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A Million Ways to Slay a Raven

Jessenia

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Chapter Three: Spinning

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"You don't find that slightly suspicious?" Duo shrugged.

"Well..." Wufei sighed heavily.

"She got sick within the day! Violently sick! She even calls him every night at the same time!" Duo shook his head.

"No, it doesn't fit." Wufei crossed his arms and leaned against the desk.

"What doesn't fit?" Duo tugged at his hair in frustration then threw his hands in the air.

"It just doesn't fit. It doesn't seem right." Wufei shook his head.

"Look, you've been around the blond too much. You don't have some freaky sixth sense!" Duo rolled his eyes.

"Look, did I say my frickin' Heart was talking to me? No! I just said it didn't fit. Now fuck off and cut me some goddamned slack! I'm getting sick of your constant bullshit, Wufei!" Wufei scowled and looked at his friend closely. There was a tense silence in which Duo paced and Wufei tried to piece it all together.

"You're falling for him." Duo stopped pacing and gave a warning glare. "You are." Duo tossed his braid over his shoulder and resumed his pacing. "You can't deny it. You can't lie." Duo stopped mid-pace and slowly turned to look at his friend.

"You bugged his house." Wufei watched as realization slid into place on his friend's face. "You fucking bastard." Wufei shook his head.

"Don't turn this on me, I was doing my job. I'm supposed to have my eyes and ears open all the time to try to figure out who in the hell wanted to kill him and his entire family! And you are supposed to be watching him! And that does not include falling in love with him!" Duo lunged forward and slapped Wufei, hard.

"If you're so hell-bent on doing your job right, maybe you should get someone watching both Relena and Zechs. And don't get in my way again." Wufei watched his partner leave and scowled. He may be acting out of line, but if he was then Duo certainly was. It was also his job to make sure his partner didn't get hurt, and that included falling for someone who was in a situation like the one Heero Yuy was in now.

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"This way." Duo said as he jogged up the stairs and fumbled with the keys, getting the door open. "Does Shini-chan want a snack?" The dog looked up at her master and her tongue lolled out when he nodded slightly. "Well, this is it! My apartment! If you ever need something, this is where I'll be. Most of the time." He added as he sauntered over to get a snack for Heero's guide. Okay, so he had stocked the place with an eye to bring the boy over, but hey, he couldn't help himself!

"Oh, sorry!" Duo said, when he noticed that Heero and Shinigami were both standing by the door, looking a bit lost. "The sofa is over here." He took a step forward, ready to reach for Heero's arm when he remembered. "Shini-chan, do you mind if I take Heero over to the sofa?" She sniffed, and Heero chuckled as both his dog and his friend led him over to the sofa. "She can sit on the sofa too, if you want." Heero frowned.

"She can't. I already baby her too much, it's not good for her, she'll forget her job." Duo chuckled as the dog leaned her head on Heero's lap and the boy began to scratch behind her ears. "Duo, what does it look like?" He frowned. "The apartment?" Duo smiled.

"It's not much. It's smaller than yours, and not as stylish." Heero frowned as if just learning that his loft was stylish. "It's modest, and comfortable. Big over-stuffed chairs in the living room, which you are currently occupying. A small study, big bedroom and of course, the kitchen. Bright colours, red for kitchen, blue for the living room, green tiles in the bathroom and black and red in the bedroom." Heero had closed his eyes as if visualizing it all. Duo felt the urge to hug the boy but settled for handing Shinigami her snack and tossing himself into one of the nearby arm chairs.

Duo stared at Heero for a moment, assessing the quiet boy before him, then he smirked. "How long has it been since you've been to a fair?" Heero frowned.

"Fair?" Duo shrugged.

"Yeah, you know, rides, games, fun?" Heero blushed a little and Duo took that as his answer. "Oh man! Come ON!! We've got to go!" Heero pressed back a little into the sofa, a movement which Duo knew meant that he wanted to disappear.

"It's not exactly like I can..." He left it open, but Duo knew what was bothering him.

"I can take you! You don't really need to see to get a thrill out of the rides, and, Shini can wait by the gate, maybe Trowa and Quatre will hold her." Heero looked away. "Are you afraid to?" Duo stopped as soon as he said it. Sudden realization coming to him that perhaps sitting on a roller coaster that tossed and turned and rolled was a little too similar to being on a plain as it was in its death throes. And that Heero had to sit by himself in the darkness, left with his memories? "Shit, I'm sorry man." Duo said as he put a hand on his friend's shoulder. Heero shook his head.

"It's fine. It's just..." There was an awkward silence in which Duo took the opportunity to smack himself in the head a few times. "...I used to always like the teacups." Duo frowned, then smiled.

"Then, come June, we'll ride the teacups!" Heero snorted. "Hey man, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry." Duo stood up and bounced towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, but I hear your stomach talking, and it was exactly speaking the language of love either, so, now I have an excuse to feed myself. How does pizza sound for you?"

