Disclaimer: I do not own the Gundam Pilots or anything else that is
affiliated with them. Pretty much anything you recognize. =) I do own the
plot. The names I use that don't seem familiar, you can give the credit to
my best friends. If you have questions about what's actually wrong with
Heero, look in the Author's Note and it will tell you what is happening to
him.
A/N: Happy Spring Break!!!! Be careful, but have fun!
~*~Chapter 8~*~
Heero + Relena
Heero Yuy awoke to the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows behind him, painting the living room with a golden glow. Stretching his arms high above his head, he yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, having had the longest and most wondrous night sleep in what seemed an eternity. Sitting up and pushing back the warm quilt, he stood and headed for the kitchen. It was quiet, Duo and Hilde no where in sight. "Well, might as well see what we've got for breakfast," he'd never really had the chance to eat breakfast since before the war, most times he was too busy or he just didn't care. He felt as though he lived there, not just a guest and he knew that Duo would get after him for acting like one. Finding nothing that appealed to his interest, he took a glass from the cupboard above the sink and filled it with cold water and took a seat in the living room once more. Looking around the room with a slight smile upon his lips, he took notice of the small, grandfather clock. It read 6:15 in the morning. A radio down the hall caught his attention, the D.J. blaring over the speakers, accompanied by a groan in the background.
Duo slammed his palm down on the snooze button, not even bothering to think twice about getting up. Pulling Hilde closer, he tried to go back to sleep, to enjoy the day with his love when he was ready to awaken. The world could wait.
Hilde awoke to the sound of the alarm clock, hugging Duo, not wanting for him leave her, but her common sense told her different. He needed to go to work, no matter how she longed to keep him there in his room, to stay with him in the pleasurable memories of the night before. It was a very memorable night indeed. Every moment of passion was still vivid in her mind. "Uh.... c'mon Duo, you need to go to work." Although she tried to coax him into going, her voice held a great reluctance.
"Do I have to?" Slowly opening his eyes again and pulling Hilde closer yet, he smiled but whined about having to leave her.
Sighing, she continued to speak, opening her eyes and looking up into Duo's face as well. "Yes," the word was drawn out, "plus we have company tonight, remember? C'mon." Sitting up, she pulled the blanket to cover herself as she looked into her love's face, a smile reflecting his mischievous one. "Don't make me take drastic measures." Giggling, she watched Duo raise himself, throwing on his baggy shirt from the night before.
"Like what?" His eyes sparkled as he got up from the bed, taking his clothes from the closet and going into the bathroom to change and get ready for yet another day of work.
"Does the word Maya sound familiar?"
"You wouldn't!"
"I would and you know it."
Exiting the bathroom with fresh clothes and a stunned look on his face, he watched Hilde giggle to herself. "Of all the low down, conniving little..."
"Don't go gettin' yourself in hot water now," Hilde, with a devilish grin, eyed him and burst into laughter. She clamped her hand down on her mouth at suddenly remembering Heero only down the hall. "Uh oh,"
"What?"
"Uh, we kinda forgot about Heero last night. God I hope he was asleep," Hilde prayed her eyes wide in embarrassment and shock. They'd seriously forgotten about Duo's brother.
"Oh crap! Shoot! I forgot about the guy!" Smacking himself in the forehead, he eyed the door in anxiety. "Maybe it can still be cool, the guy was out cold last night."
Wrapping the sheets around her, Hilde stood up and headed for the door. "Go see if he's awake, and if he is, keep him busy."
"WHAT?!?!"
"My clothes are in my room Sherlock. Please Duo!?" Pleading, Hilde stood with her back to the door, her eyes searching his. She could feel that her cheeks were on fire.
"Okay, okay." With nervous laughter, he opened the door, walking the down the hall as if he had just woken up and nothing had happened. Heero was up. "CRAP!" "Hey buddy, didn't expect to see you wakin' up this early. How'd ya sleep last night, I don't remember any sirens?" Standing before him, Duo could hear the soft footsteps of Hilde as she crossed to her room. Heero hadn't noticed.
Heero looked at his brother with a smile of satisfaction. "I don't think I've ever slept better. Going to work already?"
Glad for a change in conversation and that his brother hadn't noticed, he spoke with more confidence. "Yep, we're still short handed and I don't think Dave's found anyone to help me out yet. Lynn helps out a lot, but she can't do much besides oil, spark plug, and tire changes. Rob quit to go back to college, so I'm stuck with pretty much everything. Hilde mentioned to me yesterday that you still were out of a job. Hey, it pays well and Dave is a cool guy, I could probably get ya a job down there if ya wanted one."
Heero thought it over. He did feel weird not having anything to do all day, especially when so much of his life was mission after endless mission, then long days of hard labor for pennies. Maybe he could start over. "Sure, when can I apply?"
"Soon as ya want buddy!" Duo placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, giving him a huge smile. "I can take ya down there today; Dave might even start you off right away. If you want to that is."
"Ya, the sooner I can get things changed around, the better. Gimme a few minutes and I'll be ready. If you don't mind." He still felt somewhat like a burden.
"Nope, don't mind whatsoever. Don't worry about Hilde, she won't mind. She's the one that told me to try and get you a job down there, when you were ready, it pays really well. Give ya some extra money for whatever you wanna do. It's not like we're tryin' to confine you to the house or anything."
"I'll be back in a minute," and with that he headed down to his room to change into something he could use for the possible interview. He was glad for all Duo and Hilde were doing for him, he knew he would be in their debt forever. They could never know how they were changing his life, and how much he was grateful for their charitable nature, even if he hated charity given to him. Throwing on a deep green sweater and black jeans, probably the fanciest thing he owned, he quickly threw on his shoes. Walking down the hall, he caught his jacket that Duo had tossed to him, threw it on, and headed out the door behind his brother.
~*~
"Well, if Duo says you're good, then I believe the guy. You're hired!" Dave reached across the desk and shook the young man's hand, glad to have one of Duo's brothers working for him. If he was as good as Duo said, he wasn't going to regret his decision.
Heero gave the man before him a small smile, glad to have gotten the job. He had waited outside while Duo spoke to his boss, come in, did nothing much more than say he wanted to work at the garage, and was hired near instantly. "Thanks, I'm very grateful for your generosity." Turning to look behind him, he was stopped by Dave's voice once again.
"Uh, one last question though," Dave smiled mischievously at the young man.
"Sure," Heero was somewhat hesitant.
"If ya answer this wrong, I'll have to fire you."
Heero looked taken aback, but reluctantly spoke, "All right."
"Find the surface area and volume of a sphere whose diameter is 450 meters in length." Dave's smile widened as he watched the young man look at him in question.
Heero thought for a moment, then answered, "angle F = 98, DF is congruent to 9.1, and FG is congruent to 10.7."
Dave looked at him in disbelief, he'd just seen that on a TV show, and didn't know the answer until the genius on the game show had gotten it right. "T-that's right! How'd you do that? Did you do it in your head? Even the guy on TV had to use a pencil and paper. Was it really that easy?"
"It wasn't a hard question, but it is correct. Is that all?" Heero, with slight smirk on his face, looked back at Dave with innocent eyes.
"Huh? Oh, ya, that's all." Dave sat down; eyes still wide in disbelief.
Turning, Heero left and exited the door, meeting an astonished Duo at the door. "Eavesdropping are we?" Walking out into the garage area, he heard Duo trail behind him.
"Uh, I hope you know that Dave was just kidding on that last question, he didn't really expect you to answer it." Duo followed him, heading over to the black corvette that needed a fan belt replaced.
"I know, but it doesn't matter. If I knew the answer, then I knew it. What do I need to do first?" Heero nodded around the area.
