Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Eagle In Flight ❯ Chapter 6 ( Chapter 6 )

This is a disclaimer. Please note the dis before claimer. As in, I make no claim. In other words, the characters in this work are not my own. I'd like to think the storyline at least somewhat original, any similarity to other works, fiction or non-fiction is entirely unintentional.

Eagle In Flight

 

Chapter 6

 

Heero jolted in surprise as his door was flung open and Duo came flying through. He winced as Duo slammed the door behind him, and then he was rising to his feet and turning to face his irate Guide.

 

“Duo?” he asked, hoping his calm tone would lend some serenity to the situation, “What is wrong?”

 

Duo flamed up at that instead of calming. “What's wrong? What's wrong he asks. Only that you have been lying through your teeth every time you said it was my choice to stay or go. Lying because you knew if I found out the truth the choice would be nil. You think I want to see you die?”

 

“Oh, that.” `Damn it G, couldn't you have waited to tell him? I didn't want him forced into this . . .' he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I was not lying, precisely. It is and will always be your choice. I merely . . . omitted certain pertinent information.”

 

Duo snorted and shook his head. “A lie is a lie no matter how you pretty it up. That was something I needed to know to make an informed decision, and you kept it from me.”

 

Heero turned his gaze away and smiled sadly. “I didn't want you to feel forced. If it had come from me, at this point before we knew each other well, you would have felt pressured to make a certain decision, based on perceived obligations as a well-meaning person. I did not wish that. I wanted you to decide on your own whether to stay or go. And it's not like I would have kept it from you forever. If nothing else, once we were onboard at Ganymede, the truth would have come out. It's common knowledge there.”

 

“Oh, so it's okay for me to find out secondhand, but not from you? Is that what you're saying? What's so much better about me finding out from someone else? Or were you just to chicken to tell me out right?” Duo scowled, glaring at Heero's head.

 

“No, I simply hoped that by the time we arrived at Ganymede you would have decided in my favor. I wanted you to make this choice . . .”

 

Duo interrupted him “Yeah, I know. Of my own free will. You wanted me to choose you because I honestly liked you and felt we would be good together, and not because of some perceived obligation. Well it's too late for that. I liked you enough that I was considering staying, so now there is no way I can't stay. It's the decision I probably would have made anyway, just forced on me a little early. So don't worry about it.”

 

Heero looked at him for a moment, then reached out and ran a hand down his cheek. “You were honestly considering staying before G said anything?”

 

Duo smiled and captured the hand just as it left his cheek, “I don't lie.”

 

Heero's eyes closed, a relieved look flashing across his face. “Okay then. Thank you.”

 

Duo released his hand. “It used to be my dream, you know. That somehow, miraculously, someone would discover I was a Newtype and then someone would want me. That's part of what scared me. If it was going to happen, why not when I was the young worthless kid at the orphanage? Why now when I was settled and grown. But at the same time . . . It's fulfilling a dream, you know?”

 

Heero smiled, treasuring this moment of vulnerability from his Guide. “Sometimes, things don't happen at the time we want them, but at the time we are most suited for them.”

 

Duo rolled his eyes playfully. “Alright oh great sage, so, what are we going to do now?”

 

Heero wrinkled his nose. “Great sage am I? And now, you are going to tell me about your test results and schedule.”

 

“Well, my test results I know: I'm a double, telepath and psychokinetic.” Duo blinked then frowned. “But as for my schedule . . . I kind of ran out as soon as G told me the facts about bonding, Sentinels, and Guides.”

 

Heero sighed, exasperated, and glared gently for good measure. “And I'm sure that impressed everyone so much. Come on, we'll go talk to G together, find out what he thinks we should do, and then . . .” A knock at the door interrupted him. “Yes?”

 

G's voice came from outside the door. “Heero, I know my erstwhile trainee is in there with you. So why don't you let me in so I can finish briefing him.”

 

Heero rolled his eyes as he walked over to the door. Opening it he stared at G's ear for a moment. “Should I even ask how long you've been here, sir?”

 

G smiled and pushed him aside to step into the room. “I'm sure you don't want to know. Touching conversation, but we really do need to finish business first.”

 

Heero nodded. “Very well then, how soon can we bond?”

 

Duo shrieked and looked absolutely panicked.

 

G smirked. “I was thinking of other business, but that will work. I figured I wanted some time to get the basics into Duo, so as long as you think the two of you spending time together will be enough, I had hoped to put the actual bonding off till the end of the month. That's a little over two weeks away. Ideally, by that time Quatre and Trowa will be recovered enough to transport and we can go to Ganymede for the actual ceremony and bonding week. After the bonding week we will move into intensive training, both singular training with Duo's abilities and paired fighting, and more pairs work after that to get the two of you up to snuff.”

