Where to begin? Well, in keeping time with my new "try to be a better author" kick, I'm going to fight every instinct I have and make this chapter longer. I hope everyone likes it. I was a little afraid that since nothing steamy is going on right now no one would want to read this, but it seems to be going fairly well so THANK YOU ALL! To address the most frequently asked question without giving too much away…it'll be a while before Duo's Heero shows up. That's not to say there isn't an "alternate" Heero – he'll be along shortly, I'm sure. Anyway, separation angst is always fun.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed: Dark Avalon, Soltic, lun4r-flow3r, duos-deathscythe, Lestat'sLover, lolly sister, Rei Megami, Abyssinian, Memina, ahanchan, and KuriQuinn. I haven't been able to check my reviews since Friday afternoon, so if I missed you, please accept my apologies – I'll include you next time!

Warnings: Yes. I do own Gundam Wing. I work in a fast food restaurant for fun. And yes, Heero and Duo are a couple. Get over it.

Perfect World

Chapter 4

Z

"Psst!"

Someone had decided that throwing paperwads at his head was a good way to spend time.

"Psst! Sam-u-al! Psst!"

"Fuck off…" He mumbled.

"Sam! Pay attention!"

"Don't wanna." He grumbled grouchily, burying his head further within his arms. "Wanna sleep. Sleep is gooooood."

Behind him, Aaron poked him savagely with the eraser of his pencil right at the base of his spine, causing him to sit up and send a searing glare back at his pretend brother. The look-alike refused to acknowledged what Duo had thought was a fairly good imitation of Heero's death glare, instead settling back in his chair and crossing his arms, eyes darting to the oblivious teacher.

"You're a good student, Sam, but you have trouble in Japanese class because you also take Russian and Spanish and you tend to get all three mixed up." He informed him quietly, barely moving his lips. He was tense, afraid of being caught by the teacher. Several students were watching them in curiosity already. "Dad said that if you don't keep your language grades up he's going to pull you off the chess team and take away your library card for a week."

"Boo hoo. Don't care. Leave me the hell alone."

"But I'm supposed to be tutoring you!" He hissed, leaning forward urgently. "Just because I went to prom with a Japanese girl freshman year. Sheesh." He narrowed his eyes threateningly. "If you don't ace this class with your usual ninety-eight, then I'm going to be in deep shit."

Duo blinked rapidly a few times, then sat up straight, unable to fight the rather mad grin that spread across his face.

"Did you just say a naughty word, Aaron?"

"The other boy flushed darkly. "I'm sorry, but this is important." He stated.

Sighing heavily, Duo turned back around in his seat, raising his hand. "Sensei?" He called in his innocent, you-don't-want-to-hurt-lil-ole-me voice.

"Hai, Sam-chan?" She smiled.

He pouted, holding his head in his hands. "Guai ga warui desu." He informed her in his best tone of misery.

She made a sympathetic sound, then turned back to the class, explaining that "poor little Sam's" head was still hurt and everyone needed to be very quiet so they didn't make his headache worse. Duo smiled, thankful for all those late-night Japanese lessons from Heero as he laid his head back atop his desk. His soulful-eyed lover had insisted on him learning the language and become reasonably fluent. The bastard had used sex against him, refusing to do anything other than tease him in bed until he properly recited all of his vocabulary words.

Duo hadn't really expected his lover's sadistic little bondage games to come in handy past the moments of sublime satisfaction that had followed the so-called study sessions.

He sensed eyes on him as he began to doze off, heard the whispering of the students as the teacher returned to her lesson. As he closed his eyes, he allowed him mind to dwell on Heero, his beautiful, strong Heero. His friend. His lover.

Was Heero also in a coma somewhere, dreaming insane dreams? Was he lying in a hospital bed nearby? Or sitting by Duo's own bed, waiting and watching him with that intense gaze of his – willing him to wake?

