Title: Company 3/?

Author: Mistress Tsunami

Rating: R

Pairings: 3x4, 1x2

Warnings: Heero angst! Major major! Umm...death, but not of a main character. X-mas depression. AU. OOC, but it's AU, so that's a given.

Heero had an idea. True, he wasn't sure if it would affect his relationship with the braided boy in any way, but it was certain to get Trowa off his back for another few years.

Duo and Heero were leaving the orphanage, to the dismay of most of the children, and were heading back to the dorms. "Go meet Trowa. I'll be up later," Heero told his companion.

"What are you doing? I'll join you."

"It's none of your business. Go away." Heero's tone was brisk, and it brooked no argument.

Duo, however, saw fit to ignore it. "Look, mister, I know you don't like Christmas and all that, but you can't just brush off your friends like you hadn't spent most of your lives together. I may not know you that well, but I do know Trowa. Not as well as you did, and probably still do, but I can tell when hurts.

"And what you did hurt him, Heero. It hurt him bad. He thought that the two of you were friends. You sent him your keys, and he thought that maybe, just maybe, you were still friends. And then, being the heartless bastard that you are, you brush him off again when he comes to make you feel better. You could at least make an effort to be social, for Trowa's sake, if not your own."

Heero's plan got shot down the drain with that little speech. It wasn't that he was planning on following the brunette's advice now. No, now he was pissed.

"Who are you to tell me how to run my life, huh? Do you even know what I've been through? You all have these...illusions of how great life can be, even after all the bad that's happened. You ever think that maybe it doesn't matter? All it is an illusion. People die every day. There are people dying right now, and it doesn't matter, because one day, that person dying will be you, and it won't matter how much money you had or how great your education was; it won't even matter how much you loved and were loved in return.

"None of that will matter because you'll be dead."

And with that, Heero Yuy stormed into the icy cold streets, hoping to have some time alone.

"There's nothing in nature that freezes you harder than years of being alone."

'I don't care,' Heero thought to himself. 'Let me be cold, someone needs to be. Someone needs to see the reality of this world, and it's certainly not going to be those idealistic maniacs.'

'They probably think that I'm the maniac. Not that it matters.'

Heero walked without a clear destination in mind, and so was startled to find himself at the old churchyard. The back area - where, in most religious grounds, there normally stood a graveyard – had been made into a park-like area, with trees and benches, and the occasional flowered memorial to one saint or another.

Heero had spent a lot of time in this churchyard as a child. For himself and Trowa, it doubled as a study ground, peaceful and quiet, as well as a playground. The days when he had come here had been happy, always. Nothing had shaken his childhood dreams.

Until his parents had died. He hadn't been back to this park since. He hadn't had a single happy moment since their deaths. He wasn't certain if he ever would again.

'He must be so lonely; he must be so sad. He goes to extremes to convince us he's bad. He's merely a victim of fear and of pride: look close and there must be a sweet man inside...nah...uhn-uh!'

Heero sat under the maple tree, The Scarlet Letter sitting on his chest where he had let it slip. Trowa lay beside him, curled around a Geometry book. The sun was setting, and the fading light reflected off of Heero's glasses, but the sleeping boys didn't notice their light fading. Earlier they had been struggling to finish their homework, now they were catching up on their sleep.

It wasn't long before their parents sought them out, the flash of a camera startling them out of their sleep.

Laughing, the two boys went home for the night, promising to finish their work tomorrow. After all, they were two chapters ahead in nearly every subject, there was sufficient time to slack off.

Duo watched Heero sit down on the cold, snowy bench from a tree not too far away, not realizing that he stood where Heero had once studied, played, and slept. His feet stood where Trowa had lain, curled around that tattered Geometry book. The maple tree had grown, and it's leaves were now brown, turning to dirt beneath him. His hand brushed against a marking he did not see, 'Trowa and Heero, friends for life'.

He didn't know any of this. He simply knew that there was a boy sitting on a bench not too far away. A boy who was silently screaming for help.

