The inevitable confrontation happened a few weeks later during one of their training sessions. Wufei arrived late, quiet, but uncharacteristically pleasant. His mouth was curled up in a tiny grin, his eyes far away. Duo and Heero watched him with a combination of quirked brows and troubled eyes. Trowa was under the weather so he was exempt from training that day and Quatre insisted on staying with him until he was better. That left the three of them alone to work on their fighting skills.
Duo was rolling a piece of clay between his hands, a habit he'd picked up to help quell his anxiety. He was rarely seen without a piece to keep his often fidgeting hands busy. He leaned over, they typically weren't supposed to be talking during training, and whispered, "Hey, Fei. You with us?"
"Mmm?" Wufei didn't even glance up from polishing his practice swords.
"Earth to Wufei!"
The boy looked at him, his eyes wide as the trainer scolded the braided boy.
"Duo! Quiet."
"Sorry," he murmured. He met Heero's gaze from across the room. Heero's brows drew low over his eyes as he glared at his brother who'd gone back to polishing his swords. He set his own practice swords down and approached him.
"Wufei, don't you think we need to discuss this?"
"Discuss what?"
Heero's lips pursed in irritation. "You know what. About this so-called relationship with the Senator."
Wufei groaned, aggravated. He was so tired of having this argument. "What about it?"
"You realize he's using you."
Wufei looked up sharply, insulted. "He's not using me!"
Heero shook his head, his eyes sad. "You are a blind fool if you think he actually -"
The trainer turned on them, stern, her hands on her hips. "Boys! I will not have you talking during -"
"I am talking to my brother, if you don't mind. It's kind of important." Heero's voice was low, almost threatening and the trainer's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed.
"Young man, I'd advice you not to back talk me."
Heero's lip curled. "Or what? You'll zap me? Electrocute me?" He took a step towards the trainer who looked around in a panic as the swords rattled and shook on their mounts. The low vibration of Heero's energy making her hair stand on end. "I'm - we're getting just a little bit tired of your controlling ways. Every time any one of us shows even a tiny amount of independence, you either shock us, or lock us in solitary confinement for a week."
"Heero, I'm warning you to stand down."
Duo stood up, nervous now. He squeezed the clay in his hands, worried for his brother, his lover. "Hee-chan, maybe we should -"
"What, Duo?" Heero turned on the braided boy. "Maybe we should what? Wag our tails and accept little tidbits when we make our caregivers happy? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life stuck in here, being treated like animals? Like experiments?"
"No, of course not."
"When are we going to say 'enough'? When are we no longer going to tolerate being treated like this?" He turned towards the two-way window, shouting through it, at the lab he knew was there, but could not see. "We are not animals! We are people and we're sick and tired of being treated like dogs!"
Duo shuffled nervously, feeling his own power rise without his consent as he instinctively reacted to his brother. The temperature in the room went up several degrees as Wufei's power also reacted. The vibrations in the room increased, the air crackling with energy as Heero clenched his fists and hollered, "Answer me!"
A distinct voice, deceptively smooth like cream sounded through the speaker. "Just calm down, Heero. We don't want any incidents."
"The 'incidents' are coming from all of you! You, with your tests and your control. Why can't you just let us go? Leave us alone?"
"You know we can't do that, Heero. This is for your own good. You know you boys are too dangerous to -"
"Bullshit! The dangerous ones are you! We're not the ones locking people away just because they're different, or - or pricking them with needles, or shoving microchips under their skin. We're not the ones trying to train people to do what we want and shocking them into oblivion when they don't. That's you! That's all you!"
"Heero...just calm down. We don't want -"
"Don't tell me to calm down!" The trainer's eyes widened as the practice swords lifted from their mounts, suspended in the air, jittering with Heero's kinetic energy. She jumped up and ran for the door.
"Let me out!"
Heero turned on her, voice laden with disdain and incredulity. "Oh, you're scared? How do you think we feel? How do you think we felt when they killed our father and Dr. Po? How do you think we felt when they took us away from our home, our life? How do you think we felt when we were separated from each other for three whole months? How. Does. It. Feel?!" She gasped as the swords flew across the room, hitting the wall next to her head with so much force, they embedded themselves halfway in. The trainer screamed and ducked, crouching low on the floor and covering her head.
