Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The D.C. Saga ❯ The D.C. Saga, Part Sixteen ( Chapter 16 )

Title: The D.C. Saga, Part Sixteen

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Duo was at the demolition site at the appointed time, and over the course of the hour he had to prepare, he slipped fully into what he now called his Shinigami mode, thanks to Heero's Japanese. Duo was focused, intense, and he would not accept failure. In many ways, Shinigami mode was similar to Heero's soldier mode--deadly and efficient.

He checked and double-checked all of his weapons, making sure they were in top working order, and forced the shutters to close over his mind. He always went into battle blank, and he left with it full. Attempting to fight with thoughts swimming in his head usually led to a careless mistake.

He powered up his deadly machine and checked to make sure the hyper jammers were working correctly before moving in. Halfway there, he activated his cloak for extra stealth.

He struck immediately and without warning on the smallest of the three buildings at the base. He was able to attack relentlessly, quickly, for nearly fifteen minutes before he had any competition whatsoever. The element of surprise had always worked for him.

"Come on, you bag of bolts!" [1] he shouted gleefully, swinging the scythe with violent precision. "How about them apples?!" [2]

The Virgos, all mobile dolls, aimed straight for him and began a formation. Duo saw the pattern easily enough and laughed again. "Oh, come now, you can do better than that!"

The scythe was a blur of electric green as he swung for all he was worth, truly believing himself to be the Reaper for the short space of a heartbeat. He sliced through the first Virgo like a hot knife through butter, discarding the crackling suit, and starting on another. One came from behind and he kicked out with his foot as it got closer, sweeping his scythe from underneath and cleaving it in half. Two more appeared at his back and one at his front, and he ducked down low before whirling the scythe in an arc to sever the legs from the body.

He backed out of the corner and felt a little about, not as claustrophobic, and began swaying the scythe left and right, as fast as he could, bulldozing Virgos in the blink of an eye.

He never saw the attack from his blind spot behind him, and when he was hit, he was hit hard. With a loud curse, Duo's body snapped forward in his harness, head barely missing the console, and like a rubberband he was whipped backwards. This time, his head did hit something, and he saw stars in his eyes as his skull cracked against the seat.

"Jesus fucking Christ," he murmured, trying to regain his sight and his focus. "Oh, that's it, now I'm really pissed..."

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It took a while, but he eventually (barely) completed his mission. He'd taken two more hard hits, one nearly killing him and the other bruising the hell out of his leg when it was slightly crushed at the impact in his cockpit. Duo was furious with himself. How in the hell did I let him get so close as to hit the cockpit? There must be something wrong with me!

He sighed and made his way back towards the safehouse where his little baby girl would be waiting. The thought of D.C. made him brighten and he nearly forgot about the blinding pain in the back of his head, or the fact that his leg was so banged up and stiff that he could barely move it.

When he reached the house seven hours later, Quatre was outside waiting for him and helped him walk inside.

"I need to clean that cut on the back of your head," the blonde told him, sitting him at the kitchen table. "Take your hair down at least part way and I'll be right back."

A little uncomfortable to be unbraided in front of the Arabian, Duo let his hair loose before putting it in a low, extremely relaxed ponytail. Quatre returned and pushed the mass of chestnut over his shoulder, setting down the first aid kit on the table.

"Duo, it's pretty deep," he commented, probing around the wound. Duo had his hands clenched so tightly together that his fingernails were beginning to draw blood.

"It hurts," he murmured.

"For you to admit that, it must be killing you. I'm going to clean it out and stitch it up, okay? It'll be a little messy...I refuse to cut away your hair to get to it."

Duo was surprised. "You wouldn't do that?"

"Nope. Not even if I had to. I'd find a way around it."

Duo suddenly wanted to hug him, but knew it wasn't the time. Maybe later. "Thanks, Quat."

"Don't thank me. I know how much your hair means to you. And it's so beautiful, Duo, it really is."

He blushed and fell quiet, letting his eyes fall shut as the pain became more pronounced. Quatre was swift, though, and in a little over fifteen minutes, he was all sutured up.

"Let me look at that leg," the blonde commanded, and Duo had to press his knee down to get it to unbend. "Duo, it is busted! How did that happen?"

"Careless mistake. It doesn't hurt that much, actually. When I slammed into my console that one time hurts more than this...It just sort of aches and throbs a little."

"No broken bones?"

"Nope, none."

"Well, I'll just wrap you with a knee brace. Not much I can do about the bruises." He flashed a bright grin. "Those will go away in time."

"Okay. Thanks." When he was done, Duo was suddenly very, very tired. Quatre noticed and smiled kindly, reaching over to stroke his hair lightly.

"Want to come take a nap with me?"

"Nah, I'll be okay. Heero and I figured something out. Do you have a com radio anywhere?"

"Um...yeah, I'll be right back."

Duo let his head fall onto the kitchen table and was half asleep by the time Quatre returned. He thanked him for the radio and plodded up the stairs where he took a very quick shower, mostly to scrub himself clean, and went into his room.

He laid down on the familiar bed with the familiar scents and just breathed for a while, glad that the battle was over. The adrenaline rush was hard to resist, but he knew that if he didn't have to, he would never fight again.

He turned on the com radio and found Heero's frequency easily. "01, are you there?" he murmured, wondering if he was sleeping.

"01 here."

"Hi."

There was a light chuckle. "Hi."

"Secure the line. I want to go to sleep."

"All right, hold on." More of the shuffling from last time. This time, though, Heero was quicker, and in less than two minutes Duo could speak freely.

"I got hurt," he said conversationally, pulling his injured leg into a more comfortable position.

"How badly?"

"Not too bad. Cut on the back of my head that needed...I think Quatre said twenty-seven stitches. And my leg is slightly mangled."

Heero chuckled. "You sound okay."

"Yeah, I am."

"How badly are you hurt mentally?"

He sighed. "More nightmares. I saw one of the men before I killed him."

Heero made a sympathetic noise. "I don't like that."

"Me either." They were quiet for a few moments and Duo was nearly asleep again before Heero spoke.

"I...I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"Go to sleep, Duo," he whispered. "I'll be here for another four hours."

"Okay," he yawned. "'Night, Heero."

"Good night."

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A/N: Why do I always stop when they say `good night'? Oh well…

[1] - I think Duo said this in one of the mangas. It made me laugh my ass off.

[2] - XD! Said in the Endless Waltz manga, where he also called Trowa a bastard. I could not stop laughing, this was the goddamn funniest thing I'd ever heard Duo say.

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