Gundam Wing Fan Fiction ❯ The Psionic Saga ❯ 22: Make up ( Chapter 22 )

Chapter Twenty Two

Warning:….there's a bit of sap in here….ahem….sorry! squeals and hides

Wufei was fuming. It took all the self control he could muster not to charge at the things Heero had awoken. The moment he pressed his finger to Sally Po's head everything had gone wrong. Starting with Sally Po. That onna was Geokinetic and had shaken up the earth to such an extent that even Wufei had stumbled, cutting his hand on his katana, which only served to piss him off further.

Then, as if his humiliation was not enough, he had fallen over again, and this time it was completely Duo Maxwell's fault. Fuming, Wufei had quickly found his feet again, only to discover said feet were a good ten metres off the ground, and rising! Swearing so loudly he caught Treize's attention, Wufei waited until the gravity was returned to normal and he was once again on the ground before charging toward the braided lunatic, halted only by the firm grasp Treize attained on his shoulder.

Together they had watched as Duo's body was suddenly hauled around as if on strings and it was painfully obvious to Wufei who the puppeteer was. There was only one person in the clearing with Pychokenisis.

So, here he was, watching Treize argue with Milliardo while he waited for Trowa to regain conciousness, aware of Yuy still causing more madness and Quatre leading Duo toward Hilde.

"I have no idea what is going on," Wufei hissed under his breath in annoyance, feeling useless.

"That makes two of us," Trowa grumbled as he opened his eyes and pushed himself into a standing position. He gaped as his green eyes swept the field, astonished for good reason.

"This madness must end!" Wufei exclaimed loudly.

"Let me guess," Trowa replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "It's unjust?"

Wufei looked at him like he had hit his head a little harder than first assumed.

"No, its just plain nuts!"

Only mildly surprised, Trowa merely shrugged and started heading for Quatre.

"Hey!" Wufei looked from Trowa to Treize and back again before sighing heavily and following his friend. Treize could handle himself against Milliard. Wufei was not sure what Trowa could handle. Apparently not trees.

"Somehow I just know all this is Maxwell's fault," Wufei mumbled and almost blanched when Duo snarled in his direction. How had he heard that? And what was that weird sparkle in his eye for? Wufei had the strangest feeling Duo was scared. Duo was never scared. Duo was too smart to be scared. He looked at any situation and knew the outcome. So why…

Wufei tightened his grip on his katana, feeling the cold steel burn into his palm as he hurried to catch up, swiftly placing himself between Trowa and Duo, aware of Quatre on Trowa's other side. He had no idea what was going on, it was true, but Wufei knew one thing, and he knew what he thought about it.

Duo was scared of dying. Wufei wouldn't let him go.

Hilde saw them coming, finally realising she was their target. She squeaked loudly in a mix of surprise and fear but there was nowhere to run. Quatre reached her first, grabbed hold of her wrist and yanked her in Duo's general direction. Her hands were still glowing that eerie blue, her eyes wide, trying to fathom how it could be controlled.

Wufei studied the hands, recalled what they had felt like on the skin. It wasn't Hilde's hands that burned, but Relena's. Relena's created that strange map on his skin, drawing him inside out, but Hilde...Hilde's touch froze everything else. When Wufei had first been attacked, what seemed a lifetime ago now, he had felt numb to the point he no longer knew where he started or began. It was if he was muted…

Electrokinesis.

"Do it Duo!" Quatre yelled, pushing Hilde into Duo's chest. Duo stumbled back in fear and loathing, his thoughts clear in his facial expression. Wufei read him easily, and he hated what he read.

"Duo, no!" Wufei tucked himself between Hilde and Duo, glaring at Quatre. "You can't do this! You can't make him do this!"

"Do what?" Trowa butted in, confused. He was looking from Quatre's determined face, to Wufei's anger, and only vaguely noticed Duo's despair as he slipped behind Wufei and held out his hand.

Wufei had his back turned and didn't see Hilde step forward, entranced at finally being offered the flesh she had for so long longed. He didn't see her fired flesh touch Duo. But he heard it.

Duo hissed at the sudden pain and Wufei spun to stare at him in horror. Duo had wrapped his fingers firmly about Hilde's, entangling himself as Hilde's power, completely unrestrained, pumped into him, poison from the snake. Hilde was shocked and seemed to be trying to pry her hand loose, but Duo refused to let go, his fear replaced with pain and grim determination.

"Duo, let go!" Hilde protested loudly, pulling her hand in every direction to no avail.

"Quatre, stop this madness!" Wufei bellowed and the blonde winced.

"I can't. I cannot control…that…" He waved his hand in Duo's direction, face pale as Trowa came up behind him to offer a shoulder to lean on.

Watching as Hilde continued to poison Duo with her Psionic gift, Wufei felt his fury grow with his lack of understanding.

"Why is he doing this!" He fumed at no one in particular, wanting to understand something. Anything.

