Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Gundam Wing Torment Theatre ❯ Episode One ( Chapter 1 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: Chrissy Sky 
In which it begins.
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 06.25.2007 | Pages: 11 | Words: 8.4K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Work In Progress
In which it begins.
Anime/Manga: Gundam Wing Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Drama / Comedy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 06.25.2007 | Pages: 11 | Words: 8.4K | Visits: 1.4K | Status: Work In Progress
Gundam Wing Torment Theatre
Episode One
Story: Pressure
Story by: Chrissy Sky
MSTed by: Chrissy Sky
Note 1: This is not a sequel to Enma’s Torment Theatre, though it might turn into an indirect sequel over time. Dunno. But yeah. New cast, new fics, new theatre, more torture.
Note 2: On the pairings. I’m not putting 1x2x1 or 3x4x3 down in any way. I still have fond feelings for both. However, they’re terribly common and I wanted to do something else for this fic. (Namely Heero/Quatre, Duo/Trowa, and Zechs/Wufei.) If you’re not open-minded enough to read different pairings, this probably isn’t for you.
Note 3: All (or at least most) fics were used with permission of the original authors. As you can see, this first one is my own. I’m very lazy.
Note 4: I wrote ‘Pressure’ back in 2002, I believe. So I was fairly young at the time. I thought I’d die of embarrassment reading through it. XD
-
A lot of unusual things had happened to Heero throughout his life. Not that he considered them unusual—but other people, more often than not, did. He’d nearly died more than once, was trained as a killer at an extremely young age, and mastered a tactical program that often drove its users insane. So, all in all, he was used to the unexpected and he took it in stride.
That did not mean, however, that he wasn’t surprised when one morning he woke up in a room that wasn’t his own.
It was a small room with the bed taking up a great deal of the space, no other pieces of furniture, and a built in closet on the left side. The bed itself was fairly comfortable with clean sheets, the smell of fabric softener doing little to mask the stale, metal scent in the air.
Heero sat up immediately and reached under his pillow for a gun that wasn’t there. Not because it did not come with him to wherever he was, but because he hadn’t carried one in the past five months since the incident with Mariemeia. He had sworn that he would never kill anyone again, and he meant to keep that promise. Even so, it was hard to quell such deeply ingrained instincts.
He heard voices from outside the room and minutely relaxed when he recognized to whom they belonged. Without dressing, he rushed out of the room. Outside, he stepped into a dark, drab hallway lined with other doors. Heero ignored these, instead following the direction where the voices were coming from.
Soon he was greeted with a sight he pretty much expected to see. There were five familiar faces standing in what he recognized to be the control room of a space satellite.
“What do you mean you can’t get this thing to work?!” Duo exclaimed. Their situation had to be dire if the braided boy was already sounding that desperate.
He was speaking to Quatre, who stood at the control console. He tapped a few key codes but the display remained unresponsive. “I mean, Duo, that this satellite is a wreck. The only things that seem to be working are the life support systems—and even those aren’t operating at an efficient capacity—and the lighting. Even if we were near a colony—which as you can see visually,” here the blond motioned to the view screen, “we are not—the communication system has been completely removed. There is no conceivable way off this satellite.”
“How the hell did we all get here?” Wufei asked from where he stood in the corner, cupping his chin in deep thought. The Chinese pilot was the first to notice Heero. “Yuy? So you’re here too.” The observation seemed to hearten him for some reason.
“So it seems,” Heero answered, nodding to all of them as they turned to look at him. He walked further into the room, moving closer to see if Quatre’s estimation was correct, though he did not doubt the blond’s words. “Any idea what’s going on?”
“Not a clue,” answered Trowa. “We’ve been up for a while and haven’t found much. There are bedrooms enough for all of us, which we woke up in without memory of how we got there, and a bunch of rooms we can only assume are for recreation—not standard for a satellite at all.”
“Recreation?” Heero asked blankly.
Zechs nodded. “There’s a fencing room, a petting zoo with small animals, a library, an arcade, and a music room.”
Heero frowned, his mind making a few quick connections. “That… seems to fit a lot of our interests.”
“I thought so too,” Wufei agreed. “Someone has been preparing for this for a long time. Someone who knows us very well.”
“This is really starting to freak me out,” Duo said, frowning deeply and scratching the tip of his nose. He turned to look at Heero closely. “I’m surprised you slept so long, with all the noise we were making. You really *can* sleep anywhere. And… Hey, why aren’t you dressed?”
They all seemed to look at him a bit more closely after that. The control room was still a bit dark, contrary to Quatre’s claim about the lights.
Heero folded his arms over his bare chest, raising an eyebrow at Duo. “I just woke up,” he said, stating what he felt was obvious.
“Yeah, but… You’re even wearing pajamas. At least part of them.” Duo waved a hand at the pale blue pajama bottoms.
“They were a gift from Relena.”
“And there are no teddy bears on them? I’m shocked.”
Quatre giggled at the disgruntled look on Heero’s face. The Japanese boy didn’t realize it, but everyone in that room had been attracted to him at one point or another—so seeing him bare-chested was of course very noteworthy. “Why don’t we go see if there’s a kitchen? We can wait for you, Heero, if you want to go change.”
“That’s fine,” Heero answered immediately. “I’m not cold.”
Duo snorted and began walking, leading the group down another hallway. “Yeah, Quatre, we’re talking about the guy who puts his broken bones back into their sockets without an anesthetic. I still get creeped out just thinking about it!”
Trowa laughed softly. “Heero is the way he is. You wouldn’t have him any other way, would you?”
“I didn’t say that!”
They were almost finished with their meal when a beeping sound called them back into the control room. After pressing a blinking button, the view screen fizzled with static before clearing on the image of a dead man.
He was definitely dead. Wufei remembered killing him quite clearly.
“Treize Kushrenada?!” All six of them exclaimed, shocked.
Treize smiled. “You all remember me! I’m flattered.” His eyes settled on Zechs. “Hello, my old friend. I hope you’re well—I hope you’re all well.”
“Um,” said Duo, “not really.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. See, none of us remember how we got here, and… Well, you kinda died, man.”
Treize chuckled. “Well, you thought Zechs was dead as well, if I remember right.”
“He has a point,” Trowa said.
Zechs stepped forward, glaring at his childhood friend. Seeing the man again—alive—brought back a flood of memories and feelings that had been buried for over a year. He had assumed that they would remain so. “What’s going on here, Treize?”
“It’s quite simple really.” Treize’s smile did not waver. “Though you boys might not think so. I hope you’ll forgive my abruptness; I’ve always abhorred kidnapping. It’s so uncivilized. Still, it wasn’t like you were going to volunteer for this experiment, were you?”
“Experiment?” Heero echoed, tensing, images of lab rats coming to mind.
“Indeed. You’re going to be subjected to bouts of torturous reading of material that is commonly called fan fiction—stories written about all of you. Some are good, but the ones you’ll be reading won’t be.”
Duo rolled his eyes. “You mean MSTing.”
“Oh, you’re familiar with it?”
“Yeah, that TV show was great.”
“He watches a lot of pre-colonial era television shows,” Trowa whispered in Heero’s ear as an explanation.
Duo pouted at him, having overheard. “Hey, everyone needs a hobby.”
Treize caught their attention again. “Well, if you’re all settled, how about we get started?”
“Treize, wait!” Zechs yelled at the screen. “Why are you doing this?”
“It wouldn’t be any fun if I gave it all away so soon, now would it? For the time being, though, I will tell you that I’m interested in seeing the effects this will have on you.” Treize pointed behind them and they saw red blinking lights leading down another dark corridor. The lights had not been there before. “Follow those lights. They’ll lead you to the theatre. Oh, and you don’t have a choice in the matter.” The communication ended as suddenly as it had initiated before any of them could ask anymore questions.
Duo sighed, his hands sliding into his pockets as he walked down the hall. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
“Why should we do this?” Wufei asked, a dark scowl on his face. “He can’t very well force us to…”
“If my guess it right, he can control all the systems on here from wherever he’s at,” Duo told him. “If we don’t, he’ll probably turn off our air or something.”
“But we don’t know that for sure,” Heero pointed out.
“Do you want to take the chance?” Duo asked him archly.
Heero thought about it. Duo did seem to have some amount of knowledge about the subject. He decided that, for now, it might be best to follow the American’s lead.
Wufei turned to Zechs. “And Treize… I didn’t know him very well, but he seemed… unlike himself.”
Zechs nodded in agreement. “As someone who *has* known him—all of my life in fact—I can safely say that yes, he was acting very strangely.”
Heero agreed with this as well. He had only met the man once. Treize always seemed more honorable than this. He was above things like kidnapping and torture. Had something happened to the former Oz leader in the last year that could have changed him so much? Finding out whatever it was could be the key to their escape…
- Theatre -
[Sitting from left to right: Quatre, Duo, Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and Zechs.]
Quatre: Rashid and the others are going to be so worried when they discover I’m gone…
Duo: Well, then we have nothing to worry about. The Maguanacs can always track their Master Quatre down.
Wufei: … That does make me feel more confident about the situation.
Duo: Sure! And when Relena finds out Heero’s missing too, she’ll lend her support to the search. We’ll be home in no time.
Zechs: What are we supposed to be doing in here again, Duo?
Duo: Just read and mock it.
Zechs: Sounds simple enough…
Trowa: You sound almost eager about this, Duo.
