Here it is! The long awaited Part 9! Very long awaited, I know...
::pauses as she remembers all of the people who threatened to kill her if
she didn't post the next part _soon_:: Ehehehe... This counts as soon,
doesn't it? ::edges backwards:: I'll just be hiding if you need me.
::Considers hiding under the bed, then remembers that that's PlaidDragon's
hang out. Heads for the closet instead:: I hope I fit. I knew should
have cleaned this thing out earlier...
Apoptosis By Rapunzel
Part 9
His head stung. That was the first thing he was aware of. The second was that something cold was dabbing at the hurt area, making the stinging even worse. "Cut it out," he muttered irritably.
"Duo? Are you awake?"
It took him a minute to recognize the voice as Quatre's. Opening his eyes, he expected to see the blond pilot hovering over him. Instead, he was greeted by Heero, holding a damp and slightly reddened washcloth and looking surly.
"Hold still," Heero said. "I need to clean your head wound."
Duo tried to hold still, but as Heero began to dab at the bloody cut on his head, the stinging sensation returned full force, and he squirmed. "Dammit, Heero, that hurts!"
"It's supposed to," Heero said. "Pain is your body's way of telling you there's something wrong."
"That's a funny thing to hear from a guy who's really good at ignoring his own pain."
Heero had nothing to say to that. He continued cleaning the cut without comment. Quatre, on the other hand, had plenty to say.
"Duo, what were you thinking, running off and doing something dangerous like that?! You're lucky you weren't killed! When Heero showed up dragging Deathscythe, we thought you had been!"
"Well, if I'd known how much trouble it was going to be, I wouldn't have gone," Duo replied.
"Now, Quatre," Trowa said, and Duo jumped, having not known he was in the room. "Duo's going to be fine."
"I hope he doesn't need stitches," Quatre murmured, peering anxiously at Duo's head.
"Trowa's right," Duo said, waving him away. "I'll be fine."
Quatre backed away from the bed to give Heero more room, and Trowa put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on," he said. "Let's give him some space. Don't worry; I doubt his hard head took much damage." He quietly but firmly steered Quatre out of the room.
"Oh, gee, thanks!" Duo called after him sarcastically.
Trowa ignored him.
Heero got up, moved over to the door, and quietly closed it, locking it firmly. Now assured that they were alone and likely to remain so, he ran his hand along Duo's face, tracing the jaw line. "You worried us," he said.
"I'm sorry," Duo said. He tried to sit up, but Heero planted a hand firmly in the middle of his chest, pinning him down. "Stay still, I'm not done yet," he said.
Duo submitted, since there was little else for him to do, and subsided. "So how much damage did my thick head actually take?" he asked.
"You probably have a mild concussion," Heero answered calmly. "And the cut, of course. It bled a lot, but it's not as bad as it looked at first."
"And the rest of me?" Duo persisted. "Since you won't let me move, I'm having trouble getting a damage assessment."
"Nothing life threatening," Heero said. "Bruises. Lots of them. You're going to have an imprint of your harness in black and blue for a few weeks."
"Then why was Quatre so worried?"
"Deathscythe didn't look so good when I brought it in," Heero answered coolly.
Duo groaned. "Oh no. How much damage did I do?"
Heero grunted. "I didn't look. I sent it straight off to Howard."
"You didn't look?" Duo repeated incredulously. Heero always did damage assessments, however brief, on the Gundams after a mission.
"I was a little more concerned with the pilot than the Gundam," Heero said, sounding slightly defensive.
Duo beamed up at him. "Oh, Heero, you're such a sap sometimes."
It was difficult to tell, since the lighting was dim, but he could have sworn he saw Heero's cheeks go faintly pink. "I am not," he said, sounding surly.
Duo just smiled knowingly at him.
"So," Duo went on, "I noticed that Quatre and Trowa were both in here hovering. Where's Wufei?"
Heero looked faintly guilty. "He's not speaking to me."
"Why not?"
"I borrowed Shenlong without his permission, and didn't bring it back in the best of condition."
Duo's eyes widened in alarm. Given Heero's tendency of understating things, "not in the best of condition" probably meant "one step away from scrap metal." "Are you okay?"
"Fine."
Duo wasn't sure if he should accept that answer, but decided that Heero looked fine to him, and he shouldn't push. He lay still and let Heero tend to the cut. Once that was finished, Heero moved to leave the room, but Duo sat up and caught his wrist.
"Sit down," he said, tugging Heero back towards the bed. "We should talk."
Heero looked faintly apprehensive, but sat down. "What about?"
"About J."
Heero flinched.
"I think," Duo went on, "that it would be a good idea if none of us accepted orders from him anymore."
