Untitled
(July 2000 version)
-----part 1-----
It felt as though he were drowning. He tried to take a breath, but
couldn't. Something was in his mouth, in his throat, stopping his
breath. At first he didn't know, then, realization hit and he felt a
wave of nausea come over him. He wanted to push the vulgar man away,
but his arms were tied behind his back. He tried to remember how he'd
gotten there, how he'd been captured. Nothing. Perhaps if they left
him alone, he'd be able to remember. But right now he couldn't. He
couldn't even remember going on a mission.
He felt his clothes being torn from his body, then felt a sudden
tearing pain as something was shoved up inside him. It was mostly
cylindrical, aside from something small, but sharpish that tore him
as it was shoved in.
Duo tried to scream around the erection still shoved deep into his
throat. It only made him gag more and nearly black out from lack of
air.
//Oh, God, please let that not be what I think it is.//
The cold steel was pumped in and out of him for what seemed an
eternity. Fear as icy as the thing he was being violated with
clutched his heart. Dizziness mixed with the nausea and made
everything seem to sway as though someone had put the world on a
boat in a very stormy ocean.
Finally, the cold cylinder was yanked out of him, that little sharp
piece tearing him one last time as it caught on the fragile skin at
the opening. He went rigid with pain as it ripped him. Less than a
second later, before his body could relax even just a tiny bit, he
felt the gunman's erection being shoved into him. The pain
overwhelmed him, became the center of the universe. He wanted to die,
to escape the world that now hurt so much.
There was a series of loud noises, then the weight of both of his
attackers as they slumped over onto him, their members going deeper
into him. He felt them being pulled off of him, felt their erection
leaving his body. Then he felt someone pick him up, felt them putting
clothes on his body.
"Duo," the familiar voice whispered. "Duo, it's Heero...."
Duo wanted to answer, but he was too weak, too tired.
"Duo....?" the voice faded away as Duo lost consciousness.
-----part 2-----
Trowa and Wufei ran into the room, having heard the gunshots.
"Heero, what..." Trowa began. He froze, seeing Duo's current state.
Memories returned and he clenched his fist in a mixture of anger and
remembered pain.
Wufei looked at the open window. "Any idea who they were, or how they
found us?" he asked.
"They're street punks." Heero replied as Quatre came in, tears in his
eyes. "I think they just picked a random house, one with an open
window, and forced themselves on the first person they saw."
Quatre frowned. Something wasn't quite right. He looked over the two
dead 'street punks', then stopped. "They're not street punks." he
said.
"What do you mean?" Heero asked. "How can you tell?"
"Their fingernails." Quatre replied. "They're too clean for street
punks. They were just dressed up as punks to throw people off. I
don't think this was a random attack at all."
"You're saying that someone sent them to...?" Trowa asked, Quatre's
presence soothing him a bit.
Quatre nodded. "Someone ordered Duo's rape."
"But why?" Trowa asked. "I mean, I could see OZ ordering an
assassination. But why this?"
"I never said I thought it was OZ."
"Okay, then who? And why have him ..." Trowa still couldn't say it.
The word left a foul taste in his mouth.
Duo let out a soft moan.
"Let's continue elsewhere." Quatre suggested to Wufei and Trowa. "I
think Duo needs to be alone with Heero right now." he lead them out
of the room.
Duo opened his eyes just in time to see the three pilots walking out
of the room. "Everyone knows, don't they?"
"Yes." Heero replied. He wasn't going to lie to Duo. "And we don't
think any less of you for it."
"They took me while I was sleeping." Duo said, his voice full of a
strange mixture of rage and shame. 'If I'd been awake, they never
would've gotten near me."
*****
"So what's the deal?" Trowa demanded. "Why was Duo assaulted that
way?"
"Some people still have very old fashioned views on sex." Quatre
explained. "Especially the rich or members of royal families. They
believe that if you're not a virgin, you can't marry someone."
"Royal families," Wufei considered, pacing the kitchen. He spun
around and faced Quatre. "You think Relena had something to do with
this?"
"No." Quatre shook his head. "Relena's obsessed with Heero. But she's
too much of a pacifist to order anything that would hurt someone this
way. But I think that a member of her household, a servant perhaps,
may have done this. I think they were trying to make Relena happy. I
think they assumed if they did this, Heero wouldn't want Duo any more
and would turn to Relena."
"It didn't make me happy at all."
They turned and saw Relena standing in the doorway. "I came to warn
you. To warn Duo." she said, sadly. "My maid, she told me what she'd
done. I fired her. I don't want people like that in my house. Then I
came here as fast as I could. But I guess I'm too late." she sank
down to the floor on her knees, putting her face in her hands and
crying softly.