Duo: [shrugs] It’d be more fun with liquor…
Wufei: Oh no. I’ve been around you when you’re lubricated. No thanks.
Duo: [smirks] Kinky, ‘fei.
Wufei: [snort] I didn’t mean it like that, pervert.
>Pressure
Duo: [sings] Under pressure…
Trowa: What kind of pressure? Peer pressure?
Duo: Heh. Then it must be about me.
Quatre: [grimaces] Well, since I was in my right frame of mind at the time, I can hardly let you take sole blame for what happened…
Wufei: What happened?
Duo: [smirks] Quatre and I shuttled to Earth just to find a good tattoo parlor.
Trowa: … So you both have tattoos?
Duo: Yup.
Trowa: … Where?
Duo and Quatre: That’s a secret.
Others: [stare at them]
>*Is now enlisting in the army*
Duo: They’d never let a bad fan fic into the army. It’d shoot it’s own foot off or something.
Trowa: [looks at Heero closely] Hey, I think he fell asleep.
Duo: See! He can fall asleep anywhere! Like a freakin’ cat!
Heero: [blinks awake] Huh?
Duo: Nothing, kitty, go back to sleep.
Heero: … Kitty?
Duo: And he has a terrible sense of humor too.
Quatre: [giggles] He just doesn’t understand the joke, Duo.
Heero: He made a joke?
Duo: [grumbles]
>Shounen ai,
Duo: Heh. Well, that’s something nobody in this room would be squeamish about… Except for maybe Zechs.
Zechs: Why would boy’s love bother me?
Duo: Um… Well, I guess not. You’re a pretty mature, sophisticated guy…
Wufei: [smirks] He means because you’re straight.
Zechs: Oh. I’m not.
Wufei: What about Noin?
Zechs: That is, honestly, a subject I don’t wish to speak of in public. I will say that I don’t have a preference.
Heero: Neither do I. I don’t see the big deal about definitions.
Zechs: [smirks] I agree.
>song fic, 1x2. . .
Trowa: Duo?
Duo: No idea.
Treize’s voice: That’s fandom code for your pairings. Actually, we’re lucky we came before the time when people started using cute pet names, like they do in Harry Potter and Naruto… Anyway, it’s designated by the numbers that Oz gave you. Heero is 1, Duo is 2, Trowa is 3, and so on.
Duo: So 1 and 2 would be… Heero and I?
Treize: Yes. In fact, you and Heero are the most popular couple.
Duo: …
Heero: Heh.
Duo: Is that all you can say?
Heero: [shrugs] It’s just a story so it has no effect on me whatsoever.
Duo: Okay, fine, be cool like that.
>Cussing. . .
Others: [look at Duo]
Duo: Oh, all of you can just go fuck off.
>Angst. . . (well, if it is a Staind song, it’s bound to be a little angst, don’t you think?) And, I’m not sure, but I think I bashed Relena a bit.
Heero: [frowns]
Duo: [winces] Yeah, this is gonna be painful.
>Disclaimer: Song from Staind’s “Break The Cycle.”
Duo: I’ll never be able to listen to that CD again.
>And if I did own the boys, believe me, there would be at least three more movies after Endless Waltz and Relena would definitely be dead by now. ^__^
Heero: [voice deadly soft] What?
Others: [edge away from him]
>Duo Maxwell sat beside the window of one of the many safe houses they always wound up in.
Quatre: We do?
Duo: Smile and nod.
>The moonlight shone through the window and down onto the face of the object of his thoughts: Heero Yuy, the estranged pilot of Wing Gundam.
Duo: I think she meant ‘strange.’
Heero: [snort]
Wufei: Never mind the fact that moonlight doesn’t actually illuminate all that much.
>Heero lay asleep in his bed, his dark brown hair a mass of confusion about his head.
Trowa: Hair can’t be confused. It’s an inanimate object.
Duo: Well, his hair does have reason to be confused. It’s probably wondering how it’s remained so undamaged after Heero’s repeated self-destruct attempts.
Heero: [raises eyebrow] What about yours?
Duo: A *lot* of conditioner goes into my hair. A *lot*.
>Which was perfectly normal; he never took much care into his hair.
Duo: We fondly refer to it as perpetual bed-head hair.
Heero: Brushing it tends to just make it stick out more.
Duo: [laughs]
>He still wore his tank top and spandex.
Heero: What?
Duo: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Super Heero!
Wufei: I think she means those tight shorts you used to wear.
Trowa: The ones that showed off his ass so well.
Quatre: [giggles] I can see how people would think that’s the material it was made out of.
Heero: I think it was 95% spandex, 5% cotton…
Duo: Whatever happened to them?
Heero: I wore those shorts throughout the war so they were pretty worn out.
Quatre: [grins] Well, it’s not like those pajama bottoms don’t show off his ass as well.
Duo: [smirks] True.
Heero: … Why do you all keep talking about my backside?
Wufei: Well, you’re a very attractive man, Heero.
Heero: Okay…
>The covers, which had once covered the lithe form, had now been kicked off as if he couldn’t stand the warmth they’d offered to him.
Heero: I don’t move around in my sleep a lot.
Duo: I’d hope not, falling asleep in cockpits and such.
Heero: [eye roll]
>This was the only time when Duo could stare openly at the other pilot. When Heero couldn’t catch him.
Duo: Not that it bothers him when I do stare at him.
Heero: [shrugs]
Quatre: [smiles knowingly] Not that it bothers him when *anyone* stares at him.
Heero: Unless they have the intent to kill me, I usually don’t care.
>And even though they’d had a rough day, Duo couldn’t sleep.
Wufei: Maybe he couldn’t sleep *because* he had a rough day?
Trowa: I think she means that though he was tired from the rough day, he couldn’t sleep.
Duo: Don’t bother translating it. We’ll just be here longer.
>It was always like this when he bunked with Heero.
Duo: Dream on, fangirl. We haven’t shared a room either.
Heero: Well, there was that time we were all locked together in the Lunar Base.
Duo: Okay. We’ve never shared a *bedroom.*
>He’d feel like he hadn’t looked at him enough during the day, so he’d stay up late looking at him at night.
Duo: Yeah, I’m not obsessed at all.
>It was really late, but he didn’t care.
Wufei: Because it’s not like he has a war to fight in the morning or anything.
Duo: Nope, not in happy fangirl land.
>I just need this to be all right
>I can't feel this another night
Duo: [groans] Now she’s just making this song emo. Totally butchering it.
Trowa: [pats his shoulder] There, there.
>Why did he have to look at him? Duo had no clue. Well, actually he did. But it made no sense.
Wufei: Like this woman’s writing.
>Heero had been nothing but cruel, if not inhuman, to him.
Heero: [angrily] What?
Duo: Um… No. During the war, Heero was just very focused on his mission. Yes, the asshole stole parts from my Deathscythe, but I’ve more or less forgiven him for that. ‘Sides, he did save my life twice, so it’s kinda hard to hold a grudge.
Quatre: He cares a great deal about all of us.
Zechs: And he has a heart that empathizes with people.
Trowa: He’s just not a people person.
Wufei: [smirks] Well, we can’t really say we are either.
Heero: [ducks his head at their compliments]
>All Duo wanted was to be his friend. Well, not really.
Duo: [laughs]
Wufei: Your evil clone can’t seem to make up his mind.
Duo: Yeah.
>He wanted more than that. But he’d settle with being his friend. Grudgingly, anyway.
Duo: Yeah, because being his friend is such a terrible thing…
>He felt a connection to the silent, dark haired boy.
Quatre: Like we all do. It’s why we banded behind him so easily. He’s someone we could all believe in.
Duo: Heh, seems like we’re better Heero fans than this chick.
Quatre: [smiles]
Heero: [hides a blush] You really don’t need to defend me. It’s not like she can hear.
Duo: [sniff] Doesn’t matter. We’re still gonna do it, so don’t try to talk us outta it.
>He knew now that they’d been destined to meet that night, when Heero had tried to kill the Peacecraft girl and him.
Duo: Ah, the star-crossed lovers syndrome. Is that why the fangirls like us together?
Quatre: [shrugs] No idea.
>Duo had been meant to show up and stop him.
Heero: He did stop me. He shot me.
Duo: You barely winced.
Trowa: [smirks] Love tap.
Wufei: [grins widely] You always hurt the ones you love.
Duo: [glares] Oh, just shut the fuck up.
Quatre: “It’s just a flesh wound!”
Duo: [falls over]
>Duo had been meant to rescue him when Heero had gotten captured,
Duo: Huh?
Heero: When you broke me out of that hospital?
Duo: I guess so…
>Heero had been meant to steal the parts from Deathscythe,
Duo: [kicks Heero’s shin]
Heero: [blinks] Ow.
Duo: Sorry. Reflex.
>and Heero had been meant to save Duo when he’d gotten captured. It all fit together too well, how their paths kept coming across each other’s.
Duo: It couldn’t be because, oh, we’re Gundam Pilots? And that he spent just as much time with Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei?
Quatre: I think she means how our destinies seemed intertwined like fate.
Duo: My point is we’re all like that. It’s not constricted to any two of us.
>And there was more to it than that. Duo could see into the other’s heart.
Duo: I think the author’s confusing me for Relena.
Heero: Or Quatre.
Duo: Huh?
Heero: He’s empathic.
Duo: Oh, well, yeah.
Quatre: [blushes lightly]
>He knew Heero hid behind a mask of The Perfect Soldier.
