Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ If It's Hurting You ❯ Chapter 2

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

Chapter Two




>.< This chapter sucks, I hate it with a vengeance. But I posted it anyways…

"I jumped in the river and what did I see?
Black-eyed angels swam with me.
A moon full of stars and astral cars,
All the things I used to see.
All my lovers were there with me,
All my past and futures.
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat,
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt.

I jumped into the river,
Black-eyed angels swam with me.
A moon full of stars and astral cars,
And all the things I used to see.
All my lovers were there with me,
All my past and futures.
And we all went to heaven in a little row boat,
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt.

There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt.
There was nothing to fear and nothing to doubt."
Radiohead "Pyramid Song"

Chapter Two.
Quatre rubbed his eyes tiredly with his hands, reclining on his chair in the lounge. It must have been about four in the morning now. He yawned, closing his eyes momentarily, but quickly realising that was a big mistake, as he didn't want to open them again. "Bugger," he muttered under his breath.
A quiet chuckle sounded in the room and Quatre grinned, opening his eyes to let his gaze rest on Trowa, who had just entered the room. The brown-haired man shook his head a little at his blond lover. Quatre's grin widened and Trowa came and sat beside him, putting an arm around his shoulders. Quatre snuggled up to Trowa happily, wrapping his own arms around Trowa's waist.
"How's Heero?" he murmured against the fabric of Trowa's shirt.
"Sleeping," Trowa replied quietly. "Hilde called. She and Chloe got home safely."
"And Duo?"
Trowa didn't answer. Quatre lifted his head from the taller man's shoulder and gave him a questioning look. "Trowa?"
There was a soft sigh. "He's with Heero. I doubt he's going to be going home anytime soon."
"I thought he would have left Heero there," Quatre admitted, blue eyes looking away from Trowa. "I mean, everyone remembers how bad Duo was after…after what Heero did to him…"
Quatre's rather quiet other half stared thoughtfully down at the Arabian. He absently ran a hand through the soft blond locks of hair, eliciting a sweet smile from Quatre. "I think Duo's in shock. No-one knew what happened to Heero after he blew up Deathscythe…I have to say I'm surprised Duo's not testing out the modifications on his new Gundam on Heero, let alone just leaving him outside."
Quatre chuckled, making the corners of Trowa's lips turn up slightly. "It's just Duo being Duo, and if he'd left Heero outside I still would have brought him in anyway."
"I know you would."
After that the two sat in a comfortable silence, thoughts on the two brown-haired pilots in the guestroom.
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Duo woke up with a start. He shot upright, cringing as his stiff back protested. He reached round and tried to rub the spot but couldn't reach it, muttering to himself under his breath as he attempted to stretch.
He was sitting in a chair in Quatre and Trowa's guestroom. His head had been resting on a bed. He glanced wearily at a nearby clock and groaned at the time. Six o'clock. He'd been asleep for over two hours.
//Heero.//
Duo's violet eyes drank in the sight of the figure on the bed, stretched out comfortably beneath the crisp white sheets. The Japanese pilot's eyes were closed, an expression on his face like Duo had never seen before. He remembered watching Heero sleep for hours, wondrous at how peaceful he looked, almost like a completely different man. But now he looked strained, worried…he kept twitching every so often, one leg kicking out at nothing.
//Nightmares?//
Duo watched Heero sleep, thoughts passing through his head at a hundred miles an hour. Why was he here? Where had he been?
And the most important question of all.
//Why did he try and kill me?//
At first, Duo had been so distraught by Heero's actions, he hadn't wanted to recover. He knew that he sometimes drove Heero near to the edge with his antics, but Heero had been the first person to ignore that, to /love/ him for the way he was. He'd given everything to Heero. What had he done to make Heero so mad at him that the Japanese man felt he should be killed? It /had/ to have been something he'd done…
Heero had been the only one to care, in his own quiet, Heero-like way. Who else would do that? It was pretty obvious that his relationship with Heero had gone kaput.
He loved Hilde. He'd had a kid with her. He loved Chloe more than anything.