"Code red! Code red!"
Duo shouted, frantic, as Heero seized up, the electric current running through his veins as his microchip was activated. He twitched in place for a few seconds, then his eyes rolled back into his head and he dropped like a ton of bricks, out cold.
Duo's own power crossed the threshold beyond his control as he watched his love get shocked into unconsciousness. He threw his head back as the power blew out of him, uncurling like a tidal wave. It hit the trainer and her limbs convulsed, her heart going into tachycardia. Her back bowed sharply, lungs seizing up, eyelids fluttering as she began to suffocate. Duo could hear her gasping for air, but could do nothing now that the rage had taken control. Tears slid down his cheeks as he felt the pain of her death. There was more screaming through the speaker, another Code Red and Duo felt the white hot lightning bolts shoot up through his limbs and travel into his brain, effectively ceasing thought and after a few more paralyzing seconds, causing enough of a disturbance to break the flow of energy.
He clenched his teeth in the throes of the painful current, his limbs rigid, fingers curling into his palms, his vision blackening. The flow of electricity ceased as quickly as it came and Duo wavered on his feet, skirting the edge of consciousness. In his fading vision, he caught a glimpse of the door opening and hands reaching in to pull the trainer out, but it was too late for her. He already knew that. He felt her death almost as surely as if it was his own. His body loosened, limbs relaxing as his brain shut down. The clay fell from his hand and dropped to the floor. A moment later, Duo followed suit, pitching forward. He registered the impact as he hit the ground just before everything went black.
In the silence that followed, Wufei stared at his brothers. It wasn't the first time he'd seen any of them get shocked. He'd certainly been shocked enough times since he'd been there. He was deeply conflicted. Angry on behalf of his brothers and himself. On the other hand, the Senator that was responsible for all this made him feel things he'd never thought possible. He was gentle with him, made him feel special, beautiful. He brought him gifts and kissed him as if he was the most precious thing on Earth.
He was at a virtual stand still, wanting to protect his brothers, but also wanting to continue to pursue the relationship with the man who held the reigns on their lives. He was responsible for the death of their father, the death of Dr. Po. He was responsible for taking them away from their home, from everything they'd ever known and the tug-of-war within his soul left him exhausted, confused.
He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. With monumental control, he pulled back the surge of his power and shivered as it seeped back in through his pores. The temperature within the room dropped and his eyes opened, focusing on the two-way mirror. He cocked his head. "Treize?"
"I'm here, Wufei."
"Can we talk?"
The Senator's voice was cool, calculated. It always was when they were around others. When they were alone, it was soft, sensual, laden with affection and desire. "I'm listening."
"No. In private."
There was a pause, then a sigh. "Very well."
The doors opened and security officers came in to collect his brothers. Wufei watched as they were lifted from the floor and carried from the room, no doubt to be taken to solitary to cool off until the Senator was sure their power was under control. He couldn't help but notice that the security kept a wide swath of space between themselves and him, avoiding eye contact. Wufei realized with a pang how afraid of them these people really were. It was the fear that drove their behavior. The fear of what he and his brothers could do to them. It made him feel cursed, dirty.
Duo had just taken another life. He was too far gone in his emotions to control it. It hadn't been intentional, but that was simply what happened when any of them became emotionally unstable. He hadn't told his brothers, but deep inside, he couldn't really blame these people for their precautions. They were dangerous.
Wufei glanced up as Treize appeared in the doorway and gestured him over. They left together for Wufei's private quarters. It was where they usually went to be intimate. The staff knew what went on, but they wisely kept their opinions about it to themselves. Treize was smart enough to turn off the cameras in Wufei's room during his visits, not wanting any damning evidence to get back to his wife. Wufei had seen her a few times. The woman was frosty, cold and hostile towards him. He and Treize never spoke about it, but he had the suspicion that she knew. She was a sharp woman and Wufei doubted much, if anything, got past her.
