Title: The Forsaken

Author: Link Worshiper

Pairings: 1=2, maybe some others if I feel like it

Rating: PG-13

Stuff: Fantasy AU, fluff, sap, language, adventure, WoW nerdiness

Disclaimer: I own Gundam Wing action figures? Warcraft and its lore belongs to Blizzard Entertainment. Both things are being played with out of fangirl love.

Thanks to danse and Natea for the once over. Despite the fact this is part of Natea's birthday present, I still needed her to fill me in on the Alliance history they don't teach us on Horde, so thanks for that also =P

NOTE: SOME SHIT GOES DOWN IN THIS CHAPTER: JUST KEEP READING, EVEN IF YOU'RE LIKE OH NO SHE DIDN'T. PROMISE.

Also, I am sorry this took me about a thousand years to finish D:

Part XXIV

The King Is Dead

Concluding his tale, Duo sat back and watched Heero carefully, hoping to catch the first glimmer of a reaction in him. He knew that he hardly deserved any sympathy for his rashness, but he at least hoped that Heero would be understanding of his plight. "I was young and reckless," he said disparagingly. "I had clouds in my eyes – couldn't see two feet in front of my face!"

Heero clutched the potion bottle tightly, frowning at it pointedly as he gathered his thoughts. Toying idly with the tag clinging to the flask's neck, he wanted to say that if it had been Duo that had been killed the way Solo had been, he might have been driven to the same madness. And yet, he was still painfully aware of the hole in his chest, which had grown so large and worn since Duo had left, that even his reappearance wasn't quite enough to fill it entirely. He wished he had a way to explain the contradiction to Duo, but words were never his strong suit, and this was something he had a feeling even the most eloquent of speakers would have trouble expressing.

Duo, troubled by Heero's silence, prodded, "Hey, Heero… are you… okay? Please tell me you're not deterred by my story." He clutched at his robes and pulled at the fabric anxiously.

Heero's eyes drifted away from Duo's face, focusing on a nearby mirror as if he meant to see for himself the expression that concerned Duo so, but found he couldn't even discern his own reflection in the polished surface. "It's… not that," he said slowly, somehow at least able to find the ability to respond with his eyes preoccupied thusly. In fact, he was rather surprised by how loose his tongue suddenly became when he didn't have to directly worry about Duo's scrutiny. "Do you remember that girl, Relena? The one who once told me she loved me?" Heero rambled, a little unsure what incited such a memory. "She told me those things and all I could think of was how wrong it felt. She wanted me to be something I wasn't and I… I maybe wanted you to be something you didn't want to be either…."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Duo interrupted, his hand suddenly shooting through the space between them so that he might grasp Heero's wrist, an effort to try and tug the melancholic rogue back to him. "Yes, it was a gut feeling that led me astray, but it was also a gut feeling that made me want to fly right back to you. I only ever wanted to be yours. By Elune, maybe I wanted that even a bit too much."

His gaze now drawn to Duo's skeletal grip around his forearm, Heero tried to think of what to say next, certain he would sound idiotic in any case. He almost wished he hadn't tried to explain now that he thought about it, sure that Duo would laugh at him if he kept it up. Tightening his hold on the flask, Heero pressed his fingertips into its angular edges, barely wincing as the sharp contours cut into his skin: "Don't… pretend," he managed to grind out with an air that sounded like he was trying hard to settle his confused emotions. "It was your… duty to stay… at my side."

Duo's other hand quickly flew to Heero's face, grabbing his chin so that he might forcibly turn Heero's eyes towards his own. "Don't you dare think like that, Heero Yuy," Duo reproached, the glow in his eyes taking on a particularly fiery candor. "You know I was never one to do anything because I had to."

Though Heero wanted to believe Duo, knowing that it would make growing and moving on together that much easier, there was a part of him that was still hesitant to forsake that last ounce of trust. His hand tighter than ever around the flask, Heero took out his stress on the bottle, pressing his thumb so severely against the glass corker that its decorative head snapped off with a tingling shatter. No longer impeded by the bottle's decorative headdress, Heero's thumb swiped across the jagged remnants of the stopper, flaying his skin with a deep wound that immediately started to seep blood.

