Disclaimer: so do not own Gundam Wing…wouldn't that be great though? But I just write about them as I wish it would happen
1x2 yeah!
I realize that I am posting these chapters rather quickly, but that is because i already have chapters 1-6 completed already. I'm currently working on ch.7, so after i post that it will slow down a bit. So, apologies in advance for posting so fast and then suddenly slowing down. But, thank you again for all the comments! I Luvs them!
Scars
Part Five: Waking UpDuo tossed over in his bed and felt the edge of the mattress sag and he panicked. Duo flung out his arm and grabbed the sheet that was still partly tucked under the corner of the bed and held on while his back started to sink lower over the side and exposed to the cool air.
Duo looked around wildly as he pulled himself back up onto the bed. The room was dark and gray with only a minimal amount of light peeking through the gap in his curtains. The bed was a mess with his legs mixed up in the sheets and blankets while the rest of him was laying across two fluffy pillows in exhaustion.
Duo finally righted himself and pulled the covers straight with a minimal amount of effort it required. He sat up against the headboard and looked to the floor. His cloths were still there, where he had tossed them the night before, and if there had been empty food containers and a bit more dust on the floor, it would have felt just like home. The room was certainly the right size.
Duo swung his feet over the edge of the bed and tested the temperature of the floor. Finding it only mildly cool he pushed off the bed and patted over to the bathroom. Duo was about to relieve himself when he made the mistake of catching his reflection in the mirror.
Duo froze and stood perfectly still, staring at himself, never leaving the edges of his face, but never meeting his own eyes and trying desperately to tear his gaze away. His skin was pulled gaunt and pale as if he had been sickly for the longest time. But then again, he had been. There had never been a time where he had found it so difficult to remember what it had once been like to be healthy and walking around just as well as everyone else.
The scars, they haunted him as he had the temptation to look beyond his face and stare at the glossy tissue that looked like a second skin on him. Duo, finally broke the gaze he held with himself and turned to walk straight back to bed. He yanked out one of the blankets from their tucked corners and pulled it back to the white porcelain bathroom.
With practiced ease, Duo swung the edges of the thick blanket up to the top of the mirror. He pulled it taunt and used the trim on the mirror to hold the blanket in place. As soon as he saw it would hold, Duo stepped back and viewed his work. Examining every inch to make sure he could see nothing, he was finally satisfied and released his bladder.
Duo walked around to the window and spread the curtains to reveal the world outside. There was a walled in area that looked like a garden. It was lush and green and full of dropped flowers covered in rain. There was a light drizzle going that covered everything within instants of first contact. The flowers still looked healthy and very vibrant in color, only weighted down by rainwater.
Duo sat down on the window seat and leaned back against the small pillow there that was just big enough to be comfortable and support his back. He watched the rain slowly slide down the glass in little rivers of silver. It calmed him immensely and put ease to the room that only moment ago had felt distant and alien to him.
Duo watched the edges of the window slowly become fogged over by his body heat as he studied the terrain around his field of vision. Hilly, not quite mountains, and everything was extremely green. It was easy to loose time by just staring out at the drizzle, like a hypnotic spell that held him captive.
It wasn't until, about a hour later, when someone knocked at the door, that Duo moved at all. He jerked back from his comatose state and looked at the door blankly, for a moment unsure of what to do. Slowly Duo stood and walked over to the door, he opened it slowly and peeked around the edge to peer into the hallway.
With the door between him and whoever was there, Duo meet Heero's eyes and froze. He was stuck standing there, unwilling to come out and let Heero in while he had no shirt on, but he was not going to tell him to wait or go away.
"Uhh…Good morning Heero." Duo gave a weak smile and stood as still as he could.
"It is actually afternoon now." Heero corrected him. Then he held up a bundle of folded up cloths within Duo's reach. "These are from Quatre, he was going to give them to you last night, but he didn't want to disturb you."
