The braided pilot went against orders to go and rescue the perfect soldier, and he would most likely receive hell from all the doctors and Heero when he finally did hear of what happened, but Duo honestly didn't care; Heero was safe and that's all that mattered.
Duo turned around to watch the Perfect soldier toss and turn in his pain filled sleep. He had been unconscious for a long time now and Duo didn't know what to do. He had done everything he could to help ease Heero's pain, but there was nothing he could do to help ease the pain on his soul. All he could do was sit idly by and watch helplessly.
He touched the large bruise on his face with gentle fingertips. The last time he had tried to help soothe Heero, he had received a nasty elbow to the face, and Heero had warned him, a long time ago on their very first mission together, to never touch him while he's sleeping. Duo winced. I really should have listened to the guy, huh?
Tears sprang to Duo's violet eyes as he listened to Heero moan in pain and toss and turn as he fought with his nightmares. Then Heero whimpered. That one tiny sound held such despair that Duo couldn't stop himself. He stood up from the desk and walked over to Heero's bed. He didn't care that Heero would most likely kill him in his sleep, but he needed to comfort Heero. He needed to take away all of the pain and despair. He needed to have Heero know, even if the Wing pilot wouldn't remember, that Heero wasn't alone, that he was loved.
Carefully, Duo crawled onto Heero's bed and spooned him, holding him tightly in his arms.
Heero went wild. He kicked out, head-bunted and fought like there was no tomorrow, but Duo refused to let go. He whispered sweet nothings in Heero's ear. He whispered complete and utter nonsense to him. He whispered his love to him. Eventually, everything that Duo was whispering was getting through to Heero and the stoic pilot calmed down to the point where he could rest peacefully.
Gasping, Duo lay there sweating from the amount of strength that he had just spent. He was completely exhausted and he passed out from the sheer lack of will to stay awake. He'd most likely have many more new bruises come tomorrow and he most likely had a broken nose, but Duo didn't care. Heero was finally able to sleep and maybe with hope, Duo would be awake long before Heero woke. He really didn't feel like explaining things.
Duo was woken up when Heero began shifting. Lightning fast, Duo was out of the bed and across the room. By the time Heero finally managed full consciousness, Duo was sitting down at the desk, furiously typing away at his laptop.Heero tried to sit up, but the pain in his whole body left him gasping for breath and fighting back the blackness that crept up on his vision. He lay on his back, gasping and sweating with his eyes closed, hoping that the world would stop spinning.
"Ne, Heero, careful there." Duo said and then he was beside the bed and helping to lift Heero's head up. "You're pretty messed up right now. Those Ozzies were rather viscous this time around." He held a cup of… something to Heero's mouth. "Here, drink up. It's an energy drink. That's it." He said once Heero took small sips. When Heero would take no more, he placed the cup on the bedside table and lowered Heero's head back down to the pillows. "You've lost a lot of blood and you've been out for five days. Though I was able to get some broth into you periodically and I bandaged all your wounds… at least the ones I could find. I even managed to change your bedding every now and then and keep you relatively clean. We're at a safe house that not even the doctors know about. I sent them a message saying everything is all clear. Quat and Tro should be here within a week and Wu-Fei is to be here shortly… unless things have changed since I last checked my messages. I even managed to find most of our supplies. This place must have been used as a hunting lodge because I found a few bows and tons of arrows. I was waiting until one of the guys got here to go hunting for some fresh meat, but seeing as how you're awake, I can go now. But knowing that you're hurt I'm not sure if I want to leave you alone, you know, jus—"
"Duo," Heero said in a whisper. "You're giving me a headache."
"Gomen Heero." Duo said contritely.
"Why is it so dark in here?"
"It's night time. You should be sleeping Heero. You need to regain your strength." Duo replied in a soft tone.
"I can't sleep anymore. Could you turn on the light?"
Duo was slightly nervous. "H…hai." He walked over to the other side of the bed and turned on the lamp that was there. The soft glow illuminated the room… and Duo's beat up face.
"… what happened Duo?"
"Uh, it happened in the escape." Duo lied, not meeting Heero's piercing gaze. Even if he were on his deathbed, Heero's gaze would be piercing. And it wasn't all of a lie either. Some scraps and bruises were from the escape.
"Hn."
