The Urchin: Part Five
By Banshi
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Disclaimer: Gundam Wing is not mine. Neither is Leslie or the clinic, they belong to DC comics.
Notes: Well, maybe while I'm reading Kafka isn't the best time to work on this fic, but who knows, it may be better for the hopelessness thrown in. I tried to keep the mood from getting too dark (and may have ended up making it too light, oh well). So that's the deal with this one.
Enjoy (or not), but review either way, 'K?
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Duo awoke from a dream feeling like he had hit a brick wall. Which he had, if reality counted as brick. He fought the ache in his chest and the sudden hopelessness that engulfed him.
Soon he had calmed himself down, separated dream from reality, and was in general feeling better, if not happier. He turned his head to look at his friend and noted the smile on Trowa's face. It wasn't quite smug, but not innocent either. He wondered if Trowa had better dreams than he did.
Probably.
Duo turned his gaze back up to the ceiling, listening to the colony around him. There were no sirens on L2, at least not the ones usually used by the "authorities". Police and paramedics knew better than to announce their presence. If they showed up at all.
Duo sighed as he heard a fight down the street, between groups of kids by the sound of it. It brought up unpleasant memories, and he didn't bother shoving them away.
He remembered the first days, when he had been so scared and always hungry and cold and dirty. It had seemed like a miracle when Solo had found him. Suddenly he had food, as little as it had been, and warmth as they all slept in a huddle in whatever shelter they had found. Solo had taught him to fight, to run and to steal. Even Heero's training hadn't been more thorough or effective than his.
After that life had been a big adventure. Even though it was hard, it was good hard. They had been a good gang, looking out for each other. They had been family.
It was something that Duo missed these days. Except for Quatre and Hilde, the former "warriors of peace and freedom" weren't exactly a touchy-feely bunch. But that was ok, if they had been, they wouldn't be the same people who had come to mean so much to him. Even if it would be nice to get a hug a little more often.
Duo turned onto his side, away from Trowa's sleeping form, and curled into himself, trying to hide. He felt tears prick at the corners of his eyes. It had been a long time before he had been able to even think about "life before Deathscyth" without feeling his chest seize up and the threat of uncontrolled sobbing. Now, he was able to remember his loved ones without having a complete emotional breakdown. He sniffed quietly as he heard the fight down the street take a turn for the worse. He wondered if they would find any dead children outside.
Apparently he wasn't the only one.
He felt more than heard Trowa move. The fight had probably woken him. Duo took a deep breath, letting it out in a sigh, collecting himself, summoning the will to leave his bed and do the right thing. A tentative hand settled on his back, right between his shoulder blades. His attention centered on the warmth emanating from Trowa's hand, and he hesitated.
"Shall we go attempt damage control?" There was just a hint of dark humor in Trowa's voice. It was an eerie echo of Duo's own mood.
"Yep, or the cops'll just leave 'em there." It was a sad L2 truth. At least the cops wouldn't finish the job anymore. There was even a clinic not far away that had nothing to do with the colony big-wigs. Duo was out of bed and into street cloths and boots by the time Trowa had gotten the emergency bag and his own clothing. He nodded for Duo to go ahead.
"Meet you there." His voice was soft, compassionate and Duo felt himself smiling back at his friend as he jogged down the street.
There were dirty little bodies sprinting in every direction, all of them were out of sight by the time Duo got to the mouth of the alley. There were three kids down, two girls and a boy. The older girl was moaning softly, but the two younger children were absolutely still. Duo stopped at the younger girl, searching her throat for a pulse, not finding one he switched to her wrist. With no luck, he left her and moved to the boy's side just as Trowa came up behind him. He nodded towards the other girl and Trowa moved to her side. Another moan, louder this time, told them that she was still conscious, and Trowa reassured her.
"It's ok, we're going to help you. Just lie still." Trowa's voice was still quiet and gentle. Duo had found the boy's pulse and the gash in his side that was his most serious looking injury.
Duo tried not to notice that the kid was about the same age Solo had been. He tried not to remember that rattle of Solo's last breaths, so like the sound coming from the boy now. Then his pilot training kicked in with the adrenaline and he didn't have to try anymore.
He opened the emergency bag and tossed one of the med-kits to Trowa and opened the other one. He used a hand wipe to clean around the gash, spritzed antiseptic on it and covered it with a gauze pad that was quickly taped into place. Heero would have been proud of his efficiency. He did a quick check for broken bones, paying particular attention to the neck, spine and ribs. Nothing felt wrong and they could worry about everything else once they were at the clinic. He turned to Trowa.
"He's ok to move, how about her?" Trowa tossed back the med-kit.
"Let's go."
Duo repacked the bag and slung it so that it hung against his butt with the strap across his chest. Slinging the boy over his shoulder so that the gash was pressed against his neck instead of his arm, he paused for two breaths to determine that everything stayed stable. Then he turned to look at Trowa.
