TKM: Hate to break it to you, but Heero coming to Duo in the shower wasn't real, it was a fantasy Duo had. Sorry if I didn't make that clear enough! Thanx for your Review!

Stuck In The Middle Of Nowhere

Chapter 6

It was hard to walk as his feet were heavy with the thick mud that clung to them. Somehow, as he was trying to find his way back to the ranch he had ended up in some sort of muddy swamp. To his dismay he had to get off his horse because she was too heavy and already sank almost knee deep into the mud. The last thing he needed was to lose her, he knew how expensive a good workhorse was. But above that, he knew no one back at the ranch will forgive him if he left Deathscythe here, stuck in the mud, no way to escape. He had this horrible mental picture that he left her behind, but when he came back with Bob to help her out there was nothing more left of her then her carcass, eaten by pumas, her feet still deep in the mud.

Deathscythe whinnied, showing her own dismay. He could see the muscles in her leg strain each time she lifted a leg up to make another step.

'Sorry girl...' He looked around, they were not far from the edge of the swamp, but when they came out, where to go then? On his trip with Heero they never came across any swamp, meaning he was WAY off course. He groaned as Heero crossed his mind. What the fuck went wrong? There was attraction between them, right? He had the itchy feeling that it had to do with the way Bob handled his sons sexuality.

He looked at his watch. Almost three O'clock. He had been wandering around for two hours... Two hours of walking in the vast outdoors. Even though he tried to deny it, if someone wouldn't come to look for him, he'd be food for the crows much like the mental picture he had of the carcass of Deathscythe.

As if hearing his thought the horse snorted and nudged him with her muzzle, as if urging him to just keep on walking. To get the hell out of this clingy swamp that was trying to pull them down to the core of the earth. He walked further, trying to vainly increase his pace, it was like trying to run underwater. Impossible. The mud made walking near impossible and trying to get his foot out he lost his balance and fell forward. He brought his hands to the front to avoid face impact. When he opened his eyes he had closed in fright he noticed his arms were in the mud till his elbows. That scared him, because it wasn't the first time he fell, but then they only sunk in till the wrists.

Wrestling to get upright again he looked back. Deathscythe was farther away from him then she was before. She was stuck. Her feet were buried up to her knees. She had her neck all stretched out because he was still holding the end of her rein, but she could walk no more.

'Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!' Struggling to get back to her. He sat down to distribute his weight so that he wouldn't sink in himself and used all his power to try and pull out one of her legs. It was useless, he only gained inches while her other three legs sank further. She whinnied again, worried, knowing she was danger. She tried to move in vain, panicking, he could see it in her eyes just like when she knocked him off the hill when she saw that cat. 'Sshhht, girl...' He petted her neck and head gently, looking back. They were only about ten meters away from the edge of this muddy hell. He could make it, he was about five times lighter then her. But he had no idea where to go, he couldn't get help, because he wouldn't be able to find him and he knew that when he left, the sight of her bones will haunt him. He stayed. Petting her, comforting her. He tried to pull her free a few more times but when he noticed it only made her more nervous, he stopped. He suddenly felt very angry. Very angry at Heero for leaving him behind. So maybe he wasn't okay with him kissing him like that, but to leave him behind, to leave him to his faith?

He looked down at himself. No matter what colour his clothing used to have, there was nothing left of it, it was all brown and mud was also sticking to his braid and to his face.

He only had one shot at survival.

'HELLO? CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? HELP!' He waited, he heard his own voice echo throughout the mountains surrounding them. But of course there came no answer. Every five minutes he would scream for help, but another hour passed by and no one came. No one heard. The few people out there were probably heading home with their cows right now, anxious to get a shower and eat their simple old fashioned meals in a house warmed by the fireplace, lazily scratching the heads of their sheepdogs.

He wasn't sure, but he probably fell asleep, his head resting against Deathscythe powerful neck. Strange that such a strong animal could be hold down by mud. He groggily opened his eyes when a faint sounds entered his head. The first thing that got through to him was how hungry he was, his stomach was rumbling and how terribly dry his mouth and cracked lips were. The second thing was a faint booming sound. It came from close but still it sounded so far away. When he was finally away he looked up at the horse first, but she was silence. He followed her gaze to the edge of the muddy swamp. His eyes widened as he saw a dog, standing at the edge. Pointed ears, one in his direction, the other turned around to the back. The dog was barking loudly, looking at him with brown eyes, but once in a while looking back, as if waiting for someone.

He smiled, relieved as he finally recognised the dog that he should have recognised immediately. It was Bo.

'BOB!' he screamed, though it was unnecessary, the loud barking of the dog must be heard from miles away. Again, just like the day they had first met, Bob, an old man Duo would not have been happy to see before he came to ranch, was now a god blessing. This time he ran up towards them on his large horse, stopping besides his dog and jumping off the horse. Taking no time to chit chat he grabbed a rope from his saddle and tied one end to the saddle, the other end he took with him when he walked up to Duo. His boots sinking away but he didn't seem to care.

