cloneness -- 3&4&5

[reiyel]

Chapter 3

Heero wondered why the hell the scavenger was walking so many times past the same areas. Of course, they hadn't used the same street even twice, but the map of the city he was drawing in his head showed clearly that they were only double-tracking again and again. And even if they had been followed-- which he didn't think they were -- they had walked on tar often enough not to leave any clues. He supposed a skilled stalker would be able to follow for a while, but when the places they crossed didn't even have pebbles or grass or anything that would be disturbed by their walking through... Of course, maybe the longhaired man just couldn't find his way home again because of the darkness, but the idea that such a survivor could get lost in his hometown because of a simple lack of light was so ridiculous he nearly snorted.

Which left as only reason that he didn't want Heero to remember the way.

Which was pretty damn ironic since he had just helped him to complete his map of this area of the city, and Heero always had a very precise idea of where he was on that map. But he had been told many times that normal humans had inferior mental capabilities.

Space and time awareness were related, he mused as he climbed up a pile of bricks after that swinging braid, and he remembered that his superior officers had needed a watch. No Soldier needed a watch to tell the time. They... just knew. Over time, since it had been so long that Heero hadn't seen a working clock to readjust his perceptions, his own internal sense of time had become a bit less precise, but he could still give the time with only plus or minus five minutes.

It was a leap of logic to assume that because they were less precise with Time than Soldiers were, they would be less precise with Space as well, but it ... just made sense. Why bother with making him take the long way around otherwise? He hadn't even been blindfolded, and even without knowing the town he could still notice their changes of direction using the stars.

Which only proved even more that the man didn't trust him, but that was okay; Heero was already surprised that he trusted him enough to turn his back on him. The scavenger always made sure to be able to see him from the corner of his eye, but if Heero decided to jump on him and break his neck, it wouldn't help a lot and he had to know it.

Finally, after almost two hours of walking through the ruins, they stopped outside an abandoned building. The walls showed massive fire damage, but were still mostly in one piece, even though the windows were reduced to a few shards of glass. The roof looked to have caved in, filling the ground floor with rubble.

In the narrow alley between the two blocks, a fire escape was bent off the side of the building, still somehow attached at the top and the bottom but the rest of it like a snake twisting on itself. Heero almost dismissed it--up until the point where his hand went for a gun he didn't have anymore because that shape in the darkness at the top of the stairs was someone's shadow.

"Down, boy," the scavenged grunted as he glared at him sharply. He was visibly aware of the presence, and didn't care, so Heero allowed himself to relax minutely. They hadn't been shot yet, so it had to be an ally, right?

The dark shape was now getting up, and jumping over the gap between the stairs' landing and the door. It was smaller than he had expected and Heero understood that this was one of the scavenger's children. He frowned and pulled his hood up, hiding his eyes and most of his face in shadows. He was going to need to control his impulses. He wasn't on an infiltration mission. They were not targets.

His guide walked in the dark alley and went to a crack in the wall, squeezing through it quickly. It looked to be a bit of a tight fit, even though he was thinner than Heero, and the Soldier frowned thoughtfully as he approached the hole. Most adults would have difficulties fitting in here, but the kids could go through easily and that was probably the reason why they had chosen this place.

Heero was still only halfway through the crack when he heard a stampede inside the hiding place and about a dozen shrill voices scream.

"DUO!! Duo! Duo! He's back! You're late! Duo!!"

It was reasonable to assume that Duo was the braided man's name, and the voices sounded young and expressed relief, not aggression, so he didn't have to fear being ambushed. But it was still with a lot of reluctance that he slipped all the way through the crack to emerge inside the building.

The rubble inside was mostly pushed against the windows facing the street they'd come from, which was why it had looked totally full. Half of the upper floor was gone, but he couldn't see the sky anyway; apparently either the second floor or the roof was still blocking the way. It wouldn't be very warm during the winter, but it would stop direct rain at least.

There were kids everywhere.

Well, not really, but that was the impression he got. About a dozen, he judged with a glance, and most of them scrabbling to try and hug Duo. Two of them were standing back and watching from a door leading to another room in which a fire burned. Boys, almost old enough to be considered teenagers.

Heero stayed by the entry, a little overwhelmed, trying not to draw attention to himself. The children were putting so much enthusiasm into greeting the scavenger... The man was laughing and hugging all of them as best he can.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just a little late!" he said in a soothing tone, calming them down. They he straightened up, scanning the room, a little child sitting on his hip. "Where's Cathy? And Milly?"

"They is cookin' in th'other room, Duo," a little girl replied with enthusiasm, bouncing. Her long, honeyed hair bounced on her back along with her and Duo smiled and pat her on the head the way he would have calmed down a hyperactive puppy.

"None of you tried to burn nothin' down, did ya?"

"No, Duo," they replied as one. It should have reminded Heero of the barracks and the other clones, but it didn't, because none of these voices sounded the same nor expressed the same thing.

He caught the two boys in the doorway staring at him, and soon all the kids had fallen silent and turned to watch him too.

"Who's he, Duo?" the same little girl with long hair asked, pointing at him. All the other kids waited, watching him with varying levels of wariness.

Heero saw the scavenger frown a little, then bounce the blond boy on his hip absently. "He's just a visitor, so ya don't gotta be worried. His name is..." He looked at Heero in askance, and the clone remembered that they hadn't bothered to exchange their names.

