Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ G-men ❯ Downward Spiral ( Chapter 37 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Arigatomina 
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Hentai / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.26.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 571 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Hentai / Adventure | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 12.26.2004 | Pages: 5 | Words: 6.4K | Visits: 571 | Status: Work In Progress
Author's Notes: There's a reason Kurama is sounding so fatalistic and it has everything to do with the tie he and Hiei have - the one that made them find each other as children, and the one that lets Hiei feel Kurama's pain the same way he does with Yukina. I'm hoping it'll be clear in a few more parts. If not, it'll be stated flat out at a later date. This much I'll say now, Kurama has a very good reason to be fatalistic (instinctively, he doesn't know why and he can't help the reaction), and it has everything to do with his Youko side.
Prequel: I've started the prequel, 'Gleam,' that features Jin and Touya, and a Naruto and YYH mix. It's up on ffnet.
Vague fusion with the original X-men animated series.
This Part: Featured characters include Hiei, Duo, and Zechs.
Category: Yaoi, Anime, Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho
Warnings: very short part, reference to violence, cursing
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, Kurama-Hiei, will be 6x5
Author: Arigatomina
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com
Website: www . geocities . com / arigatomina
Gmen
Part 37: Downward Spiral
The first thing Hiei registered was the cold seeping through him, tingling, numbing, and familiar in an ageless sort of way. It brought forth feelings of bitter anger, sadness, abandonment, and a faint childish fear of being held over a bottomless void.
Then he felt pressure behind the cold, trailing from his shoulders to slide down his chest. Hands ghosting over the cuts.
Hiei recoiled, gnashing his teeth and glaring through blood-smeared eyes. "Don't touch me."
"Don't bother resisting," a quiet voice answered. "You won't be able to use your talent with that barrier."
It was too dark to make out more than a pale figure hovering over him. But Hiei's attention shifted at the words.
He realized there was a pressure on his forehead, something pressing down in a circle around him so tightly it must have cut into his skin. That would explain the red haze of blood that had dripped down to obscure his sight. It was clotting in his eyelashes, like sticky tears he couldn't blink away.
He tried to open his jagan, though he knew it was hopeless. The band, whatever it was, was far too tight. It hurt to even try, waking pain receptors that had fallen dormant under the pressure. He thought the eye would have healed on its own, but with that barrier keeping it closed, he couldn't tell. He'd have to remove that.
The person had shifted away from him, and Hiei disregarded it for the moment. He turned his head to stare through the dim haze. He was chained to a wall, in a seated position with his arms held out to either side of him. But the surface behind him was straight. He'd definitely been moved.
His arms were clasped to the wall with two binds each, one at the elbow and one at the wrist. He could have melted them in an instant, but only if he could get his jagan open. Without it, he only had his strength and speed to rely on. Trying to pull free only managed to make the cuts on his body open in burning, dripping tears.
A sniff sounded in the darkness, that voice speaking up again. "Don't bother."
Hiei blinked furiously, resenting his inability to cry as he tried to clear his eyes of that sticky blood. He could see a pale hand reaching toward his face and he jerked his head back with bared teeth. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Wiping your eyes."
Distrust flashed over him, but Hiei held still. And that hand turned, the back brushing over his eyes and smearing away the worst of the blood.
Once it was gone, he could make out the person in front of him, along with the fact that the room, the cell, was too dark to see anything. The boy was letting off the light, a faint, shimmering pale blue that reminded Hiei of nothing so much as his sister. He winced from the thought and forced himself to focus on the stranger.
He looked young, perhaps Kurama's age. And he was small, about Quatre's height but not so slender. If it hadn't been for his lithe muscled form, and the serious, glowing eyes, Hiei wouldn't have known how old he was. The eyes were knowing, ancient. Hiei immediately placed him as someone who was older than he looked. Like himself.
"Why were you touching me before?" asked Hiei, his voice not quite so dangerous as it had been.
"I was lowering your body temperature," the pale boy answered, his voice a soft, deep murmur. "Not enough to kill you, just enough to slow the bleeding. I'm no healer, but the smell is too strong in this place."
It was easy to know what the boy meant. Hiei wrinkled his own nose at the faintly metallic scent that only hunters or fighters really noticed. He could almost taste it, and he was faintly grateful the crow hadn't cut his mouth. He didn't like the taste of blood.
"Continue, then, if the smell bothers you," said Hiei.
A faint smirk curved the boy's lips, his eyes glinting behind that steady pale glow. "No more than it bothers you."
Hiei inclined his head and pointedly refused to smirk in return. He didn't say a word, merely watching those glowing hands as they shifted to hover over his chest again. In the light he had a clear view of the cuts, slices crisscrossing over bruised, bloody skin. His upper lip curled in a hateful sneer. As if such petty flesh wounds would be enough to make him scream...
The boy pulled back after a minute or two, the glow fading a bit until it was a faint sheen in the absolute blackness around then. Hiei lifted his head to give him a calculated stare.
"You're an ice user," said Hiei. "Can you manifest a weapon?"
Suspicion narrowed those pale blue eyes, that glow sparking brighter for a second before fading out completely. Now he was simply a pair of glowing pale blue eyes in the darkness. "Why?"
"Can you cut through the straps holding me down?" Hiei pressed, his voice deepening into a frustrated growl. "Do you have that ability or not?"
"I could cut the shackles," the boy answered, his voice just as tense. "But there's no point in it. I can't cut through the door, or the walls. I've tried."
"Maybe you can't," Hiei responded, smirking so that his narrow eyes reflected that pale blue sheen. "But I can. If you cut me loose."
"How would you do that? You can't use your abilities with that band over your head. That's the reason he put it on you."
"Then cut through it instead," Hiei prodded testily.
Those eyes shifted back, as if the boy had recoiled at the suggestion. Then they disappeared, leaving Hiei with nothing but a black void in front of him. He could still hear him, though, quiet steps shifting further away from him. He bit down on the frustrated growl that tensed in his throat, determined not to ruin his best chance at escape.
Minutes trickled by, long enough for Hiei's body to warm in the stuffy chamber, that scent of unchecked blood rising again. He glared furiously, shaking his head so the liquid wouldn't drip into his eyes. The movement brought a tight ache over his forehead, where that band was pressed tight, but nothing like the mindblowing pain he'd felt earlier. The jagan had healed, he just couldn't open the damn thing.
"Do you like it here?" Hiei demanded, unable to keep the growl out of his voice. "Or are you incapable of using your talent to help yourself?"
"Don't insult me."
There was a warning in that quiet whisper, a reminder that if the stranger could make a weapon to cut steel shackles, he could make a weapon to cut a mutant's head off as well. Hiei glared in response.
