Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Death Becomes Him ❯ The Real Duo Maxwell ( Chapter 12 )

Gundam Wing is copyright...Sotsu, I think it is, and a few other important companies and people, and I obviously don't own these wonderful bishounen.

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TUESDAY:

Shi-chan: Arg...one more...

Duo: Why don't you add some variety for once and put Trowa or Wufei in this chapter?

Shi-chan: They'll get to say their piece...eventually...

Duo: Oi, oi...

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Death Becomes Him

~By Shimegami-chan

Part 12

SHOUNEN-AI, SAP, ANGST, CUSSING, DEATH, GUNDAM BOY TORTURE, ETC, ETC!

Quatre stared at the door from which Heero had left for what seemed like forever. "Heero..."

He winced. "How much of that could you be right about, Heero? All he wants is you..."

Panic rising in his throat, Quatre jumped off the blood-soaked bed and ran out the door and down the stairs, screaming Duo's name. He ran into Trowa in the hallway. "Trowa! Have you seen Duo?"

"No..." The unibanged pilot observed the blood spatters on Quatre's clothing. "God, what happened!?"

"I've got to find him!" Quatre cried, blowing past Trowa and out the front door. "Before he does anything stupid..."

Duo, you fool. Where are you? The little Arab checked around the house and the empty streets, the park where they had been the day before, the playground where Duo had sat on the swings.

What was that about a cliff? Heero was going to throw himself off a cliff! But Quatre didn't know where it could be. The nearest body of water was an ocean cove not far away...was that what the American had been talking about?

It was his best bet. Quatre turned back and ran as fast as he could toward the secluded spot.

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The out-of-breath Sandrock pilot arrived at the cliff and ran to the edge, praying that he wasn't too late.

He peered down into the raging water, but saw nothing. No flash of chestnut was visible in the waves--maybe Duo wasn't here after all? Or maybe he was already gone...

Quatre spotted something shining in the grass and dropped to his knees. It was a small gold cross on a broken chain, one that he recognized instantly. Duo had been here.

"DUO!" Quatre screamed in anguish. "Oh, God, no!"

"I don't know if it's even possible to die twice," a familiar voice said behind him. "I'm still deciding whether I want to find out."

Quatre whirled and spotted Duo up in a tree near him, calmly braiding his hair. The leathery wings were back, tucked behind him as if for balance. Duo smiled sadly at the Arabian. "I couldn't do it."

"I'm glad! It's not too late to convince Heero..." Quatre ran to the tree and climbed it with almost no difficulty. He sat next to Duo and handed him the necklace.

Duo regarded the chain in sorrow. "It's broken..." Quatre knew there were some words the other pilot was leaving unsaid. "Do you hate me now too, Quatre?"

"Of course not!" Quatre looked at Duo in surprise. "Why would you think that?"

"You didn't follow me...and...I know I did something terrible, betraying you like I did..." Duo picked at a piece of bark with his slim fingers.

"Aa, Duo-kun...I meant what I said, you are one of my best friends and that's not going to change. Besides, you've done worse."

Duo looked a little stricken. "Like what?"

Quatre regarded him sternly. "Like...that time you put honey in my shampoo, covered me with shaving cream while I slept, locked me outside all night, threw me in the lake while I was sleeping, prank-called all my sisters, left love notes for Wufei in my name, hid all the teabags in the house...let's just say that possessing me isn't that big a deal after living with Duo Maxwell."

Duo actually laughed. "Ah, the memories! God, your reactions were priceless...I've got a picture of you with the honey in your hair, by the way!" Quatre could not have been more pleased to see that familiar sparkle return to the indigo eyes. What could I have been thinking? All this isn't his fault...Heero's the only one who can bring him back for good!

Duo was still chattering as usual. "And, when Wu-man found out it was me after all and started sending notes back in Trowa's name...oh, God! I wonder does he even know about that?!" Duo had gone into peals of laughter and Quatre couldn't help but join in. "The poor guy!"

Quatre shook his head, still smiling. "See what I mean? No one can stay mad at you for long!"

