Coming Through the Rye
By Shannon the Twisted Link Worshiper

~ Part XVIII ~
Fighting Mad

Duo groggily awoke to find himself lying on his stomach, dimly aware of the grip he had around Heero's head, pushing him close to his body. His eyes were bleary and stars shot like comets across his vision before he could get himself to see properly. He turned his head to the right and found himself staring at the base of the rocky cliff, the mess of his once beautiful motorcycle now cool and black amid the large flat rocks. Dismally he reminded himself of that crazy fall, noting that he seemed to have made it off with minimal injury. Turning his head the other way, he could see the lazy sapphire ocean lapping lethargically over the sandy beach. Pulling himself up onto his elbows, he looked down to see Heero lying beneath him in the sand, flat on his back. His eyelids were closed over those smoldering eyes of his, his thin rosy pink lips slightly parted in a gentle oval. His dark brown hair was speckled with sand and grit from the beach, one high cheekbone smeared with dirt and sea grime. Quickly, Duo pulled himself off of Heero's limp body and settled in the sand beside him, staring at Heero like his very gaze might wake the boy up.

"Hee-chan?" Duo's voice ventured softly, shaking one shoulder gently. Heero's head lolled blandly about in the sand with the disturbance, but there was no other movement from the boy. "Hee-chan?" Duo said again, his voice becoming a little more worried when there was still no response from him. "Heero?" Duo's voice was panicky now as both hands fell to the Japanese boy's shoulders, shaking his body frantically. "Heero!"

The sound of the ocean flooded through Duo's head, rushing like a wild tsunami through his barely focused mind. His pupils seemed to dilate a little as he stared blankly at Heero's still body. His arms were lying unnaturally bent over the little sand dunes of the beach, his jean-clad legs splayed strangely from his fall. "You jerk!" Duo cried, giving Heero's unresponsive body a shove. "How could you do that? Why did you break my fall when you knew you'd probably end up really beat up, you idiot?" He gave Heero another push, rolling him over on his side. At the sight of the sticky mess of blood that spattered and stained the back of Heero's white sweatshirt from the palm sized bed of rocks that lay sparsely beneath where they had landed, Duo had to cover his mouth to save himself from gagging. Not that it mattered, because he was soon bent over, a cascade of thick vomit and bile dribbling over his lips and dripping down onto his legs. Looking up with a slight turn of his head, one hand a few inches from his mouth and the other clutching his stomach, he could see the outline of Heero, who was now lying on his side, wounded back facing Duo. "Oh God, Heero," Duo whimpered, fighting to swallow back what little was left in his stomach. "Look what you did to yourself, you stupid liar. You promised you wouldn't die!" Frustrated, Duo through a fistful of sand at Heero's body, as if it would make a difference.

He romped over towards Heero again on his hands and knees, yanking Heero onto his back again. "Breathe, dammit!" Duo shouted angrily as he gave Heero a few hard smacks upon his high feminine cheekbones. All he won from that were a few pretty red marks upon Heero's skin. "I said breathe!" he screamed, falling over Heero's form, supporting himself over his body so his nose was just millimeters from Heero's. Slowly, Duo reached over with one hand and pried Heero's lips open gently. Swinging himself to the side of Heero's body, he leant over and adhered his lips to his Japanese' lover, trying with all his might to give him back his breath. After a few moments of that, he pulled his mouth away somewhat reluctantly and dragged his ear to Heero's chest, listening for a heartbeat. He could hear it pumping faintly beneath Heero's breast. Duo rose up again and placed both hands upon Heero's sternum, applying pressure to his chest in an effort to get his koi breathing again. "You… liar…." Duo was saying between compressions. "Liar, liar, liar... liar…."

A mild cough frazzled through the air. Duo stared over at Heero to realize that his body was quivering with a serious of coughing and sputtering. "N-Not a liar, kitten," came a dizzied voice, small and weak. "See, I-I'm not d-dead. Takes more than a-a stupid little fall o-over a c-cliff to kill me." Another round of coughing ensued. Duo was over at Heero's side like a bat out of hell, peering over his shoulder to survey his lover's condition.

"Heero, you're puking blood!" Duo freaked, reaching over Heero's body to clap a hand over Heero's mouth. He ran his palm over Heero's cool lips, feeling the hot sticky substance adhere itself to his skin. Pulling his hand up, Duo grimaced at the sight of the scarlet fluid painted over his flesh. "Sit up, baby," Duo ordered, trying hard not to look at his hand as he quickly wiped it in the sand and went back to trying to help Heero up. A red handprint still managed to find its way onto Heero's white sleeve as Duo hauled his lover up into a sitting position. Duo sucked his lower lip a little before saying, "Heero, you gotta take off that sweatshirt. I want to make sure you aren't bleeding to death under there."

