untitled Deathfic
-----part 1-----
The last thing Duo heard was the sound of Deathscythe's supposedly indestructible
cockpit window cracking. Then, his head struck the
cockpit wall and he was knocked unconscious as Deathscythe plummeted
into the ocean.
The battle continued high above the disabled and damaged Gundam.
Heero, Wufei, Trowa and Quatre fought hard against the OZ troops. No
matter how many they killed, more seemed to come.
As he fired at one Aries after another, Quatre was suddenly struck by
a profound sense of loss. 'Huh?!" he looked around, trying to
determine was it meant. At first it didn't register. Then, he
realized that Deathscythe was not present.
He quickly finished off a number of fighters in his area, then ran a
search for Deathscythe. He located Duo's Gundam quickly and dove into
the ocean. He found Deathscythe and retrieved the damaged Gundam.
The other three pilots finished the battle and turned in time to see
Quatre pulling Deathscythe out of the ocean. Heero hurried over,
horrified. The crack in the 'window' was near the top of the cockpit
and the tiny compartment was still filled with cold salt water.
-----part 2-----
Heero pounded, uselessly, on Deathscythe's cockpit window. Even
cracked, it wouldn't budge, leaving Duo trapped inside.
"Damn it all to hell!" he swore, angrily. "We need to give him a
proper burial! We can't just leave him in there like this."
Quatre considered it for a moment, then stepped up to Heero, putting
a hand on his shoulder. "We'll just have to bury Deathscythe, too."
he decided.
"And if we get another pilot?" Wufei asked.
"Bite your tongue!" Heero proclaimed. "Duo was irreplaceable."
"But we do...?" Wufei asked. "Just hypothetically. Then what?"
"We'll get him a new Gundam." Heero declared. "Only Duo touches
Deathscythe."
Since it would take too long to bury Deathscythe underground, a
'burial at sea' was chosen.
"Duo would be pleased." Heero thought as he and the others stood on
the shoreline, watching their young friend's burial site as the sun
set over it. "He used to love coming to this beach."
Heero watched the waves for a bit, very distractedly. It was as if
everything that had ever mattered was suddenly gone. And for Heero
Yuy, that was more true than anyone could have imagined.
After his initial mission had been aborted and it had eventually
become clear that his 'handlers' hadn't really known what they
wanted. His heart and mind had wandered, aimlessly, for a bit. Then
he'd encountered the living angel who called himself Duo Maxwell.
Duo had pierced Heero's rough exterior. He'd uncovered the human
being who hid behind the Perfect Soldier ice. And he'd unlocked that
human being's heart.
And now he was gone, taken far too soon. His sweet voice was
forever silenced, his beautiful eyes would never open again, though
every twilight would remind Heero of Duo's gaze.
//He's all alone up there.// Heero thought. //He was too young to
know anyone he lost. We all were. I can't let Duo be up there
alone.//
He turned and began to walk toward the water, intending to join his
beloved.
-----part 3-----
"Heero!" Quatre grabbed the back of Heero's tanktop. "Trowa! Wufei!
Help me get him out of here!"
"Let me go, Quatre." Heero demanded. He tried to break free, but
Quatre wasn't about to lose another friend. "I said..."
'I heard you." Quatre replied. "Sorry, I can't let you kill
yourself."
"Duo needs me, Quatre." Heero insisted. "I have to go to Heaven so I
can help him."
"Why?" Quatre asked, quietly. "There will be plenty of angels up
there to help him out."
"Quate's right." Wufei pointed out. "You're needed here, Heero."
"No." Heero shook his head. "I have to be there. It has to be me."
"Why does it have to be you, Heero?"
"It just has to." Heero shot back.
"Tell me why." Quatre said, gently. "I want to know."
"Because it's my fault he's there." Heero grumbled. "There, I admit
it. I failed to protect him and he died. Duo's death is entirely my
fault."
"No, Heero." Quatre shook his head. "You're not to blame. It was
those OZ bastards who shot him down. It's their fault! Them and
those doctors who forced us into this life. We should be in high
school worrying about acne, and homework and the prom. Not throwing
away our lives from someone else's ideals."
"You're scared." Heero accused.
Quatre nodded. "Yes, I am. Until Duo's death it was so easy to think
'Oh, that doesn't happen to us. We're the good guys. We're going to
all grow old and have grandchildren no matter what we do. But now
that one of us has been killed... well, no more illusion of
immortality."
Wufei gave a quiet nod. "I feel the same. But we cannot just give up
now, damnit. We can't let Duo's death be for nothing. There's no
justice in that! I won't permit Duo's death to be cheapened that
way."
Heero sank to his knees. "Forgive me, Duo." he whispered. "They won't
let me be with you right now."
-----part 4-----
Quatre and the others led Heero away from the ocean/grave. The four
surviving pilots had tears in their eyes as they departed.
"Heero," Quatre said, gently, "do you want anything to help you sleep
tonight?" he knew it would be difficult for Heero. It would be the
first night in a long time that the Perfect Soldier would be sleeping
alone, without Duo in his arms.
Heero shook his head. "I'll be fine." he told the blonde pilot.
"Thanks for your concern, however."
They returned to the safehouse in a silence that reminded them all
too much of Duo's absence.
"Heero!!!!"
Heero groaned. //Please, not her.// he thought. //Not now.//
Relena ran up to Heero. "Heero," she tried to reason with him, "don't
you understand. That boy is a bad influence on you. What you feel for
him is wrong. It's unhealthy."
"Omae o korosu." Heero grumbled as he turned and started to walk
away.
Relena followed. She had to make Heero understand. If she could do
that, if she could save him from what she thought of as his
sickness...
Quatre put a hand on Relena's shoulder. "Don't." he said. "Relena..."
"I have to help him." Relena protested. "That... Duo... that boy is a
terrible..."
"Give a rest, woman." Wufei grumbled, overhearing her as he passed.
"I will not." Relena shot back. "If you were really Heero's friends,
you'd want him to get better. You'd get rid of that braided..."
Heero suddenly stopped, whirled around, his face a mask of hate, and
fired his gun.
Quatre threw himself into the bullet's path, screaming in pain as the
projectile struck him.
"Quatre!" Trowa ran to his injured friend, glaring at Relena. "This
is your fault." he accused her as he took Quatre in his arms and
tried to comfort him. "Wufei. Call Rashid. Tell him we need Quate's
medical team."
Wufei ran inside.
"What do you mean my fault?" Relena asked. "Heero's the one who shot
him."
"He was trying to shoot *you*." Trowa pointed out. "Now please leave
or I'll kill you myself."
"Give her to the Maganacs." Quatre said, delirious with pain. "They
could use a little... relief."
//This is the pain talking.// Trowa reminded himself. //My Quatre
isn't really a perverted sex fiend.//
He looked down and saw that Quatre had lost consciousness. "Hang in
there, friend." he whispered. "Help is on the way."
-----TBC-----