Maxwell's Demon

 by Madam Hydra (madamhydra@aol.com)

 

Part 2

 ======================================= [at Treize's estate] 
"Ohhh....," mumbled the traumatized Chinese pilot. 

Wufei was lying on the sofa, clutching a bloody handkerchief to his nose, as his head rested in Zechs' lap. The OZ ace scowled at Treize who sat at the other end of the sofa, occasionally rubbing poor Wufei's toes as he leafed through the pictures that had accompanied Relena's email message and which he had just printed out. It had been those same photos of Heero and Duo that had given Wufei a spectacular nosebleed. 

"I can't believe he's still THAT shy after sleeping with both of us!" Zechs muttered, hoping that he won't have to explain getting bloodstains on his pristine white pants. 

Treize absently said, "Why do you think he ends up blindfolded most of the time or why I always keep the room so dark? Do you have any idea how many sets of sheets he's managed to ruin? Although in this day and age, you'd think they'd come up with an effective way to get bloodstains out of silk... hmmmm...." The nobleman held up one particular picture and showed it to Zechs. "What do you think about this?" 

As Zechs took a closer look at the photo, his blue eyes slowly went wide and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. He give Treize a wary look. "You... you don't mean... you're not suggesting that *I*...." The enthusiastic nod and the mischievous smile on his superior officer's face confirmed Zechs' worst fears. 

The OZ pilot jumped to his feet. Unfortunately, he had totally forgotten Wufei's presence in his lap and ended up dumping his other lover onto the cold marble floor. 

"Ow!!!" howled Wufei as he landed with a thud. "Are you CRAZY, Treize!?" 

"Why not?" The OZ general gave his platinum-haired lover a benign smile. 

"Because if I tried something like that, I'd end up in traction for DAYS! If you haven't noticed, that damned Gundam pilot is over a foot shorter than I am!" 

Treize raised an elegant eyebrow. "Oh, so now you're admitting that there's something that Heero Yuy can do that you can't?" 

Zechs turned away, his back rigid with offended pride, and snarled, "I didn't say that." 

The OZ general smugly inspected his fingernails. "That's what it sounded like...." 

Zechs whirled around. "Anything he can do, I can do and better!" 

"And if I say that I don't believe you?" cooed Treize tauntingly. 

The wolfish OZ pilot stalked forward. "Then I guess I'll just have to PROVE it to you." 

"Zechs, don't do anything stupid!" warned Wufei who was still lying on the floor. "Haven't you figured it out by now? That Heero's just not human!" The Chinese pilot grabbed at Zechs' legs in an effort to keep him from moving. "Damn it! I don't want to see you get hurt attempting something so reckless!" 

Zechs gave the young Gundam pilot a stern stare. "Wufei, you of all people should understand that my pride and honor are now at stake!" 

"Oh hell, if you put it THAT way...," muttered Wufei morosely. He released his grip on Zechs and slouched against the sofa. 

Treize purred, "Are you sure you don't want to join us, little dragon?"

"Uh-uh. No way. Despite what you think, I've still got SOME sense of self-preservation! Besides, I've got a bad feeling that you're going to need someone to call the medical staff before you're through," growled an irate Wufei. He was eventually right. 

---------------------------------- [at the Gundam pilots' safehouse] Relena frowned in annoyance and bewilderment. "What are you babbling about now, you monster?" she snarled at Duo. "And keep your slimy paws off of him!" 

Heero, who had no apparent objections to Duo's hands, gave her a searing look. Trowa silently handed over several of the pictures to Relena. 

She stared at them for a long moment, then finally muttered, "Oh my... it's the wrong set." Her face set in a regally restrained expression of distaste, she handed the photos back to Trowa. 

"The... wrong... set...," growled Heero, nearly shaking in rage. Hearing the fury in his lover's voice, Duo took the precaution of wrapping his arms firmly around Heero's waist. 

"Heero! The computer file! We've got to stop it from getting sent out!" the Deathscythe pilot frantically reminded his companion. "Can you imagine what will happen if Doctor J or those other freaks get a hold of those pictures!?" 

The Wing pilot's face suddenly turned as green as his tanktop as Duo's words sank in. 

As Quatre scurried off to the bathroom and faint retching noises could be heard, Trowa frowned and said in a mildly shocked voice, "Really, Duo, was THAT comment actually necessary?" 

Duo blurted, "Sorry about that, guys, but we've got to remember what's really important! It's not like I don't want to pound her into the ground, but we've got to worry about that computer file first!" He gave Relena a harassed glance and said, "How the hell are you going to distribute that stupid file?" 

