Et Tu Duo?

by Quincy007

The title most likely has little or nothing to do with the actual content. It sounded cool. Duo laments on his current life including his involvement in the death of his best friend.

1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't pretend to own these characters. They belong to somebody else.

Et tu Duo? (You too Duo?)

Quincy007

            Bars are the confession booths for the unreligious. Bartenders the priests. You can tell your bartender most things and he will have an answer for you. Maybe not most sound advice but if you want sound advice talk to a friend. The hardest people to talk give advice to though, are the ones who should have friends but they don't. You feel like an asshole telling them what they did wrong.

            Robert O'Riely had been a bartender for twenty years. He is bartender who has heard it all. Murder confessions, cheating, revenge, and soldiers with no place to go. Nothing can surprise him. He has always had the best advice for any given situation. This patron didn't know this he knew that they made a mean screwdriver, White Russian. Anything with strong Liquor in it he was interested in. He came in drunk, without any keys thank god, and was promptly knocking back shots and pulling bills out of his wallet.

            "You want to talk about it?" The bartender asked.

            "Why?" The boy, he was barely legal. Twenty-one a month ago wasn't showing signs of inhibition. And after a bottle of vodka and Jack Daniels you know he had to be something. Dead, Drunk, or comatose.

            "Sometimes its better to talk about things then not remember them in the morning."

            "Oh really?"

            "No, O'Riely."

            "Ha, you're a funny man. No I don't want to talk about it. I used to be the one people talked to. They would say, 'Could you help me with Relena?' Or, 'Hey, why is Dorothy so pissed at me?' I had the most experience with women, and these guys hoo-boy. My woman and I never had problems. Nope. Now I'm lucky I have these bills in my wallet and this jacket on my shoulders. Honestly, can you help me?"

            "It never hurts to try."

            "Well, This is one you have never heard before."

            He unzipped his leather coat to a point where Robert could see the priest's collar. He hadn't seen one of those in a while, but that wasn't what he was getting at. He pulled two pictures.

            "This was my buddy, my best friend Heero. The brown haired one ya'see?" he pointed with his finger. "And that is me there. These other guys and gals His friends, they used to be mine too." He pointed to the other picture, "see this here? Same picture, but where is his good buddy Duo? Well, they had me cropped from it."

            "What happened to your braid?"

            "Huh? Oh, I cut it off."

            "Why did your friends remove you from the picture? That must have been very difficult, you were next to him."

            "Well, turn it over." He poured another shot.

            "We honor and cherish the memory of the man who world could call Heero."

            "I wrote that. This was for his wake. Pity too, closed casket."

            "This doesn't explain why they hated you enough to remove you from the picture."

            "Cause I killed him. It was me. Right in front of everybody. I killed him, like the cold son of a bitch I am."

            "You, killed this boy?

            "Well, That picture was taken a while ago."

            "He looks so kind and pure."

            "He was."

            "No, remorse?"

            "Hell yes! The man was my best friend. Of course I felt remorse. We'd been friends since before the Eve wars. I felt like shit."

            "Do the police know about this?"

            "Yea. I'm not going to prosecuted. I don't why though. I should go to jail."

            "Why not do something that will get you into jail, try to kill the vice foreign minister? And rig it so you fail and get caught."

            "Good Idea. I'll try that when I'm sober."

            "Why do a horrible thing like this?"

            "If you have to know…"

*Back a ways…

      "Duo get down!" Heero yelled.

      Not thinking, Duo dived to the floor. Heero fired some more shots from his submachine gun while Duo crawled for better cover. Heero shouted, "Reload!" So Duo fired with his pistol. After a couple of seconds he was in the hall way with Heero. "Lets get outta here, you saved Relena already didn't you?"

      "Yea, But they aren't dead yet."

      "Some other time! This place is going to explode!"

      "If I don't get them now we may never get them!"

      "Damn it Yuy! We have to get out of here!"

      Two more of the attackers fell. "Reload! He said.

      Duo fired more shots around the doorway. He checked his watch. Ten minutes and they would be dead. At least Relena is safe… "Hey did you tell Relena to get clear of the building?"

      "Fuck! Duo, go now. Get her out of here."

      So Duo ran. He needed to find Relena and get her out of here. Conveintly enough she was right outside, probably were Heero told her to wait. "You have to get out of here! This place is going to explode!"

      "Where's Heero!"

      "Shit, He is off trying to kill them all."

      "Well? Go help him!"

      "Kill?"

      "Duo!"

      "Right. Get away! Far away! I'll go after the bomb." He pulled a comm. unit from his shirt. "He-man. Do you read?"

      "Roger"

      "I'm going after the bomb buy you more time."

      "Good luck Death."

      The bomb was placed next to biggest pillar in the basement. If it had enough power to take out that pillar the building might collapse. That seemed too sloppy for these guys. Duo looked around the room, seeing new putty on the ceiling he reached for it. Black cable was in the holes. "No…"

      Every pillar was made to detonate. This building wouldn't collapse it would vaporize. "He-man. This place is going to blow up faster and in more pieces than Wing did I can't stop it."

      "Roger."

      "I'm coming up."

      Duo ran up the stair that carried him to the basement. He saw dead bodies lying around. Not much else. He followed the sporadic gunfire to the firefight in the hall. There was the perfect soldier gunning down more of these bastards. I raised my pistol to help, when my watch gave the two-minute warning. "Two minutes and we get to meet my namesake!"

      "The leader is down this way! There should be an escape method."

      We ran down the hall, I shot a poor guy as we ran by. I didn't have time to wish him well in the after life. The hallway ended in a room with three doors. The yet anonomys leader yelled out, "You have time to kill me or escape. One minute three doors."

