Disclaimer: They aren't mine. Duh.
Warnings: cursing... angst... OOC-ness (but it could happen... remember, they're young and still growing...) and maybe other stuff...
Archive? Sure! Have fun!
Side Note: I hope this makes up for the long wait. I have been writing this...
Only You
Chapter 14
He knew that Wufei was watching him watch Duo, and he knew that Wufei would be giving him another ass-reaming, so he didn't look at his partner. Wufei was getting tired of his antics. The Chinese man would soon speak up about Heero's obsession with a certain "braided baka."
He just couldn't seem to be calm now. He'd be better off knowing Duo was at home, bored and finding a REAL job. Instead, the idiot was here, with them, and they didn't have time to drop him off.
"Oh, yes," he heard Duo whisper and focused his attention on what Duo was happy about. The American was staring out the plane's window. He looked out, as well. Ah. So that was it. Apparently, the braided ex-pilot was as tired of the cabins as he'd been when he'd sent orders to Headquarters. He'd told them that if they were given another cabin, he would blow it up himself. They had agreed on a "summer home" in the mountains. They were near enough that he realized they were about to land.
Immediately, he went on alert. He didn't see the enemy, but that didn't mean they weren't there. Duo and Wufei were both scanning the sparse mish-mash of trees and shrubs. They would be landing 3.5 miles away from the house, which was close to a summit. The cliff would be at the back of the house, a mere ten feet from the back porch. The front wouldn't have trees until about three meters from the porch. There, though there were trees, they were sparse. The enemy would have a VERY difficult time getting near the house.
Which sort of made Heero wonder why they hadn't been sent there earlier.
"Wait a minute," Duo piped up. "I remember this place. We came here once before – Quatre and me. After..." Duo shot Heero a look. "After the time we were first told to give up our Gundams. When Oz targeted the colonies."
When I blew myself up for the first time Heero added to himself. Was that what you were thinking, Duo? Was that what brought that sudden flash of pain to your eyes?
Duo's arm, he noticed, had tightened on Diana. "What did you do here?" he asked and watched as Duo's eyes darkened.
"We holed ourselves up and hid. Duh. Not much else we could do. We continued hacking into enemy software. I messed it up a bit, more for spite than anything. Went on a few undercover ops where it couldn't be linked to the Gundams." Duo took a deep breath, as if steeling himself. "And drunk myself into a stupor every night."
Heero cocked an eyebrow in bemusement. Drunk himself into a stupor? Duo? It burned in him to ask about it. He didn't when he saw the sad look on Duo's face. Whatever memories Duo had here, they weren't ones he wanted to remember.
When the plane landed, Wufei got off first and searched the area, as usual. Diana had been woken up by Duo a bit earlier. Heero was almost certain that Duo woke the woman only because his arm was broken. If he could have carried Diana, he would have. For now, she was rubbing her eyes and yawning hugely, staying by Duo's side.
When the plane left them behind, it was with a collective sigh that they all began their march. The same order was used – Wufei, Duo, Diana, then Heero. Heero took a small pleasure from the fact that there were no thorns here. Duo couldn't hurt his hands being a heroic gentleman this time. Maybe he could start to i heal /i .
Maybe, Heero mused, but he doubted it.
Insight into Heero's mind. There. The end.
Duo listened intently to Diana. She seemed to be traveling well. She also seemed immensely sad and scared. What could he possibly do to help her? He didn't even know what was going on!
He thought about what Heero had told him before the helicopter had come. About how the enemy was insane. About what was... left over. Had Diana seen that? But that wouldn't frighten her too much, would it? Maybe he was overestimating her. It was an extreme that a man would fear. Yet, even though it frightened him, he was used to such things. Maybe that was all she had seen. That was enough.
But, somehow... it didn't seem right.
And, unsurprisingly, his thoughts were depressed at the moment. He'd been more honest than he'd planned to be when Heero had asked him about what he'd done after Heero had... had... attempted suicide. Blown himself up.
He had attacked Oz secretly. His attacks had been labeled as rogue ops by Po and others. He didn't care. He killed and killed and killed, then destroyed and scammed and otherwise did all he could while not allowed to do anything. Then he would come back to this house and drink until he couldn't breathe. But it never rid him of the memories. Never. He could still see it. Heero coming out of his cockpit, stone-faced, holding out the self-destruct button and... callously pressing it. The way, for just an instant, he shone, and then-
Duo put a hand to his mouth and folded over slightly. Heero had flown then, and...
"Duo?"
Shit. He had to get himself under control. He had to will away the memories. He had to stay focused. For Diana. If for nothing else, then for Diana. Besides, if this place hadn't changed, then there would be plenty of liquor. Hopefully, it wouldn't come to that. Hopefully, he wouldn't remember too much of those days once he entered this building.
He doubted it.
"Duo?!" Diana sounded almost panicked. She undoubtedly thought someone had hurt him. Maybe Heero had that day. Lord knew he'd cursed the Japanese teen enough.
"Duo. Status."
He flinched at Heero's voice. But it was enough, he told himself firmly. Enough to see Heero alive. Alive and... living. Heero had changed. He wouldn't mindlessly attempt to kill himself anymore. He was supremely strong. Heero would be all right, no matter what. Staying here, with these three, was doing nothing but hurting him more.
"Fine. I'm fine," Duo muttered, standing straight once again. "Sorry." He started forward.
"Duo."
Damn that cold voice. Heero now had the power to speak kindly, yet he only spoke in a harsh voice to Duo. Why? When necessary, he was kind. But at other times...
He pasted on the Jester's Mask with enough force to give him whiplash and turned to Heero. "What is it, Heero? Sorry I slowed us down just now, but we can keep going."
"Change places with Diana."
"What?" Duo asked stupidly, surprised. "Isn't that an... undisciplined tactical decision?"
Heero's mouth twitched. "Just do it."
Duo felt the juvenile urge to salute. He tried to hide it and his trepidation in a nonchalant shrug. "Okay, dude. I warned you." He moved behind Diana and urged her to move up. He had a feeling that whatever Heero had to say would not be something she would wish to listen – or he would wish for her to hear.
"Heero-"
"Whatever it is that bothers you about this safehouse, it's in the past." Oddly, Heero's voice seemed to have... calmed. Like he was attempting to reassure. "You needn't worry about it anymore."
Duo watched Heero as he walked, walking backwards. "No," he said softly, "I don't think I need to worry anymore, either." But that won't stop me from remembering, he added silently to himself.
And wasn't it just a kick that it wasn't at all because of him? Quatre and Relena...
Heero's face got... concerned. Duo's eyes widened in shock. This wasn't a... a concealed emotion, like Duo was used to seeing. This was TRUE concern. It showed itself all over Heero's face, bursting through every single pore... his eyes, his brows, his lips... it changed Heero completely. He became... something even more beautiful than before. Duo couldn't possibly explain. But... the love and the pain that welled up inside him nearly killed him. And the hope – damn that irrepressible hope – rose, as well. Then Heero spoke.
