Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ Starting Over ❯ Getting Scared ( Chapter 4 )

Title: Starting Over

Author: Makoto Sagara
Series: Gundam Wing
Archive: fanfiction.net, afallenangel.net/makotosagara/, mediaminer.org, Foreverfandom.net, makochanupdates.livejournal.com; anywhere else, please ask
Category: Angst, Action

Pairings: 1+2+1, others unknown
Rating: T
Warnings: Shonen ai, language, angst, sap, Post-EW
Disclaimers: I make no money, so suing is pointless. If you think I own GW, then you need to see someone. I have the number to a nice doctor... Oh, SALLY!

Author's Notes: I fought and fought and fought with my muses over the fact that they became lazy bums…. And then I gave up when Angel gave me Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy fics to read. Then, I was engrossed in something much more profitable. However, I'm done with them, and now Neko is DEMANDING that I begin writing again. She even went so far as to sharpen her claws on my bedside table. So, in order to avoid death, I write! Enjoy! <3

Starting Over, Chapter 4 - Getting Scared

“Who are the cockroaches?” Heero asked, his voice tight with anger. He watched as the American's eyes widened in a look of panic and could feel the beginnings of a tension headache build behind his forehead. “What is it, Duo?”

“Nothing, `Ro, but a long story that I really don't feel like going into right now.” A pale hand ghosted up to the bleeding gash on his cheek and Heero could almost hear the way the other man's stomach turned. “'Fei kept telling me that it was such a bad idea to have that window there, but it was just so pretty.”

Heero nodded stiffly before he crouched before Duo, moving the hand to not make the wound worse. “Who are they?”

“A gang… They call themselves Los Chupacabras after that legend from North America, but they're cockroaches. It's why Tro and I call `em Las Cucarachas. To their face most of the time too…”

“Witty,” Heero bit out as he squeezed the braided man's hand. “Who came up with that? Trowa?”

“Oh, funny; I did, I'll have you know.”

“Why did they do this? What did they mean about stop trying to get their people in here?”

“Ugh,” Duo replied as he leaned his head against the wall. “This is their territory. Trowa and I have been trying to get a lot of the younger kids off the streets, reform `em, give `em a chance to turn their lives around before they do something stupid. But, their old leader, who mainly just stuck to trashing the grounds and stealing the engine blocks from our vehicles, was murdered last month by a rival gang. Guess the new one isn't as happy with the previous arrangements.”

They both looked up as Trowa returned with a white medical kit in his hand and a pinched look on his face. “What?” Heero asked as he took the kit and began to gently clean Duo's face.

“They've spray painted the front with disgusting graffiti.” The pause was alive with something left unsaid, and they all knew it. No one said anything and Trowa heaved a large sigh. “And they've set the bushes out front on fire.”

Duo hissed, and the sound forced Heero to look at what his hands were doing. The area around the cut was white under his fingertips, where the American's face wasn't still coated with blood. Guiltily, Heero released his hold, wiping the crimson liquid on his fingers onto his pants. With extra care, Heero had the wound cleaned and dressed, a flesh coloured bandage hiding most of the damage.

“All done?” Duo asked softly. His eyes had closed, and Heero was having trouble telling what emotion was playing on the other man's features. It seemed that Duo was still wearing his masks well, and he'd been gone too long to read what was behind them.

“Yes, you are done, for now,” Heero replied slowly. His throat constricted at the sad, small smile Duo gave him before he pulled back. He needed to get away from him, right now, and do something with all of his excess energy - like hunt down the bastard that dared to hurt his… friend.

“Duo, Officer Myers is downstairs, if you're ready to talk to him,” Cathy said. Her voice was startling, and all three men turned quickly to look at her. She was wearing a worried look as she watched them, but wisely, she'd chosen to stay several feet away before speaking.

“Thanks, Cath,” Duo answered, pulling himself up and heading downstairs with her.

