Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ OK, So You Have Skills... ❯ Cat-like ( Chapter 6 )

Warnings and Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, nor will I. Ever. *cries* … Oh. But neither will you, so I guess it's OK… we can whine about it together!

 

This fic contains shounen ai (1+2), an instance or two of bad language, violence, blood, understandable OOCness from Heero,

 

This story happens at some point after the last chapter… don't make me get any more specific than that. It isn't right after or very soon after, which becomes obvious as you read the story…

 

Chapter 6: Cat-like

 

When Heero woke up, he felt a weight on his chest. It wasn't just the regeneration unit. It was something else. Something… not physical. He hesitated to call it emotional, but…

 

He opened his eyes slowly, not knowing exactly where he was. He knew he was in a hospital, but he wasn't sure if he'd been captured by the enemy or if the mission had been successful and he was among friends. He looked around and spotted Wufei sitting, asleep, in a chair nearby. He guessed that the mission was at least semi-successful, since Wufei wasn't badly injured. He just looked a little bruised.

 

Heero took stock of his own injuries. He knew he must have taken a serious hit to the chest for them to be using a regen unit. His arms and legs just felt stiff and sore from exertion. What he didn't know was the status of the other pilots. Maybe that was what the problem was.

 

He tried to remember what had happened; when was he injured? He could recall a sudden flash of pain before blacking out, but that was it. But he had a bad feeling. He had to know what happened. Not just to him, but to the others. So he found himself talking to Wufei's sleeping form.

 

“Wufei. Wufei? Can you hear me? Are you awake?” He paused, hoping for a response. “Hey! Come on. I…” Wufei stirred slightly, blinking sleepily and glancing (automatically, it seemed), at Heero's bed. When he saw that Heero was awake and staring at him, his mouth dropped open.

 

“Yuy? My God! You're awake?” Wufei whispered, as if afraid to break an illusion.

 

“…shouldn't I be?” Heero asked, his sense of unease growing.

 

“Well… we didn't think… that is… we weren't sure…” Wufei couldn't seem to complete his thoughts.

 

“Weren't sure of what? Didn't think what?” Heero asked, trying to calm Wufei with his voice and hopefully get a coherent answer out of the man.

 

“We weren't sure you would ever wake up. You or Duo.” The Chinese boy whispered.

 

“… Duo?” Heero asked.

 

“He's in a coma. Just like you… were.”

 

“…how long. How long have we…” Heero's mouth was suddenly very dry.

 

“A week. Not long, considering your wound. But like I said, the doctors weren't sure…”

 

“What about Duo?” Heero asked. “How is he? What… could you tell me everything? I don't remember…”

 

“Sure, Heero. I'll tell you everything. You deserve to know.” And Wufei told him this story…

 

“Well… we were on that *top secret mission* when we were suddenly overwhelmed with enemy gunfire. Quatre got taken out pretty quickly and Trowa went down protecting him. They're all right now - relatively minor wounds, but they bled a lot.

 

“Anyway, it was just the three of us left - you, me and … Duo. We were doing OK until they seemed to multiply - they must have gotten reinforcements. A few minutes later, my head was grazed by a bullet. You glanced at me for a second as I ducked back behind cover, but it was long enough for someone to get a good shot at you. You took a shotgun blast to the chest and went down immediately. You were covered in blood. I thought for sure you were a goner. Duo must have thought the same thing.

 

“Duo just… it was like the war all over again, but worse. He really earned the name Shinigami then. When he saw that you were down, he just went crazy. That's the only way I can describe it. He darted out from behind cover and took out five in no time flat. I don't know how he did it - I only heard one shot. But he kept on, doing crazy things.

 

“It was like he knew where everyone was and who was a threat when. He would anticipate when someone was aiming at him and get them before they could get him. It was insane. But after a while, he couldn't keep it up. The first shot caught him just below his left knee. He went down, blood all over the place, but he didn't let up. I don't know how he managed it. He was sitting there on the ground shooting everyone in sight. He twisted around to catch someone sighting him through their scope, taking out the guy's eye. Then he turned back around to toss a grenade at a group that was getting too close to each other before throwing a knife at a guy who was making a run for cover.

 

“He was either not himself or he was closer to his true self than I've ever seen. It was just… so hard-core. Before I saw it with my own eyes, I never would have thought even you could do something like that. And it all looked so effortless. But then a second shot came, skimming along your ribs.

 

“Duo cried out like they'd hit him. He doubled over and I saw tears falling down his cheeks. I think he noticed that you didn't even flinch. I think he had just been stalling until you woke up. But then he realized that you might really be dead and… he just lost all of his fighting spirit. He didn't move, so the rebels took advantage of the situation. I've never seen someone bleed that much and still live.

 

“They shot a hole through his right leg. His left shoulder took a couple. Someone threw a knife and caught him in the lower right ribs. He narrowly dodged a few headshots. He brought up his arms to protect his chest and caught a few more; some were deflected, but some went through and pierced his chest.

 

“I'd been trying to help, shooting as many as I could see, but my vision was blurry from a concussion and blood kept getting into my eyes. I barely managed to cover his back; he didn't take any injuries there. Finally, Quatre and Trowa regained consciousness. The firefight had moved closer to us, so they were in a prime spot: behind the enemy. They started taking them out and soon we'd cleared the room.

 

“When we looked at you and Duo we thought that you were dead for sure, but both of your hearts were still beating. We rushed you guys to the hospital. They were able to give you and Duo enough blood transfusions on the way to keep your hearts beating. When we got here, they immediately started to work on you; they refused to work on Duo at first. If Quatre hadn't threatened them with losing their jobs, they would have just let Duo die. No one thought he would survive.

