Chapter 9
Finally, they got back to the separate valley that the Gundams came out of, and the four of them, carrying the fifth, touched down and got into the circle.
Duo? Came the voice of Trowa. Duo lifted his head from Heero's chest and looked up at him, confused.
"Talk like you're talking to a Gundam." Heero told him.
Umm…hi? Duo said, and Heero smiled a little, tightening his grip on the trembling boy in his arms.
Oh! Thank god you're all right! Quatre cried.
Never ever do that to us again, you hear? Wufei said, laughing.
Welcome back, Pilot 02 Nataku said.
Second that. Sandrock added.
Gave us all a scare. Heavyarms stated.
Especially Heero. Wing added, right at the end. Duo looked back up at Heero, whose eyes had gone serious again. He was about to snuggle up again, when there was a voice from the communication phone.
"Finally! What the hell did you do?" Zechs asked. There were a few voices, and then they heard Treize. His voice was low, menacing and struck a jolt of fear into their hearts, all save Duo.
"Yuy, get down here now and explain yourself." He murmured. Duo felt Heero tense up.
"Heero?" he asked, weakly, "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Heero answered, and turned away.
Heero. Trowa said, rebuking him a little.
Let's get down there. Heero ordered, and Wing started moving as the doors opened.
"Heero?" Duo asked again, but Heero had pulled away, sitting him in the chair and putting his tank top on. "Heero, what's going on?" he was ignored again, and then they all docked after setting Deathscythe down in his own dock. "Hee…" he was cut off as Heero swept him off his feet and climbed out of the hatch with him in his arms. Duo squirmed, but Heero held him firm, sliding down the ladders with no hands, making Duo gasp a little. He struggled, but Heero's ice grip held him firm, and he began to be a little scared. "Heero, please!" he cried, and Heero stopped. "Let me go!"
Heero looked at him, and then set him down gently on the floor.
"I have to go." He said. Duo gripped him, his stomach turning cold.
"No," he choked, "You can't."
"He has to, Duo." Trowa said softly, coming up behind them. "He's got a price to pay."
"What do you mean?" Duo asked, after Heero gave him a strange look, which he couldn't make out before going up to the control room. All Duo knew was that that look had just struck fear in his stomach as well as dislodging something in his chest.
"He broke Treize's first set of rules to save your life." Trowa explained, holding the boy up. "Treize told him he would be court marshalled if he broke the rules gain, but he came out to rescue you anyway."
"Knowing he'd be executed when he came back." Duo breathed, the full extremity of what Trowa had just told him hitting him hard. "No." he said, shaking his head suddenly, "No, I won't let them…" he tried to push away from Trowa's grasp, but fell to the floor with a cry of pain. Trowa was immediately by his side.
"You cannot fight it, Duo." He said.
"They can't…they can't…he saved my life…I…Heero…they can't…." Duo said, his breathing getting faster and the sticky lump in his throat coming back up again. His saviour, the boy he needed more than anything else right now was going to die because he came to save him.
"Duo." Trowa breathed before pulling him into a protective embrace. Duo tried weakly to resist, but to no avail, he was weak, and Trowa was strong at the best of times. He dug deep, wanting Trowa to be Heero, but he wasn't.
Standing behind him, tears in his eyes, his hands clenched tightly on his heart, Quatre looked up as he and Wufei watched Treize rip into Heero. He had really blown his fuse; they didn't even want to know what he was saying to him. Heero was just standing, looking down, but Quatre nearly choked when he flinched. Heero didn't flinch. Wufei, his eyes wide in understanding, knowing that Trowa was occupied, slipped an arm around Quatre's shoulders. To his surprise, the boy almost fell into his arms and clung to him, shielding his eyes from it. Wufei held on tightly, nodding as Trowa looked at him gratefully. They then shared another, extremely worried look at the boy in Trowa's arms. If Heero died, they weren't sure he could take it.
Wufei pinched Quatre sharply, and the blonde haired boy looked up. Treize, Zechs and Heero were all in the lift. Wufei nudged Trowa with his foot, and the brown haired boy subtly covered Duo's eyes and ears as the procession passed them, their grim faces saying nothing but the obvious to the three watching. Quatre collapsed back into Wufei, crying again and both Trowa and Wufei tightened their grips on the boys in their arms. Somehow, Heero had wormed his way into all their hearts, oblivious to the fact that he had only been here a few days.
However hard Trowa tried to stop him, Duo finally looked up at the control room. He turned back to Trowa, the fear in his eyes stirring the boy.
"Where..?" Duo asked, but the faces of the other three answered his question. His face, to Trowa's growing fear, went blank.
"Duo." Trowa said, shaking him a little, but Duo's face was still blank. Sighing deeply, Trowa picked him up in his arms and motioned to the others to follow him. He fought back the wail of frustration and sadness that grew in him, and concentrated on the thought of healing Duo, as much as could be, that is, he thought grimly to himself.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Trowa took the drink from Wufei and put it on the table. He couldn't drink it right now his throat was too tight. Quatre was tucked right into him, clinging on to him as if he was some kind of life raft. Wufei, at a raised eyebrow from Trowa, reluctantly came and sat the other side, letting Trowa put an arm around him. They needed each other right now.
"Heero!"
They all flinched as there came another yell from the sleeping boy in the other room. It broke their hearts to see Duo like this. He had been sleeping fitfully for two hours, calling Heero's name over and over. He had been wrapped up but had refused food for the first time they could remember.
"Trowa?" Quatre said from Trowa's chest, suddenly.
"Yes, Quatre-chan?" Trowa asked.
"You know when Duo was away and we thought he was going to die, and you said that it was as bad as it could get?"
"Yes?"
