Description: Heero has to prevent a version of himself from an alternate timeline from killing him and taking his place. 1x2

Rating: M

Stuff: I don't own Gundam Wing

Warnings: Language, Violence, Character Death (kinda), Adult Situations, Same-Sex Relationships

There are two versions of this story. This is the edited version. If you want to read the smutastic version, you can find the link in my profile.

Duality

It was the end of the day. I could already hear Preventers agents in the hallway loudly saying farewells to each other as they left for the day. Duo pushed his chair back from his desk and stretched. His simple undershirt riding up a bit and showing a glimpse of taut abs.

"Hey, 'Ro, I was thinkin' of trying this new bar on 5th street. I heard some of the guys from narcotics talkin' about it. You interested?"

"It's a work night."

"Well, yeah, but you don't haveta drink, yanno. We can just hang out and try some of the food, see what the place is like. Come on, 'Ro, you should come."

"Don't bother me right now, Maxwell. I want to finish this report and get started on the pre-mission work for the Scandis case."

"Oh… ok… umm, well, if you change your mind you can always call me?"

"I'll keep that in mind. Good night, Maxwell."

"Night, 'Ro." He grabbed his Preventers jacket off the back of his chair and left the room. I went back to typing my report.

I wasn't sure what woke me, but my instincts told me I needed to move. I promptly rolled to my side and heard a quiet "pmf" noise before the pillow my head had just vacated turned into a fountain of feathers. I landed kneeling on the floor and quickly turned to face my attacker, pointing the gun I had grabbed from under my pillow during my evasion. When I saw who my attacker was, I was distracted momentarily. He took the moment of my distraction to fire another shot. If I was any normal human I probably would have been hit, but my reaction time is far faster than average. I had shaken off my distraction and started another evasive manoeuver before he even had a chance to finish pulling the trigger. I rolled once again, this time towards my attacker and I sprang up to try to grab for his gun hand. He unfortunately was fast as well and was able to avoid me. He then used the instant of my guard being down to throw a punch with his left hand to my abdomin. I grunted with the impact and spun, kicking my leg out to try to trip up my attacker. He quickly jumped back, once again avoiding my attack. We found ourselves in a standoff.

I eyed my attacker warily. "Why are you here?"

"That's obvious by now. Though I was hoping for initial success. Without the moment of surprise my goal is going to be harder to accomplish. Yet I am not surprised to find it difficult to kill myself."

I looked at the man with the messy chocolate brown hair and cold cobalt eyes. The man who looked just like me. "Who are you?"

"I am you. I come from a different timeline than the one we are residing in at this moment."

I kept an eye out for tells but I didn't see any. Either this man was telling the truth, or he received extensive training in covering the signs of lying. I decided to just set that whole train of thought aside for perusal later. "Why are you trying to kill me?"

"You squander the gift you are given. I am here to kill you and take your place."

"Gift?"

"It is a waste of my time to explain what should be more than obvious to you already, but no matter. I will see to it that you die. I will take your place. I will have him again." With that declaration, my attacker quickly dived for the open bedroom door. I heard him run down the short hall, leaving my apartment. I followed at a slower pace, relocking my front door and resetting the security upon reaching it.

A Heero from another timeline? I wasn't sure if it was even possible, but he certainly did look just like me, and seemed to have a comparable reaction time and reflexes. I wasn't sure if I truly believed the alternate timeline claim, but the man appeared to be determined to kill me and was obviously skilled. I was just going to have to be prepared for a fight at any moment.

I found myself in a small room. Two queen size beds taking up the majority of the space. It was obviously a hotel room, and didn't take me long to recognize which specific hotel room. This was the room Duo and I stayed in while working the Grant case. I was obviously dreaming.

I knew how events would proceed and turned toward the closed door that led to the bathroom. Just then the door opened and Duo exited, wearing nothing but a low slung towel around his waist. He had another towel that he was using to dry his long chestnut hair, which was currently loose instead of in its standard braid. I couldn't keep my eyes from following the thin trail of hair leading from beneath his navel downwards to where it disappeared beneath the towel.

I remembered this night. Oh, how I remembered this night. This was the most trying night I had ever had during my partnership with Duo. I remember how it took all I could to gather my will about me and start discussing our plans for working the case instead of giving in to distraction.

But it was then that the dream took a turn from how it went in my memories. I found my body moving without my control. I walked up to Duo and slipped one hand behind his head, to rest at the base of his skull, threading my fingers through the loose chestnut flows.

""Ro?"

