Disclaimer: You certainly know the score.
Notes: This is largely a story where I'm hoping to follow the reactions, rather than the expected plot. Thank you for joining me. And I should probably mention: I'm not a medical professional – as you probably guessed – and treatment I put here, is based on my own experiences and internet research.
Warnings: I'm a slash writer; in my view some characters are not heterosexual. This may be different from your own interpretation of the characters. I hope you enjoy the story, despite our disagreement and I thank you for staying with me, despite Chapter 9 being your safe stopping point.
Song: Amy Winehouse - Rehab
::They tried to make me go to rehab but I said 'no, no, no'::
::Yes I've been black but when I come back you'll know know know::
::I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine::
::He's tried to make me go to rehab but I won't go go go::
::I'd rather be at home with Ray::
::I ain't got seventy days::
Fade to Black
By Doctor Megalomania
Chapter 28: You can teach me
::Cause there's nothing::
::There's nothing you can teach me::
"We're currently predicting a recovery to level 8 within the next two years."
Duo stared at Doctor Hobbs, his mouth slack. She was smiling at him, as if it was good news. Duo blinked and roused himself out of his shock, "Two YEARS?"
Hobbs' smile faded, "You've had a significant trauma, and your recovery at the moment is the best you can do. You can't expect to rush things."
"I'm going to be in this bed for two years?" Duo looked around, struggling with the idea, "I'm... I'm not..."
"You may be able to move independently and beyond the hospital without supervision within the next year," Hobbs stood and put a hand on his shoulder. "You might be able to walk, or... you might be able to leave in a wheel chair and work your way back to walking. You shouldn't expect too much of yourself. You've been doing really well—"
"I can't even walk four meters without falling over!"
"Doctor Carlson has been very impressed with—"
"I can't even piss without help!"
Hobbs closed her eyes, "Mr Maxwell."
"How is being better in TWO YEARS going to ever seem like good news!?"
"Mr Maxwell, I know that it seems like a long time, but you've been in your coma for approaching three years now!"
"Yeah, but I wasn't awake!" He threw his hands up in exasperation, "I've got stuff to do!"
"Stuff?"
"Yeah, my job, my company..." Duo waved his hand, "I haven't got two years to waste here..."
Hobbs removed her glasses and rubbed an eye. She sighed, "I don't need to remind you about your range of physical limitations, or your as-yet-uncharted range of mental issues." She replaced her glasses, and looked at him frankly. "You've got a long way to go, to recover from your injury and the coma. The only stuff you've gotta do is get focused on getting better." She sat down again and leant forward, "I'm giving it to you straight: You can't drive a car, you can't even feed yourself using cutlery at the moment. You can't hold a pen, fork or screw driver."
"I can—"
"You can tell me how to take apart and reconstruct a mobile suit's communication array. Yes, sir, you can. Everyone who knows about this kind of thing has told me you've got a flawless recall of how to do it. But Duo..." She paused and waited until he looked at her. Her expression was soft, concerned. "You can't physically do it. Not right now. In two years, I fully believe – and there is nobody in our department that doesn't believe – in two years, Duo, you will walk out of here." She jabbed her clipboard with her index finger, "And this prediction is only based on your current rate of progress. We will constantly re-evaluate based on your progress."
"Doc, I've been giving it my all." He looked down, "There's no more to give."
She shook her head, "Two years ago, they pulled the plug – you had nothing left to give, they said. Last year, I said you were minimally aware – you had nothing left to give, I said. She stood, and grasped his shoulder. Today, I have no idea what you're going to do – you have nothing left to give, you've said." She turned and gathered her equipment, "Doctor Carlson's expecting you later in the gym, and Mr Yuy said he'd be by in the afternoon."
"Doctor Hobbs."
She paused at the doorway and looked back over her shoulder. Duo glanced at her.
"I can't be here for two years."
"That's pretty tough because if you've got nothing left to give, you're going to be here for much longer than two years." Hobbs nodded to him, "Don't give up."
The knock was light, like they weren't expecting an answer.