 

“You were bad enough, but he was…”

 

“That's enough, Wufei.” Heero said, pale and worried looking.

 

“Sorry. But you need to know… he's not likely to…”

 

“I KNOW, WUFEI!” Heero screamed. Wufei jumped, startled. Heero seemed to calm himself down. “Come here, Wufei.”

 

Wufei was frozen in his seat, scared of the icy tone of Heero's voice. “…”

 

“COME HERE, Wufei. You won't like it if I come over there.”

 

“No.” Wufei said, standing up and bracing for a fight when Heero removed the regen unit and staggered out of bed, looking determined. Wufei planted his feet squarely, promising himself that he would knock Heero out as soon as possible and put him back to bed so he could rest. He just hoped he could manage it. He was totally unprepared for what happened next.

 

Heero lunged and… hugged him tightly. Wufei froze, wondering when he'd entered the twilight zone. To his utter horror, he felt wetness on the front of his shirt and looked down to see tears soaking his shirt. Heero's tears. It was just too weird.

 

“… I don't like this…” Wufei said quietly.

 

“Told ya.” Heero deadpanned.

 

Wufei was surprised again, but didn't say anything. He knew what kind of stress the other boy was under. “…you like him, don't you?” he asked Heero.

 

Heero only nodded. Wufei nodded to himself, then bent down, putting his arms around Heero's back before turning to the side. Heero stiffened. “What are you doing?” He asked, his tone promising death.

 

“I'm bringing you to him. You aren't strong enough yet to walk there on your own.” Wufei replied simply. Heero nodded again and relaxed, allowing the Chinese boy to pick him up and carry him to Duo's room down the hall.

 

At Wufei's request, he opened the door. Machines whizzed and pumps moved and saline and blood were dripping. The place looked like a repository for medical equipment. In the middle of it all was a bed. Duo was on it, looking tiny and insignificant. And dead.

 

Heero cried out and almost leaped out of Wufei's arms to get to the braided boy. Wufei put him down quickly, but carefully. Heero moved fast for someone who had just gotten out of a coma, but he was the `Perfect Soldier,' after all.

 

He immediately checked the other boy's pulse and sighed when he felt it. Faint but steady. Wufei walked toward him, but Heero told him to give him some time alone. Wufei left without replying to the request. He didn't need to. Heero had already forgotten that anyone else but Duo existed in the world.

 

When Wufei came back a while later, Heero was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking down at the pale braided boy, his hand resting on his chest as if he needed the constant reminder that Duo was alive. Wufei called to Heero softly, startling the normally alert boy.

 

“You need to sleep, Heero.” Heero shook his head.

 

“I need to be here. With him.”

 

“That's why we're moving you both to another room. Come here and see if you think it is adequate.”

 

Quatre must have pulled some major strings - the room wasn't a normal hospital room. It was a suite. There was a huge bed with plenty of room on the sides for medical equipment. There was another bedroom next door and a couple of bathrooms, along with a sitting room. Heero's mouth must have dropped open, because Wufei kind of snickered, causing Heero to close his mouth with a snap and say, in the most snotty voice he could muster, “it will serve. It needs something, though…”

 

Wufei snickered again before agreeing. “Yes. Quite. Another person, perhaps?” He snapped his fingers and the door opened, revealing several people wheeling Duo's bed in, along with several medical machines. And Heero's regeneration unit.

 

They gently put Duo on the bed before arranging all of the equipment and bowing deeply to the two ex-Gundam pilots. Heero was impressed despite himself. But what he really wanted was to go to sleep. With Duo alive and breathing at his side. He started to climb into the massive bed, but Wufei was talking to him.

 

“What was that?” He asked.

 

“I asked if you'd known how Duo was. The real Duo. You know, the one who took out those guys after seeing you taken down.”

 

“Once or twice.” Heero replied, thinking back to a certain set of handcuffs and a lucky scrape with a Gundanium door.

 

Wufei nodded, satisfied before he said, “sleep well,” leaving and closing the door behind him.

 

When Wufei, Quatre, and Trowa came in later to check on their comrades, they found Duo laying diagonally on the bed. Heero was curled around his head like a cat, his hands clutching the boy's braid while his lips rested against Duo's forehead. They shut the door and left quietly.

 

When Duo woke up a few hours later, he took in his surroundings. He brought a hand up to his face and was surprised when his hand bumped into someone else's head. He shifted slightly, but stopped moving when he saw Heero, his eyes closed gently in slumber and his mouth a precious little pout. Duo maneuvered, moving his head enough that he could gently press his lips to the other boy's before he fell into a deep, healing sleep.

 

When the nurses checked later, they saw the boys curled up around each other, lips gently touching and soft smiles lighting up their faces.

 

TBC?

 

Author's Note: Please review! I love you guys!

 

I came up with the idea for this chapter a long time ago (ditto for all the chapters before this LOL). But it was just now that I decided to actually write it out.

 

Be happy that I'm writing now, `cause later in the semester I'll be too busy writing an appellate brief about whether or not you need a severability clause in a non-competition agreement to sever parts of the agreement that don't comply with the statute, but still keep the parts that comply. And I'll also have to argue about whether or not “specifying” a parish means you need to actually name the parish or if “the parishes where x does business” is specific enough. Argh! Why can't legislators just be *clear* about this kind of stuff so lawyers don't have to argue about it! Sorry for the whining… it just sucks to be in law school sometimes.