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 :) ah, sorry if the Gundam descriptions and stuff are a bit off, I tried my best to study the pictures and all, but I don't really know much else.
Chapter 6:
Deathscythe shuddered one more time as another missile smashed into the Gundanium alloy. Duo winced unconsciously and pulled the yoke towards him with his right hand, bringing his Gundam a step backwards, then guided the scythe in one swift motion down to cut the mobile suit in two.
Thirty-one, I think.
He didn't need anyone to tell him that he and Wufei were losing, and still hopelessly outnumbered. Shields were down to 45 percent, but he doubted they would stay there for long. He stepped on the acceleration, bringing Deathscythe ten metres forward and forcing the mobile suits out of his way, noting with grim satisfaction that one of them was critically damaged. He whipped the Gundam around, swinging the scythe through the air at the same time, incapacitating two more.
Why are they still coming? Duo wanted to scream in frustration. It wasn't the ones in front that gave him trouble, rather, it was the mobile suits which attacked from the back when he was busy with those in front.
"Maxwell!" he heard Wufei yell over the comm. static, "three steps back! I'm coming over."
Duo obeyed without thinking, seeing Shenlong step back as well, towards Deathscythe, on the display of the rear-view camera. He knew what it was Wufei wanted, and he realised the Chinese pilot was just as desperate as he himself was. If they fought back-to-back, perhaps they might be able to pull through.
"Uh, Wufei, you know that red button?" now that they were closer, the comm. was better.
"Yes," the other pilot answered curtly, knowing that Duo was referring to the self-destruct mechanism and knowing exactly what it was that Duo meant to tell him.
"Okay, good. As long as you know," Deathscythe shuddered yet again as a barrage of gunfire hit. 15 percent shield strength. Duo swore silently and sent the scythe through the crowd of mobile suits again, stepping forward slightly. Three more. He stepped back closer to Shenlong and waited for them to re-group.
The shields were gone now, and hull integrity was dropping rapidly, even as Wufei worked desperately to guard Duo's back. "Too many! Dammit, there are too many!" Duo screamed. He brought the scythe down again and again in desperation, each time managing to strike at least one mobile suit, but they kept on coming, and new reinforcements were still arriving on the scene.
"Die with honour, Maxwell," Wufei still sounded annoyingly calm.
"I know, I know," Duo snapped, "But I don't want to die." The force of an explosion threw Shenlong onto Deathscythe. Duo fought the controls for a while as Shenlong struggled to regain balance. No shields, hull integrity: 83 percent.
"Back twenty metres. Now!"
Duo obeyed as Wufei brought Shenlong forward twenty metres so they were still standing back-to-back. A beam of energy shot through where they had been seconds earlier, demolishing twenty or so mobile suits.
"Heero Yuy, damn you," Duo said cheerfully over the comm.
"Hn." Wing landed on the ground some hundred or so metres away, sword raised and ready to fight. Heero could see that they were still badly outnumbered, but he hoped his appearance had evened out the odds some. Hoped.
He tore through the enemy ranks fiercely, hitting out at them with the energy blade. A few missiles smashed into Wing's hull, bringing shields down to 90 percent. Heero took the display in with a swift glance, then analysed the situation quickly. 150 to three. That was in no way good. He had requested Duo and Wufei's data, and he looked at it now – both had lost their shields already, Duo was down to 52 percent hull integrity, Wufei at 54. They wouldn't be able to last long enough, and they couldn't afford to lose 2 Gundams, and 2 pilots, to self-destruction.
Heero made his plan up quickly, then put it into action. He stepped down hard on the pedal and brought Wing fifty metres closer to Deathscythe, striking out left and right as best he could, but, even then, that brought his shields down to 79 percent. Heero cursed mentally, they were too outnumbered to even retreat. That was very bad.
At the edge of his display, he saw another missile hit Deathscythe. The Gundam flew back with the impact, and Duo swore into the comm. "15 percent."
