Disclaimer: I don't own it, so don't sue.
AN: I'm on a role or something...here's another edited chapter. Same deal, no plot changes...though I have added something between Heero and Duo...I might form a slight romance, just to help Duo to deal with the whole scenario...
Date: 23 Nov. 2003
Chapter 3
Duo groaned softly as he neared consciousness, feeling himself being pulled out of his comfortable state.
"Are you awake, Duo?"
"No." Duo's mind was vaguely aware that it was Quatre speaking. Keeping his eyes firmly shut, he wondered vaguely why he felt so safe...but he figured he must be in the safe house still. His dream...yeah, it must have been a dream...had taken place somewhere not quite as friendly. Sighing, he sat up, keeping his eyes firmly closed. "Why are you and Heero in my room, Q?" he asked groggily.
Heero raised one eyebrow. "How did you know I was here?"
Duo shrugged. "Dunno. However, I *do* know that I'm hungry. Got any food, Q- man?"
Quatre smiled. "I'll go make some soup."
Duo grinned and listened as the small blond left the room. He then turned to the general direction of Heero's voice. "So, why *are* you in my room?"
Heero uncharacteristically hesitated before answering. "We got a mission."
Duo's grin faded and his shoulder sagged. With a tired hand, he brushed his bangs out of his face, only to have them fall back into place a second later. "Who all is going?"
Another hesitation. Duo raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Heero to try to tell someone bad news slowly. He was usually more blunt. "All of us."
Ah...that was more like it. Duo's jaw dropped. "All of you?! But what About me?"
Heero sighed softly. "I've spoken with J and the other scientists. You are to stay here. They're looking for a cure of some sort. I sent in a blood sample."
Duo raised one eyebrow. "My blood?"
"You were asleep, and it didn't wake you up."
"oh."
A few moments of awkward silence passed, then a small yelp was heard from downstairs. Duo grinned slightly, shaking his head. "That'll be Q burning himself on the soup...maybe it'll be bad and he'll have to stay here with me." He joked, pushing the covers aside. He grinned as he heard Heero usher another sigh.
Duo clambered out of bed and felt his way towards the door. "Coming, Hee- chan?"
Heero gave a soft grunt, and Duo grinned, picturing the brunette's icy glare at the use of the nickname. "Baka." Heero muttered, leading the way down the hall.
Duo followed close behind, always keeping a hand on the wall or the railing and making very slow progress. Being dependent on others was starting to get damn frustrating...
As they neared the kitchen, the smell of chicken noodle soup reached Duo's nostrils. He breathed in the comforting scent, and let Heero lead him to the table.
He sat down in an offered chair and plastered a grin on his face. "Smells great, Q-man."
"Thanks"
"So, when are you guys leaving?" Duo felt around for his spoon, and upon contact his grin widened. Dipping it into the soup, he carefully brought the utensil to his mouth.
"This evening." WuFei's voice. Apparently the Chinese pilot was in the kitchen as well. Surprisingly, Duo had already known this somehow...
"Where are you going?" Duo sipped his soup cautiously, testing the temperature. "Mmm...perfect Quatre."
"We're going to outer space."
Duo nearly dropped his spoon. "Nani?! When are you coming back?"
"We're not sure. Probably in a month, at the latest." Heero's monotone.
Duo set his mouth in a firm line and pushed back his chair, soup and hunger temporarily forgotten. "I can't stay here by myself. I'm coming too."
"You know you can't, Duo." Quatre's worried voice.
"It would be suicide. You can't pilot a Gundam without your sight." WuFei...and he sounded smug. Duo frowned.
"So I'll install the zero system. I'm not staying here alone. Hold up a sec...who's that?"
Dead silence, occupied with three sets of raised eyebrows.
Duo's eyes snapped open. "Howard? Shit, no. You guys did NOT call him in here to babysit me! Tell me you didn't!"
Quatre swallowed nervously. "Uh..."
Heero however, frowned in thought. How had Duo guessed that? There was no way that he could have heard them talking about it earlier...he'd been sleeping. So then how-
Heero's thoughts were suddenly cut off.
There was a knock on the door.
The Japanese pilot reached for his gun on his way to the main entrance and after confirming the identity of the visitor, he let the man in.
"Howdy, Heero."
"Howard. Glad you could make it."
