Title: Trading Faces
Rating: PG-13, just because I feel like it.
Warnings: Profanity, violence, eventual 1x2 pairing, etc. Beware the drugged-up Heero in this chapter … it makes him a little angry ^_^;
Disclaimer: Nope, they aren't mine. But I like to pretend that they are. Guess I'll have to settle for owning this story (not a fair consolation if you ask me…)
A/N: Thanks go to: Clairol (I'm glad it seems realistic so far, hopefully it'll stay that way!) Angel of Insanity (I'll try not to make the wait so long in the future, though I think I update pretty fast usually) lillie chan (Glad you like! *pats chibi Duo on the head* You too!) bunetwo (You don't have to be sorry! Yes, Une's perceptive … of course, just because she figured it out doesn't mean she knows how it happened) Elle-FaTe2x1 (I hope you continue to enjoy!) LB (Shhh! Don't say that! If you say it, it'll never happen! Of course, I'm the author so I can do whatever I want! Vive 1x2x1!) Mana (Ah, copy and paste. I always hated that! I'm glad you like the fic!) and Violet (Publicity for me? Yay! Glad you like it so much!) Pay attention now, everyone, important stuff coming up in this chapter.
_ _ _
The door was forced open with an annoyed click, and a few seconds later it was slammed with shattering intensity. Quatre blinked to full alertness, and sat up from where he had been dozing on the couch next to Trowa. The tall boy had been awoken by the noise as well, and he turned his face toward the blond.
"No, you stay here. I'll go see what's happening. Probably Duo and Heero …" Quatre said in answer to Trowa's silent question, and he pushed himself to his feet. Heading toward the kitchen where the back door was located, he met Wufei halfway there and exchanged a curious look. Wufei shrugged, and they continued toward the noise.
"Have you told Barton yet?" Wufei hissed.
"Huh? Oh, no … he's been asleep," Quatre replied quietly.
"We'll confront Yuy and Maxwell now … then he will be able to hear it from their own mouths," Wufei said, scowling. Quatre frowned at the malicious expression.
"Wufei, I don't really think …" he began, but whatever else he was going to say fell away as they entered the kitchen and came upon the two pilots. Quatre frowned at the disheveled state Duo was in, and he forgot all about Wufei's odd behavior. "Hey, guys, did everything go all ri…?"
He was interrupted by a heated argument.
"You know, you could at least pretend to be grateful!" Duo growled at Heero, who leaned against the counter glaring at him. The boy had not lost his anger yet, and they had been at each other's throats ever since they had abandoned the stolen truck to walk the rest of the way home. With the drugs partially diluted in his system, Heero was much more alert and much more enraged. "I did risk my ass to save you, you know!"
"I didn't ask you to!" Heero retorted. "What I did ask you to do was find the disk, which was apparently too much for you to handle!"
"What the hell is your problem anyway?!" Duo demanded, crossing his arms and scowling at Heero. Neither had noticed that they now had a rather confused audience in the doorway. "What did you want me to do?! 'My partner's in danger, but I can't help him because I'd rather go looking for a stupid piece of cursed metal'?!"
"In case you've forgotten, that 'cursed metal' is probably our only chance! I just want things to go back to normal! Do you like living like this?!"
"No! But it'd be kind of hard to go back to normal when one of us is dead!" Duo argued.
"It wasn't my intention to put you in danger," Heero said, frowning at the implied tone of Duo's words. "I didn't ask to be captured!"
"Yeah? Well, you're better than that. What the hell happened?!"
"I might be better than that, but you certainly aren't!"
"What?" Duo gasped, then growled. "Oh, right. Fuck you, too!"
"I'm just telling the truth! You aren't fast enough! Your pain tolerance is pitiful, and it kind of made it hard to escape successfully," Heero said sharply.
"So I'm pitiful? Thanks," Duo said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and stalking over to the sink to get a glass of water.
"You know what I mean."
"No. No, I don't," Duo replied rigidly. "Why don't you explain it to me? Oh, that's right, I must be stupid, too!"