Heero struggled to pull his arms out of the thick cotton sleeves and ended up needing Duo's help to pull the garment over his head. Tossing it carelessly aside, Duo tilted Heero forward a bit so the pretty Japanese boy was almost kissing his knees and yanked up Heero's green tank-top, wet and sticky with blood, to give his back a quick look over. Much to Duo's unending relief, Heero was not as bad off as he had seemed, and it appeared that he had only suffered a series of deep flesh wounds from landing on the rocks. As for his bloody coughing, Duo still had yet to decide what had caused that. He was leaning towards the notion that it had just been the force of the impact that had taken quite the wind out of Heero's lungs, perfect soldier or not.

"Do I pass your inspection?" Heero moaned into his lap, his back starting to sting a pull a little from a combination of sitting in the somewhat awkward position plus the stretching of a few of the larger wounds. "Can I sit up now?"

"God, you're fussy today," Duo chided in a mocking tone as let Heero's shirt drop back into its usual loose folds over his muscled torso. He reached back for Heero's sweatshirt and decided with one quick look that the damn thing had certainly seen better days. The back of it was totally soaked in blood, sporting several large rips and tears, the hems frayed and the hood barely hanging on by a thread. With another quick look at Heero, Duo started to rip the garment into strips, which he then used to use as temporary bandages for Heero's injuries. Throughout the whole process, Heero remained mute and unresponsive as he just let Duo do what he needed to. "There, good as new!" Duo chirruped brightly as he tightened the last of his makeshift bandages around Heero's torso. "At least, good enough to get you back to school."

"Duo, are you insane?" Heero gasped, regretting it immediately as he fell to clutching his sides in pain, hacking up a few sputters of blood. He managed to groan through uneven breaths, "We can't go back there. Not with me looking like this and you looking like… well… you…! How could we even begin to explain?"

"Heero, if anyone's insane around here, it's you," Duo corrected as he wrapped an arm around Heero's waist, bending a bit so he could snake Heero's near arm around his neck to help him to his feet. "If you would rather lie here and bleed to death, that's fine as far as you're concerned, but as for me, well, that just won't do. And I want to bring you back to the school so that the nurse can fix you up proper."

"And then she'll start probing me with questions," Heero complained as he struggled to his feet, leaning much of his weight upon Duo. "She'll want to know what I did to myself to cover me with so many wounds. And then, I bet while she's checking me over, she'll just have to know where I got the roadmap of old scars all over the rest of me and I'm not sure that, 'Oh yeah, I was a Gundam pilot and tried to kill myself on a multitude of suicide missions,' would really fly to well with her. Nor do I think 'So as for these new wounds, well, I got them throwing myself over a cliff after my lover and his motorcycle' would come off so well either—"

"Whoa, whoa, okay Hee-chan," Duo laughed as he started down the seashore towards the more people-friendly area of the beach where the boardwalk met the edge of town where the cliffs rolled off into more gentle slopes. "I get the picture. Just don't talk so much; I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore than you already are."

"First I don't talk enough, now I talk too much," Heero grumbled with a sly smirk as he eyed Duo out of the corner of his eye. "There's just no pleasing you, is there?"

"I might be pleased if all that strain causes you to faint and I have to perform CPR on you again," Duo retorted with a devilish grin. "Believe me, love, there are plenty of ways I can think of for you to please me."

"What a sadistic thing to say!" Heero said, trying to fluctuate his usual deep sexy monotone to sound shocked. The extra exertion simply ended in another bout of coughing. He grabbed his stomach with one hand, the other frantically groping around his mouth in an effort to shovel the bile back down his esophagus, but to no avail. He ended up throwing up blood and stomach fluid onto Duo's sleeve.

"Heero," Duo said in a warning voice, as if he was really starting to get worried that Heero's decision to stay away from the school nurse was not a wise one.

"Please, Duo," he coughed, looking up at Duo with hazy eyes that seemed to water slightly with the pain that coursed through his body. He grabbed Duo firmly by the arms and brought him to a halt, the boardwalk just in fair view behind him, salty ocean waves lapping over their course mutilated feet. "I really don't think it would be smart to go back to the school in this state. Take me to the hospital, or some underground clinic or something. At least it will buy you time to disguise yourself again and to come up with a good alibi. I don't want you to jeopardize your mission because of me."

"Right, right," Duo sighed a little dejectedly. "The mission—I got it. It's always the mission first, never mind who you have to step on to get to the end." He sighed again. "Sad but true."

"No Duo," Heero answered quickly, his voice that firm soldier's tone and yet, still resonating of that soft quality with which he spoke only to Duo. "This time, it's not only the mission—it's you. If you screw up, who knows what might happen to you." He suddenly grabbed him in a fierce hug, flinging his arms violently around the taller boy's neck and dragging him down into his embrace. "I… I don't want you to get hurt on my account."

"So you're saying that it's one thing if I do something stupid on my own, just so long as it's not your fault," Duo whispered into the thick mess of Heero's dark chocolate hair.

