DISCLAIMER: Don't own.

CHAPTER 11

Duo stared at the cup of coffee resting on the kitchen table in front of him. It wasn't his normal habit at 10:00 at night, but he would make an exception tonight. Duo had vainly tried to distract himself with a comic book, to pass the time, to escape from the fear, but it didn't do any good. He found himself tracing the grain lines on his wooden table with his spilled, cold coffee.

The front door opened and closed quietly. Duo didn't look up, didn't move. He heard Heero stop at the door to the kitchen. Probably deciding what to say to him. Duo opened his mouth to speak, his first attempt came out as a croak. Clearing his throat he tried again.

"There was an accident at the garage today." His voice was even, emotionless.

Heero swiftly moved into the kitchen, kneeling next to Duo, looking him over for injuries. "Are you alright? Is Sam?"

Duo shook his head, "It was in the office, Charity was playing with Cammi," Heero's eyes widened in fear, he stood, looking ready to spring into action. He didn't know what to do though. He didn't interrupt, he could tell Duo was having a hard time speaking as it was.

"A bookshelf fell on top of them. Sam and I got in there as fast as we could, and we took them to the hospital." Duo trailed off, remembering the horrible ride in the ambulance as the EMT examined Camille and Charity.

Unable to wait any longer, Heero grabbed Duo's hands, "Is Camille alright, Duo? Is Charity?"

"Charity shielded Camille, and in doing so broke her collar bone and 2 ribs." Duo took a deep breath, Heero tried not to run out of the room into Camille's nursery. "If she hadn't, Camille would probably be dead. Fortunately, she came away with only a bump on her head." As soon as Heero heard that, he squeezed Duo's hands and headed into Camille's room. There she was resting, a small bandage not quite covering up the bruise on her fragile forehead. Heero put a hand on her back. Her breathing was even.

Duo came up behind him, putting his hand on Heero's shoulder. "We need to talk." Heero let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded.

Heero followed Duo into the kitchen, Duo poured his coffee down the sink and filled it again with fresh coffee from the pot and placed it in front of Heero. "We have to wake Cammi every 2 hours, I'm tired, it's your turn." Heero nodded, but didn't drink the coffee. He didn't need stimulants to keep him awake.

They sat in silence for a short time, looking at each other warily. Duo didn't know where to start, and Heero got the impression that speaking before Duo would be . . . inappropriate.

Finally Duo took a deep breath, "I can't do this Heero." Heero's breath caught in his chest, but he kept his face calm. "I can never, ever go through this again, not knowing where you are, when you'll be home." He stood and began pacing. "I'm tough, I can handle being alone – but only if I am meant to be. Waiting for you constantly, with no way to get a hold of you. . . What if it had been something serious? What if, God forbid, Camille hadn't –" Duo stopped himself.

"I know you think that not telling me is protecting me, and fine, I am willing to concede that point. But I need some way to get a hold of you. If something happens, I shouldn't be calling Tro and Quatre first." Duo stopped his pacing, sat in a chair and look directly at Heero, waiting for a response.

Heero considered, "Let me think about it." Duo looked hurt at his response. "I agree with you, Duo. I just need to think how to handle this." Duo's expression cleared and he took a deep breath. He stood from his chair and sat on Heero's lap. Heero stayed stiff.

"You're not alone, Heero." Duo said tenderly, chastely kissing him on the lips. "You don't have to handle things alone anymore." Heero groaned, as Duo's gentle kiss became more hungry. Their fight had put a few restrictions on the physical intimacy. Heero knew that Duo was right, but Duo didn't – couldn't understand what he had to do. He would think of something. . .

Heero opened his mouth to explain, but Duo caught his lips and murmured dissent. "Tonight, you're going to think about it, tomorrow we can talk." Duo breathed into Heero's ear.

The teasing was too much for the Duo-starved Heero to take. Standing abruptly, he lifted Duo to their bed, the whole while, Duo never took his lips off his husband.

In the morning, Duo felt better than he had in days. His arms were wrapped around Heero and he let the last evening fill his mind. Something was nagging at his memory though. He sat up with a rush. Jumping out of bed, he ran into his daughter's room. Urgently, he put a hand on her back and carefully lifted her up. She stirred, her face scrunching up. Duo sighed a huge breath of relief.

He heard Heero enter the room and turned to meet him. To his surprise, Heero was laughing.

"Not funny, Heero." Duo tried to look stern, but he realized that he was naked and Heero only had on his boxers – and they were backwards.. He smiled reluctantly as Camille started crying.

"I remembered to wake her up, Duo." Heero moved forward and offered to take the fussy infant. "She's probably more tired than normal, but she woke up every time."

Duo nodded, smiling. "No work today?" He asked cautiously. Heero shook his head, rocking Camille in his arms as he moved around the room.

"Well, you can stay home with Camille while I go in for awhile then." Duo said a bit reluctantly, sorry to miss a day with Heero. But Duo wouldn't dream of asking Sam to come in today, and since Jerry was out until tomorrow, Duo needed to keep the shop open.

Heero looked a little surprised, so Duo explained. So, after a quick shower, Duo headed out, hoping that if he could get all the cars finished and picked up he could return to his family early today.

The shop was not in good condition. Duo felt too tired to try to pick up the office this morning, so he grabbed the invoices off the desk and relocated to a semi clear tool box. Then he grabbed the phone, called Sam to check on Charity. She was resting. Sam offered to come in, but Duo threatened to fire him if he did. Then Duo called the hospital to make sure all their hospital bills were transferred to him. He knew Sam couldn't really afford it, but Duo could.

Then Duo worked on finishing up the car that was on the lift. No sooner did he begin but another car with transmission trouble was towed in. With a friendly smile, Duo took the job and had the car pulled in.

Around three, Duo wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked around. Almost all the cars were picked up. A quick call to the last car's owner confirmed that they would be there in an hour. Deciding for a change of pace, Duo headed into the office. He picked the door up from the floor and set it against the door. The door was surprisingly still whole. He moved into the office. The shelves were lying on top of a bunch of stuff, books, records, magazines that had been piled on the shelves. Sighing, Duo crouched down to pick up the shelves.

His legs trembled, it hadn't felt this heavy yesterday. Wincing, Duo grabbed a chair with his foot and propped it under the shelves. He reinforced it with another chair and then stood back, rubbing the small of his back. He crouched under the shelf and used his shoulders to lift the wooden shelves. Definitely heavier than he remembered. There was no going back now though, not unless he wanted to drop them on himself.

With a deep breath and a manly grunt, Duo heaved upwards quickly. The shelves rocked backwards and swayed forward dangerously for a moment before settling into place. Duo took a step forward, or tried to, but his legs didn't seem to be there anymore. With a rushing in his ears, Duo looked down. He couldn't see his legs, all he noticed was how fast the floor was approaching.

Tsutsuku

XxXxX

I am sorry this is short and late. I was enjoying the great outdoors – which didn't include internet. I will [hopefully] have another chapter ready soonish. :D

Review please! I would love to know what you think... I also think I may have the plot figured out... YAY! I am now writing with a purpose!

~Annie