"Uhm, you might wanna go and get changed, here," tossing his brother a blue pair of coveralls, he motioned toward the bathroom. "You don't want to get your clothes full of grease and oil. When you're done, you can put your clothes in the locker over there and then give me a hand with this fan belt." Turning his attention back to the car, he left his brother to figure things out for himself.
Heero began to change, taking off his sweater and leaving on his white T- shirt underneath the coveralls. A painful twinge near his eye made him cringe slightly, he could feel another one of his migraines coming on. This was definitely going to be a long day. He did have his medication that the doctor had given him, and he would have to take a pill in the next few minutes anyway. Taking the translucent bottle from his pocket, he opened the lid and quickly swallowed one of the pills, hoping it would work for his muscles were starting to bother him again now that the twelve hours was nearing closer to an end. Finishing, he wrapped the bottle up in his sweater and headed out of the bathroom, depositing his clothing articles in the locker that Duo had directed him to. "Is that all the car needs, a new fan belt installed?"
"Yep, this one's easy, the next one I've got to do a whole tune up and change the tires. I've also got a few exhaust problems, one damaged carburetor, and five mysteries. This dang belt....won't_go_on!" Struggling, his hand slipped and his knuckles hit the metal of the fan, causing it to sting. "Owe!"
"Nice one."
"Hey, I thought it was," smiling, he brought his hands from the engine, shaking his right hand in the air. "I thought it was just ingenious and tempting, so I thought I'd just break my knuckles on the engine, then see how much I could get done one handed." Giving a small laugh, he watched Heero shake his head and smile, coming over to help him with the belt.
~later~
"Hey, thanks for helpin' buddy. I seriously wouldn't have gotten this all done if you hadn't helped me out Heero." Duo pulled on his black sweatshirt over his blue T-shirt; he finished changing out of his work clothes. Normally if it was just Duo by himself, he wouldn't have gotten through half of the cars that day. But with his brother working with him, he was done with all nine of the vehicles, all now in working condition and as good as new. And he was actually done by quitting time, being able to go home for dinner!
"Well, it's part of the job, and I think I actually enjoy doing this. Working as part of a loading/unloading crew from the when the first rays of sun shine to hours after midnight, it was a living hell. I think the greatest amount of time I slept was 3 hours in one night, but I was really lucky that time. Plus this job pays at least twenty times more than the last job." Shuddering at the last job of torment that he'd worked at, he continued to tie his shoelaces without any need of hurry. He really wouldn't mind working with Duo, it would be like during the war, only now he didn't have to kill people and he didn't have to fight. It would be so much easier.
"Man, that musta really sucked. Three hours of sleep at utmost and then working those long days for pennies. I'm guessing you didn't get weekends off or vacation." Duo grabbed his jacket and tossed his brother his.
"It did. And no, when working for that little, you didn't have time to take days off or vacations."
"Ooh! Man, like I said, I really pity you for having to work like that. It's kind of a good thing that it did close, ya know that?"
"I'm just glad I could count on someone Duo."
"I'm trusted! Woohoo!" Duo jumped up and threw his hands in the air, pretending to celebrate. "Okay, well, we'd better get back home. Hilde's gone and I'm gonna attempt to make something edible for dinner." Chuckling, he watched Heero's puzzled look and the skeptical expression in his eyes. "C'mon, if need be, we'll call for take-out. I'm not gonna kill ya, I've survived my cooking so far!" Heading out to the front area, Duo called his farewell to Lynn and assured her of his brother's new job.
"Bye guys! See ya tomorrow!" Lynn called after as the door closed behind the two young men.
Heero jumped into the car, brushing the snow off of his shoes. He'd learned to be human; to feel and to relax, joke, and have fun as Duo had so long tried to get him to do. The snow was looking rather tempting, if you know what fun he was just thinking of. *devilish grin, mischievous flare in author's eyes*
Duo jumped in on the other side, turning the key in the ignition and started the car. Pulling out of the parking lot, he glanced over at his brother. "What?" He could see a small smile playing over his brother's lips, and he didn't really want to know what for but if he didn't find out, that could be worse than knowing.
Heero only shook his head and chuckled. "Nothing, just thinking."
"Sure, must be something amusing. Never mind, I don't even want to know now." Duo chuckled to himself, driving down Main Street and turning off onto Morgan Street. Pulling back into the drive, Duo turned off the car and pulled the key from the ignition, opened his door, and was met with a cold wind sweeping up the small white flakes and carrying them along. "Man, I wouldn't mind winter if it didn't have to be so stinkin' cold." Walking briskly up the icy drive, Duo headed straight for the door, anticipating the warmth that would soon meet him.
Heero closed the door of the car, not really minding the cold, it was kind of nice. With the same mischievous smile upon his lips, he bent down and graced his fingers over the soft winter snow. He'd never had the time to really enjoy it, or life. Silently, he scooped up a handful as Duo continued to pay him no mind and walk toward the front door.
Duo was but a few paces from the door when something smacked into the back of his jacket. He turned to find Heero smiling and holding a handful of snow in his hands.
Heero continued to work the snow into a ball, the same devilish smile upon his face. "You know, I never really knew what the purpose of this was, when kids would throw snowballs at each other. There never really seemed to be any logic to it, no rhyme or reason why. I just thought I'd see what they enjoy so much about it, and it's rather amusing," his last word was stressed as he beamed the snowball at Duo who tried to dive out of its path, but was too late and was hit dead on.
Duo looked back at his brother in shock. Then, without much delay, his competitive side took over. "Oh, you're going down now man. You're going down!" Hastily raking up a pile of snow, he formed it quickly and took aim, then released the snowball. Heero ducked as it flew right past him, and his smirk only widened. "Oh, I see how it is. This is war man, this is war!"
"If that's the best you've got, then you are seriously in trouble." Heero felt as though he were a kid again, without worry or responsibility. Chuckling, he took refuge behind a group of bushes along the side of the house, quickly gathering his ammunition. There was no way Duo was going to beat him, and he'd enjoy this time to horse around since he'd never really had the chance to experience such senseless but amusing games.
"No man, I'm just getting warmed up! You don't mess with the master! You're gonna pay man." Sprinting behind a pair of opposite bushes alongside a tree, he began to load his fort with ammunition as well. Taking a snowball and popping up, he just narrowly dodged a flying snowball and took aim of his target, letting his snowball fly.
And the two brothers were little kids once more, having the time of their life without a care or worry about receiving skeptical looks from their neighbors. The two friends were having a blast, and it was good for them. After about half an hour, the two called a truce, although both could clearly see that Heero had won, even if Duo didn't admit it.
"Man, we'd better get inside or Hilde'll kill us. I'm soaked! C'mon," chuckling, he led his brother inside, as the two were soaked thoroughly and their cheeks were a rosy red, their hands ghostly white from the snow. Opening up the door, Duo entered and took off his jacket immediately, hanging it and heading quickly to the closet.
Heero hung his jacket as well, slightly shaking his head. His hands were numb and he was somewhat cold, but he didn't really care. He'd had fun, something he hadn't done in a while. And he'd enjoyed every minute of it. Catching the towel that Duo tossed to him, he began to head for his room to change into some dry clothes. A slight twinge of pain near his left eye made him stop as he entered his room. His headache was coming back, and that wasn't a good sign considering that he couldn't take anything else for a while and that this medication was supposed to be strong. Ignoring it, he stripped off his shirt and shoes, heading for the dresser where his bag lay. Opening it to find only his gifts from the children on the plane, he opened the dresser to find his few things lying folded inside. Pulling out a light blue, long-sleeve shirt, he pulled it over his head and then grabbed a pair of jeans. After he finished changing, he dried his hair and, taking his wet clothes, headed out of the room. Hanging his shirt and jeans over the shower curtain as Duo had done along with the towel, he headed into the living room where he lied down on the couch, slightly crippled now because of his rapidly increasing migraine.
