For warnings and disclaimers, please refer previous chapters.

Chapter 6: Break times must be adhered to

This was routine, has been for almost a year now. The pain hasn't lessened one bit, nor has his memory of his partner faded. He could still smell the soft cologne Duo used to wear. He didn't want to think that it was him constantly spraying the now cold and barren apartment with the scent Duo used to put on. He was even pathetic enough to go out and buy a fresh bottle. He could still see the mass of once annoying long hair clogging up the sink, the bath, lying on practically everything. He only wished to see it once again. He couldn't understand why what once irritated the hell out of him, now he missed so much. Most of all though, he missed the press of Duo's warm body against him.

Why did he have to step behind the damn wheel? Why couldn't have he been the one who died? He deserved it more than Duo. And why did he donate his heart to Adrian? He desecrated his partner's body. He couldn't even give Duo the proper respect of having an intact body when entering the grave. Well, as intact as one would be when he has been through an accident, which was his stupid, careless, reckless lover's fault.

Heero fingered the tulip in his hand. It was Duo's favourite flower. Of course, the American didn't have much of a clue as for what the name of the flower was, but he had liked the shape and the colour a lot. Heero had brought back a large bouquet that evening. Duo had groused and went on and on about feeling female, but Heero saw the secret pleased smile that curved the other man's lips when he thought his back was turned.

He knelt in front of Duo's grave with a sad smile on his lips. He came here everyday, he promised himself he would.

"Morning, love," Heero whispered softly, placing the flower on the grave. He picked up a slightly older flower, yet still fresh and threw it away. "Sorry I am late today. I had to clean Adrian's home. He is just as hard to wake as you sometimes…"

And as usual, he started telling Duo about his day, resting his head against the cold stone and more often than not, fighting tears. He wondered when the pain would dull or even fade but he found himself wishing it would not. It wouldn't be fair to Duo, for him to forget like this.

He had thought that he would transfer his affections to Adrian, or he feared he might, when he found out that the boy had been the recipient of Duo's heart, but as days passed he found himself being ever more clearly reminded who Adrian was not. No one would ever replace Duo, ever. He was doomed to spend the rest of his life alone. It was the kindest punishment he could think off and he deserved more.

But this morning… this morning Adrian reminded him of Duo somehow. He could be hallucinating but the boy was looking more and more like Duo with every passing day. His mannerisms, his actions, everything practically screamed his braided partner. No, Adrian was nothing close to Duo, he might have his heart but that was it. The rest of Duo Maxwell was under the earth beneath his feet.

Heero put him there.

Alone and desperate, Heero gave into tears and held onto the gravestone tightly, wishing it was warm flesh instead of cold stone.

"I'm so sorry, Duo. Please forgive me."

XXxxXX

Duo wished he had more substantial arms as he held onto Heero as best he could. He rested his insubstantial head on his partner's shoulder, hoping to God, if he ever stopped his gardening for a while, that the guilt in Heero's heart would be lightened.

How he wanted to touch Heero right now, reassure him that this was not in the least his fault. It wasn't anyone's, hence the term 'accident'.

"Please Solo," Duo begged, throwing a desperate look back at the angel, who looked on sorrowfully. "I need to tell him something."

Solo shook his head in regret. "Duo, we made a deal, you can't do something like that. You promised me you won't get me into trouble."

Duo sighed. "I just want to tell him I forgive him!"

Solo turned away, unwilling to see his little brother so pained and so torn. He kept to himself the possibility of him having a corporeal body soon, if he was in the right place at the right time, that is when the courier boys picked up Adrian. He sure as hell wasn't going to teach Duo the technique of shunting a soul out of a body.

Duo backed off when Heero turned and walked out of the graveyard, to work, Duo assumed. He would follow Heero later, to check up on him. He was worried as hell about this seemingly hollow shell his partner had turned into. The only times where he sensed a spark of the old Heero was when he was around Adrian and at the graveyard. Other than that, it was like watching the Heero Yuy of old, emotionless and bent on the mission.

