Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Bloody Valentine ❯ Chapter 5

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Bloody Valentine: Part Five

Panic shot through Wufei's trembling body as he realized where Duo had taken him. The car had stopped outside of an old, crumbling barn, plagued with graffiti and broken fragments of ruin and abandon. A place Wufei had once called home. A place he would rather leave in his bloodstained past. A shiver ran through his spine at the very sight of the place, remembering the things that had happened there. But Duo didn't know about any of that. This was where Duo had found him one night four years earlier.

~/Duo retracted a lighter from his pocket and lit the cigarette that had been dangling from his lips for the past twenty minutes. The 'short' walk that had been intended to clear his mind had taken him much further from home than he realized. Needing somewhere to sleep for the night, he caught a glimpse of a barn off the path a bit. He leaned against a thick tree trunk, casting a sidelong look toward the tattered looking building. A closer view hadn't provided the hopeful evidence of safety, but sleeping outside at night anywhere wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do, not in this town. Or whatever town he had walked to, by now. A rustle from the leaves above his head startled him abruptly and he fought back a cry as a figure slid from the branches and into a crouch at his feet. Duo pressed his body as firmly as possible into the knobby trunk, attempting to avoid the impossibility that the person who had just eerily dropped from the tree would not see him.

"What are you doin' here?" a young male voice questioned harshly, standing to try to meet Duo's eyes, though he was a good three or four inches shorter.

"Well, last time I checked, nobody owned this land, so I might ask _you_ the same question," Duo said confidently, knowing that the stranger was younger than him, "but don't worry, I'm just taking a walk. So what _are_ you doing here?"

"I _live_ here," he said defensively.

"In a tree?" Duo questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"No, not in a tree, _asshole_, over there," the younger boy said with a gesture towards the barn.

Duo laughed, "I was just joking, kid. Strangely enough, I was heading to your barn--"

"--my house," he corrected automatically.

"--to your _house_ for somewhere to spend the night. D'ya think there's any room for a kid with no where to go, just for tonight?"

The younger boy moved closer to him, squinting at him as if he would figure out this boy's story that easily. Even in the dark, however, he was good at reading people's eyes. He could see that Duo knew pain; he wasn't simply a lost rich kid who had wandered too far from daddy's estate. A few moments more of the inspection, and he nodded, beckoning the older boy to follow him.

"My name is Wufei," he said airily, as if he was of a higher power.

"I'm Duo Maxwell," Duo returned with a grin, already certain that he would get along well with this boy.

The inside of the barn contained two lamps, blankets scattered everywhere, and all sorts of images and words painted on the walls, many of which were in Chinese. Across the front interior wall beamed 'The Dragon Clan' in bold black with a very elegant painted dragon beneath it.

"So, what's this Dragon Clan deal?" Duo asked curiously, looking around the walls.

"That's my gang," he said steadily, tossing Duo a bundle of blankets.

Duo raised an eyebrow, "Where are they? I mean, don't they live here too?"

"I'm the last of 'em," the young Chinese boy looked him in the eye, "the ones that got caught were put in foster homes, some just left us, and.... a few of them are dead."

"So you're living here alone, huh?" Duo said, the only traces of sympathy an apologetic glint in his eye.

"Yeah, but what 'bout you? Why are you out here alone?" Wufei asked, feeling a need to have the question answered. Something about Duo seemed so much different than himself, but he carried an air of pain and the smell of death.

"I just needed to get out of the house. My brother... well see, I just live with my two brothers... my brother Jerden, he just shot himself," he confessed reluctantly. Wufei stared at how calmly the information was delivered. He nodded letting his eyes show Duo how he felt instead of meaningless words. For a long while, the twelve and fourteen year old boys stared at each other, until Wufei broke the silence.

"I guess we should get some sleep, we've both had a hard day."

"Yeah? What happened to you?"

"The only other member of the Dragon Clan that was left besides me was put in a foster home today. She was my best friend, her name was Meiran," he said, switching off the lamp./~

Now it was Duo's turn to lead him into the old barn.

