Desert Antics
Disclaimer: I wished I owned these characters, but sadly I do not. I do; however, own Malique, although, nobody really cares about him.
Note from author: First fic, please be kind.
Prologue
A lonely shadow watched from another realm. A long feminine hand reached out from beneath a hooded cloak and lightly stirred an image in a mirror. "I have waited too long for you to find happiness. Now I must enter the Earth realm and create it for you. Why did you have to be so much like him? The time has come my little Shinigami…the time has come."
Ch. 1
Duo's head hurt as his eyes fluttered open. "Agh…That was a bitch." He looked up to where he had fallen from, some hundred feet above and wondered if it was the curse he lived with or a miracle that he had survived. He thought about the events that had brought him to his current predicament.
Duo's temper was soaring as he found Heero in the library on one of Quatre's desert estates. "You! How could you?!"
"How could I what?" Heero put down the book he was reading in order to give Duo his full attention.
"You went behind my back and took me off of our next mission?" They had been partners at Preventers Headquarters for three years. Duo had joined because Heero had and Duo wanted to be close to Heero. The reason Duo wanted to be close to Heero was because Duo had realized he was in love with the cobalt eyed pilot during the Mariemaia Incident and he didn't think Heero would ever love him back, so as long as he could make sure Heero was safe it didn't matter. Lately though, he realized just how much he had been kidding himself. Yeah, it mattered, why wouldn't it? The problem was that Duo had grown more in love with him as the days passed and now it just made him angry and bitter.
Heero sighed, "because you're extremely distracted lately. I don't want to go on a mission with you when you could jeopardize both of us and the mission. If you clear your head in between now and then let me know, so I can have you reinstated. However, until then you're on desk duty."
"The mission…The mission!" Duo turned on Shinigami's grin full blast and slowly stalked up to Heero. When he saw the other pilot's eyes widen slightly he knew without a doubt he was one scary looking punk when pissed off. "Don't. Ever. Think. You. Have. Control. Over. Me." He said each word with a promise of death and anger as he watched the other boy cringe. He turned and walked out. If he stayed he would have just ended up punching Heero and that would only lead to him being buried somewhere on the estate with a few bullet holes in his back and head.
He went out to the stables and grabbed a horse. Malique, Quatre's horse trainer, had shown him how to saddle one and Quatre had given him permission to ride any with the exception of the black mare. Apparently the black mare had a death wish. Too bad it was perfect for Duo's mood.
Duo quickly saddled her and swung up into the saddle. As they galloped off, Duo let the anger enclose him, shutting out reality. 'Who was 'he' to think he had any control over me? Nobody had or ever has had control over me. I'll show that jackass just who can take care of themselves, distracted or not. All the years and all he can think about is 'the mission.' Not "Duo, what's wrong?" Or, "Duo, are you alright?" Heck, Heero never really showed that he cared about me. I could show up for work in a thong and fishnets and it would be, "that's going to jeopardize the mission."'
The hair on the back of Duo's neck stood up as the black mare reared back to throw him off. Duo let his legs go loose and slid off of her back before she put all four legs on the ground again. It was better than the concussion that would come with being thrown. The horse then turned around neighing at him. It looked him directly in the eyes as it skulked up to him. The horse then changed into a beautiful young woman with a black hooded cloak and a long sharp scythe. Her hair was black as the darkest nights and her eyes violet just like Duo's. Her skin was beautifully pale, lacking any flaws.
"Duo, my child of death, I am the real Shinigami, not the one you pretend to be. I have watched you since you first took up the name Duo, sensing you would be an extraordinary child. However, you have caused great disappointment to me with this Heero. I, Shinigami, have protected you both when you other wise would have died, in an effort to see you both happy. However, I have grown incessantly weary of your failures with each other. I broke many rules by allowing you to live after the plague, after the church massacre, and after the soldiers tried to kill you with cyanide. Therefore, I have devised a test for you both. If you pass my test you will live with happiness. If you fail then you will dine with me in my hall of loneliness by tomorrow. There will be no chance of escape or rescue. You will be mine for all eternity, to do my bidding as I see fit."
"What test?" Duo's eyes were open wide with fear, confusion, anger, and hesitation. 'This is just a trauma induced hallucination and will be over shortly. Maybe Heero did shoot me and I am already dead?'
