Thanks HeeroDuo1x2x1 for the wonderful review. I really appreciate that you took the time! *grins* hope this chapter is up to par!
Thanks also to the "unknown person" who reviewed. I'm glad you liked it, and here's the update!
*****
The next few days, both boys were on edge. Heero was constantly side stepping Duo, and Duo was looking everywhere for the journal without being too obvious.
When Heero caught Duo trying to hack into Wing, though, the normally silent boy exploded. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" His hands were clenched into fists, but his voice was soft and threatening.
"Ummm…" Duo quickly tried to come up with a valid excuse, but could think of nothing that wouldn't be a lie. "I can't tell you," He opted for.
"Why not?" Heero looked mildly amused, though still deadly.
"You'd probably kill me if I told you." Duo slid down off of Wing to stand beside Heero.
"And I'll kill you if you don't."
"Hmmm. Tough choice then, eh? Be killed and have you know, or be killed and have you not know. I think I like the second option better." Duo grinned.
Heero reached out and slammed Duo up against the side of the Gundam. "I'm warning you, Maxwell." He brought his face so close to Duo's that he could feel the shorter boy's breath on his neck. "You will tell me."
Duo stood up on his tiptoes to look Heero dead in the eyes. "No," he paused, "I won't." Then the maniacal pilot dart his tongue out and licked the glaring boy's nose.
Heero loosened his grip in astonishment, and Duo broke free and took off, laughing, towards the safehouse.
***
Heero knew that his journal wouldn't be safe in Wing any longer. Duo's hacking skills were second only to his own, and given enough time, he could break in.
As he sat in Wing and contemplated what to do, he realized that he was shaking slightly. 'What's wrong with me?' he thought. He analyzed exactly what he was feeling and contributed it to the ice sharp needle of fear that he felt in the pit of his stomach. 'What am I so afraid of? Duo?' He shook his head. 'No, not being able to help him.' Heero shook his head in anger. "I am a Gundam pilot," he said to himself. "And so is Duo. He can handle himself."
He busied himself with minor repairs in Wing just to clear his head, and ran some ideas for re-coding his Gundam through his mind as he worked. When he finally checked the time, he was startled to find that he had been working over seven hours. Heero quickly assessed the amount of work that he had done and determined that he was extremely distracted for his efficiency to be so poor. What took seven hours should have only taken three.
He stretched the kinks out of his shoulder and climbed out of the cockpit slowly, mindful of his aching limbs. He slid down the side of the horizontal Gundam and was startled to find he had almost landed on a sleeping Duo.
His dark clothes easily blended in with the deepening shadows of the early evening, but his pale, heart-shaped face stood out sharply against the dark earth. For a moment, Heero thought the frail boy was dead, but the slow rhythmic motion of his chest told otherwise.
'Baka,' Heero thought, though he found himself studying the sleeping boy. Duo was curled up in a fetal position, protecting himself, even in sleep. His face was calm, and yet still reserved. Clutched in his hand was his braid. The long chestnut braid was messed up, with strands falling out of the usually neat plait. Heero rolled his eyes at the observation. 'That braid will get him killed one day.'
"Baka, wake up." Heero said as he kicked him awake.
Duo's violet eyes were frantic and terrified for all of a half of a second before he composed himself. "What?"
"What are you doing on the ground?" Heero leaned up against his Gundam.
The long haired boy sat up. "What's it look like?" He muttered.
Heero poked him in the ribs with a steel-toed sneaker. "Sleeping on the job, Maxwell?"
Duo swat his foot away and stood. "You keep calling me that!" He whined playfully.
"What, Maxwell?" Heero snorted. He pushed off Wing, and began to walk away.
"Fine then!" Duo called after him, "I'll just call you Hee-chan!"
Heero spun and gave him his patent Death Glare. "Don't you dare!"
Duo smiled smugly as he strolled past the glaring boy. "Come along, Hee-chan. Let's go eat dinner."
"Maxwell!" He growled warningly.
"Come on, Hee-chan! Wu-babe made dinner hours ago, he's probably angry that we- eep!" He squeaked as Heero lunged after him.
Duo was faster, but Heero had more stamina, so the violet eyed boy knew that he had to get to the house to find Quatre or he'd be in biiiig trouble.
"Quat!" He shouted as he ran, "Save me!!!!"
The door opened moments before he got there, but Duo couldn't stop himself in time. He soon found himself squished between Quatre and Heero who was ready to throttle him.
"Can't… breathe…" Quatre was able to wheeze out from the bottom of the pile.
"Off, Hee-chan!" He squirmed under Heero's weight.
The unexpected friction send a line of fire to his groin, and Heero growled. "Don't move, Maxwell."
"You're hurting Quat!" Duo squirmed more, but was unable to free himself.