Duo: ™
Heero: [raises an eyebrow] I hide behind a mask?
Wufei: I don’t think this girl understands you too well.
Heero: Am I that complicated?
Trowa: We’re all very unique people and perhaps at first glance we’re hard to understand. But I think over time, the people we care to open our hearts to understand us well enough.
Duo: And the only one of us who’s ever worn a mask is Zechs.
Zechs: I don’t think she meant a literal mask.
Duo: Still.
>Duo himself hid behind his cheerful, goofy mask.
Duo: Huh?
Wufei: Would it kill her to use another word for that? “Exterior” maybe?
>Neither wanted the outside world to see the pain inside. Both wanted to do what they had to do. But did both want each other?
Duo: Not that Heero isn’t gorgeous, but I had my mind on other things at the time.
Heero: Gorgeous?
Duo: [smirks]
>I can't take this I come unglued
>Duo would go through his days with Heero feeling that at any moment he’d confess his feelings.
Duo: [himself] Let’s make babies! Right now!
Wufei: [tries not to laugh]
>But he couldn’t. There was too much at stake. If Heero didn’t feel the same way, he’d never want to be around Duo again, and all that he’d worked for, all the trial and error that he’d gone through just to get Heero to at least trust him enough to sleep in the same room with him--- all that would be lost.
Wufei: There’s this thing called periods. Learn it.
Duo: God, my clone is so emo. It’s embarrassing.
Quatre: [smiles] So if you had feelings for Heero, would you tell him?
Duo: Sure. Nothing in our way now. Other than the whole ‘getting kidnapped by evil zombie Treize’ thing.
>If that happened, Duo knew that his façade would fade, that his mask would come unglued.
Trowa: Now she’s trying to fit the lyrics into the fic.
Duo: Clone Duo must have used that really cheap kiddy glue…
>I might breakdown in front of you
>And then he’d be sure to brake down in front of the stoic Japanese boy. He could imagine what Heero would do if he saw him cry.
Duo: Gimme a hanky?
Wufei: Probably not.
>He’d call him weak and have even less confidence in him than he all ready did.
Trowa: Now it’s confusing Duo for how Wufei used to be.
Wufei: [winces]
Trowa: Sorry.
Wufei: It’s okay.
>Besides, boys don’t cry.
Duo: Um. Yes, they do.
>Necessary to medicate
Wufei: This woman needs medication.
>I'm not sleeping, can't stay awake
>He knew he should get some sleep, but he had tried, and had failed. He just tossed and turned, and his hair usually got all tangled up when he did that, which made him get up to brush it because he couldn’t stand the thought of waking up in the morning with his hair standing up like a gigantic fro, or a birds nest, or whatever.
Wufei: [grits teeth] Run. On. Sentence.
Duo: I’m not *that* much of a girl about my hair.
Quatre: Girls aren’t that much of a girl over their hair.
>And he definitely did not want Heero to see him like that.
Duo: Oh, because his hair is so much better.
Quatre: I like his hair.
Heero: [pats it down self-consciously]
>But, he also felt tired. So tired that he felt like he’d pass out right there on the spot. But he knew if he went to bed, he’d just end up watching Heero from over there and not getting any sleep anyway. He wanted to groan in frustration, but that would wake the other who could actually sleep.
Duo: If I’m that tired, I’m just gonna pass out eventually anyway. Even without Heero’s cat-like ability to fall asleep anywhere.
Heero: Sleep is important for maximum efficiency. I get it at every available opportunity.
Duo: Cat.
Heero: [eye roll]
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>Besides, Relena Peacecraft was the object of Heero’s desires.
Trowa: Is she?
Heero: No. She’s a very beautiful and kind young woman. I love her very much. But... She’s the purest thing in my life and I just don’t want to complicate that with sex.
Duo: That’s… really sweet, man.
Heero: [blushes slightly]
>He’d seen that enough for himself. She’d win, of course. Duo couldn’t compete with that. The girl would even go to the ends of the world for Heero! How the hell was he supposed to compete with that?!
Quatre: Duo has many fine qualities of his own. Anyone would be lucky to have him as a partner.
Duo: Aw, shucks, Quatre.
Quatre: [giggles]
>He was depressed.
Wufei: Nice statement of the obvious, story.
>More depressed than he should be for his own good. He didn’t know how he’d let the stoic pilot get under his skin like this. Duo liked to think he was stronger than all that mess. But the pressure inside his soul was stronger than his will.
Zechs: He’s got it bad.
Wufei: Whipped.
Duo: [yawns]
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure
>He felt like he was drowning in his own despair. There was too much pain in his heart. Yet, unlike his friend, he did not search to end his life.
Duo: Um.
Heero: I’m suicidal?
Trowa: You did blow yourself up.
Heero: I don’t think of that as suicidal…
Zechs: Just very, very driven.
>He knew that’s what Heero tried to do. Too much pain. Solution? End of life.
Heero: But if you kill yourself, it doesn’t change anything.
Duo: You had a reason for doing it.
Wufei: Again, the author isn’t paying attention.
>He knew that, because he felt it from time to time himself. After all, he and Heero weren’t so different. No, just one had a different approach to life than the other did.
Duo: Eh, that’s kinda true.
>Duo couldn’t end his life. He still felt there had to be some hope for him, for Heero. And he would stay alive as long as he felt that.
>If you need me I'll be here
Wufei: Wanking by the window.
Trowa: [snorts]
>Duo could only reach out as much as Heero reached for him, which wasn’t much. But he told himself to wait patiently.
Duo: And obsess over him quietly.
>It was hard to do that when they could die any day on their blasted missions!
Wufei: Oh look, she remembered their supposed to be fighting a war.
Trowa: Isn’t that nice.
>But something inside him told him to wait, to stay like a shadow to the Japanese boy and catch him if he falls.
Duo: And now it’s entering the realm of creepy.
Quatre: [pats his shoulder]
>The Perfect Soldier, fall? Ha!
Duo: Right straight out of a window. Without opening his parachute. Really, it’s no wonder that the fangirls think you’re suicidal, Heero.
Wufei: But if they fully understood his reasoning for it, then they wouldn’t think that.
>That was one of the funniest thoughts he’d ever had. But he knew, even if Heero himself didn’t, that the other was as human as he. If one day Heero’s shields were to brake, Duo would be there for him, to hide him from the world when Heero could no longer hide behind his façade.
Quatre: That’s kinda sweet…
Duo: Or it would be if there was actually a *façade*.
>Half unconscious to escape my fear
>I can't take this I come unglued
>I might breakdown in front of you
>He didn’t feel like he’d been about to cry. But he did.
All: [groan]
Wufei: Make up your mind!
>The situation was just so hopeless!
Zechs: Forgetting the fact that he just said he *had* hope.
>He wondered how much longer he could take it before he’d brake down completely.
Trowa: I think she’s trying too hard to make it follow along with the lyrics.
Wufei: It’s not working.
>Necessary to medicate
>I'm not sleeping, can't stay awake
>He could feel sleep wanted to encase him like a blanket, warm and healing, but Duo couldn’t let it settle. His mind was still functioning too much for that.
Heero: Maybe if he went to sleep we could get out of here.
Duo: That’s looking on the bright side.
Wufei: Maybe Clone Duo will die of sleep deprivation.
Duo: That one’s good too.
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>He wondered idly if Heero would ever admit it that he was human.
Heero: I’m human.
Duo: Ta-da. Can we leave now?
Trowa: Sadly, no.
Duo: Damn.
>Perhaps, if Duo told him he knew, he’d reach a bit further out to him. But that was so damn unlikely. He didn’t like the odds on it.
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure
>My head hurts this shit isn't getting me high
Duo: [stoned] This is some bad shit, dude.
Wufei: [snorts]
>My chest is so tight, am I going to die
Wufei: Promise?
Zechs: This is making you really angry, isn’t it?
Wufei: [nods]
>He’d never felt so much pain before that he felt like he’d die from melancholy. He was afraid of it deep inside. He’d never loved someone so much that he felt he would die just from not having him or her. But that’s how he felt. Like everything in his mind was slowly coming apart and that his despair was starting to take control.
Duo: Do I whine that much?
Others: [quiet]
Duo: Geez. Thanks very fucking much, guys.
Quatre: [laughs] We’re only joking with you, Duo.
Duo: [slumps in his seat, grumbles]
>My stomach's in knots and the room starts to spin
>He curled up on the window seat, brought his legs up in front of him and wrapped his arms around them, resting his chin on his knees. He tried to look out the window, but it was just so boring compared to the thing in the bed.
Trowa: Tonight the part of Heero Yuy will be played an inanimate object.
>Thing. He he. That was a good analogy.
Wufei: No, it’s not. It’s not even an analogy!
Trowa: Wufei, you’re going to rupture something.
Wufei: [seethes quietly]
>Thing. Duo and Heero were both things, things that didn’t know their true feelings until they came and bit them in the ass to make themselves known.
Duo: Kinky.
Wufei: Is that all you think about?
Duo: [winks] That and it made me think of Quatre.
Quatre: Duo!
Duo: [smirks]
Trowa: What?
Quatre: Nothing.
Duo: [hums]
Quatre: Want me to tell them where *yours* is?
Duo: Don’t worry, we made a pact. We wouldn’t show it to anyone before we showed it to our lovers. Though, it doesn’t help that we’re both single right now…
Trowa: What are they talking about?