"I can cut the shackles," the boy continued, "but not the band on your head. I don't have enough control to make such a precise cut right now. Chances are good I'd slice your head open along with the band."
"It's worth the risk," said Hiei.
A soft sound answered that, almost like a snort or a breathy laugh. "Maybe for you. I'd be the one trapped with a bleeding corpse."
Hiei's eyes glinted, a vaguely familiar gleam striking out in them. His tone was different when he spoke again, almost taunting. It was the tone he often used with Kurama during their sparring matches.
"True," Hiei drawled, "but I'll bleed more if I'm stuck ripping my arms off. A corpse only bleeds for an hour. A dismembered body can bleed for days."
That sound repeated itself, and this time Hiei was sure it was a laugh. A bitter, macabre laugh, but still a laugh. He grinned in response, his evil expression lost in the darkness.
"Are you threatening me, then?"
"More like a warning," said Hiei. "I don't die easily, so it's fair to warn you I'll bleed a lot before I go."
Those eyes flashed back into sight, nearly a yard from him. Hiei smirked, confident the boy could see him in that faint glow. He turned his head to the left and tilted his chin a bit, his eyes darting to the side.
"Cut along the temple. Just don't cut off my ear. A straight cut down the side of my face is one thing...I'd never hear the end of it if I came back with only one ear."
"And there's a point in this?" the boy asked. "You think you could get out if you're free? What sort of talent do you have? It can't be much, or you wouldn't have been caught."
Hiei glared in irritation, not moving his head. "I'm a fire user primarily."
"How would that help? You can't melt your way out without suffocating me to death. I'm not going to help you do that."
A distasteful, almost grumpy look crossed Hiei's face. "I can form a weapon to cut things, something hot enough it would slice steel like a tempered blade though ice. Without suffocating anyone. Though...I really don't like to use that skill..."
"Just get on with it," Hiei snapped.
Pale, glowing energy lit the boy across from him as he rose to his feet. It swept through the square cell on an icy breeze that ruffled Hiei's hair and made his eyes narrow. And it swirled around the ice user like a miniature whirlwind, all of that concentrated on his right arm. From where Hiei sat, he could just make out the ice forming itself into a blade that looked like nothing so much as an icy version of Kurama's vine sword.
The cold settled into the walls, and the ice user turned appraising eyes on him. "You handle the change in temperature well, considering you're a fire user."
"I'm immune to ice," Hiei admitted.
The boy had started toward him, but he halted at those words. His pale blue eyes widened in an almost fearful sort of disbelief. He took an abrupt step back, confusing Hiei to no ends.
"You're the twin...!"
Hiei turned to scowl at the boy, not sure what to make of that shocked expression. "You know me?"
"I've heard about you," the boy said. "Your sister is an ice user. They've been trying to get me to duplicate whatever she used on your foster father, that instant killing attack. But I can't. I don't know how anyone could do such a thing without leaving a mark. Do you-"
Hiei glared, his voice a sharp growl. "Forget that. I'm not the one to ask. I was unconscious when it happened. For all I know, she may not have been the one to do it at all. I've never seen her use ice to attack anyone."
"Oh..."
The voice was soft, and Hiei could hear the regret as clearly as he felt his own discomfort about the subject. He turned his head sharply, glaring at his bound right arm.
"Strike," Hiei ordered. "If you kill me, stay alive long enough for the idiots to get here so you can tell how I died. Tell him I had to try."
"Is someone coming for you? You should wait if-"
"If I don't get out on my own," said Hiei, "at least one foolish fox will come looking for me. I don't plan to let that happen. But if it does, don't let him kill you. Tell him the truth, that I ordered you to do it."
"You may have ordered, but you aren't forcing me into anything," was the soft, wary response.
"It won't matter, as long as he knows I told you to risk it. Now strike. I don't have much time left..."
Hiei heard a deep breath being drawn, but this time he didn't look to the side. He kept his head straight and his eyes closed. There was movement, light rapid steps approaching him to put momentum behind the blow. And then a blaze of pain along the side of his face, a sharp bitter sensation that sent his mind spiraling into a haze of black, welcoming flames.
- - -
The bandage was stained with dried blood, but it blossomed bright red when Duo pressed it against the gash. He didn't have anything else to use, and Hilde's cheek was bleeding as if a major artery had been severed. The girl shifted in response, dark reproachful blue eyes frowning at him.
"I said I'm fine," she muttered, pushing his hands away. "It's not the first time, you know. I've been here forever."
"And they just send people in to beat on you for no reason at all?" Duo demanded.
He sat back on his heels, folding his arms over his chest as if he had no idea he looked nearly as bad as she did. He could feel the swelling around his left eye, and his lip was split in an itchy, blistering sort of way.
They hadn't spoken since the visitor, and arguing wasn't what he'd expected. But something about her attitude rankled him. It was the same stubborn self reliance he had, and he wasn't used to having that turned against him.
"For any reason," Hilde sniffed. "Who needs a reason? Maybe his son married a mutant. Or maybe a mutant kid spat on him before he could kill her. It doesn't matter. What better way to repay a soldier than to let him take his anger out on the source of all evil? That's all I'm good for now that they're done using my talent."
"And that's a great attitude you have there," Duo scoffed, glaring away from her. "Why didn't you just get out of the way and let me handle it? I'm a lot stronger than you. I can take a few punches without bleeding all over the place."
"Oh, right," said Hilde, "and if he'd wanted to fuck someone instead of just beating on a mutant? Would you have volunteered for that, too? Big words from someone who hasn't been captive for more than a day!"
"Exactly," Duo rounded furiously. "I haven't been here. Share the grief a little, would you? I don't need a pretty girl to play martyr for me. I can damn well do that myself!"
Hilde sniffed, rolling closer to the wall and arching her back so she could sit up without using her arms. "Don't you dare try to sweet talk your way out of this. I told you to sit still."
"I'm not going to sit still and let some bastard beat on a girl with her hands tied," Duo spat.
"And if my hands were untied?"
The taunt went right through Duo's anger to knot in his throat. He glared for a minute. Then his face darkened and he dropped onto his backside in defeat. "Tied or untied. Guys that big shouldn't hit girls..."
It was exactly what Hilde had suspected. She rolled her eyes, shrugging a shoulder up to press her bleeding cheek.
"You aren't any bigger than me, and you know it," she said tiredly. "The fact is, I had it covered until you jumped in trying to play hero. It's not the first time I've seen him. If you had sat still, he would have hit me until I cried, and then left. That's all he wanted, to see me cry."
Duo's face twisted into furious disgust. "He's done it before? I'm surprised you aren't covered in bruises and scars."