Immediately aware that something had happened, Duo glanced down at Heero's new injury and the blood that had now coated the top of the potion bottle. Snatching Heero's hand so that he might inspect it closer, Duo made a small growling noise in the back of his throat as he sighed, "I can't believe you, Heero. You're mad, you know?"

Heero was inclined to agree, but only privately.

"Let me see that, you damned fool," Duo was saying as he snatched up Heero's hand, which was still limply clutching the blood-smeared flask. He was too caught up in trying to clot the wound with a scrap of fabric torn from his sleeve that he didn't even notice the way the blood seeping around the damaged corker and into the bottle was mingling with the potion inside, changing it from its former dark green hue to that of a happy amber. "Carelessness like this will be your untimely doom," Duo was chiding as he relieved Heero of the flask and set it aside so that he might tighten the cloth around Heero's hand better. With a familiar dash of his usual swagger, Duo then added, "I swear, it's a miracle you lasted so long without me!"

A small smile traced Heero's lips as he examined Duo's handiwork and the way his zombie hands held the bandaged appendage with such delicacy. It made him wonder how he ever thought that the Forsaken were nothing more than enemies that needed to be rubbed out, for surely each and every one of them had someone they'd hold just as tenderly if they could. Was the world really in such a sorry state that it was completely defined by half-truths? Even in the shortness of their recent adventure to Stormwind, Heero had learned how much of a difference there was between what was said and what was meant – between how things were and how things seemed.

Softly, secretly, he murmured, "I miss your blue eyes."

The moment, fragile as the glass top that had shattered across Heero's hand, was quickly crushed as the clatter of chain mail and armaments filled the air. The thick walls of the castle vault that surrounded them dulled the noise, but it was evident that it wouldn't be long before any hope of escape was expunged if they lingered for too long.

"Damn the luck!" Duo growled, dropping Heero's hand to glare venomously at the trapdoor they had clambered in through, unsure if they should risk trying to outrun the oncoming danger in the sewers or remain and hold their ground where they were.

They didn't get the time to make a proper decision, for the echoes of splashing and squelching were rising up from the sewers below, suggesting that there was already a company waiting to meet them at the bottom of the trapdoor ladder should they try that route. Discomfort and panic was clearly starting to set in on Duo, who was looking around for any hopes of liberation or even discrepancy, although it wasn't to much avail. "By the Light, what are we going to do?" he fretted, snatching up the flask they had traveled so far to retrieve to squirrel it away inside his robes for later inspection.

But Heero was alert, his roguish instincts automatically kicking in the moment the danger had become evident. "Quiet," he commanded, frowning pointedly at their only means of escape. With his acute senses, he could hear almost everything that was happening at the bottom of the ladder, slightly reassured by the fact that things seemed vaguely chaotic. However, above all that commotion, he found himself zeroing in on two vaguely familiar voices that he was sure he had heard before. "Listen," he added, glancing briefly at Duo, hoping he might be able to help him figure out what they were dealing with. Knowing what they were facing would be the difference between life and death in this situation, Heero was certain.

"Unless they've managed to slip away again, that's where they are," said the first recognizable voice, its tone contemptuous and spiteful. "Now, release me, you cur!"

"Traitor!" hissed the second familiar speaker with equal vehemence.

"Silence! Both of you!" snapped a third with an air of authority. "I'd have you jailed immediately now that you've served your purposes if it wasn't going to be even more amusing to have you watch the demise of your loathsome comrades. How sad to think you came all this way for nothing…."

"The Sin'dorei will never forgive you for this, Milliardo Wrynn!" the first speaker shouted. His words confirmed Heero's suspicion that it was Trowa who protested his current predicament – whatever that might be. But more importantly, he was surprised that King Milliardo seemed to be amongst the company lurking in those stinking waterways. He supposed it made sense considering that the king was one of the few who could gain access to the city's treasures, but he had never recognized Milliardo to be the sort to settle his own accounts in such a hands-on method. It made Heero's doubts to Milliardo's current mental health all the more sound.

