It was the first time that Duo had returned to L2 since the end of the Mariemaia fiasco
Title: Finding Home
Words: 4060 without Authors notes
Disclaimer: I do not in any way shape or form own Gundam Wing, some facts came from the manga Episode Zero and I tried to keep as close to what could feasibly happen as possible.
Other: I started this-gracious- about a year ago and just now finished it. It's in response to challenge number one of Anonymous Void which basically said over 4000 words, not 1x2 and no Mary Sues or OCs, and yes I did ask if I could include the ones that are there, as they sort of should be cannon? Anyway without further ado or rambles on my part, here is the tale
--
It was the first time that Duo had returned to L2 since the end of the Mariemaia fiasco. Duo was not sure if he was happy that his happy little world had been stripped away again, or not. On one hand he realized he couldn't keep leading on Hilde, it wasn't fair to her, and it certainly wasn't fair to him either. Duo would never be able to give her what she was looking for. Stability wasn't Duo's thing; he had been running far too long to be comfortable in one place for any length of time. Love, well anything other then platonic love would be difficult since he'd never felt himself worthy of her innocence and he couldn't stand that sappy "I love you even with your problems that I can't understand because I lived a happy sheltered life." love that she felt for him. One look at his scars, mental, emotional and physical and she'd run away screaming like a child who was scared by a "monster" on Halloween. Add that to the fact that he was tired of being the strong one and the fact that he quite frankly preferred the same gender equaled a short heartbreak for Hilde, if he dropped her now, and a miserable life dancing around her trying not to step on her precious feelings' toes, if he didn't. Telling Hilde over the phone had been the wisest thing he had ever done as far as he was concerned. She had ranted and raged, which Duo could handle, but then she'd cried and well that made Duo feel like a butt. So after awkwardly finishing the conversation he had proceeded to avoid Hilde, and anything remotely related to Hilde, including his home colony L2.
Duo shook his head at himself as he stood before the rubble of Maxwell Church staring blankly-still seeing the smoke and blood and devastation in which he'd last seen it- and mentally berated himself for being a coward and made himself see that it was silly of him to pin his avoidance of the colony on Hilde. She had played a role to be sure, he had waited till she moved off to L4 with her spiffy new fiancé to visit old haunts but it wasn't just her. There were so many horrid, painful and downright crippling memories here. Looking at the rubble Duo took a little trip down memory lane. He remembered Solo, his oldest and best friend.
Solo was the one who saved him and the one who had given him so much of what became Duo. His first name was given to him by Solo. The affect that he left on Duo's very soul was as indelible as black permanent marker on freshly painted white walls. The plague that took him away was also a scar upon his soul. Duo had changed his name from "Kid" to the derivative of Solo's name so that he could live Solo's life along with his own and never be alone. Solo was the first he had failed to save, but he certainly wasn't the last. That thought led him through his years on the street and the friends he lost to drugs or pimps or any number of foul things and people. And speaking of black and terrible scars on Duo's soul, Maxwell church, where he acquired his last name, both Maxwell and Shinigami was one of the biggest, next to Solo's.
Most of his little gang of street kids had been adopted, but not Duo. Duo was too wild, untamed; he had been on his own too long and like a feral cat was nearly impossible to tame. Even Father Maxwell, who gave him his cross, and Sister Helen, who first braided the street snarled hair could not tame Duo. They managed to befriend him, sooth a bit the little child inside longing for a place to belong, and give him a bolt hole in times of trouble, which were often, but he was never truly broken to their ways. No matter what they tried the only god Duo believed in was Shinigami. In the end he couldn't save them either, nor could he save the orphans that he had helped take care of to repay the kind nun and Father. In the end 245 people were killed in what became the Maxwell Church Tragedy. It was a well known event on L2 and the rest of the colonies but no one had though to pin Duo Maxwell, the happy go lucky Gundam Pilot 02 to the church or any other horrific event.
Duo felt misunderstood by his fellow Gundam Pilots. Sure they knew tragedy, but they were so self absorbed that they could never see the pain of their fellows. Heero had been created to fight, a perfect soldier, trained and retrained till his emotions were buried so deeply that none had a chance of retrieving them. Trowa was a child mercenary that had grown up with no identity but the memories of fire and the memories of his abuse at the hands of the mercenaries. Quatre's tragedy was that he couldn't see past the end of his own nose and discover that even if he was a test tube baby that he still had worth. Not, mind you, that he was one, but Duo certainly wasn't going to tell him what he found in his records since he's just getting used to being born. Wufei was a tangled mess of remorse, regret, anger and shame all swirled in with more then his fair share of pride. He'd lost his wife, who he fought with constantly, and his entire colony that gave up their lives to keep him safe. Duo often wished he could help them with their pain, but the others seemed to want to handle it on their own and dwell on only their own pain.
