Disclaimer: Gundam Wing and "I own" do not fit in the same sentence. I don't own any rights. This is just a fanfic.

Wow. Ok, so moved from apartment to house. BIG move. And yet, I still have all this stuff that clutters up everything! But I dug out my lap top. Points for me. Oh, new poll up that might affect updates. And I'm on Facebook, for anyone who cares.

** edit! sorry it was bold and underlined! that was TOTALLY not on purpose!

Beyond the Grave

Chapter 36: Amnesia

Wu Fei followed the trail of deep shoe prints through the woods, there was evidence that Duo's stride was slowing, weakening. He must be close. Wu Fei started looking around for a place Duo might have stopped at to rest.

He saw color and turned towards it. In front of him the foot falls veered as if Duo had started to fall. Fall into… that rock?

It was a bolder really, it rose another two feet above his own head. It was creviced and had a hang over where animals had obviously curled up under it. Right now, there was a man curled up there, holding tightly to his knees, breathing heavily, sobbing. There was evidence a little bit off that Duo had been sick as well.

Wu Fei caught his breath and walked slowly up to where Duo was…hiding.

"Duo?" He asked quietly, surprised when Duo jerked and balled up tighter.

"Go Away. I'm not going back." Duo told him, but he was speaking into his knee caps so it was muffled.

"It's alright Duo. Come back, Trowa is…" Duo started screaming, cutting him off.

Wu Fei stumbled back, alarmed by his friends reaction.

"No, Duo, please. It's really alright, Trowa is…" The name seemed to trigger Duo's mental stability, because this time he lashed out, coming out of his ball just enough to take a swing at Wu Fei with bloody nails.

"Go Away, I'm not going back." Duo told him again.

"Duo, if you would just listen, let me tell you about… about what happened." Wu Fei caught himself this time.

"No, I know what happened. I don't care. He deserved it." Duo told him, his eyes flashing.

Wu Fei recoiled in shock. "How can you say that?" Even now he could see where tears had been streaming down Duo's face. Could see his hands were just as torn up as his from digging franticly.

"Hey, he started it. I just finished it." Duo snapped back.

Wu Fei had a stream of thoughts run through his head then. A conspiracy linking Duo to the people who had faked his death, to Aykan, and back to Relena Peacecraft. But once it hit that vial woman, everything snapped out of place. Duo had always disliked that girl. It didn't make sense. But something else did.

"What did he do?" Wu Fei asked, taking a leap in logic and going with it.

"He took a swing at me first, shoved my face into my lunch. If you're going to get all bent out of shape about a fork in someone's lung, then take away the forks. Just give us spoons." Duo sneered at him, watching his every move from over his bent legs.

"Spoons?" Wu Fei asked.

Duo laughed a little then and muttered, "It'd take a bit more force, but I could make a spoon work."

"Maxwell" Wu Fei snapped and he saw Duo jerk, and his eyes do a funny thing. Like the pupils dilated and then snapped back into focus.

"Wu Fei?" He stared at Wu Fei, as if he was shocked to see him. As if Wu Fei had just appeared out of no where. Maybe he had. But if that were the case, who had Duo thought he was talking to before.

"Duo, let me help you up." Wu Fei tried for a more simple approach this time. "I have to drive us… back."

"Back where?" If only Duo didn't always have to ask so many questions.

"Back to Heero" That should satisfy him.

"Oh, ok." Duo started to reach out and push himself up. Wu Fei reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"No" Duo suddenly yelled at him. "I'm not going back to that stinking cell"

Wu Fei let go of Duo's wrist and backed up.

"Maxwell, it's me." Wu Fei tried again, verbally trying to keep him tethered to the here and now.

"Uh, yeah. I know. So?" Duo asked, stumbling a little as he got his legs under him. "We're going back to see Heero, right?"

"Yes." Wu Fei felt as if he were holding a fraying rope. This was a dangerous man he was with. And a very unstable one. Any wrong thing he said might get him killed. Seriously wounded at the very least.

"The car is this way" Wu Fei started to walk in the direction he'd come from. Duo followed, his arms wrapped around himself. His eyes darting around, aware of everything. Searching for danger. He was almost cowering in on himself.

"Is it far?" Duo asked.

"Well, you are a good runner, and you were pretty determined." Wu Fei answered and then regretted his words.

"Runner…?" Duo paused and Wu Fei turned in time to see panic stat to roll through Duo again.

"No, you stay put." Wu Fei yelled at him, and without thinking, reached out and slapped Duo hard across the face.

