on self-defense techniques, but this time, Lieutenant Li decided on different pairings. Duo ended up working with Quatre for the first half of class, enjoying the envious glance from Trowa the first time he wrapped his arms around the blonde in an "attack."
But then he realized Trowa got to work with Heero, and it wasn't so much fun any more. Fortunately for Duo, the green-eyed boy didn't seem to know he had the opportunity to make him jealous.
It wasn't until halfway through class when they switched partners that Duo realized he was going to end up with Heero after all.
"Ah, crap," he muttered under his breath as they squared off with their new opponent.
Heero gave him a small, feral smile. "Remember the other night when I suggested you do your studying, Maxwell?"
"Yeah," came the cautious reply.
"You're about to find out why."
The first technique they practiced was a simply a way to block and counter a punch. But Heero kept adding little moves that challenged Duo to improvise, testing his knowledge of the material.
"Not bad," conceded the team leader, after they had worked their way through several techniques. "How about the one you screwed up on Friday?" he suggested, smirking as he slipped his arms around Duo. "You do to me what you did to Austin, and I'll mop up the floor with you, Maxwell," he warned.
Duo relaxed against him, turning so that his face was inches from the team leader's. "You try what Austin tried, and you won't get the chance," he said sweetly.
"Y'mean, this?" Heero teased, sliding a finger down the side of Duo's neck.
Duo tensed, but instead of reacting, he took a shaky breath, tempted to close his eyes and enjoy the sensation. God why did it feel so good when Heero did it? "Yeah, that..." He suddenly seemed to recall he wasn't supposed to be enjoying the "attack," and started the textbook defensive move.
But Heero had anticipated that, shifting his grip and taking Duo's legs out from under him with a swift kick behind the knees. They landed on the mat with Heero on top and Duo effectively pinned beneath him.
"Ah, fuck, Yuy, that's not what you're supposed to do!" Duo growled in a voice muffled by the mat he was facedown on.
"You think a real attacker's going to stick to the book?" Heero taunted. His smug humor faded as Duo squirmed underneath him and he realized the position they were in.
"Let me go, Yuy," came a slightly strained order.
"Why? Are you enjoying this too much?" Heero whispered in his ear, just before releasing the braided boy and standing up.
Duo scrambled to his feet, face flushed, and was about to bite off a sharp retort when Lieutenant Li called for them to switch opponents. The braided boy found himself paired with Trowa, and soon learned that the agile boy from the circus was not an opponent to be taken lightly. He was grateful for that, as it kept his mind occupied and off of Heero Yuy.
~*~
Hours later, after supper and an evening at the library working on the internet, all four boys straggled wearily back to the barracks. They went through the usual routine of bathroom visits, tooth brushing, and in Duo's case, hair brushing. He finally finished after all three of his roommates were already in their bunks, and climbed wearily into his. But as his head hit the pillow, he realized there was something on it.
He sat up sharply, wondering if Austin's team had found a way to pay back the prank he and Quatre had perpetrated. But there on the pillow was a protein bar, still in its wrapper. With a puzzled frown, Duo picked the bar up, looking across at Trowa and Quatre's bunks. "Alright, what's this about?" He brandished the snack.
They both shrugged, and Duo heard a quiet cough from the bunk below his.
"Yuy?" He hung his head over the side, his braid swinging down as it always seemed to do. "What's with the midnight snack? Not to be ungrateful, but..."
"It's for emergencies. It's better for you than milkbones," Heero said quietly, looking at him with such a genuinely concerned look that Duo couldn't get angry.
Instead he stared for a moment, trying to decipher the puzzle that was Heero Yuy. The guy could be a perfect ass most of the time, and then do something so...well... thoughtful. The braided boy sighed deeply, frowning. "Thanks," he said quietly, rolling onto his back, and tossing the bar down onto his foot locker. He was asleep within minutes.
~*~
Duo woke to feel his arms being held above his head, pressed into the pillow by hands that gripped as tight as metal bands around his wrists. A body lay across his, the weight trapping him against the mattress...he could feel the hardness pressing against him through the blanket tangled around his legs. He opened his mouth to scream, and a mouth silenced him with a kiss hard enough to bruise lips...a tongue forcing its way into his mouth and wrestling for dominance against his. He couldn't breathe...couldn't move. And when he tried to squirm free, the weight that brushed across his groin made him groan into the kiss with a mixture of pleasure and terror. Then the mouth left his, and he gasped for air, panting...and felt a warm ghosting of breath across his cheek...
"You said...anything..."
Duo shot up with a gasp, nearly banging his head against the wall his bunk was against. He was panting, as if he'd run a marathon, sweat trickling down his back and plastering his bangs to his face. Just a nightmare...
"Maxwell?"
Heero...shit! Why him?
"Fine." His voice came out in a near-croak. "I'm fine." He ran a shaking hand through his damp hair.
There was the creak of a mattress, and then the feeling of a solid presence beside the bunk. "You don't sound fine."
"I'm fine!" he snapped, his voice cracking slightly on the second word. "Fuck!" He swore, swinging his legs over the side of the bunk, and dropping to the floor. Without another word, he headed for the bathroom, banging a knee into one of the foot lockers and cursing again. Then he found the door in the dark, and went in, closing and locking it. Without turning on a light, he turned on the cold water, and splashed his face, trying to rinse away the lingering panic along with the sweat. Just a nightmare...
He stood with his hands on the edges of the sink, trying to steady his breathing. This was the third night in a row he'd found himself awake. Other nights he'd been too restless to sleep, unable to turn off the jumble of thoughts in his head. Or he'd dozed off only to wake an hour later, his nerves on edge to the point where he knew sleep would be impossible for the rest of the night. But tonight...the dream. It had been too real to just shake off, and he could still almost feel the crushing grip on his wrists and the harsh kiss against his lips.
He leaned his head against the wall, fighting back a sob of frustration. Stupid, Maxwell. You dumb shit. You let him get to you, didn't you? He caught you breaking the rules, and now he fucking owns you. Anything. You said you'd do anything. And sooner or later, he'll decide to call you on that. He gave a short, bitter laugh, banging his head on the tile, as if to knock some sense into himself.
There was a quiet tap on the door. "Maxwell. Are you okay?"
Go away. Just go away.
"Duo?"
He closed his eyes, swallowing hard. Don't call me that. Just stick to Maxwell. Keep it impersonal, Yuy. It'll be better that way. Don't pretend you care. "I'm fine. Just leave me alone."
There was silence on the other side of the door, and after a few minutes, Duo dared to hope the team leader had gone back to bed. He shut off the water, and fumbled for a paper towel to dry his face, feeling steadier by the minute. But he waited several more long moments before opening the door and feeling his way back to his bunk.
"Are you sick?" came a quiet inquiry.
He should have known Heero wouldn't be put off so easily. "No...I just...couldn't sleep." He waited, the cynical voice in the back of his head half expecting Yuy to say something about their deal. After all, they were more or less alone...their teammates having apparently slept through the whole exchange.
"Do you need anything?"
Yeah, my sanity back. A quick parole. Perhaps a pardon from the governor.
Duo sighed. "No, Yuy. I'm fine. I'll be fine." I need you to stop pretending you care, damn it!
He climbed up onto his bunk, feeling the dampness of his sweat on his pillow. He turned it over, using the other side, and stretched out to stare at the darkness above him for the rest of the night. He knew sleep wouldn't come again.
TBC...
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