Duo looked up as the pilots all came back into the room. He couldn't understand the looks on their faces. They all tried not to meet his eyes.
Quatre came up to him and untied him. "We're sorry for treating you like this, Duo," Quatre said. "We've been –" he thought quickly "– fed some false information."
Duo looked at them all. He chewed on his lip. Something had happened to them while he'd been gone. This 'false information' must have led them to believe that he'd never be returning. And if he'd been gone for seven months, he guessed he couldn't really blame them for being skeptical about his sudden appearance. But they seemed to be ok now. At least he thought they were.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he rubbed his wrists.
"So, you believe me now?" he asked.
Trowa and Wufei nodded while Heero stared at him oddly. Suddenly, Quatre surprised him considerably by flinging his arms around Duo's neck. "Oh, we've missed you, Duo," he said with conviction.
Duo smiled sheepishly and hugged the Arabian boy back. "Hey, hey," Duo said, pleased that he had actually been missed, but slightly embarrassed at the display of emotion, especially in front of Trowa, who, he knew, was fiercely possessive of his blonde lover. "I'm back now, that's all that matters, ne?"
Quatre pulled back. His aquamarine eyes were dancing. He knew he must remember that Duo had not actually returned, but it was hard not to be happy at the illusion. So long as remembered it was an illusion, it was ok.
Duo grinned at the others. Some of the ice melted out of all their eyes. They were all falling into the same delusional security blanket as Quatre. Duo was alive and healthy and exactly as they all remembered him. If they allowed themselves to believe, just a for a small while, that this was Duo, then perhaps the clone wouldn't catch on until they were ready to tell him. Just like Quatre, they all told themselves that as long as they remembered it was only a temporary illusion, they could be happy for a while.
Duo found himself suddenly the center of a very emotional and very tight group hug. Whilst at the same time it almost crushed him (I mean, those pilots are all strong; four hugging you all at once has got to be akin to climbing into an activated car crusher) it made him glow inside. They were his friends; they did care about him. While it sort of spooked him to see Trowa, Wufei and even Heero all smiling like simpletons and glomping onto him so tightly he could hardly breathe, it was nice to be reassured that he did have friends.
"Ok, ok, guys?" Duo choked out. "This is really sweet and all, but you are actually killing me here."
A ripple of rare laughter ran through them and they released the red and panting Duo. Some sleepy conversation followed, mostly Duo bragging about his heroic escape by climbing over a fence, when it was punctuated by a colossal yawn from Quatre.
"Sorry, Duo," Quatre apologised, blushing. "But I'm beat." He glanced at his watch. "By Allah, it's almost four a.m."
At the mention of sleep all of them suddenly realised they were all shattered. The oxygen supply in the room was suddenly severely depleted by five sleepy Gundam pilots all yawning in unison.
"I think it's time to hit the sack," Duo said.
"There's no spare bed," Heero remarked. He did not allow himself to dwell on the reasons why he had made the observation first.
"Damn," Duo said. "Oh well, I can crash on the sofa tonight. That is unless Wuffie is willing to double up?" Duo winked suggestively at the Shenlong pilot.
"Don't even think about it, Maxwell," Wufei warned.
Duo laughed heartily.
God, it's so much like old times, Trowa thought. He was secretly worried that they were all going to fall into the trap they had within that same hour all agreed to avoid.
"There's a spare sleeping bag upstairs," Quatre said. "I'll go and get it for you."
"Thanks, Q-man," Duo said as the boy rushed upstairs.
"Well, I'm off to stake my claim on my bed before anyone else gets to it," Wufei said darkly, looking meaningfully at Duo.
Duo blinked innocently. "I wouldn't dream of it Wu-baby."
"Goodnight, Maxwell," Wufei said forcefully.
Duo giggled as Wufei left.
"Goodnight Duo," Trowa said, patting Duo on the shoulder. There was something in Trowa's eyes that touched Duo deeply and his idiotic grin melted to a genuine smile.
"See ya tomorrow, Trowa," Duo said.
Trowa threw a glance at Heero and left. Heero couldn't tell what Trowa had wanted to say in that glance.
Heero pulled his gaze to Duo. Duo was twisting his slim fingers but his eyes were steady as he gazed at him.