"Heero," he said, pulling the hood just a little lower. They were all staring at him, backlit by the fire in the other room so that he couldn't see their expressions, and he was... almost nervous.

"Right," the scavenger replied with a decisive nod. "He's Heero, so don't bother him, ya little monsters." Patting heads here and there on the way, he managed to reach the door to the other room and disappeared inside, followed by some of the kids. A few of the older boys stayed, still keeping an eye on him suspiciously.

The little girl was still there. She was, as he noticed, wearing his spare shirt like a dress. There was a length of soft rope around her waist like a belt, but that was all she wore.

And she was still staring at him. And staring. And staring. Heero was starting to feel decidedly unsettled.

And then she bounced toward him, peering at his face under the hood. "I'm Lena."

Heero just stared back, not knowing what he was supposed to do.

"Hey... I'm Lena," the kid repeated, looking surprised at his non-reaction to her revelation.

Heero realized with a sinking feeling that the other man had left him alone with the child. "...Hello," he replied, because he didn't know what else was expected of him. If he was cruel to his children, the man-- Duo would probably shoot him.

"Duo says it's polite to say your name. Why're ya wearin' that funny thing on yer head?"

Heero caught himself glancing around for escape routes. "Because I don't want you to see my face," he explained when he realized that he couldn't run from the child.

"D'ya got a burn? Otto got a burn on his arm and his head and he don't like to let us see it, and he said it hurt lots when he got it but Duo helped him and covered it up an' now it's all shiny an' his hair even grew back 'xcept now it's CURLY... an' now Otto's all big an' he can go do stuff and he steals real good an' can catch rats an' he's real smart."

The Soldier blinked owlishly, overwhelmed by the amount of information she could share in one breath. "Uh. No, I don't have a burn."

The little girl gazed up at him, a finger in her mouth. Heero decided to ignore how unsanitary that was. "Are ya ugly? I think Mei is ugly but Duo says I shouldn't say that to her because it's mean."

Now that was a question he didn't have an answer for. What constituted ugly exactly?

"I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe I'm ugly."

"Oh."

Heero's search for an escape route became more urgent.

"D'ya like rat? Cathy caught it for dinner."

Heero nodded, because he didn't have a preference but agreeing was just easier than explaining that.

And she was STILL staring up at him. "You're tall. Milly says I talk too much. D'ya think I talk too much? Am I botherin' ya? Ya can say. I won't cry cuz I'm a big girl now."

"I don't know if it's too much, but it's a lot," he answered frankly. "You... don't bother me. But I'm not used to children."

"Duo likes kids. Do you not like kids?"

Heero stared at her, trying to formulate an answer. "I don't know if I dislike kids. I'm not used to being around them." He'd just said that. Couldn't she assimilate the information?

"Lotsa people don't like kids an' they're mean an' they hit an' other bad things an' Duo says those are bad people an' we should run away. D'ya run away?"

Heero was starting to ponder the wisdom of giving her detailed replies. She wasn't even listening to them. Her brain was visibly not mature enough yet to take them fully into account. "... Yes. I ran away."

"Mummy an' daddy died. Did your mummy an' daddy died too?"

"No." He would have needed to have them.

"Then why did ya run away?"

Heero stepped toward the room where the other man had disappeared. Why was he letting that kid so close to him? "Because," he answered, knowing that he wasn't really replying, but thinking that maybe there were things a kid shouldn't know, even if he wasn't sure what.

He glanced in over the boys who were still watching him suspiciously. Duo was guiding the youngest kids to a bit of board that apparently served as a table.

"Hey, hey, ya monsters! Eat now!" he called for the ones who were still elsewhere. The two glaring boys -- one dirty blonde and the other with tanned skin and dark, frizzy hair -- turned away, freeing the door, and went to sit at one end of the table, closely followed by Lena. An older boy -- eight, nine year old? -- with white-blond hair helped her to climb on the makeshift bench and she stared expectantly at Duo. The man was overseeing the dishing out of the food, which consisted of rather small portions of rat and what looked like bread, helped by a curly-haired redhead who was bossing the other kids around.

Once the kids start eating, Duo stepped away and went to Heero.

"So... Lena sunk her claws in you."

Heero blinked. "She's... talkative. I met someone like her once. Please don't let Lena talk with me again," he added in a calm, controlled voice. He felt anything but calm and controlled about her.

The man frowned, watching him with suspicion. "Why not? You're not gonna hurt her for talkin' your ear off, are ya?"

The Soldier shook his head no slowly.

"... she... reminds me," he managed to whisper. His stomach was twisting and he didn't understand why it was so hard to breathe.

"Reminds you of what?"

"...of the other girl. I don't want to remember."

"Bad memory?" the scavenger asked, his voice softening into a more compassionate and understanding tone.

Heero nodded, just barely. He was glad that the other man seemed to understand, because he didn't --he couldn't have named the reason why Lena's closeness was so ... scary.

Or maybe he could, and just didn't want to-- he stopped thinking about it.

"It's almost time for the monsters to go to bed... Fei, you throw that an' I'll spank you!" Duo suddenly warned without even turning back to the table. The black-haired boy who had been about to clobber the white-blond one put his plate back on the table and scowled unhappily. He was tiny compared to that one, it was a wonder he was bold enough to fight with a visibly older boy.