Duo stood there for a second, stunned. And then his face started to turn red with anger and blood rushed to his cheek.

"You Honor-Bound-Justice-Twit!" Duo yelled at Wu Fei, spitting out the first words that popped into his head.

Wu Fei almost laughed, but he kept his face schooled. This was going to be like walking through a mine field if he didn't think of something quick.

"You ever do that again and I'm going to skin your right arm and then brand you with my initials, so everyone will know you're my bitch." Duo yelled at him.

Wu Fei could only stare at him for a moment. The colorful threat was something Duo would have yelled at him right at the end of the war. Just a couple of months before it had ended. Duo's mental timeline was jumping around, frantic to land on anything that wasn't what had just happened today.

But it gave him an idea, back then the only one who had ever been able to put a lid on Duo's anger, or even bother to be around him for more than a couple of days had been…

"Who're ya callin?" Duo asked as Wu Fei whipped out his cell phone. He had just one bar next to the tiny antenna. It would have to be enough.

Wu Fei hit his speed dial and waited while the line rang. On the beginning of the third ring the line picked up.

"Wu Fei? Is everything ok?" Heero demanded, his voice strained, but strong.

"Here, talk to him, I have to get him back to the car and everything I say keeps triggering another episode." Wu Fei snapped at his friend, his patience wearing thin. He shoved the phone at Duo, who stared at it and then put it to his ear.

"Hello?" Duo asked. And then, "Heero" His voice was calmer and happier. Wu Fei took a few steps, found Duo following him while listening to the phone and talking to Heero, and then started to lead them back to his car.

Heero had no idea what was going on, but just hearing the things Duo was saying was enough to worry him. It was enough to keep him talking, hoping Wu Fei was leading them… well, to the car he guessed. But he couldn't ask where they were now. He'd wait and ask those questions later.

"So I punched the guy and ran. I hope I knocked out several teeth, I didn't really stick around to check since I only had eight minutes and twenty-six seconds on the timer. But Heero, I must have set it wrong." Duo was telling him.

"Why's that?" Heero asked back, trying to make his voice emotionless. "You don't make those types of mistakes."

"Because I didn't hear an explosion." Duo sighed. "Either that or I ran a lot further than I thought."

"My sources say the target is destroyed. Are you evacuating?" Heero was pretty sure he remembered this mission Duo was reliving.

"Of course, Wu Fei came and picked me up. I think he's mad though cuz I was a little bit off on the pick up point. He had to come lookin for me in the woods." Duo chuckled a little.

Oh yes, Heero remembered this mission. "Yes, he raidoed in that he couldn't find you and that he was going to look for you. Explain." Heero couldn't repeat everything verbatim, but he was pretty sure he was close.

"Oh, I just started running, I must'a veered a little when I tripped." Duo sighed.

"Tripped?" Heero barked. He hated having to go back to the ass he'd been, but keeping Duo calm was key. And he could distinctly remember how frustrated he'd been that Duo was so calm when he'd been so worried about him not coming back from the mission.

"Yeah, injured my knee. Nothin big." Duo replied.

Heero swallowed hard. It had been big. Duo had scrapped his knee down to the bone that time. Heero had helped him out of the car Wu Fei had picked him up in. All that blood.

"Heero?" Duo's voice wavered.

"Duo? What is it?" Heero asked, unable to keep the emotion out of his voice this time.

"We're at Wu Fei's car. Heero, it's blue." During that mission Wu Fei had driven a white car. "Am I…. was I, just now…"

"It's alright." Heero interrupted him. "Can you put Wu Fei back on for a second?"

"Ok" Heero heard the sound of the phone being transferred.

"Yuy?" Wu Fei asked, he must have been listening on the other side.

"What's going on? Are you coming back?" Heero asked.

"Yes, I have somewhere I need to be, but I don't think it's a good place to take Du- Maxwell. So I'll drop him off first." And he would explain then. Heero nodded, realized Wu Fei couldn't see him nod and grunted.

"Do you still need me?"

"I think it best." Meaning Duo was so upset he couldn't be kept calm on the car ride back.

"Put him back on." Heero said.

Again, the phone transferred hands.

"Heero?" Duo, sounding so lost. It felt like a knife in his throat.

"I'm here." Heero told him. He spent the time it took Wu Fei to drive back to the house talking to Heero. Sometimes Duo drifted away and they talked about the war as if it were still going on. Sometimes Duo asked him about something that was almost current. But the past three days seemed to be gone.

It worried Heero, what had happened while they'd been up on Peter's Peak? No one had mentioned Trowa yet.