Bffimagine: YAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWNNNNNNN…
Duo was halfway out of the hangar when Quatre called him back.
"We can't just let Wing stay there in space, especially at Relena's command. I'll go up with you; then I can take Wing down."
Nodding in silent agreement, Duo offered a quaking hand to Quatre.
'My hand is shaking… Am I really that angry with Relena?' Duo shook his head to clear his thoughts, 'Of course I am, dammit! She tried to kill Heero!'
And so Deathscythe stole away into the starry sky.
Blood was petering out of Heero's wounds like water from a bucket full of holes. Relena scrunched up her nose and climbed as high as she could in the cramped cockpit.
"Oh, and this is a new dress…"
'If any of the pilots come for Heero…' Relena took Heero's gun.
"Alright Cat, we're almost there."
Quatre nodded.
"Approach them from the side, and angle from underneath. That's where Relena's blind spot would be."
"Wing has a blind spot? Do all our gundams have a blind spot I should look out for?" Duo mentally slapped himself, wondering why he never worried about this from before.
"Actually, Wing is the only gundam WITHOUT a blind spot. But Relena isn't trained like any of us, so she won't utilize this ability of the gundam. She will have many blind spots, only this one's the most vulnerable."
Quirking an eyebrow, Duo shrugged and continued on.
"What?"
Heero peered at his surroundings. As always, he kept his brain waves neutral, in case this was some sort of assessment.
Everything was white, until suddenly the ground shifted. Then he was watching himself, bleeding as Relena fussed over her clothes.
'How is this—'
He stopped his thoughts as his gaze shifted to Duo.
'They came for me…'
Watching with an edge of suspicion, Heero eyed Relena while keeping his main focus Duo and Quatre.
Using his peripheral vision, Heero also kept a sharp mental archive of his surroundings. Only the corner of his eye twitched as soon as he saw movement.
"Who's there?" he called out monotonously. Nothing ever startled the 'Perfect' or 'Stone' soldier. His stoic composure was never broken unless it came to…
"Duo."
'Ah? Who said that?' Heero's eyes slid across the endless white, only to find what seemed to be a reflection of himself.
"You… What are you?" he asked the reflection.
"Me? What you should be asking is who—or what—are YOU." The figure smirked and turned his back, walking away.
"Wait! What do you know about me?"
"What do you know about yourself?" The figure disappeared.
'I know… I know nothing… I can't remember anything…'
Heero shuffled through his memories, which spontaneously began to whiz past him.
Flashes of his childhood stood out most. He saw himself as he was just born, his mother and father smiling at him in the happiest of sorts. He saw the doctors gaze in awe as his perfection; when Heero was born he was perfect.
He saw all the tests they put him through, ripping him away from his once-happy parents. He saw their tears as his blood flowed into tubes, how his mind was twisted and molded into the mind of the 'Perfect Soldier'.
As all of the relentless memories swam by, Heero unearthed the most painful of them all. He saw himself as he was, only…
This wasn't a memory. This is what the world would be.
He saw blood everywhere, saturating the very air he breathed. The ground was dark with blood and mud was a deep mahogany colour.
Blood dripped off his fingertips. He pulled his hand up, only to see it was buried deep within the sternum of a little boy. A large, bloody cavity had been ripped into the boy, and with cold realization Heero found he had ripped that hole… With his bare hands.
"I'm… what am I?"
He stumbled backward to trip over a body. Once he fell he saw four others were with that one body, as if they were killed as they came to each others' aid. He saw the fear etched on each face, encrypted with hurt that ran unadulterated and vivid.
Much like the blood running from their veins.
But more than the fear in the faces, repulsive was the actual faces of the fallen humans.
They were the faces of his friends.
"W-Wufei? Qu-Quatre… no… Trowa?"
Horror washed over him with the force of the tide brought on by the hurricane. Each wave lapped over him harshly, the merciless laughter of the water crashing on the rocks pounding in his ears.
"I… I did this…"
Cerulean orbs set on the first body he tripped over.
"D-Duo…"
Tears dripped from the eyes now wide with dilated pupils. Water spilling from the sea of deep blue.
"Aishiteru Duo, I'm sorry." He hugged the body of his fallen comrade. Though Duo's amethyst eyes were set with engravings of betrayal, they also held a depth of longing.
'Perfect Soldiers' didn't cry, they didn't love. They didn't have emotions. They didn't feel pain. They couldn't get hurt. They didn't feel guilt nor shame nor regret.
Heero wasn't a 'Perfect Soldier'.
"WAKE UP HEERO!" Duo yelled through tears. He and Quatre had made it to Wing, had knocked out Relena and had shoved her into her prissy palace.
Of course, Duo would've been happier with decapitation, but Quatre wouldn't let him kill the queen on the world.
So he'd settled with bringing him back to the estate they were currently staying in. Quatre had an estate in almost every country, and on every colony.
"WAKE UP!"
"He's going to be fine, Duo. Relax a bit." Trowa was cleaning Heero's wounds. He threw another blood-soaked towel into the bucket at his side.
Wufei sighed almost inaudibly.
"What could've driven Relena to do something like that?" he asked no one in particular, shaking his head.
