Disclaimer: Believe me when I tell you that I am making no money off of this! I so do not own Gundam Wing! This is a fanfiction.
Yaye, another chapter. BTW, be sure to check out myspace for Raylie Knight, or, if it's easier, look for I'm posting info about upcoming chapters, new stories, 1X2 art I find poking around the net and I even post corrections, like the mistake I made with Trowa in Ch. 15. Oops.
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Warning: Mature Content male/male sex
Scars
Part Sixteen: Accepting
"Wu Fei's coming!?" The piece of scrambled egg on Duo's fork dropped back onto the plate with a little jiggle as he stared across the table at Quatre who smiled back a little hesitantly but earnestly.
"Trowa is going to meet him half way when he changes plane and they'll be here day after tomorrow." Quatre searched Duo's eyes, trying to gauge his mood and failing, Duo was simply shocked at this point and still trying to wrap his mind around what Quatre was saying.
"Wu Fei is coming!? Here!?" Duo asked again, earning a slight grin from Quatre.
"Calm down Duo, you knew he'd get here eventually, he's been calling a lot, waiting for his leave to come up and visit." Quatre smiled at him, almost as one would to a child who was shocked that their next dentist visit had come again so soon.
Heero reached over and took the fork from Duo's hand and put it gently on his plate. Duo turned to him, his shock carrying over from one set of blue eyes to another.
"Here?" He asked Heero, as if waiting for Heero to tell him that the monster under his bed wasn't real and that it was safe to fall back asleep.
Heero tried to smile reassuringly, "He's been worried about you too Duo, and I'm afraid that he hasn't really been taking our word on how well you're doing now." A bit of pride leaked through that one. Heero patted Duo's hand.
"Ok, so Wu Fei is coming, coming here," Heero nodded, "Day after tomorrow." Quatre nodded when Duo's eyes came back round to him. "Ok. Cool, I haven't seen him in forever." Duo called up a smile, he really had missed Wu Fei, it was just such a shock to have this visit suddenly thrown at him. Wu Fei sparred with him, they could trade off insults till the wee hours of the morning, and Duo had missed that. Though he was surprised just how much he'd missed it and hadn't realized it till that moment.
Duo finished his breakfast quickly and went to go change shirts so he could go out and work with Heero in the garage. He'd pulled on jeans this morning, but had grabbed a different shirt than the one he'd actually wanted in his rush to follow his nose downstairs and to breakfast. Duo pulled the red shirt off over his head, it had a black stripe all along the seams, the one he'd wanted was the same color, but already torn in some places and grease stained.
Duo dug for it in his closet and then walked over to the bathroom to wash his face from breakfast. He jerked to a stop in the doorway and just stared back at the mirror. Terror filled him as he stared back at his own violet eyes staring back out at him from that face and he nearly fell were it not for his hand on the doorframe. Duo stood there for a full minute before his mind finally forced him to remember that he'd taken the cover off that mirror himself.
Duo took a steadying breath and then another till his legs were solid beneath him and lost the promise of failure with his first step. Duo forced himself to look back in that mirror and see past the scars and the fear.
"I'm not ashamed of you." He told his reflection, and Duo could almost swear he saw it wink back at him. Duo smiled and washed his face. He could do this, he hadn't look in a mirror in so long, it was just a matter of remembering that it was ok now. Heero had him now, Heero didn't care, so neither would he.
Besides, why should he care, if he could defuse or build bombs, dismantle every weapon known to man, and hack his way into any system, no one should really be lookin' at his scars. His scars had nothing to do with his ability with cars or his love for Heero, it didn't mean a thing to his friends and they didn't make him permanently handicapped in anyway, he was lucky. A little marked up, but damn healthy for living through a war as a terrorist! Everyone had scars, his just looked a little worse, it didn't really mean anything.
Still, a small part of him still shook its head and whispered to him late at night or when he caught himself in the mirror, yeah, keep telling yourself that buddy.
Duo dashed out of the room and away from the mirror, though he would never admit to it, the thing still creeped him out after so many years of avoiding it like the plagues of L2. He bounded down the stairs and wound through the many rooms till he broke out into the light rain and then into the garage.