Quietly, Duo inched closer. He was within hearing distance when Heero decided that he should go through with his plan, no matter if the braided boy was interested or not. Heero, not realizing that the object of his thoughts was behind him, called one of his dorm-mates, a boy majoring in architecture.

"Hello, may I speak to Chang Wufei please?" Heero asked.

Duo couldn't hear the other side of the line, but Heero listened intently as the female answered. "Just a moment."

"This is Wufei," a deep voice answered a few minutes later.

"This is Heero Yuy. I'm one of the people staying in your dorm, and I was wondering if you could possibly do some work as a favor to me. I'd pay you well, and I'd allow time for classes, and family time."

"Yuy, it's Christmas. Why are you calling me now?"

"You should know as well as anyone how I feel about Christmas, Chang," Heero answered coldly. "Do you want the job or not?"

"Where and when?" the boy on the other side of the line asked.

"An orphanage not too far from the school. I want the roof fixed by New Years. The rest of it I don't care when, but you'll be paid for whatever you do."

Duo gasped, but the sound was lost as Heero listened to the Asian boy who shared his dorm. "I can get the roof done in a day, if it's not too bad. Just repairs, right? Or do I have to replace the whole thing?"

"Just repairs. I think."

"I'll get it done on the 29th, that gives me an extra day if it needs more. You better be paying me a whole damn lot to make me come back down there for a day just after Christmas."

"Cost of materials and 30 an hour until after the first of the new year, then I'll drop it to 25 an hour, or would you rather by job?"

"Hourly's fine. Are we done?"

"I'll write up a contract, other than that, yes. One last thing."

"What?" Wufei asked shortly, obviously irritated.

"I don't want them to know it's me."

"Fine. Good night. Merry Christmas."

"Whatever." Heero hung up.

He didn't even look up as Duo sat down beside him, and they stared off into the darkness for a long time together in silence.

"You never gave Trowa your cell phone number," Duo commented after a while. "Are you really so desperate to leave him?"

"Yes...no...why do you care, anyway?" Heero demanded, frustrated with the question he couldn't quite answer.

"Because, he's my friend. And I want you to be, too." Heero didn't answer. Duo sighed, and pulled out a piece of paper. It was crumpled, and it looked like Duo had folded it several times over. It was still readable, though. He handed it to Heero. "That's my cell phone number. I don't know if you'll ever use it, or if you'll even want to, but just in case...keep it on you. I appreciate what you did, and I'm willing to keep Tro and Quat off your back this Christmas, but the gifts will still be in your room when you get back."

Duo paused, unsure how to go on. "I know you're angry, Heero, and I know you don't want anyone to help you, but please, if you ever need anything, even if it's just a cup of cocoa or someone to stay silent on the other end of the line...give me a call. Anytime of the day or night, I don't care.

"I'm always awake, anyway..."

And with that cryptic response, Duo was gone.

'We're Marley and Marley; avarice and greed. We took advantage of the poor, just ignored the needy. We specialized in causing pain, spreading here and out; and if you could not pay the rent we simply threw you out!' The words of the old movie seeped into Heero's mind; he remembered it now. He used to love it, and insist that his parents play it every year. 'There was the year we threw out the entire orphanage! Yes, I remember the little tikes all standing in the snowbank, with their frostbitten teddy bears! Ahhh – shame! We're Marley and Marley; our hearts were painted black! We should have known our evil deeds would put us both in shackles. We're cast in chains and double-ironed, exhausted by the weight; as freedom comes with spreading love, oh, prison comes with hate! But, my friends, you were not unfeeling towards your fellow men. True, there was something about mankind we liked. I think it was their money! You're doomed, Scrooge, you're doomed for all time! Your future is a horror story written by your crimes. Your chains are forged, by what you say and do. No matter what, when life is done, a nightmare waits for you!'

Heero couldn't help but wonder...what were his chains...how heavy were they...and what nightmare awaited him after death.

SONGS: I hope I got them all right, I'm working from memory here. They're all from 'A Muppet Christmas Carol'