Duo reached out with his arm and took the cloths as quickly as he could. He was nervous around others with nothing on, out of habit he kept trying to guess what they thought of him and how he should act. But Heero simply nodded at him.
"Come downstairs for food when you're done." Heero turned and left. Duo stood there, staring after him in shock. That had been very formal, almost cold.
Duo shrugged it off and retreated back into his room with the bundle of cloths. He tossed his pants back with the rest of his discarded rags on the floor. There were black pants and a lose shirt of polyester that was a deep purple, nearly maroon and bordering on black.
Duo slipped it on and looked around for something for his feet. The cloths fit nicely, but his feet were a bit chilly, and socks would help. But there was nothing in his closet yet, and Heero hadn't included any foot ware in the bundle. So Duo ended up wonder out into the large hallway with bare feet.
The carpet was lush there and some of the cold faded away as Duo made his way down the hall to the staircase he had practically crawled up the night before. He peeked down and over the railing. There was a heavy cream carpet that held the living room in a white walled room. Pictures of flowers on the wall, a marble slab fireplace that was currently a light and a deep maroon rug with dark green trim. The furniture was dark green with maroon pillows and the flowers in the pictures and in a vase on the dark wood coffee table were all color coordinated to match the theme.
"Revenge of the interior decorator." Duo said under his breath as he walked slowly through. There wasn't even a discarded magazine on the table or any unfinished book lying in the big comfy chair. It felt too much like a hotel to Duo, not at all like it was lived in.
He walked around the furniture quietly, and moved onto the next room and in the general direction the kitchen was supposed to be. The next room was way too long for Duo's comfort, and it held one of the biggest tables he had ever seen. It was strong oak and there was even a chandelier that sparkled like diamonds that hung in the middle of the room. The table was absent of plates or silverware, but there were still vases of flowers and candleholders on it, ready to be accented by the china, which was elegantly displayed in a cabinet at the end of the room. The chairs were high backed oak and each had a deep green cushion on it.
Duo walked around the edge of the room, tempted to hide all the candleholders and empty all the vases, but walked onto the swinging door that opened up into the kitchen. The kitchen was all stainless steel and there was a large island in the middle of the room and a breakfast nook that was open to a concave window with white lace curtains.
Heero was sitting in the nook with an open newspaper and a cup of steaming coffee before him. Duo looked around the room nervously for any of the staff that Quatre had, but no one was there except Heero.
Duo quietly walked over and sat down across from Heero; there was a plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a glass of milk waiting for him. Duo looked up at Heero, he was in the middle of an article, so Duo decided to try the sandwich.
To his surprise and delight, there wasn't jelly, but banana slices sandwiched with the peanut butter. Duo took two more bites and then swallowed some milk. He looked out the window to the dreary rain and the warm comfort of being inside, where it was warm and cozy made him sit back and sigh.
Heero put down his paper and looked up at Duo. "Did you sleep well?" He asked as he picked up his cup of coffee to take a sip.
"Yup, quite comfy!" Duo smiled and turned his full attention to Heero. "Where's Quatre?"
"Quatre's at work, he said he'll talk to you tonight." Heero had this look in his eyes that made Duo feel stupid for asking. Of coarse Quatre would be at work, he wasn't like Duo, he had responsibilities and a life of his own to deal with.
"Oh." Duo looked down at his sandwich. It was half gone now, but he didn't feel like eating anymore. "Do you think it'd be alright if I had a look around?" Duo nervously twisted his fingers in his lap, out of sight of Heero.
"Don't see why not." Heero went back to his paper. He was deffinantly behind distant. Duo stood up timidly and left the quiet kitchen to the front hall again. He walked through the rooms till he found an Arizona room with a door leading out to the gardens he'd seen from his window.
Duo slipped outside under a canopy of heavy trees that were lush and kept most of the rain from falling on Duo as he walked around. There were several dozen types of flowers that Duo could name and even more he couldn't. It was beautiful and Duo found there were chairs and benches set up at intervals around a path that wound its way trough the gardens. There were fountains and shrines that looked as if they'd been there for several hundreds years with the over growth practically swallowing them whole, but at the same time looking as if they had grown from the ground itself.