Heero couldn't stop himself. He stepped forward and hugged Duo. It seemed so real; everything he'd ever missed out on, all the opportunities he had missed with Duo were once more standing before him in all their braided glory. "I've missed you, Duo," Heero said with feeling.
Heero felt Duo's arms encircle his waist. Duo sighed in contentment in Heero's embrace. "I've missed you too…"
Heero steeled himself and pulled away. He mustn't allow himself to give in to the temptation. He loved Duo, not this boy. This boy who looked like Duo. This boy who thought like Duo. This boy who felt like Duo.
The boy who looked, thought and felt like Duo looked at Heero with Duo's impossibly deep eyes. The same feelings he had always seen in Duo's eyes, but somehow he had missed, Heero could see there, in Duo's eyes, in Duo's face framed by Duo's silky, honey chestnut hair.
Heero felt he could just let himself fall into those eyes and be content to stay there for the rest of eternity.
Duo leant forward slightly. He was almost certain of Heero's feelings toward him. If that first impassioned kiss when he had arrived was anything to go by…but then Heero had almost killed him in some fury he still did not understand. But Duo did not care. Heero stood there, bare inches away from him, his eyes silent and deep, his messy hair falling in his eyes exactly the way he remembered it.
Duo slid his eyes shut and leant forward further to brush his lips against Heero's. But to Duo's chagrin, Heero pulled back before they made contact.
Heero took a step back. Duo could make nothing from his eyes. He felt slightly hurt. Had he misread Heero?
"Goodnight, Duo," Heero said.
Duo thought he saw Heero struggle as he turned around and walked away. He paused at the door. Without looking round he said, "I'm glad you're back."
Duo knew he meant it. He smiled. "Goodnight, Hee-chan." Heero left. There was still time, Duo thought. They still had time.
Quatre returned with the sleeping bag and pillows. Duo commenced to once more yawn again loudly. Quatre flitted around making sure Duo was comfortable before switching out the light.
"Sweet dreams, Duo," Duo heard Quatre say as he closed the door.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"You lost him?" Lady Une was not amused.
The captain had to physically grip his hands together to stop them from trembling, "Yes, Lady Colonel," he said with a shaking voice. "He jumped me and caught me off guard…"
"No excuses Captain," Lady Une stood from behind her desk. "We could have had the room surrounded in four seconds had he made a move. You unplugged the security camera and I'm pretty sure I knew why."
The captain turned bright red but did not make the mistake of trying to deny anything.
"Get your things, Captain," Lady Une said, turning her back on him. "Commander Trieze does not allow scum like you in his ranks. I will have two guards around to your quarters in an hour to escort you from the premises."
"Yes, Lady Colonel," the captain mumbled. "Thank you, Lady Colonel."
"You are dismissed. Send in the doctor."
The captain left and the doctor nervously shuffled in.
"What went wrong?" Lady Une did not face the man as she spoke.
"I'm not exactly sure, Colonel," the doctor admitted.
"Take and educated guess, then." It was impossible to miss the threat in her words.
The doctor took a deep breath. "I think that something has gone wrong in the way we fixed his memories. He does not realise he is a clone. He thinks he is Duo Maxwell."
Lady Une nodded and turned. She had expected as much. "So, after we, at last, had managed to kill off one of those Gundam pilots, we then paid you considerable sums of money and time for you to reincarnate him and set him loose to fight against us again?"
The doctor looked at the floor. "Sorry Ma'am," he said. "It's just the captain was in such a rush…"
"The captain is no longer anything you need be concerned about, Doctor," Lady Une said. She sat down behind her desk and peered at him through her glasses. "Can you fix this? We still want a Gundam pilot to fight for us. Can you build a new one with the same fighting capability, but this time make sure he doesn't wake up think he's someone who is dead?"
"I think so, Colonel," he said. "But to build him again would take many months, and the research on top of that to find out how to avoid the same problem again…it could be close to a year before we were finished."
"What if we got back the one you've already built? Could you find out what went wrong and then use the same body?"
The doctor blinked for a second. "I should imagine so but to alter his mind would be difficult…"
"Nonsense," said Une. "You programmed him didn't you? You can reprogram him."
The doctor nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. Whatever you say."
"Good," Lady Une looked down at papers on her desk. "Then we shall get your pet back for you, Doctor. Dismissed."
