Artist
Chapter Two
::Two minutes earlier::
Duo Maxwell's hands were shaking as he reached for the doorbell. He hesitated, and brought his hand back down. Groaning, he wiped the sweet of his hands off on his black jeans. Then he proceeded to toy with the end of his braid as he stared at the giant wooden doors in front of him. 'Things are so much easier to do on the phone.' He thought as he took a few steps back from the door. He been clam on the phone. More than calm, actually, actually comfortable talking to his comrade he hadn't seen in almost nearly six years! Yeah, that part had been easy. He didn't see Heero and Heero didn't see him, but walking up to his front door and seeing him face to face for first time in five years? Plus, there were certain..feeling involved.
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Duo had been more than certain that there were feelings developing
for Heero when he was fifteen. It just didn't know how long these
certain feelings would last. The last time he'd seen Heero was at
the L3X1899 colony, where he, Heero and Trowa were putting an end to Operation
Meteor. They didn't have the greatest departure moment either. It involved..well, fists. Aw hell, Heero had knocked him cold. That was the famous Yuy good-bye. First Duo had been mad, but then
he remembered why Heero had done it.
So he could go and save Relena...
That made him even more angry. However, as the time passed in the cold, dark cell where Duo sat alone for more minutes than he could keep track of, the thought briefly crossed his mind that Heero was only trying to protect him. After all, he *had* asked him to hit him first. Second of all, if those guards had found his conscious they'd probably handle him their own way. There was always that thought lingering in Duo's mind though, that Heero wanted him dead. It hurt him to think about it, especially because of the feelings that developed for Heero throughout the years. He never thought he'd see the perfect soldier again, and wanted to kill someone that loved you wasn't exactly what Duo wanted Heero's last impression of him to be.
Duo didn't start looking for him until a year after the war, and that wasn't just for Heero's sake. They *all* needed time to themselves after that war. He wanted to give Heero his space, what he needed to get his mind off the bloodshed of war. It would take much longer than a year to recover from killing thousands of people, though. Duo just couldn't wait that long. He decided he's wait a year, look for him, and if successful, ask he wanted a little company for a while. Heero would most likely be alone, he'd decided. He had no worries about that. He wasn't even worried about Relena. She was too important for him, and he knew Heero couldn't want to be up standing in the spot light where everyone could see him. That's not what soldiers do, even if they are heroes. At least not the honorable ones. He figured Heero had gotten himself a nice apartment in the city, got a job as a computer hacker, kept to himself and kept a low profile.
Duo was *very* wrong.
He learned after two years of searching the colonies for Heero, that he had gone to Earth. He heard from Quatre who recalled Heero telling him about moving to the Earth. He had also discussed that they hadn't talked about it a lot, and that Heero didn't want anybody else to know. 'You chose to go to Quatre, huh?' Duo wasn't so thrilled with this new information, but at least he knew Heero was living on the Earth. What's a little measly planet to search?
Of course, Duo had other things to do aside from searching for Heero. He had to make of money, no question. For transportation, food, clothes, cash to spend on motel rentals. When he was on the go he must have stopped at over fifty motels, some more unpleasant than others; but anything was worth it, for Heero.
Duo was frustrated more times than he could remember. He even recalled thinking that it wasn't worth it, but cursed himself for it. Anything was worth seeing Heero again. There were nights when he would just stay up all night and cry, whispering words of hope and encouragement to himself, telling himself that when he found Heero, it would all be worth it. Then there was that fear again. The fear that Heero's feelings didn't match his own. The fear that he would be traveling all of the this way for nothing. He wanted to see Heero *so* much, but he didn't want to regret it.
In AC 199, Duo finally heard word of the streets about a man named Mitchell Smith. Rumor had it that he used to be a gundam pilot in the war. Duo had practically strangled the man he had heard the information from, demanding that he tell Duo all that he knew. Sadly, he didn't know much. All he knew was that the man had become pretty popular in the East. A man known for his paintings, of which copies had been distributed all around the world. Duo had screamed, over and over, "Where in the East?!", but the man had no idea, and threatened to call the cops if Duo touched him again. So Duo left, not knowing what he was going to do. He had to get to the East somehow, but he didn't have nearly enough cash. He'd after to get a job and save up for a couple of *years*. Little did he know, a couple of years was all he would need.