Heero watched him go, wanting to do nothing more than secret him away into a very secluded room and keep him safe and knowing that Duo was more than capable of doing that himself. The Japanese man's temper flared as he remembered the shocked look on Duo's face as they all arrived after the incident. He turned to Trowa abruptly, a plan starting in his mind to make sure that those creeps paid dearly. “Tell me where to find them, Trowa.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Duo sighed as he watched the police officers leave the orphanage, two hours later. He was tired, dirty, and his face ached. And, still, Wufei had yet to arrive. All he wanted to do was crawl into bed and forget this day even happened. `The only good thing about this day was the way that Heero touched me while he dressed my wound,' Duo thought morosely. `And if that doesn't prove that there's something wrong with me, I don't know what will.'

A sudden noise made him turn, and he could see Hilde flopped gracelessly into one of the many armchairs in the living room. “Duo, where are Heero and Trowa? I haven't seen them in hours and with the kids soon to arrive, and Chang as well, we're going to need the help.”

“I dunno, Hill. Have you asked Cath?” God, he sounded like he was ready to drop.

“God, you sound worse than you look,” Hilde said sweetly, her blue eyes shining in humor. His answer was a rude hand gesture that wouldn't result in losing money to that damned Swear Jar. “Look, I'm sure Cath has that mess up on the third floor cleaned up, and the repair company will be here in a little bit too, since you and Trowa managed to get some stupidly awesome insurance on the building. Why don't you go take a shower and a nap? I'll come get you when Chang gets here, okay?”

Duo eyed the German woman carefully, wondering if there was some hidden meaning behind what she was saying, but then deciding he didn't really care if there was. It had been a year since he'd had any major injuries and he just wasn't used to it anymore. Besides, the last twenty-four hours had been emotionally charged and he hadn't had time to fully adjust to the situation yet. `Not to mention that you've never dealt well with Heero touching you so intimately.'

Deciding that there were no ulterior motives for his dismissal, Duo carefully dragged his tired body to the bathroom between his and Heero's rooms, determined to act as if nothing happened. The hot water soothed his jangled nerves and helped to leech the last of his worry away, and soon he was in bed, lightly dozing. However, it was short lived.

“Where is he?” A familiar voice yelled near his door. “I will personally murder him!”

Sure enough, when Duo looked out into the hall, he was greeted by the sight of a fuming Chinese man, whose normally meticulous hair was falling out of its ponytail. “Hey, `Fei, you just get in?”

“Maxwell, where is he?”

“Yeah, nice to see you too,” Duo responded sarcastically. “And I'm guessing you're getting pissy about Heero, but I don't know.”

His friend seemed to stop as he talked and was staring at him uncomfortably. “What happened to your face? Did Yuy do that?”

“Don't be stupid, Wufei,” Trowa said. Duo looked behind the shorter man and saw his partner-in-masochism standing behind their friend. “You saw the graffiti and the boarded up window. Use that vast intelligence you normally lord over Duo.”

“Ancestors!” Wufei's face went from mildly annoyed to royally pissed off in record time. “They did this to you? How?”

“Lobbed a rock through that beautiful picture window you hated so much.”

“I told you it was a liability, but you didn't listen to me.”

“And you know why I disregarded your `advice',” Duo snapped back. He could feel a headache building, and he wasn't in any mood to deal with one of Wufei's hissy fits. “Trowa, where are the kids?”

“I had Quatre's sisters drop them off around the back. They're currently testing out some science experiments with close adult supervision.”

“Meaning you left the kids with all the girls out back so that they could destroy something while Wufei went yelling his head off in about five different languages?”

“Precisely.” Duo snorted as Wufei glared ineffectually at the taller man. “And as to where Heero is, I think I have a vague idea.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Heero glared at the rundown building in front of him. All of the windows were boarded up, but it still reminded him of the department store it was supposed to have been, probably twenty years ago. The exterior was covered with gang tags of varying offensive natures, and people came and went as they pleased. He figured that most of those people were gang members between the ages of ten and twenty, almost all male. Except for the few females, who all appeared to be prostitutes... `This is what happens to kids on L2. I never thought that it would be so bad, no matter the stories I heard from Duo and J.'

