Disclaimer: If I owned Gundam Wing I'm sure my gas wouldn't keep getting shut off. Because I'd have money.

ARGH! Ok, so obviously I haven't written anything in a while. My personal life got a bit hectic there for a while and The Muse left me. Cold and barren she did! But now I'm back! And hopefully I can pick this back up, cuz I just read some back chapters and I've really put Duo into a pickle, haven't I?

Beyond the Grave

Chapter 38: Warped

Duo clung to the phone in his hand. The world around him was a giant ball of confusion. Heero's voice was his rock, the only place that was still and calm. Proof that Heero was waiting for him.

Wu Fei was driving, sitting right there next to him. But Duo was sure that he'd been sitting next to someone just a minute ago. Someone else who wanted him dead. Who would crash the car at any second. Had Wu Fei killed them? Where were their Gundams stored?

He was also concerned that it was too bright. They shouldn't be running around in broad daylight. Not when their faces were all over the news, someone could spot them and turn them into OZ. Hadn't the sun just set? Had they been traveling all night already?

"Duo? You still there?" Heero's voice broke his train of thought again.

"Yes." Duo confirmed. He'd have a report to send off once they got to the safe house. "Do we have some down time? Or has another mission come in already?"

Heero's voice faltered. Then it came back, as stern as ever. Emotionless and a bit stuck up. "No, we have some down time for you to recover."

"Oh good, because my legs are killing me." Duo admitted. Couldn't let Heero know just how hurt he was. The guy got real testy when he thought there was any chance you could be a liability to his mission.

His legs, both of them hurt, but hadn't he just hurt the one? Duo looked down at his legs in panic and found them both fine, just sore.

"Heero?" Duo watched a mother pulling her little girl down the street towards a toy store. No boarded up windows, no hesitant shoppers. No soldiers marching about.

"I'm here." Heero's voice. Strong, dependable, caring.

"Almost there." Wu Fei said next to him. They were leaving the businesses behind now. Residential lawns taking up the sides of the street. Duo held onto the phone in his hand. Heero was there with him, holding him steady. His rock.

Heero had heard Wu Fei's voice over the line. He was still muttering reassurances to Duo as he forced himself to get up and head for the front door. The pain running through his spine made every move near agony, but he walked to the door and opened it. Waiting. He watched Wu Fei's car pull up the long drive and heard the moment when Duo saw him.

Heero hung up and tucked the phone in his pocket as Wu Fei pulled up and stopped the car. Duo was already half way out the door and rushing for Heero.

"What happened?" He demanded. "Why are you out of bed? You promised me you'd rest and get well."

Heero felt a small surge of relief. Duo was finally speaking as if he remembered when he'd left Heero just today. The first sign that he did have a stable reference that was current somewhere in his mind.

"I'm sorry, but things got a little hectic here while you were gone." Heero sighed as Duo took some of his weight and started guiding him back inside. He also noticed how dirty Duo was, and the tear tracks on his face worried him greatly.

Just inside some servants were waiting, and Heero had no doubt that had he started to fall while waiting for Duo, someone would have been there to help him. Wu Fei's voice was behind him, talking to someone and Heero could hear a clipped version of what had happened being explained to his friend.

Heero let Duo guide him to a couch inside and sat down gratefully, taking in deep breaths of air, trying to ignore his need to lay down and get some rest.

"Is everything ok? What happened? Where's Trowa?" Heero knew his words were the wrong ones as soon as they left his mouth. Duo kind of got a glazed over look in his eyes and his breathing slowed way down. The room felt cooler, as if the danger that seeped from Duo was tangible in the room.

"Maxwell, go get Yuy a glass of water. He should not have been on his feet, he needs to rest." Wu Fei barked out and turned to Heero. "I don't care how much you hate pain killers, you're taking these." Wu Fei was holding a small pill bottle and shook it to add emphasis to his words.

"He's right Heero, you'll never heal if you don't do as the doctors ordered." Duo siad, his voice slightly muted, and his eyes still unsure. But it was enough to pull him back from whatever edge he'd been headed towards and got him out of the room for a quick second.

Wu Fei spoke quickly as soon a Duo was gone. "Trowa is alive. I'm not sure on his condition, Quatre went with him to the hospital. But when we dug him up from the coffin he'd been buried in, he wasn't breathing or responding to CPR." The news hit Heero like a sledge hammer. Trowa had… died? "I have to go to the hospital and check on Quatre, I'm sorry, but I need to leave Duo here with you. The event appears to have made him unstable, and you are the only one who had been able to keep him calm for any amount of time. I'll be back to help as soon as I can, but his mind is jumping around a time line I can't follow. And you seem to be the only constant thing in his life that grounds him."

"I understand" Heero nodded gravely. He had been mostly following the leaps that Duo's mind made, he just hoped that his injuries wouldn't blind side him and leave Duo floundering with those around him who had no idea just how dangerous he was.

Wu Fei nodded and left. It was the only clue he gave about how worried he was about Trowa and Quatre. And how much he trusted Heero to get the situation under control.

"Here's your water." Duo came back and Heero wasn't entirely sure that Duo hadn't stayed in the kitchen so long on purpose. It was as if a part of him was very aware of what was going on around him. And that Heero was doing all he could to help him. But the rest of his mind didn't seem to grasp what was wrong. Only that something had happened. "Are you going to take your pills?" Duo asked him, watching Heero closely.

Heero paused. If he took the pills he would more than likely pass out. But if he didn't he might just pass out anyway from the pain and the strain it was putting on his body. But with Duo watching him, could he afford to make this a confrontation?