"No prob. I hear Duo's experiencin' technical difficulties."
"Very funny, Howard," came Duo's voice from the kitchen.
Heero and Howard headed back to the others, the smell of the soup Duo's forgotten soup wafting through the air.
"I will not stay here to be babysat." Duo stated again, crossing his arms over his chest. "No friggin' way."
"You can't come Duo. It's too complicated. We have to steal a shuttle without OZ figuring out that we want to get back into space." Quatre explained worriedly.
"I don't care. I'm not staying here, I have to help."
"Coming won't help Duo." Heero cut in. "You're only going to endanger the mission."
Duo growled softly, mouth set in a firm scowl. "Right then. The *mission* comes first. I'll stay here like a good little boy. The perfect soldier has spoken, eh Heero?" He spat out, getting to his feet angrily. "Fine. Just...fine." Teeth clenched and practically fuming, Duo turned and stalked out of the kitchen, thundered up the stairs, and stormed into his room.
Downstairs, Quatre sighed softly. "Well...that didn't go very well."
Heero grunted. "He'll get over it." He said stonily...but his thoughts were swirling. Duo had made his way across the kitchen and up the stairs without so much as a pause or a stumble. Something he certainly shouldn't have been able to accomplish...
*~*
Up in his room, Duo flopped back on to the bed, fists clenching and unclenching angrily. Of all the nerve. Sure he was bl- *Temporarily* blind...but he was still a freaking Gundam Pilot. And Gundam Pilots did not need babysitters. "Fuck them." He cursed softly, sitting up and glaring into blackness.
Then he realized something.
He'd crossed the kitchen. He'd brushed around Howard in the doorway. He'd made his way up the stairs...and he hadn't hesitated once. His feet had been sure of themselves. It was almost as if he had been able to see again...
"But..." sitting up, Duo realized he knew exactly where everything was. He could even feel the others moving around in the kitchen below. Standing, Duo headed over to the dresser. He pulled out the traditional minister's uniform, and, discarding his t-shirt, he slipped it on. He then headed back downstairs.
Stopping at in the doorway of the kitchen, he glared and stood silently, listening as the other pilot's conversation slowly came to a halt as they all turned to look at him. He could 'see' the oranges on the counter, 'feel' the crumbs beneath the toaster, 'sense' the five other people in the room...Duo could smell and feel the heat coming from the element on the stove. He mused to himself with a slight smirk. A quick check with his mind confirmed his suspicions. He could feel that the element was switched to `on'.
Feeling all eyes on him, Duo walked over to the stove and flicked off the element. Keeping his back to the group of people in the room, he sighed. "You should be more careful Q-man."
"How-"
"I don't know." Duo cut off WuFei. "I can feel where things are, but I can't see where anything is. There's no colour, everything's black, but I can see in every direction, and as far as I want to."
"Huh?" Quatre's confused grunt.
Duo sighed. "It's hard to explain..." He thought for a minute, wondering how he could get his theory across. If only they could experience it themselves... that was when the idea hit him (As stupid as it was, he was willing to try anything). ... "Ok, close your eyes..." He waited for a minute. "I'm serious guys, just close them...You too Wufei...ok, now, you can't see anything right? Well, now imagine that you can feel where everything is. You can't explain it, you just know. The exact location of the chairs and table...Howard, why the hell have you got your sunglasses on inside the house anyway?"
Duo then paused, waiting for a reaction. Finally, Howard started laughing, and Quatre soon joined in. At first he thought it was because of the sunglasses comment...but a flicker of doubt crossed his mind. Did they believe him? Heero was scowling...but that wasn't unusual.
"Good one Maxwell, but you still can't come."
Duo's jaw dropped. So they didn't believe him after all. "You don't believe me?"
"You expected us to?" WuFei scoffed. "You really have lost it. I don't know how you knew the element was still on...but the fact still remains that you can't see anything. You can't pilot Deathscythe, Duo...You'll just put everyone in danger."
Duo shoulders slumped. "I can't believe this..." That got Howard laughing again, and the older man clapped a hand down on Duo's shoulder.
"Aw, c'mon, man! It ain't that they want to leave ya behind...it's just how things gotta be this time around" he said, trying to be comforting...But Duo didn't want comfort. Not Howard's comfort. How could Howard possibly understand what he, the Grim Reaper himself, was going through?