Wufei: [shrugs]
Heero: [watches Quatre and Duo curiously]
>Of course, Heero hadn’t gotten bit yet, and probably never would, at least not about the emotions that Duo would wish of him. It would most likely be for Relena. That bitch.
Heero and Zechs: Hey!
Duo: Actually, I like Relena a lot. And honestly, if I felt that way about Heero, I wouldn’t let something like this stop me.
>She’d all ready won! He knew it deep inside, and there was nothing he could do.
>He was starting to lose hope, what little he had.
>But he still had to believe in the thin thread of it. He had to. He just had to!
Wufei: Repeating it won’t make it sound any better, story.
>He believed in Heero too much not too.
Wufei: Second too should be to.
Duo: Okay, grammar queen.
Wufei: [growls at him]
>After all, he was a part of him, was he not?
Duo: Nope. Last I checked, I was a separate entity with my own personality, hopes, and dreams. I don’t need to evolve my whole life around the guy I like.
>And Duo believed in himself. Well, occasionally he believed in himself.
Duo: Oi!
Trowa: She did that thing again. The author doesn’t seem to be able to make up her mind.
Wufei: [is rubbing his forehead]
>As I wait for this valium to slowly kick in
>Drugs. Anti depressants. Yeah, that’s what he needed.
Trowa: Valium isn’t an antidepressant, if you want to be technical.
>Hell, he was all ready crazy.
Duo: Hey, I resemble that remark!
Quatre: [pats his shoulder] None of us are the sanest people around.
Wufei: Already. One word.
>Why not fight Oz and have delusions at the same time. He almost laughed at the thought of fighting with Heero the next morning, while on something, and telling him, “Pink bunny coming in at ten o’ clock!”
Duo: … I’m not even going to comment on that one.
>Oh, yeah, Heero would enjoy that, now wouldn’t he? Duo would probably be seeing double, depending on whether if he was drunk or high.
>Duo closed his eyes, still curled up there, and let the tears fall silently.
Duo: I *would* cry if I started having weird thoughts like that.
Heero: [snorts]
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure!
Duo: Too much bad fic! Is it over now?
Trowa: No, there’s still more text.
Duo: God damn…
Treize’s voice: Actually, this is shorter than some of the others you’ll be reading.
All: [shocked silence]
>Heero had been woken up when Duo had gotten out of bed and gone to the window.
Wufei: Awkward phrasing there.
>He could feel those violet eyes on him for all that time.
Trowa: It’s hard not to notice gouged eyeballs laying on you.
Duo: Ew.
Zechs: *That* did not have to be taken literally.
Trowa: [smiles and shrugs]
>He’d kept his breathing steady, pretending he had stayed asleep. He was rather good at that. One of the many things Dr. J and Odin Lowe had taught him, he thought bitterly.
Heero: Why would I be bitter about that? It’s very useful.
>He had no idea why Duo refused to go to sleep, but whatever it was it seemed to be bothering him immensely, because he did it night after night.
Wufei: Which caused him to die of sleep deprivation. The end.
>Maybe the missions were starting to get to him. Maybe he saw ghosts of the dead in his dreams too.
Heero: [grunts]
Quatre: [looks at him in concern] Well, I’m sure we all have our share of dreams.
>Probably not. Duo wasn’t the type to let that sort of thing get to him.
Duo: Oh gee, thanks. This person really has a high opinion of me.
>Of course, Heero reminded himself, that’s what he wanted the world to think about himself. But that wasn’t true. He wasn’t as cold hearted as everyone thought.
Trowa: None of us think he’s cold-hearted.
Wufei: And I say again, if the woman had been paying attention, she would have noticed that.
>Well, Relena knew it. Duo knew it. He didn’t know how they knew it, but they did.
Duo: It couldn’t possibly be from his actions or words.
Trowa: Nah. Too simple.
>Because they wouldn’t leave him alone!
Duo: [little kid] Mommy, Duo and Relena won’t leave me alone!
Trowa: [mother] Well stop pointing your gun at them, dear.
>Some how, they felt the pain he tried to hide behind the stoic mask.
Wufei: Somehow. One word.
>No matter how many times he tried to get rid of them both, they’d just wouldn’t go.
Duo: Get rid of us?
Trowa: It seems that Clone Heero has a high opinion of you as well.
Duo: Geez…
>He almost smiled. The experiments hadn’t been a total success, then, if he could still feel. For some reason he found that comforting.
Heero: I don’t suppose that it occurred to the author that Doctor J did that on purpose.
Duo: Ouch.
Heero: What?
Duo: Oh, that was just a total bitch-slap.
Heero: Okay…
>The silence stretched on until he could feel that Duo had finally fallen asleep.
Duo: After the crying?
Trowa: I suppose so…
Duo: [snorts] Boys don’t cry my pale white ass…
Wufei: [groans] Duo. I didn’t need that image.
Duo: [raspberries]
>He’d wake up with a back ache the next morning, Heero knew. They did too much during the day for Duo to start having back problems.
Duo: [stretches] Nope, still good. Though I could use a good massage… Any volunteers?
Zechs: I can give you one.
Duo: [blushes] Um… No, that’s okay.
Zechs: [blinks]
>Heero got up and went to his fellow Gundam pilot at the window. He could see the shining tear stains along that heart shaped face as they dried in the moonlight.
Duo: My face is heart-shaped?
Quatre: Your cheeks are kind of round. It’s cute.
Duo: [slumps] I’d rather be sexy.
Quatre: [snorts] You’re that too.
Duo: Is it the braid?
Trowa: The braid is part of it.
Duo: [grins]
>He wiped them away softly and picked up the braided deadweight easily.
Duo: ‘Cause Heero’s so big and strong and manly.
Heero: Trowa’s stronger than I am. Did you ever try to use Heavyarms?
Duo: No, but I take it that it’s called ‘heavy’ for a reason?
Heero: Oh yeah.
>He took the sleeping boy to his bed next to his own in the small room and laid him down, covering the wonderful form with the light blanket.
Wufei: Well, it seems he’s attracted to you at least.
Duo: [stretches] Who wouldn’t be?
>He brought the blanket up to his chin, and as he did, he knew that like himself, Duo would probably kick it off onto the floor before morning. He’d have to get up and cover him again so Duo didn’t wake from the cold. He was used to doing this now. He’d done it for so long he was accustomed to it. He also took a certain joy out of it that Duo would never know what he did.
Duo: Actually, I can see that as something Heero would do. He’s very good at being subtly sweet.
Heero: I’m sweet?
Duo: [giggles and pats his shoulder]
>Showing his emotions was definitely not one of Heero’s strong points, but he felt Duo did that enough for both of them that he really didn’t have to.
Wufei: I don’t think she quite comprehends the fact that Heero can be a very emotional person as well.
Duo: Subtly.
Heero: It is true that showing empathy is still not something I’m completely comfortable with.
>Then, a strange thought occurred to him. The way he felt about Relena wasn’t the same as his feelings for Duo.
Trowa: Well, that was out of the blue.
>He was annoyed with both of them for breaking through his shields, but. . . It was different. He couldn’t describe it, but he knew somehow that it wasn’t the same.
>But he did know one thing.
Heero: The fic was almost over.
Duo: Yay!
>“Suki da,” he whispered, a sound almost as soft as the silence in the room, yet he felt it with all his heart. If only he could say it when Duo was awake.
Duo: Ah! Fangirl Japanese! Run!
Trowa: Incorrect too. Surprise, surprise.
Wufei: It wouldn’t kill her to type it in English, would it?
Quatre: [smiles, stands] I think we can leave now. The doors opened again.
Wufei: Good, let’s go. I want to yell at Treize some more.
Zechs: I doubt that’ll do any good.
Wufei: [glares at him]
- Satellite -
Heero left the others trying to talk to Treize again, who hadn’t sent another transmission since they were in the theatre, and went back to get changed. He had just kicked his pajamas aside when he heard a gasp from the doorway and froze. He’d taken it for granted and left his doorway wide open as he got dressed.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the intruder was Quatre, who was now facing the hallway and covering his eyes for good measure. “I’m sorry, Heero! I didn’t mean to walk in like that.”
Heero smiled slightly. “Don’t worry about it, Quatre. I shouldn’t have left the door open.” Opening the closet, he saw that his own clothes were inside, which was equally relieving and worrisome. How had Treize managed to bring them here *and* their belongings? This was just strange…
“Do you want me to close the door?”
“It’s okay. What did you want?” Heero slipped on some underwear and jeans before reaching for his favored green tank top.
“Well, it seems Treize is through with us for the day and Duo suggested that we explore the satellite more thoroughly in case there was something we missed.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Heero slipped the shirt over his head and but his sneakers back on. He walked up behind Quatre, causing the blond to jump as he touched his shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked, suddenly worried. “I didn’t mean to offend you…”
Quatre blinked wide blue eyes. “Oh, no, it’s not like that…” He looked away, cheeks coloring. “It’s just not every day I see a cute boy naked. Anyway, I should go help Trowa. See you later!” The blond, still appearing a little jittery, took off down the hall.
“Yeah.” Heero watched him go, wondering if something really was wrong. Then he pushed it aside mentally, deciding to focus on the problem at hand. If Quatre had a problem, Heero assumed that he would say something when he was ready.
TBC.