"Did something happen to Quatre while the two of you stayed here?"
Duo laughed. He laughed until he felt the tears about to spill, then he turned around and bent his head down to hide what he couldn't prevent. Desperately, desperately he tried to stop. He wouldn't cry. Men don't cry. They never cry, and certainly not in front of Heero and Wufei and Diana. Diana, who would be concerned, and Heero and Wufei, who... would be annoyed.
Heero concerned himself about Relena or Quatre or whoever else had opened him up to emotions. Quatre. Never had he wanted to be Quatre as much as he did in that instant. At least Heero cared about Quatre. At least...
"Duo?"
Oh, God. Now Heero was going to know how pathetic he was. No. He had to get himself under control, or else Heero-
"Yuy! Behind you!"
Duo turned immediately, mindless of his tears, but no one was paying attention to his face. He just barely saw the man from earlier, now holding a gun, before-
Bam!
Duo reached out to slam Heero to the ground without thought, but Heero had already moved. Duo landed on the ground and rolled, pulling himself up instantaneously. He ignored the slight pain from his arm and turned to Wufei and Diana. Wufei was trying to assist Heero, but Diana was getting in the way. Gunfire had suddenly rocked itself through the landscaping – the few birds in the few trees flew off, casting shadows of demons over Heero as he attacked the enemy. Duo's heart skipped, and he hesitated for a millisecond before turning to Diana. "Diana! To me! Now!" He beckoned her over with his good hand. When she got near, he grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the battle. Wufei went straight to Heero's aid.
"Duo," she choked, "how did they-"
"I dunno. Let's not worry about that right now. We need to get out of their way." Duo's entire body clenched. "We have to trust them to win."
Diana looked at him with intensity then. "You're worried. Just as I thought."
Duo was too busy scanning the area to look at her anymore. "Huh? You thought what?"
"That you love Mr. Yuy."
Duo froze then. When he turned to her, it was in fear. "Diana... please..."
Her eyes grew sad. "I knew it," she whispered. "You love him, and so you suffer."
He felt his breath rush. "Don't... you can't-"
"Duo! Pay attention, baka!"
Duo flinched at Heero's tone, but he reacted, by Shinigami. He pulled Diana to the ground and placed his body over hers. Bullets flew around them. "Shit!" Duo cursed, then grabbed Diana again and leapt up with her. He kept himself between her and the bullets. There was no way they were escaping. There was hardly any cover.
But he had to protect Diana. He looked at his cast – it was a hindrance.
In less than a second, the hunter's knife on his leg was out. The same amount of time saw his cast fall to the ground. "Diana! Get behind me!"
Immediately, the small blond was hidden behind Duo's body. He saw two men after him. Wufei and Heero were trying to take down the man with the dead ice-blue eyes.
"Shit," Duo muttered. He quickly got into a fighting stance and prayed that there were no more pursuers than this. But Diana had brought up a good point: how i had /i they been found? And even before they reached the safehouse. It was impossible... unless...
"Diana, get behind that pine," he instructed tersely and indicated the spruce tree to their far right. "I'll distract them. Don't ask questions," he ordered, "just do it!"
She ran.
He raced forward, the knife in his left hand. The enemies pointed their guns at him, taking him for the greater threat that he was. He calculated the trajectories of the gun's angle and adjusted his stance right before the gun blasts.
Both missed.
He managed to reach them during the interlude when they stood in shock and knocked the gun from one of the enemies' hands. Both were big and burly – normal thugs, unlike the other. This would be a cakewalk.
With a flick of his wrist, the knife slashed across the enemy's throat in a killing slice. The next instant had him moving again, swerving around the dropping body to attack again. The adrenaline rush racing through his system was familiar and welcome in its intensity. The God of Death was born again.
The survivor, a hulking guy with long auburn hair was now aiming his gun almost wildly. Duo easily dodged the bullets. "You monster!" he screamed. "Stay away! Stay away from me!"
"I'm not a monster," Duo whispered, his lips curling back into a smile that belonged to his god. He neared the man. "I'm Shinigami." He grabbed the man's gun and ripped it from his hand. With a crash, the butt hit the man's right temple. "Unfortunately, I won't take you yet. You're for the Preventors."
Duo heard Diana's scream from a distance. He turned on a dime. There were three more men gathered around her. They looked vastly different from the two thugs. They looked more like... the man before. Thin and lithe, like him and the other ex-Gundam pilots.
"Duo Maxwell. Oh-two. The Deathscythe pilot." One of the three addressed him as he pulled Diana's arms behind her back. His hair was shoulder-length and brunette. "Excellent in stealth operations, hacking, and undercover ops. Weapons of choice – knives, scythes, daggers. Best in close combat, but still exceptional at far range." The brown-haired terrorist smirked. "We know all about your combat strategies, Gundam pilot."
Duo glanced at Diana's terrified face. "And just how do you know so much about me?"
"Oh, not just you," the man said. "We've been taught about all of you. After all," he chuckled, "we are your replacements."
Duo's brows furrowed in confusion. "Replacements?"
"Just in case you failed," the terrorist explained. "The doctors had faith, of course, but not enough to exclude a back-up plan. We were cloned from your DNA – your skills, your thought patterns. To save themselves from confusion, our physical DNA was altered. To make us more efficient, our personalities were changed." His head lifted in a way meant to point at himself. "I was stemmed from Quatre Raberba Winner."
"From Quatre?" Duo struggled to keep up. "Impossible. You're nothing like Quatre. You're nothing like any of us."
The man shrugged. "It does not matter to me whether you believe it or not. What matters is this." He pulled out his gun. "The chase is over."
"Wait!" Duo shouted, panicked. If these guys were half as good as they said they were, he and Heero and Wufei and Diana were all screwed. Especially in this situation. "Why are you doing this? Peace has been obtained! We have no more reason to fight!" Duo spread his arms out. "Look around! There's no one left to fight!"
"No one?" The gun he held was aimed at Duo. "I can think of five."
The two men with him finally spoke up. "Agreed," one said simply – a tall, bald guy – and the other nodded enthusiastically – a guy with short-cropped red hair.
Duo cursed and moved. The shot that was fired missed, but the other two now had i their /i guns out. Somehow, he had to get Diana out of there. He was confused about how all of this was fitting together, but he definitely knew that Diana was somehow important. He had to get her safe.
Gunshots exploded around him. He scrambled, hoping desperately that he wouldn't roll right into a bullet. These guys were better at quickly altering the aim of their guns. His arm began to protest heatedly to every movement he made. He clenched his teeth and used the pain to sharpen his senses.
