Title: Promise
Summary: Heero is very sick and he tries to hide it from Duo. Duo has vowed never to lose anyone again like Solo, and when he finds out, he will do everything he can to save his friend. But it may be too late, and he may be forced to do the unthinkable.
Author: wild horse
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing; I'm making NO money out of this.
Acknowledgments: Jesus, Padawan Nik-ka, and Nat
a/n: thanks for the reviews :)
Chapter 4:
"I need a favour. Analyse this blood sample for me."
The barrel of the gun was pressed against the side of his skull. The doctor stared up into his attacker's face, wide-eyed. A teenage boy, wearing a cap. He knew it was one of the enemy. The boy pressed the vial of blood into his hand and then dragged the doctor to his feet.
"Whose blood is it? Yours?" the doctor ventured boldly, probing for information.
"Shut up and get it done," the boy snarled.
The doctor nodded, complying. He placed the sample in a slot in the machine, pressed a few buttons, then said, as coolly as he could, "It will take a few minutes to obtain the results." The gunman responded with a slight nod, but his gun remained unwaveringly pointed at the doctor's skull.
Finally, the test results appeared on the screen. He pretended to be studying them, but the moment he had first seen them, he knew what it was that was happening already. Inwardly, he rejoiced. Outwardly, he remarked casually, "You got a very sick friend here."
"You mind your own business," the boy snapped back. "What's the report?"
"It's a new disease, and it's usually fatal, but I have some medicine that could cure it." It was true, the doctor knew. The OZ researchers – and he was one of them – had been working on a cure, but it wasn't totally effective and it had some adverse side-effects. In fact, they had been working on the disease itself, had created it in their own laboratories and tested it in the field some weeks back. But the project had been scrapped because no cure or vaccine could be found. It was therefore interesting to note that someone in the enemy had contracted the disease. He tapped a key and the screen appeared to scroll down. The machine sent out a string of coded letters and numbers to the nearby OZ base.
The doctor declared, "This confirms the diagnosis."
"Give it to me," the gunman said in a business-like manner. "The medicine."
The doctor complied, willingly. "Thrice a day."
Duo nodded, "Thank you." He turned, as if to go, then whipped around and shot the doctor clean through the head. "Sorry doc," he muttered under his breath, "I didn't like the look on your face." Then, he put three bullets through the machine as well, and fled the hospital.
"I'm back." He announced.
"You shouldn't have gone."
Duo grimaced, "Well, I'm back, safe. And we can leave now. I'm driving." He waited for Heero to get out of the driver's seat and move over to the other side of the cabin, before climbing in.
"Hn," Heero settled down as Duo turned the key, started the engine, and drove off, then flipped up his laptop screen and began typing. "We were being watched," he said quietly, without looking up.
"Well, yeah?" Duo was still feeling a little annoyed and cocky. The last thing he needed was for Heero to preach.
"Two," Heero answered, still typing.
"Did they get to report?" Duo asked, trying to keep the slight anxiety out of his voice.
"No." Heero left it to his partner to speculate on what had happened to the sentries.
There was a long silence before Duo decided to speak again, "Want to know what I found out?"
"Hn."
Duo didn't even bother to glance at his partner; if the brown-haired boy was interested at all, it didn't show on his usual, expressionless face. "It's a new disease, that's why I think it didn't show up on the test. But it's not bad, and they have a cure which works. I got the medicine, take it three times a day."
Heero frowned as Duo handed the bottle of tablets to him. There was no label on it. He unscrewed the cap. The medicine smelled familiar – a sickly sweet smell – but he couldn't quite place where he'd smelt it before.
"I'm pretty sure the doctor was telling the truth," Duo knew what Heero was thinking. The former street rat had a good gut instinct about people, and Heero had, over time, learnt to trust it.
"Thanks," the other boy acknowledged grudgingly after he swallowed the medicine.
"You're welcome," Duo shook his head in resignation, then switched topics. "So, Hee-chan, where are we headed?"
For some reason or other – it was probably because he wanted Duo to shut up – Heero divulged the information readily, "Meet up with Wufei at the next safe house, then go and check on the Gundams. Quatre and Trowa might join us, but I don't think so."
"Hn," Duo grunted, then tried to stop himself from snickering. He earned another death glare.
Heero allowed himself a slight grin as Duo burst out in uncontrollable laughter, then, done with his typing, he leaned back in his seat, and went to sleep.
Duo took his eyes off the road for a while to glance in his partner's direction, taking in the messed brown hair, closed eyes and bandaged arm. Damn it, Heero, I love you.
