Thanks for everyone who commented on this story. It gives me encouragement
to actually finish it (when my muse actually gets around to telling me the
ending, that is). For those of you who are not yaoi fans, I'm sorry, but
I'm afraid that I am an irredeemable 1x2 fan.
Part 2
Several hours of sleep and a good meal later, Duo felt up to taking the Heero watch again. When he walked into the room, he saw Quatre sitting by the bed keeping Heero company and entertaining him by giving him an update on Wing.
"Oddly enough," Quatre was saying, "most of the computer systems survived. But the rest of the suit was blown to pieces and had to be replaced. I contacted Dr. J, and he says he'll expect you back on active duty as soon as Howard finishes repairing Wing."
"Not if Wing gets repaired before you finish healing," Duo spoke up.
Heero, who had been nodding silently while Quatre gave his report, started and looked at Duo sharply. "It can't be helped. If J-"
"Geez," Duo interrupted him. "I can't believe you're ready to listen to that old coot and ignore your health! Well, I mean I know _you_ ignore your health, but he shouldn't! I'd almost swear he's trying to kill you!"
Heero shot him a Look , but said nothing. Quatre, meanwhile, seeing a potential argument brewing, left the room as quietly as possible. Neither Heero nor Duo paid any attention to him.
"Look, Heero," Duo said. "If you get any missions, I'll take care of them for you. Because you and I both know that if you go on a really dangerous assignment before you heal fully, you probably won't come back alive."
"If I get a mission that specifically requires my skills." Heero trailed off and Duo exploded.
"Godammit, Heero! I'm not gonna let you kill yourself! I'll steal your laptop if I have to!"
"You wouldn't dare," Heero told him evenly.
Duo took a deep breath to calm himself, and then let out a laugh he didn't feel. "Yeah. I guess not. That would make me the suicidal one, huh?" He fell silent for a moment. Then, because Heero obviously wasn't going to say anything, he asked, "Hey, Heero. What were you talking about when you said 'Mission accepted'?"
"Nothing," Heero said.
Somehow, Duo couldn't quite believe that.
~*~*~
"There she is," Howard said. "She's coming along nicely."
"Great," Duo said, not mentioning the fact that most of them referred to their Gundams as male. "Heero'll be pleased."
"The cockpit systems are all functional, and she's in one piece again. We just need to strengthen the connections at the joints, and she'll be ready to go."
"That's good," Duo said. "Can I check the systems?"
"Sure, go ahead." The mechanic waved him along.
As he climbed into the cockpit, Duo felt a small twinge of guilt for what he was about to do. Still, it was for a good cause, and Heero didn't have to know. . .
As he prepared to put the bug into the computer system, a sudden thought occurred to him. Quatre had said that the computer systems were largely undamaged. That meant that any files or messages received before the explosion should still be there, unless they had been deleted.
It took a little effort, but Duo finally managed to find the message that Heero had received during the battle. Apparently, Heero had not had time to delete it. Duo opened it, and was surprised to find that it was extremely short. It simply said, "Execute Operation Apoptosis."
"Operation Apoptosis?" Duo wondered aloud. He sat pondering as he put the virus in and waited for it to finish loading. "What the heck is apoptosis?"
/If it's an acronym, I'm screwed. I'll never figure out what all those letters stand for. /
"Duo? Hey, Duo!" Howard's voice brought him back to the world of reality. The loading was finished; the bug was in the system, and Duo was confident that it would take at least two days and a lot of cursing to get it out again.
"Hey, Howard? I think we've got a problem. . ."
tbc
Part 2
Several hours of sleep and a good meal later, Duo felt up to taking the Heero watch again. When he walked into the room, he saw Quatre sitting by the bed keeping Heero company and entertaining him by giving him an update on Wing.
"Oddly enough," Quatre was saying, "most of the computer systems survived. But the rest of the suit was blown to pieces and had to be replaced. I contacted Dr. J, and he says he'll expect you back on active duty as soon as Howard finishes repairing Wing."
"Not if Wing gets repaired before you finish healing," Duo spoke up.
Heero, who had been nodding silently while Quatre gave his report, started and looked at Duo sharply. "It can't be helped. If J-"
"Geez," Duo interrupted him. "I can't believe you're ready to listen to that old coot and ignore your health! Well, I mean I know _you_ ignore your health, but he shouldn't! I'd almost swear he's trying to kill you!"
Heero shot him a Look , but said nothing. Quatre, meanwhile, seeing a potential argument brewing, left the room as quietly as possible. Neither Heero nor Duo paid any attention to him.
"Look, Heero," Duo said. "If you get any missions, I'll take care of them for you. Because you and I both know that if you go on a really dangerous assignment before you heal fully, you probably won't come back alive."
"If I get a mission that specifically requires my skills." Heero trailed off and Duo exploded.
"Godammit, Heero! I'm not gonna let you kill yourself! I'll steal your laptop if I have to!"
"You wouldn't dare," Heero told him evenly.
Duo took a deep breath to calm himself, and then let out a laugh he didn't feel. "Yeah. I guess not. That would make me the suicidal one, huh?" He fell silent for a moment. Then, because Heero obviously wasn't going to say anything, he asked, "Hey, Heero. What were you talking about when you said 'Mission accepted'?"
"Nothing," Heero said.
Somehow, Duo couldn't quite believe that.
~*~*~
"There she is," Howard said. "She's coming along nicely."
"Great," Duo said, not mentioning the fact that most of them referred to their Gundams as male. "Heero'll be pleased."
"The cockpit systems are all functional, and she's in one piece again. We just need to strengthen the connections at the joints, and she'll be ready to go."
"That's good," Duo said. "Can I check the systems?"
"Sure, go ahead." The mechanic waved him along.
As he climbed into the cockpit, Duo felt a small twinge of guilt for what he was about to do. Still, it was for a good cause, and Heero didn't have to know. . .
As he prepared to put the bug into the computer system, a sudden thought occurred to him. Quatre had said that the computer systems were largely undamaged. That meant that any files or messages received before the explosion should still be there, unless they had been deleted.
It took a little effort, but Duo finally managed to find the message that Heero had received during the battle. Apparently, Heero had not had time to delete it. Duo opened it, and was surprised to find that it was extremely short. It simply said, "Execute Operation Apoptosis."
"Operation Apoptosis?" Duo wondered aloud. He sat pondering as he put the virus in and waited for it to finish loading. "What the heck is apoptosis?"
/If it's an acronym, I'm screwed. I'll never figure out what all those letters stand for. /
"Duo? Hey, Duo!" Howard's voice brought him back to the world of reality. The loading was finished; the bug was in the system, and Duo was confident that it would take at least two days and a lot of cursing to get it out again.
"Hey, Howard? I think we've got a problem. . ."
tbc