+ Title: The Eye of Horus - Part 15
(Full Title: Heero Yuy and the Eye of Horus)
+ Author: Vinyl Koneko (Emily)
+ See Prologue for warnings, pairings...

The Eye of Horus + Part 15

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Cairo, Egypt
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Treize's hurried driving accompanied by Une's and Zechs's distracted state watching their surroundings for whatever the scarab was leading them to left Duo to his own devices. He knew he had the ability to just prop his legs on the seat and jump out, but Duo knew that the following vehicles would either run him over or recapture him. With his legs tied the way they were, Duo couldn't run fast enough. So he settled on attempting to untie his restraints before making any further moves.

He had already succeeded in getting the ropes around his wrists loose enough so he'd be able to slip them off at a moment's notice, but subtly loosening the knots at his ankles was somewhat more difficult to do without attracting any attention.

They were heading after the scarab further and further into the desert. They seemed to be in a canyon, tall, sharp cliffs on either side as they weaved their way after the green trail of light. At one point in history, the canyon had been a river, but the shifting of the continents moved what was then a lush jungle towards the Equator, forcing the climate into a more extreme one. Duo picked uncomfortably at the vest. The material was breathable, but he was still getting warm.

Duo jolted forward suddenly as Treize applied the brakes, grabbing at the back of Zechs's seat so he didn't fly out and over the hood of the vehicle. The scarab was hovering in front of a section of the cliff face, and when the blond man got out to stand beside it, the scarab flew into the rock, crumbling a hole large enough for a man to fit through. It continued to fly about in a whirlwind, creating a circle of emerald light as it went.

A hand clenching his arm brought Duo back to his immediate surroundings. Lady Une was pulling on him to get out, dragging Duo after Treize and Zechs into the cave. The longhaired young man held his breath, not knowing what to expect, and felt disappointed the second he saw the interior of the cave. It was just more rock.

The scarab zipped past his ear and flew into the right interior wall, but this time, it exploded like fireworks, sending green sparks in every direction. The rock walls started to shake and crumble around them, Duo getting the wind knocked out of him as he was pushed to the ground by a soldier. The dust in the air caused him to cough, the attempt to clear his lungs turning more into a gag because of the handkerchief stuffed in his mouth.

"My God..." he heard Zechs voice filled with awe, causing Duo's head to snap up. The cavern walls had crumbled entirely, and the remaining surface was intricately carved and painted gold. Murals with various scenes depicting the Egyptian gods and goddesses decorated the walls, a myriad of detail and color. It looked like a labyrinth. Thousands of sub corridors ran off from the room they were in. Duo looked up even further. The ceiling appeared to be over two hundred feet up with even more corridors branching off. Dozens of ladders propped on platforms seemed the only way up or down.

"Well," Treize was standing in the center with his arms crossed. "Where is the Eye?"

Zechs stated the obvious. "We have to find it."

Even Duo was at a loss. All the information he gathered said nothing beyond needing the jade scarab. He had as much of a clue as Marquise and the OZ people did.

Shouting from outside and the sound of guns firing had General Khushrenada fuming. He stepped back out into the canyon, eyes cold. "What is going on out here?"

Curiosity drove Duo to stand in the entrance.

"Someone's shooting at us, sir," came the reply of a soldier that seemed familiar to Duo but he couldn't place it. 'Must have been one of the guys guarding me earlier, but that doesn't seem to feel quite right...'

"Who is it!?"

"Can't tell, sir, but there's more than one of them, whoever it is."

Duo caught the gleam in Treize's eye and should've picked that moment to run, but it was too late. The older man grabbed him by the braid; Duo clenched his teeth, trying not to scream out in pain as his eyes began to water. He gasped when Treize tore the gag out of his mouth.

"Friends of yours, meine hübsche Blume?"

"Was kümmert es Sie?" Duo spat back in German to show Treize that he wasn't an idiot and knew what the man had said. "Sie töten Sie irgendwie."[1]

Treize shook his head, mouth forming a grim line. "You're as intelligent as you are beautiful. Your life will be a tragic loss." Violet eyes widened in fear, and he seemed frozen in place by Treize's predatory gaze. "Such a waste," the general murmured, absent-mindedly stroking Duo's hair between his thumb and forefinger. Duo's instincts couldn't decide between fight or flight, measuring the pros and cons of each option.