It wasn't in that sort of way, Duo was sure – he didn't want it to be, anyway – more of like a brotherly sort of love. Sometimes, it seemed as though Heero Yuy, Perfect Soldier though he was, needed someone else to watch over him. The way Solo watched over me, Duo mused, turning his attention back to the road. Sometimes.
Sometimes… us living to the end of this war.
Duo realised his eyes were wet with tears. He brushed a hand roughly across them. Why was he crying when Heero would get better? Fatal. Usually fatal … could cure it. Duo knew, all too well, what those words meant.
No.
Heero would live through this, like he'd lived through everything else. Fatal, but not for Heero Yuy. Duo knew he had to convince himself, and Heero. He would. He was convinced. He had to be, for Heero's sake.
I won't let you die, Heero.
Never.
Never again like Solo. I promise.
There's still hope, kid, as long as you believe. Solo's words; Duo knew he'd remember them for life. Dawn was breaking, and bright streaks of light pierced through the darkness. He closed his eyes for a second, then reopened them. Like the light, there would be hope.
Duo Maxwell looked at his partner once more, violet eyes hardened with resolve.
I promise.
Heero woke up when they were about ten minutes from the safe house. He cursed himself mentally for not having woken up earlier to help Duo drive.
"You better?" Duo asked in a conversational tone. "We're almost there."
"Yeah," this time, Heero knew he wasn't lying. The headache and nausea had faded to just slight discomfort, and for that, he was extremely grateful.
Duo nodded, noting that Heero didn't appear to be as sick as when they'd left the last safe house. He was recovering. That was good.
Wufei came out to greet them when they arrived at the safe house, a hut slightly bigger than the last one had been. Duo waved once they had got out of the truck, and Heero merely grunted. As before, they only took their duffels.
"Did you bring anything nice to eat?" Wufei asked hopefully.
Duo beamed, "Yeah sure."
Wufei brightened up visibly.
"Army rations."
The other Gundam pilot grimaced and glared at Duo as Heero tossed him a packet from the back of the truck. The Perfect Soldier was smiling ever so slightly, "Hn. Let's get inside."
Heero was sitting on the bunk, studying his laptop.
Duo dumped his duffel on the top bunk in the room, after seeing that Heero had placed his on the bottom one. This safe house only had two rooms, and they had decided to let Wufei sleep alone – he was always more of a loner anyway.
Duo glanced at Heero, but the other boy was either ignoring him or too engrossed in his laptop to notice, so he climbed up to his bunk to take a nap – he had gone through the whole night without sleep, and he was tired. "Wake me up when you're done," he called down to his partner.
"Hn," Heero grunted in reply, storing that piece of information in some part of his brain. There wasn't really anything to do yet anyway, since they had to wait for the cover of nightfall before they could go and inspect the Gundams. It was good that Duo had decided to sleep, since he was probably exhausted, even though he seemed as energetic as ever. The next mission would be just as taxing, if not worse. It was the last one for the next week or so, and Heero knew that if he could just last through this one, he'd be fine. Duo's concern was really all for nothing, Heero sighed to himself as, realising the room lights were turned on, he got up to switch them off so Duo would be able to sleep better.
Staring at the screen, he saw that he'd almost finished the mission report already. He typed in the last few sentences, then sent it off. He wondered what he should do with his time now, figuring that Wufei would also be asleep. Rummaging through his duffel bag, he found a diskette, inserting it into the laptop. The screen turned black except for a blinking white cursor, then he began to type in codes, practising and going through the various hacking procedures.
When he'd finished about an hour of practising, he put the laptop aside, changed into a tank-top and shorts, then left the safe house. He'd decided to go for a short run, something he hadn't done in nearly a week, which meant that he'd been losing stamina. Heero didn't particularly like that thought, but he dwelt on it for awhile, then pushed it aside as his feet hit the muddy trail. He figured he would be less conspicuous if he stayed off the roads, so that left only cross-country to run.
That was alright. He didn't mind in the least.
As he ran, he let his mind wander, although he kept his senses alert for anything suspicious. Duo might complain that he was sick, but Heero knew from experience that a good run would usually clear off most things, including the nagging pain in his head. Even if it hurt less now, it was still there. He knew the medicine wouldn't cure him immediately – it might not even work properly – but he didn't really have a choice. The mission was top priority – every one of the 3 Gundams would be needed – and even if Wufei and Duo insisted they could do it together without him, he didn't think they could. He had to get better, and so he put himself to the test, pushing his limits, as he knew he would have to do in the mission.
