*Quick note* I know everything seems sudden and rushed in this fic
(especially the deaths of Nanashi and Winner), but that’s purposeful.
Shattered Glass takes place in a span of four days *including* the meeting
of the assassins in Part One. Basically, everything is falling apart with
almost impossible swiftness for the assassins, who have always been
incredibly successful.

Disclaimers and warnings still apply

SHATTERED GLASS
Ryu~Itsutsu

Part Eight : By the Throat

"[He] Found a throat, seized it, looked - and the shock, the shock went
through him was worse than he’d thought. To have yourself by the throat, to
see your own enraged and anxious eyes fixed on yours . . . he almost let go.
It was close. If he had, he would have been dead."
~Diane Duane Dark Mirror
A Star Trek : The Next Generation novel

Maxwell walked slowly into the playroom, enhanced sense of smell immediately
telling him that his worries had been founded. His new pets were tangled
together atop his red silk sheets, a vision of bare skin, long legs, and
loose hair. There was still the lingering scent of the gas he had spread in
the room after returning from the other universe but it was obvious that
measure had come too late; the little rabbits had already been at it.
"Damn...I wanted him first," he muttered. He could almost hear his lover’s
soft laughter at his dilemma and scowled.

A quick walk around the bed made it obvious what had happened, and he
sighed. "Damn little tart," he hissed at his own unconscious double. Then he
stopped and considered, a slow, languid smile spreading across his face.
//But then...they’re closer now...which means...watching..will be even more
painful.// He shivered, closing his eyes and imagining Chang’s low, even
tenor rough with fear, crying out as Maxwell took what Wufei wanted; tearing
his own delicious double for the first time.... //Oh, oh perfect...// "Yuy!"

The mute who had been standing in his doorway stepped forward, expression
carefully blank. //Yes?//

"Set them up. Put the dark one on the wall, keep the other one on the bed.
Shackles tight enough to hold but not to tear. I don’t want his skin torn."
Maxwell smiled, a slight and dangerous expression. "I’ll be back in half an
hour."

Yuy nodded and immediately set to work, eyes carefully lowered as Maxwell’s
lewd gaze swept over the bare, tangled lovers before he left the room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wufei awoke from a sweet, shapeless dream filled with a husky, playful voice
and sweet hands. But there was no kiss of soft silk sheets against his skin,
and the hot presence of his long-haired lover didn’t register. He was cool,
and his back was pressed against something hard and unyielding. His eyes
fluttered slowly open as the sweetness of his dream dissipated in the face
of harsh reality - and he realized with a start that he was standing up.

Blinking away the last vestiges of sleep, Wufei quickly took in the room. He
was standing against the wall, chained upright in the midst of Maxwell’s
various "toys." He caught sight of Yuy moving with his usual deadly silence,
blocking his view of the bed for a moment. Wufei was dressed again, wearing
another pair of skintight white leather pants, uncomfortably tight. The bed
had been remade and, when Yuy shifted...he saw Duo.

"What the hell do you think you’re doing?!" he hissed, straining against the
bonds. Yuy looked up from where he was standing beside the unconscious
American, securing the slender wrists in the metal shackles against the
headboard and halfway down. Flat cobalt eyes didn’t so much as flicker as
Yuy bent back to his task, arranging the flowing strands of brown shot
through with gold around the unconscious boy’s body. "Get your hands off him
you bastard!"

Yuy looked up slowly, testing the bonds by pulling on Duo’s limp arms. His
lips moved but he was turned so Wufei couldn’t quite catch the silent words.
"I said if you touched him I’d fucking kill you!" the Chinese boy screamed,
straining and ignoring the pain that flashed from his wrists and ankles,
even the loose metal circle around his waist.

//Stop squirming. He doesn’t want you bruised.// Yuy crossed calmly in front
of him, pressing a hand to Wufei’s chest and pushing him back against the
wall with impossible strength. His eyes were flat and cold. //Angering him
by harming yourself will only make it worse for that one.// He nodded at
Duo.

"Kisama-"

//He’s in the hallway.// Yuy moved quickly, his hand briefly running through
the hair over Wufei’s ear for no reason before he turned and reached around
to the small of his back, pulling something out and placing it on the wall
next to Wufei.

"What’s he going to do? How do I stop him?" Wufei demanded.

Yuy’s expressionless gaze didn’t meet his, looking instead over his
shoulder. //You don’t.//

The doors swished open.

"Good...good..you’re still a good pet, aren’t you, Yuy?" Maxwell’s voice was
low and smooth, thick. "Now get out. I have work to do."