"If you say so," Heero said, a hint of smugness in his voice. Duo scowled more deeply and suddenly threw his glass in the sink, shattering it instantly. He whirled on the injured boy.
"What the hell is your problem?! Go ahead, tell me!"
Quatre looked at Wufei, and Wufei looked back. Both of their faces held different degrees of shocked confusion.
"Do you understand any of this?" the blond asked softly. Wufei shook his head.
"No, but something bad must have happened. Yuy never loses control like this."
"And Duo looks pretty bad off. Should we calm them down?"
"I don't think that would make a difference," a voice said behind them, and the two whirled to find that Trowa had joined them. "They don't seem to notice that they are being watched."
"Trowa! You shouldn't be up!" Quatre admonished half-heartedly. Trowa reached out to lean on him, smiling for a second or two.
"I'm fine, Quatre. They aren't."
"What do we do, then?"
"What else can we do?" Wufei answered for him, turning back to the verbal spar. "We watch."
"Do you really want to know what my problem is?" Heero growled. "Fine. My problem is you, and your attitude about all this! You don't realize at all how serious of a situation this is! These are our lives! You say I can't act, then you walk around with that stupid smile on your face when you think no one else is around! Stop making me smile! I hate it!"
"Oh yeah? And how do you think I feel about that scowl on my face?! Why don't you stop scowling?! Huh?!"
"I have every right to scowl if I want to. I have every right to be angry!"
"You know, if you weren't so beat up, I'd ….!" Duo trailed off, his hands fisted and shaking at his sides.
"You'd what?! Attack me?!" Heero countered, then snorted. "Well, you're right about one thing. This body," he paused to point a finger at his own chest, "is too weak to stand any attack you could throw at it!"
Duo snapped. His anger had become irrational, and it consumed him. Lunging with outstretched hands, he dove at Heero with fury burning in his eyes.
"Shut up, Heero! Just shut up!"
Quatre blinked, an unknown feeling nagging the back of his senses. Wufei stood, mouth slightly open in bewilderment, and Trowa had stiffened considerably at his side. The blond shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.
"Tell me I heard wrong," he whispered, his eyes locked on the Japanese pilot. "Did he just say … did he just say shut up Heero?!"
The other two offered no answer.
Heero was surprisingly strong for being so injured; he managed to push Duo back with only a small yelp of pain. Duo shoved him back.
"Oh, did that hurt, Heero? So sorry! I forgot that I was so weak!"
"You stupid baka! Are you trying to injure me further?!" Heero demanded.
"I'm trying to get you to shut up!"
"Well, I won't! You're a stupid baka and I can say so if I want to!" Heero said, barely dodging as Duo reached for him again. Reaching out, he pushed his fingers as sharply as he could manage against Duo's thigh. Duo recoiled immediately, jagged pain reminding him that the limb still had a rather tender gash.
"That fucking hurt!"
"Too fucking bad!"
"That's it! No more!" Duo shouted, poising himself for another attack. Heero matched his stance despite his injuries.
"Yuy! Maxwell!" A sharp yell interrupted their angry haze, and they both looked over with shocked stupefaction to see all three of their fellow pilots watching them with varied expressions. Wufei had shouted at them, and he took a step toward them as he frowned deeply.
"Oh shit …" Duo muttered under his breath.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Wufei demanded hotly, looking from one to the other. "Well?!"
"Well, you see …" Heero tried to start, then trailed off nervously. Three glares met his attempt.
"No, we don't see," Quatre said, his voice oddly toneless. "Why don't you explain it to us?"
"It's pretty fucking simple," Duo seethed, still angry despite the sudden tension. Thrusting a finger in Heero's direction, he scowled more deeply. "He stole my body!"
"I did not!" Heero retorted. "As if I had any choice in the matter!"
"Oh yeah, like I did either! If you'd just minded your own business …!"
"You shouldn't have brought that stupid thing along in the first place …!"
"And how was I supposed to know …?!"
"How was I …?!"
"Would you both just shut up?!"
All eyes turned to the small blond, surprised by the strength of his shout. Quatre looked at Heero, then looked at Duo, then looked back again.