If you enjoyed this, feel free to drop a line. I’d be even more grateful, though, if anyone in the audience volunteered their own fic for MSTing or give me a link to a fic you think would be perfect for this. (I’m usually very nice!) Thanks for reading!
Episode One
Story: Pressure
Story by: Chrissy Sky
MSTed by: Chrissy Sky
Note 1: This is not a sequel to Enma’s Torment Theatre, though it might turn into an indirect sequel over time. Dunno. But yeah. New cast, new fics, new theatre, more torture.
Note 2: On the pairings. I’m not putting 1x2x1 or 3x4x3 down in any way. I still have fond feelings for both. However, they’re terribly common and I wanted to do something else for this fic. (Namely Heero/Quatre, Duo/Trowa, and Zechs/Wufei.) If you’re not open-minded enough to read different pairings, this probably isn’t for you.
Note 3: All (or at least most) fics were used with permission of the original authors. As you can see, this first one is my own. I’m very lazy.
Note 4: I wrote ‘Pressure’ back in 2002, I believe. So I was fairly young at the time. I thought I’d die of embarrassment reading through it. XD
-
A lot of unusual things had happened to Heero throughout his life. Not that he considered them unusual—but other people, more often than not, did. He’d nearly died more than once, was trained as a killer at an extremely young age, and mastered a tactical program that often drove its users insane. So, all in all, he was used to the unexpected and he took it in stride.
That did not mean, however, that he wasn’t surprised when one morning he woke up in a room that wasn’t his own.
It was a small room with the bed taking up a great deal of the space, no other pieces of furniture, and a built in closet on the left side. The bed itself was fairly comfortable with clean sheets, the smell of fabric softener doing little to mask the stale, metal scent in the air.
Heero sat up immediately and reached under his pillow for a gun that wasn’t there. Not because it did not come with him to wherever he was, but because he hadn’t carried one in the past five months since the incident with Mariemeia. He had sworn that he would never kill anyone again, and he meant to keep that promise. Even so, it was hard to quell such deeply ingrained instincts.
He heard voices from outside the room and minutely relaxed when he recognized to whom they belonged. Without dressing, he rushed out of the room. Outside, he stepped into a dark, drab hallway lined with other doors. Heero ignored these, instead following the direction where the voices were coming from.
Soon he was greeted with a sight he pretty much expected to see. There were five familiar faces standing in what he recognized to be the control room of a space satellite.
“What do you mean you can’t get this thing to work?!” Duo exclaimed. Their situation had to be dire if the braided boy was already sounding that desperate.
He was speaking to Quatre, who stood at the control console. He tapped a few key codes but the display remained unresponsive. “I mean, Duo, that this satellite is a wreck. The only things that seem to be working are the life support systems—and even those aren’t operating at an efficient capacity—and the lighting. Even if we were near a colony—which as you can see visually,” here the blond motioned to the view screen, “we are not—the communication system has been completely removed. There is no conceivable way off this satellite.”
“How the hell did we all get here?” Wufei asked from where he stood in the corner, cupping his chin in deep thought. The Chinese pilot was the first to notice Heero. “Yuy? So you’re here too.” The observation seemed to hearten him for some reason.
“So it seems,” Heero answered, nodding to all of them as they turned to look at him. He walked further into the room, moving closer to see if Quatre’s estimation was correct, though he did not doubt the blond’s words. “Any idea what’s going on?”
“Not a clue,” answered Trowa. “We’ve been up for a while and haven’t found much. There are bedrooms enough for all of us, which we woke up in without memory of how we got there, and a bunch of rooms we can only assume are for recreation—not standard for a satellite at all.”
“Recreation?” Heero asked blankly.
Zechs nodded. “There’s a fencing room, a petting zoo with small animals, a library, an arcade, and a music room.”
Heero frowned, his mind making a few quick connections. “That… seems to fit a lot of our interests.”
“I thought so too,” Wufei agreed. “Someone has been preparing for this for a long time. Someone who knows us very well.”
“This is really starting to freak me out,” Duo said, frowning deeply and scratching the tip of his nose. He turned to look at Heero closely. “I’m surprised you slept so long, with all the noise we were making. You really *can* sleep anywhere. And… Hey, why aren’t you dressed?”
They all seemed to look at him a bit more closely after that. The control room was still a bit dark, contrary to Quatre’s claim about the lights.
Heero folded his arms over his bare chest, raising an eyebrow at Duo. “I just woke up,” he said, stating what he felt was obvious.
“Yeah, but… You’re even wearing pajamas. At least part of them.” Duo waved a hand at the pale blue pajama bottoms.
“They were a gift from Relena.”
“And there are no teddy bears on them? I’m shocked.”
Quatre giggled at the disgruntled look on Heero’s face. The Japanese boy didn’t realize it, but everyone in that room had been attracted to him at one point or another—so seeing him bare-chested was of course very noteworthy. “Why don’t we go see if there’s a kitchen? We can wait for you, Heero, if you want to go change.”
“That’s fine,” Heero answered immediately. “I’m not cold.”
Duo snorted and began walking, leading the group down another hallway. “Yeah, Quatre, we’re talking about the guy who puts his broken bones back into their sockets without an anesthetic. I still get creeped out just thinking about it!”
Trowa laughed softly. “Heero is the way he is. You wouldn’t have him any other way, would you?”
“I didn’t say that!”
They were almost finished with their meal when a beeping sound called them back into the control room. After pressing a blinking button, the view screen fizzled with static before clearing on the image of a dead man.
He was definitely dead. Wufei remembered killing him quite clearly.
“Treize Kushrenada?!” All six of them exclaimed, shocked.
Treize smiled. “You all remember me! I’m flattered.” His eyes settled on Zechs. “Hello, my old friend. I hope you’re well—I hope you’re all well.”
“Um,” said Duo, “not really.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. See, none of us remember how we got here, and… Well, you kinda died, man.”
Treize chuckled. “Well, you thought Zechs was dead as well, if I remember right.”
“He has a point,” Trowa said.
Zechs stepped forward, glaring at his childhood friend. Seeing the man again—alive—brought back a flood of memories and feelings that had been buried for over a year. He had assumed that they would remain so. “What’s going on here, Treize?”
“It’s quite simple really.” Treize’s smile did not waver. “Though you boys might not think so. I hope you’ll forgive my abruptness; I’ve always abhorred kidnapping. It’s so uncivilized. Still, it wasn’t like you were going to volunteer for this experiment, were you?”
“Experiment?” Heero echoed, tensing, images of lab rats coming to mind.
“Indeed. You’re going to be subjected to bouts of torturous reading of material that is commonly called fan fiction—stories written about all of you. Some are good, but the ones you’ll be reading won’t be.”
Duo rolled his eyes. “You mean MSTing.”
“Oh, you’re familiar with it?”
“Yeah, that TV show was great.”
“He watches a lot of pre-colonial era television shows,” Trowa whispered in Heero’s ear as an explanation.
Duo pouted at him, having overheard. “Hey, everyone needs a hobby.”
Treize caught their attention again. “Well, if you’re all settled, how about we get started?”
“Treize, wait!” Zechs yelled at the screen. “Why are you doing this?”
“It wouldn’t be any fun if I gave it all away so soon, now would it? For the time being, though, I will tell you that I’m interested in seeing the effects this will have on you.” Treize pointed behind them and they saw red blinking lights leading down another dark corridor. The lights had not been there before. “Follow those lights. They’ll lead you to the theatre. Oh, and you don’t have a choice in the matter.” The communication ended as suddenly as it had initiated before any of them could ask anymore questions.
Duo sighed, his hands sliding into his pockets as he walked down the hall. “Well, let’s get this over with.”
“Why should we do this?” Wufei asked, a dark scowl on his face. “He can’t very well force us to…”
“If my guess it right, he can control all the systems on here from wherever he’s at,” Duo told him. “If we don’t, he’ll probably turn off our air or something.”
“But we don’t know that for sure,” Heero pointed out.
“Do you want to take the chance?” Duo asked him archly.
Heero thought about it. Duo did seem to have some amount of knowledge about the subject. He decided that, for now, it might be best to follow the American’s lead.
Wufei turned to Zechs. “And Treize… I didn’t know him very well, but he seemed… unlike himself.”
Zechs nodded in agreement. “As someone who *has* known him—all of my life in fact—I can safely say that yes, he was acting very strangely.”
Heero agreed with this as well. He had only met the man once. Treize always seemed more honorable than this. He was above things like kidnapping and torture. Had something happened to the former Oz leader in the last year that could have changed him so much? Finding out whatever it was could be the key to their escape…
- Theatre -
[Sitting from left to right: Quatre, Duo, Heero, Trowa, Wufei, and Zechs.]
Quatre: Rashid and the others are going to be so worried when they discover I’m gone…
Duo: Well, then we have nothing to worry about. The Maguanacs can always track their Master Quatre down.
Wufei: … That does make me feel more confident about the situation.
Duo: Sure! And when Relena finds out Heero’s missing too, she’ll lend her support to the search. We’ll be home in no time.
Zechs: What are we supposed to be doing in here again, Duo?
Duo: Just read and mock it.
Zechs: Sounds simple enough…
Trowa: You sound almost eager about this, Duo.
Duo: [shrugs] It’d be more fun with liquor…
Wufei: Oh no. I’ve been around you when you’re lubricated. No thanks.
Duo: [smirks] Kinky, ‘fei.
Wufei: [snort] I didn’t mean it like that, pervert.