"What is done to one is done to the other. If he can destroy his genetic make-up, he will destroy Heero's as well. And what happens to Heero…"

Wufei felt his stomach drop from his body. They were going to kill them all! Rushing forward, Wufei grabbed hold of Hilde's hand and tried to pry it loose, but Duo's fingers were iron spiders, unbendable.

"Duo, don't make me do this!" Having to touch Hilde was causing him pain. So much pain he wanted to let go. He didn't know how Duo was still conscious, still strong…still determined. What had Quatre told him?

Duo's knees gave and he stumbled to the ground, dragging Hilde with him.

"Duo." Wufei knelt beside Duo, not touching, but looking into that familiar face, trying to remember how many times they had sat in his dorm room, just watching each other, trying to fathom what the other was thinking. Wufei wanted that back. He wanted his life back, with all his friends, and school, and normality.

"Duo…Don't do this. There's another way." Taking a deep breath, Wufei pushed on. This was the right thing to do. "I know you Duo. I know that you wake up cold every morning with skin that itches so badly you want to tear it from your body. I know you hate that skin, that you think its ugly, and you would do anything to escape it. I know you think horrible thoughts Duo, and that it's those thoughts that have made you so adept at reading others and situations. I know you curse life and the cards it dealt you and that you do not believe in that cross you wear around your neck. It is just a symbol of the contempt you keep for the world.

"But I also know you love that world. It's stupid and lame and has so very little to offer, but you love life. You love to create things with your hands; things that make other laugh. You like to bring joy to those you care about, even if they show you no gratitude. Maybe even because of that, I don't know. I do know you Duo Maxwell, and I know that it doesn't matter how hard it gets, or how horrible you feel, you don't want to die. You're scared of it, and you should be because it's the only thing you know is real. So listen to me Duo! If you do this thing, you will face your only fear, its true. But there is no cowardice in fear, and there is no need to do this. There is only reason to live. To live is honourable."

Duo was silent, fingers still wrapped around Hilde's hand. His skin was pale with a slightly blue tinge and he was dripping with sweat from the effort it was taking to remain conscious. His grip did not falter, his mind didn't waver. He did not look at Wufei, eyes locked on something only he could see as he ground the words out.

"Wufei, I'm already dead."

A low rumble began in Hilde's throat as she tugged harder at her hand. She started to gurgle, then the sound erupted from her throat and she screamed, the sound echoing in the small clearing, bouncing back off the thick trees again and again, reverberating through Wufei's mind.

Wufei looked up, stumbling back from the couple kneeling on the ground, and his gaze locked with cold Prussian. Apparently Duo had finally gotten Heero's attention.

"Duo!" Heero screamed as he sprinted from the far side of the clearing, eyes blazing. He grabbed the back of Duo's shirt and threw him back but Duo did not release Hilde and she fell on top of him.

Duo was looking at him. Not at Heero, but at him. Wufei. And Wufei could see the pain, the fear, the loathing. He could see everything so clearly, and yet the only thing that mattered was that he was looking at him, not his lover. Looking at Wufei, who had never said anything very nice at all, but who had been there nonetheless, watching and willing. His friend.

Wufei knelt and dredged up every ounce of power he possessed before placing his hands on Duo's and releasing. A tear ran down his face as Duo's eyes widened then slid shut, his hands releasing Hilde as the pain of his burnt hands knocked him into oblivion.

Heero collapsed, falling to his knees and then to his side, eyes wide with surprise. Trowa ran to his side but Wufei could not move.

Quatre was watching them all, standing there, too stunned to move, between the two motionless forms. Wufei did not care to pay him any more attention, transfixed by the icy coldness of Duo's skin and the blue chess board that was his skin.

Destroy the genetic make up of a human being…

The words echoed through Wufei's mind and he wanted to scream in denial, to say it wasn't true, but he could not. The proof was in his hands. Or rather, in Hilde's…

Professor G knelt beside Wufei and felt for Duo's pulse.

"He's alive."

"For how long?" Wufei whispered bitterly.

"I think I can save him."

Wufei stared at the man in shock. Had he just said…

"I do not trust you."

"Of course you don't. You have no reason to. But look at it this way Chang Wufei. I want Heero alive, and for Heero to live Duo must live, so it serves my purposes to save him. Now let go."

Wufei could not argue and he released Duo's form, falling back into someone's embrace. He looked up and sighed at Treize. Why couldn't life be normal?

"Sally," Professor G called softly and the girl appeared at his side. She seemed distracted, and still somehow apart from the rest of them.

"He has almost destroyed his Psionic ability. The fire in his soul flickers. Make it strong."

Sally nodded, kneeling beside the prone form, and she laid her hands on his chest as a faint green light began to grow on her palms. Her eyes unfocussed, turning inward.

Wufei kept his gaze on those eyes, watching for signs of what was happening. He knew the exact moment the real fight began, and he knew it was on a battlefield he could not hope to reach.

The white space. The place where the broken chains lay discarded.

Heero's core.

End Chapter Twenty Two.