Hanging On

Disclaimer: See chapter 01

02: Frustration

Heero's POV

Duo was being so difficult; it was all I could do not kill him. But he was a fellow pilot, and a good one, not to mention my partner. So I had to keep him alive.

His healing powers were amazing. Most of the bullet wounds were scabbed over and half-healed by the second day. The gash on his face was deep, and worried me because it would bleed constantly with little to no irritation. I wondered if it was infected, but the skin around it wasn't red or swollen, nor was it warm.

But Duo was. Despite his healing abilities, Duo was getting nightly fevers and needed someone constantly by his side to care for him. We all took shifts; I had the late night to early morning time slot most of the time. I didn't need as much sleep as the others. I never have.

The fourth night after Duo woke up, he surprised me. His fever was high, about 104 degrees, and the rag on his forehead had to be changed every five minutes. He was getting hot flashes where he'd tear off the covers in a rage one minute, and then shiver underneath them the next. He was delirious, and I began wondering if he'd ever heal completely. I could only hope so. Teaching him how to pilot a mobile suit was difficult if I couldn't put him in one.

All of the sudden, at 2:19 in the morning, he began screaming and crying in distress. Me, being in the room at the time, moved to the bed as quickly as possible, hoping to restrain Duo from reopening his wounds. He'd begun thrashing violently.

The others hurried in, all in their pajamas; Wufei and Trowa both carried guns. They watched in open-mouthed shock as Duo writhed on the bed, silent screams tearing themselves from his mouth. I held him from behind, holding his arms still, trying to be gentle. His thrashing stopped, and he sank into my arms, exhausted and breathing thickly. I moved out from under him slowly. The pilots stared at me as I straightened my shirt and checked the clock. 2:21. Pulling the first aid kit from its corner near the bed, I began to check Duo's bandages over, making sure he had not hurt himself too badly.

There was a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped, turning to find Quatre looking at me gently and worriedly. "Go to bed, Heero, you're tired. I'll take care of Duo for the rest of the night."

I returned to unwinding the bandages from Duo's arm, gently cleaning the wound. "I'm fine."

I could feel Quatre staring at me as Wufei and Trowa left, presumably to go back to bed. "No you're not. Heero, you're exhausted. You haven't been sleeping well, have you?" he asked.

"Is that any of your business?" I asked sharply, turning to face him. I glared for all I was worth, but he stared back calmly, his bright blue eyes shining even in the dark room.

"Yes," he said simply, "it is." Taking the bandages from me, Quatre tied off the one around Duo's arm, tucking it in neatly and snugly. "Now go to bed. Duo will be fine, Heero."

I gave the blonde a final glare as I retreated to the room I shared with Wufei. Shrugging out of my jeans and my tank top, I lay in bed in my boxers, unable to sleep. Sighing, I rolled over on to my side, facing the wall my bed was against. This was totally useless. It was after 2:30 in the morning. I couldn't sleep.

I sighed, and rolled out of bed. To hell with it, I was getting up in three and a half hours anyway. It's not like I haven't gone without sleep before. I threw on my robe, and walked silently into the kitchen, the tile cold against my bare feet. Opening the refrigerator, I pulled out at gallon of milk as well as some chocolate syrup I had hidden away in the back with the leftovers that no one ever touched. Chocolate milk is one of my very few favorite food items, and I only ever get to drink it on very rare occasions. So I treated myself this morning. Hell, I think I deserved it.

I made myself a glass of chocolate milk and sat down at the small round table, staring at it blankly as I pondered Duo's newest problem. So he was throwing fits. Either it was a nightmare, in which case, unless he has it again this will be the only night Duo does this. Or, on the other hand, this can be caused by his head injuries, which means that this may well be a recurring thing here. Oh yeah, this is turning out to be a great night.

I can't believe the crap I have to deal with. I sighed again and stood up, draining the last of my chocolate milk and putting the glass into the sink. I walked into the living room and turned on the TV, turning down the volume so that it wouldn't disturb anyone. Bored out of my mind, I flipped carelessly through the channels, stopping on this old movie that was being shown. Lord of the Somethingorothers. It was decent. There was quite a bit of action to it, and I felt my eyelids beginning to droop as I watched this thing all in black chasing four midgets through some forest at night.

The next thing I knew, I woke up on the couch in full daylight, a soft blue blanket covering me. I sat up immediately, and looked around for a clock. Finding one on the wall, I glared at it until it could've exploded from the intensity. That clock must have been wrong. I didn't sleep until 10:30 in the morning. It just didn't happen.

I stood up slowly, stretching as I yawned. Sure, I felt rested and must've slept like a rock, but I wasn't supposed to be up this late. Walking into the bathroom, I found a note taped to the mirror above the sink. It was Quatre's tiny, neat handwriting.

Heero,

Wufei and Trowa are out on missions; both assignments were received this morning while you were asleep. I'm out grocery shopping, since it's been decided we'll stay here another two weeks until Duo is full healed and we're running out of food. Duo's asleep, and should stay that way for a while. He was dead to the world when I looked in on him around quarter of nine. I should be back sometime around 12.

Quatre

Not Heero's POV anymore

Heero shook his head, and let the note fall into the wastebasket in the corner by the shower. He quickly washed his face and headed back down the hall towards the kitchen, still in his boxers and robe.

At first his brain didn't register seeing Duo sitting at the counter on a stool when he walked in. He was used to it. But then he saw the bandages adorning Duo's body, and Heero stared a minute before muttering darkly. "Duo, what the hell are you doing out of bed?"

He didn't respond, only took a sip from the glass of water in front of him.

"Duo?"

It was then he looked up. "Oh, that's me, isn't I?" he asked, quite startled.

Heero nodded slowly. This retraining that he had to do…it was going to take a while. He sighed, making his way over to the refrigerator, grabbing the gallon of milk and the chocolate syrup. Chocolate milk was his comfort food, of sorts, and he felt that he needed the sugar to help him wake up a bit. Coffee was too bitter for his tastes. Despite what the others thought, Heero Yuy had quite the sweet tooth.

Duo watched Heero with a mix of listless indifference and bored interest. He sipped at his water, the only thing his tossing and heaving stomach could stand at the moment. The boy who stood at the counter drinking chocolate milk in boxers and a robe seemed so different than the one he had met just a few days ago. There was no cold gleam in his eyes that screamed verses of the battles he'd been through, no stiff postures or hard glares. He seemed kinder. More gentle. "He-Heero?"

Heero looked up at Duo's raspy voice. "Yeah?"

"Can you h-help me back upst-upstairs?" Duo asked slowly, standing up from his stool on shaking feet.

Heero wrapped his robe tightly around himself and moved over next to Duo, gently placing one arm around his back, the other putting Duo's arm over his shoulder. "Come on. You shouldn't be out of bed anyway. I don't know how you got down here if you can't get back up."

Duo smirked as Heero led him out of the kitchen and down the hall to the stairs leading to the bedrooms. "It took me a while, I c-can tell you." He coughed painfully, and Heero noticed him lick blood hastily off of his lips.

"You're putting too much strain on yourself, Duo, you need to be more careful," the Japanese boy replied as he carefully opened Duo's door. He led the heavily limping boy over to the bed and set him down, waiting until Duo had slipped back under the comforters before sitting down in a chair in the corner, picking up the book he had left there the night before. "Get some sleep."

Duo chuckles as he rolled over carefully. "You sound l-like my mother…" he coughed again before laying still and falling into a shallow slumber.

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Hey, sorry it took so long to update, but I've been distracted. It won't take so long next time, I promise! Thanks for the reviews, everyone!