Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Long Time To Cry ❯ One Hundred Fiftey-Six Weeks ( Chapter 2 )

Ehehehe, this one's for KawaiiChiri. I realize it's short, but this is the second chapter I've written today… ^_^;; I'm trying to write a chapter for every new person that reviews… Oi ^^;; I've never been afraid of reviews before, lol… KawaiiChiri, Releena really is a bitch :D **dances** whee, but she gets what's coming to her! **starts to spoil the ending** ^^;;

Duo sat in the car, closing his wallet. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"… How much time we got left again?" He asked at length, glancing sideways at Heero.

"Twenty-two minutes, and thirty-four seconds," Came the monotone reply from Heero.

Duo stared at him. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today - staring. But he didn't understand. How could Heero remain calm? Didn't he HATE what She was doing to him? Didn't his soldier's instincts scream that he was being controlled and becoming dependant…? Apparently not.

But… didn't he care, at least? Why couldn't Duo make out any expression on his face at all? Even Heero's eyes seemed dull, now. The guilt had faded - now that Duo knew, he didn't seem to feel regretful at all. He had the burden of the secret from his chest.

"Heero…" This wasn't any good. How much could you do in twenty minutes? How do you explain that you're madly in love with someone, when you've got twenty minutes to get through their shell? When they just don't care? "Heero… please don't do this."

Stay with me, Heero…

"I cannot abandon my fiancé." Came the clipped, practical reply. Duo shouldn't have expected anything else… he knew it. She was Heero's `duty', now. He had to do everything properly and honorably by her. Duo was too crushed to note that Heero had called her `my fiancé', not, `my love', or anything particularly endearing at all. All fiancé added up to was a rank, in Heero's mind; just a meaningless title to respect.

"Please… Please Heero. Stay with me." And he knew, already, what the answer would be, but his heart demanded that he ask it anyway. Damned suicidal heart. Did it really want to be broken that irreparably?

Heero shook his head.

"I'm with Her, now, Duo, not you. I'm sorry."

It was strange to hear that, but Duo was past gaping at strange things. The first part of Heero's statement was like a slap - and Heero's slaps, of course, were rather painful - but the second part was confusing. Since when did Heero say sorry? He had paid back debts, sympathized, and pitied… but never told Duo he was sorry.

It really didn't matter, Duo reminded himself bitterly, whether he was sorry or not. He was still going to leave.

**I was betrayed, how can you say that you feel sorry inside**

"Ne, Heero… I…." I love you. You damned stubborn Heero fucking Yuy.

"Am going to leave. You will leave, when the time is up, and then I will board my return flight." Heero cut Duo short with this cruel reminder.

Heero… Don't go. Please…

"Eighteen minutes left." Heero remarked, distantly. Duo felt the world begin to fall apart… He swore it was. It was tugging in different directions - no - one direction - it was tugging towards Heero, and ripping Duo apart at the seams of his mind. Rip, rip, tear… a semi hysterical thought ran through Duo's mind: If only I could rip and tear. Then I could be cut and pasted together again, and I'd paste myself to Heero. He'd never know I was there, just like no one but me will ever know what the paper-shreds on the seat of my car are… It wasn't Duo's sanest thought, but you had to give him credit. The one thing he held closest… Even in the years where he had been far away… was now going to sever any remaining tie. Reality sucked.

**It's devastating, losing close friends**

What Duo did next, it would be best to blame on his fraying sanity. He did possibly the one thing he might get killed for trying. He dived across the seat, pinning Heero to the car-door, somewhat pleased to see Heero's mask finally shatter and reveal what he felt - surprise.

"Heero. You don't understand. I love you, and you can't go." It was the only thing he could think to say… not that he was thinking very well, per say, seeing as he was pressed up against Heero. Things like that had a tendency to slow down his thought process considerably.

"…" Maybe Releena hadn't anticipated this, because Heero had no cutting, pre-programmed response from the bitch to say. Maybe She had told him what to say in such a situation, but he wasn't saying it… Maybe he realized how close Duo was edging to insanity - he had given him several shocks in one day. Maybe he forgot what to say. Maybe…

Whatever his reasons, Heero said nothing, and remained motionless. This was crueler than anything Releena's twisted little mind could have concocted… Nothing. No rejection, no surrender, no anything. It was like Duo hadn't even said a thing.

Duo shook Heero roughly.

"Yuy! You in there?" `Yuy' was a far step from `Hee-chan', but the man Duo now held was so different from the unofficial lover he once knew… "I said, `I love you.' Don't you have something to say about that? You know… `I love you too,' or `Omae o korosu'… You can't just… you can't just SIT there. Please, say something…"

Duo stopped shaking Heero, and bowed his head slightly, letting his forehead rest on Heero's shoulder. His body trembled… Feeling as though his insides were collapsing, Duo didn't even try to raise his head. If Heero killed him for it, well, that was that. Heero hadn't killed him yet for confessing… Maybe there was hope that he would just leave him alone.

Ha. Leave him alone? No. That wasn't what Duo hoped for. Things would be so much simpler if it were… these thoughts chased themselves around Duo's head in a dizzy tangle.

"Heero," Duo's voice was muffled against the fabric of Heero's shirt… "How much time do we have left…?"

There was a silence, and then Heero spoke. "Sixteen minutes." Duo's hands, still clutching Heero's shoulder, tightened at this… Sixteen? Sixteen? Why were the minutes so short? They had been so much longer when waiting for Heero… each minute had seemed like an eternity. Why couldn't they be so now?

Duo's throat tightened imperceptibly, but he knew what it meant. His control slipped, and he let out a choked sob.

"Heero. Yuy." Duo's voice nearly broke, but thankfully didn't. He did his best to ignore the blurriness of his eyes, and the warm trails starting down his cheeks. "I know you are going to go, in just a few moments. You are going to go back to Releena. I realize this. Just… please. I want to get a chance to say hello to the person," And he lifted his head, somewhat, not bothering to hide his tears, "I want to say hello to the person in here." He tapped Heero's chest gently with two fingers, right above his heart.

He wanted to see Heero… feel something. Even if it was disgust - guilt - whatever. But he didn't want to talk to the perfect soldier-doll he was speaking with, now. If he was going to be with Heero, he was going to be with HEERO. Not the person that they had trained him to be.

Duo was crying hard enough that he didn't feel Heero shift at first. He didn't feel much of anything… Just the tremors within him, the threatening pain that he tried to hold at bay… He didn't feel anything at all until Heero's arms came around him. And that sort of thing isn't the type of thing anyone can miss…

"H…Heero?" Duo blinked rapidly, trying to force away the tears, even though he knew it was futile. They would keep on falling until he stopped hurting - he had learned that, if nothing else, in the past few years. "Heero? What…?"

Heero didn't answer. He pulled Duo tightly against him, and Duo found his face nestled against Heero's neck. He could feel Heero's jaw tense and relax, then tense again.

"I don't understand…" Duo mumbled… not that he was complaining. But he was confused. Why couldn't Heero just talk, like normal people…?

But Heero wasn't like everyone else… and that was why Duo loved him. Deciding it would be stupid to grow impatient… Duo began to count the breaths before Heero's answer.

One. Two. Three…

"Duo…" Came his answer, unusually soft… "Time's up."