He tied the other end to Deathscythe's saddle and then finally the first word was spoken: 'Finally! I found you. I was beginning to lose hope! Stand beside her okay, we're gonna pull and push her out.' He went to stand on Deathscythe other side and then whistled. His old, huge horse turned around and started to walk away, pulling hard on the rope. Deathscythe's neck stretched out even more and Duo and Bob pushed her. The mud loosened around her legs by the movements and she was able to pull her legs out. One by one. Slowly but steadily, they made it to the side and her hooves stood on steady ground for the first time since long.

'How did you find me?' Duo asked, panting but grateful.

'I came across Heero while I was riding, heading out to the border of my land to fix a fence. I asked where you were and why you were not with him. I got a vague answer then he told me where you where. Knowing that you would not find your way back to the ranch I went looking for boy.'

Duo sighed relieved 'Boy, was I glad to see you.' His stomach rumbled again and Bob laughed before fishing a sandwich out of his saddlebag.

'Eat this, there'll be more at home.'

Since Deathscythe was exhausted from walking through the mud and being stuck for so long Duo had to sit behind Bob on his horse, so that Deathscythe wouldn't have to carry the extra weight on they're way back home. Bo followed them, once in a while running out before them. For an old dog he still had a good doses of energy.

He felt a bit uncomfortable during the entire ride. Not only because of the position on the saddle that was mostly occupied by Bob, causing his ass to suffer, but also because he had to wrap his arms around Bob's waist in order not to fall off and die a horrible death... or at least sprain something.

He felt guilty. If it was his choice the man he was currently holding will be his future son in law, never in his life had he been so obsessed, did he dare to say in love, with someone. Despite the many differences between Heero and him. Their homes, their age, their perspective on life.

'Did you and Heero had a fight?' Bob asked during the ride, increasing the pace of the horse as he was obviously eager to get home. Or felt as uncomfortable with Duo behind him as Duo was.

'... Yeah...' He decided it was better not to tell Bob about the whole sexual tension, mounting his son, passionately kissing situation.

'Well, I am sure you can sort things out. Heero never stays angry for long.'

The rest of the way they went in silence, that was sometimes broken by the loud barking from Bo or a whiny from one of the horses. After a while they had to slow down, because Deathscythe couldn't keep up with Bob's fit horse. It took them over three hours to get home. It was now half past six and the son was about to set already tinting the plains with the orange and pink colours.

When they arrived at the ranch, slowly riding towards the stables, Duo immediately noticed something was off. After being here for so long, he knew well what the picture was of this house when coming back. He was sure Bob noticed it as well, as he looked around, searching for some proof that the daily routine was still there. But all was silent. Trowa was not frustrating a wild horse in the sandy paddock, WuFei was not chasing the cows around, the dogs were not resting on the porch and no wonderful smell of warm food left the chimney to fill the air. All the horses were in the stable, except Nataku and the evidence was there that WuFei left in a hurry.

They climbed up the steps onto the wooden porch and toed their muddy shoes off, kicking them to the side. Suspiciously Bob opened the screendoor softly. They were both startled when a black and white bundle of fur came running up to them, barking with a high tone, jumping up at them. It was the ever hyper Swift, who was only docile when his master was around. Bob bent forward to scratch her soft ear for a moment, calming her down.

They both looked up as the door to the hallway opened and Trowa's white face came to peek around the door, he was surprised and almost disappointed to see them. He had been expecting someone else.

'Trowa...' Bob took a step forwards, frowning, wandering why life had stopped on the ranch. 'Why aren't you outside? Where is WuFei, where are you're mother and Heero?'

Trowa swallowed and Duo felt his nervousness grow, he had bad news, he could see it in his green eyes. Many people had come up to him in his life with that look in their eyes, so he immediately recognised it.

'Something happened...' he sounded guilty, as if the bad news he was about to tell was all his fault. As if nothing would have been wrong if he had been there to stop it. The ever present big-brother feeling, that blamed the oldest son whenever something bad happened. 'Heero found mom,'

Duo frowned, Trowa had never called Lee his mom.

'Out cold...'

Bob immediately walked past him, up stairs. Trowa followed him and curiosity also forced duo to go up and see what was exactly going wrong. Though he felt like he was disturbing the family in a private moment he could not leave once he had seen the paler then usual face of the ever sweet and gentle Li Sin. Sleeping in her bed. Her face just as white, if not whiter, then the white sheets she was tucked into. Heero sat on the edge of the bed, holding her white hand, tears in his eyes, but he could see he refused to spill them in front of his father.

Bob stood at the end of the bed, looking shocked at his wife, it took him a while to come to senses and ask his youngest: 'What happened.'