The American screwed his eyes shut tightly upon seeing Treize lowering his mouth to his own. He fought the urge to throw up as he felt the older man's tongue invade his mouth, swiping over and tasting the surface. Defense-mode kicked in, and Duo bit down on the general's tongue, causing him to shove Duo to the ground and wipe the blood from his mouth. The residue of the coppery flavor made Duo want to gag, but several soldiers with guns trained at him gave Duo other things to worry about.

"I didn't want to have to kill you," Treize said, expression almost said, but it took on a look of rage almost instantly, "but because of your insolence, I will enjoy watching you die."

Duo stood up slowly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. OZ soldiers circled around him, guns still trained. He knew there were too many of them to chance anything. 'Looks like I just have to hope that whoever is out there wants me alive.' Duo allowed himself a slight smile. He had seen a glint of metal on a ledge above. Someone was watching them and had a weapon trained at the general. "That may be so, but you'll never get to find out."

Duo kicked out at the closest soldier, hitting him solidly in the gut which caused the man to drop his gun. The American slipped out of the ropes, savoring his unlimited range of movement as he picked up the discarded weapon and trained it on the surrounding soldiers. "If anyone moves, I'll kill you!"

The sound of an engine coming to life caused some of Treize's men to look at the source of the noise, leaping aside just in time to avoid being run over by the truck. "Get in!" the driver shouted over the noise, and Duo didn't need a second invitation. He dashed in, quickly shutting the door and ducking as several of the officers began to shoot at the retreating truck.

Duo looked over at the man at the wheel and recognized him immediately as the soldier from before, and automatically laughed realizing who it had been. "Damn, Trowa, even I couldn't recognize you with your hair out of your face."

"That was the idea," the other man replied, green eyes glinting with satisfaction. "You might want to check out the cargo."

Duo glanced through the canvas to see what they were carrying. He whistled in appreciation. "Wow. Quite the artillery. All we need is a fighter plane and a tank and we've got the whole set." He sat back down in the seat. "The Eye is in the cavern, though. We need to find a way to get back in."

Trowa nodded in agreement. "We have our own little camp set up in the cliffs. We have a better vantage point and there's someone up there who knows of another way into the cave."

"Who?"

"We'll be there in a moment."

The camp was pretty large. It looked like all forty of the Maganacs were helping, and Duo could see Quatre waving as they drove by.

"Why is there a fire? Won't OZ see it?"

Trowa shook his head. "The fuel we're using doesn't make smoke and burns hot but not bright enough to be seen below."

Duo didn't respond. He just leaned against the window, watching what was going on in the surrounding camp. He looked at one of the camp fires, which was indeed burning so hot it was blue, and noticed that there was a lone figure sitting by it. Duo frowned. The silhouette looked familiar. Memory kicked in, and Duo jumped out of the truck door before Trowa had a chance to slow down or even stop.

"Heero!" he called, running towards and throwing himself at his love. Duo looked the archaeologist up and down, checking to make sure it really was him and he was still in one piece. "Y-you're alive."

Heero held his hand against Duo's face, and the American brought his own hand up to cover Heero's. "Duo..." A smile grew on his face. "Baka."

"Shitteiru. Arigatou."[2]

Prussian blue eyes narrowed in confusion. "For what?"

"For being you," Duo replied, leaning into Heero's embrace and wrapping his arms around the other man's shoulders. A wave of relief washed over him. For the time being, he was safe. Treize couldn't touch him; Heero was around. It was with that understanding was Duo able to break down his walls and release all the frustration from the past twenty-four hours. He sobbed into Heero's shoulder, and Heero carefully lowered them to the ground, rubbing Duo's back, just letting him know that everything was all right.

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[1]My Treize is German. My Duo is polylingual. Deal with it. "Friends of yours, my pretty flower?" "Why do you care? They will kill you anyway."
[2]Muhahaha! More bilingual-ness! ^_^ "Fool/idiot." " I know. Thank you."

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