I wondered across some cool Gundam Wing pictures and then I remembered I hadn't posted in a long, long time. XD

I wanted to thank everyone for their comments, especially bb. You really made me think about how I am portraying the characters, which is one of the reasons it has taken me a while to post a new chapter. While I don't completely agree with you, I do see you point. Thank you for making me think.

As far as everyone else, thank you for your comments, you guys are the only reason I'm still writing. Thanks for all the watches to. Hopefully this story can continue to entertain you.

WARNING: THERE IS SEXUAL CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER.

©Yakubi

A Home To Return To

Chapter 04

Heero couldn't help but think that in some weird way, he was cursed. Right now, he could have sworn on it. He was in the rented bed in the studio apartment he and Duo would be leaving today. Usually, that's not a bad place to be, but then again people didn't usually wake up entangled with the closest thing they had to a friend.

Heero wished that he could blame Duo for his current predicament. Their legs had wrapped themselves around each other and Heero had his arms around the braided boy's shoulders. Duo's arms were around Heero's waist as his head lay on Heero's chest, moving slightly up and down with every carefully measured breath Heero took. This was not the way he had pictured waking up. Sure he hadn't really thought about it but he was sure that if he had then that picture would have them both on their own sides of the bed.

"Hmmm..." Duo mumbled in his sleep as he moved, his thigh brushing against Heero's groin.

It was at that precise moment that Heero wished he was someone else and not sporting morning wood against his best friend's leg. He also wished his friend wasn't returning the favor.

"Hmm... nhh..." Duo groaned again, moving his leg against Heero again as he tried not to wake up. Heero barely stopped himself from groaning.

"Duo." Heero whispered. Heero decided that he would wake Duo up, pretend to be asleep, and wait for the Maxwell to de-tangle himself.

Duo groaned again, clearly against the idea of waking up. "Hee..."

"Duo." Heero whispered again, closely watching the breaded boy. Duo."

"Heee... roooo..." Duo's arms tightened against Heero's waist, pulling him even closer.

Heero had barely enough time to snap his eyes shut as Duo's violet orbs opened.

"Oh my..." Duo softly cursed. "Of all the ways to wake up." Duo looked up at Heero's face and found the man still sleeping. Duo found that odd, seeing at Heero was usually always up before him. Duo tried to separate his legs from Heero's, moving it slowly, he felt and heard something he never thought he would.

Heero Yuy groaned.

Duo felt his face redden as he became fully aware of the appendage pressing into his thigh. "Heero... oh my god." Duo tried to move his leg again, and got the same result, only this time Heero's leg jerked in response, creating friction against Duo's own problem. Duo gasped as stars flooded his vision, he fought against the impulse that told him to grind again Heero's leg.

Heero opened one cobalt eye and looked at Duo's face. His eyes were pinched shut and his face was red. Heero decided he should probably let Duo know that he was awake. "Good morning."

Duo's eyes snapped open to be greeted by none other than Heero Yuy's ocean orbs. "Hi." Was the only thing he seemed to be able to say.

"Do you mind?" Heero said, and looked down.

Duo instantly got the hint. "Sorry!" Duo said as he roughly pulled himself from Heero, unconsciously rubbing against Heero's very obvious problem.

"damn…it!" Heero cursed.

"I'm sorry!" Duo said, his face taking on an even brighter shade of red.

"It's fine Duo." Heero said as he got up from the bed. "I'm going to go take a shower." Heero went to the dresser, pulled out his clothes for the day, and stepped into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him with a clearly audibly click.

Duo was left alone with his little soldier and the image of Heero in the shower, not a good combination.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Heero let the water wash over his naked form, the liquid forming tiny rivers in the valleys of his well toned body. Heero wished that a cold shower would be enough to get his problem to go away. The brunette looked down, apparently not.

Heero moved his hand and roughly grabbed his own shaft, the friction sending tremors up his spine. Moving his hand slowly up and down he set a steady pace, randomly jerking on occasion. Soon, he had his other hand against the wall for support as his moved his hand up and down the hard flesh. Clenching his teeth, he jerked his hips forward to meet his hand, Heero was thankful the spray of the water was hiding sound of what he was doing.

