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more of the fic for sera
Not betaed, and not even read again after first time, so it's still very rough. And I think tht second chapter will end up being two or three chapters. It stops there because i'm sleepy.
previous part here
http://www.livejournal.com/users/askerian/78985.html
"Well, I suppose that's one way to keep the bitches in line."
"Bitches?" the Soldier asked, looking faintly confused once again.
"Yeah, you," Duo shot back. "Trained attack dogs, the lot of ya."
The look of confusion on his face only increased. "I'm not a dog and I'm not female."
"...I see that they didn't teach ya nothin' outside of books neither."
"We weren't supposed to need it."
"Yeah, you're just cannon fodder," Duo replied with contempt, trying not to see the hint of unhappiness on the clone's face at the comment. "So why ain't ya dead?"
"I only received half doses during retraining. it didn't hit me as hard when it stopped entirely. ... and I didn't want to die yet," he added in a quiet but in a determined voice.
"You're a fuckin' Solider. You're not supposed to want nothin'. You're not even real."
The clone looked up and stared at Duo right in the eye.
"I want. I want to live. I want to travel. I want to see Odin again," he replied with almost palpable determination. "I want my gun back. He gave it to me. I can find another one to trade for mine, if you really don't want to give it back, but I want this one."
Duo whistled low. "Shit, ya almost sounded like you was human. They programmed you good," he commented, staring at the clone, who glared back. "And I don't know what yer talkin' about. This is my gun."
The expression on the Soldier's face was thunderous, and his hands were faintly shaking in anger. Duo was actually readying himself to shoot him when he'd pounce, when there was a loud sound outside, voices raised, calling to each other with confidence. The scavenger jumped up and quickly stomped out the fire, before tucking himself into the darkest corner he could find.
The Soldier was still sitting where he has been, head tilted on the side as he listened. He had tensed up slightly, but he didn't seem to want to move.
"What're ya doin', you bastard?! Hide!" Duo whispered frantically, very nearly terrified. If they found someone, they'd search the whole area and catch him too. He didn't want to think about what they'd do.
The clone took the time to grab his pack before he retreated to the shadowed corner under the stairs. In the process, the flower fell out, and Duo couldn't believe his eyes when he actually crawled out of his hiding place to get it back.
"Hide! Hide!" he hissed, eyes wide, as the voices grew louder.
The clone hid in his corner, flower in hand, just a second before as a large gang of people passed by, carrying torches and weapons. They sounded like they were either drunk, high, or both, and Duo knew enough to be aware that it only made them more dangerous. He couldn't help but shiver, gun clenched nervously in his hands, barely breathing.
The groups stood around a bit, cursing and generally being a nuisance, before passing on. Once their loud racket faded away, Duo slumped on the ground, breathing hard. "Oh shit... oh shit... that was too close..."
+
Heero crawled slowly out of his hiding place, still listening for any noises out of the ordinary. But the gang was gone; he turned to look at the scavenger instead. The other man -- almost a boy really, he could see that now -- was heaving for breath as he brought himself under control slowly. He was whispering quietly to himself, a litany of "... shit... shit... shit..." with each breath.
Heero thought about using the scavenger's obvious distress to attack and take his gun back, but despite his almost devastating fear, the young man still had his finger quite firmly on the trigger, and the gang was probably still close enough to hear the shot.
He stepped closer slowly anyway, crouching in front of the man to watch him curiously. It was weird how violently he'd reacted to the gang, when he hadn't been that afraid of facing a Soldier unarmed. But then, Heero was alone and he hadn't been particularly threatening back then.
He watched as the scavenger raised a shaky hand to his hair and pushed his bangs back, muttering. "... man, I don't need to go through that again..."
Hmm, this confirmed that he had already gotten in trouble with these people and that they hadn't been particularly nice.
"Who are they?" Heero asked
The longhaired man blinked up at Heero, watching him warily. "They were Vultures. Your local gang in these parts."
"...oh." There wasn't much more to say.
"You're lucky ya passed out here, ya know. A few hundred more yards and you woulda been in their territory. An' they sure as hell don't got no compulsions about killin' someone in their sleep. I'm a saint compared to that lot," he added with a long-suffering sigh. "All ya need to know is to steer clear an' ya won't have no problems with 'em."