"You all finish eatin' an' clean up an' it's off to bed!" the braided man ordered as he watched the children. The smallest of them looked about ready to take a nosedive in their plates, but even then they muttered before obeying. Chasing them off, Duo started to clear the table, still helped by the curly girl.

Heero stayed standing by the entry, not knowing what he was supposed to do. The braided man noticed and beckoned him closer. "Yo, come sit down. I'm not gonna let ya stand there all night."

The clone approached obediently, sitting on the bench, his back to the wall. He was glad to put a bit of a distance between himself and the chaos in the room. He was starting to feel overwhelmed. The noise, the voices, the closeness of the children scrambling around as they took turns washing their faces and hands at a barrel of water in a corner, picking up things-- plushies and toys, he recognized after a few seconds -- kicking their shoes off in a corner, the older ones pulling blankets and a few pillows out of hidden places...

He wondered how they got anything done. There seemed to be no order at all, no rhyme nor reason to their little trips, the order in which they did things. It had been nothing like that at the base.

He was so busy watching them all warily to make sure that he wouldn't be taken by surprise if one got too close that he needed a few seconds to feel eyes on him. He glanced at Duo to check; sure enough the man was watching him from the corner of his eyes. He would have asked what he was supposed to do now, but the kids were dropping down into little piles here and there, curling up for warmth, and the scavenger stood to make sure they were all well tucked in. Each of them received a kiss on the forehead, and Heero watched, wondering at the action. The older boys were wiping their foreheads with exaggerated grimaces of disgust, but the little ones seemed to like it. It was... so confusing.

He waited for Duo to come back and tell him what he was supposed to be doing next. He felt so lost...

The scavenger banked the fire carefully, then went to a corner that was hidden from most of the rest of the room by a screen, pulling a blanket along. "D'ya sleep?" he asked quietly as he passed by the table.

Heero nodded, puzzled. "Of course I sleep."

"Well, now's the time to do it. The kids'll be up early like they always are."

"Where do I sleep?" he asked, just to make sure.

"You're lookin' at it, buddy," Duo replied as he lay down behind the screen, pulling the blanket up.

Heero shrugged and went to sit behind the bench, against the wall. A creaky plank would warn him if someone tried to get to him, and no one could even get a clear view from the door. It was safe enough, he decided as he leaned back and crossed his legs.

Duo sat up again and stared at him. "Whatcha think yer doin'? Ain't ya gonna sleep?"

"... Yes."

"But you're sittin' up."

"I can sleep in a sitting position," Heero answered, puzzled.

The scavenger rolled his eyes and shrugged tiredly. "Whatever," he replied as he settled own to sleep.

After looking around to make sure that no one still moved, Heero closed his eyes. He felt safe in his corner, so in a few seconds, he was asleep.


Chapter 4

-- Early Morning --

Duo woke up quickly, used to go from sleep to consciousness in an instant. Nothing was moving, so he opened his eyes. He folded his blanket and sat up, yawning.

The clone, still sitting in his corner, was awake too... and glaring down at something between his legs. He looked up at Duo, then ignored him to scowl down again. Puzzled, the scavenger crawled to his corner, quietly since the kids were still asleep and as much as he loved them he liked a bit of peace and quiet before starting his day.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he whispered.

The clone looked uncomfortable. "... I don't really know," he admitted, sounding faintly puzzled and annoyed all at once. "It always does that."

"Does what?" Duo repeated, confused. "You sick or something?"

The Soldier blinked at him, considering his suggestion. "I don't think I am."

"Then what's wrong?"

The clone pointed down, looking decidedly unhappy.

The scavenger looked down to see a hard-on straining Heero's pants, and quickly turned around. "Jeezus! Warn a guy next time! You don't just... show people that!"

Heero blinked. "... ah? I didn't know," he explained with a half-shrug. "So it's normal?" he asked, frowning. "How do you make it go away?"

Duo felt his cheeks burning. It only worsened when the clone stared at him with confusion plain on his face and asked, "You're turning red. Is something wrong?"

"It's normal. It's called an erection. Specifically, morning wood. And it's just... shit, what did those doctors teach ya?" he complained as he sat down next to Heero, carefully averting his eyes.

Heero snorted. "I'm guessing you don't really want to know."

"It's... it happens to guys," Duo stammered as he tried to find a way to explain. But without knowing what Heero knew, it was difficult.

"... Obviously," the clone replied slowly, giving him a doubtful look. "Girls don't have a penis."

"I just don't know why they didn't teach ya about your own body," Duo grumbled, flushing darker.

"I know enough about the human body to know where to hit to paralyze or kill," Heero replied evenly. "They didn't teach me anything else. It wasn't relevant."

"Yeah, but I ain't the guy with a boner in my pants," Duo shot back before raking his fingers through his hair nervously. "It's just... it happens to guys when they're... when they're aroused."

"Aroused?"

The confusion on the clone's face was painful, especially since he looked his age.

"Yeah, like, sexually. I can't believe I'm having this talk with ya..." the scavenger sighed, covering his eyes with his hand. "... most of my kids ain't old enough for this yet..." And the rest had learned before he found them, so he had never needed to explain anything yet.

Heero blinked. "Oh. It's related to... sexual need?"

"Well, yeah. Have you ever..." Duo paused, feeling his blush reach new heights. "... Have ya ever woke up... sticky?"