      Heero opened the first door. Duo bashed out the window. Hopefully they could make an escape into the bay. The second door gave in to Heero and nobody was in it. The Third door was next. Heero yanked it open, revealing the dead man switch. The timer just jumped from thirty seconds to three. "Lets go!" Duo shoved Heero out of the window as the building vaporized/exploded behind them. Duo landed just short of the water and Heero fell into it.

      "Heero! Duo!"

      "Over here babe." Duo shouted back

      Heero climbed out of the water obviously wet and cold. Duo offered him his vest, but he declined. "I'll get over it. Are you ok?"

      "No. My arm. I think I hurt it somehow."

      "Probably dislocated your shoulder. Give me your hand."

      Duo winced as he reached out with his hurt arm. Heero grabbed it and aligned it. "This is going to hurt a lot. On three. One…Two…Three." He cracked Duo's arm back into place."

      "AAHHH!" Duo screamed like a ninny when he felt his arm do something bad.

      "Damn, Du' I meant it when I said on three. You should have relaxed."

      "Then you should have told me a different number or lied about the pain."

      "Boo-hoo. Cry me a river."

      Relena smiled, "Build a bridge."

      They all said it at the same time, "And get over it."

      "I want to thank you guys for coming after me."

      "...Your welcome."

      "You would have sent Zechs for us."

      "I could have come myself."

      Duo smiled, "Right. And I love pain."

      "Oh, you masochist."

      A very touching story, but what does this have to do with…

      [Hey! I'm setting the stage! This is my drunken rambling and I'm trying to give you some background here!]

      Sorry.

*One month later

      "The unknown mastermind behind Relena's kidnapping a month ago is back. No army this time, just one man acting alone. He may try just to kill her. I want you to be ready." Zechs told Relena's private guard.

      Duo and Heero nodded. They had been reassigned to Relena specificly after their handling of the previous unknown mastermind situation. And they were the only two who Relena wouldn't try to escape from. "Roger mission."

      "Buh-Bye Goose."

      The screen faded into black. Heero stared at him, "What?"

      "Goose?"

      "Tallgeese. Remove the Tall make it singular. Goose."

      "He lets you call him that?"

      "Yea. We play cards together."

      "Huh. Zechs liking somebody. A gundam pilot? He hates me and I love his sister."

      "You should tell her that."

      "Its an understanding we have."

      "Still, Women love to hear their man announce his love for her."

      "They like that huh? How come you've never said it to Hilde?"

      "Just not around you."

      "Yea." He was dubious.

      The pair walked to the door of Relena's room.

      "The reason he hates you is because his sister loves you, you know."

      "Yea, well."

      "He might get over it if he saw the feeling reciprocated."

      "Duo I don't need help in my social life. Nor my professional life, however I am forced to have a partner in this case."

      "What if I force you to have a partner in your social life? I know the perfect gal for you. Beautiful, Smart, sharp as a tack, loves you, and…c'mon Heero! Grow a heart! Or at least make the one you have bigger."

      "I have a heart. Really, Duo is this all that important?"

      "Hell, yes! You could at least tell me, I can be a go between. I have to know though because I care about your well-being, why? I don't know."

      "You're my friend. That's why. I hear what your saying Du'. I'll think about it.

      "Good. " He opened the door letting light spill into the Foreign Minister's room. Duo just started to check the walls and such. He always let Heero wake her up.

      "Relena…do you know what time it is?"

      "Ugh." She turned. Whether on purpose or not it looked like she did not know what time it was.

      Heero reached down. "You have to get up, busy day of people trying to kill you and all. If you don't get up how can I throw myself in front of you?"

      "Do you have to be so depressing? If you really wanted me up, say you cancelled all my appointments and are sneaking me off to Vegas." She opened her eyes. "Well?"

      "Not Today!" Duo called from the bathroom.

      "The man has ears I can't even begin to fathom."

      "Did he tell you openly express yourself again?"

      "Yea. He makes sense…but he's Duo ya'know? Duo. How can I get sound advice from Duo?"

      "Because he is your friend. And he won't try to screw you over on a deal like this."

      "Well, he tries so hard because he doesn't know."

      "Its okay, I think its sweet." Relena came awfully close to Heero. "Him trying to make match that has already lit."

      "Good pun."

      "I have great news! Your room is clear Relena!" Duo interrupted. He walked in on them about a half inch apart. He didn't say anything or pretend to notice when they almost jumped back. "Sorry, did I scare you?"

      "You startled me."

      "Sorry. I'll see if breakfast is ready." The door closed.

      "That is nice of him pretending not to notice."

      "Yea, well if he teased us about it we would have to go public or stop. I know you hate public attention."

      "Well, he is going to leave us alone for a bit…"

      "No. I have work in about two hours, plus shower, breakfast, my morning review…" She looked at the clock. "Hell, I got time." She pulled him into a kiss.

      "If she takes any longer of a shower, we are going to be late." He looked at the breakfast spread. "I'll eat now to speed things up." Duo smiled.

      Ten minutes later Relena came down, looking particularly happy. Amazing what a hot shower can do to people. Heero followed looking happy too. Now Duo being the person watcher he is noticed this and filed it for use later. "Nice of you to join me. Food?" He gestured.

      "Yea." Relena grabbed a plate, "Better make it quick."

      "That is what I said before your shower."

      "Shut up." She said. Did she blush? Duo decided to ask her later.

      The next most surprising thing was that Heero ate something. While eating isn't surprising in itself, but when Heero eats its odd. Duo never once saw him eat breakfast. He grabbed a bagel.

      "A bagel?"

      "Yes, The bread has lots of carbohydrates. Help with restoring long term energy."

      "Oh."

      Relena asked, "Could you pass one of those down here?"

      Now Duo knew something was up. "Did something happen I'm not aware of?"

      "No."

      "Nothing."

