Coming down to the wire. Enjoy the rest. I'll explain EVERYTHING in the author's afterword if…anyone cares ^^ (I'm kinda sure someone's gotta…)
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Disclaimer: Well, I tried hunting down the producers and creators of Gundam, and it seems as though they found this as a bad thing and now I have a restraining order against me! I'm sorry but no 500 feet will keep me between me and mah Duo…(court hearing will be on channel 10 news at 6 oclock eastern standard time…)
(P.S. I still don't own it)
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Life aint no bowl of cherries…
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Duo's point of view:
Wufei gave me a call after he had gotten home that night. Seems like the whole house was trashed after Otto dragged my Aya-chan out. Bless her little head for bein' a fighter, even till the end.
My first thought was that she hadda be dead in some ditch or lying, bleeding to death (and if that were true I would follow up on the promise I made to that bastard…).
Somethin' inside me didn't wanna believe that…guess that's how the rest happened. Thank God I'm a stubborn man…
Some things are worse than death now…I learned that…guess I hadda learn it the hard way though…
End dialogue.
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Time: 8:45
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Chang Wufei stood, hands full and body sweaty, on the doorstep of the humble abode trying to unlock the door that lead into the completely darkened house.
He had just returned from a lovely practice at a nearby Kendo studio. Swords, swords, more swords, and…no women. A dream come true for WuWu.
Knob turned. Door opened.
His black eyes dilated. The tight jaw clenched. His hands became rubber bands that snapped instantly dropping the katanas that he had carefully handled on his walk home.
"Holy shit…"
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Duo sagged with boredom in his chair, using the last of his energy to glance up at the ticking clock. His braid frowned in distaste at the stack of papers laid out on the desk.
::All those poor trees…::
Hilde looked up with sympathetic eyes, "I'm almost done…I know this isn't any fun for you. But thank you so much for helping…"
::Dammit, she owes me one so bad…::
Shinigami grinned, bearing it for her sake, "You kiddin' me? I love filling out…tax…forms?"
She smiled back at him.
"I jus' needa call Ayame by nine…"
The phone screamed, ending his sentence.
"Must be her now, Maxwell. Your gets…"
His violet eyes grinned happily as his picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
The not-so-calm Wufei on the other line instantly began.
"Maxwell, is your onna in your possession?"
"English, buddy…"
"Is Ayame with you, idiot?"
"…No…wait are you calling from the house?" Duo's stomach began to move around uneasily.
"Yes…that's why I'm asking. The house is totally trashed."
::…that red car…::
"No friggen way…" Shinigami muttered to himself, face turning pale. His eyes were fixated on the red pen shoved in an empty coffee cup on Hilde's desk.
The woman across the desk from his stared in silence, mouth open as if she were about to say something constructive.
"Duo…what's wrong…"
"Maxwell?! ANSWER! THE WOMAN ISN'T HERE. WHERE. IS. SHE."
::Why the hell didn't I see this. WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME!?!?::
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Foot slammed on the gas pedal and blinding red rage fueling him, the violet-eyed God of death planned to live up to his name the moment he reached his destination.
"That fucking bastard…" He shoved his hand into the passenger's side glove compartment and without hesitation pulled a jet-black gun from its resting place.
Shinigami took his hands from the wheel…
The speedometer read fourty miles per hour.
Took off the safety of the gun…
Now fifty.
Checked for ammo…
Fifty-five.
Pocketed a clip…
Sixty.
"Better pray to someone, cause the only fucking way you're gonna keep me from blowing your brains out is by divine intervention and, come to think of, nothin' from heaven or hell can stop Shinigami."
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Duo's point of view:
Otto was a sick little fuck and stupid as hell…Sorry, just stating a fact.
End dialogue.
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He didn't even bother to pull the keys from his car. It was damn near ten o'clock. The roads near and leading to the torture chamber proclaimed a "house" were deserted. How would Duo approach this? Well, he could walk in, mow down everything in his path and hope he didn't turn Ayame into Swiss cheese.
::I have to think…control…I came here to get her…::
The house was too dark, even for Shinigami. It served to his advantage.
The God of death snuck in almost completely undetected. The black abyss was all he needed for stealth. Hell, he could have ran up and down the hall screaming and still be considered stealthy.
::Think dammit…I was here before.::
His mind leaked back to the last time he'd darkened these doors. Right after he met her. Why the hell did it hafta feel so right. This right. Enough to drive him feel. To care. It didn't matter if he died. He should have died a long time ago. But if anything happened to her…
::I would never forgive myself…::
Small whimpers, which he had first dismissed as floorboard squeaks, reached his ears and twanged at his eardrums. He fingered the trigger and back hugging the wall to the point that his spinal chord was inseparable from the smooth divider.
