Disclaimers: Don't own any part of Gundam Wing nor it's characters. Merely borrowing them for a little torture.

Warnings: Shounen-ai (because I suck at yaoi) , mildly blasphemous in terms of my depiction of heaven. Not a death fic… ish. Usual 1x2, 3x4, and with 5 hanging in the wind. The poor darling.

Notes: This was entered into the Hatsukoi fic contest and betaed by the extremely talented Keiran-sama

Chapter 4: What the Hell is a fangirl?

"We are here so this nice man can view his Living File," Solo explained to the dark haired Tsu.

"Oh," Tsu giggled again, shaking almost excitedly.

Keiran nudged Tsu slightly aside. "Well, I have your file right here," she pushed a CD-Rom over the counter, tittering softly. She picked up a barcode scanner and ran it over the black and white lines on the CD's label. "It's been checked out now. Please return it before you leave."

Duo looked at the CD in apprehension. He would find out what did him in, the invincible Shiniga… the invincible Deathscythe pilot. A slight hissing caused his head to snap up to see Tsu hissing softly, and rather viciously at a smug looking Keiran. For a moment there he forgot about those odd pins on their lapels. Violet eyes dropped to them again. He raised his hand hesitantly. "Erm… what's a fangirl?"

There were twin gasps from the girls in front of him, as they slapped their hands over their lapel pins and quickly disappeared into the back.

Duo stared after them, his jaw slightly unhinged. "What's 01x02?"

Solo slung his arm around Duo. "What's yours and Heero's code?"

"Oh… OH!" Duo's eyes opened impossibly wide. "What's the 'x' for?"

Solo grinned evilly. "Imagine your limbs…" He got a punch for his efforts.

XXxxXX

Somewhere in the backroom, Tsu and Keiran were giggling as they stored in their memories forever their meeting with Duo Maxwell. New plots were made based on that one meeting alone and new ways to torture him and his partner, Heero were slowly formulated.

If only the president of the 01x02 Fangirls Society knew about this. She would be so jealous!

The two put their heads together and grinned evilly as they started to write the next chapter of Duo and Heero which involved, them, a bed, some chocolate sauce and a really sexy bondage outfit. How they got into Heaven with that kind of mind, no one knows. But they had a lousy courier service to thank.

Rushing to their laptops, each whipped out a disk and inserted it into the DC-Rom drive. As the programme run, a deep silence full of horror filled the backroom.

"We gave them the wrong disk!" Tsu cried in dismay as they both sprinted for the door.

XXxxXX

"I didn't know you like cutting?" Solo smirked as he trained his eyes on the LCD screen. Duo had chickened out halfway and asked him to read it to him.

"Sure I do. Heero is the cook and I am his assistant. So I cut a lot of vegetables for him and other crap," Duo answered, unsure of where Solo was going with this. Couldn't he just get to the main story?

The angel smothered a laugh. "I meant your wrist."

Duo leapt for the screen and glued his eyes to it. There was a moment of silence before he burst out, "What in all that is holy is fan fiction?"

Solo explode into laughter.

"… I so do not cut myself!"

"… I so do not have an eating disorder. Heero Yuy can kiss my ass if he doesn't like my body…"

"… Oh please, I just don't go out there and let myself be raped!"

"… Hello, go find a psychiatrist, not sit at home and listen to goth music!"

"… Heero loves me so he ignores me? What?"

"… I get hurt again?"

"… Why am I always a prostitute? Do I freaking look like a prostitute?"

"… I can pilot a Gundam, I can kill Ozzies in hand to hand combat and I can't even ward off a rapist?"

"… I have a sister that is smarter than me and can fly Gundams around me any day and falls in love with Wu Fei? Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffft…"

"… I. Do. Not. Do. Weepy."

"… argh! I don't need to sell myself, I can go steal something!"

"… fey? What the hell is fey? How does one look fey? Why do I feel like I'm being described as a species of rat or something…"

"… Am not delicate looking and am same height with freaking Heero 'Perfect Soldier' Yuy."

"… I'm not always bottom damn it!"

"… Making love with my hair around me? Are they crazy? Don't they know how much long hair tangles and how long it takes for me to comb it out and all…"

"… Shinigami doesn't need saving! What the hell is this? Why do Heero and the others need to save me all the time? It's not like I don't know how to use a gun or pick a lock or…"

"… Wu Fei? Threesome…?"

"… Poor, poor Relena."

"… Who the hell is hyper?"

"… I don't know how to speak Japanese for crying out loud!"

"… Soda? Eww, bad for your teeth. Give me a nice glass of juice any day."

"… what! I'm pregnant?"

XXxxXX

Tsu rushed over, holding another CD-Rom in hand. She appeared breathless and had a really odd look on her face. Solo could closely describe it as a cross between utter horror and pure embarrassment. The poor clerk peeked at Duo's computer, trying to get a look at what the braided man was reading and if it was possibly, she looked doubly embarrassed. Reaching over, she pressed some keys on the keyboard, closing the file Duo was reading.

