"Catch Me When I Fall"

Chapter 3: Escape and Illness

PG-13

1x2

I do not own Gundam or anything of the characters mentioned.

Heero smiled to himself as he closed the door to his flat. It had been a long time since he felt so accomplished. The Asian man loosened his tie and looked out of the wide windows at the dusk sky. Everything had become smoky and difficult to see. He closed his eyes and sighed. It was just that kind of evening. It was amazing the things colonials could accomplish. They had succeeded in creating a liveable pile of floating scrap metal. They had given it an atmosphere and climate control and engineered false plants and edible foods.

To Heero, the most amazing thing was the adaptability of the people. He thought back on the orphans he'd seen with Duo almost a week prior and shook his head. Despite such horrible circumstance, they had managed to find a new way of life and thrived as well as they could. It was Heero's interest in the orphans of L-2 that had led him to suggest to his company the formation of a government faction, like those on Earth, to protect those who had come across such terrible times.

He slung his tie over the back of the couch and removed his blazer. Today he'd managed to help appropriate funding to provide food to these orphans. If there was no need to steal, why would they? It had been one of Heero's more influential ideas that had made this possible. L-2 was already hard enough to live on after the rebellions, so even if the price of physical care couldn't be lowered, the government could certainly tax the income of these high-end professions more strictly. This would not only provide money to help the orphans of L-2, but would also put money back in the government bank for long-term improvements in lifestyle.

After arguing so extensively for his company to the L-2 government, Heero was exhausted. All he really wanted to do was climb into the shower, and then pour himself a congratulatory glass of wine. He had made it to the bathroom door with his towel when a resonating knock banged on the front door. Heero frowned and laid his fresh clothing on the closed toilet seat before he made his way to the door. He peered out the peephole and immediately ripped open the door.

Cathlene's face was swollen and soot covered her from head to toe. If it wasn't for her terrified eyes peering out from behind the blackness, Heero would have never recognized her. The newer clothes that Heero's money had afforded her were already torn and hung in rags on her young frame. "Heero!" She pleaded immediately when she saw him.

Heero dropped to his knees, "What happened? Where's Duo?" He demanded with firm hands on the girl's shoulders.

"Debt. They came for Duo and when he said he couldn't pay, they lit fire to the church. He sent me to come get you."

Heero's eyes widened and he immediately threw on his shoes and ran out the door. "Cathlene, I need you to use the phone and call the authorities. We have to get the fire squad out there as soon as possible."

She stared blankly for a moment, but then gave a dutiful nod. "Alright," she said in confirmation and passed by Heero on her way inside. She stopped and looked back at him, "You'd better do everything you can, Heero," Cathlene warned and then disappeared inside the flat.

The Asian narrowed his eyes. "I will," he told the doorway and sped down the stairs into the chill evening.

The Church wasn't hard to find. The sky was lit with the unholy copper glow of fire that belched black smoke into the night sky. Heero sped through the back streets as though he'd been raised on them and as he neared the site he had to cover his mouth from the bitter smell of burning. He dove into the Church courtyard at breakneck speeds and clambered to a stop in search of Duo, but he could only see the horde of children checking over one another as quickly as possible.

Slate eyes desperately searched the clearing again, but there was no Duo. The burning building looked like it was about to buckle under itself and Heero fought to ignore the feeling of dread that told him exactly what his logic did, but before he could manage to identify it, a frantic voice called out to him, "Heero!" The sooty blonde was practically screaming. His usually broad mouth looked cracked at the edges from yelling above the din. "You have to help! Duo ran inside to get Isabelle and he hasn't come out!"

"No…" Heero whispered in disbelief, but turned to stare at the flames licking at the previously scorched walls. "Duo…." He threw himself at the building, fighting back his natural urge to shy away from the heat.

