"WHERE IS MY GOD DAMN KARABINER!"

Duo was pissed. He had a huge beautiful cliff face that was calling to him, energy that he needed to burn after a day of sitting pretty at a conference, and he couldn't find the locking karabiner that would allow him to scale the magnificent cliff.

He looked under where his harness had been sitting. Nothing. The floor next to it? It wasn't underneath the gym bag, the Quik Mart Value Kup, or the belt he'd been looking three weeks for, all of which were on said floor. Duo growled from deep within his chest and began to desperately rifle through his jeep like a dog trying to find his bone.

Whimpering he buried his head in his arms. He'd been looking forward to this climb ever since he moved to Israel. It was going to be his big 'See? It isn't that different from home here!' moment, and he was going to climb that cliff and feel connected even though he was an ocean away from Chicago. Duo had even imported his Jeep so that he'd be able to get up there. He was going to climb and he was going to be happy-

"Hello? Do you need help?"

Duo sat up and promptly slammed his head on the door's roof, muttering a few choice words. He awkwardly backed out of seat, turning around sheepishly. Except… that was a really familiar stranger. "H-how did you get up here? I didn't hear a car."

"I have a small sedan. It never would have made it up the gravel, so I parked it down on the road and hiked up"

Tilting his head to the side he took a minute to study the man, recognition poking it's head out. "Hey. You're that Chinese surgeon who stopped by the booth earlier, right? The one with that neat technique that had Howard ready to propose to you?"

The surgeon nodded, shifting his heavy duty hiking backpack on his shoulder. "The nerve regeneration based off of acupuncture. Your boss was pretty thrilled about it, wasn't he?"

"Physical therapists always love it when our patients have a fighting chance at normalcy. Especially when that fighting chance is a procedure with the results you've gotten." Duo shrugged, grinning at him from behind his thick bangs. "Plus Howard is a hippie. He loves the idea that a method using eastern medicine could possibly beat the crap out of western medicine."

"Yeah, I thought that. To wear that shirt at a convention that major I figured he either had to be a total moron, or more likely, he just didn't care. And for a pink floral shirt, you have to really not care." He walked over and held out his hand, shoulders back and posture which was a mother's dream. "My name is Wufei Chang. It is a pleasure to meet you again, Mr…?"

Duo grinned at him, grabbing his hand and shaking it firmly. "Duo. I'm Duo Maxwell. So." He let out a deep breath and looked longingly at his Jeep. "I need a karabiner, and a lockable one."

Wufei looked up at the cliff and shrugged off his backpack. He opened up one of the smaller compartments and proceeded to toss a locking karibener. "Looks like we'll be sharing the cliff."

Beaming, Duo attached it to his harness. "Betcha I'll get there first."

He did get there first. But by the time Wufei reached the top, Duo was ready to perform post mortem on himself. Spread eagled against the red rock in the desert sun, his chest heaving from the exertion. Sure he loved climbing, he loved the work, but he made a point to want to climb all the good cliffs in Canada instead of all the good cliffs in Mexico.

The crunch of the rocks signaled Wufei's assent and Duo lifted his head to grin at him. "Told you I'd beat you."

Pulling out a bottle of water he handed it over, saying wryly, "You did beat me. Your face is also pale, you're sweating excessively, and your fingers are trembling." Wufei sat down beside him, gracefully tucking his legs underneath of him. "Drink. I won't let you belay down till you aren't dehydrated."

He thankfully took a swig of the water, pouring a little bit onto his forehead. "Thanks, I needed that."

Wufei nodded and they sat in companionable silence for a bit, both trying to catch their breath. Duo was amazed that he was so okay with not talking. Normally he'd be filling up every quiet with constant ramblings, it was his way of dealing with the uncomfortable. But the need just wasn't there.

"You'd feel better if you took off your shirt."

Cracking an eye open Duo looked at Wufei curiously, "What was that?"

"You're wearing a long sleeved flannel shirt." He explained, "It's very hot out here, and you're dehydrated. Taking off your shirt may help you cool down."

Duo blushed, tightening his shirt around him further, "Nah, that ain't gonna happen. I'm kinda modest."

Tilting his head he spoke coolly, "Why is that? Are you religious?"

"Catholic." He pulled a cross from underneath his shirt and fingered it absentmindedly as he spoke. "It's not so much that my religion requires modesty, it's just that I feel uncomfortable showing my body."

Wufei nodded, running a hand through his hair. "I respect that."

----------------------------------------------

It was bright in their little apartment, despite being 6:30 in the morning. And it was even brighter when Wufei threw open the curtains, reveling in the clarity of an unpolluted sun. His home in Beijing was in the very heart of the city, meaning that every breeze which met his room was ran with the smell of the fish markets, of the factories spewing out soot, and of the smog which constantly hung around the city.

He loved the desert sun. It was brilliant against everything it touched. The tiles in the mosaics gleamed, the bleached walls of almost all buildings shone, and it heightened the scent of everything that was around. Wufei felt more at home in the pristine land than he had in China. Though the largest reason he felt so at home was laying beside him, grumbling death threats at him in English.

Duo was happily ensnarled in their sheets, though he wore a fearsome scowl at the light. "Damnit Fei," he said in Hebrew, remembering that his partner didn't speak English no doubt. "Why d'you 'ave to wake up so early? And why d'you have to wake ME up so early?"

"Sally isn't coming in today, so I need to set up the surgical prep. And we only have one car, so unless you want to take the bus, you need to get up." He reached over Duo to their dresser, grabbing his glasses. "C'mon Duo."

Stretching, Duo grinned widely up at him and threw an arm around his waist, pulling Fei down onto him. The American said in his deep voice, "There is a better way to wake me up you know." He arched his back up and smirked grinding his hips up.

Wufei arched an eyebrow, remarking "Oh really? Will it actually get you out of bed on time though?"

Duo's hand slid down underneath the covers and Wufei blinked owlishly, checking the clock. "You know what, I think I can be a little late this morning."

The brunette grinned toothily and pounced, flipping him onto his back. He nipped at his lip and ground down, wasting no time. But they were interrupted when an explosion ripped through the city.

"SHIT!" Duo leapt off of him and threw open the window, looking out at the rooftops of the Jewish Quarter. Sure enough, there was a black cloud steadily rising from the markets. A suicide bomber again, no doubt.

Wufei switched on their CB, grabbing both of their paramedic uniforms. Even though they weren't EMT's by trade, they'd both had to get their licenses in medical school. With the conditions of things in Israeli they'd kept their licenses up to date so that in an emergency, they volunteered. "Maxwell and Chang reporting for duty. We're nearby the scene, so we'll meet the squad at location. Out."

"Almad here. We'll meet you there, Chang. God be with you."

Duo was already dressed by then and rolled his braid into a bun, pinning it up and out of the way. "So we need to go left three blocks and then north, and we should find the explosion." He handed his partner his emergency kit before grabbing his own and darting out the door.

They ran down the crowded streets, pushing their way through the terrified people who'd been innocently started their day before the pandemonium. The way they'd all dealt with the fear of the bombers was to tell themselves that it could never happen to them. But when it happened right next door, the fear all came rushing right back.

Duo slid to a halt when he got to the building, heart falling into his feet. The former bustling café was now rubble, and there was no chance that anyone could be alive. This was going to be little more than one big trip to the city's morgue.