Quatre nodded. "Heero killed the men who hurt Duo." he said as he
went over to Relena and took her in his arms, trying to console her..
"Was Duo hurt badly?" Relena asked. "Please, tell me the truth. How
far did they get before...?"
"They raped him."
"Oh, God." Relena's tears fell faster now. "Duo was a good person. He
didn't deserve that."
"What do you mean 'was'?"
Everyone looked around in surprise. Duo and Heero were standing there
in the doorway.
Duo and Heero exchanged a brief glance, then Duo went over to Relena.
"Relena," he said, "please, listen to me. What happened wasn't your
fault. You didn't cause this. I don't hold you responsible."
"It was my fault." Relena wept. "If I wasn't always going on about
how jealous of you I was, of how much I wanted Heero..."
"You're a young woman who fell in love with a young man you couldn't
have. " Duo said, gently. "That's all. You're not to blame for any of
it."
As Duo brushed a tear from Relena's face, she noticed a ring on
his hand. "From Heero?"
"He asked me to marry him." Duo nodded. "I told him 'yes'."
Relena stood up and crossed her arms. "Well, I object." she said,
firmly.
Everyone tensed.
A smirk came over Relena's face. "There's no way I'm letting you
marry Heero unless you make me your maid of honor."
Duo nodded.
"You'll be a fine husband for Heero... or is it wife?" Relena
wondered.
"Either term. They both mean the same thing." Duo smiled. "I'm so
lucky to have found him. He still wants me even though... even though
I was...oh God. I was...."
Duo tried to bolt from the room, but Heero caught him. The Perfect
Soldier took the braided pilot in his arms and held him close,
stroking his hair and whispering words of love in his ear.
-----part 3-----
Duo sagged in Heero's arms. "Heero, why did you ask me to marry
you? I want the truth. Please?"
Heero cupped Duo's chin with his hand and turned the tearstained face
up to look at him. "I asked you to marry me because I love you, Duo."
He pressed his lips to Duo's and kissed him. He could feel Duo
shaking like a leaf in his arms. "You're going to be all right." he
whispered against the traumatized boy's lips. "I promise. I'll never
let anything like that happen to you ever again."
"None of us will." Relena promised. "Now come on, dry those tears. I
want to see you smile again. You want to look pretty for when you
marry Heero, don't you?"
Duo nodded.
"Well, then, dry those tears and I'll take you back to my place and
we can get you fixed up."
Duo cringed.
"Oh, Duo." Relena reassured him. "That girl isn't working for me any
more. I fired her. You'll be safe. I promise. Look, there's a war
going on, so there's no sense in your or Heero waiting. You should
get married now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?"
Duo and Heero both nodded in agreement. But Duo still seemed
troubled.
"If you want," Relena suggested, "one of the others can come back
with us. But not Heero."
"Why not?" Duo asked.
"It's bad luck for the groom to see the bride's dress before the
wedding."
"Quatre, then." Duo decided. "If that's okay with him."
"It's fine, Duo." Quatre replied. "Meanwhile, Heero, Trowa, and Wufei
can dispose of what's left of the garbage."
They started to leave, then Heero stopped them.
"What is it?" Duo asked.
"I just wanted to look at you for a moment." Heero smiled. He kissed
Duo's forehead, his nose, and his lips. "When we meet again, it will
be to take our vows and you'll become Duo Yuy or Duo Maxwell-Yuy. I
won't have time to say this then, so I wanted to say it now.
Farewell, Duo Maxwell." He kissed Duo once more then waved to the
braided pilot as he, Quatre, and Relena headed back to Relena's home.
-----part 4-----
"Stop there." Relena told her driver, pointing at a little ice cream
parlor. "Come on, my treat."
Relena, Duo and Quatre got out of the car as soon as it was parked.
They went into the parlor and selected a table.
"I'll have the chocolate trifle deluxe." Duo selected, when the
waiter took their orders.
Relena opted for a mint sundae.
Quatre's choice was a classic hot fudge sundae with extra whipped
cream.
The waiter took the orders and returned to the kitchen. He walked
through and out the back door. "Sir," he said into a radio, "two of
the Gundam Pilots are here. I recognize the braided one. Your
orders?"
"Do they suspect this place?" Treize asked over the line.
"I don't know." the waiter admitted. "The Peacecraft woman may simply
like our ice cream, but she has been coming in here a lot. I think
she may have been checking the place out."
"I'll leave the decision up to you." Treize hung up.