He mused to himself, letting his shoulders sag as he shrugged off Howard's hand. "Whatever, man." He muttered softly.
A very disappointed Duo turned slowly and headed back up to his room. If he had been able to see, tears would have been clouding his vision...but instead they just stung the corners of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He couldn't believe that they didn't believe him. It wasn't supposed to work that way...They all thought that he was making this up so that he could go with them, like a child might beg to go on a business trip with his parents...
Duo snorted softly to himself as he closed the door behind him. "So they think I'm a little kid who needs babysitting, eh? Well, I'm just going to have to show them what Death can really do..."
He headed over to the window, a smirk firmly set in place to cover his real distress. He opened it, muscles barely straining at the effort. Breathing in the fresh air, Duo leaned on the window sill. He decided that he'd wait until later that night, after the others had left. And then, and then he'd put his freshly forming plan into action...
Right now, however, he was painfully aware of the fact that Heero had followed him up the stairs and was right now standing outside his room. What would he say to the Japanese pilot? 'Hey Heero, I'm not lying I'm just a freak? Let me come on the mission with you anyway?' Duo gave a harsh laugh, smirk faltering slightly.
Heero suddenly stiffened, turned, and headed back downstairs. Yes, his hand had been resting on the doorknob, and yes he had been about to confront his friend. But that hollow laugh...it scared him. He didn't want to deal with Duo when the braided teen's façade was down. He didn't want to get to know the boy behind the happy-go-lucky mask. That was a little too intimate for the emotionless Heero Yuy. No...it wouldn't do to get close to 02...it wouldn't do at all...
*~*
That night, as the four other pilots were discussing their mission plans, they failed to detect the dark presence at the top of the stairs listening to their every word. Oh yes...Duo was not going to let himself get left behind. There was no way that he would hinder the mission because they wouldn't believe that he could see. Besides, from the sounds of their conversation downstairs, the scientists were depending on his skills. Without Deathscythe, the other four would be in serious trouble.
His mind made up, Duo memorized every detail to the mission, working the numbers and coordinates into the recesses of his brain. It was obvious that they were going to need his help...and Death was always there when you least expected it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
AN: I'm on a role or something...here's another edited chapter. Same deal, no plot changes...though I have added something between Heero and Duo...I might form a slight romance, just to help Duo to deal with the whole scenario...
Date: 23 Nov. 2003
Chapter 3
Duo groaned softly as he neared consciousness, feeling himself being pulled out of his comfortable state.
"Are you awake, Duo?"
"No." Duo's mind was vaguely aware that it was Quatre speaking. Keeping his eyes firmly shut, he wondered vaguely why he felt so safe...but he figured he must be in the safe house still. His dream...yeah, it must have been a dream...had taken place somewhere not quite as friendly. Sighing, he sat up, keeping his eyes firmly closed. "Why are you and Heero in my room, Q?" he asked groggily.
Heero raised one eyebrow. "How did you know I was here?"
Duo shrugged. "Dunno. However, I *do* know that I'm hungry. Got any food, Q- man?"
Quatre smiled. "I'll go make some soup."
Duo grinned and listened as the small blond left the room. He then turned to the general direction of Heero's voice. "So, why *are* you in my room?"
Heero uncharacteristically hesitated before answering. "We got a mission."
Duo's grin faded and his shoulder sagged. With a tired hand, he brushed his bangs out of his face, only to have them fall back into place a second later. "Who all is going?"
Another hesitation. Duo raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Heero to try to tell someone bad news slowly. He was usually more blunt. "All of us."
Ah...that was more like it. Duo's jaw dropped. "All of you?! But what About me?"
Heero sighed softly. "I've spoken with J and the other scientists. You are to stay here. They're looking for a cure of some sort. I sent in a blood sample."
Duo raised one eyebrow. "My blood?"
"You were asleep, and it didn't wake you up."
"oh."
A few moments of awkward silence passed, then a small yelp was heard from downstairs. Duo grinned slightly, shaking his head. "That'll be Q burning himself on the soup...maybe it'll be bad and he'll have to stay here with me." He joked, pushing the covers aside. He grinned as he heard Heero usher another sigh.
Duo clambered out of bed and felt his way towards the door. "Coming, Hee- chan?"
