Duo ran with only one thought in his mind, he had to get away, away from this safe house, from Trowa and from the padding footsteps following him, which was most likely a very concerned Quatre.

Duo reached the hangar but decided not to leave in his already heavily damaged Gundam, instead he walked over to where a single, solitary motorbike sat, Wufei’s bike nonetheless, but Duo didn’t care.

He grabbed the leather jacket that he had carelessly tossed on the leg of his beloved Deathscythe hell and threw it on, then found a pair of leather gloves that were undoubtedly Wufei’s as well, Wufei would understand. Duo hoped.

“Duo!!” the cry was not Trowa, as Duo had hoped, but that of Quatre, as he had actually expected.

Duo grabbed the helmet and sat down on the bike turning it on, “I have to leave Q-man.” Duo said, hiding his face and the streaked tears on it.

Quatre frowned, “Duo. Please, if you have to go, that’s fine but I think you disserve a reason, at least.” he said.

Duo turned, and stared at Quatre, the look of utter guilt on the blonde pilots face was all Duo needed to know, Trowa had fallen for him. Duo revved the engine of the bike, and it growled, as if it too had a growing anger and hate for the blonde.

Without another word Duo stuffed the helmet on and zoomed off, leaving Quatre coughing behind in the kicked up dust.

@@@@

Duo had driven for nearly five hours now and he was *exhausted*! He pulled into a ratty old Hotel and once he had parked the bike he walked over to the lobby and asked how much per night, the rather large man behind the glass stated that it was twenty dollars per night and that, unfortunately Duo would have to go somewhere else as the hotel was full.

That surprised Duo, he though out loud, “This crappy place is *full*?!” without realizing what he was saying, the man frowned and slammed that shutter down, right on Duo’s hand, Duo yelped and yanked his hand away, glaring at the shutter.

He walked back to his bike, hoping there was another hotel nearby. He drove for nearly an hour more before pulling into another driveway, which looked a lot nicer then the last.

He got himself a room and once he reached it he flopped onto the bed, and fell asleep almost instantly. But his sleep was not pleasant, it was haunted with visions of Trowa fucking Quatre, or vise versa, and Duo woke up to find that he was unwillingly sobbing again.

The braided pilot curled up into a tight ball, and out of no where felt the hairs on his neck prickle, like they did when someone was right behind him. His breath caught in his throat. And he leapt and tried to break the persons arm, who had confirmed his presence with a slight brush on the braided pilots cheek.

Duo saw the door wide open and looked at the person that looked like a mere shadow.

“Who the *hell* are you!” Duo said angrily.

The figure smiled.. at least Duo thought so from what he could see from the dim light from the moon.

“Oh Duo.. I think you know who I am,” he stepped into the light, Duo’s eyes widened at the identity and a loud scream emerged from that room, waking all the other sleepers in the hotel.

~~~~

By the time the innkeeper had reached the room, the only traces of Duo left was a few splotches of blood and a huge mess.

~~~~

Quatre was miserable, he sat watching the news.. perhaps for any news of any attacks on OZ bases or something, but he was not expecting what came next.

{“From earlier reports, the pilot of Gundam 02 is presumed to be dead after a strange disappearance in a hotel, The keeper described the boy to OZ authority Zechs Marquise who had arrived on the scene, seemingly interested, Zechs was able to identify the boy. The keeper said that he heard a scream and by the time he reached the room there was no sign of the pilot, but a struggle had been confirmed by blood and a great deal of mess, the keeper reported that he had no idea that the boy was a Gundam pilot at the time.”}

The rest for Quatre was blank, Duo? dead? that couldn’t be.. Duo was strong, he.. he couldn’t be.. Quatre, despite himself burst into tears.

Trowa walked into the room, he too was miserable, upon seeing Quatre his eyes widened a little, “Quatre! are you okay?” he asked eagerly as he wrapped his arms around the small blond.

Quatre continued to cry into Trowa’s shoulder for a few minutes before pulling away, “The news just announced that they think Duo is dead..” he said.

Trowa’s eyes widened even more, if that was possible, “Are you sure?!” he asked desperately.

Quatre nodded, “It said that pilot 02 was presumed dead after disappearing in a hotel room that he rented, the inn keeper said that he heard a scream and when he got to the room, the only thing he saw was a large mess, most likely from a struggle, and some blood..”

Trowa turned a deadly pale, and he shook his head, as if not believing what the blonde was telling him. He slowly stood up and walked out of the room, still looking shocked as hell. Quatre followed.

