|
|
//Delicate white hands, equipped with brutally sharp nails, scratched at his face and chest. He batted them away, then grabbed them with his own hand and held them above her head, not to be hindered from his target. Her face was blurred by the mind-numbing pleasure brought him by his thrusting hips and her tight heat. He thrust ever harder, breaking through all resistance, as she writhed and screamed beneath him, the stupid bitch, wouldn't she *ever* shut up, *WHACK!* across her whining face, but that didn't work, and he doesn't care, he's coming, coming into that white-hot pleasure, and the blood begins to gush from the blurry area where her face should be--\\
~i woke up today
to find myself in the other place~
Eyes the color of stormclouds flashed open in a place that had never witnessed natural weather, darting lightning-fast around the shabby room in a practiced routine, making careful note of everything in the room. One bed, smelling faintly of urine; one bedside table, upon which sat a pink monstrosity of a lamp casting greasy light over the room; one completely unnecessary window, shaded by moldy curtains; one ancient television set displaying an equally ancient nature program. The room was furnished in a style once known as Santa Fe; the curtains and walls, while mildewed and dirty, still dizzied the eyes with their pinks and purples.
~with a trail of my footprints
from where i ran away~
Satisfied for the moment, Heero sat up slowly, surprised at the pain he encountered throughout his body. Grimacing, he began to take stock of himself as he had the room. One pair of legs, aching; one back, aching; one pair of hands, aching and bruised; one head, not just aching but alive with pain. Heero knew he had been dreaming about the events of the previous night, but he could no more remember the dream than he could the violence that had triggered it.
But at least the voices were quiet. That was good. Heero needed a clear head for the day's business.
After splashing some water on his face and practicing the relaxation and pain-reducing techniques Dr. J had taught him--he could not afford to become in any way dependent on even light painkillers--Heero took a deep breath and donned a cap and jacket bearing the logo of Colony Sushi, a local takeout restaurant, becoming Ichiro Ito, delivery boy. After looking himself over, Heero picked up the bags of food in the corner near the door and started on his way.
~it seems everything i've heard
just might be true~
Dr. J had been dead for some time now, reportedly taken out by an assassin's bullet; at least, Heero assumed as much, since there had been no missions from the mad old man since the end of war. But there were still people who hated, people who feared. People who needed someone to do their dirty work. For nearly two years, Heero had been one of those people, not because he wanted to kill, but simply because he knew of nothing else he did as efficiently. After the Eve Wars, during which the voices had haunted him so viciously, he had collapsed into Relena's arms, believing he would never again need to kill. For a while it was even true--in the following years, the voices had quieted as he grew closer and closer to his fellow Gundam pilots. The Gundams themselves had been destroyed. All was seemingly peaceful. Had Heero spoken of it to Wu Fei, however, he would have learned that it was not in humankind's nature to remain at peace for long. Humans hated; humans feared; and humans enjoyed a little entertainment from time to time.
Heero was tired of providing it.
After about thirty minutes, the disguised boy arrived at a small building which a sign on the door labeled "L1 TV Repair". He slipped around to the back door, where he stood under the security camera until the door opened. A small man with the face of a weasel beckoned him inside and down into the basement, where three men sat around a card table cursing at each other and examining their cards.
~and you know me
(well you think you do)~
Upon hearing the door close behind Heero, the men rose to greet him. The tallest one, a blond man with scarred features, walked over to Heero with his hand extended. "Hee-kun, konnichiwa! Long time no see!"
Heero made no move to take the man's hand, merely inclining his head slightly in greeting. The blond man faltered for a moment. "Why, Hee-kun--aren't you happy to see me?"
"I'm here on business, Tanaka," Heero said quietly, looking directly into the other man's eyes. "I have something to say."
Tanaka crossed his arms and glowered at the brunet boy. "I already paid you for that job, and well too. I don't owe you nothin'."
"Yes," murmured Heero. "And so there's no old business to hinder me."
The other two men stepped toward Tanaka, reaching for their pockets. Tanaka held up an arm, warning them off; they held back, watching Heero warily. The blond man stepped forward until he was nose-to-nose with Heero. "Am I to understand," he hissed, "that you want out?"