"Baka," Heero murmured into Duo's shoulder. "You know what I mean."

"Of course, Hee-chan," answered Duo. "Of course."

"Mister Smart?" the nurse called out into the tiny waiting room as she walked back to her usual post behind the desk. It was a sterile sparse looking place with generic flowered wallpaper and bland maroon chairs lining the walls. Sitting near the room's only window was a lanky young man with long chestnut brown hair that was twisted into a braid. At present, he sat slouched in his chair, arms draped over the backs of the two seats beside him, as he preoccupied himself with idly knocking the hard toes of his beat up leather boots against each other. As she called the name again, he finally looked up and met her eyes.

"Yes?" he asked hopefully. He had dragged his very injured friend into the little clinic quite a few hours ago and had not moved from his chair for a single moment since he had arrived. The secretary nurse had tried to offer him drinks and even a light early dinner on quite a few occasions, but he refused her every time. The only thing he had asked was for the brief use of the phone and permission to sit and wait for word on his friend.

"Your friend, Mister Smart," she began, staring down a neon pink clipboard stuffed with papers.

"What about him?" the boy exclaimed suddenly, bouncing to his feet like a rubber ball. "He's… he's going to be okay, isn't he?" He started to fret somewhat, chewing absently on his thumbnail as his large purple eyes darted about the room. "I knew we should have gone right back, but no-o-o, we just have to do everything the hard way. I swear, when I get my hands on—"

"Mister Smart, please, calm down," the nurse chided, waving her gaudy clipboard in the fair youth's direction. He let out a short breath and collapsed back into his chair, staring expectantly at her. She cleared her throat and began again. "As I was saying, your friend is truly a medical miracle, Mister Smart—"

"Please, call me Maxwell," the boy interjected with a small gesture from his hand.

"Right, Mist—err, Maxwell," she corrected herself, staring a bit strangely at the boy. He was grinning wildly at her, and she could not help but think like there was something that did not quite fit with him, almost like there was some great big obvious secret that she was missing. "You brought him in here with a few broken and bruised ribs, multiple contusions, sores and wounds covering his dorsal side and a somewhat damaged breathing pattern… however…."

In the moments she took to trail off, the strange teen cut in. "Let me guess," he started, flipping his long hair almost vainly over his shoulder. His voice slipped into a high-pitched whine as if he were trying to imitate some snot nosed doctor. "His recovering is remarkable and he should be in perfect condition within a few days. We've never seen anything of the like and I can't believe yadda, yadda, yadda that he's going to be as good as new in such a short period of time." Maxwell rolled his eyes a let out yet another sigh. "Yeah, uh huh, heard it before, been there, done that. I almost wish he was on his deathbed, just so I could laugh at him and say 'I told you so.'"

"Erm, yes," she cleared her throat again. Maxwell—Duo Maxwell—could not help but roll his eyes at her, despite the fact she was only trying to do her job. "Which leads me to my next question. Do you know where all the other scars on—"she glanced quickly down at her clipboard—"Mister Lowe's body came from?"

"War," Duo answered simply with a little shrug. He gave himself a mental pat on the back at the mention of the alias he had chosen to enroll Heero into the clinic with. Aw Duo, you sure are one clever little devil, the demonic chorus in his head applauded him.

"Uh huh," the nurse murmured, scribbling away at her clipboard. The sound of a pen scratching on paper filled the silence before she spoke again. "And the scars on his wrists? They seem self inflicted."

Duo glared at her, his eyes seeming to snap from that carefree glow into a more darkened glower in less than a second. "Forgive a guy for being depressed because of that stupid retarded war," he growled at her.

"Sorry," she meeped, trying to hide behind her clipboard. "Rules and regulations you know."

"Yeah, I know," he snapped perhaps a little to harshly. "Get on with it."

She was back to her clipboard, taking her time to make sure she phrased her questions in such a manner as so she would not have to suffer that darkened wrath of the strange Maxwell boy in front of her. "Um, you left the blanks about family blank on his forms," she said, her voice just short of a mumble.

"Hasn't got any."

"Friends?" she added hopefully.

Duo held up five fingers and waggled them at her. "Could count 'em on my one hand."

"And why did you bring him in here again?"

"Motorcycle accident," Duo answered, leaning foreword to rest his elbows on his knees, his voice menacing as if he had been challenged. "Any more questions, Miss?"

"No," she managed quietly before slinking back off to her desk, leaving Duo to stare moodily at the wall. After about fifteen minutes, the front door of the clinic swung open, and a red-haired girl with freckles and oval shaped glasses swept into the room. Both Duo and the nurse behind the desk looked up. She was wearing the school uniform of the local boarding academy, her backpack hanging loosely over one shoulder as she entered the room. The nurse greeted her immediately, as if it were programmed into her somehow. "Hello and welcome to…." She trailed off, watching as the girl swept right by the desk to her strange visitor in black. The nurse narrowed her eyes somewhat. Though she had seen the girl around town a few times, she knew she had never, in all her years of living in that place, seen the longhaired boy named Maxwell Smart before. He was most definitely a stranger… as was his mysterious friend who lie somewhere between conscience and stupor just down the hall.