Duo looked up from his book, curious. People rarely knocked his hospital door. "Come in," he called out. Nataku smiled shyly as she entered and closed the door. The girl tugged once at her rucksack, and put it down by the door. She smiled as she moved to sit beside him. Her uniform made him think of his brief days at school. Heero standing up in class next to argue a point. He blinked the image away, "Your father know you're here?"
"Sure." She shrugged, "School's out early because water's out in the district. Nobody was able to collect me, so I caught a cab and came here. Papa said it was a good opportunity for me to spend time with you; Uncle Heero's going to take me home with him on the bus."
"Heero's out at his therapy session. He won't be back for a while." Duo frowned, "Anyway, aren't you a bit young to be travelling by yourself?"
Her scandalised face gave him a laugh. "I'm nine and a half!"
"As I said, aren't you a bit young?"
She folded her arms, indignation flooding her expression and Duo was startled by the image of Wufei standing on his Gundam, door open, wind whipping his hair everywhere as he raged at them. "You've terminated all the peaceful doves in the Federation!"
He blinked and the girl was standing, her small hand on his cheek. "Are you okay?" She asked quietly, "You looked scared for a moment."
"I'm..." he glanced down at the book, and smiled bitterly, "I'm fine. You look like Wufei when you're mad." He swallowed, realising his mouth was dry. He closed his eyes for a moment, "How long was I under for?"
The girl was back in her chair, and glanced at her watch. "About 20 minutes." She looked at him calmly, "It wasn't scary."
"Wasn't it?" Duo reached for his glass of water, "I would have been scared."
"It's easier when you know what's happening." She admitted, "It was really hard when I was here and it was the first time. It..." she looked down, thinking hard for a moment, and then nodded to herself. She looked at him, her brown eyes were piercing. "It was like when mummy was dying. Her eyes did the same thing, they'd go dark like she wasn't there." She swallowed, nodding again. "So it was scary when it happened to you, but then Papa showed me how it was different, and Uncle Heero explained it to me." She smiled at him, "I learnt how to tell, and I showed Mr Marquise and Miss Noin how to tell too so that they didn't find it scary. Mr Marquise said I did a good job, because Miss Noin was getting super scared." She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "He was more scared."
Duo smiled softly, "Your father doesn't hide much from you, does he?"
"No." The girl sat back and her legs swung as she thought for a moment. "I'm not sure what he wants me to be when I grow up, he said it's up to me." She paused and looked at the flowers by Duo's bed, reaching up to touch a petal. "But I know that he doesn't want me to be Gundam. I mean... He told Mr Marquise that he didn't want me to be a Gundam; he wanted me to be better." She tilted her head as she noticed Duo's wider smile, "I guess you know what that means?"
"Yeah."
She frowned slightly, "But you, all of the Gundam pilots, you're the best that there is."
Duo broke into a grin, "Kid, nobody said it would be easy."
She huffed.
He stared at the floor, watching the droplets of sweat hit the ground.
His arms ached from where he was still putting too much weight on them, his legs felt numb below the knee and he didn't even have the upper body strength to keep his head off the floor. Duo couldn't do it anymore, everyone said he was getting better but here he was, kissing the linoleum again. He shifted his head to look to the side, crushing his cheek to the floor. Doctor Carlson's brown loafers came into view. "You done today?"
He didn't answer.
The loafers tilted as the man crouched. "You've been pushing yourself hard, and I think it's time to scale back your efforts and focus on stamina."
"No." Duo ground out, "Nope."
"What you gonna do down there then?" Doctor Carlson's voice was gruff, "Because from here it looks like you sure are done today."
"I'm gonna get up."
"You're gonna have to, the little lady outside looks a little worried."
Duo rolled his eyes and shifted his head to knock it against the floor. "Shit. I thought she was in the canteen getting lunch."
"She was. She came back. You've been on the floor for a while."
That was enough, Duo pushed himself up. It was a clumsy move, but soon he was kneeling at least. He raised his head when he caught his breath and looked at the door. The girl was standing on something, peering in with a worried expression. When she noticed she had his attention, she raised a hand to signal 'ok' at him. He nodded back to her and she dropped the hand, clearly relieved. She poked her tongue out as she thought for a moment, and then raised a hesitant fist. He watched as she tapped on the window slowly, signalling the safe house entry. Beside him, Carlson stood and put both fists on his hips. "Guessing that means something to you."
