03 - Locked to herotherhalf and stillshinigami

[stoicperfection]

That morning after checking in with Duo, he decided to make his way to the crane.  Now that they had decided to do something about Harth, he took it upon himself to look about the castle and see if there was some suitable place to use as containment. Duo had pointed out that they couldn't kill the vampire, not unless they wanted him to return as a shadow, so restraining him seemed to be the best option available to them. If it could be farther away from the other residents, the better. After what happened to Toph and Haku, they couldn't run the chance of anyone else getting close enough to him to get hurt.

By the time it was noon he finally arrived to the old bridge. It was raining, the first time since arriving to the Castle, and it was in heavy sheets that completely soaked everything. The walkway was nothing but one huge puddle and once glance up at the sky told him it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. There was no choice but to cross then.

Heero ran across the old bridge, trying to shorten the amount of time spent in the rain, to make his way to the Pigeon Room. Unfortunately the rain was so heavy he was completely soaked by the time he crossed and ended back inside. It wasn't really much better in here either. A hole in the ceiling allowed some of the water to blow in, making things damp and just a little unpleasant.

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[stoicperfection]

With Harth's order, he gave a nod of his head before stepping out of the storage room and back into the larger one. There were a few birds flying about, making this rather convenient for him and giving him a chance to really test out his new strength and speed. He had been dying to do that.

Moving as fast as he could, he managed to grab a pigeon that struggled in his hands, trying to peck at him to defend itself. Too bad they needed it alive or he could just snap it's neck. He stepped back into the side room and back into the circle where Duo was laying, pretty weak and still. There wasn't much time left.

He knelt down beside the pilot, bird still in hand and placed his other hand over the puncture wounds he had made. The words to the healing spell came easily to him, draining the poor bird dead and giving Duo back his life. When it was over, he tossed the dead bird aside and watched Duo carefully.

[herotherhalf]

The boy gasped as some of the color returned to his flesh, blood pumping through him once again. He was clearly still too weak to move, but enough to understand just what was going on around him. He was fine to leave now, his flesh healed and his own body going to begin rebuilding itself, replenishing it's blood.

The bird itself simply dissolved around the wound, every ounce of it being used in the spell.

"He'll need some more healing later, but for now, let him rest. Aside from causing him pain, you can do what you like to him. I've got to meet with Haku."

[stoicperfection]

"Alright." He replied, watching Harth leave the storage room to go do whatever it was to Haku. She was the one who had told Duo after all, so she needed to be taken care of.

Heero turned his attention back to Duo, looking him over and satisfied with his work. He was doing so well as a vampire, wasn't he?

"Feeling better?"

[stillshinigami]

Duo rolled onto his back, blinking his eyes open as he looked to Heero. It was a long time before he decided to speak.

"What did he do to you?" He asks with a raspy voice.

[stoicperfection]

While Duo rolled onto his back, he shifted so he could sit on the ground more comfortably. It figured the first thing the pilot would ask was what happened. Really, it should have been pretty obvious what had happened to him.

"Freed me."

[stillshinigami]

"If you call being a monster freedom then you really are broken. I dunno who I should blame more. Harth or Dr. J." Duo said through grit teeth, a bitterness on his voice. But he was so weak, every word croaking out, though there was also grief on his lips. That and regret.

[stoicperfection]

"You're just upset Harth figured your plan out and stopped you." He smirked. "I'm no longer guilt ridden and alone. I call that freedom."

He leaned in close, placing a hand on Duo's chest in a mock soothing gesture. "I'd bet this reminds you of home, doesn't it. That's what you really wanted though. A piece of it. You told me earlier."

[stillshinigami]

"Heh. You think the plan can't be carried out without me?" Duo didn't even believe it could, not without someone who knew what they were up against, even half way.

"Someone will figure it out--" he pauses at the rest, the freedom part and the guilt free part. But that's what made Heero human. It was his humanity. He gave a shakey sigh, grimacing at the hand on his chest.

"What?..." The cuffs? He just groaned. That was demented. "Shut up...Shut up and get off of me!"

[stoicperfection]

"I don't think so. Without you, there is no plan." Half the strongest members were either captured or part of Harth's crew. "And do you really thing that the rest of the group could defeat Harth and me?"

He pulled back again when Duo finally noticed the cuffs securing his wrists. "Why should I? It would be stupid of me to do it."

[stillshinigami]

"I don't think, I know." Duo moved to sit up, or try to as he spoke. "And I'll kill you myself if I have to, Heero. You know I will." He looks into Heero's eyes, searching him and trying to figure out a way around this.

Was there anything?

"So you're a vampire. Does that automatically mean that you have to obey Harth? You've also got loyalty being a gundam pilot, don't forget about that!"

[stoicperfection]

"Go ahead and try it. I don't think you have the skill to kill a vampire."

Heero didn't need the ability to walk through people's dreams to know what to do or say to make Duo squirm. The pilot had trusted him with so much information that thankfully he retained.

"I feel any attachment to my human life. I listen to Harth because he is my sire and he alone can tell me how to be a proper vampire. Besides, I'm not your Heero. Why should I feel any loyalty towards you?"