>Pressure
Duo: [sings] Under pressure…
Trowa: What kind of pressure? Peer pressure?
Duo: Heh. Then it must be about me.
Quatre: [grimaces] Well, since I was in my right frame of mind at the time, I can hardly let you take sole blame for what happened…
Wufei: What happened?
Duo: [smirks] Quatre and I shuttled to Earth just to find a good tattoo parlor.
Trowa: … So you both have tattoos?
Duo: Yup.
Trowa: … Where?
Duo and Quatre: That’s a secret.
Others: [stare at them]
>*Is now enlisting in the army*
Duo: They’d never let a bad fan fic into the army. It’d shoot it’s own foot off or something.
Trowa: [looks at Heero closely] Hey, I think he fell asleep.
Duo: See! He can fall asleep anywhere! Like a freakin’ cat!
Heero: [blinks awake] Huh?
Duo: Nothing, kitty, go back to sleep.
Heero: … Kitty?
Duo: And he has a terrible sense of humor too.
Quatre: [giggles] He just doesn’t understand the joke, Duo.
Heero: He made a joke?
Duo: [grumbles]
>Shounen ai,
Duo: Heh. Well, that’s something nobody in this room would be squeamish about… Except for maybe Zechs.
Zechs: Why would boy’s love bother me?
Duo: Um… Well, I guess not. You’re a pretty mature, sophisticated guy…
Wufei: [smirks] He means because you’re straight.
Zechs: Oh. I’m not.
Wufei: What about Noin?
Zechs: That is, honestly, a subject I don’t wish to speak of in public. I will say that I don’t have a preference.
Heero: Neither do I. I don’t see the big deal about definitions.
Zechs: [smirks] I agree.
>song fic, 1x2. . .
Trowa: Duo?
Duo: No idea.
Treize’s voice: That’s fandom code for your pairings. Actually, we’re lucky we came before the time when people started using cute pet names, like they do in Harry Potter and Naruto… Anyway, it’s designated by the numbers that Oz gave you. Heero is 1, Duo is 2, Trowa is 3, and so on.
Duo: So 1 and 2 would be… Heero and I?
Treize: Yes. In fact, you and Heero are the most popular couple.
Duo: …
Heero: Heh.
Duo: Is that all you can say?
Heero: [shrugs] It’s just a story so it has no effect on me whatsoever.
Duo: Okay, fine, be cool like that.
>Cussing. . .
Others: [look at Duo]
Duo: Oh, all of you can just go fuck off.
>Angst. . . (well, if it is a Staind song, it’s bound to be a little angst, don’t you think?) And, I’m not sure, but I think I bashed Relena a bit.
Heero: [frowns]
Duo: [winces] Yeah, this is gonna be painful.
>Disclaimer: Song from Staind’s “Break The Cycle.”
Duo: I’ll never be able to listen to that CD again.
>And if I did own the boys, believe me, there would be at least three more movies after Endless Waltz and Relena would definitely be dead by now. ^__^
Heero: [voice deadly soft] What?
Others: [edge away from him]
>Duo Maxwell sat beside the window of one of the many safe houses they always wound up in.
Quatre: We do?
Duo: Smile and nod.
>The moonlight shone through the window and down onto the face of the object of his thoughts: Heero Yuy, the estranged pilot of Wing Gundam.
Duo: I think she meant ‘strange.’
Heero: [snort]
Wufei: Never mind the fact that moonlight doesn’t actually illuminate all that much.
>Heero lay asleep in his bed, his dark brown hair a mass of confusion about his head.
Trowa: Hair can’t be confused. It’s an inanimate object.
Duo: Well, his hair does have reason to be confused. It’s probably wondering how it’s remained so undamaged after Heero’s repeated self-destruct attempts.
Heero: [raises eyebrow] What about yours?
Duo: A *lot* of conditioner goes into my hair. A *lot*.
>Which was perfectly normal; he never took much care into his hair.
Duo: We fondly refer to it as perpetual bed-head hair.
Heero: Brushing it tends to just make it stick out more.
Duo: [laughs]
>He still wore his tank top and spandex.
Heero: What?
Duo: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s Super Heero!
Wufei: I think she means those tight shorts you used to wear.
Trowa: The ones that showed off his ass so well.
Quatre: [giggles] I can see how people would think that’s the material it was made out of.
Heero: I think it was 95% spandex, 5% cotton…
Duo: Whatever happened to them?
Heero: I wore those shorts throughout the war so they were pretty worn out.
Quatre: [grins] Well, it’s not like those pajama bottoms don’t show off his ass as well.
Duo: [smirks] True.
Heero: … Why do you all keep talking about my backside?
Wufei: Well, you’re a very attractive man, Heero.
Heero: Okay…
>The covers, which had once covered the lithe form, had now been kicked off as if he couldn’t stand the warmth they’d offered to him.
Heero: I don’t move around in my sleep a lot.
Duo: I’d hope not, falling asleep in cockpits and such.
Heero: [eye roll]
>This was the only time when Duo could stare openly at the other pilot. When Heero couldn’t catch him.
Duo: Not that it bothers him when I do stare at him.
Heero: [shrugs]
Quatre: [smiles knowingly] Not that it bothers him when *anyone* stares at him.
Heero: Unless they have the intent to kill me, I usually don’t care.
>And even though they’d had a rough day, Duo couldn’t sleep.
Wufei: Maybe he couldn’t sleep *because* he had a rough day?
Trowa: I think she means that though he was tired from the rough day, he couldn’t sleep.
Duo: Don’t bother translating it. We’ll just be here longer.
>It was always like this when he bunked with Heero.
Duo: Dream on, fangirl. We haven’t shared a room either.
Heero: Well, there was that time we were all locked together in the Lunar Base.
Duo: Okay. We’ve never shared a *bedroom.*
>He’d feel like he hadn’t looked at him enough during the day, so he’d stay up late looking at him at night.
Duo: Yeah, I’m not obsessed at all.
>It was really late, but he didn’t care.
Wufei: Because it’s not like he has a war to fight in the morning or anything.
Duo: Nope, not in happy fangirl land.
>I just need this to be all right
>I can't feel this another night
Duo: [groans] Now she’s just making this song emo. Totally butchering it.
Trowa: [pats his shoulder] There, there.
>Why did he have to look at him? Duo had no clue. Well, actually he did. But it made no sense.
Wufei: Like this woman’s writing.
>Heero had been nothing but cruel, if not inhuman, to him.
Heero: [angrily] What?
Duo: Um… No. During the war, Heero was just very focused on his mission. Yes, the asshole stole parts from my Deathscythe, but I’ve more or less forgiven him for that. ‘Sides, he did save my life twice, so it’s kinda hard to hold a grudge.
Quatre: He cares a great deal about all of us.
Zechs: And he has a heart that empathizes with people.
Trowa: He’s just not a people person.
Wufei: [smirks] Well, we can’t really say we are either.
Heero: [ducks his head at their compliments]
>All Duo wanted was to be his friend. Well, not really.
Duo: [laughs]
Wufei: Your evil clone can’t seem to make up his mind.
Duo: Yeah.
>He wanted more than that. But he’d settle with being his friend. Grudgingly, anyway.
Duo: Yeah, because being his friend is such a terrible thing…
>He felt a connection to the silent, dark haired boy.
Quatre: Like we all do. It’s why we banded behind him so easily. He’s someone we could all believe in.
Duo: Heh, seems like we’re better Heero fans than this chick.
Quatre: [smiles]
Heero: [hides a blush] You really don’t need to defend me. It’s not like she can hear.
Duo: [sniff] Doesn’t matter. We’re still gonna do it, so don’t try to talk us outta it.
>He knew now that they’d been destined to meet that night, when Heero had tried to kill the Peacecraft girl and him.
Duo: Ah, the star-crossed lovers syndrome. Is that why the fangirls like us together?
Quatre: [shrugs] No idea.
>Duo had been meant to show up and stop him.
Heero: He did stop me. He shot me.
Duo: You barely winced.
Trowa: [smirks] Love tap.
Wufei: [grins widely] You always hurt the ones you love.
Duo: [glares] Oh, just shut the fuck up.
Quatre: “It’s just a flesh wound!”
Duo: [falls over]
>Duo had been meant to rescue him when Heero had gotten captured,
Duo: Huh?
Heero: When you broke me out of that hospital?
Duo: I guess so…
>Heero had been meant to steal the parts from Deathscythe,
Duo: [kicks Heero’s shin]
Heero: [blinks] Ow.
Duo: Sorry. Reflex.
>and Heero had been meant to save Duo when he’d gotten captured. It all fit together too well, how their paths kept coming across each other’s.
Duo: It couldn’t be because, oh, we’re Gundam Pilots? And that he spent just as much time with Quatre, Trowa, and Wufei?
Quatre: I think she means how our destinies seemed intertwined like fate.
Duo: My point is we’re all like that. It’s not constricted to any two of us.
>And there was more to it than that. Duo could see into the other’s heart.
Duo: I think the author’s confusing me for Relena.
Heero: Or Quatre.
Duo: Huh?
Heero: He’s empathic.
Duo: Oh, well, yeah.
Quatre: [blushes lightly]
>He knew Heero hid behind a mask of The Perfect Soldier.
Duo: ™
Heero: [raises an eyebrow] I hide behind a mask?
Wufei: I don’t think this girl understands you too well.
Heero: Am I that complicated?