"Nor will the orcs of Durotar," growled the second, indicating Wufei as the other prisoner, another rather shocking development. Heero hadn't thought for five seconds that Wufei would allow himself to be captured by anyone ever again, but it seemed that the Light had a funny way of exercising its benevolence: the whole lot of them seemed to be at fortune's mercy more often than not, he noted with a hint of cynicism.

"Heero: what are we going to do?" Duo repeated after a few moments of solid silence. Normally, he'd have just flown by the seat of his pants in a situation like this, but there were too many factors involved, and for once, Duo saw that such harried action in such a case would probably unfold into something very akin to the incident that had killed him. If only he had the same sense for level headed decisions that Heero did when it came to facing down a threat, he might be able to somehow find some kind of sync with him when they leapt into action.

"Someone hold down that orc!" came Milliardo's voice, wafting above the commotion below the trapdoor; "His thrashing is soiling my cloak with this fetid water." The rattle of chains and the growls of a very belligerent Wufei ensued, delaying the inevitable cornering of Heero and Duo, but not by much.

Meanwhile, Heero had been pensively tapping his hip pouch, where the demonic sigil lurked, practically singing to him with reminders of how it had helped them out of some very precarious situations in the past. He was hesitant to just automatically rely on it, though, recalling that he had very little recollection of the last incident involving the artifact – save, of course, Duo's incredible concern regarding the whole matter. He glanced briefly at the undead warlock, perhaps looking for some kind of visual cue regarding his rather subtle indication as to what he was thinking, but found that the only notice he was getting was from Asahi, who was hesitantly watching him from inside Duo's cloak. Idly, he wondered if the insect was capable of an opinion, and if so, exactly what it was.

"Stand aside! It's time to catch a thief or two," Milliardo shouted from down below, an indication that a decision needed to be made in the next few seconds, regardless of what it was. There was a clatter that could be matched with the mounting of the trapdoor's ladder, and Heero gripped his pouch with driven ambition as he made his final choice.

"Flee," he ordered Duo. "We shall lose them in the sewers far easier than we could defend ourselves here."

With that reasoning in place, he leapt to his feet and bolted towards the open trapdoor, dropping through the black square with nary a thought for the ladder. Duo scrambled for the edge just as Heero's hair plummeted out of sight, immediately concerned that he'd have broken his legs after such a fall. He was only given a moment of relief when he was satisfied that Heero had made it to the bottom intact, for the very next thing he was aware of was that Milliardo was halfway up the ladder and glaring straight at him with hate in his icy blue eyes. "You," the human king spat up at Duo; "You are the one who turned my greatest weapon into a filthy traitor!"

Duo didn't even stop to think before aping Heero's lead. He jumped down with no fear for death or injury, his passing gaze catching Milliardo's long enough to exchange looks of hatred before he hit the bottom with a splash of sewage water and grime. All of the Alliance soldiers around him were staring, unsure if they should forsake their current prisoners for the sake of capturing a new one, but Duo didn't dally long enough for them to decide. With an apologetic shrug at Trowa and Wufei, Duo turned tail and dashed off in the direction Heero had gone, hoping that he might eventually catch up with the elusive rogue.

"Someone catch them!" bellowed Milliardo from somewhere behind them, his voice echoing throughout the entire sewer system. "Heads will roll until I have theirs safely on a pike by the main gates!"

Duo hurried onwards, almost overshooting Heero, who was lurking in a shadowy tunnel if it hadn't been for the harsh whisper that called his name from the darkness. "This way," Heero beckoned, waving for Duo to follow him down the dank corridor.

Their feet splashed through the sewage, a nervous echo that might easily betray their location with one misstep. Duo wasn't sure where Heero was leading him, but he trusted the rogue enough to believe in his ability to navigate Stormwind's underbelly. Still, he couldn't shake the unease that seemed to be stalking them, almost as though Milliardo had somehow managed to conceal himself in the shadows that tugged at their feet.