"Good."

"Excellent. Heero, my man, I think you and I are gonna get along just fine."

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"Hey, feeling better?" Heero nodded but accepted the pills his friend handed him. "Aspirins. They'll chase the rest of that cold away." He swallowed them and then returned to his thoughts. It took a moment then he heard a chair as it was pulled away from the table. "What's wrong?" Heero shook his head.

"Nothing, I just .. What does he look like?" He heard Trowa sigh and a slight chuckle. "What?" There was a pat on his arm and he frowned deeper.

"You still have it." Heero wondered what his friend was talking about before he remembered one time when they were at a nightclub, and a guy had been hitting on Heero. Trowa had mentioned something about Heero always attracting the good-looking guys. Heero blushed.

"But what does he look like. The image in my head is based entirely on his voice. It's just that ..." There was a pause, then Trowa sighed again.

"He has very long hair. Past his waist." Heero nodded, he had felt the braid. "He always wears it in a braid. It's a chestnut colour. His face is heart-shaped, I would say it would be a combination between your face and Quatre's. But his eyes are violet." Trowa smiled as he noticed his friend had closed his eyes. It wasn't hard to sense the energy between Duo and Heero, and he hoped that everything would turn-out well for his friend. "He's tall. About my height, and always wears dark colours." Heero smiled.

"He likes black." Trowa chuckled.

"Will that help with your fantasies?" Heero went beat-red and Trowa laughed heartily. Then smirked.

"One thing I forgot to mention." Heero frowned. "He can never keep his eyes off you." He watched as the message sunk-in. Heero was notoriously shy, if Duo wanted something from his friend, he would just have to take it. Even now, as he watched Heero, he could practically see the boy writing-off this revelation, ascribing it to the fact that maybe Duo didn't see a lot of blind people, or some other strange thing that would undoubtedly make sense in Heero's mind. Trowa shook his head. He hoped Duo would hurry-up and make his intentions clear.

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"Heero?"

"Nani?"

"I'm gonna come down. Just for a bit. Just to visit for a bit. You and I never get to see each other anymore."

"I'm fine. I would much rather just have time to myself, Relena."

"No. It's been long enough. It's about time you had a visitor."

"Quatre and Trowa are here. They visit me all the time."

"Heero. I can't have a repeat of January. Honestly, Heero. I couldn't bear it if it happened again."

A pause.

"I'll come down there. I'll see you soon!"

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"A repeat of January? What the hell does that mean?" Wufei rolled his eyes and rewound the tape, listening to Relena repeat her tense statement. Sally looked at him with a frown.

"I don't know either. I'll look it up."

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Duo smiled at the image.

Heero lay asleep on his couch. Curled up, one arm dangling down, touching the top of Shinigami's head as she lay beside the sofa. It was a choice moment, and Duo smiled before his attention was caught by something he saw, peeking out from the long-sleeved shirt the boy was wearing. A patch that seemed much lighter than the skin that surrounded it. Duo put his coffee down and walked calmly over. Squinting at the hand.

He patted Shinigami on the head as she looked at him questioningly, and reached forward, gently pulling the arm towards him, looking at the light patch.

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"January 13. Heero Yuy was found in his bedroom by his friend, Trowa Barton..."

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Duo stared and swallowed convulsively. Pulling the sleeve up to the elbow, unable to process it. He looked at the other arm, resting on the boy's slender side. He moved forward and pulled up the sleeve. He had to know...

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"He had slit both his wrists. It was the third suicide attempt. He was close to being successful. He was assigned a therapist, but several more attempts followed. It was seen as survivor guilt. After a while, the attempts just stop. He quit therapy about two months ago. The suicide attempts stop around the time that someone named Shinigami came to live with him."

"The dog."

"A dog?"

"He's blind."

"Oh. I didn't know..." A pause.

"Sally, Duo's getting in over his head."

"I know. But that's how he is."

"He can't take something like this happening to him again. After Solo..."

"This one is definitely not Solo. That was a bad choice, anyone could have told him that. Most people did."

"Heero Yuy is no different."

"Heero Yuy is very different. In two many ways to note."

"Still..."

"Trust him. Trust him this once."

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TBC

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Jessenia: Just to let you know, there will be what could be construed as Zechs bashing. Uhm, I couldn't help it? It sorta had to be that way. And I know that Zechs in reality isn't much older than the boys, but neither is Relena. I had to change their ages. It just worked better this way. Please review!!!

Anyway, I'm really excited about this fic because originally I only had the first paragraph of the first chappy and the title, and NO idea what I was doing with it! Then I sat down yesterday and started typing, and all of a sudden I had four chapters!! I'm really happy about the feedback I've gotten. Please feel free to write more! I really really appreciate it! I'm so happy everyone is enjoying the fic so far!!