Disclaimer: Alrighties, this has to be what... my 11th Gundam Wing fic so far. I might as well go and say it, I'll have to anyway if I don't want my arse sued... I don't own Gundam Wing©. Gundam Wing is copyrighted to Bandai, Sunrise and some other company. Nor do I even make any profits from my stories, I mean... nevermind... *^-^*
Dedication: To *Sagittarius Girl* for always being there, always being a good friend, listening, helping, and other stuff! I luv ya!! Oh, yeah... to all who love my stories... luv ya too!!
___________
___________
I'm waking up, I cannot see.
Discarded as a wartime novelty.
Near no Pain,
Do no Wrong,
Feel no Peace.
What have you done to me?
The time now is going slow,
Now I must bow for the last show.
My life's blood now blanket's the Earth.
Hear no Pain,
Do no Wrong,
Feel no Peace.
What has the war done to me?
Soon to fill my lungs, the hot winds of death,
Soon my friends, I'll draw my last breath,
A blind beggar of ward thirty-three.
Hear no Pain,
Do no Wrong,
Feel no Peace.
What the hell is wrong with me?
The last chapter of my life comes to a close,
All thanks be to those people, those,
Angels of Death.
Hear no Pain,
Do no Wrong,
Feel no Peace.
Why did this happen to me?
Because I am a victim.
Soldier boy,
Made of Clay,
Now an empty shell.
Twenty one,
Only son,
But he served us well.
For whom the bell tolls?
It tolls for me,
A victim,
Soldier Boy. "
___________
~Chapter 1~
I never really thought about it until now. Now, as I walked through the shadows of the valley of death. Now, as I brooded over it all, wondering what had happened over the years, wondering why I never lived a normal life instead of a life filled with horrifying scenes so gruesome it was crucial, but yet, the more you saw, learned, the more death began to become a part of you, living as you did, doing as you did, screwing as you did.
Me? I'm the God of it all, the God of Death. I've basically seen it all, done it all, you name it! But... one thing was missing from my life and it wasn't that thing either, the kind every guy, all except for one, misses when they're away too long. It's the kind of thing that you cherish more then life.
Sex?
Friendship?
Love?
Ah, now that's an entirely different story! Including with me, ya know? But, that's not really why I'm here, truding along slowly through the gutters of the L2 Colony, hands shoved deep into the pockets of my priest pants, head bowed deeply so no one would be able to recognize me. But, hey! Who wouldn't recognize me with that damned braid swishing along my backside? It's rather not hard to miss....
Sex... friendship... love, they all go together in this big circle of life shit, making us wonder until we basically collapse from thinking so hard, making us wonder until we start throwing tantrums because... well, because we can't figure out this whole circle of life thing, it's just not for us to fully understand yet..
Well, that's what I thought....
I, Duo Maxwell, God of Death, now the age of a grown man and not some teenager with raging horomones. My exact age... well.. sheez! I wouldn't know how to begin with that one subject. At times, when I'm fighting to stay alive and to keep all of humanity alive as well, I'm what you would call a vetetran(sp?). Other times when I'm just acting like myself around buds, chicks and all, I'm the age I'm suppose to be, and that would be... well, if I remember right, it would be...
...twenty one.
I wave a hand through the air. Yeah, we're all twenty one now, but there's just one of us out of the bunch that act older then that. People called her the War Dove, Angel of Peace, Dove of Peace, you name it, it was her. All thanks to her. That's why I'm still trudging along this gutter, looking as if I had just lost my home or something.
It had been her who had saved us all, including him, the man with a heart, but, that heart was just wrapped in a cold, thick steel coating, protecting it from ever experiencing anything. The man longed for death, as well as he longed for everyone to die with him.
But... she had gotten through to him. Don't ask me how, she just managed to do so...
I see a door ahead of me, the dim canary yellow light shining out from underneath the door, people slowly stumbling out, the swinging doors swishing to and fro until coming to a complete stop, until someone else stumbled into them. I shake my head and then feel a tremor run through the tall, lean length of my hard body, going all the way to the very tip of my braid which goes to my backside.
Something's not right, I can't feel it, but what? How will I know? When will I know? I shrug away those thoughts and slowly climb up the two-steps that lead to the warm interior of the bar. Everyone and everything suddenly stops as soon as I enter the bar, all the eyes lingering on me. Looks of disgust, awe, pity, sympathy and other sorts are shot my way until I myself stumble farther into the bar with a little nudge on the backside from a waitress dressed in flimsy clothing.
Being myself, I grin at her as she passes my, a soft, smirk touching her full dark red lips that look seductive and inviting to me. I shake my head hard.