Heero looked startled. "But that would mean I couldn't fight anymore!"
"No, it just means you get your mission orders from G instead, and when you bust Wing, you take it to Howard for repairs and upgrades. That's what we should have done from the beginning."
Heero considered it. "Wouldn't G want to know why I was taking orders from him instead of J?"
"He's a smart man; I'm sure he'll figure it out," Duo replied airily. "So, what do you think? It would mean you'd get to work with me a lot more often."
"Okay," Heero said.
"Yay!" Duo beamed at him. "And you know what else this means, right?"
"What?"
"It means we'll probably end up having to share laptops!"
Heero's facial muscles twitched slightly.
"Oh, come on," Duo said, seeing the reaction. "It won't be that bad. I mean, just think, you've had time to get used to it already. I've been putting my grubby little paws all over your precious laptop for the past several days anyway."
Heero's face didn't lighten. If anything, his scowl deepened.
Duo smiled back at him winningly. "Just think of it as penance for messing with other people's things."
"I don't mess with other people's things," Heero growled.
"Oh no? I'll bet Wufei would say otherwise."
Heero did have the grace to look slightly sheepish. He didn't answer, but instead rose and turned towards the door.
"Hey," Duo said. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To get you something to drink," Heero answered calmly.
Duo motioned him back. "Stick around. I'm not thirsty."
"Duo," Heero said patiently, "head wounds bleed a lot. We have no idea how much blood you've lost. You need fluids."
"Screw the fluids," Duo said, sitting up and reaching out towards Heero. "Dammit, I just risked my life trying to save your butt, and now I want you here so I know you're alright."
"You seemed to be the one whose butt needed saving," Heero reminded him with a snort, but he moved back and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently, taking care to avoid the bruises he knew were on the other's torso, he pushed Duo backwards to lie down again. Duo caught a handful of his shirt and pulled Heero down to lie next to him. Only once the other pilot was fitted against his side with his head resting on Duo's shoulder was Duo content.
"That's better," he said.
Heero squirmed a bit to get comfortable, then subsided, closing his eyes and relaxing. For a while the two lay in silence together.
"Heero," Duo said after a while, "I understand your reasoning and all, but I would appreciate it if you would never "fix" anything on my Deathscythe again, even the self-destruct button."
Heero didn't bother to open his eyes. "Consider it payback for tampering with Wing."
Duo sputtered indignantly. "When did I do that?"
"I don't know when," Heero answered. "But I know that you did. Otherwise Howard would have had it back to me a long time ago."
Duo shut his mouth. Damn. Busted. "It was for a good cause," he muttered sulkily.
"That's what I told myself as I was fixing your self-destruct mechanism."
"Touché," Duo murmured. "How about we both agree not to mess with each other's Gundams without permission."
"Deal," Heero said, still not opening his eyes. "As long as you promise me not to use the self-destruct button once it's fixed."
"Hey!" Duo said indignantly. "That's a little hypocritical coming from you!"
"What if I promised not to use mine in future unless it's absolutely necessary?"
Duo turned his head to stare searchingly at Heero, but his eyes were still closed. "Would you be able to keep that promise?"
"Of course," Heero said. "If I'm taking orders from G, there won't be any more Operation Apoptosis."
"True," Duo said. "I won't if you won't."
"Okay."
Silence filled the air for a few more moments.
"Heero?" Duo said.
"Hm?"
"You meant it, didn't you? What you said when you told me you'd messed with the button?"
"Of course," Heero said as though it was obvious. "That's what got me into this in the first place, isn't it?"
"If I tell you I love you too, will you say it again?"
Heero opened his eyes to find Duo looking at him very intently. "Yes."
~*~*~
"Do you think Duo's going to be okay?" Quatre murmured, stopping by the door to Duo's room.
"Quatre, he's fine," Trowa said calmly. "He's got a head wound and bruises, nothing that's going to kill him. Anyway, I'm sure Heero will take very good care of him."
"Well, it can't hurt to check," Quatre said, hand on the knob. He twisted ineffectually for a moment, then turned to Trowa, looking perplexed. "It's locked."
"Like I said," Trowa said, "I'm sure Heero will take good care of him. Very good care."
"Oh. Oh! Well, then we should leave them alone."
"Yes." Trowa put his hand on Quatre's back and guided him gently away from the door. "Why don't we go talk to Wufei again? He has to see reason and let go of his grudge eventually."
"Not a bad idea," Quatre said, turning and walking down the hallway.
Trowa lingered a little longer, pausing to press his ear against the door. A small smile crossed his face. "Very good care indeed."