Duo sighed as he looked around the wreckage and was actually surprised to see a fair number of bouquets scattered around the rubble and clustered around a plaque. Duo blinked and realized he wasn't the only one here to pay his respects on the anniversary of the tragedy. Merchants from the market, families, and even some business men were all there with flowers or wreaths offering their memories to the rubble and showing that the church had not been forgotten. They all shared their pain and in the sharing they found that they could remember all the good that the church had done. Duo wandered over the
Plaque and read the inscription.
"To the 245 innocents buried here,
You will never be forgotten,
You died preaching the ideal of peace and now peace will remember you."
Duo had tears in his eyes as he traced the words on the plaque. "May the god you believed in give you peace Father Maxwell, and Sister Helen." He muttered to himself and eaves dropped absently on the group behind him.
"I just don't get it! Why?"
"You ask this every year Squirt."
"And you never have an answer! They were too good to die! They saved us!"
There was an exasperated sigh, and Duo perked at the name slightly.
"Relax Emily, Squirt no one knows what happened in there at the end." A new voice piped in.
"Look that guy has a braid like Duo had." yet another voice said clearly trying to change the subject and Duo whirled around to see just who knew his braid only to come face to face with five people. The four boys and one girl blinked in surprise as the person in front of them suddenly swirled around.
"D-Duo?!" five voices chorused at the sight of their violet eyed Duo. Duo stared at them frozen as he drank in familiar, much older, but familiar faces until he was glomped by the girl and the youngest boy. Slowly his arms came up to hold them close.
"E-Emily? S-Squirt? I can't believe it!" Duo stuttered all over himself in genuine excitement. There was a flurry of hugs, kisses, scolding, tears and confusion.
"Duo! We thought you died!" was the common consensus. People who were trying to give their respects paused in whatever they were doing to look at the boisterous reunion. Duo wasn't paying attention but people began to whisper that Maxwell's Demon had returned on seeing the braid and eyes.
"No, I wasn't in the church when they blew it up." Duo said and touched each of the five that had gathered around him like excited puppies, there were Curly, Eric, Squirt, Emily and his right hand Copycat. Curly and Eric had been his lieutenants and had helped take care of Squirt who was the youngest and Emily who had been The Girl in their little group. Copycat had cried when his adoptive parents had taken him away, he was the only one that had been really old enough to remember Solo. The other Gundam pilots would have been shocked to see the most beautiful grin pass over Duo's face as it far outshone any other smile he'd ever given them as it was real. With a flying leap Duo pounced on Copycat and hugged him hard.
"Copycat! It's fucking great ta see you! How did life go aft'r dose people took ya off colony!? And Emily'nd Squirt, hell, you haven' killed each other yet? I was so happy that ya got taken together! Curly! Still Curly! Hug me hug me! You too Eric!" Whirlwind Duo was going at full force and falling into his old street accent that he had tried so hard to destroy when he left. After all no one respected L2 and he would probably have been ostracized from the pilots if he'd kept it. The generalization of L2 was that everyone that lived there was a whore, a pimp or a drug dealer and of course they all were thieves and murderers too. The accent was also a distinctive characteristic and Duo certainly had enough of those that he didn't want OZ to have another one, the braid didn't count, there are plenty of people with thigh length braids. Duo nearly smiled at his silly denial.
He was unbelievably excited to see the five people from his past that hadn't died he didn't know what to do with himself. The five kids all younger then 17 watched as Duo their Duo, the person that had taken all the tumbles and beatings meant for them, the person who had found food for them, saved them from the plague and had faced down people 3 times his size to keep them safe, healthy and fed, who they thought had died and was indeed here before them.
"You guys come every year?" Duo asked once he had calmed down enough that they were able to drag him to Copycat's hotel room.
"We try; our parents weren't so thrilled to let us during the war with Oz the alliance and the Gundams flying around." Copycat said and Duo got a slightly sheepish grin at the mention of the giant death dealing machines known as Gundams, of which he piloted # 2 the sneakiest and fastest of them all.
"Yeah, I can see that for you Cat I'm ashamed to say that this is my first year back to visit." Duo's accent had died when he calmed down.
"I know I've got questions the others must too. Where were you? What were you doing? What happened?!" Copycat once again took the lead. Duo's face showed a myriad of emotions, hurt, shame, wariness, weariness, hate, joy and countless shades in between.
"The … the rebels took refuge in the church and hit Father Maxwell and Sister Helen why they tried to preach peace… and I opened my big fat street smart mouth and demanded to know why they wouldn't leave… it was all my fault. They demanded a Mobile Suit. You guys knew me, I could steal anything, so I did… and when I got back the Church was rubble and Sister Helen was dying and there was blood and…" Duo trailed off painfully. Duo nearly cried- but boys don't cry- as the five kids piled onto him with hugs, kisses and reassurances that it wasn't his fault and that they were amazed and proud that they knew and were raised by Maxwell's Demon. Duo actually laughed when that old nickname was heard.