"You're about to get hurt!" Heero wrapped his hand around the fraying braid and pulled Duo up with him, using him as a human shield so the other pilots couldn't see what those simple movements had done to his usually unbreakable control.
Trowa stepped forward and helped the small blonde pilot to his feet and received a thankful, but tired smile in reply.
"Where were you?" Wufei grit out. "Dinner was two hours ago!"
"We got distracted." Duo said stiffly, not moving a muscle, for fear of his precious hair that currently lay in the death grips of the Perfect Soldier.
"Heat it up for us. We'll be down in a few minutes." Heero nudged Duo forward. "Upstairs, you."
He led the trembling pilot upstairs to his room and told him, "Sit down. Don't move."
"Where are you going?" Duo tenderly stroked his now-free braid.
"To take a shower." Heero replied without turning around. He made his way down the hall and entered the small room. It wasn't the best safe house they has ever been in, but the stove worked and the water was hot. But that wasn't what he needed now.
He turned the water on ice cold, and stripped out of his clothing, noting in passing his muscular frame was beginning to stretch out. He was getting taller. That meant that the drugs that Dr. J had given him were wearing off. He mused over this before stepping into the icy spray.
Heero grit his teeth against the cold, but washed his body with the efficiency of a well-trained soldier. He was thankful that his blood flow had returned to normal, the main purpose of the impromptu shower.
The water dripped off him in sheets and he angrily suppressed the urge to shiver. He glanced around and noted that Duo had used the last towel and forgot to replace it. He opened the door, prepared to walk naked and dripping down the hall, and almost tripped on a towel that was placed just outside the door.
He wrapped it around his waist and stalked down the hall to his bedroom where Duo sat on the edge of his bed, his hair unraveled, and draped about his shoulders.
"I know you told me not to move, but I thought that you might want a towel, so I got up and brought you one because I forgot to bring mine back this morning, and I really hope that you're not mad at me, but I know that you are, and I just hope that you'll forgive me for reading you journal, but I just couldn't help it, I just had to know, and now I can't stop thinking about what I read, and you won't even talk to me, and I-"
"Baka." Heero growled as he closed the door to the bedroom. "Shut up!" He walked past Duo and to his dresser, hoping Duo didn't see his renewed state of 'distress.' He turned his back to the now-silent boy and dropped his towel and pulled on a pair of jeans. He rubbed the towel through his hair then pulled his tank top on over his head, and turned back to a smirking Duo.
"That's why your hair is always messed up! You don't even brush it or anything!" He grinned, the mocking grin decidedly at odds with the innocent look of the thin boy with long unbound hair.
"What, and yours isn't, now?" Heero snorted.
"I-" Duo suddenly looked very guilty. "Quat didn't do it this morning. He had a mission."
"Why would Quatre be doing your hair?" His eyes flicked over the boy. "Status report."
"Not great." Duo whispered, studiously looking at the floor. His hands slowly rose and unbuttoned the buttons of his shirt. He pulled it to the side and revealed a deep purple bruise on his ribs.
Heero sucked in a breath. "You were hurt?" The tender look in his eyes was quickly replaced with anger. "You should have told me! It has to go in the mission reports!"
"I'm sorry, it just went so well, all up until the very end. I overlooked a guy and he shot me. Good thing for the vests, or I'd be just as dead as he is now." He buttoned his shirt back up and tentatively raised his head to meet Heero's gaze.
"Give me your brush."
"What?" Duo asked, completely confused.
"Go get it. I won't ask again."
Duo grumbled as he rose. "Never asked in the first place." Moments later, though, Duo was back, brush in hand.
"Sit," Heero instructed, pointing to the chair in front of the desk. "Sideways."
Duo nodded and did as he was told.
Heero carefully ran the brush through the long chestnut strands. He had seen it out of the braid only a couple of times before, but had never touched it when unbound. He took his time, carefully untangling each hair, never snagging or pulling. Once finished, he did it again, finding the simple act to be extremely stress-relieving.
Duo was almost purring in pleasure. Quatre was good, he did have 29 sisters, after all, but he never gave this much care to the chestnut strands. He was sure that Heero should be done by now, but he didn't say a word, taking comfort in the stoic boy's closeness.
Suddenly there was a pounding on Heero's bedroom door. "What are you two doing in there?" Wufei yelled. "Your dinner's getting cold! Again!"
Neither boy replied as they heard the footsteps move away.
Heero quickly braided Duo's hair and held out his hand. "Elastic." Duo handed it to him, and Heero bound the braid expertly.
Then without another word, Heero left the room, leaving Duo alone with a confused jumble of thoughts. What had just happened? Did Heero forgive him for reading the journal? Duo sighed and stood, examining the braid for any imperfections. There were none, just like the Perfect Soldier. Or so he had thought.
*****
NOTE TO MY READERS!!!!