Owari
Yes! Finally! I finish it! Well, except for the epilogue, but that can wait. Thanks to everyone who commented; it really made a difference! There was a while there when I thought that I would never finish this thing, but after all the encouragement I got, I felt rather obligated to work on it.
Apoptosis By Rapunzel
Part 9
His head stung. That was the first thing he was aware of. The second was that something cold was dabbing at the hurt area, making the stinging even worse. "Cut it out," he muttered irritably.
"Duo? Are you awake?"
It took him a minute to recognize the voice as Quatre's. Opening his eyes, he expected to see the blond pilot hovering over him. Instead, he was greeted by Heero, holding a damp and slightly reddened washcloth and looking surly.
"Hold still," Heero said. "I need to clean your head wound."
Duo tried to hold still, but as Heero began to dab at the bloody cut on his head, the stinging sensation returned full force, and he squirmed. "Dammit, Heero, that hurts!"
"It's supposed to," Heero said. "Pain is your body's way of telling you there's something wrong."
"That's a funny thing to hear from a guy who's really good at ignoring his own pain."
Heero had nothing to say to that. He continued cleaning the cut without comment. Quatre, on the other hand, had plenty to say.
"Duo, what were you thinking, running off and doing something dangerous like that?! You're lucky you weren't killed! When Heero showed up dragging Deathscythe, we thought you had been!"
"Well, if I'd known how much trouble it was going to be, I wouldn't have gone," Duo replied.
"Now, Quatre," Trowa said, and Duo jumped, having not known he was in the room. "Duo's going to be fine."
"I hope he doesn't need stitches," Quatre murmured, peering anxiously at Duo's head.
"Trowa's right," Duo said, waving him away. "I'll be fine."
Quatre backed away from the bed to give Heero more room, and Trowa put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on," he said. "Let's give him some space. Don't worry; I doubt his hard head took much damage." He quietly but firmly steered Quatre out of the room.
"Oh, gee, thanks!" Duo called after him sarcastically.
Trowa ignored him.
Heero got up, moved over to the door, and quietly closed it, locking it firmly. Now assured that they were alone and likely to remain so, he ran his hand along Duo's face, tracing the jaw line. "You worried us," he said.
"I'm sorry," Duo said. He tried to sit up, but Heero planted a hand firmly in the middle of his chest, pinning him down. "Stay still, I'm not done yet," he said.
Duo submitted, since there was little else for him to do, and subsided. "So how much damage did my thick head actually take?" he asked.
"You probably have a mild concussion," Heero answered calmly. "And the cut, of course. It bled a lot, but it's not as bad as it looked at first."
"And the rest of me?" Duo persisted. "Since you won't let me move, I'm having trouble getting a damage assessment."
"Nothing life threatening," Heero said. "Bruises. Lots of them. You're going to have an imprint of your harness in black and blue for a few weeks."
"Then why was Quatre so worried?"
"Deathscythe didn't look so good when I brought it in," Heero answered coolly.
Duo groaned. "Oh no. How much damage did I do?"
Heero grunted. "I didn't look. I sent it straight off to Howard."
"You didn't look?" Duo repeated incredulously. Heero always did damage assessments, however brief, on the Gundams after a mission.
"I was a little more concerned with the pilot than the Gundam," Heero said, sounding slightly defensive.
Duo beamed up at him. "Oh, Heero, you're such a sap sometimes."
It was difficult to tell, since the lighting was dim, but he could have sworn he saw Heero's cheeks go faintly pink. "I am not," he said, sounding surly.
Duo just smiled knowingly at him.
"So," Duo went on, "I noticed that Quatre and Trowa were both in here hovering. Where's Wufei?"
Heero looked faintly guilty. "He's not speaking to me."
"Why not?"
"I borrowed Shenlong without his permission, and didn't bring it back in the best of condition."
Duo's eyes widened in alarm. Given Heero's tendency of understating things, "not in the best of condition" probably meant "one step away from scrap metal." "Are you okay?"
"Fine."
Duo wasn't sure if he should accept that answer, but decided that Heero looked fine to him, and he shouldn't push. He lay still and let Heero tend to the cut. Once that was finished, Heero moved to leave the room, but Duo sat up and caught his wrist.
"Sit down," he said, tugging Heero back towards the bed. "We should talk."
Heero looked faintly apprehensive, but sat down. "What about?"
"About J."
Heero flinched.
"I think," Duo went on, "that it would be a good idea if none of us accepted orders from him anymore."
Heero looked startled. "But that would mean I couldn't fight anymore!"
"No, it just means you get your mission orders from G instead, and when you bust Wing, you take it to Howard for repairs and upgrades. That's what we should have done from the beginning."
