A/N: Back from vacation so back to posting on normal days. Thanks again for reviews and now we only have two more weeks of this fic until complete - four more chapters to go...

Song is Gravemakers and Gunslingers by Coheed and Cambria

Chapter Eighteen

Gravemakers and Gunslingers

Of course, it was motherfucking Brussels. And, of course, the goddamn Preventers knew that too. It was too damn obvious and I only knew from the brief video as I'd stood on that particular rooftop far too many times. It was the hospital that 'Lena had made Heero stay in after his whole hero shit and I knew that as I'd stood on that roof far too many times, looking at that view. I'd wanted to be there at that hospital, you know? I'd wanted to be close but I was too messed up. Too conflicted and I didn't know how I was supposed to act around him. If we were something. If it was all war-time hormones and shit, I wasn't going to be rejected so instead, I'd spent time on the damn flat roof, watching the world underneath, watching the world rebuild, the cranes and trucks rebuilding city.

I'd smoked and watched and worked it out. And what I'd worked out was the wrong fucking thing as I'd walked into his room, pushed him away in some fit of protecting myself and made my exit outta his life for far too long. I wondered now, as we were trying to get him back from a crazy ass sociopath if none of this shit would've ever happened if I'd been honest and not so messed up after the war.

If instead of pushing him away like I did, I coulda seen him in that hospital bed looking fragile and just gone to him, kissed him hard, fucked around with him in the inappropriate location and made it so we stayed together. Maybe then neither of us would've gone undercover as sure as shit, I wouldn't have as I wouldn't have had the loneliness to fill – the empty thing in my chest and I wouldn't have needed those undercover ops sleeping on cold warehouse floors and shitty ratty apartments if I'd just stayed with Heero.

And L2 wouldn't have happened. 'Ro wouldn't have shot Zee and sure as fuck, Roth wouldn't be trying to kill him to make some fucking point so I knew it was all my fault. That every damn time, it was me, my fuck ups, my mistakes, my blatant disregard for doing anything sensible that had ended up with Heero's life being threatened. Always fucking hurting the ones I loved.

I chewed my nails, shit I rarely did as I usually smoked when I was nervous but I didn't have smokes as even though Wufei had my go-bag, I'd run outta cigarettes and plus, I was being a gentleman. I didn't think 'Fei would appreciate me blowing smoke in his face. Body is a temple and all that bullshit. And confined space, Wufei driving us to the destination, to the old hospital and I grimaced. Shit, what was it with Roth and hospitals?

Maybe, I guess, because this one was closed too, going through renovations, as it had been damaged during the war but 'Ro had been there as it was still operational and he'd been wounded and needed damn treating as soon as damn possible. So now, years later, it was still closed, money being used for other projects, a new fancy ass state of the art place built across the city and the old one left to be renovated "one day". I'd read this shit on a tablet, looked at the schematics of the building with Wufei and we'd realised it was gonna be difficult to get in.

It was gonna be damn difficult to get in as the video had been shown on every screen around the earth sphere and not only were the Preventers there but a hoard of camera crews and news networks and just general people. There was a cordon and that was going to keep us out too.

Or maybe it wasn't. But our option was so fucking unpleasant. There was one way we could get past the cordon without being seen and I still hated the conversation we'd had in the hotel room with the laptop and multiple tablets open.

"The sewers," Trowa had said blandly and I'd glared at him through my bangs.

"You are shitting me?"

"Literally," he'd answered back, completely fucking deadpan.

"How?" 'Fei had asked.

Quatre then had pointed out something – that there was a way of getting into the courtyard where the emergency vehicles were stationed and we could pop open the manhole cover and sneak into the building, only the distance of a few metres to cover. And if we were seen, there was shit all the Preventers could do as they were not gonna attempt to enter the building as Roth was being his usual bastard self.

If an attempt was made by the Preventer to enter the building, he was threatening to blow the place to kingdom come and unleash some biological weapon into the air so they wouldn't try and get to us. And hopefully if Roth saw us, he'd see me and he'd want to welcome me with open arms. Or really try and damn finish me off.

"We're here," Wufei said as he pulled up the car on a side street and I nodded gravely.

It was only me and 'Fei. Shit, we couldn't bring Quatre – multi-billionaire and Trowa sure as shit doesn't leave his side unless there was adequate security so it left me and 'Fei. Least we had some ops gear, the black and Kevlar as he got out of the vehicle. I slung a gun over my shoulder, checked the handgun clipped to my waist and then the knife and I was armed with enough shit. Hey, I still wanted to goddamn strangle the guy. A knife or gun was seriously not necessary.