Jobs as waiters were not hard to find, but Duo learned that the hard way. He had gone from job to job, making just enough money to keep himself fed and clothed. There was no way he would have enough money by the end of 200. His biggest paying job was his job as a waiter, which he kept for eight months. He got fired on the first day of his ninth month, the reason being he had taken too many sick days, but had often come to work with a cold or the flu. The manager had fired him after he caught him sneeze on an order of chili fries.
Duo was about ready to give up. He had no money, no job, no car, no house. He was a stranger to Earth, and he didn't like it. He was much more than willing to go back to colonies for anything, but nothing seemed to turn up in which he was needed.
One night, a gray, gloomy night that Duo thought there could be nothing good about, he had found the answer to all his problems. It was a completely unexpected find. He had been walking by some shops in the town that he was currently in, and spotted the beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life, besides Heero that is. It was a painting in a tiny craft store at the corner or the street. He had pressed his hands and face to the window of shop like a little boy looking at a shiny new toy, just to get a good look at the painting. It was a portrait of what seemed to be outer space, but there were white rose petals everywhere, scatter around the painting carrying streaks of magnificent colors that blended perfectly into the stars. The center of the painting was what struck him most. It was hand, reaching up, looking as if it was trying to touch the stars, and trickles of blood were running down the hand's fingers, over it's knuckles until the redness of the blood faded away into the painting.
Duo had run in there, as fast as his tired, aching feet could carry him, and rushed straight to the painting. It was only a copy of course, not the original painting. He imagined the original would be even more beautiful, but quite costly. Damn, that's when the realization struck him; he didn't have a cent. He couldn't buy the beautiful painting. The store clerk must have seen him staring and walked over to him, gaze shifting from Duo's eyes, to the painting, and then back to Duo's eyes.
"You like it?" It was an obvious question, but Duo didn't seem to notice, he just nodded, never taking his eyes off of the painting. Suddenly, Duo spotted the signature at the bottom of the painting. Mitchell Smith.
"Do you *know* the man who painted this?" Duo asked, spinning around so quickly his longer braid almost smacked the store clerk in the face. The clerk stared at Duo like he was the craziest man on Earth.
"Are you kidding? This guy lives in Europe somewhere. He's a famous artist." The clerk explained. Duo's jaw dropped. 'Heero was famous? Heero could paint like this?' It suddenly hit him that he wasn't actually sure it this was Heero they were talking about. There were only a couple factors as evidence. He lived on Earth, and Mitchell Smith was supposedly a former gundam pilot. Duo was pretty sure none of other pilots had gone to Earth, changed their name and sat down to become a famous artist. No, that was defiantly a Heero thing. Only someone as magnificent as Heero could accomplish such a task. Heero had it in him. He believed in Heero. Still, just to be on the safe side, Duo wanted proof.
"Do you know that he looks like?" Duo asked eagerly, nearly hopping up and down one on either foot. The clerk's brows furrowed and he put his hand on his chin, rubbing it, as if trying to remember something.
"I think I saw a picture of him in the paper once. Real serious looking guy, wasn't smiling. Messy dark hair, good looking guy." The clerk nearly snarled the last part, "Why is it always the good looking guys that get to be famous?" Duo wasn't listening. All he could think about was Heero, living in Europe, and himself, in LA, with no way to get there. Even so, nothing could hold Duo Maxwell back.
"And you said he lives in Europe?" Duo asked, hoping the man would give him a more specific location. The clerk nodded slowly, his brows furrowed again.
"Yeah, Ireland, I believe." Duo's eyes lit up until they were large sparkling pools of violet.