Heero gave a soft grunt, and Duo grinned, picturing the brunette's icy glare at the use of the nickname. "Baka." Heero muttered, leading the way down the hall.
Duo followed close behind, always keeping a hand on the wall or the railing and making very slow progress. Being dependent on others was starting to get damn frustrating...
As they neared the kitchen, the smell of chicken noodle soup reached Duo's nostrils. He breathed in the comforting scent, and let Heero lead him to the table.
He sat down in an offered chair and plastered a grin on his face. "Smells great, Q-man."
"Thanks"
"So, when are you guys leaving?" Duo felt around for his spoon, and upon contact his grin widened. Dipping it into the soup, he carefully brought the utensil to his mouth.
"This evening." WuFei's voice. Apparently the Chinese pilot was in the kitchen as well. Surprisingly, Duo had already known this somehow...
"Where are you going?" Duo sipped his soup cautiously, testing the temperature. "Mmm...perfect Quatre."
"We're going to outer space."
Duo nearly dropped his spoon. "Nani?! When are you coming back?"
"We're not sure. Probably in a month, at the latest." Heero's monotone.
Duo set his mouth in a firm line and pushed back his chair, soup and hunger temporarily forgotten. "I can't stay here by myself. I'm coming too."
"You know you can't, Duo." Quatre's worried voice.
"It would be suicide. You can't pilot a Gundam without your sight." WuFei...and he sounded smug. Duo frowned.
"So I'll install the zero system. I'm not staying here alone. Hold up a sec...who's that?"
Dead silence, occupied with three sets of raised eyebrows.
Duo's eyes snapped open. "Howard? Shit, no. You guys did NOT call him in here to babysit me! Tell me you didn't!"
Quatre swallowed nervously. "Uh..."
Heero however, frowned in thought. How had Duo guessed that? There was no way that he could have heard them talking about it earlier...he'd been sleeping. So then how-
Heero's thoughts were suddenly cut off.
There was a knock on the door.
The Japanese pilot reached for his gun on his way to the main entrance and after confirming the identity of the visitor, he let the man in.
"Howdy, Heero."
"Howard. Glad you could make it."
"No prob. I hear Duo's experiencin' technical difficulties."
"Very funny, Howard," came Duo's voice from the kitchen.
Heero and Howard headed back to the others, the smell of the soup Duo's forgotten soup wafting through the air.
"I will not stay here to be babysat." Duo stated again, crossing his arms over his chest. "No friggin' way."
"You can't come Duo. It's too complicated. We have to steal a shuttle without OZ figuring out that we want to get back into space." Quatre explained worriedly.
"I don't care. I'm not staying here, I have to help."
"Coming won't help Duo." Heero cut in. "You're only going to endanger the mission."
Duo growled softly, mouth set in a firm scowl. "Right then. The *mission* comes first. I'll stay here like a good little boy. The perfect soldier has spoken, eh Heero?" He spat out, getting to his feet angrily. "Fine. Just...fine." Teeth clenched and practically fuming, Duo turned and stalked out of the kitchen, thundered up the stairs, and stormed into his room.
Downstairs, Quatre sighed softly. "Well...that didn't go very well."
Heero grunted. "He'll get over it." He said stonily...but his thoughts were swirling. Duo had made his way across the kitchen and up the stairs without so much as a pause or a stumble. Something he certainly shouldn't have been able to accomplish...
*~*
Up in his room, Duo flopped back on to the bed, fists clenching and unclenching angrily. Of all the nerve. Sure he was bl- *Temporarily* blind...but he was still a freaking Gundam Pilot. And Gundam Pilots did not need babysitters. "Fuck them." He cursed softly, sitting up and glaring into blackness.
Then he realized something.
He'd crossed the kitchen. He'd brushed around Howard in the doorway. He'd made his way up the stairs...and he hadn't hesitated once. His feet had been sure of themselves. It was almost as if he had been able to see again...
"But..." sitting up, Duo realized he knew exactly where everything was. He could even feel the others moving around in the kitchen below. Standing, Duo headed over to the dresser. He pulled out the traditional minister's uniform, and, discarding his t-shirt, he slipped it on. He then headed back downstairs.