"Hey!" Duo looked up, protesting. He had been reading about a rather interesting way of using vanilla, cookies and a banana that somehow involved Heero when the document was wiped from his computer screen.

Tsu pulled the CD from its drive and pocketed it while thrusting the other one to Duo. "Wrong disk," she explained curtly and fled into the back room, from where Keiran was peeking.

Duo stared down at the disk in his hand, feeling a sense of loss and mounting apprehension. "That wasn't it?" He asked Solo.

"Ten different euphemisms for penis and erection is sure not the story of how you died, Duo," Solo smothered a laugh. Noting Duo's reluctance at reading the file, he plucked it out of his 'little brother's' fingers and slotted it into the disk drive.

The American kept silent as he heard the soft whirr of the disk being read. The computer screen blanked out as the Windows Media Player booted up. "Even in Heaven Bill Gates has a monopoly?" He was elbowed silent.

His last few moments started showing on the computer screen.

Duo remained silent even as the last few minutes of the disc faded away. He stared at the empty screen, swallowing a growing lump in his throat. He could still see Heero holding him, crying over him, begging him not to leave him. He could see the guilt in Heero's blue eyes. It wasn't his lover's fault. It wasn't anyone's fault but that of the drunk driver's. But knowing his lover, Heero wouldn't forgive himself from stepping behind the wheel.

Solo bit his lip, staring down at a quiet Duo. He knew what Duo was feeling right now and there wasn't any way for him to make Duo feel any better. But he tried anyway. "So… never expected to see your last moments in AVI, huh?" A venomous glare from Duo shut him up rather quickly.

Duo wondered why he didn't feel that familiar clenching in his heart when he saw his partner in pain. Was it that in death, their love had dampened? That wasn't possible in the least. No, he had to make sure. He stood up abruptly, overturning his chair. "I need to see Heero now."

"Bu… but Duo, you can't leave Heaven as yet," Solo protested, concerned. He recognised the look on Duo's face. It was always right after being told he couldn't do something, and right before he went ahead and did it anyway. It was one of the most fearsome expression Solo knew about. "You haven't been processed yet and…"

"I. Don't. Care!" Duo yelled, clenching his fists. "You saw how Heero looked. That expression on his face. He thinks it is his fault!" He jabbed his finger at the now blank computer screen to emphasise his point.

"Duo."

"I have to tell him!" Duo started pacing, staring into space. "I have to tell him that it isn't his fault that whatever it is, I forgive him." He caught Solo by the lapels, looking pleadingly into his friend's eyes. "Please, Solo. I am afraid that he is going to kill himself. I am…" His voice dropped. "I'm afraid he already has."

Solo looked down at his friend, his heart starting to melt. He knew deep inside he would help Duo no matter what. Perhaps it was penance for him for dying and leaving his brother to fend for himself. Well, the sunrise was going to have to wait. His Salvation Points were going to be used for something a little more practical.

Duo was brought out of the Life Department and its weird Records Officers without further incident of the fangirly type. He was still pondering over the expression on Solo's features all the way there. There was an odd mixture of resignation, disappointment and conviction there.

"Where are you taking me?" Duo asked, allowing himself to be herded along like sheep. Ever since he came to Heaven all those months ago, he had been herded along. This feeling of confusion and helplessness no longer bugged him. He was more numb than resigned.

"To the Chargers."

Chargers…? Alright, perhaps Duo wasn't as numb as he thought he was. What was a charger? In his mind, he pictured his cell phone charger plugged into a socket. He wasn't that far off base actually. He was led into yet another building, but this time there were many rooms to it. Each of them was shut and there was a soft thrumming that vibrated through the floor ever so slightly.

"Where is this place?" Duo asked in a hush tone. There was an overall feeling like being in a tomb of some kind. Either that or a morgue.

"It's where souls are recharged," Solo explained, searching for someone. "And a place where I can bargain for your time off."

"Wait, souls? Recharge?" Duo echoed incredulously. Didn't Father Maxwell explain long and hard about how each soul was new and all that? "I thought souls only lived once?"

Solo nodded, his eyes still searching. "Yup, that they do. But the live expectancy of each soul is different, so each time the casing is spoilt, but the soul is still good, we recharge it within a new casing. The charging takes at least 14 days each time."

"Why do you speak as if we are batteries?" Duo blurted. His images of Heaven were crumbling one by one.

Solo blinked. "Oh, you didn't know? Human souls are the batteries of the World. And you know what they say about used batteries? We need to dispose of them properly. So we come to Heaven, for the good batteries. The bad ones that caused appliances to blow up would be sent to be burned (a.k.a Hell)."

Duo tried hard to stop a snicker. "So Heaven in a recycling centre for used batteries?"

Solo gaped at the term used. It was apparent he has never heard it in such terms before. "Ye…ah," he drawled out. "I am thinking, but yeah." He caught sight of someone and promptly forgot what he and Duo were talking about. "Hey! Steve," he waved excitedly approaching the other man.

