(A/N: This takes place after Endless Waltz, but you don't have to have seen it to know what's going on.)
What Will Soon Be Memories
By: Saiya-jin Patricia
Chapter 1
He definitely needed a vacation... or at least, that's what he was certain was running through Hilde's mind. It was only a few scrapes... and a broken rib or two, Duo thought. Seriously, who would think to put a giant hunk of scrap metal there? It wasn't his fault it fell.
"Itai! Can't you be a little more careful with that?" Duo said to Hilde, who happened to be trying to place bandages around his abdomen to keep his broken ribs in place, while he sat on their kitchen counter.
"Sorry," Hilde said, "But you're the one who refused to go to the hospital, so I don't want to hear an more complaints. You should have been more careful," she scolded.
Duo continued to mumble something along the lines of 'stupid place to put scrap metal.'
"Well, it is a scrap yard, Duo," she sighed.
"So! They didn't have to put it there."
"I'm sure they didn't do it on purpose."
Duo's sulking was interrupted by a knock on the door. He moved to jump down from the counter, but Hilde put a hand on his shoulder and glared at him, so he eased back down onto it and she walked out into the hallway.
He sighed and looked lazily out the kitchen window, grimacing as he pulled his shirt back on, not really focusing on anything... until a shadow caught his attention. The shadow of the roof, or rather, the person on the roof, that was creeping in the direction of the building's entrance.
He slid off the counter silently and ran to catch up with Hilde before anything happened to her, ignoring the pain in his ribs.
Hilde walked toward the door, her mind still on Duo, and how she was going to stop him from working in the scrap yard while he was injured. She absent-mindedly opened the door, and started when she noticed the brown package laying right outside...
Duo ran through the house, grabbing his pistol as he went. He came up behind Hilde as she bent over to get the package.
"Don't touch it!" he said quickly.
"Duo!" Hilde said as she stood up and turned around, her eyes innocent and questioning.
He took her arm and pulled her inside the door, shutting it behind them.
"What's wrong?" she whispered.
"I saw someone on the roof," Duo said.
Hilde was silent for a moment before asking, "Who do you think...?"
"I don't know," said Duo, "I'm going to go check it out. You stay here."
"All right..." she said reluctantly.
He opened the door, looking around as he walked outside. He stepped over the package and looked down at it. Keeping a close eye on the roof, he knelt down to take a look at the package.
It was an almost perfect rectangle, about eight inches long and three to four inches wide, and the same in height, with lots of stamps from wherever it had come from, and no return address. Overall he thought it looked fairly suspicious.
Turning from his kneeling position to glance at the roof, he winced. He had almost forgotten about his broken ribs.
With an impatient sigh, he carefully picked up the box, stopping for a moment just to make sure nothing happened. He slowly put his ear up to the side of the box, listening for anything unusual. Then he heard it... everything seemed to go in slow motion from the moment he heard the electronic beeping noise, and threw the package into the air as it exploded.
Hilde ran out the door after she heard the explosion. Then she saw Duo, and one hand went to her mouth as her stomach turned at the sight. He was on the ground, he wasn't moving, and flecks of blood colored the area around him.
(A/N: I decided to leave it off there... so, if you want to find out what happens next, or see if Duo's still alive... you know what to do.)