Duo was in the kitchen, having found a frozen pizza in the back of freezer. Tossing it in the oven, he joined his brother in the living room. "What, tired already?"
"No, not really. What's for dinner?"
"Pizza! I didn't even know we had any. It's amazing what you can find inside that fridge! Man, it's like a black hole in there." Duo took a seat in the chair next to his brother, slight worry etched across his face. Heero normally wasn't like this, but after all that'd happened within the last few days, it was somewhat expected. Well, that would change tonight, for seeing Relena would send a smile straight to his face once again. Yes, tonight was one to anticipate. "Hey man, what was going on between you and Relena during the war?" The question just popped into his mind and he couldn't help himself from blurting it out.
With a skeptical look, he glanced over at Duo. "What do you mean?"
"Well, half the time you pretended, or at least I hope so, to hate the girl and could have cared less about her. Then to contradict that, you were always nearly getting yourself killed over her and you acted really weird. What was that all about anyway?"
Heero thought for a moment, he didn't want to really think about Relena because he knew he would long for her yet again, but he knew Duo didn't give up that easily. "Love and caring were a weakness in the war. If I cared so much for her then, I would be putting her in more danger than she ever was during the war. It could have been used against us as the colonies were before the time I self-detonated and nearly killed myself. But I believe you have already guessed as to why I sacrificed myself so often. At least I'd hope so." Sighing, Heero longed to hold Relena, but for now he'd have to satisfy himself with seeing her in his mind's eye.
"So you did care for her, you were just pretending."
"Had to."
"I can see what you mean, I never really thought of that though. But then again, I was trying not to get killed, so I never really had time to think about something like that." Duo smiled and scratched his head, not really noticing that the scent of burning pizza that was coming from kitchen.
Heero however caught it. "Uh, Duo? How long does the pizza usually take to cook?"
"Oh shoot!" Jumping out of his chair and rushing into the kitchen, he opened to oven and was met with a cloud of smoke. "Dang it!" Opening the window just above the sink, Duo took the fan they had in the kitchen and turned it on so that the smoke would blow out the window. Grabbing two potholders, he began to take the pan with the burnt- to-a-crisp pizza on it out of the oven.
The high, shrill beep of the smoke detector sounded. It had caught the smoke and gone off as it was meant to.
"I didn't ask for your opinion," he called to the machine, fanning the rest of the smoke out the window, blowing it away from the smoke alarm. Hearing his brother's laughter in the other room, he frowned. "I didn't ask for yours either Heero! I never said I was a world famous chef!"
Heero forgot about his headache and was gasping slightly as he continued to laugh. He just couldn't help himself. "Duo, it's not rocket science to cook a frozen pizza. You turn on the oven, put it in, wait, and take it out! Why is that so hard?!" He continued to laugh as he listened to Duo's frustration increase.
"Hey, I said I would attempt man! I never said I was any good at this. It's harder than it seems!" At this, Duo received more laughter as he tossed the burnt pizza into the trashcan, then tossing the pan in the sink he ran cold water over it.
"Duo, it's not that hard!" He called back, sitting up and heading into the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe for support. "Wh-what are you gonna do now?"
"ME? Uh uhn, I don't think so man. I ain't doing anything except calling for some delivery." Duo grabbed for the phone, looking back up devilishly up at Heero.
"Yes, you'd better leave it to the professionals." Heero still wasn't ready to let up on the young American yet.
"Hey, I didn't ask for any smart aleck comments. You just better watch it or I'll have to put you back in your place man."
"Just like you whipped me in the snowball fight?"
"Hey, that was an unfair fight! You cheated!"
"How?" Heero continued to fight to keep his balanced as he laughed endlessly at Duo's hurt expression.
"I don't know! You just did! I woulda won, but I didn't feel like getting yelled at by Hilde, that's all." Duo exited to the hallway, dialing the number of the nearest pizza delivery, the number almost second nature to him.
"Duo, you really surprise me sometimes. I'm still at a loss for how you managed to survive the war."
"Oh, don't even start on that!" Duo took a seat in the living room, only after opening every one of the other windows in the room. It was freezing outside, but the house also smelled awful and it was their only alternate. "You owe me man, so don't just go shootin' your mouth off. Besides, I still would have won the snowball fight."
Heero entered the living room, his laughter subsiding and leaving in its place a smirk. "We'll settle that later. But you're right, I guess I do owe you thanks for everything that you and Hilde have done for me." Holding out his hand, he offered yet another truce, and with some reluctance Duo shook.
"You guess?"
"All right, I do."
"Don't worry about it that's what friends are for. But we will settle that snowball fight later that's for sure." Smiling up to his brother, he began to speak as the phone was answered.
"Paul's Pizza Palace, this is Jennie. How may I help you?" A young feminine voice spoke from the other end of the connection.
"Hey Jennie, it's me Duo."
"Oh boy, Hilde leave you home to fend for yourself again?" The young woman almost expected that to be the reason, considering how often the young man named Duo had called, each of his stories near identical.
"Hey! Now that's just harsh Jennie. That's cold!" Duo shook his head and sighed.
"So I'm right and you don't want burn the house down. I should have known." Her voice held great amusement.
"That_was_just_mean." Duo sat with his mouth open, jaw dropped. "Hey, I've got my brother over and Hilde's in class. Besides, it's business, so don't get all fussy about it, geeze. Talk about rude service." Duo let a grin cross his lips. He knew Jennie was just kidding and that she was just like Maya, always loving to give him a hard time because he was easily distracted, especially when it came to cooking.
Giggling came from the other line, then she spoke, "You want the usual?"
"Uh Heero, what kind do you like?"
"I don't mind, whatever you usually get," Heero called, taking a seat back on the couch, regretting having laughed so much for the muscles in his abdomen were starting to bother him again. That and his migraine was now impossible to ignore as he had done before.
"Okay, gimme a large pepperoni with extra cheese and a couple of boxes of breadsticks." Duo looked over at his brother who once again began to lie down upon the couch. Puzzlement filled his cobalt eyes, their blue depths holding sympathy. There was a deep longing in his brother's eyes, no doubt for Relena. That would soon change, all Duo had to do was keep his mouth shut and not "accidentally" hint of the events to come that evening.
Heero closed his eyes and blocked out the noises around him; he listened to his steady breathing and his breathing alone. He tried to forget the annoying headache and the cramping of his muscles. Knowing that it probably wasn't the best thing to do, but it would keep his mind off of his pain, he imagined Relena. He could see her, her light, honey-brown hair flowing around her as it did when she walked. But she wasn't walking, he was remembering. Remembering a dance that they had shared at the palace earlier on in the war. She was so beautiful, but he couldn't speak what he really wanted to tell her. He'd wanted to hold her, never letting her leave his arms as the wondrous beauty smiled in content. He could sense that throughout the entire of the dance, she had had to force herself to retain her distance from him. He was put through the exact same feeling, that is if it wasn't stronger and more tempting than Relena's need to close the distance between the two teenagers. He recalled when they had first met; he'd been washed ashore after landing on Earth. Upon seeing her, he was somewhat frightened that he had already failed his mission and that she was a part of OZ or the Alliance. Yet after running from her and stealing the ambulance, he still couldn't forget her gentle touch, her sweet voice, or her angelic beauty. It was almost amazing how things turned out, yet somewhat shocking. Even to Heero himself. Letting himself drift out of his thoughts, he opened his eyes and released a wanting sigh. He wanted to be with Relena.
Duo looked up at his brother; he was finally stirring after about twenty minutes. The food had arrived after about the first seven. "You feeling okay buddy?"
Heero was greeted with his brother's voice and the delicious smell of food. "Ya, I was just thinking."