Steve looked up from his computer screen and waved Solo over.

Solo motioned for Duo to stay where he was as he was absorbed in a serious conversation with the other man. Duo studied their body language apprehensively. It didn't look good. They both looked tense. He sidled up closer to eavesdrop.

"… about your sunrise you were saving up for?" Steve was asking, his brow crinkled in a frown.

Solo shrugged, looking a little disappointed. "I can always save up for it again."

"Another ten years?"

"Why not? I mean, look at him, he just wants to see his partner and all the red tape is bogging him down."

Duo was stunned. Solo was giving up his Salvation Points for him? So he could see Heero?

Steve rubbed his chin contemplatively.

Solo moved even closer, his tone cajoling. "Come on, Steve, I know you can open gateway as easy as that. You can sneak Duo down with another one being sent down. And with my Salvation Points, you can get that nifty little entertainment unit with that plasma TV, able to receive all Celestial Channels and Living Plane Channels as well. Even better than cable."

"We could get in a whole lot of trouble," Steve said, but Duo could he was caving.

Solo grinned mischievously. "Only if we get caught. I'll even," he gulped. "… babysit him if it makes you feel better." He nearly choked on the word babysit.

Steve sighed, the thought of his entertainment unit taking over his logical mind completely. "Alright."

Duo nearly jumped for joy. He was going to see Heero! He was going to find out how Heero was. His joy dimmed then. What if Heero was no longer alive?

"But…" Steve continued. "To cover my ass, there are few conditions." He looked straight at Duo.

Duo nodded so fast his head looked like it was about to fly off.

"One, you are not allowed to tell anyone alive who you are. That means you can't write it down, send people signals or otherwise. And in the event you manage to take over a body, you can't say anything about who you really are."

"What if I need to? Or it just slips out?"

Steve smiled, though it was a very pleasant smile and it caused a slight shiver to run up Duo's spine. "You will find out, sooner or later."

Duo couldn't agree fast enough though he wondered what would happen to him exactly, if it were to slip out that he was the dead Duo Maxwell.

XXxxXX

"Where are we going?" Duo asked Solo. The trip down from Heaven wasn't as much traumatising, as it was confusing. One moment he was somewhere white and peaceful, the next he was smack right in the middle of downtown smog. "I need to find Heero."

He was glad he didn't have any lungs or he would choke from all the smog. He never knew just how polluted the air was in the place he once called home. Perhaps he was growing complacent from all that wholesome Heaven air.

Solo was looking surreptitiously around. "We are looking for your heart."

Duo smiled at the apt description of Heero. He was indeed the American's heart, despite sounding so incredibly sappy that it made Duo want to go retch something up.

"The person who has it now has a flagging soul. His was supposed to come up to us and the spirit in your heart is giving him, what I call 'borrowed time'. So if we followed your… What?" Solo trailed off, staring at Duo's dumbstruck expression.

"My… aren't… weren't… my heart?"

Solo frowned. "You didn't know? After you died, your heart was donated to the actual person that was supposed to be in your place."

"Adrian West," Duo said, weakly.

"Yes, him. I received some preliminary feedback from the Archangels. They had already submitted their first report," Solo flashed a sleek PDA at Duo. "Apparently, Adrian's soul was due for 'proper disposal' but there was some kind of screw up, so it ended up that he got your heart transplanted into him and now is feeding off your soul."

Duo must have looked vaguely sick because Solo hurried to calm him.

"I meant that he is alive because of the spirit in your heart."

"How does that make me feel better?"

"If you were to take over his body, you would be able to live a long and fruitful… mrf," Solo clasped his hands over his mouth in shock. He never meant to say that, or let this piece of information out.

Duo's eyes widened immeasurably. He could take over a body?

Solo shook his head, knowing he had already screwed up. He recognised the scheming look in Duo's eyes. It only meant trouble. "You can't just go around shunting the soul out of its body!" He kept silent on the fact that if the soul was weak enough, it would be a synch. Or if the owner of the body granted him permission. Or if the body was currently uninhabited, which was common in cases of coma patients. But he wasn't going to let Duo go around hospitals hunting for coma patients to inhabit.

Duo was visibly deflated as he sighed. "Let's just go find the person who stole my heart then."

"You were dead, you had no use for it. He didn't steal it," Solo corrected, tapping on his PDA with a relieved sigh. "Aah, there it is." He pressed a button on the device and a small door appeared in midair.

"What is that?" Duo asked, staring at the grey gateway suspiciously.

Solo smirked. "Did you think we took public transport to where we want to go? Or flew with feathery wings? We are angels, not birds." With that he pulled Duo through the gateway.

Tbc…

Hello! Just to inform you that both Circle of Destiny and Heaven May Call are already updated. I am going overseas in a few and am leaving all of you this parting gift. Reflections of the Past will be posted tonight.

See you!