Duo found a settee near a miniature waterfall and leaned back onto the trunk of a sturdy tree right behind him. The sound of the rain hitting the hundreds of thousands of leaves above him made for a delicate symphony that was soft and lulling. Duo let himself casually explore the gardens throughout the day.
There were themes to each section, one was even based on Japanese rock gardens and had the sense that a river had once washed over everything and made it all so smooth that it was like looking over the surface of a placid lake. Duo liked the tropical section that was nearest the wall and got the most rain.
It was humid there, but the air was so cool that it was like there was a constant fog or mist there that hung in the air like a curtain. Duo found a lounge chair there that gave him a perfect view at the house through the trees yet at the same time allowed him to look beyond the garden walls to the green scape outside.
Duo sat there and looked up at the sky as little drops of drizzle landed on his cheeks and dotted his eyelashes. He knew it would be in his hair soon and then he would have to go inside and dry it all out. But at the moment he didn't care.
He just wanted to lay there and listen to the rain. It was calming and he felt less out of place here. Inside it was as if he didn't even belong with the servants. He was just an insect or plague that had worked itself into the fine tunings of a crystal palace, or, more correctly, a devil that had found a passage to heaven.
At the moment, he merely wished he had something that played music, he could almost hear the bass beat of his favorite song in his head. Duo closed his eyes tightly and then opened them as quickly as he could. He watched as the light first came in little circles in the middle of his sight and then spread out and the garden filled his vision yet again. It was an interesting affect. He saw all the green again in a new shade that was brighter and clearer than it had been before in the gloom of the rain.
Duo slowly sat up again, he looked up at the tree that was just across the path from him. The trunk was thick and steady, and there was a branch that was strong and at just the right height. Duo stood up and crossed the path, then used his arms; though thin and with little meat on them, to pull himself up onto the branch. From there he reached for the next branch and took a swing from it to get his body up over the limb in a slow arch, and so on till he was up near the top of the tree and the branches were quickly becoming less supportive.
Duo found one near the crown of the tree and found the bend quite comfortable. He sat back there and looked around again. The scape from up top the tree was much clearer and had a better out look on the grounds than event eh view from his room had. There was a large hanger on the grounds and mostly hidden from the front road by the mansion itself. Duo wanted to go take a look, but ended up deciding to leave it for tomorrow since he didn't want to get down quite yet.
Duo watched the wind move the grass of the surrounding hills, even with the weight of the rain holding most of the blades down; it still looked like a rippling sea of green. Duo contemplated what to do. He was so happy to be here, yet at the same time, the ominous feeling that he didn't belong and that he was only bringing trouble to his friends weighed down his heart. He didn't want to be burden, but what could he bring Quatre and Heero besides heartache and obligation.
Duo looked down at the ground, he was about equal with the roof now and it looked like a pretty far drop. Duo was thinking about how to get down when he head the door open and close. Through the trees he could see that Heero had come out and was now looking around.
"Duo?" Heero called out into the foliage. He wouldn't be able to see Duo from his spot in the trees. Duo suddenly let a smile cross his face and slowed his breathing. He began a slow decent of his tree and made so little noise, he knew that Heero had no clue where he was at the moment.
Heero was slowly walking toward the tree Duo was perched in, and was looking around at eye level for any trace of Duo. He was not looking up. Duo made sure the timing was right and then hooked his knees around the branch that hung over the path and let himself fall backwards.
He was just out of reach of Heero, but still very close. So that when Heero suddenly came to be looking at an upside down Duo in the middle of his path, he was taken aback and nearly pulled his gun. Instead, he took quick breaths to calm his heartbeat and focused on keeping the shock of the surprise form showing on his face as Duo laughed and then swung over the branch and landed on his feet.
"Wow! Did I scare you that badly Heero?" Duo laughed as he swung his braid over his shoulder.