"I'm no demon guys, I'm fuckin' Shinigami. That's where I've been and what I've been doing. Hell I'm 02, Gundam Deathscythe Hell's pilot." The five gasps and harder hugs were the only thing that met him, not fear or hatred. It was unbelievably refreshing. Hell if he had known that he would find one of the families he thought he'd lost forever here on L2 he'd have come back sooner! After a couple hours of chatting about this, that and the war a cell phone rang. It was Squirt's. While he answered it Copycat asked, "So I guess you didn't know that Solo's alive?" Duo blinked, and blinked again. He requested Copycat repeat what he just said.
"Solo, he's alive." Duo fainted.
When Duo came round, he was informed that he couldn't talk to Solo today because he was off colony but that he was to return the next day after Copycat left for L3 with his adopted parents who were supposed to show up in about an hour after touring their favorite sights. Emily, Eric, Squirt, and Curly paled at this and all checked their watches. In a panic of "oh shit! I've got school tomorrow! My parent's will kiiiiill me!" they tackled Duo with hugs and kisses and invitations to visit then piled out the door.
"Will you stay Duo?" Copycat asked, "My parents would be thrilled to meet you. They've always been curious about you. They only remember the little braided thing glaring death at them for taking me away."
"Sure, I'd like that." Duo said with a smile. He was glad to hear the love in Copycat's words. After waiting a few minutes Mr. and Mrs. Corwalls came into the room calling, "Jon! Guess what? They've built a statue of Gundam 02 in honor of his braver-"
"Hey Mom, Dad, remember how I've always talked about Duo? Well it turns out he survived!" Copycat grinned and pointed at a surprised Duo Maxwell. It turns out that Copycat had chosen a more normal name, Jonathan, in order to fit in a little better and that his evil foster parents that stole his right hand man were actually some of the nicest people Duo had ever met. They let him sleep there that night and were both happy to hear tales of Copycat on the streets and sad that they both had to live through it. They thanked him for his efforts as a Gundam Pilot. Duo had never felt so accepted in his life. Here he had found the family that he thought he had lost, and to find that not all the colony shared the opinions of their leaders was redeeming.
In the morning Duo got Solo's address and phone number, along with Copycat's, said goodbye and then went to a nearby café for breakfast. Duo sat reminiscing and wondering how the hell the boy that had died in his arms was still alive. Deciding that he couldn't wait to call ahead Duo made his way to Solo's address. Solo's home turned out to be a generic row house in the city. As with all L2 the neighborhood wasn't the best but it was one of the better ones which surprised Duo. What surprised him more was when his neighbor came out and tried to shoo him away thinking that just because Duo was sitting on his front step (not that he couldn't have waited inside if he really wanted to) that he was loitering.
As they stood there having an argument about why Duo was on his neighbors front steps, Duo with braid over shoulder tugging it to keep from strangling the ignoramus, a jovial voice called out and made the man giving him trouble look over.
"Hey! Frank! Quit bothering the guy, this is a relatively safe place."
"You're too soft hearted Solo, if you let just any bum sit around on your stoop this place won't be one of the safer neighborhoods!" Frank retaliated.
"I'm not a bum damn it! Just 'cause I was waiting around for a friend doesn't mean I'm a bum!" Duo tossed his braid over his shoulder and turned to look at the boy turned man who'd taken care of him so well as a child.
"Hey Solo." Duo accompanied the simple statement with a grin when he saw Solo look at him blankly then go white at seeing the ghost of his right hand, and best friend from over ten years ago. Frank looked so confused.
"K-Kid?" Solo stuttered completely flabbergasted at the sight before him. This was the Kid? Dear god he was just as beautiful as Solo thought he'd grow up to be with those huge practically purple eyes, and holy fuck that braid….
"Yeah, it's me Solo. I'm so glad you didn't kick the bucket all those years ago." Duo thought he was taking this rather well. Solo was still himself, longish hair and green eyes that saw more then was presented. He was one of those men who were supposed to be super tall but that was one thing that Solo never would be because like Duo, and even more so then Duo, had been malnourished in his extreme youth. He was muscular and lithe in the way that someone who had fought for everything life had to give naturally had.
"By all that's holy Kid, thought you'd kicked it yourself!" Solo said with tears in his eyes while striding over and enveloping Duo in the biggest most comforting hug he'd ever experienced. Duo hugged back and felt like he'd finally found home. Frank grumbled now that it was obvious Duo was waiting for a friend and returned inside of his house.
"Well, are you going to invite me into your house? Or do you want to talk out here like the old days?" Duo asked happy just being near his Solo.
"Yeah, yeah come on in!" Solo bounded up the stairs and opened the door with a flourish. "Welcome to my humble abode!" he grinned.