"Do you think you could eat anything?" He asked, changing the topic. "I think I'll wait on the hunting until one of the others gets here. I don't want to leave you alone, just incase the Ozzies stumble over this place."
"Maybe some more broth. I don't think I'm strong enough for actual solid food."Duo nodded. "Alright, I'll be back in a while. If you need me, ring that bell." He nodded to the small bell that was on the bedside table, beside the glass of energy drink.
Heero watched Duo leave the room with a frown on his face. Something just didn't fit into what Duo just said. If five days had passed since his rescue, then shouldn't Duo's face had healed more than it has. But somehow the wounds looked fresh. Unless Duo had…
Heero shook his head. Maybe he was a lot sicker than he thought he was. Duo would never lie.
Days passed and Heero was slowly gaining his strength back with the help of Duo, much to Heero's annoyance. Because of this annoyance with the braided pilot the two of them got into many fights."Why won't you just leave me alone!" Heero demanded on his fourth day of recovery. He had been attempting to get out of bed and check to see if he had received any missions and Duo had stopped him when he found Heero stumbling on weak legs to the desk.
"Because if I did that, you'd most likely kill yourself. We wouldn't want for the perfect soldier to die on us, now would we?" Duo had replied as he steered the Wing pilot back to bed.
Heero growled at him. "Why are you doing this?" And like every other time he had asked that question over the four days, Duo gave him the same small, sad smile and changed the topic.
"Now, what would you like for supper tonight?" Duo asked, tucking the other pilot into bed. "Are you up for trying some deer meat that I had managed to acquire? Wu-Fei had prepared a neat little stew earlier today."
"Why won't you ever answer me Maxwell?" Heero finally demanded.
Duo sighed. "Why can't you just accept that I WANT to help you?"
"Because most people want something in return, and for the life of me, I can't figure out what you want."
Duo groaned and shook his head at his glaring comrade. "You're my friend Heero, my BEST friend. Just take the pampering and shut your mouth. There's nothing I want in return." Then Duo sighed once more. "Look, I understand that you can't stand this helplessness that you feel right now, but if you keep on pushing yourself like this you're never gonna heal." He turned around and made to leave the room, tossing one last comment over his shoulder. "Besides, Relena needs you in top form." And then he was gone out the door before Heero could ask anymore questions.
Duo was in the cavern they had found to keep their Gundams in, working on Deathscythe when he received an incoming message from the two missing pilots. Duo climbed up into Deathscythe's cockpit and opened the link up to listen."Death, do you read?" A very familiar voice came over the secured channels.
"Is that you Clown?" Duo responded with a grin on his face, it was his idea to have code names and they had left it up to him to name them all… not the smartest decision they ever had. Now they were stuck with the names. "Is Prince with you?"
A sigh came over the com-link from Trowa. "I really hate that name D, and yes he's with me."
"We're almost at the co-ordinates that you sent us D," Quatre said. "Is anyone there to meet us?"
"I'm here, but hurry your butts up. I have to get back and make sure that Wing hasn't pushed too far and to make sure Dragon isn't being a push over." Duo chuckled.
"Our ETA is ten." Trowa announced.
"See you then. Death out." Duo leaned back into the pilot seat and sighed. That's when he noticed the blinking light on his screen, letting him know that there was a new mission. With a frown he opened up the message and noticed that the mission was for Heero. Duo cursed when he realized that Heero somehow managed to put himself back on active duty.
Muttering and cursing under his breath, Duo memorized the mission report and sent a message back saying that he would take the mission and not to give Heero any more missions until they heard back from him. Then he went over, in his mind, everything that was needed for this mission. He was lucky that he had a lot of crap hidden inside his Gundam. Now all he had to do was wait until Quatre and Trowa landed before he could take off.
It had been over three weeks since Duo left on the mission and all four of the pilots were worried. Quatre sat by the radio listening to all the emergency stations, waiting to hear from the missing pilot. It was the only thing he could do to ease some of his worry. It was hard to figure out what the other three were feeling if Quatre didn't use his empathy, for all three of the silent warriors just looked grim all the time. Trowa always sat near Quatre, either reading a book or the paper. Usually the paper though in hopes of finding SOMETHING out. Wu-Fei was always out meditating or working on his Gundam, that is when he wasn't on missions. Heero had long since recovered from his injuries and was always working on his Gundam, but so far there had yet to be a mission for him, which confused everyone. Especially Heero considering he put himself back on active duty before Duo even left.