Heero nodded. That was good to know.
"Even with a gun an' the clips," the other man continued, "they woulda eaten ya alive."
Heero couldn't help but look doubtful. The young man gave him a serious look. "Around here, food is food, no matter where or who it comes from."
Heero blinked. "... They eat people?" he asked, disbelieving. Even for him, who had almost no morals, it seemed... off-putting.
"Why d'ya think they're called the Vultures?"
The clone couldn't help but grimace slightly as the scavenger confirmed it.
"But I suppose it depends on if they're hungry or not. Mostly, they'll just rape an' murder ya, then rob ya, an' probably rape ya again once you're dead," he announced, matter of fact.
Heero blinked. The tone he had taken indicated that this was somehow as bad as being eaten, but...
"What's rape?"
+
"What's... what?" Duo stared at the clone as if he was daft. He seemed perfectly serious. "...You're joking, right?" He didn't think clones could joke, but that was better than the other solution-- he couldn't help but groan as the clone shook his head no.
"There are things I wasn't taught," the Soldier explained, his tone faintly defensive as Duo kept on staring at him. "If no one told me or I didn't overhear, then I don't know."
Duo swallowed a whimper. This was almost worse than explaining sex to the kids. At least when they got old enough to need details, they had already gleaned a few notions from their friends. But that clone looked his age --not quite adult by the pre-war standards, but not quite a teenager anymore either. It was hard to tell because he had some Asian blood, but Duo would have thought him to be eighteen, maybe twenty year old. It was embarrassing.
"Rape is when they pin ya down and fuck you up the ass," he explained bluntly. "Or shove their cocks down your throat. Got it?"
"Oh. Sex. But you say it like it's bad... what's the difference with just sex?"
Well at least he knew what sex was-- wait, what? "Shit, no, it ain't sex! It's rape!"
The clone tilted his head on the side, and Duo noticed that when he did that, he looked sort of like an overgrown puppy. It was the only thing keeping him from getting truly angry.
"Rape is when ya don't want it! When they got ya beggin' an' cryin', and they keep usin' ya until you're half-dead, or all dead."
"I didn't know you could die from sex. I thought it was supposed to be at least mildly enjoyable," the Soldier commented, vaguely confused.
"What the fuck did they teach ya?!" Duo exploded finally. "Sex is SUPPOSED to feel good, but rape don't!"
The clone frowned at him, as if scolding him for raising his voice without reason. "They didn't teach us anything about sex," he explained blandly. "Odin told me a little about it. He never told me about rape."
"It ain't about the sex, it's about someone usin' ya!" Duo retorted, but his anger was turning into weariness. "Doing whatever they want to ya no matter what you do or how much ya beg."
"...oh." But the clone still looked just as confused. At least he seemed to have understood that whatever it was, it was bad. But he still didn't really understand, and Duo thought hard to find a correct way to explain.
"It's like... if I stabbed ya, you wouldn't like it, would ya?"
"Maybe. I don't know. Some of the other soldiers did."
... oookay. "Goddamn, you're fucked up," the longhaired man muttered. "You're supposed to say 'no'!! Nobody in their right mind likes to be stabbed."
The clone shrugged. "The doctors said they had been warped, most frequently during a mission turned sour. Usually they got terminated."
"Well, thank god for that," the scavenger whispered to himself. Soldiers were already dangerous enough when they didn't seem to feel pain. No one needed a bunch of them running around actually craving it. "Okay, fine. How about if I shot ya?"
The clone frowned in thought. "It depends if you kill me or not, but I wouldn't like it."
Moving in the right direction at least... "Right, 'cuz it would hurt and you'd bleed an' shit."
"But a bullet is never supposed to feel good. I thought sexual intercourse did."
"It's supposed to. But what's supposed to happen and what does happen is two different things."
The clone was looking horribly confused. Duo sighed loudly. "Look, in sex, both people are supposed to feel good. In rape, only one does, and the other feels bad. Got it?"
"Oh. Why?"
"What do ya mean, why?"
"Why only one? If he's moving too strongly, shouldn't it hurt him also?"