      "Alright, but don't leave me in the dark to long. I like being the first to know." He didn't pry any more; he just finished his Frosted Flakes and grabbed an apple. "By the way, you missed an aide of some dignitary. She left a revised copy of some proposal. I signed for it. Here it is. I opened it to make sure nothing would explode."

      "Thanks. You are good at this keeping me organized stuff."

      "I can't take as many bullets, need to make up for it somehow."

      "Are you making fun of me?" Heero asked.

      "Me? Make fun of you? Nev—oh wait, yes I was."

      "You dick."

      "Name calling already? We are late, you don't start name calling until eight o'clock."

      They rode in Relena's Limo to the Accord building. Heero in the back, Duo in the front. The Accord Building is where all papers are signed. Very secure and everyone likes it. Except Duo. The architecture made it a bitch to sweep.

      "Route one clear." He whispered into his comm.

      "Okay. Route one."

      Duo checked out the main room. No one suspicious. No one was allowed to carry into this room, not even him, Heero had a gun but nobody needed to know that. He walked up to the dignitaries, saying Hello, and apologizing for their lateness. It turned out someone else was late so it didn't make a big difference. "Hello Duo."

      "Quatre? Quatre Winner? How are you!"? He walked up to his friend.

      "I'm fine. What are you doing nowadays?"

      "Me and Heero are on Relena's private guard. Cool huh?"

      "Yea, How's Hilde?"

      "She's more than great. I just saw her last night! Boy, did we party. If I didn't do this I would get to see her more often, but she understands. Its one of those lasting relationships."

      "Yea, I know what you mean."

      "Why are you here?"

      "I'm in the second conference room. Hostile takeover."

      "Ouch. Yours?"

      "No."

      "Well, Sorry to the other guy, he never had a chance."

      "Thanks Duo. I'll see you around."

      "Hey, Maybe I can get you dinner with us, Relena wants to go out and celebrate after this paper gets signed."

      "Really, I'd like to catch up with Relena and Heero. Thanks."

      "Hey, what's a God of Death good for eh?"

      Heero and Relena entered stage right. He walked right up. "Hey, what took you?"

      "Something suspicious came up on route one we took two."

      "Right. You could have told me."

      "It didn't seem important."

      "Except that when something happens I am the one who gests screwed because I wasn't at her side."

      "Lighten up Duo."

      "Okay. Hey can we bring Quatre along to dinner tonight? He's in town and I thought it would be nice to see him."

      "Sure."

      Duo typed a message on his pager and sent it to Quatre. "Cool, shall we slap a few John Hancock's on some paper and Get outta here?"

      "You oversimplify."

      "Naw."

      The signing went by quietly. No outbursts and lots of handshakes. Heero never left her side and Duo wandered, looking for the suspicious. Nothing.

      He walked around the hall, eyeing people, checking for passes randomly. He eyed the conference room people getting into an argument. "Heero, there is some noise in the conference room, should I check it out?"

      "Sure, don't kill anybody."

      Duo cracked the door. "Hey! Shut-up in here! You are disturbing the rest of the Building."

      "Sorry, I was just about to end this."

      The man nodded to his grunts. They lifted their suitcases. Duo wondered what was in them when the men pulled some hidden trigger. Gunfire. Guns hidden in document cases. Heh. "Heero, Guns! Not pointed at our group yet, but be ready to evac."

      "Roger."

      The delegation looked worried. Gunfire. "Its all right people. The building security will handle it. I'll watch the door." Heero said. He did that. He took his attention to the direction of gunfire, while still covering Relena.

      Duo ducked behind a wall. Security showed up "What's going on?" One asked

      "Some guys got pissed off and pulled hidden guns."

      "Who are you?"

      "A bodyguard for the delegation in the main hall. I was checking the halls when this happened."

      "Which delegate?"

      "Does it matter?"

      "A little."

      "Stop the guy with the big guns over there!"

      "Are you Peacecraft's guard?"

      "Yes."

      Duo didn't realize what had happened until the blunt object hit him.

      "Something's wrong. The gunfire stopped. Only no return fire was made."

      "Heero?"

      "Everybody is leaving!" He pulled his pistol.

      "Go!"

      Security men burst in. Shouting. "We need to get the people to safety! The madmen are still on the loose!"

      "I have it under control."

      "Who are you?"

      "Bodyguard."

      "Shit! Another one? Who said she only had one?"

      They shot at Heero. And everybody else. Heero was good at his job. He stood in front of Relena and tried to evacuate the delegates. "Use the emergency exits!"

      The fake security men were quickly surrounding them. Heero was screwed in the biggest sense of the word. He couldn't take them all, and Duo was out.

      What happened?

      [Hold on I'm getting to it. Give me one of them Whiskeys…]

      Duo woke up in a hospital. In front of a very angry Zechs and Hilde.

      "Oh, Hi. Umm…I'm in trouble aren't I?"

      "Yep."

      "Yes."

      "I put Relena in danger by leaving the room. I put myself at risk by trying to solve other people's problems. And something happened to them."

      "Yes. I really don't care about you personally."

      "That was for Hilde. I hate having to talk to two angry people at once."

      "Why did you leave?"

      "I always do. Heero stays the imposing guy next to her, I check out stuff. I look around the room and hallways. Stopping problems before it happens It usually worked, but I butted my head were it didn't belong."

      "At least there is a rhyme to your reason."

      "Yea, yea. What happened to Relena and Heero?"

      "They are gone. The terrorists took them."

      Duo got up. He went about two steps before the pain in his head hit him. "Ow."

      "You have a concussion. You were lucky your skull didn't break."

      "Well, I need to fix-ow-this mess I got us into."

      He wobbly walked out the door. Hilde stared. "Aren't you going to stop him?" Zechs asked.

      "He wants to do it. Nothing will stop him. They are his friends. I would expect him to do no less for me why should I be the only one?"