Heero frowned, and let the next few missiles hit Wing – he didn't even bother to go evasive as the shields began to buckle under the barrage. Then, he yanked his joystick over to the left so that his Gundam went down precariously on one knee. Immediately, he pushed it forward, and Wing shuddered as it tried to get back up from its unstable position. Without waiting to regain balance, Heero pushed for full-power, and Wing surged forward, stumbling as though badly damaged. He cut power to the shields so that he lost them entirely.
Suddenly, Duo and Wufei found themselves fighting significantly less mobile suits as the enemy flocked around Wing, trying to go in for the kill. Heero was still fighting furiously, but Duo could see that he wouldn't be able to hold out against them. And then realised that Heero didn't need to.
"Shit! Hee-chan, don't," the American pilot shouted desperately. Heero was faking critical damage to draw the enemy, and then…
Deathscythe surged forward, and Wufei yelled at Duo as gunfire tore into Shenlong's unprotected back. Duo slashed at the mobile suits, trying to get to Heero, but Wufei was screaming for him to get back as a missile exploded against Deathscythe.
"Don't!"
Heero watched as the mobile suits gathered around him, loosing gunfire and missiles liberally. He fought back as best he could, but he knew they would win eventually, unless he got rid of them. 31 percent hull integrity. He stopped for a while, and they came even closer, trying their best to bring Wing down.
"Heero, don't!" he could hear his partner screaming over the comm. but he ignored that.
"Duo, Wufei, run," Heero turned and hit the red self-destruct button with one hand.
Wufei forced himself not to cover his ears as Duo's scream, and the explosion, tore through the cockpit. He took advantage of the distraction to cut down the mobile suits in front of him, then he turned Shenlong around. At the corner of his screen, he saw Deathscythe headed for the place where Wing had exploded.
"Duo!"
There was no answer.
"Duo Maxwell!" Wufei shouted. "Get out of here."
"No, you go," Duo's voice was trembling, but hard with determination.
Stubborn. "Dammit! Heero died so we could escape! Let's go!"
Silence.
Wufei cursed and brought Shenlong around and towards Duo, trying to cover the other pilot as he crashed through the remaining mobile suits.
Duo scanned the wreckage desperately, looking through the twisted metal to see if Heero was there. He spotted the brown-haired pilot sprawled out on the ground some distance away – he had probably been flung out of his cockpit by the explosion. Duo did a 180-degree turn to cut down the three mobile suits that were firing at him from behind, then turned around again, bringing Deathscythe towards Heero.
He stopped the Gundam, scrambled out of his cockpit, and hit the ground running. He reached Heero's side in seconds, and checked for the unconscious pilot's pulse and breathing. Still there.
Good, Heero was still alive.
Duo tried his best to sling his partner over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, then headed towards his Gundam, stumbling under the deadweight of Heero's muscular body. A quick glance to his left told him that the remaining mobile suits were coming towards him fast, although Wufei was doing his best to fend them off.
When he reached Deathscythe, he climbed, one arm holding onto Heero, summoning up strength from somewhere inside him to pull the other pilot up as well. Somehow or other, he managed to reach the cockpit, and he dropped Heero into the small empty space behind the pilot's seat, then slid into the seat himself with some difficulty. With Heero around, there were two of them in a cockpit designed for one, and it was getting pretty cramped.
Wufei's voice crackled over the comm. "Okay, let's get out of here." He had decimated a large proportion of the mobile suits, and he put his words into action as he activated Shenlong's boosters, propelling the Gundam into the sky.
Duo swept the scythe through the mobile suit in his way, then hit the boosters and Deathscythe rose into the air. As they left the OZ base, Duo turned his attention to Heero.
The Japanese pilot was bleeding from a dozen different wounds, but none of them were very serious, except for one across his right leg that looked really bad. Duo reached into his duffel and pulled out a long piece of cloth from the simple first aid kit he always brought along, then wrapped it around Heero's leg wound, putting pressure on it so that it would stop bleeding.