Maybe he was sitting beside him at this very moment, holding his pale limp hand tightly in both of his own, worrying obsessively as he did everything obsessively. Duo imagined that when he opened his eyes, he would be back in reality, back with the one he loved. He saw Heero's eyes as he woke. Heero's eyes – the only part of him to show emotion, as if the rest were carved from granite. Thos eyes would fill with relief and love as he watched Duo awake at last, and his soft, wonderful lips would descend upon Duo's own in a heartbreakingly gentle kiss. Duo would begin to cry as Heero pulled away, telling him softly of how worried he had been…

The bell rang loudly, ruining his fantasy, and Duo let forth a very unhappy groan, blearily lifting his head. He was, unfortunately, still in this insane world he had created. Reluctantly he rose, letting his dream fall away.

"Since when do you know Japanese?" Aaron hissed, following Duo as he sauntered lazily down the crowded hallway.

"Heero taught me." He answered grouchily, scratching his head and missing his braid. Why in hell had he dreamed himself without the damn thing? Even if there was no need for it in a world where he hadn't grown up alone and poor, he still liked it. Damn logic, taking away everything that made him feel safe and happy.

Aaron looked at him with that disbelieving, half concerned half amused look people often gave the insane. "Heero Yuy, your fantasy lover?" He snickered doubtfully.

"That's right, " Duo scowled, unable to see anything but vibrant prussian eyes. "My fantasy lover."

"You actually believe your own shit, don't you?"

Duo shot him a half-hearted glare. "Don't push me, imaginary brother. Real or no, I won't hesitate to kick your ass." He sighed, pulling out his schedule and trying to figure out where the destination of his next nap was. "Where the hell is room 46B?"

"I'm worried about you, dorkface." Aaron said quietly.

Duo stared at his schedule for a moment before looking up at him imaginary twin, feeling very keenly that the admission had been difficult for the other boy. Sigh. Now his imaginary friends had depth. Damn it. "You're what?" He asked flatly.

"Don't get all weird on me!" He snapped crossly, looking away. "It's just…super freaky seeing you like this. I mean, I always thought you needed more confidence, but this isn't what I meant. You're so loud and coarse…and when you smile…it isn't real anymore. It's like…it's like you're covering up emotions with other emotions…ones you don't feel. It frightens me."

Duo stopped, staring at him. Only Heero had ever realized he did that.

"I'm your twin, Sam. I know you better than anyone. We don't get along all the time anymore, but we both know that once school is over and gone, we'll still have each other." He mumbled uncomfortably, true concern and brotherly love in his eyes.

Duo stared at him a long moment before giving an abrupt, rude laugh. "Damn I'm good." He decided, beginning to walk again.

Aaron hurried to catch up.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean making up all this fuckin' detail when I'm fuckin' unconscious." He answered without bothering to look at his imaginary brother. "This story would make He-man laugh for hours! I am so royally fucked up it's fuckin' hilarious!"

"Stop it, Sam."

Duo glanced at him with what he knew was a slightly insane grin. "Wanna skip the rest of the day?" He suggested.

"Samuel Hunt? Suggesting skipping school?" He asked in disbelief.

"Duo Maxwell suggesting skipping school." He corrected. "Yes. So? You in or out? We can get back before Susan comes to pick us up – wouldn't wanna miss my doctor's appointment, would I?" Still Aaron didn't look convinced. Duo laughed. "Come on, I thought I had invented you to be a badass."

"I'm a jock, not a rebel." Aaron said helplessly. "Besides, the parking lot has cameras, and we don't have a ride anyway!"

Duo knew his grin grew even more mad as he watched fear fill his "brother's" eyes.

"Leave it to me."

Z

"Stay here a minute; the camera's swingin' back this way, but its angle is all wrong for catching us as long as neither of us moves an inch."

