Uchu-No-Shinigami (formerly "untitled Death/Angst Fic")

-----part 1-----

Duo looked at his cards for a moment, then put them down. "I fold." he told the others.

The doorbell rang.

"Must be the food." he grinned. "I'll get it."

Heero looked over at Quatre as Duo disappeared into the other room.

"I raise you ten dollars." he said. 

Quatre dropped his cards, suddenly, face up, and raced into the hall where Duo was. 

"DUO! DON'T...." he screamed. 

But it was too late.

Duo opened the box. A second later there was an enormous explosion. Quatre screamed in agony as he felt Duo's body being blown apart, then, a second later, fragments of glass and metal struck Quatre in the face, neck, and chest even as the force of the explosion hurled him backwards against a low table. He impacted violently against it, and there was a loud snapping sound.

//A shrapnel bomb...// was the blond pilot's last thought as consciousness left him.

-----part 2-----

Trowa sat in the chair alongside the bed, holding Quatre's hand. The circus, his circus, was in town. But he would not be performing in it. He had no reason for laughter now. Duo was dead and Quatre was lying there, in that hospital bed. He frowned as the doctor's words continued to cycle through his mind. The likelihood was that Quatre would never wake up. But if he did, he would never walk again.

The thought of Quatre confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life saddened Trowa. 

Heero appeared in the doorway. "I have a new mission." He apologized. "I have to go."

Trowa nodded and watched as he took off. Ever since Duo's death, Heero had been taking greater risks.

//He wants to rejoin the one he loves.// Trowa thought to himself. //That's why he's trying to get himself killed.//

-----TBC-----