Gundams With Wings

Part Eleven
By Lady AngelFiren

{Wufei called the paramedics. They did everything they could, but we couldn't get his blood pressure up in time. Duo died on the way to the hospital, and we were ready to give up on him, he had no pulse, nothing, but then something happened. The body, Duo's body, it was alive again. His heart just started beating, just like that, and he is still alive, but I'm afraid there is bad news. He's in a coma, and has been ever since that night, which was three weeks ago. There is no brain activity. I went into his mind, and I couldn't find anything, Duo's a vegetable. I'm sorry, Heero.}
Heero reeled backwards in his mind. Duo was alive, but he wasn't there. His body lived, but where was the mind? Duo's life, his passions, and his love, everything that was Heero's world had already been shattered twice, once in his mind, and before that when Duo was shot, but this was far worse. His love was dead, but the beautiful braided boy's body would be around for a long time, just laying there, taunting him. The Japanese boy swam for a moment longer in his subconscious, then urged himself to open his eyes and see the real world, depressing and empty as it may be.
Heero tried to open his eyes, and found them glued shut with crusty sleep. Quatre gently pressed a cool cloth over them, wiping away the sticky mess. When he finally did manage to get his eyes open, all Heero could see was a blur of hospital whites and a blond figure perched on top of him.
{Get off me, Quatre,} he commanded, and tried to kick the Arabian off of him, but found that he couldn't move. Thick leather bands held his wrists, ankles, waist and legs to the unyielding bed below him, infuriating him. His mind was mostly still raw, and he lashed out frustratedly at the bed, which did absolutely nothing.
{You were a danger to yourself and to other people, we had to tie you down. You nearly killed a few nurses, and now I'm the only one who will come in here, because they're all afraid of you. If you want out, you have to be good.}
{I want to see Duo, I refuse to believe he's gone, you just didn't look hard enough. Now, let. Me. Out. I will kill you, or anyone else who gets in my way.} Heero's vision was clearing rapidly, and he could see Quatre now, who presently stood at his side, a hard, frustrated look on his pale face. He had his arms crossed over his chest, and was looking down at Heero as if debating whether to let him free or not.
{Will you be good?}
{I don't fucking care if I'm good, I want to see Duo!! Now let me out of here you rich son of a bitch, or I'll find my own way out and kill you as soon as I do. Let me the fuck up!} Heero attacked Quatre with his mind and set to frazzling as many of the blonde's orderly thoughts as possible. Quatre screamed and quickly closed off his mind, but not before Heero had managed to give him a severe headache and fry some of his better childhood memories.
{Hey! Stop it! I'm going to let you out, but you're trying to kill me here, and you're just destroying my mind!} He slapped Heero hard on the face to bring him out of the blind angry fit.
{FUCK OFF Winner!!} Heero only became further infuriated, and his face darkened to a deep scarlet as he sent the strongest attack he could muster in his weak state of fresh wakefulness towards Quatre, shredding the poor Arabian's barriers and coming into direct contact with him. He was not intending to destroy the blonde's mind, he only wanted to show him exactly how serious he was about his threat, but pain flowed like water through the smaller pilot's head, and he couldn't stifle his screams. They echoed eerily through the room and through the consciousness of both boys.
{Heero Yuy, control yourself!} Quatre strained to stay conscious as the torrential wave of hurt washed him through time and again. He struggled for an extra burst of strength, and searched his own mind for the little piece of himself that could control other people. He grasped at the only focussed part of Heero's mind, the part that could see Duo, and Duo alone. The only thought there was of being close to him and staying with him, even if he would have to destroy the whole of Earth and the Colonies to achieve that. Quatre reeled that Heero could be so intent on anything, but told himself to reserve those thoughts for later, as he searched for a loophole in the insane pilot's thoughts.
He was looking for someplace to plant a doubt, but the boy's mind was carefully guarded, and operated on extremely simple principles. It was very difficult to get through the single-mindedness, but he soon found that the only way to get Heero to do what he wanted was to use Duo.
/If you hurt Quatre, if you don't leave him alone right now, then you will never see Duo ever again, not even in death. Let him go./ The thought flew through every part of Heero's mind at once, completely suffocating his power, and stopping any will he had to destroy the blond pilot. He quieted, and withdrew from Quatre's mind, much to the Arabian boy's relief.
{What the hell are you doing to me Winner? Why can't I kill you, why are you stopping me? I have to see Duo, don't you understand that?} He was still breathing heavily, and quite angry, but could not bring himself to hurt Quatre.
{I had to stop you, you're out of control. Do you realize that you're willing to sacrifice not just your own life, but the rest of humanity as well for Duo? That is insane! How can you be so selfish?! Straighten up and act like a soldier. Your happiness, as much as you'd like to think it so, is not important when compared to the survival of a planet, and the maintenance of peace on that planet. Where has all of your training gone? What happened in there that made you insane Heero? Answer me. I don't want to fight with you anymore, you're crazy, and you could kill me. Just tell me what the hell is going on. You've never been this single-minded, even on the battlefield. What made you snap?}
Heero had to think about this for awhile. He knew and understood that he was completely insane, but that just didn't matter. He could not find a way to make himself value anything but Duo, no matter how he tried. It was scary, he realized now that he thought about it. The only thought that circled though him constantly was Duo, Duo, Duo. Ever since the other boy had been shot, ever since he had nearly given his own life trying to save him, ever since then, it was as if they were one, and the other's absence in his mind was what was killing him. Without the gentle touch of Duo beside him, Duo in him, Duo with him in his mind, there was nothing, because he wasn't whole. He was the braided boy, and vice versa. That meant…
{Ohmigod! Quatre, I know what's wrong! I know it! It has to be! Duo and I, we're…we're… I don't know how to explain it, but ever since he was shot, he's me sort of, and I'm him, we're ourselves and each other, but-no, that's not it. I don't know how to say it, but you have to take me to him right away! I'm not lying, I don't think I could, just, I have to see him right now, I have to be able to touch him, hurry!}
Heero was frantically excited, and in his powerful mind, Quatre was swept up by the thoughts, thoughts that told him they had the answer to getting Duo back. Suddenly, that had become a major priority for Quatre. He eagerly wheeled the restraining bed down the hospital hallway to the elevator, and pushed the button that would take them high up, up to Duo's ward.