"Thank you, sir." Duo chirped before running out of the store, on his way to the nearest pay phone. Now that he knew where Heero was, he had to find a way to get there. Stopping at the pay phone only to get directions to the nearest airport on the map, Duo stopped everywhere he could so he could sell his belongings. He sold almost everything he owned except for the clothes on his back and silver cross around his neck. Unfortunately, he had only made about fifty dollars.
Duo was extremely exhausted, and had almost lost all hope as he sat on a bench in the city. It was his own fault he couldn't make it to Heero. If he had been a better person, got a decent job and made decent money, he could have bought that trip to Ireland, he could have been with Heero already. Instead he slacked off, five four years of feeling sorry for himself, thinking about nothing but Heero. Little did he know that thinking about Heero was the exact thing keeping him from getting to Heero. There was nothing more he could sell, no more jobs he could find, he was about to announce himself as a failure when he spotted the newspaper on the opposite side of the bench. It was the picture on the front cover that caught his eye. 'Hilde?'
Scrambling over to the newspaper, Duo remembered leaving Hilde to go find Heero. He also remembered her saying *something* about joining the Preventers. Duo had even encouraged her to join. She was in excellent physical condition, and she was good with a gun. It was the perfect job for her. It was also the perfect job for any gundam pilot, but Duo had refused to take it. The Preventers were always traveling, and even though the pay was good, there was no way Duo could find the time off to go see Heero. Once you were in the Preventers, you stuck with them, and your time off was when they *told* you it was your time off. Clear and simple.
The article on the newspaper was about the Preventers being in town, and Hilde and Lady Une's pictures were printed next to the article. Duo smiled when he saw how happy Hilde looked. He was suddenly glad he had made the suggestion for her to join. At least he had made *someone* happy in his life. As Duo read further in the article, it stated the Preventers would be at city hall for about a week, investigating things there and at the town. 'Perfect.' Duo thought. City hall was only a couple blocks, and if he could get in and talk to the Preventers, maybe he could get Wufei to lend him some cash. 'Definitely *not* cool, Maxwell' That didn't matter anymore..
It took Duo a mere fifteen minutes to walk/jog to city hall. Even though the Preventers would be there for three ore days, Duo had nothing better to do. Nothing was getting better for him. He'd just end up having to buy food and waist even more of the money had gotten from selling his belongings. 'It's times like this when I wish I still had my gundam.' A gundam would get him to Ireland in no time. It would alarm a great deal of people and he'd probably ended up getting arrested, which was something he really didn't need at the time, although nothing could keep him from getting to Heero.
Almost out of breath, Duo stormed into City Hall, hoping to catch site of one of the Preventers hanging around on the main office. He was out of luck. The only person there was the startled woman at the desk from his sudden intrusion, and the security hard that was giving him a hard look. Duo rolled his eyes and walked past the security guard, straight to the woman behind the desk.
"I need to speak to Wufei Chang of the Preventers." The woman looked at him oddly.
"Do you have an appointment?" She asked. She was giving him that stern look like he was some sort of roach from the city that crawled in to feast on the crumbs.
"Just tell him Duo Maxwell wants to talk to him." The woman grunted and picked up the bright red phone on her desk. She hit a button and spoke into it.
"Sorry to bother you but there is a Duo Macwell out here. He wants to speak to Mr. Chang." Duo frowned.
"Ma*x*well, ma'am." The woman ignored him and put the phone down. She gave him a look that purely said, 'wait here Mr. Macwell.' Duo rolled his eyes and leaned against her desk. Momentarily, the elevator doors by the security guard opened, and Hilde and Wufei stepped out. Duo stood up and grinned. Hilde grinned a grin much like his and ran up to him, jumping into his arms without a second thought.
"Duo! I missed you so much! How *are* you?" She shouted as Duo pulled back hesitantly. Duo made a nervous expression. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to see Hilde, but explaining everything to her was not something he was thrilled about doing. He needed to talk to Wufei in private. After all, Wufei had always had a hunch that Duo saw something in Heero, and although Wufei *did* judge a lot, he wasn't one to judge on something like love. He had to find a way to talk to Wufei in private, but when he looked back at Hilde, he didn't have the heart. Her whole face was lit up in excitement and their was a slight flush on her cheeks.
