Author Notes: Oh! I can't even begin to discribe how happy I am for the reviews I got! I feel more than flattered that people actually liked this little fic of mine. So, I'm back with another chapter, that's still dedicated to Manami-chan. Read and enjoy!
The Prince, the Hero and the Mystery of the Falcon
Chapter 2: And the sky was grey...
The victim of his unintended assault got up ignoring the hesitantly offered helping hand. Duo stared at him pulling his hand back. He was the guy from the picture! All cool and mighty. "Um ...who are you?"
"Hn." Duo was a little taken a back by the rudeness of the man. Then he took his mission-pose. So, the guy was a hard case, huh? He was a professional in getting people to talk. He had had similar cases in his past, in all the places he had been in, from the mad house to the private school he went to with old Howie's money. Honestly, some people needed to be hit with a verbal hammer before they opened up.
"Well, that's a pretty name", he smiled his hundred watt smile. "Is it your first name or your last name?" He gave the man a quick once over. "I've heard that in Asia they actually say their last name first and their first names last. Maybe it has something to do with the way they're upside down? You look a bit Japanese, you know. I'm normally pretty great in getting the first impression right." The reserved an unreadable look from the man.
"You don't talk much, do you?" The understatement of the century! "I kinda assume you do speak English, 'cause you understand what I'm saying. That's what I hope at least. I did spend two years in high school trying to learn Japanese and French, but it's really not my forte. Languages, I mean. Hey, you don't mind me talking, do you? And by the way, where are we going?"
Duo realized they were walking. Yes, he was a bit slow, but it's forgivable. It's not every day you get sucked into a book to meet this super-cool hero-like guy.
"Hn", was all he got. Damn, this guy was harder than he had thought. So, next to the extra difficult-case treatment. He smiled. No one could stop him from smiling. A silent person was always a great distraction. Only, he couldn't be distracted this time.
"You know... I think I get it now", he murmured. "That guy, Monroe Vasquez. Everybody said he got into trouble a lot before he went missing. I bet he got sucked into this book too. My buddy told me that he was a real pain in the ass, being so goody-goody all the time. 'No violence' and 'it's pathetic to revenge when somebody hurts you'. Like I said: Pain in the ass, always correcting people." He looked up into the sky. It was depressing. All gray.
"This is a detective story, right? So he did something to piss off somebody and got shot. That's why there was no blood around the body. He died here and got kicked out. No one heard the shot either, so it all fits. I mean, you have a dead silent library. Even with a silencer it's impossible to be completely soundless, when you shoot somebody, right?" He fiddled with his braid.
"But how do I get back to tell them about this? And if I get back will I tell them? 'Oh, haha. Yeah, officer, I think he got sucked into a book. Yes, the book I kinda took from him. I think he was shot inside it and then he was kicked out.' Yeah, right. Who'd listen to a bloody orphan anyway... 'Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, kid. Why don't you go and play with the other kids and let us police do our job.' God, I hate them... And the only cool thing in this shit is a mute guy who hates me. I hate being black and white. I'm so much better with colors... I mean, I have violet eyes! Who on earth can compliment them in a black and white book! "
"Do you ever shut up?" Duo froze in the middle of a step and turned his eyes to the man. 'My God', he thought, fascinated. 'He speaks! Another victory!'
"Do you want me to shut up?" His eyes were sparkling.
"Hn." Duo focused a blank stare at the man, waiting... waiting... "...who're you anyway?" YES! A toast to the winner!
"I'm nobody until you tell me your name. I asked first, mister."
"Heero. Heero Yuy." Duo stared at him for a nano-second.
"He did write himself in the book as a lead character! I bet you're 'The Hero'." It was Heero's turn to stare blankly at him. He grinned sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. I'm Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide but I tell you no lies! That's me in a nut shell." He made a victory sign. Heero snorted.
"Hn." The man started walking again. Duo hurried to catch him up.
"The last part was great, wasn't it? I'll make you one too, when I get to know you better. We don't want you to always seem this quiet and hostile, now do we?"