Duo frowned. That was a tough one. "Well... Because the victim isn't aroused. And there's lotsa things that just don't feel good if you're not aroused. But the aggressor ain't going to care, because it's not about the sex, really. It's about force. About domination. Like how you said those defective Soldiers got terminated? Well, with humans, we can't always terminate the defective ones."
The Soldier snorted. "When they learned to like being hurt, they didn't live long anyway." Then he paused, staring at Duo thoughtfully. "You mean learning to like to cause pain? Those men are warped in the other direction?"
Well, that was close enough. Duo wasn't going to try to explain the mental anguish as well. "Yeah, that's it. They learned to like causing pain. It ain't pretty," he reflected sadly, "but it's life now. I suppose the war let all the crazies come out of hiding..."
The clone scowled hard, staring at the direction the men left for. Duo ignored it as he looked around their little camp, tired. He moved back to the fire and scowled at it. "... Shit... I think my dinner burned," he grumped, kicking the ashes around with his foot.
The clone was still sitting on his heels, perfectly balanced, still looking at where the men went with a predatory intensity. "Do they hurt your children?"
Duo stilled, his hands clutching convulsively on the gun. "... if they catch 'em. Yes. But that's why I'm here," he added with a fierce determination.
The clone started to mutter to himself, forcing Duo to lean closer to catch what he was saying.
"...maybe I should... No. no, I shouldn't," he whispered, shaking his head. "I said I wouldn't. I don't want to. But..."
Duo stared, wary. "Oh shit, don't tell me you're schitzo, too!"
"I'm not," the Soldier replied absently. His hands were shaking faintly, and Duo's eyes narrowed.
"Then why the hell are ya talkin' to yourself?"
"... Someone should... terminate those men. Someone should. But I said I wouldn't kill anymore if I didn't need to."
Moving through the shadows, Duo glanced over the wall, trying to see if more of the gang were around.
"I said I wouldn't," whispered the clone as he curled up against the wall.
"Terminate?" Duo repeated with a bitter laugh. "Yeah right. They're around for a reason. You kill one, an' the whole gang will be after you. And anyway, another one will just move in. Maybe one that's worse."
"... kill the whole gang. One after the other. I know how to. I could. But-- yes. Then I don't need to... if it wouldn't help."
Duo snorted, eyeing him warily still. "You have a high opinion of yourself. Kill them all?"
The clone gave him a cold look, but it was better than the half-crazed, unaware of the outside world look his eyes had a minute ago. "Guerilla tactics," he replied, as if that explained it all.
"This ain't the war no more, you said it yourself. They outnumber ya. And they don't hardly go out except in a pack like that."
"... That's true. But they hurt children."
Duo felt miserable for a second, remembering all the times one of his kids had gotten caught, all of the times when he'd found a little body a few days later--and the few cases he hadn't found anything. "Yeah, they do. But that's why I teach my kids to be smart. To avoid 'em. To hide and run like hell."
"... It would be easy to kill the last one when no one is looking. Make them run after you. Wait until the fastest have caught up, kill them, run again. It's easy if you don't tire out fast." The clone didn't sound very happy at the idea of causing more death and mayhem. That was weird.
"Yeah, nice thought, but it wouldn't ever work."
"With enough preparation and a good knowledge of the grounds it would. I've done it enough times to know."
Duo growled, aggravated. "Look, if you've got an attitude like that, you'll just cause more problems for those of us who live here. You might go away, but we like the evil we've got here just fine. At least we know how they work."
"Fine," the Soldier replied to his surprise. "You know better."
"Damn straight I do," Duo managed to grumble, put out of balance by his capitulation. "You'll kill 'em off and you know what'll happen? We'll have them rounding us up like cattle, just waiting to kill us. They don't care who they off," he hissed, kicking away some rubble. "It's hard enough protecting my kids, you got that? I don't need some punk like you causing trouble for us. They don't like me enough already."
"So I don't have to kill," the clone mused, almost contemplative. "That's good. But it isn't good that they'd hurt your children," he added with a faint frown.