Heero and Wufei could still be heard fighting, so he wouldn't be getting any help from there. He had to focus on his allies' skills and try to figure out which clones he was dealing with. Quatre. A natural-born leader. Quick-witted, efficient. Sandrock had used short weapons with a wide range of uses. He could handle Zero. Shit. He knew Quatre's fighting style well enough – adaptable, in a word. He should be ready for almost anything – smart moves, tactics... he trusted his knowledge on Quatre to help him. As for the other two... Mr. Baldy was either Wufei or Trowa. Couldn't be Heero. Heero wouldn't have been interested in the outcome enough to speak. At that point, if he had said anything, it would have been "hn." And the excited one was... himself. Oh God.
He ducked behind a bush. "What the hell do you want with the woman?" He threw himself out of it just as three bullets ripped holes through the leaves. "Well?!"
The three seemed to be taking great amusement in his little dance. "We don't want her. Jocker does. He said he'll get one last dance with her before he kills her."
"Dance?" His eyes once again moved to Diana, who now stood as if paralyzed. He only knew of one dance he could be referring to, and by the look on her face...
"No..." she whispered, her voice breaking. "No! I won't let you!" Diana started struggling like a thing possessed. She twisted around herself and began clawing at the man's arms. "No!" She screeched the word over and over like a mantra. "No no no no no!!!"
Duo moved like lightning. In an instant, he'd grabbed Diana and, ignoring the scratches she mindlessly gave him, grabbed the Quatre-clone's gun. He aimed wildly, keeping the clone back long enough to retreat a few feet. He looked around, but only saw the Quatre-clone and Duo-clone. Where was the other one?
He closed his eyes and felt the air against his skin. Above!
He threw himself to the side, dragging a squirming Diana with him. He turned and saw the bald one watching him impassively. The exact place where Duo's been standing was now Baldy's. Trowa. The genius at acrobatics. "Holy shit," he murmured, feeling his body jerk in fear. Against Trowa, Quatre, and himself... he was dead. He prayed that Heero and Wufei were faring better than he.
"Yuy! Three o'clock!"
Heero turned without thought and studied the newcomer. The hair was silver and long, pulled back into a severe ponytail. He held a sword in his hand. "Heero Yuy. It is an honor." The man made a short but elaborate bow.
Heero cocked an eyebrow. "And who might you be?"
"Why, I am your partner." The man grinned. "I am the genetic copy of the Dragon Clan's Chang Wufei."
Both eyebrows rose now. "What?"
"Come now, Yuy. Surely you are not so ignorant as to use Maxwell's words." Yes, he did sound similar to Wufei there. "I wished to fight you because only you are a worthy opponent." His eyes flicked to Wufei, who was trying to dodge the black-haired man's attacks. "It is injustice, being borne from one so weak." He shrugged. "Well, by now, Maxwell should have been taken care of by the others."
Heero's heart froze. "What are you saying?"
The man tsked. "I am saying he is dead. He cannot fight three of us clones. Even for one of you, it is impossible, and we both know that Maxwell and Winner are the weakest of all of us."
"You're wrong," Heero declared and pointed his gun at the man's temple. "Duo is not weak." He emphasized his words with a gunshot.
"Duo, watch out!"
"Dammit, I'm trying!" He knew he had no right to curse at Diana. The woman was only trying to help. The problem? She i wasn't /i . And he had to not only save his own skin, but hers, as well. Against three guys who were supposed to be the same as the him and the others – only i better /i .
He felt warm liquid trickling down his arm and grimaced. Dammit, not again. Not now!
The gun in his injured arm's hand was as useless as the knife. All of the clones were coming after him, following motions that he knew had been practiced with one another – formations. And they were perfect for the three. He figured he had the Quatre-clone to thank for that. More often than not, Fake Duo would disappear at times, only to show up right behind or beside him, just as Fake Quatre closed in from his other side and Fake Trowa crashed in from above. At those times, it was more luck than skill that made him successfully evade.
Fake Quatre took position a good distance from him, aiming his gun directly at Diana, not him. It was an obvious trap, a new formation. Without a choice, he bulldozed into it.
He and Diana fell to the ground as three bullets whizzed by his body. He lifted his head – a gun was planted right in his face – and a cold smile, a smile he remembered had once belonged to only him, asked, "Can the God of Death truly die?" And then Fake Duo pulled the trigger.
A clang told Heero that the enemy's sword had blocked the bullet.
"Come now, Yuy, that cannot be all you have." The man's smirk was superior and too familiar for Heero's comfort. "I was hoping for a challenging battle. It seems you will disappoint me."
"Hn." Heero shot at the man, rolled to the side, and shot again. To his shock, the man easily blocked both of his bullets with his scimitar, then flew after Heero before the shock fully swept up his spine.
The dead-faced opponent Wufei faced was somehow familiar in his fighting style. A battle and a full year with the man he mimicked made it much easier for Wufei to dodge his opponent's attacks. The question was – how did he know Heero's attack patterns, and how had he learned to do them i better/i
Impossible, Wufei told himself, pushing the man's fist away and attempting to knee him in the gut. The attacks weren't performed better as much as they were... faster and harder. But that, too, was impossible. He knew no one else except perhaps himself and the other Gundam pilots who had so much skill. These people would also need to have been trained since childhood. That would not only be unnecessary, but highly improbable.
Improbable. But not impossible.
The man before him paid no attention to his tousled hair, nor his unreasonable speed. The ice-blue eyes were locked completely onto his every movement. With an ungraceful snarl uncommon on his lips, Wufei snaked to the right – the opposite of where his instincts told him to go. The man had moved slightly to where he'd been about to go.
As I thought, Wufei nodded, they know our moves. Come on, Yuy – figure it out!
Heero shot two bullets at the sword, swerving it away from him. He quickly reloaded and dodged again. He recognized the way the man turned. Now the sword would come up from the ground at an 80 degree angle-
He easily dodged the attack, completely prepared for the backlash that came to chop off his neck. His many training exercises with the original had prepared him well. He would have to create a new discipline in the middle of a battle.
He felt his mouth turn a bit upwards in excitement. This could be an interesting battle, after all.
Duo just barely managed to hit the arm away from him, then dodged the second bullet and continued rolling beyond what was necessary. He felt a tiny shake in the earth from when Fake Trowa hit where he would have stopped.
Okay. He was getting the hang of this. He pulled himself to his hands and feet and prepared to grab the enemy that would be advancing on him at this instant – and felt his right arm momentarily give out beneath him.
Fake Quatre landed his knee squarely in Duo's face.
The American flew backgrounds and slammed headfirst into a sapling. He moved blindly, blanking the pain from his conscious, prepared for an attack on where he'd landed – Baldy kicked him back, and Fake Duo grabbed his arms and pulled him up. Duo managed to wriggle out of his clone's arms and twisted around.