~sometimes, i have everything--~
"Very good," Heero whispered with a slight smile. "And as a gesture of friendship, I'll even return the last payment. Just to show you that I still like you."
"How do we know you won't talk?" asked one of the other men, a stoutish man with small, mistrustful eyes.
"I'm a professional, and you've paid me well," said Heero, his eyes never leaving Tanaka's face. "You know you can trust me."
Suddenly a cold circle of steel was pressing into Heero's flat stomach, and Tanaka's green eyes had turned hard. "The thing is, Hee-kun...in this business, you can't trust anybody." The gun pressed harder. "There are no outs. Not while the World Nation is still in power. You've still got work to do."
Heero's visage went flat and lifeless, betraying no emotion. "Consider it an extended vacation."
Tanaka grinned, displaying a mouthful of yellowed teeth. "How would you like to take that vacation without your little girlfriend?"
Heero had to struggle to keep his composure.
::look at that, would you? he thinks he can do your job for you! imagine that!!::
Oh please...not now!
Too late. Tanaka sensed his discomfort. "Don't like that idea, do you?" He chuckled, a sound a young girl might hear from an overly affectionate uncle. "Pretty little thing, she is... nice body...tits are kinda small, but the ass makes up for that." The men behind him leered. "You know, Saito back here hasn't been too lucky in the dating department lately. Maybe your pretty little thing could show him a little...compassion?" The squat man licked his lips at Heero. Tanaka continued, "Or maybe she could watch while Morimoto works on your sweet ass. He hasn't been getting out much either." The other man, impossibly tall and fat all at once, bumped his hips and began to laugh uproariously.
Tanaka's foul breath was blowing into Heero's face. "What do you think, Hee-kun?" He pressed his body closer to Heero's and began grinding his crotch into Heero's hips. "I might take a turn with the two of you myself."
~yet i wish i felt something~
Heero felt the rage rising within him, as it had the previous night. "You wouldn't dare."
He could feel the taller man's erection through his jeans, however, and knew that Tanaka would do just that.
::well at least somebody wants you...relena sure doesn't::
::might as well let him have the little bitch::
::you'll never get it from her again...why shouldn't he get a try::
"NO!" Heero screamed in anguish, catching the taller man off guard. Tanaka stumbled backward, and Heero found his opening. He batted the gun away easily, grasping Tanaka's bony wrist and twisting it behind his back. "Step back and drop your weapons!" he shouted at Saito and Morimoto. Upon seeing the steely glint in the younger man's eyes and the desperation and fear in Tanaka's, the two men did as they were told.
Tanaka, unused to being manhandled in such a fashion, began to talk excitedly. "Now, now, Yuy, don't do something you'll regret! We'll let you go, and with your payment! You have my word!" Saito and Morimoto nodded frantically in agreement.
Heero's world began to fade as he twisted the taller man's arm higher and higher. "I don't think so. Remember, you can't trust anybody in this business, right?"
The arm broke with a loud craacck! which was drowned out by Tanaka's screams. Wet warmth drowned Heero's hands, and he knew there was blood.
As Heero gave himself to the darkness, he smiled a huge, insane, toothy grin and continued to twist the man's arm.
~do you know how far this has gone?
just how damaged have i become?~
Pain. Not dull aches this time, but actual roaring pain. Pain in his arms, hands, legs. Pain in his mouth, and the coppery taste of blood. Did he get me in the mouth? He spat a few times in a futile attempt to extinguish the metallic taste. Tepid stickiness all over his body. Heero tried to open his eyes, but they were gummed over with the sticky substance. He had to reach up and rub the lashes between his fingertips to remove it. Pulling his fingers away, Heero saw that it was blood. Examining his body, he saw that he was covered in blood; he was lying in a pool of it. Yet his only wounds were scratch-marks on his already bruised arms and chest; his shirt was ripped. Heero rapidly sat upright and began inspecting his surroundings.
