Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Catch Me When I Fall ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Gundam Wing, it's characters, or anything else you might associate with the anime. Or Episode Zero. The only thing I own is an overactive imagination that won't shut up. An this concept, I guess.

 

Author's Note: Here's chapter two! I'm working hard on chapter three, but I don't know how soon I can post it. You may have to wait a while. Please review!

 

 

Catch Me When I Fall

By: Mitsuru Aki

 

Chapter Two

 

Quatre yawned and snuggled into Trowa's side as the four of them exited the movie theater. “I didn't like that movie,” he announced.

 

“I could tell,” Trowa said, smiling at him.

 

“What are you talking about?” Duo protested, grinning cheekily. “I loved that movie! It was awesome!”

 

“But did have to use a chainsaw?” The blond asked, looking queasy.

 

“Stupid weapon for a massacre,” Heero agreed solemnly. “Much too messy.”

 

“That part was kinda gross,” Duo admitted, shivering from more than just the cold air. “Eww…the nightmares that'll follow…”

 

Quatre frowned, feeling a different kind of chill. “Do we have everything? We didn't leave anything in the theater, did we?”

 

Trowa shook his head, wrapping his arm around him. “is something wrong?”

 

Quatre looked away. “Something doesn't feel right,” he said simply. “Maybe I'm just tired.”

 

“Maybe,” Trowa said, looking thoughtfully unconvinced.

 

“Remind me why we saw that movie again?” Duo asked no one in particular as they walked back to their vehicles.

 

“Because by the time we got here you were so angry you wanted to see something gory and violent,” Heero reminded him calmly.

 

“Oh. Yeah.”

 

“Against majority rule, by the way,” Trowa added.

 

The American rolled his eyes. “Hey, it's not my fault you guys can't handle—”

 

“Is something ringing?”

 

They all turned to stare at Quatre, nonplussed.

 

“What?” Duo asked, blinking.

 

“Do you have your cell phone? I think it's ringing.” The blond said uneasily, biting his lip.

 

Duo shook his head, his braid swinging back and forth. “Nope. I left in the car this time.”

 

“Well—”

 

“Remember how they kicked me out last time cuz it went off five times during the movie? Stupid people. It's not my fault I'm popular!”

 

“Well, someone's calling you, Duo.”

 

Duo looked at his friend with an expression akin to awe. “Whoa…you really are psychic, Q!”

 

“No,” Quatre said, smiling. “I can hear it.” He pointed to Duo's car parked five feet away.

 

Heero turned away, trying not to roll his eyes.

 

“I saw that,” Duo told him grumpily as he unlocked his car door.

 

“This love has taken its toll on me—”

 

“Hello?” Duo asked, slightly miffed, after flipping his phone open and ignoring the screen.

 

Who'd be calling me at five minutes to midnight?

 

He didn't hear anything, not even breathing.

 

“Hello?” he repeated, wondering who the hell was on the other end of the line.

 

Heero, Trowa, and Quatre were all quietly watching him, the last with an anxious expression.

 

“Ya know, if you're gonna call someone—”

 

“Duo…?” A voice asked faintly.

 

The brunette paused for a quarter of a second. “That would be me,” he agreed.

 

Just the sound of breathing, not very regular; short and erratic.

 

“Who's this?” The American asked, confused.

 

No response.

 

He frowned momentarily, exchanging uneasy glances with Quatre.

 

Did I lose the connection?

 

“Hello?”

 

“Duo…?” Forced out on an exhaled breath.

 

Duo turned the phone over to read the number on his screen blinked to see a name visible under the closest streetlight. There were only four people whose names showed up when they called, and three of them were currently staring at him.

 

Chang Wufei.

 

“Wufei?!” Duo exclaimed in alarm, feeling all his senses go on the alert.

 

Why didn't I recognize the ringtone?

 

A heavy weight settled on the air as everyone tensed at Wufei's name. Wufei calling Duo at midnight?

 

Because he never calls me…

 

“Wufei? What's going on?”

 

Nothing. Nothing but ragged breathing—

 

“Goddamnit, Wufei, answer me!” Even he could hear the bewildered panic in his voice now.

 

“Duo…”

 

“Yeah, alright, I—”

 

“…help…me…”

 

And for a moment he went completely cold and everything stopped.

 

Okay.

 

Then he was in the car, revving the engine, squealing out of the parking lot like the place was going to explode in three seconds, and who needed a fucking seatbelt when Wufei of all people was asking him for help?

 

Certainly not Duo Maxwell.

 

“Where the hell are you?” Duo questioned, surprising himself with how in control he sounded. “Never mind; you're still at work, aren't you?”

 

“…”

 

“Idiot.”

 

Three minutes later he was skidding into the Preventers parking lot (everyone knows red lights and stop signs only matter when other people are around) and sure enough, Wufei's car was still there.

 

Duo cursed under his breath, wrenched open the car door, and sprinted to the front of the building. “Fei, you still there?”

 

Well, he was still breathing at least. That had to count for something.

 

He slammed through the door and towards the stairs. Was he still in his office?

 

Briefly, he paused to turn on the lights. And froze.

 

Wufei was crouched on the steps with his knees pulled up to his chest, one hand clutching his shirt, the other precariously holding an open cell phone.

 

“Wufei?!”

 

There are way too many steps here, Duo thought, throwing himself up the staircase. Honestly, this was ridiculous. What if this happened to someone else? He'd have to talk to Lady Une about this.

