This story actually begins during the series, but the majority of it will take place after Endless Waltz is over. Each section is based on a different song, and excerpts from the lyrics will be included.
Disclaimer: I do not own GW nor any of the music I will reference in this fic. I do use some dialogue from the series, but all other dialogue is my own and is not to be replicated.
Warnings: This will eventually include violence, bad language, sexual content including yaoi, spoilers, and probably more besides. Please do not read this if you are underage or easily offended.
Spoiler Alert: If you have not watched Gundam Wing and don't want anything spoiled, don't read this. This chapter will reveal a number of important parts of the plot.
Question! - Part 2
Sweet berries ready for two ghosts are no different than you.
Ghosts are now waiting for you.
Are you...
Dreaming! Dreaming the night! Dreaming all right!
- Question! - System of a Down
Duo
"Unh..." Duo came awake slowly, exquisitely aware of his injuries. He'd never known before that it was possible to hurt even while sleeping. Add to that the new nightmares that came calling, and it was almost better to be awake.
Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Duo gazed around at the gloomy cell. Four walls, a floor and a ceiling all made out of concrete, and a heavy metal door to seal the deal. When he'd first been placed in here, he hadn't been able to see a thing, but after a while the tiny amount of light that came in under the door was enough to see by... enough to make out the dark bruises on his abdomen and the welts on his arms. There were more on his back and legs, too. Of course, he couldn't see the broken ribs, but he could sure as hell feel them, and his face didn't feel any better, either
Shifting in a vain attempt to ease the pain, Duo let his mind wander to his most recent set of nightmares. Siberia. Everything had changed in Siberia. Who would've though OZ would be so cruel as to threaten the colonies themselves to make the Gundams stop fighting? And Heero... Heero had self destructed. Duo had had a bad feeling about the mission, but he was sure once the other pilots showed up that they'd be just fine. Trust OZ to be as dirty and underhanded as they had been. And Heero...
Since that awful battle, Duo had bided his time with Quatre and the Maguanac corps, but found his thoughts turning time and again to the quiet, brooding pilot he'd gone to school with. There had been something about the boy that had drawn Duo to him, and to see Heero self destruct... that tiny body flung from the explosion like a rag doll... There was no way anyone could survive such a thing. And yet, when he and Quatre had attacked the space port, there on the news monitor had flashed two images of Wing Gundam. Impossible, he knew, but who else could be piloting it?
Duo didn't always dream of Siberia, though. Often it was L2. Father Maxwell and Sister Helen in the ruins of Maxwell Church, or Solo and the gang sick on the streets... and sometimes, Heero in Solo's place, dying from a disease that had a cure.
Duo shook his head to dispel the disturbing images. He thought back to his capture, and the amazing speed of the mobile dolls that had beaten him even though he had Deathscythe. He'd been taken totally by surprise, but he'd be ready for them next time. If there was a next time... but if he knew anything about Quatre and the Maguanacs, he knew they'd be doing what they could to get him out.
Duo's time with Quatre, while overshadowed by Heero's death, had been some of the most carefree of his life. He was entirely overwhelmed by the luxury of the life available to Quatre, even amidst a war. To his credit, Quatre had seemed embarrassed by it all, but the Maguanacs wouldn't hear of anything less for their beloved Master Quatre. And they wouldn't hear of anything less for one of Master Quatre's friends, either, as they insisted in calling Duo. Hardly a few hours into their acquaintance, and Quatre was as warm and friendly as anyone might be after years of friendship.
Now all Duo had to do was survive until he was rescued. He'd already determined that his odds of escaping unaided were slim at best. Even if he'd been without injuries, the security at this base was incredible; with injuries, he had about a snowball's chance in hell of getting out on his own. No, best just to do what he could to stay alive and postpone that execution they had planned for him. If he could only keep his mouth shut when those damn soldiers were trying to get a rise out of him...
-Click.-
Duo tensed, waiting to see which soldier it would be this time. He didn't think it'd been that long since they left him in here last, but it was next to impossible to keep track of time in the cell. The door slid open, but the figure silhouetted in the light wasn't wearing a uniform... nor did he have the golden hair Duo had expected from a rescuer.
Eyes widening, Duo stared at a face of a ghost... a face he'd thought he'd never see again. Then Heero raised his hand, pointing a gun at him.
"Just in time," Duo said in response, trying to cover his shock and disappointment. Of course. He was now a liability, and needed to be eliminated before he could be of any use to OZ. "They were about to use me and my Gundam for their wicked plans. If I'm gonna die, it'd seem appropriate for someone else they've 'killed' to be the one to do it." He stood up, pulling down his shirt at the collar. "Here, go right ahead and shoot me."