"Yeah," Duo raised a shaking arm to wipe his brow, "Tell her she can come in."
Nataku entered the room, listening carefully to the doctor as he spoke in low tones to her. Duo didn't know what he said, but Nataku began frowning at the man. He watched her lips carefully as she replied very clearly to the man. He couldn't help the snort of amusement, as the girl stepped around the doctor and stalked toward him. Her pretty little mary-jane shoes were slapping the lino hard as she stopped, each step popping like a little firecracker. She looked annoyed, obviously insulted by what Carlson had just said to her. She stopped just in front of him, unsure how close to be. She looked him up and down and then looked at the walk behind him. She tilted her head. "What do you have to do to get finished for the day?"
He shook his head, "You got way too much faith in the name, I was a Gundam pilot. The emphasis is clearly now on the 'was' part of that sentence."
"Always a Gundam pilot." She retorted, her annoyance turning to impatience. "You escaped this hospital once before. What do you need to do?"
He glanced up, "I'm done." The rails looked out of reach. When he looked at her again, it was like she was trying to figure out a difficult problem. He smiled at her faintly, "Look, it's ok. I'm just—"
"Sounds like you're giving up." She interrupted him. "And I remember when papa almost gave up. Sally didn't let him." She took a firm stance, "Get up."
"You're giving me an order, kid?" Duo snorted, "You're just a—"
"And this kid is going to stamp her foot, and she's going to start screaming." Nataku's fists bunched at her sides. Her face went scarlet with anger as her voice rose, "Because I'm Chang Nataku and I'm not going to stand here and watch a Gundam Pilot tell me he can't just get up!" She stamped her foot, her shoe hitting the linoleum like a gunshot—
"You've terminated all the peaceful doves in the Federation!"
- and Duo reeled. The wall behind him caught him forcefully, and he slid down. His braid cushioned the scrap of the bricks as he collapsed to the floor. His legs weren't moving, and he could only lift his hands feebly. For the longest moment, he wondered about the ketchup on his hands in confusion. His breath was roaring in his ears, and sounds muffled. He felt the hand under his chin, and he stared into the man's face. Duo felt the drool in his mouth over flow, and he couldn't hear anything. The man was speaking, his face was peaceful. He stared at the man's lips and tried desperately to understand what the man was saying.
"... don't have to save..." His sight faded out for a moment. "...anymore..."
His brown eye was narrowed with hate, and his hand left Duo's cheek to open his jacket. He was putting his gun into a shoulder holster. Red washed over his left eye, and Duo wanted to scream with the pain. He couldn't move his hands, and his vision was patchy with black. A caress on his cheek. He could just about make out the man walking out of the alley before it all went—
The sound of a girl humming inexpertly made him open his eyes. He stared at the ceiling for a long time before tilting his head to look at the window. Old-Man Wufei stood, arms folded. He stared out the window, as if he were challenging the city to a staring match. Wufei's hair was longer, but the ends were cut straight, like he'd used a ruler. His pony tail ended part way down his back, and it reminded Duo that so much time had to have passed. Old Man Wufei was calmer, much calmer in himself.
Even when standing still, Wufei often used to vibrate with barely contained anger. Now, he was completely still like stone. His Preventer uniform was mostly fresh, though it was clear from the crinkles that it had been a long and active day. Duo glanced at the reflection of Wufei's face, and was surprised to notice that Wufei was watching him. Wufei nodded and turned from the window, walking toward him. His voice was quiet as he spoke, "How are you feeling?"
"I was ..." Duo closed his eyes briefly, "I was in the gym...?"
"Yes, you were." Wufei smiled faintly, "I think my daughter surprised you."
Duo felt the blood drain from his face and he pushed himself weakly onto his elbows. At the end of his bed, Nataku sat on a chair and used his bed as a desk. Her head was down, bobbing as she listened to music on headphones. Duo swallowed hard, unable to see any damage. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine." Wufei lowered himself gingerly into a seat. "And I'm sure Doctor Carlson will recover soon from the shock of seeing you pole vault over the rails, take down two nurses, jump through a window and crash into the poor Preventer who was just coming to check on his daughter..." Wufei closed his eyes as he sat back. "Thankfully, you've not gotten any of your grace or manoeuvres back, so you were an easy take down."