Heero continued the hand job. He closed his eyes, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible.

Then, with a flash of violet-blue eyes, Heero came.

Breathing harshly, and leaning against the wall for support, Heero remembered the blue eyes he had imagined. He knew exactly who they belonged to, and was surprised and confused to find him thinking about that person while touching himself.

"Duo," Heero whispered to the heat fogged bathroom. "What are you doing to me?"

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo waited outside of the bathroom, his clothes clutched to his chest and his face red, his mind refused to stop picturing Heero Yuy naked. Sure, he had seen the guy naked, but never with any sort of sexual purpose. Sighing, he pressed his ear to the door in hopes of hearing some clue that Heero was almost done in the shower.

The door opened and Duo had barely enough time to pull his head back before Heero walked out. A thin sheen of moisture stuck to his skin as droplets of water hung at the tips of his gravity defying hair.

"Shower's free." He said simply.

Duo nodded and entered the shower, leaving Heero alone in the room.

Heero sighed, before heading over to the phone. He had better call and make sure their flight was still on schedule. The brunette had already paid for tickets to America. Heero thought it best to get to American territory as fast as possible. It had been obvious that while Duo was fine around Heero, he had been nervous when the maid had entered the room.

It would be better for Duo's recovery if he was in an area more familiar to him. With this in mind Heero picked up the phone and started dialing the airport's number.

After going through all the 'proper' channels Heero was finally able to make sure all was in order. Heero hung up the phone and moved to pack his bags. Taking care of that quickly, Heero was left with no choice but to sit and wait for Duo.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo finally came out of the shower, his pants on but nothing else as the man worked at his hair with a towel. "Hey Heero, what's the plan?" The long haired boy asked, knowing that Heero would have an answer. The man was anal about 'sticking to the plan'.

"I just confirmed our tickets and I made sure we have a small place rented already."

"You did all of that in twenty minutes?" Duo knew Heero was efficient, but at this day and age finding even the smallest of places to live on Earth was a chore, it would have taken a normal person over an hour just to find a place and then you'd probably spend another hour just haggling out the price only to find out you can't buy it and then you'd be back at square one. Then again, Heero never had been the poster boy for normal.

"I also got you a doctor's appointment."

"You want me to go see a doctor? Why?"

"I can see your ribs Duo." Heero said as though that was explanation enough.

"So? Just feed me and that will go away soon enough."

"Duo." Hero looked Duo in the eyes hard, he offered no time to talk back. "With all the places you've been staying you could have any number of diseases. You are going to go to the doctor and get a physical."

Duo looked Heero in the eyes, he searched long and hard for some way to talk the other pilot out of making him go to the doctor, Heero never broke his gaze. Duo sighed, moving the towel against his hair again. He wasn't going to be able to get out of this one. The brunette tossed the towel away and moved to the bed, grabbing his hair brush along the way. Pulling his hair over his shoulder he started to work the kinks out of it.

"Let me." Duo turned, Heero was now sitting on the bed behind him.

"What?"

"Let me brush your hair for you."

"Oh, okay." Duo handed Heero the brush and turned forward. It's seemed like an odd situation to him. Then again, Heero probably only wanted to help him with this so they could get to America faster, that made perfect sense, right?

Duo felt Heero's warm hand as his hair was pulled back over his shoulder, a slight tugging informed him that Heero had started combing through the damp strands of brown hair.

"So… ah…" Duo tried to start a conversation, the situation was a little too uncomfortable for him. "What doctor are you taking me to see?"

"Quatre recommended him, his name is Dr. Tom Berret."

That was all the info Heero gave him. Knowing Heero the way he did though, Duo was pretty sure Heero had done a beyond thorough background check on the man.

Heero pulled the brush down through Duo's hair again, the action requiring the full movement of his arm to bring the brush to the end of the long strands of hair. It was starting to dry at the crown of the boy's head, the change in color was interesting. Where the hair was dry, it was a rich chestnut color, but the damp section of the hair was much darker, almost black.

Duo felt the slight tugging on his head, it was strange that it felt good to have someone else brush his hair for him. He was so used to doing it himself that he had forgotten how good it feels to have someone do it for you. Not to mention it was quite a bit easier. The situation was still kind of awkward… strangely intimate.