The three men swarmed around him, leaving Diana alone, deciding to take him on instead. The blond watched in fear, but it was better than lying dead.
Shit. He had to end this somehow.
He guessed that there were about three bullets left in the gun he held, and the others had all managed to reload theirs. He was outnumbered and outmatched. And Diana was counting on him.
Duo gritted his teeth. Somehow, somehow he had to do this.
The three in front of him moved as a unit, separating. One went left, another right. The one in the middle, the one that was a remake of Quatre – the brunette – came charging straight at him.
He saw Fake Trowa do a dancing leap to fly on top of him and moved swiftly to the right, evading the blow. In an instant, Fake Quatre was there to meet him. Duo threw his hands out to block the attack and skidded back from the force of the blow. Only luck kept him on his feet.
The Fake Quatre hit him again, this time a side kick, and he just barely managed to block with his bad arm before he was sailing over to his own DNA copy. His bad arm burned as he moved it again, dropping to the ground and using both arms as a launchpad. He evaded his copy's blow-
And got hit in the back by Baldy, which threw him right back into his copy and Fake Quatre.
Both of them grabbed an arm and turned him around to face Baldy. He struggled in their grasp, but both held him securely. Fake Trowa walked up to him and roughly grabbed his chin.
"You were a worthy opponent," the bald one told him softly. For an instant, the voice matched the real Trowa's. Duo's heart skipped a painful beat.
Then Baldy's arm chopped toward his neck.
Wufei found it difficult to alter his fighting style in the middle of a battle and sported bruises for his mistakes. His enemy was fast, strong, and skilled. And anti-social.
Wufei grinned. This plan was insane. It could definitely work.
"Hey, you," Wufei spoke up suddenly, and the man paused. Wufei thought back to the annoying conversation he'd once had to endure from Duo. "Why are vampires afraid of garlic?"
The man stopped dead. His brows furrowed. Finally, just as it had with his counterpart, the first emotion ever witnessed crossed the boy's face. And that emotion was confusion.
"Why garlic?" Wufei continued, a smirk on his lips. Duo had begun the conversation when Wufei and Heero had been accompanying him on a search-and-destroy mission. Apparently, Duo had gotten sick of their stoic attitudes and had momentarily snapped. "Why not beats, or onions, or potatoes?"
The brows furrowed a bit more. The lips parted. "What the hell are you-"
Wufei's kick connected squarely with his enemy's jaw.
Point three, form one. Heero dodged to the left and again dodged another sword strike. He hopped to the left when he would have turned right. A graceful twist from him and a halting step from his enemy gave Heero and opening shot. He took it without faltering.
The enemy didn't even grunt, but used the force of the bullet to twist himself around. Heero, taken by surprise, merely saw the sword swinging back towards him.
Duo snapped his head down on the hand so fast he felt his brain rattle. He smirked at the bald Fake Trowa, a Shinigami smile.
It vanished when Baldy pulled out his gun.
BAM!!!
The shot seemed to echo in Heero's mind, and a foreboding settled inside of him. He had managed to dodge his enemy's attack with only his short the worse for wear, then had managed to catch his leg. A tug of war had begun and then-
His heart didn't seem to be beating too well.
"Come! We've gotten what we came for!" Heero heard someone call. Diana's screams accompanied the proclamation.
Suddenly Heero understood. The gunshot. Duo.
His enemy slashed his sword at him, and he was forced to let go to escape the attack. In an instant his enemy had leapt away. Heero fired a shot more to keep him away than anything else. He heard Wufei shoot, as well, and then a silence that pervaded his soul.
"Status?" he called out.
"Safe. One captured; not in danger," Wufei immediately reported. Nothing came from Duo.
"Duo?" he called out.
"Your ally is dead, just as you will be!" Heero turned to the voice, seeing the man from the earlier attack raise his gun at him. Like lightning, Heero raised his own.
Bam!
The triggers were pulled as one. The bullets hit each other in midair and spun uselessly off into the distance.
Wufei shot his own gun, and the man dodged. His leg bled where Wufei had shot him earlier, but he stood on it with no problem. Heero recognized it as part of his own training.
The man was outnumbered with the two of them there, especially injured and with the new knowledge they had. Heero knew they would be able to take him. He launched himself forward.
"Oh-two has been eliminated. My mission is complete."
Heero halted, recognizing the words. Oh-two – 02 – Duo. Mission complete – his survival wasn't necessary anymore.
"Do you want to die here?" he demanded, stopping his own attack.
The man made no movement. Heero knew what he was thinking.
"It doesn't matter that your mission is over. Do you want to die?"
"I want to kill you first," the man growled.
Wufei snorted. "That will never happen."
"We have already eliminated one of you."
"No!" Heero snapped. "Duo is not dead!"
"Then how did we retrieve the woman?" the man challenged.
Heero breath stopped in his lungs. Duo would never have let the enemy take Diana. He would have protected her, just as he always did. He always protected...
"NO!!!" Heero shook his head adamantly. It couldn't be true!
The man before him grunted. "You fall prey to your emotions," he said, and in response Wufei simply pressed his gun against the man's other leg. The man couldn't dodge in time, but he took the assault without a murmur.
Heero hardly noticed the newest gun blast. "Damn you, emotions are the only things we have!" And he turned and ran towards where he'd heard Diana's screams.
The forest looked abused. Gunshots had ripped the clearing to shreds. Bushes were ripped apart, trees scratched and bare. The ground was torn up, as if someone dug around and then dumped the grass and dirt haphazardly back onto the ground.
Someone wasn't going to be happy when they returned to their "summer home."
If a cavalry had rampaged though hear, the place couldn't be any more messed up. There were even a couple bodies lying on the ground.
And off to his right lay one dormant body in particular that coated the dirt with his blood. The braid coiled around him like a serpent.
"Duo..." Heero breathed. He ran up to Duo's torn body. He checked for spinal injuries, then carefully turned Duo over.
He was a mess. There was a large scrape on the right side of his head that gushed blood. His wounded arm was also bleeding, as were numerous cuts and scrapes. Bruises were starting to form around the rest of his body.
The bullet that had obviously been aimed for his head had only taken a glancing blow. He seemed to be breathing. "Duo?" Heero shook him lightly, always careful of his injuries. "Duo, wake up. Duo! Duo, you have to wake up. You have to get up! Duo!"
A tiny groan took Heero's rising panic and metamorphosed it into weak-kneed thankfulness. "Duo, come on, wake up now."
"Heero..."
"That's right," Heero sighed, "it's me."
Duo's eyes fluttered open, squinting in pain. The braided boy grimaced. "I couldn't... stop them... NO!" He snapped up. "Diana!"
Heero gently pushed him back down. "Duo, you have to stay down. You're injured."