"Would you like to try again?" he asked coldly.
"Maybe if you'd just listen," Duo retorted, glaring at the blond. "He. Stole. My. Body. How much clearer can I get?!"
"Hn," Heero gave the equivalent of a snicker, groping for a hold on the kitchen table and smirking at Duo.
"What?!" Duo demanded.
"You blew it," Heero said simply. "Now we have to tell them. No, you have to tell them. It's your fault."
"But … but …" Duo tried to protest, and found no words to defend himself. "Damn."
"I told you they were going to find out," Heero said. "Of course, we could have been fixed by now if you had just done what I told you to do!"
"For the last time, shut up about that!" Duo snapped, his face growing hot as he felt all eyes on him. "You aren't even going to help me explain?" He gestured to the three confused, irate pilots that stood impatiently, awaiting explanation.
"No."
"Tch. Figures," Duo rolled his eyes. "Fine. But you guys gotta promise not to freak out, okay? Because if you freak out I don't think I'll be able to put up with it!"
"Just tell us," Trowa said, carefully expressionless.
"Well, you see, Heero and I …"
"Okay, stop right there," Quatre interrupted, his eyes hard. "Heero and you?"
"Yes, Quatre, Heero and me. I'm Duo, and that's Heero," Duo hissed, pointing at the wounded boy. "Welcome to hell."
"You're … Duo?" Wufei frowned, turning to look at the injured pilot. "Is this some kind of sick joke? How did you get Yuy to play along, Maxwell?!"
With a slightly arrogant look on his face, Heero opened his mouth and said something in rapid Japanese. Duo snickered at the angry words.
"You see? Do you think I could do that normally? 'Course I can do it now, because I'm using Heero's brain and all, and …" he paused, glancing over at Heero. "Is my accent really that bad?"
"Unfortunately," Heero nodded brusquely. "I can barely understand myself."
"Okay, geez, sorry for asking," Duo retorted, rolling his eyes and turning back to the others. "So, do I need to give you guys time to pick your jaws up off the floor, or are we all still on board the Train of Fucked Up Shit?"
"Oh my god …" Wufei muttered. "It might sound like Yuy, but that was definitely a Maxwell thing to say …"
"So …" Quatre said slowly, looking at the Japanese boy. "Duo …?"
"Yeah."
"Heero …?" The blond turned to the braided boy.
"Hai."
" … oh. Oh."
"Now see why we didn't want to tell you guys? We were just gonna fix ourselves back to normal and everything was gonna be fine …" Duo said, trailing off as he saw their expressions. "Seriously. If you guys are gonna be sick or something, don't just stand there."
"But … but how did this happen?" Quatre demanded.
"Er, long story. Really long …" Duo said. "Hey, Quatre, you don't look so good. You all right?"
"Um … yeah, I just …" Quatre fumbled, his face growing red. "It's nothing."
"Oh no. We had to tell our deepest, dark secret. You'd better tell us what's bothering you," Duo said, his face solid.
"Well, as bizarre as this all is … it's actually an explanation. That's why you guys have been acting so weird lately?"
"Pretty much," Duo shrugged.
"Oh."
"And …?" Duo prodded.
"And … I sort of jumped to a different conclusion earlier. I, uh … didn't say anything, but … I was really off."
"And that conclusion would be …?"
"Really, it's nothing!" Quatre insisted. Duo looked to Heero.
"Do you believe him?"
"No."
"Neither do I. Spill it, Quatre."
"I sort of … thought you guys were … um …." Quatre paused, his face still flushed as he held his hands out and moved his palms toward each other. At their blank looks he sighed. "You know … together?"
"You what?!" Duo shouted.
"You what?!" Wufei echoed him, whirling on the blond.
"You mean, you didn't?" Quatre asked Wufei. "But you said you sensed it too!"
"No!" Wufei shook his head. "That's what you were talking about?! No!"
"Well then, what were you suspicious of?" Quatre asked. At that, Wufei suddenly shrunk back.
"Never mind."
"Wufei," Duo said sharply. "Quatre had to tell, you do to. What?"