"No, it ain't good. Like I said, that's why I teach 'em to be smart. Running, hiding... staying in groups. That's the way I teach 'em to survive. You think I don't wanna kill every one of those fuckin' bastards when I see 'em? Look, I protect my kids, got it? I'd kill those parasites if I could, but I don't particularly feel like dying. I can't let my kids down like that."
"I understand. Your life is not the only one you'd put at risk."
"Good," Duo muttered, because he didn't know what to say. It was so weird to be having an almost civil conversation with one of these killers. He looked past the wall, then up at the night sky.
"Shit... it's late..."
Duo frowned and tucked the gun in his pants after clicking the safety on. "I'm outta here, buddy boy," he announced as he got up.
The clone's eyes narrowed. "Not with my gun."
The scavenger waved a finger mockingly. "MY gun, buddy."
"You didn't tell me if you'd want to trade it," the clone replied as he got up, picking up his own pack.
Duo blinked, surprised. "Trade for what? I already went through your shit."
"I can find another gun elsewhere."
Duo's incredulous laugh only made the clone scowl more. "I know where to look," he growled, visibly offended.
"Shit, buddy, you're way outta your league. The only way you're gonna get another gun is if ya kill someone who has one. Believe me, the gun places were the FIRST places to get looted."
The clone's eyes narrowed again. "I know where to find one because I've seen some in a place I was at just last week."
"You found a place with guns?" Duo asked, giving him a disbelieving look. "Ammo, too?"
"Some. Not a lot."
Holy fuck. Unless he was a hell of a good liar, he was telling the truth.
"... did they belong to people or was it like, a stash of stuff?"
"A stash. There was no one around."
Duo looked at the clone speculatively. "You really want this particular gun back?" he asked slowly, putting his hand over it.
"I told you already," he replied with an impatient nod.
"Well, either bring all that shit back here, and you get the gun. The ammo, too, since I feel generous."
The clone scowled. "So I'm supposed to let you go, with no way to find you again. Do you think I'm that stupid?"
Duo smirked. It didn't hurt to try. "Bring it back here or take me to it, and you get the gun back. If not, I'm sure I can sell this bad boy for parts."
The clone actually growled, and for a second looked like he would attack, but finally he relaxed faintly, though he was looking sour about it. "Fine. but we leave now."
"No," Duo replied. "It's late an' I can't leave my kids tonight. We can leave tomorrow. They'll be worried enough about me as it is."
"You won't bring me to your kids and I refuse to wait here for you. You won't come back."
Duo looked at the Soldier appraisingly. "Have you ever hurt a kid?" he asked suddenly, watching his face intently. The clone looked disturbed, and the longhaired man frowned. "Well?"
"...Sometimes," the clone admitted in a whisper. "Before."
Duo watched with interest as he shivered, hugging his bag to his chest with both arms. Watching him through narrowed eyes, he kept on interrogating him. "Did ya like it?"
The clone shook his head no. "I can't do that anymore. It feels weird. Makes me ill. I don't know why," he added, looking puzzled and lost at the same time. "It's not a physical sensation."
"... huh. Means ya got a conscience at least." That was something he wouldn't have believed without proof, but he didn't think anyone could fake going pale like that. "You ever hurt a kid since the war ended?"
The clone shook his head no, more strongly.
"Would you hurt my kids?"
"No. Unless they try to kill me and I have no choice."
Duo snorted, amused. "Don't think so, buddy. They don't know how to kill anything bigger than a rat, yet."
"Good then." He paused, then looked worried. "... Won't they be afraid of me?"
"They'll probably be scared as hell," Duo replied matter-of-factly. "But... enough of 'em are young enough to not know what ya look like. But if they start cryin', you're sleepin' outside," he added, a finger pointing at him in warning.
The clone shrugged. "I don't mind, as long as you don't use that as an excuse to make them all escape by another exit and leave me waiting."
"I mean it. As long as ya act cool, I can smooth things over. My kids know to trust me. I don't want to even hear ya raise your voice, or even LOOK at one of 'em funny."
"Why would I do that?" he asked, looking puzzled.
"I dunno. You're the Soldier. Anything might freak 'em out."
next tidbit, duo's kids. OMG kill me now. x_x
previous part here
http://www.livejournal.com/users/askerian/78985.html
"Well, I suppose that's one way to keep the bitches in line."