Trowa: We’re all very unique people and perhaps at first glance we’re hard to understand. But I think over time, the people we care to open our hearts to understand us well enough.
Duo: And the only one of us who’s ever worn a mask is Zechs.
Zechs: I don’t think she meant a literal mask.
Duo: Still.
>Duo himself hid behind his cheerful, goofy mask.
Duo: Huh?
Wufei: Would it kill her to use another word for that? “Exterior” maybe?
>Neither wanted the outside world to see the pain inside. Both wanted to do what they had to do. But did both want each other?
Duo: Not that Heero isn’t gorgeous, but I had my mind on other things at the time.
Heero: Gorgeous?
Duo: [smirks]
>I can't take this I come unglued
>Duo would go through his days with Heero feeling that at any moment he’d confess his feelings.
Duo: [himself] Let’s make babies! Right now!
Wufei: [tries not to laugh]
>But he couldn’t. There was too much at stake. If Heero didn’t feel the same way, he’d never want to be around Duo again, and all that he’d worked for, all the trial and error that he’d gone through just to get Heero to at least trust him enough to sleep in the same room with him--- all that would be lost.
Wufei: There’s this thing called periods. Learn it.
Duo: God, my clone is so emo. It’s embarrassing.
Quatre: [smiles] So if you had feelings for Heero, would you tell him?
Duo: Sure. Nothing in our way now. Other than the whole ‘getting kidnapped by evil zombie Treize’ thing.
>If that happened, Duo knew that his façade would fade, that his mask would come unglued.
Trowa: Now she’s trying to fit the lyrics into the fic.
Duo: Clone Duo must have used that really cheap kiddy glue…
>I might breakdown in front of you
>And then he’d be sure to brake down in front of the stoic Japanese boy. He could imagine what Heero would do if he saw him cry.
Duo: Gimme a hanky?
Wufei: Probably not.
>He’d call him weak and have even less confidence in him than he all ready did.
Trowa: Now it’s confusing Duo for how Wufei used to be.
Wufei: [winces]
Trowa: Sorry.
Wufei: It’s okay.
>Besides, boys don’t cry.
Duo: Um. Yes, they do.
>Necessary to medicate
Wufei: This woman needs medication.
>I'm not sleeping, can't stay awake
>He knew he should get some sleep, but he had tried, and had failed. He just tossed and turned, and his hair usually got all tangled up when he did that, which made him get up to brush it because he couldn’t stand the thought of waking up in the morning with his hair standing up like a gigantic fro, or a birds nest, or whatever.
Wufei: [grits teeth] Run. On. Sentence.
Duo: I’m not *that* much of a girl about my hair.
Quatre: Girls aren’t that much of a girl over their hair.
>And he definitely did not want Heero to see him like that.
Duo: Oh, because his hair is so much better.
Quatre: I like his hair.
Heero: [pats it down self-consciously]
>But, he also felt tired. So tired that he felt like he’d pass out right there on the spot. But he knew if he went to bed, he’d just end up watching Heero from over there and not getting any sleep anyway. He wanted to groan in frustration, but that would wake the other who could actually sleep.
Duo: If I’m that tired, I’m just gonna pass out eventually anyway. Even without Heero’s cat-like ability to fall asleep anywhere.
Heero: Sleep is important for maximum efficiency. I get it at every available opportunity.
Duo: Cat.
Heero: [eye roll]
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>Besides, Relena Peacecraft was the object of Heero’s desires.
Trowa: Is she?
Heero: No. She’s a very beautiful and kind young woman. I love her very much. But... She’s the purest thing in my life and I just don’t want to complicate that with sex.
Duo: That’s… really sweet, man.
Heero: [blushes slightly]
>He’d seen that enough for himself. She’d win, of course. Duo couldn’t compete with that. The girl would even go to the ends of the world for Heero! How the hell was he supposed to compete with that?!
Quatre: Duo has many fine qualities of his own. Anyone would be lucky to have him as a partner.
Duo: Aw, shucks, Quatre.
Quatre: [giggles]
>He was depressed.
Wufei: Nice statement of the obvious, story.
>More depressed than he should be for his own good. He didn’t know how he’d let the stoic pilot get under his skin like this. Duo liked to think he was stronger than all that mess. But the pressure inside his soul was stronger than his will.
Zechs: He’s got it bad.
Wufei: Whipped.
Duo: [yawns]
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure
>He felt like he was drowning in his own despair. There was too much pain in his heart. Yet, unlike his friend, he did not search to end his life.
Duo: Um.
Heero: I’m suicidal?
Trowa: You did blow yourself up.
Heero: I don’t think of that as suicidal…
Zechs: Just very, very driven.
>He knew that’s what Heero tried to do. Too much pain. Solution? End of life.
Heero: But if you kill yourself, it doesn’t change anything.
Duo: You had a reason for doing it.
Wufei: Again, the author isn’t paying attention.
>He knew that, because he felt it from time to time himself. After all, he and Heero weren’t so different. No, just one had a different approach to life than the other did.
Duo: Eh, that’s kinda true.
>Duo couldn’t end his life. He still felt there had to be some hope for him, for Heero. And he would stay alive as long as he felt that.
>If you need me I'll be here
Wufei: Wanking by the window.
Trowa: [snorts]
>Duo could only reach out as much as Heero reached for him, which wasn’t much. But he told himself to wait patiently.
Duo: And obsess over him quietly.
>It was hard to do that when they could die any day on their blasted missions!
Wufei: Oh look, she remembered their supposed to be fighting a war.
Trowa: Isn’t that nice.
>But something inside him told him to wait, to stay like a shadow to the Japanese boy and catch him if he falls.
Duo: And now it’s entering the realm of creepy.
Quatre: [pats his shoulder]
>The Perfect Soldier, fall? Ha!
Duo: Right straight out of a window. Without opening his parachute. Really, it’s no wonder that the fangirls think you’re suicidal, Heero.
Wufei: But if they fully understood his reasoning for it, then they wouldn’t think that.
>That was one of the funniest thoughts he’d ever had. But he knew, even if Heero himself didn’t, that the other was as human as he. If one day Heero’s shields were to brake, Duo would be there for him, to hide him from the world when Heero could no longer hide behind his façade.
Quatre: That’s kinda sweet…
Duo: Or it would be if there was actually a *façade*.
>Half unconscious to escape my fear
>I can't take this I come unglued
>I might breakdown in front of you
>He didn’t feel like he’d been about to cry. But he did.
All: [groan]
Wufei: Make up your mind!
>The situation was just so hopeless!
Zechs: Forgetting the fact that he just said he *had* hope.
>He wondered how much longer he could take it before he’d brake down completely.
Trowa: I think she’s trying too hard to make it follow along with the lyrics.
Wufei: It’s not working.
>Necessary to medicate
>I'm not sleeping, can't stay awake
>He could feel sleep wanted to encase him like a blanket, warm and healing, but Duo couldn’t let it settle. His mind was still functioning too much for that.
Heero: Maybe if he went to sleep we could get out of here.
Duo: That’s looking on the bright side.
Wufei: Maybe Clone Duo will die of sleep deprivation.
Duo: That one’s good too.
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>He wondered idly if Heero would ever admit it that he was human.
Heero: I’m human.
Duo: Ta-da. Can we leave now?
Trowa: Sadly, no.
Duo: Damn.
>Perhaps, if Duo told him he knew, he’d reach a bit further out to him. But that was so damn unlikely. He didn’t like the odds on it.
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure
>My head hurts this shit isn't getting me high
Duo: [stoned] This is some bad shit, dude.
Wufei: [snorts]
>My chest is so tight, am I going to die
Wufei: Promise?
Zechs: This is making you really angry, isn’t it?
Wufei: [nods]
>He’d never felt so much pain before that he felt like he’d die from melancholy. He was afraid of it deep inside. He’d never loved someone so much that he felt he would die just from not having him or her. But that’s how he felt. Like everything in his mind was slowly coming apart and that his despair was starting to take control.
Duo: Do I whine that much?
Others: [quiet]
Duo: Geez. Thanks very fucking much, guys.
Quatre: [laughs] We’re only joking with you, Duo.
Duo: [slumps in his seat, grumbles]
>My stomach's in knots and the room starts to spin
>He curled up on the window seat, brought his legs up in front of him and wrapped his arms around them, resting his chin on his knees. He tried to look out the window, but it was just so boring compared to the thing in the bed.
Trowa: Tonight the part of Heero Yuy will be played an inanimate object.
>Thing. He he. That was a good analogy.
Wufei: No, it’s not. It’s not even an analogy!
Trowa: Wufei, you’re going to rupture something.
Wufei: [seethes quietly]
>Thing. Duo and Heero were both things, things that didn’t know their true feelings until they came and bit them in the ass to make themselves known.
Duo: Kinky.
Wufei: Is that all you think about?
Duo: [winks] That and it made me think of Quatre.
Quatre: Duo!
Duo: [smirks]
Trowa: What?
Quatre: Nothing.
Duo: [hums]
Quatre: Want me to tell them where *yours* is?
Duo: Don’t worry, we made a pact. We wouldn’t show it to anyone before we showed it to our lovers. Though, it doesn’t help that we’re both single right now…
Trowa: What are they talking about?
Wufei: [shrugs]
Heero: [watches Quatre and Duo curiously]
>Of course, Heero hadn’t gotten bit yet, and probably never would, at least not about the emotions that Duo would wish of him. It would most likely be for Relena. That bitch.