As they turned a corner, Duo suddenly became aware that Heero was slowing down ahead of him. Coming to a halt beside the rogue, Duo stared ahead at the vast grating that stood between them and the rest of the tunnel. Heero was staring as well, his lips twitching as he tried to explain the obstacle he clearly hadn't expected to be in his way. "It was different before," he murmured, his fists clenched at his sides. "You could get back to the canals this way…."

Placing a reassuring hand on Heero's shoulder, Duo opened his mouth to tell him that it wasn't such a big deal, that they'd find another route, but the faint splashing of their pursuers suggested otherwise. So instead, his bony fingers clenching sharply into Heero's tunic, he said, "I suppose Fate has deigned us to take a last stand, whether it was to be in the vault, or here in the guts of this damned city."

Heero clenched his teeth, knowing that he would probably have to fall back on the cursed sigil for certain if they were to face Milliardo and a legion of his men. With Trowa and Wufei in the custody of Stormwind, it was very unlikely that they would be able to come to their aid, a realization that made Heero feel even more cornered than before. He hated having his back against the wall, even with an ace in the hole like the demon sigil, and it drove his very senses mad that he would have come so close to fulfilling his end of the bargain to Duo only to ultimately fail in the end.

If only I was stronger…. If only I could….

The strengthening connection Heero shared with the demon inside the sigil resonated with the thought as it passed through his head. Without Heero even realizing it, the relic had begun to glow inside his hip pouch, almost as though the demon was itching to release itself and lend Heero the power he wished for. Its urgency seemed to increase as the approach of the Alliance ruler and his soldiers became more imminent, his blood boiling in his veins and his heart pounding with an anticipation for bloodshed that was alien to his usually ambivalent manner.

"Thieves and traitors! Do not think for a moment you can betray me and get away with it! You are mine!" came Milliardo's familiar zeal, its proximity just around the corner Heero and Duo had turned mere moments before. Scant seconds later, the king whirled around the corner with a flourish of long, white gold hair and navy cloak, his sword drawn and his teeth bared as he charged them without even a moment to stop and breathe.

No sooner had Milliardo leapt at them did a sudden blaze of fiery light burst forth from Heero's person, his eyes aglow and a wild roar rising from his throat. An almost delicate shattering sound boomed far louder than it ought to have from the depths of Heero's purse as the sigil shot out from its confines and exploded in a burst of gold and silver particles. In a fraction of the time than previously, Heero's body twisted into that of the demon, far more grotesque and warped than ever before. The horns that rose from his skull were larger and his face bore less of a resemblance to its usual countenance. His hands were more like claws and his feet more like hooves, the massive wings that rose from his back powerful appendages that could have flown him across oceans without tire should he wish it. Now an ifrit large enough to fill almost the whole diameter of the tunnel, and one fueled by enough rage to slay an entire army, Heero met Milliardo's onslaught with equal vigor and vehemence.

Duo only had the presence of mind to hang back and stare in both awe and fear at the scene unfolding before him, too absorbed in what he was seeing to even take note of the infantrymen that were just rounding the corner after their king, both Trowa and Wufei in tow. Fortunately, all of them were so equally shocked by the unexpected skirmish they found when they did so, none of them had the ability to even think of overpowering Duo. Even Trowa and Wufei were momentarily shocked enough to miss taking advantage of the stupefied soldiers to escape.

The lapse was quickly snatched away when the dangerous reality of the situation finally set in. Heero grabbed Milliardo by the throat and squeezed tightly when the monarch tried to have at him, but that didn't stop Milliardo from exacting a number of deep stab wounds upon him nevertheless. Then Heero tossed Milliardo aside, flinging him against the wall in an effort to stun him. The effort proved ineffective, however, for Milliardo was well armoured and survived the attack with only a few fresh dents on one pauldron. Rising to his feet, sword still drawn, Milliardo wasted no time in charging at Heero again, his bitterness at Heero's betrayal more than enough to fuel him onwards. "I always knew there was something off about you, Yuy," Milliardo ground out through gnashed teeth as his blade embedded itself into the flesh of Heero's forearm. He tugged at it to pull it free of its bloody prison, leaving behind a gushing wound that revealed an ivory hint of the bones buried within. "Now you've revealed yourself as the monster you've been harbouring inside yourself all this time!"