[stillshinigami]

"...You forget how good my aim is. All I need is a crossbow." Which is foolish to say but at least he can make the threat. He knows it's an empty threat. He was helpless.

"It doesn't matter if you're not my Heero..." He pauses, setting his wrists down between his now bent knees. It's no use right now. He didn't know what else to say. What's the use? "This isn't freedom. It's servitude. You're still a slave no matter what you say."

[stoicperfection]

"And enough luck to strike me before I move." That didn't phase him in the slightest. He was a fledgeling and rather full of himself.

"Wasn't I a slave before? To the war, to J and then?" He smirked. "To you and your group? Don't think I didn't notice how much you needed me. Harth is teaching me. That's all."

[stillshinigami]

"You weren't a slave to us, Heero. We're in this together, you know. Or I thought we were." Duo shook his head, wobbling slightly as he neared the edge of the circle.

"Hnn." Dizzy all of a sudden.

[stoicperfection]

"You'd think so. Isn't it interesting that I was never really a part of the group. Always on the sidelines."

When Duo wobbled, he watched and knew full well why that was. "I wouldn't go any further if I were you."

[stillshinigami]

"And we gave you your space." Duo snarls back at him, moving further into the second circle until a wave of dizziness struck him. He retreated quickly as if he were struck some how.

"Aah! Jeez!"

[stoicperfection]

"Why did you think I needed space?" He couldn't wait to hear what explanation Duo gave for that. It seemed that the pilot was always full of excuses and sob stories.

"Harth made sure you can't leave this room. Make yourself comfortable and get used to it.

[stillshinigami]

Duo was too busy being nauseous to answer at first, he groaned softly until the sensation faded. Get used to it? Fuck. Fuck!

"Because you don't fucking respond, Heero! What are we supposed to do? I try to help you and you say 'it's not important' and 'what's the point' so I leave you alone cos there's nothin' there to latch onto aside from the fact that you've got my back. So I thought. And here I trusted you here more than anyone." Aside from his double.

[stoicperfection]

"Then you're a bigger moron than I originally thought." Heero stood up and decided to walk about the storage room and show off the fact he could walk around. "Do you seriously think this happened willingly?"

[stillshinigami]

"You're a moron if you think I think that." Duo snapped back, using Heero's own words.

"Of course I don't. Harth nabbed you in the last twenty four hours, and you'd never had done it willingly. You're not my friend. Actually? You're not even worthy of his name."

[stoicperfection]

That earned Duo a good laugh from him. It was pretty interesting to him that the emotional control he had over himself as a human simply didn't matter to him now as a vampire. "At least drop the pronoun you if you're going to accuse me of being unworthy of his name." He turned around and strolled right up to Duo, nearly forcing back into the beginning of the outer circle.

"I thought I'd finally earned this name, at least when it comes to you. Now I can say I nearly tried to kill you too." He smirked. "Just. Like. Him."

[stillshinigami]

And right in response he just scowls at the laugh, turning his head down and crossing his legs while he watched somberly. What did he care about bad grammar? Not a damn thing. He didn't acknowledge him until Heero started moving towards him again, forced back close to the circle line, once again that wave of dizziness like a migraine hit him and he crawled out of the way.

At first, his expression sheds to that of a bitter rage, but it slowly faded to a cool shade of contempt.

He was too weak to fight back. "Yeah... you are like him. A shell. A shadow. You couldn't match Heero Yuy if you tried."

[stoicperfection]

"I don't need to match him, because simply he was an emotionally stunted piece of work." As Duo settled back away from the outer circle, he crouched beside the pilot and continued on. "I don't have to be that way. I can be so much better."

He pat Duo on the head like he would a child and then stood again. "This could have been the best outcome for him because either way he was going to die. If not by Harth or the Castle, then by his own hand. If your group had ever figured out a way to escape this place, it's exactly what would have happened."

[stillshinigami]

Duo hung his head, his eyes dark as he looked at the creature kneeling before him, almost shivering but mostly because he felt cold. There wasn't enough blood in him to keep him warm. The more Heero spoke the more his teeth chattered. He clenched his eyes shut, wincing at both the chill and the idea that Heero would have taken his own life to escape this place? It was true, and Duo knew it.

"Nnng. Noo..." He croaked, as Heero patted him on his head, eyes wide as he shifted to his knees, his hands moving forward to support him. He could just feel the anger bubbling up, so he yelled out, bowing his head into his arms.

"You sunuvabitch!"

[stoicperfection]

Seeing the way Duo was shivering, he finally remembered that Harth said to heal him again later. It was important to keep their food source nice and healthy.

"I'm only stating the truth." He replied, thoroughly amused that his words had finally broken the pilot. No more snappy come backs, huh Duo? "It was never a thought of his to leave here. He was more concerned about doing whatever he could to ensure you and your group were fine. He had nothing to go back to. You'd know that if you'd bother to ask."

He headed for the door, thinking for a moment about what Harth was doing to Haku. "Now, I need to heal you again. Rest up while I step out for a moment."