Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Cult Characteristic ❯ Chapter 22 ( Chapter 22 )

TWENTY-TWO

"Let Wufei drive," Heero whispered softly in Duo's ear. He saw the possessive flash that entered the violet eyes, the instant panic that something of `his' might be taken, then it left as quickly as it had come, as Heero had known it would. Duo looked up at Wufei, pointedly took his hands from the controls and let his friend `take the wheel'.

"Thank you," Wufei whispered softly, somehow knowing exactly how difficult that had been. His keen observation skills never failed to amaze Heero.

Duo slipped behind the pilots chair to the space behind, where Heero was huddled, fingers toying with a gun. Heero almost laughed when Duo raised an inquisitive brow and slowly lowered himself to the floor.

"Wufei isn't injured. He's the better pilot right now," Heero said in explanation, though he also wanted to let Wufei know just how much they appreciated everything he had done for them and was still doing for them.

"I know," Duo suddenly agreed, a wide grin on his face. As Heero looked into his eyes he saw the façade of Shinigami fade and Duo slipped through in bright, welling tears. "Hurts," Duo admitted and Heero knew it was one of the hardest things he had ever had to say.

Without saying a word, Heero reached out and pulled Duo against his chest. The body was still small, fine boned and he was very much aware some of those bones were once again out of their proper place. He himself had several broken ribs that were burning his chest and he had been in prime health when they crashed.

Duo leaned back suddenly, gaze fixed on the bandages wrapped about Heero's torso, probably thinking along similar lines. Heero watched the fingers toy with the white material, the slender digits almost the same bone colour…It terrified him to look at those hands, to remember how strong they had once been. Heero could not let his mind wander; he dared not let his mind regurgitate images of the pit, of Duo the day they found him, `the weapon', smothered and drowning in sacrificial blood. He could not let himself become distanced from the task for fear he would recall the fight, the morning after when he got to work, and every morning after that and his mind supplied images of what Duo's mornings had been, of how he had woken…

Instead he watched those fingers and dreamt of the day they would be strong again. It was all he could do to stay sane.

"Five minutes," Wufei said loudly from the pilot's seat and Heero grunted an affirmative.

Reaching behind Duo, Heero pulled out the bag of Preventers gear Une had thrown at them before they left. He took out the first of two gundanium lined vests and opened it out, slipping it over Duo's head as the man looked up.

"Heero…" Duo's shoulders sagged under the weight but Heero shook his head.

"Please…I know it's heavy. Just wear it…"

Duo was watching his face, watching the finest changes in expression, reading him, hero realised. Whatever he saw there made up his mind and he nodded, agreeing to wear the vest though it would more than slightly hinder him. That concession, like so many lately, spoke volumes to Heero.

Duo's hands were suddenly on his shoulders, depositing the second vest over his chest. Heero smiled as the nimble digits worked on the buckles at his sides and he moved to do up those on Duo's vest. It felt odd, having someone help to dress him, but it was a nice kind of odd. He liked that someone knew him well enough to know exactly how tight the vest should be…Only one person knew that besides himself.

"Landing!" Wufei didn't spare them a glance, for which Heero was glad. The look on Duo's face would have given any of them pause. Heero took Duo's distracted moment to strap a belt around the small waist, shoving a knife through the back and a gun in the side. Duo's hand subconsciously trailed the length of the blade at his back. Heero smiled as he watched it, hands working at his own waist, strapping his own gun to his side.

"Heero…" Duo did not sound scared, rather haunted. He was not looking at him, or even the Gundam, but through the Gundam, into the darkness...Heero wanted to lock him inside the Gundam and refuse to let him out until it was all over, but he knew you could not wrap Duo Maxwell in cotton wool any more than you could wrap up Heero Yuy. Trust was what mattered here.

As if he was indeed touching glass, Heero lifted Duo's chin so they were face to face, leant down and kissed his partner with all the love and longing he had endured for a year, knowing it wasn't enough but that it was all he had to give. When he pulled away Duo was flushed, panting a little and dazed. His attention certainly was not on the Cult House.

"I love you," Heero whispered fiercely, and then he was moving, hand clasping Duo's in his own and hauling them both toward the hatch of the Gundam as it swung open. Wufei reached around the back of Duo's head as they passed and slipped a pair of dark shades across his eyes, a black cap on his head. Heero grinned to see it; they were familiar articles of clothing. Duo didn't even flinch when they emerged in the afternoon sunlight beyond the dark shelter of the cockpit. In fact, he grinned.

"Thanks Fei…" Duo's eyes were fixed on Heero, oddly bright.

"Any time, Duo." The distinction was obvious, the weight placed on the name. Wufei was not talking about Shinigami, but Duo…Just Duo. That was enough for him; always had been, always would be.

Heero took point, Wufei took the rear, Duo sandwiched between them by some unspoken agreement. Heero doubted Wufei wanted Duo there any more than he did but neither was about to suggest it wasn't Duo's place. If anything they were the intruders into a realm Duo owned; he had lived here eleven months, at its centre; the maelstrom of madness.

Rather than using the front door, knowing full well how easily that entrance could be observed, they used the postern they had originally used under Fiona's guidance when they first invaded the Cult house. Heero idly noted Fiona had used the postern under Duo's guidance, based on the observations he had had her fetch…So many tiny circles. Randolph Devourjac had thrown Duo in the pond and the ripples he had caused…Heero doubted they would ever end, but he intended to do everything in his power to make the water as smooth as possible.

It was a good thing Senator Devourjac was dead, in Heero's opinion, because no man should have to suffer the fate he had in mind.