Without explanation, I covered the final distance separating us, crashing my lips onto his. I could feel his body tense for just a moment before he relaxed and his lips started to move against mine. I slowly slid my other hand around his waste to the small of his back while he threaded both of his hands into my hair. It took only the slightest bit of force and then he was against me fully, aligned from chest to groin. I felt his hardening arousal rub up against my own, even despite the barrier of cloth. He gasped and I took full advantage; my tongue delved into the sweet warm heat. I reveled in the taste of him until reluctantly I took a half step back. He gave me a questioning look until comprehension dawned as I reached towards the buttons of my shirt, slowly undoing them. I took in his slightly flushed features. His glistening pink lips. My eyes flicked down to notice the obviously tented towel and I couldn't help but smirk.

Before I had even half the buttons undone, he had his hands on me, exploring my chest. When the last button was freed, he slid his hands up over my shoulders and down my arms, removing the loose fabric. He then went for the button on my pants, quickly working it and my zipper. He kneeled down as he ran his hands down the side of my legs, dragging my pants along with them. I helped step out of them so he could remove them completely.

He glanced up at me from his kneeling position, his face mere inches from the tent in my boxer briefs, and he gave a smirk of his own. "Maybe we should take this to the bed?" I just nodded in assent.

...

My post coital bliss caused me to fall to my elbows but I was able to prevent myself from smothering him. I rolled to lay beside him and panted until my heart rate slowly evened out. I moved beneath the blankets and he crawled in beside me. I placed my hand on the side of his face, gently brushing aside some of the fine loose hairs that had stuck to sweat dampened skin. He placed a small, chaste kiss on my lips. He grinned down at me and chuckled. "It's about damn time." And then he settled his head on my chest and fell asleep.

For the second time that night I awoke with a start. This time it wasn't to find an attacker in my bedroom, but to find an uncomfortable sticky wetness in my shorts. When I got up to go clean myself up, I glanced at the clock and saw I had awoken 20 minutes before my alarm. I figured I might as well just get ready for work since I wasn't going to be getting anymore sleep after that. As I showered, all I could think was what the fuck was with that dream?

I was at work long before Duo came rushing in 5 minutes late, coffee in one hand and a bagel held in his mouth.

"You're late, Maxwell." I glanced up at him as he rushed in, and suddenly an image from my far too realistic dream played across my mind. I blushed and glanced down quickly. He didn't notice my strange reaction.

"Yea, yea gef off mah cashe, 'Ro," he mumbled around his bagel. He sat at his desk and started working on the day's paperwork.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, remembering the slick slide of bodies. I shook my head, amazed at how distracted I was by the previous night's dream. I tried to focus on my own work, but I couldn't help but wonder, is that really what he would feel like?

The work day seemed to go on for forever. No matter how much I tried not to think about the dream, it was all I could think about. I found myself uncomfortably hard all day. I ended up having to eat lunch at the Preventers cafeteria three floors down (which I had avoided since my first disastrous experience with their "food") simply because it was much closer than the usual sandwich place I visited for lunch, allowing me to wait until after Duo left and return before him so I could avoid any awkward situations.

I glanced once again at the clock to note I was finally on the last 10 minutes of the day. I heard Duo shut of his computer and start to organise his paperwork from the day. I unfortunately glanced over at just the moment he stretched, his undershirt riding up as usual. My eyes riveted on the glimpse at the fine trail of hair and a deluge of images were invoked. A groan escaped against my will.

"'Ro? You ok?"

"I'm fine, Maxwell." I nearly growled my response. He gave me an odd look, trying to decide the validity of my response I assume. Eventually he just shrugged and reached for his uniform jacket.

"See ya tomorrow, 'Ro." And he walked out of our office. I waited, making sure he had a large head start. The last thing I would want was to successfully hide my aroused state all day and then fail by meeting him in the hallway to the parking lot. I shut down my computer, and filed my paperwork appropriately. Once everything was organised to my satisfaction, I left the office and headed to the parking garage.

When the elevator doors opened to the parking garage, my eyes quickly flicked over to where Duo's assigned spot was located. I breathed a small sigh of relief when I noted that his motorcycle was not there. I walked over to my adjacent spot while fishing my car keys from my pocket. Before I walked even half the distance from the elevator to my car, I froze in place. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. A quick mental analysis of my response determined that I assumed there would be another attempt on my life. If I was trying to eliminate a target, I would most likely try again at this moment.

I flipped open my cellphone and called the bomb disposal squad, silently hoping I was actually correct in my assumption or I would never hear the end of it. As I made the call, my eyes scanned the rest of the lot. If what the other Heero said about trying to take my place was true, then he would most likely be located somewhere he would be able to stake out my car. That way after the explosion he could quickly hide the body and then claim it was merely a close call and he was perfectly fine, seamlessly inserting himself into my life. I heard the squeal of tires as a car quickly pulled out and left the parking lot.

