As they tore away from the base in their delivery truck and stolen lab coats, it was silent. Quatre could still feel the coldness inside Duo though, the emotionless iciness that faded into a hard satisfied vengeance and then into a melancholy sorrow. All the while his face remained as expressionless and cool as Heero or Trowa on their best day. Unconsciously Quatre rubbed his chest with the heel of his palm, trying to get rid of the riotous feelings that invaded him.
After a bit Duo spoke up, his voice again cheerful and bright as though nothing had happened. It was that way after every battle or mission so it should have come as no surprise but this had obviously been personal somehow and so Quatre was surprised anyway by the ease at which Duo changed his outward appearance.
"I suppose you want to know what all that was about."
"It was...unexpected." Quatre tried to be diplomatic.
"When I was little, oh about five or so, there was a plague on L2. It was done by the Alliance to get rid of the war orphans that were so numerous there. So what they did was set loose the plague and then supply the antidote to anyone who could afford it. Of course street rats got no money, so they were out of luck. That guy back there's the one that ordered it done."
"You care a lot about it." Quatre said it casually, hoping Duo would continue. What the Deathscythe pilot had done back there had been no more than the man deserved apparently but usually the Gundam pilots didn't take the time to even every score. They were fighting a war and didn't have much time for that.
The cheerful look dropped off Duo's face and he was quiet for awhile more. It was strange seeing him that way, so uncommon and alarming. "I saw it first hand. It was a terrible thing to see happen to your family. The kids just kept getting sick and none of us was very healthy to begin with. They'd get so weak and bony and they'd keep coughing. Seeing some three year old who's every rib is showing cough and cough until they got no energy left..." His voice trailed off. "Solo...he kept us all together, kept us all going. When he got sick I managed to steal some of the serum for him but it was too late." He was looking fixedly out the front window as he said this but Quatre didn't know if he was really seeing anything. "I never got sick." And for once Quatre's space heart couldn't tell him what the other was feeling.
"I didn't know." It seemed inadequate and trite but it was all he could think to say. Suddenly the cab of the truck seemed much to close for comfort.
"Yeah, well, everyone's got their tale, don't they?" It was said lightly and with a touch of the Maxwell cheer. "I think they'd all have liked it though. Stickin' it to him and all like that."
Quatre thought for a bit, digesting the other's story and thinking of the general, facing his last days with no cure and no hope just as the lost children of L2 had done. "What you did back there..."
"Yeah?" He could feel Duo bracing himself for whatever he might say.
"If you ever need to do something like that again you can count on me to watch your back."
The other's grin was wide and unrestrained. It was a feeling that was matched on the inside. "Thanks man. And hey, if you ever need help with somethin', oh I dunno, your sisters or somethin' you just let me know."
"It's a deal." Quatre grinned back at his fellow pilot, in perfect understanding. This was something he understood. This was friendship.
Obviously this is the last chapter. I wasn't going to post more but I got a lot of reviews saying I should, so here you go! Anyway, I hope everyone really liked it. Write me to let me know what you liked and didn't. As long as it's constructive criticism, I would really appreciate anything you have to say. As an English major, it would really help me out. Anyway, thanks for sharing this with me!