Yuy nodded once, no sense of resentment for the way he was treated showing.
It seemed...normal to him. Maxwell smiled as the door closed behind his
former boytoy, turning to Wufei with a slow, satisfied grin. "Yare,
yare...already awake, are you?" he murmured, stepping close and raising a
small dagger to press to Wufei’s cheek. The Chinese boy resisted the urge to
flinch at the cold metal and instead glared back, eyes cold as jet. "Don’t
think I don’t know what you two little sluts were up to while I was gone. I’
m very disappointed, Fei-chan. I expected more adult behavior from you.
Really, letting him screw you just because you were the closest warm body."

"Don’t call me that."

"What? Fei-chan? Why ever not? You’re my little screwing bunny now, pet. I’
ll call you whatever I like. And Fei-chan sounds so *cute.*" Maxwell licked
his lips slowly, leaning in to nip at Wufei’s ear and almost pulling forth a
yelp the Chinese boy managed to swallow in time. "Did you like getting
fucked, petling?"

"Don’t call it that." Wufei spat, biting at the pretty face from the harsh
word the assassin had assigned to an act infinitely precious. Maxwell
laughed and barely pulled back.

"Awww, so sweet." He ran his tongue down Wufei’s cheek, enjoying the low
sound of disgust from the Chinese boy’s throat.

"Wu...Wufei?"

"He’s awake, petling!" Maxwell grinned, whirling. Duo looked around with
hazy eyes, face slightly flushed as if he had a fever. He wore the same
tight black leather as Maxwell, ripped through with red, and Maxwell’s hair
was loose; it was as if the sadist wanted as much of a mirror image as he
could possibly have. Wufei bit his lip and pulled on the chains holding his
right arm in place. Duo looked so confused...

//Gomen nasai, koi, I’m trying to get free...//

Maxwell bounced across the room, jumping on the bed and startling his mirror
image, whose wide violet eyes settled on him with a touch of fear hidden
beneath layer after layer of fury. "You again."

"That’s right, pet. It’s me!" Maxwell grinned cheerily at him and tossed a
leg over Duo’s waist. The former pilot growled and struggled, bucking
beneath his own weight in an attempt to dislodge his doppleganger. Maxwell
laughed. "I love someone who fights back," he purred, leaning froward until
their chests were pressed tight together. Duo’s eyes narrowed and the
assassin could feel the speeding of that heartbeat from fear although none
shown on the mirrored face. "Terrifying isn’t it?" he whispered, nose scant
inches from his victim’s, breath mingling. "Seeing my face..your
face...feeling my touch...your touch..." he pressed his hips tight against
Duo’s, watching his own eyes widen in fear. Delicious, so delicious. He
really was beautiful, irresistible. Maxwell ran his nails down the bare
chest so much like his own, feeling Duo try to arch away. "I am you,
petling...everything in me is in you...what a wonderful feeling...such
innocence...all mine..."

"Get off him!!"

Maxwell turned his head, not moving, catching his other captive’s velvet
gaze. Wufei was incensed, pressing against the bonds and practically
growling at him. Oh stars...so hot. Maxwell was so hot... "Why? You want to
fuck him first? Sorry...looks like you’ll have to wait your turn."

"KISAMA! I’ll kill you!"

"Kill me?"

"Wufei, please! Stay out of this!" Duo’s voice was urgent as he squirmed
beneath his captor. //Please, koi, onegai! I don’t want him to touch
you...if he’s caught up in me he can’t touch you...please...//

Wufei looked about to argue, black eyes sparking dangerously, but the
pleading in his lover’s eyes stopped him and he snapped his mouth shut,
still testing the bonds. "Oh, none of that," Maxwell said disapprovingly. He
grabbed Duo’s chin and ripped the former pilot’s head around so that he
could grab the full lips in a searing kiss.

//Oh...gods..that’s...// Wufei growled again, tears pricking at his eyes.
//I have to do something, let me do something...// Something....something
itched...

Duo screamed against that mouth, disgusted by his own taste delving in, that
hot tongue demanding. He clamped his teeth down but Maxwell was too
experienced for that, his tongue already flickering over Duo’s lips as his
teeth clacked together painfully. "Spirited...that’s my spirit, pet..."
Maxwell moaned. It was too much. These pets were the ultimate aphrodisiac
and the drugs that were eternally in his system rushed through him. He
wanted to take this writhing version of himself, hear the angry, heartfelt
screams of Chang’s double at seeing his lover raped, wanted to make Duo
scream...scream...he had to *scream*...

