Title: Crime and Punishment
Content: yaoi/shonen ai, AU, some angst
Disclaimer: I didn't get the rights to Gundam Wing for Christmas… *sobs*
~Chapter Three: Unsure~
Nervously, the youth paced across the linoleum floor of the hospital waiting room. Others in the room had chosen to seat themselves in chairs; more comfortable than tiring their legs standing or pacing. However, Heero was much too anxious to sit. He felt the need to keep his blood moving, so he could be ready for anything at a moment's notice…
"Excuse me?" Heero whirled as his shoulder was tapped by the nurse. His eyes met hers with worry and relief meshed into one.
"Is he…?" The nurse smiled warmly.
"He's all right. Thankfully, the car didn't hit him dead on. He did break a few ribs and is pretty bruised up, but I think rest and care will get him back up on his feet in good time." She paused, biting her lip in thought. "So, I take it you're his friend? I'd appreciate it if you notified his parents for me," Heero looked away for a moment, and then nodded. As the nurse walked away, he slumped into an empty chair.
"I'm about all he has now…"
Heero was getting nowhere fast. It had been a few days, and throughout that time, he'd only hit on miscellaneous conversation, or not even so, for they only talked in minute long intervals. And mostly it was about nothing at all.
"Heero, do you ever wish your life had turned out differently?" The question had taken Heero by surprise, and the dark-haired man stared at Duo for a long moment. Puzzled, Duo prompted the question. "Do you?" Heero rubbed his shoulder, which had started to ache, absently.
"I…I don't know," he responded softly. Duo cocked his head at him.
"Really? Or have you never thought about it? Or maybe you don't want to admit you screwed up somewhere…?" Heero glared at Duo for that, but somehow, its intensity burned up when he saw Duo's completely sincere expression. Heero sighed, and closed his eyes in thought. Duo continued. "I do, you know," He paused, seeming to be self-conscious about his next words. "I guess that doesn't sound surprising, coming from a screw-up like me," he added sadly. Heero leaned forward in his seat across from Duo's cell with some interest. Without thinking, his mouth just spilled everything that went through his mind, something he rarely, no, never did.
"Why would you say that? I don't see why you'd think that…" He caught himself before continuing, and replaced his cold, passive expression. Duo didn't seem to notice. The long-haired boy looked at the floor, absently pushing loose strands of chestnut hair behind his ear.
"Why not? I'm a mess, I don't even belong anywhere…" he hesitated before amending that statement ruefully. "Except in jail, eh?" He gave Heero a sad, sardonic half-smirk, which was soon replaced by a slight frown. Heero simply stared at Duo, mulling over his every detail, like how his expressions and mood seemed to change so quickly. Somehow, he knew Duo was much more complex then he made it seem to be. And it took him years to finally figure that out.
"Yes." He stated firmly, yet gently at the same time. Duo looked up quickly to face Heero. His violet eyes were confused. He blinked a few times, before Heero decided to finish his statement. "Yes, I do wish my life had turned out differently," he told Duo. "I wish I hadn't turned my back on you,"
Perched on the uncomfortable metal hospital chair, Heero hugged one leg to his chest, and let the other dangle absently. His cobalt blue eyes ran over the sleeping form on his companion, whose long hair was undone from it's usually braid, and fanned across the pillow, away from his face. That face was now innocent, totally unaware of life around it as Duo was deep in sleep. Far away from the rest of the world. Too far to contact, and most likely too far to want to come back.
The nurses kept saying that eventually he would, but with each passing day, the odds looked bleaker and bleaker. Every once in awhile, Heero would overhear a doctor or nurse sadly expressing what a shame it was to have something so horrible happen to one so young. That angered him. The least they could do was tell him the truth, instead of taking it for granted that he was too young to understand.
Heero glanced at the window, which displayed the pretty picture of a beautiful spring day at its peak of warmth and happiness. He scowled. And he would've closed the curtains and block out that display, if he hadn't believed that Duo may benefit from something warm and welcoming. Anything that may bring him back to consciousness.
Suddenly intent on the sleeping figure, Heero leaned forward, so his face was nearer to Duo's. Tentatively, he reached out a hand, laying it gently on Duo's cold, pale cheek. His eyes widened at the feel of his skin. It was as if the blood had already drained itself from his body. But his hand remained there, letting Duo's cheek soak up his own warmth. Gladly, he would give it to him.
Duo's eyelids began to twitch, as if he were caught in a dream, and wanting to wake up and get out. Most likely he was dreaming, dreams that would be long forgotten when he emerged from his sleep. If he emerged from his sleep.
Heero looked away for a moment, not wanting to think about those consequences. He began to feel a cold tingling on his hand that rested on Duo's cheek, and look back to see a pair of half-lidded violet eyes staring sleepily at him. Duo's cold hand had curled itself around Heero's own. Heero's eyes widened, and Duo smirked slightly.
"Ne, thought they had me this time, Heero?" he asked hoarsely, in a voice hardly above a whisper. "Like I said, they never will,"
Returning to an empty, quiet apartment somehow didn't have the same appeal to Heero as it once had. In a strange way, he missed the sound of another person's voice, or even the feel of another person's presence. In particular, Duo.