"Bitches?" the Soldier asked, looking faintly confused once again.
"Yeah, you," Duo shot back. "Trained attack dogs, the lot of ya."
The look of confusion on his face only increased. "I'm not a dog and I'm not female."
"...I see that they didn't teach ya nothin' outside of books neither."
"We weren't supposed to need it."
"Yeah, you're just cannon fodder," Duo replied with contempt, trying not to see the hint of unhappiness on the clone's face at the comment. "So why ain't ya dead?"
"I only received half doses during retraining. it didn't hit me as hard when it stopped entirely. ... and I didn't want to die yet," he added in a quiet but in a determined voice.
"You're a fuckin' Solider. You're not supposed to want nothin'. You're not even real."
The clone looked up and stared at Duo right in the eye.
"I want. I want to live. I want to travel. I want to see Odin again," he replied with almost palpable determination. "I want my gun back. He gave it to me. I can find another one to trade for mine, if you really don't want to give it back, but I want this one."
Duo whistled low. "Shit, ya almost sounded like you was human. They programmed you good," he commented, staring at the clone, who glared back. "And I don't know what yer talkin' about. This is my gun."
The expression on the Soldier's face was thunderous, and his hands were faintly shaking in anger. Duo was actually readying himself to shoot him when he'd pounce, when there was a loud sound outside, voices raised, calling to each other with confidence. The scavenger jumped up and quickly stomped out the fire, before tucking himself into the darkest corner he could find.
The Soldier was still sitting where he has been, head tilted on the side as he listened. He had tensed up slightly, but he didn't seem to want to move.
"What're ya doin', you bastard?! Hide!" Duo whispered frantically, very nearly terrified. If they found someone, they'd search the whole area and catch him too. He didn't want to think about what they'd do.
The clone took the time to grab his pack before he retreated to the shadowed corner under the stairs. In the process, the flower fell out, and Duo couldn't believe his eyes when he actually crawled out of his hiding place to get it back.
"Hide! Hide!" he hissed, eyes wide, as the voices grew louder.
The clone hid in his corner, flower in hand, just a second before as a large gang of people passed by, carrying torches and weapons. They sounded like they were either drunk, high, or both, and Duo knew enough to be aware that it only made them more dangerous. He couldn't help but shiver, gun clenched nervously in his hands, barely breathing.
The groups stood around a bit, cursing and generally being a nuisance, before passing on. Once their loud racket faded away, Duo slumped on the ground, breathing hard. "Oh shit... oh shit... that was too close..."
+
Heero crawled slowly out of his hiding place, still listening for any noises out of the ordinary. But the gang was gone; he turned to look at the scavenger instead. The other man -- almost a boy really, he could see that now -- was heaving for breath as he brought himself under control slowly. He was whispering quietly to himself, a litany of "... shit... shit... shit..." with each breath.
Heero thought about using the scavenger's obvious distress to attack and take his gun back, but despite his almost devastating fear, the young man still had his finger quite firmly on the trigger, and the gang was probably still close enough to hear the shot.
He stepped closer slowly anyway, crouching in front of the man to watch him curiously. It was weird how violently he'd reacted to the gang, when he hadn't been that afraid of facing a Soldier unarmed. But then, Heero was alone and he hadn't been particularly threatening back then.
He watched as the scavenger raised a shaky hand to his hair and pushed his bangs back, muttering. "... man, I don't need to go through that again..."
Hmm, this confirmed that he had already gotten in trouble with these people and that they hadn't been particularly nice.
"Who are they?" Heero asked
The longhaired man blinked up at Heero, watching him warily. "They were Vultures. Your local gang in these parts."
"...oh." There wasn't much more to say.
"You're lucky ya passed out here, ya know. A few hundred more yards and you woulda been in their territory. An' they sure as hell don't got no compulsions about killin' someone in their sleep. I'm a saint compared to that lot," he added with a long-suffering sigh. "All ya need to know is to steer clear an' ya won't have no problems with 'em."
Heero nodded. That was good to know.
