Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Angel in the Flames ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Title: "Angel in the Flames"

Author: Desdomonda (Blackmoon2101@Aol.com)

Archive: Currently Not Anywhere

Category: Yaoi/ Shonen-Ai, Angst, Lemon

Pairings: 1+2, 3+4, 5+S, OCS x 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, Bandai does.

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: Yaoi, Lemon, Violence, Angst, NCS, OC

Spoilers: Not really

Notes: Duo is abducted by a gang. NCS, Angst, and confusion ensues. Will Heero rescue Duo in time?

Feedback: Of course!!!

Chapter 10

Wufei's hands knotted into fists, and unclenched nervously.

"Hello Sally, how have things been?"

Sally smiled at him, her mouth twitching happily. "Things have been good over in Preventer, we miss having you around though. How have things been for you?"

The Chinese ex pilot scowled. "How do you think? I've got Duo nearly dead, Heero delusional, and, and…THEM!" He gestured wildly to Trowa and Quatre who were playfully knocking into each other at inopportune moments.

Trowa looked up sharply. "What?"

Quatre just shrugged at him. Sally giggled at the display and laid a hand reassuringly on the irate man's shoulder.

"Don't worry about it `Fei. Have you been getting enough sleep lately?" WuFei bristled at the stupid pet name.

Sally laughed at his expression of complete revulsion. "You need to relax Wufei, geez you're so tense!" she giggled some and waved down Kohana who was going to treat a kid who had sliced open his toe, and needed stitches. "Hey guys this is Kohana. She's Heero's doctor and currently serving as Duo's nurse."

The girl blushed as Quatre began to push at Trowa's hair, draping himself all over the taller boy in the process, giggling madly the whole time. Trowa extended a hand stoically and shook the doctor's hand, but there was a smile playing at his lips, threatening to break free. Kohana smiled despite everything.

"Heero's upstairs in Duo's room. He was trying to take care of his hair, I don't think he's going to be able to pull it off."

Sally smiled. "If he decided that he was going to do it, it's done."

Kohana waved a hand and walked off to the waiting room to help her patient. Quatre shifted his weight nervously.

"Um…how is Duo, exactly?"

Sally smiled weakly. "He'll pull through, but he's in horrible shape. We induced a coma…but there's no way to know how he'll come through until we pull him out."

Quatre shivered. He could feel Heero's despair, his utter self-loathing. All he was getting from Duo was a complete lack of hope. Sally gestured to them to follow her.

"Heero has a pretty bad concussion and his stab wound is pretty nasty. Knowing Heero though, he's not even feeling it now. He's probably really tired though."

They walked down the hall of Intensive Care, Sally pointed out certain inhabitants that had been brought in from their successful raid.

"Ah, here it is."

She pushed open the door. Wufei's jaw dropped, Quatre's eyes went wide in shock, Sally choked on her sentence and Trowa blinked in surprise. Heero was holding Duo's limp form protectively against his chest. Duo's still damp hair flowed around them in disarray. Quatre smiled warmly at the sight while Wufei shook his head in disbelief. Sally looked rather puzzled, she turned to Quatre for some sort of answer, and he merely shrugged innocently.

"Why don't you guys visit the other patients, I'll stay here for a bit." Quatre offered. Trowa nodded at him and Wufei just stuttered, confused. Sally just took their arms and led them away.

Quatre slumped into the chair beside Duo's bed. Heero's face looked at peace, relaxed. In his sleep Heero could be as peaceful and innocent as a child. Duo's face was relaxed, His physical pains chased away by the drugs pumped into him by drips. His breathing was shallow but it was regular, a soothing sound. The blonde Arabian's face broke out into a mischievous grin as he leaned forward carefully, delicately placing his lips near Heero's ear.

"Heero! We've got a mission!!!" The sleeping man's eyes jumped open, ready for anything. Quatre laughed, a hearty giggle. Heero eyed the small giggling ex pilot with a light in his eyes.

"Hello Quatre, how are you?"

Quatre smiled, his giggling fit at an end. "I'm fine Heero, you look pretty good too." Heero glared at his embarrassing position, shifting his weight to better talk with Quatre.

"He needed to have his hair de-knotted, I finished and fell asleep. A braid was beyond my abilities."

Quatre sniffed, a sour look on his face. "You care about him, Heero. He's not a mission! You don't need to be ashamed that you care enough to fix his hair." Quatre's eyes betrayed the hurt he felt inside for the taller ex pilot, they betrayed his need to say something more, and his hesitation. Heero looked momentarily stunned, but then it faded, his mask snapping into place.

"I felt my body heat may help to break the fever."

Quatre snorted, obviously pissed. Heero's eyes narrowed. "Are you capable of braiding Duo's hair?"

Quatre crossed his hands across his chest. "No."

Heero scowled. "No?" Quatre stood up straighter.

"Heero, I have twenty-nine sisters, I am capable of braiding Duo's hair."

Heero was getting irritated. "You said you were not."

Quatre sniffed at Heero. "I meant I will not. However I would be willing to show you how to be capable of braiding his hair." He spat the word like it was poisonous. Heero nodded, a scowl etching his features deeply.