"It will be fine." Heero said again as he followed Duo's lagging steps up the stairs after dinner. Duo was thoroughly washed out from delving down in the cars engine that day, but it didn't keep him from worrying, and Heero could see the muscles tensing between his shoulder blades till he had his own worries about Duo straining something from the tension.
"Yeah, I know." Duo mumbled as he pushed himself into the room that they now shared, Heero's cloths moved in right next to his and his own lap top sitting next to Duo's. Duo knew that Wu Fei wouldn't scorn him; he would be as accepting as the rest of them had, as Heero had, but something in him still squirmed at the thought of Wu Fei seeing his scars, a part of him knew that Wu Fei would see the weakness of it. Maybe that's what had Duo all tied up in knots, the pure fact that Wu Fei did not abide weakness, he sneered at it and dismissed it. Would he dismiss Duo?
Attacked in a time of peace was not something that should have happened to a Gundam pilot, and even if it had, Duo should never have let it go as far as it did. Duo felt the guilt and self loathing churning in his stomach and making him queasy. His dinner felt like something cold and slimy now, instead of the warm and comforting meal it had been just minutes ago.
Duo felt Heero's arms come round his waist from behind, they were warm, almost hot and Duo realized he was shivering. He'd taken off his shirt and stood in only jeans, Heero had already changed into his pajama bottoms and now he just stood with his face buried in Duo's neck and held him tightly. Duo relaxed his muscled and allowed himself to lean back into his lover's arms and the warmth they offered.
"Wu Fei is not so foolish as to believe that you let this happen, he will see past it, as we all do. You will not find scorn in his eyes." Heero assured him. Duo could almost hear the words forming in Wu Fei's voice and he guessed that had been Heero's intentions. Duo nodded and pushed away, he stripped away his jeans and crawled into bed. He snuggled down as Heero made a last trip to the bathroom and then joined him.
Heero was slightly put off, now that Duo had begun to get a sense of himself again, he was also more reluctant to accept the support and help that Heero offered him. He was coming back into himself more and more lately, and it showed in the way he pushed to do things on his own and in the way he was going round about finding his anger again.
Heero remembered the way that Duo and Wu Fei would argue, the way Duo would jump to defend Quatre, the way he used to yell at himself when things got strained or he had thought Heero was being an asshole. Duo was still tentative to act on that anger, still inclined to turn it inward and attack himself, but he was getting braver all the time. He hadn't come round to yell at Heero or Quatre yet, but Heero could see it sometimes, trying to surface when they started to hover a bit too much.
Heero didn't like the return of that anger, but knew how big a part of Duo it had been, was. And he knew that when it came round fully that he would accept it as part of Duo, just as Duo accepted the parts of him that were less than likeable.
Still, as Heero reached out and pulled Duo tightly to him, he knew that some things would stay. The way Duo fit against him in sleep, the way Duo looked to him first in those times of need when even he knew he couldn't go on without help, and the little touches. The little touches that Heero had always envied of Quatre and Trowa, the little touches of two people in love. The little touches of hands or hips, or shoulders that only needed a little push of effort for contact, the little touches that he never wanted to go another day without.
Duo sighed and his body finally fully relaxed back into Heero's and he started winding down from the day and he realized how tired he really was. Heero held him tightly a minute more and then let his arm relax and he just lay there and breathed in Duo's scent. He lay in the warmth of their two bodies and listened to the steady beat of Duo's heart and the light sound of his breathing. He fell asleep listening to Duo and knew that things were changing, but they were deffinently changing for the better.
The next day of waiting was as bad, if not worse, than that whole week of waiting for Aski shoved into those twenty four hours. Duo was on edge all day, from the moment he woke up. He barely ate anything, scarcely handling what food Heero did manage to get him to eat. Duo just kept stopping through out the day and thinking. To the untrained eye, he looked spacey and absent minded, to Heero and Quatre, he looked worried and tense.