Duo flopped back on the bed and winced as he felt his body protest. "How are the nurses?"
He was surprised as Wufei chuckled, "They've had to deal with you and Heero going a bit berserk before, so they both just dropped to the ground as soon as you came at them. They had the good sense to get down and protect Nataku." He tilted his head. "She told me what happened before she thinks she surprised you."
Duo lay and stared at the ceiling unsure what to say. Wufei shifted and crossed his legs, lacing his fingers around his knee.
"We never stop being Gundams." Wufei said softly and when Duo looked at him, Wufei's black eyes were burning with anger. He leant forward, "We may have put our names away but they are still a part of us. You can do it, if the will is there." He shifted and tapped Duo's chest above his heart, "The problem isn't in your head. You're thinking you're better, but you don't believe it."
"Gonna scream and shout at me?" Duo smirked, "Gonna stamp your foot?"
Wufei leant back and nodded with an utterly serious expression, "You better believe I will." He nodded, and tipped a finger toward his daughter. "I will also let my daughter kick your ass next time, she is a black belt." He folded his arms and looked at the busy girl. "And while I don't believe in attacking people weaker than I am, I don't think she has that limitation."
Duo stared at the man, his jaw slack. When Wufei looked back at Duo, the smile dawned on Duo's lips slowly. Duo shook his head in disbelief and held up his hands in a confused gesture. "Whatever happened to ..." He motioned Wufei, "To staying calm if we wanted to live any longer...?"
A moment's confusion passed over Wufei's features, and then the memory opened to him suddenly. His smile was a wonder to behold to Duo. Wufei nodded, "We don't stand a chance unless something drastic happens."
"You remember?" Duo's strange coloured eyes were bright and his hands reached for Wufei's. Wufei took them both and squeezed, then shook his head and leant forward to hug the man in the bed.
"Of course, I remember." Wufei held Duo tightly, "Damnit. I was there!"
He felt Duo shudder, and held tighter still.
"Damnit, Maxwell, I'm here now!"
He pulled back and stared into Duo's eyes. He felt his own eyes water, and leant forward to lightly head-butt the other former pilot.
"Idiot!"
Heero was confused as he switched on his phone; he'd missed three calls from the hospital and had a text message from Wufei. Wufei's message just said, 'Ignore them. He's fine.' He pushed the doors open and stopped on the stairs when he spotted Noin and Zechs leaning nonchalantly against their car, waiting for him. Zechs raised a hand and waved, "Hey."
Heero took a step back and swallowed. He frowned, unsure what to do.
"I hope your therapy session was productive." Noin smiled faintly, and walked toward him. "You've got missed calls from the hospital?"
"Yes, and a message from Wufei."
"Yeah, we're here because Wufei's message isn't reassuring you right now." Noin held up a hand, "Duo is fine, he just had a flashback."
Heero's frown deepened, he glanced at Zechs. He was confused by the man's shaking shoulders. He looked back at Noin. "And?"
Noin shrugged helplessly, "And took out two nurses, threw himself through a corridor window and had to be taken down by Wufei."
Behind her, Zechs slipped on his sunglasses and chuckled to himself. Heero let go of the breath he was holding. He closed his eyes briefly, "How are the nurses?"
"Oh," Noin smiled, barely able to contain her amusement, "They're fine."
He looked at her, "What triggered it?"
"The way Wufei tells it..." Zechs tried to affect a totally straight face, "He was going to give up and Nataku threatened to punch his face in." He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I mean, I'd have post-traumatic-stress-flashbacks too. Have you seen her throw a tantrum?" Zechs raised his sunglasses, pure amusement sparkling in his bright blue eyes, "She is bloody scary..."
Heero closed his eyes, "I think I need to get to the hospital."
Noin chuckled and tapped him on the elbow as she turned to the car, "You want us to flash the lights? I mean, Nataku's still there."
Heero opened the door slowly.
"And you went through the glass like..." Nataku threw up her hands and winced theatrically, "Like: KSSSSHHHHHH! And you totally rolled and like came up again, and it was like papa was there and then it was like WHOA –" She threw her hands around in some karate forms swiftly, "But then he was like POH POH POH –" she chopped her hand three times "– and you went down like a rag doll."