Duo winced and touched the side of his head, where the blood still oozed from the wound. He grimaced. "I should be dead..." Then his eyes widened. "Diana. She came... she shoved the gun away." Duo's eyes held a pain beyond Heero's knowledge. "She saved my life."
Heero merely squatted there, his heart hammering. He had almost lost Duo and hadn't even known it. Good Lord.
"Heero?"
Heero shivered and focused back on Duo. "We have to get you to a hospital."
"No," Duo said, then sat up. Heero hovered beside him and opened his mouth to argue. "No!" Duo held his head carefully, but his words were strong. "We have to save Diana. She's in danger. Apparently, a guy named Jocker is going to rape her and leave her for the birds."
Heero homed in on the information. "Jocker?"
Duo nodded his head, then winced. "I think that's what he said." Duo looked back up to Heero. "We are way over our heads, Heero. And I think we should share our information, for once."
Heero began to reply, but Wufei's irritated voice stopped him.
"Back-up!"
Without thought, both Heero and Duo responded to the distress call, racing back to Wufei's position. Heero heard Duo stumble slightly, but he forced himself to push on.
When they arrived, Heero met with only Wufei's form. The Chinese Preventor looked both pissed and humiliated at the same time.
"He escaped?" Heero escaped.
"Towards two o'clock and damned fast."
Heero cursed. "We need to find out where they're located."
Duo spoke up then, though it was hard to hear him, his voice was so soft. "I think I can help with that."
Wufei cocked an eyebrow. "You?" Heero sensed Wufei's tension bleed out despite his words, however, once he saw Duo standing and talking.
"Oh, witty," was Duo's comeback. He began traipsing back the way he had come. Heero and Wufei had no choice but to follow.
After they finished trussing up Duo's lug of a captive, they all hid in a large cave that had once stored Sandrock and Deathscythe. There were multiple exits and no insulation.
Duo shivered for the eighty millionth time and touched the quick bandage Heero had made for him. He was curled on the side of the cave, trying to hide himself from the night air. He thought about all he'd been told.
A big-time ammunition and drugs ring. They were selling banned weapons and drugs, pimping others out (both men and women), and were more than likely building mobile suits. If they weren't planning an attack, they were certainly helping whoever i was /i . The leader was Jocker, who loved playing with someone of any sex as long as he could torture them. He learned that Diana had scars all along her torso and middle from what he had done to her.
He also learned that Jocker had a superiority complex that couldn't be easily thwarted. Apparently, he needed to cut off his enemies' dicks as trophies... and sometimes as fuck toys. Good God.
The Preventors were also apparently trying to follow this through diplomatically – with evidence and lawyers and jails. Duo didn't think it would work.
But Heero and Wufei were trapped within the laws they had sworn to protect. Duo wasn't.
Unfortunately, he also knew he couldn't do this alone.
Heero had just gotten on the comm link about four miles out and had informed Commander Une that they were working on their own. Commander Une, demanding an explanation, merely received a terse "mission failure". Duo heard Heero order her to warn Trowa and Quatre of possible danger. Heero had then broken the device. They were officially on their own now.
So what were they going to do? Would they leave Diana to her fate? Maybe the old Heero would have, but... no. If he'd been "changed" by Quatre and Relena, then he valued life. Even during the war Heero wouldn't kill him despite how much he obviously wanted to – and for more reasons than his constant liability. Heero just didn't really like him. No, Heero wouldn't like that option. And it went against Wufei's code.
That didn't answer the question of just what the hell they were going to do. Dammit!
"I thought I was the one who was standing watch," Wufei called softly, and Duo jumped. He turned sheepishly to the man. "Oops," he murmured, and Wufei rolled his eyes. Then he moved from his perch against the opposite wall and came and stooped beside Duo, balancing on the balls of his feet. This action did not fail to shock the hell out of Duo. It was difficult to see Wufei in the blackness of the cave, impossible to read his face. They didn't dare make a fire.
"Your eyes still look a bit glazed," Wufei commented. Duo wondered if he imagined the worry in Wufei's voice.
"I'm fine," Duo stated, but his words were obviously a bit too defensive.
Wufei, for his part, snorted. "Yeah, you're just peachy."
And that was a word Duo had never expected to hear from Wufei. It made his mind go momentarily blank. "What?"
Wufei chuckled. Then, without warning, he sat down on Duo's right. Duo was left blinking while Wufei leaned against the wall and drew his right knee up to his chest. Wufei stared across the cave. "We... have not seen a lot of you since the war, Maxwell."
Oh, hell. Were they really going to have this conversation?
"Heero disappeared for a while after Maremaia," Wufei continued. "And then you disappeared, as well."
i Because I couldn't take anymore/i Duo thought, but he said nothing aloud.
Wufei glanced sidelong at him, and he was close enough for Duo to see an intensity in his eyes. "When Heero returned, you were still gone. And you never came back."
Duo had to look away. He couldn't say anything that belonged to the happy-go-lucky jester they had known, and everything else seemed a bit too self-deprecating.
Wufei sighed. "Yuy looked you up and found that you'd begun a business with Hilde Schbeiker. When he went to her, she'd told him that the two of you had split up. When he tried to find you again, the files after Hilde were completely empty."
Duo shrugged. It was true that he'd deleted the files in case someone wanted to find him. Too bad Fate had had other plans, despite everything. Too bad he'd been found again.
"Why did you run away from us?" Wufei finally asked, no longer skirting around the issue.
Duo closed his eyes. "Because I run and I hide," he whispered finally. He felt the urge to do the same right then and squelched it.
Wufei's brow furrowed... Duo could tell because he sounded confused. "Why?"
"Are you saying that you actually wante-" Duo broke off what he was saying, frustrated. He stood suddenly, stepping away from Wufei. He put his arms around his shoulders, hugging himself. He told himself it was because he was cold, but he knew it was a lie. He turned back around to Wufei and made himself speak the words. "You guys..." He stopped, then tried again. How it hurt to open up these wounds. "It was time I left," he said finally.
Wufei stood then, as well, and when he did Duo saw in his eyes that he had heard more than what Duo had said. Wufei came forward until he stood in front of Duo – he was an inch or two taller. He placed his hands on Duo's shoulders, and Duo's arms fell in surprise. Wufei's eyes were full of sadness. "I believe I understand," the Chinese man murmured quietly, searching Duo's eyes. "You were the one who had originally tried to give us everything, and we shoved it back in your face. We did not understand what you were offering... but that is no excuse. You wanted to give us kindness, companionship... and in return received nothing but scorn."
Duo found himself in an increasingly uncomfortable situation. Was this even Wufei? Was this another clone? The attack of the evil pod people? What the hell?
"After the war we began to understand," Wufei continued. "We finally realized what you had been offering all that time, but you were no longer there to reap the rewards."
