The lights of the city seemed to sparkle, forming a halo in the sky above the buildings. Very beautiful, if one preferred the artificial lighting to that of the stars. Duo didn't. He would have liked to be outside, someplace looking up at the moon, enjoying the celestial view that man had been enjoying for years. He swallowed past a constricted throat, touching the windowpane with chilled fingers. For warm spring day, the night had turned cold, leaving him feeling the chill and misery of his own company. Behind him, the television and radio waged war, both turned up to block out the horrible oppression of silence.
He wanted to talk to someone. He ached for Quatre, the best friend that even now wars mourning Duet. He wanted to see Heero, to know what he was doing, to hear him insult him with his dry humor. He longed for his mother, to see her smile at him as he walked in the door, to hear his father calling from the garage for some help with the car.
He wiped a tear away, and turned from the glass, sighing as he looked on the place he would now be calling home. It was a stranger's apartment, a place to rest his head, nothing more. It didn't seem to scream with life, and he couldn't shake the feeling of being in a mausoleum. A tribute to the dead.
"But I'm alive. And so very much so." He sank to the floor, ignoring the coolness of the wood-paneled wall. "I don't know what to do anymore, Lord. I'm lost. How do I regain my friends, if they won't believe who I am? And that's not the point, anyway. This is supposed to be a new life, how can I just leave them all behind?"
"Occasionally, you have to." Violet eyes looked up in shock. A pair of green orbs peered back at him, the face of the owner hidden behind a sky mask. A gun was pointed at his head, one long-fingered hand gripping the handle with ease, a slender finger gently resting on the trigger. "Now, Mr.…Maxwell." The intruder consulted a card in his hand. "I will ask you this once, and only once. Where is the money, and how soon will you bring it to me?"
Duo looked at the guy for a moment, licked his lips, and moved to stand up.
"Stay where you are, please." Duo ignored the warning, and the narrowing of the eyes. "I gave you an order."
"Listen, Bud. I've already died once this past week. If you'd like to make another try for it, go ahead. If not, would you like to sit down while I search through the rest of the boxes? I have as much of an idea where the money is as you do."
"Don't lie to me, Maxwell. Stalling will get you nothing but the wrath of my temper." That gave the braided man a pause before he smiled.
"You know, I was just thinking that I could use some company."
"You're not going to cooperate, are you?" The voice was resigned.
"I have no plans to, no." The gun lowered, and the free hand reached up to remove the facial covering. One eye disappeared behind a fringe of hair as the intruder stood with a frown. "Does this mean you're going to kill me?"
"Possibly. No one who sees me lives."
"Uh-huh. That's nice. Want something to drink?" He walked past his intruder with a confident air, a smile on his face. "I have…something, I'm sure. I haven't quite got around to looking in the fridge yet." The other man was silent. Duo turned to look at him, taking in the red-brown of his hair, and the slight aristocratic set to his features. He turned back around. "Let's see. Milk…um, no, I don't think you want that."
He sat the container of chunky liquid aside and preceded to list the rest of the items he had to offer.
"No alcohol, of course, since I'm only twenty." He waited patiently.
"Are you certain that you don't know where the money is?"
"Positive, and I never lie." He heard the gun cocked and closed his eyes. "I don't suppose that you're an honorable man who won't shoot another man in the back?"
"Possibly."
"Then if I don't turn around, you won't shoot me."
"Not to kill." Duo rolled his eyes and straightened up, turning to look his would-be-killer in the eye. "You have until six o'clock tomorrow evening to gather the money, Mr. Maxwell, or your life will be forfeit."
"Holdup! I have a question. Or two. Or more."
"I don't have the time, Mr. Maxwell."
"Wait! Why do you need the money? What I have planned for it is worth my life, and I may choose to die rather than give it to you. Give me one good reason why you should have it." He waited in silence for a moment, watching as the gunman weighed his options.
"If you choose to die, then you take two lives." His voice was an emotionless monotone, and Duo had the distinct feeling that he was struggling not to show whatever it was he was feeling.
"How much do you need?"
"The cost is four-hundred thousand dollars, and that's a beginning. The longer I wait, the price goes up."
"Six o'clock." Duo nodded, his agreement that he would have the money. The stranger nodded back, his face unsmiling. "Want a soda for the road?" He turned to reach into the depths of the fridge, pulling out a cold can of pop. When he turned back, the apartment was empty. "Well, hell."