      "Eh. I called Wufei and Sally they are on it too."

      "Duo and Wufei don't like each other."

      "No. That is why he shouldn't work with them. I also called Trowa. He said he could play babysitter."

      "Duo won't like that."

      "Eh. I care about my sister. The rest of them are expendable."

      "You are cold, I'm glad you aren't my boss." Hilde looked at Zechs with a angry expression. She went to find Duo, and talk him out of it. To her dismay, he was already in his jeans and was finding his shirt.

      "Duo, you are hurt you shouldn't be doing this."

      "Well, I feel responsible. Why is it I always lose the ones I care about? If I don't find them I might as well give up on us."

      "Duo Maxwell, you shouldn't disregard your health. You are important to people, how would we feel if you died of a brain aneurysm or something?"

      "I can't just sit here." He pulled on a T-shirt. He found his jacket and stumbled off.

      "Duo Maxwell! If you don't stop this now I am going to seriously reconsider us!"

      He stopped, "If you didn't after this I would! Anybody who crosses my path has a date with their maker."

      "Duo…" She whispered. She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Quatre.

      "He is angry at himself. He felt as if he failed. Duo thinks he needs to make retribution. Zechs didn't mention that even if he was with her, he couldn't have made a difference. The report is Twenty to one. Twenty to two isn't much better."

      "Did you see his eyes? They were in so much pain."

      "Living through the hell of remembering every time you've failed someone. I've been there."

      "I know he has issues, but all of you do and most of you turned out okay."

      "Duo never really admitted his feelings. No doubt he acted happy and such to cover up his pain. Ironically Heero had the fewest issues, and Duo has the most."

      "Yea. Ironic."

      Duo swallowed some aspirin. God his head hurt. He walked out to the street. He expected a few awkward glances. It was known around the capitol that Heero and he were Relena's bodyguards. Everyone has heard that Relena was kidnapped, and now one of her bodyguards is still alive…He tried to hail a cab but moving his arm that high caused nausea. So he sat for the bus. He was so engrossed in his planning Trowa had to shake him to get his attention. "Duo that is the third bus to go by."

      "Huh? Aw damn it. I'll walk."

      "Do you even know what hospital you're at?"

      "Why are you here Trowa? If you are here to baby-sit me you can go back to whatever circus you came from."

      "Bad day?"

      "…" Duo walked off in a direction. If he walked far enough he would get to where he needed to be.

      Trowa jogged to catch up. "You won't get anywhere by wandering this way."

      "Oh well. I need to walk off this headache."

      "Concussion. And this is a dead end street."

      "Hell."

      "You were in the hospital across town. The other one was full of a car crash."

      "Oh." He turned around and stated walking.

      "I am here to make sure you don't interfere with Wufei and Sally's investigation."

      "Baby-sit. That is what Zechs calls it, What Heero calls it, what I call it."

      "Grow up Duo."

      "Good bye Trowa."

      Trowa couldn't get him to say anything else. The twist was odd. Duo stopped at convenience store and purchased coffee. "Duo, you hate coffee."

      "…" He looked at the cup. Handed it to Trowa and walked back in. Came out with a sports drink. "Straight up. Only way Heero and Relena take it."

      "Oh. You buy the coffee?"

      "Eh."

      He walked off again. Trowa wished Duo would talk. It seemed odd to be next to Duo and not be listening. "You have to talk to me sooner or later."

      "No, I don't. Go home Trowa, you won't get killed by Catherine."

      "Is that it? Everyone around you is getting hurt?"

      "At my expense. Either I do it myself or I do something that leads to it."

      Now Trowa wanted to walk in silence, Duo was getting depressing. This didn't seem very Duo like. Did that hit on his head hurt him more than the Doctor said?

      They stopped at an old apartment complex. Duo walked right in. Trowa followed.

      Duo climbed stairs to the top floor. He opened room 02. It was lavish for a run down apartment building of course looks didn't mean a thing. Duo walked to the poster of Deathsythe Hell. He pulled it out to reveal a closet of guns. He picked up a big one at random and put it in a shoulder holster. He filled his pockets with clips and trash. "Want one?"

      "No. I'm good."

      "All right." He moved with a efficient purpose. Duo never did that. He always got sidetracked. He called a neighbor and asked him to feed his cat. "Lets go."

      Duo went right to a basement garage. He unlocked a small car and got the keys inside the ignition. Getting out, he walked over to a Black with gold trim Mustang. Nice.

      "Get in or forever hold your peace."

      They sat in the car for a good minute while Duo fiddled with his GPS screen.

      "Do they have tracers on them?"

      "In a manner of speaking. Heero has a small amount of nanomachines in his body. They help with bone reconstruction and supply vitamins and trash. They have GPS inside them, but he never gave anyone the frequency. So I stole it from him."

      "So you know where they are?"

      "Where Heero is."

      "Whatever."

      "Not moving. If you want to tell somebody use your own phone and I'm not stopping for a better signal."

      "I have all digital."

      Duo drove out of the garage. Trowa did call Zechs and told them that Duo thought he had found Heero.

      Duo drove quickly. In five minutes he had parked in front of a warehouse. He got out and walked right up to the door. "Hello, Cursed Earth Pizza."

      The door opened. A man with a gun walked out. "Really?"

      "Depends. Is this where the kidnapped Vice foreign minister is?"

      "Well, ye-Hey!" Duo shot him. Trowa merely stared. Duo walked in. A big open warehouse. Twenty or so men with guns surrounded Heero and Relena.

      The guns were no longer pointed at Heero and Relena. They pointed at Duo. Not a word was said, Duo just fired into the crowd. "Kill him!" They yelled

      Duo had five down before he felt the first bullet. He let the shot pull him down. When he was down he smoothly reloaded his gun. A guy kicked him over "Hey This is the other schmuck who is a bodyguard.

