Mel: Blah blah blah… the usual oshaberi babble here. I just feel like writing to get this over with.

Disclaimer: I. Own. Jack. Got it? Good. Moving on….

Warnings: Uh… Severe plot destruction? *shrugs* This isn't a very eventful chapter. But there is a little cursing for those of you with sensitive ears….

Mel: Then without further delay, on we go!

"…uo… Duo…" Duo felt weight on his shoulders as he slowly woke up. "Duo! Wake up!" The boys eyes slowly opened, despite the harsh light of the room. Every shred of logic in his brain told him to stay asleep, ignore whoever or whatever wanted him awake so badly. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't ignore the persistent shaking of his body.

Duo tilted his head to either side, stretching the muscles in his neck. He continued to do this for the rest of his body, easing the stiffness in his joints. It did, however, irritate the many cuts and scrapes he had acquired. He winced slightly before opening his eyes fully, taking in his surroundings.

"Oh good. I didn't think you would wake up." Quatre was in front of him, a little higher than Duo. The battered boy strained his neck to look up. Heero was holding him in his arms, cold look firmly on his face as usual. "Do you think you can eat something, Duo?" Duo blinked once… twice…. And waited for the statement to sink in. His brain wasn't functioning as quickly as it should, and he couldn't understand what Quatre was saying.

"Go get him a glass of water. Make sure it's not too cold." Quatre nodded and walked out of Duo's line of vision. Duo looked above him at Heero with a questioning gaze. He still couldn't get his mind to take hold of the situation.

"We're going to stay in this apartment with Quatre for a few weeks. You blew our cover, so we need to lie low for a while."

"Now Heero. Don't blame this all on Duo. It wasn't entirely his fault." Quatre walked back up to Duo holding a large glass of water. He held it out, waiting for Duo to take it. The boy slowly wrapped both of his still shaking hands around the glass, and eased it towards his mouth. He noticed that Quatre hadn't let go of it, but didn't really care. He didn't think he would be able to hold it up anyway.

The water was cold and comforting. Duo gulped down the contents of the glass quickly without pausing for a breath, then he gasped for air when he had finished.

"Do you want some more?" Quatre gently took the glass from Duo as he nodded. "Alright. Heero? Why don't you set him down on the couch over there until he has enough strength to walk?" As Heero began to move, Duo became severely afraid that he was going to fall. He wrapped his arms as tightly as he could around his ride's neck, trying to keep from loosing his balance. He squinted his eyes shut as he was moved, not even wanting to look around him.

"You can let me breathe now." Duo slowly opened one eye, and noticed that he was safely on the couch. He grinned sheepishly as he removed his arms from Heero's neck and leaned back. The couch was soft and greatly appreciated. His entire body was sore for who knows how many reasons, and he had no idea how long it had been since he had a chance to sit on something cushioned.

"I got you a bigger glass." Duo greedily took the pitcher-sized glass from Quatre, and began to down that as well. About half way through, he began to cough violently, and Quatre took the glass from him. "I told you to slow down." As Duo coughed, he hugged his knees close to him, realizing how much he hurt all over. After he had gotten his breathing under control, he could feel his entire body burning from fatigue. His stomach felt like it was in knots, and his head hurt like hell. "Are you alright?"

Duo shook his head 'no' as the pain increased steadily. The burning was unbearable, and he couldn't understand why he felt so horrible.

"It's probably been a while since he's had something to eat." Heero held out a sandwich, and Duo took it carefully. His body hurt so badly, he didn't think he wanted to eat anything. "Eat it. It will help" Duo looked up at Heero, then took a small bite, then another, then another. After he had finished, he felt only a little better, but he still didn't feel like eating anything. He just wanted to go to sleep.

"Feeling any better?" Duo nodded sleepily and closed his eyes.

"Let him sleep. We can ask him when he wakes up…."

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~

Duo woke up with a gnawing pain in his stomach. He was starving. He needed something to eat now. Using almost all of his energy, Duo forced himself into a sitting position on the couch and slowly pushed himself up. Once on his feet, he had to put all of his weight on the arm of the couch to keep himself up. He carefully inched across the floor in the direction of the kitchen area of the small room.

"Duo! What are you doing? You could hurt yourself!" Duo would have been fine if no one had said anything, but as soon as he heard Quatre call his name, he turned around to see. He lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on the coffee table on the way down. "Duo?" Duo waved his hand to signify that he was still conscious, then he pulled himself up and back onto the couch. "Well, I'm glad you're not hurt. Now, what were you up for? Can I get you something?" Duo opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out, simply air. "Hmm?" Quatre leaned closer so Duo could whisper into his ear. "Ahh! You're hungry! I can fix that!" Quatre walked out of sight, and soon returned with a small bowl of something steaming. "It's chili. One of my sisters taught me how to make it this way, so it has a lot of vegetables in it… I hope you don't mind." Duo didn't mind. As far as he cared, he could be eating dog shit. He just wanted something in his stomach so he could make the pain go away.

It probably wouldn't have killed him to eat a little slower, but he was too hungry to think about that. For this careless action, he was awarded with another coughing fit. A piece of celery had gone down the wrong hole (yes, there was celery in the chili, along with at least 5 other unidentifiable vegetables). Quatre gave him a sharp blow to the back to help him stop, and it worked (though it left a sharp stinging on his back for at least an hour).

"Duo, if you don't slow down, I'm going to feed it to you." This threat was enough to make Duo slow down a little. He had lost enough of his dignity in the last few days. He intended to keep what little pride he had.

"Are you finished?" Heero reached down to take the bowl away before Duo could attack it with his tongue. "I'll take that as a yes." Duo glared at Heero as he watched the bowl drop into the sink to be washed out.

"So Duo, what exactly happened to you?" Duo shook his head and rubbed his throat. For the first time, he was glad he couldn't talk. He didn't even want to think about what had happened to him. He would be perfectly happy if he could just forget about it and move on.

"You haven't even tried to talk yet. Don't try to avoid this conversation." Duo looked down at his hands, noticing for the first time that he didn't still have his handcuffs on, and that he had been clothed and washed. He looked up at Quatre and brought his hands up in front of his face, keeping his wrists together, then he pulled them apart quickly and pulled at his shirt, trying to get his question across. When Quatre gave him a puzzled look, he repeated the action.

"What? I don't understand…"

"He wants to know who took the handcuffs off and dressed him." Duo nodded and looked at Heero, before his jaw dropped. "Yes. I did it. And I washed your hair too. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to get you on the shuttle to get out here. We had enough trouble with you unconscious as it was." Quatre looked up at Heero, then back at Duo.

"He didn't have clothes on?"

"He was walking through the middle of town in broad daylight wearing nothing but a pair of handcuffs and holding a gun in his hand. Frankly, he looked like he had just been through hell." Duo nodded slightly as he remembered flashes of what had happened, then shook the thoughts out of his mind. The further away from the memories he was, the better it would be.

"Duo?" Duo shook his head and put a hand over Quatre's mouth, then glared at Heero before removing his hand. "That's alright. We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. Why don't you come with me and we'll re-bandage your wounds before I show you your room." Duo nodded and leaned on Quatre in order to stand up. He still didn't have enough strength to walk on his own, but he didn't need to put all of his weight on Quatre. This was definitely going to take some getting used to…

To be continued….

Mel: Ok. To tell you guys the truth, I have no idea where I'm taking the story now. I've already used the original spark, and now I'm lost. If anyone wants to offer a suggestion, I'm open

Tsuru: ~_~ Zzzzzz

Mel: . As you can see, my muse is a useless piece of shit…

Tsuru: Zzzzzz……