Heero considered it. "Wouldn't G want to know why I was taking orders from him instead of J?"
"He's a smart man; I'm sure he'll figure it out," Duo replied airily. "So, what do you think? It would mean you'd get to work with me a lot more often."
"Okay," Heero said.
"Yay!" Duo beamed at him. "And you know what else this means, right?"
"What?"
"It means we'll probably end up having to share laptops!"
Heero's facial muscles twitched slightly.
"Oh, come on," Duo said, seeing the reaction. "It won't be that bad. I mean, just think, you've had time to get used to it already. I've been putting my grubby little paws all over your precious laptop for the past several days anyway."
Heero's face didn't lighten. If anything, his scowl deepened.
Duo smiled back at him winningly. "Just think of it as penance for messing with other people's things."
"I don't mess with other people's things," Heero growled.
"Oh no? I'll bet Wufei would say otherwise."
Heero did have the grace to look slightly sheepish. He didn't answer, but instead rose and turned towards the door.
"Hey," Duo said. "Where do you think you're going?"
"To get you something to drink," Heero answered calmly.
Duo motioned him back. "Stick around. I'm not thirsty."
"Duo," Heero said patiently, "head wounds bleed a lot. We have no idea how much blood you've lost. You need fluids."
"Screw the fluids," Duo said, sitting up and reaching out towards Heero. "Dammit, I just risked my life trying to save your butt, and now I want you here so I know you're alright."
"You seemed to be the one whose butt needed saving," Heero reminded him with a snort, but he moved back and sat down on the edge of the bed. Gently, taking care to avoid the bruises he knew were on the other's torso, he pushed Duo backwards to lie down again. Duo caught a handful of his shirt and pulled Heero down to lie next to him. Only once the other pilot was fitted against his side with his head resting on Duo's shoulder was Duo content.
"That's better," he said.
Heero squirmed a bit to get comfortable, then subsided, closing his eyes and relaxing. For a while the two lay in silence together.
"Heero," Duo said after a while, "I understand your reasoning and all, but I would appreciate it if you would never "fix" anything on my Deathscythe again, even the self-destruct button."
Heero didn't bother to open his eyes. "Consider it payback for tampering with Wing."
Duo sputtered indignantly. "When did I do that?"
"I don't know when," Heero answered. "But I know that you did. Otherwise Howard would have had it back to me a long time ago."
Duo shut his mouth. Damn. Busted. "It was for a good cause," he muttered sulkily.
"That's what I told myself as I was fixing your self-destruct mechanism."
"Touché," Duo murmured. "How about we both agree not to mess with each other's Gundams without permission."
"Deal," Heero said, still not opening his eyes. "As long as you promise me not to use the self-destruct button once it's fixed."
"Hey!" Duo said indignantly. "That's a little hypocritical coming from you!"
"What if I promised not to use mine in future unless it's absolutely necessary?"
Duo turned his head to stare searchingly at Heero, but his eyes were still closed. "Would you be able to keep that promise?"
"Of course," Heero said. "If I'm taking orders from G, there won't be any more Operation Apoptosis."
"True," Duo said. "I won't if you won't."
"Okay."
Silence filled the air for a few more moments.
"Heero?" Duo said.
"Hm?"
"You meant it, didn't you? What you said when you told me you'd messed with the button?"
"Of course," Heero said as though it was obvious. "That's what got me into this in the first place, isn't it?"
"If I tell you I love you too, will you say it again?"
Heero opened his eyes to find Duo looking at him very intently. "Yes."
~*~*~
"Do you think Duo's going to be okay?" Quatre murmured, stopping by the door to Duo's room.
"Quatre, he's fine," Trowa said calmly. "He's got a head wound and bruises, nothing that's going to kill him. Anyway, I'm sure Heero will take very good care of him."
"Well, it can't hurt to check," Quatre said, hand on the knob. He twisted ineffectually for a moment, then turned to Trowa, looking perplexed. "It's locked."
"Like I said," Trowa said, "I'm sure Heero will take good care of him. Very good care."
"Oh. Oh! Well, then we should leave them alone."
"Yes." Trowa put his hand on Quatre's back and guided him gently away from the door. "Why don't we go talk to Wufei again? He has to see reason and let go of his grudge eventually."
"Not a bad idea," Quatre said, turning and walking down the hallway.
Trowa lingered a little longer, pausing to press his ear against the door. A small smile crossed his face. "Very good care indeed."
Owari
Yes! Finally! I finish it! Well, except for the epilogue, but that can wait. Thanks to everyone who commented; it really made a difference! There was a while there when I thought that I would never finish this thing, but after all the encouragement I got, I felt rather obligated to work on it.