Full summary: An angel and a devil, Heero and Duo, fight for the soul of mortals about to die. But what if things aren't what people have always believed? Now it's Quatre's turn and things conspire to be the toughest Trial either being has worked before.

konpeitou: Wow, I hadn't realized how much time had passed. Sorry! School has been killing me, and I had a convention that I needed to rush costumes for. Rushing is not such a good thing, I ended up with many burns and bruises for my haste. And now have Finals coming up ::sigh:: Oh how I hate my school. At any rate, another little chapter. Enjoy

Apocryphal Reality: Food For Thought

Heero Yuy felt completely pole-axed and entirely unsure what exactly had just happened. He couldn't have been more surprised if a cross-dressing midget had blindsided him with a two-by-four while singing "Hit Me Baby One More Time". The angel slowly sank down to sit on the broad tree limb, letting one leg hang over while the other was drawn up with his arm draped across it. Unconsciously he bit his lip, worrying at the tender flesh between his pearly white teeth as he tried to make sense of whatever had just occurred. First his opponent had been overly friendly and flirty, then increasingly withdrawn. Tonight alone he seemed to flip between states of mind with disturbing frequency, which alone was enough to be frustrating, but the final moment before the devil fled – Heero was absolutely sure that the sudden disappearance was a retreat – was difficult to wrap his mind around.

The devil had been upset, and although he couldn't explain why he made the effort to try to help Heero had made an overture that was not only rebuffed, but had somehow turned into a near-attack on himself. He had gotten angry at the insinuation, naturally, perhaps more than he's like to admit for reasons he'd rather not think about but instead of a retaliation to his prompting his opponent had just… stopped. Stood there and stared with a faraway look. He had wondered, in that silence, what the devil was going to say about him and nothing he came up with was pleasant. So he had asked up front why he hated him. The possibility had been… upsetting, which in turn made him more upset for getting upset in the first place. He expected to get the answer to his question, he expected the devil to snap just why he hated him – or angels in general – but never would he have expected the wounded look he had received. Heero had wanted to apologize, feeling somehow like he had just kicked a puppy, but was too speechless to do so. Instead of a scathing attack, he was given a compliment. A compliment from a devil with a curious undertone of hurt and need that left the prussian-eyed youth dizzy.

What the hell is going on here? Heero couldn't help but wonder. There was more to this than the braided teen's actions, he knew, but he had never been particularly good with his emotions and as much as it turned his stomach he wasn't very fond of delving into them now. If he would, though, he would come to realize that his interest in his opponent was stretching past the lines of curiosity into something entirely different by far.

"Thank you," a quiet voice demurred, breaking into Heero's thoughts. He looked up to see the taller devil joining him on the branch.

"Think nothing of it. I assume that he has calmed down now?" Trowa nodded affirmative. "Thank you as well for your assistance." He hoped with that the other devil would leave him once more in peace. The wish was not granted.

"It was my pleasure, I assure you. If this was your idea I assume you know that Quatre is – was – my best friend. I would do anything for him. I am grateful that you wanted to help him, I was under the impression that angels didn't work that way."

"Is that so?" Heero barked a laugh, shaking his head a little. "I suppose that's true, I'd be in as much trouble as anyone else for this. That is why I'd rather just keep it our little secret, I'm sure you would agree." Again Trowa nodded his agreement, but rather than leave he sank down to sit cross-legged on the limb. Heero resigned himself to his loss of privacy to think.

"Do you regret it?" the taller figure asked after a long moment, "Do you regret calling me here to help Quatre? You seem like something is troubling you…"

"That's not it, devil. I could not stand to be so heartless to the boy no matter what you may think of me." Another silence descended and Heero shifted his wings into a more comfortable position, sacrificing posture and simply letting them drape over either side of the branch.

"Forgive me if this is impertinent and I'm sorry if I miss my guess, but I must ask you not to think too badly of Duo. I know he can be a handful at the best of times, but he is a good person and means no harm. If he has upset you somehow, please do not hold it against him, I'm sure it wasn't on purpose."

"He's not –" the angel began, only to stop with a sigh. Denying it would only make himself seem more suspicious and there was no real point anyway. He reached up and absently fiddled with a couple leaves while he thought. What have a got to lose? Soon this will be over and I will likely never see either of them again. "Suppose you are in part correct. Would you mind answering something for me, though?" Heero didn't, of course, acknowledge the reasoning that if he was never to see them again then there was also no point in bothering to clarify. He continued hesitantly when the devil agreed. "Do you devils hate us so much?"

A single jade eye blinked in surprise. "I can't speak for everyone, of course, but I don't believe that devils as a whole hate angels. We simply… resent you for what you do. After all, you try to condemn people to Hell, an unpleasant fate unless one manages to be a devil rather than a demon. I doubt you realize what a rare breed we are. I must say though that I do not envy you if you've managed to get on Duo's unpleasant side. No mean feat nor a pleasant place to be, I'm told."

Somehow that dry-voiced explanation only made him more confused, as well as frustrated. "I couldn't tell you," he sighed with a hint of bitterness that surprised him as he ripped off a leaf and began threading it distractedly through his fingers. "That friend of yours is bipolar at the least; I do not think it is possible to understand how he feels or what he thinks without extreme mental suffering for the attempt."