//So why am I sitting here feeling sorry for myself? Why don't I hate Heero? He tried to kill me! He blew up Deathscythe! He's a psycho!//
Duo smoothed back his hair and grimaced at the knotty tangle that his braid had become. Sighing, he pulled out the tie at the end of the long braid and shook out his hair, getting up to go searching for a brush.
//Heero? Bah! Who says I care about Heero? My hair's much more important.//
He eventually found one in the bathroom and set up dragging it through his thick hair, screwing up his face when he yanked too hard on a tangle. As he brushed, Duo stared at himself in the mirror. He looked pale. Because of Heero's sudden appearance?
//He's a baka. Who cares about him.//
After about half an hour of brushing, Duo's hair was completely untangled and falling down past his waist in glorious brown waves. Duo pulled a face at his reflection and blew his fringe out of his eyes, walking back into the room, sunlight filtering through the windows, straight onto the bed and the still sleeping Heero.
//Looking good. Got to hand it to ya, pal.//
The fleeting thought was gone before Duo had any time to do any kind of analysis. He had much more urgent things to attend to.
//Er…where'd I put my hair tie?//
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He felt rested. There was no other way to describe it. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had a good night's sleep. After all, that lab had been a place of nightmares, it was only right that his sleep was plagued with them as well.
He felt warm. It was a long time since he'd felt that as well. The lab had never been warm. Always cold, so cold…
Duo had never been cold. Warm, loving Duo. He smiled at the thought of the American, recent memory momentarily evading him, for once. For a second, he was back in Duo's arms, back in Duo's bed, drifting off to sleep slowly while the braided boy snuggled against him.
Heero Yuy had never felt loved before that. Sure, Relena had been infatuated with him, but it had felt false. This was real love. Something you clung to with your very life.
He felt peaceful. He was free to lie where he was, without fear of another day of pain. There had never been a good day at the lab. Never a day without pain, whether from what those men did to him or from his own tortured soul.
He could see the light through his eyelids. Sunlight. /Real/ sunlight. He hadn't seen that in a while either. So many things he'd taken for granted before.
//Time to face the world, I guess.//
Slowly, Heero opened his eyes, squinting at the sunlight. From what he could see, he was in a large room…Quatre's mansion? So they hadn't left him out there after all.
Cautiously he arched a little into a stretch, pleased when it didn't hurt. He caught movement from the corner of his eye and he turned his head to find a figure standing by the big French doors onto a balcony, bathed in an ethereal glow from the brilliant sunlight behind them. The figure had turned to face him, their features hidden by the intense light, but he could see long hair and a slender body that was far too familiar for words.
They looked like an angel.
"Heero?"
The Japanese pilot froze as the voice hit him, recognition blazing through his mind.
//It's Duo! But it can't be…I killed him.//
As he watched, the angel moved from the window, their eyes on him all the time.
//Oh that's definitely Duo…//
Duo's hair was draped down his back in a waterfall of thick, shining chestnut locks. His bangs, wilder than they had ever been, half-covered his eyes. He didn't look different at all except for the fact he was missing his trademark braid.
//He's so beautiful…//
"Heero? Are you alright?"
Heero was at a loss for words. Why was Duo here? Hadn't he died in that explosion? His Gundam had blown up around him, for God's sake…
"…Your hair…"
Duo looked sheepish for a moment at the two words from Heero. Heero didn't know what else to say, berating himself the second the words came out.
"Yeah, well, I lost my hair tie…and Quatre and Trowa don't know the meaning of the words 'string' and 'elastic bands'."
There was a tense silence where neither knew what to say to the other. Heero couldn't take his eyes from Duo's, hoping beyond hope that Duo would see the guilt in his eyes, and realise that he was sorry.
Duo looked away after a while and turned his back to Heero. Heero felt despair course through him.
//I want to die.//
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Quatre's nice snugly warm dreams were interrupted when a door slammed loudly somewhere in the house, making an extremely loud bang. Blinking large blue eyes, Quatre followed the figure which stormed past the lounge entrance towards the kitchen, angrily attempting to braid their hair as they went.