Milliardo's taunts echoed around Heero's pointed ears like mere gibberish. His every move was based on primal instinct, which was heightened a thousand fold by his fusion with the Epyon demon. When Milliardo swung at him with his sword, Heero blocked nearly every blow without a single thought for the wounds he was incurring by such a reckless defense. He knew only that Milliardo was the enemy and that he needed to be crushed – and all he needed was the perfect moment to lash out.

That moment came soon enough, when Heero got the chance to grab Milliardo by the throat, his grip mere notches away from being enough to crush the king's trachea. Of course, since Milliardo was a fit, stubborn and resolute man, his power doubled by his maddened zeal, such a simple maneuver was harder than just that: the heavy toes of Milliardo's armoured boots flew repeatedly into Heero's stomach as the king struggled against his captor, his flailing hands still armed with both sword and shield. There was even a point Milliardo, the great Ghost Wolf King, reduced himself to sinking his teeth into Heero's hand, hardly above even the dirtiest tricks in the book if it meant victory. And when that didn't work, he resorted to his secondary plan, barking an order at his still-trembling soldiers: "Well, what are you just standing there for? Come and help me, fools!"

None of the soldiers seemed exactly sure what they would do, despite the fact there was no mistaking the clarity of Milliardo's command. Though their duty was to protect the city and their king, none of them had exactly envisioned that they'd lose their lives by futilely flinging themselves at an overpowered demon ravaging the sewers. The ones that were restraining Trowa and Wufei tightened their holds on the prisoners, mumbling half-heard excuses about keeping them in check.

It was unfortunate that even such sound reason meant absolutely nothing to Milliardo. As Heero's grip became dangerously tighter, he roared, "Nevermind them and draw your weapons, idiots!"

The end of Milliardo's sentence was drowned out by another wild roar from Heero, which was more than enough to help inform the decisions of the guards. Without even a care for the consequences, all of them – even the ones that were supposed to be keeping an eye on Trowa and Wufei – all dropped their lances and swords into the dirty sludge ebbing around their feet and took off running in the opposite direction. Milliardo's enraged cry of "COWARDS!" reverberated throughout the vaulted, subterranean labyrinth, but not one of them could find it within themselves to sacrifice themselves for a cause that wasn't their own. Some might have called it fainthearted to run away, but in truth, it was the far more tactful choice.

It took both Trowa and Wufei a few moments to realize that they were no longer outnumbered by Alliance footmen, and even when they did, neither was quite sure what they ought to do themselves. Heero seemed more than capable of handling Milliardo, and Duo was still watching the fight with a blank, entranced expression on his rotted face that made the pair of them wonder if he was even mentally present at the moment. It was almost as if he were paralyzed by fear, too paranoid to disrupt lest he do something that would inadvertently favour Milliardo, yet worried that abandoning Heero there might be resigning Heero to a dark fate should the fight take some kind of unexpected twist. His skeletal hand twitched, the only hint that he was suppressing the urge to lash out at Milliardo.

"We should lend our powers to Heero," Wufei grunted, pounding one red fist into the other. He was always eager to throw himself into the fray, even though he had been disarmed when taken into custody. "He is not the only one who would like to have a hand in slaying that damned Milliardo Wrynn."

Trowa merely frowned, offering no opinion on the matter right away. His hesitance to jump into the fray had very little to do with the fact that Heavypaw had been taken away from him when his own arrest had been made, but more so because he felt the battle belonged to Heero and Heero alone. He even felt somewhat compelled to suggest an exeunt, for he had an inkling that even though Heero seemed to have gone berserk, something inside that demonic form was holding back his full power because of their proximity to the fight.

