Eleison
By:
Sailor Seraphim

 

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Author's Notes:

I do not own Gundam Wing or any of its related characters. If I did, the series would be chock-full of shounen ai goodness. I'm also borrowing some concepts from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series, particularly his character, Death. I don't own Death, either. I do, however, own the situations which occur in this fic.

I've read a lot of fics using the very genki Death of "Sandman" fame. I'll have to admit that I was inspired to write this because of those fics. However, I'm taking a different spin on things. There's a sad sort of happiness in this fic... that's all I'm going to say.

"Eleison" means "have mercy."

SPOILERS for the TV Series, Endless Waltz and Episode Zero.

WARNINGS: 1x2, major angst, bad language, violence, death, shounen ai, and suicide... in no particular order. Timeline is roughly 3 years after Mariemaia, making it AC 200.

Enjoy!

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It was a classic case of a mission gone bad.

From the beginning they had had bad intel, bad communications, bad layouts, a second-rate infiltration force made up of mostly new recruits, and a shoddy plan thrown together in the last few hours. It was a damn shame that the Preventers had thought they were totally on top of things. The simple mission of storming an empty warehouse and arresting the neighborhood gang that held it was supposed to go off without a hitch. But the "neighborhood gang" had turned out to be a hardened and disillusioned group of mercenaries still loyal to the Barton Foundation. And the "empty warehouse" ended up being a fully loaded weapons depot.

Perhaps the only thing that had stopped the situation from turning into a total disaster with 100% losses for the Preventers was the fact that Heero Yuy and Duo Maxwell were leading the team. The two former Gundam pilots were as effective as a fully-armed assault force, and in short order, trademarked Maxwell explosives were rocking the depot and the mercenaries were being mowed down in a hail of Yuy-brand gunfire. With reckless destruction and mayhem erupting all around them, the Preventers had pulled out of the situation, Heero and Duo covering their team to make sure that every injured Preventer was pulled out of the fire. Then the two former-terrorists had hot-wired one of the mercenaries' own jeeps and fled in a screech of rubber and tarmac.

Of course, this did not make the mercenaries happy, and they continued to chase the deadly pair, hoping to gain their revenge. Duo was bent over the wheel of the jeep, skidding back and forth across all lanes the paved road (mercifully empty this far out in the wilderness)... when he was bothering to *stay* on the road, that was. The American was trying to put as much distance between themselves and the mercenaries, and if some trees had to die to do it, so be it. Heero seemed to take no notice of Duo's driving skills, laying down supressing fire from his machine gun, actually standing up in his seat and firing at the pursuing jeep.

But Fate is not so kind and finally, Heero's machine gun jammed, no ammo. The mercenaries seemed to sense the change and opened fire on the stolen jeep again. Heero ducked back into his seat, but not before several bullets ripped through various parts of his anatomy.

"Ah... fuck!" Heero swore, collapsing in his seat and clutching his shoulder and upper chest. Immediately, he began to rip off the sleeve of his shirt to try to stop the blood flow.

Duo cast a quick glance at his lover and then jerked the steering wheel to the right, avoiding yet another tree. The whole jeep lurched to the side and Heero hissed as he was slammed against the door.

"Sorry!" Duo exclaimed, biting off a curse of his own and pulling the jeep back onto the main road. "Ahhh... shit! Damn, mercs! Heero, are you okay?"

The Japanese boy grunted as he tied off his makeshift tourniquet. "I'll live, as long as your driving doesn't kill me first."

"Aww, Hee-chan, you always say the sweetest things! Aaaaahhhhhhhhh!!! FUCK!!!" Duo screamed as the windshield exploded into shards of glittering glass and fell into his lap. "Shit! Heero! Can't you do something about those guys?! I've already radioed the base for backup, but it'll take maybe twenty minutes for the Preventers to get here."

Heero nodded and checked the clip on his gun. "I'm low. Do you have an extra?"

The braided man nodded, not taking his eyes off the road. "I've got one left, on my belt. I lost my gun at the depot, or else I would've given that to you, too."

The Japanese man just grunted as he pulled the full clip from the holster at Duo's waist. "All I need is a clean shot to get them off our tails. Keep her steady, Duo."

"Ryoukai! If you can keep those bastards from following us, I'll give you a kiss."

Heero just smirked from his seat as his loaded his pistol and twisted up to lean over the roof of the jeep. "Just a kiss?"

"I didn't tell ya where, Hee-chan!"