"Well, he's never hit my face before," Hilde explained, scowling again. "Usually I can collapse and cry after one or two hits and it's enough to satisfy him. I wouldn't be bleeding now if you hadn't tried to get in front of me."
"I don't believe this place," said Duo. "All that talk about killing us off and they use us for punching bags?"
Hilde looked away, not moving anything but her eyes since her shoulder was still pressing the cut on her cheek. "I told you they said they'd play with you a little. What did you think I meant by that?"
"You said me," Duo reminded her, "you didn't say they'd attack you."
"I think you're missing the big picture here," Hilde said sharply, changing the subject. "You just showed them that you're willing to risk yourself to keep me from getting hurt - me, a complete stranger to you. How do you think they're going to use that? You're a complete idiot."
Duo blinked in surprise at the outright insult, a flash of confusion passing his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Just what I said. What do you think they'll do now that they know they can get to you through me? Maybe you didn't notice, but most of the guys here aren't interested in girls. They can get that outside, wives, girlfriends. Only one out of the dozen I've seen wanted anything but to beat on me, and I haven't seen him since. I'm telling you flat out, Duo, you're a complete idiot."
"Someone raped you?!"
Hilde reacted as if she'd been struck. Then she lifted her chin, eyes glittering in dark challenge. "Don't you dare look down on me."
"I...I wasn't," Duo whispered.
The girl looked like she was fully capable of braining him with her shackles if he made even the slightest motion to show pity for her. Duo swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his eyes. He wanted to say he was sorry, but he was sure that would be enough to set her off.
"Anyway," Hilde bit out, her voice tight. "The point is, the next person to come in here will probably use me as hostage. If you so much as stand down on command, I'll kill you in your sleep. It's one thing to play hero when you have a chance of winning, but I'm not going to let anyone get hurt trying to protect me. Especially someone who doesn't owe me a damn thing. You fight your battles, and I'll fight mine. Is that clear?"
She was giving him an order. Somehow the complete absurdity managed to break through the dark well Duo had sunk into. He turned hopelessly disgruntled eyes up to Hilde and raised an eyebrow.
"So," Duo said slowly, "you'd want me to just stand by and watch someone torture you? And you'd do the same if someone wanted to hurt me? This is a great friendship we have here..."
Hilde scowled and looked away, her own expression turning just as disgruntled. "I never asked to be friends. You were supposed to try and escape the moment you woke up, killing us both in the attempt. How was I supposed to know you had this chivalrous thing going for you?"
"I'm sorry for being chivalrous," Duo offered, his expression placating. "And I'd try to stand aside, but...I honestly don't think I could. It just isn't in me. But if it comes to that, I'll try to teleport us out of here. Would that be good enough for you? If we died, at least we'd take out whoever else is in the cell, too. I really don't want to be killed in my sleep by someone I consider a friend..."
"Damn it, Duo!"
Hilde whipped her head around, turning bright eyes on him, and Duo squirmed at the sight of her angry tears. His mind flew for something to say, but all of his thoughts seemed to be hiding from him.
"Why do you have to be so nice?" asked Hilde. "You're supposed to be selfish! Aren't you the one who just teleported away and left dozens of kids to burn to death?"
All of the color fled Duo's face, and he let out a little choking sound. For a moment he stared at those accusing eyes. Then he shoved himself up and stalked to the door, his hands sliding over the seams much as he'd done a few hours ago.
"I didn't know how to teleport back then," said Duo, his voice small and his back facing Hilde. "I didn't know I'd teleported at all until a few months ago. I didn't know how I'd gotten through that door, and I blocked the memory out completely. I was a terrified child and I thought, honestly thought, they were with me until the end. I won't abandon another person like I did back then."
"But I get it now," he continued, his voice a little stronger, "why you were so shocked when I said I'd take you with me. They told you about me. No wonder you didn't believe me, knowing what I did."
He glanced over his shoulder, his expression a tight mask of determination. "I'm not going to stand by and let anyone hurt you, and I'm not going to leave you here. I'm not going to die in here, either. You know why?"
Hilde had shrunk back when he'd first started talking, guilt making her tears spill over. Now she lifted her arms to rub them across her face, scowling in stubborn anger. "No. I don't know why."
"Because I'm a rebel," Duo said, giving her a wan smile. "And I'm good at it, too. After I escaped, I spent years attacking OZ bases. I can't count how many of their soldiers I've killed since then."
"I know about that," Hilde said quietly. "They told me about that. That's why they want you dead."
"Right," said Duo, his smile widening. "Only I was going about it all wrong. Once I get out of here, I'll be even better."
"What do you mean?"
Duo crossed over to the cot and sat beside her, his expression now firm and real, no longer forced. "I've been thinking about it, the attack my friends and I have been waging on OZ. We've been hammering them with attacks, and that's just what they'd expect. That's why they're so set on identifying us and killing us off one at a time. To really take them out, we need to do it from the inside."
The girl was watching him with an interested expression, and Duo had an idea she would have been quite a rebel herself if she hadn't been taken. He turned on the cot, folding his legs and leaning toward her with a confiding look.
"The way we're rebelling now," said Duo, "we're actually making all mutants targets to blame for our actions. It's turning people against us, even though we're just trying to protect ourselves. What we need to do is form a campaign to infiltrate OZ. If we could find proof that they're making mutants the bad guys, to tighten their control on the world, we could really make a difference. We could deliver that proof to the countries and gather others against OZ.
"If we could take out the key leaders and powersources - quietly, so mutants won't be blamed, we could weaken the entire organization. We had the right idea, keeping quiet and using swift dart and hide tactics, but it was too small, too unorganized. There are mutants all over the world, some with talents so dangerous it's only a matter of time before OZ tries to have them killed."
"Like us," Hilde said sharply.
"Right. If you can kill a person just by touching him, imagine how dangerous you'd be as a rebel. It's no wonder they took you. Me, I'm the perfect infiltrator. My talents practically beg for me to play that role. And you can bet OZ has a list of the mutants with the best potential to be rebels. If we could get in touch with them..."
"You're talking about getting an alliance of mutants all over the world," Hilde breathed, her eyes widening. "It isn't possible. We're spread out so much I never met a single mutant until OZ captured me."
"You never met one who admitted he was a mutant," Duo corrected cheekily. "I'd bet you met them and they just didn't reveal themselves. As for impossible, well, the Sanq Kingdom has been doing it for years and there isn't a thing OZ can do to stop them - because it's a pacifist nation. All we'd need is a guise, something that will look good for the general human population, something that isn't threatening. Then OZ wouldn't be able to touch us, at least not publically."
"But you were taken," said Hilde. "If they sent a mutant in, they can still hurt you."
"True, but now that we know they aren't above using mutants, we'll be prepared for it."