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"You think we should kill her? I don't think Heero or Duo are going to be able to…" Wufei said quietly to the tall, thin boy who had basically been the only person he'd spoken with ever since they'd caught Relena. Together the two had held her in the little thicket of trees, giving her food and warm clothing but not much else. She was still in Trowa's thought-prison, and he was becoming weary with the effort of holding her there almost all the time.
She just didn't run out of energy! She still maintained the hope that her 'Heero' would come save her, and prattled on day and night about it.
/She's as relentless as _he_ is,/ Trowa decided early on, and nothing had come to wave that notion in the past three weeks. Nor, did he suspect, that anything short of the sight of Heero's mangled body would. Of course, that would never happen, because, at the last that either Trowa or Wufei had heard, the Wing pilot was still in a coma.
"We can't do anything without hearing from Quatre, alright? What if he comes to? What if something happens with Duo? I'm not usually a very hopeful guy, but I don't think its our place to decide Relena's fate right now. Maybe you should find a phone and call Quatre, or just fly to the hospital and talk to him in person."
Wufei nodded at Trowa's suggestion and left the thicket of trees saying, "I'm going to see Quatre. Justice must be upheld here, and we don't have the authority to decide what justice would be right now."

------

All Heero heard aside from his own thoughts was the incessant squeaking of one wheel under the restraining table as Quatre wheeled him painfully slowly down the hallway and into a hot, stuffy elevator. He tried to sit up when they were inside, then remembered the restraints across his chest and on his wrists and ankles.
{Quatre, you can let me up now, I think I'm ok.} He hadn't meant for his thought voice to be so wavering and uncertain, but most of his mind still entertained the hope that Duo would be ok if he could just see him and touch him. It was difficult for him to think when the majority of his mind only had one possible thought.
Much to Heero's surprise, Quatre undid all the leather straps when he asked, allowing him to force his tired, weak body into a sitting position. His arm muscles shook a little, and he was not pleased to see how much his perfect form had deteriorated in the last three weeks. He looked at his reflection in the tinted mirror of the elevator wall and was even less pleased to see a few gray hairs scattered through his bangs.
{My hair turned gray?} he speculated without realizing it.
Quatre smiled at his friend and nodded. {Yeah, but you can always dye it. I guess even you have a limit to how much stress you can handle before you are affected by it.}
{No, its Duo. He didn't want his gray. I don't really care.}
The Arabian blond just looked at Heero in confusion and decided not to persue this strange comment. /Chalk it up to insanity, I guess, or maybe it has something to do with his connection to Duo. Hmm, I wonder…/

The elevator jerked to a stop and the doors opened. Heero felt his stomach tighten in anticipation. /I swear I can feel him, now that we're closer. Oh god, please let this work./ He suddenly realized he was still sitting on the bed, and that he was wearing a thin hospital gown and that he hadn't brushed his teeth in three weeks. Quatre caught his concern and asked him what it was about.
{I have to brush my teeth Quatre.}
The SandRock pilot laughed lightly and looked at the very serious boy on the table. {Heero, the hospital staff take care of all that, don't worry about it.}
{But the hospital staff wouldn't come near me.}
{Well I did it for you, you're minty fresh trust me.}
Heero furrowed his eyebrows a little and glared at his caretaker, but nodded his thanks. It felt kind of good to have his glare back, even if it was a pitiful excuse for the original and was toned down by his ragged, tired appearance. In the elevator mirror he'd noticed the huge bags under his eyes and how transparent his skin looked. It was not pretty, but he easily recognized himself so it wasn't his biggest concern.
{Stop. I'm walking.} he commanded, and Quatre obediently stopped wheeling the table to allow him to step off it onto his shaky, bare feet. He held onto the metal side for a few moments while his head swam and his stomach lurched, but he pushed both of these distractions away from him as he firmed his resolve to walk to Duo on his own two feet. The hospital gown didn't provide very much heat, so he had to ignore the shiver that ran up his backside as he pattered more steadily alongside Quatre.
They came to a door and Quatre stopped wheeling. {Its this one, be very careful with him, alright. He's healed almost entirely, but he's very weak and I suspect that his mind will be unnaturally raw. Also, watch that he doesn't throw something at you before you get to him. Despite his completely withdrawn and unresponsive state, he is very capable of using his power, and has not hesitated to do so. The only people who are allowed in there are doctors. He even tried to get me, so just be careful.} With that Quatre opened the heavy door and ushered Heero inside, then shut it once more.

End Part Eleven

To Be…CONCLUDED!!!

on to part twelve~

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