Heero and Zechs: Hey!
Duo: Actually, I like Relena a lot. And honestly, if I felt that way about Heero, I wouldn’t let something like this stop me.
>She’d all ready won! He knew it deep inside, and there was nothing he could do.
>He was starting to lose hope, what little he had.
>But he still had to believe in the thin thread of it. He had to. He just had to!
Wufei: Repeating it won’t make it sound any better, story.
>He believed in Heero too much not too.
Wufei: Second too should be to.
Duo: Okay, grammar queen.
Wufei: [growls at him]
>After all, he was a part of him, was he not?
Duo: Nope. Last I checked, I was a separate entity with my own personality, hopes, and dreams. I don’t need to evolve my whole life around the guy I like.
>And Duo believed in himself. Well, occasionally he believed in himself.
Duo: Oi!
Trowa: She did that thing again. The author doesn’t seem to be able to make up her mind.
Wufei: [is rubbing his forehead]
>As I wait for this valium to slowly kick in
>Drugs. Anti depressants. Yeah, that’s what he needed.
Trowa: Valium isn’t an antidepressant, if you want to be technical.
>Hell, he was all ready crazy.
Duo: Hey, I resemble that remark!
Quatre: [pats his shoulder] None of us are the sanest people around.
Wufei: Already. One word.
>Why not fight Oz and have delusions at the same time. He almost laughed at the thought of fighting with Heero the next morning, while on something, and telling him, “Pink bunny coming in at ten o’ clock!”
Duo: … I’m not even going to comment on that one.
>Oh, yeah, Heero would enjoy that, now wouldn’t he? Duo would probably be seeing double, depending on whether if he was drunk or high.
>Duo closed his eyes, still curled up there, and let the tears fall silently.
Duo: I *would* cry if I started having weird thoughts like that.
Heero: [snorts]
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure
>Can't see through this
>Too much pressure
>Drowning in this
>Too much pressure!
Duo: Too much bad fic! Is it over now?
Trowa: No, there’s still more text.
Duo: God damn…
Treize’s voice: Actually, this is shorter than some of the others you’ll be reading.
All: [shocked silence]
>Heero had been woken up when Duo had gotten out of bed and gone to the window.
Wufei: Awkward phrasing there.
>He could feel those violet eyes on him for all that time.
Trowa: It’s hard not to notice gouged eyeballs laying on you.
Duo: Ew.
Zechs: *That* did not have to be taken literally.
Trowa: [smiles and shrugs]
>He’d kept his breathing steady, pretending he had stayed asleep. He was rather good at that. One of the many things Dr. J and Odin Lowe had taught him, he thought bitterly.
Heero: Why would I be bitter about that? It’s very useful.
>He had no idea why Duo refused to go to sleep, but whatever it was it seemed to be bothering him immensely, because he did it night after night.
Wufei: Which caused him to die of sleep deprivation. The end.
>Maybe the missions were starting to get to him. Maybe he saw ghosts of the dead in his dreams too.
Heero: [grunts]
Quatre: [looks at him in concern] Well, I’m sure we all have our share of dreams.
>Probably not. Duo wasn’t the type to let that sort of thing get to him.
Duo: Oh gee, thanks. This person really has a high opinion of me.
>Of course, Heero reminded himself, that’s what he wanted the world to think about himself. But that wasn’t true. He wasn’t as cold hearted as everyone thought.
Trowa: None of us think he’s cold-hearted.
Wufei: And I say again, if the woman had been paying attention, she would have noticed that.
>Well, Relena knew it. Duo knew it. He didn’t know how they knew it, but they did.
Duo: It couldn’t possibly be from his actions or words.
Trowa: Nah. Too simple.
>Because they wouldn’t leave him alone!
Duo: [little kid] Mommy, Duo and Relena won’t leave me alone!
Trowa: [mother] Well stop pointing your gun at them, dear.
>Some how, they felt the pain he tried to hide behind the stoic mask.
Wufei: Somehow. One word.
>No matter how many times he tried to get rid of them both, they’d just wouldn’t go.
Duo: Get rid of us?
Trowa: It seems that Clone Heero has a high opinion of you as well.
Duo: Geez…
>He almost smiled. The experiments hadn’t been a total success, then, if he could still feel. For some reason he found that comforting.
Heero: I don’t suppose that it occurred to the author that Doctor J did that on purpose.
Duo: Ouch.
Heero: What?
Duo: Oh, that was just a total bitch-slap.
Heero: Okay…
>The silence stretched on until he could feel that Duo had finally fallen asleep.
Duo: After the crying?
Trowa: I suppose so…
Duo: [snorts] Boys don’t cry my pale white ass…
Wufei: [groans] Duo. I didn’t need that image.
Duo: [raspberries]
>He’d wake up with a back ache the next morning, Heero knew. They did too much during the day for Duo to start having back problems.
Duo: [stretches] Nope, still good. Though I could use a good massage… Any volunteers?
Zechs: I can give you one.
Duo: [blushes] Um… No, that’s okay.
Zechs: [blinks]
>Heero got up and went to his fellow Gundam pilot at the window. He could see the shining tear stains along that heart shaped face as they dried in the moonlight.
Duo: My face is heart-shaped?
Quatre: Your cheeks are kind of round. It’s cute.
Duo: [slumps] I’d rather be sexy.
Quatre: [snorts] You’re that too.
Duo: Is it the braid?
Trowa: The braid is part of it.
Duo: [grins]
>He wiped them away softly and picked up the braided deadweight easily.
Duo: ‘Cause Heero’s so big and strong and manly.
Heero: Trowa’s stronger than I am. Did you ever try to use Heavyarms?
Duo: No, but I take it that it’s called ‘heavy’ for a reason?
Heero: Oh yeah.
>He took the sleeping boy to his bed next to his own in the small room and laid him down, covering the wonderful form with the light blanket.
Wufei: Well, it seems he’s attracted to you at least.
Duo: [stretches] Who wouldn’t be?
>He brought the blanket up to his chin, and as he did, he knew that like himself, Duo would probably kick it off onto the floor before morning. He’d have to get up and cover him again so Duo didn’t wake from the cold. He was used to doing this now. He’d done it for so long he was accustomed to it. He also took a certain joy out of it that Duo would never know what he did.
Duo: Actually, I can see that as something Heero would do. He’s very good at being subtly sweet.
Heero: I’m sweet?
Duo: [giggles and pats his shoulder]
>Showing his emotions was definitely not one of Heero’s strong points, but he felt Duo did that enough for both of them that he really didn’t have to.
Wufei: I don’t think she quite comprehends the fact that Heero can be a very emotional person as well.
Duo: Subtly.
Heero: It is true that showing empathy is still not something I’m completely comfortable with.
>Then, a strange thought occurred to him. The way he felt about Relena wasn’t the same as his feelings for Duo.
Trowa: Well, that was out of the blue.
>He was annoyed with both of them for breaking through his shields, but. . . It was different. He couldn’t describe it, but he knew somehow that it wasn’t the same.
>But he did know one thing.
Heero: The fic was almost over.
Duo: Yay!
>“Suki da,” he whispered, a sound almost as soft as the silence in the room, yet he felt it with all his heart. If only he could say it when Duo was awake.
Duo: Ah! Fangirl Japanese! Run!
Trowa: Incorrect too. Surprise, surprise.
Wufei: It wouldn’t kill her to type it in English, would it?
Quatre: [smiles, stands] I think we can leave now. The doors opened again.
Wufei: Good, let’s go. I want to yell at Treize some more.
Zechs: I doubt that’ll do any good.
Wufei: [glares at him]
- Satellite -
Heero left the others trying to talk to Treize again, who hadn’t sent another transmission since they were in the theatre, and went back to get changed. He had just kicked his pajamas aside when he heard a gasp from the doorway and froze. He’d taken it for granted and left his doorway wide open as he got dressed.
Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the intruder was Quatre, who was now facing the hallway and covering his eyes for good measure. “I’m sorry, Heero! I didn’t mean to walk in like that.”
Heero smiled slightly. “Don’t worry about it, Quatre. I shouldn’t have left the door open.” Opening the closet, he saw that his own clothes were inside, which was equally relieving and worrisome. How had Treize managed to bring them here *and* their belongings? This was just strange…
“Do you want me to close the door?”
“It’s okay. What did you want?” Heero slipped on some underwear and jeans before reaching for his favored green tank top.
“Well, it seems Treize is through with us for the day and Duo suggested that we explore the satellite more thoroughly in case there was something we missed.”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Heero slipped the shirt over his head and but his sneakers back on. He walked up behind Quatre, causing the blond to jump as he touched his shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked, suddenly worried. “I didn’t mean to offend you…”
Quatre blinked wide blue eyes. “Oh, no, it’s not like that…” He looked away, cheeks coloring. “It’s just not every day I see a cute boy naked. Anyway, I should go help Trowa. See you later!” The blond, still appearing a little jittery, took off down the hall.
“Yeah.” Heero watched him go, wondering if something really was wrong. Then he pushed it aside mentally, deciding to focus on the problem at hand. If Quatre had a problem, Heero assumed that he would say something when he was ready.
TBC.
If you enjoyed this, feel free to drop a line. I’d be even more grateful, though, if anyone in the audience volunteered their own fic for MSTing or give me a link to a fic you think would be perfect for this. (I’m usually very nice!) Thanks for reading!