Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Crow: Shinigami ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: Thanks to Ashlee Blue, Elle-FaTe2x1, Night, and Nitid for their reviews. Keep `em coming! Sorry Night, you'll have to wait a little while for the Yaoi; at least until Chapter 6, probably a little longer…but it'll be worth the wait (I only hope that Cyra will cooperate…I'm starting to think I might need another muse for Fanfiction, since Cyra has such a derisive attitude toward it; for more info on my situation with my muse, you can read "Conversations with Cyra").

Chapter 4

"Where are you going?" Heero asked, as Duo mounted his "borrowed" bike, after the successful completion of their mission.

"I have a few things to take care of," Duo said. "I'll contact you guys when I'm done."

"Hn."

"Take care, Heero." Duo roared off on the bike.

~*~

Treize watched impassively as Colonel Une entered the room and stood before the desk.

"You asked to see me?"

"Yes," Treize said, standing up and moving to look out the window behind him. "I went over your records, and I agree with you; the pilot of Deathscythe should not have survived. However the fact remains that he somehow did; I want you to find out how."

"Of course, Your Excellency."

"There is one other thing, Lady," He said, turning to face her. "I do not approve of your methods; your lack of honor alarms me."

Une had no response to that.

~*~

Duo smirked at the moonlit apartment building before him; he knew that Hilde and her roommate were probably asleep already.

He was feeling mischievous tonight.

Nathan Williams made his way back to his bedroom from the bathroom in the darkness. Opening the door, he stopped, seeing a dark figure standing over his fiancée.

"Freeze, I have a gun!" Nathan shouted.

The figure chuckled. "Riiight," He said, plainly amused. "And I work for OZ."

"What's going on?" A drowsy, female voice asked.

"Oh, nothing much," A familiar male voice replied. "Your boyfriend's just holding me at imaginary gunpoint."

"Who--?"

Hilde shot up in bed. `I know that voice!' She thought.

The stranger's deft fingers reached out and turned on the bedside lamp.

"Hey, Hilde, long time, no see, ne?" The braided boy said with a grin.

"Duo?" Hilde gasped, tears rushing to her eyes. "Oh my God! You're alive!" She leapt out of bed and pulled her friend into a tight embrace.

"In a manner of speaking," Duo chuckled.

"Um, someone want to fill me in?" Nathan asked.

He was thoroughly ignored.

"WuFei told me you'd been killed!" Hilde accused. "Where have you been? Why didn't you contact me?"

"Hey, hey, it's alright." Duo said, brushing the tears off her face. "WuFei, huh? I'd have thought Quatre would be the one to call. So, you gonna introduce us?"

"Oh, um," Hilde let go of Duo and stepped back. "Duo, this is my fiancé, Nathan Williams; Nathan, this is Duo Maxwell."

Nathan took Duo's hand in a firm handshake, one meant to warn off any advances on Hilde, but was shocked when the death-cold hand tightened around his, painfully.

"Hilde is like a sister to me." Duo said, jovially, with a hint of a threat in the undertone. "You'd better take good care of her."

"Duo!"

"Do you have time to talk, Hilde?" Duo asked. "It can wait until tomorrow, of course, but we have some catching up to do."

"I think it would be best to wait until tomorrow, Mr. Maxwell-"

"Duo, please; I'm only sixteen, after all."

"Duo, right," Nathan said. "Do you have someplace to stay, Duo?"

"Eh...I just got into town tonight," Duo said, sheepishly. "I could probably find a motel or something-"

"Nonsense!" Hilde said. "We have a spare bedroom now, since-"

"Since lover boy over there started sleeping in yours?" Nathan and Hilde blushed. Duo smirked. "Cute, a matching pair."

"Oh! To bed with you, you hooligan! Maybe I should start teasing _you_ about-"

Duo's eyes snapped up, the strange glint in them effectively silencing her; then he smiled, trying to force a cheerful mask into place.

"Pleasant dreams, Hilde, Nate. We'll talk tomorrow." Duo shouldered the backpack he'd brought with him and went off to find the other bedroom.

"Hilde?" Nathan asked, noticing his fiancée's worried expression.

"I-I've never seen him act like that," she murmured. "Something's really wrong!"

"You can ask him about it tomorrow, love," Nathan said. "Come on, let's go to bed."

"No, I think I should talk to him now," Hilde disagreed, leaving the room.

She came to the bedroom door and knocked.

"Duo?"

"Come on in!" Duo called. Hilde opened the door.

"Are you alright, Duo?" Hilde asked.

"I'm as fine as I can be, all things considered." He replied.

"What happened?"

"Do you really want to know?" Duo asked, sitting down on the foot of the bed and looking at her. His eyes held a promise that this was the point of no return.

Hilde hesitated for only a second before replying.

"Yes!" She all but shouted. "Where have you been this last year, Duo?"

Duo smiled sadly and looked down at his hands, clasped before him.

"At the bottom of the ocean, with a bullet through my heart," He looked back at her, his eyes serious. "I died a year ago, Hilde."

Hilde's hands flew to her mouth, and she nearly collapsed, before Duo grabbed her and pulled her to sit on the bed next to him.

"I-I don't believe…I can't believe..." But his eyes told the truth of his statement.

Duo sighed and pulled out his switchblade, flicked out the blade, and slashed his wrist; holding it out to her so that she could clearly see it heal itself. She touched the healed skin gingerly.