Heero stopped brushing. "Alright Duo, I'm done."

Duo looked over his shoulder. "Thanks buddy." The brunette flashed a grin. Duo reached behind him and started to braid, his fingers working deftly in a pattern they had long since memorized. Duo had quite a lot of hair, but even so it took him less than a minute until his hair was bound back into the familiar and neat braid it was accustomed to. "So," Duo looked back at Heero, who was still sitting on the bed behind him. "Shall we get ready to leave?"

Heero stood and began helping Duo pack his things, this being answer enough to Duo's question.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Duo and Heero made their way onto a crowded passenger plane. After the two had finished packing, they had stopped to eat a light breakfast before making their way to the Japanese airport to board their flight. The plane was a slightly older model, so it was a bit smaller than the larger commercial planes the two had become used to seeing around.

"Excuse me." Duo said as he turned sideways and inched through the seats until he reached his own. He sat down heavily after putting his bag into the over head compartment.

Heero stretched to push his carry-on bag into the over head compartment, his shirt moving up to reveal a stripe of skin that Duo's eyes didn't miss. Heero sat down.

"So…" Duo said, trying to start a conversation with his taciturn companion.

Heero just looked back at his, a single eyebrow slightly raised.

"I'm trying to start a conversation with you to help pass the time but I'm coming up blank as far as a subject." Duo smiled nervously.

Heero looked at Duo for a minute longer. "…What have you been doing since the last time we met?"

Duo was surprised that Heero actually seemed to want to talk to him, he didn't want to let it go to waste. "Well, you know that I've been wondering around preaching, but other than that I haven't really been doing much. What about you?"

"I haven't been doing anything but wondering either."

Duo chuckled. "Seems as though there's nothing left for people like us since the war ended." Duo looked up at Heero, for once seeing emotion in those eyes, one that mirrored his own feelings. Loneliness, as well as purposelessness. "Oh well, I'm sure we'll find something to do with ourselves eventually, after all, if there's one thing humans can do it's adapt."

"Piloting is really the only skill I have." Heero said simply.

For some reason, that plain statement sounded so strange. "Well, you could always go into construction, they still used mobile suits for tools."

Heero nodded. "What about you?"

"Me? I'll probably start working in the salvage business again. I used to have a job like that when I was staying in the colonies during the war."

"That makes sense. From what I've seen you're a decent mechanic."

A compliment… from Heero. Well, a half-compliment, but it still meant something. Duo smiled. "Thanks."
Heero said nothing. It seemed as though that was the end of their conversation, but it had been longer than most. That was defiantly progress.

Duo looked over at Heero again. The other male had his arms crossed again his chest and his head was tipped forward slightly, his eyes closed as his chest rose and fell with the steady breath of someone who was deep asleep. Duo smiled, it was just like Heero to fall asleep right after talking to someone. Duo sighed, with nothing else to do, he leaned back in his chair and waited for sleep to take him as well.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

"Attention all passengers," The loud speaker blared, the sound waking both Heero and Duo. "Please remember to take all of your possessions with you as you exit the plane. We are not responsible for lost or stolen possessions. Thank you for flying with us, we look forward to you next trip."

Heero and Duo were sure to take their carry-on bags as they got off the plane. Both were a bit sore from sleeping in the airline chairs, but all in all they felt pretty good, both of them were happy to be back on the ground.

"So, Heero," Duo said as they made their way out of the air port. "What hotel will we be staying at this time?"

"I'm taking you to the doctor first." Heero said dryly.

"You're really not going to let me get out of that are you?"

"No."

Duo sighed, he knew full well that there was absolutely nothing that he could do. "Alright, alright."

Duo once again followed Heero. The two made their way through crowds of people and crossed many streets, Duo was sure he heard Heero grumble about how Americans drove. After the two had walked are about 45 minutes, Heero stopped in front of what looked like a small clinic.

"So this is the place?" Heero nodded in response to Duo's question. "When you said he was a friend of Quatre's I figured we'd be going to some big decked out hospital." Duo shut up as they walking through the doors.

Though the outside of the clinic looked a bit on the shabby side, the inside was more like Duo had imagined. Stark while linoleum squeaked quietly under their feet as they walked inside, the place was very bright. Light blue walls, bright lights and fake flowers dotted the room.