He glanced at his timer and realised that he'd already been running for 17 minutes. As he headed back, he could tell that the pain was gone. He grinned a little – that was good – then his face hardened again in determination as he kicked up the pace and worked on finishing the last 13 or so minutes.
"Wake up, baka," Heero said gruffly, for the second time. He climbed up to the top bunk and gave Duo a hard shove.
"Okay, okay, I'm awake," Duo grumbled, sitting up and blinking in the glare of the bright room lights.
"Hn," Heero knew that his partner had probably been feigning sleep the past five minutes, just to annoy him.
Duo jumped off the bunk, landing softly on his feet. He noticed that Heero's dark-brown hair was wet and figured that the other boy had probably taken a bath. He decided to take one too. "What time is it?"
"1600."
"When will we be going through the mission details?" Duo asked as he grabbed a towel and a change of clothes.
"1615."
"Right. Which means I'm going to be late. You so set me up!" Duo pretended to sound annoyed as he bolted out of the room and headed for the shower.
Heero chuckled a little at Duo's antics, then picked up his laptop and went into the hall.
"Hi Heero. What's with Duo?" Wufei was already sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Heero shrugged, his face as expressionless as ever, and sat down opposite the Chinese boy, his back to a wall. He placed the laptop beside him.
"Got injured?" Wufei asked for the sake of trying to make conversation while they waited for Duo, gesturing towards Heero's bandaged left arm.
"Huh?" Heero was caught off-guard, a rare occurrence. "Oh, that. It's not very bad."
Wufei looked a little cynical, but accepted the answer without questioning. The two of them sat there together in silence, each watching the other casually, until Duo arrived, at 1616.
"You're late," Wufei said flatly, frowning slightly.
Duo ignored the frown and sat down, "Hi Wufei." His wet hair hadn't been braided yet, but he'd managed to comb it out neatly, and it hung over his back. He pulled it back into a long ponytail, then began to braid it, watching the other two pilots as he did so.
Heero began immediately, "I have the location of the warehouse on the laptop; Wufei, have you seen the place?"
The black-haired pilot nodded, "Yes, I passed it yesterday, on the way here. It will be quite deserted by tonight. No one really passes it."
"Good. We'll check the Gundams later tonight – make sure they're fuelled and ready to go."
"What's the target this time?" Duo asked.
"Enemy base. I've been scouting it out," Wufei answered. "Should be okay enough."
It was Heero's turn to frown, "It's a small base, but very instrumental. They use it to transport ammunition, so we'll try and hit it hard."
Duo grinned, "Blow it up?"
"Yes, why not? If there's enough ammunition and it amuses you," Wufei remarked dryly, slightly annoyed.
The ginger-haired boy shrugged. He didn't really like killing people, but he knew some things just had to be done. He finished braiding his hair, then paid close attention as Heero went through the mission plan.
The rest of the night was rather uneventful. They drove out to the warehouse, checked that all the equipment was there and that the Gundams were in working condition, then returned to the safe house. Wufei went off to his room, leaving Duo and Heero outside, sitting on the grass, staring up at the dark night-sky.
"Hee-chan?" Duo asked softly.
"Hn."
"Don't you ever wish that everything would be okay?" Duo was still looking up at the stars. "That perhaps, when we wake up tomorrow – and not if – the war will be over, everything will be all right?"
Heero shrugged. "That would be wishing for something impossible," he said matter-of-factly.
Duo was slightly exasperated, "That's what wishes are for, right?"
"Hn," Heero wasn't ignoring his partner this time; it was just that he couldn't think of anything to say.
"I dunno. 'Cause that's what I often hope for – that everything'll be all right, that nobody else will have to die."
Heero picked up the slightest note of uncertainty in the other boy's voice. He could tell Duo was afraid, and he could guess at what he was afraid of. Funny how I'm not worried about my own death, but Duo is, Heero mused. "I think almost everyone wishes for that," He allowed.
"Really?" Duo looked at Heero. Heero could read into his best friend's eyes. It was difficult to imagine that this boy was also known as Shinigami – god of death.
"This is the last mission, then we get to rest for a while."
Duo nodded. "Promise me you won't get killed."
Heero knew it was a rather stupid thing to do, because he could never be sure, but he let it go, this once, for Duo's sake, "I promise." He put an arm around Duo's shoulder.
Duo closed his eyes. I'll hold you to your promise, Hee-chan. Don't go on me. He could feel a sort of hope, certainty that things would be right.
TBC.