Get a grip, Maxwell! I tell myself. I wonder if they'll let me rent out a room for only five dollars. Which I know is impossible. The cheap rooms cost fifteen dollars alone; only ten dollars short. Damn! I curl my hand around the change and few bills in my right pocket as I slowly walk past a bunch of tables to make my way to the front of the bar.
I throw myself down onto the small red stool, the padding on top completely used up, completely as flat as a pancake under my ass as I lean forward, elbows on the chipped countertop, my palms digging into my eyes, the tips of my fingers digging into my scalp, just at the start of my hairline above my forehead, my dark chocolate brown bangs that are completely stubborn, caressing the tops of my fingers.
I groan and mutter something under my breath, the man or whoever it is catching it and turns to look at me.
" Duo? "
I lifted a palm away from my eye to glance at who said my name and couldn't believe my eyes... er, eye as I blinked away the spots of different colours from grounding my palms into my eyes so hard. I nearly jumped out off the stool to hug the person sitting beside me.
" Quatre?! " I nealy choke in relief and yet surprise as I stare back at him, my deep cobalt blue eyes wide in utter shock, my jaw hanging down so far you'd think it'd hit the countertop.
Quatre nods and looks like he wants to hug the life from me, " My God, Duo! Where have you been this whole time? "
I run a hand over my face hard, trying to get feeling back into it actually as I relax in my stool and order a small glass of water from the man behind the counter. I turn to look at him, a frown upsetting my features.
" Locked up... " I reply under my breath, my usual humor filled voice hard and pissed off.
Quatre has sympathy floating around in his big aqua eyes as he searches my face, " We looked everywhere for you... including Heero, Duo, " he adds under his breath as he takes a sip of his sprite that's filled with vodka.
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise as I accept my glass of water and chug it down in one big gulp. I stare at him in, this time, confusion.
" Why Heero, Quatre? " I ask in a suspicious voice.
Quatre licks his lips, " Well, after they took you, like after you disappeared, we all started to disappear ourselves. Slowly, one by one. " he sighs heavily and runs a hand through the thick locks of sunny blonde. " So far we have You, Heero, Wufei, Trowa and myself... "
I knit my brows together, my head tilts to the side as I stare at him in puzzlement, " And... " I say slowly. " what about Hilde? Lena? Sally? Where are all them? "
Quatre licks his lips again, only this time as if he's nervous to reveal something to me, " Well... we haven't been able to find them yet, Duo. I'm so sorry, but they have Dorothy too... " he adds softly, his lashes lowering as he looks down at the ground.
I can't believe this! The women are all gone, just disappeared after the Second Coming, including our Dove of Peace! I shake my head hard, not wanting to believe any of it. They still have Hilde, my Hilde. Well... she really isn't mine yet for I haven't told her my full feelings for her. Don't know why either though.
I scowl and scoff, " How's Heero taking the Relena's missing again thing? Same as usual I take it? "
Quatre frowns at me, " Duo, " he says softly and firmly. " don't talk this way. You know about Heero's feeling for Miss Lena. You and I both know... "
I sigh heavily. My heart slams up against my ribcage in sudden mounting fear as to what those OZ bastards could be doing to her right now, both Lena and Hilde. My thoughts and prayers go out to them. Quatre takes a sip of his drink, a slow sip and then pushes it away as he reaches out to grab my arm, just above the elbow, pulling me from my stool, jolting me harshly away from my thoughts of Hilde, from everything as he begins to drag me towards the door.
I spot Rashid slowly making his way towards us as we make our way to the swinging doors. I jerk my arm back and follow him on my own since I'm pretty sure I'm capable of doing, ne? As I follow him down the small two steps, the swinging doors swinging behind us, I suddenly feel uneasy walking out into the open all of a sudden, the hair on the back of my neck, slowly beginning to stand on it's own.
Not even the thin jacket keeps me warm, but the one thing that does keep me warm is the slight weight of the necklace in my right breast pocket, the one on my usual priest clothing. The small 9mm in my left pant pocket is somewhat of another reassurance. But, I don't know why though...
Quatre and Rashid have stopped to my close right, bright headlights suddenly shining up to life on my left. They slowly begin to get closer and before I know it, it's stopped right in front of me, the squeal of protesting tires hitting my ears hard, making me wince, making my brain slam into the top of my skull as the smell of burning rubber hits my nostrils hard too, making me cough, a hand flying to cover my mouth and nose as the back door of the black limo opens immediately.
