Author's Note: You guys are pretty lucky. Archsage Soren's Muses are really blessing me on overdrive. Thanks for spreading the love, Soren. As a warning, don't expect quick updates like this in the future. I have less free time now that Spring Break is over. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, angst, violence

To Be Thrown Away

Duo felt a shiver run up his spine even as he concentrated on his English lesson. He knew damn well what had caused that shiver. It was real unfortunate that he just had to share his first period with Dorothy, the source of his ominous shivers. He could feel her furious eyes bore into his back and it was really distracting.

He knew this for a fact because he caught her glaring at him from her seat and she had made no attempt to stop when he spotted her.

Though he knew it was selfish of him, he really hoped that that glare was directed at Solo, who had continued to sit in his commandeered desk beside him despite that fact it was someone else's assigned seat.

Speaking of Solo, as usual, he looked bored out of his mind, barely concentrating on the lesson from the looks of it. There wasn't a shred of paper or anything that could be considered notes in front of him which might have contributed to the vision of the blond looking bored. However, every now and then he would catch the blond glancing at him and wink at him when he was caught.

If he didn't know any better, he'd think that the guy was trying to flirt with him.

Was he flirting with him?

He didn't get the chance to ponder further on such deep questions as the bell rang and it was time to go to second period. The good thing about this was that he didn't have Dorothy in his next class. The bad thing was…wait, was there something bad about second period? Oh yeah, science, physics to be more precise.

Oddly enough, he didn't have a real problem in that class. In fact it was a bit easy for him. Perhaps becoming a physicist was in his future? Nevertheless, the big reason he disliked the class was the teacher. The guy was a monotone. Enough said.

Solo was just a step behind him as he entered the classroom, heading straight for his desk. Since the guy didn't care where the students sat, it didn't really matter that Solo sat in the desk right next to him. He couldn't help but smirk to himself as the blond began to grumble, taking out papers to take notes on.

English was one subject but physics was something else.

Okay, that wasn't good. He had the need to go to the restroom and damn it, the bell just rang. Take it easy Duo, it's not the end of the world. Just ask for the pass and hope the guy gives it to ya! Why did this guy have to be one of the stingy teachers anyway?

He seemed to be in luck today since the guy was either in a good mood or something else was going on. Still, what did it matter? He was going to relieve himself and then come back. He was trustworthy, wouldn't abuse this privilege.

A few minutes later found him in the restroom, finishing up and flushing, going straight to the sinks to wash his hands. Hey, hygiene went a long way, farther than most people gave it credit for. Hearing the restroom door open and close alerted him to the presence of someone else but he dismissed it as something like that didn't concern him.

At least, that what he thought until he turned to dry his hands off only to run into the latest visitor to this fine public facility.

And no, it was not somebody he wanted to be in close quarters with.

You see, the person that was just standing right next to him happened to be Heero fucking-perfect Yuy and this guy did not look happy to see him. Or at least, that's what Duo hoped, especially when the jerk began to smile down at him creepily.

Still, he had to at least try to be nice to the guy. He was literally bigger, stronger, and maybe even faster than he himself was. Plus, the chances of anyone who would be willing to help him were practically nonexistent.

"Hey, Heero," he greeted, though his voice lacked any luster in it.

Heero snorted. "You're just the guy I've been looking for."

Seeing Heero's arms beginning to reach out towards him, Duo threw himself back to at least stay out of his reach. If this guy wanted to beat him up or something, then by God he'd make him work for it.

"What do you want Heero?" Duo snarled, giving up all pretenses of trying to be nice to the jerk as he readied himself in a fighting stance.

Heero smirked. "You'll find out."

As he expected, Heero lunged at him, massive hands attempting to grab hold of him. Since Duo was not able to maneuver well due to the enclosed space he was in, he backed up before landing a kick into Heero's gut, knocking the breath out of him but, unfortunately, not knocking him down.

Heero, however, had grabbed his foot and was pulling back, trying to make him loose his balance. That would have worked had Duo not decided to risk it and twist his body so that he landed a second kick at Heero's head. That was not a good move as Heero had relinquished his hold on his leg but that meant Duo had nothing to keep him from falling smack dab on the floor.

Which he did, by the way.

Heero, though, crashed into one of the toilet stalls due to the momentum from Duo's kick, his body crashing down onto the porcelain bowl inside. Heero was back on his feet in no time while Duo was just getting back onto his feet. The braided one tried to escape, having to run in front of Heero's stall to get to the door. He ducked under Heero's arm but the Japanese acted quickly and grabbed hold of his precious braid and yanking him back.

Duo let out a yelp of pain as he felt his hair being pulled back violently and the next thing he knew, he had a fist imbedded into his gut, knocking the air from his lungs. He soon found his body slammed against the stall wall then against the opposite one several times before his head was shoved down into the toilet.

He buckled his body, trying to get his head out of the toilet bowl and get much needed oxygen. Heero kept his hand pressed against the back of his head and flushed the toilet, giving him a swirly before allowing his head out. As he coughed, trying to get out the water that he had taken in, he felt Heero stomp his foot onto his back, making him collapse onto the tiled floor. A few more stomps and then a few kicks to his gut followed after before his beating was over.