"Duo, I told you I never wanted to come back here, dammit," he growled, stopping in the doorway. This place had been their beginning; he wasn't going to allow it to be their end. If Duo was planning to throw him back out on the streets... Shit... Duo wanted to get rid of him. Wufei clutched the doorjamb to keep himself upright as waves of fear surged through his body. Why didn't Duo want him around anymore?

"Wu, what's wrong?" Duo asked peering at him awkwardly.

"I... I... I-I don't want to be alone!" he burst as he turned and bolted through the open field, pausing briefly only to jump an old, crumbling fence.

"Wufei!" Duo called as he started after him, but Wufei had always been the one running from people. There was no way Duo could keep up.

//Gods, he thinks I'm _mad_ at him...//

He couldn't believe Wufei thought he was going to abandon him here, that he would just leave him alone and vulnerable and cold. Hadn't he made it clear that he would do anything for him, that he would even give the time he spent with Heero up if he needed it? Wufei should know that he cared, even if he didn't return the love that he gave so willingly. That love belonged to Heero. Wufei and Heero needed to stay away from each other; all they were doing was causing each other pain. But that would mean Duo would have to choose who he loved more, and that was a choice he was unwilling to make.

Duo's breath caught from running as he paused to look around. A pain was throbbing in his side and he plopped down in the grass, knowing that Wufei was too far away to even attempt to catch up. He gave up searching for him, knowing that he would return to the barn eventually. He always came back; where else could he go? Falling to his back, Duo stared towards the grey clouds, signaling the onslaught of rain to come. Today was just like the day they met, Duo realized as memories flooded over his aching body.

~/"Get out of my room, little boy," Jerden said in a high, shaky voice, pointing the gun at his little brother.

"Jerden, what the hell are you doing with Paulo's gun?" Duo yelled.

"Dammit, Duo, get out!" Jerden shoved Duo into the hallway, sending his back into brutal union with wall as a door slammed in his face. Ignoring the pain driving through his body, he latched onto the doorknob and tugged as roughly as his limbs would allow. A loud shot rang through the house as the brothers cried out in unison, one screaming for the life of someone he loved, and one screaming belatedly for a savior.

Paulo rushed into the hallway, his socks skidding on the wooden floor as he slipped into a discarded laundry basket, as he saw Duo clutching the doorknob, tears spilling down his cheeks. Gathering the fourteen year old into his arms, he whispered,

"He finally did it, huh?"

Duo could only nod as his oldest and only brother gave him a pat and told him to take a walk while he took care of things./~

Duo breathed in the air around him deeply, nearly feeling the exact emotions and pain of that day, the scent in the sky and grass and everything around consumed him as he closed his eyes and allowed sleep to take him.

+

A cold, prickling, damp feeling stung at Duo's face, waking him from the somehow peaceful nightmares of memory. He couldn't bring himself to open his eyes yet, there was something easier about living in memories, no matter how hell driven they were, than facing the present. With a groan, he put his hand to his head, realizing that his neck and head were being supported by the trunk of a tree, instead of the soft grass that had cushioned him as he fell asleep. His eyelids fluttered open, revealing to him that he was back under the tree by the barn. He had slept until the evening, judging by the lack of sunlight, but how had he returned in his slumber?

A glint of black stole past the corner of his eyes as he peered into the branches above, seeing Wufei had actually come back to him, and obviously _he_ had brought him in from the pouring rain. The Asian had his eyes closed, and had probably drifted off himself, Duo noticed as he climbed the tree. Seating himself on the nearest branch by Wufei, he lightly brushed his hand over Wufei's arm. Wufei's eyes opened immediately; obviously he wasn't quite as asleep as Duo had suspected.

"I didn't bring you here to leave you," Duo said, straight into the onyx eyes that greeted him, "I would never do that to you."

"Not until you go off and marry Heero," he said bitterly.