      "Is he dead?"

      "I don't kn-" His face promptly exploded outward. Duo sat up and fired again. Heero had snuck Relena to behind a box and started his own attack. Once Heero had one of their submachine guns it was over quickly.

      "I had a plan to escape."

      "Go to hell."

      Trowa stopped the argument that hadn't happened yet. "Duo has had a very bad day. Lets not make it worse by antagonizing him."

      "What about my day?"

      "Is Relena hurt?"

      "I'm fine."

      "Good. So how was your day worse than his?" Trowa asked Heero, "He had to face Zechs and Hilde and me babysitting him."

      "I probably am done with this line of work. Zechs won't be happy."

      Zechs and Wufei burst into the room. "Heero…Did you kill them all?"

      "Duo did most of it."

      "Right."

      "I don't care if you fire me or anything. I righted this wrong, but who knows what will happen next time."

      "Duo you didn't do anything wrong. That was done correctly in my opinion."

      "Thanks Heero, Tell that to him."

      "I don't agree. You two should have been there. He should not be chasing the shadows."

      "You left it up to my discretion."

      "I assumed you would make the right choices."

      "Heero its okay, I'll take the reprimands. I'll be the scapegoat. Better to blame me than an entire security hole."

      "Duo…"

      "I want to go back to the hospital. I've been shot. Take the car home Heero." He tossed Heero the keys to the mustang. Duo limped out of the building.

      "What did you do to him? He would be ecstatic that we aren't hurt. He feels so hollow."           

      "I merely told him you two were captured. He left the hospital against my orders he had brief conversation with Hilde and now this."

      "Trowa?"

      "He seemed distant. He didn't talk. He was so cold I thought I was standing next to Wufei or somebody. He said that people get hurt because of him."

      "God. He needs to get some antidepressants." Wufei muttered.

      "I'll talk to him." Relena said.

      "Later. You have things to do."

      By the time Relena was able to stop by the hospital Duo was out of surgery to remove the bullet and was resting in a room. He was writing what appeared to be a letter. "Hello Relena."

      "Duo, You got all of us worried. You aren't very Duo like as of this afternoon."

      "I am Duo like. I gave up on the façade. Welcome to the normal depressed unchipper Duo. Please keep to the right side of the wall at all times."

      "Any particular reason this change?"

      "Everybody I like enough to be my friend gets hurt. 98% of the time its my fault. I have no family except what I make at the time. Right now Hilde and you guys are my family. Sooner or later my moniker comes up and makes me pay the toll in family."

      "Toll?"

      "For working under his name. Not really my choice. If I could I would cast it out of the window."

      "Stop it Duo. This isn't you. You just are a little confused or something."

      "I can't change who I am. I always wore my heart on my sleeve until I learned to hide it under humor. Amusing people are amusing for two reasons they are hiding something or they want attention. I don't want attention."

      "Duo Maxwell. Knock it off. You are beating yourself because of a mistake. You need to get over it. It isn't that big a deal. It turned out all right this time."

      "This time. This time. Exactly. I can't always get this lucky! What if they just wanted to kill you I wouldn't get a chance to right my wrongs!" He closed his eyes. The pain in them was something she never saw in Heero. He didn't have remorse for those he killed, or those he hurt. Duo could put up a mask and pretend like he didn't care, but masks break.

      "Oh Duo…"

      "I care about you too much to let you get hurt. All of you. You, Heero, Hilde. Trowa, Quatre, Wufei. All of us. I couldn't live with myself when the inevitable happens. I should be the first to go."

      "Duo, you're scaring me."

      "Well, Sorry. I guess I'm scary."

      Duo laid back and wouldn't say anything else. Relena sat there for another minute and left. "Sorry." She whispered.

      Heero was waiting outside. "Should I talk to him?"

      She just held onto him "Not now. He is kind of scary now."

      "He has a lot on his plate. He never let himself get caught up in it. Normally somebody is there to help him get back up. Duo is important to all of us, but we never realize how much he means to us until we don't have him."

      "You're talking like he is dead."

      "I overheard."

      "Oh. How can we help him?"

      "Just let him know we will be there."

      You knew this and you still killed him?

      [I blame myself for his death. I should be in a casket Listen.]

      "Duo. I'm worried. I'm supposed to be like this."

      "Well, you have my permission to be the light hearted one."

      Heero wasn't a violent man by choice. He hated violence. He wasn't going to pull a gun on Duo yet. He would try some other things first.

      "Damn it! Can't you see we all care about what happens to you! You are being a dick!"

      "Oh name calling. How original."

      "C'mon. Whatever happened to the Duo who I liked being around?"

      "He was a screw up. Never did a thing right. If I ever get out of this hospital I'm not going to be like that again."

      "That's why we like you, you may screw up, but you are always there to fix a mistake. You're reliable."

      "Well, What happens when I can't fix a mistake?"

      "Duo if you can't fix a mess, it probably can't be fixed. Like when you and Wufei were fighting and you spilled paint on Altron? You fixed it when you realized the damage you did."

      "Yea…"

      "Unlike the time you broke Wufei's katana. That you couldn't fix. But you helped him make a new one. You can't fix all your mistakes, that's why they are mistakes. You can only move on."

      "What happens when I screw up and Relena or somebody dies? I can't just get over it. Zechs would hate me, so would you."

      "As long as you tried Duo, tried your damnedest, I couldn't hold it against you very long."

      "Right. Heero?"

      "I'm a good guy right?"

      "If you mean good guy as in upstanding citizen with superb moral character, yes. As in on the right side of the fight…I don't know."

      "Well, at least you are honest."

      "That's the way I am Duo. Why lie to somebody?"

      "Unless they are a really beautiful girl and you keep telling her you are going to kill her."