Duo eyed him skeptically. "For twenty minutes without motion? You didn't even answer me when I was practically screaming at you to try and get your attention. Wanna talk about it?" Taking a couple of slices and placing them on a paper plate, he handed it over to Heero who received it readily.
Heero wasn't really sure if he should or not. Duo was in a good mood and he would just end up making his friend worry and somewhat depressed. "No, it's nothing." Finishing off the pizza slices and grabbing for a couple more along with some of the garlic breadstick, he looked back at Duo who didn't believe him and was still waiting for an answer.
Duo stopped and sat silently, not letting Heero out of this one that easily. "It's Relena, isn't it?"
Leaning against the back of the couch and releasing a sigh, he flinched slightly. It wasn't the best thing to do considering that the medication seemed to be working less and less and sighing only made it worse. "I just.... I just want to be with her again. I want things to work out. I've never felt so helpless Duo, not like this and I hate it." Closing his eyes, he took in slow breaths, calming his emotions.
Duo knew that feeling all too well. He couldn't let the guy get so depressed, but he couldn't tell Heero much without ruining Hilde's little plan. "Look, you can't get so down and out yet; everything's going to work out. If Hilde said she's gonna concoct a plan to get you guys together, then she's gonna. Heck, if she wanted to rule the world, she'd find some way to do it! She's extremely stubborn when she wants something, so don't even underestimate her. I learned that the hard way...." letting his voice trail off. Indeed he had, but he didn't even want to think about it at that moment. So instead, he looked away with regret.
"I know that, but I guess I'm just tired of waiting. Having to have waited so long for the war to end, and then longer yet even after the war. And nothing was stopping me except the thought of actually hurting her and making her unhappy. It's just torment." Opening his eyes, he let a small smile grace his lips, "But this is a good day and I don't want to ruin it by being depressing. Later, we'll have to settle that little battle once and for all, no more cease-fire."
Duo held out his hand, "Deal, but be prepared to go down."
Heero shook it and let out a small chuckle, "Whatever you say Duo, but we'll see."
"Oh, this is going to be fun," Duo spoke, his voice full mischief and trouble.
~later~
Heero forced himself to rise from the chair and hold back his emotions as he bit his tongue. He'd already taken another one of the white pills that were meant for his muscles, but nothing was happening to the pain except for the fact that it kept increasing. Grabbing the vid-phone off of the coffee table and walked with sluggish steps down the hall toward his brother's room. Coming upon Duo's door, Heero knocked softly and awaited permission to enter.
"Come on in Heero," Duo called, having asked his brother to bring in the vid-phone because he had to try and get a hold of Hilde. He also had to call about the plane that Relena, Milliardo, and Lucretzia were coming in on and when it was scheduled to land. That of course he hadn't told his friend, for he was doing pretty well at keeping his mouth shut.
Heero opened the door, walking into the room as if nothing was wrong. "Here, need anything else?"
"Naw, thanks though. As soon as can find out if Hilde's done with her tutoring session with Maya or not, then I should know about when to leave and get her." Duo stood and met Heero about halfway from the door, taking the vid-phone in hand. Looking up with a smile, he hesitated a moment upon seeing that something wasn't normal with his him. He seemed to be forcing his every move, and that wasn't the best sign when Heero was trying to hide whatever was bothering him. "You okay, buddy?"
Heero forced a small smile, "Ya, I'm fine."
"Okay," the word was drawn out and unsure, but he trusted his brother to ask for help should he need it.
Heero turned and headed out of the room, trudging down the hall and into his room. Opening the door and turning on the light, he headed straight to the bed, throwing back the blankets with effort before collapsing on the mattress in a pitiful heap. He didn't have the want or strength to move at this time, and the only thing he could really do was to roll onto his back, relieving some of the pain. Placing his arm over his eyes to block out the light, he wasn't even sure why he even bothered to turn on the light in the first place except for the fact that it was habit to do so. With a muffled groan, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on controlling the pain.
Duo hung up with the airport, their guests would be arriving in about an hour as planned and Hilde was done with her little study session. That meant that he'd have to get going as soon as possible to get everything done. "Heero, I'll be back in a little while man, I've gotta pick up Hilde from Maya's and run a couple of other errands." Dou called from his room down to his brother as he struggled to put on his shoes. There wasn't an answer, so Dou called again. "Heero, you here me?" Still no answer. Dou knew he wasn't asleep, he usually didn't go to sleep until 10:00 PM, sometimes even 11 PM. He pulled on his second shoe and walked briskly down the hall to his friend's room. Lightly tapping on his door, he waited for an answer.
"C'mon in," called a voice tiredly from the other side.
Dou opened the door to find his brother in bed, eyes closed with his arm shielding the light from his eyes. "What's wrong buddy?" Dou stepped gingerly over to Heero's bedside. He was fine a few minutes ago, what could have happened in that short amount of time?
Heero didn't answer, he just moved his arm and looked over at Dou, his eyes squinted as he tried to see his friend clearly. His head ached and the medication he was on didn't help any for the pain. He couldn't take any aspirin or he'd be taking an overdose, which would then send him straight back to the hospital. "This medicine doesn't work worth hell. I can't get rid of this migraine either. I've had it near all day and I haven't been able phase it." He grabbed the bottle of medication off of the bedside table where he had placed it earlier and held it up. He flung the bottle of pills across the room in frustration. He closed his eyes once again and repositioned his arm to block the light. Heero was planning to return to the living room, but he just couldn't take it any longer so he laid down and was just feeling too bad to get up and turn the light off. "Sorry I didn't answer ya. Just didn't feel like yelling down the hall."
Dou crossed over the floor and grabbed the bottle, turning it over in his hand. "When's the last time you took this?"
"Only an hour ago." Heero replied meekly from the bed.
"Dang, hey maybe we should take ya back in, see if the doc can't give ya somethin' that'll actually work. The emergency room should still be open. I can take ya....," His proposition was cut off by a whisper.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine Dou. I just need to try to get to sleep." His words were barely audible, yet the volume of them still made his head pound as his headache increased.
Dou walked back over to his brother's bedside and laid the bottle of pills next to the alarm clock on the night stand. "Well, get some sleep then. I'll be back in about an hour and a half. You just sit back, relax, and try to feel better." He smiled at Heero, even if Heero wasn't looking. He turned and walked as silently as possible from the room, turning off the light before he closed the door. He didn't shut it all the way, he left it open about an inch to be on the safe side. Just in case the smoke alarm or something went off.
Grabbing his coat and the keys to the car, Dou locked the front door and left, unaware of the events that would occur that night.
Author's Note:
Hey all, thank you sooooooo much for reading this! You are truly the best reviewers an author could ask for when I see that so many of you are still with me! Please don't forget to review! *smiles and hugs everyone* I've had a few questions from you about what is actually wrong with poor Heero now. Well, I'm sure there could be other things, I'm not very keen in diagnosis in the medical world, but this is my little plot so this is what I had in mind for his "mysterious illness".
Heero used to push himself so far during the war, pushing his body to unhealthy limits and far beyond. His body had grown accustomed to such torture and tormenting limits. Even working at his previous job, he wasn't fighting but he was pushing himself to fatal limits. Now, his body isn't used to the rest and his muscles start to cramp and strain, unaccustomed to the relaxation over such a long period of time. Even if it is only for a few days. This is his problem. Soon his body will grow accustomed to the new lifestyle, just as it had done before. And that's all that's wrong with our poor Heero.
Please review and look for the next chapter, Chapter 9: The Flames! This one will take a little while longer to get up: 1) IT'S SPRING BREAK AND I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!! 2)my friend is helping me out on how to write this next chapter, so sorry if it's not up in a hurry. Don't forget to look for my other stories, Heaven's Angel and Mercy's Sacrifice! Thanks! *hugs, smiles, and waves*
A/N: Happy Spring Break!!!! Be careful, but have fun!