The supporting structure of the building burned black against the glowing interior. Heero had to narrow his eyes to shield himself from the ash blowing around the foyer. "Duo!" he called, but the roar of the fire drowned any sound out. He worked his way further in with a slouched back and a raised arm. He needed to be able to protect himself from anything in here and while it wasn't a very good situation in the first place, he had to do what he could in regards to his primal instinct.

The burning worked its way into his skin and suddenly, Heero felt cold. His mind had entirely shut off the heat. It had happened before due to pain, but he'd never been in a situation where fire had entirely washed his body freezing cold. He had to duck under a lesser support beam to get into the main sanctuary. "Duo!" he bellowed again and faintly, as though from very far away, he heard a voice reply.

"Duo…" Heero whispered to himself with a sore voice and worked his way through the maze of burning matter to the altar where the wooden cross had tipped over. A block of ice felt like it had sunk to the bottom of his stomach. Had it fallen on Duo? Would he be able to get him out? He rounded the corner of the altar and saw an almost crazed, guilt-stricken Duo staring up at him with his violet eyes in stark contrast to the yellow and orange fire licking at the cross that lay just behind where Duo knelt. It silhouetted him like a beautiful fallen angel, unexpectedly stricken by the hand of God.

"Heero, she—" Duo shook his head, wide-eyed at Heero as though he didn't even notice that the building was about to fall around him. "The cross. She was trying to catch up and—if I had just carried her like normal, then this wouldn't have."

The Asian could see the denial in the braided man's face. He was in shock and no amount of yelling and forcing could make Duo understand. Heero knelt and placed his hands on Duo's face and he told him just loudly enough for him to hear, "You can't blame yourself, Duo. You two did what you thought was best, but Isabelle isn't going to come back. You and I can escape. There's still time, so I need you to stand up and come with me." It looked as though tears were about to come streaming down Duo's sooty face, but dried out from the heat before they could even escape. "All the other children are depending on you to make it."

It was this that made Duo come to his senses. "The others." He blinked a few times and pushed his hair out of his face. "That's right." The braided man pushed himself off of the ground and regained his composure. "Follow me, this is the fastest way." Duo led the way as though it had been exactly what he'd done his whole life. It was as though Duo had done this before. He avoided the flames at just such a distance so they wouldn't burn him, but didn't waste time in moving too far away. Without shying away from the heat, Duo looked like he owned this disaster, as though everything he'd come across in life was like this frenzied catastrophe. He led light-footed as though he was dancing—or fighting. Heero watched and silently agreed that their escape was a fight.

They were defying the elements and betting against fate. They hurried down a hidden corridor where a tapestry had fallen and burned to embers. The red-hot glow winked at them as they passed, but the two stepped over it without much notice. The building was falling around them in pieces as they passed. The tinder collapsed to the ground and seemed to almost blacken and dissolve like defeated spirits. The markers of many such occurrences scarred the foundation with charcoal stains. Duo approached a burning door and, without warning, kicked it in and a rush of cold air slapped against their faces. Heero could feel the heat against his back again as they dove out of the Church. The Asian rolled on his shoulder to catch himself and continue running, but Duo just catapulted himself onward with his hands. They didn't stop until they made it back to the children.

In near unison, they smiled up at Duo but their faces fell one by one as they noticed the absence of the single girl.

"Isabelle…." The blonde boy asked almost inaudibly. He looked forlorn. His bright blue eyes stared widely in hope, but he seemed to know exactly what answer would come.

Duo frowned and dropped to his knees, then wrapped his arms around the young boy, "Oh, Tyler…." He started, the tears finally made their way from his violet eyes, "I'm so sorry. She didn't make it."

Small hands gripped duo's scorched shirt and his face contorted into a moan. He buried his face into Duo's arms and broke into shaking sobs. "My sister…." Heero could hear him cry, "Isabelle…. Oh God…."

