Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Prisoner of War ❯ Sleep ( Chapter 6 )

Note: Hi people! ^_______^ Wow, I can't believe I have this many hits. And no, I'm not putting myself down or anything. It just seems like there are less people on here than say ffn. I'm uploading up to chapter nine this time, just because I want to get it done with. Unfortunately, after probably chapter 19 things will only trickle in every now and then. I don't really have too much time to write anymore. And yes, this is probably going to get rewritten once I'm done just because I think I can improve on it. Will just call this a semi-final draft. ^_~ I don't own Gundam Wing and 1+2+1! The whole gang will pop up eventually, and there will be more pairings. You can try to convince me who will end up with Fei-baby because I don't really have a preference on that one.

Chapter Six

`He admitted it. Now, I have him backing my earlier theory, but what if he is lying? I must find out more before I can even begin to believe him. Saved him?' "Proof," imperturbable Prussian blue pools, searching, seeking, bored into Duo's own shimmering, amethyst orbs.

"I don't have any," Duo sighed, lying again to the man who may have very well saved his life. "It's why I didn't say this to you before."

"Why were you there then?" Heero inquired further. `Perhaps, he was being held as a prisoner.' "Were you captured?"

Duo shot him a small, knowing smile, "That's all I'm going to say about that for now."

"Why?" confused, Heero pressed him harder.

"Cuz," Duo shrugged nonchalantly and meandered around the small, square-cut room with leisure, "I need time to figure out how to prove this to you, but until then, you have my word that this is the truth. I know you probably don't believe me, but it's all I got."

"People are willing to do anything to survive this war," Heero remarked quietly, knowing Duo would understand the reason behind the statement.

"You mean like you huh?" Duo laughed under puffs of air, twiddling his long, chestnut braid with sudden interest.

"What do you mean?" his monotone voice gave no indication his words where even spoken as a question. `What is this baka talking about? Somehow, he managed to change the subject on my yet again. He's good at that… Maybe it was talent that allowed him to survive my mission.'

Sinking deeper into the uncomfortable, firm mattress, Duo leaned against an adjacent wall, stretching sore limbs, ignoring the sharp pain. His body suddenly shot to a vertical position, immediately alarming the boy that reached for his gun. "Oh shit," he muttered. "Cookies."

With those last, profound words, he scrambled towards the kitchen, leaving the stoic soldier behind in a figurative trail of slowly settling dust. `How could I forget? How did just talking to him make me, of all people, forget about something as important as food when I'm famished? It doesn't make sense. Damn!' He cursed himself and the gundam pilot in strings of colorful language until his frantic eyes found the object of his heart's desire. The bright, digitized numerals stared back at him.

"Whew," he sighed in relief, laughing at himself. "It's not too late!" `He just distorted my sense of time. That's all…'

A delicate bell sounded with a small ping, announcing the ending of a rather short fifteen minutes well spent. Rubbing his palms together in anticipation, Duo's slender fists grasped the handle of the aging oven, peeking at the progress of this scant meal.

"Perfect," he literally purred purposely. The growling of the thin stretch of flesh provided an uncomfortable reminder of his growing hunger. The rusty oven door came down, and a hand protected by the oven mitt reached out to gingerly pull out the scalding baking sheet. It was almost dawn.

Cold, sapphire colored eyes observed the overly energetic pilot meticulously from afar. `Why so concerned about that boy, Heero?' A familiar voice laughed, teasing him. It was one where he had not heard in the longest of times, one he silenced long ago because of his soldier upbringing. It didn't make sense to appear in the middle of a war. `I'm not. /Sure…/ There's nothing else to be done, and I do not trust him. /You don't trust him? Or is it something else? I think Duo affects you a lot more than you'd care to admit. Isn't that right, Heero? You're starting to like him aren't you? I never thought I'd see this day again. / He's ok but can be too loud to the point of annoyance. /Maybe he'll finally get you to open up…/' The voice disappeared in the same mysterious manner, leaving Heero alone to ponder on its cryptic words.

"I'm starving!" exclaimed the braided soldier, eyeing the steam rising from the hot dessert. Resisting the allurement, his sense of smell was enticed by the sweet, warm aroma, slowly wafting throughout the barren house. Duo sighed softly and blew a stray lock of brownish-red hair away from his skin, aiming to cool the cookies. He closed his weary eyes, sinking his weight on the elbow that rested on the smooth surface of the counter. Visions of the dark intensity of Prussian blue waltzed across this fatigued mind in a repeating pattern. Sleep commenced its steady seduction, slowly conquering Duo's control, spreading its promise through his entire physique.

A gentle hand lightly shook one slumped shoulder as a baritone voice almost whispered. "If you want to sleep that bad, use the bed."

Pink washed prettily over the apples of his cheeks as Duo was roused back to reality. "Thanks, man, but uh, what about you? Don't you want the bed? I can take the floor you know, so we can go to sleep. Don't worry about it. I mean; I'm used to it and all," he blurted the words in a jumble, clearly flustered.

"I don't need sleep," Heero stated, interrupting his rambling.