"'Fei, I didn't-"
"You did," Wufei said simply. "We owe you, Maxwell."
"You – what?" Duo was even more shocked by this. "You owe me nothing. I-"
Wufei merely shook his head. "We never even accepted who you were," he continued sadly.
Okay, if Wufei was going to get emotional, Duo was going to run screaming from this cave. "Look, Wufei," Duo said, and his voice when he spoke was firm, "it's the past. And I'll admit, I was pretty unprofessional. Just drop this, okay?"
Duo's got kind of creeped out when Wufei's eyes saddened in understanding once again. What the hell – did the man learn ESP or something? Thankfully, the Chinese warrior nodded slightly and dropped his arms. There was an awkward moment in which Wufei stared intensely into Duo's eyes. Then Wufei again took up his spot on the opposite wall. "Get some sleep, Maxwell," he called out. "We have a long day ahead of us."
Duo nodded, thankful for the respite from the Land of Weird and even more grateful for Heero's uninterrupted breathing. He tried to find a position in which he could comfortably lie down. It took him a long time to finally get to sleep, his pains and thoughts making it take longer than it should.
Wufei watched Duo sleep for a long time, both worried and concerned. While the four of them had managed to find something together after the war, Duo had not. What shamed Chang Wufei was the realization that the only reason he'd been able to accept his friendship with the other pilots was the memory of Duo Maxwell and all that he had been for them during the war. They had given him nothing in return, and so he had suffered on his own.
No more. Wufei swore on his honor that he would stick with Maxwell as Maxwell had once stuck with him, and hope that the braided man would see that they would scorn his friendship no more.
Dawn never touched the deep recesses of the cave, but they were all up when it cracked the sky nevertheless. Heero had stood watch to this point and was already checking his gun by the time Duo made his way back to the land of the aware. He quickly got up... but there wasn't much else for him to do.
Note, of course, that the "quickly" hurt like a son-of-a-bitch and the bruises he'd been too tired to feel last night were more than a little obvious now.
He checked himself over once he was standing and grimaced at what he saw. His entire body seemed to be caked in bruises and cuts. While he had managed to save his face – from heavy damage, at least – the bruises on his arms made them difficult to move. His bad left arm was in even more pain, since he had hardly begun recovering from the bullet wound he'd received. No one had bothered to put it in a sling, however, since they all knew that they would be fighting again and the sling would be a hindrance.
"Commander Une sent us a land vehicle," Heero said, disrupting Duo's thoughts. The way he said it made the true meaning obvious – she's sent someone to figure out what happened here, and Heero took care of them. Duo wondered where he'd stashed them and how long he'd knocked them out for. Heero wouldn't have killed them, of course. Duo didn't doubt that. "It was left in front of the house three oh-eight this morning."
Duo and Wufei both nodded shortly in confirmation. Did Duo imagine the quick look of concern he thought he saw Heero send his way?
"We need to assess the vehicle," Heero continued, and Duo decided that his delusional mind was producing illusions. He easily recognized Heero's next look to be that of annoyance. "I will do that."
"Not alone, you won't," Duo declared.
"I will go with you." Chang sent Heero a sharp look, and then silent radio waves seemed to come off their bodies. Duo watched in confusion and awe. The two had this... silent-messaging thing that they did, where they spoke to each other without words.
Stupid to envy that.
"Yuy," Chang warned finally, and Heero finally capitulated and nodded. They both secreted out of the cave, leaving Duo momentarily alone.
Okay... so what in the hell had that been Had Heero seriously wanted to go out there unassisted? Heero – the practically obsessive-compulsive tactician? What the hell for?
Duo ran his mind in tiny little circles and nursed his wounds in silence.
Speaking of what-the-hell, why had he been left unconscious? Why didn't those three finish him off? Didn't they say that they wanted to kill all of the Gundam pilots? So what gives? It would have taken them all of... what? Two seconds? To pin down Diana and then quickly and simply finish him off and said "to hell with him." Literally.
And that brought up the memory of his clone and he was left to shudder in remembrance. That guy's humanity had been sliced away, leaving only Shinigami. Only what he had been during the battles and the fighting – his own natural defense kicking in, sparing his own humanity from the carnage.
What the hell had those doctors done?
A pitiful groan sounded from their captive in the corner. Duo was amazed that the guy had slept through the entire night. The man couldn't have been a very strong soldier in this army or else he would have woken up sooner. That would make it easier to get information from the guy, but it would also limit the knowledge they could glean from him.
Duo looked at the exit Heero and Wufei had left through, but didn't see either of them. Duo looked around and quickly spotted his hunting knife by Heero's things – cleaned and ready to be used, too. That was Heero for you.
In less than four seconds Duo had his hunting knife pressed against their captive's throat and his Shinigami smile firmly in place. The man froze as soon as his eyes flickered open.
"Good morning, sunshine," Duo said breezily, lightly tapping the edge of the blade against the man's neck. "You look like shit, did you know that?"
"I-It's you," the man croaked. Duo wondered if the man had had nightmares.
"That's right," he said, voice both cheery and menacing. Shinigami was deadly – and, Duo had once thought, no longer necessary. He'd been perfectly content with that theory, but he'd been wrong. The world was still fucked over, and Shinigami still lived. Duo found himself feeling a little... disheartened by it all.
"Wh-What do you want from me?"
Duo's eyes hardened. "Your life," he answered, playing his knife slowly against the man's neck until a thin line of blood appeared. "I want to cut you," he continued, then gave a bored sigh. "Unfortunately, we have a little game we have to play first, you and I."
The man looked like he wanted to melt in the sun before he played any games with Shinigami.
"See, you're going to tell me everything I want to know, aren't you?"
The man's eyes went wild. "I-I won't tell you anything!"
Duo wanted to growl in annoyance, but instead he smiled in wild glee. "Ah, you're gonna make this last a while, aren't you?" He slid the knife down the man's neck, then his chest and stomach, then stopped right at the man's crotch. "I wonder if you're dear boss would like a fuck present from you..." His voice was low and contemplative – curious. He was sick with the realization that he could still do this without batting an eye.
"N-No! Don't... please..." And the guy started crying.
"Hey, don't you know that men don't cry?" Shinigami was a conversationalist – he worked mostly by scaring the enemy half to fucking death. Then he finished the job.
He cut a line down the man's pants.
"Don't! They'll kill me... they'll kill me..."
Duo hoped the man got quiet, lest the two goody-two-shoes Preventors heard. He had a feeling his interrogation methods would not be appreciated, even if they did get the job done.
"That would be lucky." The man looked at him in confusion and shock. "Buddy," Shinigami breathed, and Duo's face pushed itself forward until their noses were touching. "You'll be wishing for that death once I'm done with you." He gave his captive a grin that didn't even begin to touch his eyes.