"You go to school Solo? The street kid's nearly gone from your voice." Duo was smiling, he couldn't help it. His favorite person was alive and happy to see him.
"Years on the dead list and the first thing you say to me is that?" Solo asked good naturedly.
"I don't care how you survived, I'm just ecstatic that you did, Shinigami, I missed you." Duo wound his arms around Solo again and refused to let go. Solo smiled gently and drew Duo to the couch to cradle him lovingly.
"Yeah, I went to school. Got me my high school equivalent. I also got a Bachelor in early childhood teaching. Imagine that eh?" Solo stroked that glorious braid. Duo shuddered at the intimate touch he'd been so long denied.
"Bet you're every kid's favorite teacher. Damn Solo I can't think of a better job for you."
"Ehhh glad you think so Kid. Now before I burst from curiosity why the fuck couldn't I find you after the Tragedy if you were alive? I found the others! Did you-" Duo cut him off.
"Yeah I found them, saw them yesterday at the Church." Solo gave him a comforting squeeze. "You couldn't find me because I spent a couple years in an Alliance prison and from there a year or so on the streets again. But then I stowed away on a sweeper ship and met this crazy doctor…. As a result I practically have a doctorate in engineering, probably one of the best pilots you'll ever see and I know quite a bit about the medical field, oh, and I can chart course trajectories in my sleep. I'm the best thief; I can sneak into any building and break any security. I'm not a half bad hacker either."
"The fuck Kid?" Solo gaped.
"I was Gundam Pilot 02, Solo"
"Oh." Duo grinned.
"Speechless?" he asked.
"Well fuck yeah. I raised a Gundam pilot, how fucking awesome is that?!" Duo laughed, he had to with relief and joy that here too he was accepted and loved, that the person who started the chain of deaths in Duo's life was alive improved his whole outlook.
"I've got a name ya know."
"Yeah I heard… you're such a dork. 'Duo?' what the fuck man?" Solo knew from some of the news reports that Pilot 02's name was Duo but he never made any connection.
"Hey! I'm no dork, you dick. I did it for you anyway! If you couldn't live I wanted to live for both of us. And I took Maxwell as my last name. Duo Maxwell, nice ring don't you think?" Duo grinned, he couldn't seem to stop.
"It'll do, Kid. You got a place to stay?" Solo asked.
"Nope, I'll probably get an apartment and try to snag me a mechanics job."
"Nonsense, you'll live with me! You can help with my mortgage." Solo didn't bother to ask, he knew that Duo would be pleased to live with him.
"If you insist." Duo said happily.
Over the next year, Duo and Solo lived together and Duo resolved his differences with that uppity neighbor. Duo got a job as a mechanic and soon rose through the ranks to become manager. Every week end they would volunteer at a local orphanage. It helped both of them to help others especially children. Life for once, was good, very good. Solo would come home and whip up some sort of food for dinner and Duo would do the dishes. The housework (what little they did) was split evenly and they held each other accountable.
The other pilots at first didn't even notice Duo's absence but when they did they searched for him but didn't find him. Duo had quite frankly forgotten to inform them of his whereabouts and out of habit had hidden his tracks well, but he didn't regret it as living with Solo was like starting life anew, like having his life where it should have gone without all the bad things taking it off on a tangent. The rest of the gang came over often and it was like the old day, only better because there was no starvation, freezing or thirst. There wasn't any danger and they were together. In fact it was a possibility that the last ones to know about the feelings between Duo and Solo, were Duo and Solo.
Their first kiss happened over a vacuum. Yes, a vacuum, you know, one of those spiffy machines that sucks up dirt? Well Solo had been vacuuming around their house when he had accidentally sucked up one of Duo's priceless Death Scythe pieces that he had saved from the destruction of his baby. Duo threw a fit and immediately started to rescue it, or at least try to rescue it.
"You could at least help!" Duo snarled, ticked that a vacuum was thwarting him.
"Will you bite my head off again?" Solo queried.
"Grrrr, fine, I won't, just help!" Duo gave in, in hopes of rescuing one of the last bits of his war machine. With much struggling and grunting Solo helped Duo remove the jammed hose and struggle with opening the place where the bag was located. All of the sudden the hatch covering the bag burst open with a poof of dust that covered them both.
"….. When did we last empty this bag?" Duo asked with a little amazed giggle.
"Uuum I think it was… no well I actually don't know." Solo said embarrassed. Solo looked at Duo and Duo looked at Solo both thinking how utterly adorable the other was. They still debate over who kissed whom first, though it doesn't really matter. The kiss happened and the ensuing chat over feelings occurred. And then Duo made Solo go through the dust and find him the bit of Gundam. Looking back, Solo couldn't say he minded; he got his Duo out of the deal, what's a little dust?