      "Ha-ha. Hey? Did you just make a joke?"

      "No. The little elves behind me did it."

      "Tell them to knock it off."

      "Okay."

      Heero left the hospital feeling a little better, he didn't solve Duo's problems but he regained some self-confidence.

      "He has a point." Duo muttered, "As long as I tried my hardest I can't really spend the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself. I have to move on."

      He got up. They were just gunshot wounds. He could take it. "Ow." He decided to just sit up first. Start little. That's good. Maybe he was being a little too hard on himself. It was true that he tried hard to be lighthearted. Maybe he came off as trying to hard. Aw, forget it. Just worry about it in the morning…

      Meanwhile Heero was having problems of his own. "We should what?"

      "I want to make it official. I can't handle being the only one who knows."

      "He'll kill me. Zechs, I mean. As soon as we tell him, bam!"

      "No he won't."

      "Did you see how pissed off he was at Duo? He will kill me."

      "Be fair. That situation was well under control."

      "Well, to be honest If Duo hadn't shown up, we probably would have died."

      "You never told him that."

      "It's a good thing that way."

      "Well, Duo would love to hear that. So would other people I know."

      "That we are a couple or that he saved our Asses?"

      "You know."

      "Right, right."

      Relena smiled at him. He smirked. "When should we tell these wonderful people?"

      "We can just stop hiding it."

      "Oh, subtle."

      "Yea."

      Duo had one foot out of the bed and was going for two when he felt a large amount of pain. Only it wasn't his leg. It was his nurse. "Mr. Maxwell you shouldn't be doing this."

      "Eh. I love the décor and all, but the cable sucks."

      "Right. Sit."

      "Hey! Put back that needle I don't need a sedative or nothin'."

      "Standard procedure."

"No! Get that away from me!"

"Look, I don't like my job but I do it. Now you are going to get stuck whether I have to get a dart gun first."

Duo jumped up out of his bed and dived for the door. He was glad he was wearing underwear under his hospital gown. "Check please!" He yelled to the desk clerk.

The nurse came out holding the syringe. "Get back here!"

            Duo ran for the lockers where they threw his stuff. "Malloy, Maxim, Maxwell." He grabbed the bag and ran away from the nurse. He would have made it except the wound in his leg slowed him down. That and he ran into Quatre and Trowa.

            "Hey! Hide me!"

            "He is looking better!"

            "They wanna stick me!"

            "Ya'know he isn't nearly as depressed as he was this morning."

            "Please?"

            "Heero knows what to say to people."

            Duo stuck himself behind the taller Trowa and stood very still. The nurse showed up a second later. "Have you seen a wacko in a braid and hospital gown?"

            "Actually one ran out that door."

            "Shit."

            She ran out the door. Duo heaved a sigh. "Thanks, You came to check on me? That's sweet. I thought Heero and Relena were the only ones who cared."

            "Hilde hasn't seen you yet?"     

            "We are in a argument. I'll solve it yet."

            "You seem chipper."

            "Aw hell, I can't be like that all the time, I'd kill myself. Besides the world needs my humor to make it a brighter place."

            "Right." The disbelief in Quatre's voice was evident.

            "I need to get checked out. Can you believe they wanted to put drugs in me?"

            "Yea."

            "I think its suggested in your file."

            Duo had pulled on a shirt. And was fighting with his pants (cut open.) HE pulled on his sneakers and went back to desk. "My check?"

            "I can't really release you without a doctor's signature."

            "What happens when I don't get released but leave anyway?"

            "You don't get back your…never mind. I'm not sure, most give up after this part."

            "Well, figure out my bill and mail it to me." He walked off the hall.

            Trowa and Quatre sighed. "At least he is back to normal."

            "As normal is for Duo."

            Duo was back in his apartment by the end of the hour. He had given Trowa and Quatre refreshments and tried to take a shower.

            "Hey, Have you ever seen a gunshot wound?"

            "Once or twice, don't bother trying to show me."  Trowa said.

            "Well, is the bleeding normal?"

            "Yea."

            "Okay."

            Duo came out in shorts and a T-shirt. White bandages wrapped his arm and leg.   "Got one more under the shirt." He unlocked a door on the side of the apartment and walked into an adjoining room. More Spartan. He came back in a few minutes with a book.

            "Heero's room. I added the door. Sometimes he needs shit from me. I mostly borrow from him."

            "And that is…"

            "Urban injuries and how to treat them."

            "Right. How did you know he had it?"

            "I gave it to him last Christmas."

            "Cute."

            Duo sat down and began to read. Trowa and Quatre helped themselves to his apartment. They were supposed to watch him for a while.

            Trowa walked over to his bookcase and grabbed a book. He looked up every now and again. Quatre walked around to his stereo. A very full library of just about everything under the sun. He began to look through the Music disks. Several of them were his. Duo read for about five more minutes. "Hey! You guys can excuse yourselves anytime I'm going to be here awhile."

            "Its okay. You might need help or something."

            "And we can't have Duo going committing suicide now can we?" Duo said.

            "Well, yea."

            "You failed miserably. I could have iced myself in the shower."

            "Well, ya'know…"

            "Didn't want to intrude."

            "Right."

            "Whatever." He muttered. He flipped a few pages and read again.

            "Duo, can I look around some more?"

            "Whatever, Just don't touch any of my guns or knives when you find them. They are necessary."

            "Okay."

            That was how it went for a while. When Duo finished reading the book he quietly got up. And checked out what the others were doing. Trowa was right across from him reading a mystery novel, a pretty gripping one at that. Quatre was tuning the electric guitar that he had found at a rummage sale. That boy had a knack for music. He walked over to the door to Heero's room and was a little shocked to see him there. And was more shocked to see Relena in there too.

            "Oh! Um…hi…not doing anything, just putting borrowed book back…uh…hi, how's it going?"