~~~~~_____~~~~~
"Come on! Some kind of divine guidance would be good right about now!" He threw the now empty box aside, reaching for the next one before he had time to draw in another breath. "Please? I know that I've been lagging in doing whatever it is I have to do, but isn't this a little ridiculous? Somebody's life hangs in the balance, and I can't even find one darn bankbook! What kind of idiot hides things where no one can find them?"
He grunted, and started hauling things out of the new box, looking for anything that would give him an indication of where to start looking for his money. He had been searching through the apartment since dawn, two hours before. In that time, he had unpacked all but three boxes, the likes of which he was going through now, as well as having searched the bedroom and rest of the apartment for a checkbook or a bankcard. Money could not be gotten rid of that easily without something to show for it, and he sure as hell hadn't spent it on his living quarters.
"Please, God? I don't want to be responsible for someone else dying! My life is fine and great, and I'm willing to give it up, but please don't make other people suffer because I'm to god-damn stupid to find a-" He stopped, his eyes resting on a little black book. "Please God-Almighty!" He picked it up, and flipped it open, a smile forming on his face and widening into a grin. "Yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He took the little book and ran to find his wallet. All he needed now was to get to the bank and hassle the tellers.
~~~~~_____~~~~~
"Yes, sir, we understand that, sir. However, it will take at least a couple of hours to process a request of that magnitude. It's not every day that someone comes in and wishes to withdraw such an amount."
"Listen, bud. If I don't get that money today, an unfortunate soul is going to be denied the funds to save a life. I need it, and I need it by six o'clock tonight!"
"I understand, Mr. Maxwell, but we really have no control over the process of withdrawing that type of money. If you had given us advance warning-"
"Like you get a warning that someone's about ready to die? Or have some horrible accident? As if it's all nicely planned out?" Duo knew he was freaking out, but he didn't care. He had been haggling with the damn bank manager for over thirty minutes, and still hadn't gotten anywhere. His signature had matched, the information he gave was correct, and still they refused to give him the money.
"Please calm down, Mr. Maxwell. We should be able to appropriate the funds by this evening, so there really isn't any worry."
"But what if you can't?" He slumped in defeat, leaning down to slam his head against the surface of the desk. Sweet-talk hadn't worked, neither had begging, pleading, ranting, raving, or cajoling. He was afraid to try threats for fear that they'd kick him out.
"Mr. Ingram, is there a problem with his account?" Duo stiffened at the sweet-sounding voice behind him. He looked up with a smile as Quatre dealt with the manager. "As you know, my father's account is always on okay for withdrawal. If you can't access Mr. Maxwell's account, please withdraw the funds from mine, and have his transferred to replace it."
"Of course, Mr. Winner." The man stood up and walked towards the tellers, his posture stiff.
"What a jerk." Quatre sat down in the vacant chair beside Duo. "They like to pull their weight around, but they don't like it when someone else strikes back."
"Thank you. You didn't have to do that."
"I know, but you sounded so desperate. Someone shouldn't be denied the attention they need simply so some jerk can get off on his own power trip." The blonde smiled, pushing his hair back from his forehead in a nervous gesture. "I'm Quatre Raberba Winner."
"Duo Maxwell. We kind of met yesterday, before Woofee dragged you away." As expected, Quatre laughed at the nickname.
"Just don't let him hear you call him that." There was a slight pause. "May I ask what you need the money for?" He sounded curious, and Duo knew that he assumed someone was ailing or injured.
"Can you keep a secret?" The blonde nodded, leaning closer. Duo bent over so that he could whisper. "Some man broke into my apartment last night and held a gun at me. He said he needed the money, or two people would die. If it was just me, I would have taken the bullet, but I figured that it would be rather selfish of me to expect another person to die."
"Were you scared?" The blue-green eyes were wide with curiosity.
"Not really. He was rather good-looking." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. They both drew back sharply, looking at each other for a moment before they both broke out in laughter. "Sorry. It was the first thing I thought when he took the mask off! I didn't even have time to get scared while I was checking out his body."
"Terribly, wonderfully sexy?"
"Delicious! Tall and slim. And his hands!"
"Excuse me, gentlemen. The teller has your money, Mr. Maxwell, if you'd like to go to the third window. You did specify large bills, and we're having them put in a briefcase."
"Thank you." Duo stood up and shook the man's hand, ignoring the sweaty palm. Quatre stood with him.
"Will you tell my father when he comes that I returned the box to the vault?"
"Of course, Mister Winner."
They walked out of earshot. "Pompous ass."
