L2's Child

Chapter 15

by Nix Winter

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing, or Naruto, the weird story idea for L2's Child is mine though.

Author's Note: I have a couple phone interviews for jobs tomorrow, and face to face interview as well. It's odd how grand plans just sometimes come down to wanting something normal and safe again, just to feel.. my feet on the ground. I don't want to feel like I'm bad or that that the world is bad, just want nice peaceful things so that then grand dreams will grow again.

Chapter Fifteen

Duo woke, but covertly, being careful to hide any change in his breathing. Strong arms held him, gentle and tender. A body pressed up against him from behind, with even breathing and a scent that was Heero. It wasn't as if it were Heero's soap, or the weird mix of hydraulic fluid and gun powder that Heero often smelled like, but this was more living and vital, like a subconscious song of Heero. Heero was calm. Duo smiled, grinning to himself.

He remembered being in a dumpster in the back of a mall with Heero. Heero'd been up way too long and he hadn't lasted long when Duo wrapped his arms around him and hummed this lullaby that Sister Helen had sung to the younger children. Duo had refused then, and now to accept that he'd been a younger child. He'd always been able to talk care of himself. He closed his eyes though and soaked in the safety of having Heero hold him.

Maybe he'd just dreamed the war was over, that he was being the defacto sheriff on L2. That sounded like a crazy dream and he'd never had such complicated dreams, but if they were still on Earth, the war sill on... what else could it be? "Heero."

"Um?" Heero kissed the back of his neck and Duo's eyes flew open in surprised.

"Where are we?" He asked calmly. Maybe he was dreaming right now. Maybe they were undercover. His abdomen hurt, hurt like stitches and rushed shoving of crap back in. God... maybe he was dying and that was why Heero was holding him so nice. "I' not dying, am I? Cuz I'd really like to fucking know that, so don't candy coat it for me. And if you thin I am dying, don't be so damn sure of it, will you? I cheated death a lot of times before. Where are the others? I had a hell of a dream. I dreamt I was on L2, living there..."

Heero moved up onto his elbow, smiling as if he'd just found his favorite keyboard. "We were on L2. Probably still are. You collapsed in your apartment. You were in a coma. Quatre wanted to abort the pregnancy and blue light emanated from you. You spoke in a female voice and then we were here."

"I'm so glad to see you," Duo said, a hand reaching up to touch Heero's face. "I feel... confused. I don't remember any of that and my gut hurts, but I am really happy to see you. I always wanted to tell you that I love you. It just never felt like the right time."

"Understood," Heero agreed. He caught Duo's hand gently and drew it to his lips to kiss Duo's palm. "I love you too. Duo," Heero paused just long enough to make sure he had Duo's attention completely. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Understand me? You don't have to carry the baby. You don't have to give it up. You don't have to do anything on L2. I'll go anywhere with you. I'll stay with you for as long as you want because... I want to be with you."

Duo licked his lip, shivered and snuggled closer to Heero. "Why do you keep bringing up a baby? Pregnancy?"

"Duo." Heero took gentle, but firm hold of Duo's chin, looking him right in the eyes. "You are currently pregnant by an invasive and probably involuntary medical procedure. You have been confused and disoriented since we found you. At first I thought it was drugs, but now... I think you need to face reality. I will be there with you, no matter what needs to be faced."

"The baby," realization cut through some of the delusion clouding Duo's mind. "My baby. Our baby. I don't want to lose our baby. We're having a family, Heero. I remember now! We're going to be together and I'm not going to let our baby see... how ugly the world can be."

"I understand," Heero said again, same tone of voice as a 'mission accepted'. "What is this place where we are?"

"Oh," Duo said, sitting up. "We're in Konoha! Let's go find Naruto! We can be ninja."

"Can pregnant people be ninja?" Heero crossed his arms and and looked at Duo firmly. "You were very fragile … at home."

Duo laid both hands over his belly, grinned like a maniac. "Better to start them off young! This is a place where justice wins. People can be human here, good and bad and the air is clean. We can make sure the bad guys don't win and that everyone has a fair chance. That's my Nindo! My ninja way."

Heero rubbed his head, nodding appreciatively. "In that case, my Nindo is to take care of you, to be your lover, your shadow, and always take care of you."

"You can be a medical nin then," Duo said, authoritatively. "Come on! Let's go look around."

Duo was up and half way out the door by the time Heero gave chance. Honestly, Heero didn't care about the baby, about much of anything. He only cared about Duo and if Duo wanted to live in this fantasy, then he'd live right here with him, for so long as their bodies back in the real world could manage to live.

"It's completely theoretical," Dr. Gates said. "It would have been implanted during the war, if it's what I think it is. As we're still working with prototypes, this would have had to have been, well, not the most sophisticated level of technology."

Trowa squeezed Quatre's shoulder reassuringly. "How do we disable it?"

"It's organic. You can't scan for it. It's had years to take hold in his brain. It's meant to be a protective device, a shield and a teleport. When activated the device draws on the host's biological energy, creating a shield. The second stage is to teleport the host to a safe location."

"Duo's been very confused lately. Where is a place he'd consider safe?" Trowa mused, staring at the prone Heero, the unmoving Duo on the hospital bed.

"I don't know," Quatre admitted. "I just want to protect him. I just want him to be safe and happy."

Trowa leaned to wrap his arms around Quatre. "I know that. When he comes back to himself, he'll understand that."