The woman named Shinigami stepped forward and placed her cold hand on Duo's cheek. "Why ask questions now when you never have before? That is why you are here, my child. Learn and accept the truth then maybe you will be found and saved." She looked up for a second before returning her gaze to Duo. "A storm is coming. Good luck, little one." Then she took a step back. She took an hourglass filled with sand and broke it against her hand. She then took some of the sand and opened her hand palm up facing Duo. She took a deep breathe and blew, the air and sand hit Duo with a tumbling force. It caused him to stumble back several feet and before he realized it there was nothing under him. He was falling.
Duo angrily kicked at some sand as he began to think of strategies. He was stuck below the area where he needed to be to safely get back. It seemed he had been standing on a canyon that went for a mile or two before it sloped down. He still wasn't sure how he missed the rocks on the ground when he fell. 'How did I find the only rock canyon in the whole freakin' Sahara desert to fall off of anyways?'
He saw a path to his left that might lead him back around up to the top, but it could take an extra day. He currently had no water, no food, and was wearing black, thick army pants with an equally colored and material shirt. The talking horse/woman had since disappeared and he huffed. "Well, looks like Heero might just get rid of me permanently, the Christmas gift he's always wanted." Duo; however, had no idea of the terrible sand storm that raged above him or the worry a certain pilot felt.
Heero stood in the foyer wondering if maybe Duo was actually hiding somewhere upstairs and he just hadn't found him yet. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and he knew if he just saw that Duo was alright it would be squashed. "Hey, Heero, when did Duo get back?"
Heero started at the voice and question, "Quatre, when did he leave?"
"Malique said he left about two hours ago on this black mare I've had for about a week. That horse has a death wish and I told Duo not to ride her. I guess he didn't feel the need to listen. The horse is back in its stall with the saddle still on, so I figured Duo was back. That's not normally like Duo, though, he normally takes the saddle off to brush them before he leaves them in their stalls."
Heero felt a wave of fear rush through him, "he's not here, Quatre, he must be out there somewhere." He pointed at the window and the sand storm outside.
"Oh, dear Allah…"
Duo had been walking for a good hour when he felt this small prick on his ankle. "Ow…" He raised his pants leg only to have a scorpion fall out. The small pain turned into a sharp stinging pain almost immediately. "Why me?" He could take a few scorpion bites as a result of his gundam training, "endurance of the finer poisons," he called it. He was so hot, so he took his shirt off and tied it around his waist. "I bet the guys aren't even looking for me. Wufei's probably glad he doesn't have to listen to my mouth right now. He'd probably call this justice or something."
The sand kept sliding underneath his feet as he tried to make it up the sand dune. 'This really sucks. Why did I pick today of all days to get mad at him and not listen to anything anyone said? Why couldn't I have just ignored the vid phone this morning, when Une called to tell me that I was being temporarily reassigned pending Heero's approval? Why the heck does he have to approve whether I go into the field anyways?'
Then he did something he hadn't done in a really long time, he prayed. "God, I know we're probably not on the best of terms right now, but I could really use some help here. I know I've done a lot of crappy things since I was a kid, but look at the circumstances. If you don't you should, 'cause they do if you're about to be sentenced the death penalty. Which, I think I have been.
"All I wanted was to turn his head a little bit. I didn't want to have to die to do it. I'm sorry for killing all of the people in the war, but it was either us or them. I even gave people changes to get out of my way. I mean look at Heero, I know I shot him twice when we first met, but I tried to make up for it since then. Besides I only shot him because he was going to kill Relena. Then she started following us and shit. Oops, I meant stuff.
"Gee, Sister Helen would have a conniption fit if she saw me now. Although, I can't say I blame her. I've come a long way from the kid that couldn't get adopted to ruthless gay killer. I'm at fault for them, ya know? They're all dead because of me. Some days I miss them all so much. It hurts so bad."
The tears started running for the first time in a long time and Duo decided that maybe it wasn't worth praying. Maybe he was doomed for being born. Maybe there was something to this karma crap people were always spouting off about and he was just experiencing some bad karma from a previous life. 'Well, if that's the case then my next life is going to be even worse.'
Heero turned with fear and determination in his eyes. They were cold and steely ready for a battle, "Quatre, unless you're coming to tell me that Duo is here and this was just a joke all along or that you've found him or that we can go look for him don't come near me or talk to me until then."