"I'm doing all right, Hilde. How are you doing these days?" He chuckled, flinging an arm around her shoulders. Wufei gave him a look. Obviously he could sense his hesitation.
"What's wrong, Maxwell?" Duo looked at the floor, opened his mouth to say something when Hilde interrupted.
"Oh, Duo! The Preventers are great! You sure lead me in the right direction. If you hadn't of suggested it, I might have never become a Preventer and still be working in the junkyard! By the way, what are you doing on Earth?" Wufei smirked.
"Yes, Maxwell. Please enlighten us." Duo gulped nervously. He took his arm off his Hilde's shoulders and walked up to Wufei.
"Wufei, can I..uh..talk to you in private?" Hilde's expression turned from happiness to confusion in less than a second.
"Duo, is there anything wrong?" She asked, looking like she was willing to help with anything Duo needed. Duo hated lying to her. He hated keeping anything from her, she was like his best friend. However, something told him that Hilde liked him for more than just a friend. That's when he decided he had to get away from her. He didn't want to end up breaking her heart, and he defiantly didn't want to end up telling her who he really loved.
"No, Hilde, everything's fine. I just need to talk to Wufei about some gundam pilot business. Y-you wouldn't really understand." He regretted saying that last part, but in a way it was true. She wouldn't understand what he had to say. She wouldn't understand his feelings for Heero. She wouldn't understand why he needed to ask Wufei for money.
Hilde's gaze fell to the floor, then looked back up at Duo.
"All right, I understand, Duo." She smiled. "I guess I wouldn't understand gundam pilot business. I've never actually was one. And I can tell that what you want to tell Wufei is personal." Wow. That's definitely not what Duo was expecting her to say. That just made his life a *whole* lot easier.
"Well, I better get going. It was really nice seeing you again, Duo. And call me more often!" Duo smiled at her. She smiled back, that faint blush returning to her pale cheeks. She waved to Wufei and got into the elevator. Once the doors shut Duo immediately turned to Wufei.
"Wufei, I need money to get to Ireland." He spoke quickly and softly so the security guard and the lady at the desk couldn't hear their conversation. Wufei's eyebrows shot up.
"On a search for a pot of gold, Maxwell?" Duo face faulted. He didn't know Wufei could joke and now he knew why he never did.
"Wufei I'm here because Heero's here. I found out that he had moved to the Earth from Quatre so I came here to see if I could find him." He said that even quicker than before, and much more quiet he wondered if Wufei had even heard him. His suspicions were confirmed when a tiny smirk appeared on Wufei's features.
"Oh, you need the money so you can go see Heero? Did you hear he was a famous artist?" Duo's face fell for second time. He really didn't want to get into small talk about Heero. He would do that with Heero himself if ever got to see him. Despite that, Duo nodded. It sounded like Wufei was considering it, since he hadn't really said no yet. Wufei's smirk got wider and he shook his head.
"I knew it all along." Duo blushed.
"Yeah...great, how about the money?" He didn't want to float off the subject. The conversation wasn't supposed to be about Heero and him, it was supposed to be about the money that was going to get him to Heero.
"You will pay me back within fourteen days, do you understand?" Wufei asked, his smile fading. Now they were talking business. Duo gulped. He wasn't sure if he could get that kind of money in two weeks. He'd be busy visiting Heero and wouldn't have a chance to get a job there and make that kind of money in two weeks. However, as he had promised himself, *anything* was worth getting to see Heero again. Even getting pounded by Wufei.
"Deal."
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So that was pretty much how Duo got to Ireland. Of course, Duo had asked for more money than he actually needed from Wufei, just so he could go back to that craft store and buy the painting that he saw. Even if it was Heero's painting, and he could probably get a copy of free from him, he didn't want to take any chances if Heero slammed the door on his face the moment he saw him. If that *did* happen, he'd want something to remember Heero by. Not that he was planning to give up on him any time soon. After all, anything was worth it.
Right?
TBC