I'm looking for a beta reader, as per HeeroDuo1x2x1's suggestion. Any takers? Email me at sabregrrl@cox.net
Thanks also to the "unknown person" who reviewed. I'm glad you liked it, and here's the update!
*****
The next few days, both boys were on edge. Heero was constantly side stepping Duo, and Duo was looking everywhere for the journal without being too obvious.
When Heero caught Duo trying to hack into Wing, though, the normally silent boy exploded. "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" His hands were clenched into fists, but his voice was soft and threatening.
"Ummm…" Duo quickly tried to come up with a valid excuse, but could think of nothing that wouldn't be a lie. "I can't tell you," He opted for.
"Why not?" Heero looked mildly amused, though still deadly.
"You'd probably kill me if I told you." Duo slid down off of Wing to stand beside Heero.
"And I'll kill you if you don't."
"Hmmm. Tough choice then, eh? Be killed and have you know, or be killed and have you not know. I think I like the second option better." Duo grinned.
Heero reached out and slammed Duo up against the side of the Gundam. "I'm warning you, Maxwell." He brought his face so close to Duo's that he could feel the shorter boy's breath on his neck. "You will tell me."
Duo stood up on his tiptoes to look Heero dead in the eyes. "No," he paused, "I won't." Then the maniacal pilot dart his tongue out and licked the glaring boy's nose.
Heero loosened his grip in astonishment, and Duo broke free and took off, laughing, towards the safehouse.
***
Heero knew that his journal wouldn't be safe in Wing any longer. Duo's hacking skills were second only to his own, and given enough time, he could break in.
As he sat in Wing and contemplated what to do, he realized that he was shaking slightly. 'What's wrong with me?' he thought. He analyzed exactly what he was feeling and contributed it to the ice sharp needle of fear that he felt in the pit of his stomach. 'What am I so afraid of? Duo?' He shook his head. 'No, not being able to help him.' Heero shook his head in anger. "I am a Gundam pilot," he said to himself. "And so is Duo. He can handle himself."
He busied himself with minor repairs in Wing just to clear his head, and ran some ideas for re-coding his Gundam through his mind as he worked. When he finally checked the time, he was startled to find that he had been working over seven hours. Heero quickly assessed the amount of work that he had done and determined that he was extremely distracted for his efficiency to be so poor. What took seven hours should have only taken three.
He stretched the kinks out of his shoulder and climbed out of the cockpit slowly, mindful of his aching limbs. He slid down the side of the horizontal Gundam and was startled to find he had almost landed on a sleeping Duo.
His dark clothes easily blended in with the deepening shadows of the early evening, but his pale, heart-shaped face stood out sharply against the dark earth. For a moment, Heero thought the frail boy was dead, but the slow rhythmic motion of his chest told otherwise.
'Baka,' Heero thought, though he found himself studying the sleeping boy. Duo was curled up in a fetal position, protecting himself, even in sleep. His face was calm, and yet still reserved. Clutched in his hand was his braid. The long chestnut braid was messed up, with strands falling out of the usually neat plait. Heero rolled his eyes at the observation. 'That braid will get him killed one day.'
"Baka, wake up." Heero said as he kicked him awake.
Duo's violet eyes were frantic and terrified for all of a half of a second before he composed himself. "What?"
"What are you doing on the ground?" Heero leaned up against his Gundam.
The long haired boy sat up. "What's it look like?" He muttered.
Heero poked him in the ribs with a steel-toed sneaker. "Sleeping on the job, Maxwell?"
Duo swat his foot away and stood. "You keep calling me that!" He whined playfully.
"What, Maxwell?" Heero snorted. He pushed off Wing, and began to walk away.
"Fine then!" Duo called after him, "I'll just call you Hee-chan!"
Heero spun and gave him his patent Death Glare. "Don't you dare!"
Duo smiled smugly as he strolled past the glaring boy. "Come along, Hee-chan. Let's go eat dinner."
"Maxwell!" He growled warningly.
"Come on, Hee-chan! Wu-babe made dinner hours ago, he's probably angry that we- eep!" He squeaked as Heero lunged after him.
Duo was faster, but Heero had more stamina, so the violet eyed boy knew that he had to get to the house to find Quatre or he'd be in biiiig trouble.
"Quat!" He shouted as he ran, "Save me!!!!"
The door opened moments before he got there, but Duo couldn't stop himself in time. He soon found himself squished between Quatre and Heero who was ready to throttle him.
"Can't… breathe…" Quatre was able to wheeze out from the bottom of the pile.
"Off, Hee-chan!" He squirmed under Heero's weight.
The unexpected friction send a line of fire to his groin, and Heero growled. "Don't move, Maxwell."
"You're hurting Quat!" Duo squirmed more, but was unable to free himself.
"You're about to get hurt!" Heero wrapped his hand around the fraying braid and pulled Duo up with him, using him as a human shield so the other pilots couldn't see what those simple movements had done to his usually unbreakable control.