The waiter returned to the table some time later with the sundaes and
some ice water for everyone. It was a hot day and they were grateful
for the additional water.
Duo managed to get a bit of whipped cream on his lower lip. It saved
his life.
Relena reached over to wipe the whipped cream from Duo's lip. When
she did so, it upset the Duo's glass spilling water and ice onto the
table. But it wasn't ice.
"Shit." Duo whispered. "Hey, don't drink the water." he told Quatre
and Relena. "That's broken glass in there."
Quatre, who'd taken a small sip, quickly spat it out. He howled in
pain.
"Quatre?!" Relena exclaimed as she and Duo dragged Quatre out of the
parlor and back to Relena's limo. "Hospital!" she ordered the driver.
"NOW!"
Quatre was examined at the emergency room and it was
determined that he hadn't swallowed any glass shards. He did have
to have one removed from his tongue, which resulted in him getting
novocaine on the tongue to dull the pain of the removal and the four
little stitches he got afterward. Once Quatre was ready to leave the
hospital, the three headed back to Relena's mansion.
"Wait here." Relena left the two pilots in the front hall and ran
upstairs. A moment later, she came back down carrying a beautiful
wedding kimono. "It was my mother's." she told them. "Let's see how it
looks on you, Duo."
Duo went into a spare room and put the kimono on. "How does it look?"
he asked.
"Beautiful." Relena wept. "You're going to be a beautiful bride."
Quatre watched her in amazement. She'd been kind and compassionate
all day and it made her look more beautiful than he'd ever thought
possible.
"Um, guys." he suggested. "I think you may have to make a slight
change in plans."
"What do you mean?"
When Quatre dropped to one knee in front of Relena, it was pretty
obvious what he meant.
Relena's heart raced and skipped with joy as she answered 'yes'.
-----part 5-----
"Nervous?" Wufei asked as he drove Heero to Relena's home.
"Yes." Heero admitted. "It's not everyday one marries the
most beautiful boy in the world."
"No, I suppose it's not." Wufei agreed.
"Heero, about what happened to Duo..." Trowa began, but fell silent.
"Trowa?"
"I went through something very similar when I was younger." Trowa
explained. "He's acting like everything is fine, but its not. He's
been traumatized. Be very careful if you touch him tonight, or you
could damage him, and not just physically."
Heero decided not to ask Trowa about what had happened. //He'll tell
us if and when he wants to,// he thought. //Until then, it's none of
our business.// Instead he asked, "Either of you have a good idea for
where Duo and I should go on our honeymoon?"
"I'm sure we'll think of something before the day is over." Wufei
decided as he pulled into the driveway and parked the car.
*****
Relena's servants finished fixing Duo's hair. It was done up in a
classic Japanese bridal style with the exception of the long braid
that trailed down from the center of the bun. A bridal headdress was
set upon Duo's head and the kimono was adjusted.
"You're beautiful." she told him. "Isn't Duo beautiful, Miss Relena?"
Relena nodded as another servant completed work on her hair. It was
similar, though minus the braid. Her kimono was white with pink trim
and a pink obi.
Duo's own bridal kimono was pure white. The only time he'd ever been
touched had been when he'd been raped, so Relena still counted Duo as
a virgin.
With tears of joy in their eyes, Duo and Relena waited for the cue
for them to approach the spot in the house where vows would be
exchanged.
Relena's servants lead Heero and the others into the room where the
wedding was taking place.
"Quatre?" Heero asked as he stood where he and Duo would be
exchanging their vows. "Quatre, what are you doing up here?"
"Marrying Relena." Quatre explained.
-----part 6-----
Relena and Duo both approached the spot where they were to be joined
to their respective husbands. Duo took his place next to Heero and
Relena took hers beside Quatre.
Trowa and Wufei served at witnesses for both couples. And since four
were needed, Quatre's servant was requested. But a fourth could not
be found.
"What are the requirements?" Duo asked.
"They must be able to confirm that they witnessed the ceremony if
asked."
Duo smiled. "I have an idea. If you don't mind continuing outside."
Three humans and a Gundam witnessed the double wedding. When the
ceremony ended, Heero thwapped Duo on the nose, playfully scolding
him as he kissed him.
"Only you would solve that problem by asking for your Gundam to be
your witness." he remarked.
"Deathscythe has got me out of a lot of bad situations." Duo
shrugged. 'I owed him one."
The two couples turned to go back when two gunshots were heard. No
one was hurt or even hit.
"What the?" Quatre turned and stared at Relena for a moment, then ran
into the house. He examined the bullets, the angle they'd been fired,
noticed the paths they would've taken. Then, he went outside, turned
on Relena, and slapped her hard enough to knock her to the ground.
