Author's note: This is a SHOUNEN-AI fic (1+2, 3+4), pretty safe to read (not lemon-y fresh) ^_^.
by Anthy
Duo couldn't walk.
That sentence continued in Heero's mind like a broken record. He had failed his mission, and this was his punishment.
Either we fight our way out together, or Shinigami makes his final grand exit. Your pick.
"He couldn't. . .no!" Heero gasped, he found it very difficult to breathe. He didn't realize the other pilots surrounding him, and he didn't feel the injection inserted in his arm as Trowa and Wufei pinned him to the couch. All these new emotions, and he didn't understand any of them, except he wanted them to go away. The room began to spin around him and his world faded to black.
FLASHBACK
"Behind you!"
"Wha--aah!"
Heero felt like his mind was outside his body. He was unable to move, unable to prevent the missile from crashing into Deathscthye's body. He could not scream as he saw Duo's body jostle about his harness before the screen fizzled to nothing. He was frozen, only able to watch as Duo's Gundam dropped from the sky and land face-up on the hard Earth. Smoke billowed up from its sides, and all Heero could hear was silence.
"This is not happening," he whispered to himself. The mobile suits had lost all interest in Wing and they were all beginning to circle the downed pilot. The next few moments happened in a daze. Heero watched as suit after suit exploded by the blade that was presumbably controlled by his hands. He found that impossible, his thoughts were on his mission, and he would not fail.
"Duo!" He screamed into the black screen. "You idiot, wake up! We were supposed to leave this mission together, remember? Wake up, damnit! If you do not acknowledge, I will self-detonate us both! Duo!"
"Heero," Duo's weak voice cackled into the intercom, "what are you talking about?"
"Retreat now, Duo!"
"There's. . .something wrong," Duo muttered as the Deathscythe sputtered to life. "My head. . . I-I can't feel-"
"No time." Heero snapped as he cleared a path of mobile suits, occasionally turning to see Deathscythe slowly follow. He couldn't help but notice the eerie silence as they flew past the exploding suits.
"Duo, I need you to keep talking. You may have a concussion. . . Duo!"
"Yeah. . ."
"What is your status of your Gundam?" he asked, the inner workings of his mind refusing to ask about the pilot. There was a long cackled silence and Heero could hear Duo's hands clicking the keyboard.
"It'll make it to the bunker. . . they're gonna have a hell of a time with repairs. . .auto-pilot on. . .Heero, I can't-"
"Duo, we're safe," Heero stated as they approached the hidden garage. He couldn't shake the uneasiness he heard in his teammate's voice, nor the fact that he couldn't fly the rest of the way there. Once they landed, Heero jumped from his cockpit and climbed up to the entrance of Duo's Gundam. The hatch didn't open. Yanking the entrance door open, he peered inside.
Duo was slumped forward in his harness, his face masked by his long, brown bangs. Faint bruises were seen on his pale face.
"Come on, Duo," Heero whispered as he unfastened his harness. Duo's head moved slightly, causing Heero to look into those violet eyes. They were unfocused, and very full of fear.
"I try to move my feet, but they won't. Where are they Heero? I can't feel them... are they there? I can't walk, I-" he choked out as Heero carefully lifted him out of the cockpit. Looking back at the pilot seat, Heero realized that it had folded in on itself and was in two separate pieces. He immediately regreted moving him, but something had to be done. Duo's eyes seemed to become more unfocused and his breath came out in short quick bursts as if he was unable to breathe.
"You're going into shock," he stated to the trembling boy in his arms, even though he knew Duo didn't hear. Heero could barely remember what he had done next. Training told him to leave Duo behind and yet he found himself walking into the nearby hospital and was placing his friend on a gurney. After placing a brief call to the safehouse, he left the hospital and ran his escape vehicle into a deep ditch a mile away. Walking back to the hospital, he was directed to the ICU ward where he waited for word on his teammate's condition.
Duo couldn't walk. Duo couldn't walk. Duo couldn't walk. Duo couldn't walk.
And it's my fault
"Heero, Heero, can you hear me?" a soft voice whispered. Before he could answer, a bright light was flashed into his eye. He groaned as the light was moved to the other eye. He swatted the offending light away and sat up, suddenly realizing he was no longer sitting in the waiting room, but in a hospital bed.
"Quatre, what happened?" Heero asked his teammate who was standing behind the doctor's shoulder.
"You went into shock," she stated before stepping away from the bed.
"That's impossible," he retorted matter-of-factly. He's been shot, beaten, bruised, stabbed, but none had ever fazed him for long. So why was this any different?
"You were acting so strangely in the waiting room, we didn't even think you were in shock until you lost it." Quatre explained cautiously. Before Heero could react, the doctor placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Your friend will be fine. You passed out before I could tell everyone that there is a chance that Duo may be able to regain use of his legs. I can't make any guarantees yet, but if the x-rays show what I think it will show, once the swelling goes down, there is a possiblity we could operate."
"Duo. . ." Heero muttered as he hopped off the bed, "where is he?"
"We had him transferred to a private room, the others are with him now." Quatre informed him as he directed him down the hallway.
Reaching the room, the two pilots found Wufei and Trowa standing in the hallway, both staring silently in the doorway.
"Is everything alright?" Quatre asked nervously. Trowa nodded and stood next to his friend.
"The nurses are checking up on him and we didn't want to get in the way." Wufei answered as the four pilots watched the nurses leave the room. Heero stood in the doorway and found he could move no further. Duo was even more pale than when he last saw him. The room was filled with random beeps and hisses from the various machines attached to Duo's body. On impluse, Heero walked up to the bed and put Duo's hand in his. Duo did not respond, his hand rested limply in Heero's grasp.
"Duo?"
"They gave him something to sleep. He was really upset about something, but he couldn't say anything with that air tube down his throat." Wufei said as he stood by his teammate. "We'll come back tommorrow."
"No. I want to stay." Heero stated as he placed Duo's hand on the bed and sat in a nearby chair.
"Hee-" Quatre began to protest when he was ushered outside by Trowa. Wufei took one last look at the bed before turning and leaving the room.
"He has his reasons," Trowa said as the three walked down the hallway. Even if he doesn't know what those reasons are.
To Be Continued. . .