Finally, Heero's curiosity got the better of him and he got out his laptop to check out what the hell his status was. It only took him a few short minutes to hack into Doctor J's computer and it took him a few more minutes to get into his file. It took just seconds to absorb what was written there and as soon as it hit him, the perfect soldier began cursing up a storm that would rival Duo's swearing.Heero's cursing caught the attention of everyone that was in the room being Quatre, Trowa, and Wu-Fei. They all looked up from what they were currently doing to stare in utter shock and surprise at the Japanese pilot.
"Heero," Quatre stated, "is anything the matter?"
"The damned baka!" Heero cursed some more. "That's what the matter is. It's him!" He then went on a rant in Japanese. He spoke so quickly that the other three couldn't keep up with him. The only words that they caught were "illness", "fine", "mission" and "mine"."Yuy!" Wu-Fei snapped. "Calm down and explain to us what the braided ass did this time."
"He put me off active duty," Heero explained in a low growl. "Some how he managed to find out that I was back on active duty and he took me off and took the mission that was mine."
Trowa frowned, as did everyone else. "But why would he do that?" Trowa asked.
Wu-Fei snorted. "Isn't it obvious? Yuy could barely move and he was given a mission. You know how Maxwell is, I believe he's more stubborn than any mule I have ever met in my life."
"Is there anything in the files about Duo's whereabouts?" Quatre inquired, trying to get Heero off from his rant.
"Negative," he responded. "There's not even any mention about the mission."
"Who's the better hacker, you or Maxwell?" Wu-Fei asked and in doing so earned him a glare from Heero.
"I am." Was the growled reply.
"Isn't there ANYTHING we can do?" Quatre demanded.
"You could get me to the hospital," a new voice stated, startling everyone in the room.
They turned around, pulling their guns and aiming it at the intruder. Then they just gaped in shock at the bloodied figure of one Duo Maxwell that was clinging to the door jam to keep himself upright.
"Duo!" Quatre cried as he rushed over to his companion. "What happened?"
"A trigger happy stranger," Duo grunted. "He's gone now." Quatre shied away by the empty look in his fellow pilots' eyes. The last time he seen that look, Heero had self-destructed and thought dead.
It took both Trowa and Wu-Fei to keep Heero from leaping forward and strangling Duo with his own braid. Heero was furious with Duo for some reason he didn't want to look too closely upon.
"Why'd you do it?" Heero snarled, catching Duo's attention. Duo turned his lifeless eyes upon the angry soldier, making all three pilots frown.
"Could we possibly go into this discussion when I'm not about to die from blood-loss and the multiple holes in my body?" Duo asked, no trace of his grinning fools mask. "I'll go into great detail of my utter lack of judgement then, all right?"
Quatre glared over at Heero before helping Duo out of the room and into his own bedroom. "Sorry Duo, but I don't think we should take you to the hospital. Too many questions."
"Don't worry 'bout it Q, just patch me up best you can and then take me to Howard. He can patch me up in a jiffy… well, his doctor can anyway."
"All right Duo."
Two months passed and Duo just finished a mission with Quatre, while Heero was with Trowa and Wu-Fei on a mission of their own. Quatre and Duo were in the safe waiting the return of the other three pilots.
"Duo, you never explained to me why you took Heero's mission two months ago." Quatre said one evening.
Duo shrugged, "I thought it would be obvious Quatre. Heero's my friend and he was hurt, badly. There was no way in hell he would have been able to do that mission. Hell, it was hard enough for me and I was in top form. If Heero went on that mission, he would have died. I don't want to lose any more friends Q."
"That's not the entire reason is it?"
"No, but I'm not ready to admit the real reason out loud quite yet."
The two sat in silence for a long while, both thinking about the past. Then a memory struck Quatre, making him frown in curiosity. "Um, Duo, I just remembered something. That bruise on your face when Trowa and I first got there, where did you get it?"
Duo laughed. "Oh, I forgot about that. That was my entire fault. You see, what happened was when Heero was unconscious, he began having nightmares and I just couldn't listen to them anymore, so I held him through the worst of them. I knew better than to touch a sleeping soldier."
"Duo, do you l—" Quatre's question was interrupted by shouts coming from the front of the house.