"...You don't ever shut up." Duo giggled coyly.
"Nope, unless I have a very good reason to. But damn, Heero, you're not a private detective or something, are you? 'Cause if you're stalking someone, I can shut up. Just tell me to."
"Shut up."
Duo fell silent on the outside but his eyes were loud. Too loud for Heero. Who the fuck was this boy? He fell from the clear sky and begun talking nonsense about books and crime scenes. Unless it was some kind of code he wasn't reading into. Which meant the boy was with the wrong person. Then again, Duo didn't seem like one from the gangs. Treize would've had him killed for talking too much already.
Why on earth hadn't he told the boy to buzz off already? It wasn't his business to help lost people. Or people in trouble. Or associate with people at all. It wasn't written in his character.
Wait a minute... A book. A dead guy. A crime scene. It couldn't be... He stopped to observe the boy, for once really looking at him. Who on earth kept their hair that long anyway if they were a guy?
"What book?" Duo stared at him for a second before getting the question.
"'The Hero', written by Heero Yuy. That's you isn't it? Well, not the writer, but the name is the same isn't it?"
Suddenly it was all starting to make sense. Heero groaned pitifully. Months ago his psychiatrist had instructed him to write a book, when his wife had started to complain about his 'lack of emotion and poor social skills'. Honestly, he had always been the same - even when she decided to marry him. Why complain about something that never was there? Anyway, he had received a pen and a blank book, in which he had started writing a detective story.
After a month of careful back ground work and setting of the plot the book had sucked him into it, pushing him into the role of the lead character, that was him, and wasn't him. He had accepted it. The life here had been harder, but freer than in the real world. He didn't have a nagging wife in here, he could give the cold shoulder to all the women who got too interested of him.
But now, the plot had suddenly been changed. Somebody else had been sucked into the book! And, this somebody said that there had been another one too, earlier, who had been shot by the characters he had written! Damn...
He grabbed the boy by the shoulders and stared hard into those wide eyes. "If anyone asks, you know nothing about the Falcon. You know nothing and you don't use the words 'bird', 'baby' and 'business' in the same sentence, ever."
Duo deadpanned. A whole flow of words from the person whose favorite word seemed to be 'hn', and he didn't like one bit what it sounded like.
"Why?" he insisted with narrowed eyes. Why on earth would he use those three words in any sentence? Though, now that he'd been told not to do so, he had an irresistible yearn to do so, just to irritate this man.
"You'll get in trouble. You don't want to get in trouble here." Heero was dead serious. Duo grinned hesitantly.
"So I shouldn't say 'This is business, baby, and the birds are singing that you've been a bad girl'?"
Heero slapped a hand on his mouth. He didn't like the idea of this lively young man dying because he couldn't keep his damn mouth shut.
"I hope for your sake that no one heard you just now." Duo squirmed in his hold. "Can you keep your mouth shut?" The boy nodded many times with tears in his eyes. He couldn't breathe. "Sure?" More frantic nodding. "Hn." Heero let him go and he fell on his knees, gasping to breathe.
"That was rude, man!" Duo protested. "There was no one around, damnit!"
"There's always someone around in this book." Heero tugged him up and got lost into his thoughts. The boy was so light. With his long hair and wild bangs he even looked like a girl. Big-eyed, pretty girl.
Duo felt uneasy under that look.
"Um ...Heero?" he waved a hand in front of those far-away eyes. "Heero, you can let go now. I get it, I really do." The man pulled his hands back like Duo had burned him. What the fuck was wrong with him! To pace out like that!
"How old are you?" he asked monotonously. Duo blinked and cocked his head to one side.
"Seventeen." Damn... Underage too... "Yeah, I know I look like a girl with the braid and all. Just can't bring myself to cut it. It's been with me my whole life, you know." It was Heero's turn to blink. "No, you didn't say it out loud. It's just that look in your eyes." 'Like you were really hungry or something...' Duo shuddered. 'Heero buddy, you're scaring me...'