She gave him her most queenly stare and sneered, "As if I'm going to tell you?" 

Duo yelled back, "C'mon! Don't you get it, you nit-wit!? If those pictures get out, do you have ANY idea how humiliating it's going to be for Heero!?" A sly gleam entered his violet eyes. "You wouldn't want to do that, would you? Embarrass the man you love, eh?" 

Relena flushed a deep red. "Oh no... I didn't think about that." It finally occurred to her just how unhappy Heero would be to find XXX-rated pictures of himself splashed across every computer in the known universe. 

Duo softly muttered, "I didn't think so...." 

"Of course... I can't let that happen." 

His face set in hard lines, Heero growled, "What sort of program are you using to distribute the file?" 

"I... well, let's see if I can remember... I used a search... what were the terms?" She smiled. "I remember searching for terms like 'self-replicating', 'auto-send', that sort of thing. I ended up finding a program called 'Amelia'." 

Heero closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead. "What's wrong?" asked Duo, worried at the uncharacteristic show of emotion on his lover's face. 

"She picked a damn computer virus. The Amelia virus is the modern version of a very old email virus called Melissa. Basically, once it hits a computer, it automatically sends out copies of a specified file to every single email address contained in that computer." 

Duo's amethyst eyes grew wide. "You... you don't mean to tell me that the entire friggin' network is about to get mail-bombed by Relena's damn file and OUR pictures!?!?" he squawked in disbelief. 

Heero muttered, "Not only that. If it isn't stopped quickly enough, it's very possible that the Amelia virus could permanently crash the network just from the sheer overload of messages." 

"Oh dear...." murmured Relena. 

"Great, now we have to also worry about the end of civilization as well!" yelled Duo. 

Quatre, still looking a bit pale, walked into the room and said, "But can you stop it, Heero?" 

The Wing pilot nodded grimly. "I think so, if I catch it before it gets released into the network. If it gets out, we might as well forget it. Our best chance is at the computer where she put the file together." He shook off Duo's grasp and stalked toward Relena. "And you're going to take me there." 

"Of course! But on one condition...." 

"You're NOT in any position to make conditions!" Heero spat out. 

She gave him a faintly injured look. "I know that's not really YOU talking." Relena scowled at Duo, who rolled his eyes in exasperation. 
"What are you raving about now?" demanded Heero, growing more irritated by the second. 

"No, wait! I'll be happy to show you where I was working... but only if you come alone." 

"Now hold it a damn minute!" objected Duo. 

"I insist! Only Heero comes with me!" she said, stamping her foot. Relena smiled to herself. 

The other set of pictures -- the ones proving that Duo Maxwell was a murderous demonic fiend -- were in her office. Once she got Heero alone and away from Duo's immediate influence, she could hopefully convince him of the truth about Maxwell. And if THAT didn't work... well, she had that contingency covered, too. 

It was obvious to all the Gundam pilots that Relena was up to something crooked, but Heero merely snapped, "Fine. Let's go." He dumped the photos into Duo's hands -- all except one, which he surreptitiously stuffed into some mysterious place in his shorts -- then grabbed Relena's arm and dragged her out of the house. 

A few seconds later, they heard an engine rev and tires squealing as a car roared away. As soon as they were gone, Duo threw the pictures of him and Heero on the table and headed for the back door. 

"Duo? You're following them?" Quatre asked. 

"Of course I am! Do you think I'm leaving Heero alone with HER!? I'm sure Heero's expecting me to follow. Besides, I wouldn't put anything past her at this point. She could bloody well have some crazy scheme to kidnap him, for all I know!" 

Before he rushed out the door, Duo suddenly turned around. There was a dangerous glitter in Duo's violet eyes as he growled ominously, "I am Shinigami and Heero Yuy's MINE!" 

After the braided pilot's departure, Trowa and Quatre exchanged long looks. Finally, the Sandrock pilot spoke. "You know... he sounded awfully serious...." 

"Yes. Very." 

"Trowa, are you pondering what I'm pondering?" 

"I think so, Quatre," the Heavyarms pilot responded, thinking of the potentially explosive combination of an infuriated Heero, a blindly obsessed Relena, and a dangerously possessive Duo. 

Without another word, the two of them ran out of the safehouse after their fellow pilots. 

----------------------------------- [on the road to Relena's office] 
As he drove down the road at a high rate of speed, Heero was grateful that Relena had the apparent wisdom to keep her mouth shut, but as soon as the thought crossed his mind, she ruined everything by saying, "Heero?" He growled irately at her, simmering in barely controlled fury. 

