Impossible

A Gundam Wing Fan Fiction

Rambled Off by The Manwell

Book Two: PREVENTERS

Duo Maxwell

Heero Yuy had tried to cheer me up.

Scratch that.

Heero Yuy hadn't tried anything. He'd actually managed to cheer me the hell up.

Will wonders never cease.

And that hadn't been the last time, either. It was as if a switch had been flicked; as if Heero had suddenly realized he had the power to make me laugh and had become addicted to the adrenaline rush of it.

And I'd damned him even as I'd laughed at his quietly mumbled dry wit.

Too bad that happened a little too often during his therapy sessions. If I'd gotten a dollar for every dirty look the therapist had given me as I burst out laughing for no apparent reason, I would have been able to financially back my own talking toaster line.

"Man," I simultaneously wheeze and try not to glance at the knowing smirk I know he's wearing, "You've got to stop cracking me up..."

"Oh, am I wearing you out, Maxwell?" he hums at me. "Getting old and set in your ways?"

"Oooh... you are so lucky I can't hit you right now."

He snorts. "Precisely."

"I'm keeping track, though," I warn sternly.

"I'd hate to deprive myself of the opportunity to enjoy one of your obscure paybacks," he replies lightly.

"Argh!" I hiss. "What the hell? Who died and made you Mr. Happy?"

"The Easter Bunny."

I laugh. Again.

The therapist glares at me. Again.

Ah, what the hell... right?

"Ya know, I think – between the two of us – you're the sadist."

"Hm," he murmurs thoughtfully. "That may be. There's certainly nothing like a good collar."

Oh. My. God. I choke on my own breath at the pun. "That," I tell him in low tones when I'm able, "was a horrible abuse of Preventer jargon."

"Are you going to tell on me?"

"And give Une ideas?" I force a slight shudder through my body and, pressed up against me as he is, I know he can feel it.

"Good shudder, Maxwell," he tells me conversationally.

"I was rather proud of it, myself," I reply with a conspiratorial grin. "Now, are you ready to give this course a go by yourself, grasshopper?"

"I was thinking about it," Heero tells me, "but I wouldn't want you to develop any signs of Empty Nest Syndrome."

"Walk the damn course, Yuy," I growl.

"Don't let me catch you taking up scrapbooking."

I sigh and shake my head. This conversation could go on indefinitely but Heero needs to attempt this on his own now. He's ready. "Get shuffling, Flash."

"Race you to the angry therapist," he mutters, glancing in the scowling man's direction.

"Wow, I don't know how to contain my enthusiasm," I mumble as we both stand there staring at the finish line about twenty feet away.

He sighs dejectedly. "Me either."

I snort once but manage to keep the smile off my face.

Carefully, Heero starts to lean away from me. The solid, warm presence of his body is suddenly absent and I'm a little startled at how strange it feels. Yesterday, he'd walked five feet with his hand on my shoulder but today his fingers slide down my arm and grasp my palm.

"You gonna be able to keep up with me?" he asks flatly, confident I'll get the joke nonetheless.

"I don't know..." I drawl. "A World Champion shuffler such as yourself can leave me in the dust."

"At least try not to slow me down, will you?"

And with that, he takes his first unassisted step.

Even though he's holding onto my hand, I don't feel his weight at all. He's really doing this on his own. With me along for the ride.

He makes it to the angry therapist without incident then collapses with me on a bench to rest. And it's not until he's leaning against my shoulder again with our hands still clasped between us that I realize this is the first time anyone has ever wanted to hold my hand.

And that person is Heero Yuy.

Who'd a thunk it?

I briefly consider mentioning this unexpected turn of events but something in Heero's expression stops me. The words die unvoiced when I find him staring so hard at our clasped hands that he must figure we've got the meaning of life sandwiched between our palms.

"Heero?" I ask.

He blinks once and looks up at me. His eyes look darker than usual but his expression is unfathomable. "Thank you," he tells me on a whisper.

"It's nothing, man," I tell him hurriedly, ever the one to head-off an awkward emotional moment as quickly as possible. I've developed it into something of an art form, I think.

But Heero's single-minded determination thwarts my effort. He tells me. "I couldn't have done this without you."

"Hey," I say around a forced chuckle. "We're Preventers, right? We look after each other."

For a moment, he simply looks at me. Then, as he slides his hand free of mine, he leans back against the wall behind us and closes his eyes. "Right," he tells me. "Preventers."

And for the life of me, I can't read his tone. Against my better judgment, I open my mouth to pursue this strange mood of his but I never do manage to ask. At this precise moment, my cell phone vibrates in my pocket. Instinctively, I reach for it and answer it... and listen to Wufei's voice as he relays Une's summons.