Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing and its characters.
Author's note: This short, one-shot luv yarn is dedicated to Sony_Mouse, sort of as a going away present of sorts. *sniff* I'm going to miss you and all of your MP references! *HUG*
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Birds of a Feather
by Anthy
Duo walked briskly down the street, silently praying that the other pilots had not followed him. If anyone found out what he had been sneaking out to do the past few days, he didn't know what would be the punishment. He stopped outside an abandoned building and slipped inside. Leaning against bowing two-by-fours, he looked around the darkened space and remembered the incident earlier that morning.
"What is your problem, Maxwell?" Wufei had snapped after a long moment of silence. Duo had looked up from his plate and glanced around innocently, a strip of bacon hanging from his mouth.
"Oh, is my silence annoying you as well, Wu-man?" he murmured between bites.
"You are hiding something from us, and we would like to know what it is!" the Chinese youth shouted at him. He looked around the room and saw that Trowa and Quatre stared at him with deep concern and
curiosity.
"I-I. . ." he stammered, his mind refusing to come up with a reasonable excuse.
"It's none of our business." Heero's low voice had interrupted behind him. Duo didn't need to turn around to know that his teammate was leaning against the frame of the doorway, his arms crossed. "If he thought it was necessary to tell us, then he would."
"That's right!" Duo agreed as he jumped from his chair and wrapped his arms around Heero's neck in a hug. He felt Heero's body tense in
surprise, so he released he friend and backed away. "Thanks, Heero." he said softly, feeling a slow burn rise to his cheeks. Heero stared at him for a long moment before nodding. He stepped away from the door and walked into the kitchen.
Duo remembered hesitating at the doorway before running out of the house as fast as his feet could take him. He waited until he was a good few blocks away before slowing down to a more leisurely pace. He entered the abandoned building with a smile on his face, knowing that the love of his life was just a hop, skip and a jump away from him.
That was the truth. He hopped over the large gap in the floor, skipping to the right to avoid a loose board and jumped to grab onto the ladder that was hanging from the ceiling.
"The things you do for a loved one." he grunted as he began to pull himself up the rickety ladder. Reaching the small opening in the wall that lead to the attic, Duo jumped and climbed inside. He knew that he was probably covered from head to toe in dust, but that didn't matter. "Hey, baby," he cooed as he crawled to the bundle of blankets he had stolen from the safehouse days ago, "ya miss me?"
Duo reached for the small bottle in his pocket when he heard something move behind him.
"Cow milk isn't good for it's system." Heero's low voice rang out, causing Duo to drop the milk in his hand. It rolled down the warped floor. Heero crawled and sat next to Duo, handing him a bottle with a grey-ish white liquid. "Here, use this formula instead."
"How did you?" Duo gasped as Heero leaned closer and picked a small white hair off of Duo's shoulder. "Oh."
Suddenly there was a rustle in the blankets, and a small white furry head appeared from under it. It's miniscule mouth moved, but no sound emerged. The kitten's eyes opened into tiny slits, and it unsteadily began to crawl in Duo's direction. "What's it's name?" Heero asked as the kitten opened it's tiny paws and began to tug Duo's pant leg.
"Feather." Duo took the bottle from Heero and put the silent kitten in his lap. "She's only a couple weeks old I think."
"You know that you can't take her with you.
"I know." he sighed as he began feeding Feather. "When I found her, she was the only one left. The mom was dead, and the fleas must have made the kittens sick. I thought she would have died too, but somehow she survived. The first time that I saw her, she looked like a rat. It's funny, I don't even really like cats. When I was younger, we used to have to fight with them for table scraps, I think we might've ate one once . . ."
Heero looked at his friend, and for the first time he saw a hidden emotion in his eyes. Usually they were intense, bright and unyielding. As Duo held the purring kitten, the light had softened to one of contentment, and even more, he saw sadness.
"We'll be stationed here for a few more days." Heero heard himself say, the words leaving his mouth before he could stop them. "Maybe we can get a hold of Hilde, she can care for Feather while you're away."
"Yeah." Duo murmured softly, his eyes dropping to stare at the slumbering form in the crook of his arm. Heero draped an arm around Duo's shoulders.
"It's ok if you don't want to leave her." he stated, his voice suddenly as soft as Duo's. The braided pilot shifted so that his head rested on Heero's shoulder. Duo began to cry, his shoulders shaking as his chest heaved. Not once did a tear fall--there was none left to shed. Heero wrapped his free arm around Duo's waist and pulled the other pilot close, being very mindful of the kitten. Duo cried for Feather, because he could cry for her and he couldn't for himself. All the pain she must have felt, he knew all too well.
"Another one loved, another one I've lost." Duo sobbed loudly into Heero's shoulder. "I don't want to lose her, I don't want her to lose me."
"You won't lose her." Heero whispered soothingly.
"Promise?" he hiccupped as he slowly began to calm down. Violet eyes met deep blue ones as they sat there, Duo nestled in Heero's arms; Feather in Duo's.
"I don't want to lose you either." Duo whispered as his free hand reached up to rest on Heero's shoulder.
"You won't." Heero managed to say before he leaned forward to brush his lips across Duo's temple. The arm that Heero had around Duo's waist lifted, and began to brush back the loose strands that framed his face. He had no clue in why he was doing those things, but at the same time he knew that it was right.
"Promise?" Duo asked as he looked deep into Heero's eyes. Heero again nodded. The ability to breathe evaded both of them as their faces inched closer to each other. As their lips brushed against each other, time stilled for a brief second. Not knowing what to do next, Heero kissed Duo again, this time causing a sigh from the other teen. They pulled away from each other almost shyly, Duo winced as he looked down at his arm. Feather was kneading on his arm, her nails making small nicks on his arm.
"Come on, precious." he chided, "jealous are we?"
Heero grinned as he pulled Duo close for another kiss.
"Heero?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks."
THE END