Trowa walked into the kitchen where the other two were, he walked over to the coffee maker and began to make a fresh pot.

Wufei and Heero looked up and frowned at the look on Trowa’s face, their frowns widened as Quatre, tears streaking his face sat down.

“What’s going on?” asked a confused Wufei.

Quatre frowned, knowing Trowa wouldn’t want to explain, so he started instead, “The News reported that ‘Gundam pilot 02 is presumed to be dead.’” Quatre quoted.

Wufei and Heero exchanged glances; Wufei’s face now had a visible paleness to it as well.

Trowa sat down with a steaming mug of coffee, ignoring the fact that he had forgotten to put grounds in so it was only hot water.

Heero watched Trowa; he had never seen him look so depressed, the depression showed mostly in his eyes, which made it an eerie expression, as Trowa only ever had one visible eye.

~~~~

Duo groaned as he woke up, he was weak from minor blood loss in several wounds and he felt as if his head must explode, he slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He was being held down to a bed with thick leather restraints.

He glared into the semi darkness at the figure staring at him, “What do you want with me?” he asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice.

“What do you think... you remember me from your days on the streets of L2. I could see it in your eyes, you remember perfectly well what I did to that other boy, you caught me dumping the body…”

Duo started to tremble uncontrollably. He remembered alright… the face that was so cut up, mangled and bloody that it didn’t look human anymore, strange designs carved into the skin… Duo shuddered at the thought. This man enjoyed torturing boys, his murders had been reported on the news for who knows how long. Duo remembered that when he was young he had screamed at the sight of the dead boy, attracting the murderers attention. There had been a predatory gleam in his eye at the time as he attacked and pinned Duo down. He had however fled when he noticed the huge band of kids, Solo in the lead running at him, all carrying a board that they planned on using as a weapon. He had fled, but not before muttering, an ‘I’ll get you one day’ into Duo’s ear… Duo had never told anyone of that.

Now, apparently he was making good of his promise, “Please…” Duo pleaded, he wasn’t usually one to plead, but when he was right good and scared of someone, pleads had a habit of welling up in him and insisting on being released.

The man laughed, “Do you think I grew soft in the years?” he asked, “Actually I like doing it a lot more now, and if a five year old can’t make me change my mind about it, then you sure as hell are not going to make me change my mind about it. Now if you’ll excuse me… I want to get myself something to eat… I’ll be back shortly.” And he left the room.

I sighed in relief, I had always been a good escape artist, I wrung my wrists in the leather and felt the buckle tighten, this would not be easy…

~~~~

Heero, Trowa, Quatre and Wufei all watched the news intently, hoping for anything on Duo.

{A blast from the past} reported he woman on the screen {A murderer known most among the L2 cluster seems to have reappeared lately, however he’s changed his target it seems from children between the ages or five to eight to fifteen year old boys. Two of the victims were found, recently murdered, both had long hair, blue eyes and both looked as though they had been tortured to death. Authorities believe he is searching for someone. His last victim in the past was killed approximately nine years ago}

Quatre watched, trembling, was it possible that Duo had been one of those two that were dead?

{If you know either of these two young men} two pictures flashed onto the screen, neither of which were Duo, but both looked almost exactly like him in some ways {Or know someone who looks like this, then the police want you to call them immediately, through this number} A number flashed onto the screen {Their lives may be in danger, Samantha Martin reporting.} the person changed on the screen {Thank you Samantha…} but Quatre was no longer listening, for some reason he had a small distant feeling that perhaps Duo were still alive… for the time being.

~~~~

I winced in pain as I wandered down the corridors, I had rubbed my wrists raw on the restraints and I had barely managed to get out of the room before the man had returned, and now I was wandering down seemingly endless halls. I turned a corner and to my great joy… saw the doors and the tell tale sunlight on the other side. I ran. I was two meters from the door when I was grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. I tried to claw away, desperate, but before I could get very far I was grabbed again, pulled onto my back and cuffed to the leg of a chair that was apparently bolted into the floor because it wouldn’t move an inch.

I fought back but without much luck. The man pulled out a knife and I turned away, thinking he was going to stab me or something. The pain never came, instead came the sound of tearing cloth and I opened my eyes to see that he was cutting through the side of my pants from the ankle up. When he reached my boxers, he started cutting those too… Needless to say I was now in utter panic.

“Are you a virgin?” he asked as he started on my other pant leg, I nodded a little and he grinned, that predatory gleam in his eyes that I remembered so well from the past, “Really? I thought that by this age you’d have fucked someone… or been raped or something… like I’m about to do…” my fears had been confirmed. I consider myself a strong person, but since that day nearly nine years ago, I’d been deathly afraid of rape.

With my pants gone be began to undo his own and pull them down before he leaned forward and whispered in my ear, “Say good bye to virginity,” before he thrust hard into me, I cried out in pain as my opening tore. And it just continued from there… pain and a terrible way to be tortured.