Quatre tried to reassure him all day, but the words seemed to float right over Duo and he only responded when Heero would walk up and gently place his hand at the small of Duo's back and give him a slight push back into what he was doing.
Heero would have taken them into the garage to distract Duo with the car if he hadn't been so afraid that Duo would stop and worry in the middle of some task that would get him injured. So he kept Duo distracted in other ways, he found the Rank left in their room that had somehow floated under their bed and made Duo help him fix it. Duo seemed surprised by the little machine, as if he'd forgotten its existence completely and didn't know what he was trying to fix at times.
At the end of the day Heero was wondering how Duo was going to get any sleep but was surprised when Duo walked right into the shower with him. Heero balked at first, caught off guard at suddenly having Duo naked before him under the steamy spray of water.
"Duo!" Heero thought briefly of turning off the water and making Duo sit down to talk about this, but a good look at him suddenly found Duo as calm as he'd been all day and Heero couldn't bring himself to ruin that.
"Can I…was your hair?" Duo asked, a blush creeping up on him, though hard to tell from the way his skin reddened from the temperature of the water. Heero nodded and let Duo pour out a small amount of shampoo and then work it into lather in Heero's hair. The whole thing was strangely intimate and exotic at the same time. The feel of Duo's long fingers running thorough his hair and massaging his scalp had goosebumps playing along Heero's skin, even under the hot spray.
As Duo helped Heero rinse the last of the suds from Heero's hair, Heero reached around and stole the tie from Duo's braid. Duo turned deafly and let Heero work out the long fall of chestnut turned chocolate before he began a slow process of washing Duo's hair in return. By the time they got round to rinsing Duo's long hair out, Heero was painfully aroused and noticed that Duo was also straining against his own erection.
Heero guided Duo to press his hands against the walls of the shower and bow his head under the water, and as the shampoo rinsed from Duo's hair, Heero used the soap to lather himself and then ready Duo's entrance. Duo's need was palpable as he raised his ass eagerly with a curve of his back and pushed against Heero's readying fingers. Heero was hesitant to answer that need, worried that Duo was reaching for it for the wrong reasons, but the sound of pleading that escaped Duo's lips when Heero began to pull back was something he couldn't leave unanswered.
Heero gently worked himself in and was surprised when Duo pushed back and impaled himself on Heero till there was a sharp slap of skin meeting skin and Heero was completely sheathed inside Duo. Heero hissed, as much at Duo's sudden move as to the sudden hot, tightness around him. Duo moaned and the pads of his hands went white from the pressure of him pushing against the shower walls in pleasure.
"Please Heero…please!" Duo begged as Heero stayed still inside him, and at his bidding, Heero began to work up a slow rhythm.
Duo met him, thrust for thrust, he tilted his head back and let the water spray his face and wash away all the tension of the day as his lover moved inside of him. Everything fell so perfect in that one moment; he didn't ever want to leave that place. He ached with emptiness and loneliness when Heero left him. In truth, if he thought about it, he'd been yearning for this all day, ever present under his constant worry over the day to come.
Heero reached round, grabbing hold of Duo in a tight sheath made by his hand, bringing Duo back from wherever he'd been dwelling. Duo gasped and his body squeezed round Heero and made Heero gasp in turn.
"Oh gods!" Duo gasped and Heero began to pump him in time with his thrusts. Duo came hard against the shower wall and Heero not long after that deep inside him with one last thrust. Duo strove to stay standing on wobbly legs, willing Heero not to leave him so soon.
Heero kept himself standing, though it took some effort, he braced himself against the wall and waited till he was sure he could manage without slipping on the wet, slick surface all around them. He helped Duo clean up, and he made sure they were both done before he reached round and turned off the water.
He had them both wrapped in large, fluffy towels before he opened the door and turned down the sheets on their bed. Duo stood aside, wrapping his arms around himself as he waited. His hair hung round him, still the dark chocolate color it turned when it was wet. Heero held out his hand and Duo moved silently into his arms, Heero kissed him lightly and then sat him on the bed.