"Hey," the redhead was saying as she plopped down next to the stranger, dropping her bag down by her feet in a huff. "I was beginning to get really worried when you guys didn't come back. And then you called and I just had to hurry and… Oh God, Du—"

"Shh," Duo hissed, smashing his hand quickly over her lips. He dropped his voice into a low whisper as he muttered into her ear. "They don't know I'm Duo Maxwell, nor do they know Heero as Heero Yuy. Kind of stick to the game plan here and go with the flow. While we're here, I'm Maxwell Smart and he's Odin Lowe, okay?"

Sora just nodded her head vigorously until Duo removed his hand. She stared down at her brown loafers for a moment, mulling over confused thoughts, trying to decide if this was the time and the place to speak her mind to Duo about what had happened to his motorcycle.

"What's on your mind, kid?" Duo piped up suddenly, jarring her from her thoughts.

"O-Oh, uh, it's nothing, n-nothing at all," she stuttered in response, waving her hands in front of her face as if to brush it off like it was nothing. Duo had totally caught her off guard.

"You're a dirty liar," Duo accused with a sly stare. Sora had to gather her slack jaw, completely amazed that Duo had called her bluff so easily and regained her composure with dignity. "Now tell me what's bugging you. You never were one to wander off into deep thought unless there was something big. You know how I hate dirty liars, Sora…."

"I got to learn to be more careful around you," she said, poking him playfully in the ribs. She pulled her hands back to herself and let out a small exasperated sigh. "Hwoo, but I guess I should tell you. I mean, I was really just debating whether or not this was a good place to talk about it and all."

"You got my undivided attention sweetheart," Duo crowed, leaning his chin in one hand, a wooly smile crossing his face. "Spill your guts."

"See, it's like this," she started off, not daring to look him in the eye. She hung her head despondently, her thick shoulder length coppery red hair falling over her face and obscuring her eyes as she fidgeted nervously with her hands in her lap. "Well, that night the girls were having that party, they sent me off at about eleven to pick up a few more pizzas, right?"

"Yeah…." Duo said, not quite sure how he 'ought to react to this opening statement. He could tell she was leading up to something, thought just what it was seemed to be eluding him at that particular moment. He figured she would get to it eventually, shrugged, and entreated her to go on.

"Right, so I'm on my way to the parking lot to where I have my car and I run into an unexpected fellow," she went on, twiddling her thumbs now as she looked up and stared at the ceiling for a moment, still not meeting Duo's eyes. Duo was starting to formulate some rather disturbing theories in his head and hoped to God or Shinigami or whatever might have been listening at the time that what Sora was heading for had absolutely nothing to do with the sorts of images that were plaguing his head right then. "And this guy—I couldn't see him right then—yells out to me by name and all, so naturally I stopped and I turned about…."

"Uh huh," Duo prompted, growing more and more intrigued and worried by the moment.

"And who should walk out of nowhere but Professor Cawdor," she announced in a very low tone, her eyes darting towards the desk where the nurse sat, obliviously working at a crossword puzzle. "Now, I never liked the guy, but when you said that you thought he was the one who did D.B. in, well, I kind of started to have my doubts… about both of you I mean. Don't take that the wrong way and all, but it just seemed sort of farfetched at the time."

"Don't blame you, but anyway, continue."

"He comes up to me and starts shooting the crap," she said, pounding the heels of her palms into her thighs. "He's saying things like, 'Oh yeah, you're such a good student,' and 'It's amazing what kids are doing with technology these days.' Now I'm standing there, staring at him like he's got the bloody plague, 'cause I had no idea where this all was coming from, and here it is, almost the middle of the night, and one of my creepiest old teachers is bullshitting at me in the damn parking lot."

"Creepy, yeah, definitely the word."

"Damn straight," she agreed. "I mean, he had started walking and I had sort of been following him, not really paying attention to where we were going until he pointed out your motorbike, sitting there all innocently and looking like the spectacular beauty it always does. Then the creep points to it and says, 'I need you to a little job for me.' I was so confused by that point, all I could do was stand there and stare at him even weirder than before." Sora sighed and started beating her forehead with her hands as she remembered the heinous night. "I think that got him a little miffed. He asked me again if I would help him. So, just to humour him, I asked what he needed. That calmed him down sort of and he starting bullshitting me again. 'Cept this bullshit wasn't the flattering kind from before—rather it was the sort of insane bullshit that you can only stare at like it's gonna jump out and eat ya."

"This is starting to sound seriously fucked," Duo murmured, knitting his brows worriedly as he laced his fingers together beneath his chin.