Barely breathing hard, Heero spat at the fallen braided one. Glancing in one of the restroom mirrors, he scowled upon seeing a bruise growing on his cheek, marring his perfect complexion. Due to that, he was blinded to the fact that there was a dirt imprint of a shoe on his shirt, something he would not be aware of until somebody pointed it out to him later.

"Gutter trash!" he snarled as he vented his new found fury on his helpless victim, kicking Duo in his behind, causing him to smash his head up against the toilet's base. "Serves you right," he taunted as he turned and left to go to the nurse's office. There was no way he was going to admit that the loser landed a hit on him so he would have to humble himself and say he slipped on a wet floor or something.

Duo continued to lie where he laid, not bothering to get up. He was sore, he hurt, but it wasn't the beating that stung the worst. It was the words. He never thought that it would ever come down to this. But what made it worse was when someone else came in, saw him, but did nothing to help; just took care of their business and left.

A sob escaped him. He truly was pathetic. His life was a living hell, no one liked him, his father hated him… Why was this happening to him? Why did everything leave him or abandon him? What had he done to deserve this?

As the bell announced the end of the current period, he remained laying where he was, not bothering to get up.

Solo kept glancing up at the clock as the teacher continued to drone on and on about some guy's laws of motion or something like that, he wasn't paying attention.

Duo still hadn't come back from the restroom. Solo knew that it didn't take a person that long to do their business. Unless something was really wrong, like diarrhea or something, then Duo should have been back long before now. The teach didn't seem to notice Duo's absence though and if anything, seemed to be happy that the restroom pass itself was gone mainly because it enabled him to deny the other students the ability to go to the restroom themselves.

Solo also knew that they just wanted to get out of the class so they didn't have to listen to the guy. He was one of them.

His internal alarms were going off by the time the bell rang. Duo still hadn't returned. Guess this meant he was going on a rescue mission since he still didn't know his way around the place. He had always left that up to Duo to lead him to and from classes.

Just as he was walking outside of the classroom, he was intercepted by Quatre and Trowa. Since they all shared the next period together, they would "hang out" with one another till then.

Quatre perked up upon spotting him, greeting him with, "Solo! Seems like we're just in time! Hey, where's Duo?"

"Went to the restroom, hasn't come back yet," Solo answered, managing to keep his concern hidden for the meantime.

"That's too bad. How long ago did he go?"

Solo sighed, raising suspicions within the blond. "The beginning of second period."

It was Trowa who responded, a frown on his face. "And you say he hasn't come back yet?"

"Do you think he might be sick?" Quatre asked, worried.

"He seemed fine earlier," Solo stated as the trio began walking down the hall.

"Why don't we check and see if Duo's still in there?" Trowa suggested. "Perhaps he really is sick. If he's not there, then we can check the nurse's office later."

"Sounds like a plan," Solo agreed readily as he quickened his pace, eyes scanning the hallways for the nearest boys' restroom. Even though he didn't know the way around well, he damn well knew that restrooms were usually located near a water fountain. That always seemed to be the case no matter where he was… (1)

Locating the fountains was easy and sure enough, there were two restrooms on either side of them, one for the guys, the other for the girls. It was obvious which one Duo would be in and so Solo simply walked straight into it. He stopped immediately though. Something was not right here. Something was definitely off but he didn't know what. Proceeding cautiously, Quatre and Trowa behind him, he began to scan the restroom, looking for anything unusual.

It was when he peeked into the first stall that he froze, disbelieving at the sight he saw. There Duo laid, sprawled on the tiled floor, his hair wet, his face beginning to show swelling and slight bruising.

Without another moment's hesitation, Solo was on his feet and held the limp Duo against his body. Duo was still conscious but his eyes…his lively violet eyes were so dull… He knew this only because he was looking straight into the braided one's eyes, soon picking out the trails of dried up tears that had run down the side of his face.

What had happened to him? Maybe the more appropriate question was who did this to him?

He heard Quatre gasp upon seeing the state of his best friend and Trowa…well, Solo didn't hear any reaction from that guy but that was not his concern at the moment.

At the moment, Duo was his concern and he allowed his carefully crafted façade to shatter as he held the braided one against him. Then something dark in Duo's hair caught his eyes and after examining it, his eyes widened. He was bleeding! But how did that… Wait, he could see a small patch of dried blood on the toilet base.

For the first time in his life, Solo felt enormous fury and wrathful anger. Whoever was responsible for this was going to pay and pay dearly. The Duo that he had first met was strong and tough, refusing to let him walk all over him. This Duo though…he was weak, pitiful…even delicate due to how small he looked at the moment. Getting to his feet, he held the smaller Duo bridal style and was quite surprised to see how much smaller Duo really was. It only served to increase his outrage.

"Where's the nurse?" he growled, turning to face his cousin.

Without hesitation, Quatre nodded. "Follow me," he directed as he turned to lead the way.

Solo was completely oblivious to the sound of the third period bell as it rang while he crossed the threshold back into the hallway.

1. This is not just an observation of mine, it's a fact of life!