~~~~

Meanwhile, Quatre and Trowa lay on their bed cuddling, Trowa trying to comfort Quatre, who had grown convinced that the whole thing was his fault

~~~~

After I had been raped, the man had beaten me and cut me so that now, I wasn’t much more then a lifeless… thing in a puddle of blood. I had to escape, and cuffs were easy to get out of… I worked while I dug deep for how to get out of them in my pain fogged mind… lets see, dislocate thumb, damn more pain, pull hand free and relocate thumb, I was free now… wait, pants… oh yeah the shit had walked away without his in a cocky attitude, I slid into the large pants, buckled them up and stumbled to the door, my head felt like it was going to explode again, when I got outside, I had to blink half a dozen times just so I could see where I was going…. Hey, I knew where I was! I had passed over here in Deathscythe a couple times. I was quite a ways from Quatre’s closest safe house, but I was convinced I could make it; it was north of here towards the mountains.

When I spotted the mountains I started heading strait towards them I would be home free shortly, I would get in contact with the others, have them come and get me… All my dreams of freedom were wiped from my head as the crack of a gun caught my ears, and the pain of a fresh gunshot wound through my shoulder… all the way through. I heard him sigh, “Lets see if you can get where you were planning on going now, you’ve already lost a lot of blood, If you do make it, I’ll know… pilot 02, at least that’s what the news is calling you, if you live, I’ll come for you again, and trust me, I’ll find you, I promise… goodbye,” and the door slammed behind me. I had started crying without realising it, and now I couldn’t stop. I stood there bewildered before I finally broke into a run, I didn’t have much time left, I continued to cry and I was continually unable to stop it. The gunshot wound did however, manage to slow me down greatly.

@@@@

I made it… but I was so weak… so tired. I stumbled into the building and towards where I knew the phone was, leaving a trail of blood behind me. I dialled the number to the current safe house, ring… ring, “Quatre Reberba Winner speaking.”

“Quatre…” I croaked into the phone, “Help…”

“Who is this?” asked Quatre’s voice. I turned on the vid screen, and Quatre went pale on the screen, “DUO!!”

There was movement behind him and I guessed that Quatre was talking in the kitchen and the others where there too.

“Quatre… please help…” I only then realised that I was STILL crying.

“Wh- where are you?!” he asked.

I started to feel weak, “Um… your safe house… the one just west of… Tokyo…” My brain wouldn’t work, that’s the only thing I could remember of the place.

Quatre nodded, “Quatre out…”

“I never thought you would make it this far,” said a voice behind me, I turned around and started crying again.

“Please… just leave me alone,” I begged

He sighed, “I really hate having to keep promises, so…” he pulled out a knife, “I’m just going to kill you now.”

I turned and stumbled away as fast as I could, gunshot wound still slowing me down, and my sobbing not making it any easier to see. I did however clutch at the wound as hard as I could, in hopes of not leaving a long trail of blood.

I could hear him following me at a walk, I turned into the first room I got to, which was the kitchen and I went all the way through to the living room. I heard him speed up. I reached a broom closet not far down the hall and hid in it, calming down my sobs as much as I could.

I could hear him right outside the closet door, walking quietly, trying to hear me. I backed into the wall, hitting my head on a shelf and making a bottle of cleaner fall, I tried to catch it but I didn’t manage it. It hit the ground with a thump and a moment later the door flew open. I stared like a deer stuck in the headlights of a large truck until he reached forward and grabbed the base of my braid and pulling me out.

I screamed and grabbed at the hand that was holding me, “Please…” I begged wearily, the blood loss now thoroughly weighing me down. He dragged me to the living room and threw me at the couch; I tried to turn around so I could bolt again. I managed the turn but not the bolt. He pinned me to the couch with his hands, before lifting himself to straddle my waist and pin my hands with his knees and put the knife to my neck, “Now it’s good-“ his speech was cut off by the loud crack of a gun and his lifeless body flew sideways, off of me. I looked up and saw Heero walking towards me before I burst into tears again. Covering my face with my hands I didn’t see Heero’s reaction. Strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me off the couch. I decided that that was as good of time as any to pass out, and so I did.