I found myself in the Preventers locker room wearing full raid gear. I heard a noise behind me and turned to see Duo, dressed like a gang member. I recognised the scene. This was just after the raid on one of the local gangs. The gang had been acquiring illegal guns and Duo had been assigned to go undercover and discover their source. It had taken him nearly three months before he finally made contact with Preventers to say he had all the information required. I had then been tasked with leading the joint Preventers and local law enforcement raid on the gang's hideout for arrests.

I remembered that the way the memory went was that Duo followed me into the locker room to give me a 'job well done' message for which I returned the sentiment and then he left to head to his apartment, but after the dream the night before, I wondered if that was how things were actually going to proceed or not. I decided to just follow the "script" and see where things went. I turned to my locker and started to remove my kevlar vest.

Then I felt it again. The moment where the dream takes control.

I heard a rustling noise behind me as Duo walked forward. When he got close I turned, only to find that his belt was lying on the floor a few paces back and his pants were undone and pulled down just enough to grant me better access.

He grabbed my hand and pulled it up to his face, where he proceeded to suck on two of the fingers. I guessed what he had in mind and had to admit, "I don't have any lube."

"Don't care. You're gonna give it to me hard and give it to me fast."

I chuckled and moved my mouth next to his ear. I could feel my lips just brushing the shell of his ear as I replied, "Mission accepted."

…

We leaned against the lockers, panting and sweaty. I felt his head turned towards me just slightly from where it rested on my shoulder and heard him whisper in my ear, "I love you so fuckin' much, 'Ro."

I turned and kissed his forehead. "Me too."

I awoke with a gasp, once again finding myself with a warm, sticky mess in my pants. I pulled my knees up, rested my elbows on my knees, and covered my face with my hands. How the fuck was I going to be able to face Duo after that?

As I was cleaning myself up, I heard the doorbell ring. I glanced at the clock, 2:16AM. I quickly pulled on a new pair of sweatpants and grabbed my gun from beneath my pillow.

I stood just to the side of the door as I reached over to grip the handle. I held my gun ready as I opened the door just enough to see who my late night visitor was.

"'Ro, it's me. Let me in." Duo was wearing a rumpled looking Preventers uniform and his hair was starting to escape his braid. I gulped and failed at keeping my thoughts from the fact that he looked 'post sex'.

I quickly re-enabled the safety on my gun and undid the door chain, allowing him to enter. He stormed into my living room.

"Do you want to explain why the fuck your car was rigged with a bomb!? I barely make it home before I get called back to headquarters to coordinate the bomb removal team and the CSI team, only to find out it's your fucking car that was rigged to explode! You also didn't think to call and say, 'Hey, Duo, seems someone's out to get me. Funny stuff, right?' Noo, I had to hear it from Jacobs. Just spent the last who knows how many fucking hours making sure the CSI team let the bomb team do their fucking job and making sure the bomb team didn't fuck up too much of the CSI team's evidence. Then had to fill out fuck knows how much paperwork. Fuck I'm exhausted." And he gracelessly flopped backwards onto my couch. I set the gun aside and slowly walked toward him.

"So, any idea who's trying to off you?"

"Yes." He rolled his eyes. I assumed it was at my minimal response. "I can't really explain."

"Did you know before they tried to gib ya?"

"Yes."

His expression turned stern. "And why didn't you tell me?"

"I saw no reason why you needed to be informed."

He just stared at me. He seemed rather angry and I was starting to fear another outburst but eventually he just gave an exasperated sigh which ruffled his bangs. He leaned his head back against the couch and said, "Sometimes you are such an oblivious idiot."

I didn't really know what he expected as a response to that so I simply said nothing.

"Grab me a pillow and some blankets."

"Why?"

"Cus someone's trying to kill you, idiot. Ya think I'm gonna let you be by yourself at a time like this? I'm gonna crash on your couch. We can head to work together tomorrow. I'm not gonna let you out of my sight."

I was wearing a tuxedo standing in front of a full length mirror. The room looked like one of the many guest rooms in the palace in Sanq. I was adjusting my tie when I heard the door open. Duo started talking before even entering the room.

"I can't believe we let Relena talk us into letting her be in charge of this whole thing. I took a peek outside. I don't think I recognise even a third of the people she invited, and that's counting the people I only know from seeing them on the news!"

I turned towards him and smiled. He was wearing a tux similar to mine. His blue tie somehow made his eyes appear even more violet. My smile morphed into a smirk. "I thought it was bad luck for the groom to see the bride beforehand."