"Even with a gun an' the clips," the other man continued, "they woulda eaten ya alive."
Heero couldn't help but look doubtful. The young man gave him a serious look. "Around here, food is food, no matter where or who it comes from."
Heero blinked. "... They eat people?" he asked, disbelieving. Even for him, who had almost no morals, it seemed... off-putting.
"Why d'ya think they're called the Vultures?"
The clone couldn't help but grimace slightly as the scavenger confirmed it.
"But I suppose it depends on if they're hungry or not. Mostly, they'll just rape an' murder ya, then rob ya, an' probably rape ya again once you're dead," he announced, matter of fact.
Heero blinked. The tone he had taken indicated that this was somehow as bad as being eaten, but...
"What's rape?"
+
"What's... what?" Duo stared at the clone as if he was daft. He seemed perfectly serious. "...You're joking, right?" He didn't think clones could joke, but that was better than the other solution-- he couldn't help but groan as the clone shook his head no.
"There are things I wasn't taught," the Soldier explained, his tone faintly defensive as Duo kept on staring at him. "If no one told me or I didn't overhear, then I don't know."
Duo swallowed a whimper. This was almost worse than explaining sex to the kids. At least when they got old enough to need details, they had already gleaned a few notions from their friends. But that clone looked his age --not quite adult by the pre-war standards, but not quite a teenager anymore either. It was hard to tell because he had some Asian blood, but Duo would have thought him to be eighteen, maybe twenty year old. It was embarrassing.
"Rape is when they pin ya down and fuck you up the ass," he explained bluntly. "Or shove their cocks down your throat. Got it?"
"Oh. Sex. But you say it like it's bad... what's the difference with just sex?"
Well at least he knew what sex was-- wait, what? "Shit, no, it ain't sex! It's rape!"
The clone tilted his head on the side, and Duo noticed that when he did that, he looked sort of like an overgrown puppy. It was the only thing keeping him from getting truly angry.
"Rape is when ya don't want it! When they got ya beggin' an' cryin', and they keep usin' ya until you're half-dead, or all dead."
"I didn't know you could die from sex. I thought it was supposed to be at least mildly enjoyable," the Soldier commented, vaguely confused.
"What the fuck did they teach ya?!" Duo exploded finally. "Sex is SUPPOSED to feel good, but rape don't!"
The clone frowned at him, as if scolding him for raising his voice without reason. "They didn't teach us anything about sex," he explained blandly. "Odin told me a little about it. He never told me about rape."
"It ain't about the sex, it's about someone usin' ya!" Duo retorted, but his anger was turning into weariness. "Doing whatever they want to ya no matter what you do or how much ya beg."
"...oh." But the clone still looked just as confused. At least he seemed to have understood that whatever it was, it was bad. But he still didn't really understand, and Duo thought hard to find a correct way to explain.
"It's like... if I stabbed ya, you wouldn't like it, would ya?"
"Maybe. I don't know. Some of the other soldiers did."
... oookay. "Goddamn, you're fucked up," the longhaired man muttered. "You're supposed to say 'no'!! Nobody in their right mind likes to be stabbed."
The clone shrugged. "The doctors said they had been warped, most frequently during a mission turned sour. Usually they got terminated."
"Well, thank god for that," the scavenger whispered to himself. Soldiers were already dangerous enough when they didn't seem to feel pain. No one needed a bunch of them running around actually craving it. "Okay, fine. How about if I shot ya?"
The clone frowned in thought. "It depends if you kill me or not, but I wouldn't like it."
Moving in the right direction at least... "Right, 'cuz it would hurt and you'd bleed an' shit."
"But a bullet is never supposed to feel good. I thought sexual intercourse did."
"It's supposed to. But what's supposed to happen and what does happen is two different things."
The clone was looking horribly confused. Duo sighed loudly. "Look, in sex, both people are supposed to feel good. In rape, only one does, and the other feels bad. Got it?"
"Oh. Why?"
"What do ya mean, why?"
"Why only one? If he's moving too strongly, shouldn't it hurt him also?"