"You love him don't you?" Upon seeing he wasn't going to get an answer he tried a more reasonable approach, "Heero, we have to wait for the storm to calm down a little before we can send out a search party. Otherwise we're just sending people to their deaths." Quatre was sympathetic to Heero. He loved Duo like a brother, but he would not be responsible for anyone else getting hurt. The storm would be over soon and he kept sending up small prayers to Allah that it would hurry.
Heero had started at the innocent question and couldn't answer. As Quatre walked away he thought about it. Did he love Duo? He thought about how worried he was whenever Duo was late or when he got sent out with someone else. He thought about the fluttery nauseous feeling he had whenever Duo gave him a true smile instead of the joker's mask.
Then he thought about how he would feel if Duo never came back or they never found him. He felt a terrible pain in his chest as his heart constricted at that thought. He realized for the first time that he, the perfect soldier, needed Duo, he needed to make sure Duo was safe, and most of all he needed Duo to live. If Duo didn't survive or come back then he was nothing, but a hollow shell of a human being. He wouldn't even be able to care enough to pull the trigger to end his life if needed. Tears silently made their way down his cheeks as a woman in the shadows smiled.
Duo cursed his luck again as he tripped and fell face first down a sand dune. He was basically doing a big circle to get back to Quatre's estate, but as long as he made it there without anything else going wrong he would be okay. Then he tried to stand and found his right ankle gave out from under him. He examined it quickly to find it broken and swollen from the scorpion bite. "DAMNIT!" He relaced the boot tighter to keep the swelling down and to act as a makeshift splint until he could get help. He could only image what he looked like with the sun beating down on him, sweat running through the sand plastered to his body, and now a broken ankle.
He was going to strangle somebody if he made it back and right now he was blaming Heero. He wasn't sure how Heero did it, but somehow he was the responsible party that caused a horse to turn into a creepy death lady. 'I'll find out how he did it if it's the last thing I do. Right before I kill him of course.' He frowned, 'okay, maybe killing him is too strong of an action. Maybe I'll just slightly maim him.'
He had been wandering around for close to seven hours as he finally collapsed in the sand. It was getting night time anyways and he was so thirsty. He estimated that he had approximately three miles left to get back to the estate, but who knew really? He was so mad when he left that he could have easily urged the horse twenty miles before he realized it. The sun was dipping over the sand rapidly disappearing as Duo began to realize something. "Why is it getting so cold?" He took his shirt from around his waist and slid it back over his head. When he had been walking he hadn't really noticed it, but now that he thought about it. It was definitely getting colder. Then he remembered that Quatre had once told him it could snow in the desert at night.
Duo stood up, careful to keep most of his weight on his left ankle and began walking again. "I am not going to be a Duo popsicle. I am not going to be a Duo popsicle," was the mantra playing in his head. He sighed as he thought about Heero and wondered what he was doing.
"Heero, wait for us!" Quatre looked to Trowa for help, but he just shrugged. "Heero, we have to have a plan on calling for help if he needs it and we don't need to get lost ourselves!"
Heero was already out the door, though, and could have cared less about waiting any longer. His main thought was to get to Duo and fast. The sand storm had finally been winding down, so they could search and he was not going to let the opportunity go to waste.
"You baka, when I find you, it's on. If you're not in any danger now, you will be then." There was anger in the voice because one Heero Yuy was not accustomed to caring about anybody, let alone somebody that made him worry about their safety. Heero climbed in the mobile suit one of the maguanacs were lending to assist in the search and he started it up. He flew through the initiation sequence while thinking of all the things he was going to do to one Duo Maxwell when he got his hands on him.
Duo stumbled once more as he thought he heard a mobile suit over head. His skin was burning as the shirt skimmed the sunburnt flesh. He was so tired, thirsty, cold, and hungry. Heck, he could even go for some of Wufei's cooking, which everybody knew was pretty bad. The last time he made rice it turned out this gooey substance and Duo got sick just looking at it. 'That gooey mess would probably taste pretty good right about now,' he thought.
Duo collapsed in the sand and rolled onto his back. He breathed out and watched the smoke effect it caused in the cold night air. He smiled, "I can just take a quick little nap. I'm almost there anyways. They probably won't even know I've been missing." As his eyes closed he saw a light.