Trowa had the girl in front of him with an arm under her knees and the other around her back. Duo raised an eyebrow at the traditionally hero/damsel-in-distress pose.
"Belly wound." Ah.
They made the trek to the other side of Duo's subdivision as quickly as they could without drawing attention to themselves. Duo prayed that Leslie would be there with every second breath his cargo took.
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The first thing that Trowa noticed about the clinic was that it was like a field hospital. The second thing was the tiny brick house at the center of the tent complex. They reached the first tent, with Duo shouting "Leslie!" at the top of his lungs. The call was answered by a short, wiry woman with gray hair and sharp light blue eyes. She quickly took control of the situation, calling out orders and bustling between Duo, Trowa and their patients. Trowa hoped that they hadn't made anything worse by not stopping to make stretchers. Then the chaos of an emergency room engulfed them.
The children were taken away, both he and Duo were pushed off to the side. They just stood, watching everything move around them, even at this late hour. After a moment Trowa knew that he would need to either speak or give into his impulse to hold Duo. His friend was looking very fragile in the lamp light coming from the tents. He decided that speaking would have fewer ramifications.
"So, what now?" Duo turned to look at him, the ghost of a smile already on his face.
"That would be the eternal question wouldn't it? In this case, we stick around long enough for the quick news, then go home. Maybe we'll be able to call someone about the body before morning, maybe not." He shrugged and looked back towards the tent. "I just want to know if they'll make it through the night, y'know?" Indigo eyes glanced at Trowa, wide and filled with some unnamed pain. Trowa nodded, indicating that he understood.
They paced in front of the tent, waiting for some sign. Occasionally someone would need their help moving something, but the next thirty minutes were eerily quiet. Duo didn't speak unless spoken to, and Trowa wasn't sure how to start a conversation with him when he was like this. So they were silent.
A child shouted Duo's name from the tent entrance, getting the attention of both of them. Duo was half-way to him before the child gave the thumbs up sign and disappeared back into the tent. Duo stopped mid-stride, then spun around to look at Trowa. A hesitant smile spread across his face, then turned into a full blown grin.
Trowa felt himself smiling back, and was soon caught up in a pair of strong arms as Duo gave him an elated hug. Then Duo let go and grabbed their bag.
"Let's go home and see if there's anything else we can do."
"Of course Duo." He knew that his voice sounded breathless, but he didn't care. Duo was happy, and that's all that mattered. They walked home, Duo bouncing around with the remnants of the adrenaline rush, and Trowa storing the feeling of Duo's arms around him in his long-term memory. Not to mention savoring the sensation.
It had been so different and yet the same as his dream-Duo's embrace. Trowa resisted the urge to laugh at the thought that he had a dream-Duo. They arrived back at Duo's house quickly, just in time to see the coroner's van pull away. The young girl's body was gone.
Trowa didn't ask what would happen to the body, and Duo's energy and tentative good-mood vanished.
"So, are we officially up for the day, or should we try to get some more sleep?" Trowa was startled out of his thoughts by Duo's tired voice.
"More sleep. You're tired and it won't be morning for hours." Duo nodded, pulling off his boots and letting them clunk to the kitchen floor. His eyes looked almost black in the half-light and his face was drawn. Trowa didn't know how to comfort him, Quatre hadn't gotten that far in his advice on dealing with people. Not that the panic had let Trowa absorb much.
Quatre had caught him completely off guard by starting a conversation with: "So, have you wooed Duo yet?" In retrospect, Trowa thought that it might not have been such a good idea to tease Cathy about her crush on his blond friend. The words "wooed" and "courted" had made it into everyday conversation way too often after that.
Looking at Duo now, he appreciated Quatre's efforts. The beautiful man was standing at the doorway to the bedroom, leaning on the frame and staring off into space. His face was shadowed by his bangs, and his expression was unreadable. He didn't react as Trowa walked up behind him, giving evidence to the conclusion that he must be more tired than Trowa had originally thought.
Hesitantly Trowa put a hand in the middle of his back, his fingers brushing the braid. Duo jumped slightly, but turned to shoot him a quick, tired smile.
"Get some sleep Duo." He got another smile as Duo ambled away. Trowa just stood there for a long moment, staring off into space, much as Duo had been. The palm of his hand tingled slightly and he could have traced exactly where Duo's hair had come in contact with his skin. It felt like an electric shock, g-force burst and a coffee buzz all at once. He knew that if he had been anyone else he would have had a silly smile on his face. Any more sensations like this one and he may just get one anyway.
Suddenly a pale hand waved in front of his eyes and his focus snapped to Duo, who was standing in front of him with a worried twist to his lips.
"C'mon, you need sleep too Tro." With that Duo grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom. And that was all in the encounter that had any resemblance to Trowa's later, private, thoughts.
Fortunately it was too dark to tell that he was blushing.
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continued in part six