"Quatre!" Trowa exclaimed in horror.
Quatre took the ring from his finger and hurled it at Relena's feet.
"You bitch." he swore at her. "You're the one who had Duo raped."
"What?!" Everyone exclaimed.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Relena protested.
"You set the whole thing up to get Duo and Heero over here." he
turned to the other couple. "The bullets that were fired would've
killed Duo and left Heero crippled." he told them. "If Duo hadn't
suggested having the ceremony outside, he'd be dead and Heero
would've been left paralyzed or worse. Then Relena would've stepped
in as the 'helpful friend' and nursed Heero in the hopes that they'd
fall in love and marry."
"I swear, that's not true!" Relena exclaimed.
"So, what was I to you, Relena?" Quatre asked. "A better deal that
just happened to come along?"
Relena put her face in her hands and wept. "Okay, you're right.
I did set Duo up and I was going to do all that. But, I ... I fell in
love with you, Quatre. I forgot about the sniper, or I would've
called it off. Honest. I'm glad we're out here. I'm glad that Duo
wasn't hurt. Now that I know I love you and not Heero, if I'd hurt
the one Heero loves, I would never be able to forgive myself."
Quatre was about to lash out again when something stopped him. He
looked at Relena for a long moment, studying her with his spaceheart.
His features softened and he knelt beside her. "Relena, I'm sorry. I
truly am. I know that your heart has changed, but I'm afraid it
changed too late. I will always care about you. But I can't love a
person who had my best friend raped."
He turned and walked over to Trowa. "I was a fool, Trowa. I
thought..."
"You thought you found a soulmate?" Trowa asked. "Perhaps you have. It's just not the person you thought it was." he took Quatre's hand
and led him away from Relena.
They were around the corner and halfway to Trowa's car, when they
heard a scream. Without stopping, they turned around and ran all the
way back.
Duo and Heero were huddled on the ground in each other's arms.
Relena had a blood-soaked knife in her hand. It was one she kept in
her purse as a letter opener.
"If I can't have my marriage, then you can't have yours either!" she
was saying as she stabbed at them repeatedly, no longer caring which
of them she hit.
"Relena! Stop!" Quatre exclaimed. "What are you doing?!"
Wufei pulled his gun, whispered, "Justice must be served." and
fired.
-----part 7-----
"Hang in there, the ambulance is on its way."
Heero heard Quatre's gentle voice as if from far away. From deep in
this dark pit where he'd gone to escape from the pain.
"Damn it, keep that pressure on!" Wufei was screaming.
"I am, damn it. It's not helping." Trowa swore. "Where the fuck is
that ambulance?"
As if to answer the question, the sound of sirens came moments later.
Heero heard the sounds of a paramedic team as they bundled him and
Duo into the ambulance. He could hear fragments of what they were
saying, mostly instructions being yelled to one another, then
something that shattered his heart.
"We've lost him."
When he heard those words, Heero stopped fighting, too. Without Duo
there was no point in continuing.
A few seconds after Duo's death, Heero Yuy was also dead.
-----part 8-----
"Heero?"
Heero turned from looking at his corpse and found himself looking
into Duo's beautiful violet eyes. "Are we dead?"
"Yeah. Let's go." Duo led Heero through the back door of the
ambulance. Soon they were both standing on the back bumper.
"Can't we just disappear and reappear at will, wherever we want?"
Heero asked, skeptically.
"And deprive you of the all this excitement?" Duo laughed.
The two souls kissed and tumbled from the bumper, rolling off into a
beautiful field.
"Da-da?"
Duo and Heero looked up and saw a little boy standing there. He
looked like he was about two years old. He was dressed in a pair of
shorts and t-shirt with a picture of Deathscythe on it.
"Who..?!" Heero blinked.
"Shinigami." Duo hugged the child. "I'm glad you're here."
"Duo... who's?" Heero tried again.
"Heero," Duo explained, two years ago, Dr. J and Dr. G contacted me.
They asked me to carry a child that would have both your DNA and
mine. Their ultimate soldier. The procedure was too complicated to
explain, but the implant took and I was pregnant."
"So, what happened?" Heero asked.
"I was captured by OZ troops when I was about twelve weeks along.
By the time that you and the others rescued me, I'd lost the baby."
Heero had so many questions, but he dismissed them. They had no place
here. They didn't matter. All that mattered now was there in that
field. He and Duo laid back on the grass, looking up at the sky,
while their son pointed out shapes in the clouds.
-----Owari-----