The clone looked thoughtful for a second. "... a few times recently. It didn't happen before. The hormone suppressors must have worn off entirely then," he added to himself, frowning.

Duo gaped at him, jaw hanging. "Hormone suppressors?! Shit... no wonder they didn't teach ya this shit. Ya literally didn't need to know."

Duo wondered if it was too late to run when Heero turned to face him, a curious look in his eyes. Ah well. It would give him training for when his smallest boys would ask.

"Well, wakin' up sticky is a wet dream. You get sexually aroused and... well... blow your load... uhh... ejaculate."

Heero nodded thoughtfully, frowning faintly. "But why in my sleep? I don't have enough of a sexual identity to dream about having sex."

"Well, how the hell would I know? Your subconscious does funny things, okay?"

"...Okay," he replied slowly. He didn't look very convinced, as if he still had tons of other questions. But he didn't ask, and Duo wasn't sure of what he wanted to know, so he didn't continue.

It was so weird, he thought as he watched the room with his kids sleeping in piles here and there, to be sitting almost shoulder to shoulder with a killer clone and to be giving him lessons in human biology. But life had thrown craziest stuff at him... though not often as awkward, he amended as Heero glanced down at his own lap once again and calmly informed him that his erection still hadn't gone away.

"Well... generally... most guys... uhhh... make it go down themselves..." he stuttered, fighting not to look into these weirdly innocent eyes. They should have looked cold and uncaring, not... not...

"How?"

"W-well... m-most g-gys... they... well they... m-masturbate."

Heero blinked placidly. "Which is?"

Duo's mind reeled. "Shit! Don't ya know anything?!" Stupid question. Of course not. "It's when... it's when ya... ya touch yourself!" he explained, making a vague hand motion.

The clone looked down at his lap once again. "And what is it supposed to do?" he asked, visibly confused.

Duo was getting really flustered, which didn't get better when Heero reached between his legs tentatively. He grabbed the clone's hand quickly, blushing to the root of his hair once again. "Hey!! You... you don't just DO it!"

The clone looked up at him, surprised, then frowned. "...I don't know if you've noticed, but I do not understand that kind of things. If you don't want me to do something, then tell me not to. When logic cannot help me, I will assume it's okay until proven otherwise."

Duo flushed, feeling guilty for a second. "You... you jerk off alone, okay? With no one watching. No one's supposed to watch ya do it."

Heero considered for a few seconds. "Hiding? Ah... I guess you can't show me how then. Can you tell me more about it or is this also forbidden?"

"S-show...? Look... uhh... you don't... I mean... uhhh..."

Heero was watching him, waiting patiently. "Yes?"

Duo sighed, trying to forget how awkward he felt. "You want me to show ya, but usually you don't do that stuff unless you're gonna... well, have sex."

The clone was blinking owlishly, visibly thinking hard to assimilate what he was saying in a way that made sense to him. Duo sighed again.

"Well, I guess it's okay to beat off with someone else... but it's sorta... private? Intimate?"

"Oh. So you showing me how would imply that you're going to have sex with me?"

"Well... not exactly but... You usually learn to do it on your own. The way I whack off might not feel good for you. You need to... uhhh... experiment, I guess."

"... Good suggestion."

"But," the scavenger continued, trying not to think about how there was a good chance that the minute the clone got to be alone he'd drop his pants and test it out, "you have to be careful about... uhm... who ya ask stuff. There's all sorts of pervs who'd try an' take advantage of ya."

The clone nodded seriously. "I wouldn't let just anyone get close enough to touch me," he informed him with a touch of coldness, coldness that disappeared a second later when he looked away from Duo's face to stare at his own feet. "But you trust me with your kids. I figure you'd be relatively safe."

"Well, I suppose that's a compliment. Heh... I need the practice anyway, so I can give these monsters the facts of life, too. If I live that long, anyway."

"They don't know yet?"

"Fuck no," Duo replied, thinking of little Lena, or baby Quatre, or the twins. "They're just little kids!"

"I'm not sure," the clone replied, slightly defensive. "I've never been around children for long before. Is there an age to talk about sexual matters? I'm not sure what I should talk about around them."

"Well, they know alot about survivin' but..." He looked at the sleeping children with a soft light in his eyes. "...I'm protectin' them. Understand? I don't want 'em to know too much about anythin' until they're ready for it. If I told the little ones about sex, they wouldn't understand that it feels good. They'd just think it sounded gross."

The clone looked thoughtful again, and Duo took pity on him.

"You can pretty much talk about anythin' around my older kids. If they don't understand it, they'll be sure to pester ya for answers. But try to keep it simple. If they look even more confused, dumb it down... or send them to me."

"I'll remember... but I don't know how to act around kids. they confuse me. They're so illogical."

Duo chuckled. "That they are. Kids ain't computers ya program. Mostly they learn by being around adults and observing, bit by bit. It's long and hard to raise a child," he added, thinking of all the people out there who hadn't bothered. "That's why I'm protectin' 'em," Duo added in a whisper, watching the kids --his kids-- sleep, maybe not wholly safe, and not quite with a full belly, but as well cared for as he could make possible. "'Cuz no one else would."

"Oh. Makes sense."

The clone fell silent once again, thinking about God knew what.