But it wasn't Trowa's silence that stalled any further debate. Rather, it was the sudden upward thrust Milliardo made with his sword, somehow managing to sneak his blade beneath the circle of Heero's burly arms and straight through his upper torso. There was barely time for shock to contort Heero's impish face, even as a mouthful of blood spurted through his parted lips and splattered across Milliardo's cheek, before the sight caused Duo's stupor to suddenly switch off: the moment Milliardo's soiled blade had emerged through Heero's back, the hand that had been quivering at Duo's side impulsively flew into the casting ritual that called forth a wave of fire great enough to send Milliardo flying into the nearest wall. A bone-splintering crack echoed as Milliardo's skull was fatally crushed in upon impact, his spirit released from its corporal prison before the body had even completely slumped down into the sewage.

No one paid Milliardo's demise much more notice than that, the group of them far more distracted by the severity of the wound in Heero's chest. Duo had run to where Heero lay in the muddy grime, barely able to do much more than breathe. The sword was still lodged through his body, and even the most cursory inspection made it clear that trying to remove it would end Heero's life even more prematurely. No one said anything, unsure if words would even get through to Heero in his transformed state. Most of what they thought to say sounded too trite and idiotic to actually voice out loud anyway.

At length, Wufei said in a rather plain tone, "Even moving him might speed his doom."

"Even if it would help, I'm not sure we could," Trowa murmured back, that same frown still in place as he worried Quatre's owl charm discreetly behind his folded arms. He was staring at a blank section in the wall, just a little short of the carnage Milliardo's untimely death had left in the slimy bricking. "I'm still not sure the demonic influence tolerates us any more than it did Milliardo…."

Wufei let out a small grunt like he might agree with Trowa's comment, but Duo still remained silent, holding his folded knees close to his chest as he quietly watched Heero struggle with each subsequent breath. It didn't really matter to him if Heero realized that he was there or not – just that he was, even if he couldn't really do anything useful to help reverse the situation.

"Well," said Wufei, figuring that no one else was going to do anything if he didn't keep perpetuating things, "at least this resolves the issue with the Epyon demon. We shall report to Thrall that the threat has been neutralized."

Duo's head snapped up at the insensitive comment, fire dancing in his soulless eyes as a dangerously angry scowl crossed his flesh-eaten face. He didn't have to say a thing to communicate his displeasure at Wufei's lackadaisical feelings towards Heero's rapidly approaching death, but he did anyway: "You would be dead if it weren't for Heero, you ungrateful piece of shit," Duo hissed, his raspy voice taking on a dark tone that seemed to freeze the very breath it floated on.

Even Trowa seemed a bit disdainful of such a remark, his green eyes sliding towards Wufei with a look of contempt, though not much else about his stature shifted. "Even Alliance scum deserves respect for a noble death," he commented as his hand tightened around the charm he hid against his breast. His thoughts suddenly became overwhelmed with a concern quite unlike he'd ever known before as he worried about how he was going to tell Quatre that his childhood friend had passed on. He wondered if it would change anything – how Quatre might react to such news, or if he'd be upset that he wouldn't have been able to help it. The thought brought a suggestion to mind, and he quickly excused himself to try and find a private niche where he might summon Quatre's image without interruption from the likes of Wufei.

Wufei watched Trowa wordlessly turn on his heel and vanish into the shadows, taking the action as some kind of subtle hint. He glanced back at Duo, who hadn't moved from his place beside Heero's twisted, bloody shape, a pang of empathy suddenly taking hold of him as he looked on. "At least have your memories," he said in his gruff way. "I may be just an old soldier to you, but I… I know how you feel." With that, he followed Trowa's example and disappeared in another direction, unsure of exactly where he was planning to go. It was as if his purpose had evaporated as easily as the Epyon sigil had.

Duo barely noticed the departure of his other two companions, his eyes barely even able to focus on anything around him. He blandly announced to no one in particular, "What do they know what it's like to have a graveyard as a friend? Because that's how they always end up." He turned his head to look at Heero again, one hand slowly reaching out to brush some of Heero's ragged hair from his sweaty face. "Don't suppose I'll ever have a… friend like you again…."

