Disclaimer: see previous chapters.

Checkmate

Chapter 19

Duo tried to soothe Wufei as best he could. He called work, Lady Une already expecting his call. She said she was doing all she could to find out the details of the explosion. In the meantime, Duo had put Wufei back to bed and got him to rest by dosing his water with a sleeping pill. He didn't like doing it to him, but Wufei looked pretty bad.

They didn't get any news until late that night. Duo answered the vid phone to see a tired Lady Une staring back.

"They've located a body. It's badly burned and they're going to have to use dental records to confirm the identity."

"He knew something was going to happen."

"What!"

"Zechs sent Wufei something in the mail yesterday. He spent the rest of the day and the night from the looks of the bags under his eyes, trying to reach Zechs. I guess he never got in touch with him. Have they determined the cause?"

"No. They may not know the answer to that question for several more days depending on how skillful the sabotage was. According to General Hazuma, the Chancellor rushed his departure and waived the security check of his aircraft."

"He what!"

Duo slammed his fist down onto the table and stared unbelieving at the screen. He was angry, infuriated even, and he really didn't know why.

Lady Une hung her head and her voice held a sad note to it. "He apparently had been on a very destructive path. General Hazuma intimated the Chancellor had been drinking heavily and his behavior had become very careless."

Duo frowned, making a mental note not to mention Zechs' behavior to Wufei. There was no need to add to his grief. He nodded grimly and met Lady Une's tired gaze.

"Well, keep us posted. I'm not letting him watch TV or listen to the radio, so you're our information line."

"Understood. How is he?"

Duo shook his head. "I finally put him to sleep by slipping him a sleeping pill. I guess I knew he still cared for the guy on some level , but…how could he be this upset over someone who almost killed him?"

Lady Une's eyes narrowed, wondering just how much Duo's own feelings for his partner clouded his judgment. "I can't imagine one can just instantly fall out of love, Maxwell. He loved the Chancellor and then suddenly, something went horribly wrong. Could you just turn off your feelings for Chang?"

"I…." Duo couldn't even sputter out a response. Does she know how I truly feel about, 'Fei? Or is she just talking about our friendship?

"I don't think he can just turn off his emotions towards the Chancellor anymore than the two of you could turn off your feelings towards each other. Goodnight, Maxwell. Take care of Chang."

Duo just nodded and watched as the screen went blank. She had to be talking about our friendship. There's no way 'Fei feels anything towards me other than friendship. He stood up and headed back to the bedroom and sat down on the bed next to the sleeping figure, lightly stroking his ebony hair, confident Wufei wouldn't wake up and catch him due to the sleeping pill.

"I will always be here for you, 'Fei. No matter what happens, I swear it."

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It had taken only a day from the time of the accident to determine the identity of the body. The funeral was held on earth, two days later. Diplomats, government officials and military personnel swarmed the service. Wufei hadn't uttered a word since hearing that Milliardo had officially been declared dead.

Duo remained by Wufei's side during the whole ordeal, thanking people for their condolences on behalf of the silent Wufei. He had no idea how involved Wufei had become in Milliardo's diplomatic life. He sat in the church next to his silent partner, his hand lightly clasped by Wufei who was staring forward, looking as if he were in a trance. I wish I knew what to do for you, 'Fei.

After the funeral there was a large reception being held by the Peacecraft family in memoriam of their lost son. Wufei wanted no part of it and Duo was relieved when he drove them in the opposite direction. Wufei pulled up in front of Duo's apartment building and waited for his friend to get out of the car. Duo looked over, not hiding any of the worry he felt.

"'Fei, are you sure you want to be alone? I'm really worried about you. You haven't spoken in two days. I know you loved him, but---" Duo's words died in his throat when he saw the onyx eyes flash at his words. "What? What did I say?"

Wufei's eyes softened slightly and he just shook his head. He looked up at his best friend and laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. His eyes spoke to Duo, who had become an expert at reading Wufei through the years. I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern.

Duo sighed and hung his head as he exited the car. He turned back and leaned in the open window, his voice serious. "I don't believe you. You're not fine. And if you keep fooling yourself like this, and keep everything bottled up, you're going to end up like Heero."

Wufei's mouth opened to protest. He wanted to yell at his best friend that he was nothing like their closed off friend. He had been the outgoing one compared to Heero. But nothing came out. He closed his mouth and watched Duo stomp into the apartment building, obviously upset.

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Wufei wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there staring at the chess board. His apartment was completely dark and he was sitting on the floor, his head resting on his arms which were crossed on the table. Two empty wine bottles lay on the floor next to him along with a half glass of wine.