Duo found it weirdly fascinating to watch him think. There was no doubt that he thought fast and was very intelligent, but the gaps in his education were frighteningly wide. Watching him try to bridge them when he was almost an adult already brought out a mix of bewilderment and pity.

"... If you told me how... I could help, I think. But I'm not sure if I'm not just a liability."

Duo stared at him, floored. Where the hell had that come from? "What do ya mean by that?" he asked, turning to face the clone.

"Protecting them."

"Why the hell would ya do that for?" the scavenger shot back, immediately wary. Heero may be a badly socialized kid in a way, but he still had been created to be a cold-blooded killer. Some of his brothers had been infiltrators, gaining trust and then betraying people, and while the war was finished, that didn't mean that some part of his conditioning wasn't still well and truly active. And he didn't see why the hell the clone would ever want to bother helping him, when no one else --no normal, supposedly decent human-- would.

"... I think I'd like to stop wandering for a while," the Soldier admitted in an oddly wistful whisper. "And you're the only one who's talked to me. Everyone else just shot at me or ran away."

Duo looked at the kids, then Heero, torn between his need to protect his kids and a deep-seated mistrust, and his compassion.

"I dunno..." he replied, frowning, then sighed and stood up. "Your problem gone now?"

The clone looked at his lap to check, still as blissfully unaware of the impropriety of the act. "Looks like it."

"That's a trick," the scavenger replied with a chuckle. "If ya can't beat off, think of something utterly dull and boring and routine."

The clone considered for a second, then nodded. "I'll try," he replied as he got up too. "You can't trust me yet anyway," he added, as if to himself, and Duo understood that they weren't talking of his morning wood problem anymore.

"No, I don't trust ya yet," he replied frankly. "Maybe that'll change. Lena likes ya."

He was surprised when the clone shivered--he'd thought he'd like it. "She shouldn't," he said.

"Why not?"

Heero hesitated before answering. "The last little girl who liked me died."

"Yeah?" Duo replied, giving him a sad look. "I'm sorry..."

But Heero wasn't finished. His eyelashes lowered to hide his irises, he continued in a rush, as if forcing himself to share more. "...and then they put me through retraining because I shouldn't have felt anything. But I felt sick. And weird. And I couldn't breathe right."

The scavenger stepped closer, carefully putting his hand on Heero's shoulder. "You felt something? It was probably sadness. Feelings make ya human."

Heero blinked and looked at Duo, visibly surprised. "... That's what Odin told me. He told me to follow them too, but I don't even understand them yet."

Duo shrugged. "I don't think anyone really understand their own emotions. We just live."

Heero sighed quietly, then seemed to realize that Duo was touching him and stared at his hand on his shoulder, looking as puzzled as Duo had ever seen him looking. The long-haired man cautiously took his hand back.

"Hey, sorry... Didn't mean nothin' by it, okay?"

"It's weird," the Soldier mused. "I didn't even break your wrist. I should have."

Duo couldn't help but be glad he hadn't. But he reminded himself to tell his kids not to surprise the clone. He doubted his conditioning would stay dormant if anyone pounced on him, even if that someone was a cute four year old who couldn't hurt a fly.

"I think my reflexes are dropping," Heero grumbled as he flexed his fingers slowly.

That was a good thing in a way, because it meant that his kids were less at a risk, but for Heero it was probably bad. Having fast reflexes meant the difference between life and death. "Well, ya wanna test those reflexes then?" Duo proposed.

Heero nodded, watching him expectantly.

"Good. Come on, we gotta find breakfast for these hellions."

Duo quietly moved through the room, stopping by the closest pile. Lena was sprawled on top of her big brother, sleeping soundly, but Milly was awake and blinking blearily up at him. Their voices had probably woken the kid up.

"I'm taking Heero out to find some food," he whispered to him, and the blond nodded seriously, pulling the thin blanket over his sister's back protectively.

"When will you be back?"

"One hour, maybe two. Get some more sleep," he added gently, "it's not quite day outside yet."

The boy closed his eyes again obediently, and Duo straightened up and left, slipping through the crack in the wall. Heero followed, staying silent until they were outside.

"When will we get those guns?" he asked, a stubborn set to his jaw. "I want mine back."

Duo looked at him over his shoulder. "After breakfast, if we get any. I still have to tell my kids I'll be gone, and set up stuff. Otto's one of the oldest, and he's responsible..." he added, thinking out loud. "He'd be best to leave in charge..."

Otto was reserved, but kind. At fourteen, Trowa was older than him, but the blond teenager was a bit too aware that he was getting to "be an adult" and had a tendency to lord his developing muscles and broadening frame over the children. Duo even suspected him of scaring some of the kids into doing part of his chores for him, which he didn't like at all. Yes, Otto would be best.

He led the clone through the streets, down toward the old, polluted river. The sewers opening on the water were often full of rats, and sometimes even maybe a seagull or two. "Come on, let's see if we can catch some rats for breakfast."

Heero followed on his heels, obediently.



------------------------------

Chapter 5

The rat-catching thing had been... interesting, Duo decided. The clone had quickly gotten the hang of it just by watching Duo. The scavenger had more practice, but he could see how inhumanly fast these hands could snap forward, grab, twist, crunch. If he decided to attack, Duo could probably inflict some damage, but the chance that he would win uninjured wasn't that high.