As he pushed the dirty lock of hair behind one of Heero's ears, he realized that Heero was watching him with half-lidded eyes that no longer bore the yellowy tint they had when he'd first transformed. Rather, they held the familiar, oceanic blue that Duo had grown so fond of – a blue that was more comforting than any other hue he had ever seen.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Duo," came a strained mumble from Heero, though it clearly pained him to try and talk. His weakening stamina seemed to mirror the demon's control over him, his voice very much the timbre Duo was used to hearing. Even the extremity of the demonic features Heero had borne just moments ago seemed to be ebbing away, though it was probably a result of the fact that there was less and less life energy for the demon to feed off of.

"Stop wasting your strength, idiot," Duo scolded with a weak smile. He reached out to try and gently pull Heero's head into his lap, wishing his dead flesh could perceive the sensation of Heero's warmth against him. "You held up your end of the bargain, while I…."

He trailed off, too ashamed to even admit that he had completely failed Heero, who had done everything in his power to help him. He clenched the hand that wasn't lost in Heero's tangled hair and pounded it against the dirty sludge. "I never meant to betray you like this!" he finally burst out, the frustration too much to bear, especially with eyes that couldn't even shed tears. "When I said I'd exorcise the demon, I intended for you to… to live!"

Heero's body was almost entirely back to normal, though he still wore fangs in his weak smile and claws on his fingers; tattooed runes of black magic still marked his dirty skin. His clothes had been destroyed when the demon's flame had consumed him, so he lay in the blood stained water almost entirely naked and shivering. When he looked up, his vision was tinted with cloud and the tint of blood, but he could just make out Duo's face. "Did you… drink the potion?" he stammered weakly, his poor vision casting the illusion that Duo's features were young and handsome as they had been in life. He continued, even though Duo kept insisting he shouldn't waste his energy with idle speech: "I'm glad, you know... Glad I got to… see you… again…."

He was straining now, and Duo could see the pain it caused him to even breathe, much less speak, but he made no effort to try and silence Heero anymore. He pulled Heero's head closer to his torso and bent over, wrapping both arms around him as he mumbled with near incoherence, "Me too, buddy. Me too."

Duo huddled their broken forms together, his face buried against the cook of Heero's neck so he wouldn't have to witness the moment Heero drew his last breath. Duo's hands shook as a slight tremor rocketed down Heero's spine and a tiny gasp that puffed up against Duo's ear: he was suddenly aware that Heero had wrapped his arms around his waist before falling limply against him. Still refusing to look, even if just to confirm that the end had truly come, he missed the cause of Heero's brief convulsion on Death's doorstep, which was a tiny sphere of dark, demonic energy that had escaped through Heero's parted lips and rocketed off into the depths of the tunnel once its host had lost his life. Instead, Duo merely held Heero's corpse close and rocked it back and forth, like a child wishing a doll could speak back.

While Duo despaired, his familiar friend, Asahi, who had been hiding inside Duo's body during the chaos of the fight, came creeping out to investigate what was wrong now that things weren't so dangerous. He skittered down Duo's arm and across Heero's ashen face, his antennae dancing investigatively across it. The little creature seemed confused as to why Heero wasn't moving, running back and forth in frenetic circles as he tried to puzzle out the reason for it, or perhaps for an answer from the unresponsive Duo. The insect's actions went largely unnoticed by the sullen warlock, who retained his scrunched up position throughout Asahi's entire reappearance. It wasn't until the cockroach gave up on trying to win Duo's attention and had started to crawl back into the depths of Duo's robes that Duo was struck with an epiphany dazzling enough to jerk him into an upright position.

Suddenly aflame with new hope, Duo started digging through his robes, starting with the large, moth eaten hole that Asahi had just clambered through. After a few moments of frantic searching, he straightened again, triumphantly holding the potion bottle he and Heero had journeyed so arduously to attain. It was still coated with a streak of Heero's dried blood, where he'd cut himself on the glass before, but its changed, amber colour still shone through with the golden light of the blazing Azerothean sun. "He sacrificed so much for me," Duo murmured as he tore the broken stopper out of the bottle and cast it aside, the small bobble landing with a plunk in the grimy water. "It's only fair I make a sacrifice for him!"

And without another thought about it, Duo lifted Heero's head with one hand and poured the life-giving potion over his cold lips.

TBC