Duo leaned back, rubbing a hand over his swollen eye and giving Hilde a wink with the other eye. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, you and me, and mutants everywhere. So I don't think we should worry about little things like who's going to take the pounding the next time that door opens. Let's just focus on getting out."
It took a long moment before Hilde realized what he'd just done. Her mouth fell open in something akin to amazement, and she couldn't help the small laugh that broke past her lips. "You just talked your way out of the most uncomfortable situation I've ever been in!"
Duo sweatdropped a little, a bashful grin passing over his face. "You caught me. But I'm entirely serious. We have much bigger things to think about than this cell. Don't sweat the small stuff. There's no point in it."
- - -
The attack on Duo and the girl he was locked away with had sobered the group to the point where Yusuke had simply left the cockpit to visit with Jin. He'd said flat out that they could hate themselves all they wanted, but unless one of them could make the plane go faster, they were wasting their energy. He was going to be clearheaded when they made their attack.
A few of the others had agreed with him, but that didn't stop the cold weight that dropped over them. Trowa took the boy's abandoned seat, Quatre held in a firm, mutually comforting embrace. And Kurama had simply closed his eyes, by all appearances falling into a sudden sleep.
Zechs remained standing in the doorway, giving a quiet commentary about the things happening in Duo's cell. Trowa could read it himself, but Quatre was too drained to use his telepathy, and Wufei couldn't read minds. He had an idea Kurama would have been happier if he'd kept the information to himself. It had been hours since the last contact with Hiei, and knowing someone had already attacked Duo wasn't comforting.
"They're arguing now," said Zechs. "But it looks like they're both okay."
"Until the next time," Wufei growled quietly. "We should be there in under an hour. What are the chances of someone else attacking before then?"
"I don't know," Zechs admitted. "I could barely read the soldier who did it. His thoughts were too distant and angry. Duo has the loudest thoughts of anyone I've ever read, and even he is just a whisper in that cell. I was lucky to get anything out of the girl when she was sober. Now that she's angry, I can't make out individual thoughts."
The sun was rising in the horizon, a mocking testimony to how slow their plane was compared to the rogue mutant's speed. And naturally, Quatre blamed himself for having purchased a comfortable plane instead of a jet. Nevermind that there was no such thing as a private jet, or that he'd been in a hurry when he'd bought the plane during their first escape to the Sanq Kingdom. They had been too slow to protect Duo from that attack, and it was his plane that made them so slow.
Zechs winced away from the boy's guilty thoughts, knowing better than to say a word. If Trowa couldn't talk Quatre out of blaming himself, no one could.
He turned to watch Kurama instead, an occupation he'd found endlessly worrisome. The teen was growing paler by the hour, wisps of silver now visible in his red hair. And his eyes, the last time he'd looked up, had been distant and dazed, as if he weren't entirely aware of what was going on around him. He hadn't spoken at all since Zechs had relayed Hiei's last message to him.
A sensation pressed against Zechs' mind, as if in response to his thought. He lurched back against the wall, but didn't notice the surprised looks his friends turned on him. His thoughts were drawn inward, swirled up and swept away until he found himself in a familiar black void. The dark serpent was curled across from him, larger this time, and brighter somehow.
I'm finished waiting.
Zechs almost took a step toward the thing, his worry riding his thoughts. 'I haven't been able to reach you at all! Kurama is-'
A backlash of flame erupted between him and that form, the reproach thick in that warning.
Don't interrupt, there isn't time for it. I'm finished waiting.
Confusion broke Zechs' concentration, and he expressed that in a small whispering thought. 'I don't understand.'
He doesn't have the strength to wake, and I won't allow them to be reborn again. He couldn't bear it...not now, it's too soon. I'm tired of sitting back...
He had a message for you, so unimportant, but he was adamant. Tell the fox not to hurt the ice user if I, if we fail. I won't fail, so it's meaningless, but he insisted I tell you.
'I don't understand,' Zechs thought furiously. 'What are you going to do?'
Live, survive, what I, what we have always done.
Dark flames billowed up, filling the void and snapping sharp hungry tendrils at him. Zechs sank away from them, unable to break the feeling that something evil was grinning from inside those flames.
When we meet again...I'll kill you. Look forward to it.
There was no backlash, nothing violent or forceful like he'd felt when he was pushed away from Hiei's mind. Instead, the real world returned in a slow daze of sound and sensation. Zechs found himself sitting with his back against the wall, his eyes wide and shocked.
The others were looking at him in surprise, and even Kurama had lifted his head to turn faint, disinterested eyes on him. Zechs shook his head roughly and snapped himself out of his stupor.
"It was Hiei," said Zechs. "Or rather, his subconscious. I think it plans to take control of Hiei long enough to let him escape. It told me he didn't have the strength to do it on his own."
A flicker flashed over Kurama's eyes, that dull sheen brightening into a more healthy mix of green and gold. Zechs did his best to keep the worry out of his voice, not wanting to ruin that spark of awareness.
"Hiei said to tell you not to kill the ice mutant if he fails," he told Kurama. "I don't know what he means by that, but I know he wasn't talking about Yukina. It's possible he's met someone. I can't sense him at all, or anyone else in contact with him. I can't seek him out past the barrier wherever he is, but somehow his subconscious can communicate through it."
Kurama stared, his gaze not missing how pale the man's face was, or the slight darting movement of Zechs' eyes. "What are you leaving out?"
Zechs flinched, pressing back against the wall as if he fully expected Kurama to attack him. Trowa reacted to that with a wary look at the redhead. But Kurama hadn't moved, not even clenching his hands.
"Zechs?" asked Trowa.
Pale blue eyes flashed to him before dropping again, more color draining from Zechs face. Trowa frowned, pushing against the mental barrier Zechs had placed in his mind. He slid past it, rather than punching through, and withdrew almost immediately. Shock spread over his face, and he shook his head at the white-haired man.
"You don't really think Hiei would kill you," Trowa whispered, "do you?"
Kurama jerked, a strange twitch that made his hair flash silver for a second before returning to that red and white mix. His eyes remained golden, fully lucid and desperately defensive.
"He wouldn't," Kurama said harshly, glaring at Zechs as if the man had made the accusation aloud. "Hiei would never do such a thing without good cause. Never."
Zechs swallowed roughly, more than a little afraid of the death threat in those golden eyes, but also curious that this had managed to break Kurama's sinking depression.
"I know," Zechs said faintly, "I know Hiei wouldn't. But...that's what it said..."
- - -
TBC
-notes-
Next part will focus on...well, just about everyone; notably Zechs, Kurama, Duo, Wufei, Jin, and Yusuke. o.O It should be a little longer than this one, certainly more complicated.