Trowa, who was awake anyway, watched Quatre expectantly, not being able to see the doorway. Quatre finally looked down, a worried expression on his face. "Duo's upset."
Trowa raised an eyebrow. It took a lot to get Duo upset. Trowa himself had only ever seen the American upset once, understandably.
//Heero must be awake and he's already got Duo storming off?//
Quatre clambered off the couch and Trowa, yawning slightly. He quickly ran his hands through his hair. "I should go speak to him…"
"Is that wise?"
"I think I should…"
Quatre gave Trowa an apologetic look before leaving the dark-haired man to go look for Duo. He could feel how angry and hurt the pilot was. What had Heero done this time? It had amazed him how the outgoing, energetic American had ever put up with his stoic, quiet, mostly insensitive boyfriend. Quatre had actually asked Duo that once, after the couple had had their first and only row. Duo had only shrugged, smiling sadly at the blond. The expression was one alien to the braided pilot's face and that had scared Quatre more than anything.
Quatre entered the kitchen to find Duo in plain view. The blond could only see his back. Duo was leaning over and gripping the counter, the strong muscles in his slender shoulders tense across his shoulder blades. The braid was messily done, caught over his arm. The hurt rolled off him in waves.
"Duo?" Quatre asked softly. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine…" The attempted cheerfulness was painful to see. Quatre bit his lip and moved forward to stand beside his long-time friend.
"It's okay, you know, to be angry at him…" Quatre murmured, watching Duo from the corner of his eye. The dark-haired pilot closed his eyes as he heard Quatre's words. "What did he say?"
Duo choked and Quatre jumped at the sound. "SAY?!" Duo exclaimed, turning on the blond man. "Since when did Heero /say/ anything? That's the problem! All he could friggin' say was that I didn't have my stupid braid!" Duo choked again on his last words, biting his lip hard. His violet eyes were shining with tears. "He…he's not sorry…not at all…"
"Oh Duo…" Quatre murmured softly, wanting to comfort the other pilot but knowing he wouldn't accept it. Duo did not like showing weakness to anyone, and would refuse anything he saw as pity.
Duo took a deep breath and quickly got a hold on himself. He offered Quatre a tentative smile, and Quatre smiled back weakly, the strain in Duo's expression easy to see.
"He's awake…if you wanna go check on him…" Duo said, trying to act nonchalant. Quatre nodded, smiling sadly.
//You still care for him…you can't let go…even with Hilde and Chloe…//
"Will you be okay?" the Arabian asked softly.
Duo nodded, a little too quickly. "Yeah, I'm cool. You go check on Heero."
Quatre nodded again, and left Duo where he was, walking off to the guestroom to see Heero. He fully intended to find out from Heero exactly why he was here.
He entered the room quietly, eyes immediately locking with the cobalt pair some distance away. Heero was sitting up in bed, covers clutched to his chest, something wild and frightening in his gaze.
"Q-Quatre?"
The old Gundam pilot still sounded the same, but his voice carried surprise and wariness. Quatre had never heard surprise in Heero's voice before. He smiled. "Yeah, it's me."
"Is…is Duo okay?"
Uncertainty…something else he'd never heard in Heero's voice before. Just what had happened to the man in the time he'd been missing?
"He's fine," Quatre answered, walking to sit on the edge of the bed. Heero watched him, the wariness Quatre had first seen taking hold on the man. While the expression Heero wore was as cold as he'd ever managed before, there was something just beneath it that Quatre had no difficulty sensing.
"Heero…"
The brown-haired pilot stiffened slightly at the tone of Quatre's voice. His eyes narrowed and he seemed to retreat behind the wild wisps of hair lying across his face. Hiding behind old barriers.
"Why are you here?"
Heero didn't quite manage to hide the flinch at the words. He blinked once, narrowing his eyes further. That was the old Heero, with the "you don't really expect me to answer that do you?" expression. His lips were set in the familiar determined line. There was nothing in his face to indicate to anyone that he was anything more than a robot.
"Heero, please…where have you been? Why are you here? Why…why…" Quatre couldn't quite say it, and he saw Heero flinch again, saw the Perfect Soldier waver for a moment as the unspoken question hit him.
//Why did you hurt Duo?//
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A/N: It's short, yes, I'm sorry, this fic unfortunately isn't my first priority…
DISCLAIMER: Don't own it.