Another click sounded as the safety was released.
"Well? Are you gonna shoot me or what?"
"If that's what you want," Heero replied.
What was this? The perfect soldier, wavering in his resolve? Duo dropped his hand, letting his shirt fall back into place.
Heero looked back into the hall for a moment. "Your right hand's still okay, isn't it?" he asked over his shoulder. Without waiting for a reply, Heero tossed the gun to Duo, who caught it deftly. Bending down to pick up a gun that had apparently been dropped by an OZ soldier, Heero came over and pulled Duo's left arm over his shoulder.
"Unnh... hey, careful there!"
"Sorry, but we've got to get going."
"So, which way is it? Where's your Gundam?" Duo asked.
Heero started helping Duo down the corridor before he replied. "I left it on Earth. It'd stick out too much in space, so I'd probably wind up getting caught like you did."
"Well pardon me," Duo retorted with as much sarcasm as he could muster. "So how did you plan on gettin' us out of here anyway?"
"I came here so I could kill you. I hadn't gotten around to thinking up an escape plan yet."
"And I'm not dead because...?"
"Hn," was all the response Heero made before ducking them both into an elevator. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small device and pressed a button on it. Immediately, rumbles that sounded suspiciously like explosions shook the building and alarms began to sound.
"So much for not having an escape plan," Duo mumbled.
Heero punched a floor button and the elevator began to descend.
"So those new models I fought were the mobile dolls?" Duo asked, trying to fill the silence. "No wonder their reaction time was so quick!"
Heero nodded. "Once they're locked onto a target, there's just no escaping them."
"Then how are we gonna get away?"
"I'm not thinking about escaping," Heero replied.
"What?!" Duo exclaimed. Just then, the elevator doors opened and a burst of machine gun fire rang out.
"Duo!" Heero yelled, tossing Duo another device as he returned fire with his borrowed automatic. Duo dutifully pressed the button, and another explosion shook the building, much closer this time. Putting his arm around Duo's waist, Heero ran as fast as he could past the fallen soldiers, toward a docking bay. Doing his best not to slow the other boy down, Duo felt himself growing faint as the pain in his ribs and legs—Hell, everywhere—skyrocketed.
Reaching the docking point, they saw carriers loaded with Leos ready to launch.
"We could use this," Duo heard the other pilot mutter. Heero promptly let him go and made his way over to a control panel. Desperately trying not to fall over, Duo watched as Heero typed some commands into the system, and one by one the carriers launched out into space.
"OZ is expecting us to escape from here, so the mobile dolls should set those carriers and Leos as targets. With any luck, they'll be so busy destroying all the Leo's that we'll be able to get past safely."
"Sounds like as good a plan as any to me," Duo replied, starting to feel dizzy from all the exertion.
"Hey, careful!" Heero called as he ran back to Duo's side, catching him just before he fell.
"Sorry 'bout that..." Duo slurred as he swayed in Heero's grip.
"Duo? Duo! You need to stay conscious, Duo!" Heero shook him forcefully, trying to keep him from passing out.
"Sure you still don' wanna kill me?" Duo asked. "I'm only holding you back..."
"Damnit Duo, stop it! Now stay awake!" Heero yelled.
Startled by the anger in Heero's tone and face, Duo came back to himself for the moment.
"Alright, alright. Let's get out of here." Heero looked at him carefully for a moment before nodding.
"There's a shuttle on the other side of the hanger that we can use. Can you make it?"
Hesitating only a moment, Duo nodded. He'd stay conscious long enough to get to that shuttle if it was the last thing he did.
Do we, do we know
When we fly? --leaves for lunar base
When we, when we go,
Do we die?
Heero
Duo had been in worse shape than Heero could have imagined. Given his injuries, it was completely irrational to attempt to rescue him from that cell, but the trigger on the gun had refused to budge... or at lease, the finger on the trigger couldn't bear to pull it.
Duo had fallen unconscious the moment they made it to the shuttle. Strapping him into the co-pilot's chair, Heero had frantically executed a takeoff before shaking Duo back awake. It didn't last. He thought the braided boy might have a concussion, and a bad one at that, but there seemed nothing he could do to keep the boy awake at the moment. Mostly, Heero was surprised Duo had even survived the treatment he'd received at the hands of OZ.
Now, safely away from the mobile dolls, Heero was debating which colony to take them to. On the one hand, L4 was closest, but had the most OZ personnel stationed at it. L3 would require four extra hours to reach, but was relatively devoid of OZ. In the end, Heero decided on L3. Duo wasn't in any immediate danger, but he would certainly need a long time to recover, and the fewer bad guys around, the better.