"Pretentious oaf." They looked at each other and laughed. Suddenly, Quatre's face got a sad look, and he slowed in his steps, letting Duo get to the counter before him. "Thank you, Miss. Are you finished? Is there anything else for me to sign?" The woman shook her head and smiled, tossing her hair to the side flirtatiously.
"Don't suppose you'll have enough left over to treat a lady to dinner?"
Duo laughed. "Sorry, Miss. This money is going for a good cause. Good day." She waved at him as he backed away. He turned and realized that Quatre was already walking slowly towards the exit. "Quatre!" He lengthened his stride to catch up.
"Sorry. I'm just feeling a bit stuffy in here."
"It's more than that. Want to talk about it?" Blue-green eyes looked up at him, their depths filled with the pain of loss and confusion.
"Have you ever met someone that you know you couldn't have met? They say things or act a way that remind you of someone they couldn't be, and you don't understand why the pain of loss doesn't hurt as much when you're with them?"
They stood in the middle of the foyer, looking at each other in silent empathy. "Sometimes, you have to accept that when someone is lost to you, another person is brought who can help heal, if you let them."
"It's only been three days, Duo. Three days and talking to you makes it seem like she's not gone." He turned and started to walk away.
"Maybe she's not, Quatre." The blonde sniffled and nodded. "You know, they say the dead live on inside of us, but I think that a little bit of them gets spread around so that everyone around you is suddenly holding a little piece of them. It makes the hurt a little less, because you're still surrounded by the love of that friendship, and the warmth of that bond. They never really have to be gone."
"That sounds better than heaven." He stopped and turned around. "Thank you, Duo."
~~~~~_____~~~~~
"Let's see. Blue is a very lovely color, but this is definitely too light. The green is too yellow, and the red is too dark." He shoved aside the top fabrics, and chose one from the bottom. "Perfect!" He took out the dark blue fabric with yellow stars and moons and suns, and dumped it into the cart. "Let's see. That's the bedroom, so I need another set for the living room and the spare room."
"What are you shopping for?" He looked up in surprise and smiled. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. I like to go shopping on Wednesdays because business is a little slower."
"Don't worry, I won't be having a heart attack anytime in the near future. How are you today, Meiran?"
"Fine, fine, thanks." The dark-haired woman smiled. "Tell me, Duo, can you believe that I'm twenty-three today?"
"No." He tilted his head. "I must say, my dear, that you wear it well."
"Thank you." She nodded and smiled, as if she hadn't expected another answer. "What are you doing today?"
"I'm going to sew some curtains together while I wait for some guy to stop by." He shrugged. "You know, I never realized before how weird some of the people in this city are. You have power-tripping bank managers, and reincarnated debutante's and I swear that only one of the good-looking guys that I've run across in the past three days has any interest in me outside of thinking I'd be better off dead."
She laughed. "It comes with the territory. You know what they say. You can't live with them, and you can't live without them."
"Ah, here speaks a woman of experience, one tarnished by divorce, no less." She laughed again. "Please, do tell. I always like to gossip." He gave her his best pleading look.
"How about we swap tips on guys over dinner some night? You can come over to my apartment, and I'll treat you to an authentic Chinese dinner."
"No offense, Officer, but I'd much rather eat with the detective." The thought made her chuckle.
"Good luck. If you ask Wufei, cooking is a woman's job, though he cooks for himself. Of course, I wonder what he'd say to a guy that sews his own curtains."
"One of the old traditionals, where the woman's place is the kitchen and bedroom and the man runs the house?"
"That's him. His parents were sticklers for tradition. You should hear some of the things he spouts off at times." She rolled her eyes. "I love him dearly, but the man has some serious hang-ups."
"If you love him, why did you divorce him?" Duo asked curiously.
"Because he's like a brother to me. Some things in this life are okay, but for me, incest is not one of them. Forget the fact that we're not really related, I couldn't stay married to the same boy who was there the day I got my first period." It was Duo's turn to be amused. "I'm serious. I ran out of the bathroom in my shirt, screaming at the top of my lungs that I was bleeding to death. It was Wufei that told me what it was and it was Wufei that sat me down for the talk about babies and pads, and tampons."
"How old were you?"
"I was eleven at the time, and Wufei was thirteen. He's always been that way, though, too smart for his own good. There are times that he seems to know everything."
"Why did he become a cop, instead of some kind of government agent? Don't the smart ones normally join the FBI?" She shrugged.