After he dropped Duo off, Wufei came home and began to drink. He didn't really drink on a regular basis and was surprised to find two bottles in the cabinet. So he had sat down and poured himself a glass. And then another and then another until the first bottle was gone and he realized that he didn't feel the pain in his chest anymore. So he had opened the second bottle in the hopes that it would wipe out his misery as well.

His eyelids were getting heavy and when he blinked his eyes, it was a long, drawn out action. But he was fighting to stay awake because every time he closed his eyes, he saw him. He saw those pale blue eyes and soft mouth and long beautiful platinum hair. I don't want to see you, Milliardo. It hurts.

Wufei reached out and took one of the marble chess pieces in his hands. It felt cool in his hands and he turned it around as if he didn't know what to make of it. Why did you truly send this, Milliardo? Did you want me to suffer along with you? You wanted me to have a reminder of us. You wanted me to see this board everyday and think of the hours we spent together. You wanted to remind me of our love. Did you secretly hope my resolve to be apart from you would crumble if faced with this chess board?

"Well you were right, Milliardo. It did all those things."

Wufei clasped the piece within his hand in a death grip as he fought to hold back the tears his heart was demanding be released. He finally realized that nobody could see his weakness right now so it would be ok to cry. It would be ok to mourn the loss of his love. It would be ok to release the guilt he felt for rejecting Milliardo. It would be ok to quietly ask for forgiveness for the shame he'd brought upon himself.

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Duo barely slept the previous night and was up and at Wufei's apartment by 9am the day after the funeral. He was too worried about his best friend to just leave him alone. The dragon's wrath be damned. He knocked several times and yelled for Wufei before letting himself in with his key.

"'Fei? Hello!"

Duo let the door close behind him and walked into the apartment. He had just passed the kitchen, heading into the living room when he noticed two wine bottles on the floor.

"Oh no." Duo made his way over to pick up the discarded bottles and called out once again. "'Fei! Wake up, man! We need to talk!" He heard a muffled moan from the side and craned his neck to see Wufei lying on the floor. "Shit."

Duo went over and knelt by his friend's side, his voice soothing and his hand rubbing the passed out man's back.

"Oh, 'Fei, you should never drink alone. Why didn't you call me? I'm your best friend damn it. I want to help you."

"Milliardo…go…..away…."

Wufei's eyes cracked open and Duo could tell he was trying to focus, and failing miserably. Duo sighed and got up, heading for the bathroom. He came back to Wufei's side with a glass of water, aspirin, a cold compress, a pillow, a blanket and trashcan.

"Ok, all the necessary supplies for a drunk dragon. Here, swallow this." He fed Wufei the aspirin and carefully tilted his head just enough to drink the water. Once that task was accomplished, he situated Wufei with the pillow and blanket and placed the compress on his head before sitting back against the wall and watching the miserable man sleep.

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Duo heard a groan from behind him on the floor and he looked back over his shoulder to see his best friend finally stirring from his drunken stupor. He turned off the TV and got up from the sofa and walked around to assist Wufei in what was no doubt going to be a very painful awakening.

Wufei had managed to push himself up into a sitting position, his hands now bracing his head. Duo held his smirk in check and sat down across from his groaning friend.

"How do you feel?"

"I'll let you know as soon as the room----" Wufei's hand went to his mouth and Duo held the trashcan out just in time for Wufei to retch the contents of his stomach. "Oh god."

"He can't help you now." Duo maneuvered so he was sitting next to Wufei whose head was in the trashcan. He began rubbing Wufei's back, waiting for the next round of retching, which didn't take long. Once he was confident that Wufei's body was done kicking out everything, he took the trashcan away and returned to find Wufei trying to stand up. "Hold on there, 'Fei, let me help you."

Wufei allowed Duo to pull him up from the floor and provide a steadying base for him to lean against.

"What are you doing here, Maxwell?"

"I came over this morning to check up on you and found you passed out on the floor. I knew I shouldn't have left you alone last night."

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

Duo heard the indignant voice and knew it wasn't aimed directly at him but he couldn't stop the sarcastic rebuttal from escaping.

"Yeah, you sure proved that last night."

Red rimmed onyx eyes narrowed and Duo scoffed. He's grieving and he's hungover, but I won't let him act like this. He's avoiding his emotions and I won't let him run away. He's stronger than this.

"Shut up! So I drank too much! Big deal!"