"That ain't the half of it," Sora agreed with a nod of her head before she started up her tale again. "You know what he was asking me, don't you?"

"I think I can guess, but tell me anyway."

Sora hung her head and sniffled a little bit, like she was going to start crying. Duo could do nothing but offer her a red handkerchief from his ass pocket and pat her warmly on the back. "It's my fault you two got all banged up and mangled. He threatened me into fussing with the breaks on your motorcycle. Said if I didn't do it, he'd find a way to make me sorry. And all that stuff you were saying about him and D.B. just came back to plague me and I was scared what he might do!" She chewed her lip and blew her nose on Duo's hankie. "I figured that if I just did what he wanted I could at least try and keep you and Hee—err, Odin off the bike so you wouldn't get hurt. And I couldn't even do that. It's all my fault!"

"Oh, Sora, no," Duo soothed, giving her a loose hug of consolation. He lifted her chin and took the hankie out of her balled fists, using it to gently wipe away the trails of tears that streaked her freckled cheeks. "It's my fault that he got hurt so bad. The bastard just had to go and play hero as usual." Duo scoffed in the direction of the patient's quarters. "Serves him right for having to risk his neck for mine."

Sora smiled a crooked grin as she sniffled a little bit again, like his words had succeeded in cheering her up, as was his obvious intent. "That's so cute. It must be nice to have someone like him."

"No kidding," Duo said with a soft smile as he turned to his secret little world inside his head, reserved for just he and Heero. His face darkened a bit, looking almost black and white in the dully lit room. "But hot damn, I'm pissed!" he grumbled, pounding his fist into the arm of his chair. "It's one thing that the bastard is a wanted man, but when he threatens my friends into tampering with my motorcycle, that's where I draw the mother fucking line! God, he's going down in flames…." Duo sulked and stared out at the blank wall in front in him with a look of nasty hatred.

"Uh, you know, you might be the one going down in flames if you don't get back to school quick," Sora suddenly added, her face panicked. Duo flipped around like a cracked whip, staring at her with dogged eyes. She shrugged and started to explain quickly. "I heard the dean talking to someone on my way out that they were looking for you. You've missed so many classes, and no one knows where you are. I was starting to get worried until you called, but I had to wait 'til classes were through before I could come."

"So?"

"So the administration is on the warpath," Sora explained. "I don't know if you're familiar with how the school works, but they don't take to hooky real well there. They're probably going to want to suspend you—even expel you—if you don't show up soon. Won't that hurt your mission?"

"Yeah, it just might," Duo grumbled, his bad mood setting back in tenfold. "This sucks."

"What are you going to do?" Sora asked. "You can't just stay here."

"I'm going to have to make a quick phone call, that's what," Duo said, holding his hand out expectantly. Sora rolled her eyes and started rummaging around her backpack until she came across her little green cell phone. "Thanks," Duo said as she handed it to him. She watched as his fingers flew over the little neon lit touch pad, dialing the numbers with a sense of unaided familiarity. He grinned that cheeky smile at her as he put the phone to his ear and said, "Don't worry—I'll pick up the long distance bill later."

"Long distance?" Sora gaped. Her parents were going to kill her.

"Oh yeah, and keep this between just us, okay?" Duo added with a quick wink before he put the phone up to his ear. Sora could only stare at him. "Huh? Yeah, put me through to Une," Duo was saying into the phone, pressing the little device close to his ear so he could hear well. He plugged his other ear with the forefinger of his opposite hand, the expression on his face dictating that he was clearly getting bad reception on the junky little phone. "Dammit, I don't care if she's in a meeting. This is damn important! …Yeah… yeah…. This is Maxwell you wench! … What? Oh for the love of … Okay, okay, I'm sorry, just put me through…. Thanks…."

In the pause that followed, Duo covered the mouthpiece of the little phone as he whispered over to Sora, "My God, it's so hard to find good help anymore. You wouldn't believe this secretary—huh?" He was suddenly back to the phone with renewed adamancy. Sora just looked on, totally confused. Who could it be that he had to talk to so badly?