Part 39 will be very long, so it will probably take a while to write. And an early heads-up, I'm expecting extensive shonen ai in parts 39 and 40, and a number of lemons - the fic will end on Part 41 or 42. There will be a sequel picking up shortly after Gmen ends. I'll talk more about that after the next part (so I don't spoil it for you).
Prequel: I've started the prequel, 'Gleam,' that features Jin and Touya, and a Naruto and YYH mix. It's up on ffnet.
Vague fusion with the original X-men animated series.
This Part: Featured characters include Hiei, Duo, and Zechs.
Category: Yaoi, Anime, Gundam Wing, Yu Yu Hakusho
Warnings: very short part, reference to violence, cursing
Pairings: 1x2, 3x4, Kurama-Hiei, will be 6x5
Author: Arigatomina
Email: arigatoumina (a) hotmail . com
Website: www . geocities . com / arigatomina
Gmen
Part 37: Downward Spiral
The first thing Hiei registered was the cold seeping through him, tingling, numbing, and familiar in an ageless sort of way. It brought forth feelings of bitter anger, sadness, abandonment, and a faint childish fear of being held over a bottomless void.
Then he felt pressure behind the cold, trailing from his shoulders to slide down his chest. Hands ghosting over the cuts.
Hiei recoiled, gnashing his teeth and glaring through blood-smeared eyes. "Don't touch me."
"Don't bother resisting," a quiet voice answered. "You won't be able to use your talent with that barrier."
It was too dark to make out more than a pale figure hovering over him. But Hiei's attention shifted at the words.
He realized there was a pressure on his forehead, something pressing down in a circle around him so tightly it must have cut into his skin. That would explain the red haze of blood that had dripped down to obscure his sight. It was clotting in his eyelashes, like sticky tears he couldn't blink away.
He tried to open his jagan, though he knew it was hopeless. The band, whatever it was, was far too tight. It hurt to even try, waking pain receptors that had fallen dormant under the pressure. He thought the eye would have healed on its own, but with that barrier keeping it closed, he couldn't tell. He'd have to remove that.
The person had shifted away from him, and Hiei disregarded it for the moment. He turned his head to stare through the dim haze. He was chained to a wall, in a seated position with his arms held out to either side of him. But the surface behind him was straight. He'd definitely been moved.
His arms were clasped to the wall with two binds each, one at the elbow and one at the wrist. He could have melted them in an instant, but only if he could get his jagan open. Without it, he only had his strength and speed to rely on. Trying to pull free only managed to make the cuts on his body open in burning, dripping tears.
A sniff sounded in the darkness, that voice speaking up again. "Don't bother."
Hiei blinked furiously, resenting his inability to cry as he tried to clear his eyes of that sticky blood. He could see a pale hand reaching toward his face and he jerked his head back with bared teeth. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Wiping your eyes."
Distrust flashed over him, but Hiei held still. And that hand turned, the back brushing over his eyes and smearing away the worst of the blood.
Once it was gone, he could make out the person in front of him, along with the fact that the room, the cell, was too dark to see anything. The boy was letting off the light, a faint, shimmering pale blue that reminded Hiei of nothing so much as his sister. He winced from the thought and forced himself to focus on the stranger.
He looked young, perhaps Kurama's age. And he was small, about Quatre's height but not so slender. If it hadn't been for his lithe muscled form, and the serious, glowing eyes, Hiei wouldn't have known how old he was. The eyes were knowing, ancient. Hiei immediately placed him as someone who was older than he looked. Like himself.
"Why were you touching me before?" asked Hiei, his voice not quite so dangerous as it had been.
"I was lowering your body temperature," the pale boy answered, his voice a soft, deep murmur. "Not enough to kill you, just enough to slow the bleeding. I'm no healer, but the smell is too strong in this place."
It was easy to know what the boy meant. Hiei wrinkled his own nose at the faintly metallic scent that only hunters or fighters really noticed. He could almost taste it, and he was faintly grateful the crow hadn't cut his mouth. He didn't like the taste of blood.
"Continue, then, if the smell bothers you," said Hiei.
A faint smirk curved the boy's lips, his eyes glinting behind that steady pale glow. "No more than it bothers you."
Hiei inclined his head and pointedly refused to smirk in return. He didn't say a word, merely watching those glowing hands as they shifted to hover over his chest again. In the light he had a clear view of the cuts, slices crisscrossing over bruised, bloody skin. His upper lip curled in a hateful sneer. As if such petty flesh wounds would be enough to make him scream...
The boy pulled back after a minute or two, the glow fading a bit until it was a faint sheen in the absolute blackness around then. Hiei lifted his head to give him a calculated stare.
"You're an ice user," said Hiei. "Can you manifest a weapon?"
Suspicion narrowed those pale blue eyes, that glow sparking brighter for a second before fading out completely. Now he was simply a pair of glowing pale blue eyes in the darkness. "Why?"
"Can you cut through the straps holding me down?" Hiei pressed, his voice deepening into a frustrated growl. "Do you have that ability or not?"
"I could cut the shackles," the boy answered, his voice just as tense. "But there's no point in it. I can't cut through the door, or the walls. I've tried."
"Maybe you can't," Hiei responded, smirking so that his narrow eyes reflected that pale blue sheen. "But I can. If you cut me loose."
"How would you do that? You can't use your abilities with that band over your head. That's the reason he put it on you."
"Then cut through it instead," Hiei prodded testily.
Those eyes shifted back, as if the boy had recoiled at the suggestion. Then they disappeared, leaving Hiei with nothing but a black void in front of him. He could still hear him, though, quiet steps shifting further away from him. He bit down on the frustrated growl that tensed in his throat, determined not to ruin his best chance at escape.
Minutes trickled by, long enough for Hiei's body to warm in the stuffy chamber, that scent of unchecked blood rising again. He glared furiously, shaking his head so the liquid wouldn't drip into his eyes. The movement brought a tight ache over his forehead, where that band was pressed tight, but nothing like the mindblowing pain he'd felt earlier. The jagan had healed, he just couldn't open the damn thing.
"Do you like it here?" Hiei demanded, unable to keep the growl out of his voice. "Or are you incapable of using your talent to help yourself?"
"Don't insult me."
There was a warning in that quiet whisper, a reminder that if the stranger could make a weapon to cut steel shackles, he could make a weapon to cut a mutant's head off as well. Hiei glared in response.
"I can cut the shackles," the boy continued, "but not the band on your head. I don't have enough control to make such a precise cut right now. Chances are good I'd slice your head open along with the band."
"It's worth the risk," said Hiei.
A soft sound answered that, almost like a snort or a breathy laugh. "Maybe for you. I'd be the one trapped with a bleeding corpse."