"Are you sure it wasn't more like –" Duo held up his hands and waved them, "Whoooooaaaaaahhh Flying Crane, Crouching Grasshooper! Cause that's totally how it was like when he was fighting when he was 15." Duo's smirk was knowing and he held up his hands defensively when he looked to Wufei. "Don't hit me!"
Wufei's scandalised expression was exaggerated, "I was never anything so stupid, you watch far too many movies!"
Heero stepped in further. Nataku's head whipped round, and she grinned widely, "Uncle Heero! You missed the most awesome thing!"
"I hear there was some excitement." Heero looked at Duo in concern, and blinked as he noticed the plaster on the man's nose. Heero raised a finger to point at his nose, and Duo's face creased with laughter.
"I know, right?" Duo shrugged, "What are the odds!?"
"Uncle Heero!" He looked down at the little girl as she exploded at him, "Look, it was like this, it was like bam! He got up and he jumped over the rails!" She jumped up in the air and took a step toward him, assuming a casual fight stance. "And he was like KICK!" She flicked up her leg, and span, throwing out a fist, "and then he was like PUNCH!" Her excitement was contagious as she crossed her arms in front of herself and threw her body at him. "And then he went through the window like, like RAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!"
Heero dropped to his knees, catching the little girl. He pulled the girl into his arms and stood. He looked at Wufei who was chuckling and then at Duo who grinned brightly. "Through a window?"
Duo's grin froze for a moment, "Dude." He shook his head and pointed toward the window, "We are only on the fifth floor, not the twelfth and I only went through a window and landed in the corridor."
" What?" Nataku looked at Heero, "What?"
"I broke him out this one time..." Duo pointed at Heero, his voice accusing, "Okay, okay. Wait, I'll start from the beginning: First time I meet him, he blew up my Gundam while I was rescuing his Gundam—"
"Ah." Heero sat down on a bedside chair, with Nataku on his knee, "Let's clarify: you were rescuing my Gundam for parts."
"Yeah, whatever, I'm doing a good deed, either way, and he goes and gets himself captured by the enemy." Duo motioned himself, "AAnd because I'm a good guy, I go break him out. But get this, we're on the twelfth floor and he's in no shape to fight his way down. So... I blew out a window, and gave him a parachute. I had my helicopter thing..." He looked at Wufei, "Which I forgot in my Gundam and now it's toast..." He clenched a fist and bit his knuckles. "Anyway, so, we're standing there and Heero jumps out, and I jump out, and it's like, going well..."
"Wait." Nataku held up her hands to her head, she looked very confused, "Wait. In what situation is jumping out of a hospital to escape enemy forces a good idea?" She motioned the window, "They just lean out the window and shoot you..."
"Ah!" They turned to see that Zechs and Noin had arrived with coffees, Zechs smiled as he looked at Nataku, "See, nobody ever thought of that. This is why the war would have been over much faster if you'd been in charge."
Noin laughed as the girl's eyes narrowed, "But... he had a parachute, he would have just been floating slowly..."
"I didn't deploy my parachute." Heero nodded to Zechs as he took a coffee. He took a sip and shrugged when the girl looked at him in horror. "Well, I did."
"Not until it was too late," Duo chimed in, laughing, "I kid you not, he hit the cliff and rolled down it, and then hit the beach and rolled over that – and if you liked my combat roll, you would have loved this one – comes to a stop." Duo sniffed theatrically and pretended to brush sand off his shoulder. "Got up, walked away like nothing happened."
"I had a broken leg."
"Oh, I had a broken leg!" Duo mocked and looked at Nataku, "And then he set his own leg, right in front of me." He brushed the imaginary sand away from both shoulders again, "And then he carried on walking."
Nataku looked from Duo to Heero, and twisted her head to look up at Zechs. The man shrugged, "Ask Sally, she was there."
Wufei clapped a hand over his eyes, "Sjobol's going to hear about this, isn't he?"
"Are you kidding?" Nataku's wide eye shock gave way to giggling; "Of course he's going to hear about this, this totally beats his Lady Une story!"