"Hey boss!" he chirped into the phone, drumming his fingers on his thigh in an almost nervous fashion as he spoke. "No, no, things are okay…. Yeah, I know it's taken me a while to check in, but shit's gone awry…. Huh? Oh yeah, that's all under control…. No, no, see I need a favour…." Duo sighed into the receiver and went on to explain the situation. "…Hey, I know I promised I'd try hard to stay out of trouble!" he exclaimed, sounding defensive. "But this isn't my fault! …Oh come on…. What happened you ask? Well, we kind of had this little accident when we were out on my bike—hey, I'm a perfectly responsible driver—that was low! …It wasn't my fault, I swear! …Uh huh…. Well, I'll just leave it that you-know-who is in recovery…. Yeah, that's who. … What? Oh, he'll be fine. You know how he is…. But look, look, this really doesn't have to do with that exactly. My pal here says—don't worry, she's clean! God you're paranoid—anyways, she tells me that the school is out for blood because we ditched in the middle of the day and then well, you know the rest. …Hey, we were going to go back, honest, but it's kind of hard to drag your stubborn bloody and bruised lover into a school and just write it off, saying he tripped and fell on his face or something. That's what he said anyway. …Right, I know that was always the plan if I fucked up, but I need you to…. Yeah, you have to cover for him too… Yes, I know your policy on people who aren't part of the agency but…. Hey don't brush me off like that! I would do it on my own but I'm not going to have time to get into his records so do you—hey, hey, you owe me one, Une! …That's right, Lady, you do, if you'll remember back to a certain Christmas party last year…. Ha, I told you…. Now that that's out of the way, you got to make sure we can stay in that school until… Hey, you might think that he doesn't need to be there, but I need him there, so if they kick his ass out for playing hooky when it was my idea to begin with, I swear to God, I'll come back home and set fire to your office…. You know I'd do it so don't pussyfoot around it…. Yeah… yeah… Good, good… Yeah, do that and change it so that they get wired to you guys and make up some obscure relation for him. As for me, you can come up with some excuse like I've called you already and explained it or something…. I don't know! Be creative and remember, you're supposed to be my grandmother when they get through to you… Yeah, cool…. It's cool…. Okay… Talk to you later… Bye…." At long last, Duo took the phone from his ear and turned it off, handing it back to Sora, casual as you please. He huffed, "Well that was a process."

"Sure seemed so," Sora murmured, dropping the phone into her backpack. "So what was that all about?"

"Negotiating with the head honcho about how we're going to clear this little fiasco up," Duo explained vaguely. He tugged Sora close so he could whisper to her as so not to blow his cover totally. "My boss, Lady Une, and I had thought up this tactic for missions like this where we'd put her extension into my records so if I ever did get my ass busted for the usual mayhem, the school would just get put through to her so she could just explain it off. But, see, we need to cook something up for Heero too, 'cause I can bet that everything in his records is one hundred per cent forged. That isn't going to do so well, so I had to call in a favour, if you know what I mean."

"I guess I follow you," Sora answered, finding that she was slowly swimming further and further over her head with each passing moment.

"You do know that Heero is an expert con-artist," Duo explained in an even lower whisper. Though Sora let out a little gasp of surprise, she found that she really was not shocked to learn this at all. Heero had always been a little shady. "He can fake his way anywhere. He's got a whole stock of counterfeit ID's, registration papers, and all the like. You name it; he can sneak in. And then the added fact that he's the best hacker I've ever met, well, let's just say that he can cover his tracks so seamlessly well, you'd never even know he had come and gone." Duo looked at her with a very straightforward gaze. "I mean, it's the same kind of deal with Preventers, but everything Heero does is on his own. You should know that's how he got into your school without paying a dime… and how he was planning to leave."

Sora could say nothing to this. It was not that she was shocked to silence in awe of Heero's abilities—even though they were certainly something to be desired—but that he could just float around so easily, without a care in the world, like some lost breeze that had no direction or meaning. By the time she had turned herself to look at Duo again, he had settled back in his chair, leaning back as if he intended to fall asleep.

"…But I have to say, I'm proud that he could find it in himself to stay in one place so long…." He cracked open one large eye a little so he could look at her for a moment. "It's almost like he knew there was something worth waiting for here…."

"{Finally I sat down on this bench, where it wasn't so goddamn dark. Boy, I was still shivering like a bastard, and the back of my hair, even though I had my hunting hat on, was sort of full of little hunks of ice. That worried me. I thought probably I'd get pneumonia and die. I starting picturing millions of jerks coming to my funeral and all. My grandfather from Detroit, that keeps calling out the numbers of the streets when you ride on a goddamn bus with him, and my aunts—I have about fifty aunts—and all my lousy cousins. What a mob'd be there. They all came when Allie died, the whole goddamns stupid bunch of them. I have this one stupid aunt with halitosis that kept saying how peaceful he looked lying there. I wasn't there. I was still in the hospital. I had to go to the hospital and all after I hurt my hand….}"

Heero could hear the sound of a familiar deep baritone reading to him in the back of his head. He knew he had been hearing that voice ever since he had taken in his first breath, like a soul mate that had always been nestled deep within him. Vaguely, Heero registered where he was, a black empty place that lingered somewhere between reality and hell. There was nothing around him, no light, no value, shade or colour of any kind. Just this unending… blackness…. It was like being lost inside his own head. He took comfort in the fact that in his head, he could do no wrong. He remembered the times he had tried to take his own life before, and every time when the darkness took him after the endless splurge of red, he would find himself here, completely alone with his dreams. And there was still that familiar voice, reading to him, as if trying to call him back to the purgatory that was his waking life.