The man whimpered.
By the time Heero and Wufei returned – about ten minutes later – with an 'okay' on the car, the captive was crying uncontrollably and Duo was sitting beside the man, having successfully gotten all the information they could possibly glean from him.
"Duo, what the hell happened here?" Heero demanded in that icy undertone that made strong men shrink back and mumble like babies.
Duo, of course, had long since learned how to hide the pain that tone and look gave him and waved cheerily at them as they came to stand before the man. He had put his hunting knife away in its sheath on his leg. He also managed to swallow his more sarcastic comments. "Welcome back. This guy was nice enough to tell me where the enemy camp is, and will gladly go to Preventors HQ. Won't you, bud?" The guy's sobbing only got louder. Duo jumped up and clapped his hands together. "Okay! Who's ready to go?"
"Duo..." Heero warned.
"Oh, quit your crying," Duo told him... and froze when the captive was suddenly silent. He blushed at the looks on Heero's and Wufei's faces. "Well, come on, then!" he said briskly. He walked to the exit that Heero and Wufei had used.
Since Heero had destroyed his radio in a fit of temper, it was with Wufei's that they listened to make sure that Une was sending out men to check on the missing Preventors – who were now crammed in the closet in the house with a blubbering, burly bad guy – before simply listening in for new reports. Une would probably tell them not to use the radios too often, but it was better to listen anyway. The van turned out to be bullet-proof and nondescript, though Heero and Wufei had needed to dismantle a locating device embedded into the van. Of course, they had hardly harmed the van at all by doing so.
They drove through the path they had fought on just yesterday and headed to a place about 550 miles away called "Zzyzyx".
It was gonna be a long drive.
Duo realized quickly that neither Heero nor Wufei was going to listen to music or continue a conversation. That... wasn't good.
How bored could he get? Well, after the first three hours, he was desperately trying to sleep. Jesus. Even during the war these guys were more communicative.
Hell, maybe he should take that back. At least before, if they had ignored his existence, they'd at least had the decency to ignore each others' existence, as well. Not this time – now they were talking quietly to one another, pointing to things on the map beside them (Une had stockpiled the van for her men... the white van... Duo wondered if it was the same one he'd seen before).
So Duo just sat in the back and tried to pretend he didn't exist the same way they could. It may have been the stupidest idea of his life, coming here thinking he could help Heero. More than ever, he realized just how very alone he was.
So he tried to fall asleep. It would have been easier if he were tired and not so full of aches and pains. He entertained himself with a chess game in his head and tried to ignore how pitifully lonely he felt.
"Yuy," Wufei growled, and Heero once again refused to answer "Yuy, for the love of God-"
"Chang, drop it." He was tense and on edge. It had started first thing in the morning when Chang had left the cave with him. He hadn't been left the hell alone since.
"Dammit, Heero, you're making this worse," Wufei hissed sharply. Heero knew he meant business when he started using first names. "You have been unnecessarily cruel to Duo ever since he came here."
"He put himself in danger-"
"Yuy, you are a fool if you don't realize he wants to be near us."
"You're a fool if you think that was even remotely intelligent of him-"
"Dammit, Yuy, are you so blind you don't see the man's in love?"
Heero managed to open his mouth, but then his jaw just kind of got stuck and his brain blanked on how to make sounds.
Wufei, of course, looked pissed, like he shouldn't have needed to say something so blatantly obvious. "Duo has gotten stuck in the same place we used to be, Heero," he said severely. "We all managed to get together and become friends, but Duo..."
"Friends." Heero managed to spit that word out, but it was bitter on his tongue. "He wants to be friends."
"Oh, for the love of-" Wufei looked out the windshield. "Pay attention to the road, Yuy."
Heero forced his eyes back to the front. The two were silent for a few minutes as he adjusted his speed – he'd been pushing the gas in tension – and got out of a truck's blind spot.
"You are hopeless," Wufei finally muttered. "From the start, Maxwell admitted that he would feel better if he were here with us. He'd obviously been speaking about you. You are oblivious if you have not seen the way he looks at you."
"The way..." Heero flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror. He saw Duo with his head against the window. His eyes were closed, but his breathing said he was still awake. "What do you mean?"
Chang's sigh was very loud. "Fool," he said tenderly, "he looks at you the same way you look at him."
Heero almost swerved into the next lane. "He... what?!" A neighboring car in the next lane gave out an irritated honk.
He saw Duo look up at him and realized his voice had risen. He quickly lowered it. "What the hell are you talking about, Chang?"
"Do you not remember the dinner you had with him?" Wufei demanded. "Did you not give me every little fucking detail? Are you that goddamn clueless?" Wufei's frustration level must have been high if he was going to curse all the time. "I'm giving you until the end of this horrendous fucking mission and then I'm going to tell him myself." He silenced Heero's next complaint with a growl. "You are being ridiculous!"
"If he cares so much, why doesn't he say anything?" Heero demanded – petulantly.
"What the hell, Yuy?" Chang snapped back. "Why aren't you saying anything? You, who always says to follow your emotions? At least Maxwell admits that he runs and hides!"
Heero bit down on his retort and his temper. Wufei lapsed into silence as well, knowing that he was demanding a lot from his partner.
Heero stared sightlessly out the windshield. What... what should he do?
Was it pathetic to admit it hurt more to have it shown to him that they were trying to keep their conversation closed off from him? He had seen Heero look at him before lowering his voice once again.
He stared out the window beside him, cursing himself as a fool. He'd heard what Wufei had said last night. He'd thought the two of them... well, he'd hoped again... he'd hoped that a kinship was growing, that they...
Stupid.
The interstate never really changed in appearance, which made the ride unbearably monotonous. The sides of the interstate was made up of a forest or woods. Whatever. Trees. Maybe a couple houses. Maybe a wall for some ungodly reason or another. Signs. More signs. More trees.
Boring.
Usually he would be traveling in Deathscythe. After Deathscythe, he traveled alone. There was always music. Silence always seemed to eat at him. He always started thinking, introspective thoughts that ended up hurting him. It also just bored the snot out of him.
So here he was, in a car with two people who were successfully ignoring him – two people who's respect he wanted more than anyone's – with no sound and a day's travel still ahead of him.
He feared for Diana's life. The last dance could already be over. She could be beyond dead. He wondered shortly if that weren't better for her, but he grieved for her nonetheless.
She had been so kind to him. She was the only one who didn't ignore him, who didn't hurt him. She had found out that he loved Heero and she had hurt for him. She had been so kind, despite all that had happened to her. She...
She had reminded him of Sister Helen.
When memories of the church entered his head was when the restlessness hit.