The main members of the gang all sat around one male in particular, a black kid who appeared to be roughly Heero's age and every distinguishing characteristic covered in tattoos. The others were a mixture of Caucasian, Hispanic and Black, and they were dressed alike, even down to the teardrop tattoos under the left eye.

`Fifteen members and three females… six in the inner circle… four exits from the main room and the stairs appear to be in working order to the second floor…' He quickly scanned and processed the enemy terrain like he had during the wars and sighed. `I could take out the entire building with a few explosives, but the collateral damage would include the surrounding buildings and some innocent people. It's difficult to conclude who is guilty of anything other than joining this particular gang to avoid the others and for camaraderie… Except for the inner circle…' A very faint smile turned up the corners of his mouth. `I'll have to gather more data before I can act,' he decided, quietly making his way out of the alley and into the main road.

He glanced at his watch and grimaced when he noticed that he'd been gone from the orphanage for over three hours. Doubtless, by this time, Wufei had arrived and caused some sort of scene. As much as he respected the Chinese man's skills as a warrior, Heero really didn't want to hear his mouth. He doubted that even a year as a Preventer calmed down his temper. `Probably not if he's working for Une,' he thought with a sadistic smile. `Well, let me get this over with. There's no reason to keep Duo worrying any more than he already is.'

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Duo sighed as he helped put the last of that night's dinner on the table. All the children were on their best behaviour - as if they knew something was wrong. The older children had been oddly subdued when they returned from their trip and saw the outside of their home and the gash on Duo's face. The younger children were too excited to see their “Uncle Wufei” to understand what was really going on, and Duo didn't have the heart to make so many small faces fall and crumple in terror.

“Duo,” one of the older boys, Brian, said. “Where did Heero go? He promised to show us,” he indicated Jimmy, Gus and Craig, “how to write our own computer programs.”

Duo looked up and shared brief looks with the other adults. Green eyes, two pair that were alarmingly the same shade, bored into his face, while blue eyes narrowed suspiciously. However, it was Wufei's liquid black eyes that made him the most uncomfortable. “Brian, there was an incident today with the cockroaches down the road. He went to go check it out, I suppose.”

“Oh,” Samantha said, putting an arm around one of the younger girls, Nelia, who sat next to her. “But, why wouldn't he let Officer Meyers do that? That's his job, right?”

“Because Yuy believes that he is the best man for every situation that shows itself,” Wufei said, dripping disdain from his voice.

“He usually is,” Hilde replied harshly.

“Well, not this time,” Cathy added. “Come on, kids. Eat up and after dinner, you can watch movies.”

The rest of their meal, none of which Duo remembered afterwards, passed by in total and utter silence. Just as the children began shifting in their seats, the American looked up at his charges. “Stay off the third floor. In the morning, that big window is going to be fixed, and we don't need any of you walking around here with scars. Mine is enough.” He received eighteen hesitant nods and two large smiles - enough to let him know that Aaron and Megan, the youngest of their charges at eighteen months and twenty months respectively, were acknowledging his voice if nothing else - and sighed. He suddenly felt much older than his eighteen years.

“Did Heero ever tell you where he went or what he's been doing for the whole time he's been gone?” Trowa asked quietly after some minutes.

“No, he said he'd wait until Wufei was here to spill the beans.”

“But, Duo, if Heero spills the beans, who has to clean them up,” Duncan, a bright and inquisitive seven year old, asked.

“He will, kiddo,” Hilde answered. “Now, why don't you monsters go ahead to the TV room and pick out a movie?” All but the two youngest rushed out of the room, and they were taken out of the room by Cathy and Hilde.

“I don't know, `Fei, so asking me again and again isn't going to do anything but make me want to blow up your bed,” Duo said tired as he noticed his friend getting ready to open his mouth. A raised eyebrow was the only answer he got before he processed what he'd said. “You know what I mean. I still have explosives that could make your life very difficult if you piss me off enough.”

“That's good to know, Duo,” Heero said as he entered the room, covered head to toe in dirt and grime, but a slight smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Let me get cleaned up and then I'll tell you what I found out during my little reconnaissance trip today.”

TBC