Then it was all business again as Heero tried to stay as close to the top of the jeep while trying to pull off his shot. As soon as his head had popped up, the mercenaries had opened fire once again. Heero just focused past the pain searing through his shoulder, aiming for the front tire of the jeep following them. He didn't even feel the stinging pain burn across his cheek as he fired. The shot was true and the mercenaries' jeep started to skid, sparks flying up as the rim ground against the pavement. Heero lined up another shot, killing the driver. His third dropped the mercenary manning the machine gun mounted on top of the vehicle. He continued to watch as the jeep finally began to run off the road and was about to turn when he saw someone from the passenger's side launch something at their jeep. Heero didn't panic, already tracking and calculating that the thrown... whatever... was going to land wide and in front of them. Then something exploded with the force of a grenade, and Duo started to yell, and the jeep swerved out of control, and Heero turned around in time to be launched out of the jeep as it fell into the deep forest around them.

And then Heero didn't think at all.

 

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It was all pain and blood and darkness.

Duo moaned, blinking up at the leafy green canopy above him. He realized that he was lying flat on his back on the forest floor. He twitched carefully, testing himself for injuries. Besides some minor wounds, he was okay. Duo sat up, giving in the urge to retch when his whole world tilted and lurched in front of his eyes. That was a bad sign; he probably had a concussion. The American finally recovered and took stock of his situation.

The last thing he remembered before blacking out was that the jeep had run into some sort of mine or explosive that had caused them to veer off the paved road and into the forest. Indeed, as Duo surveyed the wreakage of the vehicle and pulled himself from under the twisted mass, the American knew that if it hadn't been for the jeep absorbing most of the impact, he would be dead. But... Duo clearly remembered seeing Heero being thrown free of the jeep...

Heero.

Duo pulled himself to his feet as best he could, nearly falling down again as his injured legs screamed at the abuse and started to bleed fresh. But only one thought prevailed in Duo's mind: he had to find Heero. Maybe he had been luckier... Heero had survived self-destructing Wing; surely being thrown out of a car would be a piece of cake compared to that.

Heero was strong, insanely so. It was because of Heero's seeming inability to die that had attracted Duo to him in the first place. Having been surrounded by death all his life, Duo had felt an instant attraction for the young man who could laugh in Death's face and get away with it. Duo still lived with the overwhelming fear that his love was a curse -- that all those who loved him would be taken away before their time. But now, four years into their relationship, and Heero Yuy was still alive and kicking. It had made Duo hope that maybe he was not cursed afterall... that maybe, Heero was strong enough to survive his love. Still, Duo had never allowed himself to say that deadly word to his lover; he had even gone so far as to not allow Heero to speak it to him. It had confused the Japanese man at first, until he realized how overwhelming Duo's fear of abandonment was. The two men had never said they loved each other, and now Duo was threatening to choke on his tears at the thought of never saying it to Heero at all.

The braided man stumbled through the forest blindly, heading in the general direction of where he thought the road lay.

"Heero?" he called out, his voice raspy from the smoke. "Heero?! Where are you?!"

"D-Duo...?"

The American nearly missed the hoarse hissing of his name, and really, he had stumbled onto Heero almost on accident. Duo nearly cried when he saw Heero's body, laying awkwardly in the thick undergrowth of the forest.

"Oh... Oh God... Heero..." Duo whimpered, dropping to his knees and crawling to where his lover lay prone. He ran one dirty hand down Heero's face, crying out when his hand came back sticky with blood.

Prussian eyes fluttered open. "Duo? Isss... issat... you...?"

"Yes... oh, Heero. It's me. Oh my God..."

Heero's hand reached out, finally releasing the deathhold on the pistol, and gripped Duo's tightly. "Duo... what's wrong?"

Biting his lip, Duo just shook his head. "It's okay... it's gonna be okay, Heero. I just... I just gotta pull you out from there, to some place clearer. But... I... I don't wanna... hurt you..."

Heero closed his eyes. "It's okay, Duo. Just do what you need to do. I'll survive."

//Oh God, I hope you do,// Duo thought. Taking hold of his lover's body as gently as possible, Duo managed to pull him free of the tangled bushes and onto a clearer space, wincing in sympathy as he heard his lover cry out in pain. Laying on hard-packed dirt wasn't very conducive to the healing process, but it was slightly better than keeping Heero tangled in the bush. Then his hands flew, ripping at his shirt and trying to stave off the massive bleeding coming from his lover. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Duo knew it was in vain. Even if he could staunch all the wounds littering Heero's arms and legs, the Japanese man would never survive. Because, the wound that had made Duo nearly burst into tears, was the large splinter of metal protruding from Heero's abdomen. Probably a piece of the jeep when it had crashed into the tree and exploded. From the way Heero was behaving, his lover probably didn't even know -- couldn't FEEL -- the massive injury in his stomach.

"You're quiet," Heero rasped, opening his glazed Prussian eyes once more. "How bad is it?" When Duo balked, Heero managed to glare. "Don't lie to me, Duo. Not now. Tell me how bad it is."