Heero didn't answer, instead he went on with what he had come out for in the first place.
"It is nearly lunch time, Quatre called to say that he is having food sent over and to be ready.
"Oh? Really, what kind?" Duo perked up, he was starting to get hungry, he hadn't realized how much time had passed.
"Hamburgers." Duo's smile widened, but Heero looked as if he disapproved.
"GREAT!" Duo started to run for the house. Heero began to follow, slower. "Awe, come on Heero, don't be sore!" Duo called behind him when he realized Heero wasn't following as quickly as he had hoped. "It was just a joke!"
Duo sat across from Heero again, they were now at the big table that Duo had passed earlier. And despite the fact that it was dead quit and felt kind of lonely rather than friendly, Duo took a big bite of his hamburger and enjoyed it thoroughly as the juice from the meat dribbled out of the corner of his mouth.
Heero was eating with more care, but Duo looked as if he enjoyed everything better on the whole. It felt even better after the meal when everything was in his stomach and Heero had only eaten most of his meal. Duo leaned back in his chair with a content smile on his face and looked over at Heero.
"That was GREAT!" Duo felt better than he had since they had arrived. "Did Quatre say anything else?"
"Only that he will see us tonight at dinner." Heero sipped the glass of water that he had on his placemat instead of the soda Duo had on his. He paused then and then looked over at Duo when he had set down his drink again. "What were you doing in that tree?"
Duo looked at him a moment and then let out a little laugh. "Just looking around, enjoying the weather."
Heero looked positively stumped at that. Duo thought it out. "I haven't climbed a tree in along time, I kind of wanted to see if I could still do it. And its fun!" Duo took another gulp of soda a made a loud slurping sound on his straw.
Heero seemed to contemplate that while Duo stood and threw away the wrappings to his burger away and tossed the left over ice from his drink into the sink, but only after taking an ice cube for himself and then strutted out into the dinning room again.
"I think I still have some surveying to do, enjoy the paper, or a book or something!" Duo saluted Heero and took off down a hallway.
Duo suddenly looked around and saw the colors of the mansion in a different light. It was still gloomy outside, but after coming back in from the fresh air, the air was different. Duo smiled, really smiled, pleased and cheerful. He began peeking into rooms, there were plenty of doors that would open with just a push or a handle turn, and each one had its own use and its own style.
Duo even found one that had a pool table! He spent about half an hour there, and actually played a game against himself. There were rooms that were miniature libraries and poured books off their small shelves. In one room was a wall full of computers and electronic toys that Duo had to exit quickly as his fingers began to itch and he shoved them down in his pockets. He felt he should leave it alone until Quatre said it was ok, and he didn't even have a cent to his name if he did break something!
Duo continued walking through the big halls, everything was warm and cozy, despite all the space they had to heat. Duo found other bedrooms, all unused and empty, but welcoming. Duo found a room full of CDs and other disks at the northeast corner. He spent some time there just reading titles, then decided to come back later to borrow some when he could ask Quatre.
Duo then found a room that was locked. He passed it by and peeked into the next one and the one on the other side of the hall. There was nothing interesting there, but on his way back the door seemed to scream at him as he passed and Duo froze. He looked at it, and then pulled a clip out of his hair that held a small collapsible kit of picks.
With a few small turns he was past the lock and in a dark room in less than two minutes. Duo stepped in carefully, he could tell there was no other security, but that didn't overshadow the reason of why it had to be locked in the first place. Duo found a light switch with his finger and flipped it up. And the room was filled with an eerie light.
It was a red light, and the first strobe sent a shock through Duo's eyes and into his brain where a chill was triggered down his back. But after a look around he wondered why it had scared him at all in the first place. It was only a dark room.
There were lines across the room with cloths pins on them, some were still holding photos and some just hung, suspended in midair. The opposite wall was lined with tubs full of developing liquid and some still had pictures floating in them, bobbing near the surface or laying down at the bottom of the tubs.
