Part II –
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The sarcasm in his voice is evident, but beneath it there is a sadness, one that he himself does not understand and one that Atropos is too wise to question now.
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"Nothin' like waking up to powdered breakfast and mission orders," Duo grumbled as he sat up groggily. He yawned, getting off the bed and tugging on his clothes, mumbling incoherent phrases towards Heero, who had awakened him ten minutes earlier with the curt statement, "Mission." Soft hazy light diffused through the brown ragged curtains, the only indication Duo had that it was actually morning.
He stumbled to the small wooden table where Heero was already at his laptop, memorizing the mission parameters. Duo looked over his partner's shoulder.
"Well, at least after this we can get out of this crappy hellhole and maybe meet up with Quatre at one of his ritzy mansions," Duo said happily, spooning up his instant meal as he gulped down the coffee Heero had made earlier.
Heero did nothing to acknowledge his presence, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. Duo continued to talk aimlessly, making no mention of the night before and Heero taking no notice of the stark white cloth that showed when he lifted his arms as he stretched.
Last night had never happened.
Neither had any night resembling it.
***
Duo hummed to himself as he and Heero walked wandered through the labyrinth of the underground OZ base. This was the mission they had been waiting for; one that could be accomplished without the use of Gundams and thus suitable for when theirs were undergoing heavy repairs.
Heero went first, running swiftly towards the computer terminal, dodging bullets from confused OZ soldiers and returning some of his own. Duo watched for a moment before he began to run in the opposite direction, shooting any and all that got in his way with impassive eyes. Flicking away the small beads of sweat gathered on his forehead, Duo made his way to the room that held the blueprints and information concerning new mobile doll designs. The room that Duo was to destroy beyond recognition with the cold metal lump that lay hidden inside his jacket.
He stood near the steel door, tapping his foot impatiently as Dr. G's new device worked to bypass the password security measure and allow him to enter. The little machine finally beeped, and Duo pushed his way inside. The room looked like any other in the base, the only difference being the numerous papers strewn over every inch of the tables and walls. Duo didn't spend any time examining them, more than content setting up the small but deadly bomb in the center of the floor. Fixing the timer, he stood up, brushing away stray flecks of dust on his pants.
"Damn, when was the last time anyone cleaned around here? The year Dorothy plucked her eyebrows?" he grumbled quietly.
It was then that he noticed a familiar shade of blue out of the corner of one eye.
Moving towards the pictures in disbelief, he stared at the full-color photographs of Heero and himself.
None of the others. Just them.
Using one shaky finger to trace the contours of his lover's expressionless face, he saw that his hands were held behind his back, tied with what appeared to be black cord. Looking closer, Duo realized that they weren't tied, they were sewn together. Little specks of red lined the string where it came out of Heero's skin. Fighting down the nausea that crept up his throat, Duo turned to his own picture, shaking his head when he saw his hands were identical to Heero's, except his were sewn with white thread.
"What the hell? Where the fuck did they…why… "
Duo continued staring in stupefaction as a thought struck him. "That bastard! So this is what he – " He stopped again, this time interrupted by a soft whimper coming from the entrance. Forgetting about the photos for the moment, Duo went to investigate the sound, finger on the trigger of his gun.
He saw a soldier leaning heavily against the wall as he sat, one hand clutching the side that Duo pierced through with a bullet only minutes before. Recognizing his assailant, but obviously thinking the boy would spare him, the soldier smiled in relief. "Please," he rasped, a small trickle of blood coming from his mouth. "Help me." The voice was dry and cracking, but too high to be a man's. A woman?
The person spoke again, suffering audibly with the effort. "Help…"
Duo smiled warmly as his suspicions were confirmed. He crouched down in front of the soldier, thinking errantly that she looked a little like that girl Hilde who'd helped him out before.
"Hi, there," he said pleasantly. "I'm Shinigami. Welcome to chaos"
Any response the woman might have made was cut off as the finger on the trigger squeezed, silencing her forever. Standing up, he scowled at the corpse, uttering one sentence to drown out the shrieks and wails of sorrow in his head.
"Only cowards ask for mercy."
***
Heero's fingers flew over the keyboard as he hacked into the database without difficulty. Waiting as the important information was downloaded onto a disk, he tensed as he heard someone move behind him. His gun was whipped out and aimed at the young soldier in a matter of seconds. Heero glared at him as minutes passed, noticing how he was unarmed and quaked with fear. Finally, he turned back to the computer screen, checking to see how much time remained. When he glanced behind him again, the soldier was gone.
Heero smirked. OZ really needed to be more selective when choosing officers.
Taking the finished disk out of the computer, Heero heard the slightly muffled blast that told him Duo had completed his part of the mission. He walked to the hallway where they had parted and were scheduled to meet, frowning when five minutes later his partner was still nowhere to be seen. Two more minutes went by and Heero couldn't wait any longer. He jogged to the room that Duo was supposed to have destroyed, grasping his gun tightly, and stood in shock as he took in the scene before him.
He watched, amazed in spite of himself, as Duo stood amid a roaring fire, untouched; the flames recoiling from his slightest movement, his eyes blank as he made them dance.
The room crumbled and smoldered around him, and Heero could faintly smell the dank odor of charred flesh coming from a corner.
Slowly, his weapon was lowered. It would do no good here.
"Duo?" he called out, silently wondering why any smoke had yet to appear.
Duo looked up, startled at his
voice. Violet eyes, still blank, looked into his own.
And a hand reached out in welcome.
**