Duo shook his head, violet eyes fierce. "It's bad, Heero. Real bad. Just... just... save your strength. I called HQ... they'll be here any minute and..."

"Duo." The American winced. "You've never lied before... I don't want you to start now. Tell me."

At that, Duo burst into tears even though he knew it would upset his lover further. "Oh God, Heero... it's... you're... Heero! Just shut the fuck up and save your strength, dammit!"

Duo managed to regain tenuous control over himself and stared into Heero's eyes.

"I'm not going... going to make it, am I?" Heero asked quietly, his voice catching in mid-sentence.

Duo didn't answer.

"You don't have to try to make it better for me, Duo. I ca-can't feel my legs. Th-that either means I'm paralyzed of they've been ba-badly da-amaged. I can ta-taste the blood i-in m-my mouth. Th-that means I-I've got inter... nal injuries..."

"GODDAMMIT, SHUT THE FUCK UP, HEERO!"

Duo slapped his hands over his mouth. He was shocked with his outburst. But he couldn't take it. He couldn't listen to Heero rattle off his injuries like he was reading the weather forecast. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he muttered.

There was silence again.

"Duo?"

The American jumped, his fingers tightening over Heero's hand. "Y-yeah?"

"I..."

"What, Heero?"

"I... never told you that I loved you."

Violet eyes widened in shock. "Don't... don't you dare start now!" Duo exclaimed. This wasn't happening. This wasn't happening. It wasn't.

Heero just smiled. "I... know that you never wanted me to say it, Duo. We've been together for... four years and we've never said it to each other."

"... dammit... Heero... please..."

"You were always afraid that loving me would kill me. You never said it outloud. I didn't either. Guess we couldn't cheat Death that way, ne? I love you, Duo."

"... Heero..."

"I... I can't... see... Duo... kiss me... one last time..."

Duo trembled, but leaned down, brushing his lips against his lover's. The taste of blood on his lips almost made him pull back, but the thought that this was the last kiss he was ever going to share with Heero made him desperate. He felt Heero's mouth on his, felt the warmth of their tongues dueling with each other. For one last time, Duo wanted to lose himself in Heero's kiss and never wake up again. Reluctantly, Duo pulled away, dropping gentle kisses across Heero's brow and now-sightless Prussian eyes.

"Duo?"

"Yes, Heero?"

"I love you."

"I know, Heero."

"... everything... that I am... my heart... bo-body... s-soul... it belongs... to you..."

Duo started to cry again, carefully wrapping his arms around Heero, cradling his lover's body in his arms. "Heero... Heero, I love you... love you..." the braided man sobbed into Heero's ear, hoping it wasn't too late to say those words.

Heero's lips curved into a smile.

And he didn't say anything anymore.

When the Japanese man's body went limp in his arms, Duo's head snapped up in panic. He was about to start screaming when he realized that Heero was still breathing, albeit shallow and raspy. A bright flare of hope started to burn in the American's heart. If Heero was not yet dead, if he had just passed into unconsciousness or even a coma, there was still a slim hope that he could live.

"Baka..." Duo whispered, gently fingering Heero's tousled hair. "You shouldn't have said it. *I* shouldn't have said it. You would have survived for sure..."

Lowering his head, hands still clasped around Heero's body, Duo wondered how long it would take for the Preventers to reach them. The Jeep was still smouldering nearby, sending pitch black smoke above the treetops. Surely enough time had passed? Help would be coming soon, wouldn't it? Duo would have checked his watch if he hadn't already known it had been broken in the crash.

Still... something was tickling at the back of his mind, and Duo couldn't let himself rest. It was too quiet in the forest. Even if the explosion had scared away the wildlife, the birds should have returned by now. It was too still. Too eerie. It was like paranoia almost, or that sixth sense that all fighters had... that *something* that told you that someone was watching you. It was sending chills down Duo's spine. Still, the feeling was familiar; like it had always been around all his life and he had grown so accoustomed to its forboding that he no longer was conscious of it. But... there was only one thing that had followed Duo for his whole life.

He frowned.

"Show yourself!" Duo called into the depths of the forest, feeling slightly foolish. Maybe he had just hit his head harder than he had thought. "I know you're there, so you might as well come on out!"

There was a rustling sound of leaves being stepped on and Duo's head snapped to the right. Violet eyes widened as he watched a slim young woman with raven black hair emerge from the shadows of the forest. Her skin was unnaturally pale, her attire unrelieved black, and a thick silver anhk was settled against her throat. Duo's arms tightened around Heero's body even more, unconsciously protecting the precious armful.

The woman stopped a few feet away from where Duo was sitting and gazed at him curiously. "How strange. Most humans don't know when I'm around. Until it's too late, of course."