Duo frowned. That was a tough one. "Well... Because the victim isn't aroused. And there's lotsa things that just don't feel good if you're not aroused. But the aggressor ain't going to care, because it's not about the sex, really. It's about force. About domination. Like how you said those defective Soldiers got terminated? Well, with humans, we can't always terminate the defective ones."
The Soldier snorted. "When they learned to like being hurt, they didn't live long anyway." Then he paused, staring at Duo thoughtfully. "You mean learning to like to cause pain? Those men are warped in the other direction?"
Well, that was close enough. Duo wasn't going to try to explain the mental anguish as well. "Yeah, that's it. They learned to like causing pain. It ain't pretty," he reflected sadly, "but it's life now. I suppose the war let all the crazies come out of hiding..."
The clone scowled hard, staring at the direction the men left for. Duo ignored it as he looked around their little camp, tired. He moved back to the fire and scowled at it. "... Shit... I think my dinner burned," he grumped, kicking the ashes around with his foot.
The clone was still sitting on his heels, perfectly balanced, still looking at where the men went with a predatory intensity. "Do they hurt your children?"
Duo stilled, his hands clutching convulsively on the gun. "... if they catch 'em. Yes. But that's why I'm here," he added with a fierce determination.
The clone started to mutter to himself, forcing Duo to lean closer to catch what he was saying.
"...maybe I should... No. no, I shouldn't," he whispered, shaking his head. "I said I wouldn't. I don't want to. But..."
Duo stared, wary. "Oh shit, don't tell me you're schitzo, too!"
"I'm not," the Soldier replied absently. His hands were shaking faintly, and Duo's eyes narrowed.
"Then why the hell are ya talkin' to yourself?"
"... Someone should... terminate those men. Someone should. But I said I wouldn't kill anymore if I didn't need to."
Moving through the shadows, Duo glanced over the wall, trying to see if more of the gang were around.
"I said I wouldn't," whispered the clone as he curled up against the wall.
"Terminate?" Duo repeated with a bitter laugh. "Yeah right. They're around for a reason. You kill one, an' the whole gang will be after you. And anyway, another one will just move in. Maybe one that's worse."
"... kill the whole gang. One after the other. I know how to. I could. But-- yes. Then I don't need to... if it wouldn't help."
Duo snorted, eyeing him warily still. "You have a high opinion of yourself. Kill them all?"
The clone gave him a cold look, but it was better than the half-crazed, unaware of the outside world look his eyes had a minute ago. "Guerilla tactics," he replied, as if that explained it all.
"This ain't the war no more, you said it yourself. They outnumber ya. And they don't hardly go out except in a pack like that."
"... That's true. But they hurt children."
Duo felt miserable for a second, remembering all the times one of his kids had gotten caught, all of the times when he'd found a little body a few days later--and the few cases he hadn't found anything. "Yeah, they do. But that's why I teach my kids to be smart. To avoid 'em. To hide and run like hell."
"... It would be easy to kill the last one when no one is looking. Make them run after you. Wait until the fastest have caught up, kill them, run again. It's easy if you don't tire out fast." The clone didn't sound very happy at the idea of causing more death and mayhem. That was weird.
"Yeah, nice thought, but it wouldn't ever work."
"With enough preparation and a good knowledge of the grounds it would. I've done it enough times to know."
Duo growled, aggravated. "Look, if you've got an attitude like that, you'll just cause more problems for those of us who live here. You might go away, but we like the evil we've got here just fine. At least we know how they work."
"Fine," the Soldier replied to his surprise. "You know better."
"Damn straight I do," Duo managed to grumble, put out of balance by his capitulation. "You'll kill 'em off and you know what'll happen? We'll have them rounding us up like cattle, just waiting to kill us. They don't care who they off," he hissed, kicking away some rubble. "It's hard enough protecting my kids, you got that? I don't need some punk like you causing trouble for us. They don't like me enough already."
"So I don't have to kill," the clone mused, almost contemplative. "That's good. But it isn't good that they'd hurt your children," he added with a faint frown.
"No, it ain't good. Like I said, that's why I teach 'em to be smart. Running, hiding... staying in groups. That's the way I teach 'em to survive. You think I don't wanna kill every one of those fuckin' bastards when I see 'em? Look, I protect my kids, got it? I'd kill those parasites if I could, but I don't particularly feel like dying. I can't let my kids down like that."