Cities like Brussels had vast underground sewer systems and we'd get lost without some kinda map so Wufei had it on his tablet as we walked towards the entrance, pulling up the cover and I looked down, wrinkling my nose for effect. I couldn't exactly smell anything yet but I didn't like the idea.

"After you," I offered, "you got the directions and all."

Wufei only gave me a half-hearted glare and hopped in, climbing down the rungs of the ladder until I heard the soft splash of water that suggested he'd jumped the remaining distance and landed. I looked up at the sky, the greyish day and then followed, thinking, hell, I've been in worse situations than this.

Or maybe I hadn't as I jumped, replicating 'Fei's move and found myself knee deep in dirty water, the sound of scuttling rats amplified by the curved walls. I thought for a second how unpleasant the water around my legs was but then just looked up at dark eyes, illuminated by the light from a tablet screen.

"Lead the way."

He did, walking quickly but carefully, the stench of the sewer system filing my nostrils as we walked, and I followed his straight back and the little light from the screen. The sound of scratching on the walls made me cringe a little as I remembered the vague sensation of biting and things crawling over my skin and I tried to ignore it and trudge behind 'Fei, feeling the water sluice around my combat pants.

I wanted to make a joke about this being a new low – an actual wading through shit scenario but instead, I just walked behind him, resolved myself with what I intended to do and thought about how I was gonna kill that arrogant son of a bitch.

It took time to get through the tunnels of the system, drips of water on my head and a few times, I stumbled into 'Fei as he stopped at junctures, figuring out where we were according to his snazzy map and then proceeded further down one way, me following a few steps behind. I hated the fact it was taking us time, that it was unpleasant, that the sounds echoed but I'd do whatever I needed to and I needed to do this shit so I did. Duo Maxwell always gets shit done.

And then Wufei stopped, paused, looked at the map and then pointed left down one tunnel. "The end of this one and then up the ladders."

"Then we run?"

"We run."

I reached out to his arm, touching his bicep, feeling the heavy material of the combat clothing and I wanted to say so much. Thank him for everything, thank him for doing all this shit for me and yet I couldn't say everything I needed to when we needed to be saving Heero and making Roth pay.

"Thanks," I said lamely and the word was not enough. It was never a fucking enough for 'Fei. Not for everything he'd done for me but it was all I had.

"I always said I'd do the honourable thing."

The words reminded me of his kiss, the brush of lips on my forehead and in the dim light, I saw his dark eyes shine. I swallowed, a lump in my damn throat all of a sudden, and decided this time was not for gooey feelings even if I felt them. Maybe I should've asked him to be my best man at our wedding or something sucky like that but hell, it was the stupidest idea I'd ever had so I let it go.

"After me, I guess?"

There were no more words as I got to the rungs of the ladders and started to climb up, the metal feeling slippy against my gloved hands as I ascended. I reached the top, the metal of the cover, and I pushed up with all my strength, feeling the sunlight on my skin that felt a little more reassuring even if it was dull and grey. As I'd never been claustrophobic, I'd never been scared of tunnels or shit but maybe I'd never had rats pawing all over me before.

I knew 'Fei was just behind me as I pushed the cover to the side and then pulled myself up as quickly as I could, seeing the entrance to the hospital, and making a low run for it. I heard some shouts, I think I even heard gunfire but it was ineffective as I raised my own automatic weapon, firing a burst of bullets into the glass door and I heard the panel shatter just before I bounded through, I turned my head to see Wufei follow and I kept running until I was out of the stupid ass reception area and was able to take a breath. But that, my friends, was a dumb as fuck idea as suddenly there was an attack as shit, Roth never was undefended, never was alone. He was a born manipulator and he always had followers, always had people who died for him and these would be no exception.

The first bullets were fired and I ducked, fell, then rolled, using my gun as I did. I heard a cry and figured that someone had been hurt and I looked up cautiously to see a corridor painted in harsh white, lit by nothing but the grey daylight and a guy on the floor with another guy hovering over him, looking at the wound.

The guy looking down had a small handgun in his hand and suddenly, without any care, he shot the wounded guy in the head. It would've shocked me, you know, in another time, in another place but fuck, it seriously didn't and I used his lack of concentration on me to run towards him, tackling him and letting the gun skid across the floor.

I straddled the guy, in a not fun way, and looked down at an older guy, stubble and scars and grey bags under his eyes. I withdrew the knife, the blade pretty damn wicked looking and I pushed it to the guys throat with enough force to draw a little blood but without any real intent. Not that I wouldn't kill this fucker. For me, all of Roth's men could die bloody and awful deaths. As this could be the man that had tortured Heero. This could be one of the men who had tortured Heero – maybe damn enjoyed punching and kicking him and burning him and cutting him or whatever else they did.