Duo and Quatre stood and ran out of the kitchen to the front doors to see Trowa and Wu-Fei, both badly beaten up, holding up an unconscious Heero. Without missing a beat, they stepped forward and began helping.
"What happened?" Quatre asked as he helped Trowa sit down after Duo had taken Heero.
"An ambush," Wu-Fei said. "Yuy was already injured from the mission, and then we got ambushed coming back into the country three days ago. He just lost consciousness five minutes before we arrived here."
"How are you two doing?" Duo asked.
"We'll live," Trowa said. "Nothing more serious than a few sprains is all. We should be fine in a few days." He looked over at Heero. "Though I'm not too sure about him. He tried to self-destruct again."
Duo chuckled darkly. "I guess he failed then, huh?"
"Malfunction," Wu-Fei shrugged. "I'm sure he'll have it up and running in no time once he wakes up."
"Well, he can TRY." Duo said before turning on his heel and taking Heero to the bedroom set aside for them.
"Damn it Maxwell!" Heero shouted at the braided pilot. "Why won't you leave me alone?"
"Because then you'll get out of bed and not get any rest at all," Duo replied calmly as he played a game of solitaire on his laptop. "Now why don't you do yourself, and everyone else, a favor and go to sleep."
"Fuck you," Heero growled.
Duo shrugged. "Offer or request?"
Heero, completely caught off guard by that response, just gaped at the pilot across the room. Finally he shook off his shock and began glaring again. "Why are you doing this!"
Duo sighed as he finally faced his roommate. "I care for you Heero and I refuse to sit back and watch you kill yourself. I know we're in a war, and I know they call you the perfect soldier, but I also know you're only human. You can't just get up and walk away, your injuries be damned. So, I'm gonna stay by your side and make sure you heal… besides, it's the doc's orders. And if you don't believe me, then you can go right a head and check your messages. We're all to rest and heal from our missions."
"Get out Maxwell," Heero growled. "I don't want to see you again."
Duo smiled sadly. "How'd I guess you'd react that way." He stood up, grabbed his laptop and left the room. Out side in the hallway he ran into Quatre, who looked at his friend with sadness.
"Why are you doing this to yourself Duo?" Quatre asked.
Duo's eyes teared up. "Don't you dare try to tell me that it's not worth the pain. He means the world to me Quat. If he ever died, then my soul will die." He smiled with regret as a lone tear slid down his face. "I would give my life for his. I would sacrifice myself for his happiness. I would LIE for him Quat. I love him and he can't stand me."
Quatre gasped in surprise. "Oh, Duo."
"Don't worry about me Quatre, I'm resilient and I will get through this." He took a deep calming breath. "Well, I'm gonna go into town and get some supplies. Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't over strain himself."
Months had passed and Duo had never went back to the safe house with the other pilots. He would join them for missions, but that was it. It hurt too much for Duo to stay in the same house as the man that he loved more than life itself and have that same man hate him for it. Trowa and Wu-Fei questioned the new and sudden arrangements, but never got an answer. Only Quatre knew the real reasons, and he promised Duo that he wouldn't tell them unless it was vital. Heero was too busy trying to sort out all of the new emotions he was feeling to actually consider the reasons.
The time for the final battle had arrived and all five Gundam Pilots were in space staying on Howard's ship, the Peacemillion. Duo tried his best not to do anything to anger Heero, and so far he was succeeding.
Quatre, Trowa, Wu-Fei and Duo were in one of the lounge areas chatting about the war and miscellaneous other things. Duo and Trowa were playing a game of chess with Quatre and Wu-Fei watching when Heero entered the room.
"Hey Heero," Duo greeted with a small grin. "What's up?"
"It's time." And with those two words said, Heero left the room.
The other four looked at each other before getting out of their seats. Trowa and Wu-Fei were the first to leave the room. Quatre was just about to leave, when Duo stopped him.
"Hey, Q?"
"Yes Duo?"
"Could, um, could you hold onto this for me?" Duo asked, thrusting a book into Quatre's hands. "If I don't make it out of this battle alive, could you give it to Heero?"
"What is it Duo?"
"He keeps on asking me why, this is my answer. Just please promise me that you'll give it to him if I die."
Quatre blinked. "Alright, but Duo, you're not going to die."
Duo smiled. "Just in case." Then he left the room, leaving Quatre alone holding the book.