The first approaching room, a bedroom. He cautiously poked his nose around the corner, glancing into the room. Shinigami's eyes went wide.
Ayame was shoved against the wall, only visible because of the weak streetlamp light that was streaming in from a broken window. Her right eye was blacked, probably from a bruise. Bound and gagged, she looked like a motionless doll. The white cloth that silenced her was stained a little with blood.
::Is she asleep or dead…::
The Maxwell Demon's teeth were clenched tightly, trying to sort out his feelings; torn between the desire to save his damsel in distress and the need to follow his instincts.
Within the room, scraping sounds were heard. Aya-chan had apparently awaken and began to struggle with the bindings that held her hands. Tiny whines, louder than the wheezing ones she had expelled before while unconscious, bit at her throat.
::Aya?…::
He poked his head around the corner once again and watched as she sat there squirming around.
"Aya-chan…" Shinigami whispered in a low voice. Ayame's head popped up. She blinked around the room and stop at him. Muffled yelling ensued.
"I'm coming into get you…okay?"
Her head shook wildly in disagreement, which he decided to ignore. Shinigami bent down to undo the bindings.
Still hushed. "Don't worry." Duo was all a-grin, "I'll get you out of here…" He quickly undid her gag. That's when he realized the tears that were running down her face.
"Why did you come…" She silently scolded him through her tears.
"Wh-." A sharp pain from a quick blow ended his question.
Ayame screeched as she watched her braided rescuer hit the floor hard. Otto was holding a wrench in his hand, sneering down at his fallen victim.
Throat clenching in anxiety, Aya gasped out hysteric sobs, pulling desperately at the restraints that still held her still.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"
"Shouldn't have come…" Otto loomed over Duo, enjoying the sight of him trying to squirm away as he approached closer.
Otto lowered himself and taking advantage of Shinigami's stated, used the long handle of the wrench to slowly strangle the life out of him.
"You see…" the bastard started, mirth in his voice…
Otto gripped the heads of the tool tighter and pulled back.
Duo gagged slightly, pulling uselessly.
"…Ayame is mine. And she'll stay that way. Some creatures…don't have meaning." He gave a short matter-of-a-fact laugh.
"And after she watches you die…I'll rape her until she screams your name, slit her wrists and leave her to die staring at your corpse."
Up until this point, Duo had only wanted to kill Otto. Now he wanted to take his bare hands, rip his balls off, and force-feed them to the bastard.
"I…won't…let…you…hurt…her…" Shinigami choked out.
Otto smirked and reeled back harder, "Then stop me."
Ayame's screeching cries. Otto's words replaying in his head. The thought of everything he had said coming to be a reality…
Had finally snapped him.
"You fuckin' bastard…"
In one swift move, he pulled the gun from his pocket and blindly fired into the stomach of the man behind him.
An empty gun clip clicked out of its chamber and fell on the ground. Gracefully, the God of Death replaced it with its sibling, turned into a crouch and fired at the faltering, pre-wounded man.
Five other quick volleys from the gun chamber were all the demon needed to take out his victim.
The aged, previously used gun gently hazed a smoke over the scene. Ayame sat quietly, watching the silhouette of her love rise from his offensive position and walk over to her almost somberly.
The gun immediately met the floor as it fell from its owner's hand.
"Duo, what the hell- your head is bleeding!" In a shaky mess, her legs managed to push her up.
He staggered closer.
"Dammit I feel dizzy…" He concentrated on the feel of his Aya-chan's palm tending lovingly to his battered skull. His vicious need for blood was soothed by it, caring less about the hole-punched bastard he had shot before and more about getting away from the scene as fast as possible with his regained lover.
"You definitely deserve something for this, Duo-puppy…" she attempted to lighten the mood, hugging him, back facing the scenic blood spatters on the wall where Otto should have laid.
"If it has something kinky to do with a First Aid kit, I'm in…"
"Anything for you-."
A sharp crackle sounded.
Eye's closed, the body in front of his jerked like a brick was thrown at it's back. An unbearable weight, as if everything good about gravity had escaped from the young woman Shinigami held, bared down. A short spray of red, finite drops stained his clothing at chest level.
Another jerk, more so like a twitch, from his Ayame was produced in an attempt to extinguish the excruciating pain.
Unable to hold both himself and her up, Duo knelt down bringing the body with him.
Her brown eyes stood wide.
No explanation was needed. He knew exactly what had happened.
The crimson, gaping hole in Ayame's chest did all the explaining in the world.
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Anything for you.
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