Quatre brushes past me quickly and climbs inside, Rashid not too far behind, followed by me. As soon as I get inside, it's rather dark, but not too dark to a point where I can't make out faces. Waiting for my eyes to adjust, I have already managed to figure out who else is in here with me besides for Quatre and Rashid.
" Trowa... Wufei... " I say calmly, feeling the emotionless stare of the silent clown on me, watching me closely as I with him.
The window seperating the driver's area from the backseat area quickly opens up and it's Heero's dark, deep prussian blue eyes that are cold, emotionless, unyielding that stare at me in the rearview mirror. I blink and then frown deeply as I rest my chin on my propped hand.
" Alright! " I declare. " Will someone tell me what the hell is going on? Heero, where are we going? "
Heero's eyes glance up once and catch mine, holding me, captivating me once again, " We're going to go save your onna, Duo... " he replies stiffly, the window slowly going up, closing him off from the rest of us in the back.
I'm desperate now. More desperate then I've ever been in my life. I turn my full attention to Chang Wufei who sits in across from me on the leather seats, back erect, eyes closed, arms crossed over chest. I clear my throat and wave my hand about in the air.
" Wu-man, talk to me! " I say as I lean towards him, eyes slightly slanted.
" Don't call me that, Maxwell, " Wufei grounds out through clenched teeth as his eyes open, revealing two black pools of never ending stories.
" Geez.. " I mutter as I lean back in the seat, arms behind my head as I watch him slowly. " who was there when it happened? " I ask, my eyes shifting from one face to another.
Trowa blinks and looks at me, as does everyone else, including Heero through the tinted glass, " Well, if it had been Heero, the girls would be safe. But, it wasn't Heero who was there, it was I and Quatre. We had been taken completely by surprise, not knowing what was going on until we heard the screams... " he pauses.
" What else? What do you mean by screams? " I ask, forehead crinkled in worry.
" Their screams were that worse of those heard on the battlefields. Take the screams from Second Coming, Duo. You remember those? " Trowa continues, his deep emerald green eyes unyielding as Heero's.
I feel my head bob up and down slowly. How could I not forget those screams? Those screams are the one thing that are keeping me up at night.
" Yes. " I reply. " I can't forget those screams, not after all that... that fighting and the bloodshed... "
Trowa nods, " Yes. When the girls screamed, it was like we were living the Second Coming all over again, only it was worse, like the Third Coming was on it's way... " he stops, his eyes leaving my face to glance out the window beside him.
I scratch my head, " So... you guys believe that the Third Coming will come soon? "
All were silent, leaving me to sit there perplexed beyond doubt. Only one head bobs up and down; Wufei's. I stare at him, my eyes squinted.
" Yes... " Wufei replies softly. " Third Coming is nearing quickly. Soon enough, we won't be able to do anything about it either. "
I just stare. I'm at a loss of words.
" Then why did we do what we had done with our Gundams when we had?! " I shout, my hands curl into tight fists. " Why had we used the self-detonating devices when we knew about the Third Coming!??! "
Trowa looks at me, " We had no choice! " he snaps. " It wasn't on our call anyway, Duo, remember? "
I growl at him under my breath. I just want to lunge across the damned limo and rip his vocal cords out of his freakin' neck right now. I can't though. I just sit there, my eyes are narrowed as I stare at the ground. I can feel the vein in the side of my face, cheek to be exact, throbbing quickly, loud.
I need to get away from it all. But how? And with what? Heero would probably catch me if I were to just run off. I sigh heavily as I throw myself back into the seat. Fuck! My mind screams, my hands ache, itch just to get ahold of the gun in my pocket, to whip it out and take them all out. But... why in my right mind would I go and do that for? These guys are like brother's to me.
They've saved my ass as many times as I've saved theirs out on the battlefield when the First and Second Coming had arrived; and in the First Coming, they didn't even know about each other. Second Ending was an entirely different story what with Relena getting kidnapped and Heero going to rescue her without any... er, nevermind, forget about that for now at least.
There's a static above our heads and Heero's cold, emotionless voice speaks, " We're here. Plan. We go in. Take out everyone and everything but the mission. Understood? Take out the defense system, mainframes, computers, unlock all nuclear bombs, I don't give a shit what the hell you do, just concentrate on your mission this time. "
It's silent now.
Like hell in his damn fucking mind I won't concentrate on this mission! I grumble something. Trowa and Wufei catch it and glance at each other before the door opens and Rashid and Quatre step out into cool night's air, the moon hitting the top of my head, caressing my dark hair with it's light, glory, wonders as I myself step out of the limo.