"He did it for two reasons. One, to keep an eye on me, and two, because he feels better knowing the people that he's serving to protect. He's always been a big believer in right and wrong. On the street, he knows who the bad guys are, and he knows the victims, and he can do his job wonderfully. He really is a great guy."
Duo nodded thoughtfully, then held up two patterns. "What do you think? I need one for my living room, and one for the spare bedroom."
~~~~~_____~~~~~
"Ouch." A wince for the needle stuck into his finger, again. Pull the thread through, line it up in the cloth, and push it through the fabric. "Ow." Pull through, line it up, and push. "Damn." He was on his last set of curtains, a fact that he was glad for. His finger had been poked and pricked more times than he could count, leaving countless spots of blood on his pants where he held his finger until the bleeding stopped. "Never again."
"It probably would have been easier if you'd bought them." He stilled as the voice registered in his brain.
Read on for the non-pairing version, or go to chapter 8 for the 1x2/2x1.
Warning, you really can't read these in order and expect them to make sense. They basically start where one scene leaves off, and then is rewritten the way that would work with whatever coupling is indicated. If it says non-pairing, that simply means that it's the next bridge...never mind. Trying to explain it before I understand would be rather unwise. Just pick your couple, and go on from there.
Be sure to follow the directions at the end of each part/chapter/section/whatever, and try not to get too lost in my confusion.
"I must have lost track of time. I didn't realize that it was already six." Duo put the sewing aside and stood up. Violet eyes met green. "The money's on the counter. I'm pretty sure that you need it in a hurry." The gunman nodded, and turned toward the briefcase. A slender hand reached for the leather handle.
"I wouldn't touch that if I were you." Two pairs of surprised eyes turned toward the doorway. Heero cocked his gun back, his face blank. "Take a step back and away." The intruder raised one red-brown eyebrow, but did as instructed. Blue eyes turned toward Duo. "The door was unlocked." He spoke brusquely. Duo smiled, and then chuckled.
"Heero, this is my nice friend…" He waited for the intruder to take up the slack. When he didn't, Duo sighed. "What's your name, handsome?" Green eyes flickered to his with surprise, while Heero rolled his.
"Keep your libido in check, Maxwell. This guy has a gun you definitely don't want to play with." That gave the braided man a pause. He frowned at the stranger, and then looked at Heero.
"Why, Heero, I didn't realize you were such a hentai." That earned him another eye roll and an exasperated sigh. Duo simply smiled at turned back to the other. "What's your name, stranger?"
"Nanashi."
"That's cool, but do you have a name that normal people call you?" Green eyes flickered to him with disgust. "Sorry if you like it, but a name is normally something that other people use to identify you. I can't really see walking up to Meiran or Quatre and telling them that I met this odd guy named 'Nanashi'. It's a little weird, even for my taste."
"Duo, shut up." Heero rubbed at his forehead with his freehand, the other holding the gun unwaveringly. "What's going on?"
"Well, our good friend Nanashi here had to borrow some serious cash. And, you know me, when someone else is at stake I tend to get motivated. Of course, I really couldn't have done it without Quatre, but that just shows what a great guy he is. And then, of course, there's always…"
He heard a slight rustle of clothing, and then winced as a gun was cocked and pointed at his head. Green eyes stared at him, then looked to Heero. "Does he always talk this much?" Duo refrained from comment, violet eyes closing tiredly.
"Heero, he can take the money. There's more at stake than me losing some of it, and I really don't mind. If someone needs it this badly, they're welcome to it." He opened his eyes. "As for you." He turned to 'Nanashi'. "Take the cash and leave, but you owe me one. I'm dishing up the money out of the bottom of my heart, and I expect to see you again so that you can find a way to repay me. I'll see you back here next week.. If you can't make it, you know where to leave a message. Gentlemen, it's been a long day, and I'm going to bed. Let me know how things work out. Later."
He stressed the word as he walked between them to his room, blocking Heero's aim and leaving himself open for an attack by the stranger that never came. His door shut a few seconds later, leaving the gunmen with each other for targets. After a moment, Heero lowered his weapon, and moved to take a stance by the closed door. He sat down beside it and crossed his legs, glaring at the other until he took the briefcase and left, very obviously, by the front door.
Heero slumped backwards, reaching back to tuck the gun into the holster under his jacket. He had had a feeling that Duo Maxwell would attract trouble like honey attracted flies. Too bad he'd been right.
For the non-pairing/future pairings other than 1x2, please go on to Chapter NINE (9). Do NOT read the following chapter.