Heero and Quatre had picked up on it, too. Her behavior towards him wasn't outwardly visible. It was subtle. Quatre had informed him that while she really didn't care for any of them, her feelings towards Wufei were much more contentious. His eyes wavered with worry as he and Heero warned him of what might happen if he crossed her, but Wufei wasn't particularly concerned, at least not enough to call off his burgeoning relationship with the Senator.
He sat down on the edge of the bed and stared up as Treize stood in the doorway, regarding him with neutral eyes.
"You did well controlling your power today."
He nodded absently, his eyes lowering to the floor.
"I only wish your brothers could do the same."
Wufei glanced up sharply, bristling with irritation and the need to defend his brothers. "Can you really blame them? Heero is right, you know."
Treize's head dipped in acknowledgment. "And our point was proven a moment later when Duo killed your trainer."
Wufei looked down at his feet, face flushed. "He didn't mean to."
"All the more reason to take the precautionary measures that we do. Until you boys can control yourselves one hundred percent of the time, we must do what we can to minimize the damage you cause."
He sighed, nodding. "I know. But...if we weren't being treated the way we are -"
"Part of the point of this treatment is a test of endurance. Pushing all of you to your limits so that you can control your powers under duress. When you're angry, sad, frightened. If you ever hope to live in the outside world, you will have to learn to keep those abilities under your control."
Wufei's heart skipped at the prospect of being released someday. "You plan to let us go?"
Treize's shoulders lifted in a shrug. "That all depends on you boys. The less danger you are to the public, the higher your chances of being able to coexist among them. But your brothers are not making this easy."
Wufei lifted his hands. "They're just frustrated and they have every right to be."
"While I sympathize with their plight, I have no intention of letting up on them. Or you. Sometimes we do what must be done and it's not always pleasant."
Wufei flopped down on his back, the springs of the mattress bouncing beneath him. He huffed and glared at the ceiling. "Does your wife know about us?"
Treize's head tilted. "What makes you ask that?"
"Well, for starters, she treats me much worse than she does my brothers...and Heero and Quatre said as much."
"My wife is aware that I have my own...interests."
"Do you have sex with her?"
Treize's brows drew down, eyes icing over. "What I do with my wife is my own business."
Wufei hummed absently. That was probably a 'yes' then. "So, what does that make me? Your illicit lover? Your boy toy? A dark, dirty secret?"
Treize stepped into the room and lowered himself down to the bed, sitting on the edge. "My discreetness is in the interests of not only myself, but for you."
"But I don't care who knows!"
Treize shook his head fondly. "You're so young...so unaware of the way the world is -" He placed a placating hand on Wufei's arm when the boy glared at him. "You must understand. It's very...unbecoming...of someone in my position to be bedding one of his 'patients'. I keep things quiet because I must. The scandal it would cause..." He shook his head. "But, believe me when I say if I had the choice, I would proudly tell everyone about my beautiful Dragon." His lips quirked, eyes glimmering under the halogen lights.
Wufei pushed down his giddiness at the nickname. He wasn't happy with the circumstances, but it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it. He sighed and changed the subject. "Quatre seems to think your wife is going to try to get rid of me."
"My wife wouldn't dare do anything that would make me unhappy."
Wufei regarded him with a twinkle in his eyes, amused. "That would make you unhappy?"
Treize lowered his head until it hovered just over Wufei's. He brushed their lips together softly and he closed his eyes, anticipating a heart-pounding kiss. Treize whispered, "Undoubtedly," and captured the boy's mouth, tongue slipping in between the parted lips. Wufei slung his arm around the Senator's neck, moaning as the man's hands slid up under his shirt to pinch a nipple. He tipped his head back as Treize kissed down his jaw, teeth nipping, then moved lower to suckle on his neck. The Senator groaned at the sweet salty taste, husking against the soft skin, "I want you..."
Wufei's head nodded up and down in acquiesce and parted his legs to allow Treize to lay between them. "Did you turn the cameras off?"
Treize huffed a laugh against his neck. "Of course."
Wufei arched his back and moaned as his pants were pulled down, his erection engulfed by a hot, skillful mouth. He momentarily forgot about his brothers. Their situation pushed into the back of his mind as contingent. Treize had a way of making him do that.