Aaron stared at his twin, whose own amethyst tinted eyes were locked on a tiny camera set high atop a streetlamp in the student parking lot of the school. "How do you know how to do this?" He blurted finally, unable to stop himself. Sam had gotten them past every hall patrol teacher and coach, not to mention the in-school cameras and the single security officer without incident.

Samuel had always been the smarter of the two, Aaron was not afraid to admit. The boy was nearly a genius. But his tastes ran more toward chess, ufo sightings, studies, and science fiction literature. He didn't even play stealth video games, and all the sudden he was an expert? Sam was shy and scrawny, but most kids liked him anyway because he was a nice person and he knew funny jokes. He was the kind of dork that jocks tolerated – only bullying once in a while – and girls considered "puppy-dog" cute. Adults adored him, younger kids looked up to him, and everyone expected him to be rich and famous when he grew up.

Now Sam was…different.

Loud and rude and confident and coarse yet somehow charming – he had walked right past the assistant principal with a 'hey, how are you?' and hadn't even been asked for a hall pass. It was almost as if…as if Sam was a completely different person.

"You think this is a big deal?" Sam laughed, not taking his eyes from the camera. The laugh was wild and bitter. Sam had never been bitter before. "I was breakin' into OZ bases by the time I was seven – this ain't nothin'! This is like…" Another insane laugh. "Like using a gundam against a kid with a slingshot."

"What's a gundam?"

"Nevermind. Look, when I say go, you run like hell to that red car. It's gonna be our ride."

"You know the owner?"

"Nah, but we're just borrowing it. We'll return it before school's over – even fill up the tank with gas. It'll only take me a few seconds to hotwire it." He cast him a slightly teasing, sidelong look. "You're not going to turn chicken on me, now are you?"

"No, it's just…isn't this illegal?"

"Hell yeah. But it's not as if any of this is real, anyway, imaginary bro…And even if it was, it wouldn't matter. I got a record that could encircle Earth all the colonies seventeen times over." He snorted. "War crimes my ass."

"We're a little too pretty for jail, Sam…"

He tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. "Jail might be fun." He decided. "I happen to enjoy a little man-on-man action…but Heero would be pissed if I cheated on him so you're right, we should avoid getting caught."

"Oh, that's right. You think you're gay. Sorry, I forgot."

"Bi actually, not like it matters because the only one I'm really interested in is Hee – okay, go now! Red Car! Go! Move your ass!"

Aaron lurched forward at Sam's rather rough push, staring as his brother sprinted across the parking lot to the rather flashy car he had chosen to "borrow." After a second of hesitation Aaron decided he had to follow – he would surely get caught without Sam's expertise. He settled into the passenger seat just as Sam was starting the engine.

Sam glanced at him, eyes large and wild, grin splitting his face. "Hold on t' your butt, buddy boy, you ain't seen nothin' like this!"

Z

"So right there, right in front of everybody, Heero just self destructs. BAM! Doesn't eject first or anything!" Duo tapped his hands on the steering wheel in time to the beat of the song on the radio. "Now, this is way before we got the hook-up, of course, cause there's no way he'd willingly do something like that with me to come home to, but man was it disturbing to watch it happen, anyway! Of course he didn't die; he's one stubborn son of a bitch, I'll tell you that!" He laughed, pulling smoothly into the parking spot the red car had occupied before he had decided to take it for a spin. "Tro took care of him until he was recovered. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different had I been the one to take him, you know? Would we have fucked sooner? Would he have gotten sick of me? It's an interesting question, you have to admit. Tro's with the Q-man now, of course, and that's just fine with me except I can't pull any pranks on him cause Q gets scary when he gets cranky…that reminds me…it's about time I dye Feifei's stupid little ponytail again…it's hard now, you know, since Heero and I moved out of Quat's mansion, but I think - ."

"Don't you ever stop talking!" Aaron finally exploded. He was pale and traumatized looking after their little outing. Good.

Duo laughed. "Hey! You do a great Wufei impression! Are you sure you don't know him and this all isn't some elaborate prank designed to make me go insane?"