~when i think i can overcome
it runs even deeper~
A few feet away from Heero lay the bloody, mangled remains of Tanaka. A few feet away from Tanaka lay the man's forearm, a sickly white knob of bone protruding from within the ribbons of flesh. Saito and Morimoto sprawled against the opposite wall as if they had been thrown there. From where Heero sat, he could see that chunks of flesh were missing from their faces and necks. Horrified, he realized that he must have bitten those chunks out during his blackout. The entire floor was mottled with blood. How am I going to clean this up? Heero thought in a panic. Then he realized that he had two much bigger problems: one, that he had no way to know how much the three men had screamed, and two, that the weasel-faced man must have been upstairs the whole time.
Heero raced up the stairs to the now-darkened L1 TV Repair office, throwing on the lights to reveal the faceless remains of the formerly weasel-faced man.
The Perfect Soldier promptly vomited, from revulsion at what he had done to the man...and from the terrible realization that part of him was actually relieved that even in his fugue state, he had tied up every loose end.
When the heaving was over, Heero searched for and found a clean uniform from the office. He did not know what to do with the bodies. He did not know whether police were coming. All he knew was that he needed to go somewhere, anywhere, away from here. Can't travel the colonies, I don't know if these guys have friends who will be looking for me...can't go to Earth...
Or can I?
~and in a dream i'm a different me
with a perfect you
we fit perfectly
for once in my life i feel complete--~
Heero smiled. That was it! Relena had to take him in now! Surely she would not allow him to run from place to place when he so obviously needed help. With her influence, he would be safe, get the help he needed...maybe the voices would stop...
~and i still want to ruin it~
and maybe i'll black out again and do to her what i did to these men.
It was a possibility, and Heero could not overlook it. If he hurt Relena this way, he would never forgive himself.
::what? does she deserve special treatment? should she be spared what you did to mieko? did she deserve it?::
With the voice came searing pain that drove Heero to his knees and nearly blinded him.
~afraid to look
as clear as day
this plan has long been underway~
NO! his mind screamed. i won't ever hurt her again! nobody deserves this!
::did these guys?::
they threatened her! i couldn't let them hurt her!
Heero's head snapped up and his eyes flashed open. How do I know they hadn't planned something in advance, just in case I pulled out? How do I know one of them didn't trigger an alarm while I was blacked out?
How do I know they're not taking action right now?
~i hear them call
i cannot stay
the voice inviting me away~
Thirty minutes later, Koichi Nakamura, a muscular, tousle-haired young man also known as Heero Yuy, was at a vidphone station at the L1 spaceport. His shuttle boarded in ten minutes, and he had just spent five minutes hoping someone would pick up on Relena's end. But not even Pargan answered, and in desperation Heero finally left a message.
~do you know how far this has gone?
just how damaged have i become?
when i think i can overcome
it runs even deeper~
In an empty mansion on a lonely seacoast, an image of a once-handsome young man whose features were now twisted with insane fear and mad love flashed onto a vidphone screen.
~everything that matters is gone
all the hands of hope have withdrawn
could you try to help me hang on?
it runs . . .~
"Relena," the image spoke. "You have to listen to me. Your life may be in danger. If you're there, you have to get out. Go to Quatre's. Go anywhere. Just run. I'm coming, darling, I'm coming to protect you. I'll find you, wherever you are. Just get somewhere safe."
He paused for a moment. "Ai shiteru, Relena."
~i'm straight
i won't crack
on my way
and i can't turn back~
Heero cut the connection, and Koichi turned from the vidphone station and headed for his shuttle.
~i'm okay
i'm on track
on my way
and i can't turn back~
Koichi boarded the rundown shuttle, heading for the rear of the plane where he would not be noticed.
~i stayed
on this track
gone too far
and i can't come back~
Heero sank into his tattered seat and almost immediately fell asleep, into dreams of blood and brutality.
~i stayed
on this track
lost my way
can't come back~
On the table next to a flashing vidphone lay a note, written in a delicate, rounded script:
Pargan--
Out late with Duo Maxwell--may be out for a while--don't wait up--
luvs, Lena