Duo's laughter subsided and he retracted his wings carefully, but Quatre noticed that the merriment still hadn't left his eyes and he was still grinning like an idiot. "Thanks, man."

"For what? I just reminded you how much of a great friend you've been. To all of us."

Duo sighed heavily. "It's not enough for Heero."

"It's not his fault," Quatre reassured. "He's just wary because this whole situation is so impossible. He'll see soon enough...he's never stopped loving you. He just can't believe that it's actually you."

"What can I do?" Duo tore at the bit of bark. "Unless I possess someone, I can't even speak to him. And then he yells at me, and I feel guilty."

"Oh, Duo. You didn't know..." Quatre gulped, praying that this little piece of information wasn't going to take away the hope he was suddenly seeing in Duo's indigo eyes. "He's seen you all along, and wasn't believing his eyes."

"What?" Duo looked up in shock.

"He thought he was imagining it when you first came and sat with him, that night in the living room. And then..." Quatre drew a deep breath. "You scared him."

"*I* did?" Duo asked incredulously.

"Duo...he said...that you were breathing hard in your sleep, and your eyes were turning red...he was frightened."

"Maybe I really am a demon." Duo said glumly. "But did I claim to be anything else? A killer, a fighter...Shinigami, the God of Death..."

"Show me." Quatre said simply.

"What, my eyes?" Duo gaped at him. "I don't think you really want to see that."

"Show me," he said sternly.

Duo, his face falling, looked down. "Aa..."

Quatre watched the violet orbs with interest. Duo continued to stare downwards, his gaze all but hidden by the long chestnut bangs. Quatre reached out gently and tipped his chin up.

He was right, Quatre realized. The beautiful pools of indigo stared forward, and then the pupils disappeared. Everything was violet, that soft shade of violet that Quatre knew so well. Duo started to tremble a little and his eyes flashed crimson, just for a minute, before returning to the lovely prussian. They flickered that way several times, Duo making mewling sounds in the back of his throat, until the American boy's body went slack and Quatre had to grab him to keep him from falling out of the tree.

The little Arab held Duo with his left arm for only a few seconds before he toppled off the limb, clutching it possessively with his right arm while holding Duo as tightly as possible against his chest with his left. He let go of the branch and fell the remaining few feet to the ground.

Duo came to groggily, sitting on Quatre's legs. "Shit."

Quatre eased himself out from under the American and looked at his face. "You okay?"

"M'fine," he mumbled. "Sorry."

"It's all right, my friend. Those eyes of yours are fairly unsettling, I'll say."

"So, do you think I'm a demon now or what?" Duo cracked a smile, but Quatre knew his next expression depended on Quatre's answer.

"You're the God if Death, what do you expect? It doesn't change my opinion."

Warmth flooded back into the violet orbs, much to Quatre's relief. "Aa! Shinigami it is!" Duo giggled a bit and put a hand behind his head.

This is what Heero doesn't see, Quatre told himself. All Duo sees when he looks at Heero is loss. He loses a piece of himself every time he does.

The braided baka had jumped to his feet. "Oi, Q-man, can we go back to the house now? I have to torment Wu-man! I bet I can think of a really good story, I don't know...maybe I could sneak up and...hmm..." Duo folded his arms thoughtfully, grinning like an idiot and plotting revenge against Wufei. Quatre couldn't help but smile at the plan he knew Duo had to be cooking up.

"Back to the house it is," Quatre said with finality. "I'll make whatever you like for lunch, okay?"

Even though he had been looking like himself already, Duo's eyes lit up even more at this. Quatre feverently wished he would stay like this for a while. "Really!?"

"Really." Quatre allowed himself to be dragged forcibly away from the tree and the cliff.

"Yatta!" Duo gave him the Maxwell grin and began humming to himself in anticipation.

Well then. Quatre still couldn't stop smiling. It looks like the real Duo Maxwell is back...at least for now.

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Shi-chan: Happy happy happy happy

Duo: What's for lunch?

Shi-chan: You get to choose. I promise.

Duo: Honto ni?

Shi-chan: Yep! Whatever it is, that's what Quatre's making!

Duo: All right!