The rest was drowned out by the wailing of fire engines and the yells of the squad over one another. Heero watched in silence as the flames were extinguished and as Cathlene received the news of Isabelle's death. Heero felt as though the whole scene had been put on mute. He could see the mouths moving and he could see the grief on their faces and he saw the fire squad coldly announce to the orphans that the church was taken care of and that they would leave the rest to the penniless children to take care of.

Through it all, Duo refused to let go of the sobbing Tyler.

It wasn't until Heero returned with food and Tyler had cried himself to sleep that Cathlene could even pry him away to be his relief. With puffy eyes, Duo shuffled to Heero's side. The Asian handed him a sandwich and told Duo to sit down. The braided man listened and followed Heero's instructions obediently. "Eat something," Heero told him softly. His voice hurt from talking over the fire, but he couldn't even imagine what Duo must have felt. Duo nodded and took a bite, chewing mechanically as he listened to Heero talk. "I called my superiors at work and told them what happened. We've been trying to set up a government-funded help group for the orphans of L-2 and so far, the government seems… compliant." Duo looked up when Heero said this, but with his surely aching throat and his full mouth, said nothing.

"None of what we've done so far will have any effect for another couple of years still. We'll be able to provide education and at least a meagre place to live…. But we can't depend on any of that currently." Duo's expression fell and he continued to chew the flavourless bread. Heero sighed and scratched his head. "I work for a company that… we're mercenaries of sorts. Some of us do government work; some of us are lawyers, doctors and the like. I don't normally deal with people…." Duo kept chewing, silently. "We managed to pull some strings at the last minute and we've arranged so we can ship the kids to Earth where they'll be adopted out or raised in government homes. They'll be provided with food, security and education—even remedial learning to teach those who don't know how to read and write."

At this the braided man forcibly swallowed and stared. "Are you serious?" He asked. It sounded like his voice was nearly gone. "They can do that?"

Heero nodded. "It will take some work, but I think we can make it happen." He frowned, "The only problem is that you're over age to be part of the program. I was told that they could provide homes and care to the ones too young to care for themselves, but you were over the age limit."

"I don't care," Duo admitted with a laughing cough. "If you can get safe places for even half of us, that would be enough for me. I can care for myself if I need to, but I can't leave the kids behind. They're my responsibility and I wouldn't give them up just because I wanted to."

With a sigh, Heero continued. "That's what I thought you'd say, so they're sending out a shuttle immediately to pick up the children." He paused, "But what are you going to do?"

Duo shook his head. "I don't know. I can find somewhere for just me pretty easily. If I start working again, I could even save up for a real place of my own."

"Why don't you stay with me?"

Duo blinked. This simple statement caught his attention like nothing else had. There was confusion in his eyes and doubt. Heero didn't know what he was supposed to be feeling, but there was the dread of refusal hanging over his head. Duo's smile had disappeared and that overly wide mouth parted just enough for Heero to see the teeth under Duo's heat-cracked lips. "Heero, I—" He cleared his throat once as though something was caught in his chest, then swallowed and was overtaken by body-shaking coughs. Heero knelt and reached across to steady the man, but before he knew it, Duo was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, blood staining the sooty flesh around his mouth.

Morning shone through the window and lit carefully along the heavy and warm coverlet of the bed. Duo felt it slowly wake him and embrace him like the familiar arms of the Sisters ages before. At first he tried to sink back into the protective heat, but his mind was plaguing him with something far more important. There was something he should remember. There was some reason that he shouldn't just lay there in bed—whoever's bed it was—and get up. He had a responsibility and….

Memory rushed back to him in an instant: the fire, the children, Heero coming to save him… and Isabelle. Guilt stabbed him in the chest and Duo started coughing. He rolled over to lean off the bed and held his hand up to cover his mouth. When the chest spasms finally died down, he rolled back onto the bed and swallowed the coppery liquid seeping in from his throat. Violet eyes narrowed. That had never happened before…. Slowly, he lifted up his hand to look at it and simply stared at his blood-covered palm.