"What Lady Une story?" Duo blinked, and tilted his head.
"She totally shot a guy." She waved her hands at him when he opened his mouth, "No, I know, you've all shot a guy... but she shot him AFTER she dropped him out of a plane!"
Zechs glanced at Noin, raising an eyebrow. She looked at him, glanced at Nataku and then nodded, "Septum? Remember?"
The man's eyes narrowed as he looked back, and then he nodded, an inappropriate smirk appearing. "Oh yeah."
" It wasn't funny." Noin hissed at him, she gestured the little girl. Zechs' expression turned serious as he met the girl's glance.
"It was not funny." He confirmed, he gestured Heero. "Our fight in Antarctica however—"
"Please stop giving her more stuff to tell Sjobol!" Wufei protested, throwing his hands up. "I think Sjobol knows quite enough!"
"They're predicting two years 'til I'm mostly recovered."
Heero looked up from his book, and nodded. "I spoke to Doctor Hobbs, she told me you didn't want to wait that long."
Duo looked over at him, "I just can't..." he motioned the window, outside it was dark. Another day had passed. Duo sighed, "I just can't waste any more of my life... I mean, I just can't do it in this bed any more. And..." He growled and threw off his blanket, "I need to pee, goddamnit."
"I'll call—"
"No, you're not calling the goddamn nurse." Duo pointed at a door across from the bed, "That's the damn toilet. I flung myself through a window and kicked two people today, I can get up and I can go to the crapper." He stared down at his legs. Duo snarled, "I know how to do it, why can't I just-?!"
A hand appeared in front of him, and he looked up at Heero. The other man stood with a hand out, "Will you at least accept my help?"
"You're not carrying me."
Heero shook his head, "I won't."
Duo swallowed and shifted heavily, his legs slow and unresponsive. It took a lot of effort to get his feet on the floor, and he looked up at Heero. Heero stood in front of him now, both hands out. Duo reached up and took Heero's hands, trying to will his own to stop shaking so hard. Heero nodded, and Duo felt the hands close around his. "You could bend steel..." Duo murmured, looking up to meet Heero's eyes.
"I still can." Heero replied simply, he pulled.
Duo was surprised by how tall he was in comparison to Heero. They stood face to face, and he wobbled. His lips brushed the bridge of Heero's nose. He leant against Heero gratefully, and appreciated that Heero's hands took a firmer grip around his elbows. They stood like that for a long moment. Duo could feel Heero's breath on his chin, and he stared into the messy brown fringe. Hard blue eyes met his and Duo could see determination. He spoke without thinking.
"Hey buddy...?"
Heero shifted Duo's arm over his shoulders and they turned. He looked at Duo, seeing the man swallow. His profile didn't quite reveal his expression, but Heero thought he looked determined. Duo was staring ahead, and Heero could feel the tremors of strain.
"You know Paris?" Duo didn't look at him. Heero didn't answer, Duo nodded as if he had. "Course you know Paris. Did you leave because you knew I was coming?"
"No." Heero looked forward, "I'd made the Preventers."
Duo drew a breath to speak, paused and then drew another breath. "Did you know I was coming?"
"No."
"If you had known I was coming?"
Heero looked up, nodded, and looked at Duo. "I went into the prison, because nobody understood how dangerous I felt and I was tired of running." Duo looked at him, his expression watchful. Heero nodded, "But you understood, because you were the same." Heero thought for a moment, "I don't know what I would have done if I'd known you were coming. I don't think I would have left."
Duo nodded slowly. He looked toward the window, "The next two years are going to be hell, buddy." He felt Heero readjust his grip, and grunt. He smiled at the familiar impatient noise. "Heh, okay." Duo looked toward the door and lifted his spare hand to point, "Onwards, to the crapper and beyond!"
They took a step forward.
::I don't ever wanna drink again::
::I just ooh I just need a friend::
::I'm not gonna spend ten weeks::
::Have everyone think I'm on the mend::
::It's not just my pride::
::It's just 'til these tears have dried ::
A/N: Alas, I fear it is another update without replies to reviews – I can only blame a lack of time. I'm only just scraping an update today, so apologies if there are even more mistakes than usual. Thank you in advance for your reviews!