He gutted the rats efficiently, abandoning the innards in front of a sewer, knowing that it would encourage the ones who had scampered off to come back, then lifted half of them by the tail, gave the other half to the Soldier to hold, and went back home.

The sun was starting to show between the buildings when they arrived back at the hideout. Otto was crouching on the sentinel spot-- what they had named the landing at the top of the twisted emergency stairs. It always made his heart squeeze to see them up there, but they were cautious and so far the old, rusted metal held well enough to bear his kids' weight.

He nodded a discrete salute at the thirteen-year old, then slipped in, the clone on his heels. The smallest kids had migrated to the pile of blankets the older kids had left on the floor, and were all sleeping soundly in a tangle of small limbs. Mei and Fei were, as always, a lot more sibling-ly when asleep than awake, and were using each other as a teddy-bear. He knew from experience that the first thing they'd do when they would wake up would be to glare at each other and start arguing, only to turn back as one on the first idiot who would try to berate them. Quat was half-buried under a pillow, his upper body on Nanashi's lap, Nash himself slumped against the wall. Lena was sprawled on her front on top of the pile of blankets, as if hugging them all to her possessively.

The older kids all avoided that area, going about their business quietly. Cathy was washing the dishes with help from the shy, mousey Sylvia. Duo frowned; Alex and Mueller were hanging around and smirking at each other, Sylvia looked like she wanted to bolt, and Cathy was moving with that determination that indicated an explosion of her fiery temper coming soon. The brats were probably bothering them again.

Just as he was going to announce his presence, Alex leaned over Cathy and hooked a finger into her collar to look down her shirt. Dumping his rats in Heero's arms, Duo stomped toward them, scowling. The little perverts!

Cathy was strong enough to defend herself, and proved it by kneeing Alex in the groin properly, but Sylvia looked close to tears. The second she saw Duo, she ran for him.

Alex had managed to twist to avoid the full force of Cathy's blow, but it had still landed. The blond boy straightened up, giving her a watery glare. "OWW!! You little--"

Duo picked up Sylvia, sitting her on his hip just like he did with the smallest kids. "Alex. Enough."

The two boys jumped and gave him a guilty look. Cathy was standing behind them, arms crossed over her chest, glaring death at them both. She looked up at Duo and blushed, visibly embarrassed.

"What's going on here?" the braided man growled, glowering at the teenagers.

The two boys exchanged a guilty look. "Uhh, nothing..."

"We were just talking with the girls, that’s all..."

Duo snorted. "Ah, so now to talk to a girl ya have to talk down her shirt? Do you take me for a moron?"

"But she kneed me!!!"

"Quiet," the man hissed, glancing at the stirring pile of little kids. "Don't you wake the babies." He nodded at the door fiercely, indicating that the boys should leave and fast. "Go to the other room. Wait there."

Dragging their feet, they went as ordered.

"You okay, girl?" he asked once the boys had left.

"Yeah, sure," she mumbled, but she was looking embarrassed, and her arms were still crossed firmly over her chest. Duo had to admit that one of his baby girls was growing up, and she was probably still feeling awkward about it. Having these two brats teasing her wasn't going to help.

He put Sylvia down at her side, patting her long, silvery-blond hair gently, then gave the curly-haired redhead an awkward smile.

"You did good to knee him, girl. These idiots need to learn to respect girls. If they bother you like that again, or any of the other girls, you tell me, okay? I'll punish them."

Sylvia took Cathy's hand and hid behind her. Duo felt his heart squeeze. He didn't know what had happened to the thin, green-eyed girl before he found her, but it had taken months to get her to whisper even one word. She was painfully shy and cringed every time one of the older kids or Duo raised their voices. The scavenger didn't know how she had been treated, but it hadn't been nicely.

"... I'll punish them, promise. And, uhm-- maybe you want a larger shirt?" Hers was getting too small and it was too easy to see her budding breasts, which probably looked a bit too enticing for boys entering puberty. Otto would never touch any of the girls without their consent --he was too gentle, and shy that way-- but as for Trowa, Alex and Mueller, it was another story. He had found them late and they were a bit too used to taking whatever they wanted. It was a good survival method, but not an attitude he would tolerate between his kids.

He gave her a pat on the head, because he didn't know what else to do, then walked out to find the two boys.

They were in the far corner with Trowa, staring at the clone with wide eyes. Heero was still standing by the entrance, looking just slightly uncomfortable.

Heero's hood was down.

Time to do some damage control, the scavenger thought as he walked casually to the clone, who was still holding the rats. Though... Maybe it was good that the brats were afraid of something, even if he didn't want them thinking that the soldier had come to kill them all in their sleep. "Hey, Heero, do you know how to skin an animal?"

Puzzled, the clone hesitated before he nodded.

"Then take the rats there and skin 'em, please," he asked, pointing to a plank balanced on two casks that served for preparing the food. "No need to keep the head or the paws."

There, the kids would see him skinning something, but doing it at Duo's bidding. Man, but the scavenger was glad the clone had, for some weird reason, decided to let him order him around.

Heero out of the way, he turned back to the teenagers.

Mueller's usually chocolate skin was trying to compete with Alex's pallor. "Duo... That's..."

"Yeah. But he's okay."

Trowa opened his mouth to argue and Duo shut him up with a vicious glare. "I thought it was your turn to get water?"

"Uhh-- yeah, but..."