He fetched a brush from the bathroom and then methodically brushed out Duo's hair and then braided it loosely. Duo let the towel fall to the flood next to the bed and crawled in under the covers and watched with half lidded eyes as Heero tuned off the light, dropped his own towel and crawled in with Duo.
"I love you." Duo ventured into the dark, snuggling down into Heero's arms, his need for touch sated while he was encircled by his lover.
"I love you, my everything." Heero whispered back as he brought Duo close and let his own eyes drift close.
Wu Fei and Trowa did not arrive till the late afternoon. A car was sent for them just after lunch and Duo watched it leave in trepidation. He pushed away from the window and went to curl up on the over stuffed love seat in Quatre's living room, he shoved himself into the corner and tucked his feet up underneath him and pulled his hands back into his long sleeves. He waited there till he heard the approach of the car again and then froze.
Heero came down from wherever he'd been with Quatre, Duo suspected that room for photo developing, and looked at Duo curled up on the couch in surprise. Duo saw the look of guilt ghost over his face before he pushed it away. Heero felt guilty for leaving him down there alone, thinking that Duo would find something to distract himself with, and Duo had just sat and done nothing all that time but worry and had turned all his thoughts inward.
Duo tried to give him a smile, knowing it didn't measure up to par, but at least Heero would understand that it wasn't his fault and that Duo would have done all that anyway. Duo stood on shaky legs and followed Heero and Quatre to the front door.
Duo smiled as Quatre threw open the door, despite the cold air of the drizzle, and could barely stand still while Trowa marched up with a small duffle bag clutched in one hand. Quatre threw himself into Trowa's arms just as the tall man breached the threshold and dropped his bag next to the door.
Wu Fei's appearance from behind Trowa was a shock, though Duo knew he was there, knew with every fiber of his being, none the less, to actually see Wu Fei step out from behind Trowa tangled up with Quatre and walk further into the foyer made Duo's gut lurch painfully.
Wu Fei stood taller than he had five years ago when Duo had last seen him; his hair was longer now, but still pulled back severely with a tie at the base of his head. He was wearing black Dockers with a white button down shirt under a heavy Preventor's coat. He had his own bag in his hand, slightly bigger than Trowa's and he surveyed Duo as soon as he saw him.
Duo was painfully aware of his black jeans, his socked feet, his over large sweater tucked over his hands and his conscious effort to use shadows to his advantage to hid some of his more sever scars on his face.
"H-Hey Wu Fei, how was the trip?" Duo asked, not likening the stutter he'd started with, but pushing ahead in earnest. He watched Wu Fei's eyes go dark and narrow at him and then whip over to Heero.
"What is the meaning of this Heero!? You told me Maxwell was healing, that he was 'doing better'!" Wu Fei's suddenly forgot him completely and in place of Duo's shock, anger came quickly bidden and made Duo snap.
"Fuck You Chang! I am doing better! You want fucking healing, let's carve up your face a bit then push you out onto a playground and see how you fare out among the kiddies!!!" Duo wasn't sure where in the hell that had come from, maybe it had been building up all day in his gut, in preparation for a rejection he'd half been expecting, but when he heard Quatre's gasp and saw the horror on Heero's face, he knew he'd gone too far. But the anger felt so good, it washed though him cleanly and thoroughly and left him still standing there, seething, but smiling like a maniac.
The silence stood as everyone seemed to be wondering what to do when Wu Fei suddenly let out a full throated laugh that caught everyone off guard. Duo's face faltered and he just stood there and stared at Wu Fei, unsure of what to do now.
"Very well Maxwell, I will concede that you are doing better, but you look like a god damned scare crow. You're thin as a rail, you have circles under your eyes that look like they were tattooed there and I was told that you were back to wearing t-shirt instead of sweaters." Duo felt as if he would contentiously combust from the blush that over took him; sure that he had just set a record for human color change.
Duo mumbled something of an apology and simply walked away to ditch his sweater. He fetched a black t-shirt from his room with a decal of a smiley face on the front in red. The face grinned manically and had little horns, it proclaimed in large letters, "Lead me not into temptation, I can find it myself".