"You've tested positive for tuberculosis," a soft voice told him, kindly. Duo immediately dropped his hand and sat up straight to look where the voice had come. A young blonde man was sitting in a chair across Heero's bedroom. He pushed himself off of the chair with long, delicate hands and while his mouth smiled in greeting, his cornflower blue eyes seemed uncharacteristically stern.

Duo swallowed. "What do you mean? You trying to tell me I'm gonna die?" His stomach felt cold.

The blonde man shook his head and pulled out his handkerchief. "That's not necessarily true." He handed the cloth to Duo and smiled when the braided man cleaned off his hand. "I'm Doctor Quatre Raberba Winner and I'm a friend of Heero's."

"I thought Heero came to this hellhole alone," Duo commented. He wasn't trying to be tart, but his annoyance with not knowing Heero as well as he though was getting to him.

Dr. Winner—or was it just Quatre—nodded. "He did. I came in on the shuttle yesterday morning to help with Heero's government battle." He crossed his hands in front of him and his smile softened. "I'm sure he told you about it. It's amazing that someone could get Heero feeling strongly about anything. He usually follows his assignments to a T and leaves it at that." Quatre pursed his lips. "I assume he doesn't think it's any of his business to get involved, but with the unfortunate circumstances of you and your children—"

Duo furrowed his brows. "Hold on," he interrupted, "Let me get this straight: all of those things that Heero's company is trying to make happen is because he went out of his way to make them that way and we were the ones who got him to do it?"

"I guess Heero isn't exactly the guy to tell you the details." Quatre sighed and ran a hand through his tidy platinum blonde hair. "As much as he seems to be the strong and silent type, he's really very uncomfortable with people. I think that's why he mostly shut off his emotions; he never really learned how to show them."

Duo's brows furrowed and he frowned. Heero had gone out of his way to give the kids food and to help Duo take care of them. He'd jumped in and protected Duo without even really knowing him. If that wasn't showing his emotions, Duo didn't know what was. To Duo, Heero was like an unkempt oasis in the L-2 wasteland. Sure he was rough around the edges, but he knew what was important and he would give everything he could to protect what mattered….

"He never used to be this way." Quatre said while watching the emotions play on the braided man's face. "Something about you changed him, Duo." The doctor reached out to Duo's inner arm where an irritated patch of skin stood out red against his skin. "When I came off the shuttle, Heero was comforting all of your children. It was something I had never seen before. It was like he had known them his whole life. He called them by name and hugged each of them goodbye."

He had what? Heero had gone to the shuttle lift and… Duo could feel golden warmth in his chest expand. He felt elated. Heero had done what Duo couldn't be there for. He had held each and every one of them for him and soothed their fears. The braided man blinked away the tears in his eyes and he smiled. "So they're all safe?" Duo was lonely. He was afraid for them. He wanted to run see them, but his children were already long gone. A piece of him cried out that he shouldn't have given them up so easily, but…. A sharp pain in his chest acted as a reminder of his illness. "Let's talk business, doc. How much longer have I got?"

Blue eyes seemed troubled. "What makes you think you're going to die? Yes, tuberculosis is a serious disease, but if you take your medication as directed, it should be taken care of in a few months."

Duo laughed, "Where do you think I'm gonna get that money?" He tugged at his braid, irritably. "I'm a prostitute, you know. I can't make enough to afford medical care, much less the drugs to go with it." He smiled broadly, almost mockingly, "But the kids are okay, so I'm fine with dying. My responsibilities are taken care of."

"What are you saying?" Quatre demanded. For the first time since their meeting the blonde was genuinely upset. If Duo had looked closely, he would have seen more than a troubled Quatre, but a positively fuming one. "After all the things that Heero has done for you, you're just going to leave it at that? You're just going to leave him hurting? When you passed out at the Church, how do you think you got here? Who do you think arranged for me to come by? He was worried sick. He couldn't eat; he hasn't slept. I had to send him away so that he would even move from your bed. He's unlocked his heart to you and you're just going to throw it away and hurt him again? You can't just take what he has to give and leave him this way." Quatre's hands were balled into fists. "Don't you love him?"