"So!" he chirped, flinging his elbows on the backboard of the car and throwing on that Jester's Mask. To hell with them. Just like always – he would be ignored or it would be too quiet or... something... and then he would hide from the memories by pissing off these two men who he held in such high regard. "Did you guys know that mosquitoes can only see the color blue? Isn't that weird? Well, maybe not, because a human's blood is blue before it hits oxygen, but is that true for all animals?"
"Duo..." Wufei spoke up, but Duo heard no frustration this time... only sadness. That scared Duo even more.
"Can they see the color of our skin? Like are we gray or are we some sort of blue? We're probably gray. That way our veins show up like a neon light." He spoke quickly so as to silence that sorrow... pity?... in Wufei's voice.
"Well, at least they treat all men equally then, don't they?"
Duo... gaped. He could have sworn he just heard Heero Yuy make a joke... Heero had joined into Duo's little ramble and had made a joke? Heero... a joke? The Heero? Omigod.
"Y-Yeah," Duo replied finally, "but it might also mean we're equal to cows."
Duo was rendered absolutely fucking speechless when Heero Yuy and Chang Wufei both burst into laughter. He thought about Twilight Zones and pod people and crazy aliens from outer space. Maybe he was still in the hospital hallucinating... but this hallucination seemed a bit too far-fetched, even for him.
"Well, Maxwell," Wufei chuckled – Wufei chuckled – "perhaps there are some humans that are like cows?"
"You mean we make good burgers?" Heero spoke up, "or do you mean the way we milk our females?"
"Thank you, Yuy," Wufei said drolly, "for that lovely imagery."
Heero laughed at that.
Duo reeled at what he was hearing. His jesting usually resulted in pissing off these two. Now they were continuing his jokes? Now they were laughing?
Somehow... Duo felt further away from them than ever. How pathetic was that? Somehow, seeing these two so close to each other, so... calm and... loose... around each other when there had never been nearness with him around... Duo felt very alone.
"Seriously, Wufei, just how the hell are people like cows?" Heero asked. Duo could only look at how comfortable Heero seemed all of a sudden and he wanted to jump out of the car and run back (more like crawl if he jumped out at this speed, and that was if he didn't get run over) to his raggedy home and his pathetic job and disappear into his own little oblivion again. He didn't belong here. What in the hell had possessed him to come here? Even the fear for Heero's safety would be better than this: physical proof that he wasn't welcome in this world.
Duo listened as Heero and Wufei debated man's intelligence as related to cows, then as they switched to giraffes and even elephants and rhinos. He didn't speak much, but then, his input wasn't necessary, didn't seem to even be expected. He may as well have been forgotten... they may as well have been talking quietly again.
The conversation was... surreal. They laughed all the time – and spoke cynical, sarcastic, dry humor that would have made Duo choke with laughter if he weren't frozen in shock.
He finally decided to just get some sleep and leaned his head back. His body hurt. His head hurt – especially the part that had been grazed by the bullet, damn but that throbbed. No real bad concussion, though – he'd been injured enough before that his body was practically immune, or at least that's how it seemed. His... heart hurt. When had everything changed? When had these two become such good friends? And what really hurt... was that they'd done it all without him. Like he wasn't a part of their new world at all. He was merely a memory of the past.
Was he dead to them?
Heero triple-checked before he said anything – yes, Duo was asleep. "He's hurting."
"Of course he is," Wufei hissed. "He's been alone all this time."
Heero wondered at that. "Duo is never alone. He must have made friends-"
Wufei snorted. "Yes, I've seen so many of them." Wufei glared at Heero. Uh-oh. Lecture time. "Would friends allow someone to live in those conditions?"
That thought made Heero feel even worse. "We aren't very good friends, then, are we?"
Wufei was silent at that. No, Heero feared, seeing the cuts and bruises all over Duo's body, We aren't good friends to you at all, are we, Duo?
Duo woke up when Heero and Wufei switched sides and Wufei took the wheel. He opened his mouth to make an offer to drive, but for some reason thought it would be better to maintain silence and again closed his mouth.
Wufei looked back as Heero took his seat. "Oh, you're awake? We're about to get some fast food. Is that all right?"
Duo nodded. A part of him wanted to joke about 'no Taco Bell' but... really? He just didn't feel like he had the energy to maintain the jester. He still felt incredibly tired. It was all exhaustion – physical exhaustion, emotional exhaustion. He was just too damn tired. He hurt. He ached. Food? Sure, he was hungry. And he needed the energy. But he didn't want to stay awake long enough to get it.
He didn't want to be awake.
Okay, this was bullshit. He was unhappy when the two Brothers Grimm were so damn... i grim /i , and now he was unhappy when they were laughing? What kind of selfish jerk was he that he hated thei happiness?
But he didn't hate it. He... envied it.
The two in the front were back to speaking quietly again. Duo didn't bother trying to hear, didn't bother to try to lip-read. If they didn't want him to lip-read, he wouldn't be able to. And to be honest... a part of him wallowed in the loneliness. He was, after all, a martyr at heart. Little Duo will suffer in silence, thank you very much.
He looked out the window. The scene was one of a dark sunset – the violets and blues were deep... even the red looked more like the color of dried blood.
Darkness. At least the weather was with him.
He wondered idly about what they were talking about... what they were excluding him from. If it was about the mission, he should know... but damned if he would ask. And maybe they considered him to be just as useless now as they thought during the war. If it was about how useless he was...
But dammit, he had fought three of the fuckers at once! Heero and Wufei had only fought against one each. He had been a Gundam pilot, same as them. They'd all gone through rigorous training. Dammit, why wasn't he seen as an equal?!
They ate McDonald's. None of them really liked the greasy food (Duo did take delight in the milkshake, though), but it was the best they could do. They had to stay on the road.
Heero and Wufei had gotten salads while Duo had gotten a burger. He knew very well that salads had lettuce in them, and he did not trust lettuce from fast food joints. Hello? He worked in one that made lettuce every day. He knew.
A tiny, sadistic part of him took pleasure in them eating it.
He slurped his milkshake while they quietly drank their sodas – Diet Coke. What was the point of that? Might as well get the good stuff. Duo had good enough metabolism to take it without a problem.
Heero ate quickly, then closed his eyes and... went to sleep. Made sense, since they were obviously planning to switch off together... as if Duo didn't exist.
Of course, once Heero was asleep, Duo wanted to be, as well. The last thing he needed was Wufei starting another one of those conversations.
He closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep. He could only hope this whole damn thing ended soon.
A/N: Well, it's been a long time, but I kept my promise. Now, here's a question: do you want me to take forever for an update again, or do you want a quick one? Choose and let me know via comment: 500 for each review or one less day (starting at about three weeks) for each review? It's up to you - the highest vote wins. And, of course, this is another way to bribe you into commenting, but... oh well. It actually DOES have a purpose this time.
And look! A plotline! Hahahahahaha...