Wufei leaned away from Duo and propped himself up against the wall, instantly regretting yelling as the pain in his head increased tenfold. He held his head with both hands, trying to contain the jackhammer within.

"Getting drunk and yelling at me isn't going to make things better!"

"Ugh! Why don't you just leave, Maxwell?"

"Damn it, 'Fei, I'm tired of this attitude! Stop trying to be so tough and handle this by yourself. You're not honoring him or your relationship by denying what you feel!"

"What would you know about keeping your feelings bottled up, Maxwell? You, who always says whatever is on his mind whether people want to here it or not! That's not me! That's not who I am!"

Duo grabbed his best friend by the collar and yanked him forward before shoving him back against the wall, their faces only inches apart.

"You have no idea what you're talking about! I know more than you'll probably ever know about keeping your feelings locked away!"

Wufei's eyes went wide at the bitterness and pain in Duo's voice. The shock cooled his anger a bit, and he momentarily forgot the throbbing headache.

"Just say it, 'Fei!"

"Say what?"

"Why won't you just admit it! Is it that if you say it out loud you can't deny it anymore? Do you not want to admit it to me? What the hell is your problem!"

"I love him, that's the problem!" Wufei pushed Duo away and he staggered to maintain balance of his alcohol soaked body. "I love him! I pushed him away even though I loved him! I wanted him to suffer for what he did to me! I was stupid and selfish and cruel!"

Wufei sank to his knees, his face in his hands, crying. Duo stood there and watched as his friend crumbled. He hadn't wanted it to come to this, but he wouldn't let Wufei wallow in his guilt and depression. He wanted to save him. And sometimes, you have to break before you can mend.

Duo kneeled in front of Wufei and took the man into his arms. He held tight and listened as Wufei mumbled what Duo would almost consider a confessional. That's it, 'Fei, get it out. Tell me so you don't have to carry the burden alone anymore.

"He died thinking I hated him, that I wanted nothing to do with him. But…but I did love him, Maxwell. I know I sound crazy but that's how I feel. When I saw the chess set, and read….the letter…..I knew. I knew I couldn't lie to myself or him any longer. But now it's too late."

Wufei squeezed Duo tight and groaned into the man's chest. Duo kept rubbing circles on his back and he bent his head down, whispering soothing mutterings in his ear.

"Shhhhhh, 'Fei, it's going to be ok, I promise. Maybe he did know. That's why he sent the chess set to you. He thought it would open your eyes."

Wufei pulled his head up and looked at Duo in bewilderment. "What? Do you really think he knew?"

Duo gave Wufei a small, tender smile as he brushed some errant hair behind his ears. "Zechs was a smart guy and he never really stopped trying to get you back, did he? He said before that he knew you still loved him."

"You're right." Duo saw a moment's flicker of hope in Wufei's eyes before it was lost in the blackness of mourning once again. He laid his head back against Duo's chest and let out a tired sigh. "Did I ever tell you he called me his protector?"

"No."

"I was his dragon, he said. He gave me a golden dragon pendant for my birthday."

Wufei was quiet for several long moments as he relived the events of that night. He had become a part of Milliardo that night and they truly belonged to each other form that time forward.

Duo looked down and saw Wufei's eyes staring off, seeing things he was not meant to know. He frowned when he saw Wufei's fingers ghosting across the base of his throat almost as if he were searching for something. "He gave me a golden dragon pendant for my birthday." He never recalled seeing Wufei wearing the pendant. I wonder what happened to it.

Duo stayed there on the floor with Wufei until he could tell the distraught man was falling asleep. He carefully maneuvered them so he could hoist Wufei up and onto his feet along with himself. After a few sluggish steps, Wufei mumbled into Duo's neck.

"Maxwell?"

"I'm taking you to bed."

"What about you?"

Duo guided Wufei gently down onto his bed, and covered him with the blankets.

"Don't worry, I'll be here when you wake up."

Pleading onyx eyes found his and Duo felt that familiar pang pierce his heart.

"Promise me."

"I swear to you, 'Fei, I will always be here."

Wufei seemed satisfied with Duo's pledge and closed his eyes. Duo lingered a moment or two before leaving the man to sleep in peace. For as much as he had been jealous of Milliardo, and as much as he had hated him for winning Wufei's love and then abusing it, he felt bad for his best friend. He'd truly loved Milliardo and in the end he had been hurt and broken. Duo didn't know the feeling of that kind of loss. He only knew the pain of unrequited love. Maybe one day….months, or years, from now….neither one of us will be in pain anymore. Maybe we can help each other forget the pain.

Epilogue to follow….