"Stop."

Heero halted immediately. He did not turn to see the expression Duo's face, but he could imagine it. Instead, he waited for the all too familiar touch of a hand on his shoulder as Duo stood on his toes to whisper in his ear.

"Left."

Heero obeyed, having no idea where they were. In this case he almost wished Wufei were leading; he at least had a working knowledge of the house from the clean up. Still, Heero doubted Duo would lead them into trouble, despite the fact he himself had never walked these halls. Fiona had walked them in his place and Heero knew her well enough to know nothing would have been left out.

"Left again."

They were in the living quarters and for the first time Heero saw the posters Sally and Noin had mentioned the night they found Duo. Hanging over every bed was an image of Deathscythe, thermal blade alight and taking a life. Heero's mind was filled with memories of Duo in the cockpit, grinning across the COM link and screaming obscenities. Shinigami…

Turning his face away, Heero became aware the hand on his shoulder was pressing more heavily, the warmth from Duo's body suddenly much closer. Heero reached up and took the hand into his own, pulling Duo as close as he dared without hindering their movement.

"Duo?"

Wufei had moved closer and Heero saw he had a hand placed reassuringly in the small of Duo's back, the other hand gripping the katana. He was waiting for directions, constantly glancing over his shoulder, checking for a tail. When he had switched gun for sword was a mystery; they had not heard the ring of steel fleeing its sheath.

"Through there," Duo pointed to a grill at the base of the wall. It was small, but they should be able to squeeze through. It looked as though it had originally been used for heating, though considering its location he doubted it had been used in recent years. There was no steam heater or generator connected to the building to run the system…

Heero hauled the plate from the wall with one heave, then crawled in, listening intently for the tell tale noises that indicated Duo had followed, then Wufei, who pulled the grate back into the wall behind them. It was a tight fit, but the passage got wider after about twenty meters when it split in several directions.

"Go Right."

Heero obeyed without question, the compass in his head telling him they were heading for the far side of the complex, away from the pit and several levels above. He was glad he didn't ask when they came to another split in the path, one with a very obvious slant.

"Slide," Duo ordered and Heero turned around and pushed off feet first. There was surprisingly little noise as they fell through the levels and Heero soon found himself landing hard on his feet with a loud splash, rolling, rising with the gun in his hand…A smell assaulted his nostrils and he stumbled sideways gagging.

Duo landed, followed by Wufei. It was too dark to see them but Heero could sense them as they smothered their faces with their shirts.

"Duo?"

There was no reply. Heero heard a choking gasp and then Duo's hand appeared before him, holding a torch high. Heero was looking straight at Duo's face when he heard Wufei throw up. He didn't want to look away; there was something in Duo's eyes that terrified him. Wufei stumbled over and threw his arms around Duo, who still showed no emotion. Heero could resist no longer. He looked down.

They were ankle deep in offal. Piled high against the walls were the decaying corpses of hundreds of children, none older than ten, most Fiona's age. There were barely recognisable as having once been human. A small layer of cold blood coated everything and a few organs lay tumbled randomly about.

Heero promptly threw up and stumbled, as Wufei had, to Duo, pulling the slender form as tight against him as was physically possible and trying for more.

"They emptied the pit at the end of each month. The grate let's the blood flow out, but the sacrifices bodies were caught…" Duo breathed in shallowly, then out, trying to get rid of the rotten air. "You could always smell it, from the pit…"

Heero refused to let go. He could not; would not. He had known. Some small part of him had known. But to stand there, amongst the remains of human children, of children just like Duo, and imagine the room half filled with blood, the bodies floating and Duo wading through it trying to build a Gundam…It was too much.

It was Duo who eventually pulled them out, leading them to the shoot the bodies had been dumped from and pushing them up, closing the metal door behind them. It was a hard climb, made harder by the thoughts in their minds, but they eventually found the top and huddled together to listen.

"You're sure he's dead?" A male voice.

"Yes." Rosemary Devourjac. Heero figured the man was her missing brother. It was not difficult to figure out who they were discussing.

"But Shinigami is alive?"

Duo tensed at Heero's side, tucking his head under Heero's shoulder and hiding his face in his neck. Heero didn't try to stop him, understanding the need. He had expected it a while ago.

"Yes, for the last time, Maxwell is alive! What is it with you? You don't actually believe he's death do you? We made all the crap up to control them!"

Heero wanted blood and the way Wufei's hand tightened on the grip of his katana told Heero he wanted it too.

"Then why is he still alive Rose? Can you answer that? How does a worthless street rat survive all that and keep his sanity? How?"

Duo's hands found Heero's and held on as if his life depended on it. Heero found his attention wandering from the conversation to Duo's face. Those eyes were fixed on his. There was no sign of pain, of fear…only…

"Love you too."

Heero gaped. Now was not the time, and yet…He grinned foolishly. There never really was a wrong time. It was the best gift Duo could have given Heero. What had kept him alive and sane? Heero. Even just the memory of him, the thought of him, the hope of him…Heero read it all there, as if it were written across Duo's forehead.

"By clinging to the light," a small voice suddenly echoed through the metal chamber above, oft but clear. It made them all stop, holding their breaths as they looked up through the slightly ajar shoot door to the mouth of the pit above. Fiona…

"Excuse me?" The man again.

"You survive by clinging to the light," Fiona repeated, sounded extremely frustrated and not at all scared, "like a firefly."

Heero and Wufei shared a dumbfounded look as Duo grinned the same, old maniac grin from the war; the one they had all thought quenched forever.

"That's my girl!"