"That is acceptable."

Quatre looked about ready to slap him across the face. He breathed deeply and reached for the abandoned brush. Heero moved over and allowed for the smaller pilot to shift Duo so that they could both reach his hair. Quatre ran the brush through Duo's long hair, devoid of knots, due to Heero's meticulous brushing.

"First you separate it into three sections, like this." Heero nodded, helping Quatre to make sure they were equal. "Then you take this one, and put it over the middle one, and then the other one, like this. Then that one goes over like that, and that. See? It's easy!" He handed the pieces to Heero who stared at them like they were some strange code. He began to imitate Quatre's actions. "Yeah that's it. See? It's simple!"

Heero nodded and continued braiding Duo's hair. Quatre sighed and pulled up a chair.

"Heero, I know you care about Duo, it's not a bad thing. There isn't any more Doctor J around to yell at you for showing some emotion! I understand how you feel, I know you're confused. You can tell me how you feel, really."

Heero's hands paused in their motion, his eyes shut as if he were in pain. "I need something to tie this off with."

Quatre sighed and handed him a rubber band that he had brought along for the occasion. "Heero, I understand, really, I know how confusing and gut wrenching it can be, I've felt the same way! It took Trowa and me years, and we jus--"

Heero gnashed his teeth in frustration. "Quatre, Get. Out."

The blonde hung his head, aware he had pushed to hard. "Heero, I'm sorry. It isn't any of my business, I shouldn't pry, I just wish I could help you." He stalked out of the small room with a sorrowful look over his shoulder at his irate Japanese friend.

"Hey, Quatre what's the matter?" Quatre glared at Sally, his face a carefully controlled mask of depression.

"Sally, what is wrong with Duo, there is more to him than superficial injuries. You don't induce a coma for flesh wounds!"

Sally looked away. "He has several broken ribs, none of them punctured anything. He has numerous internal bruises, concussion, malnutrition, and dehydration. His mental state is undetermined."

Wufei blinked and turned away. Trowa reached a hand around Quatre's shoulders. "How long?"

Sally eyed the tall boy critically. "A month and a half before we decrease the drugs keeping him under. His mental state is most likely extremely fragile, I have no idea how long he will need to spend in the mental ward."

Wufei spluttered. "Mental ward!?" Sally placed a hand on his shoulder but her eyes reflected an ocean's depth of sadness.

"We found many old scars indicating previous rapes, it is likely this incident will dredge up painful memories as well as be a traumatizing experience in itself."

The three boys closed their eyes, none of them could stand to look directly at one another. None of them had the most pleasant childhood, none of them had asked one another, it was the past, no need to live in it. Wufei stirred.

"What about Heero?"

Sally smiled. "No need to worry on Heero. His stab wounds will be healed within the next week, his concussion has been nearly healed although headaches will plague him for a few weeks more. He could be released as soon as tomorrow." Trowa sighed, his arms wrapped around the smaller form leaning against him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heero pulled the needle, watching the IV pull out of his vein, and up through his skin. He felt lost, He was released, he could go home, but why would he want to? What was there that was of any use to him?

He wanted to be there, where Duo was, to help care for him, to be there when they pulled him out. He wanted to be there for Duo when it mattered, in the moment of reckoning when he opened his eyes. It seemed forever before they would let him wake up. It had been nearly a week since the rescue. A stream of people had seen him, thanked him, family of victims, and people he didn't know.

He just politely nodded and shook their hands, recounting that it was the least he could do. He felt lost, the world swirling around him in a confused mess of emotions that he could no longer repress. He wandered through the halls of the hospital, finding Duo's room. The braided man's chest rose and fell steadily, his eyes closed in peaceful sleep. Heero looked down on Duo's still form, his arms across his chest but his eyes wavering from their stern gaze.

"I think Quatre may be right, I am confused…I don't understand this type of thing. You were always there before to tell me how I should feel, and now…it…it hurts. I can't understand what it means. I can't will it away, I've tried. Quatre insinuated that these feelings may be love, but I don't see myself as being capable of such a thing.

They are hiding things from me, not that I am incapable of finding them out for myself. I can not imagine you in fragile mental health. I promise to help with everything until you return to yourself." Heero touched Duo's mangled hand, carefully inspecting the fingers protruding from the cast.

"Ah! There you are, Heero. It's time to go home, you've missed a lot of work, ne?" Heero placed Duo's hand back on the bed.

"Yes Wufei, I have." Heero turned from the bed, eyeing the Chinese boy's lithe form, leaning comfortably against the counter.

The two walked from the hospital in uncomfortable silence, Wufei's hands buried deep within his pockets, Heero studying the patterns of the floor. Wufei leaned against the car, back against the driver's side door.

"Do you want to drive home Heero?"

Heero blinked, and stared at his hands. "Would you like to? I have no preference." Wufei shrugged, pulling himself into the driver's seat and unlocking Heero's door. As they drove from the parking lot, WuFei huffed impatiently, nervously eyeing Heero, who was staring from the window at the passing world.

"Sally mentioned…she wanted me to talk to you…I mean…she said Duo might need…Ummm…" Heero stared unnervingly at the Chinese ex-pilot. Heero filled in the blanks.

