Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The D.C. Saga ❯ 1+2, Part Fourteen ( Chapter 14 )

Title: 1+2, Part Fourteen

**
**
**

Duo's first night alone in the room was a little hard on him. He delayed going to sleep for nearly three hours before it became inevitable. He sighed and trudged up to his room, changing into the shirt he usually slept in and the pants Heero left. He felt a little better knowing that at least something of Heero's had stayed behind. In fact, once he crawled into bed and pulled the covers up, he realized that Heero's scent still clung to their sheets. Duo buried his face into the pillow and tried to reassure himself that he would be okay. He fell asleep a little after midnight.

At one fourteen, he woke up with a start, once again unsure why. Then he remembered his dream and a dry sob broke out of his throat.

Heero self-destructing. It was the single most terrifying moment Duo had ever experienced, not to mention the month and a half afterwards of mourning that turned out to be all for nothing. Duo didn't know if he could go through something like that again.

Shaking, he stumbled out of bed and pulled off the shirt, much too hot, and walked out of the room and down the hall. He peeked into Quatre's room and saw that the young blonde was sitting in bed, reading from a book that was almost bigger than he was. When he heard the door open, Quatre's hand immediately found the gun under his pillow and he had it leveled and cocked as soon as Duo stepped one foot in.

"It's just me," the American whispered, not wanting to wake up Trowa and WuFei in their respective rooms. Quatre relaxed, snicked the safety on his trusty gun, and set it beneath his pillow again. He smiled softly.

"Are you all right, Duo?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he lied, then immediately felt guilty. "Well, no. Heero's gone and I can't really sleep too well."

"Oh. You wanna sleep in here with me?"

Duo blinked. "But you only have one bed."

"It's big enough for the both of us. And it might help you sleep better. I know I will." He put his book away and edged near the wall, much like Heero had done every night for the longest while. Duo gratefully climbed in, shutting off the light at Quatre's request, and he snuggled down deep into the unfamiliar covers. He felt the Arabian's small, surprisingly strong body press against him and immediately enveloped him in an embrace. They were asleep in a few minutes and while they both had their usual bad dreams, the presence of another comrade near them helped to keep them mild.

**

"I miss Heero," Duo announced to Quatre on the morning he had to leave.

"I know you do, but you'll be fine. You'll both be back in no time and everything will go back to normal." He eyed the bacon sitting in the frying pan. "You want it? I'm just going to throw it out."

"Nah, I'm full." He cleaned up his mess and Quatre helped him load his gear into his Gundam. As Duo was getting into the cockpit, he hesitated.

"Would you mind watching D.C. for me? I'll be back in less than two days, I promise."

"She's in good hands," his friend assured him, and with a last smile Duo shut the cockpit, booted up, and launched.

*

Heero was having a hard time trying to sleep cramped inside his Gundam without Duo there. He tossed and turned for hours before finally getting a grand total of one and a half hours of sleep. He woke up when his alarm beeped for him, going through all the automatic motions of powering up and heading out from his first day on the reconnaissance.

I am going to have to get some more sleep, he thought tiredly. I should never have developed that habit. I'll have to break it once I get back--it's detrimental.

He sighed and followed the instructions left by Dr. J exactly, hiding where he was supposed to, waiting like he was supposed to, sneaking out of his Gundam in the middle of the night, dressed in head-to-toe unbroken black, and commencing surveillance on an OZ warehouse. He made detailed mental notes of all he saw until just before daybreak, where he snaked his way back into his Gundam, high-tailing it (quietly) out of there. He found the small, relatively empty safehouse he was supposed to use and typed up everything he remembered on his laptop. He made the necessary perimeter investigations before finally allowing the "soldier mode" to drop.

He missed Duo terribly.

Despite what Dr. J had said about attachments being weaknesses, Heero realized that it was a strength. He wanted to get back to Duo, so he had to make damn sure that the mission didn't fail. All in all, he was sure that his friendship with Duo had improved his mission success more than anything else.

He changed out of his clothes, noticing that he'd left his favorite (and only) pair of pajama pants back with Duo, and crawled into bed in his boxers. He lay there for a few hours, just thinking about everything--the mission, the team, the sleepless nights--but mostly he thought about Duo.

Strange things were beginning to happen when he was around the braided boy. Heero had noticed it a little more than a week before, but he hadn't wanted to dwell on it. Now, there was nothing to do but dwell.

Heero pushed the thoughts aside once more in favor of sleep. I hope I can sleep without Duo in my arms...

**
**
**

A/N: I guess I should say now that this is TWT, and that they're sixteen already. Endless Waltz won't happen. I guess it's more AU, then. So it's a TWTAU. ^^

Also, Asuka Kureru mentioned that there is lots of Unresolved Sexual Tension. So we now have a new warning-UST. Just remember that for the future. ^__^