"Just give him some time," Solo stopped his friend.

Duo turned to Solo, looking lost and defeated. "But…"

"We can catch up with him later." Solo tried to brighten up the mood, knowing his friend was on a one way plunge into depression. He had learned that nothing could sadden or elate Duo more than Heero. And when Heero was upset, Duo took double dose. He stared down at the engraved message on the gravestone.

Duo Maxwell

Friend, Lover, Partner, Baka

You will be eternally missed

Wait for me

"Whoa, someone should give Heero some Prozac," Solo quipped but even to his ears, it sounded hollow and lame.

Duo frowned at the last part, but since it has been almost a year (damn it! A year waiting in line for some screwed up administrative assistant to tell him that his entry into Heaven was a mistake!) since his death, and Heero was still very much alive, he had been successful in weaning the Japanese from self destructive tendencies. It felt good he did do something useful in his short time on Earth. Whether she knew it or not, Earth still needed Heero Yuy.

"I don't like it," Duo said, looking down at the boring grey slab. "It's not me. It's just too boring."

Solo grinned, finding the perfect way to bring a smile back to his little brother. "Hmm… how about this?" He pulled out his PDA tapped on the screen a few times, each time shooting a secretive smile. Then he angled the smallish electronic device at the gravestone and for a moment there was a bright light.

Duo was forced to squeeze his eyes shut to block out the blinding light. When the light finally dimmed enough for him to be able to see, he stood there ogling for a while before a bubble of laughter burst out of him.

His gravestone was now a wonderful luminous black with shimmers of silver shot through it. Definitely very Duo Maxwell, and very festive in his perspective. But what got to him the most was the new inscription:

Here lies the almighty braid

Lovingly soaked in Timotei cucumber shampoos and conditioners

Brushed into a mighty shine

And in very fine print:

And the unfortunate body to which it was connected (1)

Finally, in normal lettering:

Duo Maxwell has kicked da bucket!

"You are so lucky Heero isn't here," Duo chuckled softly.

Solo shrugged, glad to see his friend smiling again. "What can he do? Kill me?"

The two burst into laughter at that irony.

"You better change…" Duo started but was cut off by the incessant beeping of Solo's PDA.

The angel took at a look at the incoming text message and a bright smile lit up his face. Duo gasped at the luminous glow that took over Solo and wondered if this was really how angels look like, or if Solo was just trying to show off by putting on this light show for his benefit. Duo suspected the latter to be more likely.

"Alright, shift's up!" Solo announced. "Time to take a break!"

"Solo… what? Wait?" Duo called out as Solo started shimmering, and getting transparent. "Where are you going?"

Solo grinned. "Equivalent of your lunch hour. So I will be back. Don't get into trouble and don't mess around too much. Bye!"

"SOLO you piece of shit!" Duo screamed to the now empty air. He should have expected this. Why didn't he? Why didn't he think that people in Heaven would follow their break times to the exact minute? Nothing was urgent right? Since everyone was dead and they had eternity, there was nothing to worry about.

Damn. He was all alone on his own, left to his own devices without an inkling of what he could and what he was capable of.

XXxxXX

Five hours and three visits to friends later, Duo was once again bored. But it had served to make him realise how much he was loved and found himself missing them something awful. Sure, getting Solo back was a bonus, but with these people, they had shared something special, something irreplaceable. Getting snippets from their conversation, he found out that Heero visited his grave twice everyday, once in the morning, another in the evening. He always brought a stalk of tulip and replaced it at every visit. It was because 'Duo loved fresh flowers'. He hadn't thought that Heero would have remembered. The first time he brought back flowers was when they were still at war. He had been bubbling like a fool, grinning at a stem of red rose he had bought. He was babbling over and over again, about how red it actually was and how sweet it smelled. Wu Fei had rolled his eyes and walked away, muttering something about idiots, Trowa merely raised his eyebrows and with patiently, indulgent Quatre, stood there and endured his excited rambling.