He put on an expression of mock outrage. "Hey! Which of us are you saying is the bride!? And before you answer that, remember, I haven't said 'I do' yet!"

I stepped forward, placing my hand on his cheek and then sliding it to the nape of his neck. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. He joined in in relish. I reluctantly broke the kiss when we both required air. "I love you, Duo."

He snorted. "Well that's good cus otherwise this whole event would be stupid." He swiftly shifted himself to deliver a quick nip to my ear, and then whispered, "I love you too, Heero, with all my heart." He draped his arms over my shoulders while I slid my arms around his trim waist. He tilted his head to the side. "I think weddings may be too much excitement for Quat. He's lost it." I cocked a brow encouraging him to continue. "The guy made me stick a half-credit chip in my shoe, and not only that but he insisted that I was only borrowing it. The guy's the richest man in the universe, why's he worried about a half-credit chip?" We both turned toward the doorway when we heard someone knock. Wufei stuck his head in and informed us that it was time for the ceremony to start. I gave Duo a quick kiss and turned to follow Wufei.

While waiting near the officiant, with Wufei and Trowa to my left and Quatre and Hilde across from me, I had a chance to glance around at the wedding guests. I had to agree with Duo; there were many guests I didn't recognise. From the ones I did know, I could tell it was a veritable 'who's who' of politics. It seemed Relena invited anyone she worked with, anyone she could possibly work with, and generally anyone she could possibly even cross paths with. It was too late to second guess our choice of letting Relena run everything now though. I heard the music change and looked up to see Duo and Howard at the beginning of the aisle. I felt a warm feeling swell in my chest. My eyes locked with Duo's.

My entire focus was on Duo and his slow progression closer to me. It took a half second for it to register when I heard someone yell, "Die Gundam fuckers!" My eyes locked on the person just as I heard two gunshots. I had my gun drawn from my shoulder holster, but the man seemed to have already been taken down. A few of the guests near where the man went down started to scream and guests in general started to panic. My eyes sought out Duo from the crowd, but the milling guests were blocking my view. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei, and Hilde all had weapons drawn and fanned out to make sure there were no other potential enemies. I went down the center aisle to try to locate Duo, shoving guests roughly out of my way.

It took me far longer than I liked to make it to where I had last seen Duo. I eventually shouldered past enough guests. The sight I was met with made my heart stop. It was like there was an invisible barrier, an area where none of the panicking guests would pass through, and in the center of that area was Duo lying on the ground in a growing pool of his own blood. Howard was frantically trying to stop the blood flow. There was a gun held limply in one of his hands.

I rushed forward and kneeled next to him. I could feel the warm wetness seep into the fabric of my pants. His head listed to face me. His voice was weak when he spoke. "Did I make the shot?"

I was distressed. I couldn't think of anything I could do. Howard said, "Kid, you shouldn't be talking right now." Duo's brows furrowed in a look of annoyance and his eyes never left mine. I realised he was waiting on an answer. I nodded. His expression eased. "Good. Then I stopped him before he could hurt you." He smiled.

"Duo, be quiet. We'll get you to the hospital. You're gonna get through this."

He tried to laugh, but it came out more a cough. "You're a horrible liar, 'Ro. You and I both know I'm not bouncing back from this one." He coughed some more and blood trailed from his lips.

"No! Don't say that!" I pressed my forehead against his. "You can't die, Duo. I can't live without you."

He placed his hand on my cheek. I could feel the smear of blood. "Sorry, 'Ro. I'd stay if I could." He had to pause talking while he started to cough again. "I'd give anything to stay with you. I wanted to grow old with you, but it's not looking like that's gonna happen."

I let out an anguished moan. I started to shake my head minutely, still holding it against his forehead. "No. No. No! You can't die. Not like this. Not ever."

He gave me a small, pained smile. "I love you, Heero." And his eyes slid shut.

I awoke and slowly sat up in my bed trying to steady my breathing. I felt something on my cheeks and reach up to see what it was.

Tears.

There were tears streaming down my cheeks. I bent my knees and hooked my arms around them, hugging them to my chest and just let the tears flow.

Duo was asleep on the couch when I quietly entered the living room. His braid was even more disheveled and he was drooling on his pillow. There was never a sight I had wanted to see more.

I held myself back from rushing to wake him and holding him close. I calmed myself by watching the steady rise and fall of his chest. Duo was here. Duo was alive.

Duo had been by my side for so long it seemed like he had always been there and always would be. I had never really contemplated a world without him. Who would watch my back during missions? Who would help me through the times where it seemed like civilian life was an overwhelming impossibility? Who would empty my fridge of leftovers?