"Heero, please take them." Duo whispered to him. It was all the push he needed. Heero nodded grimly.

"Can you help me up the stairs?" Heero asked, something he'd never done during the war and it seemed to help Duo. His gaze was steadier and he even gave Heero a bit of a smile. He helped Heero off the couch, slow and carefully, watching closely where he grabbed Heero and then supporting him as they made their way to the stairs.

"I killed Trowa." Duo suddenly sprang on him halfway up the stairs. Had Duo not been supporting most of his weight, Heero was sure he would have misstep at that point and gone down, hard.

"I don't think you did." Heero said back, quietly, testing the waters.

"Maybe I wasn't the one who buried him alive, but I'm pretty sure he'd be alive right now if it wasn't for me." Duo said back, taking them up the stairs again, always moving towards Heero's room.

"Duo, you are not solely responsible for every life around you." Heero tried to remind him. He could actually remember having this conversation with Duo during the war. But this wasn't that conversation, of that he was sure. This was simply a new visitation on an old idea that had wormed it's way into Duo's conscious.

"These men were after me. They want me dead, and now they're attacking me through you four." It disturbed Heero ever so slightly how calm Duo was during this conversation. They reached the top of the stairs and Duo steered them towards the closed door that lead to Heero's room.

"Trowa and the others know what it means to have you back. They are each responsible for themselves and know the risks we face. It was not your fault." Heero tried to assure him.

"Trowa and Quatre just want a quiet life. I know you and Wu Fei are still fighting bad guys, and that means you're ready for the risks. But what about those two? I know they'd put their lives on the line for me, but they deserve the quiet life they've always wanted. I shouldn't have let them get involved. Now Quatre's all alone." Duo pushed open the door and helped Heero over to the bed. "I should have stayed dead."

"No" Heero barked out, his voice louder than he meant it to be. "No, Duo, don't ever say that." Heero couldn't help the emotion that made it's way into his voice. "No, I just got you back. Do you know what my life was like without you? I was dead myself Duo, I couldn't see a reason to keep getting up day after day when you weren't there to spend them with me."

A tear leaked out of Duo's eye again, following the track already laid down on his face. "I'm sorry. But Trowa… I couldn't…"

"Come here." Heero was sitting on the bed, he held out his arms to Duo. But Duo hesitated.

"Take your pills." He ordered, but quietly. Almost a question. As if he wasn't sure Heero actually needed to take pills.

"Will you stay with me?" Heero asked, wondering if he could afford to sleep right now. But Duo nodded, even walked around the bed and crawled in as Heero swallowed his pills and lay down.

Both of the reached out at the same time and Heero gathered Duo into his arms despite the pain. He felt the desperate clutch of Duo's hands, but Duo was still avoiding really clinging to him, very aware of Heero's wounds. Heero spoke gently into Duo's hair, wishing he could really hold him, wishing he could wipe away all the worry and confusion from Duo's mind.

"Duo, Trowa isn't dead." Heero told him. Not letting his voice waver or his arms relax.

"But I couldn't make him breathe again." Duo's voice was desperate to believe him, but also breaking apart as the memories no doubt assaulted him.

"Wu Fei told me. Trowa is alive. They took him to a hospital." Heero told him. Whispering again and again the news that Duo's mind was having a hard time grasping without proof. "He's alive Duo, Wu Fei would not lie to me. He went to the hospital to be with Quatre and Trowa."

"I couldn't make him breathe again" Duo wailed. But this time Heero knew Duo was letting his failure go. The only way he could. By admitting it to Heero. By telling him that he hadn't been the one to make it better for Quatre, to bring back the man he was so sure he'd almost stolen away from his friend.

"It's ok. Duo, you're not an EMT, you're not trained to heal." Heero stroked his back, his hair. Any part of him he could touch, Heero caressed Duo.

"He was just lying there, he wouldn't open his eyes. He wasn't breathing. It was all my fault. I should have been in that coffin. That was my coffin. My death." Duo sobbed now, falling apart on the small bed in Quatre's home. Holding tightly to Heero.

"You're staying here with me Duo." Heero told him quietly, feeling sleep pulling at the edges of his mind now. "You're staying with me, safe. Alive. I need you here. I can't lose you again. I won't survive it a second time Duo."

Duo's tears slowly ebbed and his breathing was finally evening out.

"He's alive? Really?" Duo's voice almost didn't reach him as Heero floated away.

"Yes. Trowa is alive Duo." Heero whispered back before he lost consciousness.

"They're not taking anyone else." Duo told Heero, not knowing that the man couldn't hear him anymore. "I swear it. I'll stop them. I'll make sure they never hurt anyone else again. I'll kill them."

O O O

"Watch out for Deathgods? What kind of messed up warning is that?" Justin demanded of Conner. "That is in no way helpful."

"It's good advice and you'd be wise to mind it." Conner scolded him. He didn't really understand it, and so he wasn't actually sure it was good advice. But he trusted Kitty's experience. He knew she wouldn't just say words to him that meant nothing. If she said to avoid Deathgods, then that was what they were going to do.

"Yeah ok, sure. Your secret source says no Deathgods, so I'll just keep a sharp eye out on cyberspace for anyone trying to prematurely take my soul." Justin said in a tone that told Conner he wasn't going to take the message seriously.

Conner just sighed and walked away. He'd given him the advice, any thing that happened to Justin now was only going to be the kids fault.

"I'm most assuredly surrounded by the criminally insane." Justin went back to hacking. He was almost there, he knew there was a juicy tidbit just beyond this firewall. If he could just access this file. Apparently the pilots were often referred to by assigned numbers or codenames. It was all here, just beyond a few complicated locks.