Duo joined the other four pilots, quite aware that this was the first time they'd all been together in years and found them sitting down in that sprawl of overstuffed furniture. Duo smiled, unsure as to why, but made a bee line for Heero and sat on the arm of the chair Heero had picked.
Wu Fei spared them a glance that seemed to generate approval and then continued talking to Heero. "I caught the man just outside of town on the highway, he was brought down by Dennison, he has a good eye."
Heero nodded, Duo realized they were talking about the case Wu Fei had been on just before he got his leave.
"What did he do?" Duo asked, and flinched only slightly when Wu Fei's dark eyes came around to look at him. "He's been caught once before for assault with a knife, Heero arrested him the first time." Duo looked to Heero to see the dark frown that confirmed it, "He was granted parole only to go out and rob a convenience store, but this time he killed the clerk and the three customers in there at the time. Gruesome, William Karnage is a sick man and we had psychiatric take the case this time."
Duo shuddered; he could only guess what a man could do to four people that would have Wu Fei using the word 'gruesome'.
Quatre moved them all on from the subject by suggesting that they decide what they wanted for dinner, as Wu Fei and Trowa left to put away their bags in their rooms, Duo turned to Heero.
"You were a Preventor? I thought you fixed cars." Duo asked him, confused by the different information he was getting.
"Right after the war I did join the Preventors, I was an agent for two years and then I quit and began fixing cars for Quatre. I needed more time to…"
"Look for me." Duo finished for him. "Guess Preventor connections just aren't as good as they say."
"Not for the channels where I finally found you." Heero smiled at him. Duo couldn't help smiling back.
"I like to walk on the wild side." Duo laughed as Heero pushed him playfully off the chair and then led the way to the dinning room.
The five pilots sat around talking while Gill ran the kitchen staff and soon had dinner served for them. Turkey, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables, cranberry sauce and stuffy with a hot apple cobbler for dessert.
Wu Fei was telling them about Commander Une when Duo put down his fork and grabbed one of the large rolls and tore it down its center. He grabbed his turkey and set to making a sandwich, he mixed some vegetables with his mashed potatoes and then spooned them onto his creation and then closed it.
He looked up then before taking a bite and found all eyes were on him. Trowa and Heero looked amused, Quatre looked confused and Wu Fei looked out right disgusted, and went on to state it.
"Maxwell, that is disgusting, why is it you can never seem to do anything normally or quietly." Wu Fei couldn't seem to help a smirk that tugged at the corner of his mouth and hinted that maybe he was just as amused as Heero and Trowa but wouldn't let himself give into the luxury of their easy smiles.
"You're eating the same thing 'Fei, just with a fork and knife." And with that he took a bite and smiled at them round his full mouth. Trowa let out a laugh, which he quickly hid behind his napkin, but his eyes shown out at them. Quatre started to giggle and Heero kept his calm by looking down at his food and taking little sips of water.
Dinner went on until dessert before Duo's situation was brought up. Duo had been silently hoping that they could at least get through this one night before coming round to talk about him, but it appeared as if they had nothing else to talk about. Unlike him, they had spent the last five years growing closer without the war in their way now, and anything Duo could think up to counter this impending doom, they'd already talked about sometime prior.
"Maxwell…Duo…" His name sounded so strange on Wu Fei's lips, but he'd already noticed that he'd moved on to addressing everyone else by their first names, so it seemed that he was now going to be included there too, "Heero has been keeping me posted on your progress. You haven't left this house save one incident with the drug dealer."
Trust Wu Fei to throw it out there and at the same time shove his nose in it, Duo strove for the first time, not to let his anger get the best of him and just nodded. This had what had really been missing; everyone still tip toed around him, Wu Fei wasn't treating him any different than five years ago, well, words between them were different, but he was still brash and expectant instead of hesitant and supportive to a fault.
"Yeah, so?" Duo smirked back at him; he couldn't help the reply that jumped off his tongue.
"I have done some research and found that many have achieved results with gradual exposure." Wu Fei started to go into a complex explanation and Duo had to cut him off.