 

Duo grabbed Wufei by the shoulders, trying hard not to panic and meet the other man's eyes. Fear uncurled steadily in his stomach, spreading outwards like a spider's web. “Wufei, what—”

 

The Asian tugged sharply on his shirt, dropping the phone where it clattered down a couple stairs before spinning to a stop. “…tack…”

 

“Tack?” Duo repeated, baffled, his eyes sweeping over Wufei's pale, drawn face. “Tack? A tack? What is that supposed to—oh, not a whole word, got it…” The brunette forced his mind to focus, tried to keep it from shrieking and running around in circles the way it wanted to. “Tack? Tack…? I don't—”

 

Wufei's face contorted in pain and a flicker of frustration and fear flashed across his features.

 

“Oh, attack! Attack…” The American's brain ground into overdrive as he thought of every possible “attack”. Chances were it had nothing to do with asthma.

 

Pale face, erratic breathing, hand over heart—

 

“Aw, shit, Wufei! How the hell--?!” Duo panicked, finally letting go of the other man. He made a split second decision, slid an arm under his knees and around his waist, and hauled him off the stairs. “There's no way you'd make it down these stairs on your own, buddy.”

 

Wufei didn't even bother to show or voice his indignation.

 

Duo turned and retraced his steps back down the stairs, ignoring Wufei's abandoned bag and phone. Sprinting through the lobby wasn't nearly as difficult as he'd thought it would be since Wufei was light than he looked.

 

The brunette kicked open the front doors with unnecessary force. Freaking asshole, Duo ranted to himself, almost running into Quatre on the other side of the door. Told him this would happen someday, didn't I? Didn't I?

 

Quatre's face was tense and scared. “Duo, what--?”

 

“Grab his stuff; staircase; keys in my ignition,” Duo said shortly, already taking off in the direction of Trowa's car idling twenty feet away.

 

The blond vanished inside as Heero appeared in the back of Trowa's car, opening the door for them. As soon as the door closed Trowa hit the accelerator.

 

“Heart attack?” He guessed, watching Wufei critically. So much for that talk they were going to have.

 

Duo nodded. Wufei seemed to be breathing easier now.

 

“Trowa, watch—” Heero began sharply, but—

 

BAM.

 

The whole vehicle rocked as the tires crashed into something solid, throwing the passengers in the backseat forward.

 

“Trowa!” Duo snarled, pulling Wufei protectively into his lap. Crazy driver. Was he trying to get them all killed?!

 

“Sorry, didn't see that curb,” Trowa said coolly as the vehicle practically flew down the road. “I never did like the way they built that parking lot. This way is so much shorter…”

 

The Japanese man was examining Wufei's face. “He's unconscious.”

 

“Is that bad?” Duo asked tensely.

 

Heero shrugged. “Most life-threatening consequences occur within seventy-two hours after the attack. We'll just have to keep an eye on him.”

 

“Where's your car, Heero?”

 

“Back at the theater,” Heero responded while their silent driver sped through two red lights and an empty intersection. “I'll get it later.”

 

“But what if gets towed?”

 

Heero glanced at Duo. “I'll charge Wufei for the fees.”

 

“How the freaking hell does a twenty two year old have a heart attack? Doesn't that happen to people in their forties?” Duo exploded, looking like he wanted to hit something. Or someone. Probably Wufei.

 

The green-eyed man looked at Duo in the rearview mirror. “Hypertension,” he explained quietly.

 

“Huh?”

 

“High blood pressure, high stress levels…” Heero elaborated. “Wufei probably doesn't do anything to relax at home anymore. Just more work.”

 

“So he has Yuy Syndrome, then?” The American said snidely, his worry for Wufei overriding the close watch he normally kept on his tongue.

 

Prussian blue eyes glared at him.

 

“Heero's not as bad as he used to be,” Trowa protested softly, an amused expression tugging at the corners of his mouth. “But Wufei just seems to have gotten worse. He seems…lost.”

 

“Lost? About what?” Duo wanted to know.

 

About what to do with himself now that the war's over, Trowa thought seriously. And that's a deadly trap to fall into.

 

“We're here,” he said instead, screeching to a halt in front of the hospital's emergency entrance.

 

Duo was already out and halfway to the open doors before Trowa turned off the ignition.

 

But Duo absolutely hated the idea of handing the passive figure in his arms to strangers. However, the braided man wasn't a qualified medical professional and had to be persuaded by both his friends and the hospital staff that Wufei would be fine in the care of physicians.

 

Personally, Trowa and Heero didn't like the idea either.

 

Quatre's husband placed a gentle hand on Duo's shoulder in quiet comfort.

 

This is probably hardest on you, Duo, because Wufei has never noticed how you feel…and you try so hard to help him. Heero always keeps Quatre and I up to date with what's happening with you two. But this isn't your fault. There wasn't anything you could have done short of force or kidnapping.

 

The three of them stood stoically as a horde of doctors and nurses wheeled Wufei away, followed by an army of mobile machinery and violet eyes.

 

Yet each man was thinking the same thing in his own way. Did it have to be this way? Was there anything at all I could have done? Could I have done more? What if…?

 

What if he had a second chance?

 

 

 

Author's Note: Whew! Not too long, but I'm kinda in a rush to get this posted. I have continuous testing for the next two months, so don't expect too much from me! I apologize in advance!