TBC real soon! Please tell me what you thick, all comments are highly appreciated
Quatre came up to him and untied him. "We're sorry for treating you like this, Duo," Quatre said. "We've been –" he thought quickly "– fed some false information."
Duo looked at them all. He chewed on his lip. Something had happened to them while he'd been gone. This 'false information' must have led them to believe that he'd never be returning. And if he'd been gone for seven months, he guessed he couldn't really blame them for being skeptical about his sudden appearance. But they seemed to be ok now. At least he thought they were.
He breathed a sigh of relief as he rubbed his wrists.
"So, you believe me now?" he asked.
Trowa and Wufei nodded while Heero stared at him oddly. Suddenly, Quatre surprised him considerably by flinging his arms around Duo's neck. "Oh, we've missed you, Duo," he said with conviction.
Duo smiled sheepishly and hugged the Arabian boy back. "Hey, hey," Duo said, pleased that he had actually been missed, but slightly embarrassed at the display of emotion, especially in front of Trowa, who, he knew, was fiercely possessive of his blonde lover. "I'm back now, that's all that matters, ne?"
Quatre pulled back. His aquamarine eyes were dancing. He knew he must remember that Duo had not actually returned, but it was hard not to be happy at the illusion. So long as remembered it was an illusion, it was ok.
Duo grinned at the others. Some of the ice melted out of all their eyes. They were all falling into the same delusional security blanket as Quatre. Duo was alive and healthy and exactly as they all remembered him. If they allowed themselves to believe, just a for a small while, that this was Duo, then perhaps the clone wouldn't catch on until they were ready to tell him. Just like Quatre, they all told themselves that as long as they remembered it was only a temporary illusion, they could be happy for a while.
Duo found himself suddenly the center of a very emotional and very tight group hug. Whilst at the same time it almost crushed him (I mean, those pilots are all strong; four hugging you all at once has got to be akin to climbing into an activated car crusher) it made him glow inside. They were his friends; they did care about him. While it sort of spooked him to see Trowa, Wufei and even Heero all smiling like simpletons and glomping onto him so tightly he could hardly breathe, it was nice to be reassured that he did have friends.
"Ok, ok, guys?" Duo choked out. "This is really sweet and all, but you are actually killing me here."
A ripple of rare laughter ran through them and they released the red and panting Duo. Some sleepy conversation followed, mostly Duo bragging about his heroic escape by climbing over a fence, when it was punctuated by a colossal yawn from Quatre.
"Sorry, Duo," Quatre apologised, blushing. "But I'm beat." He glanced at his watch. "By Allah, it's almost four a.m."
At the mention of sleep all of them suddenly realised they were all shattered. The oxygen supply in the room was suddenly severely depleted by five sleepy Gundam pilots all yawning in unison.
"I think it's time to hit the sack," Duo said.
"There's no spare bed," Heero remarked. He did not allow himself to dwell on the reasons why he had made the observation first.
"Damn," Duo said. "Oh well, I can crash on the sofa tonight. That is unless Wuffie is willing to double up?" Duo winked suggestively at the Shenlong pilot.
"Don't even think about it, Maxwell," Wufei warned.
Duo laughed heartily.
God, it's so much like old times, Trowa thought. He was secretly worried that they were all going to fall into the trap they had within that same hour all agreed to avoid.
"There's a spare sleeping bag upstairs," Quatre said. "I'll go and get it for you."
"Thanks, Q-man," Duo said as the boy rushed upstairs.
"Well, I'm off to stake my claim on my bed before anyone else gets to it," Wufei said darkly, looking meaningfully at Duo.
Duo blinked innocently. "I wouldn't dream of it Wu-baby."
"Goodnight, Maxwell," Wufei said forcefully.
Duo giggled as Wufei left.
"Goodnight Duo," Trowa said, patting Duo on the shoulder. There was something in Trowa's eyes that touched Duo deeply and his idiotic grin melted to a genuine smile.
"See ya tomorrow, Trowa," Duo said.
Trowa threw a glance at Heero and left. Heero couldn't tell what Trowa had wanted to say in that glance.
Heero pulled his gaze to Duo. Duo was twisting his slim fingers but his eyes were steady as he gazed at him.