            "Why are you acting like you did something wrong?" Heero asked.

            "Well, I'm not one to impose on one's social-never mind that. I'm just embarrassed that I walked in on you and company."

            "What did you borrow?"

            "Urban Med."

            "Right. I figured you would need that. Didn't like the hospital?"

            "They tried to stick me!"

            Relena laughed, "The god of Death doesn't like needles."

            "Well…yea."

            They enjoyed a quick laugh over that. Duo was feeling better, knowing how everything returned too normal. "Hey, you want to come over? Trowa and Quatre are babysitting me and Why not more? Misery loves company."

            "Misery loves miserable company. When you are in a poor mood you try to put everyone else in a bad mood or find one who is."

            "Well, I love company."

            "I suppose we could."

            Duo walked back through the door. "Hey Tro. You want delivery or something a little more homegrown?"

            "Depends. What would you cook?"

            "Trowa! That isn't nice." Quatre said from the couch and played a few chords.

            "I'll sell that guitar to you for ten bucks."

            "Deal."

            "Ten bucks Duo?" Relena asked as they crossed the doorway.

            "I bought it for three."

            "How long did you haggle?"

            "An hour."

            "How much did you save?" Quatre asked, his interest with the conversation.

            "Ummm…I dunno fifty-sixty bucks."

            "How did you do that?"

            "I can't tell."

            "What are you doing Duo?"

            "I thought I could cook for my guests instead of take out."

            "Uh…"

            "Gee…"

            "Oh…"

            "…"

            "Hardy flippin' har-har. Just so you all know I can cook pretty decent."

            "Should we trust him?" Trowa pondered.

            "I don't see why not."

            "Thanks Quatre."

            "Well, if I had a basis for comparison…" Heero muttered.

            "Comparison? Remember at Noin and Zechs wedding? That casserole Hilde and I brought?"

            "You did that?"

            "That was you?"

            "Yes. In fact it was a personal recipe. I was a little offended when Hilde was asked for it. They assumed that I can't cook."

            "A logical assumption."

            "Not necessarily. I can cook an awful lot better than Relena." Heero said.

            "Hey!" She punched his arm.

            He raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know this would be an abusive relationship."

            Duo eyed them carefully Heero was very deliberate with his words, and Duo heard relationship. "Heero! You just said relationship! Does this mean…"

            Heero held up Relena's hand, she blushed. "Guilty as charged."

            They had to call out for pizza because Duo had fainted.

            A big strong guy like you fainted?

            [Hey! Don't say such things.]

            Though you would expect all things to go uphill, they on average didn't. Duo patched things up with Hilde. That was a week some people couldn't stand. Heero and Relena were okay. Duo had decided to stop being a bodyguard; he needed to concentrate on a less dangerous job, mentally and physically. Heero tried to get another pilot to come on, but everyone was busy. Duo offered to go part time until a replacement could be found. This was acceptable. Duo also had to train his replacement.

            It was a cold Sunday morning in December when Duo ran into a hospital. He was tired from the run up the stairs, but he didn't have time to breath. He looked for any of the Gundam guys and he only found Heero.

            "What-huff-happened?"

            "I failed. Miserably. Your replacement is dead. Relena…is in intensive care."

            "Oh, god. Heero, I should have been there or something…"

            Heero glared. "Yea. You should have. I could find a way to blame this mess on you Duo, but I'm too tired.

            "Oh yea? How is this my fault?" He regretted saying the words but who was Heero to tell him how to run his life. He needed to get out of that job.

            "Well, we I.D. the guy on the attack-he is dead now- and it turns out to be the anonomys attacker a few months ago. He tried to do her personally. I killed him. I should have killed him a few months ago, but you shoved me out the window. I had a clean shot, until you moved me!"

            "We were going to die!"

            "I lived through my Gundam blowing up! I think I could handle this!"

            "Excuse me perfect soldier. I thought you wanted to live to see another day!"

            "Not if it put Relena in Danger! You endangered her by not letting me shoot!"

            "Look, I know you are angry! You can't hold me responsible for that…"

            "Damn right I can!" Heero got up and punched Duo in the stomach.

            "You!" Duo reached back and slammed his hand into Heero's face.

That was the last argument they ever had. Heero mercilessly beat on Duo who fought valiantly. He knew that Heero needed to work out some aggression, but God. Another shot to his face. Blood spilled onto the floor. Duo kicked him in the sternum. The staff tried to stop Heero but no avail. When Wufei, Sally, Noin, and Zechs got there they merely watched. Trowa and Quatre also were shocked. Wufei tried to stop it, "This is pointless!"

            Heero spun a quick sweep and stole Wufei's katana from the fallen man. He lunged at Duo. Duo fell onto his back, grabbed Heero's wrists and threw him over him…out a window.

            "Shit!" Duo instantly reached out of the window. The only thing he could grab was Wufei's Katana. The blade bit into his skin. Heero's weight on the sword didn't help. Both refused to let go. So Duo fell out of the window too.

            They fell. Two best friends on a collision course with the ground. Both had that I'm sorry look in their eyes.

            "I wasn't thinking! Sorry we aren't going to make it!"

            "You are!" Heero kicked Duo in the chest and he flew into another window and through it.

            Duo was cut all over and he felt like shit. He pulled himself off of the screaming nurse, and left a bloody trail to the walk.

            It didn't surprise Duo to see Heero's body intact. The boy had survived a lot higher stresses. The impact of the organs inside however was a different story. There was no doubt. He was dead.

            "No. Heero…God. I can't…no…I killed you…and you saved me…"

            "Holy shit!" Hilde and Dorothy were outside.

            "It was an accident. I didn't mean…"

            It didn't look good Duo had lost about three pints of blood before he passed out.