"'Fei! Try explaining this in plain English for those of us who didn't have Shakespeare memorized by four." Duo pushed his bangs aside only to have them fall right back into his dazed amethyst eyes.
Trowa, having already heard this once on the plane, picked up the ball, "He means that you should take walks outside, by yourself, wearing less and less each time till you're comfortable in jeans and a shirt as you are now, among us."
Duo concentrated on breathing, anxiety already coursing through him at the thought of all those eyes. "Who did you…where did you…" Duo searched and then made eye contact with Heero who didn't say anything but accented his breathing so it was visible and Duo could try and match it before he worked himself up to an episode.
"I found web sites on the Internet and several books on the subject." Wu Fei answered his unfinished question and Duo almost broke out into hysterical laughter. His problems were cases that were filed away neatly in libraries and studies on the Internet. He was just another report or article that spelled out cures while he floundered about in this 'safe house' and mucked things up worse.
"Duo…breathe." He was surprised to find Heero up out of his chair and kneeling next to him.
"Gradual exposure Heero, now why didn't we think of that?" Duo heard his own voice, high and giddy and flinched.
"Breathe Duo, you're going to start hyperventilating." That word brought Duo back, he hated that feeling, of gasping for air that wasn't their while everyone else watched you calmly, breathing easily.
Duo took in large gulps of air, held them and then took another till he had his heart beat slowed and was breathing normally again.
"Duo, I'm sorry." Duo had to look up and make sure that he had heard the right voice say those words; he couldn't remember ever having heard those words come out of Wu Fei before. "I merely wish to help."
Duo nodded, unsure of how steady his voice would be, and tried to give Wu Fei and encouraging smile.
"Thank you Wu Fei." Heero said in his place and then quietly asked if Duo was ok. Duo gave his hand a squeeze, not wanting to leave this company yet, even if he felt strung tighter than a trip wire; he was reluctant to leave them after so long of being without.
Duo didn't enter the conversation much after that, but was comfortable listening, and after a few minutes his nerves began to ease and he sat back with his cobbler and just listened. Their mixed voices were soothing. Quatre's was a soft musical sound that mingled with Wu Fei's whose was sharp but fairly rang. Heero's was low and calm while Trowa's was a rumble.
They talked about mundane things after that, Duo barely followed the conversation anymore and found himself drifting off hours later. He said his good nights when Heero roused him and told him it was past eleven. Duo gave Trowa a big smile and surprised Wu Fei with a quick hug. He dashed off, tousling Quatre's hair as he made his escape and Heero followed him up the stairs with a smile.
Duo found that once he was lying down in bed, he was no longer tired. He lay there, with eyes wide open, while Heero moved about the room in familiar motions. When Heero finally settled down next to him, Duo looked up at him and Heero stared back in surprise at Duo's sudden state of alertness.
"What is it love?" Heero asked softly, he could hear the others in the house settling down and it was comforting.
"Do you think it would work?" Duo asked.
"Do I think what would work?" Heero asked, trying to get Duo to settle down next to him.
"The exposure thing Wu Fei was talking about." After they'd let it go, Duo had suddenly found himself dwelling on it. Somewhere in his mind, part of it had made sense, past all that fear, something in him had heard reason in it.
Heero paused, stilled, more awake than before and gave his answer carefully. "Yes, I do believe that Wu Fei uncovered a technique that would help someone in your situation come to terms with…"
"Heero." Duo growled out in irritation.
Heero gave a soft chuckle, "I think it might work." He said plainly.
"I…I think so too…" Duo admitted.
"Did you want me to help? I could set it up, we could take one of Quatre's cars and…" Duo cut him off again.
"I think this is something I can do on my own. Can…can you just, be here? When I get back?" Duo asked, trepidation sneaking into his voice when he didn't want it too.
Heero bit back on his need to bring his arms tighter around Duo, to insist that he be there, but he'd talked about this to Dr. Draki one day. Duo had been self sufficient five years ago, he'd been self sufficient in his apartment. Dr. Draki had told him Duo was probably going to want control back more and more over his life; that he would not always rely on Heero the way he had been.