~*~Chapter 8~*~
Heero + Relena
Heero Yuy awoke to the bright sunlight streaming in through the windows behind him, painting the living room with a golden glow. Stretching his arms high above his head, he yawned and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, having had the longest and most wondrous night sleep in what seemed an eternity. Sitting up and pushing back the warm quilt, he stood and headed for the kitchen. It was quiet, Duo and Hilde no where in sight. "Well, might as well see what we've got for breakfast," he'd never really had the chance to eat breakfast since before the war, most times he was too busy or he just didn't care. He felt as though he lived there, not just a guest and he knew that Duo would get after him for acting like one. Finding nothing that appealed to his interest, he took a glass from the cupboard above the sink and filled it with cold water and took a seat in the living room once more. Looking around the room with a slight smile upon his lips, he took notice of the small, grandfather clock. It read 6:15 in the morning. A radio down the hall caught his attention, the D.J. blaring over the speakers, accompanied by a groan in the background.
Duo slammed his palm down on the snooze button, not even bothering to think twice about getting up. Pulling Hilde closer, he tried to go back to sleep, to enjoy the day with his love when he was ready to awaken. The world could wait.
Hilde awoke to the sound of the alarm clock, hugging Duo, not wanting for him leave her, but her common sense told her different. He needed to go to work, no matter how she longed to keep him there in his room, to stay with him in the pleasurable memories of the night before. It was a very memorable night indeed. Every moment of passion was still vivid in her mind. "Uh.... c'mon Duo, you need to go to work." Although she tried to coax him into going, her voice held a great reluctance.
"Do I have to?" Slowly opening his eyes again and pulling Hilde closer yet, he smiled but whined about having to leave her.
Sighing, she continued to speak, opening her eyes and looking up into Duo's face as well. "Yes," the word was drawn out, "plus we have company tonight, remember? C'mon." Sitting up, she pulled the blanket to cover herself as she looked into her love's face, a smile reflecting his mischievous one. "Don't make me take drastic measures." Giggling, she watched Duo raise himself, throwing on his baggy shirt from the night before.
"Like what?" His eyes sparkled as he got up from the bed, taking his clothes from the closet and going into the bathroom to change and get ready for yet another day of work.
"Does the word Maya sound familiar?"
"You wouldn't!"
"I would and you know it."
Exiting the bathroom with fresh clothes and a stunned look on his face, he watched Hilde giggle to herself. "Of all the low down, conniving little..."
"Don't go gettin' yourself in hot water now," Hilde, with a devilish grin, eyed him and burst into laughter. She clamped her hand down on her mouth at suddenly remembering Heero only down the hall. "Uh oh,"
"What?"
"Uh, we kinda forgot about Heero last night. God I hope he was asleep," Hilde prayed her eyes wide in embarrassment and shock. They'd seriously forgotten about Duo's brother.
"Oh crap! Shoot! I forgot about the guy!" Smacking himself in the forehead, he eyed the door in anxiety. "Maybe it can still be cool, the guy was out cold last night."
Wrapping the sheets around her, Hilde stood up and headed for the door. "Go see if he's awake, and if he is, keep him busy."
"WHAT?!?!"
"My clothes are in my room Sherlock. Please Duo!?" Pleading, Hilde stood with her back to the door, her eyes searching his. She could feel that her cheeks were on fire.
"Okay, okay." With nervous laughter, he opened the door, walking the down the hall as if he had just woken up and nothing had happened. Heero was up. "CRAP!" "Hey buddy, didn't expect to see you wakin' up this early. How'd ya sleep last night, I don't remember any sirens?" Standing before him, Duo could hear the soft footsteps of Hilde as she crossed to her room. Heero hadn't noticed.
Heero looked at his brother with a smile of satisfaction. "I don't think I've ever slept better. Going to work already?"
Glad for a change in conversation and that his brother hadn't noticed, he spoke with more confidence. "Yep, we're still short handed and I don't think Dave's found anyone to help me out yet. Lynn helps out a lot, but she can't do much besides oil, spark plug, and tire changes. Rob quit to go back to college, so I'm stuck with pretty much everything. Hilde mentioned to me yesterday that you still were out of a job. Hey, it pays well and Dave is a cool guy, I could probably get ya a job down there if ya wanted one."
Heero thought it over. He did feel weird not having anything to do all day, especially when so much of his life was mission after endless mission, then long days of hard labor for pennies. Maybe he could start over. "Sure, when can I apply?"
"Soon as ya want buddy!" Duo placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, giving him a huge smile. "I can take ya down there today; Dave might even start you off right away. If you want to that is."
"Ya, the sooner I can get things changed around, the better. Gimme a few minutes and I'll be ready. If you don't mind." He still felt somewhat like a burden.
"Nope, don't mind whatsoever. Don't worry about Hilde, she won't mind. She's the one that told me to try and get you a job down there, when you were ready, it pays really well. Give ya some extra money for whatever you wanna do. It's not like we're tryin' to confine you to the house or anything."
"I'll be back in a minute," and with that he headed down to his room to change into something he could use for the possible interview. He was glad for all Duo and Hilde were doing for him, he knew he would be in their debt forever. They could never know how they were changing his life, and how much he was grateful for their charitable nature, even if he hated charity given to him. Throwing on a deep green sweater and black jeans, probably the fanciest thing he owned, he quickly threw on his shoes. Walking down the hall, he caught his jacket that Duo had tossed to him, threw it on, and headed out the door behind his brother.
~*~
"Well, if Duo says you're good, then I believe the guy. You're hired!" Dave reached across the desk and shook the young man's hand, glad to have one of Duo's brothers working for him. If he was as good as Duo said, he wasn't going to regret his decision.
Heero gave the man before him a small smile, glad to have gotten the job. He had waited outside while Duo spoke to his boss, come in, did nothing much more than say he wanted to work at the garage, and was hired near instantly. "Thanks, I'm very grateful for your generosity." Turning to look behind him, he was stopped by Dave's voice once again.
"Uh, one last question though," Dave smiled mischievously at the young man.
"Sure," Heero was somewhat hesitant.
"If ya answer this wrong, I'll have to fire you."
Heero looked taken aback, but reluctantly spoke, "All right."
"Find the surface area and volume of a sphere whose diameter is 450 meters in length." Dave's smile widened as he watched the young man look at him in question.
Heero thought for a moment, then answered, "angle F = 98, DF is congruent to 9.1, and FG is congruent to 10.7."
Dave looked at him in disbelief, he'd just seen that on a TV show, and didn't know the answer until the genius on the game show had gotten it right. "T-that's right! How'd you do that? Did you do it in your head? Even the guy on TV had to use a pencil and paper. Was it really that easy?"
"It wasn't a hard question, but it is correct. Is that all?" Heero, with slight smirk on his face, looked back at Dave with innocent eyes.
"Huh? Oh, ya, that's all." Dave sat down; eyes still wide in disbelief.
Turning, Heero left and exited the door, meeting an astonished Duo at the door. "Eavesdropping are we?" Walking out into the garage area, he heard Duo trail behind him.
"Uh, I hope you know that Dave was just kidding on that last question, he didn't really expect you to answer it." Duo followed him, heading over to the black corvette that needed a fan belt replaced.
"I know, but it doesn't matter. If I knew the answer, then I knew it. What do I need to do first?" Heero nodded around the area.
"Uhm, you might wanna go and get changed, here," tossing his brother a blue pair of coveralls, he motioned toward the bathroom. "You don't want to get your clothes full of grease and oil. When you're done, you can put your clothes in the locker over there and then give me a hand with this fan belt." Turning his attention back to the car, he left his brother to figure things out for himself.