"No 'Fei, you come before Heero. You always have. You still do," he ignored his friend's angry tone, knowing that he needed to be gentle. Wufei was too unstable right now, he might run off again, and Duo didn't want to spend the evening chasing him through the icy rain. He was careful with words, ever since his other brother, Paulo, had surrendered to suicide as well. Duo had accused him of it being his own fault that Jerden was dead. Two hours later, he found Paulo hanging by a bed sheet in the basement. Never again, he swore to himself, would he throw around words carelessly.

"That isn't true," Wufei returned, though not angrily, trying to match his tone with Duo's.

"How do you know?"

"You love Heero, even though I loved you before you found him. And you knew I loved you, and I still do. But you an' Heero can't see that. You both got each other to keep happy. Who the hell do I got?" Wufei admitted.

"Just because I don't care for you the way I do Heero, doesn't mean I _don't_ care. If I loved Heero _more_ than you, I would have kicked you out a long time ago like Heero asked. But I didn't, did I?" Duo returned without raising his voice.

"No... but..." he hesitated, "what does he got that's so much better than me? Well, besides cash, a house, and an education... but... what could I do to make you love me like you love him?"

Duo stared at him, a small smile playing on his lips. "It's not about the things he has, it's him. It's who he is that I love."

"So, what's wrong with my personality?"

"It isn't that, Wufei, it's the fact that I noticed you too late," Duo said with a smile, "let's go home."

+

A sleeping Wufei yawned as Duo lay him down on the couch. He had fallen asleep nearly as soon as they had pulled away from the barn. He looked up at Duo who had seated himself in a chair opposite the couch.

"Did you do it on purpose?"

"What?" Duo asked, though there was a definite twinkle of mischief in his eye.

"It was four years ago today that we met. Did you take me to the barn on purpose?"

"At first, I didn't know where I was taking you, or if either of us were ever coming back," Duo said honestly, "but after I thought about it, that was the best place to go."

"We never really talked about our lives before we met," Wufei said, part of him begging to get free.

"I didn't think you would want to," Duo said softly, "we both lost everybody, but I know that you lost more than me. I didn't want to make things harder for you."

"You lost a lot of people too," Wufei whispered sympathetically.

"But you lost a lot of families.... and your entire gang."

"I was too young to miss my real family much, and I hated all of the foster families. My gang... well the hardest one to lose was Meiran."

Duo frowned, "But I thought Meiran was put in foster care? Can't you visit her?"

"That was a lie to make myself feel better," Wufei said bitterly, "she died that day, it was my fault. I-I challenged her..."

Duo looked at him with concern, "What happened?"

"We were in the barn loft and were on the beams..."

~/"Watch it up there," Meiran warned, watching Wufei balance on the rafters, knowing the beams were weak.

"You're just jealous 'cause you can't do it," Wufei shot back, eyes shining deviously.
"Oh yeah?" Meiran said slyly, arching an eyebrow.

"Yeah, lets see it," Wufei challenged, doing a cart wheel and ending back on the loft.

"Fine then," she returned smugly, stepping out onto the beam that Wufei had just cart wheeled over. Admittedly, she was nervous. But her pride wouldn't let her confess that. Wufei was the graceful one, small and scrawny and flexible, while she was muscular; awkward and unbalanced. He often beat her when it came to balance, grace, and agility, as she did when it came to strength and force.

She made her way, high above the floor of the barn, to the opposite wall, shaking unsteadily as she neared the point where the beams were weakest. Flashing a confident smirk that betrayed her feelings, she placed her hands on the beam and swung her legs into a handstand position. A loud creak split out as Meiran tightened her grasp on the wood, but the beam cracked again and she couldn't hold the pose any longer. Wufei wasn't sure which one of them had screamed as she fell./~

"When she fell, she broke her neck instantly. It was all my fault."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Duo asked, reassuring Wufei that he wasn't repulsed by his foolishness.

Wufei shrugged, "It never really came up."

"But there are things you need to say."

"So do you," Wufei said sympathetically.

Duo nodded, "You're right. I'm going to make us some soup, and then I think that there is much we need to talk about.