"Are you serious?" Duo grinned. "Still, that's really nice of you, seeing as how I'm your "prisoner" and all," his fingers formed quotation marks around the word. "You're not starting to like me are you? Cuz uh, hate to break it to ya, but I don't swing that way. Is that why you've been nice?" his eyebrows furrowed.

Heero continued his neutral stare, unfazed by the unsubtle comment. "Swing?" he echoed.

Duo laughed yet again, "Don't worry about it. I was just kidding anyway! You don't have to answer the why are you being so humane to me. I've learned to take what you can get, and don't ask questions cuz that person might remember what they are supposed to do…" he smirked. "I know why you aren't gonna sleep; you don't trust me. I don't blame ya though. Who knows? Maybe you will someday," his lips curved, closely resembling a small smile.

"Are you going to sleep?" Heero questioned. `Humane is how he describes me? That's laughable.'

"Yeah, sure. Why the hell not? I'm really tired," Duo stifled a yawn. He grabbed several, warm cookies idly with a hand before it passed beyond his reach and trudged alongside the Japanese teenager into the single bedroom. Unwillingly, the weight of his form leaned against Heero's side due to the extreme fatigue and stress.

"Go," spoke a voice that didn't seem quite as frosty as before.

Duo nodded like a child and stiffly climbed atop the hard mattress, slipping beneath the little warmth provided by the thin sheets. He didn't care at all. `It's way better than the Oz prison.' Slender fingers reached beneath folds of clothing, tracing the edges of wounds. He had done well to hide the fact from Heero, but maybe he should have used it as proof. But no, his pride refused to admit it.

They had beat Duo when he didn't reveal any information. They came in groups of four, beating him to a bloody pulp, until he laid in a pool of his own dark red blood, barely conscious, broken, sprawled against the icy floor. Duo never cried, reminding himself that it would have meant they won; the same cocky grin was plastered across his impish face. `Enjoy the pain.' While they were battering him, Duo had shouted loud insults, calling them names, their family names.

"Duo," a voice dispersed his reflections, causing him to look up. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, nothing, it helps me sleep," he lied through a grin.

Heero said nothing. `When he falls asleep, I will investigate this. He's hiding something more.' With arms crossed, Heero sat on the lone chair in the room, facing the stranger, simply watching him, never blinking his dark blue orbs. Duo shifted uncomfortably, turning away from the scrutinizing gaze.

Sleep pulled the braided, amethyst eyed pilot into its trance. "You have pretty eyes," he murmured suddenly.

"Arigato…" not expecting such a comment, Heero thanked him with hesitation.

`Did I just say that? Oh well, I'll deal with it later.' For the first time in days, Duo snuggled into covers of a halfway comfortable bed, thoughts of everything that had happened, replaying in his mind. Soft breaths evened, giving Heero the opportunity he needed. With normally silent treads, he maneuvered to the innocent boy's side, eyes refusing to leave the sight. He felt comforted somehow. Heero waited for the minutes to languidly tick by until he felt safe his actions would not be discovered.

His rough, callous grasp placidly clasped the thin sheets in hand, pulling the pastel, baby blue away from Duo's body. Carefully, he lifted up a corner of his black clothing. Angry slashes, bruises, gashes were exposed on the soft, ivory skin. Prussian blue eyes widened just a little as a hint of emotion rippled through the usually tranquil pools. `He had been beaten… How could I have not noticed? He hides pain more than well. What had he gone through and why? Who has done this to him? Why am I suddenly angry?'

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Replies to reviews:

Dewshine- Such a loyal reader! I'm so glad to hear from you again because it's really awesome to have someone stick around for the not so interesting parts. Believe that things will get more complicated and interesting in my opinion of course. My English teacher would probably rip me for that sentence. "It's awkward." Anyway, tonight was really, really cold. I was decked out fully in a sweater with my trumpet sweatshirt over it, a fleece type thing, and a windbreaker. Then we got headbands from the mama's. It was really nice to be warm when it's supposed to snow and all. My mom is peachy right now, which we're all thankful for. Thank you so much for the review and asking about her. You can rant to your hearts content because I think it's great to read those things. It's like getting email! I don't even remember how I came up with the title; it just all of a sudden occurred to me, and I was like it's mine! ^_^; And thanks for saying that even picky reviewers like this story. I mean it's not like I'm oblivious to the fact that people like it and all, but it's always nice to get a compliment. If you want, you can go to ffn to read more. I have the same screen name on there . . . http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=113579 is the URL to my profile. I think I've ranted enough for one review! Bye, bye!

Dark angel of the night- Lol, thanks so much for the review, first off. The laugh, don't ask what's that about. I'm being weird as usual. Don't worry about longer chapters because they will get longer as promised! If you're still reading this, I have eight paged ones usually after chapter 11? I forgot which one it was -_-; Feedback is always nice though. We all crave for it, even if it is from our English teachers. ^_^ Ciao!

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Another chapter is finished! How many more to go? I have no idea. I hope you'll stay around for the ride! Ooh, here comes chapter seven, eight and nine!