Heero walked to the front desk as Duo just took in the sights.

"Excuse me." He said simply to the man sitting at the front desk. "I have an appointment."

The man looked down at the computer in front of him. "Heero Yuy?"

"Yes."

The man stood up. He had a sort of dirty blond hair color and hazel eyes, he was much bigger that both of the boys, though not in the sense of being fat. The man seemed to be in great physical shape. He smiled, small dimples on his face. "My name is Dr. Tom Berret, nice to meet you two."

Duo seemed a little shocked. 'Why were you doing the secretary's job?"

"Oh, I don't have a secretary."

"A swanky place like this and you don't have one? Do you at least have a nurse?"

"Oh, I have a nurse, but that's all I can afford, I'm non-profit. I'm sure you noticed that this neighborhood is pretty bad, so I provide free services." The man walked out from behind the counter. "Follow me." Heero and Duo followed the man as he led them farther into the back of the clinic. "Seeing as you're friends of Quatre's I'll be sure to be extra careful." Dr. Berret laughed.

Duo just shuddered.

-=-=-=-=-=-Time Skip-=-=-=-=-=-

Heero sat still in the waiting room, trying his best to be patient. It had been almost an hour since Duo had gone into one of the back rooms with Dr. Berret for his physical. Heero knew that it was going to take a while, but he couldn't stop the boredom from nagging at him. Heero sighed, there was a table full of magazines next to him, but he had already gone through them and read all of the interesting stories.

Finally, Dr. Berret came out from the back area and looked to Heero, he had a concerned look on his face.

Heero stood up, and then turned to face the doctor. "How did it go?"

"Well," Berret shook his head. "he's not in bad condition, but he's not doing too well either. He's pretty undernourished, but he doesn't seem to be sick. Luckily for him, all he'll need to do is to start eating better and he'll be fine. Unfortunately I can't help you when it comes to actually getting the food."

"Don't worry about that." Heero said with a sense of finality. "He'll be living with me until he gets better. Just write me out some of the things I need to keep in mind and I'll take it from there."

"That's good to know." The doctor went behind his desk and clicked a few times on his computer before the printer next to it whirred to life. Taking the paper the machine had just spit out, the man handed it to Heero. "That's about as best as I can do, hopeful it will help." The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle, which he also handed to Heero. "This is a multi-vitamin, see to it he takes one of these a day until they're all gone, it should help him get healthier faster."

"Alright, thank you."

"No problem."

At this point, Duo walked around the corner, as small blush painted across his cheeks. "You sir, are horrible." He looked at the doctor, but Heero could see the sides of his mouth twitching with mirth.

"Oh, don't be that way." Berret wrapped his arm around the braided boy's shoulders. "All the ladies beg me to take them back into the exam room."

Heero felt a twinge of jealousy, but he let it fade.

"Hey Heero." Duo said cheerily. "The doc here," He elbowed the man in the side. The doctor retreated with a smile. "says I'm all good to go. Nothing to worry about as long as I get something to eat.'"

"Alright, we should get going then." Heero turned to Dr. Berret. "Thank you again." He bowed his head slightly.

"No problemo, just let me know if you two need anything else."

With a wave from Duo, the two brown haired boys left the charity clinic, both of them feeling a little better knowing that Duo wasn't in any danger.

As the two walked down the street, Duo turned to look at Heero out of the corner of his eye. It had been two years, and yet the other had barely seemed to change at all, still as aloof as ever. Yet, Duo couldn't help but think he had become a bit friendlier. Not towards other people, but towards Duo specifically. Duo let a small smile come to his lips at that thought. Maybe, finally, he could learn more about Heero. The boy had always fascinated him, now was his chance to be nosy and get a little info and what Heero's life was really like.

"So where are we off to now?" Duo said as he shoved his hands into his pockets. It was a little chilly outside, not enough to merit a jacket, but just enough to chill your finger tips.

"I have a small house I thought we could stay at." Heero said this plainly, he knew the other boy would want to know more, but he just didn't feel like actually saying it.

"You own a house, here, in America?" Duo said this with utter disbelief. Getting a house here was one of the most difficult things he could imagine, America was bursting at the seams with people.