Who would smile and make his whole face light up just at seeing me?

It had only been a dream. Just a dream. It didn't happen.

At least not to me.

I had been suspicious after the first two dreams, but the third made me almost positive. They weren't really dreams. They were his memories.

"You squander the gift you are given. I am here to kill you and take your place."

"Gift?"

"It is a waste of my time to explain what should be more than obvious to you already, but no matter. I will see to it that you die. I will take your place. I will be with him again."

He was right. It should have been obvious.

It had only taken a moment of searching on the internet before I found the perfect location. The large warehouse had minimal security, an effortlessly climbed fence and an easily avoided camera at the main entrance.

I scanned the warehouse upon entry. It was an open concrete floor with metal support pillars placed at even intervals around the room. There were a few piles of boxes and other supplies being stored but for the most part the place was empty. I picked a location that had the least open lines of sight to sniper locations and waited.

I just hoped that my assumption was correct and that "other Heero" thought like I did.

I didn't have to wait long. I heard him long before I saw him. He calmly walked into the warehouse and stopped a short distance from me. We both glared at each other silently.

He broke the silence first. "I had hoped to find you here. When Duo remained at your apartment I assumed that meant he had decided to stay near you. I really hoped you would try to finish this without getting him more involved but I couldn't really predict how much you actually cared for him."

"I may not have chosen the path you did, but do not doubt how important he is to me."

He gave a wry smile. "It seems like you may have finally realised. Unfortunately that doesn't change my mission."

We both drew our guns and fired at the same time. I barely had time to dodge. I felt a sharp bite of pain along the side of my skull. The force of the impact made me lose balance and fall to my knees. I saw the other Heero repeat my motion, falling to his own knees. Blackness seeped in around the edge of my vision and I tried to hold it back. I could just barely make out the other Heero falling to the floor as the blackness claimed my vision and I fell unconscious.

I held my heart rate steady and kept my eyes closed as I slowly awoke. This was not my bedroom. I listened to the sounds around me, trying to identify where I was. I could hear a steady beeping noise; I honed in on it. It matched my heart. A heart rate monitor. A hospital. I was in a hospital. I slowly opened my eyes.

I noticed a pressure on my hand and looked down. There was a chestnut head resting on my hospital bed.

"Duo?"

His head shot up and he gripped my hand harder. "Oh god, Heero! You're awake!"

His eyes were red. There were tear stains streaking his face. I reached across with my free hand, cupping his cheek. He closed his eyes and nuzzled into it for a moment, but then his eyes opened and he glared at me fiercely. "Don't ever do that to me again! I woke up and you weren't there. I had to hack your computer to figure out where you went, and then when I got there-" He cut off with a sob, and tears starting to trail down his face again. "I saw him. I saw him and thought it was you. I thought you were dead."

I freed my hand from his grip and looped it around his waist. I pulled him onto the bed with me, giving in to my earlier urge to hold him close.

"And then when I saw you it wasn't much better. There was so much blood." He reached up and trailed his fingers over something near my temple. I could only assume there was a bandage there covering where I got shot.

I gripped his wrist, stopping his hand's exploration of the bandage. "It's fine, Duo. I'm fine now." I pulled his hand close to my mouth and started to kiss each of his fingertips. I heard him gasp.

"H-heero?"

"Promise me you'll never leave me."

He gave me a puzzled look. "I wasn't the one who nearly died."

"Just promise, Duo." I looked into his vibrant violet eyes.

"I've never intended to leave you. I never want to." He lowered his head, shielding his eyes with his bangs. He quietly added, "As long as you promise to never leave me."

I gripped his chin and tilted his head to once again meet his eyes. "Never. I will never leave you, Duo." I leaned forward and joined my lips with his.

-x-

-Author's Note-

Thanks for reading!

Cliché death dialogue is cliché. Seems I can only do death scenes like that at 4 in the morning. That's the only time my brain thinks lines that bad are ok enough to actually type. Then they just kinda stay there because the rest of the time I can't think of anything better.

Would you believe this was originally meant to be mostly plot? It kinda… diverged.

I wonder what would happen if anyone told Duo that everyone else was making him the bride.

And for the curious:

something old - Duo's cross

something new - Duo's tux

something borrowed - Quatre's half-credit chip

something blue - Duo's tie

and a sixpence in her shoe - half-credit chip in shoe

(I think that last one is a British-ism. Don't know really. Got it from my Grandma. That, and my love for roast beef and yorkshire pudding. Woman made a damn good roast & pudding.)