There was a copy machine, a computer with a darkened screen, and desk on the sidewalls. Duo quickly shut the door behind him, he had a feeling that Quatre would not be very happy if he came home and all his pictures were blank. Slowly Duo walked under the lines and examined the tubs of picture that were still developing.
It was just the normal, enemy bases, mobile unit creation by illegal means, and pictures of liberal and military leaders, everything Duo expected to find from the head of the Winner Corporation. But as Duo went down the line of pictures, he found one tub at the end of the line that was a shock to him and at the same time, was something he would expect from Quatre.
There were developing pictures. Floating in the water, looking back at him were the faces of Trowa and Quatre together at some park, smiling and enjoying a fun day in the sun. There was another that was Wu fei in a training hall where the wooden floor reflected his stance with a katana. It was an amazing picture that looked professional and caught a rare side of Wu fei relaxed and maybe somewhat enjoying himself. Duo smiled at himself, wondering what Wu fei would say about him now. Scar-boy, wimpy, lazy, and dependent on others to keep himself out of harm and trouble he seemed to meet everywhere he went.
Duo shifted the photos around with his finger and watched the water swirl. From the depths of the tub came a lone photo. It was Heero; Duo moved the others aside so he could get a better view of it. Heero was in an open button down shirt and a pair of tight jeans. He was covered in oil and grease from head to around his knees where the picture ended. It looked as if he had just stopped working on the car he was leaning against with a water bottle in his hand and an oilcloth hanging out of his right waist pocket. There was a satisfied look on his face, he had no idea the picture was being taken and he was freely enjoying some free time to do what he enjoyed. It was something Duo had only seen twice during the war, and both times Heero hadn't known he was there, watching him.
Duo slowly picked up the picture, it was finished developing and waiting for someone to hang it. Duo slowly lifted it to a line and put a pin on its corner to hold it in place, suspended before his face. He stood a moment, just admiring the picture and then he decided he would come back for it later, when it was sure to be dry. Quatre would probable miss such a picture, but Duo could always conveniently use the copy machine feet away from him.
Duo, with his mind made up turned to leave. Duo jiggled the handle on the door to leave and then cursed himself for making a rookie mistake. He had underestimated security under Quatre's easy going façade. He had let the door close behind him and when it had, a lock had triggered. Duo examined the door and found, maddening enough, that the lock was a heavy bolt built into the door itself.
Duo looked around and examined the small room. There were windows, but they had been painted over to protect the pictures. Duo decided to take a chance anyway and went over to the farthest one. He knew from looking around this would only damage a few pictures, especially with most of the already developed. Duo found the lock and tested it out.
There were trip wires built into the sill, but Duo found he could deactivate them with the use of some of the metallic strips that were at his fingertips in the dark room. Duo twined metal over the wires and caused them to do a back track to trick the computer monitoring them into thinking it was still working fine. The whole thing excited Duo as he went through the steps necessary to keep anyone from discovering his blunder by losing skill in his off time.
Duo then began to work on the window. There was a seal around the pane and around the frame that fit into the sill, but it was weak with age and so based in a simple mixture that Duo found he could remove it with a pry under the edge and then by pulling it off. The same seal was on the outside, but a heavy push would jar it lose when he needed to get out.
Duo found the lock much more difficult, the lock had been melted with acid to prevent any entry or escape. Duo nearly sat back and gave in then, but pride pushed him on while he paced the small room, weary of the darkness and the ever-pending closeness that seemed to shrink in around him. Duo didn't like it, he was starting to feel trapped, and it was a very familiar feeling to that of being held in one of the OZ interrogation rooms from the war.
Duo attacked the lock again; he felt he could get it off if only he had come prepared, as it was he only had the supplies in the room, a pick kit, and the wire hidden in his hair tie. Duo looked in a cabinet under one of the basins that held the swimming photos and found the chemicals necessary to make the developing solution.