"But …!" Wufei began, then sighed in resignation. "Fine. I … thought you were harboring OZ secrets, okay? That's all." He looked at the blond as he said the last two words, as if proving himself.
Heero and Duo exchanged a nervous glance at Wufei's confession. Did he know about the disk …?
"But, we know that that isn't true now, right guys?" Quatre said, noticing their apprehension at Wufei's words.
Heero looked at Duo.
Duo looked at Heero.
"Right guys?" Quatre asked, frowning slightly. There was silence for a moment, and a look of agreement passed between the two pilots in question.
"Run?"
"Yeah."
The two bolted out of the other doorway and down the hall, leaving three confused young men in their wake. It only took a second to shake off their shock, and they tore after the other two.
"Maxwell! Yuy! Get back here!"
Duo was considerably faster than Heero in his injured state, and soon noticed that the Japanese boy was falling behind. He whirled, grabbing his arm and pulling him along.
"C'mon! I'm still mad at you, ya know!"
"Stop it! Duo!" Heero growled, hissing in pain. Duo came to a halt immediately, releasing the boy and catching him before he toppled to the ground.
"Shit, I'm sorry Heero. Forgot you were hurt," Duo said softly, his anger dissolving immediately. Heero didn't seem angry anymore either, just exhausted. Duo sighed as he noted the glazed look in his violet eyes; the drugs were still doing a number on him after all. That was probably why Heero had been acting so upset … Duo suddenly felt regret for fighting the wounded boy.
"I'm sorry, Heero, I'm really sorry," he said again, carefully lowering the boy to a sitting position and holding him upright. "You okay? Gonna be sick?"
"No … don't think so …" Heero mumbled, bowing his head to hide his face from Duo. Duo reached out to gently nudge Heero's chin up.
"C'mon, Heero, don't lie. I know what my own body's like, you know?"
"I … I'll be okay," Heero said. "My shoulder …" Duo glanced down, noting the crimson stain blooming on the makeshift bandage that they had made for him earlier. Some of it was seeping through the ragged remains of Heero's shirt, staining the already dark cloth a darker hue.
"Yeah, it's bleeding again. Sorry, my fault."
"Stop apologizing."
"Well, it is, isn't it? It's my fault. I'm really sorry."
The others burst into the room, and Duo raised his face to look at them. They stopped immediately at the sight of Duo cradling Heero on the floor, their excitement fading instantly.
"He's really hurt, guys. I forgot. I got so mad … I just forgot …" Duo shook his head apologetically. Quatre hurried forward immediately, forgetting the strange situation as his instincts kicked in.
"He's feverish," Quatre noted, placing a cool hand against Heero's forehead. "How badly is he wounded?"
"His wounds aren't that severe. But they drugged him, and you know how my system reacts to drugs … well, his … well, you know," Duo trailed off nervously. Quatre just nodded, giving Duo a reassuring look.
"I'll help you get him upstairs and into bed, okay? We'll tend to him there. Wufei, would you get the medical supplies? Trowa … well, you just sit back down. You're hurt too, you know."
"I am capable of walking up stairs," Trowa said dryly. "I'll follow you two up there, anyway. Once we take care of him, I want some better answers." Duo nodded agreeably.
"Sure, guys, sure. I'll tell you whatever the hell you want, just as long as we take care of Heero first."
"That's all I ask."
Quatre and Duo carefully lifted Heero between them, and gently maneuvered the boy toward the stairway. Quatre watched Duo's face carefully, amazed at the open emotion there on the usually stoic face. He never thought he would see such concern on Heero's face, but it did make sense, seeing as Duo was in there.
Duo's worry shined clearly in stormy blue eyes, his face contorted in acute anxiety. It was obvious, even without his extra senses, that Duo felt guilty for Heero's injuries … and something else. There was some other, stronger emotion hidden behind the rest, and Quatre tried to place it. Heero gave a groan of pain, and he turned his focus back to the injured boy for the moment. He would have to think about it later.
But he wondered if maybe his theory, at least on Duo's part, wasn't as absurd as they had assumed it to be.
Continued