Heero began to change, taking off his sweater and leaving on his white T- shirt underneath the coveralls. A painful twinge near his eye made him cringe slightly, he could feel another one of his migraines coming on. This was definitely going to be a long day. He did have his medication that the doctor had given him, and he would have to take a pill in the next few minutes anyway. Taking the translucent bottle from his pocket, he opened the lid and quickly swallowed one of the pills, hoping it would work for his muscles were starting to bother him again now that the twelve hours was nearing closer to an end. Finishing, he wrapped the bottle up in his sweater and headed out of the bathroom, depositing his clothing articles in the locker that Duo had directed him to. "Is that all the car needs, a new fan belt installed?"
"Yep, this one's easy, the next one I've got to do a whole tune up and change the tires. I've also got a few exhaust problems, one damaged carburetor, and five mysteries. This dang belt....won't_go_on!" Struggling, his hand slipped and his knuckles hit the metal of the fan, causing it to sting. "Owe!"
"Nice one."
"Hey, I thought it was," smiling, he brought his hands from the engine, shaking his right hand in the air. "I thought it was just ingenious and tempting, so I thought I'd just break my knuckles on the engine, then see how much I could get done one handed." Giving a small laugh, he watched Heero shake his head and smile, coming over to help him with the belt.
~later~
"Hey, thanks for helpin' buddy. I seriously wouldn't have gotten this all done if you hadn't helped me out Heero." Duo pulled on his black sweatshirt over his blue T-shirt; he finished changing out of his work clothes. Normally if it was just Duo by himself, he wouldn't have gotten through half of the cars that day. But with his brother working with him, he was done with all nine of the vehicles, all now in working condition and as good as new. And he was actually done by quitting time, being able to go home for dinner!
"Well, it's part of the job, and I think I actually enjoy doing this. Working as part of a loading/unloading crew from the when the first rays of sun shine to hours after midnight, it was a living hell. I think the greatest amount of time I slept was 3 hours in one night, but I was really lucky that time. Plus this job pays at least twenty times more than the last job." Shuddering at the last job of torment that he'd worked at, he continued to tie his shoelaces without any need of hurry. He really wouldn't mind working with Duo, it would be like during the war, only now he didn't have to kill people and he didn't have to fight. It would be so much easier.
"Man, that musta really sucked. Three hours of sleep at utmost and then working those long days for pennies. I'm guessing you didn't get weekends off or vacation." Duo grabbed his jacket and tossed his brother his.
"It did. And no, when working for that little, you didn't have time to take days off or vacations."
"Ooh! Man, like I said, I really pity you for having to work like that. It's kind of a good thing that it did close, ya know that?"
"I'm just glad I could count on someone Duo."
"I'm trusted! Woohoo!" Duo jumped up and threw his hands in the air, pretending to celebrate. "Okay, well, we'd better get back home. Hilde's gone and I'm gonna attempt to make something edible for dinner." Chuckling, he watched Heero's puzzled look and the skeptical expression in his eyes. "C'mon, if need be, we'll call for take-out. I'm not gonna kill ya, I've survived my cooking so far!" Heading out to the front area, Duo called his farewell to Lynn and assured her of his brother's new job.
"Bye guys! See ya tomorrow!" Lynn called after as the door closed behind the two young men.
Heero jumped into the car, brushing the snow off of his shoes. He'd learned to be human; to feel and to relax, joke, and have fun as Duo had so long tried to get him to do. The snow was looking rather tempting, if you know what fun he was just thinking of. *devilish grin, mischievous flare in author's eyes*
Duo jumped in on the other side, turning the key in the ignition and started the car. Pulling out of the parking lot, he glanced over at his brother. "What?" He could see a small smile playing over his brother's lips, and he didn't really want to know what for but if he didn't find out, that could be worse than knowing.
Heero only shook his head and chuckled. "Nothing, just thinking."
"Sure, must be something amusing. Never mind, I don't even want to know now." Duo chuckled to himself, driving down Main Street and turning off onto Morgan Street. Pulling back into the drive, Duo turned off the car and pulled the key from the ignition, opened his door, and was met with a cold wind sweeping up the small white flakes and carrying them along. "Man, I wouldn't mind winter if it didn't have to be so stinkin' cold." Walking briskly up the icy drive, Duo headed straight for the door, anticipating the warmth that would soon meet him.
Heero closed the door of the car, not really minding the cold, it was kind of nice. With the same mischievous smile upon his lips, he bent down and graced his fingers over the soft winter snow. He'd never had the time to really enjoy it, or life. Silently, he scooped up a handful as Duo continued to pay him no mind and walk toward the front door.
Duo was but a few paces from the door when something smacked into the back of his jacket. He turned to find Heero smiling and holding a handful of snow in his hands.
Heero continued to work the snow into a ball, the same devilish smile upon his face. "You know, I never really knew what the purpose of this was, when kids would throw snowballs at each other. There never really seemed to be any logic to it, no rhyme or reason why. I just thought I'd see what they enjoy so much about it, and it's rather amusing," his last word was stressed as he beamed the snowball at Duo who tried to dive out of its path, but was too late and was hit dead on.
Duo looked back at his brother in shock. Then, without much delay, his competitive side took over. "Oh, you're going down now man. You're going down!" Hastily raking up a pile of snow, he formed it quickly and took aim, then released the snowball. Heero ducked as it flew right past him, and his smirk only widened. "Oh, I see how it is. This is war man, this is war!"
"If that's the best you've got, then you are seriously in trouble." Heero felt as though he were a kid again, without worry or responsibility. Chuckling, he took refuge behind a group of bushes along the side of the house, quickly gathering his ammunition. There was no way Duo was going to beat him, and he'd enjoy this time to horse around since he'd never really had the chance to experience such senseless but amusing games.
"No man, I'm just getting warmed up! You don't mess with the master! You're gonna pay man." Sprinting behind a pair of opposite bushes alongside a tree, he began to load his fort with ammunition as well. Taking a snowball and popping up, he just narrowly dodged a flying snowball and took aim of his target, letting his snowball fly.
And the two brothers were little kids once more, having the time of their life without a care or worry about receiving skeptical looks from their neighbors. The two friends were having a blast, and it was good for them. After about half an hour, the two called a truce, although both could clearly see that Heero had won, even if Duo didn't admit it.
"Man, we'd better get inside or Hilde'll kill us. I'm soaked! C'mon," chuckling, he led his brother inside, as the two were soaked thoroughly and their cheeks were a rosy red, their hands ghostly white from the snow. Opening up the door, Duo entered and took off his jacket immediately, hanging it and heading quickly to the closet.
Heero hung his jacket as well, slightly shaking his head. His hands were numb and he was somewhat cold, but he didn't really care. He'd had fun, something he hadn't done in a while. And he'd enjoyed every minute of it. Catching the towel that Duo tossed to him, he began to head for his room to change into some dry clothes. A slight twinge of pain near his left eye made him stop as he entered his room. His headache was coming back, and that wasn't a good sign considering that he couldn't take anything else for a while and that this medication was supposed to be strong. Ignoring it, he stripped off his shirt and shoes, heading for the dresser where his bag lay. Opening it to find only his gifts from the children on the plane, he opened the dresser to find his few things lying folded inside. Pulling out a light blue, long-sleeve shirt, he pulled it over his head and then grabbed a pair of jeans. After he finished changing, he dried his hair and, taking his wet clothes, headed out of the room. Hanging his shirt and jeans over the shower curtain as Duo had done along with the towel, he headed into the living room where he lied down on the couch, slightly crippled now because of his rapidly increasing migraine.
