Short Untitled Fic
"Duo?" Heero looked as Duo prepared to go out. "Where are you going?"
"I gotta get out of here for a bit." Duo sighed. "It's nice and all,
but I'm starting to get cabin fever. I won't be long, I promise." He
gave Heero a sweet little kiss on the tip of his nose, then left the
safehouse.
"He's been acting weird lately." Heero grumbled.
"*Lately*?" Wufei was incredulous. "Duo's always been a little
weird."
"Hn." Heero watched as Duo headed down the walk, then went into the
living room to watch television until his koi came home.
*****
As Duo walked through the shopping plaza, intent on picking out the
perfect gag-gift for Heero for absolutely no reason than he loved
both practical jokes and the Perfect Soldier, he spoke to himself
about how wonderful Heero was. At least, that's what he appeared to
be doing since his loose clothing hid his pregnancy so effectively.
He felt the first signs of labor pain and slumped into a chair. He
hadn't told the others about his condition, fearing they'd think he
was too fragile to fight alongside them. Now he realized that had
been a mistake. If he called them, they'd think it was a prank.
"Just have to get myself to the hospital." He decided.
He left the shopping plaza and walked to the nearest hospital. There
was no time to get back to the safehouse and get Quatre's medical
team. It was more than a two hour drive away and Duo's labor was
progressing very rapidly.
The doctor did not bother examining Duo. He was a busy man with
paying customers who didn't enjoy having his time wasted by "street
trash with stomach cramps." He gave Duo a few antacid tablets,
muttered about how "goddamned generous." he was being and sent the
Shinigami Pilot away.
Duo trudged along the highway, in too much pain to think straight,
trying to get back to the safehouse. He was several miles from the
hospital where he'd tried to get treatment when the pain became too
much for him and he staggered over the embankment and into the
tree-laden woods below, where he lay panting on his side, curled up
in a fetal position, his screams unheard or unheeded as he gave
birth, his body tearing open under the strain.
*****
"He should've been back by now." Heero grumbled some hours later. He
put his coat on and headed off to find Duo.
He was driving along the highway, when he thought he spotted
something in the woods. He pulled over, got out of his stolen
ambulance, and raced back to where Duo's body lay, lifeless, on the
ground, a newborn infant lying near him.
"oh, Kami-sama." Heero drew Duo's lifeless body into his arms. "Duo,
why didn't you tell me? Why?"
Heero placed the baby atop Duo's body and went back into the
ambulance to retrieve the stretcher. Then, he drove back to the
safehouse as fast as he could. It was too late to save Duo, but he
could at least save Duo's child.
"Have your medics meet me at the door." He radioed Quatre as he sped
home as fast as he dared to drive with his precious cargo in the
back.
*****
The medics were at the front of the mansion when Heero arrived with
the ambulance. "In there." he nodded toward the back of the
ambulance.
The medics were very stunned by what they saw, but they quickly
composed themselves and raced Duo's body and the baby into the
Winner Family's private medical facility.
*****
"What happened?" Quatre asked as Heero trudged into the safehouse, a
combination of grief and worry on his usually stoic face.
"Duo's dead." Heero collapsed onto the sofa. "He... he..." and then
he broke down. Being the Perfect Soldier didn't matter any more.
Neither did his reputation. All that mattered was that he would never
look into Duo's beautiful violet eyes again.
Quatre held and rocked Heero as though the Perfect Soldier were a
mere child, tears coming to his own eyes at the heartbreaking news
he'd just received. "What... what happened?"
"I found him lying near the highway." Heero heard himself tell
Quatre. "His body was torn open. He..." he looked up at Quatre
through tear-streaked eyes filled with wonder. "...he died in
childbirth."
An hour later, after making sure the infant was in good health, the
head of the medical team brought the baby to Heero.
"Here's your little girl." she told the stunned Wing Pilot.
"My...?"
"We ran some tests and you're the father."
"How...?"
The doctor explained to Heero about how Duo had volunteered for
radical surgery that had altered his body, allowing him to conceive,
bear, and ultimately deliver Heero's child. When she was finished,
she waited for any questions Heero might have had. He was too shocked
to ask them, however.
After she'd gone, Heero stood there for a moment. looking down at his
and Duo's daughter, then he rejoined Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa in the
living room.
-----Owari-----