"I understand. Your life is not the only one you'd put at risk."
"Good," Duo muttered, because he didn't know what to say. It was so weird to be having an almost civil conversation with one of these killers. He looked past the wall, then up at the night sky.
"Shit... it's late..."
Duo frowned and tucked the gun in his pants after clicking the safety on. "I'm outta here, buddy boy," he announced as he got up.
The clone's eyes narrowed. "Not with my gun."
The scavenger waved a finger mockingly. "MY gun, buddy."
"You didn't tell me if you'd want to trade it," the clone replied as he got up, picking up his own pack.
Duo blinked, surprised. "Trade for what? I already went through your shit."
"I can find another gun elsewhere."
Duo's incredulous laugh only made the clone scowl more. "I know where to look," he growled, visibly offended.
"Shit, buddy, you're way outta your league. The only way you're gonna get another gun is if ya kill someone who has one. Believe me, the gun places were the FIRST places to get looted."
The clone's eyes narrowed again. "I know where to find one because I've seen some in a place I was at just last week."
"You found a place with guns?" Duo asked, giving him a disbelieving look. "Ammo, too?"
"Some. Not a lot."
Holy fuck. Unless he was a hell of a good liar, he was telling the truth.
"... did they belong to people or was it like, a stash of stuff?"
"A stash. There was no one around."
Duo looked at the clone speculatively. "You really want this particular gun back?" he asked slowly, putting his hand over it.
"I told you already," he replied with an impatient nod.
"Well, either bring all that shit back here, and you get the gun. The ammo, too, since I feel generous."
The clone scowled. "So I'm supposed to let you go, with no way to find you again. Do you think I'm that stupid?"
Duo smirked. It didn't hurt to try. "Bring it back here or take me to it, and you get the gun back. If not, I'm sure I can sell this bad boy for parts."
The clone actually growled, and for a second looked like he would attack, but finally he relaxed faintly, though he was looking sour about it. "Fine. but we leave now."
"No," Duo replied. "It's late an' I can't leave my kids tonight. We can leave tomorrow. They'll be worried enough about me as it is."
"You won't bring me to your kids and I refuse to wait here for you. You won't come back."
Duo looked at the Soldier appraisingly. "Have you ever hurt a kid?" he asked suddenly, watching his face intently. The clone looked disturbed, and the longhaired man frowned. "Well?"
"...Sometimes," the clone admitted in a whisper. "Before."
Duo watched with interest as he shivered, hugging his bag to his chest with both arms. Watching him through narrowed eyes, he kept on interrogating him. "Did ya like it?"
The clone shook his head no. "I can't do that anymore. It feels weird. Makes me ill. I don't know why," he added, looking puzzled and lost at the same time. "It's not a physical sensation."
"... huh. Means ya got a conscience at least." That was something he wouldn't have believed without proof, but he didn't think anyone could fake going pale like that. "You ever hurt a kid since the war ended?"
The clone shook his head no, more strongly.
"Would you hurt my kids?"
"No. Unless they try to kill me and I have no choice."
Duo snorted, amused. "Don't think so, buddy. They don't know how to kill anything bigger than a rat, yet."
"Good then." He paused, then looked worried. "... Won't they be afraid of me?"
"They'll probably be scared as hell," Duo replied matter-of-factly. "But... enough of 'em are young enough to not know what ya look like. But if they start cryin', you're sleepin' outside," he added, a finger pointing at him in warning.
The clone shrugged. "I don't mind, as long as you don't use that as an excuse to make them all escape by another exit and leave me waiting."
"I mean it. As long as ya act cool, I can smooth things over. My kids know to trust me. I don't want to even hear ya raise your voice, or even LOOK at one of 'em funny."
"Why would I do that?" he asked, looking puzzled.
"I dunno. You're the Soldier. Anything might freak 'em out."
next tidbit, duo's kids. OMG kill me now. x_x
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:3
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(Anonymous) 2004-06-23 07:41 am (UTC)(link)-- Toxikos
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Curls up at feet and looks hopeful for more....
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And i'm still writing, I swear. ~__~