"Duo?!" Trowa barked a laugh, tilting his head back in his sudden mirth. "Surely you jest! That one is easy to read if you know how to look. Duo is kind and honest to a fault, and I mean that quite literally: he will not lie. He keeps himself to such standards that very little effort is needed to get him to show you all you need to know, whether he knows or likes it or not." Heero frowned, not convinced of such simplicity given everything he had seen and endured with his opponent over the past weeks. Trowa just smiled understandingly. "There are others that know Duo better than myself, but if you wish to talk I can try to help understand whatever it is about the braided ball of energy that's confusing you, hm?"

Heero hesitated, dropping the leaf to brush stray bangs out of his eyes while he contemplated the offer. He wasn't fond of the proposition of opening up to anyone, let alone to a devil he didn't know. Then again, what does it matter at this point? So he gave in, told this other devil a quick and edited version of events. He felt stupid for asking, for opening up, and most of all he hated that he even cared for any reason enough to let the matter bother him. When he finished the short recap, Trowa shook his head slowly, any hint of a smile gone from his features.

"It is not my place to say, if you have not figured it out for yourself, but I can say this; Duo doesn't hate you, and I believe you are jumping to conclusions about him if that is what you think. I suggest you speak to him yourself to get the answers you really want." He stood abruptly, surprisingly graceful in one fluid movement, and cocked his head to the side. "One last thing I'd like to say and I beg you please keep this in mind," Trowa spread his arms as though to welcome him into a secret "demons are demons but devils are only fallen angels." With that final tidbit the tall devil Shifted away, to the room or to Hell Heero neither knew nor cared. He turned that morsel around in his head as he contemplated what information he had gleaned, as well as what he had heard from his opponent himself prior.

Fallen angels, huh? Interesting…

The following day, mere hours after their retirement to restless slumber really, proved to be as awkward and uncomfortable as Heero had come to suspect it would be. His opponent returned in the early morning before Quatre woke up, actually sleeping long enough to let the alarm go off for a change. Heero himself hadn't bothered to sleep, figuring the few remaining hours weren't worth the effort, so he was awake at Duo's abrupt return. The usually exuberant figure was quiet and subdued, moving with slow lethargy and pointedly avoiding looking his angel companion. Heero was aware of this because he had kept a steady though furtive prussian gaze on the slender braided form since the moment of his reappearance.

He should be glad, right? The thoughts churned in his head like a wheel in a rut, constantly circling but never progressing, as they waited for their charge to dress and leave for school. He should be glad, it's what he had wanted from the beginning; for the devil to leave him alone. He'd said as much to Wufei, even so far as to vent frustrations over his opponent. He wanted to be let alone, and yet…

And yet… the thoughts circled ceaselessly. Duo paced slowly at the opposite end of the room, eyes downcast and arms wrapped subconsciously around his own black-clad form. Even his hair and wings seemed to droop with an unexpected lifelessness. Still he never looked up. And yet… The wheels turned, moved an inch and struggled not to fall back. Somehow I don't want this at all… Heero followed his charge and opponent out the door and out of the house, following the streets that were becoming familiar in their habitual routine, and he refused to acknowledge the ache in the pit of his stomach at the silence.

This is all so wrong…

The day was long and progressed almost painfully slow, and by the end of school it became apparent even to Heero that the tense atmosphere around them was once more affecting the young blonde. It was becoming an eerie repeat of the previous day and a part of him, a part he tried to deny as unfitting to the job, began to fear that they really would push the kid to suicide. It was his job to try to get mortals to condemn themselves, to make them prove their worth in the eyes of God, but he knew with utmost certainty that his boy deserved Heaven. He was innocent to an amazing degree and Heero knew that he did not belong in Hell any more than fish belonged in the air. It just wasn't right, and it didn't sit well with him to drive the boy to something he was so obviously unsuited for. For that brief moment, as he stared at the bowed blonde head, the pale face nearly translucent and drawn with lines of stress, Heero felt ashamed for what he did.

The angel was strangely relieved to see Trowa perched discreetly on the tree outside Quatre's window when they once more returned to the quaint abode. Duo froze at the sight, like a deer in the proverbial headlights, jerking slightly as though he were going to finally turn those cobalt orbs upon Heero's form, only jerk back just as quickly, obviously avoiding him. The taller brunette outside watched them both with wary emerald eyes, posture calm but eyes alone conveying his obvious hesitance. One tan hand brushed at errant bangs with a purely internal sigh before gesturing briskly for the other devil to come inside the room. Heero didn't wait for him, just turned abruptly towards the corner wall – the same corner he had dragged Duo to a nagging little voice reminded him – and leaned against the wall with arms and legs crossed, weight on his shoulders against a wall that shouldn't even hold him, and thought enough about it that when he leaned his head back he felt the satisfying thud of impact.

"Just stay," he told the air dryly, eyes closed against looking at either of them; he didn't want to look at the troubled braided devil that made him ache nor the other's strangely knowing gaze and slight smile. "Might as well have someone around that won't drive him insane."

Heero didn't want to see someone as kind and sweet as Quatre die in the prime of his life, he really didn't, so he swallowed the guilt he felt at hoping that the time would come quickly and everything could finally end.