Hiei's eyes glinted, a vaguely familiar gleam striking out in them. His tone was different when he spoke again, almost taunting. It was the tone he often used with Kurama during their sparring matches.
"True," Hiei drawled, "but I'll bleed more if I'm stuck ripping my arms off. A corpse only bleeds for an hour. A dismembered body can bleed for days."
That sound repeated itself, and this time Hiei was sure it was a laugh. A bitter, macabre laugh, but still a laugh. He grinned in response, his evil expression lost in the darkness.
"Are you threatening me, then?"
"More like a warning," said Hiei. "I don't die easily, so it's fair to warn you I'll bleed a lot before I go."
Those eyes flashed back into sight, nearly a yard from him. Hiei smirked, confident the boy could see him in that faint glow. He turned his head to the left and tilted his chin a bit, his eyes darting to the side.
"Cut along the temple. Just don't cut off my ear. A straight cut down the side of my face is one thing...I'd never hear the end of it if I came back with only one ear."
"And there's a point in this?" the boy asked. "You think you could get out if you're free? What sort of talent do you have? It can't be much, or you wouldn't have been caught."
Hiei glared in irritation, not moving his head. "I'm a fire user primarily."
"How would that help? You can't melt your way out without suffocating me to death. I'm not going to help you do that."
A distasteful, almost grumpy look crossed Hiei's face. "I can form a weapon to cut things, something hot enough it would slice steel like a tempered blade though ice. Without suffocating anyone. Though...I really don't like to use that skill..."
"Just get on with it," Hiei snapped.
Pale, glowing energy lit the boy across from him as he rose to his feet. It swept through the square cell on an icy breeze that ruffled Hiei's hair and made his eyes narrow. And it swirled around the ice user like a miniature whirlwind, all of that concentrated on his right arm. From where Hiei sat, he could just make out the ice forming itself into a blade that looked like nothing so much as an icy version of Kurama's vine sword.
The cold settled into the walls, and the ice user turned appraising eyes on him. "You handle the change in temperature well, considering you're a fire user."
"I'm immune to ice," Hiei admitted.
The boy had started toward him, but he halted at those words. His pale blue eyes widened in an almost fearful sort of disbelief. He took an abrupt step back, confusing Hiei to no ends.
"You're the twin...!"
Hiei turned to scowl at the boy, not sure what to make of that shocked expression. "You know me?"
"I've heard about you," the boy said. "Your sister is an ice user. They've been trying to get me to duplicate whatever she used on your foster father, that instant killing attack. But I can't. I don't know how anyone could do such a thing without leaving a mark. Do you-"
Hiei glared, his voice a sharp growl. "Forget that. I'm not the one to ask. I was unconscious when it happened. For all I know, she may not have been the one to do it at all. I've never seen her use ice to attack anyone."
"Oh..."
The voice was soft, and Hiei could hear the regret as clearly as he felt his own discomfort about the subject. He turned his head sharply, glaring at his bound right arm.
"Strike," Hiei ordered. "If you kill me, stay alive long enough for the idiots to get here so you can tell how I died. Tell him I had to try."
"Is someone coming for you? You should wait if-"
"If I don't get out on my own," said Hiei, "at least one foolish fox will come looking for me. I don't plan to let that happen. But if it does, don't let him kill you. Tell him the truth, that I ordered you to do it."
"You may have ordered, but you aren't forcing me into anything," was the soft, wary response.
"It won't matter, as long as he knows I told you to risk it. Now strike. I don't have much time left..."
Hiei heard a deep breath being drawn, but this time he didn't look to the side. He kept his head straight and his eyes closed. There was movement, light rapid steps approaching him to put momentum behind the blow. And then a blaze of pain along the side of his face, a sharp bitter sensation that sent his mind spiraling into a haze of black, welcoming flames.
- - -
The bandage was stained with dried blood, but it blossomed bright red when Duo pressed it against the gash. He didn't have anything else to use, and Hilde's cheek was bleeding as if a major artery had been severed. The girl shifted in response, dark reproachful blue eyes frowning at him.
"I said I'm fine," she muttered, pushing his hands away. "It's not the first time, you know. I've been here forever."
"And they just send people in to beat on you for no reason at all?" Duo demanded.
He sat back on his heels, folding his arms over his chest as if he had no idea he looked nearly as bad as she did. He could feel the swelling around his left eye, and his lip was split in an itchy, blistering sort of way.
They hadn't spoken since the visitor, and arguing wasn't what he'd expected. But something about her attitude rankled him. It was the same stubborn self reliance he had, and he wasn't used to having that turned against him.
"For any reason," Hilde sniffed. "Who needs a reason? Maybe his son married a mutant. Or maybe a mutant kid spat on him before he could kill her. It doesn't matter. What better way to repay a soldier than to let him take his anger out on the source of all evil? That's all I'm good for now that they're done using my talent."
"And that's a great attitude you have there," Duo scoffed, glaring away from her. "Why didn't you just get out of the way and let me handle it? I'm a lot stronger than you. I can take a few punches without bleeding all over the place."
"Oh, right," said Hilde, "and if he'd wanted to fuck someone instead of just beating on a mutant? Would you have volunteered for that, too? Big words from someone who hasn't been captive for more than a day!"
"Exactly," Duo rounded furiously. "I haven't been here. Share the grief a little, would you? I don't need a pretty girl to play martyr for me. I can damn well do that myself!"
Hilde sniffed, rolling closer to the wall and arching her back so she could sit up without using her arms. "Don't you dare try to sweet talk your way out of this. I told you to sit still."
"I'm not going to sit still and let some bastard beat on a girl with her hands tied," Duo spat.
"And if my hands were untied?"
The taunt went right through Duo's anger to knot in his throat. He glared for a minute. Then his face darkened and he dropped onto his backside in defeat. "Tied or untied. Guys that big shouldn't hit girls..."
It was exactly what Hilde had suspected. She rolled her eyes, shrugging a shoulder up to press her bleeding cheek.
"You aren't any bigger than me, and you know it," she said tiredly. "The fact is, I had it covered until you jumped in trying to play hero. It's not the first time I've seen him. If you had sat still, he would have hit me until I cried, and then left. That's all he wanted, to see me cry."
Duo's face twisted into furious disgust. "He's done it before? I'm surprised you aren't covered in bruises and scars."
"Well, he's never hit my face before," Hilde explained, scowling again. "Usually I can collapse and cry after one or two hits and it's enough to satisfy him. I wouldn't be bleeding now if you hadn't tried to get in front of me."
"I don't believe this place," said Duo. "All that talk about killing us off and they use us for punching bags?"