"You were wrong."
This simple thought hit them all again. He was right, though. He was very right.
They jumped massively as there was a frantic knocking on the door.
"Open up, for Christ's sake! Now!" came the frenzied voice of Zechs. Trowa sprung up, dislodging Quatre so fast he fell on the floor and sprang to the door.
"Jesus!" he breathed as he opened it. "Quatre, get the med. kit! Now! Bring him in here." He said, and opened the door. Wufei stared as he saw what Zechs was carrying. Heero. His face was picture of suppressed pain, and his bare chest was covered in whip wounds. That couldn't be what Zechs was so worried about, though. It was only when he went to lye him on the sofa, covered by a sheet that Wufei saw what it was. A gash on the boy's back, from his shoulder blade to his opposite hip. It was deep, wide, and was bleeding badly. Zechs was covered, and Heero was white from the blood loss. His eyes narrowed and his body tensed.
As quick as anything, Quatre was back.
"Turn him over!" he cried. Wufei simply stood, fuming. Trowa went over and pushed Zechs out of the way. Together the boys worked on Heero, who didn't even flinch as they stitched him up expertly. His face was still full of pain, and Wufei didn't even want to think about how much agony he must be in, but he didn't cry out once. Anyway, Wufei was too angry to be thinking about that right now. He didn't need to ask to know who'd done this, and he didn't need to ask what he did it with. What he did need to ask was how he dared to violate the ancient laws. From the whip wounds, he had gathered that Heero had been too much to lose for Treize, but he had been flogged. Which meant that the most obvious cause of the wound was one that Wufei flinched from even thinking about.
Finally, Trowa and Quatre had managed to stitch and bandage up the big wound and spread healing oils on all the whip wounds. They took the now sodden sheets and dumped them in the wash, and Heero sat on the sofa, still grimacing a bit. They came back and sat down, as Zechs did, but Wufei was too furious to sit.
"Treize did that, didn't he?" he finally managed.
"I've never seen him lose it like that." Zechs breathed, having taken his shirt off due to blood. "Yuy here was being the stoic, placid thing that he is, and it just…Treize just suddenly did this."
"Whilst he was tied up?" Quatre asked, flabbergasted.
"He was taunting him with it, none of us thought he would actually use it." Zechs said, "And then, suddenly, he did. Well, Noin went absolutely crazy. She and Une were having a total bitch fight over him when I left with him. Noin had just gone for Treize like nothing I've ever seen, and Une got in the way. Treize was standing there, I had to stop him finishing the boy off before I could get him out."
"Bastard." Wufei breathed, seething. Zechs put a restraining hand on his arm.
"Hey, Chang, leave it 'till the big battle, huh? Don't go after him now. We can't risk losing another one, not now!" he added, sternly as Wufei opened his mouth again.
"Please, Wufei." Quatre pleaded, and Wufei remembered how he had clung to him when the second Gundam pilot had "died".
"Ok." He sighed, and slumped back on the sofa. Heero was still staring at the floor, his face blank now, and there was a hushed silence.
"Heero!"
There was another cry from Duo, and Heero's head shot up, his stomach disappearing.
"He is dreaming." Trowa said, and Heero looked over at him.
"He's been doing that every five minutes for the past two hours." Quatre added.
"He needs sleep." Wufei told him.
"I think he's got the general picture." Zechs reminded them, as Heero got up. He walked over to the bedroom door and into the red room. He was catapulted back to, what, was it only the night before? It felt like forever. It was twilight, and the moon was just poking its head over the horizon. Duo was on the bed. He was writhing gently, the bedclothes all off or nearly, he had been doing this for so long. His hair was loose and all over the bed and his beautiful face was scrunched up in bad dreams. He was in grey sweat pants, that was all, his hair falling in thick strands over his chest. His breathing was ragged, and slightly hoarse.
Almost paralysed, Heero walked over to the bed and sat on the edge of it. He slowly put his hand out, and put it on Duo's head, stroking it gently, the feeling of Duo's smooth hair on Heero's fingers wonderful. As his hand reached Duo's face, Duo's movements stopped, and he looked confused.
"Duo." Heero whispered, starting his hand back on Duo's head again.
"Heero?" Duo asked thickly, and then his eyes opened. He looked at Heero whose eyes were warm down on him. "Wait…you're…." He noticed the bandage that was tied diagonally across Heero's body, and the tips of whip wounds. "They flogged you." He breathed.
"Couldn't lose me." Heero said, simply.
"But, what..?" Duo asked, looking at the bandage.
"Treize lost it." Heero said again.
"But, you're ok?"
"What does it look like?"
"You're not going away?"
"No." Heero said, his voice suddenly almost a desperate whisper. "No." His hand was still on Duo's head, and fell back when Duo sat up. Heero watched him as Duo's eyes raked over his wounded body, and saw the flood of guilt go into his fabulous violet eyes. He raised Duo's face with his finger so he met those eyes. "Don't." he said, simply. Duo looked up at him, and Heero saw the glints of tears in the boy's face. He pulled him into his chest firmly, but gently, and Duo wrapped his arms gently around him, his head resting on Heero's shoulder, as Heero wrapped his own arms around Duo's body. They held there, clinging to each other. Heero closed his eyes, the memory of muttering Duo's name under his breath every time the whip hit him fading into the background as he held him in his arms, Duo's memory of clinging to Heero's face as the seconds of his life ticked away thankfully leaving him to only come back in dreams. One question now flooded through both boys' minds. What the hell was going on?
Well, that was my first big story people. For those who are jumping up and down in frustration, if there are any of you, there is a sequel which I will be posting as soon as I can finish the last touches to it. Thanks and congrats for getting this far!!!! J