"{…Anyway, I kept worrying that I was getting pneumonia, with all those hunks of ice in my hair, and that I was going to die. I felt sorry as hell for my mother and father. Especially my mother, because she still isn't over my brother Allie yet. I kept picturing her not knowing what to do with all my suits and athletic equipment and all. The only good thing, I knew she wouldn't let old Phoebe come to my goddamn funeral because she was only a little kid. That was the only good part. Then I thought about the whole bunch of them sticking me in a goddamn cemetery and all, with my name on this tombstone and all. Surrounded by dead guys. Boy, when you're dead, they really fix you up. I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something. Anything except sticking me in a goddamn cemetery. People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap. Who wants flowers when you're dead? Nobody.}"

A riveting pain convulsed through Heero's body, shaking his system and jarring his body. The simple mention of death, even in his sub-conscience, was enough to send shock waves throughout his entire being. He shuddered, wondering if anyone would even care enough to want to put flowers on his grave when he died.

Even if I was dead, I think I would still want…

"…Flowers," a soft voice whimpered to the little room, drowning out the humdrum sound of the IV's steady drip and the soft beeping of the nearby machine that kept track of the patient's vital stats.

Duo's attention snapped up from 'The Catcher in the Rye' to the narrow hospital bed that sat before him. Folding the book, he laid it at the foot of the little wrought iron bed, rolling his stool over to the top of the bed and leaning onto its squishy mattress, causing the prone body of Heero Yuy to sink a little with the addition of his weight. "Flowers, Hee-chan?" Duo whispered, reaching out to slip his fingers beneath Heero's thick spiky brown bangs. "And here I was thinking you were only into computers."

A mellow cough escaped Heero's lips, followed by a crinkle of his gently sloped nose as his eyes squinted closed tightly as they fought to adjust to the light. "Would you… remember to leave me flowers when I die?" Another cough ensued behind this whispered phrase. And then, Heero opened his eyes for the first time in almost twenty-four hours, the barely lit room reflecting subtly beneath his thick elfin eyelashes in those spectacular blue eyes.

"To show that I still care?" Duo asked, his fingers falling from Heero's forehead as he looked warmly at his wakened lover. It was these moments that Duo loved more than anything. In the moments it took for Heero to wake up, there was always this short period of a few minutes where he was just plain old Heero, not a soldier, not a doll and just a boy. Duo loved the innocent little boy Heero more than anyone else in the world.

"You'd still care, ne?" Heero asked, turning his head on the plump pillow so he could face Duo. His eyes traced along Duo's neck, across his shoulder and dipped down his arm to where his hand was tangled with his own. He could see where the IV tube was plunged into his flesh, allowing the life-giving liquid passage into his veins. This sight was almost too hauntingly familiar. He remembered waking up in a similar fashion many a time in his past, lying in a hospital bed and wired to countless machines. But those times, he would always wake up alone and disappointed that he had not succeeded in ending his life, no matter how often the comforting sound of Duo's voice rang through his unconscious brain.

"You… you lost a lot of blood, Hee-chan," Duo explained when he noticed the way Heero was staring at his arm. "They said that they were amazed you managed to make it here with your eyes open. And I know you have a thing about drugs and all, but they had to sedate you for a bit so they could get on with their poking and prodding."

"And?" Heero's eyes rose to meet those of his lover, that jolting connection between the two of them frazzling with electricity when their gazes fell upon one another.

"…And…" Duo shrugged, his mouth hanging open as if he were trying to will words to come forth. "…You're going to be okay. It's nothing you haven't seen before. Just the… the usual fare."

A smile toyed with Heero's lips at that statement and he let his head sink deeper into the pillow, eyes now watching the ceiling with a dazed sort of intensity, feeling a wave of comfort wash over him for the first time in a while. "The usual…." He sighed, the usual sexy pout returning to grace his features. "…Duo, what about us is… is 'usual'? I think we're pretty screwed up out of the ordinary bastards to tell the truth."

Duo blinked at Heero for a moment before he broke into a hearty laughter. "Damn straight, we're fucked," he chuckled, slapping his knee. When he finally got over his amusement, he laid his elbows back on the bed and dropped his head back into the nest his folded arms created. "But you know what, Hee-chan?" he murmured softly, gazing at Heero with that unadulterated pure love of his. "I'm glad you're not normal. I have no need for normal."

Heero smirked at the ceiling, reveling in Duo's commentary. Inane as it might have sounded, there was always a certain truth to just about everything Duo had to say. "Hey Duo…."

"Yup?"

"How long have I been here?" he asked, eyes narrowing a bit and then widening to their usual size. The light skimmed over the glassy blue domes of his eyes, casting them in an eerie sort of dark glow.

"Oh," Duo looked over at the black rimmed clock ticking merrily away opposite him, just above the large rectangular window that dominated the wall space, dim light from the streets dancing through the gauzy white curtains. "I'd say almost a day. They're all having kittens over at the school about this."