Those thoughts made me see fucking red, the mist coming over my eyes and I felt like I was no longer Duo Maxwell and fuck it felt oddly good not to be him anymore. As I felt like Shinigami and I would do whatever I needed to.

"Where's Heero Yuy?"

He laughed at me and I pushed the blade in further and this time, I was really not fucking around.

"Work it out yourself."

The guy was not gonna help and I had no patience. I lifted my blade from his throat and gripped his head between my hands, lifting it up and then slamming the back of his skull against the hard tiled surface. It did what I intended and I hopped to my feet, leaving him on the floor, dazed as I looked around expecting to see Wufei to find… he was not there. I stopped for a second thinking I should go find him. His words echoed in my head. The honourable thing. The honourable thing would be to never leave a man behind. But I had one objective and I thought like the soldier I had once been, stepping over the corpse and incapacited man, running then up a flight of stairs, making my way to the roof, hoping... hoping it was going to be easy. Hoping that I could save Heero.

I knew what I planned on doing as I ran up the stairs feeling my adrenalin surge and my heart beat faster, the da dum ringing in my ears. I planned on doing my last stupid thing. My body was pretty fucked, I knew that, bruised and too damn used up and I was only a kid. And the pacemaker… my heart was already damaged and Heero… Heero wasn't damaged.

Heero was perfect. And worth ten of me and I would offer my death for Heero's as shit, I was the one that Roth had wanted. I was always the one he wanted. Son of L2. Fucked with his plans. And I would die for Heero. I was not afraid to do it. Not afraid to be shot, not afraid as long as I knew Heero would live as he would get over me. He would as he was stronger than me. Better than me and he'd lived and love someone else and I'd be damn happy at that thought. As I had nothing left but anger and pain and revenge. I loved him, hell, I fucking loved him but I couldn't be what he wanted or needed.

I knew the way to the roof and I hopped up multiple stairs at a time, taking it fast, too damn fast as I felt my breathing become laboured but I needed to get there quick and confront Roth. I got to the door and while I expected it guarded, locked or something, it wasn't, it was open and I knew that I was expected.

With a shove, I barged through the door and walked out onto the flat roof, and felt the attack from multiple angles, my body crashing to the rough ground, my cheek pressed into the asphalt. I felt a booted foot against my face and I looked and I saw Heero for the first time in too fucking long. It had only been days, brief days, but seeing him made me feel so much better. And it made me confirm I was doing the right thing.

His eyes met mine and I could see he was in pain, that he was a little drugged and a little light headed or something but those blue eyes were still piercing. Still burning through my soul and I saw how his hair moved in the wind, the way it blew over his face, the way his jaw was firmly set in determination or defiance even when he was knelt on the harsh ground, even when he had a gun pointed at his head.

"Heero," I mouthed, the word on my lip felt good, directed towards him and I thought about his name – his name that was as false as my own, but was his. And I thought of all the times I'd said it and how it didn't matter that it wasn't his as it felt right, it was him, the boy I'd fallen for in the middle of a fucking war and the man he'd become. The next words I mouthed would've made me feel like some sap even a few days ago but now I mouthed them, meeting his eye and I tried to say everything to him in a glance.

That he was the only one I'd ever fucking wanted. That he was the man I had wanted to spend the rest of my life with. That I'd wanted it to be us forever and I'd agreed to do something as dumb as fuck as marrying him. But all I did was mouth three words.

"I love you."

And then I looked up to see who the motherfucker was who had their goddamn boot on my face and I knew, I fucking knew it'd be him.

"I thought you'd be dead."

"Lot harder to kill me than that. You should learn not to leave me anywhere to die and actually pull the fuckin' trigger."

He snorted and his boot left my face, him leaning down, and pushing the barrel of the gun where his foot had been moment before. "I think that's a good idea."

"Wait!" I said and he smirked. "You can kill me – however you fucking want, I will jump off this goddamn building in front of the world's press, scream who the fuck I am or whatever the hell you want – if you let Heero go. I'm the one you want dead. I killed your daughter."

For a second, I glanced back over to Heero and I saw his eyes widen and him mouth "no" but it was too late as I saw him grabbed and I was being hauled to my feet, all my weapons removed and I was tempted to run towards him, to touch him one last time – to ask a dying man's wish but I had no way to bargain and I had nothing else to give but my life. And Roth could take it. For Heero he could take it.

"Deal," Roth said, "get Yuy out of here."

I tried to communicate with Heero, to let this happen but damn, I should've fucking known. As Heero wouldn't let me go down without a fight, wouldn't let me die when he could die, and it seemed like we were both the same stubborn asshole.

As a split second after he acted, so did I and on the roof above Brussels, all motherfucking hell broke loose. And Shinigami don't mind causing a bit of hell.