All of the responses that Duo had formed were wiped away from the slate of his brain. Love? "What?"

"How much more simply can I put this? Do. You. Love. Him?"

Love Heero? Was it even possible? Duo didn't know how love should feel, much less if Heero was the one he was supposed to love. "I don't…"

"Then you still have a responsibility." Quatre exhaled and forced himself to calm down. "Don't die until you figure it out." He pulled out two orange bottles filled with pills and placed them on the dresser. "The Company is funding your medical care. They would like for you to work as a spokesman to help speed along the legislation." He gave a slight bow with his hand to his chest. "It's been good meeting you. I hope you come to a positive solution." With that, Doctor Quatre Raberba Winner (what a presumptuous name, Duo thought) was gone.

Duo fell back onto the pillows behind him and closed his eyes. He could see the flames of the Maxwell church all around him. Isabelle was crushed beneath the flaming cross and he could hear the voices of all the ghosts. He could hear all of his orphan friends; he could hear the nuns and even Father Maxwell. They called to him in warning, but he wasn't listening. All he cared about was that they were all there with him, but Isabelle… she was gone. He couldn't hear her voice. Was she still alive? He couldn't get her out. The flames were too hot and the cross was too heavy. Duo stared at the cross, helpless. Had he really cursed himself so strongly that God wouldn't even spare this girl's life? Was he really so guilty? Then he heard a voice. Duo! It called, distant but clear. "I'm here!" Duo returned. He didn't know who would save him in this Hell. God wouldn't send someone to save a person like him. The voice whispered his name just behind him and Duo turned to see a glorious figure standing triumphant in the blaze. Those ice blue eyes fended off the heat and the wavering glow made him appear to be a saviour in this accursed Church. "Heero…."

The bedroom door opened with a light squeak and Duo opened his eyes to see a much-stretched Heero Yuy enter the room. His cool eyes had dark circles beneath them and suddenly, Duo knew that all of Quatre's words had been true. Despite his own exhaustion, Heero managed a smile. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's alright," Duo said with a broad grin as he pushed himself up to sit on the bed. "I was just thinking." His chest seemed to swell. Ever since Quatre had mentioned love…. It seemed to make sense, but Duo just wasn't sure. "The doc came to visit me."

Heero's face seemed to fall. "Did he already tell you?"

Duo nodded. "Tuberculosis, huh? That's contagious isn't it?" Heero nodded. "You sure you should be around me?"

"I've been vaccinated." Heero assured him, sat down where Quatre had been and stared at his hands. "The kids will be, too before going into the orphanage."

"Quatre told me that you went to the lift to see them off. How did that go? Were they okay?" He flinched, "They weren't mad at me, were they?"

The Asian pursed his lips. "Tyler was still a bit shaken. He said he can't imagine starting a new life without Isabelle. Cathlene was pretty mad, though. She said that she shouldn't have to go just because she was underage." Heero gave a sad smile, "She seemed to think that she should be able to stay with you."

Duo nodded. "To her, I'm one of them and leaving me behind is abandoning one of our own. We never did anything alone."

Heero reached over to the dresser and picked up the antibiotics. After reading the label, he pulled out the proper dose and walked to the bed to give Duo the pills. "Here. The label says that it could cause liver problems, so we'll just have to watch your blood readings." Duo accepted the pills and the glass of water in hand, but didn't take the pills. Instead he just stared at Heero, violet eyes wavering between the Asian's two cobalt blue. Heero took a step away, but held Duo's gaze. "Are you alright?"

Staring, the braided man furrowed his brows and asked suddenly, "Do you love me?"

Heero never faltered. He returned the gaze sincerely and clearly admitted, "Yes. I love you."