Warnings: angst, torture and such; minor language; OOC

Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Wing, never will. Belongs to who it belongs to. I'm writing this for the fun of it. Don't bother suing because I don't got nothing.

Author Notes:  wahoo! Finally up (to help to my evil teachers).  Actually, this was mostly written in English.  I've just haven't had much time on the computer till these wonderful holidays came around.  I'll stop with the chitter-chatter now.  Enjoy!  And please review at the end.

Crime and Punishment
Part 6


Heero sat in the hospital room by Duo's bed.  After escaping from the building they had went to the nearest hospital. The doctors took one look at the bloody boy in Heero's arms and immediately rushed him to the ER.  While Duo had been in surgery Heero had called the other gundam pilots at the safe house.

*~*~*~*

flashback

*~*~*~*

"Nani?!"

Heero pulled the phone away from his ear as Quatre shouted.

"Duo's in the ER at the Edmonton General hospital." Heero repeated calmly.

"What happened?" Quatre asked.

"I'll tell you when you arrive. Tell Trowa and Wufei and take the first plane to Edmonton.  I'll meet you at the hospital." Heero answered.

"We'll be there as soon as we can."

*~*~*~*
end flashback

*~*~*~*

Now 6 hours later, Duo had been moved to the ICU, and Heero could finally come to see him. Though it was not a pretty site.

The cuts on Duo's chest had been cleaned and bandaged but they were still steadily pumping blood.  There was an IV attached to his right wrist and several machines attached to him to keep him alive. Heero listened to the steady beat of the heart monitor as he gazed at his pale partner, lying so still in the bed.

The doctors had told him that he would probably wake up soon.  They had allowed him to stay in Duo's room so that he could be there when he woke up.

Heero gently took his hand into his own.

"Come on Duo," he said softly.

A hand was placed on Heero's shoulder.  He dropped Duo's hand and turned around.

"Quatre." Heero was surprised to see him. "Trowa, Wufei, when did you guys get here."  Heero stood up from his spot by Duo's bed.

"Just now," Wufei replied.

"How is he?" Quatre asked.

"They don't really know yet."  Heero half turned around a looked at the unconscious Shinigami before he turned back to Quatre. "They say he should wake up soon but they are unsure of his condition."

They stood there in silence, occasionally looking at their fellow pilot laying on the bed.  Trowa was the first one to notice that Duo was starting to wake up.

"He appears to be awakening." He simply stated.

Duo's eyes fluttered once more before opening completely

"Guys…" Duo managed to croak out.

Heero was back at the side of Duo's hospital bed in a blink of an eye.

"Duo! How are you feeling?  Are you comfortable?  Can I get you anything?" Heero asked quickly.

"Whoa! Calm don a bit, would ya Hee-chan?" Duo said, squinting against the noise.

"Sorry…" Heero answered quietly.

"Well…we're glad to see you're awake," Quatre said after a bit. "We're leave you two alone for a bit.  Right guys?" Quatre asked, turning to Trowa and Wufei. They nodded in agreement.

They started to leave the room, but right before Wufei had exited, he turned to Heero.  " We're be waiting outside.  When you're done in here, you have some explaining to do."  With that, he left the room, leaving Heero and Duo alone in the room.

The room was silent.  Both Heero and Duo did not know what to say.  Finally, they both spoke at the same time.

"Heero…"

"Duo…"

"You go first," Heero said.

"No you do," Duo replied.

"What…what…" Heero was lost for words.  He didn't know how to ask what had to be asked, but what he really didn't want to know the answer to.

"Happened?" Duo supplied.

"Yeah.  If you don't mind that is.  I mean, if you want to rest first, you…" Heero stopped when Duo put his arm on Heero's own to stop him.

"It's ok Heero, I'm fine to tell you," Duo interrupted.  Duo took a big sigh before beginning his story.  "From what I could tell, you know the blond man, the one who looks kinda like Q?"  Heero nodded, confirming he knew whom Duo was talking about.  "He said his name was Sean Nutting, and that he had this brother name William."  Between the note and what Duo had said, Heero was beginning to get the picture.  "William," Duo continued, "was, according to Sean, killed by…"

"Me," Heero interrupted.  Duo lowered his head, silently confirming what Heero had said.

Once again, the pair sat in silence, both thinking about what they had said, and neither wanting to talk about it.  Finally, Heero got up and walked over to the desk.  On top of it was…the laptop.

With a deep sigh, Duo closed his eyes and went to sleep, knowing that the possibility of being able to get Heero's attention while he was on that accursed machine was low.

*~*~*~*

Several hours later, Heero left the room.  Upon entering the waiting area, he was confronted by the other three pilots.

"What exactly happened Heero?"  Wufei asked immediately.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Heero replied coldly.

"Heero!" Quatre shouted angrily.  "You can't not tell us.  He's our friend too you know.  We have a right to know what happened to him."

"Quatre…" Heero said, surprised at the blonds outburst.  "I…"

"You don't have to talk about it if you're not ready yet," Trowa said calmly.

"Iie…no, you have the right to know."  Heero took in a deep breath before he began.  "During the war, I don't remember when, I killed a solider named William Nutting…"

"So what!  We all killed a lot of people and we feel bad about it.  What's that got to do with the current situation?" Quatre asked, interrupting Heero from the story.

He was silenced when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  He turned back to see Trowa.  Quatre nodded and turned back to Heero.  "Gomen, please continue."

"As I was saying, I killed this guy, and his brother, filled with anger and grief, decided to seek out revenge on me.  He knew he could do no harm by torturing me, so he…"

"Tortured Duo, as away of torturing you mentally," Wufei finished for Heero.

They stood there for a few moments before Heero spoke up.  "I have to go.  I have business to take care of."  With that, he turned to leave.

"What about Duo?" Quatre shouted angrily at Heero's retreating form.

"hn" was Heero's only reply as he exited the hospital.

"What was that about?" Quatre asked after Heero had left.

"…" was Trowa's reply.

"I guess…" said Quatre.

*~*~*~*

a few hours later

*~*~*~*~

Heero sat in his seat on the shuttle, looking out the window into the star filled sky of outer space.

'I really didn't want to leave Duo there,' Heero thought, 'but I have to take care of this.  He and the others will understand when I'm done.'

He continued starring out the window while his shuttle moved slowly from Earth to it's destination of L2.

*~*~*~*

much later

*~*~*~*

Duo laid in his hospital bed, starring at the starched white ceiling of his hospital room.  Earlier, the others had told him that Heero had left.  Duo didn't know why.  'He was so nice earlier' he thought to himself.  'What caused him to be so cold?'  Duo closed his eyes and fell into a restless sleep.

As Duo fell asleep, a woman with long blond hair entered his room…

*~*~*~*

To Be Continued

There you go.  I took people's suggestions and made it longer (or at least I tried to).  I think there's only 2 or so more chapters left but I'm not sure.

Oh! And reviews are always welcomed.  Think of them as a Christmas gift to this procrastinating little author ;)  Tell me what you think of my work.