"How-? What-?" She took a deep breath, to steady her pounding heart. "I-I think you'd better start at the beginning."

He nodded and started the story.

(((((Duo's POV)))))

Heero was captured on a Recon mission; I never got the specifics of it, of course. He was being held at what was formerly an Alliance Military Hospital; an ironic situation, because I helped him bust out of that same hospital once before, right after we met.

The place was dead as a tomb, not a person in sight; maybe that should have made me suspicious, I don't know. I located Heero, it was even the same room he'd been in before; I remember having an urge to blow out the wall again, just for history's sake.

Heero was unconscious when I got to him, but he woke up while I was cutting his restraints. He kind of stared at me for a moment, like he'd never seen me before, or something. After that it's a bit of a blur, but I ended looking down the barrel of my gun at Heero; from the wrong side, with a gunshot wound in my right arm.

So I did the only thing I could.

I ran.

The corridors had these floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of them; let me tell you, the glass wasn't as strong as it should have been. He shot me in the thigh when I got near to end of one of the corridors, and I crashed into the window and blacked out. I must have only been out for a couple of seconds, because when I came to, he was still walking down the hall towards me.

I managed to stand up; but between the blood loss and the wound in my thigh I wasn't going anywhere. He aimed at me and I realized two things; one, I was going to be killed with my own gun; and two, Heero had shot me in the same places I had shot him the night we met; the injuries that had landed him in that hospital the first time. Pretty damn ironic, don't you think?

I don't know what it was, but for a second, Heero changed; he seemed...hesitant...like he didn't understand what was going on. He lowered the gun a little and came up to me; then he tore the front of my shirt, and took my crucifix.

He backed up to where he was before, and trained the gun on me again. I asked him why, and he acted like I'd slapped him or something.

Then he shot me through the heart.

I went through the window and that was it; I was probably dead before I hit the water.

I still can't get that image out of my head: Heero standing there inside the shattered glass, holding the smoking gun.

It's a real slap in the face to be killed by the one you love.

I woke up at the bottom of the ocean; confused as hell and barely coherent. My lungs were already full of water, so I didn't bother worrying about breathing. I got to shore, coughed up the water, and then just lay there for I dunno how long, until this huge crow landed in front of me and dropped my crucifix in my hand; I have no idea where she got it.

I walked around for a while, and figured out that I'd been gone for exactly a year; then I went and got my Gundam and took off to find the others. By the time I found Trowa and Quatre, I'd learned that I can't die a second time; I just heal right up, except I usually get really pissed off and destroy things when that happens; I'm also much stronger and faster than I used to be.

As near as I can figure, I'm either here to finish something I left undone, or get vengeance on my killer. I'm sticking around for the duration of the war either way; since the war would probably be what I left unfinished; and I can't kill Heero, because I'm stupid enough to still be in love with him.

((((()))))

"Oh, Duo," Hilde whispered.

"Do you believe me?" Duo asked.

"Crazy as it may be, yes."

"Thank you," Duo said. "I couldn't tell the guys; they have plenty of problems as it is; but I needed to tell someone."

"But, I don't understand..." Hilde said. "Why would Heero kill you?"

"He says he doesn't know," Duo sighed. "You know, you're the only person I ever told about my feelings for Heero. Quatre might know, but he hasn't brought it up; did you know that he and Trowa finally got together? Probably the only good thing to come out of this damn war. I'm happy for them."

"But it hurts seeing them happy together when your own dreams were shattered." Hilde observed.

"Yeah, ain't that always the way?"

"And I suppose it's similar, seeing me and Nate?"

"I don't begrudge you your happiness, Hilde."

"How long will you be staying?"

"Not long, a day or so," Duo said. "Got to get back to the `office'."

"Of course," Hilde stood up, then embraced Duo again and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Sleep well."

"I don't sleep," Duo said. "Don't eat either."

"Dear Lord! The world will surely parish!" Hilde joked, covering the pain that shot through her heart. "Look outside, Duo; see if the sky's falling!"

Duo laughed; a real laugh this time.

"Then I suppose I should wish you several nice hours of _quiet_ introspection."

"Rest in Peace, ne?" Hilde sobered at Duo's quiet comment.

"Do you want to?"

"Hm?"

"Rest in Peace," She elaborated. "Finish whatever you were sent back to finish and go back to being...?" She trailed off, not wanting to think of it; let alone say it.

"I don't know; I don't think I have much say in the matter."

"I hope you find some happiness in however much time you have."

"Thank you," Duo said, softly. "Goodnight, Hilde."

"Good night, Duo."

Hilde squeezed Duo's hand gently and left the room.

"What, exactly, is between you two, Hilde?" Nathan asked, as Hilde slipped into bed with him. "I can tell just by looking at you that you're closer to him then you are to any of your other friends."

"If you're worried that I'll leave you for him, don't be," Hilde said, with amusement. "A year and a half ago I had a crush on him; missing a very important piece of information."

"Which is?"

"Duo was completely, irreversibly, and passionately head-over-heels in love with another man."

"Oh."

A/N: Well, I think I've explained how Duo died more times than strictly necessary (gomen, I think you're probably sick of hearing it by now); the good news is there won't be another rehashing of the circumstances for quite a while.

I've written Chapter 5, but it's an extremely rough draft, so I won't post it here yet; though if you feel a morbid curiosity to see my writing at it's joltiest, you can read it at ff.net; just be aware that it will [hopefully] end up being much different when I finally do post it here so you'll probably want to read it then too.