Duo shook his head, not interested in hearing his excuse. Trowa was a fearless thief, and good help whenever the task he had to execute made him look strong, but as soon as it was more tedious than daring, he always had a good reason to let someone else do it. "Go help Milly."

"But the..."

"Trowa Dekim Barton. Go get water. What I have to say to Alex and Mueller doesn't concern you."

The oldest of the boys finally skulked out, giving him a sullen look. The braided man turned back to face Alex and Mueller. They were squirming already.

"Do you even know what you did wrong?"

They exchanged looks, then finally Alex decided to talk. "... We annoyed the girls?"

Duo shook his head. "Not only that. For teasing the girls, you get water duty for the week, starting tomorrow. Are you sure you don't know what else you did?"

"Uhhh..."

"Alex, you looked down Catherine's shirt. You have no right to do that. It may seem funny to you now, but it's her body. It's her decision to say who gets to look at her naked, not yours, not anyone else's. What would you do if I came and pulled your pants down just to look at your butt?"

Now they were both blushing furiously.

"You would hate it? Well, I bet she didn't like it either. And yet you didn't think one second that she may feel the same way."

"You look at the little ones naked all the time," Mueller grumbled under his breath. Duo glared at him. They both knew very well that it was different.

"Yeah, I do. To wash them, or clean their scratches. Not because I find it funny or interesting. That and they're babies. They don't have breasts or hair yet. You do. Cathy does. It means you and her are old enough to make that decision on your own. You don't have the right to not care about her decisions."

"Oh, come on, Duo, we were just joking!" Alex protested, scowling back at him.

Duo just stared back until he looked down. "Yeah, it starts as a joke now, and it ends up as you two turning into rapists. It was wrong, you know it; you just don't want to think about it too hard. Well, I'm going to make you think about it."

He pointed at a corner, against the same wall Heero was working by. "You sit here. No breakfast. You think about how your attitude needs to change instead. Today and tomorrow, you will help Cathy to cook, and this means getting wood for the fire, washing the dishes, setting the table and doing what she tells you two to do. You will wash half of the blankets -- better not tear any-- and hang them in the sun. If one of 'em falls in the dirt wet, you better wash it again. When it's all dry you'll wash the other half. You'll watch the babies with Nash and Hilde too."

He saw them open their mouths to protest, and quieted them with yet another glare. "You think it's bad? Well, if I hear that it happened again, I'm going to have everyone come here, and then I'm going to bend you over my knee and spank you both. Pants down. You'd rather do the chores, eh? Yeah, that's what I thought."

He pointed at the corner again, and they went, dragging their feet.

The clone was watching them, a mildly interested look on his face.

"Are you finished?" Duo asked as he looked at the plank. The rats were neatly lined up, the fur and other unpalatable bits piled up in a corner. "Good," he said, but then he felt weird. He was treating the clone just like one of his kids, praising him for a well-done job. He tried not to think of spanking him if ever he did something bad. Not only was he a grown man, he was a grown man who only obeyed because he had chosen to and would probably respond to a tentative to discipline him by lots of bloodshed. That and the idea of bending him over his knee was weirdly disturbing.

"... Thank you."

Heero shrugged. "When are we leaving?" he asked, changing the subject brusquely. Duo needed a second to switch mental gears.

"I need to wake up the kids and feed them, and then we can go."

He thought about asking Heero to watch the brats for him, make sure they stayed put, but the clone was way too literal about some things. Anyway, his mere presence would make them try to pretend they didn't exist, it was just as good as having him actively watching them.

He went back to the other room, bringing the rats to Cathy and Sylvia and helping them string a few of them over the fire to smoke them, then went to wake up the babies. As predicted, Mei and Fei started to squabble right away, bumping into Nanashi. The older boy gave them a long-suffering stare then looked solemnly up at Duo. The man helped him untangle himself from Quatre's hold and deftly picked up Lena when she started to slide from the pile of blankets.

"Morning, princess," he smiled at her, kissing her forehead as she blinked her eyes open, then picked Quatre up and gave him a good morning kiss too. "Nash, go and tell the big boys to come in?"

The quiet little boy nodded and padded out, still as solemnly. Following him, Duo carried the two babies to the place they used as a bathroom, Mei and Fei tugging on his shirt randomly and already babbling up a storm.

Most of the older kids were there when he came back, the only ones missing being Milly and Trowa. The clone was still standing against the wall where he had left him, Alex and Mueller still sitting in the corner. He invited them to follow to the dining/sleeping room with a quick nod.

He could have sworn the Soldier took a deep breath before entering the room.

Cathy and Hilde were putting the plates on the table already. He put the babies down and watched them scramble to climb on the benches, then helped Milly and Trowa pour the water they were bringing back in the barrel.

The clone was standing by the door, observing them all, his back to the wall. Duo sighed, weirdly amused. If he didn't know better, he could have thought that the fearless Soldier was scared of children.

"Sit down," he said, pointing at a place in the corner. Heero obeyed, keeping a cautious distance between him and the children at all times.

The last kids arrived and took place, and they all started to devour their meal. There was rarely that much meat in one go, and Duo reluctantly admitted that the Soldier clone had been useful in one thing at least.