Duo was in the kitchen, having found a frozen pizza in the back of freezer. Tossing it in the oven, he joined his brother in the living room. "What, tired already?"
"No, not really. What's for dinner?"
"Pizza! I didn't even know we had any. It's amazing what you can find inside that fridge! Man, it's like a black hole in there." Duo took a seat in the chair next to his brother, slight worry etched across his face. Heero normally wasn't like this, but after all that'd happened within the last few days, it was somewhat expected. Well, that would change tonight, for seeing Relena would send a smile straight to his face once again. Yes, tonight was one to anticipate. "Hey man, what was going on between you and Relena during the war?" The question just popped into his mind and he couldn't help himself from blurting it out.
With a skeptical look, he glanced over at Duo. "What do you mean?"
"Well, half the time you pretended, or at least I hope so, to hate the girl and could have cared less about her. Then to contradict that, you were always nearly getting yourself killed over her and you acted really weird. What was that all about anyway?"
Heero thought for a moment, he didn't want to really think about Relena because he knew he would long for her yet again, but he knew Duo didn't give up that easily. "Love and caring were a weakness in the war. If I cared so much for her then, I would be putting her in more danger than she ever was during the war. It could have been used against us as the colonies were before the time I self-detonated and nearly killed myself. But I believe you have already guessed as to why I sacrificed myself so often. At least I'd hope so." Sighing, Heero longed to hold Relena, but for now he'd have to satisfy himself with seeing her in his mind's eye.
"So you did care for her, you were just pretending."
"Had to."
"I can see what you mean, I never really thought of that though. But then again, I was trying not to get killed, so I never really had time to think about something like that." Duo smiled and scratched his head, not really noticing that the scent of burning pizza that was coming from kitchen.
Heero however caught it. "Uh, Duo? How long does the pizza usually take to cook?"
"Oh shoot!" Jumping out of his chair and rushing into the kitchen, he opened to oven and was met with a cloud of smoke. "Dang it!" Opening the window just above the sink, Duo took the fan they had in the kitchen and turned it on so that the smoke would blow out the window. Grabbing two potholders, he began to take the pan with the burnt- to-a-crisp pizza on it out of the oven.
The high, shrill beep of the smoke detector sounded. It had caught the smoke and gone off as it was meant to.
"I didn't ask for your opinion," he called to the machine, fanning the rest of the smoke out the window, blowing it away from the smoke alarm. Hearing his brother's laughter in the other room, he frowned. "I didn't ask for yours either Heero! I never said I was a world famous chef!"
Heero forgot about his headache and was gasping slightly as he continued to laugh. He just couldn't help himself. "Duo, it's not rocket science to cook a frozen pizza. You turn on the oven, put it in, wait, and take it out! Why is that so hard?!" He continued to laugh as he listened to Duo's frustration increase.
"Hey, I said I would attempt man! I never said I was any good at this. It's harder than it seems!" At this, Duo received more laughter as he tossed the burnt pizza into the trashcan, then tossing the pan in the sink he ran cold water over it.
"Duo, it's not that hard!" He called back, sitting up and heading into the kitchen, leaning against the doorframe for support. "Wh-what are you gonna do now?"
"ME? Uh uhn, I don't think so man. I ain't doing anything except calling for some delivery." Duo grabbed for the phone, looking back up devilishly up at Heero.
"Yes, you'd better leave it to the professionals." Heero still wasn't ready to let up on the young American yet.
"Hey, I didn't ask for any smart aleck comments. You just better watch it or I'll have to put you back in your place man."
"Just like you whipped me in the snowball fight?"
"Hey, that was an unfair fight! You cheated!"
"How?" Heero continued to fight to keep his balanced as he laughed endlessly at Duo's hurt expression.
"I don't know! You just did! I woulda won, but I didn't feel like getting yelled at by Hilde, that's all." Duo exited to the hallway, dialing the number of the nearest pizza delivery, the number almost second nature to him.
"Duo, you really surprise me sometimes. I'm still at a loss for how you managed to survive the war."
"Oh, don't even start on that!" Duo took a seat in the living room, only after opening every one of the other windows in the room. It was freezing outside, but the house also smelled awful and it was their only alternate. "You owe me man, so don't just go shootin' your mouth off. Besides, I still would have won the snowball fight."
Heero entered the living room, his laughter subsiding and leaving in its place a smirk. "We'll settle that later. But you're right, I guess I do owe you thanks for everything that you and Hilde have done for me." Holding out his hand, he offered yet another truce, and with some reluctance Duo shook.
"You guess?"
"All right, I do."
"Don't worry about it that's what friends are for. But we will settle that snowball fight later that's for sure." Smiling up to his brother, he began to speak as the phone was answered.
"Paul's Pizza Palace, this is Jennie. How may I help you?" A young feminine voice spoke from the other end of the connection.
"Hey Jennie, it's me Duo."
"Oh boy, Hilde leave you home to fend for yourself again?" The young woman almost expected that to be the reason, considering how often the young man named Duo had called, each of his stories near identical.
"Hey! Now that's just harsh Jennie. That's cold!" Duo shook his head and sighed.
"So I'm right and you don't want burn the house down. I should have known." Her voice held great amusement.
"That_was_just_mean." Duo sat with his mouth open, jaw dropped. "Hey, I've got my brother over and Hilde's in class. Besides, it's business, so don't get all fussy about it, geeze. Talk about rude service." Duo let a grin cross his lips. He knew Jennie was just kidding and that she was just like Maya, always loving to give him a hard time because he was easily distracted, especially when it came to cooking.
Giggling came from the other line, then she spoke, "You want the usual?"
"Uh Heero, what kind do you like?"
"I don't mind, whatever you usually get," Heero called, taking a seat back on the couch, regretting having laughed so much for the muscles in his abdomen were starting to bother him again. That and his migraine was now impossible to ignore as he had done before.
"Okay, gimme a large pepperoni with extra cheese and a couple of boxes of breadsticks." Duo looked over at his brother who once again began to lie down upon the couch. Puzzlement filled his cobalt eyes, their blue depths holding sympathy. There was a deep longing in his brother's eyes, no doubt for Relena. That would soon change, all Duo had to do was keep his mouth shut and not "accidentally" hint of the events to come that evening.
Heero closed his eyes and blocked out the noises around him; he listened to his steady breathing and his breathing alone. He tried to forget the annoying headache and the cramping of his muscles. Knowing that it probably wasn't the best thing to do, but it would keep his mind off of his pain, he imagined Relena. He could see her, her light, honey-brown hair flowing around her as it did when she walked. But she wasn't walking, he was remembering. Remembering a dance that they had shared at the palace earlier on in the war. She was so beautiful, but he couldn't speak what he really wanted to tell her. He'd wanted to hold her, never letting her leave his arms as the wondrous beauty smiled in content. He could sense that throughout the entire of the dance, she had had to force herself to retain her distance from him. He was put through the exact same feeling, that is if it wasn't stronger and more tempting than Relena's need to close the distance between the two teenagers. He recalled when they had first met; he'd been washed ashore after landing on Earth. Upon seeing her, he was somewhat frightened that he had already failed his mission and that she was a part of OZ or the Alliance. Yet after running from her and stealing the ambulance, he still couldn't forget her gentle touch, her sweet voice, or her angelic beauty. It was almost amazing how things turned out, yet somewhat shocking. Even to Heero himself. Letting himself drift out of his thoughts, he opened his eyes and released a wanting sigh. He wanted to be with Relena.
Duo looked up at his brother; he was finally stirring after about twenty minutes. The food had arrived after about the first seven. "You feeling okay buddy?"
Heero was greeted with his brother's voice and the delicious smell of food. "Ya, I was just thinking."