'I came home from my trip with Duo...' He said, his voice higher then usual. He looked the other way as he knew he was going to cry, Bobs eyes fixed on him wasn't making this any easier. 'And I couldn't find mom in the house... then I realised she was going to water the vegetable so I went to search her...' He sobbed, he felt just as guilty, or maybe even more guilty then Trowa, 'I found her between the rows of plants! On the ground! And she wouldn't wake up... I... I thought she was dead... So I-I screamed and then Trowa and WuFei came... Wufei immediately went to the Maddocks a-and Trowa carried her upstairs...'

Pushing his remembrance of what happened this afternoon, and his anger towards Heero for leaving him behind, aside he sat down next to the suddenly so much smaller, shaking boy and wrapped his arms around him. Heero had probably forgotten as well, or just didn't care right now as he buried his head between Duo's neck and shoulder. He tightened his grip as he heard Heero murmur into his skin: 'It's all my fault... If I didn't a-ask you out... you would have been here... to help her... Who knows... who knows how long she lay out there? ... It's all my fault...'

Duo began to sink away in his own guilt, remembering his conversation with Lee that morning...

'Don't feel bad Duo.' She had said, trying to help to ease his guilt for lying in his bed for so long. 'You can help me water the vegetables.' He was disgusted with himself when after she said that, the first thing he though was that he was so not looking forward to that.

Then Heero came in... asking him to go out riding... and he had accepted, because he was selfish... it took him a whole minute to think about anything but himself. A whole minute to realise he already had a job for today.

But she had said: 'Don't be silly! Go out riding! Have fun, I can handle it on my own!'

She couldn't, that fact was proven now and he could have known that. She always looked so pale. She was sick. She had cancer. But he left... because he didn't want to help her... he was selfish. Trowa shouldn't feel guilty and neither should Heero. It was all Duo's fault.

He rocked Heero back and forth like a loving mother, like he knew Lee would do, doesn't matter that Heero was already eighteen. He knew she would hold him like this, to comfort him. Without caring what Bob might think he kissed Heero on his forehead, tasting the sweat. But he really didn't care how dirty the boy was, how sweaty and how messy he looked. Possessiveness took over the guilt as all he now wanted to do was comfort Heero, to shelter him, to protect him from all this pain. He knew how hard it was to lose your mother and in Heero's mind... when he found her, his mother died... and that hurt.

A few minutes later WuFei came barging into the room. A middle-aged man, Manny Maddock a pensioned doctor, right behind him, who immediately went to Lee to check her pulse, temperature and all the other things a doctor would check.

'she never really recovered from her cancer...' He started, apparently he knew of her condition, 'Never gaining full strength. She just worked to hard. I've told her many times not to strain herself.' He bend down to look at Heero 'Don't worry, she is just exhausted, a few days of rest and she'll be just fine... okay?'

Heero nodded, his sobs slowly subsiding,

Manny turned towards Bob telling him to make sure she doesn't overwork herself in the future, at her age, it could become dangerous if it happened to often. 'A lot of rest, not leaving the bed for at least two day and lots of water and food, she is too skinny.'

Bob nodded frantically and thanked Manny over and over again for coming over here and helping them out.

Manny smiled. 'No need to thank me Bob, that's what friends are for.' He gave the shaken husband a pat on his shoulder and left, wishing them the best and reminding them AGAIN to keep an eye on her in the future.

Heero had come to senses again and rose from his place closely nuzzled again duo, taking a step to the side. Looking up at his now blank face Duo saw there was nothing left of the small boy that was in his arms moments ago as he tried his best to stay strong. To prove his father that he was also a man, even though he slept with them.

'Let's just... leave her alone for a while, give her some rest.' Bob unsurely said and they all left the room to sit in the living room, wanting to be close to each other and close to their mother in case something happened.

All the dogs were also in the living room, but they weren't their happy usual self as they noticed the tension between their master. Heather sat between them, lying close against the large white dog, Teddy, once in a while glancing up at Duo. For the first time when he looked into her eyes, he was not annoyed by her presence. It was sort of comforting to know that there was improvement in his animal-hating behaviour. A few months ago he would have left Deathscythe behind in the mud, feeling more sympathy for the staring wolves and cats in the forest then for the horse that will become their lunch.

Heero suddenly stood up, startling everyone. But he just went to the kitchen to make some tea. And after a while he decided to cook a simple dinner for his family. The food was much like when Lee made it but without her presence at the large table nobody was comfortable and couldn't eat much as their stomachs were filled with worry.

Duo's worry started to seep away. In the city he had dealt with these things many times. There were times when HE passed out from working. He knew that she would be alright and that they were making to big a fuss out of it. But how could he say that to the loving husband and children? How could he tell them to stop worrying. It would sound like he had a heart of stone. And maybe he did... because even after all of this, he still wondered how the situation was between him and Heero. And in the nightmare he had that night, the main scare was not almost dehydrating in the swamp, not Lee fainting, but Heero shying away from him and ignoring him, surprisingly seeking refuge in the arms of Therasias. He woke up in cold sweat.

God, he hated being in love...

Chaos, panic, disaster...

I think my work here is done!

Till the next chapter!

Crimson Waterfall