 

Heero glared at him, not satisfied with what he had revealed. “And how long will that last?”

 

G shook his head. “Hopefully no longer than a year, maybe less.”

 

Heero nodded. “Acceptable.” Walking over to Duo, who was still standing frozen, he placed a hand on his shoulder. “Duo, mine, do you have any questions?”

 

Duo closed his eyes for a moment and then spoke. “I guess it all sounds okay. But what happens after? I would like to go back to my life eventually, but if I am going to be bonded to Heero, and he probably wants to live at the center . . .”

 

Heero frowned. He would prefer to live at the center, just because ordinary people were so loud, but he had promised he would not separate his Guide from the life he wanted to live. And he suspected his Guide enjoyed flying, and that that was the reason for the Sweepers contract and the shipping business, but he wouldn't allow him to continue making shipping runs alone. So . . . what did that leave of his old life for his Guide to continue?

 

G spoke up when it became apparent Heero wasn't going to. “So run business from Ganymede. We can have your ship sound proofed so it doesn't bother Heero to stay there when you are on another colony, and Sweepers does so much business with our colony that we have a small army of ships flying in and out every day. It should be no problem.”

 

Duo cocked his head, looking interested. “But what about my friends on other colonies?”

 

G shrugged. “You own a ship. And what are vid calls for, anyway?”

 

Duo smiled. “A good point. Very well then, no further questions. Now if you would, I need to talk some more to Heero.”

 

G smiled. “Of course. Have fun.”

 

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Once G had left the room, Duo grabbed Heero by the hand and led him over to the bed. Heero's room was set up as a mirror image of Duo's, except off his to one side was a small room containing a sofa and a soft mat on the floor covered in a veritable mountain of pillows. Sitting Heero on the edge of the bed, he sat next to him and placed a hand on his thigh. “Hey man, you alright? You're looking kind of shaky.”

 

Heero took a deep breath and opened his eyes, which had closed as soon as they reached the bed. “I am, or will be okay. I am sorry, I promised not to take your life away from you and here I am doing it.”

 

Duo smiled, and moved his arm to wrap around Heero's shoulders. “Hey man, it's okay. My idea, remember?”

 

Heero smiled and leaned into the supporting arm. “Right, your idea. So then, we have your schedule, or an outline there of. I don't know about you, but it is late and I want supper, so . . . care to come with me?” He pulled out of Duo's half embrace, stood, then turned and offered a hand to Duo.

 

Duo smiled and grabbed the hand, using it to pull himself upright, feeling Heero help with the process. Once he was standing he rearranged his grip to he was facing the same direction as Heero and headed for the door. “So, where are these mysterious food serving places? What I had for lunch was pretty good, but I would like the opportunity to choose my own food.”

 

Heero smirked slightly as he was pulled through the door and into the hallway. This one was going to be a handful alright. “This way Duo,” he said as he led his Guide down the hallway to the cafeteria, which was also on the second floor.

 

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Dinner wasn't grand, but it was tasty, a rare find in the world of cafeterias. An hour spent relaxing over some good food and getting to know Heero better left Duo feeling much more confident in his choice. He liked this man, and he now had few reservations about giving up his own lifestyle to protect him from a fate that was truly worse than death by his standards. It was still a little unnerving, but that didn't really matter, because his decision had been made as soon as G had told him the facts. And no matter what Heero said, that had still been his choice, and he was happy with it.

 

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Heero walked down the hall from the Cafeteria to his room with Duo. He kept glancing to the side to stare at Duo, frustrated, but knowing if he let his thoughts be known it would earn him a nervous look. But Duo was his Guide, and here they were walking down the hall not even touching. If only he dared put a possessive hand somewhere on his body. He would be content with even an arm slung over the shoulders. Unfortunately, they had known each other for too short a time, and Duo was too unfamiliar with Sentinel and Guide relationships to allow for such a thing. He had always considered the older Sentinels somewhat strange for their insistence on touch, particularly with Guides; but now, oh now he understood, and there was still, damn it, nothing he could do about it.

 

Duo, meanwhile, walked down the hall oblivious to his Sentinel's internal conflict. Instead, he was contemplating his schedule for the next two weeks. G had stressed that he and Heero were to spend as much of their free time together as possible. They were to eat all meals together, and the afternoon break was also to be joint. From what he understood, Heero would be spending the time he was in lessons catching up on his college classes, where he was working on a master's degree in Computer Science as well as studying for every pilot classification known to man.

 

They parted outside Duo's room, Heero reaching in for one last caressing touch before stepping away to his own door. Duo blinked softly before triggering his own door and stepping inside, mind spinning with the events of the day.