Heero couldn't stop himself. He stepped forward and hugged Duo. It seemed so real; everything he'd ever missed out on, all the opportunities he had missed with Duo were once more standing before him in all their braided glory. "I've missed you, Duo," Heero said with feeling.
Heero felt Duo's arms encircle his waist. Duo sighed in contentment in Heero's embrace. "I've missed you too…"
Heero steeled himself and pulled away. He mustn't allow himself to give in to the temptation. He loved Duo, not this boy. This boy who looked like Duo. This boy who thought like Duo. This boy who felt like Duo.
The boy who looked, thought and felt like Duo looked at Heero with Duo's impossibly deep eyes. The same feelings he had always seen in Duo's eyes, but somehow he had missed, Heero could see there, in Duo's eyes, in Duo's face framed by Duo's silky, honey chestnut hair.
Heero felt he could just let himself fall into those eyes and be content to stay there for the rest of eternity.
Duo leant forward slightly. He was almost certain of Heero's feelings toward him. If that first impassioned kiss when he had arrived was anything to go by…but then Heero had almost killed him in some fury he still did not understand. But Duo did not care. Heero stood there, bare inches away from him, his eyes silent and deep, his messy hair falling in his eyes exactly the way he remembered it.
Duo slid his eyes shut and leant forward further to brush his lips against Heero's. But to Duo's chagrin, Heero pulled back before they made contact.
Heero took a step back. Duo could make nothing from his eyes. He felt slightly hurt. Had he misread Heero?
"Goodnight, Duo," Heero said.
Duo thought he saw Heero struggle as he turned around and walked away. He paused at the door. Without looking round he said, "I'm glad you're back."
Duo knew he meant it. He smiled. "Goodnight, Hee-chan." Heero left. There was still time, Duo thought. They still had time.
Quatre returned with the sleeping bag and pillows. Duo commenced to once more yawn again loudly. Quatre flitted around making sure Duo was comfortable before switching out the light.
"Sweet dreams, Duo," Duo heard Quatre say as he closed the door.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"You lost him?" Lady Une was not amused.
The captain had to physically grip his hands together to stop them from trembling, "Yes, Lady Colonel," he said with a shaking voice. "He jumped me and caught me off guard…"
"No excuses Captain," Lady Une stood from behind her desk. "We could have had the room surrounded in four seconds had he made a move. You unplugged the security camera and I'm pretty sure I knew why."
The captain turned bright red but did not make the mistake of trying to deny anything.
"Get your things, Captain," Lady Une said, turning her back on him. "Commander Trieze does not allow scum like you in his ranks. I will have two guards around to your quarters in an hour to escort you from the premises."
"Yes, Lady Colonel," the captain mumbled. "Thank you, Lady Colonel."
"You are dismissed. Send in the doctor."
The captain left and the doctor nervously shuffled in.
"What went wrong?" Lady Une did not face the man as she spoke.
"I'm not exactly sure, Colonel," the doctor admitted.
"Take and educated guess, then." It was impossible to miss the threat in her words.
The doctor took a deep breath. "I think that something has gone wrong in the way we fixed his memories. He does not realise he is a clone. He thinks he is Duo Maxwell."
Lady Une nodded and turned. She had expected as much. "So, after we, at last, had managed to kill off one of those Gundam pilots, we then paid you considerable sums of money and time for you to reincarnate him and set him loose to fight against us again?"
The doctor looked at the floor. "Sorry Ma'am," he said. "It's just the captain was in such a rush…"
"The captain is no longer anything you need be concerned about, Doctor," Lady Une said. She sat down behind her desk and peered at him through her glasses. "Can you fix this? We still want a Gundam pilot to fight for us. Can you build a new one with the same fighting capability, but this time make sure he doesn't wake up think he's someone who is dead?"
"I think so, Colonel," he said. "But to build him again would take many months, and the research on top of that to find out how to avoid the same problem again…it could be close to a year before we were finished."
"What if we got back the one you've already built? Could you find out what went wrong and then use the same body?"
The doctor blinked for a second. "I should imagine so but to alter his mind would be difficult…"
"Nonsense," said Une. "You programmed him didn't you? You can reprogram him."
The doctor nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. Whatever you say."
"Good," Lady Une looked down at papers on her desk. "Then we shall get your pet back for you, Doctor. Dismissed."
TBC real soon! Please tell me what you thick, all comments are highly appreciated