"Hee-chan?" Duo twisted to his side uncomfortably and shook the pilot.
Heero started coughing violently. Duo saw more blood stain his best friend's hands as he covered his mouth.
"Shit," the long-haired pilot swore softly. Heero stayed conscious for a few more seconds, then blacked out again. Duo flipped the comm. switch, "Wufei, we're headed for the warehouse, right?"
"Yes; how's the Perfect Soldier?"
"Not good. Look, when we get back, can you take Deathscythe to the next hideout?"
"And where are you going?" Wufei didn't bother to hide his suspicion.
"I'm taking the truck, going to the nearest hospital."
"They'll find out," Wufei cautioned, although he knew it was no use trying to persuade Duo otherwise.
"Damn it! They won't, okay? They won't!" Duo was practically screaming.
"Okay, okay," Wufei backed off, for once. "You know where the next safe house is?"
Duo took a deep breath, "Yes."
"See you there."
When they reached the warehouse, Wufei helped Duo get Heero out of Deathscythe's cockpit. The Japanese pilot was more or less conscious by then, and he insisted on sitting in the passenger seat next to Duo. Duo did not tell his best friend where they were going, knowing that Heero would definitely refuse. He grabbed the proper First Aid Kit from the warehouse, as well as some supplies and a portable comm. unit. Noticing that his hands were covered with blood – Heero's blood –he stopped at the sink to wash them off quickly, then climbed into the pick-up truck.
As he started the engine and drove onto the road, Duo noticed that Heero's eyes were closed, and he was leaning back against the seat.
"Hee-chan?" Duo asked softly. "You alright?"
"Hn," Duo could tell it was taking a lot of effort for Heero to even grunt.
"You're gonna be alright, okay? You really scared me, but you'll be okay. Just hang on."
"Hn," Heero's breathing was harsh, ragged. He tried to bring it under control, but failed, and instead, started retching. Duo stopped the truck so Heero could throw up, and the ginger-haired pilot noticed the blood in the vomit. He knew it meant at least one of two things – an internal injury, or that Heero was really really sick.
When Heero was done, Duo continued driving, and consulted the map. It would take at least three hours to reach the hospital, he realised in dismay.
Okay, just keep talking, just keep him awake. Everything will be okay. Duo didn't want Heero to give up hope and stop wanting to live. He knew that Heero could get better, or actually, he wanted to believe that it was so. He wondered if he should tell Heero that the doctor had said the disease was usually fatal, but he didn't.
"Did you take the medicine?" Duo asked.
"Yes," Heero didn't say what he'd found out about the tablets. His eyes were closed again, but he wasn't asleep. Far from it; every part of his body hurt – where he'd been bruised or cut – and his headache was very bad. But for Duo's sake, he kept the pain from his face, and didn't say anything about it.
"Then it should work, right?"
Heero didn't answer, and Duo looked over at his friend anxiously. His fists were clenched so tightly, the knuckles had turned white, and Duo knew he must be fighting against the pain.
Heero relaxed a notch and somehow found his voice, although it was hoarse, "Yes. Where are we going?" he already suspected he knew.
"Hospital," Duo answered honestly, "Then you'll get better, and we can meet Wufei at the next safe house. Look, I'll be very careful, okay? We won't get found out."
For some reason or other, the pain subsided a little, and Heero opened his eyes and managed to talk a bit more, "We're being followed and tracked," he stopped to cough, then continued, "they know."
Duo was glad that Heero wasn't so bad off that he couldn't argue back, but he knew that, this time, Heero needed proper medical care. "I can pull this off."
"Hn." His head hurt too much for him to want to continue the argument.
"Heero? Remember, you promised."
The other pilot nodded ever so slightly, then settled back down into the seat and closed his eyes again, willing his tight muscles to relax so he could get some rest. At least, if he could sleep, he might not feel the pain for awhile. Heck, it might even do his body some good. And the mission was already accomplished; now, he only needed to keep his promise to Duo.
TBC.