            He awoke alone. Like he should be. He checked the time on the clock Twelve hours. Shit. He was like this for about a day. He actually checked out this time and hunted down a newspaper. There was the story. And Duo wasn't the bad guy.

            "Wrong." He muttered. It was his fault.

            He walked to his apartment. No one was there. Duo decided to check out the room.

            He looked at Heero's room. Relena was asleep on the couch. Must have gotten out earlier than he did. She was holding a green tank top. Duo sighed. The room was Spartan. Duo did see some gold on the table. He looked at it questioningly. "A wedding band?"

            A wedding band was around a chain. Duo remembered seeing a chain around Heero's neck… "No."

            "Uh…Duo…"

            "Yea." He looked away, tears in his eyes. He couldn't face her. Not now.

            "It was an accident. He let his rag-"

            "No! Heero was always in control. He wouldn't let his rage get the best of him; he thought it was my fault. It was. We screamed, and fought." He looked at his bandaged hand. "I tried my best, but my best is not good enough. Its my fault."

            "Your right."

            "It is your fault. You always manage to screw things up. I can't believe I never saw it before."

            Duo stood there. Not defending himself. Relena ranted some more. "Why did you have to be such a fuck up?! Heero is dead and it's your fault!"

            "I know! I fell twenty stories with him! Shit! He was my best friend I will never get him back either! I miss him already! I owe my life to him again! I can't just say oh well!"

            He stormed out. Relena looked down. She ever meant to get so out of control. She looked where he was standing. Small droplets of water were there. Tears "Oh, he does feel like shit already and I made it worse."

            "If Relena hates me I wonder what the others think about me…" Duo wiped his eyes.

            He spied a bottle of Vodka in the cupboard.

            "And so I crawled into a bottle and tried to drink myself to death."

            "Wow. That is a new story."

            "Good for you. I told you my story, got any advice?"

            "Well, you could try to talk to Relena again. After all, she may be calmer. Or your friends. Maybe they are willing to forgive you, though you should be ready to forgive yourself. I suggest letting go of that bottle and trying better ways of healing. Like a church."

            "Right. I should be ready to forgive myself."

            "Get outta here. Its 3 in the morning."

            "Yea. Thanks O'Riely."

            "Goodnight Maxwell."

            Duo walked alone on the streets of the city. He wandered to a church he was just at a day ago. He walked out back to a fresh headstone.

            "Look, I know you saved me for a reason. I just wish I knew why. You could have spun us around and thrown yourself through the window. You saved me. You had Relena I never held anything you did against me. Why me? Trowa could make the jokes."

            "Excuse me. I didn't know anyone else would be here." Another person had appeared behind him.

            "I'm not loved, I wonder if he even knew me."

            "Did he save your life in the war?"

            "Yes."

            "He was a great man, I loved him."

            "Still do?"

            "Yea. I'll never forget him."

            "Lots of people will never forget him."

            "I wish Duo would have been there. He could have given a great eulogy. They were best friends, had an argument. And an accident. He blamed himself. I didn't help him either. I just yelled at him. I thought he would try to defend himself. He just took it all in. Now I wonder if he is even still alive."

            "Suicidal?"

            "I was. But then again, I was his wife."

            Duo stood in silence. Relena didn't recognize him braid less, and with his back turned. He didn't know they had eloped. That was why they wore their rings on chains. To hide it from everybody. He looked at the headstone of marble. "Oh, Lord could you tell him he's more than a name on a wall." He reached into his coat and produced a Three-foot plus braid of hair. He had cut it off and tied the top similar to the bottom. He set it down next to grave. "I won't die. I owe it to you to live."

            He walked off, passed Relena.

            She stared. Who would go to his headstone and not be at the funeral? She looked at the mass he left behind. A Chestnut colored braid. Duo… "DUO!"

            He was gone.

            Robert O'Riely was locking up shop when a girl tapped him on the shoulder. Sandy colored Hair, a diamond Ring on a necklace. She had been crying. "Excuse me, have you seen a guy about this height, and a long black coat. Name is Duo?"

            "Yea. He drank Two and a half bottles of 40 proof. I gave him some advice told him to crawl out of the bottle."

            "Thanks. He needed that."

            "Who are you?"

            "Relena Yuy."

            "Do you hate him?"

            "Duo?"

            "He said you yelled at him, he got the impression that you and everyone else hated him. Generally when the guy with the friends finds himself alone, you find him dead outside my bar."

            "Oh, God."

            "I would find him soon."

            She thanked the man and ran off. Robert sighed. This was why he was a bartender. The stories he could hear. He could tell. The finding of a man's soul. "Good luck, and Godspeed."

            When he thought about it, alleys were pretty comfortable. Especially this one. The wall seemed too soft…

            He was about to find some sleep when he saw her. Gazing down the alley. She was looking for him. Maybe to tell him to stay away from Heero's grave. Makes sense. Coincidence being the oddball that he is decided to throw them for a loop. A big mugger took this time to be his time. He reached out from the shadows, grabbed Relena. He held a knife to her neck.

            Duo had gotten up. Technically it was still his responsibility. He staggered forward. "Hey! Keep your hands off her!"

            "What'chu goin' to do 'bouts it?"

            Duo stood there. "Give you my wallet. Lots of big bills."

            "Heh. Throw her here."

            Duo did just that. The big guy let go of Relena and grabbed the wallet, lots of big bills. He laughed, "Now I kill you and her."

            He couldn't think of much else to do. He just jumped the big guy. He got his ass kicked but the big guy had a broken neck. Duo had the knife in his side.

            "I guess I played bodyguard for you again."

            "Duo…I'm sorry. I don't hate you. I never did. Neither does anybody else."

            "Eh, no biggie. Hey, Cremate me. Spread half my ashes onto Deathsythe and the rest on Heero's grave."