Duo turned his eyes back on to the ground. He thought back to the happenings earlier that day. He shouldn't have been so hard on Hilde. The girl had been right after all. It had just been his own damn pride that had come in the way of listening to his best friend...
There had to be another way out of the book than by dying. It was like he was in a nightmare or something...
-----in the real world-----
Hilde rang Howard Swiper's door bell. She had to talk to Duo. She didn't want to go to sleep with her best friend still angry at her. The door opened a minute later revealing the smiling face of the nice old man who had adopted Duo.
"Hilde! This is a nice surprise. The little punk is in the upstairs." He moved out of her way, winking at her before going back to the living room. Hilde rolled her blue eyes. Howard was so sure she was dating Duo, even after they had both said they weren't dating. Old people were so hard to convince...
She took off her shoes and stalked up the stairs. When she got to Duo's door she listened for a while. Nothing.
"Duo?" she called for him. No answer. "Come on, are you still mad at me? Or are you sleeping? Howie wouldn't lie to me and he said you're in there. Duo!" She pushed the door open and stepped into the organized chaos that was Duo's room. It was empty.
Hilde frowned and walked to the closet. Duo wasn't there either, hiding from her like he had done years ago. It made her worried. Checking all upstairs and after not seeing a sign of him she returned to his room, biting her lip. There had to be some clue...
She saw the book on the bed. It was the source of all evil between Duo and her. She picked it up.
Noting the same things Duo had done three hours earlier she opened the book to page it through. Knowing Duo, he could be somewhere, playing a character in the book.
Wait a minute. The book was half empty! Had Duo noticed this, or had he just started reading it without noticing it wasn't even ready yet? And the text...
"How the fuck is this possible", she mumbled to her self sitting down on the bed. The book was actually ...writing itself! She followed the appearing text with her eyes out of curiosity.
"You would think that helping this strangely appealing stranger was the last thing in Heero Yuy's usually cold and logical mind, but he found out to his unwelcome surprise that he couldn't stop thinking about him. Under that ever-changing chatter and unwavering smile the boy had to be frightened. Because no, he didn't think Maxwell had anywhere to go. It was his duty as a citizen of Stonebridge Town to take care of the kid..."
Hilde blinked. Maxwell?
"...upon his sudden arrival, the lonely hero hoped, that the bad guys had yet to find out about him. Alone in the streets Maxwell would only gain unwanted attention with his girlish looks and the long braid that kept dancing around him as he walked..."
"Fuck! Like, no way!You got yourself into a freaking book, Duo! You idiot! And now I'm supposed to get you out, right? Seriously, Duo, you must be the worst idiot in the whole world!"
-----in the book-----
"Heero..." Duo whispered agitatedly, following the man.
"Hn?" He bit his lip hesitantly.
"You're looking at me that way again." The man stopped abruptly.
"Like what?" Duo swallowed the lump forming in his throat.
"Like... you haven't had a hamburger in ages... Or anything else for that matter-"
Suddenly he was pushed hard against a wall with Heero's body grinding tightly against him. He couldn't move, couldn't scream... He just had no air left in his lungs. "He-Heero, what are you-" Lips cut his words, pressing roughly against his. Heero was just too strong, Duo couldn't do anything... It scared him, this new side of Heero...
And then the pressure was gone and Duo was left gasping for air once more, feeling helpless and violated.
"I'm not into guys, Duo Maxwell", Heero grunted out. "And certainly not into boys like you."
Duo's eyes widened. What was it with this guy? He said something and did completely the opposite thing. Well, if Heero was weird like that ...it wasn't his problem to deal with.
"So..." He started, choking into the lump in his throat. He cleared his voice and tried again. "So, where are we going?" He paused and grinned suddenly. "I asked that already, didn't I?"
"Yes." Heero started walking again. Duo had to run couple of steps to keep up.
"And...? What did you answer?" Heero glanced at him, smirking darkly.
"I didn't."
TBC…….
Author Notes:
I wanna thank everyone who reviewed to my fic again. It was such a nice surprise, not many people have done that. And second, I want lots and lots of reviews to this chapter too! I'm getting addicted in reading them!