Putting the shuttle into autopilot, he checked to make sure Duo's breathing was even and heartbeat normal. Satisfied, he went looking for a first-aid kit and some blankets. He was surprised to stumble upon a small cabin with a cot in it, and immediately returned to Duo and unstrapped him from the co-pilot's chair.
Lifting Duo easily, Heero immediately noticed that he weighed far less than he should have. OZ clearly hadn't been generous with meals during Duo's captivity. Heero heard a low growling noise and checked to be sure Duo was still asleep before realizing he was making it himself. The thought of what they'd done to Duo... but now was not the time for anger. Duo needed him to be calm and collected. Willing away his rage, Heero carried the braided pilot into the small cabin and laid him gently on the cot.
Retrieving the first-aid kit, Heero began treating the lacerations and welts on Duo's arms and back. Trying not to think of what had been done to create the awful injuries, he gently applied antiseptic, ointment and bandages to each of the wounds. He was amazed that Duo was sleeping through all of this, as the antiseptic probably hurt like hell in those raw cuts. Finishing, he turned Duo onto his back and began checking for broken bones.
Given the way Duo had hunched over while standing and cried out in paid as Heero supported him, Heero assumed he had a broken rib or two, but it seemed that the rest of his bones were intact. Wishing he could make the bruises disappear, he covered Duo with a blanket and tucked it around the boy gingerly. Despite being asleep, Duo's face looked tense, and Heero imagined that he was in pain even though he was unconscious.
Rummaging through the first-aid kit, he found some extra-strength tylenol and a water bottle. Shaking the braided pilot gently, he tried to wake him so he could give him the pain medication.
"Duo," Heero called softly. "Wake up, Duo."
"Wha...?" Duo blinked slowly, obviously confused about the situation, and tried to sit up.
"Shhh," Heero said as he gently pushed Duo back down. "We're on the shuttle. I've treated your cuts and wanted to give you some tylenol for the pain. Sorry we don't have anything stronger right now."
"Tylenol's good," Duo mumbled, his voice raspy from sleep. Heero couldn't help but notice how adorable the other boy was, if you could see past the bruises on his face.
Handing Duo the pain pills and water, Heero sat back on his heels.
"We're on our way to L3," Heero began. "We should be there in about 5 hours. Your eyes seem to be focusing well, so I'm pretty sure that you don't have a concussion, but you have at least one broken rib. I'm going to see if I can find any food for you on the shuttle, but in the meantime I want you to rest. You're in horrible shape."
"You're telling me," retorted the other pilot after he swallowed his pills. "And food would be great... I can't remember the last time I ate."
Heero blinked in surprise. "They didn't feed you at all?"
"Why should they? They were going to execute me as a public spectacle to unite the colonies against the Gundam pilots. Only reason they hadn't yet was that they were trying to get information out of me before they did it, and I wasn't talking. It's not like they planned to keep me alive long enough that I'd need food."
Heero only clenched his teeth, trying to keep his anger in check. If he had his way, he'd be heading right back where he came from to kill the whole lot of them.
"I'll be back. There should at least be some emergency rations around here somewhere." Duo just nodded, putting his head back down and closing his eyes.
Unfortunately, emergency rations were all that were available, but at least there were plenty of them. Besides, Duo probably shouldn't eat too much at one time after so long without food.
Returning with a few meal packets in his hand, Heero gently shook Duo back awake.
"You hungry now or do you want to eat these later?" he asked.
"Hmm? Oh, now, definitely," Duo replied, sitting up and wincing at the pain the motion caused. Heero began ripping open the packets and handing Duo the contents, who made quick work of them.
"You probably shouldn't eat too much more after going so long without food," Heero warned.
"Yah, I guess. Still feel hungry though," Duo whined.
"The food will be here later. For now, you should get more rest. I'm going back to the cockpit, so just call me if you need anything."
"Alright," Duo replied with a yawn, settling back into the cot. The braided boy was asleep within seconds.
Heero turned and headed back to the cockpit. He'd need to research a location he could safely take Duo on L3, someplace they could stay for some time while Duo recovered. There were probably other things Heero needed to be doing, but at this point, he just didn't care. Duo needed him. After Siberia, he felt like he owed the braided pilot for not being as careful as he'd intended. Maybe, just maybe, this would be a way to make it up to him.
tbc
Thanks so much to those of you who reviewed - your kind words mean more than you can know! It might be a little longer before I have the next part up, but hopefully you enjoyed this in the meantime. As always, comments would be wonderful!
-NoirAnge