Stopping at in the doorway of the kitchen, he glared and stood silently, listening as the other pilot's conversation slowly came to a halt as they all turned to look at him. He could 'see' the oranges on the counter, 'feel' the crumbs beneath the toaster, 'sense' the five other people in the room...Duo could smell and feel the heat coming from the element on the stove. He mused to himself with a slight smirk. A quick check with his mind confirmed his suspicions. He could feel that the element was switched to `on'.
Feeling all eyes on him, Duo walked over to the stove and flicked off the element. Keeping his back to the group of people in the room, he sighed. "You should be more careful Q-man."
"How-"
"I don't know." Duo cut off WuFei. "I can feel where things are, but I can't see where anything is. There's no colour, everything's black, but I can see in every direction, and as far as I want to."
"Huh?" Quatre's confused grunt.
Duo sighed. "It's hard to explain..." He thought for a minute, wondering how he could get his theory across. If only they could experience it themselves... that was when the idea hit him (As stupid as it was, he was willing to try anything). ... "Ok, close your eyes..." He waited for a minute. "I'm serious guys, just close them...You too Wufei...ok, now, you can't see anything right? Well, now imagine that you can feel where everything is. You can't explain it, you just know. The exact location of the chairs and table...Howard, why the hell have you got your sunglasses on inside the house anyway?"
Duo then paused, waiting for a reaction. Finally, Howard started laughing, and Quatre soon joined in. At first he thought it was because of the sunglasses comment...but a flicker of doubt crossed his mind. Did they believe him? Heero was scowling...but that wasn't unusual.
"Good one Maxwell, but you still can't come."
Duo's jaw dropped. So they didn't believe him after all. "You don't believe me?"
"You expected us to?" WuFei scoffed. "You really have lost it. I don't know how you knew the element was still on...but the fact still remains that you can't see anything. You can't pilot Deathscythe, Duo...You'll just put everyone in danger."
Duo shoulders slumped. "I can't believe this..." That got Howard laughing again, and the older man clapped a hand down on Duo's shoulder.
"Aw, c'mon, man! It ain't that they want to leave ya behind...it's just how things gotta be this time around" he said, trying to be comforting...But Duo didn't want comfort. Not Howard's comfort. How could Howard possibly understand what he, the Grim Reaper himself, was going through?
He mused to himself, letting his shoulders sag as he shrugged off Howard's hand. "Whatever, man." He muttered softly.
A very disappointed Duo turned slowly and headed back up to his room. If he had been able to see, tears would have been clouding his vision...but instead they just stung the corners of his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He couldn't believe that they didn't believe him. It wasn't supposed to work that way...They all thought that he was making this up so that he could go with them, like a child might beg to go on a business trip with his parents...
Duo snorted softly to himself as he closed the door behind him. "So they think I'm a little kid who needs babysitting, eh? Well, I'm just going to have to show them what Death can really do..."
He headed over to the window, a smirk firmly set in place to cover his real distress. He opened it, muscles barely straining at the effort. Breathing in the fresh air, Duo leaned on the window sill. He decided that he'd wait until later that night, after the others had left. And then, and then he'd put his freshly forming plan into action...
Right now, however, he was painfully aware of the fact that Heero had followed him up the stairs and was right now standing outside his room. What would he say to the Japanese pilot? 'Hey Heero, I'm not lying I'm just a freak? Let me come on the mission with you anyway?' Duo gave a harsh laugh, smirk faltering slightly.
Heero suddenly stiffened, turned, and headed back downstairs. Yes, his hand had been resting on the doorknob, and yes he had been about to confront his friend. But that hollow laugh...it scared him. He didn't want to deal with Duo when the braided teen's façade was down. He didn't want to get to know the boy behind the happy-go-lucky mask. That was a little too intimate for the emotionless Heero Yuy. No...it wouldn't do to get close to 02...it wouldn't do at all...
*~*
That night, as the four other pilots were discussing their mission plans, they failed to detect the dark presence at the top of the stairs listening to their every word. Oh yes...Duo was not going to let himself get left behind. There was no way that he would hinder the mission because they wouldn't believe that he could see. Besides, from the sounds of their conversation downstairs, the scientists were depending on his skills. Without Deathscythe, the other four would be in serious trouble.
His mind made up, Duo memorized every detail to the mission, working the numbers and coordinates into the recesses of his brain. It was obvious that they were going to need his help...and Death was always there when you least expected it.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*