Duo looked them over and came up with an idea. Using the light bulb and the wire in his hair, not to mention anything else in the room that was made of rubber, he could form a conductor and zap the lock. He hoped it might spring the melted metal away from each other, it looked as if it was only melted enough to look impassable, but not so far gone as to be a firetrap.
Duo made sure his body was clear of any shock that might stray and then used the wire in his hair to make a circuit around the live bulb and to the lock and back, then tripped it off and watched as the electricity gave off a flash as it burned the air and the lock burst open and the window swung wide and outside.
The sudden light from outside, even on such an overcast day caused Duo to go temporarily blind while he held perfectly still and listened to the rain while waiting for the blindness to pass. The rain outside was still just a soft whisper as it hit one million blades of grass and thousands of leaves outside the window.
Duo looked out the window and found that it was over a ledge and that was next to a drainpipe that went down and disappeared into the trees below and into the garden. Duo began by cleaning up his mess and then climbed onto the sill where he lowered his legs over first. Duo had a big grin on his face as he let go and caught the ledge and drainpipe just before he might have fallen and broken something. He turned and began to climb down the pipe just far enough to reach an outspread branch.
Duo reached out and grabbed as far in as he could and realized it would not hold his weight if he was going to climb onto it. Duo stayed there for a minute accessing the situation before letting go and getting a good grip on the branch as far in as he could. The branch snapped under Duo's weight, but as he had predicted, the branch swung down first before completing the break and Duo was able to grab another, sturdier branch. However, it was not before he slammed into the trunk of the tree and slipped off two other branches that caught him in the side and on his right temple.
Duo lowered himself to the ground that was eight more feet down and then stood there for a moment before letting out a full-bellied laugh. He'd down it. Maybe not perfectly, but his instincts were still sharp and his body had quickly remembered what it was like and had click in sync with his mind.
Duo looked down at his ripped clothes and the dirt that clung to his wet body and his hair full of bits of tree. Duo laughed again and then made his way into Quatre's mansion. He snuck by the rooms, Heero wasn't in any of them on the path he took to his room, and then examined his choices to replace what he was wearing. He ended up picking out a nearly blood red long sleeved shirt and a new pair of black pants.
Duo then went into his bathroom and washed down quickly, spending time to make sure his hair looked like he had only stepped out into the rain instead of the lost in the jungle for a month look. He then dressed and came out of his bathroom and looked around. He found that he had successfully used up his afternoon and it was almost dinnertime. Duo decided to re-braid his hair and then go downstairs.
Quatre should be home soon; Heero had said they would talk. Duo felt slight trepidation at that but was ready and willing to get it underway. If anything, today's little adventure had shown him that what he had thought he had lost with the end of the war only lay asleep inside him, dormant until he was ready to call upon it again.
Duo made a decision as he separated his hair into three equal parts. All of the other four pilots had gone on to do something, not fallen into despair and helplessness like Duo had. They had jobs, a purpose in life; they were going on to contribute to the peace they had given their lives to achieve. Duo was with them now, and they were really his friends, not people who would desert him at the fist glimpse of his scars.
Duo put a tie on the end of his braid, he was now positively sure that with the help of Heero and Quatre he could get his life under way again, scars or no scars, though that still terrified him so that he held his arms close to his body even as a new determined look came over him. Tonight he would ask for their help, pride put aside.
Duo could be an agent or he could hack for Quatre, either way he knew that all he needed to do was get a new state of mind and get his body in shape again. Duo felt lighter already, and though he pulled the sleeves of the shirt down over his hands and then arranged his much longer bangs to hide most of his face, he felt like someone he had once been, ready to go into another battle.
That's how he had to look at this, which was all it was. Another mission, another battle, go out and win by being as crazy as you could and taking chances and trusting your teammates. Duo felt that at that very moment he could do just about anything.
He couldn't wait to go back and get that picture either. Duo stood up and gathered his thoughts, he put his socked feet into the slippers provided for him and then went out into the hallway, and descended the stairs to ask for what he needed the most.
A new chance at life.