Maxwell latched on to Duo’s neck, biting hard, tasting his own warm blood as
the ex-pilot cried out, a single tear falling down the rounded cheek and
splashing against Maxwell’s face from the pain. //Exquisite//

It hurt! Maxwell’s erection was hard against his thigh and his mouth was
sucking Duo’s blood from his body. The American crushed his eyes shut, hands
fisting. //Don’t touch Wufei...don’t touch Wufei...//

Wufei clenched his teeth, biting down the patter of curses that were running
through his brain. Duo’s wide, beautiful eyes were clenched, the lithe body
taut. //Gomen, koi, I...nani...?// That odd itch was coming from the place
Yuy had touched. His eyes narrowed and he twisted his upper torso, straining
until one shackled hand could slip into the hair above his hair.
//What...?//

His eyes flew wide.

Nestled just above his ear was a slender piece of metal, small and flat. A
lock pick.

Yuy had left him a lock pick.

//Why..? Yuy...Maxwell called him ‘pet’ too. He took one of his own men...//
Wufei frowned, slipping the sliver free and holding it like the lifeline it
was. //Have to hurry...Duo...//


Maxwell ran sharp nails down Duo’s sides, sharp teeth and hot tongue moving
down the muscled chest and latching on to a nipple. With expert twists, he
sucked and bit down, hearing Duo’s strangled moan of pain and smiling. Wufei
wasn’t saying anything, but Maxwell had no doubt his pretty black-eyed pet
would soon enough. Slender hands slipped into the pants exactly like his
own, nails raking through a thick patch of curls and closing around a member
exactly like his own, minus the fact that, like Wufei, Duo wasn’t responding
at all to his touch. He frowned darkly.

Duo fought back the urge to gag at that touch, pulling away. //This can’t be
happening..it isn’t happening...// Desperately, he kept his eyes hut, taking
his mind away, thinking about anything but what was happening. Thinking
about Wufei...no...no..not him. Not Wufei, chained to the wall...anything
but..he felt the bile rise in his throat again as his body twisted of it’s
own accord. Maxwell’s hand was moving down his leg, pulling the scant
protection of the pants with it.

Wufei kept his eyes carefully averted from the bed, knowing his anger would
take over as he shut out the sounds of his beautiful lover’s low whimpers of
pain and humiliation. //I’m coming, I’m coming Duo// his mind chanted as he
drew his hands together. They could meet above his head, but he couldn’t see
what he was doing and he was fumbling, trying to pick the lock by feel alone
at an odd angle as the blood was rushing down *away* from his hands.

"Shit!" Duo’s eyes snapped open when he felt something hard and hot against
his stomach and met smirking violet eyes, a vision from a twisted nightmare.

"There you are," Maxwell purred. "There you are, you little slut..." He
smiled and leaned forward, completely bare, hot erection pounding, pulsing
against his double’s marble-hard stomach. Duo’s eyes were open now. He’d
known what the other boy was doing, taking his mind away from what was
happening to him; after all, it was what Maxwell himself had been taught to
do while the Dictator he was assigned to had prepared him for any and all
forms of torture. But the immediacy of Maxwell’s bare skin was too much and
the assassin smiled, thrusting hard against the still leather-clad lap he
was straddling. Terror. There was terror in his own perfect eyes. "Cry for
me. Cry little one."

"No...no..."

//Hurry hurry hurry...// A snap, and Wufei’s eyes widened as he felt the
shackle he had been prying suddenly opened. //Yes!// Keeping his free hand
carefully encircled in the loose manacle, he started on the other wrist. Duo
’s whimpered plea made his head snapped up, and he very nearly screamed, the
sound coming out as a choked gasp. "Koi-!"

Maxwell heard and leaned down even farther, tongue flicking over the
panting, cold lips. "Not his koi...oh no. Mine. Everything about you will be
mine in minutes, pet."

"Go. To. Hell."

Maxwell laughed and grabbed a fistful of Duo’s hair, tossing him over and
enjoying the shout of pain as his double’s arms were twisted.

"DUO!"

He was screaming now...Chang’s voice...too much..too much... Maxwell’s hands
clenched at the top of Duo’s tight pants, rocking, hearing his double’s
grunt of pain. Too much...

Wufei’s movements were frantic. //Don’t let him look, please, don’t let him
look// his mind screamed as his second hand came free and he started on the
bond around his waist, ignoring the screeching agony of blood flooding his
shoulders, arms and hands.