Duo eyed him skeptically. "For twenty minutes without motion? You didn't even answer me when I was practically screaming at you to try and get your attention. Wanna talk about it?" Taking a couple of slices and placing them on a paper plate, he handed it over to Heero who received it readily.
Heero wasn't really sure if he should or not. Duo was in a good mood and he would just end up making his friend worry and somewhat depressed. "No, it's nothing." Finishing off the pizza slices and grabbing for a couple more along with some of the garlic breadstick, he looked back at Duo who didn't believe him and was still waiting for an answer.
Duo stopped and sat silently, not letting Heero out of this one that easily. "It's Relena, isn't it?"
Leaning against the back of the couch and releasing a sigh, he flinched slightly. It wasn't the best thing to do considering that the medication seemed to be working less and less and sighing only made it worse. "I just.... I just want to be with her again. I want things to work out. I've never felt so helpless Duo, not like this and I hate it." Closing his eyes, he took in slow breaths, calming his emotions.
Duo knew that feeling all too well. He couldn't let the guy get so depressed, but he couldn't tell Heero much without ruining Hilde's little plan. "Look, you can't get so down and out yet; everything's going to work out. If Hilde said she's gonna concoct a plan to get you guys together, then she's gonna. Heck, if she wanted to rule the world, she'd find some way to do it! She's extremely stubborn when she wants something, so don't even underestimate her. I learned that the hard way...." letting his voice trail off. Indeed he had, but he didn't even want to think about it at that moment. So instead, he looked away with regret.
"I know that, but I guess I'm just tired of waiting. Having to have waited so long for the war to end, and then longer yet even after the war. And nothing was stopping me except the thought of actually hurting her and making her unhappy. It's just torment." Opening his eyes, he let a small smile grace his lips, "But this is a good day and I don't want to ruin it by being depressing. Later, we'll have to settle that little battle once and for all, no more cease-fire."
Duo held out his hand, "Deal, but be prepared to go down."
Heero shook it and let out a small chuckle, "Whatever you say Duo, but we'll see."
"Oh, this is going to be fun," Duo spoke, his voice full mischief and trouble.
~later~
Heero forced himself to rise from the chair and hold back his emotions as he bit his tongue. He'd already taken another one of the white pills that were meant for his muscles, but nothing was happening to the pain except for the fact that it kept increasing. Grabbing the vid-phone off of the coffee table and walked with sluggish steps down the hall toward his brother's room. Coming upon Duo's door, Heero knocked softly and awaited permission to enter.
"Come on in Heero," Duo called, having asked his brother to bring in the vid-phone because he had to try and get a hold of Hilde. He also had to call about the plane that Relena, Milliardo, and Lucretzia were coming in on and when it was scheduled to land. That of course he hadn't told his friend, for he was doing pretty well at keeping his mouth shut.
Heero opened the door, walking into the room as if nothing was wrong. "Here, need anything else?"
"Naw, thanks though. As soon as can find out if Hilde's done with her tutoring session with Maya or not, then I should know about when to leave and get her." Duo stood and met Heero about halfway from the door, taking the vid-phone in hand. Looking up with a smile, he hesitated a moment upon seeing that something wasn't normal with his him. He seemed to be forcing his every move, and that wasn't the best sign when Heero was trying to hide whatever was bothering him. "You okay, buddy?"
Heero forced a small smile, "Ya, I'm fine."
"Okay," the word was drawn out and unsure, but he trusted his brother to ask for help should he need it.
Heero turned and headed out of the room, trudging down the hall and into his room. Opening the door and turning on the light, he headed straight to the bed, throwing back the blankets with effort before collapsing on the mattress in a pitiful heap. He didn't have the want or strength to move at this time, and the only thing he could really do was to roll onto his back, relieving some of the pain. Placing his arm over his eyes to block out the light, he wasn't even sure why he even bothered to turn on the light in the first place except for the fact that it was habit to do so. With a muffled groan, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on controlling the pain.
Duo hung up with the airport, their guests would be arriving in about an hour as planned and Hilde was done with her little study session. That meant that he'd have to get going as soon as possible to get everything done. "Heero, I'll be back in a little while man, I've gotta pick up Hilde from Maya's and run a couple of other errands." Dou called from his room down to his brother as he struggled to put on his shoes. There wasn't an answer, so Dou called again. "Heero, you here me?" Still no answer. Dou knew he wasn't asleep, he usually didn't go to sleep until 10:00 PM, sometimes even 11 PM. He pulled on his second shoe and walked briskly down the hall to his friend's room. Lightly tapping on his door, he waited for an answer.
"C'mon in," called a voice tiredly from the other side.
Dou opened the door to find his brother in bed, eyes closed with his arm shielding the light from his eyes. "What's wrong buddy?" Dou stepped gingerly over to Heero's bedside. He was fine a few minutes ago, what could have happened in that short amount of time?
Heero didn't answer, he just moved his arm and looked over at Dou, his eyes squinted as he tried to see his friend clearly. His head ached and the medication he was on didn't help any for the pain. He couldn't take any aspirin or he'd be taking an overdose, which would then send him straight back to the hospital. "This medicine doesn't work worth hell. I can't get rid of this migraine either. I've had it near all day and I haven't been able phase it." He grabbed the bottle of medication off of the bedside table where he had placed it earlier and held it up. He flung the bottle of pills across the room in frustration. He closed his eyes once again and repositioned his arm to block the light. Heero was planning to return to the living room, but he just couldn't take it any longer so he laid down and was just feeling too bad to get up and turn the light off. "Sorry I didn't answer ya. Just didn't feel like yelling down the hall."
Dou crossed over the floor and grabbed the bottle, turning it over in his hand. "When's the last time you took this?"
"Only an hour ago." Heero replied meekly from the bed.
"Dang, hey maybe we should take ya back in, see if the doc can't give ya somethin' that'll actually work. The emergency room should still be open. I can take ya....," His proposition was cut off by a whisper.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine Dou. I just need to try to get to sleep." His words were barely audible, yet the volume of them still made his head pound as his headache increased.
Dou walked back over to his brother's bedside and laid the bottle of pills next to the alarm clock on the night stand. "Well, get some sleep then. I'll be back in about an hour and a half. You just sit back, relax, and try to feel better." He smiled at Heero, even if Heero wasn't looking. He turned and walked as silently as possible from the room, turning off the light before he closed the door. He didn't shut it all the way, he left it open about an inch to be on the safe side. Just in case the smoke alarm or something went off.
Grabbing his coat and the keys to the car, Dou locked the front door and left, unaware of the events that would occur that night.
Author's Note:
Hey all, thank you sooooooo much for reading this! You are truly the best reviewers an author could ask for when I see that so many of you are still with me! Please don't forget to review! *smiles and hugs everyone* I've had a few questions from you about what is actually wrong with poor Heero now. Well, I'm sure there could be other things, I'm not very keen in diagnosis in the medical world, but this is my little plot so this is what I had in mind for his "mysterious illness".
Heero used to push himself so far during the war, pushing his body to unhealthy limits and far beyond. His body had grown accustomed to such torture and tormenting limits. Even working at his previous job, he wasn't fighting but he was pushing himself to fatal limits. Now, his body isn't used to the rest and his muscles start to cramp and strain, unaccustomed to the relaxation over such a long period of time. Even if it is only for a few days. This is his problem. Soon his body will grow accustomed to the new lifestyle, just as it had done before. And that's all that's wrong with our poor Heero.
Please review and look for the next chapter, Chapter 9: The Flames! This one will take a little while longer to get up: 1) IT'S SPRING BREAK AND I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!! 2)my friend is helping me out on how to write this next chapter, so sorry if it's not up in a hurry. Don't forget to look for my other stories, Heaven's Angel and Mercy's Sacrifice! Thanks! *hugs, smiles, and waves*