"I'll always be here." Heero whispered to him and was rewarded with Duo burrowing in tight against him. Heero held him back tightly, as tightly as he had wanted to before.
"Love you." Duo's muffled voice came from Heero's neck.
"I love you." Heero nuzzled into Duo's hair.
Duo wore a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, a sweater and a coat. He had on boots and had snuck some gloves into his pocket when Heero had gone down to breakfast before him. Duo faced the mirror again, psyching himself up, he stumbled down the stairs to breakfast and found Wu Fei and Trowa. He'd almost forgotten hey were there, he gave Wu Fei a wicked grin and sat down next to Heero.
"Are you going out today Duo?" Quatre asked, looking up from a report next to his plate.
"Yeah, I was gonna go down and visit with Ember and get myself some more of those cupcakes!" Duo chirped, ignoring Wu Fei's surprised look and then somewhat smug smile.
"Oh, if you like, I can have a car…" Quatre started, looking up at Duo with a surprised smile.
"Naw Quatre, that's ok, I like to walk. Nothing wrong with walking." Duo smiled and shoved a piece of bacon into his mouth. He smirked to himself, he figured he was the only one who walked anywhere now a days. Everyone else had a driver's license with a car; but Duo had liked working on cars, but all the one's he could afford lacked something for him. It was hard to go from space to paved roads.
"Ok, be back for lunch though, I want us all to eat together." Quatre gave him an encouraging smile and Duo nodded. He finished his breakfast quickly and then jumped off.
"I'm off!" He announced, swooped down and snagged a kiss from Heero before he could protest which made his lover blush. Duo laughed, glanced at Wu Fei's smug face, stuck his tongue out at him and dashed out the door.
Heero recovered after hiding his face in his napkin with Quatre giggling and Trowa letting his low chuckle join in the joke.
"He'll be fine." Heero muttered to himself, a mantra he'd been saying to himself all morning. But Wu Fei heard him.
"Of course he will be fine." He snapped, harsh eyes daring anyone to dispute his well researched plan. "He is a soldier of war, a Gundam pilot; this is just one more obstacle, a training exercise for him."
Heero shook his head, "You were not here for the worst of it Chang." Wu Fei looked a little taken aback and disbelieving. "You weren't here for the seizures, the screaming, and the pain he was in. He's come a long way; it took him so much to get here."
Wu Fei snorted, "Duo is a strong man, and he deserves nothing less then our absolute faith now. It is our friendship that has brought him back Heero, remember that."
Heero smiled at Wu Fei and finished his breakfast.
Duo made it to the edge of town just fine, but once there, he faltered. Duo found a dark corner and paused, leaning against the building and taking deep breaths.
I've been here before, Duo lectured himself, no one is looking for me, no one knows me and no one is staring at me.
Duo pushed off against the wall and began walking again. He knew how to find the store, Ember's store. The Fast Fix, with its green and orange sign, on the corner, with Rivee's garage just a few buildings down. Duo came to the main road that went all the way from one end of town to the other and started down the sidewalk with his shoulders set. He hunkered down, hiding his face behind his long bangs and concentrated on avoiding running into people.
Duo did get run into though, twice, he bumped into a man who ignored him and walked on and then once into a woman carrying a grocery bag. He apologized quickly, catching the look on her face as she saw his face. He pressed on, trying to convince himself that he hadn't seen what he'd thought he'd seen on her face and finally came to the corner store.
He dashed inside, forcing himself not to look up and see the camera and video, and stopped, leaning against a display. He took deep breaths and tried to focus on what was around him.
"Hey Duo!" Ember greeted him; she was still with a customer but had seen him come in. Duo took advantage of the time she took to finish with her customer to get his heart reigned in.
"What's up? You here for more junk food?" Ember smiled at him as the man left her store with a bag of chips and a cup of coffee.
"Yeah." Duo felt better and gave her as big a smile as he could manage. He was wound tight so that the muscles in his back felt ready to break like glass. "Quatre doesn't have anything good up at the house!"