Hilde looked away, not moving anything but her eyes since her shoulder was still pressing the cut on her cheek. "I told you they said they'd play with you a little. What did you think I meant by that?"
"You said me," Duo reminded her, "you didn't say they'd attack you."
"I think you're missing the big picture here," Hilde said sharply, changing the subject. "You just showed them that you're willing to risk yourself to keep me from getting hurt - me, a complete stranger to you. How do you think they're going to use that? You're a complete idiot."
Duo blinked in surprise at the outright insult, a flash of confusion passing his eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Just what I said. What do you think they'll do now that they know they can get to you through me? Maybe you didn't notice, but most of the guys here aren't interested in girls. They can get that outside, wives, girlfriends. Only one out of the dozen I've seen wanted anything but to beat on me, and I haven't seen him since. I'm telling you flat out, Duo, you're a complete idiot."
"Someone raped you?!"
Hilde reacted as if she'd been struck. Then she lifted her chin, eyes glittering in dark challenge. "Don't you dare look down on me."
"I...I wasn't," Duo whispered.
The girl looked like she was fully capable of braining him with her shackles if he made even the slightest motion to show pity for her. Duo swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his eyes. He wanted to say he was sorry, but he was sure that would be enough to set her off.
"Anyway," Hilde bit out, her voice tight. "The point is, the next person to come in here will probably use me as hostage. If you so much as stand down on command, I'll kill you in your sleep. It's one thing to play hero when you have a chance of winning, but I'm not going to let anyone get hurt trying to protect me. Especially someone who doesn't owe me a damn thing. You fight your battles, and I'll fight mine. Is that clear?"
She was giving him an order. Somehow the complete absurdity managed to break through the dark well Duo had sunk into. He turned hopelessly disgruntled eyes up to Hilde and raised an eyebrow.
"So," Duo said slowly, "you'd want me to just stand by and watch someone torture you? And you'd do the same if someone wanted to hurt me? This is a great friendship we have here..."
Hilde scowled and looked away, her own expression turning just as disgruntled. "I never asked to be friends. You were supposed to try and escape the moment you woke up, killing us both in the attempt. How was I supposed to know you had this chivalrous thing going for you?"
"I'm sorry for being chivalrous," Duo offered, his expression placating. "And I'd try to stand aside, but...I honestly don't think I could. It just isn't in me. But if it comes to that, I'll try to teleport us out of here. Would that be good enough for you? If we died, at least we'd take out whoever else is in the cell, too. I really don't want to be killed in my sleep by someone I consider a friend..."
"Damn it, Duo!"
Hilde whipped her head around, turning bright eyes on him, and Duo squirmed at the sight of her angry tears. His mind flew for something to say, but all of his thoughts seemed to be hiding from him.
"Why do you have to be so nice?" asked Hilde. "You're supposed to be selfish! Aren't you the one who just teleported away and left dozens of kids to burn to death?"
All of the color fled Duo's face, and he let out a little choking sound. For a moment he stared at those accusing eyes. Then he shoved himself up and stalked to the door, his hands sliding over the seams much as he'd done a few hours ago.
"I didn't know how to teleport back then," said Duo, his voice small and his back facing Hilde. "I didn't know I'd teleported at all until a few months ago. I didn't know how I'd gotten through that door, and I blocked the memory out completely. I was a terrified child and I thought, honestly thought, they were with me until the end. I won't abandon another person like I did back then."
"But I get it now," he continued, his voice a little stronger, "why you were so shocked when I said I'd take you with me. They told you about me. No wonder you didn't believe me, knowing what I did."
He glanced over his shoulder, his expression a tight mask of determination. "I'm not going to stand by and let anyone hurt you, and I'm not going to leave you here. I'm not going to die in here, either. You know why?"
Hilde had shrunk back when he'd first started talking, guilt making her tears spill over. Now she lifted her arms to rub them across her face, scowling in stubborn anger. "No. I don't know why."
"Because I'm a rebel," Duo said, giving her a wan smile. "And I'm good at it, too. After I escaped, I spent years attacking OZ bases. I can't count how many of their soldiers I've killed since then."
"I know about that," Hilde said quietly. "They told me about that. That's why they want you dead."
"Right," said Duo, his smile widening. "Only I was going about it all wrong. Once I get out of here, I'll be even better."
"What do you mean?"
Duo crossed over to the cot and sat beside her, his expression now firm and real, no longer forced. "I've been thinking about it, the attack my friends and I have been waging on OZ. We've been hammering them with attacks, and that's just what they'd expect. That's why they're so set on identifying us and killing us off one at a time. To really take them out, we need to do it from the inside."
The girl was watching him with an interested expression, and Duo had an idea she would have been quite a rebel herself if she hadn't been taken. He turned on the cot, folding his legs and leaning toward her with a confiding look.
"The way we're rebelling now," said Duo, "we're actually making all mutants targets to blame for our actions. It's turning people against us, even though we're just trying to protect ourselves. What we need to do is form a campaign to infiltrate OZ. If we could find proof that they're making mutants the bad guys, to tighten their control on the world, we could really make a difference. We could deliver that proof to the countries and gather others against OZ.
"If we could take out the key leaders and powersources - quietly, so mutants won't be blamed, we could weaken the entire organization. We had the right idea, keeping quiet and using swift dart and hide tactics, but it was too small, too unorganized. There are mutants all over the world, some with talents so dangerous it's only a matter of time before OZ tries to have them killed."
"Like us," Hilde said sharply.
"Right. If you can kill a person just by touching him, imagine how dangerous you'd be as a rebel. It's no wonder they took you. Me, I'm the perfect infiltrator. My talents practically beg for me to play that role. And you can bet OZ has a list of the mutants with the best potential to be rebels. If we could get in touch with them..."
"You're talking about getting an alliance of mutants all over the world," Hilde breathed, her eyes widening. "It isn't possible. We're spread out so much I never met a single mutant until OZ captured me."
"You never met one who admitted he was a mutant," Duo corrected cheekily. "I'd bet you met them and they just didn't reveal themselves. As for impossible, well, the Sanq Kingdom has been doing it for years and there isn't a thing OZ can do to stop them - because it's a pacifist nation. All we'd need is a guise, something that will look good for the general human population, something that isn't threatening. Then OZ wouldn't be able to touch us, at least not publically."
"But you were taken," said Hilde. "If they sent a mutant in, they can still hurt you."
"True, but now that we know they aren't above using mutants, we'll be prepared for it."
Duo leaned back, rubbing a hand over his swollen eye and giving Hilde a wink with the other eye. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, you and me, and mutants everywhere. So I don't think we should worry about little things like who's going to take the pounding the next time that door opens. Let's just focus on getting out."