At the press of the assassin’s tongue, Duo ripped his head to the side, eyes
still wide and frightened...and saw Wufei struggling to pick the lock on the
metal around his waist. //How..?//

Maxwell started to rise, head turning as well. "He won’t save-" Duo jerked,
thinking fast, and sank his teeth into the assassin’s cheek, gagging as he
broke skin and blood touched his tongue. Anything to keep Maxwell from
seeing Wufei-

Maxwell cried out, pulling back, eyes like daggers. "FUCK YOU!" He pulled
back, punching Duo hard across the face, snapping the ex-pilot’s head back
as he reached around for the knife laying close by. "For that I’ll have to
scar you, little bastard..." he hissed, pressing the ornate knife to Duo’s
chest.

//One more...one more...// Wufei cursed silently as he struggled with the
final bond. He was about ready to just take off and leave the foot
behind...Duo screamed. "DUO?!"

//HURTS!!// Duo’s eyes were wide, his entire body locked in a wave of pain
as Maxwell sliced into his skin, a shallow slice followed by another, and
another. He couldn’t bite back the scream as the assassin who wore his face
patiently carved a word into the flesh of his chest.

Wufei’s teeth clenched and he twisted, grabbing one of the heavy metal rods
from the wall and ripping it free, not even registering the brief flash of
light that showed acceptance of his DNA for removing it. Still chained to
the wall by one foot, he threw the bar with all his strength, praying that
it would hit its target and not Duo. It did, slamming into Maxwell’s
shoulder and throwing him backward with a shout of pain.

Wufei shoved the lockpick in the final manacle and twisted it off, running
across the thick carpet.

Maxwell stood shakily, eyes wild and angry, dressed in nothing but loose
waves of hair. Pain radiated from his shoulder and he glared, expression
pure danger. Dark eyes met him as Wufei grabbed a sword from the wall,
leaping on the bed and quickly picking one of Duo’s locks before tossing the
sliver of metal at the American. "BACK OFF!"

Maxwell’s eyes narrowed and he took a step back, hand lashing out and
catching the whip hidden on the side of the metal bed. It snapped and Wufei
sliced out, missing it and earning a small cut on his arm for his trouble.
Maxwell laughed. "I can fight Chang. You don’t seriously think you can take
me, do you?"

Black eyes narrowed to slits of midnight. "You touched Duo. I can do more
than kill you."

Maxwell laughed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chang ground his teeth as he strode down the hallway, muttering about
bureaucrats and paperwork. Even though he knew his American lover would be
in the middle of his...interrogations, there was nothing to do but get
Maxwell so they could call the five Dictators personally. Coming to a stop
outside the heavy metal door that led to Maxwell’s playroom, he palmed the
door...and growled. The long-haired moron had it set on DNA combined with
combination lock, as well as the natural chip-lock. Damn. Grumbling, he
started inputting the numbers.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Duo was much better with locks than Wufei. As the Chinese boy fairly danced
to stay free of Maxwell’s strikes and keep the assassin back, Duo slipped
free and, ignoring the pain in his chest and the slow flow of blood from the
slices in his flesh, searched frantically for anything to attack with.
Something small against the wall where Wufei had been caught his eye. It was
tiny and simple, and didn’t fit in with the whips, chains, and knives at
all. A gun...?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chang sighed and rubbed his temples as the door finally slid open. It had
been so long he’d forgotten the damn combination. His headache was getting
worse. With a groan, he glanced up, and stared.

His lover was bare as the day he was born, blood pouring from a cut on his
face as Chang’s double pressed him back with a sword. He caught sight of
Maxwell’s double leaping across the room, but his own vision was full of
red. They had hurt him...hurt his lover...no one made Maxwell bleed...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Duo grabbed the tiny gun, cocking it, realizing in a flash that there couldn
’t be more than one bullet in the small chamber. He whirled, lifting it-and
crying out as he saw another Wufei rush into the room. Dazed, he glanced
from his Wufei and back, eyes sliding over Maxwell, uncertain.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Wufei’s head snapped up as the doors opened, the momentary lapse in
concentration enough time for Maxwell to lash out, knocking the sword free.
Wufei’s eyes met smoldering black, and he realized with a start that he was
looking at his own double, his own face twisted with a murderous rage that
promised swift action. Maxwell lunged for him and he raised his arms to
defend himself, managing to cry out, "Duo! The door-!"

The shot rang out through the room.

~END PART EIGHT~