Ember hopped up onto the counter and sat with her legs dangling down while Duo went round to get his own cup of coffee.
"I can imagine, I bet he serves those banquets all the time. He invited Rivee and me up there once, honest to god five course meal!" Duo laughed at the look on her face when she said that. "I'm just a good ol' burger and fries gal!"
"I hear yeah, man, I used to eat pizza and Chinese take out, now I got Chicken cordon blue and fancy salad I can't pronounce!" Duo basked in Ember's laughter, "Did you know there's such a thing as white asparagus!?"
Ember laughed as he walked around, picking up doughnuts and chips as well as his cup cakes. He got two sodas fro the back, holding them like he'd found the holy grail to get another laugh out of Ember before bringing it all up to the counter. Easy as pie, not that'd he'd ever tried to cook the stuff, he could do this!
Ember rang him up. "You should get Heero to bring you down to dinner here; me and Rivee could take you out to the steak house down the street!"
Duo smiled at her, "I'll do that!" Ember smiled back at him while she bagged his stuff.
"Good, that man needs to get out more often." She and Duo laughed.
"I better head back, can't be late for that lunch I can't pronounce!" Duo gave her a salute as he left and she waved after him.
Duo walked back, braver. He focused on keeping his face up and smiling. He didn't get near as many looks as he did back at the beach city he'd left. People here just glanced at him and then went on about their business. They probably thought he was only visiting, that they'd never see him again so he wasn't worth a second look. It gave Duo a false sense of security that was snatched away when he passed a parking lot outside of a grocery.
Duo froze as his gaze fell to the side of the building. He saw a red convertible and two figures got out of it.
Duo watched as Martin got out of Melinda's car then walked around it to pull Melinda out by her hair. Duo couldn't seem to move, though he screamed at his legs to do something, he was firmly rooted to the spot.
Melinda didn't even protest as Martin dragged her over to the side of the grocery and slammed her down against the wall. She just slid down the wall and sat there looking up at him. The parking lot wasn't big at all; Duo could see and hear them perfectly.
"Is this the place?" Martin demanded.
"Please…more…please…" Melinda begged in a small voice, reaching up with thing arms. Duo could see the track marks up both arms. They looked infected, swollen and painful. Duo cringed, forced addiction. He recognized that look in her eyes, it took him right back to L2. Those people begging on the street, selling everything they had, even teeth, just to get another hit. Duo felt sick, he'd sworn he'd never fall that low, had despised those people, but wasn't that just what had happened to him. Begging Heero and Quatre for one more pill.
Duo shivered violently and listened as Martin refused to give her another hit till she told him.
"Is this the place!?" he kicked her and Duo grimaced, he remembered that kick. "Is this where he is!?"
That made Duo pay closer attention. Who was Martin looking for, surely not, it had to be a coincidence, Carigan couldn't have sent him all this way to…
"Yes, he's here, this is it!" Melinda told him then began her pleading again. Martin picked her up by the upper arm and shoved her back into the car. He stood and started looking around, Duo found his legs again.
He dropped his bag and coffee and took off running, he ran as hard as he could. He ran with the memory of the police after him on L2, he ran with the memory of OZ after him, he ran till his lungs burned and his muscles ached to stop. He ignored it all as he hit the hill and just kept on running. He pulled off his coat and ran with it in his hand, sweat pouring down his face.
Duo ran right past the gardener and Gill who was outside parking the car Quatre had come back in. Duo fell against the front door and shoved at the handle till it opened and he could fall in on hands and knees and scream.
"HEERO!!!"
Martin picked up the bag on the sidewalk and kicked at the Styrofoam cup of spilled coffee. Who would just drop their stuff in the middle of the street like this? Someone who'd seen what he'd done, someone who hadn't run to the police station to his right, but left in a hurry, running away.
Someone who needed to hide now that they knew he was in town, and who hid better than Maxwell.
Martin glanced down at the bag, Fast Fix; he'd seen that driving here. Small town, the kind of town where everyone knew what everyone else was doing. Maybe the nice people at the Fast Fix could help him find Maxwell.