It took a long moment before Hilde realized what he'd just done. Her mouth fell open in something akin to amazement, and she couldn't help the small laugh that broke past her lips. "You just talked your way out of the most uncomfortable situation I've ever been in!"
Duo sweatdropped a little, a bashful grin passing over his face. "You caught me. But I'm entirely serious. We have much bigger things to think about than this cell. Don't sweat the small stuff. There's no point in it."
- - -
The attack on Duo and the girl he was locked away with had sobered the group to the point where Yusuke had simply left the cockpit to visit with Jin. He'd said flat out that they could hate themselves all they wanted, but unless one of them could make the plane go faster, they were wasting their energy. He was going to be clearheaded when they made their attack.
A few of the others had agreed with him, but that didn't stop the cold weight that dropped over them. Trowa took the boy's abandoned seat, Quatre held in a firm, mutually comforting embrace. And Kurama had simply closed his eyes, by all appearances falling into a sudden sleep.
Zechs remained standing in the doorway, giving a quiet commentary about the things happening in Duo's cell. Trowa could read it himself, but Quatre was too drained to use his telepathy, and Wufei couldn't read minds. He had an idea Kurama would have been happier if he'd kept the information to himself. It had been hours since the last contact with Hiei, and knowing someone had already attacked Duo wasn't comforting.
"They're arguing now," said Zechs. "But it looks like they're both okay."
"Until the next time," Wufei growled quietly. "We should be there in under an hour. What are the chances of someone else attacking before then?"
"I don't know," Zechs admitted. "I could barely read the soldier who did it. His thoughts were too distant and angry. Duo has the loudest thoughts of anyone I've ever read, and even he is just a whisper in that cell. I was lucky to get anything out of the girl when she was sober. Now that she's angry, I can't make out individual thoughts."
The sun was rising in the horizon, a mocking testimony to how slow their plane was compared to the rogue mutant's speed. And naturally, Quatre blamed himself for having purchased a comfortable plane instead of a jet. Nevermind that there was no such thing as a private jet, or that he'd been in a hurry when he'd bought the plane during their first escape to the Sanq Kingdom. They had been too slow to protect Duo from that attack, and it was his plane that made them so slow.
Zechs winced away from the boy's guilty thoughts, knowing better than to say a word. If Trowa couldn't talk Quatre out of blaming himself, no one could.
He turned to watch Kurama instead, an occupation he'd found endlessly worrisome. The teen was growing paler by the hour, wisps of silver now visible in his red hair. And his eyes, the last time he'd looked up, had been distant and dazed, as if he weren't entirely aware of what was going on around him. He hadn't spoken at all since Zechs had relayed Hiei's last message to him.
A sensation pressed against Zechs' mind, as if in response to his thought. He lurched back against the wall, but didn't notice the surprised looks his friends turned on him. His thoughts were drawn inward, swirled up and swept away until he found himself in a familiar black void. The dark serpent was curled across from him, larger this time, and brighter somehow.
I'm finished waiting.
Zechs almost took a step toward the thing, his worry riding his thoughts. 'I haven't been able to reach you at all! Kurama is-'
A backlash of flame erupted between him and that form, the reproach thick in that warning.
Don't interrupt, there isn't time for it. I'm finished waiting.
Confusion broke Zechs' concentration, and he expressed that in a small whispering thought. 'I don't understand.'
He doesn't have the strength to wake, and I won't allow them to be reborn again. He couldn't bear it...not now, it's too soon. I'm tired of sitting back...
He had a message for you, so unimportant, but he was adamant. Tell the fox not to hurt the ice user if I, if we fail. I won't fail, so it's meaningless, but he insisted I tell you.
'I don't understand,' Zechs thought furiously. 'What are you going to do?'
Live, survive, what I, what we have always done.
Dark flames billowed up, filling the void and snapping sharp hungry tendrils at him. Zechs sank away from them, unable to break the feeling that something evil was grinning from inside those flames.
When we meet again...I'll kill you. Look forward to it.
There was no backlash, nothing violent or forceful like he'd felt when he was pushed away from Hiei's mind. Instead, the real world returned in a slow daze of sound and sensation. Zechs found himself sitting with his back against the wall, his eyes wide and shocked.
The others were looking at him in surprise, and even Kurama had lifted his head to turn faint, disinterested eyes on him. Zechs shook his head roughly and snapped himself out of his stupor.
"It was Hiei," said Zechs. "Or rather, his subconscious. I think it plans to take control of Hiei long enough to let him escape. It told me he didn't have the strength to do it on his own."
A flicker flashed over Kurama's eyes, that dull sheen brightening into a more healthy mix of green and gold. Zechs did his best to keep the worry out of his voice, not wanting to ruin that spark of awareness.
"Hiei said to tell you not to kill the ice mutant if he fails," he told Kurama. "I don't know what he means by that, but I know he wasn't talking about Yukina. It's possible he's met someone. I can't sense him at all, or anyone else in contact with him. I can't seek him out past the barrier wherever he is, but somehow his subconscious can communicate through it."
Kurama stared, his gaze not missing how pale the man's face was, or the slight darting movement of Zechs' eyes. "What are you leaving out?"
Zechs flinched, pressing back against the wall as if he fully expected Kurama to attack him. Trowa reacted to that with a wary look at the redhead. But Kurama hadn't moved, not even clenching his hands.
"Zechs?" asked Trowa.
Pale blue eyes flashed to him before dropping again, more color draining from Zechs face. Trowa frowned, pushing against the mental barrier Zechs had placed in his mind. He slid past it, rather than punching through, and withdrew almost immediately. Shock spread over his face, and he shook his head at the white-haired man.
"You don't really think Hiei would kill you," Trowa whispered, "do you?"
Kurama jerked, a strange twitch that made his hair flash silver for a second before returning to that red and white mix. His eyes remained golden, fully lucid and desperately defensive.
"He wouldn't," Kurama said harshly, glaring at Zechs as if the man had made the accusation aloud. "Hiei would never do such a thing without good cause. Never."
Zechs swallowed roughly, more than a little afraid of the death threat in those golden eyes, but also curious that this had managed to break Kurama's sinking depression.
"I know," Zechs said faintly, "I know Hiei wouldn't. But...that's what it said..."
- - -
TBC
-notes-
Next part will focus on...well, just about everyone; notably Zechs, Kurama, Duo, Wufei, Jin, and Yusuke. o.O It should be a little longer than this one, certainly more complicated.
Part 39 will be very long, so it will probably take a while to write. And an early heads-up, I'm expecting extensive shonen ai in parts 39 and 40, and a number of lemons - the fic will end on Part 41 or 42. There will be a sequel picking up shortly after Gmen ends. I'll talk more about that after the next part (so I don't spoil it for you).