"Yes, it's not very big, but it should work just fine for the two of us."

"Please tell me it has two bedrooms." Duo wasn't sure if he meant that or not, but it would certainly save him from a large chunk of future embarrassments.

"The couch works as a futon, so I'll be sleeping there."

"Wait a second. It's your house, shouldn't I be the one taking the futon?"

Heero sighed. Duo really needed to pay more attention. "You're not fully healthy yet Duo, so I'll be sleeping on the futon. When you get better then you can talk about me taking the bed."

Duo almost looked like he was pouting. 'It just doesn't seem right to me. I'm fine with the futon. I've slept in much worse conditions."

"I'm sure you have. But the point of you staying with me is to get you healthy, not make you worse."

Duo really, really wanted to pout. He knew what that tone meant, in a nutshell Heero was saying 'this conversation is over and you will do what I say.' Duo couldn't think of anything to say that could possibly change the taciturn pilot's mind. "Alright," Duo raised his hands in an exaggerated sign of surrender. "Have it your way."

Heero said nothing. For some reason, he was feeling a little irritated, but as far as he knew, he didn't have anything to be irritated about. Something about Duo's presence was grating on his nerves, but he refused to show it. Duo didn't deserve being harassed just because he was having a bad day.

The two made their way through the endless streets, twisting and turning, Duo following Heero's lead like it was second-nature. He personally had no idea where they were going, but he trusted Heero enough to feel confident that the other pilot knew what he was doing and where he was going. A dwindling steam of people flowed to the sides of the two boys, the hum of the city created a sort of background music, though Heero seemed to ignore the beat of the city and walk to his own pace. Duo was shamelessly rubbernecking at ever thing that he passed, everything from people, to neon signs and different shops caught his eye. He would be living here for the while, the least he could do was try to get a bit better acquainted with the area he was in. Still, the amount of stuff to look at was mindboggling, America had changed since his last visit. Duo was a colonist through and through, but during his few trips to Earth he had really enjoyed going to America, seeing as his colony was of American decent, it was almost like being home.

However, with the Earth now being borderless, different kinds of people lived here now, a little bit of everything could be found. It was kind of sad to see the culture losing its footing, but it was nice to see that different people could get along no matter where they were from. Duo let a small smile form on his lips as he thought of this. Not long ago, it was every country for themselves, each and every one of them power hungry and bloodthirsty. Though different, things had defiantly changed for the better.

"We're here." Heero's voice shook Duo from his thoughts.

"Oh," Duo looked up at the house. It was indeed small, as Heero had said, but it would accommodate both of them easily enough. "awesome."

Heero looked away from the bright boy and fished around in his pockets, pulling out a set of keys, he unlocked the door and went inside, the braided boy following and closing the door behind him. As Heero went about unpacking his bags, Duo took his time to look around the house.

To the right of the door was a small kitchen, the only thing separating it from the living room was a counter. The counter was white with a sink inlaid in it. Across from it was a series of cabinets as well was a stove, refrigerator and a microwave. The living room had a couch and a small wooden table painted black in front of it, both objects facing a mid-sized plasma TV. A single hallway exited the room. On the right side of the hallway was the bathroom. Inside was a sizable tub, which Duo was surprised by, Heero didn't seem like the type to like taking baths, defiantly a fast shower type. Across from the bathroom was a small laundry room, neatly organized. Further down the hall was the bedroom. Duo walked into it and set his bag on the king-sized bed. The room was a dull grey color, the only furniture being the bed, a small table next to it with a lamp on it and a dresser.

Duo looked over to see Heero loading the dresser with his clothes. "I'm taking the two bottom drawers," Heero said as he shoved a shirt into one of the drawers before standing up. "you can use the top two."

"Alright." Duo said cheerily. It would be nice to use a dresser for once, he had been living out of his bag for so long it seemed like forever since the last time he had truly unpacked.

-=-=-=-=-=-Author's Note-=-=-=-=-=-

Damn throw away characters. XD

Oh well, in real life we often come across people we only see once, so I guess it's not too bad of a thing to have characters like that. Maybe I can use the doc later, who knows?

Please leave a review. ^.^