Heero, his Heero had stood in a corner and watched him speculatively. They weren't a couple then, and Duo didn't know that Heero was having the same wet dreams he was having about him. The Japanese man had been slowly collecting information about him since then.

When Heero disappeared into their apartment, Duo stood outside the door, nibbling his lip indecisively. He didn't know what he should do. Going inside would have been disturbing. He didn't want to know if Heero had someone over. It was his right, since Duo was dead, and deep within, Duo actually wanted Heero to have someone over. It hurt him to see Heero alone. Heero was never meant to be alone. He was meant to love, and be loved by someone who truly appreciated the wonderful person he was.

Tentatively, he took a peek inside the apartment. He did that by poking his head through the door and looking around. The apartment was still the same, it was neat as a pin. The pictures of them were still on the bookshelf, in fact, there were more of it now than ever. Old pictures that they had put aside were now back there, in full display. It had turned into a shrine.

Duo backed out of there, panting. He didn't know why he was feeling so out of breath. He was dead, there was no reason for him to need oxygen. He was also feeling pain, his heart hurt. He never meant for Heero to dwell so much in the past. His heart ached for the man he had inadvertently hurt.

Wait, he thought, his hand hovering over his chest. This pain wasn't normal… it wasn't even him.

One panicked thought flashed through his head. Adrian!

The next few minutes passed in a blur. He remembered running, he remembered passing through things, he remembered nothing past the scream of panic in his mind. He wasn't sure how he knew, but he knew that Adrian was dying and from the way his heart was aching, he was dying of a heart attack. But this was wrong, Duo's heart was more than healthy. There was no way that it would just seize up like that.

He burst through the wooden panelling and ran to find Adrian. He wasn't sure how he knew where the other boy was, but all he did was 'follow his heart'. As stupid and not to mentioned clichéd as that might have sounded, it was nothing but the truth. He made for Adrian's room when he heard hushed conversations from inside. Instincts made him duck behind a door, his ears peeled.

"… dead?" Duo recognised that as Adrian's voice.

There were some clicking and beeping. "Yeah, and I got the right parcel this time." Okay, that voice sounded really familiar.

"I don't understand," Adrian said, sounding confused. "I thought my heart was working fine."

There were some rustling of clothes that Duo assumed to be shrugging from the same courier guy who took him away. "It is, but your spirit is at its limit. The other guy's spirit was starting to dominate yours and that's why you just… well… died."

"The other guy… Heero's lover?" Adrian asked hesitantly, their voices fading.

There were some incoherent mumbling from the courier guy. "…cutest piece of ass …really nice eyes …temper like a mad hornet…leave body… someone find it…"

Then silence.

Duo stayed hidden for a while longer, knowing he and Solo would be in deep shit if they were found out. Technically, he was a runaway, thus a ghost. Guessing that there wouldn't be an audience anymore, Duo tiptoed out of his hiding place and moved carefully toward the prone body in the bedroom. Adrian was laid out on the floor, his body slightly twisted as he fell.

He didn't know if ghosts could feel guilt, but he sure felt it in massive doses right now. He killed this person right here. If his stupid spirit weren't so dominating, Adrian wouldn't have died. But then again, if Adrian hadn't been at the hospital, he wouldn't have been taken by accident. Duo shrugged, he would have to apologise to Adrian when he met him next. He stared at the body in front of him, at a loss of what to do.

He couldn't very well call the paramedics or something. He couldn't since he had no hands, or feet, or body to begin with. He was hit by another horrible thought. What about Heero? Although his lover was stable right now, losing Adrian, his last link to Duo would be potentially devastating. From what he had heard, it was due to interactions with Adrian that Heero didn't lose his sanity.

And now he feared Heero would.

Staring down at the rapidly cooling body, Duo did the unthinkable.

He dove.

Tbc…

(1) This was courtesy of Keiran. Thanks babe.