"Yeah?" Heero turned his head towards Duo again, his brows arched with interest. Duo could not help but notice how innocent and beautiful Heero looked just lying there, wrapped in the clinic's wooly pastel green sheets and blankets. "What are we in trouble for now?"

"This and that," Duo shrugged nonchalantly, propping his chin up in his hands. "The usual school bullcrap. They want to eat us alive for ditching school like we did. Doesn't help that you're here. But don't worry—I got Une to save our asses. I had to play with your school records to make it fly—I hope you don't mind."

"Now what did I tell you," Heero chided playfully, giving Duo's arms a weak bat. Despite regaining his consciousness, he was still a little bit groggy and not quite up to snuff. "But oh no, it's fine. We can leave in the middle of the day. No one will miss us. Who's laughing now, kitten?"

"Well at least I'm lucky we didn't wage anything on it," Duo retorted snidely, flicking Heero's shoulder affectionately. He put a hand proudly over his heart as he announced, "I can safely say I got over my betting problem and have not gambled since April 12, AC 197."

"Thanks for the report, koi. I'm glad to hear that," Heero smiled, pleased with Duo antics. He could tell that he was just trying to keep the somber mood light. It was something Duo had always been good at, and it was something that he was always infinitely grateful to Duo for. "Now can you tell me how you managed to stay here when it is clearly not visiting hours? Did you threaten anyone?"

"No!" Duo waved his hands in front of him defensively. "I was a really good boy, I swear. Sora was hanging around for visiting hours too, but when that was all over and she had gone, they just couldn't get me to leave. Remember, I'm a stubborn bastard. You know I'd give anything just to see you. I wanted to be here when you finally opened your eyes, just to see sleepy look in your expression as you wake up."

Heero shook his head and collapsed back into the pillows of his bed, returning his gaze to the ceiling. "When do I get out of here?" he asked, already growing restless.

"Soon as the nurse gets back in here and finds out you're up," Duo said, twisting around on his stool to get a look at the door, as if he expected her to walk in any second. "She'll just have to check you out to make sure you're really okay, unhook you from all this creepy hospital crap, and then we go!"

"Well, that sure is a relief," Heero sighed, stretching his achy limbs out. "I hate being out of commission."

"Stop talking about yourself like you're a machine, Heero Yuy!" Duo suddenly exclaimed, annoyed with Heero's word choice. "I thought we've been over this before!" He suddenly descended upon Heero with a fierce hug, wrapping his arms lovingly around Heero's neck and burying his nose into Heero's messy brown hair, nuzzling his scalp tenderly. "You're so much more than just a lump of wires and metal. You are a human being, Heero. Don't let anyone get you to think otherwise. And if you don't like the way you are—well too bad, because I love you the way you are, and I wouldn't change you for anything in the universe. I love you, Heero Yuy. Beyond friendship, beyond life and death." Duo cuddled Heero's body closer, feeling the warmth of his lover's soft skin as he did so. "So don't you ever forget that…."

"Duo," Heero whispered, reaching up to weave his fingers between the plaits of Duo's braid. There was a brief pause before he tacked on. "You are such a sap."

"You're fault for falling for the sap," Duo sneered with a giggle as he pulled away, playfully sticking his tongue out at Heero. Then he stood up, kicking the stool away. He walked down to the foot of the bed, standing so he was directly facing Heero. Leaning down on the footboard, and reaching over to grab Heero's book, he said, tossing it up at his lover, "Now I'm going to go find that nurse so I can sign all her stupid release forms and we can get out of here. I'm already tired of waiting. Don't you go anywhere."

Heero smiled and replied sardonically. "I'll just be right here waiting."

Sorry I'm a little late posting here, but I have a little side story about el moi that is a very legit excuse! First off, I away at Otakon chasing the most wonderful gorgeous Duo I have ever seen in my entire life (I am not even kidding, this cos-player looked perfect! Hey! Beautiful Duo! If you're reading this, e-mail me PLEEEEZ!!! Heh, and I sit here and complain about how Relena stalks Heero...) Anyway, the point of the story is that at the con, the wonder TM Revolution made his American debut (if you're a fan of either Kenshin or Gundam Seed... which you SHOULD be... you know who he is) and after a million run-in chance encounters with various TMR related people (i.e. roadies, the band's drummer... that sort of thing) and a lot of "bad/almost luck", my friends and I got to meet TMR himself and get photos and autographs and all! It was AMAZING! *turns to stare at autograph scrawled on life-size Athrun Zala poster* It was too cool! He even has a drawing of Kira that I did for him! He told me he liked it very much! He's got a CD released over here too called Coordiate, which is very good! Aw man, it was the highlight of my life. I can die happy now! Wait, I can die happier if I hear from that Duo again! Oooh! Zelda is your groupie! Love ya! (I even got blown a kiss!)