It was interesting; it seemed as if they had done some considerable repairing of their companionship over the course of only a couple of days. Yet, what they had done to it in the past would be hard to make up for. And that was what Heero feared most; not being able to.
At that moment, Heero felt he couldn't stay in his apartment alone. It didn't feel right at all, and he in particular didn't want to be there, reminding himself of how badly he'd screwed up. So he did the only thing he could think of at the time; he went for a walk.
True, it was later at night than when most people participated in their walks, but he didn't have a choice. In fact, he felt more comfortable in the dark envelope of night air. He walked forward, not sure of where he wanted to end up, and for that matter, not giving much care about it. He walked with his head tilted down, deep in thought. Heero felt his shoulder bump up against a passerby, and he looked up to mutter an apology, when his eyes were caught and held by a pair of grass-green started ones. Heero stared, waiting for the man to say something. The green-eyed man hesitated just a second too long, and Heero began to leave. Startled, the young man grabbed Heero's arm. Cobalt blue eyes glared at him.
"Y-you're Heero Yuy, aren't you?" he stammered. Heero gruffly shrugged his arm out of the young man's grip.
"Why?" he stated coldly.
"Oh…I….No reason," The man fidgeted. "Sorry to have bothered you," he apologized. Heero raised an eyebrow, but chose not to pursue the subject, and left the man standing there.
When Heero was completely gone from the scene, another man stepped out from the shadows between two closely set buildings. He eyed the green-eyed man warily.
"Did you get it?" he asked in a rough whisper. The other man nodded, and pulled from his pocket a leather wallet. He flipped it open to reveal a badge and a card within it. The name and face on the card clearly identified the badge as belonging to the young man that had just left their presence. The darker man's lips curled into a sinister smile, and he grabbed the wallet from the younger man's hand. "Now let's see how far they get without this," he drawled. The younger man simply stared at him, eyes full of shock.
The library, with considerably amount of doubt from Heero, appeared to still be open, even after dark. The young man hesitated outside the building's stone walls for a moment, before making his first decided steps towards it.
He stood in the large foyer, looking about him absently. There were a few people milling about, readying themselves for closing, which would be in about a half an hour. He began idly meandering through the building, eventually finding himself seated before a computer. His fingers wandered over the keyboard quickly, almost mechanically, as he began hacking into restricted files.
He broke breaches and codes that barred his access to files, and eventually, the name Duo Maxwell appeared at the top of the screen, and below it, all his personal record of information. Heero scanned the page carefully, reading blurbs of how he was an orphan, and a known thief. He came to the part about his being accused of murdering a store clerk and an officer, also injuring another officer in a full armed robbery of a liquor store. That didn't strike him as unusual, except for the detail about Duo committing homicide. However, he continued to read on.
In the process of the theft, one of the responding police officers attempted to relieve the thief of his weapon without violence, but to no avail. He shot a second before his adversary, hitting the thief's finger, and supposedly tearing it from his body in the process. That image made Heero's stomach turn, but he kept his outward appearance indifferent. So there was proof of who did this. Heero didn't remember Duo missing any limbs, but he'd never actually given Duo's hands a thorough review. And even if there was no evidence of that on Duo, the report was fickle, spouting unsurities about all possible evidence.
Heero sighed, leaning back in his chair as a copy of the report printed out for him. With this, he could only do so much, but it did bring up the question of why Duo hadn't been checked for that piece of evidence? Even if it was an unsurity, it still needed to be counted. Light steps approaching behind him cut through his thoughts. He suppressed an annoyed sigh, figuring it was a librarian to inform him of closing. He turned slowly, and was met by a pretty face framed with long strawberry blonde curls. She had pale blue-green eyes that stared into his expectantly. Heero's face froze into an expression of slight surprise, and faint edges of hurt and dismay.
"Heero," she breathed lightly. He looked away from her, his face now taking the full expression of hurt anger.
"Uragiri," he replied softly, his voice sounding lost and distant. The woman kept her distance, though she looked ashamed and slightly upset.
"I know I'm the last person you want to see, Heero, but please…" she trailed off in a soft self-conscious voice. "Please, let me…let me try again." Heero's head snapped up and he glared at her with eyes that displayed emotional abuse dug up from the past. "I know I don't deserve it, but give me a second chance," she rushed to his side, kneeling beside him and looking up into his eyes. "Heero…" The young man sighed, looking inside himself for a moment, and finding nothing else to turn to.
"All right,"
Author's Note: Wa! It's NOT Relena! Didn't see that commin', now didja?
Pinku: *sweatdrop*
Lorelei: By the way, those of you who don't own a Japanese/English, English/Japanese dictionary…like me…Uragiri means betrayal. Yes, imagery! I felt the name fit. Oh yes, and half the reason why this chapter's called Unsure is because I was unsure what to call it! See? It works!
Pinku: You're pathetic…
Lorelei: I know…you are too! Well, that's all for now…see you later!
Pinku: *facefaults*