"She said Duo may be in fragile mental health; that this would stir up issues long put behind him, or hidden. She said many things Wufei, and I am not as inept not to find out Duo's exact condition."

Wufei blushed, ashamed of himself, of his assumptions that Heero would lie wounded in the hospital and wait for information to come to him.

It was a difficult drive for the two ex-pilots, neither of them willing to speak on the matter pressing on both their hearts.

As the car rumbled into the driveway, Heero was the first to leap from his seat and stride for the house. Quatre was sitting with Trowa on the small couch that was usually occupied by Duo's limp body groaning with a hangover or lounging before the TV. The blonde leapt to his feet, ready to welcome Heero home. The Japanese man's blatant look made him stand back, hurt. Heero climbed the stairs to be alone in his room, needing the quiet solitude of being alone. Trowa laid a sympathetic arm around Quatre's sagging shoulder, and whispered reassuring words into his ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quatre pushed his beans on his plate. He had worked hard to make a nice dinner for Heero, his first real cooked meal in a week.

"He didn't even come down to dinner."

Trowa eyed the smaller man apologetically, but he kept his thoughts sealed. WuFei played with his rice, lamenting at the spices used, rice was supposed to be plain, or fried with vegetables, not destroyed with all these strange spices.

"Maybe he's not hungry, or he fell asleep or something." Quatre shrugged sadly, no one was touching the food. He smiled weakly, and continued to eat his own meal, although it tasted quite bland.

?~~~~~~~~~~

"Heero? I brought you some food, it's rice and beans and some chicken, nothing real special but I figured you might be hungry. You should eat something…It's not healthy to not eat."

Heero stared at him with eyes that seemed completely empty in the dark of the room. Quatre smiled a little and flipped on the light. Heero growled and shut his eyes against the invading brightness.

"No need, I would have gotten some myself later." Quatre smiled and sat down.

"Heh, yeah. You probably would have but I thought this would be nice."

Heero nodded, accepting the plate. "Thank you Quatre." He set the plate aside on his desk, preoccupied. "Quatre, I was thinking, about what you said the other day, and maybe you have a point. I'm not sure what to do with my life, I was raised for only one purpose, and it's gone now."

Quatre sighed, playing psychiatrist was such a rewarding, if nerve-wracking job.

Heero continued. "I never looked any farther than the present. I never thought that the war might end with me still alive. I wasn't lying when I said that my life was cheap. There are thousands of people out there that have the potential to be the next me. All they have to do is throw away the little meaning life has for them. I do think, quite often now that I should have died then. What a perfect time to die, don't you think? You've freed the world, it's Christmas, everyone is happy. Sure a couple people might miss you for a while, then they realize what an ass you were and move on. The rest of the world adds you to the list of heroes and people who died for a reason.

Except only the people who would miss me for a bit would realize that it wasn't for a cause…just because someone told me to. Duo asked me once, "If Doctor J told you to jump off a cliff, would you?" and I didn't hesitate when I said, "Yes." I followed with numerous military reasons why I might have to jump off a cliff and recounted a few times when I've had to. You know, I think right then, I caused him pain. I could see it in his face, and the way he held his braid."

Quatre huffed, interrupting Heero's monologue. "Of course you hurt him Heero! Duo, and the rest of us for that matter, care about you! We don't want you to die! We've seen glimpses of the real you. Duo's seen enough so he even loves you! No one, not even Doctor J can beat the humanity out of a human!"

Heero was stunned he lay back on the bed, leaning against the wall. "Duo…loves me?"

Quatre scoffed loudly. "Isn't it obvious?"

Heero wasn't listening, in his ears echoed the pounding message drilled into him over and over. `You are emotionless. You are expendable. You are a machine. No one can care for you. No one can love you. You are emotionless…' Quatre's words broke him out of the mantra that had lain in wait, for years, without provocation it had faded to a mere throb in the back of his mind.

Now as the words passed through his head, he could see how people had changed it. He was still expendable, wasn't everyone? But emotionless? Hardly, he had felt the pain himself, there was no one to tell him that the pangs were not an unexplainable phenomenon. Quatre had told him what they were, Duo had, and in not so many words so had any person that was not Doctor J. Relena had taught him emotions, although he could not name them at the time. Aggravation, frustration, even, he thought, he cared about her. Not enough to spend any amount of time with her, but still, he certainly wished her no harm.

There were countless others as well, starting with the little girl with no name, the girl with the yellow flower and the puppy named Mary, the puppy who's limp body he carried out of the flames of the wreckage he caused. A simple miscalculation on his part had killed the girl who had cared for him, he who had not seen the face of non-military personnel in perhaps years. She had taught him sadness, and guilt. Them, the emotions that stayed with him throughout the rest of his life and the war. Heero sighed; he owed a lot to that little girl's ghost, should he ever happen upon her.

Quatre smiled, Heero was completely lost in thought, his face contorting with his internal revelations. "Hey, Heero, why don't you eat your dinner? It's probably getting cold by now." Heero looked up, and graced Quatre with a rare, and incredibly beautiful smile