She edged closer to him and said, "Heero?" 

He hoped that she wouldn't start screeching any louder. If she did, he was going to punch her out cold and that would cause complications later on.... 

She coughed awkwardly. "I didn't mean to make such a mess of things. Really I didn't. The last thing I wanted to do is to hurt you in any way, but I simply HAD to show you that you were only being used... no, that you were being hideously ABUSED by Maxwell." 

He flicked an icy glare in her direction. 

"I know that long ago... when you were a child, you were... normal. Happy... carefree.... And then, something terrible happened to make you this way. And... and I think it's absolutely horrible how that monster took advantage of your vulnerability and pain!" 

Heero's eyes widened as his anger transformed into incredulity and disbelief. Unfortunately, like so many times before, Relena completely misinterpreted his expression. 

She clutched at his arm and said in an earnest voice, "Yes, don't be surprised that I know the truth! There's no need to pretend any more. And nothing you've been through will make me think less of you, my dear Heero!" He absently wondered if she had the slightest idea just how pompous and patronizing she sounded. "You're probably used to this sort of... unhealthy... relationship. I've read that even the most horrible things begin to feel... normal... if they go on long enough. And I'm sure that Maxwell is relying on that fact to keep you under his control!" 

A unnerving, teary look appeared in her eyes as she hovered even closer. As he instinctively leaned away from the encroachment on his personal space, she sniffed sadly. "But it doesn't have to continue this way, Heero! The pain... the humiliation... the degradation.... You know, they have doctors and therapists who can help people like you. If you let them, they can... they can FIX you.... They can save you from this... this hellish, abusive relationship that... that vicious creature's sucked you into!" 

Heero slammed on the brakes and pulled the car to a screeching stop at the side of the road. "Don't EVER talk that way about Duo," he snarled. 

"Stop trying to deny your feelings, Heero! If you ever want to be free of him...." 

With deadly precision, he retorted, "Deny my own feelings? That's the last thing I'm doing. And what if I don't WANT to be free of Duo?" 

"Oh, Heero, why won't you face the truth?" Relena moaned, mournfully shaking her head. "The truth!?" 

He glared at her. "You want the TRUTH!? Well, here's the damn truth!" Heero yanked out the picture he had pocketed earlier and shoved it in Relena's face. 

Pictures of him and Duo having sex were bad enough, but what really enraged Heero were the other pictures of quieter, more intimate moments... moments when emotions normally hidden could plainly be seen. The particular photo in question was one of Duo as he leaned above Heero with a faint smile, his long chestnut hair cascading loosely over his shoulders. 

But it was the expression of love in those clear, amethyst eyes as Duo stared down at him that made the photo so important to the Wing pilot. That look on Duo's face was for him and him alone. He would be DAMNED if he would let a hoard of complete strangers see it... to let them intrude on that exquisitely private moment. 

Relena gave the photo a dismissive glance and shook her head sadly. "Oh, my poor Heero...." She could just see the hunger and greed lurking in that monster Duo's eyes. Who knows what evil plans were going through the creature's mind at that moment? 

The Wing pilot clutched the steering wheel with a white-knuckled grip and slowly banged his head against it. Now he knew how Duo had been feeling earlier. Relena was obviously in her own delusional world and nothing he could say or show her would make her believe otherwise. Duo made him feel human... alive... and it frustrated him to no end to have Relena accuse Duo -- the one truly GOOD thing in his life -- of maliciously abusing him. He damn well knew she was wrong. After all, he had first-hand experience with the real thing. 

Heero hissed angrily and restarted the car. He wasn't going to think about Relena's garbage any more. He was going to retrieve the damn file, then drop her into the deepest hole he could find and BURY her. 

-------------------------------------------- [at Treize's estate] 
"I warned you, didn't I?" said a distinctly intoxicated Wufei with a smug little smirk. 

"Shut up and just help me get my leg untangled!" Treize growled breathlessly. A distinctly evil expression crossed the Chinese pilot's face as he stared down at the helpless OZ general. 

"No... wait... what are you...? You wouldn't.... Oh hell, you would! Wufei, stop that! Not the feathers!!!" babbled a suddenly nervous Treize. 

"Oh yes, the feathers," Wufei said inexorably, cracking his knuckles in anticipation. "That would only be... justice," he said with a slightly drunken giggle. 

Zechs was in no position to really say anything, but he shot a 'now-you've-done-it' glare at Treize. The dirty look was soon followed by a pained yelp as his superior officer started to squirm frantically.