~~~~

Sally Po left Duo’s room, all four pilots in the hall stood up strait, waiting for the report on Duo’s status. The doctor grimaced, “He’ll be all right, but he needs to stay in that bed for at least a two weeks! He’s had the crap beaten out of him, and he needs the rest. I decided to respect his privacy wishes, so I’m not positive whether or not he’s been raped or not, I’m guessing he has…” With that the doctor sighed and left. The four pilots watched her leave then entered to room in which Duo lay, resting, unconscious and seemingly very much traumatized. They all got chairs and sat around Duo, the air tense with worry.

@@@@

About three hours after Sally Po left Duo finally gave a groan that signalled that he was waking up. The sudden sound startled the other half dozing pilots from their stupors. Duo rolled over and was met with the face of a very eager Trowa. The face startled him so badly that he shot up where he lay and nearly hit Trowa’s head with extreme force. After a moment however, pure white hot rage pumped through Duo’s veins and he swung his hand so all of a suddenly that the motion caught the other pilot off guard and easily sent him backwards from the unexpected gesture.

Trowa stared blankly at Duo, the closest thing to shock that the pilot would, or perhaps could, express.

“This is all your fault!” Duo accused, “None of this would have happened if I…. Had never fallen in love….” Duo seemed to be cracking. Trowa absently rubbed the red, hand shaped mark on his cheek, and then suddenly his face actually became furious.

“I’m not the one who did all that shit to you! Besides, you must have realized that I was drifting away from you, you doomed the relationship with your nothing but sex attitude!” He yelled, Duo sat completely shocked, “Besides, how was I supposed to know you’d run off and get fucking kidnapped?!?!”

All of a sudden Duo burst into tears, Trowa looked guilty, then he realized how terrible of an ordeal that must have been for Duo to start crying because of the mention of it.

After about fifteen minutes Duo finally managed to calm himself down, Wufei spoke up, “So… tell us a story Maxwell…” he muttered.

Duo wiped away stray tears and with a sigh, began to explain about the time on the streets when he had met the lunatic, the promise he had given Duo, and how that had been the reason that Duo had been kidnapped. Duo also mentioned that he was relieved that Heero had ended up killing the shit because he knew that Duo was a pilot and the identities and location of the other pilots as well, meaning, he could have told OZ at any minute.

Wufei nodded, “So what exactly did he do to you?” he asked, hesitantly.

Duo’s lip trembled, “R- rape mostly…” he stammered quietly.

Quatre gasped, “Oh Duo…” he said, tears filling his eyes.

Trowa looked like he would be sick.

Wufei looked utterly disgusted.

Heero, impassive as ever.

Duo looked at them all, glaring at Quatre and Trowa, “Could… could I be left alone for awhile… to think?” he asked.

Each of them nodded except Wufei who said, “No… I won’t risk you running off again.”

Duo absolutely glowered at Wufei.

Trowa and Quatre stood up, “Well, we’ll leave you… if that’s what you really want…” muttered Quatre, dragging Trowa from the room.

Heero stood as well, “I have work to do for a coming mission,” he said and followed Quatre and Trowa.

Duo looked at Wufei, “Well Wufei… looks like it’s just the two of us…” he mutters.

Wufei nodded, “I suppose so…” he muttered.

Wufei sighed, “Why did you run off in the first place?” he asked

Duo smiled weakly, “Did I worry you, Wufei?” he asked quietly.

Wufei watched Duo quietly for a moment, “Yes… you did…” he admitted quietly.

Duo stared a little shocked. When he found his voice he explained, “You knew I had a relationship with Trowa?” he asked, then continued at Wufei’s curt nod, “Trowa… left me for Quatre, I couldn’t stay here any longer.”

Wufei raised his eyebrows, “Oh Duo….” he muttered.

Duo smiled weakly, although there was a hint of sadness in his eyes, “I’ll be fine…” he said, looking away.

Wufei stared at Duo, “A-are you sure?” he asked quietly.

Duo nodded, “I… miss him, I really do…” he said, he looked back towards Wufei, only to have lips pressed nervously to his. Shock overwhelmed Duo, but as the shock slowly wore away, he found himself kissing back.

Wufei pulled away, “Sorry… but……. A- ashituru… Duo…”

~~ Owari ~~

(NOTE: There will be a sequel… eventually… the sequel will start off around where this one left off and will have a new bad guy… don’t know who yet…)