"She's jealous. Apparently someone stole Heero from her." Trowa stared straight ahead, not looking at anything. Almost looking through the wall.
"We know that much," Quatre mumbled, grabbing a cool washcloth and setting it over Heero's fevered forehead.
"Quite an infection. Looks like Relena used quite an interesting knife." Wufei moved the washcloth and felt Heero's head. He grimaced and pulled his hand away, replacing the cloth.
"She probably tipped it with a poison. I'll analyze it as soon as Heero comes out of delirium." Trowa tried to bring a needle to Heero's arm, but the younger boy flinched and moved erratically.
"We can't risk it. Duo, pin him down." Quatre grabbed Heero's ankles and held them onto the bed. Duo, following his lead, held Heero's wrists down as well.
Nodding, Trowa quickly took a blood sample, but Heero didn't move or begin to thrash as Duo and Quatre had predicted. He lay perfectly still.
"I failed."
Duo's attention was caught by the barely audible statement.
"Heero?"
"He… Duo… I couldn't save him."
"Wake up, Heero, wake up! I'm right here."
"It… I… failed."
"He's delirious. His fever is high, but we can expect it to break within three days." Trowa had already started analyzing Heero's blood.
Quatre breathed a sigh of anxiety.
"What kind of poison is it?"
Trowa froze.
"Its… its fatal."
Every pilot could almost hear Duo's heart crash through the floor.
"H-how will he die?"
"It will melt his organs, dry out all his blood. There's an antidote, but I don't think we can get it to him in time." Trowa coughed over the lump in his throat.
"We can," Duo urged to other pilots, "We HAVE to. Think about the times he tried for us."
The other pilots hung their heads.
"Maxwell's right," Wufei admitted.
"We have to try," Quatre added.
Trowa nodded.
"Alright. About this antidote—"
"The only person in the universe who as enough is Dr. J." Trowa blurted out before Duo could continue.
"Dr. J? He'll give it to us if it's for Heero. How much time to we have?" Quatre peered at Trowa intently.
"Two days."
"Alright. Two of us go for the antidote and two stay back to take care of Heero."
"I'll stay back," Duo volunteered, and Wufei followed. Trowa and Quatre got ready to depart for Dr. J's lab.
"If we're not back with the antidote in two days, then—"
Duo cut Quatre off.
"You're GOING to be back in two days."
Nodding meekly, Quatre entered Sandrock. Trowa entered Heavyarms and the both took off.
Wufei covered Heero in bandages, wrapping his wounds tightly. He wiped his face and gently let water trickle down his throat.
'A fifteen-year-old boy caught in war.'
It finally occurred to Wufei as to how young the pilots were.
'Last week was my nineteenth birthday. Maxwell turned nineteen already, Quatre's sixteen soon to be seventeen and Barton is eighteen. None of us has turned twenty.'
'And the youngest of all of us is Heero, yet he was the one who went through the most torture, physically, emotionally and mentally. He is the best pilot of the rest of the gundam wielders.'
'Click'. Duo entered the room and Wufei's head snapped back to see who it was.
"Oh, it's you, Maxwell."
"Who did you expect?"
"No one in particular."
Duo brushed his fingertips over Heero's jawbone.
Just wild beat, communication.
Ame ni, utare nagara.
Iroasenai, astui omoi,
Karada-juu de tsutaetai yo tonight!
(Just wild beat, communication.
While being pounded by rain
I want to express this unfading passion
With all of me, tonight.)
Nureta, sono kata wo,
Atatamer you ni daita.
Furuete'ru yubisaki wa,
Nani wo motomesama you no?
(I held your damp shoulders to warm you.
Your fingers tremble;
What are they seeking?)
Togire, togirete mo,
Tsutaete hoshii itami wo.
Sameta furi suru koto de,
Otona ni, nante, narenai.
(Even if it's in broken speech,
I want you to tell me your pain.
Pretending that the pain's worn off,
Doesn't make you an adult.)
Anata no manazashi, momoritai,
Kanashimi tsuyosa ni.
Kaeru ai wo shinjite.
(I want to protect that look in your eyes
Believe in the love
That can change sadness to strength.)
-Just Communication, Gundam Wing, anime opening song, Two-Mix
(A/N: Just had to put that it. It described Heero and Duo very well, ne?)
Sunshine flowed over the land, liquid warmth bringing the earth to life.
As Duo woke, he took to note his environment. He tried to remember what happened the previous day.
Wufei was fast asleep in his room, and Duo was lying on his bed opposite Heero's.
The events of the day before came crashing down on the braided pilot.
His hand instinctively shot out to feel Heero's forehead. It was still warm, but the fever had broken.
Though not delirious, Heero was talking in his sleep. It was mostly incoherent mumbling, but every now and then Duo caught a few words.
"I'm… a… failure."
Duo's ears perked up.
"Abort."
'Jeez, he even does missions in his sleep.' Duo got up and sat at the edge of Heero's bed.
"Heero," he whispered into the Japanese pilot's ear, "You're not a failure. Wake up now, okay?"
As if by magic, Heero's eyes fluttered open.
"D-Duo?"
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