"Okay, brats," he said as the slowest of them were finishing up. "I'm not going to be around today. I'm going with him," he added as he pointed at the clone, who lowered his head to hide his head behind his messy fringe. "He knows where we might find guns. If there's really as many as he says, I can keep a few to defend us and trade the others for really neat stuff," he added with an encouraging grin. The kids were all looking various shades of worried.

Trowa gave Heero a skeptical look and scowled at Duo. "You're following that guy away from our turf alone?"

"I was alone when I met him first, yanno," Duo replied calmly.

"But you know he's... He's..."

"Silence," Duo quieted him. He didn't know how the clone would react to anything his kids said and didn't want to find out. That and to reassure his kids he was going to need to say some stuff he didn't want to admit to his face. "Heero, I gotta talk to my kids... Can you wait out?"

Heero frowned slightly.

"... Please?" Duo whispered as he leaned toward him a little. "There's stuff we won't feel comfortable saying if you're around, and they need to talk this out."

The clone shrugged as he got on his feet, but his face was utterly expressionless. It was hard to say if the flash in his eyes was hurt or annoyance, or maybe even suspicion.

"I'll wait outside," he agreed and left, all eyes following him.

"He's?"

Trowa lost a bit of his assurance. "Well, I'm pretty sure he's..."

"He looks like a Soldier," Mueller said for him, then ducked his head as Duo looked at him instead.

Most of the kids drew in a deep breath and shuddered. Hilde and Sylvia's hands were squeezing each other and Mei and Fei were huddling, eyes wide.

"He's not!!" Lena screamed suddenly. "He's NICE!!! Soldiers are mean an' they kill babies and they put things on fire an' all!!"

She was waving her little fists around, working herself into a fit of righteous fury. Her brother pulled her close, hugging her protectively as he gave the door through which Heero had disappeared a dark look. Duo sighed. Looked like his Lena had latched onto the stranger. For a moment he wondered why; it wasn't as if he was talkative or good with children in any way.

He went to her and patted her head gently, then ruffled Quatre's golden locks. The little boy was staring at him with big worried eyes, his thumb in his mouth. "That's right. Heero's not mean. During the war, he was a Soldier, but it wasn't his fault. Now he's just a normal guy."

The babies were giving him confused looks, so he tried to find a simple way to explain, conscious that the oldest were listening too.

"The government created him and tons of other babies, and they gave them drugs and raised them to be mean to everyone."

"Drugs?" Fei repeated, frowning. Duo resisted the urge to grin at his cute pouty scowl. It wouldn't have been appropriate.

Living in the streets, his kids all knew that drugs were bad and made people do weird, dangerous stuff. Duo would have liked to need to explain, and it made his heart twist that he didn't need to.

"What sorta drugs?" Milly asked, still holding onto his little sister firmly.

"Well, drugs to make them stronger, I think. Drugs to make them obey their chiefs, and to make them mean, and to make them not care when they hurt people. So when they would kill a baby, they wouldn't cry or anything," he added softly. Cathy, Sylvia and Quatre, the more sympathetic of his children, looked properly horrified. "Then when the war ended, there was no government no more, and no drugs for the Soldiers. So most of them died, because their bodies had gotten used to the drug and it was like having no more food all at once." This he hadn't even known before meeting Heero, assuming like lots of people that they had been destroyed somehow. He saw the oldest kids nod thoughtfully as they took the information in.

"So why didn't he die?" Alex asked, looking equal parts wary and puzzled.

"He says he was in retraining, got half-doses only. His body was already adapting to a lesser dose of drugs when the war ended."

"So he says," Trowa grunted skeptically.

"So he says, and so far I've had no reason to doubt him," Duo replied, thinking of the violent headache the man had suffered through. "He's learning to become his own person, and you gotta respect that. Doesn't mean I want you all alone with him," he added as he thought that he didn't want his kids to trust the man to much. He didn't want them screaming and terrorized around Heero, but neither did he want them to accept him just yet. Intending to be or not, he had the potential to be dangerous and that was enough reason to be wary of him. "But that's just the way I would want you all to behave if I brought anyone else here. He's a stranger, but if I thought he would hurt any of you, he'd be long dead already. You just can't be alone with him."

He let his kids think on that for a few minutes, then straightened up.

"Otto, you're in charge. Alex, Mueller, you have your chores already. Cathy, they're gonna help you. Trowa, I want you to scout the houses by the broken tower. You take Milly with you -- Milly, you're forbidden to come in, you're just to relay messages and carry some stuff. Trowa, you're older, you better carry most of what you'll find," he added quietly for the teenager's ears.

The blond scowled briefly but nodded reluctantly.

"Sylvia, Hilde, Nash, you are sewing old clothes and blankets back together today. Don't prick your fingers too much, 'kay?"

They didn't have so many old clothes to sew, really. It would take them half of the day at the most, but he refused to let them out to look through the ruins without him. Ah well, it would give them some time to play.

"Kiddies, you better take a bath today, and wash properly. And you can only help the big kids if they tell you it's okay."

Mei, Fei, Lena and Quatre nodded with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Duo looked all his kids over a last time, checking a mental list to make sure he had given every one of them something to do.

"Okay then! I'm going. I don't know how late I'm coming back, but don't you get worried before noon tomorrow."

He stepped back from the table, and two seconds later was properly mobbed. It was hard to give everyone a soft caress and a nice word, but after a few minutes, he managed to untangle himself, and with a last smile and a wave of his hand, he walked out to find the clone.