The final battle was long and extremely tiring. While Quatre, Duo, Trowa and Wu-Fei were busy fighting every mobile suit and mobile dolls in space, Heero was busy fighting Zechs Marquis, A.K.A Milliardo Peacecraft.
Duo had just killed off two more mobile dolls when he noticed a mobile suit sneaking up behind Heero. "No," he whispered, seeing it ready to shoot at the unprotected back of the Wing Gundam. Without thinking, he put his Gundam into motion and with a final shout he put himself between Wing and the mobile suits' cannon.
"NO! NOT HEERO!"
"DUO!"
The battle was over, the earth was saved, Libra was destroyed, everyone was celebrating the hard won peace while the four Gundam pilots searched for their lost comrade in vain. There was no sign of Duo anywhere on the "battlefield". They found traces of his Gundam Deathscythe; an arm here, a leg there. Pieces of the head, but they couldn't find the cockpit. After hours of searching, they finally allowed themselves to think that Duo was gone. No more would they hear the laughter of Duo Maxwell.
The four were all in the hanger of the Peacemillion staring dejectedly and sadly out in space. Howard and all five scientists were standing behind the four teens.
"There was no way he could have survived that explosion," Howard said softly, tears in his voice. "I'm sure gonna miss that kid. He was like my own son."
"Duo," Quatre whimpered, as he clutched the black, leather bound book that he had received just before the battle. "I'm gonna miss you Duo. My comrade; my brother." He then turned to the others, more specifically to Heero. "Heero?"
"Why did he do it? Why did he put himself between me and that blast? WHY?" Heero shouted as he fell to his knees sobbing, not paying any attention that the six old men were standing behind the four pilots. "He can't be dead! He's not allowed to die! He can't die! He's Death! He said so himself! Death doesn't die!" Heero looked up at Quatre like a lost little kid. "Why did he die?"
Quatre knelt down in front of Heero and held out the book to him. "Duo gave up his life so that you could live. His life meant nothing compared to yours; at least that's how he felt."
"What are you saying Quatre?" Trowa asked as he and Wu-Fei stepped beside the two kneeling pilots. Both had tears falling down their faces.
Quatre never took his eyes off of Heero. "He told me that you kept asking him 'why', well, that book will answer that question for you Heero."
Heero took the book from the blond pilot, opened it and flipped through the pages. He looked back up at Quatre with a frown. "There's only one page that's been written on."
Quatre shrugged. "I don't know anything about it Heero. I didn't read it. All I know is that it's supposed to answer your questions."
Heero went back to the book and opened it wider. Something fell to clink on the floor. Heero choked back a sob when he realized what it was. Duo's silver cross. He picked it up so gently as if he thought that it was gonna shatter into millions of pieces if he used any force.
"Read it Heero," Wu-Fei said. "Maybe then you'll understand why."
The Japanese teen sniffed and began to read what Duo had written down. By the time he finished, Heero was now sobbing uncontrollably and kept whimpering "Duo, forgive me I never knew" over and over again, clutching the silver cross to his chest.
Quatre picked up the book and quickly scanned the page before choking back a sob of his own.
"Quatre?" Trowa asked. "Will you read it?"
"I can't," the blond whispered.
Wu-Fei took the book and began to read aloud.
'Look into my eyes, you will see what you mean to me.
Search your heart, search your soul,
and when you find me there you'll search no more.
Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for
You know it's true,
Everything I do, I do it for you
Look into my heart, you will find
There's nothin' there to hide
Take me as I am, take my life
I would give it all, I would sacrifice
Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
You know it's true,
Everything I do, I do it for you
There's no love like your love
And no other could give more love
There's nowhere unless you're there
All the time all the way
Oh, you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for
I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more
I would fight for you, I'd lie for you,
Walk the wire for you, yeah, I'd die for you
Ya know it's true,
Everything I do, I do it for you'
I love you Heero Yuy. Now and for all eternity.
Fini!
A/N: Well, that
was it. What do you all think? Obviously the lyric is from Brian
Adams titled "Everything I do, I do it for you". One day when I
was listening to this song Muse decided that I should write a fanfic
to it and so that is where I got the title from. I'm not sure how
good the story is, or even how sappy it is, all I know that it ENDS
rather suddenly, but there's nothing I can do about it now. Muse
pretty much left me, so whenever I get him back, we'll see what I
can do. Until later toodles! Oh and by the by... I own NOTHING! Honest!