Heero flipped on the communications system as quickly as he could. "I found him! I found him!" He began to feel an overwhelming sense of joy until he realized Duo wasn't moving. "Request medical assistance waiting upon return! I'm going to bring him in!" He landed, threw open the cockpit, and was on the ground running before it finished opening.
He dropped to his knees beside Duo, "Duo, wake up." He felt for a pulse, "come on, Duo, if you leave me then who will make sure I don't work too hard? Who will make sure I eat right? Who will I love?" The worried look on his face changed to a determined do and die glare. He carefully picked him up and ran back to the mobile suit. "Don't worry, I'll make them save you."
Duo was having such a nice dream with the lady that had called herself Shinigami. He was floating around in space with white walls, ceiling, and floor all around. Yet, they seemed so far away he couldn't touch them. "Duo, are you having fun?"
He smiled, "yeah, this is pretty neat. I've never got to be at zero g without a suit on before. Although, it would be a bit neater if you added some color. Can we mix up the color schemes here?"
The woman smiled at him, "you know we have some things to discuss before we proceed don't you?" Duo sadly nodded. "Then let's get to them."
"Okay, so where's this table of loneliness and what's your bidding?"
She smiled, "Duo, Heero loves you and you love him right?" Duo nodded. "You know this with your heart, right?"
Once again Duo sadly nodded, "I know I love him so much that it hurts, but I'm not sure if he loves me. Don't let him find me all rotting and smelly please?"
She smiled, "Duo, keep on track. If you know that you love him then we're not discussing death. We're discussing life." She saw the floored look on Duo's face and continued, "there is a child on L2, where you're from, that needs a home. There is a couple trying to adopt him that will beat him, neglect him, and hate him. He has been waiting for years to be reborn at just the right time for you to adopt him or have a wife that could give birth to him; however, that's just not to be. Then you took too long with Heero.
"Solo had to be reborn and he needs you and Heero to protect him. Therefore, I have decided that if you tell Heero that you and him are going to become partners and adopt Solo I will let you live. Your life will be joyous as long as you three wish it so. However, if you wake and fail me then I will make you pay." The scene changed to one of fire and souls screaming for retribution and release. "This is where you will reside for all eternity when I am done with you! Do you understand?"
Duo nodded, "yeah, Solo needs to be adopted. Heero and I need to be a couple. Understood and will comply forthwith. Um…But where exactly on L2 is Solo and how will I know it's him?"
"Don't worry, just go to the orphanage. He will know you when he sees you. Now, you need to wake up, Duo. Someone is getting a little impatient and happens to be threatening the doctors to make you wake up. I have decided to switch you with a young drug addict on L3, so I really have to be going. It was nice meeting you, my son. Remember to always make me proud." She reached out and lovingly caressed his cheek. Then she pushed him backwards into a hole in the floor.
Everything became fuzzy as the scenery changed to blackness and Duo heard voices. "If you don't get him to wake up right now I'm going to skin you with a three inch blade and feed your skin to you!" Duo smiled at that voice, it was Heero.
"Duo!" He felt like he was being shook. "Say my name again. Come on, Duo, you can do it, please for me?"
He didn't understand why Heero was so insistent, but if he wanted it so bad he'd say his name. "Heero, could you please stop touching me it hurts really bad?" He cracked open an eye and saw Heero with tears cascading down his cheeks. Duo reached up a small red hand to touch them. "Are you crying for me?" Heero nodded and Duo smiled. "Baby, don't do that. Shinigami, told me that everything was going to be okay because you love me."
Heero's face took on a shocked look, "but, Duo, I never told anyone. Please don't be mad."
Duo smiled and closed his eyes, "why would I be mad when I love you too?" He yawned and as he fell back to sleep he mumbled, "you're moving in with me because my apartment's got two bedrooms and yours only has one. We're going to need two bedrooms when we adopt him like Shinigami said." Sleep claimed him before Heero had a chance to question him.
"Fine, just sleep, Baka, and we'll adopt whoever or whatever you want. As long as you remember that you told me you love me and we're moving in together when you wake up." Heero leaned down to softly kiss Duo on the forehead.
"It's about time, my son," a ghost of a woman named Shinigami whispered from the door. She smiled, "take care of my only child, Yuy, or there will be hell to pay." Then she vanished.