Heero Yuy, the Perfect Soldier comes around the front, his hard body, also like my own, completely in every way almost, clad in an OZ high commanding officer's ensemble. The dark navy blue hat adorns the top of his head nicely, the dark chocolate strands of thickness splayed out over his forehead and getting into his eyes... not that gives two shits about it anyway.
Heero makes sure his own 9mm is ready. His is equipped with a silencer, mine isn't. I frown and then scratch the back of my neck with the tip of my 9mm after I pull it out to check it as well. Behind the limo, Quatre's entire little gang of Magnaracs(Sp? Oo;;;) jumping out of the back of their cloaked army truck -- which is stolen, might I add.
Heero watches me, gun in hand and I catch his stare. With the brief nod of his head, he informs me that I'm in charge till further say. I nod back, get my gun ready and then lead the small band of peacekeepers into the small warehouse to save the girls.
One question I asked myself the entire time I'm running towards the warehouse, men behind, was, will I make out alive in time to confess?
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I sat there, laid there, hung there, God only know's in what position I was in too. I began to think I was hanging for my shoulders were going really numb, my back muscles going into convulsions every now and then. The other four girls were scattered about on the floor, moaning, groaning and most of all sobbing.
I bit my lip hard, the warm fluid trickling down my chin and landing on my thighs. Ah ha! So I was hanging there. From the ceiling perhaps? By my wrists? Sure felt like it. I could feel the cool thick sharp edged metal shackles encasing my delicate wrists posessively, dry blood crackling whenever I moved my arm a bit, the flakes of crusted blood sprinkling to the ground around my legs that were tucked under me.
Drugs. I remember now. That's how they managed to get us in here, by sneaking up behind and drugging us. Catherine had been the first to go, then Dorothy, followed by poor Hilde, Sally going next and me... last. I was the only one who had put up a struggle against them, letting out the screams before they had clamped the drug soaked rag onto my mouth and nose and even then, I was still screaming.
I shake my head hard and immediately regret doing so. My head pounds so hard I can't really remember much. There's a soft whimper to my left and I cough in response.
" H-hilde? " I hear my weak voice gasp.
" Relena? Are you there? " Hilde Schbeiker gasped back.
Obviously she hadn't fully recovered from the drugs. But, then again, neither have I. I cough again. I feel something warm trickle down my chin this time. This has never happened to me before when I coughed. Dorothy Catalonia was to my right, I could tell by just listening to her breaths that were uneven, shallow, dry.
" Dorothy!? Speak... " I command. " everyone speak. I need to know if you're all alive. "
Catherine Bloom, Trowa's older sister hiccuped her response, " I'm here... just got a bad case of hiccups.. " she replies.
I nod and smile, " Sally? "
" I-I'm here.... " a soft voice replies.
" How are you feeling? " I ask, struggling against my shackles.
" Not fairing out so well, I'm afraid... damn OZ bastards..."
I crinkle my nose and then give a soft chuckle that's forced, " You're speaking nonsense, Sally! You're going to make it, they'll come for us, I know they will.... " I pause. " have faith... "
" Have faith? " Dorothy echoes in a flat voice. " They probably don't even know we're missing... "
I scowl at her. She truely is a stupid woman at times, " How could they not know we're missing when I was screaming? You were all out cold when they took me down with the drugs. Quatre heard me, I'm sure of it... "
There's a loud explosion to our right. The walls of the room shake. The chains holding my shackles to the ceiling tremble and then my arm's fall to my sides painfully. I fall forward onto the ground beside Catherine I believe and I lay there, my breathing shallow now and slightly labored.
" Everyone alright? " I ask through gasps.
No one answers. I suddenly get this gut wretching fear and it hurts. I scream out to them again, but no one answers me and I begin to worry some more. Small beads of sweat rolling down the sides of my face as explosions go off everywhere, all around too.
Something crumbles and lands beside my head and perhaps on top of Catherine, I'm not sure. I'm slowly blacking out. One name is silently whispered on my mind though, along with a small prayer as to whether it is him and the others or not. There's a loud cry to my right and I realize that it's Sally before everything goes black on me.
This is it. That's what I last thought...
The last chapter of my life comes to a close,
All thanks be to those people, those,
Angels of Death.
Heero....
___________
Author's Note: Well... my 40th fic! *hugs her Duo & Heero plushies hard* yay!!! Not that anyone else cares... *pouts* Whatchu all think of it so far? It is confusing in a way... that's what I think. I hope you like this one. It isn't as suspenseful as the other ones, but I'm going to quit with the POV's... Ja ne!!
Comments? Questions? Suggestions? Leia Avenrose or Leia Avenrose.