Trowa stepped forward and helped the small blonde pilot to his feet and received a thankful, but tired smile in reply.
"Where were you?" Wufei grit out. "Dinner was two hours ago!"
"We got distracted." Duo said stiffly, not moving a muscle, for fear of his precious hair that currently lay in the death grips of the Perfect Soldier.
"Heat it up for us. We'll be down in a few minutes." Heero nudged Duo forward. "Upstairs, you."
He led the trembling pilot upstairs to his room and told him, "Sit down. Don't move."
"Where are you going?" Duo tenderly stroked his now-free braid.
"To take a shower." Heero replied without turning around. He made his way down the hall and entered the small room. It wasn't the best safe house they has ever been in, but the stove worked and the water was hot. But that wasn't what he needed now.
He turned the water on ice cold, and stripped out of his clothing, noting in passing his muscular frame was beginning to stretch out. He was getting taller. That meant that the drugs that Dr. J had given him were wearing off. He mused over this before stepping into the icy spray.
Heero grit his teeth against the cold, but washed his body with the efficiency of a well-trained soldier. He was thankful that his blood flow had returned to normal, the main purpose of the impromptu shower.
The water dripped off him in sheets and he angrily suppressed the urge to shiver. He glanced around and noted that Duo had used the last towel and forgot to replace it. He opened the door, prepared to walk naked and dripping down the hall, and almost tripped on a towel that was placed just outside the door.
He wrapped it around his waist and stalked down the hall to his bedroom where Duo sat on the edge of his bed, his hair unraveled, and draped about his shoulders.
"I know you told me not to move, but I thought that you might want a towel, so I got up and brought you one because I forgot to bring mine back this morning, and I really hope that you're not mad at me, but I know that you are, and I just hope that you'll forgive me for reading you journal, but I just couldn't help it, I just had to know, and now I can't stop thinking about what I read, and you won't even talk to me, and I-"
"Baka." Heero growled as he closed the door to the bedroom. "Shut up!" He walked past Duo and to his dresser, hoping Duo didn't see his renewed state of 'distress.' He turned his back to the now-silent boy and dropped his towel and pulled on a pair of jeans. He rubbed the towel through his hair then pulled his tank top on over his head, and turned back to a smirking Duo.
"That's why your hair is always messed up! You don't even brush it or anything!" He grinned, the mocking grin decidedly at odds with the innocent look of the thin boy with long unbound hair.
"What, and yours isn't, now?" Heero snorted.
"I-" Duo suddenly looked very guilty. "Quat didn't do it this morning. He had a mission."
"Why would Quatre be doing your hair?" His eyes flicked over the boy. "Status report."
"Not great." Duo whispered, studiously looking at the floor. His hands slowly rose and unbuttoned the buttons of his shirt. He pulled it to the side and revealed a deep purple bruise on his ribs.
Heero sucked in a breath. "You were hurt?" The tender look in his eyes was quickly replaced with anger. "You should have told me! It has to go in the mission reports!"
"I'm sorry, it just went so well, all up until the very end. I overlooked a guy and he shot me. Good thing for the vests, or I'd be just as dead as he is now." He buttoned his shirt back up and tentatively raised his head to meet Heero's gaze.
"Give me your brush."
"What?" Duo asked, completely confused.
"Go get it. I won't ask again."
Duo grumbled as he rose. "Never asked in the first place." Moments later, though, Duo was back, brush in hand.
"Sit," Heero instructed, pointing to the chair in front of the desk. "Sideways."
Duo nodded and did as he was told.
Heero carefully ran the brush through the long chestnut strands. He had seen it out of the braid only a couple of times before, but had never touched it when unbound. He took his time, carefully untangling each hair, never snagging or pulling. Once finished, he did it again, finding the simple act to be extremely stress-relieving.
Duo was almost purring in pleasure. Quatre was good, he did have 29 sisters, after all, but he never gave this much care to the chestnut strands. He was sure that Heero should be done by now, but he didn't say a word, taking comfort in the stoic boy's closeness.
Suddenly there was a pounding on Heero's bedroom door. "What are you two doing in there?" Wufei yelled. "Your dinner's getting cold! Again!"
Neither boy replied as they heard the footsteps move away.
Heero quickly braided Duo's hair and held out his hand. "Elastic." Duo handed it to him, and Heero bound the braid expertly.
Then without another word, Heero left the room, leaving Duo alone with a confused jumble of thoughts. What had just happened? Did Heero forgive him for reading the journal? Duo sighed and stood, examining the braid for any imperfections. There were none, just like the Perfect Soldier. Or so he had thought.
*****
NOTE TO MY READERS!!!!
I'm looking for a beta reader, as per HeeroDuo1x2x1's suggestion. Any takers? Email me at sabregrrl@cox.net