"Sam! Please! Stop! Talking!"

"Duo." He corrected with a scowl. "I take pride in my name. Chose it myself. So please, don't make me kick your ass." He slid smoothly from the car and began making his way toward the school, the sound of the final bells ringing faintly in ears accustomed to listening for alarms. He leaned against a wall and grinned at his fake brother, crossing his arms. Damn he was tired of "Happy Baka" mode. "I don't wanna be anyone but Duo." He announced.

"Sam…"

That was pity in his voice. Damn. "What?" He demanded, suddenly cross. "Damn it, what?" The feelings of loneliness that had plagued him all his life swung back full force, only now there was no understanding lover to chase his demons away with coldly spoken yet heartfelt words of love.

"You're scaring me."

Duo snorted softly to himself, the darkness nearly overwhelming him. "You should feel lucky, imaginary bro." He told him. "Trust me, reality blows." Except when you had a cozy apartment and a soulful-eyed young ex-pilot waiting there got you to wrap you in warm, strong arms…

Damn.

"It's just some freaky amnesia, Sam." Aaron said gently, perhaps seeing the despair cloud his face. "Mom will take you to the doctor and then everything will be all better."

"Bah." He snorted, fingering his shorn hair. Didn't even have the damn braid for comfort anymore.

At last Susan's minivan pulled up in front of the school. Ignoring Aaron, Duo quickly climbed into the front seat and propped his feet up on the dash.

"How was school, boys?" Susan asked brightly.

Duo grunted, turning up the radio.

"Sam?"

Duo caught sight through the rearview mirror of Aaron shaking his head in warning. Susan didn't press the subject.

"Any chance of a family vacation on L1?" He blurted, unable to stop himself, as they pulled from the parking lot.

"Why L1?"

"Heero's from L1…"

"Sam…"

He scowled, angry at himself for even mentioning it. Of course they wouldn't cooperate. It was his own lousy luck that he had no control over figments of his own imagination. "He exists here somewhere." He insisted. "He has to. I need him."

Susan pursed her lips, but wisely decided not to comment. Duo decided as a reward for this bit of thoughtfulness, not to take his sudden and rather violent depression out on her, instead turning his attention out the window.

As they came to a stop at a red light, something caught his attention and pushed his dark thoughts to the back of his mind. It was a large building, familiar, although in much better repair than he remembered. He quickly memorized the address and made a mental note to carefully watch on the way back "home" so he would be able to find it again.

The light turned green.

Z

"What can I say, Susan?" The family doctor asked helplessly. "Sammy here is in perfect physical health. There's a slight sign of head trauma, but certainly not enough to warrant this erratic behavior. And never in my experience have I heard of a case of amnesia in which the victim thinks that he's someone else with such vivid detail."

"Are you going to do a brain scan?" Duo sighed. He despised doctors. "Make sure I'm not crackers?"

"Well…yes. I'd like to." The doctor stammered uncomfortably.

"Would it help if I told you that I've had two cat scans a year since I was twelve?" He asked hopefully.

"Nevertheless…" The doc coughed. He decided pretending Duo couldn't underhand what he was saying would be much easier and directed himself back to Susan. "I've made an appointment for Friday."

"But that still wouldn't offer any explanation for where all those scars come from!" Susan protested, tears in her eyes. "And my baby has never had muscles like those!"

"And Sam used to be a little taller." Aaron said quietly.

Duo glared. "Let's do a blood test." He suggested through clenched teeth.

"That isn't necessary. I can't explain the differences, but this boy is Samuel Hunt."

"No, I'm Duo Maxwell. I may run and hide, but I'd never tell a…ah, screw it. Can I put my clothes back on yet?"

Z

To Be Continued

Okay, that's eight pages, and I usually only do six. That's as far as I go today.

Why does Duo still have his own body but not his hair? (Shrugs) I dunno.

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If you review, the next chapter will be over six pages, too! Please?