"Death," Duo spat out, his eyes narrowing. All of the rolling, tumultous emotions in him now had a target. He couldn't believe the gall... that Death would actually show herself to him at a time like this. Sudden and unreasonable anger flooded Duo, and he would have physically attacked the woman if Heero wasn't in his arms.

"You know who I am?" the ebony-haired woman said with surprise.

"Of course I know who you are," Duo replied with a sneer. His arms tightened around Heero, hands still clasped above the wound that was slowly leaking the Japanese man's life onto the muddy ground. "I didn't think you'd be so surprised. Hell, you've been around me so much that I wonder why you don't keep photos of me in your wallet. It'd be great to show your friend. 'Hey! Check it out! Isn't he growing up so fast? He's a handsome boy, doncha think?'"

"I understand what you're feeling. I know you're hurting--"

"Hurting?!" Duo barked out, choking off his bitter laugh. "You 'know how I feel'? Damn right you should know how I feel! You've been following me around since before I can remember! You were more of a mother to me than Sister Helen was -- if only for the fact that you were always around. I named myself after you. You have made me everything that I am today," Duo said grimly. He pulled one arm away from Heero's body, stretching out in a mocking gesture. "What's wrong? No welcoming hug for your son?" Then he looked scornfully at his blood-covered clothing. "Ah. I see. I'm not exactly dressed appropriately for this meeting."

Death frowned. "If you know who I am and you know why I'm here, then you shouldn't fight the inevitable."

"Telling me it's impossible? You were there every step of the way, babe. Following in my footsteps, trailing me like a shadow... you hounded me every time I closed my eyes." Duo looked down sadly at Heero's slack face, running a bloody hand through matted brown hair. "But when I opened them, *he* was there. He was the only one who could be with me and not suffer the consequences. I love him for it. But that's the crutch, ain't it? You take away everyone that I love. You always do."

"I just do my job, Duo. I don't give people their fates."

"Does it sound like I'm blaming you?" Duo snapped, violet eyes blazing before they rested on Heero's face again. "I'm just telling the truth."

"Then if it's the truth, why don't you accept it?"

"Accept? I've always accepted the truth. I've know Death -- I've feared you, hated you, and in the end I accepted and loved you. But I loved him, too."

Heero took a rattling gasp of breath and Duo jumped, startled and his hands flying across to cover Heero's wounds. The Japanese man's body jerked and strained in the American's arms, and Death watched quietly at the play of emotions across Duo's face. It wasn't anything new. She'd seen it all before. She'd seen it too many times. There was one, last, slow exhale and Heero's body seemed to sink down on itself and lay still. Duo let loose a keening wail, throwing his arms around the now empty shell and rocking back and forth.

Death merely gestured, watching in a detached way as Heero's soul left his body and drifted towards her. She could see the torture in this soul's eyes as he watched his former lover grieve. But she was Death and had to be obeyed.

"Come with me," she said softly, holding out her hand.

"No."

Death blinked. She turned to where Duo was still kneeling in the mud, his violet eyes blazing and his arms still around Heero's corpse. "He's dead, Duo. I'm going to--"

"NO."

Death sighed. "You can't stop me."

"No one gets Heero's soul but me," Duo answered, his voice quiet but strong. He was drawing from some sort of reserve that Death had never seen before in him. It made her insanely proud of the strength of human spirit for a brief moment. "He said his soul belongs to me. It was the last thing he said. Heero is *mine*. I won't let you take him away."

The ebony-haired woman watched as Heero's soul seemed to brighten at Duo's words. She shook her head and turned her back, gesturing towards the soul again. "I am Death, Duo. I do what I'm told. I'm here to pick up one soul today. It's Destiny."

"Fuck Destiny," Duo spat, and Death could almost *see* the grim grin across the braided man's lips. "I never liked following other people's orders."

And before Death could reply, a gunshot rang across the quiet forest, sending birds screaming into flight. She didn't need to turn around to know what had happened. The play of emotion across the soul's face told her everything she needed to know. Surprise, distress, shock, anger... then the genuine smile the lightened usually harsh features. Heero drifted behind her and finally, Death turned around. She watched as Duo's soul pulled itself free from its mangled shell, disoriented and confused. Then the new soul brightened, flashing across the distance easily and hurling itself into Heero's ghostly arms. The two men blurred into each other, making it difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. Maybe that was the point.

Duo grinned at her from his place snuggled against Heero's chest. It was a smile that could not be defeated... even by her.

//I told you that no one would get him but me.//

Death smiled.

And gestured.

And all that was left in the quiet forest when the Preventers vehicles pulled up minutes later was a mangled, smoking jeep, two bodies embraced together, and a cold, spent pistol lying in blood-red mud.

 

 

-- Owari --